by Chris Abbey

Did you see it? The movie, “Redeeming Love”? I read the book twice, (once as part of Wise Women of Esther); and my sweet husband recently took me to see the movie for a belated Valentine’s Day treat.

If you’re not familiar with the story, it’s a parable on the book of Hosea, which we all know is a parable of God’s relationship with Israel. No matter how bad Gomer and Israel were, Hosea and God fervently pursued them and did everything in their power to rescue them.

In the movie, the main character, Angel, was sold as a child into prostitution, held captive her entire life, with no hope. No hope of ever getting away, no hope of love, no hope at all. She was abused, both physically and mentally, and had zero love in her heart. She knew nothing but evil, pain, and heartache. 

Then along came her redeemer, Michael Hosea. He lived an idyllic, simple life with a safe, humble, loving home and farm. He was a Godly man, who asked God to send him a helpmate. God led him to Angel. Michael was nothing like the other men who had been sent to Angel and she wasn’t quite sure how to handle him: she didn’t understand his intentions. He wanted nothing from her but to take her away and give her a good life. A good life that she didn’t think she deserved. Angel felt unworthy of Michael’s love. She felt she was too dirty, too bad of a person to be loved by anyone, and too far gone. She had no hope.

The point of the movie, story, and scripture is that no one is EVER too dirty, too bad of a person, or too far gone to be redeemed by our Savior. He knows our story, every tiny detail. He knows our heart and He knows our future. Whether you had a rough life, either by your choice or by someone else’s, God will rescue you and redeem you. Forever. As long as you have breath, you have hope. God is mightier than any transgression we have ever made. Don’t ever think you are too far gone to be saved. That’s when He gives His very best!

And our hope is in Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, our Rescuer, our Protector. Isaiah 44:22 NIV says, “I have swept away your offenses like a cloud, your sins like the morning mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you.” It’s interesting that the metaphor Isaiah uses here is “swept”. When you sweep, you clean out the dirt, wipe it completely away so that all that is left is an open, bare surface, renewed.

I remember attending a revival in Atlanta once and there was this lady in the very front row. Each time the preachers said a good word, she would jump out of her chair, raise her hands, waive a red handkerchief, and shout ‘Hallelujah!” After a while I asked the person next to me who she was. I thought she was crazy! They said she was once a prostitute who heard someone’s testimony. That simple event purged her of her old ways and she became a new child of God. The gratefulness in her face and actions was so amazing. I think that the farther down you think you are, the more you appreciate your reward when you finally receive His love. I will never forget that woman. She is the perfect example of God’s redeeming love. As we all are.

While in the S.H.A.P.E. Sunday School class, Laura Enslen read something that I considered. The author of the book she was reading told us of our need to stretch for infinite joy. I like that phrase. She read, “Don’t settle for making mud pies in your backyard when God has prepared a party for you by the sea.” He has so much in store for us. We all have a story to tell, a story of how God saved us, and a future with Him so amazing that we can’t even imagine. 

 “And giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of His holy people in the kingdom of light. For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:12-14 NIV)

Lord, thank you for the many blessings You have given to us. Thank You for helping me through my life’s journey to bring me right here, right now, for redeeming my soul. Please show each of us where You want us to serve You, as we praise You for pouring out hope and joy all over us. Allow us that infinite joy as we witness and minister to those around us. Amen.

Jesus Calls Levi and Eats With Sinners

Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him. While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” (Mark 2:13-17 NIV)

Jesus Talks With a Samaritan Woman

Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John—although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. So he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.

Now he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about noon. When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)

The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”

“Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”

Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” “I have no husband,” she replied. Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”

“Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.” (John 4:1-26 NIV)

Zacchaeus the Tax Collector

Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.

When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.

All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.” But Zacchaeus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”

Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Luke 19:1-10 NIV)

by Ari Slenker

Throughout this school year, I have learned many different life lessons. The most important life lesson was how to find my voice. What goes along with this is how to use my voice the right way. I never was good at standing up for myself in the past. This year has taught me that I don’t like to speak up for myself, but I want to be the voice for those who are scared to use their own voice. In a way, I feel that we all can be a voice for those around us. This has been such a heavy topic on my heart for so long. I never understood God’s plan for me, but I think I finally may have found it.

