Day 5: Sunday, March 10th, 2019
Day 5: Sunday, March 10th, 2019
“Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it.”
In the past few months, I’ve had to attend the funerals of dear friends. We raised our children together at our church. These children are no longer children. They are exactly the kind of adults we dreamed of when they were little. Then I thought of the parents that raised these children. The Jeans, the Friddles, the Smiths, the Hammers, the Cartmells, the Rainwaters, and the Frisches. We raised our children at church. We’ve faced challenges of health and losses. We’ve watched our children mature. We are so very proud of the adults that our children have become! Not only are our children strong adults today, but they are also nurturing to each other. Our children live all over the world, but they are still connected. They are connected because of their foundation of faith. They reach out there for each other each and every time they are needed. They are not alone. They have each other! They are also passing these same values to our grandchildren and to those around them.
Then, I look around at our church. I see the Giffens with their 3 boys: Jake, Max and John. I see Leighann and her husband with Iris and Opal. I see Foster and Beau. They are being raised together in church. They are strong representatives of their parents and their grandparents. They will become the leaders of tomorrow because of the values of their parents and grandparents.
By giving our children the foundation of faith, we are preparing them for the challenges and blessings they will face when we are not with them physically. They will never walk alone.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, Thank You for families who teach their children the importance of their Christian faith. Thank You for families and friends who support our children and give them the foundation they need to become strong Christian men and women. In Your Name I pray, Amen.
Contributed by Carolyn Dugger
Day 4: Saturday, March 9th, 2019
Day 4: Saturday, March 9th, 2019
Easter 2018 was a little bittersweet for me. Yes, I praised the joy of a risen Savior at God’s hands. My disappointment centered around not accomplishing my goal of approaching Lent in a different manner. Little did I realize what was in store for me. My preparation for what change was coming came in God’s time in June 2018. I watched the movie I Can Only Imagine. In fact, I watched the movie two more times. I just didn’t want to miss anything. Knowing there was more to this story, I began to research Bart Millard. I read his book I Can Only Imagine for the rest of the story. I was also introduced to the music of Mercy Me, shocked they had been around 20 years and at the top of Christian Contemporary music for many of those years. This group considers themselves ministers for Christ. Their music opened my heart to the modern words of Contemporary Christian music. The lyrics were so beautiful. The song “I Can Only Imagine” changed my focus to meeting God after life on Earth. In the song “Greater,” the lyrics,
“And greater is the One living inside of me
Than he who is living in the world”
helped me find understanding. I am Redeemed.
With each of the songs and the story I began to understand that before Christ ascended to heaven, He carefully installed the Holy Spirit in each of us. When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, our lives change because it is within us to be God’s hands and feet. Christ taught us how to live and died to redeem all. The Holy Spirit within each of us guides our priorities and actions.
My approach to Lent is different because I am free and redeemed to do God’s will
Prayer:
Dear God, Thank You for Jesus whose example we followed. We live in grace because Christ died for the sins of the world. Thank you for this grace and help us understand it. Amen.
Contributed by Sue Boudreaux
Day 3: Friday, March 8th, 2019
Proverbs 3:5-6: “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.”
Isaiah 43:2: “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.”
March 8th 2014. It was a Saturday. A day I purposefully tried to prepare for every waking moment for almost 3-weeks. I prayed, I cried, I read the books, I got angry, I was regretful, I talked to people, and then I prayed and prayed and prayed some more…for peace in my heart to not fall into the despair I felt so many years ago and for so many years after the saddest day of my life. Yet, I was so completely unprepared for the day, or any day thereafter. I was blindsided by a feeling that words couldn’t describe as my daddy went home to be with my sister, Vicki, and his mom, dad, sister, and brother in Heaven. It was not despair. It was not anger. It was, as best as I can describe it in words…peace in my heart and a feeling of absolute faith in God’s promise.
