eastridge weekly

Lent post 6

2011-04-20T08:40:00.000-07:00

open

To be present is to arrive as one is and open up to the other. At this instant, as I arrive here, God is present waiting for me. God always arrives before me, desiring to connect with me even more than my most intimate friend. I take a moment and greet my loving God.

+ Sacred Space; The Presence of God

scripture

Old Testament: Isaiah 52:13-53:12

Psalm: Psalm 22

New Testament: Philippians 2:5-11

Gospel: Luke 19:28-40

reflection

Holy Week is the church's great celebration of life in all its dimensions: communion with others in the Spirit, the call to suffer if necessary for the sake of the gospel, the sometimes loneliness of total commitment and the glory of living in the Christ, whatever the cost. It is a week to recall your own cost of living the Christian life and drawing strength for the journey from the One who has lived it before us and now fills us with His own eternal life.

+ Joan Chittister, OSB

O God, the deathless hope of everyone, we rejoice that you support us both when young and even to old age. When our strength comes from you, it is strength indeed; but when our own strength is all we have, it is feebleness. You give refreshment and true strength.

+ Augustine of Hippo (354-430)

Where am I with God? With others?

Do I have something to be grateful for? Then I give thanks.

Is there something I am sorry for? Then I ask forgiveness.

+ Sacred Space; Consciousness

Dear Lord, your disciple Peter wanted to know who would betray you. You pointed to Judas but a little later also to him. Judas betrayed, Peter dined you. Judas hanged himself, Peter became the apostle whom you made the first among equals. Lord, give me faith, faith in your endless mercy, your boundless forgiveness, your unfathomable goodness. Let me not be tempted to think that my sins are too great to be forgiven, too abominable to be touched by your mercy. Let me never run away from you but return to you again and again, asking you to be my Lord, my Shepherd, my Stronghold, and my Refuge. Take me under your wing, O Lord, and let me know that you do not reject me as long as I keep asking you to forgive me. Perhaps my doubt in your forgiveness is a greater sin than the sins I consider too great to be forgiven. Perhaps I make myself too important, too great when I think that I cannot be embraced by you anymore. Lord, look at me, accept my prayer as you accepted Peter's prayer, and let me not run away from you in the night as Judas did.

Bless me, Lord, in this Holy Week, and give me the grace to know your loving presence more intimately. Amen.

+ Henri Nouwen

close

Lord God, whose blessed Son our Savior gave his body to be whipped and his face to be spit upon: Give us grace to accept joyfully the sufferings of the present time, confident of the glory that shall be revealed; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord. Amen

+ Book of Common Prayer

*community prayer, worship & bible study tonight at 6:50pm. (4/20)

**Good Friday gathering at 7pm (4/22)

***Easter celebrations at 9am, 10:15am, 11:30am (4/24)

Lent post 5

2011-04-13T09:13:00.000-07:00

open

I reflect for a moment on God's presence around me and in me. Creator of the universe, the sun and the moon, the earth, every molecule, ever atom, everything that is: God is in every beat of my heart. God is with me, now.

+ Irish Jesuit Prayer; Sacred Space

scripture

Old Testament: Isaiah 58:1-12

Psalm: Psalm 130

New Testament: Romans 8:6-11

Gospel: Matthew 6:1-21

reflection

O God, you are not far from any of us,

since it is in you that we live,

and move, and exist.

You, who have overlooked the times of ignorance,

let everyone everywhere be told

that they must now repent.

+ after Acts 17:27-28, 30; Henri Nouwen

"Christians throughout history have fasted in preparation for the Lord's Supper. In addition to the elements of repentance and humility before God in this kind of fast, it is also intended to help the person focus on adoring the One who is represented in the Supper."

+ Donald S. Whitney

"In adoration we enter the rarefied air of selfless devotion. We ask for nothing but to cherish God. We seek nothing but his exaltation. We focus on nothing but his goodness. 'In the prayer of adoration we love God for himself, for his very being, for his radiant joy.'"

+ Richard Foster; Prayer

God in my living, there in my breathing

God in my waking, God in my sleeping

God in my resting, there in my working

God in my thinking, God in my speaking

Be my everything, be my everything

Christ in me, Christ in me

Christ in me the hope of glory, You are everything

+ Tim Hughes; Everything

close

O God, make clear to us each road.

O God, make safe to us each steep;

when we stumble, hold us;

when we fall, lift us up.

When we are hard-pressed with evil,

deliver us;

and bring us at last to your glory.

+ Celtic Daily Prayer

*community prayer, worship, and Bible study tonight at 6:50pm (wednesday 4/13)

lent post 4

2011-04-06T08:03:00.000-07:00

open

I pause for a moment

and think of the love and the grace that God showers on me,

creating me in his image and likeness, making me his temple.

+ Irish Jesuit Prayer; Sacred Space

My soul waits for the Lord

more than those

who watch for the morning

more than those

who watch for the morning

Out of the depths I have cried to You.

O Lord, hear my voice.

With my whole heart I want to praise You.

O Lord, hear my voice.

If you, Lord, should mark iniquities:

Who could stand? Who could stand?

I will wait for the Lord.

My soul waits,

and in His word

do I hope.

+ Celtic Daily Prayer

+ The Crucified Christ; Fra Angelico (1395-1455)

scripture

Old Testament: Numbers 21:4-9

Psalm: Psalm 32

New Testament: Ephesians 2:1-10

Gospel: John 3:14-21

reflection

Forgive me, most gracious Lord and Father, if this day I have done or said anything to increase the pain of the world. Pardon the unkind word, the impatient gesture, the hard and selfish deed, the failure to show sympathy and kindly help where I have had the opportunity, but missed it; and enable me so to live that I may daily do something to lessen the tide of human sorrow, and add to the sum of human happiness.

+ F.B. Meyer (1847-1929)

We need you, how we need you

we need you every hour

to see you in your glory

to know your Spirit's power.

There's healing in your presence

there's mercy where you are

so meet us, won't you meet us, Living God.

No other God but you, no other God but you

No other God can satisfy

You are our great reward

it's you we're longing for

no other God, but you, Most High

+ Brenton Brown, We Need You

Grant, O Lord, that as we are baptized into the death of thy blessed Son our Saviour Jesus Christ, so by continual mortifying our corrupt affections we may be buried with him; and that through the grave and gate of death, we may pass to our joyful resurrection; for his merits, who died and was buried, and rose again for us, thy Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

+ Book of Common Prayer

close

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be,

World without end. Amen.

+ Gloria Patri

3.31.11

2011-03-31T14:09:00.000-07:00

It's time to get ready for Easter and Eastridge. It's Easteridge!!

This year we'll have 3 services on Easter Sunday, join us, invite friends and hang out!

Also, don't forget that the men's breakfast is this Saturday at 8am at the church... come hungry!

Lastly, start prepping yourself for helping us with cleaning day on 4.16.11 from 9am-Noon. It'll be a blast! A blast of cleaning... a spray of cleaning, like a cleaning spray. That's what it will be like. A spray of cleaning fun.

Lent post 3

2011-03-30T08:56:00.000-07:00

open

O Lord, let my soul rise up to meet you

as the day rises to meet the sun.

Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit,

as it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

Come, let us sing to the Lord: let us shout for joy to the Rock of our Salvation.

In you alone we put our trust: let us not be put to shame.

+ Common Prayer

For a few moments, I think of God's veiled presence in things:

in the elements, giving them existence;

in plants, giving them life; in animals, giving them sensation;

and finally, in me, giving me all this and more,

making me a temple, a dwelling-place of the Spirit.

+ Irish Jesuit Prayer; Sacred Space

scripture

Old Testament: Exodus 17:1-7

Psalm: Psalm 95

New Testament: Romans 5:1-21

Gospel: John 4:5-42

reflection

Knowing that God loves me unconditionally,

I can afford to be honest about how I am.

How has the last day been, and how do I feel now?

I share my feelings openly with the Lord.

+ Irish Jesuit Prayer; Sacred Space

As the rain hides the stars,

as the autumn mist hides the hills,

as the clouds veil the blue of the sky,

so the dark happenings of my lot

hide the shining of your face from me.

Yet, if I may hold your hand in the darkness,

it is enough, since I know that,

though I may stumble in my going,

you do not fall.

+ Celtic Prayer

"We are called to withdraw at certain intervals into deeper silence and aloneness with God, together as a community as well as personally. To be alone with Him, not with our books, thoughts, and memories but completely stripped of everything, to dwell lovingly in His presence -- silent, empty, expectant, and motionless."

+ Mother Teresa; No Greater Love

*community prayer, worship, and Bible study tonight at 6:50pm (wednesday, 3/30)

2011-03-23T07:42:00.000-07:00

lent post 2

open

"Earth is crammed with heaven,

and every common bush afire with God,

but only he who sees takes off his shoes."

+ Elizabeth Barrett Browning

God is with me, but even more, God is within me, giving me existence.

Let me dwell for a moment on God's life giving presence in my body,

my mind, my heart and in the whole of my life.

+ Irish Jesuit Prayer

scripture

+ Old Testament: Genesis 12:1-9

+ Psalm: Psalm 121

+ New Testament: Philippians 3:12-4:1

+ Gospel: Mark 8:31-38

reflection

O Son of God,

do a miracle for me

and change my heart.

Thy having taken flesh

to redeem me

was more difficult

than to transform

my wickedness.

+ Irish, 15th Century

"No one is strong in his own strength, but he is safe by the grace and mercy of God."

+ Cyprian (d.258)

Breathe in me,

O Holy Spirit,

that my thoughts may all be holy.

Act in me,

O Holy Spirit,

that my work, too, may be holy.

Draw my heart,

O Holy Spirit,

that I love only what is holy.

Strengthen me,

O Holy Spirit,

to defend all that is holy.

Guard me, then,

O Holy Spirit,

that I may always be holy.

+ Augustine of Hippo (354-430)

"Fasting is not confined to abstinence from eating and drinking. Fasting really means voluntary abstinence for a time from various necessities of life, such as food, drink, sleep, rest, association with people and so forth. The purpose of such abstinence... is to loosen to some degree the ties which bind us to the world of material things and our surroundings as a whole, in order that we may concentrate all our spiritual powers upon the unseen and eternal things."

+ Ole Hallesby (1879-1961)

We believe and trust in God the Father Almighty.

We believe and trust in Jesus Christ His Son.

We believe and trust in the Holy Spirit.

We believe and trust in the Three in One.

+ Celtic Daily Prayer

"O Lord, we beseech thee to deliver us from the fear of the unknown future; from fear of failure; from fear of poverty; from fear of bereavement; from fear of loneliness; from fear of sickness and pain; from fear of age; and from fear of death. Help us, O Father, by thy grace to love and fear thee only, fill our hearts with cheerful courage and loving trust in thee; through our Lord and Master Jesus Christ."

+ Akanu Ibaim (1906-1995)

3.17.11

2011-03-17T13:03:00.000-07:00

Hey Church! We need your help! We are looking for someone who is a structural engineer and can take our drawing of our new road-side sign and do a wind test rating on it. We need to have this done in order for Happy Valley to approve a new sign for Sunnyside Road. If you are a S.E. or know one, please email derik@eastridgechurch.org with your mad-wind-testing skills!

Check out Youversion.com, an interactive bible study site from a sister covenant church. Choose from several reading plans and keep track of them, read

commentaries and notes on your daily scripture reading, invite friends to journey with you!

Please continue to keep your thoughts and prayers in Japan as they work to rebuild what's been lost. Pray for the people who are left behind, that they would find comfort and hope! You can read more about what the Covenant Denomination is doing to aid people in Japan by clicking here.

I'll leave you with this less known saying from the Breastplate of Saint Patrick.

Christ be with me
Christ before me
Christ behind me
Christ in me
Christ beneath me
Christ above me
Christ on my right

Christ on my left
Christ where I lie
Christ where I sit
Christ where I arise
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me
Christ in every eye that sees me
Christ in every ear that hears me
Salvation is of the Lord.

lent post 1

2011-03-15T16:35:00.000-07:00

open
"The Lenten season begins. It is a time to be with you in a special way, a time to pray, to fast, and thus to follow you on your way to Jerusalem, to Golgotha, and to the final victory over death.
I am still so divided. I truly want to follow you, but I also want to follow my own desires and lend an ear to the voices that speak about prestige, success, human respect, pleasure, power, and influence. Help me to become deaf to these voices and more attentive to your voice, which calls me to choose the narrow road to life."
+ Henri J.M. Nouwen (from Show Me the Way: Readings for Each Day of Lent)

(Via Crucis-Pablo Sanaguano Sanchez)
scripture
+ Old Testament: Genesis 2:15-17, 3:1-7
+ Psalm: Psalm 32
+ New Testament: Romans 5:12-19
+ Gospel: Matthew 4:1-11

reflection
O God, early in the morning I cry to you.
Help me to pray
and to concentrate my thoughts on you;
I cannot do this alone.

In me there is darkness,
but with you there is light;
I am lonely, but you do not leave me;
I am feeble in heart, but with you there is help;
I am restless, but with you there is peace.
In me there is bitterness, but with you there is patience;
I do not understand your ways,
but you know the way for me...

Restore me to liberty,
and enable me to live now
that I may answer before you and before men.
Lord, whatever this day may bring,
Your name be praised.
Amen.
+ Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945)

"All God's plans have the mark of the cross on them, and all His plans have death to self in them."
+ E.M. Bounds (1835-1913)

"The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God."
+ Psalm 51:17

"Remember what I say: if you would cleave to earthly pleasures, these are the things which will murder souls. There is no surer way to get a seared conscience and a hard impenitent heart, than to give way to the desires of the flesh and mind. It seems nothing at first, but it tells in the long run.
Consider what Peter says: "abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul" (1 Peter 2:11). They destroy the soul's peace, break down its strength, lead it into hard captivity, make it a slave."
+ John Charles Ryle (1816-1900)

close
May the peace of the Lord Christ go with you,
wherever He may send you.
May He guide you through the wilderness,
protect you through the storm.
May He bring you home rejoicing
at the wonders He has shown you.

+ In the name of the Father,
and of the Son,

and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

*community prayer, worship, and Bible study tonight at 6:50pm (wednesday, 3/16)

3.10.11

2011-03-10T14:07:00.001-08:00

What's new? I thought you'd never ask...

Guess what this weekend is!! Save your daylight because we SPRING FORWARD this Saturday. 9:00 become 10:00... so pretty much we'll see you when we see you on Sunday.

