Jesus on the Road to Emmaus

Acknowledging God

All Glory and Honor

He Has Risen

Luke 24:13-24 The Message

The Road to Emmaus

13-16 That same day two of them were walking to the village Emmaus, about seven miles out of Jerusalem. They were deep in conversation, going over all these things that had happened. In the middle of their talk and questions, Jesus came up and walked along with them. But they were not able to recognize who he was.
17-18 He asked, “What’s this you’re discussing so intently as you walk along?”
They just stood there, long-faced, like they had lost their best friend. Then one of them, his name was Cleopas, said, “Are you the only one in Jerusalem who hasn’t heard what’s happened during the last few days?”
19-24 He said, “What has happened?”
They said, “The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene. He was a man of God, a prophet, dynamic in work and word, blessed by both God and all the people. Then our high priests and leaders betrayed him, got him sentenced to death, and crucified him. And we had our hopes up that he was the One, the One about to deliver Israel. And it is now the third day since it happened. But now some of our women have completely confused us. Early this morning they were at the tomb and couldn’t find his body. They came back with the story that they had seen a vision of angels who said he was alive. Some of our friends went off to the tomb to check and found it empty just as the women said, but they didn’t see Jesus.”

For Reflection

They did not recognize Jesus because they did not expect to see Him again. The explanation offered in the discussion of the Christ Event shows us how deeply disappointed they were in His death.  Perhaps they expected Jesus to return, but not so soon.  They didn't know what to make of the reports of Christ's disappearance from the tomb.  In spite of Jesus's foretelling his passion, they could not see Christ.  

Pray

Pray so that you will be able to see the Living God, Christ walking beside you, counseling you, comforting, you, and encouraging you. Pray.

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Live in Humble Service

Acknowledging God

All Glory and Honor

He Has Risen

John 13:12-17 The Message

10-12 Jesus said, “If you’ve had a bath in the morning, you only need your feet washed now and you’re clean from head to toe. My concern, you understand, is holiness, not hygiene. So now you’re clean. But not every one of you.” (He knew who was betraying him. That’s why he said, “Not every one of you.”) After he had finished washing their feet, he took his robe, put it back on, and went back to his place at the table.
12-17 Then he said, “Do you understand what I have done to you? You address me as ‘Teacher’ and ‘Master,’ and rightly so. That is what I am. So if I, the Master and Teacher, washed your feet, you must now wash each other’s feet. I’ve laid down a pattern for you. What I’ve done, you do. I’m only pointing out the obvious. A servant is not ranked above his master; an employee doesn’t give orders to the employer. If you understand what I’m telling you, act like it—and live a blessed life.

For Reflection

All life events are, to some extent, clouded by mystery!  Think not?  Think again. Do you always have all the information to perceive a life event in all its nuances, its history or its impact on the future?  We have a hard enough time perceiving our present accurately. To what extent do we know the motives of others, or their feelings, or intentions? Our understandings are always filtered by our expectations, values, attitudes, beliefs, and experiences. We are not hard-wired to each other nor to God. There are things hidden from us because of our limitations to see.

Christ wanted to make sure that the Disciples understood the implications of His life.  Jesus wanted the Disciples to understand that following Him would require a second order change in how they see themselves, their communities and their God.  Jesus wanted them to understand how obedience to the will of God would change the way they live their lives.

Pray

Pray, study, and discuss the meaning of the Holy Scriptures.  Pray so that you will be able to become a more authentic Christian. Pray to follow the will of God.

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Wash One Another's Feet

Acknowledging God

All Glory and Honor

He Has Risen

John 13:1-6 The Message

Washing His Disciples’ Feet

13 1-2 Just before the Passover Feast, Jesus knew that the time had come to leave this world to go to the Father. Having loved his dear companions, he continued to love them right to the end. It was suppertime. The Devil by now had Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot, firmly in his grip, all set for the betrayal.
3-6 Jesus knew that the Father had put him in complete charge of everything, that he came from God and was on his way back to God. So he got up from the supper table, set aside his robe, and put on an apron. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the feet of the disciples, drying them with his apron. When he got to Simon Peter, Peter said, “Master, you wash my feet?”

