Healing Rays of Righteousness

I concluded my previous blog, “Numbering Our Days” by reminding ourselves that each day is a gift of time entrusted to us by God to manage and use for his glory and our neighbor’s good.

When Jesus’ was asked “which is the greatest commandment in the Law, Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  … And the second is like it:  Love your neighbor as yourself.”  (Matthew 22:36-39).

So, when I read that the prophet Isaiah visited King Hezekiah during his illness and told him, “This is what the Lord says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.” (2 Kings 20:1), I hear him referencing relationships, both with God and with others.

Yes, there are some very important legal and material things that we should be doing toward planning for our departure, toward putting our house in order before we die.

Faithful Christian stewards acknowledge that God owns all and has given us everything we possess with the responsibility to manage and dispose of our wealth and things in a way that pleases him.   And so we give appropriate and adequate written direction regarding the distribution of our material wealth, such as a “legal will.”

We also give appropriate and adequate direction regarding our physical care if and when we cannot make such decisions, by writing a “living will and advance directive.” 

And it is equally important to give direction regarding our funeral service and the disposal of our body.  Such written directions are an opportunity for us to make our final public declaration of faith in God’s goodness and love.  And it is always a most welcomed gift to every surviving spouse and family.

In writing about departing from this earthly life, Billy Graham encourages us to consider how well are we prepared.  “Before we embark on our final trip, have we left our earthly home in a state of chaos or a condition of order?”

Nevertheless, I believe the most important and most urgent thing we need to do in putting our house in order has to do with our relationships, both with God and with others.

In her book, “Border Crossing” Katie Funk Wiebe writes, “God’s purpose for the older adult is to complete the life cycle, to bind the generations together, to hand over the faith.”

What is my relationship with God?  Is there need for confession and recommitment to his lordship in my life?  What are my relationships with family, neighbors, and co-workers?  Is there need for reconciliation?  Are there words I need to say and things I need to do for reconciliation to happen?

To put our house in order is about honestly examining ourselves, our attitudes and actions, and seriously consider what is of value and worthwhile to us, and what is not.  What kind of spiritual legacy will we pass on to the next generation?  What life values will they receive from us?  Are those values rooted in material wealth or spiritual realities?  How will my children and grandchildren, friends and neighbors remember me?

To put our house in order is about reassessing our conversations and conduct, and asking ourselves whether or not we are growing in our Christian faith and behavior.  Am I becoming a more mature, well-rounded person, or am I becoming more selfish and childish?  Am I becoming more caring or more callous, more forgiving or more vengeful, more tolerant or more critical, more generous or more self-centered?

To put our house in order is about looking back over our years and feeling good about the ways we served the Lord, knowing that our life was about making the world a better place in which to live.  It’s about seeing our life’s conversations and conduct bringing forth spiritual fruit in the lives of our children and grandchildren, as well as neighbors and friends in their commitment to the Lordship of Christ.

What spiritual legacy will we pass on to the next generation?  What will be our crowning joy? The apostle Paul gave this testimony as the time of his death approached.  “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.”

“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – February 5, 2020

www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley

In the beginning God created TIME. He then placed things into space and TIME. Then he created MAN and placed man in TIME as a subject of TIME to live in TIME.

This is to say that God created TIME and gives it to each human being as a daily gift, heartbeat by heartbeat. And someday, during one heartbeat moment, the same God who created TIME, works in TIME, and placed you in TIME is going to say, “That’s it. There will be no more TIME.”

During the past 80 years mankind’s average lifespan has increased by an additional 20-30 years. Unfortunately, many persons have not prepared themselves to fully enjoy these years of extended life, and so wake each morning without purpose and with a diminished sense of self-worth. They awaken each morning with no vision, no purpose, and little enthusiasm for living. Their days are just one long boring “rocking chair” wait for death. How sad!

Yes, each one of us will die. Life on this earth will come to an end. How will God call time, ending my life on earth? There are many possible ways. When will God call time? Only He knows. How much time do I have left? Only God knows. How do I prepare for that end moment and the latter years of life that precede that moment? That’s the focus of this presentation.

