Running in Faith 2000 August

"Running in Faith" iis an electronic devotional guide written by members of Abiding Presence Lutheran Church. Each week, writers use their personal interpretation of scripture to write an inspirational message they hope will help readers take their Sunday faith into weekday lives. Your comments are appreciated and, when related to a particular devotion, passed to the writer. We hope you will share these devotions with friends and coworkers. We are always happy to add new names to our e-mail list. Please contact us if you wish your name to be added.
Devotion for the week of August 6, 2000 Submitted by Lynn W. "Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God." Romans 8: 26-27 The above verse was used in the American Edition of Luther's Writings in 1542 under the selection of "Comfort For Women Who Have Had a Miscarriage". This is a time you are not given a choice for this pregnancy. It is a time of weakness and helplessness, a time that is not in our control but only God's. There is no comfort in a hospital bed because you are told by the nurse that you can have more children. Your roommate was on her fourth miscarriage and your prayers include her. A mother knows the feeling of life and suddenly the life is swept away. As tears cry out to God, the Spirit consoles her by remembering that God will hold this precious angel first. A mother's sigh cannot be interpreted because it is too deep for words. Through one's pain, another reaches out and embraces others with God's Spirit in love. This mother volunteered as a counselor at a pregnancy center until her adopted child arrived. A poem was given to her: Adoption Creed "Not flesh of my flesh nor bone of my bone, but still miraculously my own, never forget for a single minute, you didn't grow under my heart, but in it." In a world of self-satisfaction, people do not recognize their weaknesses or their need for God. Yet people search through the books on spirituality for the meaning and purpose of life. The Christian, who have conversations with God known as prayer, waits for a lifetime of answers. God's timing is different from ours because He sees the whole picture. God looks outside of our box of life and it may take us a lifetime to understand or maybe not. Although, God searches and knows our hearts, we need to focus on the will of God. We may not know how to pray when we face the trials of life but one thing is certain. We face them not alone but with God and the community of saints. Heavenly Father, You know and understand our weaknesses and at times we are not sure how to pray. But when we do not know what to say, You search our hearts and call us Your own. Thank you for adopting us in one Christian family so that we abide in Your will not ours. It is through our weaknesses that we see Your power and glory for now and forever. Amen
Devotion for the week of August 13, 2000 Submitted by Wesley S. "You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all; and you show that you are a letter of Christ, prepared by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts." II Corinthians 3:2-3 Living Documents One of St. Paul's most inspirational images comes from the second letter he wrote to the Christian community living in the Greek city of Corinth. In explaining God's grace to the Corinthians, St. Paul writes that he, his fellow ministers, and the Christians living in Corinth are all living documents of God's love. God has written his love on the heart of every baptized person. Everyone whom God has written on becomes a special, unique living document of love that can be read and shared by others. Perhaps because I like to read and write, I love this image of the living document. A document can be written, it can be read, it can be shared, but most of all, it is a way to communicate what we consider most important in life. Every one of us at Abiding Presence has been written on by God. But more than this, we have written our own documents and written on the documents that are the lives of other people. We write on the hearts of others every time we share the gospel, every time we help a friend, every time we live out the commandment to love each other as ourselves. One of the great virtues of Abiding Presence, for me, is the way the people of Abiding Presence have been living documents of God's love for one another in times of difficulty. Our congregation has had its share of trials, physical illness, and even death. It is a great inspiration to me when I see how our congregation always responds to these situations with great willingness to share one another's burdens. When we do this, when we share each other's burdens, we inscribe God's love on our fellow brothers and sisters. Loving and gracious God, we thank you for the way you have written your love on our hearts. Thank you for the way our brothers and sisters at Abiding Presence have been living documents of your grace. Continue to write on us and enable us as we write your love on others and as we try to be the kind of documents you would have us to be. Amen.
Devotion for the week of August 20, 2000 Submitted by Melanie H. "Cast all your anxiety on him because He cares for you." 1 Peter 5:7 "Don't Worry!" The advice not to worry is valid. A lot of people really don't know how to stop worrying, even though they know they should. I loved to fish when I was younger. My Dad had such patience with me. I would swing the pole back over my shoulder, then whip it forward. The lure and line went flying out into the water. My Dad use to say, "You really unloaded a cast that time!" That's exactly the meaning of the word "cast" in 1 Peter 5:7. It means to give up or to unload. When you as a single person or as a couple find yourself burdened by anxiety, unload it to God. The tense of the verb "cast" literally means a direct, once-and-for-all committal to God of all anxiety or worry. Sometimes it helps to say out loud, "God, we are giving You this burden; we no longer dwell upon it." That is just what my husband, Timothy, and I did when we knew he just could not work at his present job much longer. The hour and 15 minutes commute each way was surely taking a toll on his body. Not to mention the graveyard shift. We prayed on it and gave it to God. We no longer dwelled on this issue. We knew God was taking care of it. We even wrote on little cards and posted them around our home and even on my car visor. "Cast all your anxiety on him because He cares for you!" Last week Tim accepted a job to start a new pilot program with Habitat for Humanity. He will be working with convicts and showing them how to demolish the old shells of homes and teaching them carpentry, painting, roofing, sheet rocking and everything that goes into building a new home. We both know God has answered our prayers. You can cast your worry on God with confidence. Why? Because He cares for you. He knows how much you can stand. He wants to strengthen you and help you stand firm. Pray that God may give you a lift, as on eagles' wings, by strengthening your faith in Jesus Christ. Amen.
Devotion for the week of August 28, 2000 Submitted by Nancy E. "Man is like a breath, his days are like a passing shadow." Psalm 144:4 I write this devotion two days after the death of my mother while grieving is both painful and healing. The word that permeates my thoughts since her dying is breath. For you who don't know, Mom died at our home of a massive heart attack. One of things that happened in this process was that I gave her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. My breath did give her a weak pulse for a few minutes, but neither it nor the intervention of professionals could return the God given breath of life to her. Healing for me in the grieving process includes prayer and meditation. Searching inspiration for the word "breath" I find: Genesis 2:7 "Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a human being." Isaiah 42:5 "Thus says the God, our Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread forth the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people upon it." Dnyandaya "To talk with God, no breath is lost -- talk on." And, I can sing.............. "Breath on me breath of God; Fill me with life anew, That I may love all that you love And do what you would do." Amen.
Year 2000 Index

