with jesus

Opening Prayer: Lord Jesus, help me to set aside all of my lists and my plans and my agendas for this next hour, and help me to simply spend time with you.  For you want my attention and my affection far more than you want my frenetic activity.  Capture my heart with your presence and then guide my steps with your Spirit.  Amen.

Scripture: Acts 4:13

Journal: How would you describe your life with Jesus these days?  How is it marking your everyday life?

Reflection: “And they took note that these men had been with Jesus.”  What a great line!  It is so hopeful.  I don’t know about you, but most days I feel about as ordinary and unschooled as they come.  I mean, these guys were fishermen for crying out loud!  And they were standing toe to toe with some of the most distinguished scholars and theologians of their day—and amazing them at that.  That is the hopeful part.  It isn’t what I know, or what I can do, that makes me useful to God and to his kingdom; it is simply being with Jesus.  That is not meant to belittle the value of education, but is meant to underscore the importance of devotion.  When I spend quality time with Jesus, he gives me everything I need.  That time with him is what gives me the inspiration and the strength and the power I need to have an impact on those around me, no matter who they are.  So before we run off to our books and our strategy meetings and our “to do” lists, let us first make time and space to simply be with Jesus.

Prayer

Closing Prayer: I ask you, Lord Jesus, to develop in me, your lover, an immeasurable urge towards you, an affection that is unbounded, longing that is unrestrained, fervor that throws discretion to the winds!  The more worthwhile our love for you, all the more pressing does it become.  Reason cannot hold it in check, fear does not make it tremble, wise judgment does not temper it. (The Fire of Love by Richard Rolle)