God Loves A Cheerful Giver

The People of God Set Priorities
Bearing One Another's Burdens
A Community Shares Its Resources

2 Corinthians 9:7-15  The Message

^6-7 Remember: A stingy planter gets a stingy crop; a lavish planter gets a lavish crop. I want each of you to take plenty of time to think it over, and make up your own mind what you will give. That will protect you against sob stories and arm-twisting. God loves it when the giver delights in the giving.
^8-11 God can pour on the blessings in astonishing ways so that you’re ready for anything and everything, more than just ready to do what needs to be done. As one psalmist puts it,

He throws caution to the winds,
    giving to the needy in reckless abandon.
His right-living, right-giving ways
    never run out, never wear out.

This most generous God who gives seed to the farmer that becomes bread for your meals is more than extravagant with you. He gives you something you can then give away, which grows into full-formed lives, robust in God, wealthy in every way, so that you can be generous in every way, producing with us great praise to God.

^12-15 Carrying out this social relief work involves far more than helping meet the bare needs of poor Christians. It also produces abundant and bountiful thanksgivings to God. This relief offering is a prod to live at your very best, showing your gratitude to God by being openly obedient to the plain meaning of the Message of Christ. You show your gratitude through your generous offerings to your needy brothers and sisters, and really toward everyone. Meanwhile, moved by the extravagance of God in your lives, they’ll respond by praying for you in passionate intercession for whatever you need. Thank God for this gift, his gift. No language can praise it enough!

 
For Reflection

Whatever God has given you it is not yours!  God's gifts belong to God.  God gives gifts to be used in God's name. You and I are merely stewards of those gifts.  Be generous in sharing God's gifts with the world.

 

Pray

for the wisdom to maximize the value of God's gifts to you.

Sowing and Reaping Bountifully

The People of God Set Priorities
Bearing One Another's Burdens
A Community Shares Its Resources

2 Corinthians 9:1-7 The Message

9 ^1-2 If I wrote any more on this relief offering for the poor Christians, I’d be repeating myself. I know you’re on board and ready to go. I’ve been bragging about you all through Macedonia province, telling them, “Achaia province has been ready to go on this since last year.” Your enthusiasm by now has spread to most of them.

^3-5 Now I’m sending the brothers to make sure you’re ready, as I said you would be, so my bragging won’t turn out to be just so much hot air. If some Macedonians and I happened to drop in on you and found you weren’t prepared, we’d all be pretty red-faced—you and us—for acting so sure of ourselves. So to make sure there will be no slipup, I’ve recruited these brothers as an advance team to get you and your promised offering all ready before I get there. I want you to have all the time you need to make this offering in your own way. I don’t want anything forced or hurried at the last minute.
^6-7 Remember: A stingy planter gets a stingy crop; a lavish planter gets a lavish crop. I want each of you to take plenty of time to think it over, and make up your own mind what you will give. That will protect you against sob stories and arm-twisting. God loves it when the giver delights in the giving.

For Reflection

The re-distribution of wealth and opportunity is not just a do-gooder's advice.  There is real evidence of the harm in ignoring the poor.  In what countries is there most suffering and tyranny? What countries suffer from the most infant deaths?  In what countries is the land and people war torn?  The most lawless.  The most civil unrest?  The most crime ridden? The most disenfranchised?

The answer is easy, those with the greatest number of impoverished people.  Look to poverty and find the seeds of  hate and rebellion.

Pray

Kneel before God.  Pray for those who hold others in impoverishment.  Pray for those whose social and economic conditions drive anger and hate.  Pray that the bars on the doors of the impoverished will be broken.  Pray for the equitable distribution of the opportunity to live humane lives.

Show Proof of Your Love

The People of God Set Priorities
Bearing One Another's Burdens
A Community Shares Its Resources

2 Corinthians 8:16-24  The Message

^10-20 So here’s what I think: The best thing you can do right now is to finish what you started last year and not let those good intentions grow stale. Your heart’s been in the right place all along. You’ve got what it takes to finish it up, so go to it. Once the commitment is clear, you do what you can, not what you can’t. The heart regulates the hands. This isn’t so others can take it easy while you sweat it out. No, you’re shoulder to shoulder with them all the way, your surplus matching their deficit, their surplus matching your deficit. In the end you come out even. As it is written,

Nothing left over to the one with the most,
Nothing lacking to the one with the least.

