The World at Our Doorstep

Several months ago, in a Wednesday night Bible study, a long list of prayer requests covered the board,  so several of us took some, and we had a good, old-fashioned prayer meeting. As I listened and agreed in prayer with my sisters, I was struck by the variety--even in our relatively small group--of praying styles and ways of addressing God: Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus, Father God, Lord.

Some adopt a special vocabulary, while others sound just as if they're talking to the next-door neighbor.  I quietly wrote down some of the phrases: Thank you for sisters,  Please heal our loved ones,  We lift him up to you,  Give wisdom.

I was struck by the realization that God hears such a vast array of words every day, prayed in all kinds of languages and styles. How beautiful the sound must be to Him! He made each of us and created the many personalities and styles of speaking.  I imagine he rejoices in all the accents and voices he hears.

We have the privilege at Grace to have a couple of international groups that meet here for worship, and on most Monday evenings, there is a thriving ESL (English as a Second Language) ministry taking place. When I was a little girl growing up in the hills of West Virginia, it was a great novelty to hear another language spoken, and here we are with the world at our own doorstep--indeed, right in our classrooms! I love walking down the halls and hearing different accents and languages  praising God.

Revelation tells us that the voices around the throne of God represent "all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues" (7:9).  Let's remember to pray--in whatever words and language we have--for people of all nations.  And why not pray for God to show you how you can minister to the world?

Perhaps you can help support a missionary family in the coming year--by regular prayer or financial gifts. Or maybe you'd like to show up on Monday nights and see what's happening right here at the corner of Shallowford and Jenkins.  (You could see Alicia Snyder if you have questions about that.) Let 2019 be a year of something new!

--Sherry Poff

“Keep your head up” and Grapes in the Desert

Can it be...Christmas is almost here? Of course, I have to mention the birthday of my son David on Christmas day...my best gift ever!!!

We recently heard a pastor say that he and his wife are teaching their children this idea (not exactly verbatim...but close enough):

“When you enter a room, keep your head up. Look around to find someone who needs encouragement or attention.”

Isn’t that a great idea for us to remember? Wouldn’t that cure selfishness? Think about how refreshing that will be over these holidays when life is so hectic.

Isn’t it fun to look a perfect stranger in the eye, smile, and get a smile back? Maybe even a short conversation? This just happened to me at the Kenwood Towne Center here in Cincy. Such a fun, short chat with a complete stranger...and we had just exchanged smiles at the beginning.

The Bible has so many practical thoughts about “holding our heads up” to look for ways to encourage others:

Proverbs 12:25  ^-  Anxiety weighs down the heart, but a kind word cheers it up.

1Thessalonians 5:14b - Encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone.   

1 Peter 4:8a - Above all, love each other deeply.

Philippians 2:3 - Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.

One of my favorites...Proverbs 20:5 - The purposes of a man’s heart are deep waters; but a man of understanding draws them out. (Think about that.)

Philemon 1:7 - Your love has given me (Paul) great joy and encouragement, because you, brother, have refreshed the hearts of the Lord’s people.

Paul was reflecting the thought God had already written in Hosea 9:10. “When I found Israel, it was like finding grapes in the desert.” Think about that!

In the desert you would be overcome with the heat and your throat parched. Those sweet grapes would give you moisture and sustenance and nourishment and even encouragement to keep going.

Do you have your head up...looking for someone to encourage with a smile, a word. or even a laugh? Will you be like sweet grapes in a hot desert to someone?

Merry Christmas!

 --Maylou Holladay

Emotional Detox

The other day I met with one of the children on my caseload (I work at a children’s home). We’ll call him James. Before the meeting, I prayed for wisdom, because anger boils from within this child. We talked about how people feel angry when others have hurt them or if they’ve witnessed someone they love being hurt and how people sometimes don’t remember the hurt if they were too young.

James acknowledged some hurts in his life and had allowed bitterness to grow in his young heart He had decided he hated his circumstances and constantly ruminated on all that was wrong in his life. He could not think of one thing for which to be thankful. Not one thing. That, compounded with unforgiveness, had caused him to become emotionally toxic and volatile. And his poison spewed out on everyone around him.

James’ situation reminded me of a similar situation in my own life a few years back. I worked a job I hated. I was somewhere I didn’t want to be. A co-worker hated me and worked hard to make me miserable. I felt angry, exhausted, stressed, and hopeless. There seemed to be no way out of this circumstance. Unlike James, as an adult, I had coping skills. Before work each day, I sat in the parking garage praying for strength and a good attitude. The Lord listened as I complained about my co-worker and helped me forgive her. In a journal, I wrote five things for which I was grateful each day and tried to think positively. God gave me Scripture verses on which to lean. For six years I worked there, and it wasn’t easy. But God helped me.

God has given us two commandments that are for our emotional health: forgive and give thanks.

