A prayer for October 4 from A Prayer for Every Day: "Eternal God, let Your Holy Spirit enter into my heart. May Your Spirit stand by me in whatever I do. His will controls my life."
I phoned an elderly gentleman (90 years old) of our church family recently because I cannot get into the facility where he lives to visit in person because of the Covid virus. His wife recently died from complications of alzheimer's disease. When I asked how he was doing in response to losing his wife he said and quoted he was trying to live out I Thessalonians 5:16-18, "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." He went on to say he was totally trusting God and getting out of God's way. "I'm going along for the ride and not focusing on the why." His faith and confidence in God is a blessing to my life and a reminder of how to act and react in the midst of life's various situations. Whether I do so is another question.
" God is on the throne. Behind those rain-heavy clouds the sun is shining, and behind the God-denying look of this mad world God is always there; the Father of Jesus as great in love as in power." W.E. Sangster (d. 1960, British theologian)
Noted psychologist Erik Erickson believes that one of our earliest experiences of the sacred occurs when we are infants. We experience what God is like through the loving face of our mother (or our primary caregiver). It is a face of love and tenderness and we experience being loved without condition." Salvation by grace through faith is surely the greatest asset of our Christian faith. We don't have to earn God's favor, love or care. It is freely given to us through Jesus Christ and demonstrated in his ministry of reconciliation.
The Spiritual Formation Bible commenting on the description of God's law/commands given in Psalm 19:7-10. "The Torah, or law of Moses, is central to the spirituality of the Hebrew people.. The "law of the Lord" the psalmist reflects here, offers wisdom more valuable than riches and more satisfying than any sweetness. Why do we neglect Scripture, the centerpiece of our Christian lives? And when the words become all too familiar and we know the stories by heart, how are we to listen afresh to God's words?"
ON HER DEATHBED, Gertrude Stein is said to have asked, "What is the answer?" Then, after a long silence, "What is the question?" Don't start looking in the Bible for the answers it gives. Start by listening for the questions it asks.
We are much involved, all of us, with questions about things that matter a good deal today but will be forgotten by this time tomorrow—the immediate wheres and whens and hows that face us daily at home and at work—but at the same time we tend to lose track of the questions about things that matter always, life-and-death questions about meaning, purpose, and value. To lose track of such deep questions as these is to risk losing track of who we really are in our own depths and where we are really going. There is perhaps no stronger reason for reading the Bible than that somewhere among all those India-paper pages there awaits each reader whoever he is the one question which, though for years he may have been pretending not to hear it, is the central question of his own life. Here are a few of them:
When you hear the question that is your question, then you have already begun to hear much. Whether you can accept the Bible's answer or not, you have reached the point where at least you can begin to hear it too." (Frederick Buechner quote) Here are my lectionary words for this week: Exodus 20: 1-20 words Psalm 19 law Isaiah 5:1-7 vineyard Psalm 80:1-7 restore Philippians 3:4-14 forget Matthew 21:33-46 cornerstone Jeremiah 20 captivity As you read those seven words which one grabs your attention most? Why and for what purpose? From Dayspring publishing: "I know God sees the big picture, and He knows what we don't. God lets us know what we need to [know] in order to thrive by His plans. It is comforting to know He is in control. Where you end up going and what you end up doing ultimate4ly matters less than who you end up becoming. (Matt Anderson)" "Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and Your dominion endures throughout all generations." Psalm 145:13 |
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