My thoughts (Robert Ferguson):

I have a beast of a dog. His name is Maxx, and at just around 70 pounds he is able to herd me (275 lbs and 6’5” tall) in whatever direction he would like me to go. One day after he managed to shake the whole house by colliding with the back door, I wondered what was making him so massive. We have a set route that we walk every day that I have measured out to be three miles, so he is well exercised. He is crated everyday for 8 hours while I am at work, so I assume he is well rested. However, those things, in my mind, would keep his weight down; not up. Obviously the answer to why I am the proud papa to a beautiful huge vivacious puppy is because of his diet. I only feed him one brand of all natural dog food and I go out of my way to buy it. Regardless of the sacrifice I am very pleased with Maxx’s health.

As I was reading Paul’s letter to Timothy, what jumped out to me was the importance of what we put into our bodies. I have been working out a lot lately and one of the biggest myths that I have had to confront was the belief that working out meant I could eat whatever I wanted to because I was going to “work it off.” That is a lot like sinning and just giving into all sorts of whims and believing that because I go to church on Sunday, everything will be just fine. Not true. Today Paul teaches us that if we are to be good ministers, we must have a steady diet of God’s word.

It is necessary here that we clearly understand that when Paul refers to Timothy as a good minister of Christ Jesus he is not thinking of him as a member of the clergy. Rather it is the word that is commonly translated many places in scripture as deacon or servant. Here Paul is using the word in the widest sense possible — “a good servant of Jesus Christ.” All of us are called to be servants of Jesus. So if I am going to be of value in God’s kingdom, I must be healthy and strong, nourished on God’s word through study and prayer. What else?

Training! Just as I had to train Maxx to walk on a leash and I myself have been in the gym training my body. Paul tells us today that all of that is fine, but what is most important is that we are trained in godliness. It is all too natural for us to see the world through our carnal human eyes, but today we should try to see the world through spiritual eyes. Maybe we can focus a little less on what our flesh is crying out for and take a minute to hear what God is crying out for. It is not easy to do. It takes practice, concentration, and lots of repetition..

Finally, and this is my favorite part, in verse 10 Paul says we have to have a mission or a goal. This is why we labor and strive. My mission for Maxx is that he is a healthy obedient companion. My mission in regular exercise is to maintain a healthy agile body well into my golden years. But what is our goal in this Christian walk? In our daily lives God calls all of us to not only believe in the reality of the gift of life-changing salvation but to share the good news of hope and redemption with all!

Thought for the day: What part of my life needs better nourishment, training, or a more focused goal?

We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the suggestions on the How to Pray page.

Are you in the process of learning to live healthier? Maybe your New Year’s resolution was to eat better, exercise, or in some other way improve your physical health? Join us for the next few days as we offer scripture, insight, and encouragement to help on that journey.

Today’s scripture: 1 Corinthians 6:12, 19-20 (NRSV) (The Message) (KJV) What might God be saying to me?

My thoughts (Robert Ferguson):

I just had this vision of how easy it would be for all of us to make a mess of our sanctuary at LifeJourney Church. We could eat pizza in the sanctuary during service, throw food at the pastor when he tells a bad joke, and put our muddy boots up on the sanctuary chairs. On Saturday nights we could take all the chairs out of the worship space, roll in some bars and hang a disco ball from the ceiling and have wild dance parties all night. We could sling our beverages all over, smoke cigarettes on the altar and roast a hog over the candles. I mean, we could… but all of us have learned to respect, in varying degrees, God’s house. In our reading today Paul explains that just like the four walls we commonly refer to as “God’s house,” our bodies are also a holy, sacred dwelling place for God.

If you are like me you may have set out to start 2012 committed to healthier living through regular exercise and changes in your diet. And if you are also like me, you may have set out on this path many Januarys of years past. So the question I have for all of us is, “How is this year going to be different?” How do I include God, who is the source of my will power and strength, in this journey?

I believe we have found it easy to compartmentalize God. We tend to treat the body as an appendage and the soul as what is most important, at least as it relates to what we bring to God. Many of us have been taught a kind of duality as it relates to our bodies and souls — that the body is sinful, lustful, of the earth, while the soul is, or at least attains to be, high, noble, lofty, and of the spirit realm. It seems part of our Christian nature to place the soul over the body.

But as I read our scripture for today, I believe Paul is calling for a shift to our old beliefs. Every soul needs a body, at least for right now, and the quality of the body affects the quality of the soul. How we treat our body directly affects our soul! I dare to believe that body and soul are one — neither is greater and neither is lesser. Despite the fact that the soul is eternal, body and soul are two sides of the coin of this life.

