Pastor's Devotions by Tim Harris

As we come to the eve of a new year, most of us our looking forward towards 2016 with all kinds of hope and expectation.   Some of us are looking forward to graduating or towards a marriage or the birth of a baby.   Some of us are hoping to make some progress with our exercise plan or diet.   Others are hoping for a new job or financial stability.   Some of us are simply hoping 2016 will be better than 2015.   The eve of a new year is just naturally a time of hope and expectation. It is a time to look forward. Unfortunately, however, there are many people who, after hoping and dreaming for so many years and not having their hopes and dreams realized, have given up on hope.   They have thrown in the proverbial towel on hope. Thus, they no longer look forward. They no longer dream of what might be, could be, or should be. If that is you, I want to encourage you to know that we serve a God who always brings new hope. He is a God who calls us to look forwa...

This morning I was reading the story behind the Christmas hymn "Silent Night! Holy Night!"  At times, the song's lyrics and melody can seem overly nostalgic. They breath a sense of serenity that is unknown to most of us in our daily pace of life.  Yet, maybe that is why we return to the song year after year.  Could it be that we all long for the kind of peace, serenity, and holiness that the song creates in our hearts and minds? We all want to experience something of "Love's pure light!"  I want to remind us today that, Jesus is the One whom the writer refers to as "Love's pure light."  Jesus is the One for whom the angels sang, "Peace on earth!" He is the Prince of peace, the One who is able to bring peace to our hearts and minds, not only during Christmas but throughout the year--throughout our lives.     I pray that God would fill you with the peace that Jesus came to bring.  May you know what it means to experience "Love...

One of the things I love about this time of year is the scent that often permeates the house as Kim bakes the dozens of cookies that we normally only have this time of year.   In fact, the other day I walked into the house, caught a whiff of that which had been baking and began to spontaneously sing, “It’s beginning to smell a lot like Christmas!”   The scent of those cookies that had just come out of the oven made it seem as if Christmas was really on its way.   I felt as if I had caught the scent of Christmas! Yet, as I think back to the first Christmas—i.e. the birth of Jesus—it appears that the scent of Christmas was anything but that of cookies coming out of an oven.   The scents that filled the air on that first Christmas had little to do with baking and pine and any of the other scents that today we associate with Christmas Day.   On that first Christmas the scents that surrounded the baby Jesus were more likely those of hay, animals, and all the sm...

This week the Jewish people have been celebrating Chanukah, the “Festival of Lights.”   Each night they light another candle on their Chanukah menorah until, on the eighth night all the candles of the menorah are lit.   Many towns, including the new town in which I now live (Eatontown), have large electric menorahs in the town square or in front of the municipal buildings.   And, each night another candle is supposed to be lit.   But this morning, as I was driving by the large menorah set up in our town, I noticed that, although five candles plus the center one (called, the shamash ) ought to have been lit, only three candles plus the shamash have been lit. In other words, they are two nights behind.   The result is, the Chanukah menorah in Eatontown is not shining as brightly as it ought to be shining. Through the lighting of the candles, the Jewish people remember the great victory God gave to them at one point in their history and the miracle that took ...

Recently someone gave to me as a gift the “As Seen on TV Star Shower Laser Light” to help me decorate the outside of our house for Christmas.   The way it lights up a house or tree is pretty incredible. From a distance it can look as if one has placed hundreds of little lights on a huge tree or all across the front of a house. Instead it is just one device projecting its laser beams of red and green.   It does look pretty awesome.   But there is one catch with the Star Shower Laser Light: it must be dark for it to turn on (it is photosensitive). And, the darker it is the better the lights are seen.   Initially, I had the laser lights projected against our house, but the lights I have on the bushes and the spot I have on our wreath caused the laser lights to appear washed out.   So, last night I changed the placement of the device to now project on a couple of the trees on the other side of the front yard, where it is much darker. With the deeper darkness, t...

I was thinking the other day that, going into this Thanksgiving holiday many people talk about being thankful. We often emphasize, and rightfully so, the necessity of taking an assessment of the blessings of our lives and developing a heart of gratitude. We ask the question, “For what are you thankful?”   What is missing, however, is the object of their gratitude.   We fail to ask, “To whom are you thankful?” Thus, our gratitude is sometimes misdirected or not directed towards anyone at all! I picture it this way:   If I give my child a gift, I would expect some sort of expression of gratitude—at least a, “thanks, Dad!”   If they would go and thank other people for the gift I have given them, I’d feel as if something was wrong. The same would be true if they simply said, “I’m so thankful,” yet never express any sort of gratitude towards me personally.   All of that to say, to whom is your gratitude directed?   I’m afraid that too often we are thank...