[Friday's Devotional] - Hospitality

I wonder if your Christmas card list is anything like ours – how many people are on your list who you haven’t seen for years (perhaps even 10 or more?).  These people are friends; we have a shared past and mutual respect and affection.  If they arrived on our doorstep unannounced would we be pleased to see them or horrified that we didn’t know they were coming and hadn’t had time to tidy up and prepare a meal?

 

Hospitality is a spiritual gift but it seems to be going out of fashion.  When was the last time you invited someone to join you for Sunday lunch or an evening meal?  Many of us have the desire to be hospitable but we rarely make space in our busy schedule for the desire to be put into practice.  How often have you had a 10 minute conversation standing in your hallway (or the hallway of someone you have called on) – not keen to offer (or be offered) a drink and a seat because that would interrupt your schedule too much. 

 

I am struck by the contrast of my visits to Beira in Mozambique – in Africa, where the clock is not king of every second of the day, there is time to sit down, have a drink and conversation because nobody is paranoid about keeping to a schedule.  I fear we have lost something vital to our happiness and well-being, in the quest for efficiency and the busyness that goes with it.  Perhaps we are becoming too isolated and not doing all we can to foster community?

 

After the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, there was an abundance of the gift of Hospitality:

 

Everyone was amazed by the many miracles and wonders that the apostles worked.  All the Lord's followers often met together, and they shared everything they had.  They would sell their property and possessions and give the money to whoever needed it.  Day after day they met together in the temple.  They broke bread together in different homes and shared their food happily and freely, while praising God.  Everyone liked them, and each day the Lord added to their group others who were being saved.

Acts 2:43-47 [CEV]

 

Hospitality is good for us and those we meet – sharing is efficient and friendly.  People who eat together and share food with others are likeable.  Perhaps we need to ask for the gift of Hospitality so the Lord will add each day more to our group?

 

Lord, help us to be hospitable, sharing, happy and popular.  Let us not hold back from giving what we have and others need.  Amen.    

 

Dave MacLellan
(first published in 2008)

[Thursday's Devotional] - Humour

What does humour have to do with Christ-like living?  I have no doubt that humour is essential to a healthy life and that taking ourselves too seriously is a recipe for disaster.  When you must approach someone who you know is unfriendly, your opening attitude is often a sign of the way things will develop – if you approach someone “with all guns blazing” do you expect them to treat you in a friendly way?  Humour is an essential way to make life go better.  It diffuses tension, it comforts those who are sad and it is used in teaching to illustrate the message in a way that encourages concentration and makes things memorable.

 

Jesus used humour when teaching his followers:

-       At the wedding at Cana he turned a wine shortage into a huge surplus of the finest wine available (John 2)

-       After his resurrection, he greeted his disciples with a miraculous catch of fish, after they had caught nothing all night (John 21)

 

The parables Jesus told were full of characters with outrageous behaviour, designed to hit home the message he was preaching, and no doubt to bring a smile to those listening to him speak.

 

Humour breaks down barriers, it defuses pomposity, arrogance and pride – and can be a very effective way of illustrating the wrong actions of others.  I believe there will be laughter in heaven, why not start getting used to it?  Personally, I am very fond of self-deprecating humour – I’m just not very good at it!

 

Lord – help us to keep a lightness in our hearts and to be joyful in all situations.  Amen

 

Dave MacLellan 
(first published in 2008)

[Wednesday's Devotional] - Humanity

When Christ was born on earth he took on human form – he was a human being.  The problem of the human race is that we are all (except Christ) born sinners – we are descendents of the fallen Adam and Eve.  Too often we hear the excuse “I’m only human” and frequently it is an excuse for bad behaviour or a failing of some kind – we are human as opposed to godly. 

 

The words “human” and “humane” are similar and yet have come to mean rather different things.  Humanity is often linked to the property of being “humane” – compassionate, sympathetic and benevolent.  How did Jesus deal with his “humanity”?  What perspective did being human give him?

