down, day 1

Come to Stillness: Take a few minutes to allow your mind and heart to be still before God.

Opening Prayer:
Lord, how great is our dilemma!  In Thy Presence silence best becomes us, but love inflames our hearts and constrains us to speak.  Were we to hold our peace the stones would cry out; yet if we speak, what shall we say?  Teach us to know that we cannot know, for the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.  Let faith support us where reason fails, and we shall think because we believe, not in order that we may believe.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen. (Knowledge of the Holy by A. W. Tozer)

Psalm for the Week: Psalm 138

Scripture for the Day: Philippians 2:1-11

Reading for Reflection:

In our day and in our culture the language of ascent has indeed become a popular one.  Success, productivity, power, independence, and competition seem to be held up, even in the Christian community, as characteristics to be valued and pursued.  But when we listen carefully to the voice of Scripture and the words of our Savior, we begin to get a sense of a language and an attitude that is very different from that of the world around us.  Jesus, in fact, used a completely different vocabulary to talk about life and faith.  He used words like service, fruitfulness, humility, dependence, and compassion—most of which run directly against the grain of both the culture and the day.  In fact, when it comes to the language of the Kingdom it seems that the word descent might actually be a more appropriate choice.  Hence, if we really wish to follow Jesus’ example and his teaching, we may find that the way actually leads downward.

                                                                               ~Jim Branch

                                                                          September 2006

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: How Great is Our God

The splendor of the King clothed in majesty
Let all the earth rejoice, All the earth rejoice

He wraps himself in Light and darkness tries to hide
And trembles at His voice, trembles at His voice

How great is our God, sing with me
How great is our God and all will see
How great, how great is our God

Age to age He stands and time is in His hands
Beginning and the end, beginning and the end

The Godhead three in One, Father, Spirit, Son
The Lion and the Lamb, the Lion and the Lamb

How great is our God, sing with me
How great is our God and all will see
How great, how great is our God

 

Name above all names
Worthy of all praise
My heart will sing
How great is our God

Closing Prayer:
Lord Jesus, give us the grace and the strength and the courage to follow your invitation downward—to the place where there is only you and nothing else.  In your name and for your sake we pray.  Amen. (JLB)