Diane Goold's Blog: Diane's Daily Devotions

Goal setting
Yesterday I met with my manager to go over my goals for 2016, an annual employee requirement of the company. These goals mirror the ones set for me in 2015, when I re-started my job. In fact, they nearly mirror the ones I had when I worked there before in 2008. I’m pleased that most of the goals are being implemented and I’m on track for a successful year.

Our goals and evaluations at work are an expected reality, but what about our personal and private goals? Just as we are encouraged to change our smoke alarm batteries when we change our clocks bi-annually, so perhaps we should update and check how well we are meeting our goals.

Be it financial, relationships, health and fitness, spiritual, mental or whatever, we should, I think take the role of both manager and employee. First we must set them, accept them, implement and monitor them, and in a specified time, evaluate those we’ve met and those we still need to work on.

Given the Holy week we are worshipping and celebrating, perhaps this would be a good one to start with. “My goal is to know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, so I may know the resurrection from the dead.” Philippians 3:10

3/15/16

Some dates we remember well, having been taught them in school for some historical significance. We remember birthdates and anniversaries. We remember holiday dates, as we look forward to a day off from work. We remember 9/11, and refer to it often. We remember the date of a loved one’s death and set that day aside for remembrance of them.

We remember doctor and dentist appointment dates, and other important meeting and appointment dates. We remember the date of our children’s birth, and the dates of significant events in their lives. But other dates come and go without any significance attached to them. We say it was just another day, or where has the time gone? But if nothing important happens, we don’t pay much attention to the day or the date.

I challenge each of us to remember today. Perhaps it is a special date to you so can be easily remembered. If not, do something to make it memorable. Perhaps you can call a friend, or send a needed greeting card. Perhaps you can meet a neighbor of visit someone who is ill or in need of a friend. Perhaps you can spend extra time in prayer for all those in need.

Whatever you decide to do, make sure it’s important enough so this date counts for something. And do it again each and every day, so that all dates have a significant meaning to you and to others.

"LORD, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered--how fleeting my life is.” Psalm 39:4

As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him.
Psalm 103:13
Why is it so hard to have compassion for others? Compassion by definition is sympathetic pity and concern for the sufferings or misfortunes of others. While it’s easy to offer empathy, compassion goes a step further, requiring some action on our part. Christ had compassion for the crowds of hungry followers, and fed them with a meager amount of resources, filling each one to satisfaction. He had compassion for the weak, lame, and blind, and offered them a healing to restore their health.
He had compassion for the thief on the cross, and has unlimited compassion for each of us and the trials and struggles we face.

Compassion means putting ourselves out there for others, not just giving lip service and offering prayers from the comfort of our easy chair. Compassion requires us to meet the needs of those in need, where they are. A woman I know recently fell, breaking her hip. Her home doesn’t accommodate a walker, and she’s concerned about both healing and finding a different temporary home. Sympathy says “Oh what a shame,” or “that’s too bad. I hope it all works out for you. I’ll be praying for you.”

Compassion says “Let’s look at our options and together we’ll figure this out. We’ll find a temporary home for you, help you move, and be with you during your recovery.” Sympathy is easy; compassion is action. May we re-examine our Christian commitment as we search for those who need our compassionate ministry, and offer not just our prayers, but our physical assistance as well.

On the Palm of my Hand
Shout for joy, you heavens; rejoice, you earth; burst into song, you mountains!
For the Lord comforts his people and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.
But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me, the Lord has forgotten me.”
“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne?
Though she may forget, I will not forget you!
See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands. Isaiah 49: 13-16

Not just written, but engraved, are our names on the palms of Christ’s hands. What a powerful reminder of how much he loves each of us individually, and collectively.

As you start your day, remember that no matter what happens, Christ holds you in the palm of his loving and protective hands.

- Diane’s Daily Reflections, 2016

No Matter What
Our minister shared this story with us yesterday. A father told his young daughter to stay inside one day and not go outside to play with her friends. It was a beautiful snowy winter’s day, and she was content for a while, until a snow ball flew by her window and she could no longer resist. Against her father’s instruction, she went out anyway and played several hours with her friends. All the while though she felt guilty and kept looking to see if her father had come home from work early, so was anxious most of the day. She reluctantly ended her play and returned home, in time she hoped to be resting comfortably in her room when he arrived.

However, as she ran up the steps, she slipped on a forgotten mitten, and tumbled back down the stairs, knocking her father’s favorite picture off the wall, damaging the frame. She was so remorseful she ran to her room and remained there, sorrowing for her disobedience and the consequences she was sure would come. After a time, her nanny came in and urged her to go to her father and confess all.
“How can I, after all I’ve done?” She asked. “My father can never love me again as I’ve been so disobedient.”

“Your father loves you enough to forgive you,” her Nanny replied, “but first you must confess what you’ve done and ask his forgiveness.” Reluctantly she took the broken picture into the study where her father was waiting. “I’m so sorry father,” she began, but he interrupted her, explaining he knew all that she’d done, from disobeying him and going outside, and damaging the picture when she fell.