 

In his very nature he was God.  But he did not think that being equal with God was something he should hold on to.  Instead, he made himself nothing.
He took on the very nature of a servant. He was made in human form.
He appeared as a man. He came down to the lowest level.
He obeyed God completely, even though it led to his death. In fact, he died on a cross.
So God lifted him up to the highest place. He gave him the name that is above every name.  When the name of Jesus is spoken, everyone's knee will bow to worship him.
Every knee in heaven and on earth and under the earth will bow to worship him.

Philippians 2:6-10 [NIRV]

 

Jesus was full of humanity in the way he healed people and cared about their welfare.  When the woman who had been bleeding for 12 years touched his cloak (Luke 8), only he and the woman knew what had happened.  If Jesus had ignored the fleeting feeling he had felt when she touched his cloak, then the woman would not have been healed.  Yet Jesus, full of humanity, stopped what he was doing to make a permanent impact on one woman – and I am sure she told many what had happened to her.

 

How much humanity do we show each day?  How many opportunities do we pass up because we are doing “something more important” or “haven’t got time”?

 

Lord, guide us to do your will and teach us to listen to and obey your voice.  Amen.

 

Dave MacLellan
(first published in 2008)

[Tuesday's Devotional] - Humility

If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 

Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.  Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

Philippians 2:1-5 [NIV]

 

Humility is so much more attractive than pride, just like we saw yesterday that honesty is so much better than dishonesty.  How much better to consider others better than ourselves – but what does that mean?  Should we be seeking to destroy our self-esteem, or to become valueless and insignificant beings?  I don’t think so!  Rather we can see the best in people, not the worst.  Building people up, not knocking them down, is a way to make relationships better and encourage love to be the focus of our friendships (not self, pride or conceit).

 

Christ’s attitude was humble – he didn’t boast about his powers, his knowledge or his lack of sin.  He was more often seen spending time with the poor, the sick and the outcasts than the rich and influential.  How can we put this humility into practice?  Perhaps we should examine our motives for everything we do?  Do we have the same love?  Are we one in spirit and purpose?

 

Humility commands respect, love and unity – pride commands the opposite.  Which path will you choose today?

 

Help us Lord to act justly and to love mercy - and most of all to walk humbly with you.  Amen.

      

Dave MacLellan
(first published in 2008)

[Monday's Devotional] - Honesty

This week I want to look at some attributes of Christ-like living which coincidentally all begin with the letter “H”.  Today we start with that rare quality in today’s world – Honesty.

 

Honesty is such an attractive quality in people – yet it is a struggle to be honest with ourselves and others about all aspects of our lives – we have a tendency to leave some dark corners, where the light doesn’t shine.  January is a good time to give ourselves an annual dose of self-appraisal.  What dishonesty is there in our daily lives?  What can we do to put things right from now on?  Don’t we know that all sin kept hidden will one day come to light? 

 

Honesty can keep you safe, but if you can't be trusted, you trap yourself………

Dishonest people use gossip to destroy their neighbors;   good people are protected by their own good sense.  When honest people prosper and the wicked disappear, the whole city celebrates.  When God blesses his people, their city prospers, but deceitful liars can destroy a city.  It's stupid to say bad things about your neighbors.  If you are sensible, you will keep quiet. A gossip tells everything, but a true friend will keep a secret.  Proverbs 11:6,8-13 [CEV]

 

Gossip is a very damaging thing, and no good can come of it.  It destroys unity and relationships – how gossip-proof is your daily life?  Sometimes (not always) silence is the best policy.  Confidentiality is also important to protect our relationships – can you keep a secret?  Are we true to our friends?

 

Lord, help us to be honest to ourselves, to others and to you.  Amen. 

 

Dave MacLellan
(first published in 2008)

[Friday's Devotional] - Too sad...

There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens:

A time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,

A time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build,

A time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,

Ecclesiastes 3:1-4 [NIV]

It’s a little bit strange that the season of joy and goodwill can leave people feeling so sad.  It is perhaps in the middle of an atmosphere of celebration and feasting that the contrast between our sometimes-fragile emotional state and the “perfect Christmas” we see portrayed in magazines and TV is most apparent.

