Scuttlebutt, Refreshment and Gossip .
According to ezines@arcamax.com: scuttlebutt (noun) - 1 : A drinking fountain on a ship. 2 : A cask on a ship that contains the day's supply of drinking water. 3 : Gossip; rumor. Scuttlebutt comes from scuttle, "a small opening" + butt, "a large cask" -- that is, a small hole cut into a cask or barrel to allow individual cups of water to be drawn out. The modern equivalent is the office water cooler, also a source of refreshment and gossip.

The soldiers therefore came and broke the legs of the first man who had been crucified with Jesus, and then those of the other. But when they came to Jesus and found that he was already dead, they did not break his legs. Instead, one of the soldiers pierced Jesus' side with a spear, bringing a sudden flow of blood and water. [John 19-32-34]

who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water, and this water symbolizes baptism that now saves you also—not the removal of dirt from the body but the pledge of a good conscience toward God. It saves you by the resurrection of Jesus Christ [1 Peter 3:21-22]

I know . . . scuttlebutt doesn’t seem an appropriate word to be included in a devotional! I hope I’ll be able to explain how this devotion developed. I slept in this morning and did not have my full time before work to sip coffee, pray, check email and go through my normal morning routine. I did, however, intentionally save the daily “word a day” email I received when I read what the word was. I get it: you’re not satisfied with my explanation yet!

What occurred to me this morning is how fascinating words are—and how important. The origin of words has always been of great interest to me; I assume it is part of my crazy compulsion as a writer. Water. It’s just a word. Refreshment is certainly a word one would commonly associate with water. Gossip? Well, it might be a stretch to associate the two words, unless you do think of the office water cooler example.

In ancient times the equivalent of the water cooler was a town well or nearby stream or river. Women walked together to the town well or stream every day to draw water into jugs to carry home for cooking and cleaning. As they walked, they also took advantage of the opportunity to get caught up on all the gossip, or to start some of their own.

Water also calls to mind floods, especially lately, with the triple threat of hurricanes across the southern coast of the U.S. Noah’s Ark comes to mind as well. John baptized Jesus with water in the Jordan River. Jesus used water to wash the feet of His disciples. Water-mingled blood poured out of the dead body of Christ on the Cross.

Scuttlebutt is what we are interested in and participate in when we live of the world. We are “of” the world when the day to day activities of “famous” people becomes an obsession, when we watch the predicted course of Hurricane Ike and begin to think that surely God intends to end the world again with water—in spite of His promise. Scuttlebutt is what was used to “legally” crucify Christ. Scuttlebutt goes on everyday in church congregations, in schools and offices, in warehouses and executive suites. Scuttlebutt is what distracts us from what is important in and to our lives.

When we live in the world and not of the world, we seek the refreshment of the Living Water. When we live in the world and not of the world, we thirst for the water Christ offered the Samaritan woman at the well the water that springs up into eternal life. In the world we often feel drenched and soaked through with the cares and worries of the world. We also remember that Peter began to sink in the lake when He took his eyes of Jesus.

When we live in the world and not of the world, we know that even when we feel we’re going under for the last time, when we’ve breathed out our last breath before drifting soundlessly to the bottom of the sea, Jesus will reach out to save us. He is to be our focus and our foundation.

On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified. [John 7:37-39]

My prayer today is that you remember He is the Living Water that springs up in us to eternal life. And that you come to Him and drink.

Mary

Labels: baptism, baptize, Cross, gossip, Holy Spirit, Jesus, John, living water, scuttlebutt, water

  ¶ 9:04 PM

  All I Want for Christmas .
1 John 2:16,17 NASB

For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.

Romans 8:14-19 NLT

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. So you should not be like cowering, fearful slaves. You should behave instead like God's very own children, adopted into his family - calling him "Father, dear Father." For his Holy Spirit speaks to us deep in our hearts and tells us that we are God's children. And since we are his children, we will share his treasures--for everything God gives to his Son, Christ, is ours, too. But if we are to share his glory, we must also share his suffering. Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will give us later. For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are.

Did you get what you had hoped for this Christmas? I am blessed to say I had a marvelous Christmas this year. I had my family with me; we had our annual Christmas Eve open house, went to the late service at church and stayed up much, much too late talking and enjoying being together. Christmas day we opened gifts, hung out, hung out some more and ultimately spent the day moving from couch to chair, to another couch, another chair, upstairs, downstairs . . . well, I think you get the point. It was relaxing and very enjoyable. Christmas night we drove around to look at all the Christmas lights – a Moss family tradition. Richmond is apparently in the top ten cities in the country for their tacky light display—and we could certainly understand why!