It's not too late for Discovery class this Sunday. 12:30-2pm right after second service. Lunch and childcare is provided. The class goes over the history of Eastridge, it's affiliation with the covenant church, membership information and the best ways to get connected. Join us!!

Lent started this week! What are ya'll doing during this season? Is anyone giving up something? Let's hear it!

3.3.11

2011-03-03T13:21:00.000-08:00

Hey folks!
Welcome to March! We've got some exciting news to share with you! And a few random and new needs... so buckle up...

First off, don't forget we are still doing coffee for Pulay... bring your mad cash and your grinder on Sunday and we'll hook you up! It's all going for those find folks in Pulay who need a boost to be a healthy, self-sustaining community.

The second "don't forget" is about the Men's Breakfast this Saturday at 8am at the church. There's a $5 suggested donation for the amazing food, but don't let that be prohibitive! Come, eat, listen and enjoy hanging with the dudes!

Point number 2: We are looking for someone in the church who has engineering skills that can take our drawing of the sign we want to do and do a wind test rating on it. We need to have this done in order for Happy Valley to approve a new sign for Sunnyside Road. Please email derik@eastridgechurch.org with your mad-wind-testing skills!

Neeeeext! We are setting up a crying room for mothers in the kids wing, so we would be MORE than happy to accept furniture donations like changing tables, rocking chairs, ottomans, or other comfortable furniture for a mother's room. You can email nancy@eastridgechurch.org if you've got materials that will help!

The fine print: Lastly, we need you to subscribe to our blog! Some of you may be reading this from facebook, but in order to know if this is reaching people we actually need you to read it on blogspot! So if you're still reading this I'm going to give you a treaty-treat! Every 10th person who "subscribes" to our blog (www.eastridgers.blogspot.com) will get a free barrista coffee coupon... Yes, I said that! So #10 person, #20 person and so on... I'm so not bluffing so make this happen Eastridge.

Also if you're still reading this and just want to have a little fun, add your comment with how many mistakes or words/phrases I made up during this post. Collect all 6!

2.17.11

2011-02-17T15:23:00.001-08:00

The Eastridge Annual Meeting is coming on Sunday 2.27.11 right after 2nd service. If you're a member, put it on your calendar so that you can vote!

This Sunday we're selling coffee from Guatemala to raise funds for our trip there in April! We've got ground and whole bean in a medium and dark roast. We will also gladly take bulk orders or orders for decaf so look for the table in the lobby on Sunday!

weekly: 2-9-11

2011-02-09T15:17:00.000-08:00

Hey Peeps!

Here's all the news that fit to e-print!

We're about ready to start our "Just Bring your Bible" session with Rick going over Sunday's sermon on Luke. It's not too late to join!

Discovery Class is happen' Sunday March 13th from 12:30-1:30. You can register online at:
https://eastridgechurch.ccbchurch.com/w_form_response.php?form_id=11
Also see, "why discovery?"

We've got a trip to Pulay Guatemala scheduled for April 9th-17th and are in the midst of fund-raising for our project there. We are building a kitchen in their school. This will help provide sponsored kids with at least one 'balanced' meal a day. Read more about our efforts on the "party in Pulay" page.

We're still holding auditions for the worship team. If you've got a love of music and worship you can download a copy of the application here.

Dwain David Tissell: This Generation Of Narnian Overlappers

2010-10-01T10:50:00.000-07:00

Dwain David Tissell: This Generation Of Narnian Overlappers: "“It isn’t Narnia, you know,” sobbed Lucy. “It’s you. We shan’t meet you there. And how can we live, never meeting you?” “But you shal..."

THIS GENERATION OF NARNIAN OVERLAPPERS

2010-09-30T15:49:00.000-07:00

“It isn’t Narnia, you know,” sobbed Lucy. “It’s you. We shan’t meet you there. And how can we live, never meeting you?”
“But you shall meet me, dear one,” said Aslan.
“Are—are you there too, Sir?” said Edmund.
“I am,” said Aslan. “But there I have another name. You must learn to know me by that name. This was the very reason why you were brought to Narnia, that by knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there.”

I’ve been thinking lately about the final scene and these parting words of C.S. Lewis’s The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. My musing is not due only to the fact that the movie is about to be released. It has more to do with the image of our world that this exchange portrays. It is a picture I have come to believe the current generation “gets” more readily than those of us who have gone before.

I am talking about the group of people just emerging on the scene – just now taking the first steps toward leadership in the world, and in the faith. Sometimes they are referred to as the Millennials because they overlap two millenniums. And that is appropriate, I suppose, because it the ability to see the overlap of two worlds which, I think, Lewis is digging for at the end of Dawn Treader. I’m pretty sure that Millennials have this gift in larger measure than we have seen in a long time and that is what gives me such great optimism for the future of our faith communities.

Seeing that we are living in “overlap” time is crucial to living authentic Christian faith today. Jesus has brought the kingdom of God to bear on this sorry fallen world. Although we have not yet seen the end game, he is daily accomplishing victories of over the shadow-world cast by the enemy. Those triumphs reach right down into our own individual lives and the battles in which we struggle.

Aslan tells the youngest two Pevensie children that he brought them to Narnia so that they could know him better in the world they came from. There are clues all through the Chronicles that they really felt most at home in Narnia, but Lewis’s point through Aslan’s mouth is well taken. This world is our home, for now. That’s why the overlap is sometimes difficult to navigate. There really are two overlapping worlds in existence at this moment.

The emerging generation seems to be more predisposed to accept this truth. Yet, we would all do well to lock that image into the foundation of our own worldviews. The main reason is in the nature of possibility and its influence on faith. What we believe to be real shapes our attitudes and how we respond to crises, joys, and living.

The Narnia Chronicles, I realize, were written for children but Lewis was clear that he was really writing a true myth that could apply to all people, young and old. These stories get us to drop our guard much as the Bible’s stories do if we’re not too pre-jaded to rule them out from the beginning.

Though youthful exuberance often makes it easier to embrace idealistic hopes and dreams, maybe we should pause before dishing this hope off as we mature. Could it be that the idea of two overlapping kingdoms, each effecting our everyday lives, is not such a stretch? Maybe recognizing that some things can only be seen with the eyes of the heart and imagination (also gifted to us by our Creator) is not just meant to be a quality of youth. It just might be that our mistake is one of mental assent that warehouses our supernatural beliefs in boxes marked “ideas that once inspired us.” When we chock up the possibility of God’s kingdom being real and present every day as just another Christian belief, no wonder our lives become so disenchanted.

If the Scriptures are to believed Aslan was speaking reality. Jesus Christ certainly thought so. In his “farewell for now” conversations with his followers there was one topic that apparently kept coming up. After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. Acts 1:3 – underline mine

Jesus seems to have pretty clearly believed he was leaving us in a supernatural, but half-charged world. The momentum was now on his side as opposed to evil, so why did he feel the need to make the “kingdom of God” point over and over again over those forty days? Why not talk about how cool it was being resurrected? Why not discuss and put to rest once and for all exactly what happened in that tomb on that Sunday morning? It seems he felt that it was critical that we know about the overlap.

He knew that life would make us blurry on this point. He knew our experience in the shadows would make us forget what we had learned in the light, and we would struggle with many questions, such as -- If that is true, why doesn’t it seem to be true more often? And I don’t just mean when things are tough. Sometimes it is harder to believe there is a God when life is going great, because who really feels they need him when they are on cruise control? If God is up to something, then why does the world seem so disenchanted, with wonder sucking philosophies, loud talking medias, relationship killing wars, joy extinguishing pains, naturalistic worldviews, and just plain more fun things to do than traipsing around trying to find HIM? If God really is up to something, then it only makes sense that you and I should be able to find him in normal everyday life.

As with most of New Testament scholarship of the last 2000 years, Dr. N.T. Wright calls the era we are living in the “apostolic age. In commenting on the worldview we see in the book of Acts he says,
All of that is part of the mystery of living at the overlap between the present age, with its griefs and sorrows and decay and death, and the age to come, with its new life and energy and restorative power. I don’t think it has anything much to do with the devotion or holiness of those involved. In the apostolic age they seem simply to have accepted that God can do whatever he pleases and that, when people pray and trust him, he will often do much more than we dare to imagine…

The depth to which we know and believe the reality of Jesus’ victory in the spiritual realms will determine how much of his winning presence we see in this one. The degree to which we are successful at living Spirit-filled Christ-like lives today, tomorrow and the next day is not the result of our own skill, will, or even commitment. It is more a matter of how deep our belief runs in the victory of God in both in heaven and earth. After all he also taught us to pray, “Your kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven.” So Jesus in those forty days must have been proclaiming that in some measure his prayer had been answered. Do you know to what measure?

I’ve had conversations too that have been spurring me on to think of these things. One such conversation was with a person in their twenties after a Sunday service who is facing some genuinely terrible things. In the course of telling me about it he said with characteristic belief in the dual reality of our world, “I’m just praying that I’ll see God in this mess before it’s over.”

At that point I wished I could have brought in the Lion to say, “But you shall meet me dear one.”

Derik's 5-Minutes

2010-04-30T12:16:00.000-07:00

Luke 1:78-79
78 By the tender mercy of our God,
the dawn from on high will break upon us,
79 to give light to those who sit in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

So here is Derik’s five minutes. OK. I didn’t do this in 5 minutes. I set some time aside to read and think what God would be saying to me in this scripture. But as I began to listen, I began to wonder, “What is the context for this passage? What is going on here?” So I did some more reading. Then a picture started to form.

This portion of scripture is spoken by John the Baptists’ dad after he became mute. Let’s rewind the tape.

It had been about 400 years since Israel had heard from God through any of the prophets. All this time they had been waiting for the Messiah. When Zechariah, John’s dad, had gone into the temple to do his very privileged priestly duty, he got to have a conversation with the angel Gabriel. The angel had told him that he was going to have a son and to name him John. He also gave a long list of the cool characteristics of this yet to be born baby.

1. He will be great in the eyes of the Lord.
2. Can’t touch alcohol.
3. Have the Holy Spirit before being born.
4. Be a Billy Graham of the day turning many Israelites to God.
5. Have the power of Elijah.
6. Precede the coming of the Lord prepping people for Him to come.
7. And a few other cool things.

Zechariah didn’t seem to be listening to what the angel said after he was told he was going to have a kid, because he didn’t have problem with the long list. All he was thinking was, “I am an old man and my wife is no spring chicken either.” (My paraphrase). So the Angel made him mute because of his unbelief.

Fast forward to when the baby is born. Like any good Jewish family they had the circumcision done 8 days after he was born. People were very curious as to what his name was going to be. His mom Liz (short for Elizabeth) says John. Everyone was in shock and awe because it wasn’t a family name. So they look to the father to see what his reaction was. He breaks out the iPad and writes down, ”His name is John.” SHAZAM! All of a sudden he could speak again. And He began to praise God. Like wildfire the news spread through the surrounding areas. So they all showed up wondering who this child will be. Zechariah began to explain what John’s ministry would look like.

John was to be the guy preparing the way for Jesus, who was going to be born 6 months after him. He would be the prophet of the Most High. And Zechariah was explaining that Jesus was going to be the light breaking upon them. That Jesus was going to shed the light on those who are sitting in darkness. That Jesus was going to guide us to the path of peace.

This isn’t just some cutesy verse that would look good on the wall in some frame somewhere. This was news after 400 years of “darkness”. These people needed some light. They were hungry for something like this. They might not have even known it at the time. They were going about their daily business as usual; doing their work, feeding the kids, taking care of the house, not hearing from the Lord. Sound familiar?

We get caught up in the daily grind of things, taking little or no time to hear from the Lord. We end up sitting in darkness for a long time sometimes. The crazy thing is we don’t have to wait for a prophet or an angel to come along to give us the good news. We have Gods word everywhere, and we too often neglect it for the “necessary things” in life; work, the kids, the house, etcetera.

Are you hungry? Have you been in darkness too long?

I just met with the principal at my sons’ school for an interview. I was asking him a question that regarded failure. He said, “If you think you are doing it all right, you are probably already in trouble.”

Are you doing it all right? Are there some areas where you could use some work in your life? Maybe it’s regarding spirituality. Maybe it’s integrity. There could be a whole host of things. Why not continue pausing and listening to the Lord. And try not to freak out at the first thing God says. Really sit and listen. What is he saying to you? Share some thoughts. There is most likely someone else in the same circumstance as you. Thanks.

Loretta's 5-Minutes

2010-04-29T14:50:00.000-07:00

So - time to wait on God! When I first heard the challenge, I thought that it was going to be hard in such a busy life. But I decided to take it on.

On Tuesday morning, as I sat in the kitchen quietly thinking of the scripture from Psalm 143,
a male pheasant squawked and strutted himself accross our yard. It was at the moment, God nudged my heart and reminded me that He speaks
through His creation. As I take the time to notice the beautiful world that He has placed around me, He has taught me about His character and love for me

That morning, the male pheasant, who is brightly colored and has a long beautiful tail, showed me clearly of Gods sense of beauty. His bright colors were stunning in the morning light as he strutted accross the field.
Just like we want to bring beautiful things into our children's lives, God wants us to experience His beauty through his creation.

My mind then reflected on other experiences. I have seen God's sense mystery when the deer sneak out at dusk to each fruit from our trees. I see His sense of protection for us, his children, when the mother deer chases a coyote accross the field to protect her fawns.

I am awed by the ocean every time I'm there as God speaks through it in so many ways. I see His power in the waves as they wash huge logs of driftwood on the shore. It shows me that His power is great enough to handle even the big challenges I face in life. I also see His faithfulness and constancy in the ocean. Just as the waves always come to the shore and the tide always rises and falls, God will always be there for us through the ups and downs of our daily routine.

And most of all - God reminded of the scripture from Psalms 139: 14 - "I will praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful, I know that full well",
that I am also His creation and He has made me beautiful and unique - I can learn to rest peacefully in His love and care

Loretta

Rick's 5 Minutes

2010-04-28T06:46:00.000-07:00

I remember the first time I tried to sit still for 5 minutes and just “listen to God”. I was thinking, this is going to be a piece of cake. My anticipation grew as morning approached, eagerly waiting on the vast wisdom God would share with me in such a brief moment in time. I’ll never forget what I found. Anything but silence or a still small voice. I couldn’t keep my mind from racing here and there. I was like a child running up and down the cereal aisle in the grocery story. It’s almost like the boxes of Coco Coco Puffs and Lucky Charms where screaming at me “pick me, pick me”. Stuff clamoring for my attention, random thoughts, ideas, to do lists….everything but the silent meditation on God’s voice seemed to be coming at me.