One of the comments I hear frequently as a chaplain and pastor is this, “I didn’t expect to live this long” or “I never thought I would get to be this old.” In those words I hear the confession, I wasn’t prepared for this. What should I be doing now?

What we do with our daily gift of TIME very directly shapes how we will age physically, socially, and spiritually; and determines what kind of person we will become in our latter years. To prepare for growing old gracefully and gratefully must begin before the time of retirement.

Today, not tomorrow, is given to us for the purpose of fully enjoying a meaningful present, while also preparing for our retirement. This early preparation is important not only for sufficient financial resources, but also for adequate emotional and spiritual resources to carry us through to the end of this life and into eternal life.

The Psalmist prays, “Show me, Lord, my life’s end and the number of my days; let me know how fleeting my life is.” (39:4). And again, “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” (90:12).

Joni Eareckson Tada writes, “…of all the things to be counted, this is the hardest – to number our days. We number everything else so easily. We know how much money we have in our purse and how many dollars in the bank. Farmers number their sheep and cattle. Restaurants number the meals served in a week. Teachers check off attendance records. Gardeners can tell you how many tomato plants are in the backyard.

Yet we find it hard to number something so precious as our days. Perhaps that’s because we see our days stretching on and on. They seem infinite and so there is no need, we think, to number them. Things we fail to account for, we waste. That’s why it is wise to ask God to teach us to consider each day separate from the next, distinct in its purpose, unique in the way it is to be lived.” (Diamonds in the Dust, 1993, Sept. 14).

Contrary to popular thought, we do not live on borrowed time but on entrusted time. Each day is the gift of time that God has given us. Today is the day we hold in our hands to manage and use for God’s glory and our neighbor’s good.

As Bill and Gloria Gaither sing so beautifully – “We have this moment to hold in our hands, and to touch as it slips through our fingers like sand. Yesterday’s gone and tomorrow may never come, but we have this moment today.”

What do you want to accomplish before your TIME in this world of TIME is ended? How do you want people to remember you? I invite you to join me in striving to use our gift of TIME in 2020 to make a difference in the lives of those around us, that is, to be blessed as we bless others. We are never too old to live and work in God’s kingdom on earth. Let’s do it!

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“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – January 22, 2020
http://www.geigler13.wordpress.com
Ray M. Geigley

Have you ever wished you could see into the future and know every significant detail of the rest of your life’s journey?  Wouldn’t that knowledge make things easier?  It’s evident that many people think it would.  For that reason, many look to astrology, one of the ancient methods of predicting the future, which continues to be a popular resource for looking ahead.

Both biblical and secular history has proven that reliance on astrology for guidance can be extremely addictive and dangerous.  Such reliance on mostly human and often misleading false predictions can easily take control of our mind and planning.  More importantly, it weakens our ability to make intelligent, rational choices that are undergirded by Godly wisdom and trusting faith in his purposes for us.

In any looking ahead and planning, we usually do not anticipate storms.  But the reality is that storms, both in weather and life experience, frequently terrorize our beautiful and comfortable world, upsetting our plans and hopes, and causing us major disruption and loss.  Storms often create life-threatening situations and challenge our survival.  All storms amplify our human limitations and need for God’s help.

I remember a weather storm experience while traveling the Ohio Turnpike into Indiana.  It had been raining fairly heavy but as we crossed the state line from Ohio to Indiana, the rain and wind picked up speed suddenly and dramatically, making it extremely difficult to see ahead even with the wipers at full speed.  Some vehicles were pulling off the road as best they could, but I thought that decision to be more dangerous than to keep moving forward on the roadway.  And so, at much slower speed and with eyes intensely focused ahead I kept driving forward through the storm until it had passed and the sun glistened on the wet farmlands.

Driving through a rain or snow storm is no leisurely sightseeing tour of the countryside.  It is an intense, serious concentration on the road directly ahead, searching out it twists and turns, and looking to avoid any hazards or obstacles that could bring our forward progress to an end in wreckage.

The same is true in our spiritual journey.  We need to always keep our eyes clearly focused and our ears keenly attuned to God’s presence, who is both out ahead of us preparing the way for our safe travel and also by our side giving direction. This is especially critical when we are experiencing one of life’s inevitable storms.

