Devotional Blog

Fall Colors

10/29/2020

I love the colors of fall and recently spent some time walking along Lisa’s Faith and Fitness Trail, a beautiful trail around our church campus, just enjoying the beautiful fall colors. I would like to invite you to take a moment and enjoy the beauty of creation during these later days of fall. The colors are truly beautiful. My favorite are the reds and yellows especially together. But it’s all beautiful. It’s as if God invited the sunset and the sunrise to color the trees. But here’s the thing--Sooner or later, hopefully later, the colors will fade, and the leaves will fall, and we will have to wait until next year to enjoy them again. So, take a moment and enjoy it with your family on a nice walk. Some of the folks have put up some scarecrows just to make your walk more fun and enjoyable. Here’s a positive word for your journey from the psalms--

This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it (Psalm 118:24)

So, don’t wait. Put aside some of the busyness and enjoy the beautiful fall colors. Take some quiet time to reflect on the beauty of creation and let it whisper to you the blessings of the Creator . . . or don’t forget to enjoy it in the company of those you love . . .

(Prayer)
Lord, thank you for the beauty of creation. Help me to take some time and just enjoy it and reflect on your love and the love of others you have placed in my life.

(quote of the week)
the only enemy we have is the one whose story we have not heard-- Quaker saying

Listen to recent sermons by Dr. TJ Jenney at YouTube &
http://inspiresundaymessages.blogspot.com/
Check the latest leadership blog by Dr. TJ http://www.drtj.us

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The Road Less Traveled

10/22/2020

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This is a beautiful season for a walk along a path in the forest or wooded park to enjoy the beauty of the leaves changing colors and the cool, crisp autumn air. The poet Robert Frost once spoke so eloquently about choosing the road less traveled, and how it wonderfully changed his life. It is a beautiful picture of the choices we have in life, and the paths we may take. The psalmist uses this very same imagery, painting a picture of our journey down the path of life. Choosing the way of truth is not drudgery or boredom; rather it is choosing the path of life . . . and in the end, we discover that it empowers and sets our hearts free.

(Verse of the week)
I have chosen the way of truth;
I have set my heart on your laws. . .
I run in the path of your commands,
You have set my heart free.
(Psalm 119.30-32 selections)

Prayer of the Week
Loving Creator, help me to set my heart on your ways, and discover anew the joy of living in your purpose and plan. Let me find strength and power in your Spirit. Help me to allow your Word to take root in my heart and life and bear the fruit of a deep and abiding faith and a life that gives you honor and praise. May I live a blessed life and be a blessing to others, through your power and to your glory. Amen.

Open your heart to God's amazing love!-Pastor TJ

(quote of the week)
The challenge is to be a light, not a judge; to be a model, not a critic
-Stephen R. Covey

Listen to recent sermons by Dr. TJ Jenney at YouTube &
http://inspiresundaymessages.blogspot.com/
Check the latest leadership blog by Dr. TJ http://www.drtj.us

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Our Name

10/15/2020

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Don’t you love to hear your name spoken by someone who cares deeply about you or a special moment with a special announcement. Perhaps it is mail call at summer camp or passing out presents for Christmas or your birthday, or just your name called for dinner. The truth is there are lots of special times in our lives when we hear our name and our heart is warmed just by the sound of our name spoken by someone who loves and cares for us deeply. There is good news for all of us–God, who created all that is, calls us by name. God knows us, loves us, and calls us by name. It is the call of love and grace and forgiveness. It is the call of the One who formed and fashioned us. It is the call of the One who has a plan and purpose for our lives. Listen for a moment . . . and hear God’s call. Hear your name spoken in love by God. Come to God and know God’s love. For God loves you and calls you by name like a loving and forgiving parent. And God’s promise comes to us, come what may, like a quiet, comforting whisper, “I will be with you!” Trust God. God loves you and is calling your name . . .

(verse of the week)
Fear not for I have redeemed you,
I have summoned you by name; you are mine. . .
I will be with you. (Isaiah 43.1,2)

(Prayer of the week)
Almighty and Loving God, thank you for your great love and the way you know us and call us by name. Open my heart and mind to trust in your plan and purpose for my life and your power to see me through. Renew within me a fresh appreciation and confident hope in your love and plan and purpose for my life. And may my life, radiant with your love, touch others today. Amen.

