We, The Church: Stewardship Is Sacrificial

Sunday’s Scripture ~ Philippians 2:5-11.

Devotional Scripture ~ Psalm 33:4. 

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This Sunday, Rev. Zig Bays will share with the South Shore UMCommunity about how stewardship is sacrificial. I am deeply grateful for Pastor Zig’s ministry partnership and his commitment to serving God at South Shore. May God fill you with grace and peace as you prepare and lead!

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The summer of 2012 introduced me to Matt Redman’s song, “Never Once.” When I reflect on God’s faithfulness, Redman’s refrain quickly comes to mind, 

Scars and struggles on the way

But with joy our hearts can say

Yes, our hearts can say

Never once did we ever walk alone

Never once did You leave us on our own

You are faithful, God, You are faithful

From the moment God met Adam and Eve in Eden, God has been meeting humanity in the gardens of life, be they luscious and lavish beauties or icky roadside ditches full of standing water. God meets us. God will always meet us. In honesty. In compassion. In accountability. 

And most importantly, in hope. 

Hope for our wholeness. Hope for our transformation. Hope for our future. 

When God makes a covenant, God makes a covenant. That is an enduring, unwavering commitment. Not even death can tarnish or compromise it. In our communion liturgy we acknowledge, “When we turned away, and our love failed, your love remained steadfast.” God’s love delivers us from captivity to sin and death. God’s love delivers us to purpose and promise, which intentionally begins in relationship. We walk with God. And God intends we walk with one another. In honesty. In compassion. In accountability. 

And most importantly, in hope. 

Hope for our wholeness. Hope for our transformation. Hope for our future. 

In an extended season of isolation and separation, of not only feeling alone but actually being alone, it is good to be safely re-membered with others. In meeting together, we remind one another that God meets us, too. That God meets us first. 

Our  God is not far. Our God is near. Our God sees, knows, and walks alongside. Our God’s faithfulness, like God’s mercy, is new every morning. It will not fail. In this we can believe. In complete honesty. In complete compassion. In complete accountability. 

And most importantly, in complete hope.  

Reflection: Identify an image that is a reflection of God’s faithfulness to you. Share that image with a friend.

Prayer: “Let every kindred, every tribe on this terrestrial ball, to him all majesty ascribe, and crown him Lord of all. To him all majesty ascribe, and crown him Lord of all.”* Amen.

*”All Hail the Power of Jesus’ Name,” The United Methodist Hymnal 154.

**Devotional Resource: The Weekly Faith Project by Zondervan.

We, The Church: Stewardship is Joyful

Sunday’s Scripture ~ II Corinthians 9:5b-9. 

Devotional Scripture ~ Luke 7:8. 

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This Sunday, Rev. Dave Owsley will share with the South Shore UMCommunity about how stewardship is joyful. I am deeply grateful for Pastor Dave’s ministry partnership and his commitment to serving God at South Shore. May God fill you with grace and peace as you prepare and lead!

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Sometimes my faith takes God at God’s Word. This is faith like the Roman Centurion had. He believed that if Jesus only said the word that his servant would be healed. 

And sometimes my faith wants empirical evidence. This is the faith like Thomas following the resurrection. Thomas was not with the disciples when Jesus initially appeared. He would not believe in Jesus’ resurrection in completeness until he saw the holes in Jesus’ hands and the gash in Jesus’ side. Having gained his empirical evidence, Thomas answered Jesus, “My Lord and my God! Jesus said to him, Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe” (Jn 20:28-29). 

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The 20th Chapter of John concludes with these words, “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that through believing you may have life in his name” (vv. 30-31). This Gospel was written so that we would be among those that have not seen and yet have come to believe.

It is ironic that when considering Scripture – the miracles it shares and the truths it reveals – I am quick to take God at God’s Word, and yet in my own life, I often want the assurance of the empirical evidence. I want the neon lights saying Yes! This way! Or No! Go back! Or Wait! It is the next opportunity, I promise!

Have you heard the phrase, “take a leap of faith?” It points to the truth that we can only take reason, knowledge, and logic so far. Eventually we will come to a precipice where we have one of three options:

1. We go back – we regress. 
2. We stay where we are – we stagnate…and what stagnates, dies. 
3. We move forward – we leap in faith. 

I will not always have the empirical evidence I desire for my faith. And yet I feel deeply in my bones when I reflect on my relationship with God and reflect on the relationships with God told in Scripture that God does not want me – or us – regressing or stagnating. God wants me – wants us – moving forward. God wants us leaping forward in faith. 

