DayBreaks for the Week of 11/26/23 – The Gratitude Attitude

In A Second Helping of Chicken Soup for the Soul, Rev. John R. Ramsey tells how in one church a certain person provided him with a rose boutonniere for the lapel of his suit every Sunday. At first, he really appreciated it but then it sort of became routine. Then one Sunday it became very special.

As he was leaving the Sunday Service a young boy walked up to him and said, “Sir, what are you going to do with your flower?” At first, the preacher didn’t know what the boy was talking about. When it sank in, he pointed to the rose on his lapel and asked the boy, “Do you mean this?”

The boy said, “Yes, sir. If you’re just going to throw it away, I would like it.”

The preacher smiled and told him he could have the flower and then casually asked what he was going to do with it. The boy, who was probably no more than 10 years old, looked up at the preacher and said, “Sir, I’m going to give it to my granny. My mother and father divorced last year. I was living with my mother, but she married again and wanted me to live with my father. I lived with him for a while, but he said I couldn’t stay, so he sent me to live with my grandmother. She is so good to me. She cooks for me and takes care of me. She has been so good to me that I wanted to give her that pretty flower for loving me.”

When the little boy finished, the preacher could hardly speak. His eyes filled with tears, and he knew he had been touched by God. He reached up and unpinned the rose. With the flower in his hand, he looked at the boy and said, “Son, that is the nicest thing that I’ve ever heard but you can’t have this flower because it’s not enough. If you’ll look in front of the pulpit, you’ll see a big bouquet of flowers. Different families buy them for the Church each week. Please take those flowers to your granny because she deserves the very best.”

Then the boy made one last statement which Rev. Ramsey said he will always treasure. The boy said, “What a wonderful day! I asked for one flower but got a beautiful bouquet.”

That’s the thankful spirit. That’s the gratitude attitude. And it’s that attitude that should guide our giving and our lives. Like that boy’s granny, God has blessed us so much. God has been so good to us that giving shouldn’t even be a question. It should just flow from us naturally.

PRAYER: All glory, majesty, power, and authority to You, the Alpha and Omega, Who lives forever and ever, and who WILL present us to the Father without a single fault on our record! In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Copyright 2023 by Galen C. Dalrymple.

DayBreaks for the Week of 1/29/23 – The Key Word is “All”

During worship on Sunday, our church usually sings fairly contemporary Christian worship songs and hymns. Yesterday, it was a bit like “throwback” Sunday as several of the songs were either old hymns (with a few modifications and played by a worship band) or medleys of several of the old favorites from the hymn book.

It started with “Jesus Paid It All”. I have sung that song (or heard it sung) for 60+ years, but not a lot lately. For some reason, the words of the song really hit me as we sang it. The four simple words, “Jesus paid it all….” knocked me out of my routine and made me start to get weepy.

I struggle with sin. I am not proud of that fact, but it is the plain and simple truth. I get frustrated at how much sin still allures me. You’d think that by my stage in life that I’d have a better handle on it. I don’t. Some of the temptations to sin may have changed, but I’m still a sinner. With lots of sin.

Like everyone, at times I despair. I can picture Jesus looking down from heaven and getting a very distinct look of disgust and revulsion when he sees me. But then the Spirit reminds me that when the Father sees me, He sees me dressed not in any righteousness of my own (for I have none!), but fully wrapped in Jesus’ righteousness.

As I thought about the words of the song, I took hope anew because I realized that even though I will continue to sin until my dying day, Jesus paid the price for ALL my sin already. It’s not like I’m going to commit one more sin that He hasn’t already paid for…Jesus paid it ALL!

PRAYER: Oh, Jesus! Hallelujah and glory to Your name for paying for ALL my sins already and freeing me from the fear of that “one more sin” that wouldn’t have been paid for! In Jesus’ name, Amen.

AN INTERESTING SIDE NOTE ON “Jesus Paid It All”: this hymn was written by a woman sitting in the choir loft during one of her pastor’s long prayers.  She wrote it on the flyleaf of a hymnal.

