White
Devotional
for January 4-10, 2008
Day One Pondering Points
A
couple of years ago, on a Christmas morning, we unwrapped our presents and then
headed over to my parents house to celebrate Christmas with them and my sisters
and their families. This was before my
grandmother had passed away but was already doing very poorly, confined to a
wheelchair, and barely able to recognize anyone or communicate. It was a somewhat difficult to communicate
with her due to the fact that she could barely hear or even understand what you
would be saying to her. Not long after
we had arrived, and the kids were sneaking peeks under the tree to see what
presents awaited them, that I realized that my daughter Hannah was not with the
others. As I looked around I soon found
her sitting next to my grandmother asking her questions about how she was
doing. Here sat a very young girl, on a
day that most children were focused mainly on what they were going to receive,
and she was purposely attempting to include an individual who was not easy or
sometimes pleasant to include. I was
very touched by what I saw and it still stands out in my mind as a significant
attribute of my daughter. I doubt that I
will ever forget that moment. It would have probably seemed insignificant to
anyone else had they walked into the house at that moment, but to me it meant a
great deal.
Mary
had this same type of experience, a moment when she had a great opportunity to
recognize something about her newborn child.
Read about this in Luke 2:19. It
says that as the shepherds came to see her child that they left praising God
and that she made a point to remember and think about this experience. What do you think that she was thinking as
she remembered these events?
We
all have these pondering points in our life, including times when we recognize
and ponder events that happen in our life in regard to our relationship with
Jesus Christ. What are some events that
you can look back on and remember them and their significance?
What
do these memories do in your faith walk?
Why
is it important for you to have these pondering points in your walk with
Christ?
Day Two Recognizing
Character
I
have told you before the story of Bonnie Reed.
Bonnie was the minister of music at the church where I served in
Colorado Springs. He was probably the
most amazing servant that I have ever known.
However, this was not something I knew until I had certain opportunities
to recognize this characteristic because his humility caused him to seldom expose this side of himself publicly. One such opportunity took place on Christmas
Break when I had come back to Oklahoma for the holiday to be with my
family. While I was gone there was a
huge blizzard that hit Colorado with several feet of snow being dumped on the Springs. There is a
law in Colorado Springs that after a certain amount of time you must shovel
your sidewalk. This is usually not a problem since the dry climate usually has
the snow melted before the end of the day.
This particular snowstorm was different though as the snow remained deep
on the ground for several days. When I
made it back to Colorado from Oklahoma the snow was still several feet deep ,but I was surprised to find my driveway and sidewalk
completely and very neatly shoveled. I
spent the next six months assuming that one of my neighbors had received a
snowplow for Christmas and had used my driveway as a testing ground. It was not until late that next summer that
in a casual conversation that Bonnie said something unrelated that made me
realize that he had been the good Samaritan that had
shoveled my drive and sidewalks to keep me from receiving a fine. This was amazing to me for many reasons,
first of all I lived about ten to fifteen miles from his house, second was the
fact that he had not attempted to take credit for this good deed (I would have
been calling people that day to tell of my servant attitude), and third was
just the fact that he had done this in the first place (it was cold and wet and
miserable!) Over the years I continued
to watch him and his wife, Joyce Ann, and I came to be consistently impressed
(and even more so years later as I think about it) at their servant
character. The thing that happened was
that, as I became more aware of this character trait in Bonnie and Joyce Ann, I
became even more aware of the type of people that they were. The more that I became aware of the type of
people that they were the more I was impressed by them and appreciated them. It is as we become aware of the truth of an
individual that we become impressed with and by them.
The
opposite of this can also be true. There have been many people in my life that
I was very impressed by, that is until I got to know them. Many times these people, who had so impressed
me by their external appearance and deeds, disappointed me once I got to know
the truth about their internal character.
True
knowledge leads us to either accept and praise an
individual, or to reject them based on the truth of their internal character
and being.
This
was the case with Christ and the Shepherds.
Read their experience as detailed in Luke 2:8-20. What was the response
of the Shepherds after they had an encounter with Christ?
Their
encounter led them to praise God, why do you think that this response took
place?
The
shepherds praised God largely because they recognized His true internal
character. How has the recognition of
the character of God led you to praise Him?
Day Three Faithful
Following
In April of 1993 I spent a week at the
Oklahoma State University Challenge Course where I received training in order
to be a certified Ropes Course Instructor.
