faith

PREPARE YOUR LOVE PT. 3

/ joseph elon lillie / 3 Comments

For some reason I have forgotten to post this last devotional thought own preparation. I thought about just skipping it all together but God keeps bringing it back to mind. By way of explanation… our church has been given a direction that we are to fast and pray that we would be prepared. We have also been given a congregational sentence that comes through the many prophetic words which have been spoken to us over the last year or so. That sentence says: “Prepare! Prepare! Prepare! Prepare you Spirit (come out of the decay of your strongholds). Prepare your Souls(Prepare to practice and feel compassion). Prepare your facility (your structures, infrastructures and plans). Prepare for the storm (Pray for action plan, Pray for a spirit of perseverance). Prepare your witness (know your gifts, earn the right to speak, build your relationships with those outside the church, build your example). Prepare your hope and faith (think hope, speak hope, act in hope). Prepare your love (love each other, love the people in your towns, love those who disagree with you, love through the doors that open).“

Here is the 21st devotional thought in the series on preparation.

DAY 21- Prepare your love (love each other, love the people in your towns, love those who disagree with you, love through the doors that open).

Photo by Harrison Haines on Pexels.com

WELL THIS IS IT! 21 devotionals have now come and gone and we are at the end of our talking about preparing. But we are at the very beginning of the actual acts of preparation God will require of us. I hope you gleaned something from these brief comments over the last 21 days.

As we launch out into what comes next here are some thoughts from our study in the Book of Revelation.

8 I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name Rev. 3:8

Remember we don’t need to create doors. We don’t need to kick down locked doors, either. God is going to open the doors for us. We just need to prepare our hearts to walk through them when He does.

LORD PREPARE US FOR WHAT LIES AHEAD!

THE BATTLE SINCE JANUARY

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Life has really changed this year. In January my mother went into hospice.

My sister came home to walk with the rest of us through the process.

In February we almost lost mom to some kind of violent attack that left her completely bed ridden.

In April Mom passed.The week my mother died our last uncle had a heart attack and since has been dealing with very delicate health.

At the beginning of May one of my daughters was diagnosed with cancer. My other daughter was struggling with gall bladder disease.

In June my daughter had surgery to remove the tumors.

In July my other daughter had emergency surgery to remove her gall bladder and the family cat, our little flerkin, died all in the same weekend.

Also in July my sister took several financial hits due to tax changes because of her Dutch immigration status.

In the church Since January we have faced many very serious situations: severe illness, severe money issues, accidents and spiritual falling away. It has felt like a war of attrition. It feels like we are the besieged army sitting inside the castle walls and the enemy is trying to starve us out.

I realize that this is the exact opposite of how it really is. This feeling of being hemmed in and harried is not how the Scripture depicts the position of the church. We are not the besieged army at all. We are meant to be the attacking army…

And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. 18 And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock[a] I will build my church, and the gates of hell[b] shall not prevail against it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed[c] in heaven.” Matthew 16:17-19

I have to admit, all these attacks on our family life have left me feeling a little destabilized. It is time to fix that. So I have reached out to my spiritual presbyter ( a spiritual director if you will) and I am getting ready to take the fight to the enemy.

I realize this is not a time for shrinking back. It is a time for pressing in. But the battle must be fought with spiritual weapons. Prayer, faith and The Word of God are how we are to fight. It is time to overcome!

CHOICES AND LIMITATIONS

/ joseph elon lillie / 3 Comments
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Everyday we make choices. Even “not choosing” is a choice. Everyday we face the consequences of those choices. Consequences are unavoidable. We can choose whatever we want, but we cannot avoid the outcomes our choices create.

Everyday we become more and more limited by the choices we made yesterday.When I choose something today it sets me on a pathway. If the choice I make today reinforces the decision I made yesterday then I go further down the pathway I chose and further away from my starting point. The further down the path I go the more distant I get from other paths and other choices. I cannot now easily reach the choices I decide not to make five, ten fifteen years ago.