I thank God for giving Titus the same devoted concern for you that I have. He was most considerate of how we felt, but his eagerness to go to you and help out with this relief offering is his own idea. We’re sending a companion along with him, someone very popular in the churches for his preaching of the Message. But there’s far more to him than popularity. He’s rock-solid trustworthy. The churches handpicked him to go with us as we travel about doing this work of sharing God’s gifts to honor God as well as we can, taking every precaution against scandal.

^20-22 We don’t want anyone suspecting us of taking one penny of this money for ourselves. We’re being as careful in our reputation with the public as in our reputation with God. That’s why we’re sending another trusted friend along. He’s proved his dependability many times over, and carries on as energetically as the day he started. He’s heard much about you, and liked what he’s heard—so much so that he can’t wait to get there.
^23-24 I don’t need to say anything further about Titus. We’ve been close associates in this work of serving you for a long time. The brothers who travel with him are delegates from churches, a real credit to Christ. Show them what you’re made of, the love I’ve been talking up in the churches. Let them see it for themselves!

 
For Reflection

Today we call it distributive justice or social justice.  Some label it socialism or even communism. What Paul refers to in this passage is neither.  To Paul, Christian stewardship means that we never ignore the plight of the poor.  In today's world, as in Paul's, the glaring gap between the wealthy and the impoverished defined justice.  Paul does not suggest a Robin Hood approach to economic and social impoverishment.  He does suggest that neglecting the needs of others is not good stewardship of your gifts, material or otherwise.  Poverty locks the impoverished into impoverishment just as wealth locks the wealthy into wealth, it just hurts more.

 

Pray

prayers of thanksgiving for those of all social and economic status who share their wealth.  Pray that you will be a good shepherd, and a wise steward of all of God's gifts.

The Measure of Your Gift

The People of God Set Priorities
Bearing One Another's Burdens
A Community Shares Its Resources

Luke 6:34-38  The Message

^31-34 “Here is a simple rule of thumb for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you; then grab the initiative and do it for them! If you only love the lovable, do you expect a pat on the back? Run-of-the-mill sinners do that. If you only help those who help you, do you expect a medal? Garden-variety sinners do that. If you only give for what you hope to get out of it, do you think that’s charity? The stingiest of pawnbrokers does that.
^35-36 “I tell you, love your enemies. Help and give without expecting a return. You’ll never—I promise—regret it. Live out this God-created identity the way our Father lives toward us, generously and graciously, even when we’re at our worst. Our Father is kind; you be kind.
^37-38 “Don’t pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults—unless, of course, you want the same treatment. Don’t condemn those who are down; that hardness can boomerang. Be easy on people; you’ll find life a lot easier. Give away your life; you’ll find life given back, but not merely given back—given back with bonus and blessing. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity.”

For Reflection

I guess still the best rule for good living is "Do as you did be done by!"  As Christians, we are asked to love equally the lovable and the unlovable.  Furthermore, we are asked to expect nothing in return.
Such behavior doesn't seem to be hard, but, without Christ, without the Father, without the Holy Spirit, it is difficult.    It requires humility and selflessness.  To reflect that kind of love, one must give one's self to God completely. Forgiveness begets forgiveness.  Humility begets humility.  Love begets love.

Pray

for the presence of the Holy spirit to rise in you so that it overwhelms self-centered living and drives God-centered living.

Treasure in Heaven

The People of God Set Priorities
Bearing One Another's Burdens
A Community Shares Its Resources

Mark 10:17-27  The Message

To Enter God’s Kingdom

¹⁷ As he went out into the street, a man came running up, greeted him with great reverence, and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to get eternal life?”

^18-19 Jesus said, “Why are you calling me good? No one is good, only God. You know the commandments: Don’t murder, don’t commit adultery, don’t steal, don’t lie, don’t cheat, honor your father and mother.”
²⁰ He said, “Teacher, I have—from my youth—kept them all!”
²¹ Jesus looked him hard in the eye—and loved him! He said, “There’s one thing left: Go sell whatever you own and give it to the poor. All your wealth will then be heavenly wealth. And come follow me.”
²² The man’s face clouded over. This was the last thing he expected to hear, and he walked off with a heavy heart. He was holding on tight to a lot of things, and not about to let go.
^23-25 Looking at his disciples, Jesus said, “Do you have any idea how difficult it is for people who ‘have it all’ to enter God’s kingdom?” The disciples couldn’t believe what they were hearing, but Jesus kept on: “You can’t imagine how difficult. I’d say it’s easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye than for the rich to get into God’s kingdom.”
²⁶ That set the disciples back on their heels. “Then who has any chance at all?” they asked.
²⁷ Jesus was blunt: “No chance at all if you think you can pull it off by yourself. Every chance in the world if you let God do it.”