For Reflection

What could Jesus have done? He could have chosen to call Judas out, charged him with conspiracy, and set the disciples upon him. He could have struck Judas down and made a public display of Judas treachery. Christ chose instead to wash the disciple's feet. It was an act of service, an act of kindness, an act of grace. The foot washing was withheld from no one. It was an act of prime Christian obedience to the will of God. It was an act that defied the conventional response to fear, persecution, and violence.  It defines a preferred response to the corporal world's common reactions.

Pray

Pray. Meditate on Christs foot washing. Think about the times you could have chosen an alternative response to a perceived threat. Imagine the result of an alternative answer. Pray for the courage to take a Christ-like path to resolve untoward issues.

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Do This in Remembrance of Me

Acknowledging God

All Glory and Honor

He Has Risen

1 Corinthians 11:23-26 Amplified Bible

The Lord’s Supper

23 [a]For I received from the Lord Himself that [instruction] which I passed on to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night in which He was betrayed took bread; 24 and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “This is (represents) My body, which is [offered as a sacrifice] for you. Do this in [affectionate] remembrance of Me.” 25 In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant [ratified and established] in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in [affectionate] remembrance of Me.” 26 For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are [symbolically] proclaiming [the fact of] the Lord’s death until He comes [again].

For Reflection

Received from the Lord, Paul's words make the sacrament of the Lord's Supper as important to Christians as Passover is to Jews. Christians are to remember the Passion of Christ as a salvation story just as the Jews remember the salvation from in the Passover.  We are to remember that our salvation paid in blood is both spiritual and physical. We are to remember Christ's victory over violence.  We are to remember Christ's remarkable grace.  We are to remember Christ's willingness to forgive.  We are to remember Christ's abiding obedience to the will of God. We are to remember our role in the realization of God's Kingdom.

Pray

Pray so that you will remember the Christ Event.  Pray so that you will develop a more intimate relationship with God.  Pray so that you will remember your God Story.

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Jesus Foretells His Suffering and Death

Acknowledging God

All Glory and Honor

He Has Risen

Mark 8:31, 9:1 Amplified Bible 

31 And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must [of necessity] suffer many things and be rejected [as the Messiah] by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and must be put to death, and after three days rise [from death to life].

The Transfiguration
9 And Jesus said to them, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste (experience) death before they see the kingdom of God after it has come with power.”

For Reflection

Jesus had to experience a violent death to show the world that violence does not result in peace as the religious leaders had expected.  The expected messiah was supposed to fight their battles for them. But in His resurrection, this messiah defeated death and established a kingdom with a foundation of self-sacrifice and compassion.  In spite of all attempts to squash the movement, God created God's Kingdom on Earth.  Some were so blinded by their expectations and desires to keep the status quo, they could not perceive God's presence in Christ nor the establishment of God's kingdom.

Pray

Pray so that you will become aware of God's presence in your life.  Pray for those who see beyond their realities into the kingdom. Pray for those who are willing to die for God.  In death, there is no sting.

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Jesus and the Road to Emmaus

Acknowledging God

All Glory and Honor

He Has Risen

Luke 24:13-24 The Message

The Road to Emmaus

13-16 That same day two of them were walking to the village Emmaus, about seven miles out of Jerusalem. They were deep in conversation, going over all these things that had happened. In the middle of their talk and questions, Jesus came up and walked along with them. But they were not able to recognize who he was.
17-18 He asked, “What’s this you’re discussing so intently as you walk along?”
They just stood there, long-faced, like they had lost their best friend. Then one of them, his name was Cleopas, said, “Are you the only one in Jerusalem who hasn’t heard what’s happened during the last few days?”
19-24 He said, “What has happened?”
They said, “The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene. He was a man of God, a prophet, dynamic in work and word, blessed by both God and all the people. Then our high priests and leaders betrayed him, got him sentenced to death, and crucified him. And we had our hopes up that he was the One, the One about to deliver Israel. And it is now the third day since it happened. But now some of our women have completely confused us. Early this morning they were at the tomb and couldn’t find his body. They came back with the story that they had seen a vision of angels who said he was alive. Some of our friends went off to the tomb to check and found it empty just as the women said, but they didn’t see Jesus.”

For Reflection

They did not recognize Jesus because they did not expect to see Him again. The explanation offered in the discussion of the Christ Event shows us how deeply disappointed they were in His death.  Perhaps they expected Jesus to return, but not so soon.  They didn't know what to make of the reports of Christ's disappearance from the tomb.  In spite of Jesus's foretelling his passion, they could not see Christ.  

