Devotional

God Bottles Up Our Tears Taken from a Red Rock News Article (10/4/24) Rev. Dona Johnson | Oct 6, 2024 You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book. –Psalm 56:8 It’s difficult to watch on the news right now the people who are crying out for help from the vast devastation left by hurricane Helene—the deep pain and sorrow you see in survivor’s eyes as they experience a gut-wrenching sense of loss.        When was the last time you had a good cry? Did you ever think about this: human beings are the only creatures whose feelings enable them to cry—surprise, grief, joy, sorrow. Scientist believe tears are a heightened emotional response. Before you cry, basically, your body is getting riled up and emotions reach a peak. But when the tears begin to flow, your body actually starts to relax. Your heart rate slows down, the parasympathetic nervous system gets involved, which suggests that tears are something that actually may allow our nervous system to mellow out and recalibrate. Thus, crying can be both a release and a cleansing experience.       Henry Ward Beecher, a pastor who was vehemently against slavery wrote, “Tears are often the telescope by which men see far into heaven.” Oscar Romero, a priest in San Salvador who was gunned down while officiating mass said, “There are many things that can only be seen through eyes that have cried.” Crying is thus a holy act. Crying allows us to release our hurts and disappointments to God and by doing so, God speaks his truths deep into our souls. Frederick Buechner wrote on tears, “YOU NEVER KNOW what may cause them.  The sight of the Atlantic Ocean can do it, or a piece of music, or a face you’ve never seen before. A pair of somebody’s old shoes can do it…Whenever you find tears in your eyes, especially unexpected tears, it is well to pay the closest attention. They are not only telling you something about the secret of who you are, but more often than not God is speaking to you through them of the mystery of where you have come from and is summoning you to where, if your soul is to be saved, you should go to next.”       Throughout Scripture, we are told over and over again how God not only hears but listens to the cries of his people, and through our tears God speaks to us. There are some people who chose to stay home from church when trauma strikes because they fear cry during worship. Many of us feel embarrassed by our tears, we’ve been conditioned to think tears are a sign of weakness. In a culture that prizes strength and grows uncomfortable with prolonged grieving, many of us respond to our own tears with an apology, thinking we need to get a grip on our circumstances. However, God invites each of us to bring our tears to the altar. Our suffering is never wasted. God remembers our suffering and records each tear we shed in his book.Scripture tells us that our tears are important to God. God actually bottles up our tears. David while in the midst of his enemies wrote, “You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book (Ps. 56:8).” David trusted that God would remember his suffering.Jesus also wept several times: over the death of his beloved friend Lazarus (John 11:35). He felt sorrow deep in his bones. And with his tears, he reached down into the darkness of death itself and raised Lazarus out of the tomb and redeemed his life. Again in Revelations 21:3-4 we are promised, “He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” To know in your heart that the God of the universe cares enough about you to wipe away ‘every’ tear from your eyes and also values every tear and bottle them up, makes living in this world a little more bearable. Amen.