Whether this was a remnant of childhood ADD stashed away in my cells, or just the pattern of my busy life surfacing, it was clearly ruining any attempt to allow silence and contemplation. Years later, it’s still not easy to sit quietly and just listen.

I remember daydreaming once that it would be awesome to have a set of Godly noise canceling headphones that I put on once or twice a day. Maybe I would hear God’s voice say something like “you are now free to move about My kingdom”. This verse (and verse 1 just above it) help shed light on this struggle.

Isaiah 55:3a (NLT)
3 “Come to me with your ears wide open. Listen, and you will find life…”
Sounds easy right? Listen, and you and I will find life. If like me, you have found that other things seem to occupy your mind during every waking moment, listen to what the Prophet Isaiah says in verse 1:

Isaiah 55:1a (NIV)
1 "Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat!....”

While serving in the Army back in the 80’s, I recall a time we were stationed in the middle of the dessert doing some training for a couple of weeks. It was extremely hot every day, reaching 115-120 well before mid-day. Growing up in the south, I was fairly adapted to high temperatures and its effects on the body. But until that moment, I had never really experienced thirst. The kind that makes your tongue swell up and you can’t speak a clear word to save your life. Where you see water everywhere you look (at least in your mind), and even imagine how one sip from a lukewarm canteen could sustain you another mile. Just a sip. It was here that I fell in love with water and what it meant to my life. I cherished every possible moment to keep my canteens full from that day forward. I never wanted to face another day when water was that far away from me.

Maybe that is what God is saying through Isaiah in verse 1. For verse 3 to be possible, there is one pre-requisite to hearing his voice and taking part in this feast. Even though it is open to everyone who walks the face of the earth, one thing must be present. Thirst.
If a little lights is coming on for you as it did for me, you realize why it is so hard to just sit quietly and listen to God. We have to find our thirst for God’s voice. A thirst for something beyond ourself. A thirst beyond what the world has to offer. A thirst that goes beyond the meager satisfaction found in living a "good life".

So what does that look like for Rick? It’s me getting to the place that I’m thirsty enough to turn off my TV, cell phone, laptop, PS3, radio (and the list goes on). Even if it is for 5 minutes sitting on the couch in a dark living room, or sipping a cup of coffee as I stare into the back yard…. to find a spot and sit quietly and say “God, my ears are open. Do you have something you want me to hear today?” If I spend all my time quenching my thirst with everything I’m exposed to throughout the day, I leave little room for the real thirst for God to surface. And yet, God tells us, do this…. “and you will find life.”

I would love to hear what works for you. Do you have a special place you go to hear him clearly? I’ve shared some of the things that get in the way of me hearing Him from time to time. What sort of things stand in the way of your thirst?

Danae's 5 minutes

2010-04-27T10:56:00.000-07:00

It’s important for me to start with a few facts:

1. I am not a morning person

2. I am easily distracted

Those facts are important to understanding how God chose to talk to me. Oh! Wait… one more:

3. I’m not naturally disciplined

Ok, that’s good.

I have struggled for a long time with acts of spiritual discipline and I have strong legalistic tendencies. I have all sorts of guilt feelings when I do not do the right spiritual disciplines at the right time and when I do not feel a grandiose sense of God’s presence while doing them. I assume it’s because I’m doing something wrong. Without getting into all that background, I want you to understand how I’m approaching this “resting on God’s spirit” deal. Even though I’ve been a Christian a long time, it’s a new idea to me and I need some serious retraining to take full advantage of what God’s offering.

Which brings me to last night (see point 1). I found myself walking through the neighborhood which is something I do at least once a week. I had already done my “5 minutes” earlier that day but I knew today I’d have to do one and write about it so I was thinking about that. I was also thinking about the Blazers, and thinking about what I’m going to be doing January 2011 and whether or not people are going to notice that I’m wearing gross sweatpants over my jeans (see point 2).

Then I started thinking about the Sunday School class I’ve been teaching. We’ve been talking about what happened to the disciples after Jesus went up to heaven. Jesus sent them a gift. I remember drawing this present on the whiteboard in red ink. It’s a box with a bow on it.

“Kids! Do you remember what God’s present is?” I said.

Standard replies were, “Jesus!” “Dying for us!” “Can I go to the bathroom?” “Heaven!”

But usually one of the other kids remembers that it’s the Holy Spirit. We talk about what that means and how we’re supposed to use it. Kind of like Mary Poppins’ bag, we can pull stuff out of there even if the bag doesn’t look big enough to hold what we need. So I wondered, do I really get that? Do I get what it means to really wait AND trust that the Spirit is what is going to get me where I want to be? Will the spirit really come through when I WANT to pray well, but don’t understand exactly how prayer works? When I want to read AND understand scripture but I can’t focus very well? I knew it had to be true, God says it’s true.

I re-prayed the scripture for today: “Teach me to do your will for you are my God. Let your good spirit lead me on a level path.” And I believed it. And honestly, I felt it too. I really felt it, I got a little teary I must say. And I heard God say, “See, didn’t I know what I was doing?” … when I created this system, when I chose to have you close to me, He was saying. And then I giggled a bit, like my soul had just been tickled.

So today, I sat at my desk a rested in those 5 minutes again. I savored that scripture, trusted that God was with me, before me, above me, next to me all that good stuff. I’m not going to lie, it feels pretty good today.

For those of you who have managed to read this whole long crazy thing please know that this “hearing from God" thing doesn’t happen to me all that often. It makes me curious… Do any of you also feel like you’re doing something wrong if you don’t get that “God’s right here with me” feeling? What do you do to push through that? Have you learned anything about what it means to wait for his Spirit?

Andy's 5 Minutes

2010-04-26T10:42:00.000-07:00

I greeted the morning with an enthusiastic “Uhg!” and a Nyquil hangover. I’ve been sick the past couple of days. While Galatians talks about eagerly awaiting the hope of righteousness, I’ve been eagerly awaiting the hope of no more cold, no more running nose, no more congested head. But I suppose righteousness is of much more value than cold or no cold, and ultimately a much more profound thing to hope for.

I have to confess, one of my first thoughts today, shortly after the initial “ugh,” was “oh, I have to do that 5 minute thing so that I can write my blog post.” So much for starting things out firmly rooted in Grace and Freedom. But this is sometimes the truth of my spiritual life, I, as much as the next person, often rub up against a sense of obligation, whether there’s a deadline involved or not. So I willed myself out of bed (which can be quite a challenge post nyquil coma), said a quick hello to Hannah and Keller, and plopped myself down in the rocking chair next to our bedroom window. Spot? Found!

Sitting quietly, I began to rest in God’s grace and freedom. For me, this meant thanking God for his grace and the subsequent freedom it brings. Feelings of obligation? There’s nothing I can do, or need to do to “win over” God. Through Christ, everything has been done! Feelings of guilt over having feelings of obligation? Rest on God’s grace and freedom. I began to remember that grace actually welcomes me and receives me as I am. It gives me the freedom to move beyond myself and my hang ups. This is important because it helped me to “rightly” frame the experience I was giving myself to. I even struggled, in the midst of “resting,” with my mind wandering to far off places. But instead of beating myself up over a lack of focus, grace enabled me to refocus, to re-find my resting place. Coming to this place (the place where I recognize that it’s not about obligation or performance) for me was huge. Because when it’s not about obligation or performance, it becomes about one thing, which is (simply) being with God.

I read the scripture passage (psalm 139:7-10). “Where can I go from your spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I settle at the furthest limits of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me.” For me, this was a beautiful thing and I sensed the Lord speaking two significant truths.

The first is this: “I’m with you.”

And the second is this: “I will lead you.”

The thought occurred to me, remembering these two truths throughout my day, my week, my life, would save me a ton of anxiety and stress. Living this truth out is much harder than stating it. But that is what I’m challenging myself to do (or maybe that is what I sense God calling me to) today and this week. So that’s where I’m going to live. I’m going to remember, to remind, to reaffirm, to myself and anyone who will listen, God is with you, and he will lead you. Keep your chin up and your eyes open.

There you go, a window into my experience so far. How about you? Is there a small piece of your experience that you’d be willing to share? What did your 5 minutes look like? Was there a particular part of this practice that was especially meaningful or challenging for you? How did you you sense God’s movement in your day? I’d love to hear from you.

Easter Sunday 4/4

2010-04-03T17:03:00.000-07:00

Suggested Practice:
As you read the passages below, think about this. How do people react to the living Christ when they meet him face to face? How do you react? Contemplate this as you read.

John 20
Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!"
So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. Then Simon Peter, who was behind him, arrived and went into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen. Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.)
Then the disciples went back to their homes, but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.
They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?"
"They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don't know where they have put him." At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.
"Woman," he said, "why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?"
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him."
Jesus said to her, "Mary."
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means Teacher).
Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.' "
Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: "I have seen the Lord!" And she told them that he had said these things to her.
On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."
Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!"
But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it."
A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."
Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"
Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."
Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

John 21:15-22
When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?"
"Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Feed my lambs."
Again Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me?"
He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep."
The third time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?"
Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" He said, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you."
Jesus said, "Feed my sheep. I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go." Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, "Follow me!"
Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, "Lord, who is going to betray you?") When Peter saw him, he asked, "Lord, what about him?"
Jesus answered, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me."

Saturday 4/3

2010-04-02T15:39:00.000-07:00

Matthew 27:45-54
From the sixth hour until the ninth hour darkness came over all the land. About the ninth hour Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?"—which means, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?"
When some of those standing there heard this, they said, "He's calling Elijah."
Immediately one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a stick, and offered it to Jesus to drink.
The rest said, "Now leave him alone. Let's see if Elijah comes to save him."
And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit.
At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook and the rocks split. The tombs broke open and the bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. They came out of the tombs, and after Jesus' resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many people.
When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, "Surely he was the Son of God!"

Reflection:
These sufferings were awful indeed when they began to invade the region about the will; when the struggle to keep consciously trusting in God began to sink in darkness; when the Will of The Man put forth its last determined effort in that cry after the vanishing vision of the Father: My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Never had it been so with him before. Never before had he been unable to see God beside him. Yet never was God nearer him than now. For never was Jesus more divine. He could not see, could not feel him near; and yet it is "My God" that he cries.
Thus the Will of Jesus, in the very moment when his faith seems about to yield, is finally triumphant. It has no feeling now to support it, no beatific vision to absorb it. It stands naked in his soul and tortured, as he stood naked and scourged before Pilate. Pure and simple and surrounded by fire, it declares for God. The sacrifice ascends in the cry, My God. The cry comes not out of happiness, out of peace, out of hope. Not even out of suffering comes that cry. It was a cry in desolation, but it came out of Faith. It is the last voice of Truth, speaking when it can but cry. The divine horror of that moment is unfathomable by human soul. It was blackness of darkness. And yet he would believe. Yet he would hold fast. God was his God yet. My God-- and in the cry came forth the Victory, and all was over soon. Of the peace that followed that cry, the peace of a perfect soul, large as the universe, pure as light, ardent as life, victorious for God and his brethren, he himself alone can ever know the breadth and length, and depth and height.
-George MacDonald
Unspoken Sermons: Series Three, The Eloi

Psalm 22
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me,
so far from the words of my groaning?
My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
by night, but I find no rest.
Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One;
you are the praise of Israel.
In you our ancestors put their trust;
they trusted and you delivered them.
They cried to you and were saved;
in you they trusted and were not disappointed.
But I am a worm, not a human being;
I am scorned by everyone, despised by the people.
All who see me mock me;
they hurl insults, shaking their heads.
"He trusts in the LORD," they say,
"let the LORD rescue him.
Let him deliver him,
since he delights in him."
Yet you brought me out of the womb;
you made me feel secure on my mother's breast.
From birth I was cast on you;
from my mother's womb you have been my God.
Do not be far from me,
for trouble is near
and there is no one to help.
Many bulls surround me;
strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.
Roaring lions that tear their prey
open their mouths wide against me.
I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart has turned to wax;
it has melted within me.
My mouth is dried up like a potsherd,
and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth;
you lay me in the dust of death.
Dogs surround me,
a pack of villains encircles me;
they pierce my hands and my feet.
All my bones are on display;
people stare and gloat over me.
They divide my clothes among them
and cast lots for my garment.
But you, LORD, do not be far from me.
You are my strength; come quickly to help me.
Deliver me from the sword,
my precious life from the power of the dogs.
Rescue me from the mouth of the lions;
save me from the horns of the wild oxen.
I will declare your name to my people;
in the assembly I will praise you.
You who fear the LORD, praise him!
All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!
Revere him,
all you descendants of Israel!
For he has not despised or scorned
the suffering of the afflicted one;
he has not hidden his face from him
but has listened to his cry for help.
From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly;
before those who fear you I will fulfill my vows.
The poor will eat and be satisfied;
those who seek the LORD will praise him—
may your hearts live forever!
All the ends of the earth
will remember and turn to the LORD,
and all the families of the nations
will bow down before him,
for dominion belongs to the LORD
and he rules over the nations.
All the rich of the earth will feast and worship;
all who go down to the dust will kneel before him—
those who cannot keep themselves alive.
Posterity will serve him;
future generations will be told about the Lord.
They will proclaim his righteousness,
declaring to a people yet unborn:
He has done it!