Photo by Erik Mclean on Pexels.com

I remember the day I chose to shut down my father’s restaraunt and move into another area of business. I remember the day I left business altogether and came back to the ministry. I remember the day I threw over ministry to enter the disabilities field. I remember the day I gave up work in the disabilities field and moved back into ministry. I am now so far away from that first choice to leave the restaurant business that I don’t think I could get back there if I tried. I am even, now, so far removed from anything that is not ministry I am not sure I could make a choice that didn’t include ministry. I have limited myself.

BUT… I am at a point now where I am at peace with most of the limitations. I accept them like old frenemies. My limitations and my choices work together these days to make up this glorious mess I call my life. Not all my choices were good. Not all of the limitations started out helpful, but somehow they work with my destiny and my acceptance of it to drive me on towards whatever God’s plan for me is. I don’t always like the limitations or the choices that go with them, but I am comfortable with the necessity of them. And so I go on making choices prayerfully and accepting the limitations they bring peacefully until the goodness that God can make out of both of those things is revealed.

AND DISCUSS…..

WHAT’S BLOOMING AT THE VICARAGE 7-10-24

/ joseph elon lillie / 2 Comments

It has been quite a week for the Lillies of the Vicarage. And I mean that for both the human Lillies and the flower lilies.

We have three new varieties of lilies blooming on the property.

Plenty of rain And lots of heat are keeping these flowers blooming and growing.

We humans have also had plenty of rain and heat in the metaphorical sense. One daughter had gallbladder surgery this week. My other daughter lost her beloved pet Picasso four days before she started radiation treatments. My sister discovered that her work in the Netherlands is going to be double taxed. She will have to pay taxes to the US and to the Dutch government on all income. Like I said, lots of rain and heat.

In the midst of all these things, we are standing on verses from the Bible, like the one below

“So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.”
‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭1‬:‭6‬-‭7‬ ‭NLT‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/116/1pe.1.6-7.NLT

My daughter Amanda’s word for the year is “bloom”. we are learning that blooming takes rain and heat. We are facing many trials but we know God will carry us through somehow.

Morning Glory

“I will exalt you, Lord, for you rescued me. You refused to let my enemies triumph over me. O Lord my God, I cried to you for help, and you restored my health. You brought me up from the grave, O Lord. You kept me from falling into the pit of death. Sing to the Lord, all you godly ones! Praise his holy name. For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime! Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning. When I was prosperous, I said, “Nothing can stop me now!” Your favor, O Lord, made me as secure as a mountain. Then you turned away from me, and I was shattered. I cried out to you, O Lord. I begged the Lord for mercy, saying, “What will you gain if I die, if I sink into the grave? Can my dust praise you? Can it tell of your faithfulness? Hear me, Lord, and have mercy on me. Help me, O Lord.” You have turned my mourning into joyful dancing. You have taken away my clothes of mourning and clothed me with joy, that I might sing praises to you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever!”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭30‬:‭1‬-‭12‬ ‭NLT‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/116/psa.30.1-12.NLT

PREPARE YOUR LOVE PT. 1

/ joseph elon lillie / Leave a comment

This year our church has been given direction, from the Lord, through the many prophetic words which have been spoken to us over the last year or so. Our leadership has boiled this direction down into a congregational sentence. That sentence says: “Prepare! Prepare! Prepare! Prepare you Spirit (come out of the decay of your strongholds). Prepare your Souls(Prepare to practice and feel compassion). Prepare your facility (your structures, infrastructures and plans). Prepare for the storm (Pray for action plan, Pray for a spirit of perseverance). Prepare your witness (know your gifts, earn the right to speak, build your relationships with those outside the church, build your example). Prepare your hope and faith (think hope, speak hope, act in hope). Prepare your love (love each other, love the people in your towns, love those who disagree with you, love through the doors that open).“

I am breaking down these seven prepare statements into twenty one brief devotionals. This post is devotional number 19.

DAY 19- Prepare your love (love each other, love the people in your towns, love those who disagree with you, love through the doors that open.