About 14 years prior to Daddy’s passing, my best friend in the universe, my sister, Vicki, passed away suddenly and unexpectedly just a few weeks after rallying back from a 14-hour surgery to fix some of the ravages that cancer had left behind. Friday, October 20, 2000, about 4:00 a.m., I got the call…and I thought, “That’s it. No more ‘believer’ in this gal. I’m done. Thanks be NOT to GOD. What God? What God would leave me here to LIVE in this heartache? To watch my parents LIVE in the greatest sadness a parent could experience?” (I say ‘live IN the sadness because, for me, it has never ceased to be any less sad than the moment it happened. Not one ounce of sadness has ever left my heart.)
Somewhere along my walks and talks (okay, ‘talks’ might be putting it mildly…I screamed, cried, begged, and beat my fists on the ground as I fell to my knees in the middle of the trail) with Jesus and God over that 14-year span, I began saying, “I HAVE to believe that there IS a God, that there IS a Heaven. Because I cannot live this life without BELIEVING that I will be reunited with Vicki with all the love and joy that we had every moment of her existence on Earth! I HAVE to believe in that…otherwise, what’s the point of living at all?”
Through repeated efforts of everyone around me and just an overwhelming feeling of having a pointless existence in this world, I made the journey back to ‘believing’ in that which I cannot understand, but that which I cannot live without–hope and faith that it’s all true. And when my daddy passed away, there was no anger in me for God, despite the immense sadness. All I’ve felt since that moment through today is…at peace and ready to join Daddy and Vicki in the joy of His kingdom whenever He calls me home.
Prayer: Dear Lord, I pray that You continue to fill my heart with peace throughout the most unimaginable sadness as my family and friends are called home to You in the coming days of my life. I pray that through my tears and even my anger, that You know that I am Your faithful servant on this Earth today, tomorrow and every day until You bless me with the gift of all gifts–everlasting life with those I love in the house of the Lord. Amen.
Contributed by Nessa Austin
Day 2: Thursday, March 7th, 2019
“On the day the LORD gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the LORD in the presence of Israel:
Sun, stand still over Gibeon and you moon, over the Valley of Aijalon
So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped,
till the nation avenged itself on its enemies.
as it was written in the Book of Jashar
The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day.
There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the LORD listened
to a human being.
Surely the LORD was fighting for Israel.”
Joshua 10:12-14
Bold Faith
Now the first thing you see and are amazed at is that the sun and moon stopped and stayed in place for almost a full day. I mean this has never happened before or since with a person asking GOD to do this. What a supernatural thing to happen, and it is amazing! I do not want to discount this miracle of GOD.
What I think is even more amazing is Joshua asking GOD to do this in front of all these people. I mean really how embarrassing this would be if GOD did not do it. I don’t know if I would be so bold and ask this of GOD. Ok, I do know, and I would not do it. Joshua’s faith is a very powerful message to the Israelites and to us today.
GOD does answer prayers, and HE most certainly will answer a bold prayer. A bold prayer requires a bold faith in GOD. Joshua had this faith. He knew that not only could GOD do this but also GOD would do this. Wow is all I can say. What if we all prayed this boldly to GOD knowing that HE can and will answer our prayers?
So I want to encourage each and every one of you to pray to GOD and pray boldly with a bold faith knowing that GOD can and will answer your bold prayer. Have faith and trust GOD with everything. HE will guide you. HE will direct you.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, You are so faithful, trustworthy and true. Forgive us for not trusting You with everything. Forgive us for not praying boldly to You. Lead us, guide us, and encourage us to come to You with everything and to have a faith so strong that we know not only that You can do it but that You will do it. In Jesus’ Mighty Name, Amen.