 I think we prepare for this by giving serious, careful, and daily attention to God’s Word and God’s Spirit in our entire life journey of relationships, discussions and decision-making.  God spoke this word of authority and promise through the prophet Isaiah (48:17) – This is what the Lord says – your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:  “I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.”

I think this biblical model of living by faith and trusting God is much like driving a car at night.  You can see only as far ahead as the headlights shine, and yet you are able to reach your destination by continuing to travel the short distance the headlights make visible.

When we make plans to travel any lengthy distance at night, we don’t insist in seeing all the things that may disrupt, delay, or detour our travel before we begin.  We simply set out trusting our headlights to make visible any problems that lie ahead in time for us to make appropriate response.

So it is with Christian living.  We live each day trusting God to reveal enough of his plan and path for us to make appropriate decisions.  God has promised, “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.”  (Psalm 32:8).

We live and walk by faith, not needing to see the whole trip, but trusting God to lead us moment by moment.  God used a blind person, Helen Keller, to put this truth into a song for us.

All the way my Savior leads me; What have I to ask beside?
Can I doubt His tender mercy, Who thro’ life has been my Guide?
Heave’nly peace, divinest comfort, Here by faith in Him to dwell!
For I know, what-e’er befall me, Jesus doeth all things well.

All the way my Savior leads me; Cheers each winding path I tread,
Gives me grace for ev’ry trial, Feeds me with the living bread.
Tho’ my weary steps may falter, And my soul a-thirst may be,
Gushing from the Rock before me, Lo! A spring of joy I see.

“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – January 15, 2020

www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley

God’s people have returned from Babylonian captivity to again live in their homeland and to rebuild Jerusalem.  There is great joy in there liberation from captivity and the freedom to return to their homeland.

But their homecoming is not pretty and peaceful.  There is much disappointment and difficulty.  A large part of Jerusalem has been destroyed.  Foreign people claim the grazing land, and only a small remnant of the twelve tribes of Israel have returned with them.

In the midst of this situation and prayer of lament, Isaiah issues a call to his people to remember God and what he has done for them in the past.   But he also urges them to remember and rejoice in what God has promised to do for them in the future.

To “remember” is an important word of encouragement in the Bible.  Before the Hebrews crossed the Jordan River into the Promised Land, Moses urged them to “remember” who was giving them the land.  And throughout the history of God’s people, the prophets and the psalm writers urged the people to “remember” God’s actions and benefits in their behalf, as well as his promises for their future.

To “remember” is not just a looking back, it is also a looking forward.  Remembering the past is a blessed treasure and resource that undergirds and keeps alive our present hope. And it also reminds and reconnects us to God’s ongoing redemptive love and purposes for us in the future.

In reading Isaiah 63:7-9, we discover that in spite of their difficult circumstances, Isaiah is thankful for the goodness of God in verse 7, the grace of God in verse 8, and the presence of God in verse 9.

Regarding the goodness of God, Isaiah says, “I will tell of the kindnesses of the Lord, the deeds for which he is to be praised, according to all the Lord has done for us – yes, the many good things he has done for the house of Israel, according to his compassion and many kindnesses.”

Regarding the grace of God, Isaiah says, “He said, ‘Surely they are my people, children who will be true to me’; so he became their Savior.”

Isaiah wants Israel to remember that God had adopted them as his very own people and became their Savior.  He did not do this because the Hebrews were the biggest and the best, but only because of his grace and love.

How long has it been since you thanked God for being your Savior?  We do not deserve salvation; we received it only because of God’s grace.  Think of where you would be, and what you would be, without God, and then thank him for the eternal difference he has made in your life and future.

Regarding the presence of God, Isaiah says, “In all their distress he too was distressed, and the angel of his presence saved them.  In his love and mercy he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.”

Isaiah wants Israel to remember that in all of their sufferings and distress, God did more than just send angels.  God himself came to them to be present and participate in their sufferings.  Isaiah reminds his people that it was this presence of God that saved them, or made them well, complete, and whole, which are the most inclusive meanings of salvation.

In this verse, Isaiah paints a beautiful word portrait of the empathetic love of God.  He wants us to visualize ourselves as crying children being picked up (redeemed) from unpleasant, painful, and hopeless circumstances and (carried) with strong arms that enfold us with comforting protection and provision.