Joy is a spiritual gift and we are encouraged to rejoice in all circumstances:

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!  Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.  Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4: 4-7 [NIV]

For many people this will be very difficult at Christmas time, let us make an effort to find things to rejoice in – even when circumstances around us could make us sad.

Lord, give us your spiritual gift of joy, that we may see the positives in every circumstance. Amen

Dave MacLellan  (first published in 2010)

[Thursday's Devotional] - Too selfish...

Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion,  then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind.  Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.  Philippians 2:1-4 [NIV]

 

It is all too easy at Christmas time to spend an excessive amount of time thinking of ourselves.  Children are encouraged to make a list of what they want for Christmas, parents are keen to spend the day doing exactly what they want to do.  Is it any wonder that the Christmas season sees many more relationship problems than other times of the year and that New Year is a busy time for divorce lawyers and marriage guidance counselors?  A combination of being cooped up inside the house, excessive alcohol consumption, disputes about presents and what to watch on TV – all these things make for conflict and selfishness is at the heart of many such problems.

 

Humility is the spiritual gift most needed today:

For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. Romans 12:3 [NIV]

  

Lord, help us to be humble and not full of pride.  Help us to value others above ourselves.  Amen.

 

Dave MacLellan  (first published in 2010)

[Wednesday's Devotional] - Too tired...

By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.  Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. Genesis 2:2-3 [NIV]

 

If you have been busy and stressed this last few weeks, you might find that you are also suffering from lack of sleep, and the resulting tiredness.  Rest is important to recharge our batteries and prevent us from burning out or becoming graceless and intolerant.  It is hard to be loving and patient when you are completely tired out! (this is a lesson I really need to learn).

 

Jesus spent three years in full-time ministry, but he didn’t ignore the Sabbath and he did withdraw from the crowds for rest and times of prayer.  We need to schedule time for rest and relaxation or we may not have time to enjoy it.

 

Lord, help us to follow your command to keep the Sabbath holy and to make time for rest every week.  Help us to be renewed by restful sleep and experience your peace.  Amen.   

 

Dave MacLellan  (first published in 2010)

[Tuesday's Devotional] - Too stressed...

Perhaps as a result of busy-ness, financial concern, insecurity or worry about family members you are feeling under a lot of stress this Christmas?  You are not alone, the devices which promise to make life easier (mobile phones with internet and e-mail for example) actually serve to increase the pace of life - and make matters worse.

 

Thirty years ago it would have been normal to expect that responses to communications would be measured in weeks – now, we expect an answer within hours.  Switching off has become a lot more difficult in our “always on” culture.  Many people take their work with them when they go on holiday, and weekends and other short breaks are often not a break at all.  

 

The stress of life puts strain on our relationships, as the people who bear the brunt of our short-tempered exchanges are inevitably those that we love and are closest to.  Recession and job insecurity also serve to add to stress and many have lost their jobs in the last few months – all things piling on the stress.

 

What we need more than anything to overcome stress, at this time of year, is to gain an eternal perspective on everyday life.  King David does this frequently in the Psalms:  

 

The LORD is my light and my salvation— whom shall I fear?
The LORD is the stronghold of my life— of whom shall I be afraid?  
When the wicked advance against me to devour me, it is my enemies and my foes who will stumble and fall.  Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then I will be confident. 
One thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.
Psalm 27: 1-4 [NIV]

Lord, I want to seek you and dwell in your presence.  Help me to see life through your eyes.  In Jesus name.  Amen

Dave MacLellan  (first published in 2010)

[Monday's Devotional] - Too busy...

What will you gain, if you own the whole world but destroy yourself?  What could you give to get back your soul?  Mark 8:36-37 [CEV]

 

Christmas is almost upon us and perhaps you are finding that the wonder and joy that you used to feel as a child is absent this year?  Busyness can make the business of life more complicated and sometimes we are in so much of a hurry that we don’t have time to make time to focus on the “reason for the season” of Christmas.  Perhaps it is time to analyse what we are doing and why we are doing it – are we frittering away our time on things that will save souls? Or are we just finding that our time is filled with man-made time-wasting stuff?  At Christmas, it can be difficult to focus on people when we are buried deeply under the trappings of the holiday.