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Some days we will take God at God’s Word. Other days we will want empirical evidence for our faith. I pray there are more days that we are more the faithful people that believe though we have not seen, and that through believing, we will have life in Jesus’ name. 

Reflection: Is there any area of your faith where you most struggle to take God at God’s Word? Write out a prayer asking God to show you God’s faithfulness and asking God to reveal where God desires you leap in faith next. 

Prayer: “Praise to the Lord! O let all that is in me adore him! All that hath life and breath, come now with praises before him! Let the amen sound from his people again; gladly forever adore him.”* Amen.

*”Praise to the Lord, the Almighty,” The United Methodist Hymnal 139.

**Devotional Resource: The Weekly Faith Project by Zondervan.

We, The Church: Stewardship Is Intentional

Sunday’s Scripture ~ I Timothy 6:6-19. 

Devotional Scripture ~ Galatians 5:6. 

This Sunday the South Shore UMCommunity will celebrate All Saints Sunday in remembrance of all the faithful persons that have entered life eternal since our last celebration of All Saints. It is a somber and holy time to be in worship – to give thanks, to remember, and to lean into the promise of resurrection. 

South Shore has the beautiful tradition of including not just those persons who were members or regular participants at South Shore in their All Saints Celebration, but also immediate family members to our members and regular participants. This is truly beautiful, and a gift to me this year, as we recognize both my Gramps and my Aunt Jean in this time of worship. 

We believe that our God is love. Nowhere is God’s love more evident for us than on the cross of Jesus. There our Savior opened wide his arms to receive us. That day love conquered sin. And in three day’s time, love conquered sin’s consequence. 

God is love and so faith in God must have love. As we mature in life, we mature in knowledge and awareness of God’s love. As we mature in knowledge and awareness of God’s love, we mature in our expressions of God’s love. Their frequency increases. Their generosity increases. Their reach increases. Simply, as we mature in knowledge and awareness of God’s love, our faith increases. 

As our faith increases, so does our resolve. When our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus and his righteousness, we are able to face and stand and endure in the midst of grief and loss, sickness and pain. God’s love for us gives us every reason to have faith. And our faith gives us every reason to show the world how much we love God. 

Reflection: What acts of faith does God’s love inspire you to do? What acts of faith do you aspire to offer because of God’s love? 

Prayer: “For all the saints, who from their labors rest, who thee by faith before the world confessed, thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest. Alleluia, Alleluia!”* Amen!

*”For All The Saints,” The United Methodist Hymnal 711.

**Devotional Resource: The Weekly Faith Project by Zondervan.

Not-So-Scary Stories of The Bible: Can These Dry Bones Live?

Sunday’s Scripture ~ Ezekiel 37:1-14. 

Devotional Scripture ~ Romans 4:21. 

In 2010 on Pentecost, Branches UMC in Florida City – the last exit on the FL-Turnpike before crossing into the Keys – burned. The arson was investigated but no arrests were made. The church was alight, but not in the way anyone ever wanted. 

Our friend Audrey served Branches at that time. For two years – two.years. – in the South Florida heat and humidity amongst the gargantuan mosquitoes, the Branches UMC Family worshipped under a tent on their church property.

The cinders had been cleared away; even so, the lot still lingered with the scarred smell of the fire. 

Early on, following the fire, Audrey adopted and incorporated these phrases into the narrative of faith at Branches:

1. Our God is bigger. 
2. Our God is greater. 
3. Our God is not done with us yet. 

Whenever the church gathered for worship, they heard these words. Whenever the church gathered for meetings, they heard these words. Whenever the church gathered for service, they heard these words. Branches was temporarily without a building, but that would not and did not hinder their shared ministry. To this day those three statements are foundational in their congregational narrative. Like a phoenix, Branches rose from the ashes. They are still rising – a testament to the ableness of God and the faithfulness of God’s people in God’s ableness. 

Our faith necessarily includes growing in trust that God is able to do all that God promises. And that God is working even now in bringing about those promises. We may not understand God’s actions. We may not be able to identify God’s actions as such. We may not know the when, why, or how of God’s actions. Believing in God’s actions and believing in God in the midst of our confusion and lack of understanding is a witness to our faith. It is one way we grow our faith. 

For all our confusion, for all that which we lack understanding, let us know this for certain: our God is able. And our God will deliver that which God promises. 

Our God is bigger. 

Our God is greater. 