What is the point? How do my Christmas weekend and Christmas day experiences relate to these passages? This year my husband and I found ourselves wanting to do more for the less fortunate in the area and make Christmas less about us and our family. While we are far from wealthy we feel abundantly blessed in our lives. We are already thinking of next year, and what we can do to make Christmas meaningful for others who don’t have the blessing of family and love, peace and joy for Christmas.

What these verses tell us is that as God’s children, we already have everything—and more—we could ever want or need. We ‘re also reminded that the treasures of this world are fleeting and will last only until we go to the grave. The accumulation of worldly wealth doesn’t mean anything in God’s eyes. What is in our hearts and souls are what are important to Him. What we do with our wealth – financial, spiritual or otherwise – is how we are judged by the One who is the source or everything we have.

As God’s adopted children, we are saved from this world and its sin and shame. We rejoice in the one final and ultimate sacrifice that saved us. Yesterday we celebrated the birth of a tiny baby who slept in a manger trough 2000 years ago. The gift of his life and ultimate death on the Cross is one that never fades, breaks or wears out. I already had everything I wanted for Christmas. The gifts and time with my family were a bonus.

My prayer today is that you remember no matter what you got (or not!) for Christmas, you were already given the greatest gift of all. And that you share that gift with everyone you know.

Mary

Labels: Christmas, gift, Holy Spirit, present, wealth

  ¶ 9:17 AM

  Holy and Beloved .
Colossians 1:9-109. For this reason also, since the day we heard [of it], we have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 10. so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please [Him] in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;

Colossians 3:12-1312. And so, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; 13. bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you.

Have you ever taken a job or agreed to lead a committee or organize a function only to realize you were in way over your head? Paul apparently never felt that way when he was bringing others to Christ! In his letter to the Colossians, he takes great care spelling out what kind of lives believers should be living. He doesn’t claim to live like this absolutely, but he certainly tried harder than most at that time or since. He was so grateful for his conversion, he dedicated literally every moment of his life and every ounce of energy working to encourage others to accept God’s amazing grace, manifested in Jesus.

Paul prays for the Colossians to “walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit n every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;” This is what God expects of us as well. That’s a pretty tall order in my book! Paul is painstakingly clear on what qualities one acquires and demonstrates when one is living a life worthy of the Lord. To my mind, rather than get better, the detailed explanation of those qualities make it even harder!

I don’t have a problem ticking off each of the qualities listed in the second scripture passage. I do try to be compassionate, kind, humble gentle and patient. Of course, once I leave the house in the morning I often have trouble remembering this list! In all honesty, once I get out bed, I forget it all too often! But notice Paul uses a particular tense; he doesn’t want us to be compassionate, he wants us to be compassion. He doesn’t tell us that we are to be kind and humble, but rather we will be kindness and humility. When people look at us and how we live our lives, Paul prays they will see these qualities manifested in us.

Being a Christian is hard. God expects us to exude forgiveness, patience, gentleness, humility, kindness and compassion, just as Christ surely did. Exude means to project or display conspicuously or abundantly; radiate. Do you radiate these qualities? Have you abundantly manifested these characteristics in your life? Is your heart so full of gratitude and reverence that the world can easily identify you as “different”?

But there’s more! Not only are we to possess these qualities and to live them out each and every day, we are also required to bear fruit and increase in the knowledge of God! Now that’s really pushing the envelope, don’t you think? I guess if we spent all of our time and energy and resources toward accomplishing this kind of life and lifestyle, we wouldn’t have time for anything else! Well . . . God is a jealous God. He doesn’t want anything else in our lives! He wants us to work to bring about His kingdom on earth. And even tells us how. We just need to figure out how to be a little less human and a little more divine. No small feat.

This truth is why it’s so important to belong to a small group or a community of believers. We all need support, encouragement, direction and correction. Who better to walk with us than another believer striving to bear fruit and increase in the knowledge of God? Who are your friends? Who do you socialize with? Who do you work with? That’s where we start to do God’s work, both by influence and direct action. We attempt to live a worthy life so that others will see how they can gain access to the kingdom. By exhibiting all the qualities we’ve discussed, we leave the door open from someone to ask us, what is the source of our strength and joy? How do we do it? How can we in light of everything bad in the world?

Our answer? We are each chosen by God, holy and beloved, made in his image. He loves us so much he sent Jesus to die on the Cross. That’s we need to say. That opens the door. The Holy Spirit will determine whether or not your questioner enters.

My prayer today is that you remember you are holy and beloved. And that you are conspicuously kind, gentle, humble, patient and compassionate with yourself and everyone you meet.

Mary

Labels: Christ, compassion, gentleness, God, Holy Spirit, humility, Jesus, kindness, patience

  ¶ 6:24 AM