"Running in Faith" iis an electronic devotional guide written by members of Abiding Presence Lutheran Church. Each week, writers use their personal interpretation of scripture to write an inspirational message they hope will help readers take their Sunday faith into weekday lives. Your comments are appreciated and, when related to a particular devotion, passed to the writer. We hope you will share these devotions with friends and coworkers. We are always happy to add new names to our e-mail list. Please contact us if you wish your name to be added.

Devotion for the week of August 6, 2000
Submitted by Lynn W.

"Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God."
Romans 8: 26-27

The above verse was used in the American Edition of Luther's Writings in 1542 under the selection of "Comfort For Women Who Have Had a Miscarriage". This is a time you are not given a choice for this pregnancy. It is a time of weakness and helplessness, a time that is not in our control but only God's. There is no comfort in a hospital bed because you are told by the nurse that you can have more children. Your roommate was on her fourth miscarriage and your prayers include her. A mother knows the feeling of life and suddenly the life is swept away. As tears cry out to God, the Spirit consoles her by remembering that God will hold this precious angel first. A mother's sigh cannot be interpreted because it is too deep for words. Through one's pain, another reaches out and embraces others with God's Spirit in love. This mother volunteered as a counselor at a pregnancy center until her adopted child arrived. A poem was given to her:

Adoption Creed
"Not flesh of my flesh nor bone of my bone,
but still miraculously my own,
never forget for a single minute,
you didn't grow under my heart,
but in it."

In a world of self-satisfaction, people do not recognize their weaknesses or their need for God. Yet people search through the books on spirituality for the meaning and purpose of life. The Christian, who have conversations with God known as prayer, waits for a lifetime of answers. God's timing is different from ours because He sees the whole picture. God looks outside of our box of life and it may take us a lifetime to understand or maybe not. Although, God searches and knows our hearts, we need to focus on the will of God. We may not know how to pray when we face the trials of life but one thing is certain. We face them not alone but with God and the community of saints.

Heavenly Father, You know and understand our weaknesses and at times we are not sure how to pray. But when we do not know what to say, You search our hearts and call us Your own. Thank you for adopting us in one Christian family so that we abide in Your will not ours. It is through our weaknesses that we see Your power and glory for now and forever. Amen

Devotion for the week of August 13, 2000
Submitted by Wesley S.