Our God is not done with us yet. 

Reflection: Read Psalm 121; what has God promised us? What other promises of God does Scripture proclaim to us? Which of these promises is most important to you presently, and why?

Prayer: “O Breath of Life, come sweeping through us, revive your church with life and power. O Breath of Life, come, cleanse, renew us, and fit your church to meet this hour.”* Amen.

*”O Breath of Life,” The United Methodist Hymnal 543.

**Devotional Resource: The Weekly Faith Project by Zondervan.

Not-So-Scary Stories of The Bible: Ghost Sighting

Sunday’s Scripture ~ Mark 6:45-52. 

Devotional Scripture ~ Matthew 9:21. 

Services of Healing are incredibly powerful. They are an opportunity for the Body of Christ to surround a fellow believer in crisis with love and hope. 

These services became a beloved part of our ritual life at the last congregation I served. Before the conclusion of a worship service, I would invite the person that requested healing prayer or a family member to kneel at the altar rail. Once we even gathered around a prayer shawl that was later presented. I remember vividly the first of these prayers we shared in the congregation. After the person kneeled and their family stood nearest them, I invited any from the congregation to come forward that would like to lay on hands as well. I kid you not. In the span of time it took me to look down, take hold of my anointing oil, and look back up, the entire congregation present that day was at the altar. 

Y’all know that I talk. A.lot. And I was speechless. We prayed together. All of us. In such nearness and care. When the prayer was over, I asked those that had gathered around the family to take one step back and pause before going to their seats. I then asked the family to turn around so that they could behold the faces of their church that through prayer committed themselves to walk with them not only through the present valley but onto glory. 

I cherish the prayer that is part of The United Methodist Healing Service Liturgy. It names our loved ones specifically, just as our God names each of us specifically. It inspires the community with healthful and practical care that they can offer during this time of healing. And in boldness, it claims the reality that healing is coming. Though its arrival may not be in the way we want or expect, God promises our complete healing. The prayer breathes,

Almighty God,

we pray that [Names,] our brothers and sisters,

may be comforted in their suffering and made whole.

When they are afraid, give them courage;

when they feel weak, grant them your strength;

when they are afflicted, afford them patience;

when they are lost, offer them hope;

when they are alone, move us to their side;

when death comes, open your arms to receive them. 

In the name of Jesus Christ we pray.*

Thanks be to God that God promises we will all be reunited again. 

In recent months, I am leaning hard on this truth in our faith. That God is shepherding us through the valleys. That healing is present and coming, in ways that we see and cannot see, in ways that we know and that we do not yet fully know. Our God is faithful, and when it is a struggle to respond in kind, that is when it is most important that we try.

Reflection: Faith reaches out to the One who heals and makes us whole. What is there in your life – heart, mind, body or soul – that needs to be healed and made whole? Identify your area(s) that need healing, and share them with God. 

Prayer: “In the midst of tribulation, stand by me (stand by me); in the midst of tribulation, stand by me (stand by me). When the host of hell assail, and my strength begins to fail, thou who never lost a battle, stand by me (stand by me).”* Amen.

*The United Methodist Book of Worship 621.

**”Stand By Me,” The United Methodist Hymnal 512.

***Devotional Resource: The Weekly Faith Project by Zondervan.

Not-So-Scary Stories of The Bible: Creepy Happenings

Sunday’s Scripture ~ Daniel 5:17-30.

Devotional Scripture ~ Ephesians 2:6-7.

This Sunday, Rev. Zig Bays will share a powerful message with the South Shore UMC Family from Daniel 5 as we continue in our Not-So-Scary Stories of The Bible Series. Thank you, Pastor Zig, for your friendship and partnership in ministry. My prayers are with you as you prepare and serve this week!

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My sweet mama always has a song in her heart. The songs of faith she softly hums or sings are how she marks the hours of the day. I do the same thing because of her.

I remember one of the first thoughts I had when we brought Joshua home from the hospital was how we would put him to bed at night.

(As a new parent the how quickly became an if…now thankfully the if is more of a when…this kid has endless energy! There should be a way for me to bottle it up and flavor my morning coffee with it!)

My thoughts wondered on behalf of my heart…what were the words that I wanted to leave my child with in blessing and hope as he slept? Some bedtime prayers have a very ominous quality to them…and that is not what I wanted for Joshua. Then one night I found myself humming like my sweet mama – that’s what Joshua calls my mother – and I knew. His nightly benedictions would come – and do come! – from songs of faith.

