Untanglers Wanted

Revelation 1:5-6 (NIV) ⁵  …To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, ⁶  and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father--to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.

How did you do through December and the Christmas season—with all that shopping, cleaning, and getting those Christmas decorations up? Did it go smoothly? In case you stressed, at least one company is trying to help. You just have to move to England to get their help. Tesco, a British supermarket company, posted the following ad for a new job—a Christmas Light Untangler:

“Tesco is advertising a vacancy for what is thought to be Britain’s first professional Christmas tree lights untangler. The ideal candidate should be persistent and patient and able to untangle three metres of Christmas lights in less than three minutes. The successful applicant will be based at a store in Wrexham, north Wales, where they can expect to untangle up to 60 sets of lights a day for frustrated customers. To help locals enjoy the festive season and relieve some of the stresses often associated with the yuletide season – specifically tangled tree lights – Tesco has launched a search for someone who can conquer one of the most frustrating jobs of Christmas. The position will require a friendly, helpful demeanor, oodles of patience and of course, the innate knack to be able to untangle even the most scrambled of wires. The ideal candidate should be passionate about Christmas. The service will be free to customers and offered on a first come, first served basis.”

            Wouldn’t it be great to be known as “the Untangler” where you live? Everybody in town calls you that. It’s your nickname. You get a reputation over time for caring for and helping people solve problems in a non-intrusive way, no matter how big or small they are. People learn that they can come to you any time and find help when they’re down, or when they face difficult situations of life. You always seem to have time. You’re a good listener. You give really good advice. You have great ideas that make a practical difference. You don’t judge. You are kind and considerate.

            People all around have tons of problems and they do and say many things that tie their lives up in knots. Some of their circumstances are like nasty knots – hardened and tight and so difficult to deal with. If you ever had to bring a shoe helplessly to your mom because you just couldn’t get the know out, then you have an idea of the frustration people can have with their problems. This doesn’t mean we have a right to become meddlers, but we can be “untanglers” when invited. We can help them find solutions and get the help they need. We typically cannot fix their problems for them, be we can help them “de-clutter”, set priorities, and commit to do “the next thing”.

 We can bring the Word of God to people and pray with them. Christ is the great untangler. He has extricated us from the mess that sin produces in our lives. There is no knot of sin that grace cannot untie. The Gospel frees us from those bonds in which we had been kept like slaves. May the Lord pour out His grace upon us, and may we minister grace to one another. AMEN.

Psalm 18:1-6 (NIV) ¹  I love you, O LORD, my strength. ²  The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. ³  I call to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies. ⁴  The cords of death entangled me; the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me. ⁵  The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me. ⁶  In my distress I called to the LORD; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears.

Psalm 116:16 (NIV)  O LORD, truly I am your servant; I am your servant, the son of your maidservant; you have freed me from my chains.

Psalm 129:4 (NIV)  But the LORD is righteous; he has cut me free from the cords of the wicked.

Mark 5:31-34 (NIV) ³¹  "You see the people crowding against you," his disciples answered, "and yet you can ask, 'Who touched me?'" ³²  But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. ³³  Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. ³⁴  He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering."

PRAYER:  Father, thank you for delivering me from the cords of sin. Let me minister to others as Jesus has ministered grace to us. In His name, AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!    

Scott

The Gas Runs Out

Isaiah 40:28-31 (NIV)  ²⁸  Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. ²⁹  He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. ³⁰  Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; ³¹  but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

On Sunday evening a power outage began in Bar Harbor a little after 8:00 pm. I don’t mind a power outage now and then, but I have expectations that they won’t last long and whatever repairs needed can be quickly handled. When it’s raining hard and water is flowing into your basement and your sump pump can’t do its job… or if you have health equipment that depends on power… or if you just don’t want to miss the game… power loss is inconvenient and frustrating at best, and potentially dangerous and destructive at worst. If you are fortunate, and have a generator, you may be able to avoid some of the negative consequences of power loss. Your neighbors might not like you very much when you run it for six straight hours into the middle of the night, but hopefully they will be forgiving and forgetful. In my case, I was thankful to have a generator that could temporarily meet an emergency need. But what if it were long term? Sooner or later the gas would run out.

