Judy Lentz   

JEALOUSY

Exodus 20:5-6 “You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations, of those who love me and keep my commandments.”

As I was preparing a Bible Study to share with some Christian sisters, the lesson was on jealousy, one of the ugly sinful emotions in our world. Jealousy is the green-eyed monster, so says Shakespeare in Othello -- being envious of someone or something that one person has but another person doesn’t have.

It is a sin because it breeds envy, greed, covetousness, selfishness, or hostility because our heart isn’t satisfied with what we have. We want what someone else has -- the ‘better’ job, more pay, bigger house, bigger diamond, more of the material things in life, etc. I am sure you can name many other ‘things’ that we worship/covet. These are examples of sinful jealousy.

So how do we interpret the words of Exodus 20:5-6 – “I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God”? Is the jealousy described here different than the jealousy that Shakespeare was talking about? The word ‘jealous’ in Exodus 5 is translated the same as the word ‘zealous’. God is zealous for His people –the love He has for us is zealous. He zealously desires us to be exclusive to Him in our devotion, study, worship, prayer.

Striving to change our sinful jealousy into the righteous jealousy of faithfulness to our Lord should be our focus.

Prayer: Dear Lord - May the jealousy that is our sin because we want something that is not ours be changed into God’s jealousy -- zeal for our Lord and love for Him as deep as the love he has for us. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.

Roy Behling   

PESTERING GOD

"You who call on the Lord, give yourselves no rest, and give Him no rest"   Isaiah 62:6-7 (NIV)

How many times have we heard children begging and pleading with their parent, "Oh please Mommy! Please! Oh please!"? When they wanted her to say yes, they pestered her constantly. 

Constant pleading to a parent for something they want seems to be in the nature of children and it can be irritating to the parent.

As adults, when we are struggling with something of great concern, we may and should pray about it constantly. The question is, are we irritating God with our constant begging and pleading? He certainly has heard us the first time and is already considering our request and whether it fits with His will.

The answer can be found in the verse above and in the Parable of the Persistent Widow, found in Luke 18:1-7. God is not bothered by our constant prayers. How reassuring to know that God wants to hear our concerns over and over again! Thank the Lord for letting us voice our concerns in prayer over and over again.

Dear Lord, thank You for Your patience. Ease my burdens as I bring them to you in prayer. In the name of our Lord and Savior, Amen.

Rod Gartner  

Spreading the Word 

Matthew 10:5-9 (NIV)5 These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. 6 Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. 7 As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy,[a] drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give. 9 “Do not get any gold or silver or copper to take with you in your belts—

2 Corinthians 4:1-7 (NIV)  This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed. 2 Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. 3 I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. 4 My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. 5 Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.  6 Now, brothers and sisters, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, “Do not go beyond what is written.” Then you will not be puffed up in being a follower of one of us over against the other. 7 For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?

How often have we listened to a sermon or a presentation encouraging us to tell others of our faith or to lead someone to be open to Christianity.  Or, how often have we listened to people deriding the Christian faith and tried to counter their arguments?  Being lost for words is too often the case.  Why can’t our talented Christian educators provide us with the means to respond? 

As told in Matthew 10, Jesus sent out his 12 disciples to work with the “lost sheep of the house of Israel.”  How could we today even come close to accomplishing what those 12 did?  Perhaps we are too hard on ourselves.  Maybe we have helped a few.  Have you ever been on a mission trip and worked with families who have had very little?  Many are very eager to learn, and we are challenged to dig out the right resources.

In the process, we have often been the ones to have gained the most.  But back to the main challenge; how can we even initiate the change process?  A minister friend of mine offered that we can be effective by just living a good Christian life in the best way we can.  This can become a copout.  We must continue to learn and be aware of any humble way by which we can help.

Prayer:  Help us Lord to not hold back, make us aware of situations where we might be of help, and then guide us in taking some action.

Roy Behling   

GOD'S TOOLBOX

"Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth." - 2 Timothy 2:15 (NIV)

In the verse above, Paul talks about being a "workman" for God and studying the Word to hone our skills. If we are to be workman we need some tools, so let's take a look in our toolbox and see what we have:

Safety goggles:    As Christians we need to have some safety measures in place for our eyes, such as what TV and movies we watch, what reading material we use and what type of places we allow ourselves to go.

Level:  A level helps us line things up with precision. That's how we need to approach life. The word of God should be our level so the things in our life line up with the Bible and what it teaches us.

Screwdriver: This common tool is used to put screws in by turning in the correct direction and back them out by turning the other direction. Do we turn the correct way that God wants us to, even if it's not the direction we want to go and would rather back out?

Nuts and Bolts: These amazing little things hold pieces together even under tremendous pressure. Do we count on Christ to hold us together so we can withstand the tremendous pressure of the world?

Adjustable Wrench: They have adjustable heads to accommodate various sizes of nuts and bolts. Are we flexible to situations that arise and adjust to unforeseen events in a Christian way?

Chisel: With a sharp edge at one end it is used to chip and carve into something solid such as wood or stone. Are we busy chipping out the things that are not necessary or Anti-Christian in our lives?

