ALL THINGS NEW

Good day dear friends.

It has been quite the busy schedule these past few weeks and I've been unable to sit down and write a devotional like I know I need, and like I like doing. I'm rushing to finish this as the movers are set to be here in about an hour and a half. I also have to turn in the cable modem and cable box to the cable company this morning so we will be without internet for a while. I type this on our desktop computer that soon will be dismantled and placed in either the moving van or in our Suburban for the trip South to our new home.

I have to praise God for the weekend and participating in the Seaman-Haynes wedding in Port Aransas. I had never been to PA and must admit it is quite a lovely place. I had never done a wedding in Crocks (a plastic slipon sandal) or seen so many bare feet at a wedding. Of course I had to compete with the ocean's roar (okay the Gulf's roar) but it was a very nice wedding. For the rehearsal dinner we ate in the Dolphin Room of the Texas State Aquarium in Corpus Christi. That was so relaxing! Of course if you fear fish or swimming mammals, you'd be scared to death.

The verse that comes to my heart is from the last book of the Bible, chapter 21:5: "And the one who was seated on the throne said, "See, I am making all things new." While in some ways this is a sad time to be moving from a dear old family to a new dear family, we hold fast to our faith that we serve a God who makes all things new. From a timeless God who makes all things new, you know it has to be good! This applies to all areas of our lives. Last night as we lay down to sleep (except those of us who were packing) at twelve midnight yesterday ended and a new day began! Isn't that incredible. Our yesterdays all end at 12 midnight last night and immediately a new day begins. So it should be with our faith and attitude about our life and that which we face. We are from the loving hand of the God who made and controls all things. In God we put our full trust.

As we pray for one another, ask God to make all things new. We remember the needs of our brother Jodie Polk and we ask God to make all things new for him. May Jodie's healing amaze the doctor! As we pray for those mourning situations in life that seem to be bleak, may God make new the possibilities that can come from Him into even the people who think God cannot.

PRAYER: Lord God, make new all things in my life. You better than even me know what things have been too "old" for so long and now a newness is needed, so come, You who will make all things and make me new. New with love, new with hope, new with mercy and compassion, new with faith unlike the faith I had yesterday. I thank You for the newness of this day and its possibilities. I love you and praise You! I pray in Jesus' precious name, amen.

Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!

e.v.

TRADITIONS

Good day dear friends.

Today the daughter of Mary Borm undergoes surgery to repair a broken leg. Her name is Paula, but I don't know her last name (God does!), so please pray for Mary and Paula.
Please continue to pray for all pastors who are neck deep in boxes (or should be!) as they prepare to move. In our conference alone, we have something like 60 moves, so boxes are selling briskly (invest in boxes) and movers are salivating with excitement!

Here is our text for this morning:
13 You have heard, no doubt, of my earlier life in Judaism. I was violently persecuting the church of God and was trying to destroy it. 14 I advanced in Judaism beyond many among my people of the same age, for I was far more zealous for the traditions of my ancestors. 15 But when God, who had set me apart before I was born and called me through his grace, was pleased 16 to reveal his Son to me, so that I might proclaim him among the Gentiles, I did not confer with any human being, 17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were already apostles before me, but I went away at once into Arabia, and afterwards I returned to Damascus. 18 Then after three years I did go up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and stayed with him fifteen days; 19 but I did not see any other apostle except James the Lord's brother. 20 In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie! 21 Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia, 22 and I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea that are in Christ; 23 they only heard it said, "The one who formerly was persecuting us is now proclaiming the faith he once tried to destroy." 24 And they glorified God because of me.

In case you've been keeping track, I've dedicated the last couple of devotionals to the letter of Paul to the church in Galatia. They were being misled by false teachings and Paul is angry and addressing their unfaithfulness by way of this letter. Today's part deals with Paul reminding them of just who he is, and how he came to be a Christian preacher after having been quite an infamous Jew. Paul shares how he advanced in Judaism even beyond those his own age and how he thought he was doing what God wanted, but realized he was simply concerned more about the "traditions of his ancenstors" than the things of God. God decided Paul needed to meet Jesus which he did and the rest was history.

New life comes when we put away rituals, traditions, routines, habits, playing church, and the like, and surrender ourselves to Jesus. Jesus came to offer new life, in fact, life in the fullest, and that is what Paul is wanting the believers in Galatia to embrace. What are you willing to surrender for the sake of your life?