“But how could you know?” She inquired tearfully. “You’ve been at work all day.”

“I took the afternoon off, as I’d planned on spending it with you, so I saw you playing and I watched you fall. I wanted to comfort you, but you didn’t come to me, running upstairs and suffering alone until now.”

“Oh father,” she replied. “If only I hadn’t disobeyed you, none of this would have happened and we could have spent the entire afternoon together. How can you possibly love me after I’ve been so naughty?”

“My precious child, how can I not love you? I love you more dearly every day. Even when you go against my wishes, I don’t stop loving you. It’s disappointing because I have such wonderful things planned for you, but you have the freedom to decide for yourself, and sometimes the consequences of your decisions can be painful. But I still love you and I forgive you. Now come sit on my lap so I can attend to your bumps and bruises from your fall.”

With that the little girl rushed into her father’s waiting arms, and basked in his enduring love and forgiveness, while accepting comfort for her wounds. (Revised. Source unknown.)

Such as it is with God. Take your burdens, concerns, pain and regrets to him and he will welcome you with a loving embrace, offering forgiveness, understanding and comfort for your many wounds.

The wind blows wherever it wants. Just as you can hear the wind but can't tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can't explain how people are born of the Spirit. John 3:8
The spring storm season is in full force, bringing fierce winds and deadly tornadoes. Yesterday alone, more than 50 tornadoes were spotted on radar. Several made their way to the ground, causing destruction along their paths. These powerful winds are known to bring total destruction to one area, while another, just a few feet away may not be impacted at all. This scripture reminds us this is the way the Holy Spirit moves among us. We can’t control or explain it, it is just always there. Those who recognize this spirit, are blessed with its presence, while those who don’t, are unaware of it. Our challenge is to allow God’s Holy Spirit to move within and around us, bringing comfort, direction and relief for our sorrows, and peace for our troubled souls. May you be blessed with the presence of the Holy Spirit today, as you share it with those who are unaware of its presence.

Babel-ing
I read the account of the Tower of Babel this morning. This is a well-known passage, but one not often referred to. Given the continued unrest in our country over racial issues, it seems a fitting point of reflection today. In ancient times, everyone spoke the same language. They understood one another and enjoyed a period of relative peace and prosperity. However, the ability to communicate led to them scheming to build a tower that would reach to heaven. God was not pleased with their scheme, so confused their language so they could no longer understand one another. While this stopped the construction of the tower, it also caused the scattering of the people to new lands and places. Civilization has suffered from miscommunication and misunderstanding since then. Even when we speak the same language, we often have trouble understanding one another. While in Georgia, I asked my friends how to properly pronounce pecan, as I often say pecon. Lonnie asked how I spelled the word can and I answered c-a-n. He replied, “Well that’s how you pronounce it then.” A simple explanation for an often mispronounced word, in the mid-west at least. How nice it would be if we could attempt to communicate with others in a similar fashion: simple, easy and understandable. The next time we find we can’t understand what someone is asking or telling us, perhaps we should ask God for help. He, after all is the father of all languages so he would surely be able to help us understand what those we are in conflict with are trying to communicate. Perhaps he could help us blend the words black and white, into the word grey. It could be a start in settling our differences at least.

Discipline-ship
At church yesterday the officiating minister, while reading from scripture miss-pronounced discipleship as discipline-ship. I immediately connected the relevance of her miss-pronunciation with the true meaning of discipleship. In order to be an effective disciple, we must first develop some level of discipline in our preparation, contemplation and study. We can’t be very effective if we don’t have the discipline to be a good and faithful servant. How disciplined are we in preparing to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with others? I encourage you to contemplate the meaning of discipline-ship as you preform your discipleship today.

One Solitary Life by James Allen Francis.
He was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant. He grew up in another village, where he worked in a carpenter shop until he was 30. Then, for three years, he was an itinerant preacher. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family or owned a home. He didn't go to college. He never lived in a big city. He never traveled 200 miles from the place where he was born. He did none of the things that usually accompany greatness.
He had no credentials but himself. He was only 33 when the tide of public opinion turned against him. His friends ran away. One of them denied him. He was turned over to his enemies and went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross between two thieves. While he was dying, his executioners gambled for his garments, the only property he had on earth. When he was dead, he was laid in a borrowed grave, through the pity of a friend.
Twenty centuries have come and gone, and today he is the central figure of the human race. I am well within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, all the navies that ever sailed, all the parliaments that ever sat, all the kings that ever reigned--put together--have not affected the life of man on this earth as much as that one, solitary life.
I share this is as our reflection today, as we move beyond Easter. Perhaps we can relate our own solitary lives to that of Christ’s, knowing that what we do may not be acknowledged by the world, but will surely be noticed by our Heavenly Father.
Diane's Daily Devotions: A Daily Scripture Study with Devotional Development