Walking With God
A Weekly Devotion
Rev. Dr. David Lester Board Member Faith Relations Committee
If you would like more information or would like to attend a meeting of the Faith Relations Committee, send an email of inquiry to Dr. Rev. David Lester at pastordavid@habitatbangor.org
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About the AuthorThe Rev. Dr. David H. Lester has been in ministry of some form most of his life. He has served churches and communities in Maine and Vermont; worked with 501(c)3 non-profits in service with and to the marginalized; has sat on various boards, committees, task forces, etc. where he helped shape policy on the state and national level for the benefit of people of poverty; and has volunteered with many organizations. Dr. Lester currently serves as Pastor of Ministry for East Orrington Congregational Church in Orrington, Maine. He is married, has two grown daughters, and six grandchildren. He is a published author who has written several books and articles. Dr. Lester brings to the Board and to Habitat for Humanity Greater Bangor over forty years of administrative and leadership experience. |
Saturday April 21, 2012
John 21:15 -- Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” [Jesus] said to [Peter], “Feed my lambs.”
The discourse between Jesus and Simon Peter continues on through the next several verses. Jesus asks Simon Peter three different times, “Do you love me?” By the third time Peter is getting rather frustrated. He tells Jesus, “You know everything; you know that I love you”. Jesus continued to respond by saying, “Tend my sheep”. For Jesus, words were never enough. When you take a careful look at the entirety of Jesus’ ministry it will be discovered that he was truly a man of action, and he called those who would follow him to be people of action. He tells Peter that if he truly loves him then he will take care of his sheep – take care of the other children of God. God expresses through Jesus Christ that love is always active. Love is always giving and forgiving. Love is what makes our relationships strong and keeps them that way. Love is what helps us through the tough times. When you say that you love God – when you say that you love Jesus Christ – When you say that you love others, do your actions support what your words have conveyed?
Prayer:
Holy God of all love and forgiveness, I come before you remembering Jesus’ question to Simon Peter, “Do you love me?” I can hear Jesus calling me by name and asking me that very same question. Like Peter I would be quick to respond saying, “Lord, you know that I do.” But Lord I am also convicted by the underlying message of Jesus’ words that really seek to know if I am one who will truly follow through - if I am one who goes beyond speaking the words to being a person of action. Do I rely solely upon my ability to lift others up in prayer, or do I support my own prayers by being a person of action on behalf of those I have lifted up? I pray this day, dear Lord, that you will help me to turn my prayers into action. Help me this day to be an example to others as I go out daily to tend Jesus’ sheep. For your love, for your grace, for your mercy, I give you my thanks and praise. Amen
Saturday April 14,
2012
John 20:24-25 – Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and place my finger in the mark of the nails, and place my hand in his side, I will not believe.”
Poor Thomas has developed a reputation over the years of being referred to as “Doubting Thomas”. I do not see Thomas as one who “doubts” but as one who is so deeply entrenched in his faith that he wants to make sure that the Resurrection actually took place – that Jesus was indeed raised to new life as promised and that the person seen by the disciples and others was indeed Jesus. Even as John the Baptist asked of Jesus, “Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?” So Thomas wants to know if the risen Christ is truly present. Where does your faith lead you? What does it take for you to truly believe the promises God – even those promises that seem impossible? Is your faith hampered by a need for physical and comprehensible proof? Unless my loved one is healed I will not believe. I truly love Jesus’ response to Thomas – “Have you believed because you have seen? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe” (John 20:29). Where does your faith lead you? Do you have faith or do you seek tangible proof of the love of God.
Prayer:
Precious Lord, I come to you in the quiet of these moments offering to you my praise and thanksgiving. I continue to be in awe of your wondrous works and your unending love. I thank you that you encourage me to closely examine my faith – to look with clarity at the relationship that exists between you and me. I thank you for the gift of faith. I thank you that you have given me many reasons to continue to live by faith – to not need what some would call proof. I thank you for sending your Son to be the example of how I too can live my life as one who is not only loved, but who is truly forgiven, by the very one who brought be into existence. Be with me this day as I continue down that path that strengthens our relationship – that path to which you are steadily calling me. Amen
John 20:24-25 – Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and place my finger in the mark of the nails, and place my hand in his side, I will not believe.”
