Month: June 2016

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PWTE Daily Devotion

Experiencing a Harvest in Community

One of my greatest joys is watching the community that gathers to garden at the Holy Cross community gardens.

Community is built and nourished by God.

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

Community gardens seem to be springing up in every community, many of which are sponsored by churches. This is our community garden at Holy Cross. This is a place of community.

One of my greatest joys is watching the community that gathers to garden at the Holy Cross community gardens.
One of my greatest joys is watching the community that gathers to garden at the Holy Cross community gardens.

I watched this community at work a year ago. It was a Saturday and I was working at the church. For hours that day members of the community garden took wood chips and spread them around the raised garden beds.

Who are these people? They are people from our church and from the greater community. They are people of faith and people who might not have a faith. Yet they come together for one purpose, to grow God’s garden.

This cross, planted in one of the raised beds, is a reminder to all that it is God who gives the growth.

“I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.”
1 Corinthians 3:6 English Standard Version

Whether it is physical or spiritual food it is God who provides. It is God who gives the growth.  It is God who produces the harvest.

This harvest is known in the community of God’s people. It is a harvest that is celebrated not merely by individuals, but by a community who knows that the garden belongs to God and it is God who reaps his harvest.

Text and Picture Copyright Douglas P Brauner

Categories
PWTE Daily Devotion

Nothing Permanent

“What will never go away?”

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

“The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of our God stands forever.”
Isaiah 40:8

Nothing is forever.  That is what this picture says to me today, a picture of once mighty firs, once standing tall and proud next to the river, now fallen and destroyed by the fearful force of the river.  The grass grows, flowers bloom, but within just a few days they wither, fall, and die.  Life is short and the end is always near.

photo (2)And so it is true in our lives as humans.  What is the span of our lives?  Seventy, eighty years, or even one hundred?  How quickly pass our few short days on this earth!  How quickly our lives are ended.  Is there anything that really lasts?  That you and I can count on forever?

These thoughts are often with me shortly after the death of my father.  Ninety-eight years seems a long time in human reckoning, but a short time in comparison to eternity.  How did my Dad have the courage to face death with calmness and peace in his last days? What did he have to count on as he drew his last breath, as his life and strength withered and died?

Dad had something that goes on forever.  “The word of our God stands forever.”  And that is what Dad lived and believed and relied upon every day of his life.  Although people come and go, although everything fades away, God’s Word will not fail.  God is faithful and His promises last forever.

God’s Word flows on like a mighty river, day after day pouring forth life giving, eternal nourishment and faith to our souls.  My Dad put His trust in what would never wither or fade away, in the eternal, life giving Word of God. Here, too, you and I can find eternal life, in what will never leave us, the promises of God in our Lord Jesus Christ.

“Swift to its close ebbs out life’s little day;
Earth’s joys grow dim, its glories pass away;
Change and decay in all around I see;
O Thou who changest not, abide with me.”

Text and Picture Copyright Steve Nickodemus

Categories
PWTE Daily Devotion

Stairs to Nowhere

Climbing toward real purpose.

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

These stairs survived where they led, but now they are useless. Someone worked hard to build these stairs to reach something, but that structure is gone. The stairs lead to nowhere. No one uses them. They are slowly crumbling and will eventually return to dust. No one will remember they existed.Steps to nowhere

We build things every day in life—bank accounts, spreadsheets, buildings, social circles, engines, children’s toys. We feel we have failed if we haven’t built enough—but it’s never enough.  We are obsessed with failing—always searching for the steps that will lead us to our idea of success.

Evangelist and publisher D.L. Moody said, “Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at something that doesn’t really matter.”

“Learn to do good. Seek justice.
Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans. Fight for the rights of widows.”
Isaiah 1:17 New Living Translation

Every step that leads to God and builds His kingdom—encouraging others, caring for widows and children in poverty, the homeless, our neighbors—those are the steps God desires we should build. They will never lead to nowhere. They will never crumble. They will never turn to dust.

“If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly. Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other.”
Romans 12:8-10 New Living Translation

Copyright text and picture Desiree Bustamante