Today’s scripture: What might God be saying to me?

2 Samuel 6:5
David and all the house of Israel were dancing before the Lord with all their might, with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals.

Ephesians 5:18b-20
Be filled with the Spirit, as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

My thoughts (Melody Merida):

I love music! I mean, I really LOVE music. (My name is Melody, after all.) Music has the power to move me in unexplainable ways. When we’re sad, sometimes the best therapy can be singing along with a great country ballad. When we’re happy, there is nothing like an upbeat rock anthem to put us over the top! Music has the power to act as both a healing elixir and a joyful expression.

But I haven’t always felt this connection to music. Growing up I believed that most music was sinful — particularly music with heavy drum beats and loud guitar riffs! Anything outside the bounds of conservative gospel music was off limits for fear that it would pull me away from God. That meant that even Christian music staple Amy Grant was taboo because her music was too much like pop music. These strict guidelines didn’t leave many options for me musically.

Based on that information, you can better imagine my surprise when I found myself smack dab in the middle of a Christ encounter while listening to music by an artist named Jennifer Knapp. Yes, it’s true that her music is labeled Christian music; but she is not the type of Christian musician I grew up listening to! When I first heard her song, “Hold Me Now”, it was as if Jesus and I were having this intimate conversation. For several minutes I just listened over and over again while I experienced such phenomenal connection to God. It was awesome!

This experience and others like it (Indigo Girls concerts, dancing in the living room to the music of Sugarland, dancing with the people of Sudan to all types of music, finding comfort in the heart-wrenching lyrics of a Patty Griffin song) remind me that I serve a God who delights in variety. There are no limits to the ways God can communicate with us. So, why do so many of us continue to think so narrowly about how to grow in Jesus Christ?

Our church offers classes where we study several “building blocks” that can help us live up to our spiritual potential. One of the blocks we suggest is a question mark. This isn’t because we ran out of worthy ideas; it is intentional. Why? Because we all have different ways that we can make a Christ connection — one size doesn’t fit all.

Music happens to be my question mark block, but I recognize that it might not be yours. That’s okay. The important thing is to find the things that work for you.

Thought for the day: What is it that brings you into the presence of Jesus Christ? Let that become a part of your plan for soul growth.

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

Today’s scripture: 2 Corinthians 9:6-12 (NRSV) (The Message) (KJV) What might God be saying to me?

My thoughts (Lynnette Pullen):

Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion for God loves a cheerful giver. 2 Corinthians 9:7

I have the wonderful opportunity to meet many different people in my line of work. After an injury or illness, I go to my patients’ homes and help them set and achieve goals to return to a normal and healthy life.

One lady I met turned out to be a living breathing example of the “Cheerful Giver.” Her home is small and simple. She was on a budget so tight she had to watch literally every penny so she’d have enough to purchase basic items like soap and toilet paper. She struggled with her illness and could only work sporadically.

I asked her what she would like to accomplish with our time together, and she told me that she wanted to get strong enough to go back to work part time. She went on to explain that while assistance would pay for rent and food, she still wanted to do as much as she could for herself. “If I work then I get to put five or even ten dollars in the offering plate!” She stood there, proud, face beaming and grinning from ear to ear. The words struck me, get to, not have to or even want to. To her, giving was a privilege, an honor, and a joy. Wow. She redefined my idea of a cheerful giver and gave me a goal to work toward.

I’ve never thought of giving as a privilege or an honor. I’ve always been happy to do it and have always been taught that I am supposed to do it. But I never really thought of it as something I get to do. I get to have weekends off and I get to go the salon twice a month. I never realized that when I give, I get to give.

I think mostly we think “I give to get.” I don’t mean that selfishly, but scripturally. We give because we are taught that generosity is a biblical principle. While that is true and good, what she taught me was that giving is from the heart. While we get many benefits from giving to God, the act alone is something to look forward to and enjoy.

Thank You, Lord, for giving me this example of a “Cheerful Giver.”

Thought for the day: When I give, am I cheerful? Do I have to, want to, or get to?

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

Today’s scripture: Matthew 20:20-28 (NRSV) (The Message) (KJV) What might God be saying to me?

My thoughts (Ben Lamb):

I’m not sure who I most want to yell at: Mrs. Zebedee, or her two brats who comprise nearly 17% of Jesus’ band of disciples. Here she thinks she can put on the act of looking “churchy” for Jesus and hoodwink him into granting her wish. And to top it off, her grown-up kids (who have been with Jesus for nearly three years) think they all can jointly pull off this kooky stunt.

I’m no mind reader, but I’d venture a guess that Jesus might have been thinking:

• “I am really hurt that they think I’m a vending machine. ‘Step right up, folks. Put in your coins, indicate what you want, and the Son of God is obligated to grant it’.”
• “They’ve been around me, following, listening — and they still don’t understand?! What have they been doing all this time?”
• “This will be a learning opportunity to impart some more information of things to come.”

