chosen by God, day 4

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

Opening Prayer:
Almighty God, you have created us, called us, chosen us to be your people.  We wait now to receive your word of guidance and blessing.  Grant unto us ears to hear, eyes to see, and faith to respond to your love and leadership.  In the name of Jesus Christ.  Amen. (A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and Other Servants by Rueben P. Job and Norman Shawchuck)

Psalm for the Week: Psalm 135

Scripture for the Day: John 15:9-17

Reading for Reflection:

This longing that wells up in us, though, does not spring into existence on its own.  "God is always previous," is the way the theologian Von Hugel put it.  "You would not have called to me unless I had been calling to you," is the way Aslan put it, the lion in the Narnia Chronicles who called Edmund and three other children from England into the magical land of Narnia.  The way the apostle John put it was, “We love because he first loved us."

     Maybe, too, that is why we long.

     "God's yearning for us stirs up our longing in response," says Howard Macy in Rythms of the Inner Life.  God's initiating presence may be ever so subtle—an inward tug of desire, a more-than-coincidence meeting of words and events, a glimpse of the beyond in a storm or a flower—but it is enough to make our heart skip a beat and to make us want to know more." (Windows of the Soul by Ken Gire)

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: Jesus You Are Lord

Jesus you are Lord.  Jesus you are holy.
Jesus you are Lord.  Jesus you are holy.

And I praise your name

And I praise your name
For you are Lord.  You are Lord
For you are Lord.  You are Lord

Jesus precious Lord, send your Holy Spirit.

Jesus precious Lord, send your Holy Spirit

And I praise your name
And I praise your name
For you are Lord.  You are Lord.
For you are Lord.  You are Lord.


Closing Prayer:
You, O Lord, are the fountain of life, and the source of all goodness; You made all things and filled them with Your blessing.  Thanks be to God.  Amen. (Venite by Robert Benson)