            When I was in high school a friend and I went to a movie released in 1971 called The Omega Man. It was based on a 1954 novel, I am Legend, by American author Richard Matheson, and featured Charlton Heston as the only survivor in a war waged with biological weapons. He lived in a small, barricaded apartment complex because there were a few other “survivors” left who were no longer like him. They had been transformed into almost non-human creatures who could only “come out” at night. (It was a science fiction movie J). They hated him because he was “normal”. He was a doctor who had used a developmental vaccine and saved himself, but they wanted to kill him, and would not listen to his attempts to help them with his medical knowledge. So, because they were bothered by light, he barricaded himself in this complex and used generators at night to power bright lighting in order to keep them away and stay safe. You can imagine what happens at one point in the movie: the gas runs out and creates an emergency situation that puts his life at risk. He had foolishly neglected keeping the tank filled.

            Sooner or later in life, for one reason or another, the gas runs out. The power supply is interrupted. Our personal and community energy resources – when depleted – reveal to us our weaknesses. Many years ago, when a similar situation occurred, we did not have a generator at our home. We had to bail water by hand in an attempt to keep the cellar dry. It doesn’t take much of that to realize the insufficiency of your own strength. Because we virtually have always lived with the energy we needed at our fingertips, it is easily taken for granted. But our weakness is exposed when it’s not there.

            Personal strength – physical, emotional, etc. – needs renewing in our lives. That’s why we eat and sleep. These are gifts from God. Spiritual strength is also a gift from Him. If we are to have faith… if we are to be able to endure trial and hardship… if we are to resist and overcome temptation, God will have to give us power. When we draw from our own resources, we may last a short time, but sooner or later the “gas runs out”. Without His Word and without His Spirit we will be weak constantly. Without the encouragement and help of sisters and brothers in Christ (the Church) we also will be weak. God uses these folks to give us strength.

            God’s power is real… and available to us. He is generous to give it and we are desperate to have it, for without it we will be overcome by many things which are dangerous to our soul’s well-being. We access it by asking, by immersing ourselves into the Word, by waiting on Him, by trusting Christ, by going to our fellow believers, and by repenting of our self-sufficiency and our sin.

            The Lord, and the Lord alone, is our strength and our salvation.

2 Peter 1:3-4 (NIV) ³  His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. ⁴  Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

Exodus 15:2 (NIV)  The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father's God, and I will exalt him.

Psalm 18:1-2 (NIV) ¹ I love you, O LORD, my strength. ²  The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.

Psalm 28:7-8 (NIV) ⁷  The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song. ⁸  The LORD is the strength of his people, a fortress of salvation for his anointed one.

Psalm 118:14 (NIV)  The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.

2 Corinthians 12:9 (NIV)  But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.

PRAYER:  Father, be the strength of my life, and protect me from trusting in the adequacy of my own resources. I am weak, and I need you. It’s as simple as that. In Jesus’ name, AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!    

Scott

Swallowed Up in Victory

Psalm 116:15 (NIV) - Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.

On Monday the Associated Press reported that the Maine State Police are investigating the death of a motorist in a crash on Interstate 295 in Gardiner after a passer-by noticed the vehicle. Apparently, the crash may have gone unnoticed for as many as five days. Investigators believe it happened on December 28^th.  That’s the day that the driver was last seen going to work. The story then says that no one reported him missing. The car came to rest at the bottom of a steep embankment, so it must not have been obvious to others on the highway. Still, there is a sadness to the fact that he was not reported missing for five days. It makes you wonder if anyone cared, and what the story behind the story was.

This reminded me of another story I read recently, about Yvette Vickers, a former B-movie star, best known for her role in Attack of the 50-Foot Woman. It seems that her body was found in 2011, after having lain dead for about a year. A neighbor noticed cobwebs and yellowing letters in her mailbox and found a way into the house to investigate. Navigating through piles of junk mail and strewn clothing to the upstairs, the neighbor found Ms. Vickers’ “mummified” body in her bedroom, the heater still on and computer still running. The social “circle” of this 83 year old woman had come to virtually nothing and she lived – and then died – in isolation. In a world of growing digital connections, she is a reminder to us that technology cannot ultimately solve the problem of loneliness. We have Facetime and Skype and Facebook and email and mobile phones and internet and more. Personally, I am thankful for them. I get to see my grandson “live” and talk with my daughter at the same time. But technology will never replace being together in person… face-to-face.

Both of these stories speak to our hearts about loneliness and aloneness at the time of death. Most of the people I have ever observed near death want more than anything else NOT to be alone. They long for someone they love – someone who loves them – to be with them. That presence makes a powerful impact. But it cannot always be this way. And when I read or hear stories like these it prods a bit of melancholy within.

