Month: October 2016

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PWTE Daily Devotion

The Autumn of our Lives

A new life in Christ awaits!

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

“For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay.

For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time.  And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering.

We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us.”
Romans 8:19-23 New Living Translation

aspen-storm

Fall is my favorite season. I love the changing of the colors, the cooler temperatures, the fallen leaves under my feet. Yet fall, even though it is beautiful, is really preparation for the decay of creation and death that comes with winter. The Romans passage declares that the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay.

We are living in our own fall season on this earth. We experience sin and suffering, and long for the future glory and the new life Christ has promised us. Yet we have that promise now!  Christ Jesus rose from the dead, making us His children who have inherited a life with Him for all eternity. We look forward to joining Him in that new life! Until that season arrives, praise God in this season for His blessings!

“I long, yes, I faint with longing to enter the courts of the Lord.
With my whole being, body and soul, I will shout joyfully to the living God.”
Psalm 84:2 New Living Translation

Text and photo copyright Desiree Bustamante

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PWTE Daily Devotion

Seeing the World Upside-Down

God’s grace changes the way we see the world.

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

oct-08-98Okay, so this isn’t the greatest picture. I’ve struggled to capture a White-breasted Nuthatch when it’s busily scampering the bark for bugs. I haven’t seen many of these birds this year, so it was a delight when this bird showed up. Quickly grabbing my ever-present camera, I knew I didn’t have much time to capture this bird. This is the best picture I took and “best” is a relative word.

A characteristic of the Nuthatch is that it often hunts for insects upside-down. It hops along tree trunks vertically and horizontally in quick movements, catching spiders and other bugs off guard.

Paul invites us to see the world from an upside-down position.

“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” 
Romans 12:2 New Living Translation

In the same way that the Nuthatch doesn’t attack its prey upright like Woodpeckers, so we attack life differently because of God’s activity in our lives. We live life upside-down.

God is the one who transforms our way of thinking. He turns us upside-down. In fact, God turned the world upside-down by entering our bug-filled world of sin and dying that we might live.

Because God has turned us upside-down we see tragedy, pain, and suffering from a new perspective. We hear the word of God which tells us that all things work together for good for those who love God, that is, for those people who are called according to God’s plan (Romans 8:28).

When God turns our world upside-down, it doesn’t mean that the world has changed, but that we see that world from the new perspective of God’s love for us in Jesus.

Lord Jesus Christ, as you turned the world upside-down, change our perspective on life that we might reflect your presence. Amen.

Text and Picture copyright Douglas P Brauner

 

Categories
PWTE Daily Devotion

It Takes a Leaf to Make a Forest

Each one of us adds beauty to the Body of Christ

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

“Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other.”
Romans 12:4 New Living Translation

The aspen leaves are falling in the forests of Colorado. Most of the aspen groves that have attracted thousands of souls are losing their leaves. The fall colors don’t last long in the Rockies, but they’re spectacular at their peak. These aspen groves each have their unique colors. Most are yellow and orange, but there are hints of red and pink as well.

oct-07-98Each one of these groves is made up of individual leaves. I was on my belly looking at the leaves that had fallen from the aspen at Lutheran Valley Ranch when this one leaf caught my attention. I separated it from other leaves and posed it like I would a high school senior on a photo shoot. Though different in color and markings from other leaves, this leaf was important.

A grove of aspen trees is beautiful because of the collection of individual leaves. Remove some of the leaves and the forest isn’t as beautiful.

We are God’s forest. The Bible refers to this forest as the Body of Christ. In the same way that each leaf is important to the beauty of the forest, every baptized person is important to Christ’s body.

Too often we determine our importance by what we DO in this body not our STATUS. That’s how life works on this planet. We have value because of what we bring to the table. This is not how Christ’s body works. Our value is in who we’ve been declared to be. We are the children of God because of what Christ has done for us. Your value and my value is not in our doing but in our being.

And because we are in Christ, each one of us adds to the beauty his body.

Text and Picture copyright Douglas P Brauner