According to the psalmist, this is God being “our refuge and strength, an ever- present help in trouble.” (Psalm 46:1).  He hurts when we hurt – he helps, protects, and provides for us – and he even picks us up and carries us.  Most certainly, I believe that all of us have experienced this providential hand of God at work in our lives in some way during the past year.

You and I are alive this morning because of God’s goodness, grace, and presence in our lives the past year. As we enter into a new year and face the known and unknown challenges of 2020, let us pause to “remember” and give God thankful praise for his sustaining grace in the year past and petition him for enabling grace in the year ahead.

I invite you to pray the words of Fanny Crosby in her 1882 hymn, “God of Our Strength.”

God of our strength, enthroned above, the source of life, the fount of love,                                        O let devotion’s sacred flame / our souls awake to praise thy name.

God of our strength, from day to day / direct our thoughts and guide our way.                              Oh, may our hearts united be / in sweet communion, Lord, with thee.

God of our strength, on thee we call. God of our hope, our light, our all,                                          Thy name we praise, they love adore, our rock, our shield, forevermore.

(Chorus) God of our strength, we wait on thee, our sure defense forever be.

“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – January 8, 2020

www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley

Former President Jimmy Carter graduated from the Naval Academy and served as an officer on a nuclear-powered submarine.  But before he was able to assume that position, he had to have a personal interview with Admiral Hyman Rickover, who is considered to be the father of the nuclear navy.

Jimmy Carter says that the interview made him very nervous; knowing how much was at stake and that only the best, most disciplined officers were chosen to serve in this prestigious role.  As he stood before Admiral Rickover, it was soon obvious to Carter that the wise admiral knew more about nearly every subject discussed than he did.

Finally, Rickover came to the last question on his list – “Where did you finish in your class, young man?”  Please with his accomplishments and thrilled to finally be presented a question he was sure of, Carter informed the Admiral that he had finished 59^th out of a student body numbering 820.  Then he waited for a commendation from the old sailor – but it never came.

In telling the story later, Jimmy Carter said that the question that broke the uncomfortable silence between the two men was, “Did you always do your best?”  Carter thought a moment and then cleared his throat and hesitantly replied, “No sir, I did not.”  At that point, Rickover turned he chair around, signaling the interview was over, and asked, “Why not?”

That is a good question to ask ourselves at the beginning of a new year.  How do we evaluate what we have done during the past year?  Would we say it was poor, so-so, adequate, good, very good, or outstanding?

In the past year, have we always done our best?  Probably not.  And if not, why not?  Have any of our conversations and actions caused unnecessary pain.  Probably so.  If so, why?

The beginning of a new year offers us a time to reflect on our past, regret our mistakes, contemplate the future, and make resolutions.  I believe that most people, including me, want to do and be better in the New Year.

Many years ago, Louisa Fletcher Tarkington, wrote a perceptive poem entitled, “The Land of Beginning Again.”  It begins and ends with a verse which is almost a universal wish.

I wish there were some wonderful place

Called the land of beginning again

Where all our mistakes,

And all our heartaches,

And all of our poor selfish grief,

Could be dropped like a shabby

Old coat at the door,

And never be put on again.

There seems to always be something about the past that often troubles us, even if it is nothing more than the nagging belief that we could do better if we had another go at it.

Mistakes and regrets of the past can and often do become heavy emotional baggage for many people.  The baggage is real and cannot be easily waved aside, for it is the consequence of mistaken judgments and unwise decisions that have left scars, and sometimes, painful open wounds in our relationships.

However, the Bible is filled with the possibility of forgiveness and new beginnings.  This is God’s good news to us.  The angel’s message to the shepherds is forever new.  “I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today … a Savior has been born to you.”

Whatever mistakes and regrets that may still be lying out there in our past, whatever relationships remain painfully wounded and in need of healing, God’s “Savior Jesus” can help us gather them all into a prayer of repentance, forgiveness, and new beginnings.  The ability to forgive and to be forgiven is always ours for the asking.  Jesus himself invites us to “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” (Matthew 7:7).