Pray

Pray so that you will be able to see the Living God, Christ walking beside you, counseling you, comforting, you, and encouraging you. Pray.

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Dangerous Results of Unfaithful Action

Acknowledging God

Follow in My Ways

Keep My Statutes and Ordinances

1 Kings 9:6-9 The Message

6-9 “But if you or your sons betray me, ignoring my guidance and judgments, taking up with alien gods by serving and worshiping them, then the guarantee is off: I’ll wipe Israel right off the map and repudiate this Temple I’ve just sanctified to honor my Name. And Israel will become nothing but a bad joke among the peoples of the world. And this Temple, splendid as it now is, will become an object of contempt; visitors will shake their heads, saying, ‘Whatever happened here? What’s the story behind these ruins?’ Then they’ll be told, ‘The people who used to live here betrayed their God, the very God who rescued their ancestors from Egypt; they took up with alien gods, worshiping and serving them. That’s what’s behind this God-visited devastation.’”

For Reflection

Hard Question:
Does God punish? Perhaps so. But if God punishes, God rarely (if ever) has done so without hope of blessings to follow--a path to reconciliation.  Many scholars of scripture call it God's chiding or course correction.

Much of the time, I think, God has just let those who sin suffer its natural consequence.  God chooses not to intervene but repeats God's overture to accept light over darkness. 

Pray

Pray so that you develop a more intimate relationship with God.  Pray so that your life choices result in the blessings that naturally follow your abiding love for God.

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Life is the Best Choice

Acknowledging God

Follow in My Ways

Keep My Statutes and Ordinances

Deuteronomy 30:15-20 The Message

15 Look at what I’ve done for you today: I’ve placed in front of you
    Life and Good
    Death and Evil.
16 And I command you today: Love God, your God. Walk in his ways. Keep his commandments, regulations, and rules so that you will live, really live, live exuberantly, blessed by God, your God, in the land you are about to enter and possess.
17-18 But I warn you: If you have a change of heart, refuse to listen obediently, and willfully go off to serve and worship other gods, you will most certainly die. You won’t last long in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess.
19-20 I call Heaven and Earth to witness against you today: I place before you Life and Death, Blessing and Curse. Choose life so that you and your children will live. And love God, your God, listening obediently to him, firmly embracing him. Oh yes, he is life itself, a long life settled on the soil that God, your God, promised to give your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

For Reflection

One of the truths of our human existence is that we are free to choose. God places before us the choice of life and good or death and evil.  The first is a God-centered choice, the second, a self-centered one. Walking in the light of the Holy Spirit is to choose life and good over evil and death. Not that God will do us in if we make another choice but that our evil action and death is inherent in our decision to separate ourselves from God. Our salvation from a life of dark curses results from our desire to follow Christ and our obedience to God.  

Having made that choice and err, God will forgive you.  You may suffer the consequence of your error, but God will never abandon you.  God will herd you, like a lost sheep and pull you closer to God's flock with our retribution. On the contrary, when you return, God will stop weeping for you and celebrate your repentance.

Pray

Pray prayers of thanksgiving to God who guides your life into happiness and joy.

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Treat Others Fairly With Compassion

Acknowledging God

Follow in My Ways

Keep My Statutes and Ordinances

Exodus 22:21-30 The Message (MSG)

21 “Don’t abuse or take advantage of strangers; you, remember, were once strangers in Egypt.
22-24 “Don’t mistreat widows or orphans. If you do and they cry out to me, you can be sure I’ll take them most seriously; I’ll show my anger and come raging among you with the sword, and your wives will end up widows and your children orphans.
25 “If you lend money to my people, to any of the down-and-out among you, don’t come down hard on them and gouge them with interest.
26-27 “If you take your neighbor’s coat as security, give it back before nightfall; it may be your neighbor’s only covering—what else does the person have to sleep in? And if I hear the neighbor crying out from the cold, I’ll step in—I’m compassionate.
28 “Don’t curse God; and don’t damn your leaders.
29-30 “Don’t be stingy as your wine vats fill up.
“Dedicate your firstborn sons to me. The same with your cattle and sheep—they are to stay for seven days with their mother, then give them to me.

For Reflection

So many strangers entering strange lands, refugees from war, persecution, and injustices; these days challenge our souls and test our resolve for compassion. If we ignore the need and withhold help are we acting any differently than tyranny from which they risk their lives to seek asylum?  If violent eradication of the tyrants is not an option, what other choice do we have but to help pick up the pieces of fragmented societies and offer sanctuary and hope?