"You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all; and you show that you are a letter of Christ, prepared by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts."
II Corinthians 3:2-3

Living Documents
One of St. Paul's most inspirational images comes from the second letter he wrote to the Christian community living in the Greek city of Corinth. In explaining God's grace to the Corinthians, St. Paul writes that he, his fellow ministers, and the Christians living in Corinth are all living documents of God's love. God has written his love on the heart of every baptized person. Everyone whom God has written on becomes a special, unique living document of love that can be read and shared by others.

Perhaps because I like to read and write, I love this image of the living document. A document can be written, it can be read, it can be shared, but most of all, it is a way to communicate what we consider most important in life. Every one of us at Abiding Presence has been written on by God. But more than this, we have written our own documents and written on the documents that are the lives of other people. We write on the hearts of others every time we share the gospel, every time we help a friend, every time we live out the commandment to love each other as ourselves.

One of the great virtues of Abiding Presence, for me, is the way the people of Abiding Presence have been living documents of God's love for one another in times of difficulty. Our congregation has had its share of trials, physical illness, and even death. It is a great inspiration to me when I see how our congregation always responds to these situations with great willingness to share one another's burdens. When we do this, when we share each other's burdens, we inscribe God's love on our fellow brothers and sisters.

Loving and gracious God, we thank you for the way you have written your love on our hearts. Thank you for the way our brothers and sisters at Abiding Presence have been living documents of your grace. Continue to write on us and enable us as we write your love on others and as we try to be the kind of documents you would have us to be. Amen.

Devotion for the week of August 20, 2000
Submitted by Melanie H.

"Cast all your anxiety on him
because He cares for you."
1 Peter 5:7

"Don't Worry!" The advice not to worry is valid. A lot of people really don't know how to stop worrying, even though they know they should. I loved to fish when I was younger. My Dad had such patience with me. I would swing the pole back over my shoulder, then whip it forward. The lure and line went flying out into the water. My Dad use to say, "You really unloaded a cast that time!"

That's exactly the meaning of the word "cast" in 1 Peter 5:7. It means to give up or to unload. When you as a single person or as a couple find yourself burdened by anxiety, unload it to God. The tense of the verb "cast" literally means a direct, once-and-for-all committal to God of all anxiety or worry. Sometimes it helps to say out loud, "God, we are giving You this burden; we no longer dwell upon it." That is just what my husband, Timothy, and I did when we knew he just could not work at his present job much longer. The hour and 15 minutes commute each way was surely taking a toll on his body. Not to mention the graveyard shift. We prayed on it and gave it to God. We no longer dwelled on this issue. We knew God was taking care of it. We even wrote on little cards and posted them around our home and even on my car visor. "Cast all your anxiety on him because He cares for you!"

Last week Tim accepted a job to start a new pilot program with Habitat for Humanity. He will be working with convicts and showing them how to demolish the old shells of homes and teaching them carpentry, painting, roofing, sheet rocking and everything that goes into building a new home. We both know God has answered our prayers.

You can cast your worry on God with confidence. Why? Because He cares for you. He knows how much you can stand. He wants to strengthen you and help you stand firm.

Pray that God may give you a lift, as on eagles' wings,
by strengthening your faith in Jesus Christ. Amen.

Devotion for the week of August 28, 2000
Submitted by Nancy E.

"Man is like a breath,
his days are like a passing shadow."
Psalm 144:4

I write this devotion two days after the death of my mother while grieving is both painful and healing. The word that permeates my thoughts since her dying is breath. For you who don't know, Mom died at our home of a massive heart attack. One of things that happened in this process was that I gave her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. My breath did give her a weak pulse for a few minutes, but neither it nor the intervention of professionals could return the God given breath of life to her.

Healing for me in the grieving process includes prayer and meditation. Searching inspiration for the word "breath" I find:

Genesis 2:7
"Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a human being."

Isaiah 42:5
"Thus says the God, our Lord, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread forth the earth and what comes from it, who gives breath to the people upon it."

Dnyandaya
"To talk with God, no breath is lost -- talk on."

And, I can sing..............

"Breath on me breath of God;
  Fill me with life anew,
  That I may love all that you love
  And do what you would do."
  Amen.

Year 2000 Index