Instead of fretting over the past, take hold of forgiveness, and move forward through God’s open door of a new year and a new beginning toward more Christ-like excellence in all of our conversations and activities.

I hope you will join me in making the decision and effort to walk into the new year of 2020 with a new commitment to be the person God created us to be.  And may all your days be happy and blessed.  Amen!

“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – January 1, 2020

www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.  An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid.  I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.”  (Lk. 2:8-11).

The angel’s sudden and unexpected appearance terrified the shepherds.  But the angel quickly reassured them that the special message he was bringing to them was “good news that will cause great joy for all the people.”

Have you ever been frightened by an unexpected event?  Try to imagine yourself being one of the shepherds that night.  Sitting on a hillside, under a starlit sky, with the sheep settled and sleeping, all is quiet; all is calm, as it should be and normally is.  But then suddenly the hillside is awakened by a brilliant, glorious light, and a magnificent angel appears.  Yes, I too, would have been terrified.

The sudden burst of light and the appearance of an angel to a bunch of laborers in a field was certainly an unexpected surprise.  But even more so, was the angel’s message, “Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.”

And, as if that wasn’t a big enough surprise, the angel said, “You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”  Imagine their troubling thoughts.  A Savior, the promised Messiah and Lord, born in a smelly stable built for animals, and using the feed trough as a crib.  How could this be happening that way?  Should not a Savior be born in a royal palace and lying in a magnificent crib?

Indeed, the angel’s “good news” message is filled with unexpected surprises.  In fact, just about everything regarding Jesus’ birth is an unexpected surprise.  Think about it.  Is not Jesus’ birth really the most surprising and amazing gift of all time, coming to us from God?  Is not his gift of “a Savior” the most marvelous and greatest gift we could ever receive?  Is not this the reason we celebrate Christmas with gift-giving, always reminding ourselves of God’s amazing gift to us.

Yes, Christmas is about God coming to us as “Savior” in the person of Jesus to rescue us from the death grip of evil and sinfulness, and give us forgiveness, peace, joy, love, and life forever.  Christmas is about Immanuel, “God with us.” 

What a wonder-filled, life-giving gift is given us in Jesus’ birth.  It is the miracle of Incarnation – God becoming human, and as “Savior” choosing to live among us.  Oh, what glorious wonder, heaven and earth coming together, as God comes down to dwell with his people to redeem and save them.

How incredible the gift, the long-awaited Messiah, the Lord himself, wrapped in the swaddling clothes of a helpless baby, fully human and fully divine, coming to rescue and reconcile broken humanity and restore the peace and joy of God’s good world.  Truly “good news that will cause great joy for all the people.”

Even though many refuse to believe it, Christmas is God’s answer to our brokenness.  Christmas is the good news that God wants to do something about our failures and fears, our pain and confusion.  He wants to forgive, heal, and restore us to wholeness as his beloved people.

As darkness and doubts cloud your thoughts and spirit this Christmas Day, hear the message of the heavenly angel, “Do not be afraid.  I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” (Lk. 2:10-11).

It is Christmas morning and possibly too late to buy the perfect Christmas present for a friend or family member. But it is not too late for you to accept the amazing gift of love that God is offering you — the gift of Jesus as your Savior, Messiah and Lord.

Let us pray.                                                                                                                                                               “O holy Child of Bethlehem, Descend on us, we pray.  Cast our sin, and enter in; Be born in us today.  We hear the Christmas angels / The great glad tidings tell.  O come to us; abide with us, Our Lord, Emmanuel.”

• “Healing Rays of Righteousness” – December 25, 2019
• www.geigler13.wordpress.com
• Ray M. Geigley

Picture a young Jewish girl, living in the lush green hills of Galilee, far from the bustle of Jerusalem.  She knows the Scriptures.  She prays for God to send the Messiah to re-establish his rule.  She longs for Israel to again be a light to the nations.  But never in her wildest dreams does she imagine how God will answer her prayers.

Even more, this young girl, Mary, has something far more immediate on her mind.  She is engaged to be married and soon to leave the protection of her father’s home and begin a new life with Joseph.

By night, she imagines how she will arrange her furniture and decorate her house.  How fortunate she is that her beloved Joseph is a carpenter and can make what they cannot afford to buy.  By day, with needle and thread, she works her dreams into linen cloth.