Pray

Pray for those whose lives have been torn apart and who have risked all to find sanctuary and hope in strange lands. Pray for those whose selfish obsessions for power is paid by the suffering and death of their countries men, women, and children.

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Reconciliation Makes Gift Giving Just

Acknowledging God

Follow in My Ways

Keep My Statutes and Ordinances

Matthew 5:21-26 The Message (MSG)

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 without a stiff fine.

For Reflection

The foundation of Mosaic Law is still in force. The Christ event did not erase the Jewish law, it extended it and tempered with compassion and grace. The new testament is about obedience not just to the letter of the law, but also to the intention of the law.  The purpose of God's law is to make our communities livable. Christ has shown us how to live in a good relationship with God and with each other.  We indeed suffer from the errors of our human condition but sharing the Grace of God eases the burdens of our existence.

Pray

Study the scriptures. Worship in fellowship with others. Seek the meaning of your lives through prayer and the practice of a compassionate life.

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God Wants Activists Who Fast

Acknowledging God

Follow in My Ways

Keep My Statutes and Ordinances

Isaiah 58:6-12 The Message

6-9 “This is the kind of fast day I’m after:
    to break the chains of injustice,
    get rid of exploitation in the workplace,
    free the oppressed,
    cancel debts.
What I’m interested in seeing you do is:
    sharing your food with the hungry,
    inviting the homeless poor into your homes,
    putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad,
    being available to your own families.
Do this, and the lights will turn on,
    and your lives will turn around at once.
Your righteousness will pave your way.
    The God of glory will secure your passage.
Then when you pray, God will answer.
    You’ll call out for help, and I’ll say, ‘Here I am.’

A Full Life in the Emptiest of Places

9-12 “If you get rid of unfair practices,
    quit blaming victims,
    quit gossiping about other people’s sins,
If you are generous with the hungry
    and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out,
Your lives will begin to glow in the darkness,
    your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight.
I will always show you where to go.
    I’ll give you a full life in the emptiest of places—
    firm muscles, strong bones.
You’ll be like a well-watered garden,
    a gurgling spring that never runs dry.
You’ll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew,
    rebuild the foundations from out of your past.
You’ll be known as those who can fix anything,
    restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate,
    make the community livable again.

For Reflection

Have we learned so little that this passage is as pertinent today as it was to the Hebrews thousands of years ago?  We are still as plagued by our lack of visions for compassionate societies.  We still fear the impact of justice and grace and support those whose solutions to world relational problems are the centralization and abuses of power and position.  We still operate on the basis of fear.  Christians become complicit in the injustices when we remain silent.

It is not enough to scream and yell and stamp our feet or carry placards into the street.  A life in Christ calls us to bear the burdens of the cloaks we wear.  If we want a just society, we perform justice. If we want a compassionate community, we perform compassionate action.  Where there is darkness, shine a light. Where there are shadowed lives, bring sunlight. 

Pray

Pray for compassion and God will provide opportunities to be compassionate.  Pray for justice, and God will ask you to be a stumbling block for injustice.  Ask for forgiveness and God will ask you forgive.  Pray for peace, and God will ask you to become a peace-maker. Call on God to help, and God will help you make communities livable.

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Assembly Attendees Blessed by Solomon

Acknowledging God

Follow in My Ways

There Is No God Like You

1 Kings 8:54-61 The Message 

54-55 Having finished praying to God—all these bold and passionate prayers—Solomon stood up before God’s Altar where he had been kneeling all this time, his arms stretched upward to heaven. Standing, he blessed the whole congregation of Israel, blessing them at the top of his lungs:
56-58 “Blessed be God, who has given peace to his people Israel just as he said he’d do. Not one of all those good and wonderful words that he spoke through Moses has misfired. May God, our very own God, continue to be with us just as he was with our ancestors—may he never give up and walk out on us. May he keep us centered and devoted to him, following the life path he has cleared, watching the signposts, walking at the pace and rhythms he laid down for our ancestors.
59-61 “And let these words that I’ve prayed in the presence of God be always right there before him, day and night, so that he’ll do what is right for me, to guarantee justice for his people Israel day after day after day. Then all the people on earth will know God is the true God; there is no other God. And you, your lives must be totally obedient to God, our personal God, following the life path he has cleared, alert and attentive to everything he has made plain this day.”

