9-3-2018

Good Morning All,

        Isaiah 32:18; “My people will abide in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places”.      

      I often hear people tell me how they need to get away for a while.  They need a break and they need to rest and recharge.  I recently read where if you are having trouble sleeping, research seems to point to going camping for a week and to be sure and leave ALL your electronic devices home.  This helps to reset our natural clock and the rhythm of normal sleep patterns.  As technologically connected as we are, it can, and often does, disrupt our life patterns and rhythms.  If your life patterns and rhythms are disrupted enough, it can have a detrimental impact on your health. 

    So it is interesting that Isaiah picks up on this.  Notice in our verse he lists three events or places for us, as God’s children to be.  First we will abide in peaceful habitation.  Here we can see the relationship that we have with God is no longer one where we are the adversary or enemy of God but that God has declared peace with us through Jesus.  We live in peace with God.  We no longer hide from God; he draws us into his loving arms.

    Since we are no longer an enemy of God, he surrounds us with his love.  This is what the psalmist meant about us “hiding in the shadow of your wings.”  Just like the young chick is kept safe and secure all nestled into the wings of the hen so to we are secure in our dwelling which finds its place in God’s grace.

    So we have a peaceful and secure place to live.  We dwell (set up camp) in the safety of God’s mercy.  This is where we are always safe and at peace; living in God’s mercy.  Yet even then, we face struggles every day.  The devil attacks every moment of every day.  It takes many forms; pressure on our time, pressure on the views of the world, pressure about worries about health or wealth or personal relationships.  God helps us deal with this but, just like Jesus, sometimes we need a quiet place to go and pray and rest.

    So we too, need a place to go and pray and rest in the Lord.  As difficult as it is, we need to take some time and rest in God’s presence.  We need to take some time, find a quiet spot, read a little Scripture and then take time and pray.  This can help you rest just as much as the vaunted power nap, maybe even more.  It rests our bodies but it nourishes our souls.  It revitalizes our spirit to make us whole.

    So find a spot, a favorite chair, a bench in the park (it might need to be warmer, but it will be), a seat on the deck; someplace where you can tune out the noise of the world, focus on God’s Word and rest in his mercy.  Take time to listen to God and to speak to God; it is here where we find our resting place.

Father of mercy, in a world that offers no place of safety or rest, you are our shield, our hope and our home.  Guide us to find rest in your arms.  Hide us in the shadow of your grace filled wings.  Be with those who have no peace.  Send your Holy Spirit to strengthen and comfort them.  Be with us gracious Lord.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret    

9-2-2018

Good Morning All,

                Matthew 5:7; “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”

       There was a man that I used to know many years ago, he has since died.  You would run into him at the local elevator or the local co-op.  You might see him at the local Memorial Day service in town.  He was just an average run of the mill guy.  There wasn’t anything special about him.  He wasn’t rich or poor.  He wasn’t particularly handsome or ugly; he was just a man.

    Yet he was the saddest and the bitterest person that I had ever met.  He remembered, vividly, every single slight that any neighbor or anyone who he knew had done to him.  He could remember the time someone didn’t say “hi” to him as he walked down the street.  He remembered the neighbor whose cows got out and into his newly plowed field.  He could remember the time the fuel delivery guy was a day late delivering fuel.  He could remember which neighbor did and did not come to help him when he had been hurt.  He remembered it all and he relived it every time he saw someone who would listen.  He lived his life as a sullen, unhappy man.  He never had a smile or a kind word.  Most people would go out of their way to avoid him.  It must have been an incredible disappointing life.

    This is what the Bible is telling us about forgiveness.  Sin refuses to give forgiveness.  Sin tells you to hold onto the grudge, to make sure you get even.  What sin doesn’t tell you is the unbelievable toll that this attitude causes you.  You have no contentment, you have no peace, you have no joy; you only have sorrow and pain.  Those who are not merciful reject God’s mercy.  Those who are not forgiving, hold onto the sins which God has forgiven but they haven’t.  So by clutching to that sin; you reject God.  It is not that we earn mercy or have it by merit, rather it is that we reject God’s mercy.

    When we reject God, we reject the peace and contentment that he gives us; we simply try to walk away.  When we walk away from God, from his mercy, love, gentleness and hope; we walk toward anger, hatred, jealousy and an uneasy and unhappy life.  We live the life of that angry, bitter man and that is not the life that God intends for us.  The life he intends for us is one of contentment, peace, love and hope.  “I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you” is what God tells us.  It is the life we can grab hold of but we have to let go first.  We have to let go of our sin and then let go of our neighbor’s sin against us.  God invites you to let go of your anger, your pain and your sorrow. 

    So be merciful, let the sins of others go.  They only cause you pain as you hold onto them.  They only let others control your happiness.  Give them up and enjoy God’s mercy in your life.

Gracious and tender Father, through your mercy you bring us back into your holy family.  Teach us to see that our contentment is about the mercy we show.  Guide us by your Spirit to see that our happiness comes from you and is best expressed by showing love to others.  Be with those who won’t let go of the pain.  Give the desire to seek your will and trust in your promise.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret    

9-1-2018

Good Morning All,

        Hebrews 12:2; “fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

      I confess, I am a “gawker.”  You see, I am the son of a farmer who is the son of a farmer who was the son of a farmer and so on.  I think it is genetic.  All spring, summer, and fall, whenever we drive I love to look at the crops.  It used to be fun to look and see how straight the corn rows were but with auto-steer that isn’t what it used to be.  I still like to look at the grain as it is growing.  I still like to look at the hay as it is being mowed and baled.  I like to look at the cattle in the pasture, especially early in the season when the calves are still young and will jump and play.  Yeah, I am a gawker; I love it.  It scares the devil out of my wife though.

    You see I am not only a gawker, I am a “turner” as well.  If I am looking to the left pretty soon I am driving to the left.  Then as I look to the right I started driving to the right.  When she rides with me; there are at least three “lookouts!” and when she calls me by my full given name and then says “lookout!”; well you lookout.  On those times when she didn’t ride with me; well the ditch was a gentle slope so it wasn’t that big a deal. 

     This event is very epidemic among farmers, especially those who are somewhat age enhanced.  I think it starts from when you first learn to plow.  When you strike out to plow, you pick a spot in the distance.  It might be a tree or a fence post or you might walk to the end and place a flag of some sort.  So as you plow, you keep your eyes focused on that point.  As long as you never take your eye off of that point, you will drive straight at it.  If you look away, even for a second or two you will start to veer off course.  So down through life, you drive where you look.

      This tends to be true in our faith walk as well.  Whatever we look to tends to be the way that we go.  If we look to the Bible for our guidance and answers we tend to stay there.  If we “gawk” and listen to those who spout lies and untruths well, we tend to pull that way.  If we look to those who say God is dead, non-existent or irrelevant, well we tend to think maybe that is so.  If we look to those who say that the most important thing in all the world is personal happiness and that we have, not only the right, but the duty to pursue that at all costs; well soon we start to lose our compassion for others.

    Luther defined a “god” like this: A god is that to which we look for all good and in which we find refuge in every time of need.  To have a god is nothing else that to trust and believe him with your whole heart… that to which your heart clings and entrusts itself is, I say, really your God.”  Who is your God, who do you look to?  Who do you see as the pioneer and perfecter of your faith?  Trust in Jesus!!

Father, keep me focused upon your amazing grace and love that I have in Jesus.  Help me to see that this is how I grow and live within the safety of your arms.  Be with those who are distracted and bring their eyes back to you.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray.  Amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret