Sew on!

Today’s Reading: Acts 13:22 NIV

22 After removing Saul, [God] made David their king. He testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart. He will do everything I want him to do.’

Good morning!

I’ve decided to take up knitting again. It is good therapy for my right hand, which seems to short circuit daily. After a fall I took at home last August, I’ve had ongoing difficulty with two of my fingers. The old adage, “use it or lose it” still rings true. My pretty kitty Faith is captivated by the yarn. She likes to grab and paw at the yarn just when I’m beginning to make progress. Have you ever been distracted by someone who purposefully tries to slow your momentum? Faith is much happier, now that she has a ball of yarn to play with.

An automobile license plate captivated my attention last week, as I was driving down the highway. The plate simply said, “Sew on.” I presumed that the owner of the vehicle loved to stitch. Whenever my extended family gathered together on the weekends, the boys would all go fishing, and the girls, which included my grandmother, mother and aunts would sit in the living room with crochet hooks and knitting needles, stitching away while laughing at each other’s stories. I still remember Aunt Pauline’s laugh – it was contagious! My grandmother liked to tat, an almost lost art today. She tatted edging for pillow cases, sheets and blankets. My mother liked to knit sofa throws; while my aunt made beautiful baby sweaters, bonnets and booties for young mothers in her church. My sister weaved potholders on a plastic loom, and I practiced my knitting skills by making hats, scarves and mittens. Whenever I dropped a stitch, my grandmother would make me rip it out and begin again. Giving your best effort always meant going back and recapturing that one lost stitch.

Paul was sewing a seed of faith as he spoke with great conviction to the men and women gathered in the synagogue. He was repeating their history and capturing the listeners’ hearts. It was imperative to convey the importance of their faith traditions and history to better understand and accept the coming of Jesus, the promised One of God. He is the “Son of David,” a man after God’s own heart. Not to lose anyone in the room, Paul made sure not to leave out any important detail that might cause his brothers to disbelieve the truth.

Our world is full of inquisitive folk; all are seeking the Truth of the matter. It is not easy to refute the cynics and scoffers and those who refuse to see the bigger picture because of some minute detail they cannot let go. Paul chose to sew seeds of faith, knowing that his human words may very well fail; but the power of the Holy Spirit would prevail. He did not miss a stitch; Paul was devoted to reaching every heart with the Good News of salvation, offered through Christ Jesus.

If you are fearful that your faith sharing is falling on deaf ears, may I encourage you to pick up your crochet hook, or a pair of knitting needles, and sew on! Share your faith story with the people in your life - your family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, peers. Do not let another opportunity to tell others about Jesus pass you by. Find a new way to share Christ’s love so they will understand. If they can see the relationship between their past, and all that His future holds for them, the Holy Spirit will work in and through your humble words to convey Truth to a culture desperately seeking hope today.

Sew on!

Grace and peace,

Deb Spaulding

Faith UMC - St. Charles, MO

www.songofdeborah.com

___________________________

© Copyright 2010, Deb Spaulding

All rights reserved

Articles may not be printed in any “for profit” publication without further permission by the author. Articles may be freely distributed via e-mail, reprinted in church bulletins or in other non-profit publications without further permission. Please keep this copyright and Web Site information intact with copied articles.

Clean your room!

Today’s Reading: Acts 13:20b-21 NIV

20b [Paul said,] “After this, God gave them judges until the time of Samuel the prophet. 21 Then the people asked for a king, and he gave them Saul son of Kish, of the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled forty years.”

Good morning!

“Go clean your room!” I wish I had a nickel for every time I’ve given this instruction in the last thirty years. Between you and me, I am convinced this is a generational curse. “Why, Nanny? No one sees my room except me. Who cares if it is clean?” Suddenly and without warning, I begin to hear the voice of my mother gurgle up from inside my belly and resound like a clanging bell as her words begin to pour out of my mouth. “Go to your room right now. And while you are cleaning it, you may want to have a little talk with God. Did you not know that our heavenly Father not only sees the condition of your room; He knows the condition of your heart? And if you choose to listen to Him, Jesus will tell you all about the consequences of willful disobedience and why it is so very important to listen and obey.”

I can hear their grumbling all the way upstairs. The children are now in their rooms, tossing toys into containers, while spewing to God about how unfair it is that Nanny makes them clean it. It reminds me of all the times I’ve spent spewing to God and asking Him why. Thank God I had a mother who knew I needed to be prodded to enter into His throne room of grace. She never gave up on me. I know God hears and answers my every prayer; and yet, there were a few prayers I’ve prayed upstairs in my dirty little room that break my heart today. I pray words spoken in ignorance and self-righteous indignation have been removed from the Father’s memory as far as the east is from the west. Thank you, dear Jesus, for covering me, in spite of my own willful disobedience!