Beauty Taken from a Red Rock News Article (8/27/24) Rev. Dona Johnson | Sept 29, 2024 ‘Beauty is in the eye of the beholder’ is a somewhat true statement. When you look at a work of art, hike a certain trail with all sorts of beautiful terrain or love the beauty of certain architectural forms and fashions, you may fall head over heels over their beauty while others could care less and think otherwise. From fashion to architecture, the way things look have a significant impact on our emotions, behavior and even our decision-making. Beauty has the power to attract and distract us in many ways. Have you ever caught a glimpse of something so beautiful that it brought you to tears or left you speechless? Scientist believe that when we see something that we find aesthetically pleasing, our brains release dopamine, a neurotransmitter that makes us feel good. This is why we feel happy and uplifted when we see beautiful art, nature, or even a well designed product. The emotional impact of aesthetics also influences our behavior, our choices and how we show discretion towards others.       There is also another popular idiom on beauty—’beauty runs skin deep.’ Scripture has much to say about human beauty. Yes, a person’s beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but there is so much more than physical beauty. What about a person’s character, values and love towards others? The world focuses on what people look like on the outside, but God focuses on what the person looks like on the inside. When Samuel chose the next king, God told him not to choose a king based on how they looked. God said to Samuel, ‘Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart’ (1 Sam 16:7).  When people judge others solely by their outward appearances, they may overlook other qualities the person has because their physical appearance is not what the current cultures admires. Again in 1 Peter 3:3-4, we are told that our beauty comes not from outward adornment, certain hair styles, jewelry and clothes. Instead, we are to look at the inner spirit of the person—the love, mercy and compassion they extend to others.       The world and its savvy marketing strategies want you to think that you are lacking beauty and self-worth because your home, the style of clothes you wear, the car you drive and the places you vacation are not trending. The world’s marketing has to a great degree defined what self worth is and what it isn’t. Generally speaking, marketing campaigns have stayed consistent over the decades. Generation after generation. The ultimate purpose? With our product/service, you will feel good enough. You will feel: happy, sexy, powerful, connected, rich, top-of-the-food-chain.      The God-given soul of a person has a beauty all its own. It transcends all physical appearances, wealth and poverty, health and illness and status and fame. The Psalmist says that we were already created with self-worth: “I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well” (Ps 139:14). God who created you gave you an intrinsic beauty that no one else or no other thing can give you. God’s character goes into the creation of every person. When you feel worthless, when you compare yourself to others and marketing ads and become discontent or hopeless with who you are or what you have, remember that God’s Spirit which is both perfect and beautiful is already within you. God deems you worthy of love. It is only through Jesus Christ and through his death and resurrection that all humanity is made worthy and given a special divine beauty. As we follow Jesus Christ, we take on a new internal beauty and attractiveness that transcends everything else. Amen.

Living One Day At A Time Defeats Worry  Taken from a Red Rock News Article (8/20/24) Rev. Dona Johnson | Sept 22, 2024 Psychology Today says that anxiety is now the leading mental health problem around the world. Anxiety is on the rise. Increasing numbers of children and adolescents are also being diagnosed with anxiety every day. In the U.S. one third of adults suffer from moderate to severe anxiety. So, what is anxiety? We all experience some degree of anxiety. Anxiety means we are alive and alert. It is not necessarily a bad thing. Dr. Henry Cloud suggests that when our anxiety is no longer manageable and at a heightened state, our adrenal and lymphatic systems which carry experiences such as, trauma, harmful parenting practices, economic and cultural shifts can prompt our systems to be activated all the time. Simply stated, anxiety is worry, a response to unknown danger whether real or imagined. When we experience anxiety, racing heartbeat, negative thoughts and dreadful fear of future events, it’s a warning to us to make the necessary changes in our life to protect, care and listen to what is going on inside us and around us.       Jesus clearly understood the effects of worry and anxiety on the human mind, heart and soul. And so he made it a point to include it in his Sermon on the Mount, a sermon which expanded in great detail the Ten Commandments (Matthew 5-7). He said, “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? “(Matt. 6:25-28). Jesus continues by saying look at the flowers and how your Father clothes them with beautiful blooms. Martin Luther claims the lilies of the field are our theologians. He wrote, ‘The little flowers in the field, which cattle trample and eat, are to become our theologians and masters and to embarrass us still further. Just look at them grow, all adorned with lovely colors! Yet not one of them is anxious or worried about how it should grow or what color it should have, but it leaves these anxieties to God.’       