THANKSGIVING

Vol. 14 No. 24                          

 

Dear Friend,

Consider these words from the famous one hundred and third Psalm:

            Bless the Lord O my soul, and all that is within me,

            Bless His holy name.

            Bless the Lord O my soul and forget not all of his benefits (Psalm 103:1-2).

Basic to the practice of giving thanks is the practice of remembering, of recalling God's many benefits in your life.

This Thanksgiving, remember God's benefits to you:

            The people God has placed in your life to bless you and to lift you.

            The events in your life that God has used to encourage you.

            The things in your life that God has given you to help you.

Thanking God for the many specific benefits He has placed in your life will help you grow in the overall attitude of thanksgiving.

The giving of thanks helps you see that God is at work in your life, that God loves you deeply and that God demonstrates that work and love in very specific ways in your life.

God's greatest gift was His own son, Jesus Christ.

Remember the work of Jesus Christ today, his ministry on this earth, his death on the cross for you and me, and his present work in our lives as we trust Him by faith.

Joy to you - 
E. Stanley Ott                                 

MARY'S LOSS

Vol. 14 No. 23           

                                                                                   

Dear Friend,

Leonardo DaVinci's Pieta, received a great deal of attention when a vandal broke and defaced the sculpture.  Indeed, more attention was focused on the desecration of the work of art than what that work of art really portrayed:  Mary, the mother of Jesus, holding her dead son. 

A great many, probably the majority of works of art, publications and sermons dealing with the death of Jesus bring focus to the loss and pain experienced by the God, the Father Almighty who had been in continuous fellowship with Jesus the Son from all eternity past.

What about Mary? True, she knew him to be God's son, the Christ.  He was also her little boy.  Imagine what went through the mind of the woman who sang, "My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices is God my Savior" when she learned she was pregnant (Luke 1:46 NIV).

If you have lost a child or anyone very dear to your heart, then you know Mary's heartache.

Jesus' sacrifice on the cross was the loss of a great deal more than his own life. Everyone bound up with him sacrificed deeply.

There is a suffering side to life. The Author of life, himself, and his family, are well familiar with it. It is the same for all who would follow him.

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles... "(2 Corinthians 1:3-4 NIV).

With joy,

Joy to you - 
E. Stanley Ott                                

WORSHIP

Vol. 14 No. 22        

                                                               

                                                                                   

 Dear Friend,

Were you in church last Sunday? What about the two Sundays before that?

If you were not in church, honestly ask yourself, "why not?"

            __ I was not in the mood.

            __ I was sick.

            __ My husband, wife, friend, guest did not want to attend.

            __ I don't believe regular attendance means every week.

            __ It is boring.

            __ It is an effort.

            __ Other

Frankly, I can think of only one really good reason (outside of blizzards, hurricanes, and earthquakes) and that is illness (your illness or that of someone you are caring for).

I urge you, challenge you, invite you, plead with you to see worship with God's people as a basic commitment and not a matter of convenience or mood.

This is not a "guilt trip" or a nagging reminder to shape up. This is a call to follow Christ. Worship with other believers is basic to following Christ.

"Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another" (Hebrews 10:25 NIV).

Worship in church every week you are physically able to attend.

Joy to you - 
E. Stanley Ott                                 

PRESENT DEMAND

 Vol 13 No 13

August 12, 2014

Dear Friend,

“Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me. ’” Luke 10:40*  

For Martha it’s all about the to-do list. She reminds me of the White Rabbit with his giant watch running away from Alice in Wonderland crying, “I’m late I’m late for a very important date. No time to say hello goodbye I’m late I’m late I’m late.” Ever feel like that? I bet you do all the time!

I like to call our over busyness, “The Law of Present Demand.” It sure was the White Rabbit’s problem! Present demand includes all of the things coming at you, demanding you right now. It's what Jim Dobson calls the “sustained panic, ” what John Ortberg calls “hurry sickness ”and what Brigid Schulte calls “time confetti” in the book Overwhelmed on being too busy to live.

The Law of Present Demand regulates our lives in three ways. The pressure of present demand moves any non-pressing item to the bottom of the list. The routine of present demand convinces us that everything we are doing is necessary. The comfort of present demand lulls us into thinking that while we complain about our busyness, we actually like it.

Some years ago the pastor of the First Presbyterian Church of Boulder, Colorado, Bob Oerter, led a retreat with a bunch of us all being crushed by the Law of Present Demand. He offered this amazing word,  “Learn to live with the load of the unfinished!” That has stuck with me ever since.

In a society where we have to “get all of this stuff done,” our sense of “present demand” overwhelms our priorities and easily diverts us from loving our Lord, loving ourselves, loving our neighbors. Learn to live with the load of the unfinished so that like Mary you take time for Jesus, you take time for your neighbors, you take time for yourself and those you love.

Joy to you - 

Stan

Copyright 2014 E. Stanley Ott
*Scripture from the NRSV

GOD SIGHTINGS

 Vol 13 No 12

July 29, 2014

Dear Friend,

I was coping with a number of uncertainties when someone facing his own unknowns remarked he was learning to trust our Lord more deeply. It was a direct word to me to trust more deeply as well. A God sighting happens as you see God’s work in your life and in the world around you.

Luke 10 records what for Jesus Christ had to be one of the greatest moments in his ministry with his disciples.  He sent seventy of them out in pairs with very specific instructions such as, “Whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house! ’ Cure the sick who are there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’” Luke 10:5,9 

Upon the return of the Seventy, they report with great joy, “Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!” A God sighting has become common parlance for an awareness of the hand of God in the midst of some situation. Clearly the Seventy had experienced a lot of God sightings! 

Jesus was enjoying his own God sighting as he saw his Father clearly working through his followers. “At that same hour Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, ‘I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.’” Luke 10:21

Ask your Lord to open your eyes that you may experience the joy of your own God sightings!

Joy to you - 

E. Stanley Ott


Copyright 2014 E. Stanley Ott
*Scripture from the NRSV