Tag Archives: Guided by the Spirit

Seeking the Good

Living in the Spirit

July 25, 2020

Scripture Reading: Romans 8:26-39
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. And God, who searches the heart, knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family. And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified.

What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written,
‘For your sake we are being killed all day long;
   we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.’
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

In times like these, we need this scripture. Books have been written based on it, and yet, it still speaks for itself. Read it today. Inhale it into every part of your being. Let the Spirit help in your weakness. Allow the Spirit to intercede for you in words you cannot form.

Look for the things that work together for good. The Oklahoma City bombing was one of the worst events I have ever witnessed. The renaissance of downtown Oklahoma City following the bombing is impressive. Evil destroyed but did not conquer.

Evil is splitting our nation in many different ways, trying to overthrow everything good. If we cling to and live in the promises of God, we will not be conquered by evil, because nothing can separate us from the love of God.

Prayer: Lord, help us to see the good that is coming and to invest ourselves in hastening its arrival. 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.

Easter to Pentecost

Eastertide

April 13, 2020

Scripture Reading: Acts 2:14a, 22-32

But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and addressed them: ‘Men of Judea and all who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and listen to what I say.

‘You that are Israelites, listen to what I have to say: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with deeds of power, wonders, and signs that God did through him among you, as you yourselves know— this man, handed over to you according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of those outside the law. But God raised him up, having freed him from death, because it was impossible for him to be held in its power. –Acts 2:14a, 22-24

I just sang the Hallelujah Chorus at the close of Easter Sunday worship and then discovered, in the Lectionary at least, Pentecost happened. Jesus’s Disciples had 50 days to mourn and wonder and recover from the shock of the events we now cluster into Holy Week before Pentecost. Retrospect has its advantages. One of which is that the time of Lent and Holy Week is a time of remembering who we are and whose we are. Those first Disciples of Christ cleared the path and explained the course Christ called us to complete. They needed those 50 days. While we take sabbath as needed, our work continues with even greater enthusiasm because we took the time to revisit the parade of Palms, the Last Supper, the Cross, and the empty tomb.

And yet, sheltering at home because of the COVID 19 pandemic, some are experiencing a time of waiting, not unlike that time between the Resurrection and Pentecost. We are dealing with an unknown future, our whole way of being is upside down. While I sit at home pondering what is next, I watch reports in the news of all those working around the clock to save lives and bury bodies.

So, I am challenging myself, and welcoming you to join me, to discern where we are missing the mark in answerings Christ’s call to further the Kingdom of God in our world and begin making the changes to correct our aim.

Prayer: Lord, open all our senses to receive the insights you have for us as you draw us in the Spirits tether* focusing us on our next steps. Amen.

*Derived from the hymn, Draw us in the Spirits Tether by Percy Dearmer. See at: http://adventisthymns.com/lyrics/259-draw-us-in-the-spirits-tether

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.

Being One

Kingdom Building

August 21, 2019

Scripture Reading: Psalm 71:1-6
In you, O Lord, I take refuge;
   let me never be put to shame.
In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;
   incline your ear to me and save me.
Be to me a rock of refuge,
   a strong fortress, to save me,
   for you are my rock and my fortress.

Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked,
   from the grasp of the unjust and cruel.
For you, O Lord, are my hope,
   my trust, O Lord, from my youth.
Upon you I have leaned from my birth;
   it was you who took me from my mother’s womb.
My praise is continually of you.

Does the spirit work through stomach acid? I do not know how many times recently; I have popped antacids in my mouth from feeling that burning sensation after hearing about something happening in our world that should not happen or nothing happening in our world that should should. Of course, these should and should nots are based in my opinion. I find it particularly sickening when either the should and should nots are done in the name of God when they are, in my opinion, as far from God as they could possibly be. How do we discern the will of God objectively separate and apart from our opinions? How do we do that as individuals and as communities of faith and in dialogue with the diverse world in which we live including various faiths and no religion at all?

The issue that gives me the most heartburn is the definition of being one in Christ, which is one of the most important tenets of my faith. I define being one in Christ as the diverse world finding common ground based in love that wants the very best for each person and all people. Common ground for the Common Good is essential for all to be fully the persons God created us to be and for the world to flourish as the amazing ecosystem in which we dwell together. Others seem to interpret being one as making everyone like them. And still others interpret being one as an exclusive group of persons chosen by God. If you make it into this group anything that you do is OK, and others may not matter.

As we struggle to find our identities in God’s service, we are allowing, even causing, the earth to die around us, children to die of hunger and disease or having their potential altered by too much lead in their water, and all kinds of violence from wars to mass shootings to domestic abuse.

I like the definition of shame as being guilt turned inward. Sorry, I do not know its source. The Psalmist above prays let me never be put to shame, which based on this definition of shame means that we are called by Christ to do everything in our power to accomplish the good and eliminate evil.

Prayer:
In you, O Lord, I take refuge;
   let me never be put to shame.
In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;
   incline your ear to me and save 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.

Reconciliation

Kingdom Building

June 29, 2019

Scripture Reading: Luke 9:51-62

When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem. And he sent messengers ahead of him. On their way they entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; but they did not receive him, because his face was set towards Jerusalem. When his disciples James and John saw it, they said, ‘Lord, do you want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?’ But he turned and rebuked them. Then they went on to another village. –Luke 9:51-57

I am not sure what the problem was that caused Jesus to be rejected. There was a long-standing feud between the Samaritans and the Jews dating back to the division of Israel and Judah. I think they both claimed a corner on God, at the very least where it was appropriate to worship God. Jews when heading north away from Jerusalem would go out of their way to not enter Samaria. The book of John relates a story where Jesus did travel through Samaria and had an encounter with a woman at a well. He was accepted then and identified as the Messiah. Perhaps the Samaritans rejected him on this trip because the wanted him to be exclusively their Messiah while he set his face to go to Jerusalem. Our world today is similarly affected.

James and John’s over blown response is also akin to our world today. President Trump warned on Tuesday that any attack Iran might carry out “on anything American” would result in the “obliteration” of parts of Iran*. Jesus clearly saw a better way then commanding fire to come down from heaven and consume the Samaritans.

Living together in harmony is not easy. We each perceive the world uniquely and we tend to cluster together in groups whose participant’s worldview are close to our own. Living together in harmony is exactly what Jesus expects us to do. We are called to love one another and to be one. The ability to reach those seemingly unattainable outcomes lies in our first loving God and second allow the Spirit of God bring us to oneness.

Prayer: Lord, help us see the beauty of oneness in your love and guide us to reconciliation. Amen.

*https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/25/world/middleeast/iran-rouhani-us-sanctions.html

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.