In our scripture the Greek word used for temple is naos. This term is not the word for a pagan temple, or even for the Jewish temple structure and grounds; rather, it refers to the Holy of Holies, the most sacred place for the people of God in the Old Testament. Paul is saying that God is resident within us. Your body is God’s mailing address and God dwells in YOU!

You would never consider trashing or disrespecting a church sanctuary, or letting it fall into disrepair, right? Our bodies deserve that same type of respect. We honor God by maintaining healthy strong bodies. It is a sacred house, a dwelling place for God.

Thought for the day: Do I see my body as special and sacred?

We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the suggestions on the How to Pray page.

My thoughts (Robert Ferguson):

In our scripture today we find the disciples right in the middle of doing what Jesus had told them to do. After feeding the multitudes with bread and fish, Jesus retired to the mountainside and the disciples went down to the lake for the long journey home.

As fishermen, the disciples had worked these waters leading to Capernaum many times, but this night was different. The wind had whipped up and this had made for troubling seas.

The last time the disciples were in a boat during a storm, Jesus had been right there with them, but this time they were required to trust him without being able to have him physically present. The weather made handling the boat difficult. After hours of hard work the disciples saw Jesus walking towards them on water. At first they were afraid and thought they were seeing a spirit. Jesus, once again, brings his calming presence and says to the disciples, “It is I; do not be afraid.”

Walking this Christian walk is difficult, and at times it can be scary. Life constantly places obstacles and hurdles in our paths. I had a friend once who said that life just happens and indeed it does. I often find myself rolling along on auto pilot, believing that I am doing exactly what God has planned and out of nowhere comes an unexpected circumstance that causes me to ask God why.

It is during those most trying times when we must remember that Jesus is always close by. No need to fear, we hear Jesus say, it is I. When life’s storms reach their most tumultuous we need only reach out our hand and take the always open hand of Jesus. We may be surprised to find that he is so much closer than we ever realized.

Thought and prayer for the day: God, help me to see you in the storm I’m in today.

We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to begin, consider the guidelines on the How to Pray page.

My thoughts (Robert Ferguson):

I love what this story teaches us: that our messes can be transformed into God’s best. We see how an embarrassing problem (being ill-prepared for this grand occasion) turned into an opportunity to experience something great (the very best vintage wine, and a display of Jesus’ power). Let’s take a look at how we can learn to transform our own messes:

Notice that Jesus was an invited guest. Can you imagine throwing an event and Jesus was on the guest list? Most of us would bend over backwards trying to make sure that everything was perfect. The best of everything — linens, china, food. The wine must not only be the finest vintage, but plentiful as well. The Messiah will be in attendance and we simply must put our best face forward.

That reminds me of getting dressed on many Sunday mornings as a child. I would often ask my mother why we had to wear our best and most uncomfortable (at least to an 8 year old) clothes to church. She always said that God deserves our very best.

So the wedding was planned and all were enjoying a good time when suddenly things went horribly awry. They ran out of wine! How embarrassing! Here we have invited Jesus to our event and instead of seeing our best he is first-hand witness to our worst. What a mess! Running out of wine or food would surely send a message that a family was poor or at the very least poorly prepared for an event such as this.

We are often overly concerned about our image and we tend to hide our messes far from the judgmental eyes of society.

But Mary teaches us a valuable lesson about laying our worst messes at the feet of Jesus. She simply lays out the situation, making no plea for a resolution one way or the other. Very simply she says to Jesus, “They have no more wine.” Jesus, here is my mess. Jesus, here’s the situation. Here it is, God, the real stuff that I have tried to keep hidden.

Now observe the response from Jesus. “This does not concern us,” and “My time has not yet come.” Mary does not respond but only instructs the servants to do as they are told by Jesus.

What is the time of Jesus? What is God’s time? We want God to bless us now. We want to see healing and transformation now. It is hard to wait for God to move in God’s own time, but when our Creator does move it is powerful and always right on time.

Most importantly, we must listen for instructions and follow those instructions. Mary’s words are, “Do whatever he tells you.” If we are able to turn it over it Jesus, allow him to do what he will in his time, and listen for instructions, God is faithful to turn our messes into the finest of fine wines. The world will say, “We thought we saw the best, but truly God saved the best for last!”

Thought and prayer for the day: Lord, come into my life, take control, and instruct me. I will follow your instructions and watch as you, in your time, turn my shortcomings and embarrassments into God’s best!