Copyright 2023 by Galen C. Dalrymple, all rights reserved.

DayBreaks for 11/25/21 – Reasons to Give Thanks

Back during the dark days of 1929, a group of ministers in the Northeast, all graduates of the Boston School of Theology, gathered to discuss how they should conduct their Thanksgiving Sunday services. Things were about as bad as they could get, with no sign of relief. The bread lines were depressingly long, the stock market had plummeted, and the term Great Depression seemed an apt description for the mood of the country. The ministers thought they should only lightly touch upon the subject of Thanksgiving in deference to the human misery all about them. After all, what was there was to be thankful for? But it was Dr. William L. Stiger, pastor of a large congregation in the city that rallied the group. This was not the time, he suggested, to give mere passing mention to Thanksgiving, just the opposite. This was the time for the nation to get matters in perspective and thank God for blessings always present, but perhaps suppressed due to intense hardship.

I suggest to you the ministers struck upon something. The most intense moments of thankfulness are not found in times of plenty, but when difficulties abound. Think of the Pilgrims that first Thanksgiving. Half their number dead, men without a country, but still there was thanksgiving to God. Their gratitude was not for something but in something. It was that same sense of gratitude that lead Abraham Lincoln to formally establish the first Thanksgiving Day in the midst of national civil war, when the butcher’s list of casualties seemed to have no end and the very nation struggled for survival.

Perhaps in your own life, right now, there is intense hardship. You are experiencing your own personal Great Depression. Why should you be thankful this day? May I suggest three things?

1. We must learn to be thankful or we become bitter.

2. We must learn to be thankful or we will become discouraged.

3. We must learn to be thankful or we will grow arrogant and self-satisfied.

We often think that we should be thankful for God’s sake, so that he is glorified and appreciative of our thanks. I suppose there’s some truth in that, but he doesn’t need our thanks. The more I’ve thought about it recently, the more I’ve come to the conclusion that we should also be thankful for our own sake for the reasons listed above.

This is a special day of thanksgiving. Give thanks today to keep from being bitter about your life. Give thanks to keep your courage up. And give thanks because it reminds you where all your blessings come from!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

PRAYER: Thank you, Lord, for all the blessings throughout our lives – even those we don’t recognize as blessings. Make us more aware of your goodness each moment. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Copyright 2021 by Galen C. Dalrymple. ><}}}”>

DayBreaks for 11/08/21 – Let the Chorus Rise

And Mary said: “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior… – Luke 1:46-47 (NIV)

It is a song of rejoicing, this torrent of words that flows from the heart and lips of Mary after she arrives at the home of her cousin, Elizabeth.

At first glance, one might wonder why Mary would rejoice at all. She was a pregnant, unwed Jewish girl in a time and place where such a condition brought the type of shame that our culture can’t even imagine. She had come to stay with Elizabeth for three months during the middle of her pregnancy. Why? I don’t really know, but I would imagine that it might have had something to do with being away from her own village where people knew her and would castigate her visually and verbally for being “with child” but unmarried. At least in Elizabeth’s home, she had walls to protect her from anyone’s prying eyes. As a stranger, she would probably pass unnoticed by most, or they would assume she was married and just staying with a relative for a while before the birth of the baby. 

I know if I’d been in her shoes (or sandals), I would have sought out a place where I could have hidden for a while. Sure, eventually she would have to return home to the stares and recriminations again, but at least she found some measure of peace for three months.

But what is amazing is the words that escape from her overflowing heart. Note the reasons she gives for this outpouring of praise:

God has taken notice of her (and not in the way her human neighbors had):

He is holy (and yet He has shown her, a sinful mortal, favor).

He shows mercy (when all around her were judging and throwing thunderbolts in her direction).

He is strong and has done great deeds (though she is weak and unable to defend herself).

