This is from Mark Roberts exceptional devotional blog The High Calling

Advent Reflection: Immanuel 

 Matthew 1:18-25 "Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means 'God is with us.' " [Matthew 1:23]

 Several years ago a popular song celebrated the fact that "God is watching us from a distance." From his far away perch, God sees the beauty and harmony of this world, rather than its brokenness and strife. For some reason, this out-of-touch divine perspective was supposed to encourage us to be more loving and peaceful.

 The biblical story celebrates the opposite truth. Not only is God intimately involved with this world in general, but he actually entered this world as a human being. The child conceived within Mary's womb was indeed "Immanuel," which means in Hebrew, "God with us."

 When we face struggles at home or setbacks at work, when we suffer physical pain or seek to alleviate the injustice in our world, there is nothing more encouraging than the fact that God is with us. God was with us in the once-for-all incarnation of the Word in Jesus Christ. And God continues to be with us through the Holy Spirit who dwells in our hearts and in our fellowship with other Christians.

WHATEVER IS ...

BY STEVE DUNN

^" Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you." - Philippians 4:8-9

These days I am working as an Intentional Interim Pastor for a church of nearly 700 men, women and children.  I have been with them since March when their Senior Pastor left.  I will probably be with them until about Easter when a new one will arrive.  It's interesting work--invigorating and challenging, rewarding and frustrating.  An Intentional Interim these days is a combination Ministry Coach and Church Health Specialist with a large element of Systems Analyst and Resident Sage.  You question everything, change only what is essential, counsel the impatient and rebuke those who believe the only way to be a church is their way.

You are also the church's pastor - its preacher, chief shepherd, leader.  You try to squeeze some of this in while doing all the above, preparing the church for the nest pastor, and coaching those who are in search of that individual that God has chosen.

There are days, far too many when the persistent problems nag at your peace; the attitudes of some about the past become annoying, the reluctance to learn a new way irritating.  And then the awareness that the church will not become all that God desires it to be during your brief tenure becomes simply depressing.

It is those times when you need to refocus what occupies your mind.  You need to see and celebrate where God is healing the church and moving it into new fruitfulness.  You need to rejoice at the life change that continues as new people follow Jesus.  You need to sing out those stories of where Jesus is at work on the mission field under your care.

And then you will have peace -- and influence the people you lead to have peace as they trust and follow God into the future.

GOD IS MY MAKER

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.- Psalm 139:14

BY STEVE DUNN

My body ain't what it used to be.  It's never been the sleek, buff guy in GQ and I'll never make anyone's "most attractive men" list (except for my wife Dianne's).  The hair is greyer and thinner.  Some of my teeth have now gone to be with Jesus.  My feet are downright ugly--even my doctor says so.  And today I took a tumble and badly twisted an ankle.  I just got clumsy coming off a step and went down before I could even put out a hand to stop.  (Did I mention the state of my reflexes?)

But our  body is not who we are?

My mind has always been sharp, my analytical skills finely honed.  I have mastered extemporaneous speaking.  I am known for my creativity and intellectual intensity.

But our mind is not who we are?

Yes, the complexity of our body's designs and the human mind is an awesome thing when it is functioning properly.  These are two factors that always remind me of the Intelligent Design that put me together, and knowing that the Master Designer has created even better versions simply affirms the divinity that shapes humanity and the world.  

Although God is perfect, I am vividly aware of my imperfection.  I love what is written on Ruth Graham's tombstone:

“Under Construction: Thank you for your patience.” 

 
Yet my imperfection does not change the wonder of who I am.  I am a person created by the Living God--and then created anew out his unconditional love and amazing grace--so that I can live according to His purpose.  And that purpose is the Good News that we all belong to God and have a part of the wondrous work He is doing to redeem humankind, and to demonstrate people living in this time that there is "a more perfect way" that He will empower them to live/

(C) 2013 by Stephen Dunn

BE STILL

BY STEVE DUNN

He says, “Be still, and know that I am God;
    I will be exalted among the nations,
    I will be exalted in the earth.”- Psalm 46.10

I suffer from what is called restless legs syndrome, known by some as "crazy legs."  That latter is true in many ways as your legs are so restless and uncomfortable--that it sort of drives you crazy.  More than once I have said. "If I didn't want to be a cripple, I'd cut these things off."

The condition loves to strike me when Dianne and I are sitting down for a nice meal in nice restaurant.  More than once I have to stand to watch a movie.  Or to stand to counsel a parishioner. I have walked around at the back of movie theaters, and walked out of shows that were too long for my restless legs to endure. I have stood during counseling sessions--when I was the counselor.

And if I have an attack of restless legs while driving, I simply have to park the car or put whole realms of autos at risk as my restless legs like to jerk or make me shut our eyes.

