Pastor's Devotions by Tim Harris

Here in the Northeast, as well as across much of the country, we are preparing for an impending storm. Temperatures will be dropping.  The snow will begin falling, possibly mixed in with some sleet. Predictions for our area range from eight to twelve inches of snow with high gusts of wind. It sounds absolutely awful!   Of course, the grocery stores are busier than usual. In fact, last night Kim and I went to Shop Rite after dinner. By that time the store was not too crowded, but the produce department had been stripped as had the dairy department. (Amazingly, I think there was yet bread in the bread aisle!)  Obviously, everyone was preparing for the storm—almost as if they’re going to be stuck in their homes for the next two months!  Kim and I have been doing our own bit of preparations. We did buy food to get us through the weekend. I checked the flashlights and batteries, in case we lose power. Kim even got out a little transistor radio, again in case we lose ...

Now that I’m working as a trainer at one of our local gyms, I wear basically the same thing every day: black joggers or shorts, a black t-shirt or quarter zip that has “The Fort” logo on the front and the word “COACH on the back, and sneakers. It’s my new uniform. It’s what’s used to identify the trainers throughout the gym and give a sense of professionalism. You might say, our uniform is used to set the trainers apart from the rest of the gym crowd.     Of course, trainers in the gym are not the only ones who, when they go to work, put on a uniform. Nurses, mechanics, doctors, police, construction workers, retail workers, etc. often have a uniform. At times their uniform is tied to the function of their job. And it is their uniform that always sets them apart and help others identify them. For example, it’s the uniform that helps one identify the police officer standing on the corner from the rest of the crowd walking by or the Home Depot worker from the shoppers. ...

Here we are less than one week away from Christmas. I know some of you are panicking. There is yet shopping to be done. The cookies need to be baked. The meals need to be prepped and the house cleaned. Oh, and don’t forget all the wrapping!  I know at times it can be a bit overwhelming, preparing for Christmas. For sure, Christmas can be filled with lots and lots of stress. Yet, I dare to say, most of us wouldn’t trade the world for it.   As I read the gospel account of that very first Christmas—i.e., the events surrounding the birth of Jesus—I can’t help but notice that, that first Christmas was as well filled with all kinds of stressors. For one, Mary and Joseph had to deal with the reality that Mary was pregnant before they were married. After all, who would have actually believed that she had become pregnant by means of the Holy Spirit? For sure, Joseph had to make a very hard and stressful decision as to whether or not he should move ahead with his marriage to Mary. ...

I was thinking recently of how the Christmas lights come at just the right time of the year. After all, December and the winter months to follow are some of the hardest months of the year (at least here in the northern hemisphere). Not only is it cold and the weather unpredictable, but the days are short and the nights long. Each day of December, at least up until December 21 or 22 (approximately), the days get shorter and shorter—and the nights longer and longer. And even after that, any lengthening of the days has zero effect upon us. Thankfully, it is during these dark days of December that we have Christmas. It is during this particular month that we find the increase in darkness counterbalanced by the brightness of the lights of Christmas. In spite of the fact that the days are getting shorter and darker, we often call this month, “The  Season of Light.” And, that’s exactly what Christmas is all about: light shining into darkness. As the prophet Isaiah wrote long ago, “The peo...

Last weekend, Kim and I went to a local park with our son Jonathan’s family. While the adults  walked, our two grandsons Jesse and Jack rode their balance bikes around the park. (The youngest, Caleb, was in the stroller.)  At one point, Jesse, the older of the two, yelled to the rest of us, “Dad, Grandpa, Grandma, Mom, you’ve got to come see this!” “What is it, Jesse?” we replied. “Hurry! Look! Come over here! It’s a puddle of ice!”  Dutifully, and with the most excited faces we could put on, we all went to see what all the excitement was about. Well, there it was: a very normal looking puddle that had frozen over—at least to some degree. For most of us, it was anything but all that exciting. For Jesse, however, it was the most exciting thing he has seen all day—maybe all week!  It’s true that, when we are young the small things in life can feel very exciting. Unfortunately, as we age, it takes much more to wow us. No longer does a puddle of ice or a butterfly flitti...

I remember how, when our children were young, we tried hard to teach them to say, “Thank you.” Each time they would receive something from us or from someone else we would say, “What do you say?” And they would eventually respond, “Thank you.”  Our goal of course was to not only teach them proper manners, but as well what it means to be grateful. The first was easy; the second not so much. After all, just because one says, “Thank you,” doesn’t always mean they feel thankful for whatever it is they have received. Our hope as parents was that, eventually our children’s words would represent something within their hearts.  With the arrival of Thanksgiving, I want to remind us of not only the importance of giving thanks, but of actually having a thankful heart. Again, the first is easy; the second is a bit harder. How do we go beyond merely saying, “thank you” to a deep-felt sense of gratitude? Let me share a few means of doing so. (1) Learn contentment . The Apostle Paul wrote of...