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Nothing Is as Wonderful As...

3/30/2022

Wednesday’s Word
by Dorette Saunders

Imagine writing your autobiography. As part of the book deal, your publisher has asked that you include a chapter titled: “Nothing Is As Wonderful As…” with the rest of the line being filled in with the most defining moment in your life.

Imagine that the apostle Paul had such an assignment. After all, he is a prolific writer, having written more than half of the New Testament. Yet, all this occurs after he has had an eye-opening experience (or eye-closing, if we consider his temporary blindness on the road to Damascus- Acts 9:1-9) with Jesus.

At this period in his life, Paul who was once a persecutor of Christians, and is now a powerful preacher of the gospel, sums up what he has learned over the time he has come to believe in Jesus Christ. So in a letter to the church at Philippi, while in jail, Paul proclaims:

“But Christ has shown me that what I once thought was valuable is worthless. Nothing is as wonderful as knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have given up everything else and count it all as garbage. All I want is Christ and to know that I belong to him” (Philippians 3:7-9, CEV).
How would we fill in the blanks as we look over our lives? What is the most wonderful thing that has happened to us? Would receiving Christ’s salvation come in the top five? Would it even make the cut?

Like us, Paul gravitated to some of the ideals that make us feel important. Paul cites his ethnicity (“a true Hebrew” – Philippians 3:5), his religious fervor (“Pharisee” - Philippians 3:5-6), and his academic upbringing (“a student of Gamaliel” - Acts 22:3).

We often pride ourselves on our ethnicity, religious beliefs and education, our stature in the communities in which we live, and even our wealth. Paul says he went down those roads, but they led nowhere. It all paled in comparison to having an intimate relationship with Christ Jesus. In the grand scheme of things, they were worthless. Actually, lower than worthless—he refers to it as “garbage.”

Are you and I holding on to “garbage” to give ourselves a sense of self-importance? What would you say makes you who you are? An introspective look should give you an answer.

Paul admits that he gave up what he once held as valuable, for Jesus. What have we given up for Jesus? Or are we still tottering between the things of the world, and the freedom and richness of life that Christ offers?

When Jesus’ disciple, Peter, wondered out loud what benefit would accrue to those who gave up everything to follow Jesus, Jesus assured him:

“All who have given up home or brothers and sisters or father and mother or children or land for me will be given a hundred times as much. They will also have eternal life” (Matthew 19:29, CEV).

And while we don’t honor God because we hope for a reward, Jesus’ love and grace overwhelms us. It summons our gratitude and makes us respond in love for our Savior… Nothing is as wonderful as knowing Christ Jesus our Lord!

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, you are a pearl of great price. There is no one else like you. We thank you for your great sacrifice for us. Truly, we want to know you better. Truly, there is no one and nothing more wonderful than you! In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
©Medytations 2022

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The Case of Two Prodigal Sons

3/23/2022

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Wednesday’s Word
by Dorette Saunders

The Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:1-32) is well- known and equally well-loved since it involves the magnanimous grace a father shows toward his wayward, younger son. Readers of this parable quickly equate the father with God, who patiently waits for us (the younger son) to come to our senses and return home to God, who welcomes us with great fanfare, and generously forgives our sins.

But, lurking in the allegory is another prodigal—the older son. At first glance, who wouldn’t root for the son who stayed home, took care of the animals, and the crops? He is present when he’s needed. Don’t you dare align him with wild women, wild living, and wasteful behavior. Then, why think of him as a prodigal son?

While the word “prodigal” implies wasteful extravagance and recklessness in terms of using one’s resources, it also has the connotation of someone who returns after an absence of wasting their life. Many see the elder son as the “good” one. Yet, Jesus’ story shows that our “goodness” is closely aligned to the motivation of our hearts.

The older brother was not much different from the younger one because while he had not physically moved away or wasted his father’s money, his heart was far removed from his home and family. He had willfully chosen not to acknowledge his father’s love for him.

Look at his response when his brother returns. The Scriptures tell us:

“He got so angry that he would not even go into the house” (Luke 15:28, CEV).

His heart was so hardened that he could not bring himself to celebrate with his father and the others. He did not understand that no matter what the younger son did while he was away, what the father cared about most, was his son’s safe return. The older son was missing the ties that should bind each of us together—love! Nowhere do we see that the fact that his brother was “lost” caused him distress. In fact, instead of rejoicing at the young man’s safe return, he made it all about himself, casting blame and accusations at his father.