 

Perhaps it would be good to take stock over Christmas about which parts of the busyness of our lives is benefiting souls, and what is based on “gaining the world”.  In other words, are we building up treasures that will last for ever?

 

Lord, help us to focus on you at Christmas, as we celebrate the birth of Jesus.

Amen.

 

Dave MacLellan (first published in 2010)

[Friday's Devotional] - Refreshed

We are probably all familiar with the story of the Woman at the Well from John 4.  Many sermons I have heard about her start by setting the scene of the woman coming to the Well in the heat at midday, indicating she is an outcast, shunned and rejected by her society.  The passage goes on to say she had had five husbands – so how many relatives, in-laws, children.  If she was on Facebook, her relationship status would be “it’s complicated”.

 

Whenever I read this passage, I am reminded of a chapter in “The Little Prince” by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, where a merchant is trying to sell a pill that quenches thirst:

 

““Why are you selling those?” asked the little prince.
“Because they save a tremendous amount of time,” said the merchant. “Computations have been made by experts. With these pills, you save fifty-three minutes in every week.”
“And what do I do with those fifty-three minutes?”
“Anything you like...”
“As for me,” said the little prince to himself, “if I had fifty-three minutes to spend as I liked, I should walk at my leisure toward a spring of fresh water.”

 

Rather than judging the woman, perhaps we should for a while walk alongside her.  Rather than seeing the outcast, can we see someone seeking a still place, where she could escape the noise of her complex life?  The well would be quiet at midday and she could walk at her leisure toward a spring of fresh water.  There she encountered Jesus, who, unlike the merchant, does not offer a pill that temporarily quenches physical thrust.

 

Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”  John 4: 13-14 [NIV]

 

Let us find those quiet spaces, where we can encounter Jesus, spend time drinking from the spring of water that wells up to eternal life, where we can allow God to change us.

 

Father, help us find quiet spaces to be with Jesus in our busy lives.

 

Guy Mowbray

[Thursday's Devotional] - The Skin Horse becomes real

In “The Velveteen Rabbit” by Margery Williams, the toy rabbit is having a conversation with the toy horse on how you become real:

"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"

"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

 

In the sentimentality of this story, there lies a truth, we become real when we are loved.

 

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.
Ephesians 2: 4-5 [NIV]

 

The beauty of Jesus’ teaching is that he turns religion on its head.  Religions tell us, you have to change, grow and be good in order to be loved – in order to be right with God in whatever format that particular religion frames it. But Jesus tells us, we are loved and we receive his grace so we can change, grow and be good.

 

God’s grace gives us the freedom to face the truth about ourselves, knowing we are fully loved and accepted by him. He calls us to come to him with everything, unafraid, like a child to a parent, in total trust that we are loved, so that he can help us experience freedom. Real love involves vulnerability, “by the time you are real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all; because once you are real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand”.

Father, let me become real through your love.

 

Guy Mowbray

[Wednesday's Devotional] - The Undragoning of Eustace

In “The Voyage of the Dawn Treader” by CS Lewis, we find Eustace, the children’s cousin turned into a dragon by sleeping on a dragon’s hoard of treasure with dragonish thoughts in his heart.  A few days later Aslan is helping him; Eustace is told he must shed his dragon skin and bathe in a well, but every time he sheds a skin, there is another underneath.  Then the lion says ‘You will have to let me undress you’

“I was afraid of his claws, I can tell you, but I was pretty nearly desperate now. So I just lay flat down on my back to let him do it.  The very first tear that he made was so deep that I thought it had gone right into my heart.  And when he began pulling the skin off, it hurt worse than anything I've ever felt.  The only thing that made me able to bear it was just the pleasure of feeling the stuff peel off...”
“Well he peeled the beastly stuff right off - just as I thought I'd done it myself the other three times, only they hadn't hurt - and there it was lying on the grass: only ever ever so much thicker, and darker, and more knobbly-looking than the other had been..” “Then he caught hold of me… and threw me into the water.  It smarted like anything but only for a moment. After that it became perfectly delicious….And then I saw why. I had turned into a boy again.”
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, [CS Lewis, 1952]

