Month: August 2016

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PWTE Daily Devotion

“Stay Focused!…Stay Focused!”

Mt. St. Helens National Monument

Keeping our eyes focused on what really matters.

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

“Brothers and sisters, I can’t consider myself a winner yet. This is what I do: I don’t look back, I lengthen my stride, and I run straight toward the goal to win the prize that God’s heavenly call offers in Christ Jesus.” 
Philippians 3:13-14 God’s Word to the Nations

The last time I visited Mount St. Helens National Monument was twenty years ago and although life was returning to devastated land, there wasn’t much vegetation. However, small trees, shrubs and wildflowers are once again reclaiming the land, and all sorts of animals benefit from this reclamation, including this Cedar Waxwing.

Mt. St. Helens National Monument
Mt. St. Helens National Monument

Berries are the favorite food of Cedar Waxwings, yet they also eat insects. There were plenty of bugs flying around this bush on Johnston Ridge. Cedar Waxwings don’t sit still for very long and are hard to photograph. I was so focused on getting a decent picture that I didn’t notice the flying bug.

I don’t know if this bug escaped, but my guess is that it didn’t. This bird was intent on capturing a delectable snack.

It’s easy for us to lose focus.

We face many distractions that keep us from focusing on the goal of God’s call on our lives. Paul understood these distractions. He knew that he had to run straight toward the goal for which God had called him. That goal is being with Christ. It is the goal of leaving sin, death, and destruction in the dust to experience the loving embrace of our ever-present God.

This bird understood his survival depended on his next meal. Joining in the heavenly feast is the only thing that truly matters.

Heavenly Father, help us stay focused on what really matters. Keep us from being distracted by the temporary that we don’t miss the eternal. Through Jesus Christ. Amen

Picture and text copyright Douglas P Brauner

 

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PWTE Daily Devotion

My Plans

I have a plan for you… God.

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

“There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.”
Proverbs 14:12

The picture with this blog features my house framer, Daniel, as he scans the blueprints of our new house.  He is trying to determine exactly how the joists and pony walls are to be laid out.

my plan photoThe plans from my architect, John, are carefully drawn and detailed.  He and his assistant, Jennifer, as well as a firm of engineers, have poured their expertise into those pages and pages of plans.  So presumably, we might end up with a great house.

Which brings us to our spiritual lesson for the day.  Do you have a carefully drawn out plan for your life?  Have you poured time and energy and education and hard work into just what you think the outcome for your life should be?

There is an old saying, “If you want to see God laugh, just tell Him your plans.”  You see, there is a way that seems right to a man (the perfect plans and expectations for a “successful” life), but its end is death.  Unless you commit your ways to the Lord, to His direction and counsel, you are headed toward nothing but… death.

All of the things that we think life should be about (financial success, fun, money, and especially me, me, me), make a terrible plan.  But God’s way, the Way of Jesus, the Way of mercy, forgiveness, giving, serving, the Way of the Cross, is all part of His plan. This plan is for good, not evil, and gives you a future and a hope.

Sometimes we have difficulty “reading” God’s plan for our life.  Unlike my framer, you and I can’t see every page of the life God has planned for you.  But you and I can see a vision of the finished plan, the plans for a new heavens and a new earth, a plan for God’s resurrected people in perfect harmony with Him and with one another.  And in those confusing places, when it seems that “this” (suffering, pain,  grief) cannot be part of God’s Master Plan, keep your eyes focused on the Architect of our plans, the One who created and redeemed you and me, and knows how every detail of your life fits perfectly in the good plan for your life.

Father, forgive me when I think I know what is best for me, when I forget to listen to Your guidance and counsel.  Thank you that you have a great plan for my life.  In the name of Jesus, Amen.

Text and Photo Copyright Steve Nickodemus

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PWTE Daily Devotion

The Neon Cross

The Cross of Christ is Light to Me!

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

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame…”
Hebrew 12:2

The red neon cross shines at the very peak of Trinity Lutheran Church, Mount Angel, Oregon.  The photo was taken on the night of Trinity’s 125th anniversary last November.

Trinity Church 47The cross was added to the church building as a memorial for a young woman who died in an auto accident in the 1950s.  It stood as a beacon for miles in the countryside and greeted many a traveling motorist in the dead of the night.

But during a time of crisis and decline at Trinity the lighted cross fell into disrepair and stopped shining for many months.  It appeared that the church might have to shut its doors.  A darkness fell over the once vibrant congregation.

Through God’s intervention, the healing grace and forgiveness of Jesus Christ reached into the hearts of Trinity’s discouraged members.  As the congregation healed from conflict and rebirthed, the cross was repaired and once again shone through the night.  With great emotion I declared to a joyful and growing congregation, “The cross shines once again.  We again have found our way!”  Not only the church members but the whole community rejoiced. The light of Jesus Christ again shone through the night!

I am reminded of the motto of my alma mater, Concordia University, Portland: “Christi Crux est mea Lux”, “The Cross of Christ is Light to me”.  In the midst of discouragement, sin, grief, and even death, the light of our Lord Jesus Christ shines upon you and me, lighting our way.  As the final verse of “Abide With Me” says so well;

“Hold thou thy cross before my closing eyes,
Shine through the gloom and point me to the skies,
Heaven’s morning breaks and earth’s vain shadows flee,
In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.”

Lord Jesus, hold your cross before my eyes.  In the midst of this world’s darkness, I look to you alone for my hope and guide.  You are my Light and my Life! Amen.

Text and Photo Copyright Steve Nickodemus