god's hand

Opening Prayer: O Lord, may your hand be upon us, and with us, this day.  In every way possible.  Amen.

Scripture: Luke 1:57-66

Journal: Where or how have you experienced the hand of the Lord lately?  Where or how do you desire to experience it?

Reflection: “What then will this child be?” For the hand of the Lord was with him.  What a sweet image.  God’s hand was with, or upon, this little child, John.  There are some things you just can’t describe any other way.  It was a qualitative thing.  Something about him made people realize that God was up to something, that God was present in some special way.  I wonder what it was.

     I don’t know about you, but I long for that very same awareness.  I long to sense and to see God’s hand upon and within my life, as well as the lives of those around me.  And not only do I long to see God’s hand, but I need to see God’s hand.  It is this awareness of God within and among us that gives life and joy to my soul.  For God’s hand does so many things.  It is his caring hand that touches me when I am lonely or in need.  It is his comforting hand that heals my wounds and soothes my pain.  It is his protecting hand that shields me from my enemies, both within and without.  It is his nurturing hand that gives my heart and my soul all that I need to grow and mature.  It is his loving hand that runs his fingers through my hair as he reminds me of who I am to him.  It is his guiding hand that directs my steps and keeps me from getting lost along the way.  It is his reassuring hand that calms my fears and overcomes my anxieties.  The list goes on and on.

     One thing is for sure, God’s hand gives us visible evidence that we are not alone.  He is always with us.  O Lord, place your hand upon us this day, whatever that may mean.  You know our hearts like no other and you know exactly what we need.  We are not alone.  Thanks be to God!

Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands. (Isaiah 49:16)

Prayer

Closing Prayer: O Lord, place your hand upon us this day, whatever that may mean.  You know our hearts like no other and you know exactly what we need.  We are not alone.  Hallelujah!

the hard way

Opening Prayer: Jesus, help us not to avoid the hard way, but help us to have the faith and the courage to follow you in it.  Whatever that may mean.  Amen.

Scripture: Matthew 7:13-14

Journal: What does the easy way and the hard way look like for you right now?  Where are you tempted to avoid the hard?  Where are you allowing yourself to walk on the easy?

Reflection: We tend to avoid “hard” at all costs.  I mean, given the choice between easy and hard, who wouldn’t choose easy, right?  That is unless you know for a fact that the hard way is the best way.  That is unless someone you know, love, and trust tells you that the result of traveling the hard way is life and the result of traveling the easy way is destruction.  That would get your attention, right?  Well, that’s exactly what Jesus is telling us here.  And he is speaking not only about heaven and hell, but also about the entire nature of the spiritual journey.  A necessary part of the road that leads to life is that it goes through the narrow gate and leads along the hard way.  The hard way accomplishes something in us that the easy way cannot.  Death always brings about new life.  The cross is always followed by resurrection.  Easter Sunday always comes after Good Friday.  Part of what Jesus is doing here is that he’s trying to open our eyes to the nature of the spiritual journey, so that when the hard rears its ugly head we will not be surprised or devastated, but will be strong and courageous, knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that the hard way always leads to life.  Thus, pain and suffering is not something to be avoided at all cost, but entered into and journeyed through.  The hard way is always the seedbed for new life.

Prayer

Closing Prayer: Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:9)

ask, seek, knock

Opening Prayer: Dear Lord, as I come to you today, fill my heart and my whole being with the wonder of your presence.  Help me to be open to you for this time as I put aside the cares of this world.  Fill my mind with your peace, your love.  Amen. (Sacred Space 2016)

Scripture: Matthew 7:7-12

Journal: What is the difference between ask, seek, and knock?  Which one best describes your prayer life?  What about the other two?  Where would God love to see you growing in your practice of prayer?