PRAYER: Loving God we do thank you for rich histories and traditions and those things that bring some meaning to our lives, but today I seek Jesus and the things that are Yours to bring me into life and life's full meaning and purpose. I ask this as I surrender my very self to You, in Jesus' Name, amen.

Have a great day in the Lord!

e.v.

A WORD OF THANKS

Good day dear friends.

First a personal word of thanks to all who planned and participated in my farewell luncheon yesterday after church. The food was the best I had ever seen and tasted and everyone went "all out" in getting the food table to look so exquisite. A special thank you to all who shared a word of appreciation of the Lord's work through Nellie and I. I was especially touched by the bravery of the youth and children and their willingess to say very kind words of appreciation. I am proud of you! May the Lord continue to richly bless you is my prayer.

My sermon yesterday was from 1 Corinthians 3:1-9. I'll use that as the foundation for my devotional for this morning, but I will preface it with the words of thankfulness that Paul shares with his brothers and sister at the Corinth church:

I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that has been given you in Christ Jesus, 5 for in every way you have been enriched in him, in speech and knowledge of every kind— 6 just as the testimony of Christ has been strengthened among you— 7 so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ. 8 He will also strengthen you to the end, so that you may be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful; by him you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

1 Cor. 3:1 And so, brothers and sisters, I could not speak to you as spiritual people, but rather as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. 2 I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for solid food. Even now you are still not ready, 3 for you are still of the flesh. For as long as there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not of the flesh, and behaving according to human inclinations? 4 For when one says, "I belong to Paul," and another, "I belong to Apollos," are you not merely human? 5 What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you came to believe, as the Lord assigned to each. 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters have a common purpose, and each will receive wages according to the labor of each. 9 For we are God's servants, working together; you are God's field, God's building.

The words we read in chapter three are a bit more harsher as Paul is reminding the readers that they were called into faith of Jesus Christ, which is a spiritual first step. What has happened is they have not taken a second step or steps towards spiritual maturity. All during his ministry there, Paul shared the gospel in baby steps, for they were infants in the faith. Here it is some years later and Paul is hearing complaints from them about how they don't like their new pastor, Apollos. As I shared with the congregation no pastor likes to hear that. It hurts the body of Christ when complaints are being lifted up against those who have come to serve among you. We are called to build upon that which is left for all to carry on.

Have you taken steps towards your maturity in Christ? How do you do that you ask? By following the spiritual disciplines of prayer, fasting, Scripture reading, devotional time, time alone with God, worship, tithing, etc. That will take you into the realm of a deeper walk with Christ that Jesus mentions as "abundant life." (John 10:10).

Take those steps today! Become the people God has called you to be!

PRAYER: Loving God, speak to my heart and let me grow in faith and in spirit. Let me be guided and directed by The Holy Spirit. Take me into abundant living. I ask this in Jesus' Name, amen.

Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!

e.v.

TRAVELING WITH AND BECAUSE OF CHRIST

Good day dear friends.
Some time ago I asked prayer for Shanna Itz Rodriguez who had a tumor removed while awaiting the birth of twins, well tonight she delivered a boy and a girl, one weighing 3'12" and the other 3"13" born at 8:15 and 8:16 p.m. tonight. We thank the Lord for their birth and we pray for Shanna and babies to be well. I thank all of you who prayed for them.
Today's text comes from Galatians 1:10 Am I now seeking human approval, or God's approval? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still pleasing people, I would not be a servant of Christ. 11 For I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel that was proclaimed by me is not of human origin; 12 for I did not receive it from a human source, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. 13 You have heard, no doubt, of my earlier life in Judaism. I was violently persecuting the church of God and was trying to destroy it. 14 I advanced in Judaism beyond many among my people of the same age, for I was far more zealous for the traditions of my ancestors. 15 But when God, who had set me apart before I was born and called me through his grace, was pleased 16 to reveal his Son to me, so that I might proclaim him among the Gentiles, I did not confer with any human being, 17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were already apostles before me, but I went away at once into Arabia, and afterwards I returned to Damascus. 18 Then after three years I did go up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and stayed with him fifteen days; 19 but I did not see any other apostle except James the Lord's brother. 20 In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie! 21 Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia, 22 and I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea that are in Christ; 23 they only heard it said, "The one who formerly was persecuting us is now proclaiming the faith he once tried to destroy." 24 And they glorified God because of me.
It is so easy to get caught up in trying to please people. For some if we can please the right people we believe we get something out of it. Others just for a smile or the right look of approval motivates their actions. No one could ever accuse Paul of being a people pleaser. He would have been fired long ago! Paul's desire was to serve and please God. And that, he said, started even when he was doing exactly what God didn't want him to do, namely the persecution of the Christian church. Paul's calling, as yours and mine, was to be a "servant of Christ." Paul reminds the believers at Galatia that his life was completely opposite of how they knew him now.him.
To travel well, we must travel with Christ and because of Him!
PRAYER: Loving God, thank You for sharing Jesus with us. Let us be open to the leading of Christ in all that we do. May we be led by Him in all things. Our desire is to travel with and because of Jesus Christ. In His Name, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!
e.v.