Photo by Kristina Paukshtite on Pexels.com

I have used this Scripture before, but it bears repeating, “

Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not [b]puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, [c]thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

8 Love never fails.  1 Cor. 13:4-8

HOW ARE YOU DOING WITH LOVING THE PEOPLE IN YOUR DLT GROUP? HOW ARE YOU DOING LOVING PEOPLE IN YOUR TOWN WHO ARE NOT PART OF THE CHURCH?

A RANDOM SPLIT OF A DAY: A Funeral, Founder’s Day and the Relay For Life

/ joseph elon lillie / 4 Comments

I was describing the job of a minister to a friend the other day. It is not like most jobs. It’s the ultimate split shift rotation. I start in the early morning and then take a break for breakfast and to walk the dogs. Then I usually have some morning work to do. Then I take a break for lunch (usually I go home and walk the dogs during that time). Then I have an afternoon commitment of some kind and always more prayer. Then I take another break sometimes I get to work around the house and the garden and then it’s more prayer and sometimes an evening commitment.

Today for instance. I started with prayer around 4 A.M. and prayed for a few hours. Then Amanda and I had a funeral to attend for a dear lady we know through disabilities ministry .

Anne-Marie was a wonderful woman of faith and Amanda and I were blessed to be able to attend her funeral. We stayed for the reception and got to catch up with many church friends from the area.

Then it was back home to meet up with Joe and Kristine and Sevy. They had an open house to attend in a neighboring town this morning. The house was not something they were very interested in but they keep looking and waiting for the right thing to come along.

Kristine, Sevy and I then headed out to one of the two big events going on today. It’s Founder’s Day in Winchendon.

And Relay For Life in Gardner. We had church staff and leaders at both. The Prayer Shawl Ministry gave out 64 shawls at the Relay!

Meanwhile we had several of our members working as volunteers at the Founder’s Day event.

I was just an attendee at the Founder’s Day, but I had some great opportunities to chat with people from town including one of my classmates, and one of the police sergeants whom I have known since childhood.

Then I went home to do a bit of gardening and to put together my devotional video for the church and to get myself ready for church tomorrow morning

I opened up the bushes next to the drive a bit.

I have one more prayer session for bed. It’s been a wonderful day!

WHAT’S ON YOUR AGENDA FOR THIS WEEKEND?

A DAY OF PRAYER

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So today was or is not really a Sabbath day. I have called our church together today for a day of corporate prayer and preparation for the work that lies ahead of us as a church. I have had this increasing burden in the last weeks that this work will need us to rely on God more fully than we ever have before. Soooo……prayer together tonight for three hours. Jon Bauver from THE WORSHIP ROOM HOUSE OF PRAYER is helping us tonight for the three hours. I so appreciate the help!

HERE ARE SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT THE PLACE OF PRAYER IN THE WORK OF THE CHURCH.

“Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love,
Where there is injury, pardon;
Where there is doubt, faith;
Where there is despair, hope;
Where there is darkness, light;
And where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved, as to love.

For it is in giving that we receive,
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.” 
― St. Francis of Assisi

“Prayer is not asking. Prayer is putting oneself in the hands of God, at His disposition, and listening to His voice in the depth of our hearts.” 
― Mother Teresa

“I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had no where else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for that day.” 
― Abraham Lincoln

“Let us never forget to pray. God lives. He is near. He is real. He is not only aware of us but cares for us. He is our Father. He is accessible to all who will seek Him.” 
― Gordon B. Hinckley, Standing for Something: 10 Neglected Virtues That Will Heal Our Hearts and Homes

PREPARE YOUR HOPE PT. 3

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This year our church has been given a congregational sentence that comes through the many prophetic words which have been spoken to us over the last year or so. That sentence says: “Prepare! Prepare! Prepare! Prepare you Spirit (come out of the decay of your strongholds). Prepare your Souls(Prepare to practice and feel compassion). Prepare your facility (your structures, infrastructures and plans). Prepare for the storm (Pray for action plan, Pray for a spirit of perseverance). Prepare your witness (know your gifts, earn the right to speak, build your relationships with those outside the church, build your example). Prepare your hope and faith (think hope, speak hope, act in hope). Prepare your love (love each other, love the people in your towns, love those who disagree with you, love through the doors that open).“

I am breaking these seven prepare statements into 21 daily devotional thoughts which I am sharing once a week. We are currently on…

WEEK 18- Prepare your hope and faith( think hope, speak hope, act in hope).