Contributed by Laura Dungan
Day 1: Ash Wednesday, March 6th, 2019
“And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast saying, “God, be merciful to me a sinner!” Luke 18:13
As I studied these scriptures, knowing the Pharisee had looked down upon this tax collector and exalted himself for all his good deeds and his tithing and verbally abused the tax collector, I began to think where I may have unintentionally done the same. As a Catholic did I look at others going into the confessional booth and smirk to myself when their confession took “forever?” As a Lay Pastor in the Reformed Church, Crystal Cathedral, did I look at those who came to our church to just make themselves look important; always trying to make sure they were in the camera’s lens and dismiss their spiritual needs? As a Lay Pastor/Elder in the Presbyterian Church did I put the “order of worship,” the appropriate prayers and responses ahead of the urgent needs of those seeking peace and acceptance? Through the years of changing churches, theologies and doctrines, I have learned a difficult and yet extremely important lesson–these things are not important because as Jesus taught us in Mark 9:40, “For he who is not against us is on our side.” So, confessions, orders of worship, rote prayers, limelight and fame are not what He taught. Jesus simply taught us to follow in His footsteps and love one another as He loved us.
Prayer:
Dear Heavenly Father, If I did fail in my service to You Lord, help me to recognize my failings, admit them to You in my own personal prayers, asking for Your help in doing Your will in the way You would want me to. God, be merciful to me a sinner! Amen.
Contributed by Rebecca Caldwell
Day 46: Saturday, March 31st, 2018 (Holy Saturday)
“Jesus said to her, “‘I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me will live, even though they die. Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believer this?’”
John 11:25-26
In only a handful of hours, we will finally gather together to shout, “He is Risen!” The church will claim death defeated as Jesus rose from the grave. Resurrection will win the day as it has for over 2,000 years.
In the 1960s, archeologists worked an excavation site at Masada in Israel. One of the finds included a jar of seeds from an extinct Judean Date Palm. Biblical scholars believe this was a palm mentioned at several points in the Old Testament (see Psalm 92:12).
The jar of seeds had remained on an old dusty shelf as it was unclear what to do with them. In 2005, an inquisitive botanical researcher gave the seeds a shot and planted one. To his surprise, it grew! A Judean Date Palm had not been seen growing since 500 A.D.! Today, this tree, nicknamed “Methuselah” from the oldest person named in the Bible, has flowered and produces dates. What was long lost is now back and alive!
For me, Easter is a time to remember the power of resurrection in our own lives. As people of faith, Resurrection claims any hope remains available. We declare that what looks dead CAN actually come back to life. Broken relationships can be healed. The struggle isn’t over because God never gives up.
This year, I wonder if we have the courage to investigate the old dusty shelves of our lives. What hopes or dreams have we set aside long ago, thinking they were extinct? Could this be the year that the power of resurrection surrounds your hopes and dreams and creates a place for growth and new life?
Tomorrow will be my first Sunday to join FUMC in a resurrection celebration. I can’t wait to stand with you as we continue the tradition of celebrating new life through Christ!
Prayer:
God of life, as I rise in the morning, may my life sing of resurrection. Help me claim hope as the overwhelming power in my life. Though struggles persist, may I never forget the gift of new life through Jesus Christ. Amen.
Contributed by Alan McGrath
Senior Pastor – FUMC Killeen
Day 45: Friday, March 30th, 2018 (Good Friday)
Were you there when they crucified my Lord? Oh… sometimes it causes me to tremble… Were you there when they crucified my Lord?”
Of all the songs we sang at Glen Lake Camp, I was always taken aback by this song. After walking the silent reflection trail and seeing the cross up on the hill, singing the words, “Were you there when they crucified my Lord,” was only made palatable by the last verse, “Were you there when he rose up from the grave?”
We often like to skip over the brutal reality of the crucifixion and rush right to the empty tomb. We don’t want to linger in grief or fear. In response to the song’s question, I’ve often asked myself if I could I have stood at the cross and witnessed such cruelty, hatred, apathy and even excitement for those who died in such a horrible way. Would I have been hiding in fear as many of Christ’s followers did or denied even knowing Jesus when my own life might have been at stake? Would I have been among the stoic women at the foot of the cross offering the only support they still could? I don’t know.
What I do know is that we still get the opportunity to stand at the cross today. We do this when we no longer disappear into the hateful crowds and allow injustices to happen without speaking up… or worse, join in their jeering. We do this when we recognize the humanity in every person and show empathy for those who face crosses of their own. We do this when we sit with someone in the midst of their worst days and offer prayers, or just be there.