Jesus promises that If we seek God first above all things, all the others things that we so urgently strive for, all driven by anxiety will be given to us. As God provides daily food for the tiny Canyon Wren and the Black-Throated Sparrow, God will most certainly provide for the needs of his people. That is not to say that birds don’t work for their food. They do. But the point Jesus makes is that birds don’t worry. There is not found in them the human weakness of straining to see a future which cannot be seen and seeking to find security stored up and accumulated against the future. What would each day look like if we gave ourselves fully to it?      God who loves his creatures also knows our human limitations. He calls us out of our anxiety to live a life free of worry. Jesus offers us a way to defeat our anxiety—live one day at a time. Each and every day, God calls us to live not in the past and not in the future but to live fully present to each moment. Each moment of every day is a gift from God, rich with countless possibilities to experience God’s presence, protection and provisions. He offers us both peace and prosperity. So, when worry wants to take over your life, look up at the mountains, watch the birds feed from their Creator’s hand, marvel at all the beautiful variety of cactus and cedar trees that patiently wait for the next rain—God’s presence, his grace and his provisions are all around us. As God so generously provides for them, he will surely provide for you. +

Jesus Came To Heal Our Suffering  Bodies and Our Broken Souls  Taken from a Red Rock News Article (8/14/24) Rev. Dona Johnson | Sept 15, 2024 If you have ever had a spouse, a child or someone you loved become seriously ill with no assurance of a good outcome, you understand what it’s like to live in between hope and despair. As you sit alone waiting for something to change, it is truly a place of vacillation. Many emotions (fear, grief, sadness) each having a say in the matter, surface one by one or all at the same time. At times like these, our prayers can take on a sense of bold-urgency. In times of fear and uncertainty, our prayers may also turn to begging or bargaining with God. There is nothing wrong with begging or bargaining for God’s help. In fact, begging for God’s help is a sign of faith. At the death of Martin Luther, a small scrap of paper was found in his pocket which read, ‘We are beggars, this is true.’      In Mark 7:24-37, we are told crowds traveled near and far to have Jesus heal them or heal their loved ones. A mother, who was very emotional came begging Jesus to heal her daughter from demon possession. Traumatic as it was, out of desperation, she threw herself at Jesus’ feet. He didn’t think the woman’s behavior was strange, instead he praised the woman’s faith. Although the daughter was at home, the women’s begging became a powerful prayer. When the woman returned home, she found her daughter completely healed resting, calm and at peace—the demon was nowhere to be found.      Immediately following this healing, there was a man brought to Jesus who was deaf and could not speak. Jesus’s tender heart didn’t want to embarrass the man. So, he took him aside. Many times people with disabilities are sensitive and get a bit embarrassed. Deaf people know they cannot hear. The excitement of the crowd shouting at the man didn’t do any good except render him helpless. Imagine for a moment, what that might have felt like—not being able to hear or speak, being taken by a stranger not knowing why or what would happen. It was probably somewhat frightening. But Jesus knew exactly what he was about to do.      Then Jesus spit on his fingers and placed his hands on the man’s mouth and thrust his fingers into his ears. He looked up to heaven, sighed (groaned) and said, ‘Ephphatha!’ which means, ‘Be open!’ And immediately his ears were opened, sounds came into his ears, and his mouth and tongue were loosed from the bondage of a lifelong crippling impediment. The man’s health and well being were restored.      The whole story, the woman begging for her daughter to be saved from demon possession, the man who was deaf and could not speak show us vividly that Jesus did not consider the girl or the man as mere cases to be dealt with; he considered them individuals, people who had who had suffered and had very specials needs. The story also tells us that the daughter and the man had people advocating for them, prayerfully begging and prayerfully insisting that Jesus heal their loved one—bold, unashamed prayer requests. Sometimes when we pray, we can sense Jesus’ heart in the matter, like when he outwardly groaned for the deaf man. We also need to learn to pray with boldness and urgency. We need to get on our knees, unashamed and unafraid. God who is kind-hearted and merciful hears the cries of our hearts, and we feel God’s promises of redemption and salvation flowing through us.     The God who spoke creation into being, also proclaims “Be opened” to all humanity while looking up to heaven. Jesus came to bring healing to broken bodies and salvation to our suffering souls—here we see Jesus begin the work of creation all over again.

