Expectation of liberation ...

A prayer of hope:

Our Father in heaven!
We anticipate the day that we will
be with you in heaven, yet
we live in expectation that somehow now, today,
we will be in your presence,
we will live within your protection,
we will experience your joy.

May your Name be kept holy.
We trust that you will cleanse our lips
as we dare to speak your Name;
we hope to echo your Word so that
we might properly speak of your person;
we desire to live holy lives so that our story
might not defame your holy name
but lift it up to glory.

May your Kingdom come,
This is our expectation of liberation.
Yet we would be free from our sin today,
And we would help free our neighbors
As we have been freed ourselves.

We trust that your will might be done on earth,
just as it moves forward among your holy ones in heaven.
May we seek to enact your wisdom so that
glimpses of your community, your holy people,
might give hope to a world awaiting us
in eager expectation.

Give us the food we need today –
and since more than enough comes our way,
help our trust in your providence empower
our practice of sharing, not just our food,
but our story and our table.

Forgive us what we have done wrong,
but more than that, transform us
into people who bear your true image.
Shape the mind of Christ in us so that
we might practice the virtue of grace.
Thus, we too, will have forgiven those who have wronged us,
and find ourselves free from resentment’s burden
And cynicism’s caustic hardness.

And do not lead us into hard testing,
Yet if we must travel through your wilderness,
Fix our eyes on the signs of your presence, day and night,
In order that we might faithfully follow your path.
But keep us safe from the Evil One
So that we might not be persuaded to see the word
Or the world as he would have us see them.

For kingship, power and glory are yours forever,
And these are the fullness of our hope.
Amen.

Blessings,

Ron

From CJB, Matthew 6:9-12

Kingdom fruit

Today, we end a long week with Paul’s simple but powerful call to the fruit of the Spirit.
I know that you know this passage well,
so take the time to read it slowly, savor it, and meditate upon it.
How will this fruit take shape among us as God’s people?

Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh.
For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit, and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh;
for these are opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want.
But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law.

Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness,
idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions,
envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these.
I am warning you, as I warned you before:
those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

There is no law against such things.
And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.
Let us not become conceited, competing against one another, envying one another.

Galatians 5:16-26 – NRSV

May we seek to bear godly fruit as God’s people.

Grace and peace,

Ron

Live by the Spirit

Our character is made up of virtues and vices.
The events of the day, and our disposition toward the Spirit,
tend to lean us toward either our virtues or vices.
If we yield our body and soul to chasing physical desires,
then we will become more animal than truly human.
If we live by the Spirit, practicing spiritual disciplines with our body and soul,
then God can work in us to replace our vices with virtues,
and shape our character to conform more closely
to that of Jesus Christ.

Live by the Spirit, I say, and do not gratify the desires of the flesh.
For what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit,
and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh;
for these are opposed to each other,
to prevent you from doing what you want.

But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not subject to the law.
Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness,
idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions,
envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these.
I am warning you, as I warned you before:
those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness,
gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.
And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit.
Let us not become conceited, competing against one another, envying one another
Galatians 5:16-26 (NRSV)

Here is a prayer to turn our minds to the virtues:

Teach me, O God, so to use all the circumstances of my life today
that they may bring forth in me the fruits of holiness
rather than the fruits of sin.
Let me use disappointments as material for patience;
Let me use success as material for thankfulness;
Let me use suspense as material for perseverance;
Let me use danger as material for courage;
Let me use reproach as material for longsuffering;
Let me use praise as material for humility;
Let me use pleasure as material for temperance;
Let me use pains as material for endurance.
John Baillie

I pray for you two of the great virtues:

Grace and peace,

Ron