He exalts the lowly and humbles the mighty (it was not to Caesar’s wife that the Messiah was entrusted).

He gives the poor good things (what greater gift than to bear the Savior of the world?).

He has helped His people and is merciful toward them (unlike those who turned their backs on Mary).

He has made great promises and will keep them (unlike those who should love but turn away when embarrassed by our failures).

Perhaps right now you need the reminders from Mary’s song. You face unknown outcomes in the days, weeks and years ahead. And that is really true of all of us, isn’t it? But this much is clear and in this I find great comfort and peace: all the things for which Mary praised God are still true today and will be true tomorrow and the day after…and forever.

My heart today can sing the same song: “My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior!”  Join the chorus, too, will you?

PRAYER: You are our Lord, our God, our Savior, Redeemer and Friend!  There is nothing for us to fear or dread!  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Copyright 2021 by Galen C. Dalrymple. ><}}}”>

DayBreaks for 6/17/21 – How Quickly We Forget

NOTE: Galen is out of the office until 6/28 so we’re featuring DayBreaks from the past.

Psalm 103:1-5 (ESV) – Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

How are things going for you right now?  Is life all you wish it could be?  How’s your health?  How’s your employment situation?  How’s your marriage and your relationships with your family members and friends, co-workers and fellow students?  Are your finances solid and do you feel secure?  How do you feel about our country and the direction it is headed morally? 

What kinds of things do your mind tend to entertain?  Does your mind flow to the things that are wrong and troubling you, or to the things that are good, holy, pure and full of faith? 

This passage in Psalm 103 is a great reminder for us, especially in verse 2: O my soul, forget not all his benefits.  When we are distressed, when we are sick or troubled, we do precisely what the Psalmist says we shouldn’t do: we forget all his blessings. 

When is the last time you really recounted to the Lord (and to yourself!), all the benefits you have received from His hand? 

On Sunday we had a lesson on thankfulness.  Remember the healing of the 10 lepers – where only one came back to thank Jesus?  I suspect that the other 9 were thankful, but they never took the time to tell Jesus how they felt for what He’d done for them.  Let’s not be like that.  He deserves far more from us than just hearts that might say to themselves, “He knows my heart.  I don’t need to tell Him how thankful I am.”  Wrong.  Take some time right now to start the practice and discipline of thankfulness!

PRAYER: Jesus, how many and great are the benefits you give to us!  Let us demonstrate our thankfulness to you like the leper did, no matter what our circumstances, no matter what the cost. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

DayBreaks for 12/09/20 – Letting God Bless You

What is blessing? There’s a sense of it such that blessing is doing something good for someone else. So, when we think of God blessing us, we’re talking about him doing something good for us. And he has already done so much and since he does is quietly and humbly instead of showboating, we can easily forget how blessed we are.

It’s been a challenging year, no doubt. I think it would be great if in the remainder of this year, we took up this challenge from John Killinger in his book Letting God Bless You:

“Permit God to bless you. Don’t look around you and think how hard life is. Look around and see how filled with mystery and goodness it is. See how wonderful the world looks when you know God is at work redeeming it and setting up the anti-structures, so that humility and purity and compassion and longing for justice and peace will all be fulfilled and rewarded in the eternal scheme of things.

“Give thanks to God for the richness of existence.

“Then look around to see who you can share it with.

“That will make you even richer.

“If you will learn to live this way every day, you will always have a song in your heart and the path before you will be lined with flowers. Joy will spring up inside you like a fountain, and you will lie down to sleep at night with peace in your soul. And you will say, ‘Blessed be the name of our God forever and ever, who calls us to a new rule where righteousness will be the order of the day forever!’”

Let’s let our lives sing out loud through the end of the month. I think if we do, we’ll find our perspective greatly lifted!

PRAYER: To you who give all good things we lift our praise and thanksgiving! Let our lives be a witness of your goodness the rest of this month so others can see how good you truly are! In Jesus’ name, Amen. ><}}}”>Copyright 2020, Galen C. Dalrymple.