“For years I have worked for you like a slave…You have never even given me a little goat, so I could give a dinner for my friends.” (v.29).

Genuine love for his father and for his brother would have caused him to rejoice on this happy occasion. The music and dancing should have prodded him into reveling. But he had allowed a root of bitterness to settle in his heart. Notice his speech:

“This other son of yours wasted your money on prostitutes. And now that he has come home, you ordered the best calf to be killed for a feast” (v.30).

This stay-at-home son had “divorced” himself from his father and his brother, who had now become “this other son of yours.” The Bible tells us, “Your words show what is in your heart” (Luke 6:45, CEV). Can you see him as a jealous, legalistic, bitter man?

Yes, the older son he may have done several seemingly commendable things. But none of them was done out of love. In fact, the older son thinks of his obedience to his father and his work around the home as “slavery.” But, the Bible tells us that God wants us to love him, and our brother and sister, with a pure and willing heart, rather than being able to point to a million good deeds we accomplished.

We should never be angry or jealous when God chooses to forgive someone who we think have gravely sinned. Or be disgruntled when God blesses someone who we think does not deserve it. God, our Father, dispenses his love, grace, and mercy on whomever he chooses. Our responsibility is to keep our channels of love open to celebrate when sinners come to repentance (Luke 15:7), so that the circle of forgiveness and celebration will never come to an end.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, we sometimes squander your great love for us by focusing our eyes and our hearts on the sins of others. Help us to remember the old adage, “There, but for the grace of God, go I.” So God, give us a clean heart so that we, your prodigals, might see our waywardness and return to you. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
©Medytations 2022

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Ready to Serve or Be Served?

3/17/2022

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Wednesday's Word
by Dorette Saunders

Don’t you just love it when Jesus turns our worldly expectations upside down? How we view things is quite often different from the way God does. The things we value is often not worth a penny in Jesus’ economy, and how we think the way things “ought to be,” is simply not so.

After responding to the mother of two of his disciples asking for a place of honor for her sons in God’s kingdom (Matthew 20:20-23), Jesus tells the disciples how they can attain honor. Our Lord explains that God honors us when we serve him and others, humbly and faithfully.

“….If you want to be great, you must be the servant of all the others” (Matthew 20:26, CEV).

Having the heart of a servant is what God values in his people. Yet, for many of us, it takes a long while for our hearts to achieve such a posture. This is true especially if we believe we have worked long and hard to achieve recognition in the eyes of our peers, and the on-looking world. We human beings love the trappings of honor. We get special status. We are ushered to special seats. We dine away from the common folk. We scowl if our names and titles are omitted, or misspelled, and bristle if the special alphabet behind them is missing.

While it’s acceptable to be honored, and to work hard to achieve a level of human success, Jesus tells us that we ought not to define ourselves by those things. We are who God says we are—servants of the Most High God and of each other.

Are you willing to serve? Or do you want to be served? Servanthood, especially servant leadership is hard, dirty work. Just look at Moses leading a raggle-taggle group of rebellious, complaining people out of Egyptian bondage (Exodus 14:11).

Better yet, look at Jesus, healing, teaching, preaching, and yet being vilified by the establishment in the temple, and even among the people that he came to serve (Mark 11:17-18). Watch closely as Jesus washes Judas’ feet even though he knew that Judas would soon betray him (John 13:10-14). Servanthood, as defined by God, is love.

So being willing to serve is not just donning an apron and a smile. It is more often than not, being willing to lay down your pride, your right, your expectations of who and what deserves your attention, help, and your love.

Getting our hearts in this position is a job for the Holy Spirit since, in our own flesh, we have no desire to move over even a tiny bit from our comfort zones. Yet, clearly, Jesus tells us how we need to act:

“If you love me, you will do as I command. Then I will ask the Father to send you the Holy Spirit who will help you and always be with you” (John 14:15, 16, CEV).

Yet, even as we serve, we must remind ourselves that acknowledgment of our service may never come. But what does come, is the deep satisfaction that we have obeyed God and have made a difference in the life of someone else.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, give us a clean heart so we might serve you. Hide your Word in our hearts so that the Holy Spirit can do his work in us and through us. Let serving others be our joy. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
©Medytations 2022

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A God Who Honors Repentance

3/10/2022

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Wednesday’s Word
by Dorette Saunders

Perhaps when you read Chapter 3 of the story of Jonah, you cheer when you learn that God is planning to wipe out the city of Nineveh because of their great wickedness. Perhaps, like Jonah, the prophet, who has been ordained to deliver the message, you can’t wait to hear the big boom, and watch the whole place go up in smoke. The story, however, does not follow that plot line. Instead, the Scriptures tell us that “The Ninevites believed God…” (Jonah 3:5, NIV) and everyone, from the king to the people, and their animals, took part in a solemn fast.

