Today’s Word Is LAUNCH

Wed-Mar-18-2020

“You can never cross the ocean until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.” – Christopher Columbus

Well, we know what Mr. Columbus did. It would probably be the most exciting but also the most anxious day of one’s life to push away from the shore of the known and head for the unknown. Remember that Christopher Columbus did not rush into this; it took time. He listened for his dream, took years to prepare, and finally launched! So, if you want to get beyond the ordinary, and embrace what God has next for you, that’s what you must do … push off from the shore and embark on the adventure.

Many years ago, as I was reading the seven books called The Chronicles of Narnia for the first time, I embraced the idea that the Christian life is not so much lived by rules as it is a great adventure. Various seasons of this life start with a calling, a God-given dream, an idea, or a high purpose. Preparation is necessary, but as in the case of Columbus, at the moment you launch, there is still a great deal of uncertainty about how all this will work out.

Under the leadership of Moses, the Israelites, who numbered about a million people, were being led by God into freedom from slavery in Egypt. They headed out on foot but soon reached a decision point. There was a mountain on one side, the Red Sea on another, and the Egyptian army behind them in hot pursuit. So, they did what any normal person would do … they cried out to God! … Help! … Even the leader cried out for help!

And the Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward. But lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it. And the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.” (Exodus 14:15-16)

Do what?! You’re kidding! No, God was not kidding. He accomplishes his purposes. Our part is to listen and act.

God has many dreams for you throughout life. Sometimes it is enormous and intimidating, and it may last a season or a lifetime. Other times it may be something small or simple. Whatever your next one is, don’t be afraid to leave some things behind and launch at the proper time. God, who called you to it, will open the doors (part the sea) and guide you.

There is an interesting combination of emotions when you say “yes” and launch yourself into it … sadness perhaps to leave certain things behind … a twinge of healthy fear something like the first time you swam in water over your head … but also a great excitement that there is a fulfillment awaiting that will outweigh any hesitation you may have harbored. To cross an ocean, you must leave the shore.

One last thought … this doesn’t only apply to big decisions. There may be something simple that you have been putting off. You may have a 99% commitment and a 1% hesitation. You could relieve yourself of this weight by proceeding. Ready, set, go.

Have a blessed day!

Chaplain Mark

Today’s Word Is ATTENTION

Mon-Feb-3-2020

Several years ago, an anonymous donor in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida paid for a series of messages on billboards and buses, such as …

Let’s Meet At My House Sunday Before The Game. ­ God

I Love You … I Love You … I Love You. ­ God

Loved The Wedding, Invite Me To The Marriage. ­ God

These billboards were a gentle reminder that God is trying to communicate with each of us all day every day. How do you stay in tune with God each day?

Nature moments are one way God gets my attention during the day. My back yard is all woods … that does it … serene and thought provoking. Other nature moments include sunrises and sunsets, hummingbirds, flowers, rainbows, and more.

There are teaching moments where God gets my attention. Perhaps a new expression of God is presented to me, maybe during a conversation or while reading something. It makes me light up, and say, “Thank you, Lord.”

God gets my attention when I interact with people. Sometimes they let a clue pop out that tells me they might be hurting or might need some encouragement. I can’t help everyone I meet, but sometimes the nudge of God says, “Do something for this one.”

How does God get your attention? Surely, he would not have to resort to the two-by-four method, although for some of us it might be what is necessary, at least to get the flow going. God generally operates by the whisper or nudge methods, putting things around us to marvel and enjoy, to take faith strides, to increase in wisdom, or to touch a life and make a difference.

My son Josh once had a dog named Larry who was amazingly focused on his master. At one place where they lived in an apartment complex, there was an outdoor area where residents would take their dogs to run and play. The average dog was overly engrossed in what other dogs were doing. Some would run loose from their owners to check out the other dogs. But not Larry. He watched his master. He loved to catch a frisbee or run together with Josh. He sat, shook “hands,” stayed close, or ran far away and back … all at the direction of his master.

Once when I kept Larry for a several-week stay, I realized that Larry thought of me as his focus while Josh was not around. I could tell that he was always aware of what I was doing, but one particular action caught my attention. Every time we would go up or down the stairs together, he would stay at my side, not running ahead as one might expect. If I ran up the steps, so did Larry. If I went slowly, so did he, making sure to stay perfectly in sync, never getting ahead nor too far behind.

Inquiring with Josh, I learned that he taught Larry to do this because they lived in a third-floor apartment. The purpose was for Larry not to trip up other people using the stairway. This took Josh some time to teach. If they went up one flight and Larry got too far ahead, they would go back to the bottom and start over, as many times as necessary, patiently and mildly, until Larry knew what to do.

