Christian Counseling Service -- Devotions

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Wednesday, March 5, 2008

John 5:19, 30
Jesus said to them, "I say to you, the Son cannot do anything on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for what he does, the Son will do also. ..."I cannot do anything on my own; I judge as I hear, and my judgment is just, because I do not seek my own will but the will of the one who sent me."

In September 1939 Leslie Sloat, once-cowardly charge d'affaires at the American embassy in Warsaw, finds his courage in a conversation with an S.S. Officer. He is leading a group of Americans out of Poland through the oncoming German army lines. They have been treated to a large meal and lots of beer, but now the S.S. blackshirt says, "Show me who are your Jews, please."

Sloat hems and haws, and the Nazi becomes angry. "We are instructed to separate out the Jews!"

As he finds his voice, Sloat's words surprise everyone. "For your purposes, you may consider all of us ... as Jews."

While the Jewish émigrés from other countries are led off to some later slaughter, the American Jews breathe a sigh of relief and continue their path back to the United States.

This is a story from Herman Wouk's novel and TV mini-series, The Winds of War. It's also an example, I think, of a man acting out of what he heard his Father saying, as Jesus described his own life. The channel of communication between God and earth seemed exceptionally clear in that moment of decision, as Jesus said it was usually very clear for him.

I thought of this on Sunday morning as I contemplated how I was using up bandwidth from my own communication path with ... well, here's a list of what I invited in to my mind between 8 am and noon:

The Sports Page
Kenneth Copeland on TV
NPR news
End of Boys Town movie
Prayer and conversation with Margaret
Beginning of Facing the Giants movie
A few minutes of a crime novel on CD Dark of the Moon
Classical music on the car radio
Conversation with Andi and Ji-Hye on the way to church
A few more minutes of Dark of the Moon while parking
Miscellaneous church announcements
Sermon and video clips from two movies
Praise songs
Prayer

The moments I felt most engaged with my Father were during the sermon and songs. A couple of ideas took flight, and one image swelled into a sense of intimacy with those around me and with God.

A lifetime of filling up time and space with interesting inputs has left me virtually unable to be still. That's in spite of my observed experience ... that the most connected moments come out of worship, contemplation, stillness.

I can at least make that kind of quiet a primary goal. And then watch how God moves me toward him.

You are in heaven, Lord, and I am on earth. So let my words be few.

Devotions Archive

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Wednesday, March 5, 2008