Tag: God’s truth

• Psalm 16: Seek Confidence

  
  

  Psalm 16: Seek Confidence

  Sunday, November 3, 2024

  Trust

  When we begin to trust God, we grow in confidence. When we grow in confidence, we are better able to trust God.

  You, Lord, are all I have,
      and you give me all I need;
      my future is in your hands.
  How wonderful are your gifts to me;
      how good they are!

  This is a beautiful prayer of Trust in God’s love for us – for his safekeeping of us. I like the metaphor of the Cup. It may refer to our daily drinking from the chalice of Christ’s sacrifice for us; or it may refer to our own willingness to offer our lives back to God as a blessing in the Cup of Our Lives.

  God says: You have every reason to doubt my existence; but know that I move in you as the Spirit of goodness, justice, truth and mercy.

  And so I am thankful and glad,
      and I feel completely secure,
  because you protect me from the power of death.
  I have served you faithfully,
      and you will not abandon me to the world of the dead.

  God says: You have every reason to believe in me. I have created a world in which you have freedom of choice and the promise of my strength and guidance.

  I praise the Lord, because God guides me,
      and in the night my conscience warns me.
  I am always aware of the Lord’s presence;
      God is near, and nothing can shake me.

  God says: When you read these verses today, rely on my deep and constant love for you.

  You will show me the path that leads to life;
      your presence fills me with joy
      and brings me pleasure forever.

  God says: Each time you recite these verses, my Spirit rises in you as it calls you to join me in the great mystery I have planned for us.

  Protect me, O God; I trust in you for safety.
  I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
      all the good things I have come from you.”

  God says: You have every reason to doubt me. You have every reason to believe in me. Today I call on the Spirit within you. Today I call you to place your trust in me. Today I ask you choose to grow and live in my love, mercy and confidence.

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  Image from: http://www.pulse.ng/communities/religion/daily-devotion-august-4-2016-trust-god-for-he-has-an-amazing-plan-for-your-life-id5340775.html

  Adapted from a reflection written on July 1, 2007.

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  November 3, 2024

  God, God’s goodness, God’s justice, God’s love, God’s mercy, God’s plan, God’s truth, The Cup, The Spirit, trust

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• Matthew 9:14-15: Friendly Bonfires

  
  

  Matthew 9:14-15: Friendly Bonfires

  Friday, February 10, 2023

  In the U.S. we experience tumultuous political seasons with calls for and against political correctness. Today we continue the conversation about microaggression with an article from Atlantic Monthly. How do the ideas about microaggression, marginalization and victimhood relate to the Gospel? Are there friendly or un-friendly bonfires we may want to douse or fuel? Only our intimate conversations with God and others will reveal God’s truth to us.

  Jesus: When you’re celebrating a wedding, you don’t skimp on the cake and wine. You feast. Later you may need to pull in your belt, but not now. No one throws cold water on a friendly bonfire. 

  God says: Do you know how often I have heard the familiar phrase that society is worse – or better – than ever? Your ideas are not new ones and when you study the histories of the peoples of the world you begin to understand this. I am always with you and yet you behave as if I have abandoned you. You need not be afraid. Believe me when I ask you to put out into deeper waters. Believe me when I tell you that fasting from food sharpens the senses. Fasting from the world for a little while sharpens the mind. But I am with you, rather than dampen the fires of love, let us call them into mighty conflagrations. 

  We explore these and like ideas as we remember our Lenten practice so that we might find wisdom and peace in God’s loving heart.

  We take care to remember our practice for the week: Rather than thinking, “This will not work,” let us say instead, “If you say so, Lord”.

  Tomorrow, the great banquet.

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  For an Atlantic Monthly article on microaggression, marginalization and victimhood, click on the image above or visit: http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2015/09/readers-defend-the-rise-of-the-microaggressions-framework/405772/

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  February 10, 2023

  God’s truth, microaggression

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• Luke 21:12-19: Giving Testimony

  
  

  Luke 21:12-19: Giving Testimony

  Friday, December 2, 2022

  They will seize and persecute you . . .
  

  Not one of us asks for loss of freedom.

  They will hand you over to the synagogues and to prisons . . .

  None of us wants public scandal or shame.

  They will lead you before kings and governors in my name . . .

  We do not like to think that politics or social pressure might suborn our thinking.

  It will lead to your testimony . . .

  So when we suffer in Christ’s name we must respond in fidelity.

  Remember . . . you are not to prepare your defense beforehand . . .

  There is no defense against the world’s corruption and power.

  I myself will give you wisdom in speaking that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute . . .

  There is only one true wisdom that preserves and protects.

  You will even be handed over by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends . . .

  There is only one powerful truth that guides and transforms.

  They will put some of you to death . . .

  There is only one life that is eternal.

  You will be hated because of my name . . .

  There is only one Spirit that brings life and light and love that are everlasting.

  But not a hair on your head will be destroyed . . .

  There is only one Christ Jesus who returns from death to heal, redeem and renew.

  By your perseverance you will secure your lives . . .

  There is only one God who is and was and will always be. Let us give our faithful testimony today. Amen.

  

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  Images from: http://www.fansshare.com/celebrities/testimony/ and https://livelyscribes14.wordpress.com/2014/07/18/the-testimony-of-jesus-the-life-of-testimony/ and https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/jesus-changed-everything-women/

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  December 2, 2022

  Christ’s Passion, eternal life, fidelity, God’s mercy, God’s truth, God’s wisdom, love, perseverance, witness

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• John 15:18: The World’s Hatred

  
  

  As we continue to struggle with a world-wide pandemic, we consider what hatred and fear, union and love can do.

  Monday, October 26, 2020

  John 15:18

  The World’s Hatred

  If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first.

  Jesus warns his disciples that hatred might be worn as a badge of honor in the divine world of inversion. The prophet Samuel heard the same words from Yahweh when the people clamored for a worldly king: Grant the people’s every request.  It is not you they reject, they are rejecting me as their king.  (1 Samuel 8:7)

  God says: Sometimes you behave like small, spoiled children, asking for everything you see, wishing to control all situations so that you might feel powerful. When you behave in this way you are missing sight of the beautiful gift I give you: the freedom to do as you like, the freedom to be and do good. You sometimes ask for too much, for more than you really need, and so I do not like to grant those wishes. Sometimes you ask for something you think will be a boon to you when I see that it will actually be harmful, and so I do not like to send you those people or possessions. Sometimes you do not ask at all and this saddens me for I have much to share. My servant Samuel and my son Jesus point out to you a perspective you may have trouble seeing. When you bear my light into a darkened world there will be those who are jealous. Let me deal with their envy. When you speak my truth to a world in crisis there will be those who will shout you down. Let me whisper into your ear what it is you are to do and say. When you act in my name and perform miracles for my scattered and frightened sheep you will be abused and perhaps brought to your knees. Remain in me for I am with you most especially at these times. Allow me to turn the tide and calm the storm. The loathing and anger that strikes you when you act in my name is really aimed at me. Duck your head just a little, bow down just a bit . . . so that I might shelter you . . . and bear the full force of the world’s hatred.

  Enter the word witness in the blog search bar and reflect on the many ways we witness for God in a turbulent and chaotic world.

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  For an interesting perspective by Roger Covin, Ph.D., about how we cannot be liked by everyone, click on the image above or go to: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/roger-covin/scared-of-being-rejected_b_2753558.html

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  October 26, 2020

  1 Samuel 8:7, anger, God’s truth

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