Good Friday 4/2

2010-04-01T23:35:00.000-07:00

Mark 15
Very early in the morning, the chief priests, with the elders, the teachers of the law and the whole Sanhedrin, reached a decision. They bound Jesus, led him away and handed him over to Pilate.
"Are you the king of the Jews?" asked Pilate.
"You have said so," Jesus replied.
The chief priests accused him of many things. 4 So again Pilate asked him, "Aren't you going to answer? See how many things they are accusing you of."
But Jesus still made no reply, and Pilate was amazed.
Now it was the custom at the Festival to release a prisoner whom the people requested. A man called Barabbas was in prison with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the uprising.The crowd came up and asked Pilate to do for them what he usually did.
"Do you want me to release to you the king of the Jews?" asked Pilate, 10 knowing it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed Jesus over to him. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have Pilate release Barabbas instead.
"What shall I do, then, with the one you call the king of the Jews?" Pilate asked them.
"Crucify him!" they shouted.
"Why? What crime has he committed?" asked Pilate.
But they shouted all the louder, "Crucify him!"
Wanting to satisfy the crowd, Pilate released Barabbas to them. He had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.
The soldiers led Jesus away into the palace (that is, the Praetorium) and called together the whole company of soldiers. They put a purple robe on him, then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on him. And they began to call out to him, "Hail, king of the Jews!" Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him. Falling on their knees, they paid homage to him. And when they had mocked him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.
A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross. They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means "the place of the skull"). Then they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. And they crucified him. Dividing up his clothes, they cast lots to see what each would get.
It was nine in the morning when they crucified him. The written notice of the charge against him read: THE KING OF THE JEWS. They crucified two rebels with him, one on his right and one on his left. Those who passed by hurled insults at him, shaking their heads and saying, "So! You who are going to destroy the temple and build it in three days, come down from the cross and save yourself!"
In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law mocked him among themselves. "He saved others," they said, "but he can't save himself! Let this Messiah, this king of Israel, come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe." Those crucified with him also heaped insults on him.
At noon, darkness came over the whole land until three in the afternoon. And at three in the afternoon Jesus cried out in a loud voice, "Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?" (which means "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?").
When some of those standing near heard this, they said, "Listen, he's calling Elijah."
Someone ran, filled a sponge with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink. "Now leave him alone. Let's see if Elijah comes to take him down," he said.
With a loud cry, Jesus breathed his last.
The curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.
And when the centurion, who stood there in front of Jesus, saw how he died, he said, "Surely this man was the Son of God!"
Some women were watching from a distance. Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the younger and of Joseph, and Salome. In Galilee these women had followed him and cared for his needs. Many other women who had come up with him to Jerusalem were also there.
It was Preparation Day (that is, the day before the Sabbath). So as evening approached, Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent member of the Council, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, went boldly to Pilate and asked for Jesus' body. Pilate was surprised to hear that he was already dead. Summoning the centurion, he asked him if Jesus had already died. When he learned from the centurion that it was so, he gave the body to Joseph. So Joseph bought some linen cloth, took down the body, wrapped it in the linen, and placed it in a tomb cut out of rock. Then he rolled a stone against the entrance of the tomb. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph saw where he was laid.

Suggested Practice:
Some ideas for reflection:

1.Click on the link for information about Eastridge’s Good Friday contemplative open worship service.

2. Take small strip of cloth. Tie it around your wrist in representation of Christ’s grave clothes. For the next couple of days, let it remind you of Jesus’ sacrifice and the suffering he went through. On Easter morning, cut it off and celebrate the victory over death!

3. Spend some time reflecting on the crucifixion of Jesus. Write out your thoughts, perhaps in the form of a prayer, a poem, scattered thoughts. Put words on paper to help you meditate on Jesus’ death.

Maundy Thursday 4/1

2010-03-31T13:21:00.000-07:00

Mark 14:32-72
They went to a place called Gethsemane, and Jesus said to his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” He took Peter, James and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled.
“My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death,” he said to them. “Stay here and keep watch.”
Going a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if possible the hour might pass from him.
“Abba , Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”
Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. “Simon,” he said to Peter, “are you asleep? Could you not keep watch for one hour?
Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
Once more he went away and prayed the same thing.
When he came back, he again found them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. They did not know what to say to him.
Returning the third time, he said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Enough! The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is delivered into the hands of sinners. Rise! Let us go! Here comes my betrayer!”
Just as he was speaking, Judas, one of the Twelve, appeared. With him was a crowd armed with swords and clubs, sent from the chief priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders.
Now the betrayer had arranged a signal with them: “The one I kiss is the man; arrest him and lead him away under guard.” Going at once to Jesus, Judas said, “Rabbi!” and kissed him. The men seized Jesus and arrested him.
Then one of those standing near drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his ear.
“Am I leading a rebellion,” said Jesus, “that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? Every day I was with you, teaching in the temple courts, and you did not arrest me. But the Scriptures must be fulfilled.”
Then everyone deserted him and fled.
A young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus. When they seized him, he fled naked, leaving his garment behind.
They took Jesus to the high priest, and all the chief priests, the elders and the teachers of the law came together.
Peter followed him at a distance, right into the courtyard of the high priest. There he sat with the guards and warmed himself at the fire.
The chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death, but they did not find any.
Many testified falsely against him, but their statements did not agree.
Then some stood up and gave this false testimony against him: “We heard him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with human hands and in three days will build another, not made with hands.’ ”
Yet even then their testimony did not agree.
Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?”
But Jesus remained silent and gave no answer.
Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?”
“I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
The high priest tore his clothes. “Why do we need any more witnesses?” he asked.
“You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?”
They all condemned him as worthy of death.
Then some began to spit at him; they blindfolded him, struck him with their fists, and said, “Prophesy!” And the guards took him and beat him.
While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came by.
When she saw Peter warming himself, she looked closely at him.
“You also were with that Nazarene, Jesus,” she said.
But he denied it. “I don’t know or understand what you’re talking about,” he said, and went out into the entryway.
When the servant girl saw him there, she said again to those standing around, “This fellow is one of them.”
Again he denied it.
After a little while, those standing near said to Peter, “Surely you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.”
He began to call down curses, and he swore to them, “I don’t know this man you’re talking about.”
Immediately the rooster crowed the second time. Then Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows twice you will disown me three times.” And he broke down and wept.

Reflection/Prayer:

Jesus, keep me near the cross,
There a precious fountain
Free to all, a healing stream
Flows from Calvary’s mountain.

Near the cross, a trembling soul,
Love and mercy found me;
There the bright and morning star
Sheds its beams around me.

Near the cross! O Lamb of God,
Bring its scenes before me;
Help me walk from day to day,
With its shadows o’er me.

Near the cross I’ll watch and wait
Hoping, trusting ever,
Till I reach the golden strand,
Just beyond the river.

In the cross, in the cross,
Be my glory ever;
Till my raptured soul shall find
Rest beyond the river.
-Traditional Hymn, words by Fanny Crosby

Wednesday 3/31

2010-03-30T19:12:00.000-07:00

Mark 14:12-31
On the first day of the Festival of Unleavened Bread, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus’ disciples asked him, “Where do you want us to go and make preparations for you to eat the Passover?”
So he sent two of his disciples, telling them, “Go into the city, and a man carrying a jar of water will meet you. Follow him. Say to the owner of the house he enters, ‘The Teacher asks: Where is my guest room, where I may eat the Passover with my disciples?’
He will show you a large room upstairs, furnished and ready. Make preparations for us there.”
The disciples left, went into the city and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover.
When evening came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve.
While they were reclining at the table eating, he said, “Truly I tell you, one of you will betray me—one who is eating with me.”
They were saddened, and one by one they said to him, “Surely not I?”
“It is one of the Twelve,” he replied, “one who dips bread into the bowl with me.
The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”
While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take it; this is my body.”
Then he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, and they all drank from it.
“This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them.
“Truly I tell you, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.”
When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
“You will all fall away,” Jesus told them, “for it is written:
“ ‘I will strike the shepherd,
and the sheep will be scattered.’
But after I have risen, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”
Peter declared, “Even if all fall away, I will not.”
“Truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “today—yes, tonight—before the rooster crows twice you yourself will disown me three times.”
But Peter insisted emphatically, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you.” And all the others said the same.

Reflection:
"Behold, the hour cometh . . . that ye shall be scattered." John 16:32
Jesus is not rebuking the disciples, their faith was real, but it was disturbed; it was not at work in actual things. The disciples were scattered to their own interests, alive to interests that never were in Jesus Christ. After we have been perfectly related to God in sanctification, our faith has to be worked out in actualities. We shall be scattered, not into work, but into inner desolations and made to know what internal death to God's blessings means. Are we prepared for this? It is not that we choose it, but that God engineers our circumstances so that we are brought there. Until we have been through that experience, our faith is bolstered up by feelings and by blessings. When once we get there, no matter where God places us or what the inner desolations are, we can praise God that all is well. That is faith being worked out in actualities.
". . . and shall leave Me alone." Have we left Jesus alone by the scattering of His providence? Because we do not see God in our circumstances? Darkness comes by the sovereignty of God. Are we prepared to let God do as He likes with us - prepared to be separated from conscious blessings? Until Jesus Christ is Lord, we all have ends of our own to serve; our faith is real, but it is not permanent yet. God is never in a hurry; if we wait, we shall see that God is pointing out that we have not been interested in Himself but only in His blessings. The sense of God's blessing is elemental.
"Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." Spiritual grit is what we need.
-Oswald Chambers
My Utmost For His Highest

Tuesday 3/30

2010-03-29T18:56:00.001-07:00

Mark 11:1-11
As they approached Jerusalem and came to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, Jesus sent two of his disciples, saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and just as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here.
If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ say, ‘The Lord needs it and will send it back here shortly.’ ”
They went and found a colt outside in the street, tied at a doorway. As they untied it, some people standing there asked, “What are you doing, untying that colt?” They answered as Jesus had told them to, and the people let them go. When they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their cloaks over it, he sat on it. Many people spread their cloaks on the road, while others spread branches they had cut in the fields.
Those who went ahead and those who followed shouted,
“Hosanna! ”
“Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David!”
“Hosanna in the highest heaven!”
Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the temple courts. He looked around at everything, but since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the Twelve.

Reflection:
Hosanna to our conquering King!
The prince of darkness flies,
His troops rush headlong down to hell
Like lightning from the skies.

There, bound in chains, the lions roar,
And fright the rescu'd sheep,
But heavy bars confine their power
And malice to the deep.

Hosanna to our conquering King,
All hail, incarnate love!
Ten thousand songs and glories wait
To crown thy head above.

Thy victories and thy deathless fame
Thro' the wide world shall run,
And everlasting ages sing
The triumphs thou hast won.
-Isaac Watts

Monday 3/29

2010-03-28T18:22:00.001-07:00

Mark 14:3-9
While he was in Bethany, reclining at the table in the home of Simon the Leper, a woman came with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, made of pure nard. She broke the jar and poured the perfume on his head.
Some of those present were saying indignantly to one another, “Why this waste of perfume?
It could have been sold for more than a year’s wages and the money given to the poor.” And they rebuked her harshly.
“Leave her alone,” said Jesus. “Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, and you can help them any time you want. But you will not always have me. She did what she could. She poured perfume on my body beforehand to prepare for my burial.
Truly I tell you, wherever the gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

Suggested Practice:
Pray through the scripture below. Read through it slowly, perhaps aloud, and spend time in adoration of God.

Psalm 84
How lovely is your dwelling place,
Lord Almighty!
My soul yearns, even faints,
for the courts of the Lord;
my heart and my flesh cry out
for the living God.
Even the sparrow has found a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may have her young—
a place near your altar,
Lord Almighty, my King and my God.
Blessed are those who dwell in your house;
they are ever praising you.
Blessed are those whose strength is in you,
whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
As they pass through the Valley of Baka,
they make it a place of springs;
the autumn rains also cover it with pools.
They go from strength to strength,
till each appears before God in Zion.
Hear my prayer, Lord God Almighty;
listen to me, God of Jacob.
Look on our shield, O God;
look with favor on your anointed one.
Better is one day in your courts
than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God
than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
For the Lord God is a sun and shield;
the Lord bestows favor and honor;
no good thing does he withhold
from those whose walk is blameless.
Lord Almighty,
blessed are those who trust in you.

Sunday 3/28

2010-03-28T17:15:00.000-07:00

1 Corinthians 13
If I speak in human or angelic tongues, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body  to hardship  that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.
For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Reflection:
Yes, my beloved, this is how my life will be consumed. I have no other means of proving my love for you other than that of strewing flowers, that is, not allowing one little sacrifice to escape, not one look, one work, profiting by all the smallest things and doing them through love.
I desire to suffer for love and even to rejoice through love; and in this way I shall strew flowers before your throne. I shall not come upon one without unpetalling it for you.
While I am strewing my flowers, I shall sing, for could one cry while doing such a joyous action? I shall sing even when I must gather my flowers in the midst of thorns, and my song will be all the more melodious in proportion to the length and sharpness of the thorns.
-St. Therese of Lisieux
Story of a Soul

Saturday 3/27

2010-03-28T17:08:00.000-07:00

Mark 7:1-13
The Pharisees and some of the teachers of the law who had come from Jerusalem gathered around Jesus and saw some of his disciples eating food with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. (The Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they give their hands a ceremonial washing, holding to the tradition of the elders.
When they come from the marketplace they do not eat unless they wash. And they observe many other traditions, such as the washing of cups, pitchers and kettles. )
So the Pharisees and teachers of the law asked Jesus, “Why don’t your disciples live according to the tradition of the elders instead of eating their food with defiled hands?”
He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:
“ ‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
They worship me in vain;
their teachings are merely human rules.’
You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.”
And he continued, “You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions! For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and, ‘Anyone who curses their father or mother is to be put to death.’ But you say that if anyone declares that what might have been used to help their father or mother is Corban (that is, devoted to God)—then you no longer let them do anything for their father or mother.
Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many things like that.”

Reflection:
I firmly believe people have hitherto been a great deal too much taken up about doctrine and far too little about practice. The word doctrine, as used in the Bible, means teaching of duty, not theory. I preached a sermon about this. We are far too anxious to be definite and to have finished, well-polished, sharp-edged systems - forgetting that the more perfect a theory about the infinite, the surer it is to be wrong, the more impossible it is to be right.
-George MacDonald
from a letter to his father

Friday 3/26

2010-03-25T19:23:00.000-07:00

1 Chronicles 16:1-34
They brought the ark of God and set it inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and they presented burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before God.2 After David had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord.
Then he gave a loaf of bread, a cake of dates and a cake of raisins to each Israelite man and woman.
He appointed some of the Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord, to extol, thank, and praise the Lord, the God of Israel:5 Asaph was the chief, and next to him in rank were Zechariah, then Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-Edom and Jeiel. They were to play the lyres and harps, Asaph was to sound the cymbals, and Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests were to blow the trumpets regularly before the ark of the covenant of God.
That day David first appointed Asaph and his associates to give praise to the Lord in this manner:
Give praise to the Lord, call on his name;
make known among the nations what he has done.
Sing to him, sing praise to him;
tell of all his wonderful acts.
Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
Look to the Lord and his strength;
seek his face always.
Remember the wonders he has done,
his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,
you his servants, the descendants of Israel,
his chosen ones, the children of Jacob.
He is the Lord our God;
his judgments are in all the earth.
He remembers his covenant forever,
the promise he made, for a thousand generations,
the covenant he made with Abraham,
the oath he swore to Isaac.
He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree,
to Israel as an everlasting covenant:
“To you I will give the land of Canaan
as the portion you will inherit.”
When they were but few in number,
few indeed, and strangers in it,
they wandered from nation to nation,
from one kingdom to another.
He allowed no one to oppress them;
for their sake he rebuked kings:
“Do not touch my anointed ones;
do my prophets no harm.”
Sing to the Lord, all the earth;
proclaim his salvation day after day.
Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous deeds among all peoples.
For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;
he is to be feared above all gods.
For all the gods of the nations are idols,
but the Lord made the heavens.
Splendor and majesty are before him;
strength and joy are in his dwelling place.
Ascribe to the Lord, all you families of nations,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
bring an offering and come before him.
Worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.
Tremble before him, all the earth!
The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved.
Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;
let them say among the nations, “The Lord reigns!”
Let the sea resound, and all that is in it;
let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them!
Let the trees of the forest sing,
let them sing for joy before the Lord,
for he comes to judge the earth.
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures forever.

