Month: November 2016

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PWTE Daily Devotion

Living Water in the Land of the Dying

Tincup, Colorado Copyright Douglas P Brauner

Jesus is our life-giving water even in death.

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.
“Jesus replied, ‘Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again.
But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again.
It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.'”
John 4:13-14 New Living Translation

A few years ago I made my first trip to Tincup, Colorado (and hopefully not my last). It’s not necessarily an easy trip from Colorado Springs.  There are no paved roads that lead to Tincup. There are few people who live here, especially in the winter. Yet, at one time it was a busy mining community. Evidence of how many people lived here are the number of headstones in the city cemetery.

Tincup, Colorado Copyright Douglas P Brauner
Tincup, Colorado
Copyright Douglas P Brauner

There are four knolls that make the Tincup cemetery unique: the Protestant Knoll, the Catholic Knoll, the Jewish Knoll, and Boot Hill where the non-religious were buried.

This little stream runs through the midst of these four knolls. I see a picture of Jesus in this small stream.

Buried at the Tincup cemetery are both Christians and non-Christians. Some of the people buried here drank deeply of Jesus and others rejected his life-giving blood. Both died, but not all are dead. Those who drank of Christ enjoy life even in death.

Death is painful. I’m sure that the soil of these graves absorbed many tears. Some of you have cried these same tears.

Jesus was not a stranger to death.  He was buried in his grave, a grave that felt the tears of those who loved him.  However, he is alive and has promised eternal life to all who hold on to him by faith.

Like that water that continually runs through this cemetery, the love of Christ continues to run through the lives of those who have died in Christ.

Text and Picture Copyright Douglas P Brauner

Categories
PWTE Daily Devotion

Kayak Spirituality – Part 3

Ready to Float!

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

Our son Andrew was more experienced than I with fiberglass.  It was comforting to have Andrew present the first few times mixing epoxy and hardener.

november-04Don’t be fooled in your spiritual journey by assumptions about the experience or expertise of others based on age.   The comfort such company provides is a real blessing.  Don’t be closed to the experience of others just because it comes from a different Christian perspective.  I have been blessed by younger Christians, my children included.  I have Christian brothers and sisters from across the Christian family.  We have learned much from one another, and we share a common love for Jesus and a strong desire to follow Him in significant spiritual practices.

I finally began constructing the kayak.  In short order, something was wrong.  The panel pieces were clearly marked “Left” and “Right”.  I mixed them up with the first two panels.  I thought I had been careful.  Once corrected, everything was good.  The kayak went together as it should have.  I checked and double-checked every step.

The simple things count in matters of Christian spiritual practices as well.  Don’t skip steps, don’t yearn after ‘significant’ practices as if the power of simple prayer isn’t significant, or as if the practices of regular Scripture reading and devotion won’t grow one as a disciple of Christ.  Attend the obvious things of life in the Spirit, of devotion, to Christ.

It is also important to seek counsel in our spiritual practices.  Ask for prayer.  Pray for others.  Practice the community we have as the body of Christ.  God calls us into a personal faith, but not a lonely faith.

One of the reasons I took four months to start building my kayak was that I was afraid I’d fail.  It’s an issue I deal with still today.  Perhaps it’s my ‘thorn in the flesh’.  Don’t be afraid to pray, to devote time to Scripture, to meditate and contemplate the Word, to grow in Christ.  You cannot fail.  The Lord is building your boat of faith, and He is sailing with you.

Text and Picture, Copyright Don Schatz

Categories
PWTE Daily Devotion

Kayak Spirituality – Part 2

Time, Place and Manual.

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

I purchased my kayak kit in February.  I learned that for epoxy and fiberglass, a minimum temperature of 55° is necessary.  I had an unheated garage.  I was forced to wait a couple months to begin building.  The wait became nearly four months as I just didn’t get around to starting.  Once started, the space in the garage was limited and more cramped than would have been optimal.

november-03If you have not started a discipline of intentional spiritual practices, the time to start is now.  No one time of the year is required!  The time of day may be a different matter.  Especially at the beginning, it can be helpful to be disciplined about the time of day for Bible Study, meditation, prayer and other devotional activities.  Such “programming” can help to ingrain the habit of these practices.   The danger can be a slavishness to such regularity at the expense of spiritual serendipity.

Place is also important to one’s spiritual practices.  One wants an appropriate place.  If engaging in silence or solitude, choose a place and space conducive to these practices.  You need a place to be away from people and space that is free from extraneous noises.  You may go for a walk in a place where you can be alone.  Furniture should be comfortable enough to allow you to focus on the prayer or meditation, but not so comfortable as to induce sleep.

I waited before building my kayak, I read the manual — three or four times.  Some things I understood immediately.   Other things took several readings for understanding to come.

How similar it is with spiritual practices.  Being “in the Word” is critical.  There is such blessing from reading the Scriptures.  God attaches Himself to His Word. He comes to us in the reading and study of it.  The Holy Spirit opens our minds, hearts and souls.  He teaches us the things of Christ, the mind and will of God.  We grow in our desire for communion with the living God.

Text and Picture, Copyright Don Schatz