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We can often make following Jesus more complicated than it really is.  Jesus definitely calls his followers to a radically different life.  But the components of this life are at the core of our everyday existence.  To take care of someone, to love them through action, is one of the most essential parts of following.  It is the very essence of what it means to follow.  Jesus gives examples such as giving a cup of cold water and providing help to widows and orphans.  He shows that loving crosses all kinds of boundaries – in fact, he doesn’t seem to notice any boundaries at all.  He sees his children.  His children are to love and care for others who are his children and don’t even realize it yet.  He opens the way to love beyond reason and care with all we have.  

When Peter seems to have lost his way, Jesus brings him back with simple requests.  Jesus tells him that if he loves him, he will feed and tend.  He will take care of the most basic needs as Jesus would.  He would shepherd and love the sheep as he has been taught to do.  Actually, Peter is to tend and feed as Jesus has been doing for him for the last couple of years.  Notice Jesus doesn’t send him on any particular theological discovery.  He doesn’t ask him to fill out a test to find out what he knows.  He asks him to feed and tend.  Jesus knows Peter.  He knows his heart.  Peter has been at the feet of Jesus.  And Jesus loves him beyond measure.  In response, feed and tend.  

What does following look like for you?  Maybe it is time to find our way back like Peter did – feed and tend.  Blessings my friends.

Focus Scripture:

John 21:15

¹⁵ When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.” 

Photos included in Devotions are captured by David Cain – The Cain Gallery.  Photos are available for sale by contacting The Cain Gallery

It can feel like being a hamster on a wheel, round and round and round.  We work to do the right thing and we make a mistake.  We feel like we have a problem behind us and then it hits us right between the eyes.  We have aspirations of doing good and Monday comes.  We have a goal of improving and we can end up feeling worse than when we started – at least that’s how we feel.  

It can be hard to start again.  Even when what we are doing is not good, we can become locked in the sequence – a captive to the usual.  To completely change course can be more than challenging.  It requires constant effort.  And because it requires such constant attention, we can get off course.  When we go the wrong way, it can even take time to get back where we know we need to be.  This applies to so many areas of our lives – from spirituality to finances to our health to our attitudes.  We want to do right.  We have a vision of what is better and good.  We just don’t always get it right.  And sometimes we end up having to start again…and again…and again.  

How many times can we start again?  How often do we get fresh starts?  How many new beginnings are there?  We get…as many as it takes.  As long as we are beginning again, we are making progress.  We are finding new life.  We are becoming more like the person we were created.  When we continue to get up and try again, we are learning and growing.  We are given the opportunity to start again because we are loved by a God of new starts.  He offers us new life.  He offers us new joys we haven’t even seen or experienced.  

Maybe today is your next new start.  Once more, get up and let’s go.  Good awaits.

Focus Scripture:

Romans 7:15

¹⁵ I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.

Photos included in Devotions are captured by David Cain – The Cain Gallery.  Photos are available for sale by contacting The Cain Gallery

Leo was so focused this morning.  He found a spot he could survey the entire yard and sat down.  He looked, he watched, and he listened.  The sounds of the birds seemed to be even more pronounced today than usual.  Their little voices sing with praise to the Creator.  Leo, of course, wanted to chase one.  But in order to do that, he had to see where the closest one was – the one most likely to be chased.  So he carefully assessed his surroundings.  He canvased it all.  And then, he decided it wasn’t worth it and found a stick to eat instead.

We could learn so much simply by paying attention and intently listening.  The clutter in our minds can cloud the messages of goodness all around us.  God is providing us with reminders of his abiding presence.  It’s all here.  Most of the time, we pass it all by.  And then we wonder why we don’t sense God’s presence.  He is here, we are not (well, at least not completely).  We know why.  There are a million things to do and to think about.  We are planning meals or taking care of kids or thinking about our doctor appointments or worried about the stack of work waiting for us on our desk.  Our hearts, minds, and ears are all cluttered with worries and anxieties.  We don’t hear well in the muffled world we roam.

The key is simply to stop.  That’s it.  Just stop for a moment, find a place to perch, and listen.  Just look around – really look.  Hear all the messages of goodness.  Feel the warmth of a new day.  Know that you are not alone.  God is with us.