God’s people recognized their need for instruction, even though they didn’t like it. God sent judges to help direct the Israelites as they began to take hold of the Promise; and when the people demanded a king to lead them, God tried His best to talk them out of it. Nevertheless, a loving Father allows the disrespectful grumblings of His children. He sees and hears it all! Sometimes, God will give us exactly what we ask for, just to prove a point. What will it take to prepare our hardened hearts for the return of the Promised One? Do we really think we can muck it all out by ourselves?

Jesus is coming soon to bring us home. Are you packed and ready to go? Is your room in order? Have you checked in with your brothers and sisters, parents, grandparents, children and grandchildren? Are they looking up, listening for the trumpet sound announcing Christ’s return? We need to be about the business of cleaning our rooms. If you are concerned about the spiritual condition of a lost loved one, go into your room right now and ask for the supernatural intervention of the Holy Spirit. He can clean up the messes we make in an instant! Lives are forever changed through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit – He is a gift from our Lord Jesus Christ! Pray for all people, everywhere. Pray continually, at all times. Remember, the Lord sees the condition of your room; He knows your heart; and He hears your every prayer. Do not be afraid to prod a little. You can be your mother when it comes to spreading the Word! Go for it, in Jesus’ name.

Grace and peace,

Deb Spaulding

Faith UMC - St. Charles, MO

www.songofdeborah.com

___________________________

© Copyright 2010, Deb Spaulding

All rights reserved

Articles may not be printed in any “for profit” publication without further permission by the author. Articles may be freely distributed via e-mail, reprinted in church bulletins or in other non-profit publications without further permission. Please keep this copyright and Web Site information intact with copied articles.

Playing church

Today’s Reading: Acts 13:18-20 NIV

18 [God] endured their conduct for about forty years in the desert, 19 He overthrew seven nations in Canaan and gave their land to His people as their inheritance. 20 All this took about 450 years.



Good morning!



My grandchildren were very busy yesterday, playing games in the living room. Andrew and Emily had set up tents near the front picture window, where they watched the snow fall gently to the ground. Joshua gave up watching cartoons to come and join them in their new found abode. I heard Emily exclaim in her high-pitched voice, “Joshua, let’s play church!” She was totally sincere when Emily said it, and I peeked around the corner and watched while my grandchildren knelt down inside the tent and prayed together.



Watching them play, I was reminded about how we sometimes huddle inside our make shift shelters and play church. Many of us show up on Sunday mornings for worship, but are our hearts really there? We kneel at the altar together and pray corporate prayers of confession, but do we really intend to make the necessary change? Do we somehow expect our Lord to miraculously, supernaturally change our yen for sin, so we no longer struggle with our daily choices for living? Are we really waiting for God or is God still waiting for us? I have witnessed incredible miracles during worship, when folks just like you and me seek forgiveness for sin and sincerely ask God to create within them clean hearts. Compulsions, diseases, and broken lives have been and continue to be healed at the foot of the cross today. Yet, when we are tempted again, does it somehow devalue the sincerity of our original prayer? How many times must we “play church” before the truth of God’s Word completely captivates and controls our human hearts?



After the Lord led the people of Israel out of Egypt, He tolerated their lack of faith and trust, even as they wandered around in a forty-year wilderness. The people would ask Moses to seek a miracle on their behalf; they needed food and water and supernatural provision. God supplied it all, and yet, it wasn’t enough to satisfy a disbelieving generation. They doubted their leader; they doubted in the Word of God, even when He parted the great sea and saved them from total annihilation. An entire generation had to pass before the children could cross over into the Promised Land. Their inheritance was coming, but people playing church were missing the miracle.



It is time for all of us to stop playing church and begin believing the promise! The Father delivered the Son, our Promised One, and He died and rose again to forever break the chains of sin over our lives. If you are struggling today, look up, for your salvation is here! Jesus Christ longs for you to stop playing around and start believing! He can set your heart on fire with healing and wholeness and a love that will not ever let you go. Won’t you give your life to Him today? Come and join with me as we worship our Lord Jesus Christ together at Faith Church.



Grace and peace,



Deb Spaulding

Faith UMC - St. Charles, MO

www.songofdeborah.com

___________________________

© Copyright 2010, Deb Spaulding

All rights reserved

Articles may not be printed in any “for profit” publication without further permission by the author. Articles may be freely distributed via e-mail, reprinted in church bulletins or in other non-profit publications without further permission. Please keep this copyright and Web Site information intact with copied articles.