Tag Archives: God Omnipotent

The Art of Loving

Eastertide
May 3, 2018

Scripture Reading: 1 John 5:1-6

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the parent loves the child. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For the love of God is this, that we obey his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome, for whatever is born of God conquers the world. And this is the victory that conquers the world, our faith. Who is it that conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? –1 John 5:1-5

I remember the moment many years ago when I read and realized what John 16:33 meant: I have said this to you, so that in me you may have peace. In the world you face persecution. But take courage; I have conquered the world!’ I think what strikes me most about this scripture is that Jesus’ conquering the world was already accomplished. This same language appearing in the above scripture relates to our work today. In a world that seems chaotic with many pursuing what is best for them alone or their specific group, conquering a world designed to foster the wellbeing of all seems impossible. Yet Jesus, the Christ, says whatever is born of God conquers the world.

We get frustrated when we do not see immediate results from our actions.  Sometimes that causes us to take things into our own hands, trying to manipulate God’s time into our time. For example, I sense that among those who think to instigate a war in the Middle East will hasten the second coming. I wonder if God is waiting for our ability to love like Jesus matures to the point that we are ready to move to higher ground on the journey to the fulfillment of the Kingdom of God.

If that is the case, we need to invest more time in practicing the art of loving one another like musicians practices their craft to attain perfection. We have a Master teacher; we need to follow his example and his words.

Prayer: God of Mercy and Justice, thank you for the gift of your son who taught us what love was all about and teaches us still through the presence of the Spirit. 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.

Thank You Lord

Living in the Spirit
November 22, 2017

Scripture Reading: Psalm 100
Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth.
   Worship the Lord with gladness;
   come into his presence with singing. 

Know that the Lord is God.
   It is he that made us, and we are his;
   we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. 

Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
   and his courts with praise.
   Give thanks to him, bless his name. 

For the Lord is good;
   his steadfast love endures forever,
   and his faithfulness to all generations.

I usually do not include the headings provided in my Bible when I copy the scriptures for these devotions, but these are particularly appropriate on the day before Thanksgiving: All Lands Summoned to Praise God, A Psalm of thanksgiving. These headings make me agree with Robert Browning when he wrote: God’s in his Heaven/All’s right with the world!

The last few months have been trying times for me and perhaps a lot of you. Since retirement, I devote more time to justice issues than I was able to accomplish while working full time. Doing justice in our world today is rather like Don Quixote fighting windmills. There are varied definitions of what is right and just, all established with differing understandings of the same scriptures. The principalities and powers have done a great job setting God’s people one against the other.

Everything seemed so hopeless last week, and it still does in many ways, but I somehow leaned in a little closer to God and was reminded that God is ultimately in charge. For that, we must be thankful.

Prayer: Thank you Lord for your abiding love that can and does turn hopelessness into hope and reignites the flame of your love in your children. Guide us to share your love with the whole world so that we might all know the joy of being one. 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.

A Mystery to Behold

mysteryAdvent
December 13, 2016

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 7:10-16

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Look, the young woman is with child and shall bear a son, and shall name him Immanuel. He shall eat curds and honey by the time he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the child knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land before whose two kings you are in dread will be deserted. –Isaiah 7:14-16

It always seems a bit of a cop out to explain God’s acts by calling them mysteries. While many of us like to read a good mystery now and then, we want the ending to tie up all the loose ends. God’s mysteries that bugged those who followed God thousands of years ago remain enigmas today. The word mystery means a religious truth revealed by God that man cannot know by reason alone and that once it has been revealed cannot be completely understood*. I must confess, I did not know that the word mystery had its origin from religion. There is a non-religious definition something that has not been or cannot be explained, that is unknown to all or concealed from some and therefore exciting curiosity or wonder, or that is incomprehensible or uncomprehended*. It Sounds much the same without the religious overtones.

Isaiah’s discussion of Immanuel regarding Isaiah’s time and place could easily stand alone as words of warning to a king or words of comfort to people suffering the ineptitude of a king. Two and a half millennia later, Isaiah’s words speak to us of a Savior, a promised one, God with us whom we know as Jesus, the Christ. That is a mystery implying that there is some entity with a worldview older than time and newer than all tomorrows. Practical, rational being that I am, I take great solace in that.

Prayer: Lord, as we contemplate your coming to us during this Advent season, renew in us the sense of mystery that gives us hope for all that is good, right, and just because you came to be with us in wonder and love. Amen.

*http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/unabridged/mystery

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 American. Used by permission. All rights 
reserved.