Focus Scripture:

Proverbs 15:30-31

³⁰ The light of the eyes rejoices the heart,
    and good news refreshes the body.
³¹ The ear that heeds wholesome admonition
    will lodge among the wise.

Photos included in Devotions are captured by David Cain – The Cain Gallery.  Photos are available for sale by contacting The Cain Gallery

One of the many joys of spring is watching some of the plants from last year begin to appear from underneath the soil.  What seemed to be gone, lost beneath the soil, sprouts.  I do understand there are plants made to do this.  They lie dormant during the winter only to be reborn in the spring.  It is such a beautiful process to watch.  What is even more surprising are the plants I didn’t plan on coming back.  Last year, I grew quite a few potted plants.  Leo isn’t necessarily gentle with the flowers growing in the ground.  He doesn’t seem to notice the tender stems appearing.  In his excitement to chase a bird or a fly, he tramples most anything in his way. So potted plants are the way to go.  Last year, after they had all died, I threw them all into a hole Leo had dug – hoping some of the soil would help to fill the craters where he finds lizards.  Last week, I noticed that one of the plants I had thrown into the hole was beginning to grow, bloom even.  So I dug it up out of the hole and put it in a much better place.  It is now thriving in its new home.  I would have never guessed it would have made it.  I didn’t plant it in the hole so it was exposed to all the elements of the winter.  I really just threw it in there.  But it found a way to survive, and then grow.  It has new life and it is producing beautiful yellow flowers already.  What a joyful surprise!

God has a way of doing the same with us.  We may not have the best environment.  We may not have the ideal planting situation.  Our soil may be a little rough and we may feel a little trampled.  But God can make something amazing.  He can produce a new creation, something no one expects, not even us.  He knows our potential.  He knows the goodness inside.  He knows the love he has planted deep in our hearts.  And he knows exactly what we need.  Sometimes we just need shelter while we become stronger.  Sometimes we need a new place to thrive.  Whatever it is, God knows and he uses this to produce something brand new.  We can become a new creation in him.  What a gift it is!  Bloom, my friends.  God is up to something good.

Focus Scripture:

2 Corinthians 5:17

¹⁷ So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! 

Photos included in Devotions are captured by David Cain – The Cain Gallery.  Photos are available for sale by contacting The Cain Gallery

I love to watch Leo chase flies.  He is so determined and very focused.  He doesn’t stop moving and is always on the lookout.  He will run around the firepit over and over and over again.  I get dizzy just watching him.  I often wonder why in the world he would do this.  His averages of actually catching a fly are very low.  He does occasionally get one and seems as shocked as anyone else.  He doesn’t chase flies for the actual results – there is joy just in the chase.  He seems to find unending fun from simply chasing.  To some of us, that likely sounds ridiculous.  Why would we do something we knew would not actually end up not yielding any result?  What if we just found joy in doing it anyway?  It would seem frustrating to me.  But as I watch Leo, the joy radiating from his entire body is contagious.  

Our lives might look different if we found joy in the simple things we do each day.  That whole sentence probably caused some eyes to roll.  Who finds joy in the things we do each day?  Yet, Jesus has given us life and a life more abundant.  Abundance, for me, means joy- not stuff.  So if we are given a joyful life, why do we often look as if it is anything but joyful?  What are we missing?  

After Jesus’ resurrection, he did simple things.  He walked down a road with people who didn’t know him – and then had a meal with them after teaching them a few good things.  He had breakfast on the beach with his friends after they had a long, unsuccessful night of fishing.  He cooked, they ate.  He spent time with others, showing them love, and eating with them.  There were meals!  And these meals were joyful.  It wasn’t what they ate that mattered.  It was who they ate with that changed things.  This wasn’t their first or last meal.  It was one of the most important, though.  They were having a meal with Jesus.  There was joy shared in the simple things.  Joy can be found in the ordinary.  

If we seek it, we may find joy is right before us.  If we are willing to enjoy the journey rather than the destination, we may find life really is abundant.  Joy is waiting to be discovered in the middle of the ordinary.

