Devotional Blog

The Road Less Traveled

10/22/2020

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

Our Name

10/15/2020

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

Deep Longing

10/8/2020

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

World Communion

10/1/2020

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

Autumn Blessings

9/24/2020

As a person that loves warmer temperatures, the bright sun, and all the grandeur of summer, I tend to hold on tenaciously to summer. But there’s a time when the brisk cool breeze, smell of wood burning in the fireplace, and colors of the autumn leaves, invariably win me over. I have a cup of hot cider or pumpkin spiced latte, sit back and think to myself, autumn is here, it’s time to enjoy the beauty of the season before the colors fade to winter. I enjoy the fall festivals and the roadside crafts, and my favorite, a relaxing drive down a country road that winds through fields with famers harvesting crops and forests with trees bundled in fall colors.
It reminds me that each season of the year has its special beauty and its own unique blessings. It also reminds me that each season of life has its special blessings to be enjoyed. More often than not we tend to look to the past or press to the future and forget to simply be present in the moment and enjoy God’s many blessings. I invite you to lean into the moment and enjoy the beauty of creation, the warmth of family, and the blessings of hearth and home. Make every day a special day and give thanks to God for His manifold blessings. God is good. All the time.

(scripture of the week)
“To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to reap,
a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to break down and a time to build up,
a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to gain and a time to lose, a time to keep and a time to cast away,
a time to rend and a time to sew, a time to keep silence and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.
What do workers gain from their toil? I have seen the burden God has laid on the human race. He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-11)

(prayer of the week)
Lord, help us to embrace each season of life and live each day to the fullest. Help us to thank you for the blessings and to lean into your strength for the battles. Thank you for the gift of life itself, and help us to live each day as a gift given to others and to you, in your name, Amen.

Blessings in Christ–Pastor TJ

God's grace, unsought and unearned, blows through my life,
and all I need to do is raise my sails
to catch the full wind- Catharine of Siena

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

Reach for the Stars

9/17/2020

Reach for the stars and keep your feet on the ground -- it is a great adage and a great goal to start off a new fall season. Paul challenges us to be rooted and established in Christ's love and that relationship will help us grow strong and become fruitful in all we do. We can keep growing in the love of Christ through all of life, and have confidence that our relationship to God gives us a firm foundation to use our gifts and talents to pursue great dreams that serve others and honor God. Reach for the stars and keep your feet on the ground --and hold on to the hand of the Lord who loves you and will be with you always. Open your heart to God's awesome love...and trust God to take you places you never even dreamed of... then fasten your seat belt for all the thrills, adventure, and joy of a lifetime!

(Verse of the week)
I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. (Ephesians 3.17,18)

(Prayer of the week)
Gracious God, thank you for the gift of this day and the gift of life itself. Thank you for the gifts and talents you have given me. Help me to keep my life grounded in your love and help me reach for the stars and be all that I can be. In everything I do may others see your love and grace in me. Amen.

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

(quote of the week)
O God, my Father, don't let me die without having really lived and really loved --John Powell

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

Peace in the Storm

9/10/2020

We watched the interesting phenomena of the eye of a hurricane again with Hurricane Laura recently. One of the most interesting natural phenomena is the eye of the hurricane. In the middle of the most devastating storm, with deadly winds and pounding waves is the eye of the hurricane, which has blue skies and a peaceful breeze where birds often find shelter. God has promised that we too, can find a calm peace in the midst of the most turbulent storms of life, if our hearts and lives are centered on Christ. May God's Spirit fill you with a peace that transcends all understanding and refreshes your heart and life.

(Verse of the week)
Jesus said, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. (John 14.27)

(Prayer of the week)
Almighty God of power and love, thank you for the gift of life and even the challenges of life. Fill me anew with your Spirit of peace and may I find quiet rest in you even in the midst of the challenges of life. May your peace so touch me that others will be touched by your presence and peace in me. Amen.

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

(quote of the week)
Be the change you want to see in the world-Ghandi

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

Word

9/3/2020

“For you have set my heart free”—what beautiful words! So often people think that God’s Word is a list of “don’t’s.” But God’s Word is a river of life! It is truth that sets our heart free, because it guides us to the One who loves us and has a plan and purpose for our lives. It is not the dry, dusty pathway of heartless rules, but a path of life and truth and fulfillment and love. It is the pathway of Christ. “I run in the paths of your commands, for you have set me heart free.” Let go of the chains of guilt and shame and failure and sorrow and be set free by the life and love of Christ. Discover God’s promises for your life. Trust God! God loves you!

(scripture of the week)
I have chosen the way of truth;
I have set my heart on your laws.
I hold fast to your statutes, O Lord;
Do not let me be put to shame.
I run in the paths of your commands,
For you have set my heart free. (Psalm 119.30-32)

(Prayer of the week)
Almighty and Loving God, thank you for your great love and the way you forgive us and give us new life. Strengthen and guide me with your Word. Open my heart and mind to trust in your plan and purpose for my life. Open my life to your power that touches and transforms life. Renew within me a fresh appreciation and confident hope in your love and plan and purpose for my life. Let your love burn within me that others may see you in all I do. Amen.

Blessings in Christ! –Pastor TJ

(quote of the week)
I have a fundamental belief in the Bible as the Word of God, written by those who were inspired. I study the Bible daily—Sir Isaac Newton

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

Song

8/27/2020

Have you ever heard a familiar song that you loved and felt a new strength and vitality to face the day? The prophet Isaiah must have known what that was like. He writes, “The Lord is my strength and my song.” What magnificent words from the prophet. Isaiah had discovered that God gives us the strength to persevere through difficulties. As someone once said, it is not how able we are but how able God is. But it does not stop there . . . God’s love also gives us the song that gives us joy in the darkest night. Take a moment and re-discover and reconnect with God’s strength and God’s love. You don’t have to do it alone. God is there in strength and love. Discover new strength and a new song in your heart. Discover the strength and the song that God’s Spirit can give.

(Verse of the week)
The Lord, my Lord is my salvation
I will not be afraid
The Lord is my strength and my song
He has become my salvation -- Isaiah 12.2

(Prayer of the week)
Gracious God of love and mercy, thank you that in any storm there is stillness in your arms of love and hope surrounded by your power. Strengthen me to face the challenges of life. And may your love fill my life that I can be a beacon of hope in my life. In everything I do may others see your love and grace in me. Amen.

Have a blessed week—Pastor TJ

(quote of the week)
It is not how much you do, but how much love we put in the doing. It is not how much we give, but how much love we put in the giving --Mother Teresa

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

Jewel

8/20/2020

You are a jewel! A treasure of incredible worth! God has created you a rare and beautiful gem, a treasure beyond belief. Most jewels are formed under intense pressure; and then require the experienced eye and skillful chisel of the jeweler to bring the beauty to full brilliance through careful, precise chiseling. Our faith and character are often formed and strengthened under intense pressure. And like the gems that a jeweler chisels, we too must experience the careful and loving chisel strikes of the Master Jeweler. Though sometimes painful, it will bring your true beauty and brilliance into the light of God's love and service. You are more than a diamond in the rough--take heart, you are a jewel in the master's hand.

(Verse of the week)
In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. 1 Peter 1.6,7

(Prayer of the week)
Gracious and loving God, thank you that you care about me and love me. Give me strength to face the challenges of life, and fill me with faith to trust your plan and purpose in all things. Re-kindle the joy of life in my heart. And make me a light that others may see your love. Amen.

Have a great week! –Pastor TJ

(quote of the week)
God made you as you are in order to use you as He planned --S. C. McAuley

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