Winter 2015-2016

Community DevotionsVineyard Christian Community625 N. Second Avenue

Tucson, AZ 85705(520) 791-9971

For to us a child is born,to us a son is given,

and the government will be on his shoulders.And he will be called

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the greatness of his government and peacethere will be no end.

He will reign on David’s throneand over his kingdom,

establishing and upholding itwith justice and righteousness

from that time on and forever.The zeal of the Lord Almighty

will accomplish this.

Isaiah 9:6-7

Table of Contents

The Mire | Mike Begley

Waiting Warrior | Austin Sams

Work | Shasta Brown

Attired | Dana Mahan

Devotional for Doomsayers | Marty Brown

Jesus Wept | Mike Begley

The Mire

Mike Begley

 

He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the

miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock making my

footsteps firm. Psalm 40:2

 Stuck, bogged down, and overwhelmed by life and its

difficulties?  Sometimes we find ourselves in that place and don’t know what to do.  Sometimes the slip is inch-by-inch and sometimes it is a headlong plunge.   Life is

difficult and the Lord is not surprised when we get stuck and bogged down so why are we?

 Even in the “pit” the Lord Jesus can accomplish His purposes in me.  An on-going

lesson He teaches us while we are here on the earth is dependency.  Dependence on Him is humility.  Independence (self-sufficiency) is pride.  God opposes the proud and

gives grace to the humble, so we are constantly put in situations where we learn humility and dependence on Him.  In my life it is an on-going, often painful lesson

(James 4:6). 

Another lesson the Lord desires us to learn and experience is that He is always there, is attentive to our cry and “a very present help in trouble.”   He desires us to grow in the

knowledge that He really is with us and will not ever leave us or forsake us.  The Psalmist put it this way:  “I waited patiently on the Lord; and He inclined to me and

heard my cry” Psalm 40:1. Our cry releases His power, plan and provision. 

Initially I resist situations in life that show me my weaknesses and inability. Yet the Lord loves those teaching opportunities and delights when we believe that His grace is

sufficient for us and that His power is perfected in weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). 

What a tough, painful and wonderful place to land - right in the palm of His hand!  As we learn the ways of God, we like King David, will experience that the Lord, in His

timing, will bring us up out of the pit of destruction, set our feet firmly on the Rock, making our footsteps firm and will put a new song of praise in our mouths that will blow

away the  needy world around us (Psalm 40:2-3). 

Question: How so I respond to life’s difficult situations?  Am I resistant, resigned, or do I rejoice in them?

 Prayer: O Father, Thank You for your ways that teach me to quickly call on You.  Thank

You that you are attentive to our cries for help.  Thank You that You meet me right where I am and know me intimately.  I want You to have your way in me; teach me your

ways.

Waiting Warrior

Austin Sams

A warrior is not delivered by [his own]

great strength. Psalm 33:16

I will give You thanks forever, because You have done it,

And I will wait on Your name, for it is good, in the presence of

Your godly ones. Psalm 52:9

A few months ago I was waiting for two things to happen. One I had no control over.

The other I felt I had to do something. But each time I worried about what to do, God told me to let Him work it out.

In Deuteronomy 7:23, God promises to throw our adversaries into confusion. I actually

prayed for it to happen, and God did it. The other person stopped being angry, became confused, and had a change of heart – without me speaking to them or forcing

anything.

God is not a cosmic vending machine for me to ask that people be thrown into confusion at my whim. Sometimes we need to take action. But many times the action

can be to pray for God to act, and wait on Him to change things. In this situation, I felt God telling me to trust in Him to be my sword and battle for me.

Remember the walls of Jericho that came tumbling down, or the Red Sea parted, and

Christ raised from the dead? I am learning that same power is able to work out things in my life that seem impossible by my own strength – if I will pray, wait, and trust Him to

do it.

Question: What’s a situation you’re facing where you can wait on God to act for you?Prayer: Father, I am a warrior only by Your strength. Please work in my life. Help me to

wait and to act when you tell me. I give You thanks and praise that You have done it.