Focus Scripture:

John 21:12-13

¹² Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared to ask him, “Who are you?” because they knew it was the Lord. ¹³ Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish.

Photos included in Devotions are captured by David Cain – The Cain Gallery.  Photos are available for sale by contacting The Cain Gallery

There are plenty of people willing to condemn.  There are lines of people looking to find fault in others.  The groups of people willing to show the love of Christ…not as many.  Continually the Bible teaches us to love one another.  We are given direction on what this means.  We are given an example of how it looks.  We are shown time and time again how to show love to one another.  Yet, it seems to be one of those things which slips right by us.  It takes effort.  It takes going the extra step.  It takes thinking outside of ourselves.  It takes everything which may feel uncomfortable, at least for a moment.  Yet, to show love to one another is the goal.  It is the focus.  If we can show love to one another, we are on the path to becoming more like Christ.  

People don’t always make it easy to love them.  Frankly, we don’t always make it easy to love us either.  Sometimes it just happens.  But more often, it takes a conscious effort to show love, especially to those who are less than lovable.  That’s where Christians make the difference.  That’s where others recognize how much we love Jesus.  Love is the key, the pivotal point.  We know because Jesus showed us the ultimate love.  How can we not make the time and the effort to show love to one another?

Focus Scripture:

1 John 3:11

¹¹ For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.

Photos included in Devotions are captured by David Cain – The Cain Gallery.  Photos are available for sale by contacting The Cain Gallery

We celebrate Resurrection.  We give thanks for the sacrifice.  We hear how we can live free.  We begin to take in the love which has been poured out for us.  Yet the Monday after Easter can look very similar to the Monday before Easter.  We too easily fall back into our routines, leaving no trace of Easter in our lives.  Other than a hidden missed egg which may appear a few days or weeks from now, it will seem as though Easter has come and gone.  If we fully embrace all of Easter, this cannot be the case.  It cannot be that we go about our lives as if Resurrection never happened.  We must reflect the love which has been so generously given to us.  

I understand how this can be a challenge.  Everything about our Easter Monday can seem mundane.  We often do the same job and are in the same mindset.  But the day after the Resurrection was anything but mundane for the women, for the disciples, and for those who had the joy of encountering Jesus again, for the first time.  Meals were enjoyed, eyes were opened, hearts were changed and nothing was the same – at least not for his followers.  They certainly lived in the same world and wandered the same community.  But they had been changed.  They had been a part of something miraculous, earth-shattering even.  Everything around them may have been familiar, but they were anything but the same.  They were being made new.  Their entire lives were being transformed.  Jesus is alive – and that means something.

I can’t help but wonder if our lives should reflect a change as well.  Shouldn’t we live more like Christ?  The ultimate example of loving God and loving others is right before us.  How are we begin made new?  How are we being transformed?  Resurrection does that.

Focus Scripture:

John 20:19-20

¹⁹ When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” ²⁰ After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 

Photos included in Devotions are captured by David Cain – The Cain Gallery.  Photos are available for sale by contacting The Cain Gallery

Today is Good Friday of Holy Week.  It is the day we remember the ultimate sacrifice of Jesus.  Wrongly accused, falsely convicted and hung on a cross are just some of the events of the day.  It is a day of denial – Peter forgets who it is he has been following – fear does that sometimes.  It is a day of disappearance – where the disciples who have been by his side are nowhere to be found.  It is a day of pain – Jesus is beaten and tortured to the extremes.  It is a day of firsts – the sky turns dark in the middle of the day and the temple veil is torn.  It is a day to never forget – always remember the sacrifice.

So as we move through this day, may we hold space to remember all Jesus has done for us.  May we take the time for gratefulness – we mean that much to him, even now.  May we spend moments in silence – a life was taken – a life who taught what it means to love, truly love.  And then, may we go about our day in love.  

Focus Scripture:

Matthew 20: 17-19 (New Revised Standard Version)

While Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside by themselves, and said to them on the way, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death; then they will hand him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified; and on the third day he will be raised.”

