Tag: Living Stones

GOD’S CHOICE & JOSEPH’S FAITH

What will you do to build a healthier spirit in these 12 days of Christmas? Join this YMCA devotion series about Jesus changing hearts and lives!

Click on the link to get started on Day 1 of 12!

“When we find ourselves in complicated and controversial situations where we lead and serve, we can be distracted by worldly conditions. But we may also be like Joseph and go early and often to God in faith and prayer.”

Chosen By God: Becoming Christ’s Holy Presents for the World // How can we be more like Jesus, whom God gave to the world to love, care and serve sacrificially? // Revisit with us 12 stories of the Lord transforming people in the Holy Land, inspired by experiences YMCA leaders recently had there. //From this we learn ways to put Christian principles into practice through Jesus “the living Stone” who handcrafts us into precious gifts of peace for all.

[an YMCA onPrinciple Devotion Series – inspired by 1Peter 2:4-5]

Written by Steve Tarver, CEO & President YMCA of Greater Louisville, Kentucky

Looking back to my travels through the rocky hills of Judea to Bethlehem, I wonder what it was like for Joseph and Mary to be somewhere out there, nearing the end of their exhausting trip. 

Unmarried, a controversial pregnancy, forced by the government to go back where their family came from, poor, alone, uncertain, maybe even scared – Mary and Joseph approached Bethlehem amidst complicated legal and moral questions.

What in the world is one to do? What would you have done if you were Joseph?

Joseph faced unwanted dilemmas: logistically – where would they stay; personally – how will he care for Mary and their soon to be born son, Jesus; ethical – what happens when the town finds out we’re not married; religious – is this what God is calling us to do? 

Where does faith fit in? I’ve faced many unwanted dilemmas in my life and career with the YMCA, not always being sure where to go for guidance and how faith fits into the complicated situation.

What did Joseph do? Did he panic or abandon those under his care in fear of what others might think of him?

If Joseph had bailed on the situation, no one would have likely even blinked given the cultural values at the time – though, for Mary, it could have had deadly consequences.

From a worldly lens, it must have seemed counter to every natural tendency he had at that time.

Only looking through the lens of faith does this have any semblance of rationality whatsoever.

Joseph received clarity based on an angel’s visit to him in a dream; he had the patience and mindfulness to listen and believe.

He chose to walk alongside pregnant Mary in love.

Accepting the clarity of the message from God, Joseph was able to serve as a righteous man.

Joseph faced unwanted dilemmas because of God’s call on his life, the magnitude of which was overwhelming, but he chose to prayerfully listen and be patient, to believe God, and walk in faith.

When we find ourselves in complicated and controversial situations where we lead and serve, we can be distracted by worldly conditions.

But we may also be like Joseph and go early and often to God in faith and prayer.

May we have the patience to seek God first in our dilemmas and, through faith, find righteousness.

modern City of Bethlehem, and the hills of the Judaean Wilderness

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.

She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

Gospel according to Matthew‬, 1:20-21‬ ‭NIV

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GOD’S NEWS & ZECHARIAH’S “YES”

How can the Spirit of Christmas live on in you? Let this YMCA devotion series encourage you in the days to come!

“The greatest gifts in my life come through obedience to God’s call upon me, and the greatest blessings come when I trust the Father to make me who he wants me to be: holy and present.”

[Day 2 of 12 – YMCA onPrinciple Devotion Series – inspired by 1Peter 2:4-5]

Chosen By God: Becoming Christ’s Holy Presents for the World // How can we be more like Jesus, whom God gave to the world to love, care and serve sacrificially? // Revisit with us 12 stories of the Lord transforming people in the Holy Land, inspired by experiences YMCA leaders recently had there. //From this we learn ways to put Christian principles into practice through Jesus “the living Stone” who handcrafts us into precious gifts of peace for all.

Written by Eric Ellsworth, CEO/COO YMCA of the Cayman Islands

“How could this be?”

Imagine Zechariah, a good man, and Israelite priest, going about his duties in the temple when an angel startled him with an unbelievable message: your wife will bear a son in her old age. 

Instead of rejoicing at this good news, Zechariah could only doubt it. 

What would you have said? Imagine Zechariah leaving the temple, stumbling along the stone-paved street, headed home, stunned and in disbelief.

I remember walking along that old street while in Jerusalem, and now I try to put myself in Zechariah’s sandals – trying to make sense of an unbelievable message – from an angel, regarding your wife who is past child-bearing years, about a son who will prepare Israel for the presence of the Lord. 