 
For Reflection

I don't think Christ meant that only the poor will ever be qualified to be accepted into the Kingdom of God.  Often times our discipleship is defined by how well we follow the rules as though God was keeping a score card on each one of us.  It is never enough to play by the rules if by doing so one expects rewards from a grateful God.  God wants us to be completely committed to righteousness, transformed and so deeply engrossed in the Holy Spirit that we, by example and grace, bring others to realize God's transformational power. 

 

Pray

that you will forsake the worldly,  Pray that you will accept the profound grace of God.  Pray for your dependence on God.

First, be Reconciled

The People of God Set Priorities
Bearing One Another's Burdens
An Appeal for Reconciliation

Matthew 5:21-26 The Message

Murder

^21-22 “You’re familiar with the command to the ancients, ‘Do not murder.’ I’m telling you that anyone who is so much as angry with a brother or sister is guilty of murder. Carelessly call a brother ‘idiot!’ and you just might find yourself hauled into court. Thoughtlessly yell ‘stupid!’ at a sister and you are on the brink of hellfire. The simple moral fact is that words kill.

^23-24 “This is how I want you to conduct yourself in these matters. If you enter your place of worship and, about to make an offering, you suddenly remember a grudge a friend has against you, abandon your offering, leave immediately, go to this friend and make things right. Then and only then, come back and work things out with God.
^25-26 “Or say you’re out on the street and an old enemy accosts you. Don’t lose a minute. Make the first move; make things right with him. After all, if you leave the first move to him, knowing his track record, you’re likely to end up in court, maybe even jail. If that happens, you won’t get out 

For Reflection

The truth is words do hurt.  With words one murders the soul.  How many times have you said,  "He (She) is the one who owes me an apology."  If you are the one who feels harmed, why lay the burden on the other to initiate reconciliation? He or she may not know that he or she has harmed you.  You are the one feeling hurt.  You are the one who is responsible to initiate reconciliation.  You are the one who must forgive and hold no grudge so that reconciliation can move forward.  You are the one who must take the first step.  Vendetta and revenge is no path toward reconciliation,

 

Pray

that you will be able to forgive all transgressions as God has forgiven yours.  Pray that you will be willing to risk the first step toward reconciling harms.

A Harvest of Righteousness

The People of God Set Priorities
Bearing One Another's Burdens
An Appeal for Reconciliation

James 3:13-18 The Message

Live Well, Live Wisely

^13-16 Do you want to be counted wise, to build a reputation for wisdom? Here’s what you do: Live well, live wisely, live humbly. It’s the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts. Mean-spirited ambition isn’t wisdom. Boasting that you are wise isn’t wisdom. Twisting the truth to make yourselves sound wise isn’t wisdom. It’s the furthest thing from wisdom—it’s animal cunning, devilish conniving. Whenever you’re trying to look better than others or get the better of others, things fall apart and everyone ends up at the others’ throats.

^17-18 Real wisdom, God’s wisdom, begins with a holy life and is characterized by getting along with others. It is gentle and reasonable, overflowing with mercy and blessings, not hot one day and cold the next, not two-faced. You can develop a healthy, robust community that lives right with God and enjoy its results only if you do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honor.

 
For Reflection

How do others know you?  What is your reputation?  Are you considered fair? trustworthy? competent? wise? humble? compassionate?

You are known by what you say, what you do, and what others say about you.  It is the only thing you truly own and the one thing of which you have little control.  All you can do is be consistent in treating others with dignity, honor and in humility.  You may not be able to control the perception of others, but you can control your willingness to forgive and your constant pursuit of righteous living.

 

Pray

for opportunities to find wisdom, to prove trust, to be just and fair minded, to be compassionate and humble.  Pray to forgive others who misrepresent you.  Pray to be consistent in your pursuit of a God-centered life.

