Today, a prayer:
The gratitude we intend
The witnesses tell of your boundless generosity,
And their telling is compelling to us:
You give your word to call the worlds into being;
You give your sovereign rule to emancipate the slaves and the oppressed;
Your give your commanding fidelity to form your own people;
Your give your life for the life of the world . . .
broken bread that feeds,
poured out wine that binds and heals.
You give . . . we receive . . . and we are thankful.
We begin this day in gratitude,
Thanks that is a match for your self-giving,
gratitude in gifts offered,
gratitude in tales told,
gratitude in lives lived.
Gratitude willed, but not so readily lived,
held back by old wounds turned to powerful resentment,
retarded by early fears become vague anxiety,
restrained by self-sufficiency in a can-do arrogance,
blocked by amnesia unable to recall gifts any longer.
Do this yet. Create innocent space for us this day
for the gratitude we intend.
In thankfulness,
we will give,
we will tell,
we will live,
your gift through us to gift the world.
Amen
- Walter Brueggemann
Blessings,
Ron
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Friday, August 14, 2009
Magnify the Lord with me ...
Hear the word of the Lord from Psalm 34:
I will bless the LORD at all times;
praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul makes its boast in the LORD;
let the humble hear and be glad.
O magnify the LORD with me,
and let us exalt his name together.
Every day is the right day,
every time is the right time to praise God.
Those who are humble, and not totally tangled up
in their own lives will hear, and gladly add
their voices to the song.
I sought the LORD, and he answered me,
and delivered me from all my fears.
Look to him, and be radiant;
so your faces shall never be ashamed.
This poor soul cried, and was heard by the LORD,
and was saved from every trouble.
Our worship does not protect us from fear,
But faithfully practiced, it will deliver us from fear.
Though we may be troubled, let us never be ashamed.
May our hope in our God change the look on our face
And the way that we walk.
The angel of the LORD encamps around those
who fear him, and delivers them.
O taste and see that the LORD is good;
happy are those who take refuge in him.
Not all messengers are visible, not all angelic hosts are seen;
remember the servant of Elisha and the hills
around their camp that great day.
Even beyond that, remember the name Emmanuel –
God is with us – because God is really with us.
The LORD bless you and keep you.
The LORD make his face to shine upon you,
and be gracious to you.
The LORD lift his countenance upon you –
and give you peace.
Ron
Psalm 34:1-8; 2 Kings 6:17; Number 6:24-27
I will bless the LORD at all times;
praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul makes its boast in the LORD;
let the humble hear and be glad.
O magnify the LORD with me,
and let us exalt his name together.
Every day is the right day,
every time is the right time to praise God.
Those who are humble, and not totally tangled up
in their own lives will hear, and gladly add
their voices to the song.
I sought the LORD, and he answered me,
and delivered me from all my fears.
Look to him, and be radiant;
so your faces shall never be ashamed.
This poor soul cried, and was heard by the LORD,
and was saved from every trouble.
Our worship does not protect us from fear,
But faithfully practiced, it will deliver us from fear.
Though we may be troubled, let us never be ashamed.
May our hope in our God change the look on our face
And the way that we walk.
The angel of the LORD encamps around those
who fear him, and delivers them.
O taste and see that the LORD is good;
happy are those who take refuge in him.
Not all messengers are visible, not all angelic hosts are seen;
remember the servant of Elisha and the hills
around their camp that great day.
Even beyond that, remember the name Emmanuel –
God is with us – because God is really with us.
The LORD bless you and keep you.
The LORD make his face to shine upon you,
and be gracious to you.
The LORD lift his countenance upon you –
and give you peace.
Ron
Psalm 34:1-8; 2 Kings 6:17; Number 6:24-27
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Managing our thoughts ...
Today’s devo is from Shiann:
I shall never likely forget my feelings in response to the first time someone I respected and generally believed told me that my depression had a direct link to my pride. He was speaking in a lecture setting and didn’t state this directly to me, but the Holy Spirit made sure it cut deep (Job 3:17-18 “But consider the joy of those corrected by God! Do not despise the chastening of the Almighty when you sin. For though he wounds, he also bandages. He strikes, but his hands also heal.”).
Though it may not be true for the whole of everyone’s depression, I now believe it to be a part of all depression. We could easily debate all day as to what might start or finish it. However, somewhere in the middle, pride lives and the Deceiver propagates evil intent. Oh, and have I let him!