But it was not enough to fast. The king commanded that “everyone call urgently on God…. give up their evil ways and their violence” (v. 8).

Can you envision the scene? The drunken orgies stopped. The fear-mongering stopped. The hate crimes and the misogyny, the lying, stealing, murders. All the wickedness came to a halt as the people prayed and repented.
The Ninevites knew that Jonah’s message from God was not an idle threat. If God said it, then God would do it. But the people also knew that God was compassionate and merciful, so they threw themselves on his mercy.

The Word of God tells us:

“When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened” (v. 10).

What do we know about God? Do we believe God’s Word? Do we trust in God’s mercy and compassion? Can we join with the writer of Lamentations in saying:

“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
    for his compassions never fail.
     They are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.”
                                 (Lamentations 3:22,23, NIV)

As we examine our lives, we find that it is because God loves us deeply why we are still here. That’s cause for thanksgiving and for praise. Yes, God is faithful. There is no God like our God. God takes no pleasure in us perishing. In fact, the Bible says,

“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9, NIV).

Repentance does not always eradicate punishment because sin, after all, does have consequences. But genuine repentance gives us a clean slate, a do-over, a chance to walk once more in the footsteps of our loving and forgiving God.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, one by one the walls of pride fall down. We repent of missing the mark, and wallowing in our mistakes. Forgive us for not trusting in your Word and give us the courage to walk in the glorious light of your Word. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
©Medytations 2022

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A Fast That Lasts

3/2/2022

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WEDNESDAY'S WORD
by Dorette Saunders

In this season of Lent, many will give some thought to fasting. While there is no biblical mandate to fast at this particular time, traditionally many view the 40-day period of Lent as a time to remember how Jesus resisted being tempted by the devil in the desert. Lent, then, became a time of fasting and repentance in order to get spiritually closer to God. Sadly, while many abstain from certain foods and behaviors, the practice of repentance seems to have fallen by the wayside. Yet, as we put purpose to our fasting, and look at the context of the times we live in, consider this biblical promise:

”If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14, NIV).

There is no question that our land, our world, needs healing right now. We need healing from war, strife, hate, and a multitude of sins we commit against each other, and against God. So the verse is appropriate.

Yet, some Christians think: “Oh no, not that again!” And so we stumble over God’s prescription for healing our land—humility, prayer, repentance—because we would rather have a panacea than a purge.

God is calling us to repentance – from the highest level office in the land to the person on the street; from the preacher in the pulpit to the parishioner in the pew. We have all sinned and need to confess, and with God’s help, turn away from the offending behaviors.

As Christians, when we fast without repentance, we miss the opportunity to become new wineskins, acceptable receptacles that carry God’s precious Word to others. We also miss the opportunity to gain new revelation of the depth of Jesus’ sufferings and to truly prepare for Holy Week and Resurrection Sunday.

The prophet Isaiah gives us an idea of what God expects our times of fasting should look like.

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
    and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
    and break every yoke?
Is it not to share your food with the hungry
    and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter--
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
    and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
    and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
    and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
    you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.”
                                                    (Isaiah 58:6-9, NIV)
So the objective of our fasting is not just about us, but rather our interconnectedness with those whom Jesus calls “the least of these” (Matthew 25:37-40). In fact, Jesus cautions us that when we fast, it should never be a broadcast of what we are giving up, but rather a personal, private commitment between us and God our Father (Matthew 6:16-18).
If we are choosing to be like the Lord, the prophet Micah reiterates some of the sentiments we’ve uplifted.
“And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
    and to walk humbly with your God.”
                                                   (Micah 6:8, NIV)
This type of “fast” is not a 40-day journey, but rather it is a lifestyle. It is a constant discernment of what God would have us do, and be. It is knowing that we exist and flourish within community. It is a fast that lasts. It includes everything that Jesus spoke of when he told us the greatest commandments were to love God and then to love our brothers and sisters as we love ourselves.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, make us humble even as you showed us humility. Teach us to serve others, even as you served us. In this season, turn our hearts to true repentance and prayer. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
©Medytations 2022

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Nothing Is as Wonderful As...

The Case of Two Prodigal Sons

Ready to Serve or Be Served?

A God Who Honors Repentance

A Fast That Lasts

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