The Ministry of Reconciliation

The People of God Set Priorities
Bearing One Another's Burdens
An Appeal for Reconciliation

2 Corinthians 5:16-21 The Message

^16-20 Because of this decision we don’t evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don’t look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We’re Christ’s representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God’s work of making things right between them. We’re speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he’s already a friend with you.
²¹ How? you ask. In Christ. God put the wrong on him who never did anything wrong, so we could be put right with God.

For Reflection

The will of God is that we become stewards of each other.   God calls us to reconcile our relationships with each other as God has reconciled God's relationship with us.  In offering forgiveness, God has given us a new start.  In forgiving others, we initiate a fresh start without strings or expectations for a return.

Pray

that you will forgive.  Pray that your act of forgiving will lead toward making things right among each other.  Pray that all will learn to forgive and take that first step toward ending those things which prevent  righteousness.

Making Peace Through the Cross

The People of God Set Priorities
Bearing One Another's Burdens
An Appeal for Reconciliation

Colossians 1:15-23 The Message

Christ Holds It All Together

^15-18 We look at this Son and see the God who cannot be seen. We look at this Son and see God’s original purpose in everything created. For everything, absolutely everything, above and below, visible and invisible, rank after rank after rank of angels—everything got started in him and finds its purpose in him. He was there before any of it came into existence and holds it all together right up to this moment. And when it comes to the church, he organizes and holds it together, like a head does a body.

^18-20 He was supreme in the beginning and—leading the resurrection parade—he is supreme in the end. From beginning to end he’s there, towering far above everything, everyone. So spacious is he, so roomy, that everything of God finds its proper place in him without crowding. Not only that, but all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe—people and things, animals and atoms—get properly fixed and fit together in vibrant harmonies, all because of his death, his blood that poured down from the cross.
^21-23 You yourselves are a case study of what he does. At one time you all had your backs turned to God, thinking rebellious thoughts of him, giving him trouble every chance you got. But now, by giving himself completely at the Cross, actually dying for you, Christ brought you over to God’s side and put your lives together, whole and holy in his presence. You don’t walk away from a gift like that! You stay grounded and steady in that bond of trust, constantly tuned in to the Message, careful not to be distracted or diverted. There is no other Message—just this one. Every creature under heaven gets this same Message. I, Paul, am a messenger of this Message.

For Reflection

Everyone finds a space within God's being.  God will reconcile all to God.  The Cross is the sign of God's love and God's desire for all to turn to God to be reconciled and saved from our own humanity.  To be freed from our humanity is a gift which can be derived only from reconciliation to the Creator.  Why would anyone turn away from that gift?

Pray

that you will accept the grace of God.  Pray that all will find the freedom from human suffering that is found in being  reconciled to God. 

A Failed Attempt at Reconciliation

The People of God Set Priorities
Bearing One Another's Burdens
An Appeal for Reconciliation

Acts 7:23-29 The Message

^23-26 “When he was forty years old, he wondered how everything was going with his Hebrew kin and went out to look things over. He saw an Egyptian abusing one of them and stepped in, avenging his underdog brother by knocking the Egyptian flat. He thought his brothers would be glad that he was on their side, and even see him as an instrument of God to deliver them. But they didn’t see it that way. The next day two of them were fighting and he tried to break it up, told them to shake hands and get along with each other: ‘Friends, you are brothers, why are you beating up on each other?’
^27-29 “The one who had started the fight said, ‘Who put you in charge of us? Are you going to kill me like you killed that Egyptian yesterday?’ When Moses heard that, realizing that the word was out, he ran for his life and lived in exile over in Midian. During the years of exile, two sons were born to him.

For Reflection

"Who asked you to butt in?"   This is a common phrase for a common response to a helping action.  As every family knows, blood carries certain rights to intervene.  Even so, the intervention, no matter how well intentioned, can be rejected.   In order to successfully help another, one must be asked to help.

Two questions arise.  How ready to accept help are you?  Does your pride interfere with another's attempt to help you?  Secondly, are you prepared to help when asked or do you bull ahead and overstep your welcome assistance?

God wants to help.  However, God can be of little assistance if you refuse to be helped or refuse to ask for help.  As the adage goes, Ask and you will be given.

Pray

to God, the compassionate father, for help.  Pray that you will be ready to accept the opportunity for assistance when it presents itself.  Pray for those too proud to ask for help.  Pray for the success of helpers.  Pray for God's wisdom, patience and understanding when you are asked to help.  Pray to serve in humility.