Work

Shasta Brown

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ

Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in

advance for us to do. Ephesians 2:10

I sat on the grimy, laminate floor holding his hand and looking up at him. “Go do your

job, you’ve got more important things to do than talk to an old man,” he said to me, his face shining from recent tears. I looked at him straight in the eye, “I am right where I’m

supposed to be.”

Chris’ recent sermon series, The Sanctification of the Ordinary, encouraged my heart in so many ways. I often pharisaically burden myself with thoughts that I am not enough

and I am not doing enough for the kingdom. I could be volunteering on my days off. I could be more hospitable with my home. I need to get involved in a ministry, but I

quickly get burdened about the time. As a human, I want to categorize and organize; I want to put my life in boxes. This box for work, that box for ministry. This box for

fellowship, that box for rest. God, in his holiness, created us to be in His image, to work against our human nature and be Spirit-filled. God, who can be 100% holy, gracious,

merciful, just (and so many more attributes) all at the same time asks me, “Can you be at work and be in ministry? Can you be a light even when you’re stressed, tired, and

lacking?” By God’s grace that answer is truly, “Yes!”

A week prior to Chris’ sermon, I took care of a pastor at work. He told me, “I can tell God has you right where he wants you.” God sovereignly prepared my heart to hear

His words through Chris just a few days later!

God recently prepared a position for me at work where I get to sit and speak with

patients and their families about matters of the heart. I get to talk over the phone or sit with them in person. I get to hear their stories, see their tears, rejoice in their triumphs,

see their families reunite, and say goodbye as some go to the OR for a heart transplant while others roll away to hospice. It’s been the most heartbreaking and the most

rewarding job I’ve ever had.

And, by God’s grace, I get to show them glimpses of the One who saves, who heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds (Psalm 147:3).

The craziest thing about the last three months is I never asked for this. I was writing my

own plans, thinking about stepping down and teaching elsewhere. And God handed this huge blessing to me, without me asking. He knew the desire of my heart before I

did! What a glorious God! The good works God prepared in advance for me have caused my heart to shout, “The Lord has done great things for me, and I am filled with

joy” (Psalm 126:3).

Question: What good works are you praising God for in your life? Prayer: Thank you God for being so sovereign that the good works you’ve prepared for

me ended up being the blessing I am receiving. Only you could accomplish something so complex, so life-giving, and so great!

Attired

Dana Mahan

And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers

of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that

not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of

these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which

is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not

much more clothe you—you of little faith? Matthew 6:28-30

Oh sure, I have heard of those people, the ones that show great care and too much concern for the ways in which they dress each morning.

Maybe I even walk past them from time to time, there in town. Sit by them at church. Wait behind them in the queue at the bank.

Shoes shined and trousers pressed. Shirts just so and not a hair out of place. A far cry

from my own approach to the ways and means of looking presentable in public, as far, my friends, as the east is from the west.

How do I do me? Blue jeans and t-shirts and sandals. Any time of year, every type of

weather. Blame it on a childhood spent yonder in the wild, wild west. And hang my unshaven chin, my sun soaked skin on the same easy hook.

But if anyone would rather jump to conclusions about the prospect of Jesus having

utter authority over this aspect of my life, and subsequently assume I occupy a lofty level of sanctification by extension, who am I to dissuade them?

There goes that missionary again, too concerned with heavenly matters to spare a thought for earthly obligations. Oh he of great faith, considering the flowers of the field,

mindful of Solomon in all his splendor.

Or just plain lazy. And now I wonder, what other forms of godliness come knocking on the door of my life by happen-stance, and how quick am I to claim some spiritual

advantage because of them? Is temperance at meal time really a gift I have been given?

Or am I too vain to let much weight collect on my waifish frame. Is my old car the result

of me building up riches that last, or might I be a little too cheap to make a long over due upgrade to our family transportation?

Are my efforts at being quick to listen and slow to speak made because I want others

to walk away from our conversations feeling better about themselves, or better about me? Alas, questions like these take time to ask, yet the answers come so quickly.

Question: How can we use the real story behind our growth as Christians to usurp the

official story, and to what end?

Prayer: We may fool others Lord, but we cannot fool you, for the truth of our intentions are laid bare in your presence. To our shame and, in the end, for your glory!