DayBreaks for 11/30/20 – All This You Did for Me

From the DayBreaks archive, November 2010:

The Archbishop of Paris once stood in the pulpit of Notre Dame Cathedral to preach a sermon.  His sermon was built around a single story – an illustration from real life if you please.  Thirty years earlier, he began, there were three young tourists who had come into this very cathedral. All the young men were rough, rude, and cynical, who thought that all religion was a racket. Two of these men dared a third to go into the confessional box and make a made-up confession to the priest. The two bet that the third young man did not have the nerve to do as they suggested.

That was all that was necessary to motivate the third young man who went into the confessional box and tried to fool the priest. But the priest knew that what the young man was saying was a lie. There was a tone of arrogance in the young man’s voice – which could not go without notice. After hearing the confession, the priest told the young man his penance. The priest said, “Very well, my son. Every confession requires a penance, and this is yours. I ask you to go into the chapel, stand before the crucifix, look into the face of the crucified Christ and say, ‘All this you did for me, and I don’t give a damn!’ “

The young man staggered out of the confessional to his friends, bragging that he had done as they dared. The other two young men insisted that he finish the performance by doing the penance. This young man made his way into the chapel, stood before the crucifix, looked up into the face of Christ and began, “All this you did for me and I … I … I don’t … I don’t give a ….” At this point in the story, the archbishop leaned over the pulpit and said, “That young man was this man who stands before you to preach.”

That’s the miracle of the cross. When we begin to understand the love on the cross, we want to change our relationship with God. We cannot remain the same, anymore. We want God at the center of our lives, again.

How has the love of God changed your life?  Are you aware of what Christ has done for you – and do you still dare stand and look into his eyes and say to him that you don’t care about it? 

PRAYER: I know that by my actions, words and thoughts it must often appear to you, Lord, that I don’t care about what You did for me.  Please see my heart – and know that I am weak, but that I do truly love You, and that I do care about what it cost You to save my soul!  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Copyright 2020, Galen C. Dalrymple.

DayBreaks for 11/25/20 – In the Midst of Darkness

You can even be thankful during the most difficult of circumstances in life. It’s true! We see an especially inspiring example of a brave and thankful heart in the story behind one of the church’s most popular hymns, “Now Thank We All Our God.” This particularly hymn was written during the Thirty Years War in Germany, in the early 1600s. Its author was Martin Rinkart, a Lutheran pastor in the town of Eilenburg in Saxony.

Now, Eilenburg was a walled city, so it became a haven for refugees seeking safety from the fighting. But soon, the city became too crowded and food was in short supply. Then, a famine hit and a terrible plague and Eilenburg became a giant morgue.

In one year alone, Pastor Rinkart conducted funerals for 4,500 people, including his own wife. The war dragged on; the suffering continued. Yet through it all, he never lost courage or faith and even during the darkest days of Eilenburg’s agony, he was able to write this hymn:

Now thank we all our God,

with hearts and hands and voices,

Who wondrous things hath done,

In whom the world rejoices

…[So] keep us in His grace,

and guide us when perplexed,

and free us from all ills,

in this world and the next.

Even when he was waist deep in destruction, Pastor Rinkart was able to lift his sights to a higher plane. He kept his mind on God’s love when the world was filled with hate. He kept his mind on God’s promises of heaven when the earth was a living hell. Can we not do the same – we whose lives are almost trouble-free, compared with the man who wrote that hymn?

Whom can you say “thank you” to? What can you thank God for even in this COVID year?

PRAYER: Thank you, Lord, for your love. Thank you for those we love. Thank you for all your blessings and help us see them more clearly each day. In Jesus’ name, Amen.Copyright 2020 by Galen C. Dalrymple. ><}}}”>

DayBreaks for 10/23/20 – Out of the Depths

Image from the movie, The 33.