Waiting for the Lord's Mercy

The People of God Set Priorities
Bearing One Another's Burdens
Treasure in Clay Jars

Jude 1:17-25  The Message

^17-19 But remember, dear friends, that the apostles of our Master, Jesus Christ, told us this would happen: “In the last days there will be people who don’t take these things seriously anymore. They’ll treat them like a joke, and make a religion of their own whims and lusts.” These are the ones who split churches, thinking only of themselves. There’s nothing to them, no sign of the Spirit!

^20-21 But you, dear friends, carefully build yourselves up in this most holy faith by praying in the Holy Spirit, staying right at the center of God’s love, keeping your arms open and outstretched, ready for the mercy of our Master, Jesus Christ. This is the unending life, the real life!

^22-23 Go easy on those who hesitate in the faith. Go after those who take the wrong way. Be tender with sinners, but not soft on sin. The sin itself stinks to high heaven.
^24-25 And now to him who can keep you on your feet, standing tall in his bright presence, fresh and celebrating—to our one God, our only Savior, through Jesus Christ, our Master, be glory, majesty, strength, and rule before all time, and now, and to the end of all time. Yes.

For Reflection

What is sin?

In my opinion, sin is anything we say, think, or do that separates us from God.  Religious or cultural rules are of little consequence unless violations, or for that matter, following them, separates us from the intentions that God has for living a life in the hollow of God's hand.

Pray

for Christian hospitality,  Pray for Christian humility,  Pray for Christian justice,  Pray for Christian peace.  Pray for Christian forgiveness.  Pray for Christian love.  Pray for all to grow into God's Grace.
Pray for mercy when we fall short of God's expectations.

Walking in Truth and Love

The People of God Set Priorities
Bearing One Another's Burdens
Treasure in Clay Jars

2 John 1-9  The Message

^1-2 My dear congregation, I, your pastor, love you in very truth. And I’m not alone—everyone who knows the Truth that has taken up permanent residence in us loves you.

³ Let grace, mercy, and peace be with us in truth and love from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, Son of the Father!
^4-6 I can’t tell you how happy I am to learn that many members of your congregation are diligent in living out the Truth, exactly as commanded by the Father. But permit me a reminder, friends, and this is not a new commandment but simply a repetition of our original and basic charter: that we love each other. Love means following his commandments, and his unifying commandment is that you conduct your lives in love. This is the first thing you heard, and nothing has changed.

Don’t Walk Out on God

⁷ There are a lot of smooth-talking charlatans loose in the world who refuse to believe that Jesus Christ was truly human, a flesh-and-blood human being. Give them their true title: Deceiver! Antichrist!

^8-9 And be very careful around them so you don’t lose out on what we’ve worked so diligently in together; I want you to get every reward you have coming to you. Anyone who gets so progressive in his thinking that he walks out on the teaching of Christ, walks out on God. But whoever stays with the teaching, stays faithful to both the Father and the Son.
^10-11 If anyone shows up who doesn’t hold to this teaching, don’t invite him in and give him the run of the place. That would just give him a platform to perpetuate his evil ways, making you his partner.
^12-13 I have a lot more things to tell you, but I’d rather not use paper and ink. I hope to be there soon in person and have a heart-to-heart talk. That will be far more satisfying to both you and me. Everyone here in your sister congregation sends greetings.

 
For Reflection

Those who speak in anger, those who advocate violence, those who endorse exclusion, those who's rhetoric is a call to arms, those who focus on retribution in the name of God deceive us.  In God's name they make us a willing partner with the anti-Christ.  Be wary of those who turn the truth away from love.  Be cautious of those who disguise the truth in the cloak of hate.  God's will is reconciliation. God's will is peace.  God's will is forgiveness,   God's will is just.

 

Pray

for those who work for peace.  Pray for those who encourage inclusion.  Pray for those who suffer Grace.

Standing Fast in God's True Grace

The People of God Set Priorities
Bearing One Another's Burdens
Treasure in Clay Jars

1 Peter 5:8-14  The Message

He Gets the Last Word

^8-11 Keep a cool head. Stay alert. The Devil is poised to pounce, and would like nothing better than to catch you napping. Keep your guard up. You’re not the only ones plunged into these hard times. It’s the same with Christians all over the world. So keep a firm grip on the faith. The suffering won’t last forever. It won’t be long before this generous God who has great plans for us in Christ—eternal and glorious plans they are!—will have you put together and on your feet for good. He gets the last word; yes, he does.