For Reflection

Solomon prays for the people.  He blesses them. He delivers God's promise of justice.  This justice is a natural result of obedience and trust in God and following the life path God has prepared for them.  The outcome of disobedience is suffering injustices and a difficult life path.

Pray

Pray for God-centeredness.  Pray to practice an obedient relationship with the living God.

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Healed and Forgiven

Acknowledging God

Follow in My Ways

There Is No God Like You

Psalm 107:17-22 The Message

17-22 Some of you were sick because you’d lived a bad life,
    your bodies feeling the effects of your sin;
You couldn’t stand the sight of food,
    so miserable you thought you’d be better off dead.
Then you called out to God in your desperate condition;
    he got you out in the nick of time.
He spoke the word that healed you,
    that pulled you back from the brink of death.
So thank God for his marvelous love,
    for his miracle mercy to the children he loves;
Offer thanksgiving sacrifices,
    tell the world what he’s done—sing it out!

For Reflection

There is little doubt that much of our suffering is self-inflicted.  In the depth of our suffering, we can connect with God. In the purity of our yearning, God will rescue us. Calling for selfish outcomes will never result in God's intervention.  God's light will heal us only when we have died to self-determination.

Pray

Pray so that you can purify your soul and commit it to an unreasonable trust in the Holy Spirit.

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Deliverance from Many Troubles

Acknowledging God

Follow in My Ways

There Is No God Like You

Psalm 107:1-9 The Message

107 1-3 Oh, thank God—he’s so good!
    His love never runs out.
All of you set free by God, tell the world!
    Tell how he freed you from oppression,
Then rounded you up from all over the place,
    from the four winds, from the seven seas.
4-9 Some of you wandered for years in the desert,
    looking but not finding a good place to live,
Half-starved and parched with thirst,
    staggering and stumbling, on the brink of exhaustion.
Then, in your desperate condition, you called out to God.
    He got you out in the nick of time;
He put your feet on a wonderful road
    that took you straight to a good place to live.
So thank God for his marvelous love,
    for his miracle mercy to the children he loves.
He poured great draughts of water down parched throats;
    the starved and hungry got plenty to eat.

For Reflection

Probably most of us in desperate times have called out to God.  Somehow desperation becomes a catalyst for preparing one to accept help. Yes, God will help us as we seek God as a last resort. God always gives mercy to those who sincerely reach out to God.  God will provide for your spiritual, and physical needs. But, why does it take a tragedy, dilemma, or unsolvable problem to drive one to God? Why do we fear giving up the illusion that one needs to be self-reliant?
We accept God's grace and favor. We are truly repentant. But in our human condition, we return to our egoistic ways. Thus, we block our ability to trust God's kindness, generosity, mercy, and goodness. We turn away from the thing that has lifted us out of despair. Yet, God stands by and is ready to catch us when we fall again.

Pray

Most of the time our prayers ask God to intervene in our lives and save us from our follies.  Sometimes we offer prayers of thanksgiving and praise. All of the time all God wants is a relationship with God's people. So pray that you find a lasting abiding relationship built on your trust in God.

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Hezekiah Arranges a Worship Service

Acknowledging God

Follow in My Ways

There Is No God Like You

2 Chronicles 29:25-30 The Message

25-26 The king ordered the Levites to take their places in The Temple of God with their musical instruments—cymbals, harps, zithers—following the original instructions of David, Gad the king’s seer, and Nathan the prophet; this was God’s command conveyed by his prophets. The Levites formed the orchestra of David, while the priests took up the trumpets.
27-30 Then Hezekiah gave the signal to begin: The Whole-Burnt-Offering was offered on the Altar; at the same time the sacred choir began singing, backed up by the trumpets and the David orchestra while the entire congregation worshiped. The singers sang, and the trumpeters played all during the sacrifice of the Whole-Burnt-Offering. When the offering of the sacrifice was completed, the king and everyone there knelt to the ground and worshiped. Then Hezekiah the king and the leaders told the Levites to finish things off with anthems of praise to God using lyrics by David and Asaph the seer. They sang their praises with joy and reverence, kneeling in worship.

For Reflection

What a grand celebration that must have been, singing, dancing, prophesying, burnt offerings, and the consequential feast. The dedication of the temple was capped off with worship and songs of praise and prophesy. It was an event for which the Jews had anticipated with suffering and hope.  No longer nomadic, housed in a tent, the arc of the covenant, God, finally resided in a temple in their midst.