I have frequently had the thought grow into a poisonous, gnarled tree in my head “I am not what God says I am.” I have ingested the fruit of that tree, producing thoughts and then behaviors that indicate He is not the holder of Truth. My version of the story must be true. Because it feels, thinks, tastes, looks, smells as if it were true. That, friends, is pride. I am right, not the I AM.
As I have worked to allow God’s story to be the version I believe, this truth has jumped out to me in the Scriptures repeatedly. God’s desire is for us to manage our thoughts and He give us so many ways to do this. Read with me one from the Easy-to-Read version of Scripture:
Brothers and sisters, continue to think about what is good and worthy of praise. Think about what is true and honorable and right and pure and beautiful and respected.
Philippians 4:8
We get to choose if we allow the Evil One to work our thoughts over or not. It may not feel like we are choosing. We are choosing nonetheless.
The temptation to think about the negative is so strong. Yet God beckons us through the pen of our brother Paul, look at the good stuff. Focus on the beauty of nature, the laughter of children, the improvements our boys have made, the feel-good story of someone's sacrificial living.
The truth is I have the power to choose. Will I believe that God says I'm enough/not too much? Will I believe that there are good things going on even when I can't see/feel it? Or will I give up my choice and let another choose for me? Will I do the work required to allow God to change my thinking? Will I allow the pain of change to overtake my desire to have change happen or will I look to the future and believe that God has a work to finish in me?
May you believe the Truth of God's words today and may it be the filter you use for other information you process.
Shiann
I shall never likely forget my feelings in response to the first time someone I respected and generally believed told me that my depression had a direct link to my pride. He was speaking in a lecture setting and didn’t state this directly to me, but the Holy Spirit made sure it cut deep (Job 3:17-18 “But consider the joy of those corrected by God! Do not despise the chastening of the Almighty when you sin. For though he wounds, he also bandages. He strikes, but his hands also heal.”).
Though it may not be true for the whole of everyone’s depression, I now believe it to be a part of all depression. We could easily debate all day as to what might start or finish it. However, somewhere in the middle, pride lives and the Deceiver propagates evil intent. Oh, and have I let him!
I have frequently had the thought grow into a poisonous, gnarled tree in my head “I am not what God says I am.” I have ingested the fruit of that tree, producing thoughts and then behaviors that indicate He is not the holder of Truth. My version of the story must be true. Because it feels, thinks, tastes, looks, smells as if it were true. That, friends, is pride. I am right, not the I AM.
As I have worked to allow God’s story to be the version I believe, this truth has jumped out to me in the Scriptures repeatedly. God’s desire is for us to manage our thoughts and He give us so many ways to do this. Read with me one from the Easy-to-Read version of Scripture:
Brothers and sisters, continue to think about what is good and worthy of praise. Think about what is true and honorable and right and pure and beautiful and respected.
Philippians 4:8
We get to choose if we allow the Evil One to work our thoughts over or not. It may not feel like we are choosing. We are choosing nonetheless.
The temptation to think about the negative is so strong. Yet God beckons us through the pen of our brother Paul, look at the good stuff. Focus on the beauty of nature, the laughter of children, the improvements our boys have made, the feel-good story of someone's sacrificial living.
The truth is I have the power to choose. Will I believe that God says I'm enough/not too much? Will I believe that there are good things going on even when I can't see/feel it? Or will I give up my choice and let another choose for me? Will I do the work required to allow God to change my thinking? Will I allow the pain of change to overtake my desire to have change happen or will I look to the future and believe that God has a work to finish in me?
May you believe the Truth of God's words today and may it be the filter you use for other information you process.
Shiann
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Keep moving ...
Hear the word of the Lord:
But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness,
and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree.
He asked that he might die:
"It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life,
for I am no better than my ancestors."
Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep.
Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him,
"Get up and eat."
He looked, and there at his head was a cake
baked on hot stones, and a jar of water.
He ate and drank, and lay down again.
The angel of the Lord came a second time,
touched him, and said, "Get up and eat,
otherwise the journey will be too much for you."
He got up, and ate and drank;
then he went in the strength of that food
forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God.
At that place he came to a cave, and spent the night there.
For many reasons, Elijah is done.
The depression that has plagued him for so many years
has nearly mastered him, nearly become his god.
Which is ironic considering Elijah’s record on idolatry.