¹² I’m sending this brief letter to you by Silas, a most dependable brother. I have the highest regard for him.
I’ve written as urgently and accurately as I know how. This is God’s generous truth; embrace it with both arms!
^13-14 The church in exile here with me—but not for a moment forgotten by God—wants to be remembered to you. Mark, who is like a son to me, says hello. Give holy embraces all around! Peace to you—to all who walk in Christ’s ways.

 
For Reflection

Christians are often plunged into hard times.  Some trials and tribulations are harder than others.  Many Christians are strengthened by the conflict.  They seem to accept the opportunity to confront the urge to separate themselves from their faith and grow deeper in Grace.  Blessed are the faithful for they are a sign of God's good hand in our lives.

 

Pray

thank God for the strength to confront evil and grow in Grace.  Thank God for those who face death because of Christ.  Pray for those who oppress the faithful.

Sharing Christ's Sufferings and Glory

The People of God Set Priorities
Bearing One Another's Burdens
Treasure in Clay Jars

1 Peter 4:12-19  The Message

Glory Just Around the Corner

^12-13 Friends, when life gets really difficult, don’t jump to the conclusion that God isn’t on the job. Instead, be glad that you are in the very thick of what Christ experienced. This is a spiritual refining process, with glory just around the corner.

^14-16 If you’re abused because of Christ, count yourself fortunate. It’s the Spirit of God and his glory in you that brought you to the notice of others. If they’re on you because you broke the law or disturbed the peace, that’s a different matter. But if it’s because you’re a Christian, don’t give it a second thought. Be proud of the distinguished status reflected in that name!
^17-19 It’s judgment time for God’s own family. We’re first in line. If it starts with us, think what it’s going to be like for those who refuse God’s Message!

If good people barely make it,
What’s in store for the bad?

So if you find life difficult because you’re doing what God said, take it in stride. Trust him. He knows what he’s doing, and he’ll keep on doing it.

For Reflection

Chill!  Time Out!  Stop the World!  Relax!  Cool it!  Chillax!  Cool Your Jets!  Lighten up!  Decompress!  Kick Back!  Marinate!  Mellow!  Simmer Down!  Smell the Roses!  Veg Out!

Trust God.  God will do that which you cannot!  Wait, wait, wait, wait for it --- GRACE!

Pray

that you will wait for the grace of God.  Pray for all to wait for the Glory which is to come. Pray for those abused because of Christ.

Finding Grace in the Wilderness

The People of God Set Priorities
Bearing One Another's Burdens
Treasure in Clay Jars

Jeremiah 31:1-6 The Message

31 “And when that happens”—God’s Decree—
    “it will be plain as the sun at high noon:
I’ll be the God of every man, woman, and child in Israel
    and they shall be my very own people.”

^2-6 This is the way God put it:

“They found grace out in the desert,
    these people who survived the killing.
Israel, out looking for a place to rest,
    met God out looking for them!”
God told them, “I’ve never quit loving you and never will.
    Expect love, love, and more love!
And so now I’ll start over with you and build you up again,
    dear virgin Israel.
You’ll resume your singing,
    grabbing tambourines and joining the dance.
You’ll go back to your old work of planting vineyards
    on the Samaritan hillsides,
And sit back and enjoy the fruit—
    oh, how you’ll enjoy those harvests!
The time’s coming when watchmen will call out
    from the hilltops of Ephraim:
‘On your feet! Let’s go to Zion,
    go to meet our God!’”

 

For Reflection

I searched
  among the finest cabinets
  and discovered common wood.

I searched
  among successful people
  and found empty rewards.

I searched
  among the learned
  and saw folly.

I searched
  among the libraries of time
  and detected dust.

Weary from travel.
   I, disillusioned by failure,
   collapsed in despair.

Resources spent.
   I, drained of strength,
   shadowed in hopelessness.

Cowering in darkness.
   I, staring.

 

Into a murky pool
A rising sun reflects
Unexpected grace.

Pray

that you will find grace in unexpected common places.  Pray that you will recognize God looking out for you.