We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to begin, consider the guidelines on the How to Pray page.

My thoughts (Robert Ferguson):

Just this morning as I was preparing for work I found myself in deep prayer and meditation. This occurs often as morning around my house seems to be a still and contemplative time of day. There is something about waking up to a brand new opportunity to get some things right. It is also a time to reflect on yesterday and rejoice in small victories, as well as dissect the mistakes. I ponder about what can be done today a little differently than yesterday for a better result. Anyway, it was just after I had turned on the shower that I had a very simple revelation. It didn’t exactly knock me off my feet but it was, to borrow my sister-mother-best-girlfriend Oprah’s phrase, an AH-HA moment:

God isn’t going to always just do it for you.

I believe there are times when we find ourselves afraid to move forward or afraid to try to approach a problem from a different perspective. If we are truly listening we may be able to clearly hear what it is that God is telling us to do, but because that response isn’t the response we wanted we keep praying and waiting for a miraculous never-before-seen out-of-this-world miracle. And let me tell you, God is capable of all things, but I have yet to see an employer go door to door looking for employees or money falling from the sky. There are no magic snake oil cures in a bottle and spouses rarely pop out of the TV screen ready-made to your order.

As I prayed to God this morning and asked where my financial windfall was, my Cosby perfect family portrait, and my Arnold Schwarzenegger biceps, I heard God say, you have be a partner in your blessing. As I read the scripture for today I am struck by Mary’s celebration of all that God has done and her immovable, unshakeable faith that Gods plan is at work!

I am reminded of Hebrews 11:1: Faith is the assurance of things unseen, the promise of things hoped for. The pull on our hearts from the Spirit wants to draw us closer to God than a strict “what’s in it for me” approach allows us to go. God is calling us into something deeper and much better. The thing unseen that we can be assured of, is God’s deep and committed love for us. The promise of things hoped for goes beyond what we are asking for. It includes those things, to be sure. Our requests matter to God and I believe they have an impact. But that promise goes much deeper. It is a promise to never leave us, to be more committed to our good than we are, to link with us, to love us.

Thought for the day: We are being invited to take a deep breath and relax. Realize that God has got us, and isn’t going anywhere.

We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the suggestions on the How to Pray page.

This is the third week of Advent, the Christian season of preparation for Christmas. We’re looking at some of the traditional themes of the season. This week: Hope and Joy.

Today’s scripture: Zephaniah 3:14-20 (NRSV) (The Message) (KJV) What might God be saying to me?

My thoughts (Robert Ferguson):

God is coming — look busy!

Whenever I hear that I laugh to myself. If you have ever worked in an office environment you can identify with the fear that the boss is coming to chop our heads off if we aren’t bent over our keyboards staring intently at some “life altering” project. It’s a fear based reaction that we learn early on and often we can so easily apply it to our Christian walk.

In today’s reading the prophet Zephaniah was speaking to the nation of Israel in a time of great national uncertainty. Israel was at war, losing badly and literally on the verge of being destroyed. The economy was tanking, death was everywhere around them, and peace and well-being were quickly disappearing. Exactly what was there to be joyful about? And here is the prophet saying, “Rejoice, God is here with you!”

So the idea of God being right here in our midst could be very troubling if all you have ever heard is that God’s wrath has fallen upon you. But today we are given a different image of our God.

I recently shared with a family member that I have been operating out of fear for most of this past year: fear of dying alone, fear of never finding love, fear of losing my job and fear of my health taking a turn. Fear is a powerful motivator, but it motivates fast solutions. Fear is what lands people in jobs that they don’t like in order to be sure that bills can be paid. Fear leads to boring haircuts and sensible family sedans. Fear leads to security. And while those things aren’t necessarily bad, I don’t want to be afraid of God looking into my life, entering my heart and taking over this body.

I want to be motivated by desire. Desire is much more powerful. Desire means working harder to do incredible things. I desire to be closer to God and I am anxious in this advent season for the coming of the Christ. As we prepare for Christmas day we should be mindful that being prepared for Christ has nothing to do with gifts and trees but has everything to do with preparing our hearts and minds to follow Christ! Rejoice! God is with us! 

Thought for the day: Now is the season to acknowledge, once again, that God is with us. And, if we’ve never done so, to welcome and receive God into our lives, to make room for the One with all power in heaven and on earth — the mighty warrior with a quiet voice and a loving touch, the gentle parent.

We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the suggestions on the How to Pray page.