"Running in Faith" is 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 5, 2002
Submitted by Melanie H.

"The people were amazed at his teaching.
Mark 1:22

AMAZING! INCREDIBLE! When was the last time you used these words to express your feelings or responses? What created this sense of amazement within you? Or has life become so mechanized, so full of logical explanations and reasons that you have difficulty responding to it with wonder, awe, or amazement?

Unfortunately many people lose the childlike quality of being surprised, impressed, or amazed at life. There are people who are so threatened by the unexplainable in life that they snuff out the wonder of it for themselves and others. That's sad - especially when it happens in our relationship with Christ.

When you read the Gospels or hear accounts of what God is doing in the lives of His people today, do you respond as the people of Jesus' day did? "Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers" (Luke 2:47); "And when Jesus finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching" (Matthew 7:28). Have you ever felt amazed at the fact that Jesus Christ lives within you? Do you stand in awe of the power of God which is alive and active in you today? Are you open to being amazed and astonished by God? Think about it. It takes grace in our time to keep our minds open to wonder, to be ready for the tug from God, the push from the Spirit, and the revelation of deep things from the hearts of ordinary people. It takes grace, but it is a great gift. If you have a place in your life where your eyes can still gape, your knees quiver, and your mind boggle, you are open for wonder. And, open to wonder, you are ready for God's surprises, even the greatest of all: that it can be all right when everything is wrong.

Dear God, we pray to open our eyes
and fill them with wonder today. Amen.

Devotion for the week of August 12, 2002
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

As I faced difficult times this summer I was not sure how to pray, not only for others but myself. Changes caused stress which made me realize I was not in control. Prayers seem to go unanswered or it was not the answer I wanted to hear. A few weeks ago I watched my dad and his wife sell their house in Edison and move to Florida. I was given the mementos of ceramics I made as worthless treasures to others but not for the maker. As we were going through the rubbish, there sat a twelve year old wheelchair ready to board the moving truck to Florida. I realized my childlike dad was holding on to the last memory of my mom's suffering from cancer. I smiled at my dad and convinced him that the wheelchair could be given to someone needy in the area. He decided to call the Pastor to find a home for the wheelchair.

Dad's health is failing and I prayed that he would not leave NJ. But now he made choices to move away from family and be close to another. I wait for the phone to ring realizing I need to be the one to call. The reason it is hard for me to call is because he may not know who I am and when I hang up the tears will flow.

As I read through this Romans passage, I am thankful for the Holy Spirit to intercede for me with sighs too deep for words. My loving God searches my heart when others may point fingers of what I have left undone. For me, the wheelchair represents a moving towards God's direction. When one is helpless and finds desperate need of a push, behind the chair is the Holy Spirit keeping us in God's will.

"Merciful God, grant that the spirit of Jesus may dwell and reign in our hearts, that we may enjoy your peace and know the power of your Spirit, bearing witness with our lives that we are indeed your children; through Jesus Christ our Lord." Amen.
     (Occasional Services, pg. 71)

Devotion for the week of August 19, 2002
Submitted by Helen L.

"To all perfection I see a limit:
but your commands are boundless."
Psalm 119: 96

As we go about our daily activities, we often aim for perfection. It is an admirable goal. We want to complete a project ahead of time, give a perfect presentation, have perfect children, bake perfect cookies, have a perfect lawn. All big stuff, and worthy of our best. We want to be good and do good things. But often we don't just want perfection, we want miracles. Miracles come in all sizes and at this time of the year when life slows down a bit, I am easily reminded of the many small ones that pass our way: An unexpected phone call from an old friend; A smile from a stranger; Taste of a berry; A song bird outside my window; Laughter of children; Green stoplights all the way to the mall; The first sliced tomatoes and sweet corn of the season; Smell of rain; Sweetness of forgiveness. They remind us that there are more small miracles than big ones. The small ones make up the fabric of our lives and the lives of those around us. May we open our hearts to the whole world and value the small works.

I wish you a day of happiness and perfection -- little bit-size pieces of perfection that give you the feeling that the Lord is smiling on you and awakens you to his presence. Amen.

Devotion for the week of August 26, 2002
Submitted by Pastor Dick H.

"God said, 'Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.' Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him."
     1 Kings 19:11-13

After the Nazi concentration camp at Auschwitz was overthrown by the allied forces, an inscription was found scratched on a wall. It said, "I believe in the sun even when it isn't shining. I believe in love even when there's none there. And I believe in God, even when he is silent." The author, who was never located, had identified an important characteristic of God's abiding presence. Sometimes, God himself is present in the sound of silence!

Elijah discovered that truth for himself. The Lord and Father of mankind spoke to him, not in wind, earthquake, or fire, but in a "still small voice of calm."

For me, too, the Lord of the silence comes in a gentle whisper. He is present in the quietness of gardening, painting, reading, praying, and grand-parenting. The One who shouts is also the One who whispers. So, let us pray to the Lord of the silence, asking for faith and guidance.