Lord help us in our disbelief! 

What does this look like in our lives?

For my work in the YMCA, we often have opportunities or promptings to help people or create transformational programs that “put Christian principles into practice.” 

Too many times, though, we answer the call with, “I am too busy,” “where will the money come from,” or “my boss won’t approve.” 

Any number of objections or doubts can come and cause us to miss the peace and joy of simply saying “yes” to God. 

We often hear God’s voice in our hearts through His Holy Spirit, but we quickly move to the practical, earthly realities rather than rejoicing and obeying the whispers of the Spirit.

Like Zechariah, when we hear God’s good news, we too can learn to say “yes” – for God desires that we grow closer and closer in relationship with Him through our obedience and faith.

The greatest gifts in my life come through obedience to God’s call upon me, and the greatest blessings come when I trust the Father to make me who he wants me to be: holy and present.

This is God’s plan: to follow Him- let Him Lead- to Be His!! 

Would you pray with me?

Dear Lord, thank you for your free gift of forgiveness when we doubt you. Please help us believe your messages to us and answer your call to sacrificial service. Bring us to full obedience through your power and glory forever and ever. Amen.

Stone-paved street alongside the Temple Mount in Jerusalem

Zechariah asked the angel, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years.”

The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news.

And now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day this happens, because you did not believe my words, which will come true at their appointed time.”‬‬

Gospel according to Luke‬, 1:18-20‬ ‭NIV
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Day 12 :: Living Stone of LOVE

Join us for the 12 Day YMCA Devotion Series – LIVING STONES: LEAD, CARE AND SERVE LIKE JESUS

How can we be ‘like Living Stones’ used by God to strengthen the presence of Christ where we lead?

Recently, 24 YMCA leaders with the OnPrinciple program visited 12 places throughout the Holy Land where Jesus taught about how to live and lead in God’s kingdom.

From this experience comes 12 spiritual leadership principles – or Living Stones – (inspired by 1Peter 2:4-5) that Christ-followers can embody as we are being built up to lead, care and serve everyone, like Jesus.

by Tim Hallman, Christian Emphasis Director with the YMCA of Greater Fort Wayne

“It’s so dark and loud, I can’t believe how intense and crowded it is up here” I whispered to myself as a few of my friends squeezed through the dense throng with me in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher at the end of the Via Dolorosa.

We were in the Old City of Jerusalem trying to see the eleventh and twelfth stations of the cross, where Christ is depicted as being nailed to the cross and then dying on it.

Standing there in the dim candlelight and swirling incense, I wondered what it would have been like for the Lord’s beloved disciples and family as they tried to see him on the cross.

Bewildered? Terrified? Heart-broken? Wondering: “How could this happen?” “Why did this happen?”

We’ve all had our own moments of dark grief, loud confusion, and intense fear; there is no escaping suffering in this world, it is all around us in spirit, mind, and body.

Kierkegaard comments that when we suffer patiently this is not specifically Christian, freely choosing to suffer, though, is.

Jesus willing and freely chose to suffer and die on the cross – it is both our salvation from sin and an example to us on how to sacrificially lead and love.

Especially as Christian leaders, we imitate Christ Jesus when we follow his example of practical compassion to those who are suffering and thirsty for loving help – organizing and inspiring from start to finish.

The work that God gave Jesus to do was triumphantly completed on the cross, and our Lord was faithful to the finish, which included suffering at the hands of those he loved and was sent to save.

When Christians lead with sacrificial love, when we choose to suffer from others, we are allowed to share in word and deed the Good News of Christ Jesus and what he finished on the cross.

What is the sacrificial work God has given you to finish in your community, with your friends and family, in your congregation or workplace?

What has Christ been calling you to finish, to complete, to bring to an end for those in your midst who need a drink of hope and forgiveness?

May the suffering and compassionate Jesus be an example to you in spirit, mind, and body to finish what you started, sustaining you as living stones sacrificially leading, loving, and serving where he has sent you.

“Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, “I am thirsty.”

A jar of wine vinegar was there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put the sponge on a stalk of the hyssop plant, and lifted it to Jesus’ lips.

When he had received the drink, Jesus said, “It is finished.”

With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.”

Gospel according to John, 19.28-30 NIV

This YMCA devotion series brought to you by onPrinciple – click here to learn more about it – a new leadership development program to strengthen the presence of Christ in the YMCA

Click here for the entire devotion series as a downloadable PDF booklet.

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