Speaking as Persons of Sincerity

The People of God Set Priorities
Bearing One Another's Burdens
A Community Forgives

2 Corinthians 2:12-17 The Message

An Open Door

^12-14 When I arrived in Troas to proclaim the Message of the Messiah, I found the place wide open: God had opened the door; all I had to do was walk through it. But when I didn’t find Titus waiting for me with news of your condition, I couldn’t relax. Worried about you, I left and came on to Macedonia province looking for Titus and a reassuring word on you. And I got it, thank God!

^14-16 In the Messiah, in Christ, God leads us from place to place in one perpetual victory parade. Through us, he brings knowledge of Christ. Everywhere we go, people breathe in the exquisite fragrance. Because of Christ, we give off a sweet scent rising to God, which is recognized by those on the way of salvation—an aroma redolent with life. But those on the way to destruction treat us more like the stench from a rotting corpse.
^16-17 This is a terrific responsibility. Is anyone competent to take it on? No—but at least we don’t take God’s Word, water it down, and then take it to the streets to sell it cheap. We stand in Christ’s presence when we speak; God looks us in the face. We get what we say straight from God and say it as honestly as we can.

 
For Reflection

God will open the doors for repentance.  God will prepare the way,  God will give us the power to speak.  If we are in God, in the Spirit, or in Christ, we carry the scent of redemption. We do not profit from nor dilute the gospel.  We are the proof of salvation.

 

Pray

for wisdom and find the opportunity to become wise.  Pray for courage and find the opportunity to be courageous.  Pray for obedience and find the opportunity to obey.  Thank God for providing opportunity.

Grace and Justification

The People of God Set Priorities
Bearing One Another's Burdens
A Community Forgives

Romans 5:15-21 The Message

^15-17 Yet the rescuing gift is not exactly parallel to the death-dealing sin. If one man’s sin put crowds of people at the dead-end abyss of separation from God, just think what God’s gift poured through one man, Jesus Christ, will do! There’s no comparison between that death-dealing sin and this generous, life-giving gift. The verdict on that one sin was the death sentence; the verdict on the many sins that followed was this wonderful life sentence. If death got the upper hand through one man’s wrongdoing, can you imagine the breathtaking recovery life makes, sovereign life, in those who grasp with both hands this wildly extravagant life-gift, this grand setting-everything-right, that the one man Jesus Christ provides?
^18-19 Here it is in a nutshell: Just as one person did it wrong and got us in all this trouble with sin and death, another person did it right and got us out of it. But more than just getting us out of trouble, he got us into life! One man said no to God and put many people in the wrong; one man said yes to God and put many in the right.
^20-21 All that passing laws against sin did was produce more lawbreakers. But sin didn’t, and doesn’t, have a chance in competition with the aggressive forgiveness we call grace. When it’s sin versus grace, grace wins hands down. All sin can do is threaten us with death, and that’s the end of it. Grace, because God is putting everything together again through the Messiah, invites us into life—a life that goes on and on and on, world without end.

 
For Reflection

"You can't legislate morality," goes the old saying.  And yet, in the human circumstance we labor to do so with only limited success. 

Doing righteousness is an unlimited spiritual act.  Forming and enforcing law is limited by our secular capacity.  We are beguiled by the power of temporal acts in a material world, fooled by assuming the occasional success is representative of perfection, ignoring the inherent imperfection of self-determination.  The answers to life's most important  questions, unknown in the secular common place physical world, resides only in the spiritual places of uncommon understanding.

 

Pray

for the wisdom to follow God's  law of love, compassion, justice, and forgiveness.

Repentance and Forgiveness

The People of God Set Priorities
Bearing One Another's Burdens
A Community Forgives

Luke 17:1-6 The Message

A Kernel of Faith

17 ^1-2 He said to his disciples, “Hard trials and temptations are bound to come, but too bad for whoever brings them on! Better to wear a millstone necklace and take a swim in the deep blue sea than give even one of these dear little ones a hard time!

^3-4 “Be alert. If you see your friend going wrong, correct him. If he responds, forgive him. Even if it’s personal against you and repeated seven times through the day, and seven times he says, ‘I’m sorry, I won’t do it again,’ forgive him.”
⁵ The apostles came up and said to the Master, “Give us more faith.”
⁶ But the Master said, “You don’t need more faith. There is no ‘more’ or ‘less’ in faith. If you have a bare kernel of faith, say the size of a poppy seed, you could say to this sycamore tree, ‘Go jump in the lake,’ and it would do it.