Reflection:
I do not, in my private capacity, believe that a baby gets his best physical food by sucking his thumb; nor that a man gets his best moral food by sucking his soul, and denying its dependence on God or other good things. I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.
–G.K. Chesterton
A Short History of England

i thank You God for most this amazing
day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes

(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun's birthday; this is the birth
day of life and of love and wings: and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)

how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any--lifted from the no
of all nothing--human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?

(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)
-e.e. cummings

Thursday 3/25

2010-03-25T00:23:00.000-07:00

Mark 9:35-41
Sitting down, Jesus called the Twelve and said, “Anyone who wants to be first must be the very last, and the servant of all.”
He took a little child whom he placed among them. Taking the child in his arms, he said to them,
“Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”
“Teacher,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.”
“Do not stop him,” Jesus said. “No one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us.
Truly I tell you, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to the Messiah will certainly be rewarded.

Reflection:
In this life we cannot do great things. We can only do small things with great love. –Mother Teresa

If I can stop one heart from breaking,
I shall not live in vain;
If I can ease one life the aching,
Or cool one pain,
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again,
I shall not live in vain.
-Emily Dickinson

Prayer:
Lord, help me to be faithful in the simple, everyday things you call me to do. May I be content with the work you give me and show your love moment to moment. Lead me in the way everlasting, one step at a time. Amen.

Wednesday 3/24

2010-03-23T22:30:00.000-07:00

Ephesians 2:13-22
But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
For he himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace, and in one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.
For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.
Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord.
And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.

Reflection:
Four Things Which Bring Great Peace
The Voice of Christ:
My Child, I will teach you now the way of peace and true liberty. Seek, child, to do the will of others rather than your own. Always choose to have less rather than more. Look always for the last place and seek to be beneath all others. Always wish and pray that the will of God be fully carried out in you. Behold, such will enter into the realm of peace and rest.
The Disciple:
O Lord, this brief discourse of Yours contains much perfection. It is short in words but full of meaning and abounding in fruit. Certainly if I could only keep it faithfully, I should not be so easily disturbed. For as often as I find myself troubled and dejected, I find that I have departed from this teaching. But You Who can do all things, and Who always love what is for my soul's welfare, give me increase of grace that I may keep Your words.
-Thomas A. Kempis
The Imitation of Christ

Philippians 2:1-8
Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,
not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
In your relationships with one another, have the same attitude of mind Christ Jesus had:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a human being,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!

Tuesday 3/23

2010-03-23T02:20:00.001-07:00

1 Samuel 7:1-13
So the men of Kiriath Jearim came and took up the ark of the Lord. They brought it to Abinadab’s house on the hill and consecrated Eleazar his son to guard the ark of the Lord.
The ark remained at Kiriath Jearim a long time—twenty years in all.
Then all the people of Israel turned back to the Lord. So Samuel said to the whole house of Israel, “If you are returning to the Lord with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to the Lord and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.”
So the Israelites put away their Baals and Ashtoreths, and served the Lord only.
Then Samuel said, “Assemble all Israel at Mizpah, and I will intercede with the Lord for you.”
When they had assembled at Mizpah, they drew water and poured it out before the Lord. On that day they fasted and there they confessed, “We have sinned against the Lord.” Now Samuel was serving as leader of Israel at Mizpah.
When the Philistines heard that Israel had assembled at Mizpah, the rulers of the Philistines came up to attack them. When the Israelites heard of it, they were afraid because of the Philistines. They said to Samuel, “Do not stop crying out to the Lord our God for us, that he may rescue us from the hand of the Philistines.”
Then Samuel took a suckling lamb and sacrificed it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. He cried out to the Lord on Israel’s behalf, and the Lord answered him.
While Samuel was sacrificing the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to engage Israel in battle. But that day the Lord thundered with loud thunder against the Philistines and threw them into such a panic that they were routed before the Israelites.
The men of Israel rushed out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, slaughtering them along the way to a point below Beth Kar.
Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.”
So the Philistines were subdued and they stopped invading Israel’s territory. Throughout Samuel’s lifetime, the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines.

Suggested Practice:
Take a small rock, or a note card of some kind, and write on it, “Thus far the Lord has helped me.” Put it where you will see it often - on your desk, on the refrigerator, in your car, etc. Each time you see it take a moment to remind yourself of God’s faithfulness. Remind yourself how he has been faithful to you and trust that he will continue to be. Remind yourself that every success and every blessing is a result of God’s faithfulness. “Thus far the Lord has helped me.”

Monday 3/22

2010-03-21T20:28:00.001-07:00

Psalm 139
You have searched me, Lord,
and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue
you, Lord, know it completely.
You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.
Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.
If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,”
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.
For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
How precious to me are your thoughts, God!
How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand—
when I awake, I am still with you.
If only you, God, would slay the wicked!
Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!
They speak of you with evil intent;
your adversaries misuse your name.
Do I not hate those who hate you, Lord,
and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?
I have nothing but hatred for them;
I count them my enemies.
Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

Suggested Practice:
The Prayer of Examen is an ancient practice of the church. In its simplest form, it is an examination of conscience and a reflection on our lives with God. The Prayer of Examen is usually done once or twice daily, most often just before bed. There are five steps, or parts to the prayer. First is thanksgiving. Thank God for who he is and what he’s done in your life. Second is intention. Pray to God about your desires for yourself and others. Thirdly, examination. How have you experienced God’s love today? Where did he show up? Thank him for these things. Fourth is contrition. How did you fail to respond to God’s love today? Confess these shortcomings to God. Finally, hope. Commit to God how you will let him lead you into tomorrow.
Try this exercise for a week or so. During lent it is extremely important to examine our lives and hearts before God and invite him to change what is out of alignment with his will.

Sunday 3/21

2010-03-20T23:23:00.000-07:00

Matthew 18:21-35
Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive someone who sins against me? Up to seven times?”
Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
“Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him.
Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
“The servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’
The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
“But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
“His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’
“But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt.
When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.
“Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’
In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
“This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive a brother or sister from your heart.”

Reflection:
One evening recently the members of my parish formed a big circle inside the church. The ends of the circle overlapped and my husband, the priest, faced a subdeacon. He bowed to touch the floor, then said, "Please forgive me, my brother, for any way I have sinned against you." Greg responded, "I forgive you," then bowed and asked forgiveness in turn. When my husband gave it, the two embraced, then each moved on to the next person in line.
As the circle advanced, every person had a turn to stand face to face with every other person, asking and giving forgiveness. Joy mingled with tears. A woman I'd quarreled with opened her arms wide and said with a smile, "C'mere. This is going to take awhile."
We do this every year at the beginning of Lent, just as Orthodox Christians do all over the world. But when I described it to a non-Orthodox friend she wondered how we could give forgiveness without discussion and negotiation. The other person might hurt you again. You might even suspect their repentance is phony.
How can you give forgiveness? By remembering how much God has to forgive you. It's that simple. Forgiveness is never what a person deserves--if we got what we deserved, it wouldn't be forgiveness. When we forgive, we give a costly gift, just as God gives us, and we can't control whether the other person will use that gift well or badly. But we can refuse to go on being chained to their past behavior through bonds of anger and judgment. Anger is an acid that destroys its container. We give forgiveness every year because we need to do that to stay healthy. We ask for forgiveness, because we need that even more.
-Frederica Mathewes-Green (Eastern Orthodox writer)

Prayer:
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.

Saturday 3/20

2010-03-20T01:36:00.001-07:00

Job 11:7-20
Can you fathom the mysteries of God?
Can you probe the limits of the Almighty?
They are higher than the heavens above—what can you do?
They are deeper than the depths below—what can you know?
Their measure is longer than the earth
and wider than the sea.
“If he comes along and confines you in prison
and convenes a court, who can oppose him?
Surely he recognizes deceivers;
and when he sees evil, does he not take note?
But the witless can no more become wise
than a wild donkey’s colt can be born a human being.
“Yet if you devote your heart to him
and stretch out your hands to him,
if you put away the sin that is in your hand
and allow no evil to dwell in your tent,
then, free of fault, you will lift up your face;
you will stand firm and without fear.
You will surely forget your trouble,
recalling it only as waters gone by.
Life will be brighter than noonday,
and darkness will become like morning.
You will be secure, because there is hope;
you will look about you and take your rest in safety.
You will lie down, with no one to make you afraid,
and many will court your favor.
But the eyes of the wicked will fail,
and escape will elude them;
their hope will become a dying gasp.”

Story:
If the horse had been any good - or if he had known how to get any good out of the horse - he would have risked everything on a breakaway and a wild gallop. But he knew he couldn’t make that horse gallop. So he went on at a walking pace and the unseen companion walked and breathed beside him. At last he could bear it no longer.

“Who are you?” he said, scarcely above a whisper.

“One who has waited long for you to speak,” said the Thing. Its voice was not loud, but very large and deep.

“Are you- are you a giant?” asked Shasta.

“You might call me a giant,” said the Large Voice. “But I am not like the creatures you call giants.”

“I can’t see you at all,” said Shasta, after staring very hard. Then (for an even more terrible idea had come into his head) he said, almost in a scream, “You’re not - not something dead, are you? Oh please - please do go away. What harm have I ever done you? Oh, I am the unluckiest person in the whole world!”

Once more he felt the warm breath of the Thing on his hand and face. “There,” it said, “that is not the breath of a ghost. Tell me your sorrows.”

Shasta was a little reassured by the breath: so he told how he had never known his real father or mother and had been brought up sternly by the fisherman. And then he told the story of his escape and how they were chased by lions and forced to swim for their lives; and of all their dangers in Tashbaan and about his night among the tombs and how the beasts howled at him out of the desert. And he told about the heat and thirst of their desert journey and how they were almost at their goal when another lion chased them and wounded Aravis. And also, how very long it was since he had had anything to eat.

“I do not call you unfortunate,” said the Large Voice.

“Don’t you think it was bad luck to meet so many lions?” said Shasta.

“There was only one lion,” said the Voice.

“What on earth do you mean? I’ve just told you there were at least two the first night, and-”

“There was only one: but he was swift of foot.”

“How do you know?”

“I was the lion.” And as Shasta gaped with open mouth and said nothing, the Voice continued. “I was the lion who forced you to join with Aravis. I was the cat who comforted you among the houses of the dead. I was the lion who drove the jackals from you while you slept. I was the lion who gave the Horses the new strength of fear for the last mile so that you should reach King Lune in time. And I was the lion you do not remember who pushed the boat in which you lay, a child near death, so that it came to shore where a man sat, wakeful at midnight, to receive you.”

“Then it was you who wounded Aravis?”

“It was I.”

“But what for?”

“Child,” said the Voice, “I am telling you your story, not hers. I tell no one any story but his own.”

“Who are you?” asked Shasta.

“Myself,” said the Voice, very deep and low so that the earth shook: and again “Myself”, loud and clear and gay: and then the third time “Myself”, whispered so softly you could hardly hear it, and yet it seemed to come from all round you as if the leaves rustled with it.

Shasta was no longer afraid that the Voice belonged to something that would eat him, nor that it was the voice of a ghost. But a new and different sort of trembling came over him. Yet he felt glad too.
-C.S. Lewis
The Chronicles of Narnia, The Horse and His Boy

Friday 3/19

2010-03-19T01:28:00.001-07:00

Reflection:
I have found in many books many different ways of going to God and many different practices in living the spiritual life. I began to see that this was only confusing me, as the only thing I was seeking was to become wholly God’s. Thus, I resolved to give my all for God’s all. After having given myself wholly to God that he might take away my sin, I renounced, for the love of God, everything that was not God, and I began to live as if there was none but God and I in the world.
Sometimes I imagined myself standing before him as a poor criminal at the feet of the judge. At other times I beheld him in my heart as my Father and as my God. I worshiped him as often as I could, keeping my mind in his holy presence and recalling it back to God as often as I found it had wandered from him.
I found a great deal of pain in this exercise, and yet I continued it even in the midst of all the difficulties that occurred, trying not to trouble myself or get angry when my mind had wandered involuntarily. I made this my business throughout the entire day in addition to my appointed times of prayer.
At all times, every hour, every minute, even at my busiest times, I drove away from my mind everything that was capable of interrupting my thought of God.
This has been my practice since the first days I entered into religion. Though I have done it imperfectly, I have found great advantages in this practice. I am aware, however, that all of these advantages are to be attributed to the mercy and goodness of God, because we can do nothing without him—especially me!!
But when we are faithful in keeping ourselves in his holy presence, keeping him always before us, this not only prevents our offending him or doing something displeasing in his sight (at least willfully), but it also brings to us a holy freedom, and if I may say so, a familiarity with God wherein we may ask and receive the graces we are so desperately in need of.
In short, by often repeating these acts they become habitual, and the presence of God becomes something that comes naturally to us. Give God thanks with me for his great goodness toward me, which I can never sufficiently admire, and for the many favors he has done for so miserable a sinner as I am.
-Brother Lawrence
The Practice of the Presence of God

Psalm 1
Blessed are those
who do not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
but who delight in the law of the Lord
and meditate on his law day and night.
They are like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers.
Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked will be destroyed.