For we who know the Lord, there is comfort, though. When you are in Jesus Christ, you are never alone. The Holy Spirit dwells in you and the presence of the Lord never leaves you. He sees everything that others do not see. He hears everything you say, and He knows your heart completely. He promises to stay. For centuries many followers of Jesus have died hard, lonely deaths. Persecuted Christians around the world lose their lives often cut off from people they love. But they can never be cut off from the Lord. He gives grace even in the darkest valley of the shadow. This is another way His goodness is manifested to us, and we can be encouraged by His faithful promises. Death is an uncomfortable subject to think about, and we typically in conversation talk about everything else… anything else… first. But our good God has us in His hands and is always with us. He gives peace regarding one of the greatest fears we face in life. Jesus is its conqueror and we are resurrection people because of the Gospel. Thank You, Lord.

Numbers 23:10 (NIV)  Who can count the dust of Jacob or number the fourth part of Israel? Let me die the death of the righteous, and may my end be like theirs!"

Deuteronomy 31:8 (NIV)  The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."

Psalm 23:4 (NIV)  Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

Proverbs 14:32 (NIV)  When calamity comes, the wicked are brought down, but even in death the righteous have a refuge.

Romans 8:35-39 (NIV) ³⁵  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ³⁶  As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered." ³⁷  No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸  For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹  neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 14:7-8 (NIV) ⁷  For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone. ⁸  If we live, we live to the Lord; and if we die, we die to the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.

Philippians 1:20-21 (NIV) ²⁰  I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. ²¹  For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

PRAYER:  Father, thank you that in Christ I am never alone. I place my life… and my death… in your hands, confident of your presence and grace. Deliver me from the fear that accompanies death – even the idea of it. You are the God of the living, and you are my God. Be glorified in me I pray. In Jesus’ name, AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!    

Scott

He Came to Serve and to Give

Philippians 2:6-7 (NIV) ⁶  Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, ⁷  but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.

In His book Dying to Preach Steven Smith develops an illustration to draw out the meaning of this text and help us think about what Jesus did in the Incarnation…

“While Christ took on the form of a human, he set aside his rights as God. In other words, all of Christ's time on earth he was always Godlike. When he was tried in Samaria, he was all-powerful; when he was asking questions in the temple, he was all-knowing; and when he was present in a particular place, he was omnipresent. It is simply that he made a choice not to take hold of what was always, and always will be, his—namely, his God-like properties.

Imagine that you are visiting a hospital. You cannot find a parking place close to the hospital, so you park way in the back, and now you are lost. You stop another driver in the lot to ask directions, and he kindly says that he will just park beside you and walk with you to where you need to be in the hospital. Now suppose that as you get to the front of the hospital, you find out that this man is actually the chief surgeon of the hospital, and as you near the door, he adds, "Oh, yes, and this is my parking place." He had a superior advantage because of his status. However, in deference to your needs, he did not take his rightful parking spot but walked with you the whole way. So here is the question: As he was walking with you, did he stop being a doctor? No. Did he have a parking place? Yes. He had all of these things and at any time could have laid hold of those things and used them, but for your sake he just chose not to in that particular moment.

As thin as that metaphor is, it illustrates that Christ's walking among human beings did not mean he was not God. Then why did he not reverse his tiredness or overcome all his physical limitations? It is because if he were to override his humanity, he would not have been fully in the form of a man and therefore could not fully empathize with our weakness or save us by his perfect life. The Incarnation was not just an event at Bethlehem. The Incarnation was the moment-by-moment choice of Christ to lay down his privileges, his rights as God, and to acquiesce to ungrateful sinners every second in order to effect our salvation.”

            Jesus was the ultimate servant. His life is the very definition of sacrifice. He lived and died in a totally others-centered manner. And because of it, His Father was and is glorified again and again in greater and greater glory. Jesus’ obedience means our salvation. May your Christmas be blessed with the joy that these truths bring.

Mark 10:45 (NIV)  For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many."

Hebrews 2:17-18 (NIV) ¹⁷  For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. ¹⁸  Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

Hebrews 4:15-16 (NIV) ¹⁵  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin. ¹⁶  Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

PRAYER:  Father, thank you for the willingness of your Son to lower himself for my sake, and for the sake of the world. Give me grace to comprehend just how far Jesus went for me, and may I always worship him appropriately because of such love. In His name, AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!    