AN EASIER WAY?

Good day dear friends.

I appreciate your prayers for those we share through these pages. God answers all prayers! I appreciate your prayers for me while at General Conference. I needed them! I got a fever on Thursday night with chills and the works and on Friday was sent to a minor care emergency center where the experience was worse than the chills. Nurse Allstate, as she called herself, proved I was in better hands on my own than in hers! After beating my arm senseless she said she could not find a vein and poked me three times causing me to say loudly, "Ouch, that hurts!" I'm a chicken when it comes to needles but I hate pain even more. What a baby. Anyway, that blood test and others showed I was fine with the possible onslaught of an upper respiratory infection. Antibiotics did the trick and by Sunday I was fine.

Here is our text for today from Paul's letter to the Galatians 1: 6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 not that there is another gospel, but there are some who are confusing you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should proclaim to you a gospel contrary to what we proclaimed to you, let that one be accursed! 9 As we have said before, so now I repeat, if anyone proclaims to you a gospel contrary to what you received, let that one be accursed!

In his teachings, Jesus had predicted that the day would come when followers would easily fall away for diverse reasons including the hearing of a "gospel" they liked better. And such was what Paul is addressing today. Some of the "Christians" of Galatia were abandoning the faith to follow a different "gospel" and that is of following those Jews who had said that they were not truly following Jesus if they hadn't embraced Judaism. The main issue was that of circumcision and these Jews were telling the Galatians they had to be circumcised to be truly followers of God. Paul stresses there is no other gospel and becomes quite frank in his saying if anyone comes to you with another gospel that person, even if he were an angel, is accursed!

Who or what distracts us from enjoying the grace of God? Is anything worth abandoning the Lord Jesus to follow someone or something else? Do we seek an easier way, less stressful or hectic way to be a true follower of Jesus? There is none, just faithful obedience to the truth we received from Christ about Himself and God.

PRAYER: Loving God we thank you for Your truth and how You have given Your all for us. Let me quit seeking the ways that we think would free us from what we think holds us back in being Christian. As we say in our ritual, "Free us for joyful obedience." Through Jesus Christ we pray, amen.

Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!

e.v.

NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER

Good day dear friends.

Please keep Paul Mayhew in prayer as he has undergone shoulder surgery in Austin. We pray all has gone well and that he is recovering well. Paul will wear a shoulder sling for about six week.

Here is our text for today from Luke 22: 39 He came out and went, as was his custom, to the Mount of Olives; and the disciples followed him. 40 When he reached the place, he said to them, "Pray that you may not come into the time of trial."

Today is National Prayer Day in the USA. This is a day set aside for us to be in prayer. The underlying reason is, of course, to pray for our nation and our needs. And they are many. But the day also serves to remind us that we are, and should be, a nation under God. It is God in whom we trust and in whom we find our reason for life and all that we need. It is appropriate then that we read that passage in Luke, posted above, that says that Jesus has a custom of praying. In reality, Jesus had a lot of customs, of going to church, of teaching, etc. Jesus knew what it was to stay in contact with God the Father.

Jesus' favorite place of prayer was the Mount of Olives, a quiet place that lent itself for solitude and prayer. While Jesus prayed everywhere, this place was one in which he could direct his most pressing thoughts to Jesus. It was also a place where he took his disciples so taht they might be people of prayer too. In this passage, Jesus' command was that they "pray that you may not come into the time of trial." Jesus knew what lay ahead, the disciples did not. In the same way, God knows what lays ahead for us, we do not, so like the disciples, we pray.

In prayer we find that which we need to help us be the people of God, rooted in Him and receiving from Him that which we need.

PRAYER: Lord, every day should be a day of prayer for us as believers. Bless our nation and help us to be your people in all things. We ask this in Christ Jesus' name, amen.

Have a great and blessed day in the Lord!

e.v.