Another lesson I learned was in finding my purpose. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you; plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.” I know that I am one of many that may struggle with finding the purpose for which I have been created. Throughout my junior year, I have struggled with the decision of whether I should go to college to pursue something bigger. At the beginning, I did not want to go to college but then I started to see glimpses of what my future could hold in store for me. What I mean by this is that I would almost have these “aha” moments of what God has in store for me. Let me tell you that when someone says that God has a plan in store for you, she is 100% right. I can say with confidence that God has led me to where He wants me and that His plans have and will always be greater than mine will ever be.

A last lesson I learned was about running from God. Recently, I had a moment where I was trying to run from God. I thought that because I had messed up so many times, God would never really love me like the Bible says He does. I tried to run from God, as if I could hide from Him. A really good friend said to me, “Have you talked to God about it?” My response to the question was, “Why would I do that if I am trying to run from Him?” But that very question sparked my interest. What if I was to talk to God about running rom Him? Just like in the Bible where the son runs from home but returns thinking that his father will no longer love him. His father is standing there with his arms open wide. That is exactly how God is; He is standing there with open arms, waiting for you to come running back. The question is, are you going to run back or keep running away? Psalm 103:10 NIV says, “He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.”

My prayer is that you able to hear God speak through this devotional. I pray that whatever the struggle may be in your life, that you run to God first, without hesitation. He is right there waiting for you to speak, so let Him listen. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

by Mark Mahserjian-Smith

 “Suddenly, while he was speaking to the crowds, his mother and his brothers came and stood outside, hoping for a chance to speak to him. ‘Look,’ someone said to him, ‘your mother and your brothers are standing outside wanting to speak to you.’ ‘Who is my mother?’ said Jesus to the person who had spoken to him. ‘Who are my brothers?’ Then he stretched out his hand towards his disciples. ‘Look!’ he said. ‘Here are my mother and my brothers. 50 Yes; anyone who does what my heavenly father wants is my brother, and my sister, and my mother.” (Matthew 12:46- 50 NTE)

On December 29th I joined a Mission Team from the First Baptist Church of Wellsboro serving in the Dominican Republic.  This was first time serving in San Pedro de Macorís at Colegio Moriah Ministries, founded in 1998 by Pastor Tanis and his wife Esther.  I know Christ American Baptist Church has a rich history of serving in the Dominican Republic.  Our Mission Team continued construction on a building that will be part of a medical clinic in San Pedro. Construction was challenging in the Dominican heat with significant manual labor including moving cinderblocks, hauling water, mixing cement, and carrying the cement to the masons building the walls of the structure. Each day, I would return to our compound, physically exhausted from the work but joyful having spent time working alongside our Dominican Republic / Haitian partners.

 Most evenings included a worship service at the church on the compound. Despite language barriers, the worship was rich, with inspiring music and time spent studying God’s Word. It was a joy being with the DR / Haitian construction workers for worship. While the congregation often sang songs unique to the culture, occasionally a praise and worship song was song our team would recognize.  The voices of the congregation would ring out in English, Spanish and Creole, all singing the same song in different languages.  In my mind, this was a foretaste of what heaven will be like, with all of God’s People from across the globe praising God together.       

On New Year’s Eve, the church held an extended service to ring in 2022. The sanctuary was electric with energetic praise and worship including a Conga line to ring in the New Year.  Earlier in the day, I had been concerned about being far from my wife and children on New Year’s Eve, but amid worship, that concern soon evaporated.  As I worshipped at the church, I realized I was with family, the family of God, and that was inspiring. It was easy to feel the Holy Spirit moving in the congregation, as we celebrated God’s abiding presence and love with the sunset of 2021 and the sunrise of 2022.  Our mission team was encouraging and supporting our DR / Haitian partners but our DR / Haitian brothers and sisters in Christ were encouraging and inspiring us. That ministry of presence was amazing and that experience I will NEVER forget.  When we become disciples of Jesus, we become members of an incredible family. A family that spans the globe and is energized by the love of Jesus through the Holy Spirit.