Scott

"Must-Have" Prayer

Philippians 4:19 (NIV)  And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

The website Statistic Brain has tracked the "must-have Christmas gift" for the past few decades. In 1983 everyone had to have a cabbage patch doll. In 1984 we just had to have a $30 Trivial Pursuit game. In 1989 American households scrambled to get a new Game Boy, followed by Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in 1990. Then in 1995 it was the Beanie Baby craze, and the 1999 Razor Scooter frenzy. In the ensuing years American consumers knocked themselves out to buy the following top yearly must-have Christmas gifts: a new iPod (2002), A Wii (2006), an iPad (2010), the Angry Birds Board Game (2011), and the Doc McStuffins doll (2013). This year’s big winner looks to be the Frozen Sing-Along Elsa Doll (2015).

Anything on this this list that you or your children ever wanted… badly? In my youth I spent many a Christmas wanting so much more than “my two front teeth”. I made my lists and wrote my letters. Recently Joanne and I found a well-written letter to Santa from Brianne when she was quite young. It was so polite. We laughed when we thought about how “bad” a year it must have been for her, because we did not remember her getting anything on the list… and it wasn’t because she had been bad.

Our “want lists” are rarely satisfied completely. If they are, they are soon replaced with new lists. But most people I know do not get everything they want. As I have gotten older my lists have gotten shorter. I’m always telling Joanne and our kids “I don’t want anything. I don’t need anything.” So does Joanne. I remember my dad saying that when I was young and thinking, “He’s crazy!” I couldn’t imagine anyone not wanting anything. I always wanted stuff. As you grow out of childhood the “stuff” changes. It gets much more expensive. Our kids learned not to bother asking if it was something very high in cost, even though they might have wanted it. In adulthood many of our wants change from things (stuff) to the less tangible: more time, more sleep, less busyness, more quiet, less stress, less worry, etc.

Some of my prayers – perhaps many – over the years have approached God with a “must-have” mentality. I’ve gone to Him with things (usually things that were wants, not needs) that I had to have. Imagine that: me, a finite, limited person presuming I could inform God what I must have. As my faith has matured, I am learning to ask God for what He – in His wisdom – deems best for me. In His infinite knowledge and love He always provides for my needs. When my wants are in tune with what He wants for me, I receive those as well. The secret is to want what He wants. Paul referred to this as contentment. John Piper describes it as being satisfied with all that God is for me in Jesus Christ. Oh, that my prayer life could be focused on more of what God wants and less of what I want. Then I would never have to worry about God saying “No!” to my prayers, because He will always say “Yes!” to His own will.

May we have an attitude of “must-have” in prayer about everything God says we must have.

Philippians 4:11-13 (NIV) ¹¹  I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. ¹²  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. ¹³  I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

Romans 8:31-32 (NIV) ³¹  What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³²  He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

1 John 5:14-15 (NIV) ¹⁴  This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. ¹⁵  And if we know that he hears us--whatever we ask--we know that we have what we asked of him.

PRAYER:  Father, you have given me everything in Christ. Thank you. Let that be the focus of all my joy and desire. In His name, AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!    

Scott

Yesterday, Today, and Forever

Hebrews 13:8 (NIV)  Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

            It goes by the word “nostalgia” – that sentimental longing for the past… a wistful affection directed toward a time gone by. It is usually accompanied by strong memories of people and the experiences we have shared with them. Holidays are a prime time for feelings of nostalgia. I found this out recently. I was home alone doing up some dishes while listening to some Christmas music on Pandora. The songs were mostly old standards of popular Christmas music that I grew up listening to in the sixties. For me this was a kind of “golden age” for Christmas. Christmas seemed simpler then. Maybe it’s just because I was a child and life was a whole lot simpler. So much of what I see and hear around me and in the world these days seems very tacky. Perhaps when I was a kid there were older folks who felt the same way about even earlier days. Anyway, I began to think about my childhood home and all of the blessings I had known there. The longer I listened the more I thought about those times, and the more I felt… well… nostalgic. I found myself over the kitchen sink with tears in my eyes. I was thinking about my dad and missing him… and about Joanne’s mom and dad and her/us missing them. I was thinking about family times at Christmas in days gone by. And they were fond memories. Memories can be good, but as time goes on, things change. Change is one of the natural laws of life, and accepting change gracefully – even with a warm embrace – is a valuable practice in our lives.

