Tag Archives: Wholeness

Seeking God

Living in the Spirit

Living in the Spirit

June 14, 2022

Scripture Reading: Isaiah 65:1-9

I was ready to be sought out by those who did not ask,
   to be found by those who did not seek me.
I said, ‘Here I am, here I am’,
   to a nation that did not call on my name.
I held out my hands all day long
   to a rebellious people,
who walk in a way that is not good,
   following their own devices;
a people who provoke me
   to my face continually,
sacrificing in gardens
   and offering incense on bricks;
who sit inside tombs,
   and spend the night in secret places;
who eat swine’s flesh,
   with broth of abominable things in their vessels;
who say, ‘Keep to yourself,
   do not come near me, for I am too holy for you.’
These are a smoke in my nostrils,
   a fire that burns all day long. –Isaiah 65:1-5

This is a sad scripture. Isaiah indicates that God was available and accessible for the Israelites who were in desperate need of the gifts of God’s love and guidance, and they would not turn to God. Things haven’t changed much over the centuries. Sounds like the Israelites responded to God as many today are doing, defining God as we want God to be rather than as God is. It is sad because God’s ways protect our self-interest. The world does not accept that because greed, for example, is inconsistent with our self-interests.

We as individuals, disciples, and citizens of this world are called to examine ourselves and bring our way into sync with God’s ways. We might be amazed at how much better our lives would be if we conformed to the love of God.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us when we ignore your presence in our lives and jump from one distracting answer to another while trying to address the challenges of living in the world today. 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.

Sound of Silence

Living in the Spirit

Living in the Spirit

June 13, 2022

Scripture Reading:

1 Kings 19:1-4, (5-7), 8-15a

He said, ‘Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.’ Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, ‘What are you doing here, Elijah?’ He answered, ‘I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts; for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.’ Then the Lord said to him, ‘Go, return on your way to the wilderness of Damascus; when you arrive, you shall anoint Hazael as king over Aram. –1 King 19:11-15

Hello darkness, my old friend
I’ve come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence

And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming
Then the sign said, “The words on the prophets are written on the subway walls
In tenement halls”
And whispered in the sound of silence*

There are lots of interpretations of this song, but I have seen none that connect it to the above scripture. I do not know if Paul Simon had this scripture in mind when he wrote it, but the song speaks to me of a world where no one listens to anyone else, and everyone follows the latest temptation that presents itself. In such instances, we do not have to think or weigh the worth of what is put before us. It suggests that oneness has nothing to do with loving one another but focusing our love on the bright shiny objects of the world as we stand next to each other and are still totally alone. Only when Elijah does the impossible, lets go of all those outward distractions, and hears the sound of silence does he recognize that God is always with him, and he is never alone. God’s presence empowers him to return to his calling leading the people out of the wilderness of separation from God and into the fullness of loving God and loving one another.

Prayer: Lord, forgive us when we get caught up in the ways of the world. Return us to wholeness in your love that allows us to the oneness with you and one another. Amen.

*First and last verse of Sound of Silence by Paul Simon see at https://www.google.com/search?q=sound+of+silence+lyrics&rlz=1C1VDKB_enUS987US987&oq=Sound+&aqs=chrome.1.69i59l2j69i57j35i39j46i10i199i465i512j69i60l3.3798j0j4&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

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.

Hearing the Spirit’s Message

Living in the Spirit

June 12, 2022

Scripture Reading:

John 16:12-15

‘I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

The Spirit takes what is Christ’s and declares it to us. How do we receive what is declared? How deep are the filters we have developed that strain or even stop the flow of love and truth sent to us by Christ through the Spirit? Recently, we experienced torrential rains for several days in a row saturating the earth and filling all the drainage gutters. I watch one young man on TV using a metal pole to push the litter blocking the drainage gutters to stop flooding. We need to commune with God to help clear our hearts and minds of the cultural filters that clutter our receiving the Spirit’s message. How do we discern truth in a world plagued by distractions trying to keep us from dealing with the things God needs us to do? If God is love and if the most important commandments are to love God and love our neighbors as ourselves, then any messages with which we are being bombarded must be measured for worth by passing the test of love.

Prayer: Lord, clear our filters so that we may follow you more nearly. 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.

Bringing Hope

Living in the Spirit

June 10, 2022

Scripture Reading: Romans 5:1-5

Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

I get suffering producing endurance and endurance produces character but, I had to stop and think about character producing hope. Paul, the author of this idea, certainly lived it. He spent time in jail simply for preaching the ways of Jesus Christ. In some instances, he was waiting to see if he would be released, left there to starve or be executed. Until recently, I did not know that prisons in Paul’s time did not always feed their inmates. The prisoners were often at the mercy of friends and family to bring them nourishment. Experiencing that type of commitment does produce hope.  That type of commitment is just a reflection of the love of God provided through the gift of the Holy Spirit who nourishes our souls. We, too, are called to bring hope to a world when things seem so hopeless.