Yet still he can hear and respond to the voice of God’s
messengers; he rises to eat and to drink.
Sometimes life with God brings great power
and passion and joy – and then at other times
that same life brings the need for perseverance
and obedience and faithfulness, all in the face of
the great grief that we share with God
when we walk with God.
When we see the world the way God sees it,
when we think thoughts that are like God’s thoughts,
when we feel feelings that mirror our Master’s,
then there are going to be days of great joy,
and days of great grief.
However much grief God expects us to endure,
his awareness, and his share is infinitely more.
yet he keeps moving toward the end of the story.
On the tough days, even on the toughest days,
that is precisely what we need to do.
Keep moving toward the end of the story,
because that is where the real purposes of God,
and blessings of God, and joy of God
are going to be revealed to us,
and experienced by us.
We won't have to ask when we've come to
the end of our story; we'll know.
Keep moving toward the end of the story.
Ron
1 Kings 19:4-9 – NRSV
But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness,
and came and sat down under a solitary broom tree.
He asked that he might die:
"It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life,
for I am no better than my ancestors."
Then he lay down under the broom tree and fell asleep.
Suddenly an angel touched him and said to him,
"Get up and eat."
He looked, and there at his head was a cake
baked on hot stones, and a jar of water.
He ate and drank, and lay down again.
The angel of the Lord came a second time,
touched him, and said, "Get up and eat,
otherwise the journey will be too much for you."
He got up, and ate and drank;
then he went in the strength of that food
forty days and forty nights to Horeb the mount of God.
At that place he came to a cave, and spent the night there.
For many reasons, Elijah is done.
The depression that has plagued him for so many years
has nearly mastered him, nearly become his god.
Which is ironic considering Elijah’s record on idolatry.
Yet still he can hear and respond to the voice of God’s
messengers; he rises to eat and to drink.
Sometimes life with God brings great power
and passion and joy – and then at other times
that same life brings the need for perseverance
and obedience and faithfulness, all in the face of
the great grief that we share with God
when we walk with God.
When we see the world the way God sees it,
when we think thoughts that are like God’s thoughts,
when we feel feelings that mirror our Master’s,
then there are going to be days of great joy,
and days of great grief.
However much grief God expects us to endure,
his awareness, and his share is infinitely more.
yet he keeps moving toward the end of the story.
On the tough days, even on the toughest days,
that is precisely what we need to do.
Keep moving toward the end of the story,
because that is where the real purposes of God,
and blessings of God, and joy of God
are going to be revealed to us,
and experienced by us.
We won't have to ask when we've come to
the end of our story; we'll know.
Keep moving toward the end of the story.
Ron
1 Kings 19:4-9 – NRSV
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
But there is forgiveness ...
Hear the word of the Lord:
Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD.
Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications!
If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand?
But there is forgiveness with you, so that you may be revered.
Only God can know the depths of our heart,
the burdens that crush us,
the fears that weaken us,
the mistakes that haunt us.
Only God can really hear this mess that is my message,
yet this holy listener knows my unholiness,
somehow knowing and forgiving and making
holy that which cannot be holy on its own.
I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope;
my soul waits for the Lord
more than those who watch for the morning,
than those who watch for the morning.
Does he make me wait because he is God
and I am not?
Does he make we wait so that I will understand
that he is not some sort of cosmic clean-up crew
just waiting for me to ring the bell?
Or does the waiting allow me time to contemplate
the ugliness, even horror, of what I have done?
Perhaps the waiting is for me to wake up to
the steadfast nature of his love, the ready power of
his saving arm, so different from my feeble efforts
and easily frustrated love for others.
O Israel, hope in the LORD!
For with the LORD there is steadfast love,
and with him is great power to redeem.
It is he who will redeem Israel from all its iniquities.
Surely, as difficult as it is for us to imagine,
our God loves us, forgives us, and delivers us
from our hammer-heads, our hard-hearts,
our razor tongues, our careless lips,
our wayward feet, our itching ears,
our insatiable stomachs, and our idle hands.
Through his Spirit, he transforms each one of these
troubled members into an instrument of praise.
Thank God that he is God, and that he loves us.
Blessings,
Ron
Psalm 130
Out of the depths I cry to you, O LORD.
Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications!
If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand?
But there is forgiveness with you, so that you may be revered.