Then in the midst of her joyous anticipation, preparations, and prayers, she receives a frightening visitation from an angel who says, “Greetings, you who are highly favored!  The Lord is with you.”  And Mary is greatly troubled.

Even though we have heard this same story many times before, and even though the plot doesn’t change from year to year and we are very familiar with the details, yet each Christmas we lean forward with anticipation, because we believe that somehow this story is about us.

What if the angel’s message to Mary, “The Lord is with you” is God’s message to us?  We desire to see God, but do we know how and where to look?  Do we know how to open space in our busy and cluttered lives for the indwelling presence of God?

“The Lord is with you.”  That simple, startling statement came to Mary as surprise and promise.  Most likely we have read and heard these words so often that the element of “surprise” has completely evaporated from them.  Yet that is precisely the glorious message of Christmas.  Not only is there a God, but that God comes very near to us in the most unexpected places and circumstances as “surprise.”

To believe that God is above us as the almighty, all-sufficient, sovereign God is one thing.  But to believe that God is the sovereign, loving God with us, that he is God near us, the intimate God who understands us, that my friend, is the best news of all.

For the eternal, all-powerful, high and holy God to come down into human life is a most marvelous and amazing thing.  God’s coming to us in human flesh tells us that he is not like the philosopher king in Thomas Carlyle’s classic writing, Sartos Resortus, who gazes out of his attic window.  Down below him stretch the dark streets of despair where half a million human beings are herded and crowded together.  The joyful and the sorrowful, people dying and people being born, some praying and others cursing, women laughing and others weeping.  And looking down from his attic window, the philosopher king concludes, “But I – I sit above it all.  I am alone with the stars.”

No, that is not our God.  The God who came to us in Jesus is deeply involved in our human situation.  God became what we are, in order that we might become what he is.  He wants his face of love, peace, and joy to dwell in us and be reflected from our lives.

And when man reached the end of his long struggle to find peace, forgiveness and salvation, it was God who “became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14).

Christmas is God’s answer to our brokenness and sin.  Christmas is the good news that God wants to do something about our failures and fears.  Christmas is about God coming to us, indwelling us to forgive, heal, and restore us to a wholeness of love, peace, and joy.

There is not a more beautiful picture of God’s Father-love than that which shows him as our companion in our many experiences of sin, sickness, sorrow, and the often difficult daily routine of work.  There are no more comforting, reassuring words than to hear, “Greetings, you who are highly favored!  The Lord is with you.” 

Be still, my soul and listen to the angel speak.  And also listen to the last recorded words of Jesus, “And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20).

“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – December 18, 2019

www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley

If you are like me, you sometimes wake up at 2:00 a.m. and cannot get back to sleep.  Let’s suppose that the next time that happens you go to the kitchen, turn on the light, and find an angel standing there and calls you by name.  What would you say?  What do you think the angel would say?

Luke’s Christmas story begins with a similar situation involving a man named Zachariah.  In chapter one, verse five, we read that both Zachariah and his wife, Elizabeth, were from priestly stock, a fact that was highly valued among the Jews.  Verses six and seven tell us that “Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly.  But they were childless because Elizabeth was not able to conceive, and they were both very old.”

Although both of them were “righteous” they were suffering the ultimate disappointment and humiliation.  For most Jews, eternal life and immortality was understood to come through their children.  Through them one lived on forever.  Thus no children meant no immortality, no eternal life.

It was during Zachariah’ great moment of burning incense before God that an angel appeared to him.  Verse twelve says that Zachariah “was startled and was gripped with fear.”  Very likely I would have responded in like manner.  But then comes the almost unbelievable good news.  The angel said, “Do not be afraid, Zachariah; your prayer has been heard.  Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call John.”

Zachariah is gripped by fear and stuttering with disbelief and doubt. But why?  Had he given up believing that God would answer his fervent prayers?  Had he been praying without conviction?  After the many years of praying for a child, had he given in to the feeling that he and his wife are now too old for such a prayer to be answered.  Yes, even a very righteous man or woman can pray with very little sense of expectation.