I just watched the testimony of a ten-year-old girl survivor of the Uvalde shooting who showed character and hope when she spread over her body the blood from her dead friend lying on the floor next to her so the shooter would think she too was dead. Hope may have saved her life. We as a people must be the catalyst for the changes needed so that such shootings do not happen. We must let this child’s courage and character teach us to be bringers of hope.

 Prayer: Lord, forgive us when we selfishly replace the safety of our schools so we can keep our deadly toys. 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.

Justification

Living in the Spirit

June 9, 2022

Scripture Reading: Romans 5:1-5

Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

The Greek word, dikaioó, means The believer is made righteous/justified by the Lord, cleared of all charges (punishment) related to their sins. Moreover, they are justified, “made right, righteous” by God’s grace each time they receive (obey) faith*.

We may think of the word justify meaning to give an acceptable reason for having done something wrong. But this justification is more like the prophet Amos’s plumbline (Amos 7:7), a tool used to make sure, for example, a wall is perfectly straight so that it will be able to last for years withstanding storms and other forces that might destroy an otherwise weak wall. I think that God’s plumbline is always available, and we need to examine ourselves routinely to see if we are following God closely.  

Living for Jesus, a life that is true,
Striving to please Him in all that I do;
Yielding allegiance, glad-hearted and free,
This is the pathway of blessing for me.

Refrain:
O Jesus, Lord and Savior, I give myself to Thee,
For Thou, in Thy atonement, didst give Thyself for me;
I own no other Master, my heart shall be Thy throne;
My life I give, henceforth to live, O Christ, for Thee alone**.

Prayer: Lord, create in us clean hearts so that we can see clearly how to live in your justification. Amen.

*https://biblehub.com/greek/1344.htm

First verse and Refrain of the hymn Living for Jesus by Thomas O. Chisholm see at https://hymnary.org/text/living_for_jesus_a_life_that_is_true

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.

Using Our Wisdom

Living in the Spirit

June 7, 2022

Scripture Reading: Proverbs 8:22-31

The Lord created me at the beginning of his work,
   the first of his acts of long ago.
Ages ago I was set up,
   at the first, before the beginning of the earth.
When there were no depths I was brought forth,
   when there were no springs abounding with water.
Before the mountains had been shaped,
   before the hills, I was brought forth—
when he had not yet made earth and fields,
   or the world’s first bits of soil.
When he established the heavens, I was there,
   when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,
when he made firm the skies above,
   when he established the fountains of the deep,
when he assigned to the sea its limit,
   so that the waters might not transgress his command,
when he marked out the foundations of the earth,
   then I was beside him, like a master worker;
and I was daily his delight,
   rejoicing before him always,
rejoicing in his inhabited world
   and delighting in the human race.

Wisdom was present at the beginning of the creation as wisdom is the personification of God’s will and creation was God’s will. I have always found it fascinating that every culture of which I am aware recognizes a creator. Even the Big Bang Theory started from something. That tells me that we have and are the resources needed to choose the ways that support and nurture the whole creation whether it be dealing with climate change or poverty. For some reason, humans have a hard time accepting both that gift and the responsibility that goes with it. We tend to want our cake and to eat it too. 

The COVID virus is a wake-up call for us to see the world and its people in the reality we now recognize and use our wisdom to work together in building the Kingdom Jesus visualized in his ministry.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for gifting us with the wisdom to care for your creation in all its forms. Grant us the will to use it and not let it go the waste. 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.

Wisdom

Living in the Spirit

June 6, 2022

Scripture Reading: Proverbs 8:1-4

Does not wisdom call,
   and does not understanding raise her voice?
On the heights, beside the way,
   at the crossroads she takes her stand;
beside the gates in front of the town,
   at the entrance of the portals she cries out:
‘To you, O people, I call,
   and my cry is to all that live.

Wisdom: the effectual mediating principle or personification of God’s will in the creation of the world: logos. Wisdom encompasses words like knowledge, insight, virtue, judgment, and prudence*.

I think this is the first time that I have looked up the meaning of a word and discovered that it originated from the personification of God’s will.  Jesus taught his followers in Matthew 10:16, ‘See, I am sending you out like sheep into the midst of wolves; so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. The “What would Jesus do?” fad that coursed through faith communities a few years ago was spot on. We do not always take the time to seek what Jesus would do.

Serious athletes follow a strict life plan that includes everything from getting enough rest and eating right to routine exercise topped off with a lot of practice. They develop what is called muscle memory so that when they are in the middle of a game their body and mind work together smoothly automatically. The Proverbs quote above is telling us we need to be as aggressive as an athlete about understanding and following God’s will in all that we do.