You Cannot Help Others, If Your Own Soul Is Starving For Oxygen  Taken from a Red Rock News Article (9/6/24) Rev. Dona Johnson | Sept 8, 2024 The majority of us would say we want to be well. Some of us go to great lengths to stay healthy—we eat well, exercise and try to live a balanced life. All of this is very good. But what about our emotional and spiritual well-being? How are we measuring up?      For many Christians, its counterintuitive to take care of oneself. To love God and love your neighbor means for many of us that we put ourselves out there, it means we walk an extra mile and vow to put others first. This too is very good. But in order to love God and provide loving support to others, we must be attentive and intentional about taking care of ourselves.      Jesus was at a festival in Jerusalem when he stopped by the famous pool near the Sheep Gate (John 5:1-15). Around the pool laid men who were blind, lame and paralyzed. Rumor had it that when the water was stirred, it released some sort of healing power. Jesus engaged one of the men, a man who had been paralyzed for 38 years and was never able to reach the water. One has to wonder why the man laid there by the edge of the pool for 38 years. Jesus cuts to the chase with a very penetrating question. He asks the man, “Do you want to get well?” Surprisingly, the man never answered Jesus’ question with “Yes, I want to get well?” Instead he went on to justify, make excuses and blame others for not helping him. Without reaching down to pick the man up and place him in the pool, Jesus firmly said to the man, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” The man stood up, took his mat, walked and immediately was healed. He could feel his legs again and life once again flowed throughout his whole body. “Do you and I want to get well?” The question Jesus asked the paralytic man on the edge of the pool, is a question for all of us who you practice and participate in ministry. Many of us in the church, carry heavy loads, we absorb a lot from God’s people, unresolved hurts, suffering, divorce and death and this plays out in our physical well being and our emotional dynamics with others. Many people feel called by God into ministry but ignore doing the inner work it requires. On the outside, it appears that some people are functioning well, but on the inside, they are overwhelmed and emotionally depleted. As we minister and give godly counsel to others, we also need to be counseled. We need to find safe people to confess the issues that needle us and explore what triggers our anxiety in times of crisis, conflict and change. If we don’t have safe people and places to openly and honestly explore these things, we must be open and unafraid to seek help from other resources. Christian counselors, therapist and spiritual directors can be a great support to caregivers. God provides these people and their skills to aid us in ministry.      Wounded healers, as Henri Nouwen writes, “…are people who have identified the suffering in their own hearts and use that to help others. It means being absolutely vulnerable and honest with where one is emotionally and to recognize the signs of not being well.” Pastors and priests must be willing to go beyond their detached professional roles and leave themselves open as fellow human beings with the same wounds and suffering as those they serve. No one should be put on a pedestal—we are “all” in need of healing and recovery.Prayer: Help Lord me to enter into my own brokenness, give me air to breathe and heal me of everything that afflicts me. Amen

Jesus’ Love Is More Than A Temporary Vibe Taken from a Red Rock News Article Rev. Dona Johnson | September 1, 2024 In our current culture, it seems to be the trend for people to seek out people, places and events where that can catch a good vibe. Cambridge Dictionary defines “vibe” as the mood of a place, situation, person, etc. and the way that they make you feel. Some people judge their relationships and the places they frequent by the number of good vibes they feel.       Jesus had just fed a huge crowd of over 5000, but after they pursued him for more food to fill their bellies, he now gives them a long lecture on the Bread of Heaven. And many in the crowd didn’t like his message. They found it weird— eating his flesh and drinking his blood. The multitude now is no longer getting good vibes from Jesus, and the crowd begins to thin out considerably.       Isn’t that how many of us respond to certain passages in the Bible. Some of Jesus’ teachings make us uneasy. They come too close to what we know is not right within us. Some of his teachings are so countercultural that to be brutally honest, they turn many people away or those who remain in the faith pick and choose the teachings they can tolerate.       At the end of John 6, the crowd’s vibe was fading fast. Some of the disciples were so offended, they turned back. Jesus knew where their hearts were. He explains to them that no one can come to God unless God enables them to do so. Think about that for a moment. So many Christians get this all wrong. God who is full of grace and mercy comes to us and gives us faith. We don’t acquire faith.  It is given to us. Time and time again, in our performance-based society, we supplant the free gift of faith with our need to achieve it and work for it—no pain, no gain. Some of us can give gifts and yet, we have a hard time receiving them. We feel unworthy. But self-judgment can paralyze us. It is God who gives us faith. Paul explains this very well in Ephesians 2:8 “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God” (Eph. 2:8). Salvation is a free undeserved gift from God.       Now some of Jesus’ disciples did turn back. So, Jesus turns to the twelve, his inner circle and asks them, “Are you leaving me too?” Peter immediately responds, “Lord, where else could we go, who else offers the gift of eternal life? We believe you. You are the Holy One of God.”      There are times in the church, it happens in just about every congregation, where people leave because they disagree with a teaching or a doctrine, or a conflict arises, or people don’t get a good vibe anymore, maybe it’s the preaching or the music and they decide to leave the congregation—people rotate in and out churches all the time. There are times when people you once trusted in the faith, desert you and walk away. It is times like these where we have no other option but to respond like Peter, “Where else do I have to go Lord—you are the only one that truly matters.”      So, often we get fooled or caught off guard. Sometimes we place too much faith in the good vibes, people’s personalities and credentials. We place pastors and leaders on pedestals rather than placing our faith totally in the one who gives us faith. People and institutions can disappoint us. But Jesus, doesn’t disappoint. He is more than a temporary vibe. His love is eternal. His love will never desert you nor will he ever abandon you! Prayer: Lord, help me to seek and place you first in my life above ‘all’ else. I cannot to this without your help. Jesus, help me draw closer to you. Amen.