Pray

Pray so that the Holy Spirit will not only take up residence in your soul but that you would also permit God to guide and inform your actions.

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GOD LISTENS TO OBEDIENT WORSHIPERS

Acknowledging God

Follow in My Ways

There Is No God Like You

John 9:24-38 The Message (MSG)

24 They called the man back a second time—the man who had been blind—and told him, “Give credit to God. We know this man is an impostor.”
25 He replied, “I know nothing about that one way or the other. But I know one thing for sure: I was blind . . . I now see.”
26 They said, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?”
27 “I’ve told you over and over and you haven’t listened. Why do you want to hear it again? Are you so eager to become his disciples?”
28-29 With that they jumped all over him. “You might be a disciple of that man, but we’re disciples of Moses. We know for sure that God spoke to Moses, but we have no idea where this man even comes from.”
30-33 The man replied, “This is amazing! You claim to know nothing about him, but the fact is, he opened my eyes! It’s well known that God isn’t at the beck and call of sinners, but listens carefully to anyone who lives in reverence and does his will. That someone opened the eyes of a man born blind has never been heard of—ever. If this man didn’t come from God, he wouldn’t be able to do anything.”
34 They said, “You’re nothing but dirt! How dare you take that tone with us!” Then they threw him out in the street.
35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and went and found him. He asked him, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”
36 The man said, “Point him out to me, sir, so that I can believe in him.”
37 Jesus said, “You’re looking right at him. Don’t you recognize my voice?”
38 “Master, I believe,” the man said, and worshiped him.

For Reflection

They had expected a messiah, but the Pharisees did not expect one that would challenge their view of religion or their power as leaders and representatives of the Roman occupation.  Out of fear of losing their control, they fought, sometimes violently, trying to discredit, and demonize Christ.  The Pharisees were hiding the truth of Christ from themselves by their inability to see beyond their selfish concerns.

Christ has shown us that God is not interested in religion.  God is involved in the development of the human potential to love and live in harmony with God and each other.  Pharisees were interested in malicious adherence to the letter of the law. God champions the equitable distribution of God's largess (physical and spiritual) to all peoples. 

Pray

Pray for the courage to make your primary interests the will of God, stewardship of God's resources and shepherding of each other.

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Prayers of Repentance During Captivity

Acknowledging God

Follow in My Ways

There Is No God Like You

2 Chronicles 6:36-40 The Message

36-39 When they sin against you—and they certainly will; there’s no one without sin!—and in anger you turn them over to the enemy and they are taken captive to the enemy’s land, whether far or near, but repent in the country of their captivity and pray with changed hearts in their exile, “We’ve sinned; we’ve done wrong; we’ve been most wicked,” and turn back to you heart and soul in the land of the enemy who conquered them, and pray to you toward their homeland, the land you gave their ancestors, toward the city you chose, and this Temple I have built to the honor of your Name,
Listen from your home in heaven
to their prayers desperate and devout;
Do what is best for them.
Forgive your people who have sinned against you.
40 And now, dear God, be alert and attentive to prayer, all prayer, offered in this place.

For Reflection

Our temple resides in our Souls. There, we can retreat and explore the nature of our sin. There we can confess to God and to ourselves our shortcomings.  There we can find repentance and how to act on it.  God will answer your prayers offered in your Soul.

Pray

Pray deep into the center of your soul. Listen to the prayers of others as they cry out in despair. Pray and forgive those whose actions have offended you. Listen to God's response, your call to witness to the love that is God.

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Foreigners Welcome in God's Temple

Acknowledging God

Follow in My Ways

There Is No God Like You

2 Chronicles 6:28-33 The Message

28-31 When disasters strike, famine or catastrophe, crop failure or disease, locust or beetle, or when an enemy attacks their defenses—calamity of any sort—any prayer that’s prayed from anyone at all among your people Israel, their hearts penetrated by disaster, hands and arms thrown out for help to this Temple,
Listen from your home in heaven, forgive and reward us:
reward each life and circumstance,
For you know each life from the inside,
(you’re the only one with such inside knowledge!),
So they’ll live before you in lifelong reverence and believing
obedience on this land you gave our ancestors.
32 And don’t forget the foreigner who is not a member of your people Israel but has come from a far country because of your reputation—people are going to be attracted here by your great reputation, your wonderworking power—and who come to pray to this Temple.
33 Listen from your home in heaven
and honor the prayers of the foreigner,
So that people all over the world
will know who you are and what you’re like,
And live in reverent obedience before you,
just as your own people Israel do,
So they’ll know that you personally
make this Temple that I’ve built what it is.