Prayer: Lord, create in us clean hearts so that when we communion with you we receive your messages rather than filtering them to what we want to hear. Amen.

*https://unabridged.merriam-webster.com/unabridged/Wisdom

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.

Finding What is Right

Living in the Spirit

June 5, 2022

Scripture Reading:

John 14:8-17, (25-27)

‘If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.

‘I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. –John 14:14-17, 25-27

I acquaint advocacy with what Senator John Lewis called “good trouble.” He, indeed, was an advocate to model one’s life after. A gentle man who forcefully stood for the right and yet, did his fair share of stirring up good trouble. Doing what is right is often dangerous as Senator Lewis found out as a young man when he crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama. It seems almost counterintuitive to link the work of the Holy Spirit with peace as it applies to advocacy. The peace being described in the above scripture is the peace that passes understanding. (See Philippians 4:6) Such peace comes from doing what is right in God’s eyes not as defined by humans. I think of the devout Saul of Tarsus who just knew that he was doing right in persecuting the Christ-followers of the first century until he had an encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus.

Our challenge as advocates today is to make sure we are doing what is right in God’s eyes. It is election season in the USA, and we are hearing all kinds of pronouncements on what is right and what is wrong with our country. We need to be very sure our lines of communication with the Holy Spirit are not cluttered with cultural filters blocking the Spirit’s truth from reaching our hearts and minds.

Prayer: Take our lives and let them be consecrated Lord to thee* in all that we do. Amen.

Derived from the hymn Take My Life and Let It Be by Frances R. Havergal. See at https://hymnary.org/text/take_my_life_and_let_it_be

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.

God’s Presence

Living in the Spirit

June 3, 2022

Scripture Reading:

Acts 2:1-21

When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.

Now there were devout Jews from every nation under heaven living in Jerusalem. And at this sound the crowd gathered and was bewildered, because each one heard them speaking in the native language of each. Amazed and astonished, they asked, ‘Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? Parthians, Medes, Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.’ All were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, ‘What does this mean?’ But others sneered and said, ‘They are filled with new wine.’ –Acts 2:1-13

I was not a good student of Spanish. I learned to read it but I failed at being able to do any more than the simplest of conversations. Fifty or so years later, I cannot even read it. That is proof, I guess, that if you do not use it you lose it. I worked with a man whose native language was German. He was chronically slow to respond. He told me once that he had to translate what people said to him into German then form his response in German and translate it into English before he could speak it. He was very quick at it when you consider the work his brain was doing in the background. Basically, he came across as being thoughtful. What happened at Pentecost was one of those events when one had to be there to get the fullness of what happened. They were just as bad at foreign languages as I am. Descriptions just failed the participants.

Pentecost was when the disciples realized that their sojourn with Jesus had just begun. They realized his presence with them was directly from the Holy. As Paul described the empowerment, in Philippians 4:13, I can do all things through him who strengthens me. So can we.

Prayer: Lord, we know you will guide and help us remember that. Open our hearts and minds to your presence as we struggle through a challenging world. 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.

Spirit of Adoption

Living in the Spirit

June 2, 2022

Scripture Reading: Romans 8:14-17

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received a spirit of adoption. When we cry, ‘Abba! Father!’ it is that very Spirit bearing witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.

The whole idea of slavery is repulsive to me, although it is the norm throughout the Bible. The Israelites were taken into slavery because their growth became a threat to the Egyptians who had welcomed them when Joseph helped the Egyptians survive drought and famine. It was normal for fighting armies from other tribes and nations to take slaves from their enemies. Even fellow Israelites used specified service slavery as a means of paying debts.

I have a copy of the legal papers that my 5th generation grandfather signed for his fifteen-year-old son, my 4th generation grandfather, to serve seven years as an indentured servant to learn how to work in the steel industry. He was also to be taught how to read, write, and cipher. Today we would probably call that being an apprentice. My 4th generation grandfather had a very successful life working at a steel forge. He must have been pretty good at it. During the War of 1812 instead of being conscripted into the army to fight, he was conscripted to work in a factory making Pennsylvania rifles for the war.

So how do we respond to Paul’s words that we did not receive a spirit of slavery but of adoption? He is defining our relationship with God as becoming a part of the family of God where we learn how to be successful people.  Such success happens within the parameters of a family that desires the very best for each of its members as they relate to God and to one another. That clarification was most important in first-century Rome where Christ-followers were coming together from very different backgrounds. Some were slaves and some were slave owners. That clarification is still very important for us today as we live in a world of diversity.

Prayer: Lord, help us see ourselves as a part of the family of God among all your children whom you call us to love. 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.