Belief follows in the echo of Christlikeness Taken from a Red Rock News Article Rev. Dona Johnson | Jan 21, 2024 Paul summons the Christians in Ephesus to “be careful.” He in fact, summons them to be “very careful.” “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is” (Eph 5:15-17). In other words, he is saying be extra careful. So what did living carefully look like for these early followers of Jesus? The word live literally means to walk. Paul is summoning Jesus’ followers to walk carefully, to be always be reminded that to follow Jesus in many ways means to live with intentionality and be deliberate in one’s devotion to God, to above all things love God and unconditionally love our neighbor.        The whole of Ephesians 5, emphasizes how the re-created status of Christians should result in changed lives, lives that look different from those who do not serve God and whose deeds will bring about God’s wrath. The church is universal in the sense of being open to all, but the church still exists in a “present darkness” where evil is at work against it (Ephesians 6:12) . Paul continues with a warning to the followers of Jesus to be wise. One must make the most of each day and every opportunity, to walk carefully, in-step and cooperate with God and one another because the days hold evil. It’s dangerous being a disciple of Jesus. As we walk the road of discipleship, the road is lined with shifting allies, fierce temptations and worldly distractions that pull us away from our Christian values. It is difficult being good and doing the right thing.        There is a lot of evil and darkness in our world today. It is no different than when Paul wrote his letter to the congregations in Ephesus urging them to be careful and wise. When we think of evil, we often think of the violence in others or Christian persecutions and those who gather secretly in countries where they run the risk of being harassed, imprisoned and executed for their beliefs. But there are more subtler kinds of evil that affect all Christians in the 21st century. What about materialism and affluence which a large majority of us wrestle with—are we living carefully? What about the lust for power, status and our insatiable drive to acquire an identity and sense of importance—are we wise or unwise? What about our battle with self-righteous attitudes, spiritual superiority and extreme self-involvement which today we call narcissism. What about living a life of confession without any attempt of repentance?         Robert Mulholland Jr., author of “The Deeper Journey” writes, “I heard a wise teacher say, “Repentance is not being sorry for the things you have done, but being sorry you are the kind for person who does bad things. I began to realize that underneath my thin layer of religiosity, lived a perversive and deeply entrenched self-referenced being which was driven by its own agendas, its own desires, its own purposes, and no amount of superficial tinkering with the religious façade made any appreciable difference.”       The world will not believe in Christ because of our sound theology, our correct creed or our well-defined dogma, although essential. The world will believe when we manifest Christ-likeness. When we walk in the way of Jesus; wise in how we form a Christian world view, careful in how we interpret the times and how we resist being influenced by secular values and beliefs. The world will know that God sent his Son not because we say it is so but when those in the world see with their own eyes Christlikeness lived out in us.Prayer: As we walk into each day, help us to walk carefully, to discern with Christlike wisdom where we place our hearts and where we place our feet. Amen.