Early on that Monday morning I arrived at the course located near Lake
Carl Blackwell, just
outside of Stillwater, Oklahoma. Soon
after arrival I met Tim, the lead instructor and director of the Challenge
Course. Tim was not really an overly
impressive individual, in fact it would have been very
easy to have not given him a second thought after meeting him. My impression of Tim changed drastically
however once I witnessed him working on the course. As Tim climbed the poles to approach the
course and then set up all the different elements I could not help but realized
that this was an individual who knew what he was doing. Then as he demonstrated rescue procedures and
first aid techniques I was convinced that Tim was an expert that should be
listened to. After this impact where I
came to recognize Tim’s expertise, I was a follower of all that he said to do
on the Ropes Course. I trusted that he
knew what he was doing and therefore what I should be doing. There were other trainers present that week
helping us learn how to lead others through the course, but none of them were
able to demand the same obedience based on their knowledge and expertise.
Certain individuals have the following of others based on the fact that these
leaders truly know what they are doing.
The Magi had this same experience with God
after their encounter with Christ. Read
this story in Matthew 2:1-12. What does
it say that the Magi did after they had worshipped and presented their gifts to
the baby Christ?
They obeyed God’s leading.
How has the impact of Christ on your life
led you to obey His leading?
Day
Four Fulfilled
In our house you can frequently find the
television turned to the “Food Network.”
This is not due to a Parisian Chef fantasy on our part,
it is because of our dog Slinky. Slinky
loves the “Food Network.” Something
about this channel keeps his constant attention. We will leave the television on when we are
out of the house and often come home to find Slinky sitting up as if he is deeply
entranced by the latest recipe being shared by Paula Deen
or the Barefoot Contessa. I have to admit that I, too, am often
attentive to the cooking taking place by the chefs on the shows. While all the chefs have their differences
they all share a common ending. As each chef completes his or her particular
dish they will then sit down, usually with other dinner guests, and enjoy the
meal. After they have completed their
cooking, they then enjoy the fruits of their labor. They do all the work then it is over and they
enjoy what they have spent so much time creating.
It is that moment of enjoying the end
product that impresses me. I think that
practice is sometimes lost in our “hurry up” society.
A couple of years ago I had Caleb assist
me in mowing and working on our lawn.
When we had finished I took him across the street and pointed him back
at our front yard. “Now, look at what
you done,” I said in my most inspiring voice, “look at how great the lawn looks.
Isn’t that worth all the work you put into it?” We stood there for a moment and then he looked
up at me and said, “That’s great dad, can
I go in and play now?” He clearly
didn’t share my appreciation for the end product.
In the story of Jesus’ birth and childhood
there is a gentleman who also looked forward his entire life to enjoying the
end product. His end product was what we
look at as the beginning. He was looking
forward to and had spent his entire life working for the arrival of the
promised Messiah. His entire existence
had been looking forward to this moment in history when He would actually get
to see the Christ child. He was not
expecting the Messiah to change his life or do anything for him, he just looked
forward to “seeing and enjoying” the Messiah.
Read about his experience in Luke
2:25-35. How would you characterize the
experience of Simeon?
Simeon had looked forward to seeing and
enjoying Christ. What did this enjoyment
mean to him?
How do you “enjoy” your “seeing” Christ
moments?
Day
Five An Outflow of Thanks
When I was growing up, the movie “The
Sound of Music” would come to town and hit the theaters almost every year. Mom would take my sisters and me to the
matinee and we would enjoy Marie Von Trapp running over the hillside and
eventually away from the Nazis. Near the
end of the movie there is a scene where the Von Trapps
are performing in a music festival competition.
As the awards are being presented, a very excited singing group member
has to be escorted from the stage as she is unable to quit saying “Thanks” to
the crowd and to the judges. When we are
truly thankful we cannot help but say thanks to those involved. In addition to saying “thanks”, we cannot
help but telling others about the experience.
The prophetess Anna had this type of
experience when she finally encountered Jesus.
She had been waiting her entire life to see the Messiah (just like
Simeon) and once she did we are told that she could not help but give thanks.
What else do we see Anna do in Luke 2:36-38?
Anna could not help but give thanks, but
we also see that she could not help but tell others about Christ. When was the last time when “thanks and
sharing about Him” was an outflow of your relationship with Christ?
What was the cause of this outflow?
Why do you think it is not an outflow more
often?
What makes thanks and sharing an outflow
and how it be a truth in your life?