There is a restless in the human psyche that is like restless legs.  I watches everything.  It always seeks more than it has.  It wants to be busy and have people notice.  It quickly over-schedules through overcommitment,  It doesn't no how to say "no." It takes responsibility beyond the limits of its human capability.

And it is a restlessness that often overlooks God.

God rarely stands on a rooftop to announce himself, nor uses a bullhorn to get people to toe the line.

He chooses to whisper and make us pay attention to what he is to doing and how he wants to involve us. 

And if we are too busy and too noisy, we miss His voice and His presence.

COME TO THE WELL !

It's been six months since I have posted on this blog, which has been my devotional blog for years and one of my favorites. During this time I have been very busy moving to a new community, serving as the Intentional Interim Senior Pastor for a church of nearly 700 people, and teaching. I hope to return to this weekly beginning this month.  In the mean time I over this re-posting of a blog I discovered for the first time today called "Working for Christ--Inspiration in the Workplace!" - Steve

COME TO THE WELL!

“Now he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon.” (John 4:4-6, NIV)

 

Everyone in town knew her. She had grown up right before their eyes. Five husbands had come and gone. Now she was alone, minding her own business. But one day, as she was drawing water from the well, she met another man. He was different from the rest. He looked worn – as if from a long journey. But he seemed friendly. There was no official introduction. He simply asked her for a drink.

“Why are you asking me for a drink?” she said, surprised he would even bother to talk to her. After all, he was a Jew and she was a Samaritan. But he replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who I am. You would ask me, and I would give you living water.”

This wasn’t the answer she expected. What was He up to? If she had known who He was, her response might have been entirely different. This was no ordinary man. He was the One whose coming had been prophesied for centuries. The One whom angels proclaimed. The One whose hands healed the sick.  The One whose voice raised the dead. The One whose life brought hope to the hopeless.

This was the Messiah. Yet she did not recognize Him. And she asked, “But sir, you don’t have a rope or a bucket, and this is a very deep well. Where would you get this living water?”

Jesus replied, “People soon become thirsty again after drinking this water. But the water I give them takes away their thirst altogether. It becomes a perpetual spring within them, giving them eternal life.”

“Please, sir,” the woman said, “give me some of that water! Then I’ll never be thirsty again, and I won’t ever have to come back here again.”

The woman’s excitement was understandable. She thought the stranger before her offered some sort of magical water to prevent her from ever thirsting again. In fact, what He offered was something far greater. He was offering the gift of eternal life – a gift she could receive by drinking living water.
What is living water? It’s not actually a beverage, but a being. Living water is a symbol for the Messiah. To drink of the living water is to enter into a refreshing relationship with God that can heal hurts, mend hearts, and satisfy souls. In answer to the woman’s deepest needs the Messiah offered Himself.  And the woman accepted. She accepted the gift no other man had given her before – a real relationship founded on unending love. No more broken promises or abandoned commitments. Here, at last, was the love for which she longed.

Turning from the well, she ran straight into town and started shouting to everyone in earshot, “Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah?”

So people came. They talked to Him. They listened to Him. They believed in Him. And they, too, accepted the Living Water.

Everywhere you look today there are disenchanted people looking for something more than this world offers. They’ve tried it all. They’ve tried drinking from the well of wealth, the spring of success, the pond of power, the fountain of fame, the pool of possessions, and the ocean of pleasure. But none of these offer lasting satisfaction. They offer only temporary relief to a permanent problem.

The Messiah is the solution. He is the Living Water. Only He can satisfy the soul. His forgiveness is cleansing. His grace is refreshing. His presence is purifying. And His love is invigorating.
What about you?  Have you tried the waters of this world and found them disappointing? Has your soul been longing for a sip of something more satisfying? If you try to quench the thirsting of your soul at the wells of this world, you will be thirsty again. But if you seek satisfaction in the living water of Christ and His love, then you will find fulfillment.

To each and every heart the Messiah makes the same offer. “If you will but ask, I will give you living water.” And when you have living water, you have life.  So today, if you are thirsty for something more, why not accept the offer of the stranger by the well?

Come to Christ. Drink deeply. And be satisfied.

Enjoy your day, “Working for Christ”!

ENEMIES OF GOD

by STEVE DUNN

“By the cross we know the gravity of sin and the greatness of God’s love toward us. “
John Chrysostom, 4th century

“This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions.” – Colossians 1:21, New Living Translation

One of the things that keeps us from honest confession and true repentance is that we think of ourselves simply as good people gone bad, or decent folk damaged by the sin of the world (not necessarily a sin of our own commission).  We think in terms of what Dallas Willard has called “sin management” instead of salvation from our sin.  We live in God’s general neighborhood and own the property upon which we rest.

The Bible is very clear on this one.  Sin separates us from God.  Paul makes it very clear in his words to the Colossians.  Sin makes us God’s enemies.  Our mind is not conformed to Christ and as a result our actions do not, cannot please God.