While smugly congratulating myself on the pearls of wisdom that I’d gleaned from this passage, my feet suddenly began to hurt. I looked down. It felt as though somebody (or Somebody) was stepping on them. But why? Uh-oh. A series of thoughts began to flash through my own mind:

• When was the last time that I filled my prayers with more praise and adoration time than a shopping list of “gimme” time?
• Do I make it a practice to help others whether or not I receive a bunch of notice? Am I just as happy to serve in a non-glitzy capacity as I am in a high-profile setting?
• How often do I recall the portion of today’s Scripture: “…the Son of Man came not to be waited on but to serve, and to give His life…”? How often do I put it into practice as I try to “be Jesus” for the rest of the world?

Thought for the day: Jesus has told us that we’re his agents here on earth. He depends on me and you to provide service to others, and to give from out of our lives to others until he returns once again. In this interim period, the Holy Spirit will provide us with all of the assistance and strength we need to carry out Jesus’ wishes.

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

Today’s scripture: John 14:12-18 (NRSV) (The Message) (KJV) What might God be saying to me?

My thoughts (Tommy Chittenden):

So just what is this Holy Spirit, this Comforter, this Advocate that lives within us?

And what is the connection between me, the Holy Spirit, my Soul Care Plan and “practicing the presence of Christ”?

I offer this solely based on how I personally see and have experienced the interconnection of it all. I think it’s worth considering.

Once upon a non-time, God, in all God’s Glory, extended and created a Child — that would be you. Eventually God’s Child, an aspect of God, a part of the whole, had the thought that it could do something “on its own”, that somehow it could be separate from the whole. In that instant, the ego came into being, which is ultimately just a way of thinking that supports us in believing that we are separate from the whole. That is all the ego is, and the only purpose it fulfills is the constant reminder of the illusion that this piece of God is separate from its Oneness, that there is no Oneness, and that it is on its own.

As God noticed this aspect of itself holding this thought and saw the ego coming alive to reinforce that thought, God manifest God’s self as the Holy Spirit, not as a counter to the ego, but as a cure — to hold Truth within the mind as well, so that either would be available at any given time. There cannot be the opposite to what does not exist, but there can be a Truth to prove the nonexistence of what is not, and that is the relationship of the Holy Spirit to the ego.

God understood that at some point the Child would tire of the thought that it is separate from the whole, and when it did, it would have this inner Resource to gently guide it back to the Truth of Its Oneness — the still small voice.

The ego’s full-time job is to convince you that you are on your own, alone, roaming the world, and that you are never truly connected, united or one with anything. You may be born into a family, and yet that family will come and go. You may enter into a marriage, and that marriage may come and go. You may have children, and they too will come and go. You are never at One with anything, no matter what you do to try to attain that….the ego may even discourage you from having unity with your family, a true sense of unity with your marriage or a deep connection with your children to reaffirm your aloneness and separation.

The Holy Spirit is patient and vigilant in reminding us of our Oneness. It won’t intrude upon your dream, attempting to wake you before your sleep is done, but it never leaves your side, watching over you, loving you, and in countless ways prompting you to remember “Who you are” and your connection with All That Is. By manifesting as the Holy Spirit, God provided a way to bring God’s Voice into each Child as they went out into the world.

Little by little, as you hear, recognize, and understand God’s Voice in different ways — through your thinking, correcting a thought with this Voice, recognizing this Voice in another, sharing this Voice with a friend — God’s Voice is brought into the world as we intentionally practice the presence of Christ.

God loves us so much that God wanted you, God’s Child, to always know that you are safe, loved, and whole. The Holy Spirit ensures that we will always know these things. This gift cannot be taken from the Child of God. It is in every one of us! It is but for us to remember and live as One!

Thought for the day: With deep gratitude, God, I acknowledge that I am not alone or orphaned, but connected to You and with One Another. Thank you, Holy Spirit, for helping me to wake up from my dream and remember who I am and why I am here — experiencing the joy of the Presence of Christ every moment, every day!

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

Today’s scripture: Mark 1:14-20 (NRSV) (The Message) (KJV) What might God be saying to me?

My thoughts (Theresa Benson):

I just love the TV show Clean House. People write to the show, desperate because they are buried under clutter — and I’m not talking a little paper here and there, or a messy room that can be cleaned in a weekend.

These are mounds of emotional drama in the form of stuff, including “family heirlooms” like a rusty coat of arms, jukeboxes that haven’t worked since 1986, a photocopier sitting in the middle of the dining room covered with dust and dishes, or mounds of clothes (two sizes too small) draped all over the living room in must-save piles for that “just-in-case” moment when they might actually fit again.

The premise is simple — the Clean House team comes in and works with the homeowners to sell their clutter in a yard sale, and they take the proceeds from the sale and make over the rooms, organizing the homeowners and coaching them on ways to keep their homes more orderly and calm.

What is most amazing to me is how desperately the homeowners want to hang on to the most useless (and often ugly) things!

Their clutter is causing them pain, frustration, and stress. In some cases, they can’t invite friends and family over because they literally can’t get the front door open. They can’t find the peace and comfort they should in their home, but they panic at the thought of handing over some of their “stuff” to the yard sale.

