THRIVING IN CHRIST

It is raining this morning. A cold rain that gives a chill to the fall morning. It's rained a lot lately and some of us are growing weary of it. It's keeping us from getting that last cut of the grass or complicating raking our leaves that are dropping rapidly. It interferes with golf plans and makes fall football Friday nights very unpleasant. It adds a dampness to the cool air that plants a chill in our bones.

Yet rain is water, good old H20. It is one of God's sources of life and necessary to fruitfulness. Without water, we would ultimately wither and die. The Psalmist David speaks of this connection in Psalm 1. He talks about people who are blessed, who literally thrive at all times because they are closely connected to God.

"He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers." - Psalm 1:3

Most of us do not thrive because we are not planted close to Christ. We keep him at a distance. Although he is the river of life with its life-giving waters, we are more like trees planted in a desert depending on a rare rainfall or a dependable irrigation system ... both of which are pretty "iffy" for true survival, let alone to the thrive and bear fruit.

You can neither live nor thrive without the living water of Christ. Plant yourself close to Him.

(C) 2009 by Stephen L. Dunn. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

MORNING HOPE

Reading: Psalm 5:3

Last Sunday I was returning from breakfast to the church. It was balmy morning. When I had driven to the restaurant it was still dark and the trip was made difficult by a thick, low-hanging fog. The sun was up on that return journey. The fog was still present but the sunlight had begun to pierce it. But the horizon above that ground fog revealed a magnificent sunrise. Al-though it was an October Sunday morning, it made me think of an Easter morning.

Easter morning is always a powerful reminder of the hope that God brings—hope often clouded over by our everyday sin—but hope that is present nonetheless. The reminder of that hope is revealed in the Empty Tomb at dawn.

That Sunday morning my thoughts went to the words of David, “In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice: in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation.” Morning is the time to set our mind on God and surrender our lives to His guidance and care. Morning is the time to remember the hope in which we live—and then begin living that day in that hope.
The devotional is published on behalf of the Church of God of Landisville and its friends. © 2009 by Stephen L Dunn. All rights reserved. Email subscription matters should be sent to www.coglandisville@ coglandisville.org. Direct communication with Steve to sdunnpastor@coglandisville.org. You can subscribe by blog by registering as a follower at www.drstevesdevotional.blogspot.com.

NEVER ABANDONED

Church Street is the main north-south thoroughfare through my community. I travel it in one direction or another several times a day. Parked alongside Church Street in a no-parking zone, just off the edge of the street, is a gray minivan. A plastic bag is stuck through its front window, a universal sign of a disabled vehicle (as opposed to a scofflaw parking in a no parking zone). The minivan has now remained unmoved for well over a week.

Ironically, it is a commercial van. The sign on its side says “Macro Inc.-Catastrophy Response Services.” ( I did a double-take the first time I saw it.) Either they had a catastrophe to respond to that has prevented them from returning, or they need catastrophic services themselves. Right now their abandoned vehicle doesn’t provide good advertising.

As I write this devotional, someone has just called to tell me that they are really up against a lot of pressure. They feel like they’re being overwhelmed and requested prayer (which I did
Immediately over the phone). Overwhelmed they may feel, but not abandoned—not as long as they have some praying for them and God watching over them.

The apostle Paul knew this experience, but out his experience comes a powerful truth.

“But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing
power comes from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on
every side, not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted,
but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”

God works in and through our lives, even in the toughest circumstances. He is working to reveal His gift of abundant and eternal life – and that is perhaps most evident, when we knocked down or off the road of life.

This email devotional is published on behalf of the Church of God of Landisville and its friends. © 2009 by Stephen L Dunn. All rights reserved. Email subscription matters should be sent to www.coglandisville@ coglandisville.org. Direct communication with Steve to sdunnpastor@coglandisville.org.

PASTOR STEVE AND JESUS

This painting, entitled "Love", is the work of Richard and Frances Hook. It has hung in every office that I have occupied since 1975. It is a powerful image of Christ that I have been drawn to since the very first time I saw it.

A number of years ago I took it from its perch on my office wall into the sanctuary to use it as an objective lesson for my children's sermon. I wanted to talk to the children about how God loves children and to the adults (who are always listening to a children's sermon) about the simple trust that characterizes the faith of a child.

Attempting to engage the children in a dialogue, I held up the painting and asked, "Who is this a picture of?" Five year old, blond-haired Lailah raised her hand knowingly. Her answer, "It's Pastor Steve and Jesus." I started to correct her and then was struck with the discernment of her words. It is exactly who it is. I am a child of God and the foundation of my life is the knowledge that Jesus loves me. The essence of my faith is that I face the world (now at age 58) with the assurance that I am secure in the arms of Christ Who gave His life for me. I trust Him because I have no doubt--God loves me.

The verse that comes to my mind is this--paraphrasing John 17, "He has loved us from the foundation of the world."