Living in the Spirit

July 13, 2023

Scripture Reading: Psalm 65:(1-8), 9-13

By awesome deeds you answer us with deliverance,
   O God of our salvation;
you are the hope of all the ends of the earth
   and of the farthest seas.
By your strength you established the mountains;
   you are girded with might.
You silence the roaring of the seas,
   the roaring of their waves,
   the tumult of the peoples.
Those who live at earth’s farthest bounds are awed by your signs;
you make the gateways of the morning and the evening shout for joy.

Our world, our country needs hope. I fear we create our own hopelessness. I grow weary of hearing political leaders complaining about what is happening in our world but refusing to work together to solve problems. The compromises that are finally reached often make some things worse. The advent of prescription drugs being added to Medicare was supposed to reduce the cost of health care for people with disabilities and the elderly. The compromise of not allowing Medicare to negotiate prices with pharmaceutical companies resulted in the high cost of prescription drugs we all pay today.

Hope means to desire with expectation. Hope is not magic or even a miracle. Hope is the steam that drives hard work toward the goal of creating a better world. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13:13– And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love. I like the way he wraps hope amid faith and love. The better world we desire cannot be actualized without faith and love sans greed and lust for power.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us when we get caught up in the divide-and-conquer attitude that is driven by what is in it for me. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights are reserved.