I struggle with consistency. Not only in the small things – like saying no to that second helping of pie. But in the big things – like allowing patience and gentleness to rule my day rather than the frustration and anger that easily rise to the surface. As an adult, I know the things I should be doing. Having been a Christian most of my life, I know the habits, practices, and choices that I should be living.  So why is establishing good habits and patterns so incredibly hard? Why is it easier to do the things that I shouldn’t? Being consistent in my spiritual life is a battle that I feel is vitally important, yet I am consistently inconsistent. I find myself agreeing with Paul in Romans 7:15, “For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate.”

I genuinely want to follow Christ. I desire to live the life that He has called me too. I start my morning with hopefulness that today will be different, but I get to the end of the day and look back on all the ways that I completely failed. The times when I lost it with the kids rather than responding to their needs with patience. Or my attitude when something unexpected comes up and throws my idea of how the day should go completely off. This cycle of good intentions and miserable failures can become heavy and tiresome.

Why am I like this? The simple answer – because I’m human. Romans 7:24-25 explains my exact sentiments, “Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.” Ever since the Fall, it has become inherent to my nature to choose what I want over what He wants. Battling my fleshly desires and sins is something I will have to deal with. Every. Single. Day. But how?

The simple answer – grace. Looking at the next chapter in Romans it says, “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.” (Romans 8:1-2 NASB) Sometimes my kids give me glimpses into how God views us. Recently one of the Littles came running into the kitchen crying. After asking what was wrong, she confessed that she had been jumping from couch to couch and had fallen and gotten a bit banged up. “Are you supposed to jump on the couches?” I asked. She cried harder with a penitent look and shook her head no, and then I kissed her arm and leg and gave her a hug.

I come to God many times knowing I’ve screwed up. I don’t know why it still surprises me that He offers me grace rather than condemnation. As a parent, I love my kids even when they do the thing-I-have-asked-them-a-million-times-not-to-do. God is a much better parent than I am, and He loves me no matter what. Christ already knows how incapable I am. (Thank goodness for that.) In 1 John 1:9 it says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” He is always there ready to pick me up, dust me off, kiss my scrapes, and help me move forward.

There is no way that I, on my own, will ever get it right. He is not asking me to do this alone and then condemning me when I fail.  None of this is by my own power. It is His power (and His alone) that gives me the strength to continue trying after I’ve failed yet again. His forgiveness is the only reason that I can continue to fall and yet continue to rise slowly.  To rise, dare I say, consistently?

by Brooke Arney

If you translate the title of this devotional directly, it means a charm in the house of God, or, if you’re a huge Disney nerd like me, all you saw was “Encanto” and immediately started singing “We Don’t Talk About Bruno”. Either way, there is a reason I picked that title. (Side note: movie spoilers are ahead!)

In the movie “Encanto”, the whole family puts a lot of emphasis on their encanto, or magical gifts…to the extent that the family is slowly being torn apart. But no one wants to admit that he or she is struggling or has feelings that need to be discussed. Everything is pushed aside for el encanto.

Sometimes in our own lives, whether family is involved or not, we have un encanto that we pride ourselves on, yet we don’t see the damage it is doing. Just like in the movie, at some point this will cause our casita (house) to fall apart to nothing but rubble. When that happens, most of the time our first reaction is to find the first person to blame for causing this to happen. In the movie, the family’s magical gifts are taken, and they have to rebuild their home piece by piece…but they build each other up in the process! They learn that each is equally important, even without a magical gift.

Sometimes I feel God tries to show us that same thing. In His familia we aren’t meant to have one special gift that we pride ourselves on. That gift is not what is meant to define who we are as a person in the world, in our families, or in God’s eyes. No, our gifts are meant to bring us together! To help each other hand in hand, through the good and the bad! We all can have our own encanto but the minute it takes your eyes away from God, and how it can serve His kingdom, you have just put another crack in your casita.

1 Corinthians 12:7 sums it up nicely: “Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good.”