From
The Pastor's Communiqué
Pastor
Terry R. Baughman
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Current
Devotional
Message
The Upward Focus
“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows
his handiwork” (Psalms 19:1).
In a picture of prayer the subject often
looks heavenward as he makes his petition. God is thought to be
“out there somewhere.” Truly he is high as the heavens, filling
the universe; heaven is his throne and the earth is his
footstool!
However, God is not only in heaven, he is
on earth. He is vast enough to fill space and personal enough to
live within. He is elevated enough to keep you in awe and
intimate enough to touch you with love. He has power enough to
impress you and grace enough to save you.
What is mankind? … the object of God’s
love and the recipient of his mercies. God was interested enough
in humanity to take on skin, involved enough to feel our pain
and intimate enough to take the condemnation for our sins.
The most pronounced evidence of his
personal involvement with his creation is the incarnation, God
in flesh, for the express purpose of bringing us back into
relationship with him.
Have you felt his presence and the
assurance of his love this week? Speak out in faith and reach
out in confidence. He is near you and he will hear you! The
majestic God of glory is just that accessible to respond to the
simplest prayer of his people.
Touch him today!
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The Outward Focus
Luke 19:10 "for the Son of Man has
come to seek and to save that which was lost."
Myopia is another
name for nearsightedness. It is
impaired vision in which a person sees near objects clearly
while distant objects appear blurred. While it may be a common
abnormality of the physical eye we must guard against the
condition of spiritual myopia!
In spiritual myopia a person only
sees up close, particularly only those things that affect him or
herself. When observing anything that has no particular bearing
on them, they fail to see the need of being involved or
emotionally affected with the event. For instance, such a one
passes an accident on the road. After a quick look to make sure
it is no one they know, they quickly speed on about their
business whether or not someone is there to help. “It’s no one I
know so therefore I’m uninvolved,” is the thinking of the myopic
person. The attitude of one suffering spiritual myopia is
that “an accident is only an emergency if it happens to
me,” “surgery is only major if it’s mine,” and “an event
is only a crisis if it involves me!”
The intent of an “outward focus” to our
prayer is to help us see more clearly the needs and concerns of
others, the hurts and the heartaches of someone who is not in
our house, our neighborhood, or our church. There is a great big
world out there with needs that Jesus died to fulfill. He came
“to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the
captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at
liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year
of the LORD” (Luke 4:18-19). This Gospel is powerful to heal the
hurts and mend the broken of every community, every individual,
regardless of how remote.
May we never become so myopic that we
cannot see the needs of the hurting and feel the pain of the
lost. Through the corrective lenses of the vision of Calvary we
can become more aware of the needs of others and respond with a
God-given compassion and powerful witness.
The outward focus will bring those who
are “far off” near through our hands and our hearts!
_______________________________________________________
The Right to Life
Thirty-four years ago the Supreme Court
handed down the landmark decision that determined the legality
of abortion in the United States. In that tragic decision the
death sentence was pronounced for millions of unborn children in
the decades since. Untold hurt and emotional pain has been the
outgrowth in a multitude of young mother’s lives as a result of
this direction of societal change.
More than a generation has been lost.
Only God could know the cost and sacrifice abortion has extorted
in the intervening years. How many scientists, technicians, and
engineers; how many inventors, financiers, and musicians; how
many preachers, teachers, and missionaries; how many servicemen,
statesmen, and presidents have never been allowed to breathe
life and expend their energy in making a difference in our
world? An acute vacuum of creative leadership will, no doubt, be
the effect of this loss.
If the church is silent to the wholesale
slaughter of the unborn, we fail to fulfill our commission to be
the commodity of “salt” in our culture. The corrective course of
the Gospel of Christ is the only cure to the corruption in our
culture. We must be a moral compass to a society without
direction. We must point the way of righteousness, the highway
to our God.
Our efforts are not necessarily militant,
but we must be willing to speak out in defense of souls yet
unborn, creations of God with his gift of life. More
importantly, we must wage the war in the spiritual realm,
praying for the revival of morality in the morass of
promiscuity, conquering the foe by the power of His Spirit.
As we observe the anniversary of a dark
day in the history of our Supreme Court, let us purpose to
promote the “right-to-life” agenda. Pray for our President, our
leaders in congress, and our judicial system that each will
resist the pressure of various liberal elements to further
legitimatize the avarice of abortion. Pray for a spiritual
renewal in every church and a return to righteousness in our
culture.
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Longing for Love
“A new commandment I give to you, that
you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love
one another” (John 13:34).
One of the greatest needs of humanity is
the feeling of love. Everyone needs to feel loved, accepted, and
appreciated by another. Without love there is an emptiness and a
void that gnaws at the soul and saddens the spirit.
Love is the most powerful of all
emotions. It will prevail even in the face of hatred. When love
is freely given the hardest heart is softened and attitudes
begin to change. Abuse and neglect can be healed through the
power of love. Anger and violence can be turned away through the
demonstration of love. Love is a healing agent.
Love is more than a feeling. It is an
action, a verb! Jesus commanded His disciples to “love one
another as I have loved you” (John 15:12). Too often people
think that love is a feeling, a fluttering that comes in the pit
of your stomach, and then flies away like a butterfly in a
moment’s fright. Couples part and go their separate ways because
they “no longer love each other.” Love is treated as a fragile
feeling that fades away. You wake up one day and realize that
the feeling is gone and conclude that the love is gone.
True love is a commitment, a decision to
remain faithful and continue loving long after the feeling is
gone. The Scripture instructs husbands to “love your wives”
(Eph. 5:25). Jesus instructed disciples to “love your enemies”
(Matthew 5:44). Love is a choice. Whether in a relationship with
your spouse, a decision to walk with Jesus, or conduct among
friends, love is a commitment to share your life and never walk
away.
What we desire we can receive if we are
willing to give the same. Rather than waiting for someone to
love you, begin to share love with someone else. Show your care
and concern. Reach out to one who is hurting and seek to heal
and restore. Before you know it others will be reaching out to
you and sharing their love with you.
The quickest way to fill the longing for
love is to begin to show love to others!