Until God in his relentless love intervenes for us.

Question for prayerful reflection:  Are you taking your personal sin seriously?  What is there that needs to be confessed to God and repented from?  This is a question for seasoned saints and newly aware sinners.

MOVING ON AND MOVING UP

BY STEVE DUNN

Dianne and I are in our 41st year of marriage.  This was our first home--for all of three weeks.  Both of us were college students, getting married in late August so we can earn money all summer and then squeeze in a honeymoon before the first day of class.  We rented an apartment in town from a landlord who became one of our greatest encouragers. 

The summer of our marriage will be remembered in central Pennsylvania as the year of Agnes--before Sandy the most powerful hurricane/storm to hit the Middle Atlantic states.  A whole lot of things were disrupted and delayed by Agnes--including the finishing of the place into which we werre to move.  So for three weeks we rented an Airstream trailer near town.

It was cramped.  It had a bathroom with a shower where you could not stand up.  And if you leaned too far forward on the toilet, the shock absorbers of the trailer might flex and send you tumbling forward.  It was heated by propane gas in a tank (which I later learned in the middle of the night needed to be refilled).  The pilot light, which was reachable only by laying on my back on the floor and extending my arm under the kitchen stove, went out frequently.

It served us well, but only for a time.  We could not have lived there very long, even as students.  There was barely enough room to open a textbook, let alone set up a book shelf.  We could never have raised four kids there.  I could go on.  You get the point.

It was what it was--but it could not have remained what we needed to live.

When it comes to spiritual matters, human beings tend to want to remain where they first began.  They are often comfortable with the place where they first enter the faith.  It's simple.  It's familiar.  It has its limits, but it also has few expectations that require change or sacrifice.

Lent is a time of reflection--confession, repentance, and renewal.  Moving on from where we have been spiritually and moving up to where God wants us to be. 

The Apostle Paul writes: "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.  Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,  I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.  All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you." (Philippians 3.12-15)

Are you moving on and moving up?

(C) 2013 by Stephen L Dunn

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ASH WEDNESDAY

 

BY STEVE DUNN

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. " - James 4.10
 

Ash Wednesday is one of those special days that many people don't get.  In our entertainment-based culture, it is not very entertaining.  Reflection, confession, repentance and renewal are the pattern for Lent and Ash Wednesday is the beginning of that process.   Lent can be a solitary and gloomy time and many people don't want to let such things enter their lives,  And they certainly don't want their peace disturbed, spiritual peace and otherwise.

Traditionally Ash Wednesday is marked with a marking,  It's called the "Imposition of the Ashes." Palm branches--those symbols of temporary human praise are burned and then the remains ground into fine ashes that are used to mark the forehead of the worshipper with the sign of the Cross.  The reminder of the death of Christ that was required so that we would removed from sin's penalty and power.

Again, people don't like being reminded of death--anyone's.  It is preferable to live in denial of death.

Yet it is when we remember Christ's death and submit ourselves to His leadership that we truly become alive in Christ.

But first you must mourn.

(C) 2013 by Stephen L Dunn

THANKFUL FOR THE THUNDER

 BY STEVE DUNN

A good friend of mine, Rich Thornton, shared this brief post in his blog MORE THAN TODAY.
 

I am thankful for thunder. Not long ago I walked to lunch, walked back, and started working again in my office. In just a bit I heard thunder. It got my attention...because the windows on my car were down some to cool it off. The thunder warned me so that I could go out and put the windows up. Just in time...then the rains poured and poured. Sometimes I need to be more thankful for the warnings, the thunder, the things that get my attention that I better change, get moving, push on...or I will be sitting in a mess. There are enough messes that I cannot avoid...best to hear the thunder and act and avoid the potential messes that I can.

I grew up in western Ohio, a part of the Midwest that is sometimes called "Tornado Alley."  People there did not panic but we were mindful that a warm summer day could suddenly change into an afternoon or evening of disaster when an unexpected cold front arrived.  This was more than 40 years ago before the sophitiscated weather radar warning systems were in place and there were not as many television stations committed to weather watching and storm chasing.

You learned to listen for thunder.

Thunder was the warning that a thunderstorm was coming, and it was in the heart of thunderstorms that tornadoes appeared.

Not every thunderstorm announced a tornado.  Some just brought wind and rain.  Some brought the cooling rains that made hot summer evenings much more tolerable.  (A lot of us did not have central air to regulate our inner climate.)

But thunder was often the thing that broke us out of our reverie, captured our attention when we were not paying attention, and allowed us to be ready for the coming storm.  Being forewarned was often difference between harm and safety, damage or damage control, life or death.

Maybe in our air-conditioned, climate-controlled cocoons of the world; we need to be listening for the thunder.