For Reflection

Ah yes, the human condition. We, humans, know only human things. It is difficult for us to perceive things un-human. To further complicate matters much of what we comprehend is filtered by our experiences and our attitudes, beliefs and values. We are indeed, separated physically, emotionally, and intellectually from each other and, most importantly, from God. As a preference for scientific thought advanced, the choice for other forms of discovery have wained.

Scientific methods are insufficient means for us to penetrate and understand the spiritual nature of our existence. Science and spirituality are not opposites. They are complimentary.  Scientific discovery has provided a continually improving standard of living for all peoples.  Without a spiritual counterpart, there is a compelling presumption to use modern advances selfishly.  For all sorts of reasons, economic, political, or social, we have not solved the problems of the grossly inequitable distribution of the increases provided by science and technology.

It's not that we don't know how to improve the human condition. We fear the consequence of human justice.  Attention Christians, to what extent are people attracted to the living God because of our great reputation, our wonderworking power?  Who is attracted to pray at our temple of unconditional love?  

Pray

Perhaps the greatest gift one can give to God is a prayer.  Not of supplication, not of lamentation, not of thanksgiving, not of intersession but of action. Pray, not only with your lips. Pray also with your hands and feet.

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Solomon Completes the Temple

Acknowledging God

Follow in My Ways

There Is No God Like You

2 Chronicles 6:1-11 The Message

Solomon’s Dedication and Prayer

6 1-2 Then Solomon said,
God said he would dwell in a cloud,
But I’ve built a temple most splendid,
A place for you to live in forever.
3 The king then turned to face the congregation that had come together and blessed them:
4-6 “Blessed be God, the God of Israel, who spoke personally to my father, David. Now he has done what he promised when he said, ‘From the day I brought my people Israel up from Egypt, I haven’t set apart one city among the tribes of Israel in which to build a temple to honor my Name, or chosen one person to be the leader. But now I have chosen both a city and a person: Jerusalem for honoring my Name and David to lead my people Israel.’
7-9 “My father David very much wanted to build a temple honoring the Name of God, the God of Israel, but God told him, ‘It was good that you wanted to build a temple in my honor—most commendable! But you are not the one to do it. Your son, who will carry on your dynasty, will build it for my Name.’
10-11 “And now you see the promise completed. God has done what he said he would do; I have succeeded David, my father and now rule Israel; and I have built a temple to honor God, the God of Israel, and have secured a place for the Chest that holds the Covenant of God, the covenant he made with the people of Israel.”

For Reflection

The Israelites carried God with them in the Arc of the Covenant. Now, they have a resting place to which God has led them.  Solomon has constructed a temple into which God has taken up an earthly residence. The Covenant resides with them. When they are ready, God will leave the temple and reside not with them but within them.

Pray

Pray that you will learn to acknowledge the Holy Spirit that today resides in your soul.  Pray so that you can fill your soul's yearnings with the goodness of God.

Jesus, Heir to David's Throne

Acknowledging God

Follow in My Ways

There Is No God Like You

Acts 2:29-36 The Message

29-36 “Dear friends, let me be completely frank with you. Our ancestor David is dead and buried—his tomb is in plain sight today. But being also a prophet and knowing that God had solemnly sworn that a descendant of his would rule his kingdom, seeing far ahead, he talked of the resurrection of the Messiah—‘no trip to Hades, no stench of death.’ This Jesus, God raised up. And every one of us here is a witness to it. Then, raised to the heights at the right hand of God and receiving the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father, he poured out the Spirit he had just received. That is what you see and hear. For David himself did not ascend to heaven, but he did say,
God said to my Master, “Sit at my right hand
Until I make your enemies a stool for resting your feet.”
“All Israel, then, know this: There’s no longer room for doubt—God made him Master and Messiah, this Jesus whom you killed on a cross.”

For Reflection

One of the meanings of the birth, ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus is that the Christ Event has shown us the face of God. It was thought that if one looked into the face of God, one would be so overwhelmed with the knowledge of God that one would die.  But the mystery of God has been revealed. What once was only prophesied and hoped for has been realized.  God has shown God's self to us. We have seen God in Jesus Christ.  God has revealed the mystery of the gift given through Moses. The meaning of the law has been exemplified.