The third verse from Come Thou Fount is a favorite: O to grace how great a debtor daily I’m constrained to be! Let thy goodness, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to thee. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, prone to leave the God I love; here’s my heart, O take and seal it, seal it for thy courts above.*

We also enjoy Be Thou My Vision: Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart; Naught be all else to me, save that thou art; Thou my best thought, by day or by night, Waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.**

Currently we sing the third verse of Away In A Manger: Be near me, Lord Jesus, I ask thee to stay close by me forever, and love me, I pray; bless all the dear children in thy tender care, and fit us for heaven to live with thee there.***

Each song – in its own way – sings of God’s grace. There is no better way to enter into peaceful rest than to have words of grace sung over you.

It is my deepest desire that Joshua know God’s grace personally, and that having experienced God’s grace, Joshua live grace-fully. Through kindness. Through generosity. Through faithfulness. Through forgiveness. Through trying on different points of view. Through hanging in the tension. Through fighting for and persevering through love. In order to be the best example I can be for Joshua, I have to ‘practice what I preach’…

Or should I say ‘show what I sing…’ It is a responsibility I treasure in my heart, and take up daily.

Reflection: When you think of having words of grace sung over you, what song or words come to mind? What to you is the greatest blessing of grace?

Prayer: “God yet speaketh by the Spirit, speaketh to our hearts again; in the agelong Word expounding
God’s own message, now as then. Thru the rise and fall of nations, one sure faith yet standing fast, God abides, the Word unchanging, God the first, and God the last. God the first, and God the last.”**** Amen.

*”Come Thou Fount,” The United Methodist Hymnal 400.

**”Be Thou My Vision,” The United Methodist Hymnal 451.

***”Away In A Manger,” The United Methodist Hymnal 217.

****”God Hath Spoken by the Prophets,” The United Methodist Hymnal 108.

*****Devotional Resource: The Weekly Faith Project by Zondervan.

Not-So-Scary Stories of The Bible: The Demons Know His Name

Sunday’s Scripture ~ Matthew 8:28-34.

Devotional Scripture ~ Romans 4:7.

South Shore’s Modern Worship Team sings a wonderful rendition of North Point Worship’s praise song called “Written.” The lyrics of the song include,

By the scars on Your feet and hands
Every trace of guilt is gone
In Your freedom, here I stand
You’ve renamed me, child of God
Yes, in Your freedom, here I stand
You’ve renamed me, child of God

Now on my heart, this word is written
Forgiven, forgiven
On my heart, this word is written
Forgiven, forgiven
No guilt or shame can hold me
‘Cause I’m covered by Your mercy
On my heart, this word is written
Forgiven, forgiven
Yes, we are forgiven

Through forgiveness we are renamed “Child of God.” Friends, that is beautiful and powerful! Sin maligns us with so many other names. Actually, we malign ourselves with so many other names because of our disobedience. Sin does not just happen to us. We sin. Sin is a willful choice.

Those other names? Broken. Ugly. Invaluable. Unworthy. Cursed. Betrayer. Denier. Deserter. Unwanted.

Lost.

God’s forgiveness changes everything. God’s forgiveness picks us up, holds us tenderly, cleans our wounds, mends our brokenness, strengthens our hearts, and restores our spirits.

Forgiveness is a function of God’s grace. Through faith, God forgives our sin and restores our favor. John Wesley wrote in his sermon, The Great Privilege of those that are Born of God, “God in justifying us (making us right through grace) does something for us: in begetting us again (in making us new through grace) he does the work in us” [Number 2]. God’s justifying and regenerating of us occurs in a the same or ‘double’ moment, according to Wesley. God’s justifying grace takes away the guilt of sin. God’s regenerating grace takes away the power of sin.

Through the grace of forgiveness, God bestows a new name upon us. And when I think upon that name, one word comes to my strengthened heart – Beloved.

Beloved is both a name and a charge. I am – we are – both cherished by God and purposed to cherish others. Cherishing necessarily includes the work of having hard conversations – of addressing hurt and harm at individual, communal, and systemic levels – and of our prayers falling like tears through the night with the sure hope that joy is coming with the dawn. When we cherish others, we live in and out God’s intended belovedness for us and we join God in the powerful ministry of putting sins out of sight.

Reflection: Recall an experience of forgiveness. Who “put your sins out of sight” through the gift of grace? How did that gift alter you? How did that gift alter you in or for your future (present) interactions?

