Opening Prayer:
O Lord, help me to really believe. Help me to really believe that your heart for me is good. Help me to really believe that nothing can separate me from your love. Help me to really believe that you will do what you say you will do. Help me to take you at your word. In the name of Jesus. Amen. (JLB)
Psalm for the Week: Psalm 89
Scripture for the Day: John 4:43-54
Reading for Reflection:
What does the word faith mean? Many have tried to define it. As you have seen this week, the writer of the
book of Hebrews says it is “being sure of what we hope for and certain of what
we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1). A. W.
Tozer says that faith is “the gaze of the soul on a loving God” (The Pursuit
of God). Martin Luther called faith
“the yes of the heart.” And Frederick
Buechner says that faith is “the direction your feet start moving when you find
that you are loved.”
But
maybe there is no better definition of the word faith than the one
offered in the fourth chapter of John (verse 50). It says the royal official “took Jesus at his
word.” What a great definition of faith. Believing that what God has said is
true. Being convinced. Convinced that he loves us the way he says he
does. Convinced that he is in control
and can be trusted with our lives.
Convinced that he will truly care for us and those we love. Convinced that his heart for us is good. Convinced.
Is there
a place in your life right now where you are having to walk by faith? A place where you are having to believe that
God’s heart for you is good even though you have a hard time seeing it in the
circumstances? What does it mean for you
to “take Jesus at his word” right now?
~Jim
Branch (January 2004)Reflection and Listening: silent and written
Prayer: for the church, for others, for myself
Song for the Week: In Christ Alone
In Christ alone my hope is found,
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This Cornerstone, this solid Ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My Comforter, my All in All,
Here in the love of Christ I stand.
In Christ alone! – who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save:
‘Til on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied –
For every sin on Him was laid;
Here in the death of Christ I live.
There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain:
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me,
For I am His and He is mine –
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.
No guilt in life, no fear in death,
This is the power of Christ in me;
From life’s first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Til He returns or calls me home,
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand!
Closing Prayer:
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord.
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