Photos included in Devotions are captured by David Cain – The Cain Gallery.  Photos are available for sale by contacting The Cain Gallery

It is so easy to say and really not a problem to talk about.  The action part is the challenge.  On this Maundy Thursday of Holy Week, Jesus teaches a lesson.  This lesson is one of humility and servanthood.  They had watched Jesus put this teaching into practice for years.  They understood the concept.  But now, Jesus would give them the actual teaching.  He would show them this would be the way.  This is the direction they were to take as he prepares for his death.  This is one he did not want them to miss.  

I’m grateful Jesus didn’t just teach but actually lived it out in very practical ways.  I cannot imagine the look on the disciples faces as he takes off his outer robe and puts the towel around his waist.  Jesus is known for doing things very differently.  But this had to be one of the most confounding times for the disciples.  Jesus is taking on one of the most menial tasks.  He washes feet.  He takes the tired, dirty, crusty feet of the disciples into his own hands and pours out his love.  His love had to echo throughout the entire house even louder than the water hitting the bottom of the pan.  Peter was so confused he initially couldn’t allow Jesus to do it.  This was way beneath his leader and his friend.  Jesus explains otherwise.  Peter plops down right in front of Jesus eager to take it all in – always a little over the top in his response.  Jesus washes feet.  Hear that for a moment – Jesus washes feet.  I wonder what things we think are beneath us?

In this important action, Jesus gives them a new commandment.  It doesn’t seem all that new to us, we have read it in the Bible multiple times.  I can’t imagine it would be all that new to them initially.   Love one another seems to be the whole way of God.  So what was so new about these old words?  I hear two distinctions – love one another as I have loved you; all will know you by your love.  Jesus has just given a powerful lesson through the washing of feet and now they hear – love one another as I have loved you.  They are to serve through love.  They are to become more like Jesus in their love.  Their love for others will become so tangible others will understand they belong to Jesus.  It is their love which will define them as followers of Christ.   

I wonder what would define us today?  Do we define ourselves by the church we attend, by the doctrine we believe, by the tithes we give, by the times we pray?  Or are we defined as followers of Christ by our love for one another?  

Jesus wants us to love like him.  May it be so.

Focus Scripture:

John 13:33-35

 ³³ Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ ³⁴ I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. ³⁵ By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Photos included in Devotions are captured by David Cain – The Cain Gallery.  Photos are available for sale by contacting The Cain Gallery

I often notice the more time I spend with someone, the more connected we feel.  We begin to know how someone processes thoughts and the things which make him or her angry.  We begin to see what is important to the other.  Wendy and I have been together for many years.  We often think the same things and will know how the other will react.  We are more and more connected the years we spend together.  As time goes by, we can sometimes tell how the other feels just by being in the same room, no words needed.  We sense the needs of the other simply through presence.  

As I read Jesus’ teachings to the disciples, I begin to understand a little more what he may have meant by asking them (and us essentially) to abide in him.  This is Holy Week and as we travel this journey, we should begin to get a sense of the struggles and the triumphs of this time.  We understand a little more each time we travel this journey.  By abiding in Jesus, we get a clearer picture of the true sacrifice he made for us, all in love.  

Jesus paints a picture of what he means to abide by comparing this to a vine and branches.  If the branch is disconnected from the vine, it withers and loses all nutrients.  When it is connected, it has the opportunity to thrive and produce fruit like no other.  Fruit is not produced without the vine.  So the more connected the branches are to the vine, the more nutrients they receive.  They are more stable and filled with good things.  The more connected we are to Jesus, the same thing happens.  This requires us to abide in him.  This means we pay attention.  We have to take the time to sense his presence and his guidance.  We have to be willing to take the time to study his teachings and then follow them.  This is a process which develops over time.  Just like a relationship, it takes effort and attention to really, truly abide.  Being connected is the key.  

As we travel this Holy Week, take the time to become more connected than you have been.  Listen to the teachings.  Find out how you might become more like the Creator.  Follow where God might be leading.  It is all part of abiding.

Focus Scripture:

John 15:1-5

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. ² He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. ³ You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. ⁴ Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. ⁵ I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. 

Photos included in Devotions are captured by David Cain – The Cain Gallery.  Photos are available for sale by contacting The Cain Gallery