Prayer: O God, “She, too, who touched thee in the press and healing virtue stole, was answered, “Daughter, go in peace: thy faith hath made thee whole.” Like her, with hopes and fears we come to touch thee if we may; O send us not despairing home; send none unhealed away.”* Amen.

*”Heal Us, Emmanuel, Hear Our Prayer,” The United Methodist Hymnal 266.

**Devotional Resource: The Weekly Faith Project by Zondervan.

Not-So-Scary Stories of The Bible: Are You Afraid of the Dark

Sunday’s Scripture ~ John 1:4-5.

Devotional Scripture ~ James 1:6-8.

During the month of October, the South Shore UMCommunity will explore five common images of the ‘spooky season’ as they appear in Scripture – darkness, writing appearing from nowhere, ghosts, demons, and skeletons. These stories are amusing, and their knowledge we will be using! Join us for a spooktacular month of study and song at South Shore!

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Last Tuesday, my dear friend entered the Church Triumphant. To many, he was Bob. To me, he was and always will be Spitzer.

(I may have been the only one to call him by his last name…and he tolerated it with a smirk and a smile.)

For three years, colon cancer sought to pull Spitzer under. It battered and beat him like gale force winds against a boat on the seas. Spitzer’s faith was never shaken. Spitzer’s faith was only strengthened. Doubt was neither a word nor a concept known to Spitzer. ‘Double-mindedness’ was not a possibility for him. He was laser-focused and single-minded about his faith in his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

We hoped that Spitzer’s healing would come this side of eternity. And even if it didn’t, we were assured that healing prevails on heaven’s side of eternity.

And it has.

Though I grieve Spitzer’s death, I celebrate God’s fulfilled promise of salvation. I celebrate Spitzer’s resurrection.

Spitzer was the focus of my prayers on my jog last Tuesday – gratitude for his friendship; joy that he introduced me to the bliss that is financial pie charts; comfort for his beloved, Debbie; hope that the seeds of service he faithfully sowed at Tuskawilla UMC will continue to yield a harvest for God’s Kingdom. As I finished, the song coming through my earbuds was “…Brand New” by Ben Rector. The chorus of that song sings,

Like when I close my eyes and don’t even care if anyone sees me dancing
Like I can fly, and don’t even think of touching the ground
Like a heartbeat skip, like an open page
Like a one way trip on an aeroplane
It’s the way that I feel when I’m with you, brand new
Brand new*

Spitzer and Debbie travelled the world together. Much of their globe-trotting was grounded due to Spitzer’s treatment and then the pandemic. But now, he is brand new. Nothing is holding him back. And nothing – not time, not space, not even the veil of eternity – is holding back his love and care for his Debbie, his family, his friends, and his church. I am convinced that Spitzer is already at work in the Kingdom. He is improving some process or introducing Jesus to pie charts. And there is joy. There is laughter. There is health. And there is anticipation – holy anticipation – for when we will join him there.

For when we will all be brand new.

Love you, Spitzer. Well done, good and faithful servant. See you again.

Reflection: What is your relationship with doubt? Are you ‘double-minded’ – relying on the world and on your own resources to see you through – even as you turn to God in prayer? What needs to change for you to fully or more fully rely on God for the answers and/or peace you seek?

Prayer: “I want to walk as a child of the light. I want to follow Jesus. God sent the stars to give light to the world. The light of my life is Jesus. In him there is no darkness at all. The night and the day are both alike. The Lamb is the light of the city of God. Shine in my heart, Lord Jesus.”** Amen.

*”…Brand New” by Ben Rector – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SMYzllRyqg

**”I Want to Walk as a Child of the Light,” The United Methodist Hymnal 206.

***Devotional Resource: The Weekly Faith Project by Zondervan.

Dead Man Walking: How A Burned Out Prophet Came Back to Life – Coming Back to Life

Sunday’s Scripture ~ I Kings 19:14-16, 19.

Devotional Scripture ~ Hebrews 11:6. 

Faith is both believing and acting.

Jesus instructs us in the Sermon on the Mount to ask, search, and knock,

“Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened (Mt 7:7-8). 

By asking, searching, and knocking we pursue God. We look at the “unknowableness” of God and say “we will see about that.” While our God does not owe us answers, our God wants to be known. Our God came to earth – was made flesh and dwelt among us – so that we would know God.

Still, mystery remains with God and as part of God. God is not playing games. God is not being coy. I am convinced that God lovingly discerns and decides the timing of our revelations – the timings of our growth in the knowledge of God.