Faith Disrupts Our Lives Taken from a Red Rock News Article (August 16, 2024) Rev. Dona Johnson | August 18, 2024       Faith disrupts. Have you ever prayed and asked God to disturb your life? How many of us would have the courage to pray this prayer? Let that sink in for a moment. “Lord please disturb me.” Who in the world wants their lives disturbed. Who wants their daily routines, their lifestyles and their comfort zones disrupted. Sometimes in our lives, when we least expect it, our life, plans get interrupted or put on hold. And how we respond to disruptions and change says a lot about our temperaments, but more importantly, it says much more about our faith.       When a disruption comes into our lives, it can feel as if the floor we are standing on has been pulled out from under us. It could be the loss of a job opportunity, a sudden illness or injury, an unforeseen rejection or betrayal in what you thought was a trusted relationship or it could be a new biblical insight—that tests and disrupts your once held tried and true assumptions about God.       Are daily disruptions interruptions or holy invitations to grow our faith? They can stretch our understanding of what it means to deeply live out our faith, to depend solely on God’s power to sustain us. Christians are called to make ourselves available to daily interruptions, knowing God is in the center of every encounter.  There are also times when disruptions bring us at a crossroads. Where what once worked for us and served us quite well is no longer moving us forward but holding us back. This could be for believers as well as entire congregations. In the words of Jeremiah, “This is what the Lord says” “Stop at the crossroads and look around. Ask for the old godly way, and walk in it. Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls (Jer. 6:16). How do you respond when you come to a crossroad? How do you handle unexpected disruptions? Maybe you grumble, maybe you resent your life being interrupted? Or maybe you use it to open yourself up to what God is about to do.       Throughout biblical history, there have been several huge disruptions that changed how humanity viewed the world. The virgin birth of Jesus Christ was a monumental interruption to a religion that had grown cold and stagnated (Luke 2). Throughout his ministry, Jesus’ days were filled with endless disruptions. Crowds of suffering people swarmed around him. Wanting to be healed. People came interrupting him at all hours of the day and night to find out how they might inherit eternal life (John 3). Jesus never turned anyone away. He stopped. He stayed. He listened. He ministered to them. Then the ultimate disruption that dramatically changed the course of human history was Jesus’ death and resurrection, upending the stronghold of sin and death.      Large or small, daily disruptions are holy invitations to wake us up to people and opportunities that bring us closer and more dependent on God’s will and his power to grow us spiritually. We often get so locked-in to our daily routines that when they are disrupted, we easily become irritated. Routines can become a form of self-protection and self absorption. Many people today live life on autopilot—just going through the motions.      In closing, here are a few wonderful words from a prayer by Sir Francis Drake, “Disturb us Lord, when we are too pleased with ourselves…Disturb us Lord, when having fallen in love with life, we have ceased to dream of eternity…Disturb us Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wider seas, where storms will show your mastery, where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars. Amen.

I Am the Bread of Life Taken from a Red Rock News Article Rev. Dona Johnson | August 11, 2024 Like many ancient societies, Egyptians and Israelites were dependent upon cereals and grain; so much so that the word for bread, “lechem,” is synonymous with food. And in many countries today, bread is still a major source of food that satisfies the hunger, malnourishment and nutritional needs of both people of poverty and people of means. Now Jesus understood and often addressed the reality of human hunger. In John 6:22-35, Jesus had just fed over 5000 people by multiplying several loaves of bread and a few fish. But he also understood at a deeper level that every human being lives with a spiritual hunger. The crowds who had witnessed Jesus supernaturally multiply the bread and fish and those who were fed, were truly amazed at the miracle. They were so intrigued by the whole encounter, that the crowd wanted more of this good thing. So they followed Jesus and the disciples to the other side of the lake. They saw something was strangely different about Jesus. When the crowd finally caught up with Jesus, he went right to the heart of the matter. He was not their gravy-train or traveling food truck. He said, ‘You’ve seen wonderful things. You’ve seen how God’s grace enabled thousands of people to be fed. Your attention and affections ought to have been turned to God who fed you. But instead, you are still thinking about how you can get more free food. It’s as if Jesus said, ‘You cannot take a moment to think about your souls because your focused on your stomachs.’ Jesus was concerned not for their physical hunger but on the state of their souls—the eternal. He proclaimed and offered himself as the bread of life, an eternal bread. A bread that satisfies hungry hearts. A bread that feeds the soul, tempers our lustful desires, quells our greediness and need for power and our insatiable appetite for wealth and possessions. There is a human temptation to see God as a Genie in a bottle. If you worship God and pray in the right way, God will grant your wishes, keep you from all hardship and increase your prosperity. Some of us worship God with the hope that all our prayers will be answered quickly and meet our desired outcomes. In other words, some of us seek all the benefits of Christ without the desire to commit our lives to him. And this is exactly what we see in the hearts of the crowds who followed Jesus. All the crowds cared about was getting their stomachs filled with bread from the world, rather than feeding their souls with bread from heaven.God desires nothing more from us than that we love him and seek him not with divided loyalties, but with our whole hearts. God desires that we put him first in our lives. Because when we do this, all the others things in life fall into place— our marriages, relationships, livelihoods and our consumptive lifestyles.Once Napoleon and a friend were talking about life. It was dark; they walked to the window and looked out at all the distant stars. Napoleon, who had sharp eyes while his friend was dimmed sighted, pointed to the sky: ‘Do you see all those stars?’ he asked. ‘No,’ his friend answered. ‘I can’t see them.’ ‘That,’ said Napoleon, ‘is the difference between you and me.’Are we too dimmed-sighted? Sometimes our vision of God is too small. Sometimes our concerns and what we don’t have right now are so anchored in the present, in getting our own needs met, that we can’t see the hope and power of God that lies right in front of us and beyond our current circumstances. Jesus sums all this up quite nicely, ‘Don’t work for the food which perishes but for that which lasts forever and gives eternal live.’ Amen.

Patience and the Slow Work of God Taken from a Red Rock News Article (8/2/24) Rev. Dona Johnson | Aug 4, 2024 Being more patient in your daily life reduces stress levels and involves a concerted effort to manage negative emotions, reframe challenging situations, and maintain a focus on long-term goals and values. Many of us experience periods or times when we are impatient. We pack a lot of activities into each day. Due to technologies, we are more accessible than ever before. Traffic congestion, 24-hour-news-cycle and people’s various moods and personalities can trigger our emotions and cause us to react impatiently.       What causes a person to be impatient? Impatience is expressed when something we want to accomplish takes longer than expected. We become impatient when our efforts towards a goal or a desire get frustrated. Or we become impatient when we’re forced to compromise on something or someone disappoints us. When any of these things happen, we can easily become annoyed, anxious, bitter, resentful and for some, we feel offended and disrespected. Our impatience, if not kept in check can hurt our loved ones, and long-term impact the quality of our relationships. Patient people have an easier time cultivating deeper friendships with others. But in terms of faith, many sins, impulsive mistakes, outbursts and flared tempers come from the lack of patience. Biblically speaking, at the heart of impatience is self-centeredness or selfishness. In other words, impatient people want theirexpectations met on their terms and timeframe. In the real world, this is not the way the world works.      Paul tells us that patience is the fruit of the Spirit, it is evidence of the Holy Spirit alive and working in us (Gal. 5:22-23). Paul also describes patience as an important characteristic of love—love displays patience and kindness (1 Cor 13:4). God is much more patient than we are. As a general rule God works incrementally—a shift in perspective here, a small breakthrough there, slowly enlarging our capacity to see and receive what he has for us. Of course, God has the will, the power and capacity to transform us on the spot. When someone suddenly is cured of an addiction or illness, it’s a tremendous spiritual lift. And yet, most of the time becoming like Jesus is more often a slow, steady journey. Eugene Peterson has named this journey in patience “a long obedience in the same direction.” Learning to be still, to be at peace in the midst of chaos, crisis and reactive people doesn’t happen overnight. We live in a world that expects quick fixes or looks for the short cut. However, changes in the heart, replacing bad habits and doing the inner spiritual work takes time, intentional effort and prayer because God works exceedingly slow.      And yet. sometimes, we think we are ready for what God is preparing for us, and yet we are not. So, God takes the time to grow and transform us in ways we are able to grasp and receive. And although God’s work is often slow, it does not mean God is inactive. Peter beautifully describes God’s patience, ““Beloved, do not let this one thing escape your notice: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:8–9). And so we pray, we examine and lay out our lives before God and we thank him for the slow, patient and grace-filled work he is doing within us every minute of every day.