You have allowed me to suffer much hardship, but you will restore me to life again and lift me up from the depths of the earth. – Psalm 71:20

 He holds in his hands the depths of the earth and the mightiest mountains. – Psalm 95:4

This past week we were privileged to witness one of the most amazing rescues I can recall.  Thirty-three miners escaped from the depths of the earth (the story is told in the movie, The 33).  I don’t know for sure, but someone said that when they came to the surface, they were wearing shirts that had Psalm 95:4 stenciled on their back.  These 33 men endured great anguish and fear yet came through their ordeal with a perspective that is amazing. 

There are so many rich lessons for us to grasp in this event:

As Psalm 139 says, there is nowhere either above or below the earth that He cannot be found.  And one of the miners said that God was in that time and place, as was the devil, but God won.  He always does – and always will!

I thought about being “re-born” to a new and living hope.  Surely these men can now read those words with renewed appreciation. 

I thought about how God has translated us out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of His Son…and how the miners had been in the mines for so long that they had to wear sunglasses even at night when they came up out of the mine into the light. 

The joy that they and their loves ones experienced is certainly understandable!  These men, as good as dead, were alive and could live “normal” lives.  The joy that swept the world at their survival – even the joy that filled my own heart at their rescue – was powerful and strong.  But there is an even greater miracle, an even greater reason for joy that we have as Christians: we have been saved by the grace of God!!!  Did those miners deserve being rescued, being saved?  I don’t know if “deserved” is the right word – but because they were humans, the efforts were made.  God made a far greater effort and had to span a distance far greater than 2050 feet in order to rescue us from a death that was every bit as certain (even more certain, as it turns out!) than the miners faced in the dark bowels of the earth.  Why should our joy be any less?  Why don’t we react to our salvation with the same wild abandon as those miners?

It is a question worth pondering.  Perhaps it’s because we don’t really believe we are bad enough to deserve eternal punishment.  Perhaps it’s because we have never considered ourselves as good as dead.  Maybe it’s because we haven’t begun to grasp the life that God has given us.  Maybe it’s all of the above and other reasons, too.  I’m ready to begin celebrating my salvation more than I have in the past, and I hope you will, too.

PRAYER: Thank You, Father, for seeing fit to spare the lives of the Chilean miners!  We rejoice in the new lease on life that they have been granted.  Help us to come to a far greater appreciation of what YOU have done for us than we have ever experienced before!  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Copyright 2020 by Galen C. Dalrymple. ><}}}”>

DayBreaks for 10/15/20 – The Street Orphan and God

In No Wonder They Call Him the Savior, Max Lucado tells the story of a time when he was a missionary in Brazil. It was very common for young children – some no doubt orphans – to beg for something to eat. One day, while on his way to teach a class, a small boy tapped Max on the hand and asked, “Pao, Senhor?” (Bread, sir?)

Max had grown familiar with this sort of request and always tried to help when he could. He told the young boy to come with him and they went into a shop where Max always bought his coffee. He told the young boy to go and choose a pastry and the little fellow excitedly ran to the counter to make his selection.

Max took his coffee to the end of the counter where people would sit to drink their coffee, but the boy was not in sight. Looking around, he saw the boy outside, face pressed against the window, looking into the café.

When the boy saw Max, he scampered in to Max and looking up at him from about belt-buckle level, said “Obrigato.” He paused for a second and said, “Muito obrigato!”, or “Thank you very much!”

Max’s response was wonderful. He said that those two words in Portuguese stirred his heart to the point that he wanted to buy the entire stock of pastries for the young boy because of the gratitude that he’d shown for such a simple gift!

In reflecting on the encounter, Max made such a simple, yet profound observation: if he was so moved by those two words from the little boy expressing such gratitude for a piece of pastry, how must God feel when we take the time to thank him, really, really thank him, for saving our souls?

When is the last time you did that?

PRAYER: Thank you, God, thank you!  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Copyright 2020 by Galen C. Dalrymple. ><}}}”>