Only God can know the depths of our heart,
the burdens that crush us,
the fears that weaken us,
the mistakes that haunt us.
Only God can really hear this mess that is my message,
yet this holy listener knows my unholiness,
somehow knowing and forgiving and making
holy that which cannot be holy on its own.
I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope;
my soul waits for the Lord
more than those who watch for the morning,
than those who watch for the morning.
Does he make me wait because he is God
and I am not?
Does he make we wait so that I will understand
that he is not some sort of cosmic clean-up crew
just waiting for me to ring the bell?
Or does the waiting allow me time to contemplate
the ugliness, even horror, of what I have done?
Perhaps the waiting is for me to wake up to
the steadfast nature of his love, the ready power of
his saving arm, so different from my feeble efforts
and easily frustrated love for others.
O Israel, hope in the LORD!
For with the LORD there is steadfast love,
and with him is great power to redeem.
It is he who will redeem Israel from all its iniquities.
Surely, as difficult as it is for us to imagine,
our God loves us, forgives us, and delivers us
from our hammer-heads, our hard-hearts,
our razor tongues, our careless lips,
our wayward feet, our itching ears,
our insatiable stomachs, and our idle hands.
Through his Spirit, he transforms each one of these
troubled members into an instrument of praise.
Thank God that he is God, and that he loves us.
Blessings,
Ron
Psalm 130
Monday, August 10, 2009
Live in love ...
Today, let Paul’s words to the Ephesians be a charge to us for the week:
So then, putting away falsehood,
let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors,
for we are members of one another.
Be angry but do not sin;
do not let the sun go down on your anger,
and do not make room for the devil.
Thieves must give up stealing;
rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands,
so as to have something to share with the needy.
Let no evil talk come out of your mouths,
but only what is useful for building up, as there is need,
so that your words may give grace to those who hear.
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God,
with which you were marked with a seal
for the day of redemption.
Put away from you all bitterness and wrath
and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice,
and be kind to one another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children,
and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us,
a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
One by one, Paul lists the struggles that confronted those
he loved in Ephesus, his sisters and brothers.
He had his struggles, too, after all.
So for each temptation he gives a practice
that stands in opposition, practices which do not
attempt to make weaknesses into strengths, but
which cover weaknesses with existing strengths.
He does not try to shut the mouth of the extrovert,
but to have them become talkative about the truth.
He does not try to quench the feelings of the emotional,
but to have them focus on the emotions that bring
peace and healing to relationships.
All of this is done to help us become more like Jesus,
not so that we will be worthy of being chosen,
because we have already been chosen.
We are already children of God.
We do this so that we can “live in love,” so we can:
be easy for our sisters and brothers to work alongside,
be attractive for strangers to come alongside,
be aware of the movement of God and stay by his side.
May God help us use our strengths today
to work around our weaknesses,
not to deny them, but to disempower them.
Grace and peace,
Ron
Ephesians 4:25-5:2
So then, putting away falsehood,
let all of us speak the truth to our neighbors,
for we are members of one another.
Be angry but do not sin;
do not let the sun go down on your anger,
and do not make room for the devil.
Thieves must give up stealing;
rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands,
so as to have something to share with the needy.
Let no evil talk come out of your mouths,
but only what is useful for building up, as there is need,
so that your words may give grace to those who hear.
And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God,
with which you were marked with a seal
for the day of redemption.
Put away from you all bitterness and wrath
and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice,
and be kind to one another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children,
and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us,
a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
One by one, Paul lists the struggles that confronted those
he loved in Ephesus, his sisters and brothers.
He had his struggles, too, after all.
So for each temptation he gives a practice
that stands in opposition, practices which do not
attempt to make weaknesses into strengths, but
which cover weaknesses with existing strengths.
He does not try to shut the mouth of the extrovert,
but to have them become talkative about the truth.
He does not try to quench the feelings of the emotional,
but to have them focus on the emotions that bring
peace and healing to relationships.
All of this is done to help us become more like Jesus,
not so that we will be worthy of being chosen,
because we have already been chosen.
We are already children of God.
We do this so that we can “live in love,” so we can:
be easy for our sisters and brothers to work alongside,
be attractive for strangers to come alongside,
be aware of the movement of God and stay by his side.
May God help us use our strengths today
to work around our weaknesses,
not to deny them, but to disempower them.
Grace and peace,
Ron
Ephesians 4:25-5:2
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