Reflection: Keep on beating the path of God’s door, because the one thing you can be sure of is that down the path you beat with even your most half-cocked and halting prayer the God you call upon will finally come, and even if he does not bring you the answer you want, he will bring you himself.  And maybe at the secret heart of all our prayers that is what we really are praying for. (Wishful Thinking by Frederick Buechner)

Prayer

Closing Prayer: Lord Jesus, teach us to ask, to seek, and to knock.  For we do not even know how to pray as we ought.  Pray yourself in us.  Amen.

pearls

Opening Prayer: Lord Jesus, give us a heart of discernment this day, that we might clearly see who and what you are calling is to.  And then give us the courage and the grace and the willingness to do it, whatever it may be.  Amen.

Scripture: Matthew 7:6

Journal: What is God telling you through the Scriptures today?   Is there any place in your life right now where it seems like you are casting your pearls to the swine?  What does that mean?

Reflection: There is a thin line, it seems, between judging and discerning.  Yesterday Jesus warned us of being critical and judgmental, and today he tells us not to give dogs what is holy or to throw our pearls before the pigs.  It is a pretty significant contrast, highlighting the difference between judging people and discerning what the best avenues are to invest our gifts and efforts.  It is a delicate balance.  There seems to be both an appropriate time, as well as an appropriate target, for the expression of our own particular gifts and efforts.  If we continually try to force a square peg into a round hole, we will actually, in the end, do more harm than good.  Not everyone can appreciate my particular pearls.  Not everyone has an ear for my unique voice; that’s why there is a body.  Someone else could have the right pearls for those that seem to trample mine under foot, and vice versa.  Therefore, I must trust God in this process.  I must be in constant communication with him, listening and paying attention and discerning his voice and his direction for my life and ministry.  I must be continually dependent on him to lead me and to guide me to those that might be receptive to the pearls I have to give, who might have an ear for the voice with which I have been given to speak.

     There is something very humbling and something very beautiful about this whole thing.  The humbling thing is that I have to realize that I am not the answer for everyone.  I want to be, but I’m just not.  And it is not because my pearls aren’t as good as someone else’s.  They are just different.  That is where the beautiful thing comes in.  I have been given pearls, and so have you.  God has placed his beauty deep within us.  As a matter of fact, he has placed his beauty within you and within me like he has placed it in no one else.  Your pearls are beautiful, and so are mine.  And there are people in this world who will see the beauty of those pearls—which is really the beauty of our God—like they can see it in no one else.  And they will be drawn to our God as a result.  We just have to discern who they are.

Prayer

Closing Prayer: O Lord our God, thank you that you have given pearls to each of us that we may invest in your kingdom and your work this day.  May we do so freely and wisely.  In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.

the log

Opening Prayer: Lord Jesus, what lives in me that hinders me from living and loving the way you desire for me to live and to love?  Whatever it may be, help me to remove it, that I may be more like you, a beautiful reflection of your grace and mercy.  Amen.

Scripture: Matthew 7:1-5

Journal: What do you see in other people that drives you crazy?  Why?  How is that thing also in you?  What is the log in your eye these days?

Reflection: If you lived inside my head (or my heart) you would quickly find out that a critical spirit is my constant nemesis.  I’m sure it’s a struggle that comes largely from my own insecurities, but a struggle, nonetheless, that I have a hard time being victorious in.  After all, if I can find the speck, then I can avoid the log.  But Jesus tells me to start on the other end of the equation.  He tells me to start with my log, not their speck.  And that’s a whole lot more difficult.  Because, unfortunately, my log didn’t just appear overnight.  It goes deep down into my heart and soul.  It has been growing within me for a long, long time and by now its roots have grown deep into me.  So its removal will not be quick and easy, like washing a tiny speck out of an eye. No, removing this log is a different proposition all together. It will be a long and painful process.  It will take much time and much effort and much grace and much prayer.  It will take a bloody revolution.  The question is, am I up for it?  It is the only real path to freedom.

     We spend an enormous amount of energy making up our minds about other people.  Not a day goes by without somebody doing or saying something that evokes in us the need to form an opinion about him or her.  We hear a lot, see a lot, and know a lot.  The feeling that we have to sort it all out in our minds and make judgments about it can be quite oppressive.