Devotional for Doomsayers

Marty Brown

For the righteous will never be moved; he will be

remembered forever. He is not afraid of bad news;

his heart is firm, trusting the Lord. Psalm 112:6-7

For those of you who look at our world and see

sweetness and light, and think things are only getting better, I’m happy for you, and you can skip to the next devotional. But if you have a tendency to sit around and

bemoan with others how our world is falling apart, hopefully here are a few words of encouragement.

It’s probably not too controversial to say that our world is messed up, whether in the

natural world with calamities, illness and death, or in mankind, full of our own sin and strife. The question is: how do we wake up each day and deal with it? After 9/11, for a

while each morning when I turned on the radio on my drive to work, I would kind of wince, fearing what bad news might be there.

On the basis of these verses, God doesn’t want us to be bound up by fear or sticking

our heads in the sand. The psalmist points to the Lord, that trusting Him is the basis for our confidence in facing the bad news pouring forth out of the world. Jesus puts it

another way to His disciples in John 16: “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Maybe some saints attain a spiritual level where this comes naturally or easily, but

even if that never happens, we can turn to the Lord as often as we need to, and as

much as we can trust Him in his goodness and sovereignty we can find the rest and security described in this psalm.

Prayer: Help me, Lord, to believe Your Word, to believe these truths and promises that

You have given us for our comfort.

Jesus Wept

Mike Begley

Jesus wept. John 11:35

This is the shortest verse in the Bible. Interesting. Why

did Jesus weep?

Jesus knew exactly what He was going to do in this emotion filled tragedy. He wanted to communicate about His kingdom to His friends and the bystanders at the tomb of

Lazarus. He intentionally delayed going to Lazarus’ bedside when he was called and was accused of not caring and when he finally arrived after Lazarus died. Mary and

Martha were beside themselves with grief. “Lord, if You had been here…” The real question is, “Why weren’t you here?” Have you ever felt like that?

So why did Jesus weep?

Hebrews 4:14-16 “Therefore, since we have a high priest who has passed through the

heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a

high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore, let us draw near with

confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Jesus can sympathize with our weaknesses. He knows what we go through and is

aware of our limited perspectives. He knows what we are made of and can sympathize with all we go through as we live our lives - the joys and especially the sorrows. He

wants to be a part of it all. We are always welcome in His presence where we can come boldly to receive all we need in any given circumstance.

Jesus wept because He knew exactly what his friends were experiencing at the

moment, even though He knew what He was going to do. And of course, Mary and Martha did not.

King David stated an amazing truth about the Lord’s love and ability to sympathize with

our weaknesses in Psalm 56:8, “You have taken account of my wanderings; put my tears in Your bottle. Are they not in your book?”

Jesus is always aware of our suffering and tears. He notes the circumstances, stores

our tears, and will personally take care of them someway, somehow. We live by faith knowing this even though we don’t see it immediately. God is good, He is in control,

and He has a plan. This life and all it entails is not the final word.

“What can separate us from the love of God?”

NOTHING, NO ONE, NOT EVEN DEATH ITSELF!

Question: Why did Jesus weep?

Prayer: Jesus, thank you that you know me and know exactly what is happening in my life. You are good, you care, and I submit myself to you. As your mother said, “Behold

the bond slave of the Lord; be it done to me according to your word.”

Devotion Writing Guidelines

Quarterly assignments are due on the last Wednesday of either December, March,

June or September, prior to the publication month of that season. Please send your submissions by email in Word or Pages format to vineyarddevotional@gmail.com.

Devotionals are to begin with a key verse (please write it out). The purpose of the Vineyard Devotional is to share and encourage the body of God's work & glory. We

welcome different writing styles to achieve this goal. Examples include, but are not limited to: Scriptural study, poetry, personal witness/testimony, etc.

Please include a closing question and a closing prayer. The question should challenge readers to think concretely about their faith and ignite thoughts for further discussion.

Please limit each entry to 350-400 words (including the key verse, the closing question, and prayer).

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a thank you.

Thank you for joining in the conversation. May His name be glorified.