            Yet now and then the times come when we will cast our gaze on days gone by. When I talked with Joanne later about this experience, it was not from a “sad that I had to go through that” perspective. I felt happy to have had those moments, even though they brought some tears. There was a certain peace and joy about it. This kind of release of emotion can be beneficial. It wouldn’t be healthy for me to live in/for the past, but going to visit can be quite nice. It’s like I told Joanne in the years just after we got married: I enjoy going to visit your parents in Brooklyn… I enjoy visiting the city. But after a few days (of city life, not Joanne’s parents), I’ve got to get away. The old saying was true… “It’s a nice place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there.” If you are a city person, please be gracious with me. It’s likely that you have the same feeling – in an opposite way – about the country or about small town life. We like what we’re used to, but we can’t always stay there.

            Anyway, nostalgia can only do so much for you. The past is good for us to remember and learn from, but it’s not a good place for a dwelling. Living in the past can be an escape and can keep us from a daily, abiding walk with the Lord that eagerly steps into each new day full of His mercies and pregnant with His unfolding purpose. Our God never changes… He is the God of the old as well as the new. Whenever you look “back”, I pray you will be able to trace His love and the unfolding of His plan. In your moment by moment experience of the present, I pray you will be confident of His steadfast presence leading you. And regarding the unknown future ahead, I pray you will not live in fear, but will be assured that the God of your past and present will be the same tomorrow.

Psalm 102:23-27 (NIV) ²³  In the course of my life he broke my strength; he cut short my days. ²⁴  So I said: "Do not take me away, O my God, in the midst of my days; your years go on through all generations. ²⁵  In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. ²⁶  They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing you will change them and they will be discarded. ²⁷  But you remain the same, and your years will never end.

Lamentations 3:22-26 (NIV) ²²  Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. ²³  They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. ²⁴  I say to myself, "The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him." ²⁵  The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; ²⁶  it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.

Malachi 3:6 (NIV)  "I the LORD do not change. So you, O descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed.

Hebrews 1:10-12 (NIV) ¹⁰  He also says, "In the beginning, O Lord, you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. ¹¹  They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. ¹²  You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be changed. But you remain the same, and your years will never end."

James 1:17 (NIV)  Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

PRAYER:  Father, thank you that you are immutable… that you are the same today as you were a thousand years ago… a million years ago… for all eternity. This truth helps me know that I can trust you, and that your word is just as true now as when it was written. Thank you that, though everything around me and in my life is constantly changing, you do not. You are truly my rock and my refuge whatever comes my way in life. I hide in your unchanging love. In Jesus’ name, AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!    

Scott

Giving Is Always in Season

Acts 20:35 (NIV)  In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"

            About a year ago The Boston Globe reported a story about giving by reporter Kiera Blessing. Here is the gist of it:

            The Salvation Army receives some strange items in its red kettles during the Christmas season. Lieutenant Michael Harper, commander of the Cambridge Salvation Army in Boston said, "In addition to money, I've seen watch batteries, paper clips, safety pins, all sorts of strange things, but this one takes the cake." The gift was a diamond engagement ring given by a widow in honor of her late husband. The charity says the anonymous benefactor placed the diamond ring—valued at $1,850 (according to the woman’s appraisal)—and her wedding band in one of the kettles placed outside Boston's North Station. The rings were donated along with a note honoring the benefactor's late husband: "I've dropped my wedding ring in your Red Kettle knowing that the money from its sale will buy toys for needy children," the woman wrote. "In all seasons, my husband was a giver. I especially remember his joy in giving at Christmastime, especially to those in need. To honor his memory, I donate this ring." The rings sold a few days later for an astonishing $21,000, eleven times their appraised value. The anonymous donor did give some clue to part of her motivation, writing a short proverb at the bottom of her note: "To find out what a man is worth, take away his money and his possessions."

            There are many opportunities placed before us – especially in December - to give. May the Lord give you wisdom and grace in your giving, so that you may give joyfully and experience the fullness of the blessing Jesus promises to givers. Though you might not be placing an engagement ring in a kettle, it is the act that counts. Jesus puts no boundaries on the blessing. Whatever the size of any gift, blessing comes to the giver.

Matthew 2:11 (NIV)  On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh.

Proverbs 22:9 (NIV)  A generous man will himself be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor.

PRAYER:  Father, thank you for every opportunity to give that you place before me. Open my heart to the joy and blessing  that comes with these opportunities. In Jesus’ name, AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!    

Scott