     The desert fathers said that judging others is a heavy burden, while being judged by others is a light one.  Once we can let go of our need to judge others, we will experience an immense inner freedom.  Once we are free from judging, we will be also free for mercy.  Let’s remember Jesus’ words: “Do not judge, and you will not be judged.” (Bread for the Journey by Henri J. M. Nouwen)

Prayer

Closing Prayer: O Lord, remove the log, whatever it may be.  Have mercy on me.  Amen.

seek first

Opening Prayer: O my God, teach me to seek you, for I cannot seek you unless you teach me, or find you unless you show yourself to me.  Let me seek you in my desire, and desire you in my seeking.  Let me find you by loving you, let me love you when I find you. ~St. Anselm of Canterbury

Scripture: Matthew 6:33

Journal: What (or who) are you seeking first these days?  What effect is that having on your life and soul?

Reflection: There is a designed order for all things, particularly our affections.  Simply put, the things that have captured our hearts are the things that we will always seek first.  Therefore, it is of the utmost importance in the life of faith that we regularly examine exactly what those affections are.  The best way to do that is to ask ourselves what is getting the majority of our time and energy.  That will tell us what is really going on in our hearts, and help us to recognize and determine if those things that occupy first place in our lives and hearts are really worthy of that position.

     That’s what a significant amount of Matthew 6 is all about, making sure we are pursuing affections that are worthy of that pursuit.  The created order for those affections involves putting God first.  If we can get that one down, then the others will fall into place.  But if we get our affections out of order there will be chaos.  For anything that we are counting on to satisfy the deepest longings of our souls, other than God himself, simply cannot accomplish what we seek.  That’s why Jesus says to seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all of the other things will be added unto you.  It’s really not as complicated as we make it.

Prayer

Closing Prayer: O Jesus, who has taught us that not all those who say Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but only such as do the will of you Father, whose lives correspond with their belief, grant us a truly Christian spirit, a Christina heart, and guide us in the paths of a Christian life.  Grant that I may become detached from all things and in all things seek you alone.  Grant that I may direct all my knowledge, my whole capacity, all my happiness, and all my exertions, to please you, to love you, and to obtain your love for time and eternity.  Amen. (The Imitation of Christ by Thomas A Kempis)

anxiety

Opening Prayer: Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:4-7)

Scripture: Matthew 6:25-32

Journal: What is causing you to worry these days?  What strategy have you chosen to deal with it?  How are you trying to sow or reap or gather into barns?  How are you toiling or spinning?  How can looking at the birds of the air or considering the lilies of the field help you deal with worry in your life?

Reflection: Worry is a given in this life.  So the real question is not so much how to eliminate it, as it is how to fruitfully deal with it and come against it.  Our human strategies for dealing with anxiety are many and varied.  We can try to avoid or deny anxiety, using to old “if I don’t think about it, it will go away” strategy.  But, as we all know, it doesn’t go away.  At least not for long.  Or we can run off into busyness, toiling and striving to arrange our lives in such a way that whatever it is that we are anxious about will never come to pass.  Good luck with that one as well.  Or we can let it totally consume and paralyze us so that it is all we can think about.  Who wants to live like that?

     So exactly how do we deal with anxiety in a healthy way?  We do it, Jesus tells us, not by not thinking, or by thinking too much about what lies before or within us, but by thinking about him, and his care for us, as well as his care for our world.  Jesus points us to nature, to looking at and considering how God cares for all that is around us.  Then reminding us that he cares for us far more.  When we really begin to believe that, when we really begin to live our lives trusting both his heart and his hand, then we will really begin to trust him, which will give us peace rather than anxiety.  Try it today.  When you are feeling particularly anxious about something, stop and take a moment to refocus your heart on the incredible love and faithfulness of our God.  See if that doesn’t begin to give you some handholds in your battle against worry.

Prayer

Closing Prayer: Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. What you have learned and received and heard and seen in me—practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you. (Philippians 4:8-9)