Thursday 3/18

2010-03-17T22:47:00.001-07:00

Prayer:
Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief. (Mark 9:24)

John 6:54-69
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them. Just as the living Father sent me and I live because of the Father, so the one who feeds on me will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Your ancestors ate manna and died, but whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.”
He said this while teaching in the synagogue in Capernaum.
On hearing it, many of his disciples said, “This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”
Aware that his disciples were grumbling about this, Jesus said to them, “Does this offend you? Then what if you see the Son of Man ascend to where he was before! The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit and life. Yet there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe and who would betray him.
He went on to say, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father has enabled them.”
From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.
“You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.
Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”

Reflection:
To a spiritual community that offers formula in place of faith, a belief that Jesus was the Son of God and God as well is more than a description of the Messenger of the gospel, it is entwined in the message itself, and the idea seems as necessary as the word He speaks. There is no question that a part of what we believe as Christians is that Jesus was in fact God. We cling to this as truth, we cling to that which we do not understand, just as love causes a man to cling to a woman, and love causes a father or mother to connect deeply with his or her child. Indeed, as Jesus looks across the social landscape into the fear-filled eyes of the inhabitants of the lifeboat, He does not offer a formula that will help us win the game, He offers Himself.
I want to tell you without reservation that if there is any hope for you and me, for this planet set kilter in the fifteen-billion light year expanse of endless mystery, the hope would have to be in this Man who contends He is not of us, but with us, and simply IS. I AM WHO I AM.
-Donald Miller
Searching For God Knows What

Wednesday 3/17

2010-03-17T00:49:00.000-07:00

Mark 12:28-34
One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”
“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’
The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
“Well said, teacher,” the man replied. “You are right in saying that God is one and there is no other but him.
To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
When Jesus saw that he had answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” And from then on no one dared ask him any more questions.

Reflection:
So the ministers of the Spirit must minister to the Spirit that is in prison, which hath been in captivity in every one, that with the Spirit of Christ people may be led out of captivity up to God, the Father of spirits, do service to Him, and have unity with Him, with the Scriptures, and with one another. This is the word of the Lord God to you all, a charge to you all in the presence of the living God; be patterns, be examples, in all countries, places, islands, nations, wherever you come; that your carriage and life may preach among all sorts of people, and to them; then you will come to walk cheerfully over the world, answering that of God in every one; whereby in them ye may be a blessing, and make the witness of God in them to bless you: then to the Lord God you will be a sweet savor, and a blessing.
Therefore be still awhile from thy own thoughts, searching, seeking, desires, and imaginations, and be staid in the principle of God in thee, that it may raise thy mind up to God, and stay it upon God, and thou wilt find strength from him, and find him to be a God at hand, a present help in time of trouble, and of need. And thou being come to the principle of God, which hath been transgressed, it will keep thee humble; and the humble, God will teach his way, which is peace, and such he doth exalt.
-George Fox
Journals

Food for Though:
What does true Christianity look like? What does is mean to be authentic in faith? What does it mean to be a Kingdom person?

Tuesday 3/16

2010-03-16T01:02:00.001-07:00

I Kings 19:9-18
And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”
The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.
When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.
Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”
The Lord said to him, “Go back the way you came, and go to the Desert of Damascus. When you get there, anoint Hazael king over Aram. Also, anoint Jehu son of Nimshi king over Israel, and anoint Elisha son of Shaphat from Abel Meholah to succeed you as prophet. Jehu will put to death any who escape the sword of Hazael, and Elisha will put to death any who escape the sword of Jehu.
Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.”

Reflection:
When I was a small girl, I was fascinated by all things religious and holy. God, obviously, fitted squarely into that category. God lived (so they told me) in our huge, greystone cathedral, and there, indeed, he was to be found--hiding in a gold box surrounded by flowers, candles, and velvet curtains. I spent hours in the silence and the darkness of the huge cathedral--often all alone--just sitting, breathing, awed by a deep, intuitive awareness that I sat with God.
Little did I know, at such a tender age, that I was engaged in contemplative prayer. I was simply absorbed by a sense of divine presence. It has never really gone away. As I grew older, however, life became busy and demanding. I went to college, then to Africa as a lay missionary teacher, and later founded the Volunteer Missionary Movement. I didn't really have the time to sit in dark and holy places, wide-eyed by mystery. I was very busy about the business of saving the world.
But I didn't save the world. That has already been done. I am in a sense--like everyone else--trying to save myself, to become fully myself for God. My journey is coming full circle. Older, wiser, and deeper than in those earlier years when I sat in the cathedral, I now sit again, not in my cathedral but in myself. I "sit" wherever I find myself, for my cathedral is within me.
I know now that no matter how far we travel, how much we accomplish, how deeply we suffer, or how joyfully we dance, God is always with us in all of those things for the whole of our life's journey. That dark, silent, and mysterious place stays with us, housing the holy. Like the Lenten experience, there are no extra props. There is just the darkness and the emptiness and, at the very heart of all that the divine presence, the Holy One whom we seek, breathing, hidden within us, eternally loving and waiting.
-Edwina Gateley
Contemplative Prayer

Suggested Practice:
Sit for a while in contemplative conversation with God. Repeat and mull over a line of scripture, speak simply and leave silence for God to answer, go outdoors to a quiet place and walk as you listen, contemplate how God has shown up in your day or your week, or simply sit in silence. Practice quiet, contemplative prayer.

Monday 3/15

2010-03-15T01:05:00.000-07:00

Luke 10:25-37
On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
“What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
He answered, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’ ; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ”
“You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him.
The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’
“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?”
The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”
Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

Reflection:
It may be possible for each to think too much of his own potential glory hereafter; it is hardly possible for him to think too often or too deeply about that of his neighbour. The load, or weight, or burden of my neighbour’s glory should be laid on my back, a load so heavy that only humility can carry it, and the backs of the proud will be broken. It is a serious thing to live in a society of potential gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or the other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations – these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit – immortal horrors and everlasting splendours. This does not mean that we are to be perpetually solemn. We must play. But our merriment must be of that kind (and it is, in fact, the merriest kind) which exists between people who have, from the outset, taken each other seriously – no flippancy, no superiority, no presumption. And our charity must be a real and costly love, with deep feeling for the sins in spite of which we love the sinner – no mere tolerance or indulgence which parodies love as flippancy parodies merriment. Next to the Blessed Sacrament itself, you neighbour is the holiest object presented to your senses.
-C.S. Lewis
The Weight of Glory

Sunday 3/14

2010-03-13T22:15:00.001-08:00

1 John 3:10-23
This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Those who do not do what is right are not God’s children; nor are those who do not love their brothers and sisters.
For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous. Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death.
Anyone who hates a fellow believer is a murderer, and you know that no murderers have eternal life in them.
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for one another. If any one of you has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in you?
Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.
This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.

Reflection:
When we set our will to be loving and humble the effect of mercy and grace is to make us all beautiful and clean. As mighty and as wise as God is to save men, so great too is his purpose for us. For Christ himself is the foundation of all the laws by which Christians live, and he taught us to prefer good to evil. He himself exemplifies this love, and practices what he preaches. His will is that we should be entirely like him in our continuing love for ourselves and our fellow Christians. His love for us is not broken by our sins; nor does he intend that our love should be broken for ourselves or our fellow Christians. We are hate sin absolutely, we are to love the soul eternally, just as God loves it. Our hatred of sin will be like God’s hatred of it: our love of the soul like God’s. This word he has said is continual comfort: “I keep you securely.”
-Lady Julian of Norwich
Revelations of Divine Love (Modern Translation)

Saturday 3/13

2010-03-12T01:24:00.001-08:00

Prayer:
O Light born of Light,
Jesus, redeemer of the world,
with loving-kindness deign to receive
suppliant praise and prayer.
Thou who once deigned to be clothed in flesh
for the sake of the lost,
grant us to be members
of thy blessed body.
(Ancient Latin text)

John 12:35-46
The crowd spoke up, “We have heard from the Law that the Messiah will remain forever, so how can you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this ‘Son of Man’?”
Then Jesus told them, “You are going to have the light just a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, before darkness overtakes you. Those who walk in the dark do not know where they are going.
Put your trust in the light while you have the light, so that you may become children of light.” When he had finished speaking, Jesus left and hid himself from them.
Even after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him.
This was to fulfill the word of Isaiah the prophet:
“Lord, who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”
For this reason they could not believe, because, as Isaiah says elsewhere:
“He has blinded their eyes
and hardened their hearts,
so they can neither see with their eyes,
nor understand with their hearts,
nor turn—and I would heal them.”
Isaiah said this because he saw Jesus’ glory and spoke about him.
Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not openly acknowledge their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved human glory more than the glory of God.
Then Jesus cried out, “Those who believe in me do not believe in me only, but in the one who sent me. When they look at me, they see the one who sent me.
I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.

Reflection:
Blessed are they… who have received Christ coming as light in the darkness (Jn 1:5,12), for they are become sons of light and of day (1 Thes 5:5).

Blessed are they who even now have put on His light, for they are clothed already with the wedding garment. They will not be bound hand and foot, nor will they be cast into the everlasting fire… (Mt 22:11-13)

Blessed are they who hourly taste of the ineffable light with the mouth of their intellect, for they shall walk "becomingly as in the day" (Rom 13:13), and spend all their time in rejoicing…

Blessed are they who have kindled the light in their hearts even now and have kept it unquenched, for on their departing this life they shall go radiant to meet the Bridegroom, and go in with Him to the bridal chamber bearing their lamps… (Mt 25:1-13)

Blessed are they who ever weep bitterly for their sins, for the light shall seize them and change the bitter into sweet (Mt 5:4).

Blessed are they who shine with the divine light and who see their own infirmity and understand the deformity of their soul's vesture, for they shall weep without failing and, but by the channels of their tears, be washed clean.

Blessed are they who have drawn near the divine light and entered within it and become wholly light, having been mingled with it, for they have completely taken off their soiled vesture and shall weep bitter tears no more (Rom 13:12-14).
-St. Symeon the New Theologian

Friday 3/12

2010-03-12T00:52:00.000-08:00

Prayer:
Keep, O Lord, your household the Church in your steadfast faith and love, that through your grace we may proclaim your truth with boldness, and minister your justice with compassion for the sake of our savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
(Book of Common Prayer)

Romans 12:1-8
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is true worship.
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.
Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

Reflection:
Lord, help us to see in your Crucifixion and Resurrection an example of how to endure and seemingly to die in the agony and conflict of daily life so that we may live more fully and creatively.
You accepted patiently and humbly the rebuffs of human life, as well as the tortures of your Crucifixion and Passion. Help us to accept the pains and conflicts that come to us each day as opportunities to grow as people and become more like you. Enable us to go through them patiently and bravely, trusting that you will support us. Make us realize that it is only by frequent deaths of ourselves and our self-centered desires that we can come to live more fully; for it is only by dying with you that we can rise with you.
-Mother Teresa
A Gift for God: Prayers and Meditations

Thursday 3/11

2010-03-11T01:00:00.000-08:00

Hebrews 12:18-29
You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm; to a trumpet blast or to such a voice speaking words that those who heard it begged that no further word be spoken to them, because they could not bear what was commanded: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.”
The sight was so terrifying that Moses said, “I am trembling with fear.”
But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect,
to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.
See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.”
The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken—that is, created things—so that what cannot be shaken may remain.
Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our “God is a consuming fire.”

Reflection:
Think about fire. When kept in its place, it is safe and warm and pleasant. We bring it into our homes, use it for light and heat, find comfort in its crackle and flicker. We enjoy a good fire, as long as it stays within its boundaries. As soon as a spark jumps onto the carpet we stamp it out – and well we should, it would be dangerous otherwise. But I wonder if we don’t do the same with God. Lord forgive me, I know I do. When a spark of that Consuming Fire jumps beyond the boundaries I have set, I stamp it out – it would be dangerous otherwise.
What would happen if we let go of our need for control, if we let God be God, if we let him consume us like a fire that has jumped beyond the hearth – to catch the curtains, the carpet, the walls, the roof. What a blaze would that be! It would be frightening, just as raging fire is frightening. We relegate God to Sunday mornings and “devo” time because we are afraid. We are afraid to love like fire burns, to be set ablaze. We are afraid because it means a loss of control. Our plans, our maps, our wills are burned to ash. Only the living God, the Consuming Fire remains.
And yes, many will watch us burn in judgment, calling us fanatical, crazy, unbalanced. But find me an Old Testament prophet who was not “crazy.” Find me one of Christ’s disciples who wasn’t called, “fanatic.” Find me a great saint who has not been “a little off the deep end.” To the world, this fire is madness.
I ask a simple question: What would happen if we let the Fire breach its bounds? What are the possibilities if we open our hearts and lives to the All-Consuming Fire? I don’t pretend to know. But I am sure it would be a wonder.
-Ben T.

Prayer:
Ask God to reveal the ways in which you have tried to “box” him. Ask for the grace to release your whole self to his will. Perhaps even repeat a simple prayer as you go about your day, such as, “Consume me, Oh God,” or, “You are a consuming fire.”

Wednesday 3/10

2010-03-10T03:13:00.001-08:00

Matthew 25:31-46
When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’

“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

“The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
“Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’

“They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’

“He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’

“Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Prayer:
Lord, teach me to see you in the faces of strangers. Help me to notice the ignored, love the judged, and serve the lowly. Give me your love.

Tuesday 3/9

2010-03-09T00:32:00.000-08:00

Prayer
Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.
- Psalm 139:23-24

Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.
Whoever has ears, let them hear.”

…

“Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: When people hear the message about the kingdom and do not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their hearts. This is the seed sown along the path. The seed falling on rocky ground refers to people who hear the word and at once receive it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. The seed falling among the thorns refers to people who hear the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful.
But the seed falling on good soil refers to people who hear the word and understand it. They produce a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”

Suggested Practice:
Contemplate this parable – journal about what kind of soil your heart is made of, go for a walk and notice soil and vegetation as you contemplate, garden as you pray, search the internet to learn about good soil and what makes it good for planting, do something to engage with this story. Let it take roots in your heart. Mull it over. How are you responding to the word of the Kingdom in your life, in you heart? Bring these thoughts to God in prayer.

Monday 3/8

2010-03-08T00:42:00.001-08:00

Jeremiah 18:1-6
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: “Go down to the potter’s house, and there I will give you my message.” So I went down to the potter’s house, and I saw him working at the wheel.
But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.
Then the word of the Lord came to me. He said, “Can I not do with you, house of Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, house of Israel.

Isaiah 45:8-12
You heavens above, rain down my righteousness;
let the clouds shower it down.
Let the earth open wide,
let salvation spring up,
let righteousness flourish with it;
I, the Lord , have created it.
“Woe to those who quarrel with their Maker,
those who are nothing but potsherds
among the potsherds on the ground.
Does the clay say to the potter,
‘What are you making?’
Does your work say,
‘The potter has no hands’?
Woe to those who say to their father,
‘What have you begotten?’
or to their mother,
‘What have you brought to birth?’
“This is what the Lord says—
the Holy One of Israel, and its Maker:
Concerning things to come,
do you question me about my children,
or give me orders about the work of my hands?
It is I who made the earth
and created human beings on it.
My own hands stretched out the heavens;
I marshaled their starry hosts.