 
For Reflection

Repentance isn't just saying you are sorry.  Repentance is change.  Repentance is striving to act in line with God's will.  Repentance is doing the right thing even if others expect the worst of you.  Repentance is turning a new cheek to old challenges.

 

Pray

for the courage to repent.  Pray so that your contrition will be played out in your action.

Confession and Forgiveness

The People of God Set Priorities
Bearing One Another's Burdens
A Community Forgives

1 John 1:5-10 The Message

Walk in the Light

⁵ This, in essence, is the message we heard from Christ and are passing on to you: God is light, pure light; there’s not a trace of darkness in him.

^6-7 If we claim that we experience a shared life with him and continue to stumble around in the dark, we’re obviously lying through our teeth—we’re not living what we claim. But if we walk in the light, God himself being the light, we also experience a shared life with one another, as the sacrificed blood of Jesus, God’s Son, purges all our sin.
^8-10 If we claim that we’re free of sin, we’re only fooling ourselves. A claim like that is errant nonsense. On the other hand, if we admit our sins—make a clean breast of them—he won’t let us down; he’ll be true to himself. He’ll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing. If we claim that we’ve never sinned, we out-and-out contradict God—make a liar out of him. A claim like that only shows off our ignorance of God.

 
For Reflection

Some talk the talk.  Few walk the walk.  Which group best sums up your life in Christ?

 

Pray

for deliverance from your separation from God.  Pray that you will follow the example that Christ has set before us.  Pray for the strength of faith and the courage of conviction that God provides.  Pray that you will act on your faith.

Sin and Forgiveness

The People of God Set Priorities
Bearing One Another's Burdens
A Community Forgives

Acts 13:36-41 The Message

^36-39 “David, of course, having completed the work God set out for him, has been in the grave, dust and ashes, a long time now. But the One God raised up—no dust and ashes for him! I want you to know, my very dear friends, that it is on account of this resurrected Jesus that the forgiveness of your sins can be promised. He accomplishes, in those who believe, everything that the Law of Moses could never make good on. But everyone who believes in this raised-up Jesus is declared good and right and whole before God.
^40-41 “Don’t take this lightly. You don’t want the prophet’s sermon to describe you:

Watch out, cynics;
Look hard—watch your world fall to pieces.
I’m doing something right before your eyes
That you won’t believe, though it’s staring you in the face.”

For Reflection

We all sin.  We all suffer forgiveness.  Why is forgiveness so hard a gift to give and to receive?  Why is forgiveness so difficult to understand?  Why is vengeance and retribution among the most common responses?  How can we overcome this knee jerk reaction to those who harm us? 

What Christ offers is truly unbelievable in common perception.  Christ offers an uncommon perception, ending the death spiral of vengeance and retribution.  Believe that forgiveness and repentance works.

Pray

prayers of confession.  Pray for forgiveness.  Pray to forgive. Pray to offer love in place of hate.  Pray to turn to a righteous path.

A Cause for Giving Thanks

The People of God Set Priorities
Bearing One Another's Burdens
Consolation Granted through Prayer

Philemon 1:3-7 The Message

^1-3 I, Paul, am a prisoner for the sake of Christ, here with my brother Timothy. I write this letter to you, Philemon, my good friend and companion in this work—also to our sister Apphia, to Archippus, a real trooper, and to the church that meets in your house. God’s best to you! Christ’s blessings on you!

^4-7 Every time your name comes up in my prayers, I say, “Oh, thank you, God!” I keep hearing of the love and faith you have for the Master Jesus, which brims over to other believers. And I keep praying that this faith we hold in common keeps showing up in the good things we do, and that people recognize Christ in all of it. Friend, you have no idea how good your love makes me feel, doubly so when I see your hospitality to fellow believers.

 
For Reflection

How do we compliment each other?  For Paul, just saying, "Good job!" is not enough.  Paul begins by acknowledging God's hand.  Paul is specific about what he admires and how it makes him feel.  He places the act in the context of the realization of God's Kingdom and encourages like behavior.  Nowhere in these passages does Paul refer to any reference of Good or Bad.  He lets the listener decide for him or herself that the praise is deserved.   How do you praise?

 

Pray

that my praise of others will result in encouragement, confidence in God's will, and  consistent engagement in the pursuit of the Kingdom of God.