I still flinch at the cinematic interpretations of the crucifixion, knowing the reality of what Christ faced was so much worse. However, in the darkest of days, when we see those Jesus loves in pain, fear, grief, and suffering injustices, let us ask ourselves, “Are we there when those that Christ loves face crosses of their own?”
“Were you there when they crucified my Lord?”
Prayer:
Holy and loving God, help us to be there as Your people face their own darkest days. Give us the strength, courage, and faith to stand up against injustices, and the love of Christ to pour into those that need comfort and care. And as we carry crosses of our own, remind us that You are always with us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Contributed by Pastor Alison Zollinger
Associate Pastor, FUMC Killeen
Day 44: Thursday, March 29th, 2018(Maundy Thursday)
14 If I, your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you too must wash each other’s feet. 15 I have given you an example: Just as I have done, you also must do. 16 I assure you, servants aren’t greater than their master, nor are those who are sent greater than the one who sent them.17 Since you know these things, you will be happy if you do them. (John 13:14-17)
34 “I give you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, so you also must love each other. 35 This is how everyone will know that you are my disciples, when you love each other.” (John 13:34-35)
16 In the same way, let your light shine before people, so they can see the good things you do and praise your Father who is in heaven. (Matthew 5:16)
I have only been coming to the Methodist church for a few years, and only this year as I sat down to write this devotional did I learn what Maundy Thursday means. In Latin, the word “maunday” originates from “mandatum,” or commandment. The night Jesus sat down to the Last Supper with his disciples He gave them a “New Commandment.” He told them that they should love each other like He loved us, and this would be the way other people knew we were His disciples. He also showed the disciples that no one man was greater than another: He served them in love by washing their feet.
I know Jesus calls us to serve one another in love. I try to let people see Jesus’ light in me by letting them hear me, see me helping other people, and showing Jesus’ love to everyone. We don’t always pay attention to the things we say or the places we frequent, but we can be sure other people do. Unbelievers will judge us by the things we say and the places we go, as well as how we carry ourselves and how well we treat others. By treating others the way we want to be treated and helping those in need (even if it is something we perceive as small like saying a prayer or being there when you said you would), you are showing others Jesus’ love, and you are glorifying God through your good works. Let people see us and know that we are children of God by our actions. Try to treat other people the way Jesus would.
Let us be the salt of the Earth and the light of the world as we follow the new commandment to love one another.
Prayer:
Dear Heavenly Father, Please help me to be Your light in this world. Put me where You want me and let me be Your hand and feet as I go about my day. Let others see You through my actions, and let my actions be pleasing to You. Amen.
Contributed by Christine Tagoai
Day 43: Wednesday, March 28th, 2018
“Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?” Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore, the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”
John 19:10-11
The desire to be validated is a powerful motivator. So much of the world today is about being recognized and validated. On social media in particular, every like, share, or re-tweet gives that sense of being accepted and acknowledged by others. Success is often defined by the number of followers. As a Roman governor, Pontius Pilate was used to being recognized and validated. His words might not have been liked by everyone, but they were shared and followed. Then he stood face to face with Jesus. When Jesus refused to answer his questions, Pilate was frustrated. He wanted to be recognized and have his authority validated.
Little did Pilate know his true legacy. The name recognition he sought as governor doesn’t compare to his name recognition for his participation in the crucifixion of Christ. He stood before Jesus. He could have accepted and shared the Truth of Christ’s identity. Instead he asked, “What is truth” (John 18:38)? When he didn’t get enough “likes” for his decision to release Jesus, he walked away from the situation (Matthew 27:24). His desire for earthly validation cost him eternal recognition from the true King of Kings.
Where are you seeking validation?
Prayer:
Holy Father, remind me of the Source of my true validation. My identity in Christ means more that any “likes” on this earth. Use me to share this Truth for Your glory. Amen.
Contributed by Stacie Carrico