I’ve seen grown men get upset over letting go of Arsenio Hall Show mugs; one guy called his “Keg-er-ator” his ‘baby’ (much to the chagrin of his pregnant fiancée); and one woman, who desperately needed a room for her two year old (who had been sleeping in the master bedroom since birth because the nursery had become a storage space) almost refused to give up any of her down jackets — and she lives in Los Angeles!

If it’s this difficult to let go of the junk of the past and embrace a happier, more serene future — when you’ve literally called someone for help and the cameras are rolling — imagine what it must have been like to be at work one day, and have Someone come up and say, “Hey, drop what you’re doing and follow Me.”

But these first disciples did, didn’t they? Here’s what I see when I read this:

They were just Average Joe fishermen when they made the decision to change their lives by following Jesus.

Implication: I’m the queen of waiting until the first of the year, the first of the month, or at least a Monday to start a new diet, to start walking more, to stop biting my nails — you name it. But God doesn’t care when it is when we decide to invest ourselves in spiritual matters — God’s ready whenever you are.

They weren’t in the middle of a crisis when this all happened.

Implication: Maybe we don’t need to wait until things are terrible to make a decision to move in a more positive direction.

Jesus didn’t ask them to completely change who they were in order to follow Him — they were fishermen, and so he asked them to take skills they already understood and leverage them as part of His ministry.

Implication: There is a reason for each of us to be here, and our journey, no matter how unique or how seemingly mundane, can be used for God’s purposes.

Jesus didn’t expect Simon and Andrew to just automatically know how to be fishers of people — he offers to teach them how.

Implication: When you take a step in a positive direction in your life, trust that you’ll be given the tools you need to succeed.

Simon, Andrew, James and John all left something behind to follow Jesus.

Implication: There still might be something we’re hanging on to that’s preventing us from taking that next step in our walk with God. It might be something as small as hanging on to those nine extra SNOOZE minutes each morning, or it could be an addiction we’re functioning with — but we’ve stopped thriving. What are you hanging on to that’s keeping you where you are instead of freeing you up to get where you want to go?

Thought for the day: If Jesus were to show up at your office today and say, “Come, follow Me,” would you? Are you ready to let go and see what’s next?

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

Today’s scripture: Mark 10:28-31 (NRSV) (KJV) (The Message) What might God be saying to me?

My thoughts (Julie Benson):

When I resigned over three years ago as Minister of Worship (after more than ten years at Jesus MCC) and withdrew from all of my extracurricular music activities to begin a new career, it created quite a stir of questions from friends and colleagues. “How can you throw away the musical gifts God has given you — not to mention the education you paid for?” “Is there something that upset you that is making you quit?” “Why would you choose a field so different from your current skill set?” “Do you realize you will be disappointing many people?”

It was my love for God that caused me to carry out my church duties with thoughtfulness and sincerity. Every component of worship that was under my purview was carefully crafted and I ended up becoming a worship and music critic at home and away. I examined the flow of the service. I observed the presentation. I watched body language. I timed each element. I scrutinized the congregational response — the nods, the smiles, the laughter, even the tears. Instead of being a model of worship, as my title would suggest, I felt like I was the opposite because of these distractions.

Participating in church and in my other music organizations was not a ME experience. I felt like I was serving God and serving my community with the gifts I had been blessed with. But what I realized is that my personal relationship with God suffered. I spent so much time doing things FOR God that I wasn’t spending enough time WITH God. This doesn’t mean I wasn’t reading scripture or praying, or that I wasn’t taking discipleship classes or authentically lifting up my music for God’s glory. I was following Christ and trying to live as a disciple. But it wasn’t enough.

God was speaking to me and calling me into a new time and a new place to learn more about myself, more about God, and to renew our relationship together. Fear and doubt could have stopped me. Familiarity and comfort could have turned me back around. The desire to “have it my way” and to garner the respect of my peers could have left me blinded.

The transition into the wilderness of truck driving was, admittedly, challenging. I missed music: singing, playing, listening, and bonding with the Spirit in a worship environment. I missed teaching. I missed leading. I missed the fellowship. I missed Pastor Jeff’s jokes (well, maybe not so much). There were some tough days out on the road when I grieve lost jobs, mourn my music community, and distress about difficult-to-maintain friendships.

Ironically, in a varied sense of this passage’s meaning, I have long felt I was, in many regards, “first”: a leader, a teacher, knowledgeable in my field, a well-regarded musician, and experienced with success. But being out on the road made me feel “last”: a follower, a student, a rookie, an unknown, and experienced with failures that come with the learning process.

Now, I’m not suggesting you quit your job, give up your church ministry, live like a hermit, or give up your passion for chocolate. But ask yourself: Are you mapping out a plan for your life? Do you know where you want to be in ten years? I did. But God is funny. God will call us anytime and anywhere. We may have to scale down our possessions. We may have to switch jobs. We may have to move across the country. We may have to go back to school. We may have to learn how to live waaaaay outside the box. We will have to learn humility, patience, and the practice of self-sacrifice because when God calls, we must answer. This is what it means to be a follower of Christ.

Thought for the day: Do you know exactly where you’re going? What would you do if God asks for a “course correction”?

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