Prayer:
Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Thou art the Potter, I am the clay.
Mold me and make me after Thy will,
While I am waiting, yielded and still.

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Search me and try me, Master, today!
Whiter than snow, Lord, wash me just now,
As in Thy presence humbly I bow.

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Wounded and weary, help me, I pray!
Power, all power, surely is Thine!
Touch me and heal me, Savior divine.

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Hold o’er my being absolute sway!
Fill with Thy Spirit ’till all shall see
Christ only, always, living in me.
- Traditional Hymn, words by Adelaide A. Pollard

Sunday 3/7

2010-03-07T15:19:00.000-08:00

Isaiah 58:1-11
“Shout it aloud, do not hold back.
Raise your voice like a trumpet.
Declare to my people their rebellion
and to the house of Jacob their sins.
For day after day they seek me out;
they seem eager to know my ways,
as if they were a nation that does what is right
and has not forsaken the commands of its God.
They ask me for just decisions
and seem eager for God to come near them.
‘Why have we fasted,’ they say,
‘and you have not seen it?
Why have we humbled ourselves,
and you have not noticed?’
“Yet on the day of your fasting, you do as you please
and exploit all your workers.
Your fasting ends in quarreling and strife,
and in striking each other with wicked fists.
You cannot fast as you do today
and expect your voice to be heard on high.
Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,
only a day for people to humble themselves?
Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed
and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?
Is that what you call a fast,
a day acceptable to the Lord ?
“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
The Lord will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.

Matthew 6:16-21
When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face,
so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Reflection:
Jesus takes it for granted that his disciples will observe the pious custom of fasting. Strict exercise of self-control is an essential feature of the Christian life. Such customs have only one purpose – to make the disciples more ready and cheerful to accomplish those things which God would have done. Fasting helps to discipline the self-indulgent and slothful will which is so reluctant to serve the Lord, and it helps to humiliate and chasten the flesh. By practicing abstemiousness we show the world how different the Christian life is from its own. If there is no element of asceticism in our lives, if we give free rein to the desires of the flesh (taking care of course to keep within the limits of what seems permissible to the world), we shall find it hard to train ourselves for the service of Christ. When the flesh is satisfied it is hard to pray with cheerfulness or to devote oneself to a life of service which calls for much self-renunciation.
-Dietrich Bonhoeffer
The Cost of Discipleship

Saturday 3/6

2010-03-05T23:47:00.001-08:00

Luke 6:27-49
“But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.
Do to others as you would have them do to you.
“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.
Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.
“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.
Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”
He also told them this parable: “Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into a pit?
Students are not above their teacher, but all who are fully trained will be like their teacher.
“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in someone else’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?
How can you say, ‘Friend, let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from the other person’s eye.
“No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers.
Good people bring good things out of the good stored up in their heart, and evil people bring evil things out of the evil stored up in their heart. For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.
“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? As for those who come to me and hear my words and put them into practice, I will show you what they are like. They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built.
But those who hear my words and do not put them into practice are like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”

The Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon:
where there is doubt, faith ;
where there is despair, hope
where there is darkness, light
where there is sadness, joy
O divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
Amen.

Friday 3/5

2010-03-04T23:27:00.001-08:00

Prayer:
Lord, increase my faith. I want to believe you more fully. May all of my thoughts, words and actions flow out of deeply rooted faith.

Mark 5:21-36
When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake. Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. He pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.”
So Jesus went with him.
A large crowd followed and pressed around him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.”
Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.
At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”
“You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ”
But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it.33 Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth.
He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”
While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?”
Overhearing what they said, Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”

Reflection:
We need faith because our world is full of death.
And so are we. Each one of us will die. So will each nation. Many individuals and nations will also kill. Our world has always been a world at war with itself, because it has been at war with God. Thomas Merton wrote: “We are not at peace with each other because we are not at peace with ourselves. And we are not at peace with ourselves because we are not at peace with God.”
Human nature does not change. Today we live in what the Vicar of Christ has called “the culture of death”, a culture that kills children before birth and kills childhood after birth, kills innocence and faithfulness and families. What is the answer to this culture of death?
Faith.
Faith in the God who has not left us in the dark but has revealed himself as our Creator; who, out of his love, designed us for a life of love, in this world and in the next.
Faith in the gospel, the good news of the man who said he was God come down from heaven to die on the Cross to save us from sin and to rise from the grave to save us from death.
Faith in the Church he left as his visible body on earth, empowered by his Spirit, authorized to teach in his name, with his authority: to invite us to believe the truth of his gospel…
Faith is the answer to fear. Deep down we are all afraid: of suffering, or of dying, or of God’s judgment, or of the unknown, or of weakness, or of our lives slipping out of our control, or of not being understood and loved. We sin because we fear. We bully because we are cowards.
Faith casts our fear as light casts out darkness. God has shone his light into our world, and it is stronger than darkness (Jn 1:5).
That light is Jesus Christ.
-Peter J. Kreeft
Catholic Christianity

Thursday 3/4

2010-03-04T00:30:00.000-08:00

Suggested Practice:
Take a look at this video.

Psalm 131:
My heart is not proud, Lord,
my eyes are not haughty;
I do not concern myself with great matters
or things too wonderful for me.
But I have calmed myself
and quieted my ambitions.
I am like a weaned child with its mother;
like a weaned child I am content.
Israel, put your hope in the Lord
both now and forevermore.

Psalm 46:
God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.
There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.
Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Come and see what the Lord has done,
the desolations he has brought on the earth.
He makes wars cease
to the ends of the earth.
He breaks the bow and shatters the spear;
he burns the shields with fire.
“Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.”
The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Wednesday 3/3

2010-03-02T22:01:00.000-08:00

2 Chronicles 7:11-16
When Solomon had finished the temple of the Lord and the royal palace, and had succeeded in carrying out all he had in mind to do in the temple of the Lord and in his own palace,
the Lord appeared to him at night and said:
“I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a temple for sacrifices.
“When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place.
I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.

Suggested Practice:
“Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me.” These words, based on the prayer of the penitent tax collector in Luke 18, form what is called “The Jesus Prayer.” It is a prayer that has been used by Christians for centuries and is still especially prevalent in the Eastern Orthodox tradition. The idea behind the Jesus Prayer is that it gets at the root of our need for Jesus. The Jesus Prayer can be spoken on one breath and should be within our hearts as often as we breathe. It is a way of focusing our hearts and minds on our need for Christ. Throughout your day - as you drive, walk, work, eat - practice saying the Jesus prayer over and over. Let it seep into your heart and mind and bring you humbly into the presence of Jesus. Let it always be repeating in the back of your mind, that every thought and action may stem from the mercy of Jesus.

Tuesday 3/2

2010-03-02T01:18:00.001-08:00

Isaiah 49:13-16
Shout for joy, you heavens;
rejoice, you earth;
burst into song, you mountains!
For the Lord comforts his people
and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.
But Zion said, “The Lord has forsaken me,
the Lord has forgotten me.”
“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast
and have no compassion on the child she has borne?
Though she may forget,
I will not forget you!
See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
your walls are ever before me.

Reflection:
In my blindness, unable to see my God-given dignity and identity, I perceived myself through false identities. True to my evangelical upbringing, I saw myself as sinful and selfish. I saw myself through my own woundedness and insecurities. I saw myself as mean, uncompassionate, cold-hearted and unresponsive. I was hard on myself; I wouldn’t forgive myself and instead, I let shame rule in my heart.
In my inability to see God’s nearness I had tried to create a self-sufficient way of living. In the dark, I was trying to find my way to God rather than allowing myself to be discovered by God’s love. I became god unto myself, playing the divine role of Creator (by trying to make myself a better person), Judge (by telling myself how bad I was, how unworthy I had become before God) and Redeemer (by trying to earn grace, to be good enough for it). I realized that I desperately needed God’s eyes to help me see the way to God’s heart.
-Christopher L. Heuertz
Simple Spirituality

Psalm 73:20-28
When my heart was grieved
and my spirit embittered,
I was senseless and ignorant;
I was a brute beast before you.
Yet I am always with you;
you hold me by my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will take me into glory.
Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.
Those who are far from you will perish;
you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.
But as for me, it is good to be near God.
I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge;
I will tell of all your deeds.

Prayer:
God, help me to know your love fully. May it motivate me to adoration.

Monday 3/1

2010-02-28T23:54:00.000-08:00

Isaiah 53:4-12
Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
Yet who of his generation protested?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was punished.
He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.
Yet it was the Lord ’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand.
After he has suffered,
he will see the light of life and be satisfied ;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities.
Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
because he poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.

Prayer:
Be, my Lord, near enough to touch-
to taste, to feel, to be drawn in to thee.
For you 'tis no more effort to be much
in presence to me than to be far gone.
If it be your will then, draw sweet close to me
and conform me to Thine image there upon
the wounding, healing crucifixion tree.

Sunday 2/28

2010-02-28T03:03:00.001-08:00

Prayer:
God, open your word to me. Teach me your ways. Plant the scripture in my heart. May I contemplate your word day and night. May it be to me as your voice. May I not merely read to gain information; but rather, may I listen to foster relationship.

John 15
I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.
Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because servants do not know their master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.
This is my command: Love each other.
“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: ‘Servants are not greater than their master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. Those who hate me hate my Father as well. If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father.
But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’
“When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me.
And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.

Saturday 2/27

2010-02-26T21:42:00.000-08:00

Philippians 3:1-14
Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh. For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh— though I myself have reasons for such confidence.
If others think they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.
But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death,
and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.
Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,
I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Reflection:
Father in Heaven! What are we without You! What is all that we know, vast accumulation though it be, but a chipped fragment if we do not know You! What is all our striving, could it ever encompass a world, but a half-finished work if we do not know You: You the One, who is one thing and who is all!

So may You give to the intellect, wisdom to comprehend that one thing; to the heart, sincerity to receive this understanding; to the will, purity that wills only one thing. In prosperity may You grant perseverance to will one thing; amid distractions, collectedness to will one thing; in suffering, patience to will one thing.

You that gives both the beginning and the completion, may You early, at the dawn of the day, give to the young the resolution to will one thing. As the day wanes, may You give to the old a renewed remembrance of their first resolution, that the first may be like the last, the last like the first, in possession of a life that has willed only one thing. Alas, but this has indeed not come to pass. Something has come in between. The separation of sin lies in between. Each day, and day after day something is being placed in between: delay, blockage, interruption, delusion, corruption. So in this time of repentance may You give the courage once again to will one thing.

True, it is an interruption of our ordinary tasks; we do lay down our work as though it were a day of rest when the penitent is alone before You in self-accusation. This is indeed an interruption. But it is an interruption that searches back into its very beginnings that it might bind up anew that which sin has separated, that in its grief it might atone for lost time, that in its anxiety it might bring to completion that which lies before it.

You that gives both the beginning and the completion, give Your victory in the day of need so that what neither our burning wish nor our determined resolution may attain to, may be granted unto us in the sorrowing of repentance: to will only one thing.
-Soren Kierkegaard

Friday 2/26

2010-02-25T23:40:00.001-08:00

Psalm 130
Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord;
Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive
to my cry for mercy.
If you, Lord, kept a record of sins,
Lord, who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness,
so that we can, with reverence, serve you.
I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits,
and in his word I put my hope.
I wait for the Lord
more than watchmen wait for the morning,
more than watchmen wait for the morning.
Israel, put your hope in the Lord,
for with the Lord is unfailing love
and with him is full redemption.
He himself will redeem Israel
from all their sins.

Reflection:
God, help me, dull of heart, to trust in thee.
Thou art the father of me--not any mood
Can part me from the One, the verily Good.
When fog and failure o'er my being brood.
When life looks but a glimmering marshy clod,
No fire out flashing from the living God--
Then, then, to rest in faith were worthy victory!
-George MacDonald
Diary of an Old Soul

When I consider how my light is spent,
Ere half my days, in this dark world and wide,
And that one talent which is death to hide,
Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent
To serve therewith my maker, and present
My true account, lest he returning chide,
Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?
I fondly ask; but Patience to prevent
That murmur, soon replies, God doth not need
Either man's work or his own gifts, who best
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best, his state
Is kingly. Thousands at his bidding speed
And post o'er land and ocean without rest:
They also serve who only stand and wait.
-John Milton
Sonnet: On His Blindness

Suggested Practice:
As a practical step, set aside five minutes each day to “wait for the Lord.” Decide how long you will do this (a week, a month, until Easter.) Set a timer or an alarm and spend these few minutes each day is quiet. Do not speak, either in your mind or out loud. Do not read or reflect on your spiritual life. Just listen. You will get distracted, especially at first. Don’t worry. Just refocus and continue. Wait for the Lord. Focus on him. Let him tell you what he would like to tell you. And do not worry about missing God when he speaks. You cannot miss God’s voice; the Spirit will not let you. Just wait. Five minutes a day, in patience. Simply wait for the Lord.

Thursday 2/25

2010-02-25T01:42:00.000-08:00

II Corinthians 4:1-11
Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body.

Prayer:
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace;
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there's doubt, faith ;
where there is despair hope
where there is darkness light
where there is sadness joy
O divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love;
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
Amen.
-St. Francis of Assisi

Wednesday 2/24

2010-02-24T00:49:00.000-08:00

Luke 18:9-14
To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.
I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
“But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
“I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

Philippians 2:1-11
Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. In your relationships with one another, have the same attitude of mind Christ Jesus had:
Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a human being,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!

Reflection:
Do not imagine that if you meet a really humble man he will be what most people call ‘humble’ nowadays: he will not be a sort of greasy, smarmy person who is always telling you that he, of course, is nobody. Probably all you will think about him is that he seemed a cheerful, intelligent chap who took real interest in what you said to him. If you dislike him it will be because you feel a little envious of anyone who seems to enjoy life so easily. He will not be thinking about humility: he will not be thinking about himself at all.
If anyone would like to acquire humility, I can, I think, tell him the first step. The first step is to realize that one is proud. And a biggish step, too. At least, nothing whatever can be done before it. If you think you are not conceited, it means you are very conceited indeed.
-C.S. Lewis
Mere Christianity

Prayer:
Talk to God about the pride in your life. Ask him to teach you humility, for he is a gentle and humble teacher (Matthew 11:29.) Confess your pride and ask the Lord help you live in the freedom of humility.