Photo by Brett Sayles on Pexels.com

We have established that thinking in hope and speaking hope in the days ahead is going to be absolutely necessary. But there is something more… James writes, “What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, 16 and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? 17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”

If we want to change ourself we must change how we view ourselves, how we think about ourselves. But if we want to change the world (which is part of our mission statement by the way) then we have to change the way we speak and change the way we behave.

WHAT ARE SOME ACTS OF HOPE YOU ARE BEING LED TO DO?

PREPARE YOUR HOPE PT. 2

/ joseph elon lillie / 3 Comments

This year our church has been given a congregational sentence that comes through the many prophetic words which have been spoken to us over the last year or so. That sentence says: “Prepare! Prepare! Prepare! Prepare you Spirit (come out of the decay of your strongholds). Prepare your Souls(Prepare to practice and feel compassion). Prepare your facility (your structures, infrastructures and plans). Prepare for the storm (Pray for action plan, Pray for a spirit of perseverance). Prepare your witness (know your gifts, earn the right to speak, build your relationships with those outside the church, build your example). Prepare your hope and faith (think hope, speak hope, act in hope). Prepare your love (love each other, love the people in your towns, love those who disagree with you, love through the doors that open).“

Each of the seven prepare statements will be broken down into three brief devotionals each over 21 weeks. We are currently on week 17.

WEEK 17- Prepare your hope and faith( think hope, speak hope, act in hope).

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio on Pexels.com

Jesus said, “A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.” Luke 6:45

The reason it is necessary to change our minds towards hope may be self evident. A life filled with thoughts of hope is preferable to a life filled with hopelessness, but changing the way we think is only a part of the battle. What we think only changes us not the world around us. If we would change the world around us we must speak the change and act the change. What we say is vitally important to changing the world.

The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences. Prov. 18:21

And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night. 11And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.  Rev. 12: 10,11

WHAT WORDS DO YOU NEED TO START SPEAKING INTO YOUR WORLD TO CHANGE IT TOWARDS HOPE?

NOT BUSY

/ joseph elon lillie / 2 Comments

This was one of my meditations yesterday.

When I thought about it yesterday I thought this statement was only about the need to stop being busy and the need to slow down life.

Tonight I walked into the church feeling tired from the day and my friend Jody, who was practicing the keyboard asked me how my day had been…. My first reaction and what I said to him was, ” It was busy!”

I immediately felt guilty not because I thought it was untrue but because I thought I should think differently about today because of yesterday’s meditation. I am realizing it is going to take more than a “hot minute” to turn that ship around, because of what “I’m busy” really says.

I think that part of the issue is that “busy” has become a placeholder and shield to hide what I really think about the day. It’s easy and non committal to say “busy”. Everyone can agree with that and nod their head and still not understand one iota of how a person is doing. We’ve been taught to like it that way.

What I should have said instead was “brutal”….”difficult”….”gut-wrenching”… or “It made me want to cry”.

Sometimes when I say “I’m busy” what I really mean is “productive”….”Exciting”…”a battle I won but which exhausted me.”

I am beginning to see that “I’m busy” means nothing, says nothing. Everyone is busy and no one wants to talk about what is making us that way because that would cause us to take down the walls that we have built between ourselves and expose ourselves to a level of discomfort our society has taught us we need in order to protect ourselves.

Our church is doing this thing we call “DOING LIFE TOGETHER”. I am beginning to realize that there are catch phrases I use in my communication which actually cause me not to do life together with people. “I am busy” is one such.

WHAT ARE COME OF THE THINGS YOU SAY TO PUT OFF ACTUAL CONVERSATION WITH PEOPLE?