Living in the Spirit
November 20, 2015

Scripture Reading: Revelation 1:4b-8

Look! He is coming with the clouds;
   every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him;
   and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail.
So it is to be. Amen.  

‘I am the Alpha and the Omega’, says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. –Revelation 1:7-8

God is the god of all from the beginning of time, through now, and forevermore. God is the god of even those who pierced him. The Lord loved them too and in all honesty that includes you and me. While we did not stand at the foot of a cross and jab a spear into Jesus’ side, we pierce him every with small prickly jabs resulting from defining who we are to love by our perceptions of who they are and what they do.

If the definition of sin is being separated from God, then being present to God in all aspects of our lives must be our primary goal. When we are present and open to God’s compassion, we will begin to reflect it back onto everyone we encounter. No one said it was easy to let go of our prejudices. It is harder even still to let go of real hurt and real pain inflicted by others in our lives, but our salvation is in God and by God’s grace through Jesus Christ, we can release all that holds us back from fulfilling our mission as part of the Body of Christ on this earth at this time.

For his anger is but for a moment;
   his favor is for a lifetime.
Weeping may linger for the night,
   but joy comes with the morning. (Psalm 30:5)

Prayer: God of Grace, touch the hearts of all your people with your compassion so that we me be joined together as one in our love. Let your love stream down like rain on a parched desert filling the encrusted crevices of hate and destruction, anger and fear, recreating us into fertile soil nurturing your love to grow so strong that it crowds out the weeds of evil. 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 American. Used by permission. All rights 
reserved.