Tuesday 2/23

2010-02-23T01:17:00.001-08:00

Mark 1:14-28
After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God.
“The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”
As Jesus walked beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.”
At once they left their nets and followed him.
When he had gone a little farther, he saw James son of Zebedee and his brother John in a boat, preparing their nets.
Without delay he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and followed him.
They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law. Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an evil spirit cried out,
“What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!”
“Be quiet!” said Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!”
The evil spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.
The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even gives orders to evil spirits and they obey him.”
News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee.

Reflection:
For recognizing and resisting the stream of the world’s ways there are two biblical designations for people of faith that are extremely useful: disciple and pilgrim. Disciple (mathetes) says we are people who spend our lives apprenticed to our master, Jesus Christ. We are in a growing-learning relationship, always. A disciple is a learner, but not in the academic setting of a schoolroom, rather at the work site of a craftsman. We do not acquire information about God but skills in faith.
Pilgrim (parepidemos) tells us we are people who spend our lives going someplace, going to God, and whose path for getting there is the way, Jesus Christ. We realize that “this world is not my home” and set out for “the Father’s house.” Abraham, who “went out,” is our archetype. Jesus, answering Thomas’s question “Master we have no idea where you’re going. How do you expect us to know the road?” gives us directions: “I am the Road, also the Truth, also the Life. No on gets to the Father apart from me” (Jn. 14:5-6). The letter to the Hebrews defines our program: “Do you see what this means – all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running – and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in” (Heb. 12:1-2).
-Eugene H. Peterson
A Long Obedience In The Same Direction

Prayer:
Lord, you have called me and I have found your voice irresistible. I will seek after you all my life. Teach me, grow me, re-create me. Make me truly your disciple, whatever that may cost. All-Consuming Fire, burn away the things that trip me up and help me to run the race of faith with endurance - you are the goal, the path, and the motive. Amen.

Monday 2/22

2010-02-21T16:45:00.000-08:00

Matthew 17:1-8
After six days Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.
Just then there appeared before them Moses and Elijah, talking with Jesus.
Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good for us to be here. If you wish, I will put up three shelters—one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.”
While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”
When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified. But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.” When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.

Reflection:
As a reflection, watch and listen to this video. The audio is from a sermon by S.M. Lockridge.

Suggested Exercise:
Write down all the letters of the alphabet. As an act of praise, try thinking of an attribute of God beginning with each letter. For “A” you may write “Always there,” for “B,” “Bold.” Maybe you will think of many for one letter - write them all down, but try to think of at least one for each letter. Get creative, make up works, have fun! You can do this in with others or by yourself, just enjoy exploring the nature of God. As you go, thank God for his attributes. Praise him for who he is.

Sunday 2/21

2010-02-20T20:48:00.001-08:00

Matthew 6:25-33
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?
“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Reflection:
Distrust is atheism, and the barrier to all growth. Lord, we do not understand thee, because we do not trust thy Father--whole-hearted to us, as never yet was mother to her first-born! Full of care, as if he had none, we think this and that escapes his notice, for this and that he does not think! While we who are evil would die to give our children bread to eat, we are not certain the only Good will give us anything of what we desire! The things of thy world so crowd our hearts, that there is no room in them for the things of thy heart, which would raise ours above all fear, and make us merry children in our Father's house! Surely many a whisper of the watching Spirit we let slip through brooding over a need not yet come to us! To-morrow makes to-day's whole head sick, its whole heart faint. When we should be still, sleeping or dreaming, we are fretting about an hour that lies a half sun's-journey away! Not so doest thou, Lord! thou doest the work of thy Father! Wert thou such as we, then should we have good cause to be troubled! But thou knowest it is difficult, things pressing upon every sense, to believe that the informing power of them is in the unseen; that out of it they come; that, where we can descry no hand directing, a will, nearer than any hand, is moving them from within, causing them to fulfil his word! Help us to obey, to resist, to trust.
-George MacDonald
Unspoken Sermons: Series Two, “The Cause of Spiritual Stupidity”

Prayer:
My heart is not proud, Lord,
my eyes are not haughty;
I do not concern myself with great matters
or things too wonderful for me.
But I have calmed myself
and quieted my ambitions.
I am like a weaned child with its mother;
like a weaned child I am content.
Israel, put your hope in the Lord
both now and forevermore.
(Psalm 131)

Saturday 2/20

2010-02-19T15:26:00.000-08:00

Suggested Practice:
When you read God's Word, you must constantly be saying to yourself, ''It is talking to me, and about me. - Soren Kierkegaard
Find a quiet and solitary place to read the scripture below. Read it slowly and out loud. Remind yourself that this is the voice of God speaking to you. Let this voice draw you into conversation with God. As you read, respond. Spend some time praying through this passage of scripture.

Isaiah 55
“Come, all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost.
Why spend money on what is not bread,
and your labor on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
and you will delight in the richest of fare.
Give ear and come to me;
listen, that you may live.
I will make an everlasting covenant with you,
my faithful love promised to David.
See, I have made him a witness to the peoples,
a ruler and commander of the peoples.
Surely you will summon nations you know not,
and nations you do not know will come running to you,
because of the Lord your God,
the Holy One of Israel,
for he has endowed you with splendor.”

Seek the Lord while he may be found;
call on him while he is near.
Let the wicked forsake their ways
and the unrighteous their thoughts.
Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them,
and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
“As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,
so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
You will go out in joy
and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and hills
will burst into song before you,
and all the trees of the field
will clap their hands.
Instead of the thorn bush will grow the juniper,
and instead of briers the myrtle will grow.
This will be for the Lord ’s renown,
for an everlasting sign,
that will endure forever.”

Friday 2/19

2010-02-19T15:00:00.001-08:00

Prayer:
Lord, teach me to live in absolute obedience, submission and sacrifice. May I be always ready to do your will, to give all I have for the sake of your will, whatever the cost. I sacrifice my own will to yours. I desire you above all else.

2 Samuel 24:18-25
On that day Gad went to David and said to him, “Go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.” So David went up, as the Lord had commanded through Gad.

When Araunah looked and saw the king and his officials coming toward him, he went out and bowed down before the king with his face to the ground.

Araunah said, “Why has my lord the king come to his servant?”
“To buy your threshing floor,” David answered, “so I can build an altar to the Lord, that the plague on the people may be stopped.”
Araunah said to David, “Let my lord the king take whatever he wishes and offer it up. Here are oxen for the burnt offering, and here are threshing sledges and ox yokes for the wood.

Your Majesty, Araunah gives all this to the king.” Araunah also said to him, “May the Lord your God accept you.”

But the king replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.”
So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen and paid fifty shekels of silver for them.

David built an altar to the Lord there and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then the Lord answered his prayer in behalf of the land, and the plague on Israel was stopped.

Reflection:
Begin where you are. Obey now. Use what little obedience you are capable of, even if it be like a grain of mustard seed. Begin where you are. Live this present moment, this present hour as you now sit in your seats, in utter, utter submission and openness toward Him. Listen outwardly to these words, but within, behind the scenes, in the deeper levels of your lives where you are all alone with God the Loving Eternal One, keep up a silent prayer, "Open Thou my life. Guide my thoughts where I dare not let them go. But Thou darest. Thy will be done." Walk on the streets and chat with your friends. But every moment behind the scenes be in prayer, offering yourselves in continuous obedience. I find this internal continuous prayer life absolutely essential. It can be carried on day and night, in the thick of business, in home and school. Such prayer of submission can be so simple. It is well to use a single sentence, repeated over and over and over again, such as this: "Be Thou my will. Be Thou my will," or "I open all before Thee. I open all before Thee," or "See earth through heaven, See earth through heaven." This hidden prayer life can pass, in time, beyond words and phrases into mere ejaculations, "My God, my God, my Holy One, my Love," or into the adoration of the Upanishad, "O Wonderful, O Wonderful, O Wonderful." Words may cease and one stands and walks and sits and lies in wordless attitudes of adoration and submission and rejoicing and exultation and glory.
-Thomas R. Kelly
A Testament of Devotion

Thursday 2/18

2010-02-19T14:29:00.000-08:00

Mark 1:1-8
The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, ,

as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:
“I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way” —

“a voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.’ ”
And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. And this was his message: “After me comes the one more powerful than I, the thongs of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.

I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.”

Reflection:
The Litany of the Holy Spirit

Lord, have mercy on us, Christ have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us. Father all powerful, Have mercy on us.
Jesus, Eternal Son of the Father, Redeemer of the world, Save us.
Spirit of the Father and the Son, boundless Life of both, Sanctify us.
Holy Trinity, Hear us.

Holy Spirit, Who proceeds from the Father and the Son, Enter our hearts.
Holy Spirit, Who is equal to the Father and the Son, Enter our hearts.

Promise of God the Father, Have mercy on us.
Ray of heavenly light, Have mercy on us.
Author of all good, Have mercy on us.
Source of heavenly water, Have mercy on us.
Consuming Fire, Have mercy on us.
Ardent Charity, Have mercy on us.
Spiritual Unction, Have mercy on us.
Spirit of love and truth, Have mercy on us.
Spirit of wisdom and understanding, Have mercy on us.
Spirit of counsel and fortitude, Have mercy on us.
Spirit of knowledge and piety, Have mercy on us.
Spirit of the fear of the Lord, Have mercy on us.
Spirit of grace and prayer, Have mercy on us.
Spirit of peace and meekness, Have mercy on us.
Spirit of modesty and innocence, Have mercy on us.
Holy Spirit, the Comforter, Have mercy on us.
Holy Spirit, the Sanctifier, Have mercy on us.
Holy Spirit, Who governs the Church, Have mercy on us.
Gift of God the Most High, Have mercy on us.
Spirit Who fills the universe, Have mercy on us.
Spirit of the adoption of the children of God, Have mercy on us.

Holy Spirit, Inspire us with horror of sin.
Holy Spirit, Come and renew the face of the earth.
Holy Spirit, Shed Your Light into our souls.
Holy Spirit, Engrave Your law in our hearts.
Holy Spirit, Inflame us with the flame of Your love.
Holy Spirit, Open to us the treasures of Your graces.
Holy Spirit, Teach us to pray well.
Holy Spirit, Enlighten us with Your heavenly inspirations.
Holy Spirit, Lead us in the way of salvation.
Holy Spirit, Grant us the only necessary knowledge.
Holy Spirit, Inspire in us the practice of good.
Holy Spirit, Grant us the merits of all virtues.
Holy Spirit, Make us persevere in justice.
Holy Spirit, Be our everlasting reward.

Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world, Send us Yout Holy Spirit.
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world, Pour down into our souls the gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world, Grant us the Spirit of wisdom and piety.

Come, Holy Spirit! Fill the hearts of Your faithful, And enkindle in them the fire of Your love.

Ash Wednesday 2/17

2010-02-18T00:03:00.000-08:00

Mark 8:31-38
He then began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and after three days rise again.

He spoke plainly about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.

But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it. What good is it for you to gain the whole world, yet forfeit your soul? Or what can you give in exchange for your soul?

If any of you are ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will be ashamed of you when he comes in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”

Reflection:
“If any man would come after me, let him deny himself.” The disciple must say to himself the same words Peter said of Christ when he denied him: “I know not this man.” Self-denial is never just a series of isolated acts of mortification or asceticism. It is not suicide, for there is an element of self-will even in that. To deny oneself is to be aware only of Christ and no more of self, to see only him who goes before and no more the road which is too hard for us. Once more, all that self-denial can say is: “He leads the way, keep close to him.
-Dietrich Bonhoeffer
The Cost of Discipleship

Prayer:
Lord, teach me the way of discipleship. Refine my heart. Help me to walk with you in every difficulty and find my joy in you. Teach me to let go of myself and live in freedom with you. I ask these things that I may be more truly your child, more fully your servant – that I may share your love more evidently with those around me. Bless this Lenten season. Teach me, grow me, re-create me. Amen.

What Is Lent?

2010-02-15T15:37:00.000-08:00

Purity of heart is to will one thing. –Soren Kierkegaard

I remember my first experience of Lent being one of absolute mystery. It was Ash Wednesday and I was at an everyday, Evangelical, Protestant church, feeling entirely within my comfort zone. But I soon became very uncomfortable as the pastor called us all forward to receive the “Imposition of Ashes.” I followed the crowd toward the front where five or so people stood holding small bowls of ashes. When it was my turn, a young woman dipped her finger into the ashes and made the mark of the cross on my forehead, saying, “From the dust you have come, to the dust you will return. Repent and believe the good news.” – a strange experience to say the least.

Lent can be jarring, confusing, even very uncomfortable for those who are not familiar with it, or who have seen it misused. But since that first experience on Ash Wednesday, I have found Lent to be an incredible journey of purification and redemption. It is a refining, refocusing journey with Jesus toward the cross. During lent we seek out the things in our lives that distract us from attending to God, the things that contaminate our purity of heart. We confess, repent, and return with humility and love toward God. During Lent, we purify our hearts and teach them to seek only after God.

The season of Lent is a practice shared by Christians for centuries. Since officially established in 325AD, more Christians have participated in this season of repentance than not. Even today, more Christians throughout the world (Protestant and Roman Catholic) join in the practice of Lent than not, and many find it a central part of their spiritual journey.

Traditionally, Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, 40 days before Palm Sunday (the start of Holy Week.) We set aside these 40 days in our year to let God renew us and strengthen our love for him. We ask God to point out our sinfulness and work in our brokenness to make us pure reflections of his will. It is a season of death-to-self, when we deny ourselves, pick up our cross and find freedom in Christ. It is a season of creating space in our all too noisy lives where we may hear from God and find deeper fellowship with his Spirit.

Often Lent involves fasting. However, far from being a spiritual excuse for dieting, Lenten fasting is a practice of giving up distractions, or things we take for granted, in favor of turning our attention toward God. It looks different for each person. One may give up meat, another sweets, another movies, another coffee. I, for one, have found that fasting from technology rather than food has worked best for me. The question is, “Why are you fasting?” If you give up buying coffee, what will you do with that money? If you give up T.V., what will you do with that extra time? Seek the Lord, he will tell you if and what you should fast.

This blog contains a daily mixture of scripture, reflections, prayers and practices to help us take this journey together. It will continue through Holy Week to Easter Sunday. Now, if you are like me, you will often forget or be too busy to do the daily reading. Don’t worry about it. Don’t try to make up lost time, just start again where you are.

I hope you will join me, and Christians throughout ages and the world as we take this journey of purification together. May the Lord bless you as you seek after him.
-Ben T.