I heard the story of a man in his nineties who went to his doctor with knee trouble, and the doctor said, “At your age, what do you expect?”  The man replied, “I expect you to fix this knee.  My other knee is the same age, and it works fine.”

Whatever age we may be, we can slip into disbelief BY thinking that answers to our prayers become restricted or limited because of our age.  This story tells us that Zachariah’s age was not a factor in God’s ability to carry out his purposes.

What if an angel appeared in front of you right now and said to you, “Your prayer has been heard.”  How would you react, and what would such an experience mean to you?  What would be the “too good to be true” news in your life?  Have you given up believing that God can still make it happen, like Zachariah did?

As we grow older and maybe wearied by unanswered prayers, we are tempted to give up believing God can make it happen. Or, we may find it difficult to believe that God still has plans for us to be a participant in his great “good news” work.  Or, we may become impatient in praying and waiting for God to act and decide to take things into our own hands to help God out, like Abraham did.

Whatever the excuse or reason, we will pay a price for our unbelief, just as did Zachariah.  He received very good news in the angel’s message “your prayer is heard,” but because of his unbelief, he could not speak this “good news” blessing to his family and the assembled worshipers, until after the promised birth of his son happened.

What would be the “too good to be true” news in your life?  Have you given up believing that God can still make it happen?  May the beloved scriptures and carols of Jesus’ birth of this Christmas season reawaken your faith and trust in the One who hears and answers our prayers.

“The angel said to him, “I am Gabriel.  I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news.”  (Luke 1:19).

“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – December 11, 2019

www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley

Tomorrow we again celebrate Thanksgiving Day.  This is a day for family gatherings to remember and celebrate our many blessings, and to thank God and others for those blessings.  Many families have a Thanksgiving ritual of everybody stating for what they are most thankful before their thanksgiving feast in enjoyed.

For what are you thankful?  I suggest that you take a few moments to read Psalm 103 sometime today or tomorrow and let the words awaken your memory of God’s goodness to you.  In fact, I would suggest that we make the next several weeks a season of Thanksgiving by reading this Psalm repeatedly leading up to Christmas and New Year’s Day.  And with each reading, let your memories reflect on God’s goodness to you in the year past as you look ahead to the new year of 2020.

At Christmas we gratefully say “Thank you” to those who give us gifts, and I think it just as important to say “Thank you” to God for what he has given us and done for us during the past twelve months.

Maybe the year didn’t go as you had hoped.  Maybe you experienced a very difficult year or at least a less than desirable year.  Even so, I believe, there is much for which we can be and should be thankful.

I’m reminded of the boy in elementary school who arrived late to school and was reprimanded for it.  Later, he discovered that he had forgotten his homework, and was scolded again.  Then he began to feel sick, and ran in from the playground to go home.  And as he ran, he tripped and fell, breaking his arm.  While he was on the ground, he found a quarter.  Later, going home from the doctor’s office he told his parents, “This is the best day of my life!  I have never found a quarter before.”

Each of us needs to cultivate that kind of grateful spirit so that we can remember the good things that happen to us and be more thankful, even when much has gone wrong for us.

Psalm 103 is a psalm of thanksgiving and praise in response to God’s goodness.  It begins with, “Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.  Praise the Lord, my soul, and forget not all his benefits.”  The psalmist then remembers and stacks up the many things God is doing and will continuing doing for his soul.  It is interesting to note that the psalmist first lists in verses 3-7 the things God does, and then he lists the things God is, all of them being reasons that God is deserving of our praise.

As we come to the ending of this year and face the known and unknown challenges of the next year, I would encourage us to find some quiet, alone time, to open our physical and spiritual eyes and look around us and within us to discover the many things for which we should be thanking and praising God.

I think the song writer, Johnson Oatman, Jr., captures the imperative of Psalm 103 in his hymn, “Count Your Blessings.” He wrote this hymn in response to Apostle Paul’s declaration in Ephesians 1:3-12, regarding God’s goodness to us.  This is another portrait of God’s goodness that would be good to read during this season of Thanksgiving.

When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed, When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,  Count your many blessings – name them one by one, And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.

When you look at others with their lands and gold, Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold; Count your many blessings; money cannot buy, Your reward in heaven nor your home on high.