Open your heart to God's amazing love!
--Pastor TJ

(quote of the week)
Love is the abridgment of all theology—Francis de Sales

Listen to recent sermons by Dr. TJ Jenney at YouTube &
http://inspiresundaymessages.blogspot.com/
Check the latest leadership blog by Dr. TJ http://www.drtj.us

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Deep Longing

10/8/2020

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Most of us have a deep inner longing for God. The trouble is we stay so busy in life that we are often not in touch with that yearning until we are forced into quiet solitude or loneliness or desperation by a crisis in life. Then we feel the void that is there and the quiet tug of eternity on our heart. But we can also quiet ourselves from the busyness of the world, of deadlines and demands-and simply listen for the still small voice of God. Listen for a moment and feel the quiet whisper of God’s love in your heart; feel the steadfast strength of His grace encircling you. Renew the hope in God’s love and grace and rekindle the song in your heart.

(Verse of the week)
As the deer pants for streams of water,
      so my soul pants for you,
O God.
My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God.
      When can I go and meet with God?
My tears have been my food
      day and night,
    while others say to me all day long,
      “Where is your God?” . . .
Why are you downcast, O my soul?
      Why so disturbed within me?
    Put your hope in God,
      for I will yet praise him,
      my Savior and my God.
Deep calls to deep
      in the roar of your waterfalls;
    all your waves and breakers
      have swept over me.
By day the LORD directs his love,
at night his song is with me-
a prayer to the God of my life.
Why are you downcast,
O my soul?
Why so disturbed within me?
    Put your hope in God,
      for I will yet praise him,
         my Savior and my God.
(Psalm 42.1-11 selections)

(Prayer of the week)
Loving Heavenly Father, help me slow down from the busyness of life and quiet myself in your presence and love. Fill me with your strength and grant me grace to face life with hope and joy.   And strengthened by your love, may I touch others with care and compassion. May others see your love and grace in all I do. May I be a blessing to others, through your power and to your glory. Amen.

Open your heart to God’s amazing love!-Pastor TJ

(quote of the week)
It is not how long you live but how well you live---Ben Franklin

Listen to recent sermons by Dr. TJ Jenney at YouTube &
http://inspiresundaymessages.blogspot.com/
Check the latest leadership blog by Dr. TJ http://www.drtj.us

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World Communion

10/1/2020

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Do you enjoy the feeling when you are at a football game cheering with thousands of other fans? Are you touched by the time when you are holding a candle with many others celebrating a special moment? That is the power of unity. Sometimes we fail to fully appreciate that power, especially when it comes to faith. This Sunday is World Communion Sunday – a time when believers from all over the world, every nation, every race, every place will take Holy Communion as a gesture of our common spiritual bond in Christ as believers and as a family of faith. Many of us are torn by the many signs of division and strife in our nation and in our world. But there is hope. I hope you will join us for World Communion as a time to come around the Lord’s Table and connect with God and reconnect with others as we grow personally and spiritually renewed in Christ’s love and the power of God’s promises. I also hope you will make this a time of prayer for our community, our country and our world. Listen to these words that Jesus prayed to the Father in the Garden of Gethsemane before going to the cross:

(verse of the week)
All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name—the name you gave me—so that they may be one as we are one (John 17.10,11).

(Prayer of the Week)
Gracious and Loving God, open my heart to your Family of Faith around the world. May I see your face in others as part your great united church and may I extend your grace to others in every place. Amen

Open your heart to God’s awesome love!
--Pastor TJ

(quote of the week)
Unless you assume a God, the question of life’s purpose is meaningless ---Bertrand Russell

Listen to recent sermons by Dr. TJ Jenney at YouTube &
http://inspiresundaymessages.blogspot.com/
Check the latest leadership blog by Dr. TJ http://www.drtj.us

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Fall Colors

The Road Less Traveled

Our Name

Deep Longing

World Communion

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