What a marvelous lesson I gleaned from this. Could I be that focused on my master? Larry was the happiest and most well-behaved dog around. Everyone loved Larry. And it was all because his master had his full attention. It is the same with God, showing us how to keep our full attention on him. I must admit I am not there yet, but I have noticeably improved over the years, learning how to be in step with the master. It molds us into the happiest people around.

“… and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith …” Hebrews 12:1b-2a

I hope God has your attention today,

Chaplain Mark

Today’s Christmas Word is … EXTRAORDINARY

Daily Devotion for Tue-Dec-24-2019

Today’s Daily Devotion is about Joseph’s journey from ordinary to extraordinary.

God already knew that Joseph had the makings of an extraordinary person, but my guess is that the folks in Nazareth probably thought of both Joseph and Mary as rather ordinary people. One passage that makes me think this is something that occurred years later during Jesus’ ministry …

Matthew 13:54 Coming to his hometown, [Jesus] began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?” they asked. 55 “Isn’t this the carpenter’s son? Isn’t his mother’s name Mary, and aren’t his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? 56 Aren’t all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?”

In the eyes of the townspeople, this whole family seemed ordinary. But it was this chosen family that nurtured Jesus just the way God needed. Isn’t it interesting that the Holy One of God had been raised in what seemed like an average family? Obviously, the neighbors didn’t have a clue what was happening!

Perhaps if Joseph had been mayor of the town, or a rabbi at the synagogue, the locals might have seen things differently, but instead he was thought of as just the town carpenter. But God had a plan and had been guiding Joseph on a journey from ordinary to extraordinary. This included playing a key role in the family. Although Joseph was not the “natural” father of Jesus, he was nevertheless the leader of the family in the Jewish tradition. And this was critical in fulfilling God’s purposes.

Going back to the beginning … when Joseph heard of Mary’s pregnancy, and knowing he was not the father, the norm would be to end the engagement. But here was revealed his godly character …

Matthew 1:19  Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

Notice these words … righteous man … and quietly. This reveals his respect for the faith and his kindness. (Pause to ask if this applies to myself.)

Now it is time for the next step of the journey. Does Joseph know how to listen for guidance?

Matthew 1:20  But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21  She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

The question for Joseph, and us as well, is “are you paying attention to God?” … Because God is going to ask some surprising questions and give some out-of-the-ordinary directions. And if we believe and have the courage, we will respond according to God’s purposes (not our own).

Matthew 1:24  When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. 25  But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

At this point, Joseph was “all in!” He demonstrated his new willingness to become the extraordinary man God had called him to be when he followed this path … he took Mary on a 97-mile trip to Bethlehem, stayed in a barn, welcomed unexpected visitors, and perhaps the most amazing … when he needed to protect his wife and child from danger …

Matthew 2:13  When [the Wise Men] had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”  14  So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt …”

Would you concede that God also has you on a journey from ordinary to extraordinary? It’s not about doing something famous necessarily, nor about being widely known and admired. Regardless of how much is built into us, we all pretty much start out as ordinary. The things in between ordinary and extraordinary for Joseph were that he had a basic faith; he was kind toward others; he listened when God guided him; and he did as he was directed, regardless of the difficulty. Thus, he found himself fulfilling the extraordinary life that God had placed within him from the beginning. You can, too!

Blessings,

Chaplain Mark

P.S. I hope you go to a Christmas Eve service!

Today’s Word Is … CLEVERLY

Mon-Nov-25-2019
How cleverly you defend yourselves against all that might do you good.

After 7 years of college and graduate school, and reading what professors told me to, the first post-graduate reading I did was the series of 7 books by C. S. Lewis called The Chronicles of Narnia. If you have never read them, you should do so. Three or four of the books have been made into movies. Even though they are touted as children’s books, there are such deep truths in them that any adult would grow forward in life and faith by reading them. (They’re also light and fun.)

In the sixth book called “The Magician’s Nephew,” I came to a sentence that rocked my world …

The children in the story were asking Aslan the Lion (the Christ-figure in this series of books), why their Uncle Andrew was such a grouch. How did he get to be that way? And Aslan gave a strange but profound answer …

“Oh, sons of Adam and daughters of Eve, how cleverly you defend yourselves against all that might do you good.”

I was stunned enough by that sentence that I suspended reading the book for a few days while I thought about that. Do I have creative excuses for not doing the things that would really be of benefit to me?

When is the last time you should have gone to some event with a friend but instead said, “No thanks, I’m too tired (or too busy).”? What are the things you have skipped out on that would really have done you great good?

Now, I’m not suggesting you wear yourself out and fail to take needed rest or to keep proper boundaries. Nor do I propose that you say “yes” to every invitation that comes along. But looking back over the last year or two or five of your life … what if the good invitations or ideas you declined added up to 148, and the ones you accepted came to just 15? Then this may not be about getting your rest … it might be about “cleverly defending yourself against all that might do you good.”

Blessings,

Chaplain Mark