Hammer: As workmen we are going to have to use a hammer from time to time to put things in place. Do we have things hammered into place in our lives such as regular Bible reading, regular prayer and regular worship attendance?

Pliers: Used for grabbing hold of things we are working on, there are going to be some things in our Christian lives that we need to grab hold of and work on such as prayer life, witnessing or something else we are struggling with.

Tape Measure: When we are working on our Christian lives, we need to measure our progress from time to time. Are we doing more for His kingdom than we were a year ago? Are we growing in the faith?

Bible: Studying God's word is what hones our craft and helps us with our skills as a Christian. The Bible is our handbook and it is full of instructions to improve our Christian lives and our relationship with the Lord.

Dear Lord, May the Holy Spirit work in me so that I might better utilize the tools You provide to become a better workman that helps build and expand Your kingdom. In the name of our Lord and Savior, Amen 

Roy Behling   

THAT'S FISHING!

Simon answered, "Master, we've worked hard all night and haven't caught anything. But because You say so, I will let down the nets." - Luke 5:5 (NIV)

My son Gregg's family lives in Annapolis and he is an accomplished fisherman having won numerous Atlantic Ocean and Chesapeake Bay tournaments. However, I remember the day when we went fishing for Rockfish (also known as striped bass) with a friend he invited to join us. It is helpful to have a crew of at least three when you lower the outriggers on the  boat and have 14 lines in the water with someone on the fly bridge to steer while trolling. Well, we fished the bay all day and while we enjoyed the companionship, we caught nothing. Some days, even an experienced angler that is doing everything right may not catch any fish. Fishing requires persistence, a focus on good practices and a willingness to accept any result.

Our spiritual practices of prayer, scripture reading and worship, to name just a few, can often seem like that fishing trip. Even when we "do everything right" it sometimes feels like we come up empty. Like learning to fish, learning to be a disciple requires persistence, good practice and a sense of peace - whatever the outcome. We keep trying, with the faith that even when "we've

worked hard all night/day and caught nothing" Jesus is present with us, giving us a sense of purpose in His service.

Dear Lord, give me the patience to persist in discipleship even when I feel like I am coming up empty. Help me to be faithful, even as You are faithful. In the name of our Lord and Savior, Amen.

Kathy Hamsher

Psalm 150 (NSRV)  Praise for God’s Surpassing Greatness

1 Praise the Lord! Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty firmament!

2 Praise him for his mighty deeds; praise him according to his surpassing greatness!

3 Praise him with trumpet sound; praise him with lute and harp!

4 Praise him with tambourine and dance;  praise him with strings and pipe!

5 Praise him with clanging cymbals; praise him with loud clashing cymbals!

6 Let everything that breathes praise the Lord!

Praise the Lord!

I have participated in music in church, school, college and my adult life for as long as I can remember. I never had formal training in music other than what was taught in school, but I love to hear, sing and play good music. None of that loud rock and roll or heavy metal for me. I want to be able to understand the words and be soothed by the music. One of my favorite singing groups is Celtic Woman. Their singing is so pure and clear and enjoyable to both watch and listen to. Another group I have enjoyed is Home Free - an all male acapella group. That means no instrumental accompaniment at all - just pure voices. You might think you are hearing percussion in the background of their singing, but all the sounds are produced by voices.

Music is beauty, harmony and emotion all rolled into one. Certain tunes can evoke a beautiful picture of family or friends doing things together. Listening to groups singing in harmony can make you ask "How do they do that?" Singing an old hymn can bring back emotions and memories of family and growing up in your hometown church.

Good music is soothing to your senses and food for your soul. Listen to music and you will be refreshed. You don't have to be a good singer to sing hymns - just put your heart into the words of the hymns as you sing and you will be blessed by good feelings.

Dear Lord,   Thank You so much for creating music and for giving us the tools to sing or play our own music. There is music in nature in the rustling of leaves, the sound of waterfalls, and the songs of birds and the calls of insects. There is music in our hearts for our family and friends. Just hum or whistle a tune or sing out loud. Be surprised at what music can do for you.

In Christ's Name   Amen, Amen, Amen

Judy Yeck

Philippians 4:13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. JV

I have used this scripture many times when faced with difficulties, physically, mentally or spiritually.

The one that stands out the most happened back in the 1970’s. The church purchased an old bus to transport everything from youth groups and bell choirs to adults. This was when they changed the law concerning driver’s licenses and John and I decided to take the larger vehicle weight class and John drove the bus regularly.

I decided that I should learn to drive it too. John thought it was a good idea because they always needed drivers. We had taken the youth to Camp Crestfield, and on the way back, John says, “Well get behind the wheel”, and he got out of the driver’s seat with the bus rolling. I got my first lesson on I-79! I drove many more trips, even into Pittsburgh’s Mt. Oliver district. This scripture helped me out every time, even when a tire blew out!

 Prayer: Thank you Lord, You are always ready to help us in time of need. Forgive us when we try to do anything without asking Your help. Amen