By knowing we believe. And because of our belief, we act. 

Our faith is not meant to live in a pretty box, placed on a high shelf, that we see and do not use regularly. As one of my mentors once said, our faith – which is the root of our discipleship – is not meant to be like “our grandmother’s china” – that lives in the cabinet – is seldom used – we hope future generations will want to have – even treasure! – though we have taught them through our inaction that it is only for special occasions.

If even then… 

Wow, right? Thank you, Cynthia, for this continued image of and call to accountability!

For our faith to be real it must be allowed to live. And if our faith lives, then we risk it not being pretty. We risk it rubbing up against the hurt of the world. We risk letting God down. We risk choosing to rely on something or someone else rather than on God. But I will risk all those things before I have a fake faith. Or before I have a faith that is all talk and no walk. Or a faith that is only in words and not words and deeds. 

Jesus calls us to be hearers and doers of the Word. This is an essential and necessary understanding of our call to discipleship. Hearing the Word is how we gain knowledge of and about our faith. Doing the Word is how we put the knowledge of our faith into action. 

Faith is knowledge. Faith is action. Both.

Faith is not our grandmother’s china. 

Reflection: Thinking about your faith, is your faith believing, acting, or like your grandmother’s China? What changes, resources, and conversations do you need to consider in pursuit of an engaged faith that encompasses both believing and acting? Both hearing and doing? 

Prayer: “Take time to be holy, the world rushes on; spend much time in secret with Jesus alone. By looking to Jesus, like him thou shalt be; thy friends in thy conduct his likeness shall see.”* Amen.

*”Take Time To Be Holy,” The United Methodist Hymnal 395.

**Devotional Resource: The Weekly Faith Project by Zondervan.

Dead Man Walking: How A Burned Out Prophet Came Back to Life – Exploring Spiritual Burnout

Sunday’s Scripture ~ I Kings 19:11-13a. 

Devotional Scripture ~ Isaiah 43:1. 

My nephew, Jacob, is a ham. He is nearly six, wants to be a paleontologist when he grows up, and admonishes Andrew each time we see him because Andrew likes to put ranch dressing on his pizza. 

I prefer Chick-fil- A sauce on mine. Ha! 

Jacob is quite inquisitive about God. He asks really big questions about God, and his parents often encourage him to save those questions for Auntie Sarah. And he does. And I love that. 

Jacob thinks I know a whole lot about God, when in reality, I know a lot about some things about God, but even that does not add up to “a whole lot” about God. “You mean, you don’t know it all yet, Aunt Sarah!? … You should still be in school!”

Probably, Jacob. Probably! 

One of the things I know about God is that one of the ways God reveals ‘who God is’ is in relationship to us – is in relationship to God’s creation. 

1. God says we are God’s own treasured possession – I Peter 2:9. 
2. God lavishly loves God’s children – I John 3:1. 
3. God knows every hair on our heads – Luke 12:7. 
4. God sees every tear that we cry – Psalm 56:8. 
5. Our names are written on the palm of God’s hand – Isaiah 49:16. 
6. God calls us by name; we are God’s own – Isaiah 43:1. 

What do these verses tell us about God?

1. Our God communicates value, and acknowledges our value – our worth. 
2. Our God loves in abundance. 
3. Our God is observant and care-filled. 
4. Our God is present, aware, and near. 
5. Our God has not and will not let go of what our God has created. 
6. Our God knows us personally; our God will neither leave nor forsake us. 

These verses are a comfort and encouragement for me. They speak peace to my heart, which helps me resist and rebuke fear. These words of God establish the vocabulary as well as provide the frame for me to use as I articulate who I am, rather than turning to the world or something in the world to shape my response. 

The Apostle Paul wrote to the Romans, “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect” (12:2). As we come to know God, we will come to know the will of God, and we will come to know God’s place and role for us in fulfilling God’s will. 

That, my friends, is both the gift and the employment of faith. 

Reflection: What do the verses listed above say to your heart about who you really are? Why is it so important – to you and your faith – to allow God to define who you are rather than the world or anyone in it? 

Prayer: “When darkness veils his lovely face, I rest on his unchanging grace. In every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil. On Christ the solid rock I stand, all other ground is sinking sand; all other ground is sinking sand.”* Amen.

*”My Hope Is Built,” The United Methodist Hymnal 368.

**Devotional Resource: The Weekly Faith Project by Zondervan.