In God's good time, God showed the depth of understanding for which Moses on the mount had pleaded. The prophecy of David has been buried and arising from its grave is the soul's desire to seek in the Christ Event the practice of righteousness God has always desired for humankind.

Pray

Pray so that you will be able to use the laws of Moses as a guideline for the expression of God's essence, a love that knows no boundaries. Pray so that you can have a fuller sense of God's gracious and merciful sacrificial act and rest in the God's entire goodness.

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God Selects the Family of David

Acknowledging God

Follow in My Ways

There Is No God Like You

Psalm 132:8-12 Amplified Bible 

8
Arise, O Lord, to Your resting place,
You and the ark [the symbol] of Your strength.
9
Let Your priests be clothed with righteousness (right living),
And let Your godly ones shout for joy.
10
For the sake of Your servant David,
Do not turn away the face of Your anointed.
11
The Lord swore to David
A truth from which He will not turn back:
“One of your [a]descendants I will set upon your throne.
12
“If your children will keep My covenant
And My testimony which I will teach them,
Their children also shall sit upon your throne forever.”

For Reflection

Solomon, perhaps the writer, invites God to rest in the Temple. Will God rest in this temple or like all other human-built edifices will the temple fall?  Instead, perhaps God sees the temple only a symbolic habitat and God rests in the meaning of the temple, obedience, and promise in the lineage of David.  The temple, like the ark, was a symbol of God's divine presence and protection. God rests in God's people.

Pray

Pray so that the temple of God resides in your soul.  Pray that God rests in you.

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God Blesses Abraham for Obedience

Acknowledging God

Follow in My Ways

The Lord Will Provide

Genesis 22:15-19 The Message

15-18 The angel of God spoke from Heaven a second time to Abraham: “I swear—God’s sure word!—because you have gone through with this, and have not refused to give me your son, your dear, dear son, I’ll bless you—oh, how I’ll bless you! And I’ll make sure that your children flourish—like stars in the sky! Like sand on the beaches! And your descendants will defeat their enemies. All nations on Earth will find themselves blessed through your descendants because you obeyed me.”
19 Then Abraham went back to his young servants. They got things together and returned to Beersheba. Abraham settled down in Beersheba.

For Reflection

Is this a definition of eternity, of everlasting life? The love of God is procreated in human evolution. Our ultimate sign of maturity is our spiritual maturity, a maturity dedicated to the love, compassion, and support we give to that which values each soul equally. This, I think, is the will of God.

Pray

Pray as Christ prayed at the cross, "Not my will, but yours be done." (Luke22:42)

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Family Linage of Abraham Preserved

Acknowledging God

Follow in My Ways

The Lord Will Provide

Hebrews 11:17-22 The Message

17-19 By faith, Abraham, at the time of testing, offered Isaac back to God. Acting in faith, he was as ready to return the promised son, his only son, as he had been to receive him—and this after he had already been told, “Your descendants shall come from Isaac.” Abraham figured that if God wanted to, he could raise the dead. In a sense, that’s what happened when he received Isaac back, alive from off the altar.
20 By an act of faith, Isaac reached into the future as he blessed Jacob and Esau.
21 By an act of faith, Jacob on his deathbed blessed each of Joseph’s sons, in turn, blessing them with God’s blessing, not his own—as he bowed worshipfully upon his staff.
22 By an act of faith, Joseph, while dying, prophesied the exodus of Israel, and made arrangements for his own burial.

For Reflection

In the Old Testament, we are often given a glimpse into the future. Acting in faith Abraham is asked to sacrifice the life of his son. He is asked to suffer the unimaginable terror of losing a son at his own hand. Abraham is asked to sacrifice that which is most dear to him to save the lineage of Godliness as he knows it. A son is raised from death to bless the world.  Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph also in the act of faith gave their sons to the service of God. Faith, an unreasonable trust in God, it has been shown, carries the capacity for each of us to be raised from our death into life as God has intended human existence to become.  Scripture prepares us to understand God's sacrifice of God's son.

Pray

Pray for the courage to die to your former secular life and be raised by faith into a life of service to and abounding love and grace.  Pray that you will arise from your dead civil existence, and be resurrected into the person and the life that God has intended for you.

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