Poor Thomas has developed a reputation over the years of being referred to as “Doubting Thomas”. I do not see Thomas as one who “doubts” but as one who is so deeply entrenched in his faith that he wants to make sure that the Resurrection actually took place – that Jesus was indeed raised to new life as promised and that the person seen by the disciples and others was indeed Jesus. Even as John the Baptist asked of Jesus, “Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?” So Thomas wants to know if the risen Christ is truly present. Where does your faith lead you? What does it take for you to truly believe the promises God – even those promises that seem impossible? Is your faith hampered by a need for physical and comprehensible proof? Unless my loved one is healed I will not believe. I truly love Jesus’ response to Thomas – “Have you believed because you have seen? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe” (John 20:29). Where does your faith lead you? Do you have faith or do you seek tangible proof of the love of God.
Prayer:
Precious Lord, I come to you in the quiet of these moments offering to you my praise and thanksgiving. I continue to be in awe of your wondrous works and your unending love. I thank you that you encourage me to closely examine my faith – to look with clarity at the relationship that exists between you and me. I thank you for the gift of faith. I thank you that you have given me many reasons to continue to live by faith – to not need what some would call proof. I thank you for sending your Son to be the example of how I too can live my life as one who is not only loved, but who is truly forgiven, by the very one who brought be into existence. Be with me this day as I continue down that path that strengthens our relationship – that path to which you are steadily calling me. Amen
Saturday April 7, 2012
Matthew 28:5 “…Do not be afraid; for I know that you seek Jesus…”
Easter Sunday is for many Christians an even more important and sacred day than Christmas. Christmas celebrates the coming of the Christ-Child into the world. Easter, on the other hand, contains the fullness of God’s grace for you through the saving acts of Jesus Christ. In other words, while the birth is important, it is the resurrection that holds the power of God’s forgiveness for your sins. The question becomes, “What power do you grant the resurrection in your life?” Is Easter just another holiday like so many others or does it truly give you cause to stop and contemplate the true gift of God for you? Does Easter stop for you when the Sunday services are ended and the large family meal is complete? While Easter may be particularly celebrated during a specific time in the calendar of the Church, the reality of Easter is a moment by moment and day by day occurrence. Your response to the love of God and the saving acts of Jesus Christ is found in the conduct of your daily life. When God observes the life you live will He be heard saying, “You are my child in whom I am well pleased”?
Prayer:
Holy God of the Resurrection, how do I begin to thank you for your love, your grace, and your mercy? How can I possibly live up to your expectations? Yet, Lord, my questions are in so many ways empty. They are empty because I do know that the answer to both questions is the same. I need to love God, other people, and self. Forgive me, Lord, when I choose to travel my own path rather than traveling the path you have set before me. Forgive me for those times I pretend that I do not know what it is you are calling me to do or to say. Grant, Lord, that I will more fully understand that it is by your grace, grace alone, that I am lifted up and out of the miry bog which I have dug for myself. May the truth and reality of the resurrection be the guiding influence of my life as I strive daily to draw nearer, yet nearer to thee. In the name of the Risen Christ I pray. Amen
Matthew 28:5 “…Do not be afraid; for I know that you seek Jesus…”
Easter Sunday is for many Christians an even more important and sacred day than Christmas. Christmas celebrates the coming of the Christ-Child into the world. Easter, on the other hand, contains the fullness of God’s grace for you through the saving acts of Jesus Christ. In other words, while the birth is important, it is the resurrection that holds the power of God’s forgiveness for your sins. The question becomes, “What power do you grant the resurrection in your life?” Is Easter just another holiday like so many others or does it truly give you cause to stop and contemplate the true gift of God for you? Does Easter stop for you when the Sunday services are ended and the large family meal is complete? While Easter may be particularly celebrated during a specific time in the calendar of the Church, the reality of Easter is a moment by moment and day by day occurrence. Your response to the love of God and the saving acts of Jesus Christ is found in the conduct of your daily life. When God observes the life you live will He be heard saying, “You are my child in whom I am well pleased”?
Prayer:
Holy God of the Resurrection, how do I begin to thank you for your love, your grace, and your mercy? How can I possibly live up to your expectations? Yet, Lord, my questions are in so many ways empty. They are empty because I do know that the answer to both questions is the same. I need to love God, other people, and self. Forgive me, Lord, when I choose to travel my own path rather than traveling the path you have set before me. Forgive me for those times I pretend that I do not know what it is you are calling me to do or to say. Grant, Lord, that I will more fully understand that it is by your grace, grace alone, that I am lifted up and out of the miry bog which I have dug for myself. May the truth and reality of the resurrection be the guiding influence of my life as I strive daily to draw nearer, yet nearer to thee. In the name of the Risen Christ I pray. Amen
