home, day 1

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

Opening Prayer:
Dear God, Help me to see my life here on earth is just the night before Christmas, and that when I awake in heaven, it will be Christmas morning.  The once-empty stockings now bulging.  The once-hidden presents now under the tree, waiting to be unwrapped.  The holiday meal once waiting to be cooked now on the table, waiting to be eaten.  Here, the dream of sugar plums.  There the awakening to wide-eyed wonder of all You have prepared for us…Amen. (Reflections on the Word by Ken Gire)  

Psalm for the Week: Psalm 126

Scripture for the Day: Revelation 21:1-7

Reading for Reflection:

John says someday God will wipe away your tears.  The same hands that stretched the heavens will touch your cheeks.  The same hands that formed the mountains will caress your face.  The same hands that curled in agony as the Roman spike cut through will someday cup your face and brush away your tears. Forever...I'll be home soon.  The plane will land.  I'll walk down the ramp and hear my name and see my children’s faces.  I'll be home soon. You'll be home soon, too.  You may not have noticed it, but you are closer to home than ever before.  Each moment is a step taken.  Each breath is a page turned.  Each day is a mile marked, a mountain climbed.  You are closer to home than you've ever been.  Before you know it, your appointed arrival time will come; you'll descend the ramp and enter the City.  You'll see the faces that are waiting for you.  And, maybe, just maybe—in the back, behind the crowds—the One who would rather die than live without you will remove his pierced hands from his heavenly robe and...applaud. (Applause of Heaven by Max Lucado)

 

Reflection and Listening: silent and written

Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself

Song for the Week: Jesus Let Us Come to Know You

 

Jesus let us come to know You,

Let us see you face to face

Touch us, hold us, use us, mold us;

only let us live in you

 

Jesus draw us ever nearer,

hold us in your loving arms

Wrap us in your gentle presence;

when the end comes, bring us home.  

 

 

Closing Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus,

     Thank you that here and there you have shown me glimpses of heaven, however briefly.  Now and then you have sent me echoes of it, however faintly.  And that once in a while you have allowed it to touch me, however gently.  Those glimpses, those echoes, those touches have awakened my longing for home, and for each one of those awakenings, I thank you.

     Thank you that I have a room in your Father’s house.  A place just for me.  Thank you for all you have done to ready it for my arrival.  For all the longings that lead me there and for all the reminders that let me know that this is not my home, I thank you, O Lord.  Remind me often, for so often I forget, that the very best of homes here on earth is just a shadow of the home waiting for me in heaven. (Moments with the Savior by Ken Gire)