My thoughts (John Seksay):

How often we set out on a course of action with the best of intentions! We think we have the insight and skill to make our lives flourish. I can succeed at this career; I can make this relationship work; my plan is foolproof and the goal is within reach!

When I was finishing high school, I was clueless about my purpose in life. My parents always emphasized that I was supposed to go to college, so I would. My grades were quite good — more to stay out of trouble at home than from any aspiration or calling. I just wanted to get away from home! I had the grades, but no real plan. Scrambling at the last minute, one of my teachers assisted me in getting a scholarship grant for $200. Wow. That might cover the first semester’s books.

My mother suggested that I look into medical training programs. She had become a dietary supervisor in a hospital and said there were work opportunities there. Wonder of wonders, the hospital near us offered a program in X-Ray Technology lasting 2 years. The cost: $200 in tuition up front. So, a month after graduation I embarked on a two-year journey into learning a skill to earn money for college, while living at home. At the end of the two years I was able to graduate and pass the licensure tests. I would alternate working to earn some funds and attending a college that offered the best scholarship support!

But then an odd thing happened: I quit school to work in 1970, having completed two years of schooling over a three-year period. I still wasn’t sure what I “wanted to be.” I was declared draft-eligible and went into the Marine Corps Reserve. I found work at home in X-Ray that would allow me to be self-supporting. I could return to school once this war calmed down.

Then an odder thing happened: I realized that in my pursuit of college funding, I already had a working career in the medical field! I never did go back to college to finish the degree. I got married instead (a whole ‘nother story!)  and worked in my chosen career path and found ways to move forward with self-study and on-the-job training.

Then the oddest thing happened: I transitioned over to ultrasound, a diagnostic skill that I enjoyed far more than conventional x-ray. As I expanded my skills in this area, I eventually crossed over to the commercial side, traveling about the country training others on the use of their equipment. I even visited Canada and Europe during these years! I wasn’t the confused kid who had no sense of purpose any more. Had you told that geeky high-school introvert that he would be traveling the world and hobnobbing with luminary educators in medicine, he would have said you were crazy!

I gained some perspective on this path when I took the SoulShift classes at church. In doing my spiritual inventory, I saw that I had several strong gifts. Among them were qualities, like teaching, that naturally supported the work I was eventually doing! The more my activities centered on these spiritual gifts, the better my life became!

I had spent quite some time wandering around trying to follow the rules of worldly success and made wasteful mistakes on the way. Spiritually, I was farming my life for the wrong crops. I needed to become God’s garden, bearing the fruit God set within.

Thought for the day: What am I sowing in my life today? Do I know what my spiritual seeds are?

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 (Steve Adams):

A beautiful song from an album my friend Sharon was playing on the stereo filled the room with rich, earthy sounds and introspective lyrics. It was the first Dan Fogelberg album I’d ever heard, and, in the next few months as we often listened to it, a certain obscure line kept sticking in my head. It didn’t appear until the middle of the six-minute-long song, but it was repeated as the last phrase, posing a profound closing thought:

And maybe there are seasons,
And maybe they change
And maybe to love is not so strange

That was many years ago, and since then God has removed many blockades from my life that prevented me from loving more fully. It strikes me, though, how often my mind still whispers to me, “It would be just plain weird to love in this situation, so just don’t do it! Maybe later, but not now!”

When we’re:

• feeling isolated and alone
• afraid, or just unsure about things
• angry and unforgiving toward someone
• overwhelmed
• feeling ashamed
• in disagreement with somebody

. . .we fall under the illusion that to love would be the oddest thing in the world!

And yet, at those times when we’re:

• seeing life from a spiritual perspective
• moved with compassion to help someone in need
• in union with and focused on God
• peaceful
• giving or receiving love from someone else
• admiring the good qualities in another person. . .

. . .to love is the most natural thing in the world! These situations enable us to see that love is absolutely natural and right — that it’s living out the essence of what our Creator is!

It seems that when my fears increase, it’s because I either have had a high stress level for a long period of time, or I haven’t been focusing enough on God by spending time in prayer and meditation, and therefore failing to soak up God’s thoughts and perspective. Since God is love, and perfect love casts out fear, then spending time with God never fails to substantially decrease my fears. It works that way for all of us, doesn’t it? This is why the “Q” (Quiet Time) Block of LifeJourney’s Soul Care Plan is so important to me.

Jesus had many situations when love seemed very odd indeed — at least to those who didn’t understand him. How strange did it seem to some when he healed the man with the withered hand on the Sabbath, forgave the adulterous woman, raised Lazarus from the dead, healed the gay centurion’s beloved slave, and forgave those who crucified him? But Jesus knew it wasn’t, showing the world he was designed to do what God is — love! And so are we!

Thought for the day: The more I immerse myself in God’s nature, the more natural loving becomes.

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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 (Lynnette Pullen):

It seems that there are reality shows on every television station these days. I typically don’t watch them but I heard about one recently that caught my interest. The premise is about people who have “flat-lined” or died. . . and come back. These people have had an experience that caused them to be clinically dead, however were revived shortly after. These people claim to have afterlife experiences in which some encounter God. I must admit, I watch this show regularly and am often so engaged I find myself holding my breath at times. One afternoon, I was deeply engaged in this show while a young man was telling his experience.

This young man says that he had a very brief encounter in heaven. He had been electrocuted and his heart and lungs were no longer functioning. He realized he was dead and was in God’s presence. All of a sudden, he heard God speak his name. He equated it to thunder speaking. Then as quickly as he passed he was revived. As I heard this story, and quite to my surprise, I started to cry. Not a quiet tear shed either, a big, sobbing, heaving cry.