“For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” Matthew 6:14-15, NIV

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” Colossians 3:12-14, NIV

“Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else. Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” I Thessalonians 5:15-17, NIV (emphasis mine)

joyce hague

Christmas Lessons

The Christmas season always brings with it several certainties. I love--love!--all the lights that people put up to represent Jesus, the light of the world. Maybe not everyone puts up lights with that intent, but that is how I receive them. I enjoy the ubiquitous music and the crowds--people looking, looking for the right gifts for people they love. This is how I always choose to view the crowds.

This year, I'm thinking about marriage and children. God in his wisdom created families to teach us about himself. He is the father who always loves. We are his children who can trust in his constancy. He sent his son into the world to live in a family with a mother and a father, brothers and sisters, showing us that it is possible to live a life that is pleasing to God within the structure of a human family.

Recently I've attended a couple of weddings and have been reminded of another of God's lessons. The marriage relationship is a representation of God's relationship to the church. When the beautiful bride comes down the aisle--and she's always beautiful--she is a picture of the church (that's you and me) that God loves and sacrifices for, just as a human husband will work hard to provide for his loved one. In the same way that the bride should faithfully honor her husband, we are called to be devoted to God, giving our worship to no other.

To carry the comparison a little further, the result of a human marriage relationship is often children. The result of a healthy church is the making of other children--new followers of God. The analogy may not be perfect, but I was thinking about that passage in Luke chapter one. God intervenes in Elizabeth's life and gives her a child when it seems impossible because of her advanced age. Then he intervenes in Mary's life and gives her a child before it is humanly possible.

God's power is unlimited. He can--and does--bring children into his family when the situation seems humanly hopeless. Like Mary and Elizabeth, we may have the privilege of being his instruments in bringing forth new children of God. That is my desire, and I imagine you feel the same. Let us be faithful and obedient.

--Sherry Poff

Fighting Against Familiarity

“Often, when we are familiar with things, we begin to take them for granted. When we are familiar with things, we tend to quit examining them. […] Familiarity tends to rob us of wonder.”

            My husband and I read this quote by Paul David Tripp last night in the introduction to his advent devotional O Come Let Us Adore Him. Tripp writes that his hope in these daily devotional readings leading up to Christmas is that they will help the reader truly meditate on the Christmas narrative so that he or she may recapture the wonder of the Incarnation. That’s my hope this Christmas. Isn’t it yours?

            It’s so easy to get caught up in all the extras – the decorating, Christmas baking, presents, and parties. We remember Christ’s birth as we sit in church and sing the beloved Christmas carols, but in the day-to-day, at least for me, my heart is more captured by the “feeling” of the Christmas season than by the Savior who was born. After all, I’ve known the Christmas story as far back as I can remember. It is very familiar to me. And yet, Tripp is right: Familiarity does rob us of wonder if we let it. So I, for one, am determined not to let it rob me of that wonder this year. Here’s my plan. I write this as an encouragement to you to come up with your own ways to not let Christmas become familiar. Let’s spend much time this Advent season in awe that a holy God would stoop down to this lowly earth and become one of us in order to rescue us. And let us look ahead with anticipation to His return when He comes again, not as a baby, but as a King. Here is how I’m being intentional this month:

1. An advent devotional: These are daily readings from the first of December through Christmas Day to point me toward the real meaning of the season. An added bonus: Kelly and I are reading these short devotionals together in the evenings, so we can dialogue about them and be in awe together.

2. An Advents wreath: This is a tradition I grew up with in Germany. The wreath holds four candles, and since today was the first of the four Sundays leading up to Christmas, we lit the first candle. Next Sunday, we’ll light two and so on. The candles remind us of Christ’s coming as the “Light of the World.” The word Advent actually means arrival or coming, and it not only reminds us of Christ’s birth as a baby, but it also points towards His second coming when all will be made right.

3. A Family Advent devotion book: This may seem overwhelming, but we found a great Advent book for families with three devotions per week (Prepare Him Room). This is totally doable, and the kids really seemed to enjoy it today (well, at least the older two did). Each day includes a Scripture passage with a short devotional, a Christmas carol, and a fun but simple activity.  Oh, how I want to pass on to my kids that the gift of Christ is so much greater than any toy they could get at Christmas.

4. Songs and Messages: I don’t want to simply sing Christmas songs and hear the Christmas story in messages and think, “Wow, I love Christmas time.” (Again, just that ‘warm, fuzzy feeling.’) I want to be in awe. I want to worship. I want to fall on my face before the God who loved this world enough to come down “when the fullness of time had come.” I want to be amazed that the Old Testament prophecies had come true. And that the same God who kept His promises then still keeps His promises now, and thus I can know that He will come back one day to reign. This Christmas, I want to be filled with wonder.

--Amy O'Rear