So amid the conflict, whether great or small, Do not be discouraged; God is over all.  Count your many blessings; angels will attend, Help and comfort give you to your journey’s end.

“Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me.”  (Psalm 103:1-2, NLT).  AMEN!

“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – November 27, 2019

www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley

The annual holiday season of Thanksgiving and Christmas traditionally begins next weekend.  It is the season to be jolly.  But how can I be jolly when I’m heart-broken and grieving the death of a person I dearly loved.  How can I cope and get through this holiday season?   

If you are in this situation and thinking these thoughts, I offer the following counsel from my own experience that may help you not only to cope but also to experience some good moments of healing.

The death of a loved one does dramatically and painfully change your life and world.  And the holiday celebrations, especially Christmas, seem to maximize the torturous pain of lost and loneliness that you feel.

Added to the hurt and difficulty to cope, is the pain of what others expect from you.  Friends, and sometimes your own children or siblings, who don’t fully understand grief or don’t want to deal with its pain, strongly urge you to participate in family and church traditions as you always have done in previous years.  For them, any change from your former activities during the holidays is threatening and uncomfortable, and they wish for you to act as if nothing has changed.

In response, you may be tempted to choose between ignoring the pain and do as others wish you to do, or to ignore the holiday altogether and withdraw into your own little world.  However, neither of these ways is a healthy and appropriate response, nor are they helpful in your grief coping and healing possibilities.

There is no way to ease the pain, but there are ways to cope with the reality of great loss and pain.  First, allow yourself to feel what you feel, because only what you permit yourself to feel can heal.  Acknowledge your sadness and allow yourself to cry, yes, even in public or in church, but don’t wallow in self-pity.  Share memories with those who will listen.  Talk about former holiday experiences and look at pictures that elicit precious memories for you.

Secondly, be realistic about what you need from the holiday season, remembering that you need both grieving time and celebration time during these days.  Be kind to yourself and beware of being pressured by others.  Separate holiday tasks and your feelings, that is, you can choose to address and send Christmas cards but you cannot choose the feelings that such activity will erupt.  And those feelings are okay, so own them.

If you choose a change of scenery, such as a ski trip or cruise for the holidays, remember that your grief emotions will accompany you, and they will also be waiting for you when you return home and familiar surroundings.  Whatever you do, beware of abusing medications, alcohol, or excessive eating to escape the pain.  Most importantly, live one day at a time, seizing whatever richness the day may offer you.

Thirdly, deliberately choose to be active and around people.  This may be difficult but it is important in combating loneliness.  Physically exercise regularly and often because it releases the body’s natural painkillers and gives you a sense of well-being.  Spend time with children, because they can remind you of the wonder and joy of life.  It also awakens hope in you. Many find it helpful to volunteer in helping those less fortunate than you.

And finally, renew and affirm hope in yourself for the future.    Hope is essential in coping with bereavement loss.  Hope is both a future-oriented framework of expectations and a present-oriented framework of possibilities.  Without hope it is almost impossible to mobilize your energy and potential healing of grief.  I know from experience that hope helps you cope.

Most importantly, believe God loves you, will provide for you, and has planned a future for you.  Under His loving grace and care, you will again be able to sing the carols of Christmas.  But in the meantime, listen to their beautiful melodies and message.

It came upon the midnight clear, That glorious song of old,

From angels bending near the earth To touch their harps of gold.

“Peace on the earth, goodwill to men, From heav’n’s all-gracious King.”

The world in solemn stillness lay To hear the angels sing. 

Still thro’ the cloven skies they come, With peaceful wings unfurled,

And still their heav’nly music floats O’er all the weary world.

Above its sad and lowly plains They bend on hov’ring wing,

And ever o’er its babel sounds The blessed angels sing.

And ye, beneath life’s crushing load, Whose forms are bending low,

Who toil along the climbing way With painful steps and slow,

Look up!  for glad and golden hours Come swiftly on the wing.

O rest beside the weary road And hear the angels sing.

(It Came Upon the Midnight Clear – Text: Edmund H. Sears)

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“Healing Rays of Righteousness” – November 20, 2019

www.geigler13.wordpress.com

Ray M. Geigley