I had no idea what had come over me. I knew they were tears of sadness but I couldn’t figure out why. I was so embarrassed I didn’t tell my family, but it bugged me. After some time, I realized that I was deeply fearful that God didn’t know my name, and more specifically that God didn’t know me. I think in the deepest part of my heart I wondered if I was invisible to God like I seem to be to other people in this world. I mean, God is. . . well, “God.” And I am one of billions. I am one drop in a vast ocean. I expressed my grief to God and these verses were laid upon my heart:

Your eyes saw my body even before it was formed.
You planned how many days I would live.
You wrote down the number of them in your book
before I had lived through even one of them.
God, your thoughts about me are priceless.
No one can possibly add them all up.
If I could count them,
they would be more than the grains of sand.
If I were to fall asleep counting and then wake up,
you would still be there with me.

Prayer for the day: God, sometimes this world can make us feel invisible and forgotten. It is a scary feeling to think you do not know us — our thoughts, our fears, our joys and aspirations. Yet your word says that you know us intimately. Please send us signs to remind us of how much you care for us. Help us to remember the love you have for us and teach us to show that love to each other. Amen.

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):

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.

My thoughts (Melody Merida):

Have you ever heard the story of the Hebrew hero named Judith? If you haven’t, it’s no surprise. The book of Judith is a little known Apocryphal book that didn’t make into the final cut of the Protestant Bible for some reason, but is sacred none the less. It is a book about a heroic woman who saved the Israelite people during a time of desperation. Here is a bit of her story.

Judith’s setting is a little town in the region of Samaria called Bethulia where the Assyrian enemy had set up an assault to take the town for their king, Nebuchadnezzar. After enduring the assault for some time, the Bethulians saw no choice but to surrender and become slaves to Nebuchadnezzar. As one final act of hope the people decide to wait for five more days and in the hopes that God would deliver them within their time limit.

News of that decision reached a godly widow named Judith who felt God call her to deliver her people from the Assyrians. She confronted Uzziah, a town official who hatched the “five day plan,” and reproached the people who had tried to put God in a box with deadlines and limits. Her words to Uzziah and the men of Behulia were included in chapter 8, today’s reading.

Judith’s act of challenging the ideas of the male community leaders was so brave that it alone should warrant our respect; but what she said in her challenge is even better! “Who are you to put God to the test today, and to set yourselves up in the place of God in human affairs?” She goes on to say something like, “Did you really put God on a time limit? What do you think you are doing? You don’t even understand the workings of the human mind or the human heart and yet you dare to put God, who created all of humanity, in a tiny little box to meet your demands?”

Judith understood something that it seems the officials in the town did not — God’s ways are beyond us and it is futile for us to put limits and boundaries around God. Instead, what God longs for is our complete surrender, our trust in the divine love which is greater than any force humanity has ever known. Putting God in a box only serves to limit the possibilities of that divine love.

Judith fought against the decision of the people and, in doing so, broke through to a deeper understanding of what God could do in their midst. Because they followed Judith’s plan, the Bethulian people defeated the Assyrians and were saved from slavery. Judith knew how to fight like a girl by surrendering to an uncontainable God!

What about you? When was the last time you surrendered to your uncontainable God?

Thought for the day: Take the Judith challenge: Keep God out of the box, remove the limits you’ve placed on divine love, and watch what miracles will unfold!

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 (Keith Phillips):

I’ve always been a “me-and-Jesus” kind of guy. Over the toilet where I can see it first thing every morning is the following prayer: “Lord, help me to remember that nothing is going to happen today that you and I together can’t handle.”

However, recently my son, Geoffrey, who’s a low functioning 25 year old with autism, moved into a group home. For the past twelve years he has lived with his mother, spending every other weekend with me. We tried to prepare him, but he never quite understood.

The day of the move, a Friday, was horrible for him. He was left alone in the hands of strangers, and he didn’t want to be there. This generally mild child was hitting, scratching, biting, screaming. Each time I called, the report was more dismal; and I heard him in the background repeatedly shouting my address and “Go home!” and his mother’s address and “Go home!” (The ex-wife was so traumatized that she insists she remembers nothing of those first two days.) My heart broke. There was nothing I could do for him. I was absolutely helpless.

In the midst of that, I wanted to be comforted, but friends I can usually count on were out of town. I went through my phone’s address book and came up with reasons why each one could not be there for me. I felt utterly alone.

I remember thinking, “Is this pain, which is like nothing I’d felt before, what God felt when Jesus was handed over on that other Friday?” Then I tumbled into the abyss. For the first time in my life I felt truly hopeless. Could it be that the God who assured me that we were doing the right thing was just a voice in my head? What if this not only doesn’t work out for Geoffrey, but it completely destroys him? At that moment I was helpless, alone, and without hope.

“My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?” and I connected with Jesus’ crucifixion in a manner more real than Mel Gibson will ever know. I was absolutely devastated. Friday and all day Saturday was a descent into hell. I had no way of knowing what would happen. I did know, though, that there were friends who had promised to pray for Geoffrey, and for me.

Sunday’s early morning report was the first good news we’d had. Geoffrey had finally slept peacefully through the night and was infinitely more calm. Since then, it’s been a positive, new journey for him, much like a resurrection. Two weeks later I was able to be with him for a Friday and Saturday. He recognizes his new home and is settling in. Thanks be to God!

Thought for today: Some things I can do nothing about, even with God’s help. How grateful I am that God then will take over completely and transform the worst into something new.

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.