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit
2 Corinthians 3:17,18 [NIV]

We have years of rubbish, selfishness, wrong attitudes – sin, that needs to get discarded.  We may try to scratch off the scales ourselves, and it may even seem like we've achieved some success at it, but there is still more underneath.  Only when we let God cut away all the layers will we become what God wants.  But those layers are very thick, God changing us can be painful, but the beastly stuff will lay there on the grass someday, looking thicker, and darker, and more knobbly-looking that anything we were able to scratch off.  As the dragon scales are removed we learn the strength of vulnerability, the confidence that underlies gentleness and the freedom that comes when we are as God intended us to be.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
2 Corinthians 5:16,17 [NIV]

 

Father – let me be open to your transforming in my life.

Guy Mowbray

[Tuesday's Devotional] - Kipper's Present

I’ve lost my copy of the book "Kipper’s Christmas Eve" by Mick Inkpen, but in it Kipper says:

 

“Which is best, Christmas Day or Christmas Eve?...Presents or expecting Presents?”

 

If you are given a pair of socks for Christmas, (as I frequently am), I understand they are given in love; that the gift is symbolic of relationship.  There are thousands of books and research papers on the symbolism, meanings and protocols of gift giving.  Kipper’s question opens a whole field of study for the psychologist and anthropologist.

 

My mother used to recall an acrostic sermon from when she was a little girl, GRACE, Gods Riches At Christ’s Expense, Grace being her mother’s name, (the other she often quoted was JOY – Jesus, Others, Yourself, as that was her name).  Gifts can be symbols of a future commitment, such an engagement ring - or in the case of a wedding ring, a symbol of a current covenant.  Grace is a gift of both current covenant and future promise.

 

“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast” 
Ephesians 2: 8,9 [NIV]

The gift of Grace has to be the most precious gift there is, but it also stems from a relationship:

“ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life”.  John 3:16 [NIV]

God’s love for us, his relationship with us, expresses itself through Jesus, the act of selfless giving – that Christ died for us, is expressing a relationship of love.  How do we respond to that gift, how do we respond to the relationship with God?  How do we express our love to God for the priceless gift of grace?  I think it was Karl Barth who said,” Let your Theology inform your Doxology “– let your understanding of God inform your worship of him

And when I think that God, his Son not sparing,
Sent him to die, I scarce can take it in,
That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin.

Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee:
How great thou art! How great thou art!
Then sings my soul, my Savior God, to thee:
How great thou art! How great thou art!

Father, How great thou art!

 

Guy Mowbray

[Monday's Devotional] - Alice's Quandary

G K Chesterton says in his apologetic Orthodoxy  “I left the fairy tales lying on the floor of the nursery, and I have not found any books so sensible since.”, a sentiment that appeals to me, so I offer some thoughts from some of my favourite children’s books.

In Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, we find Alice in a quandary:

“She generally gave herself very good advice (though she very seldom followed it), and sometimes she scolded herself so severely as to bring tears into her eyes; and once she remembered trying to box her own ears for having cheated herself in a game of croquet she was playing against herself, for this curious child was very fond of pretending to be two people.”

If we are honest with ourselves, we all recognise this situation in our own lives, there is a power struggle going on inside us and we are caught in between.
C.S. Lewis put it this way "No man knows how bad he is, until he has tried very hard to be good."

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.  Romans 7:15 [NIV]

However hard we try, we seem to fall short of our own standards, never mind God’s.

Watchman Nee in “The Normal Christian Life” tells a story of a strong swimmer who stood by watching a fellow monk drown until the last seconds, when he dived in to save him. "Had I gone earlier," he said, "he would have clutched me so fast and hard that both of us would have gone under. A drowning man cannot be saved until he is utterly exhausted and ceases to make the slightest effort to save himself."

Our problem might be not that we are weak, but that we are not weak enough, still trying in our own strength. Only when we see our utter weakness and are persuaded that in our natural self we can do nothing, can God really work in and through us.

I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.   John 15:5  [NIV]

Father, I am unable to do anything for you, but I trust you to do everything in me.

Guy Mowbray