Psalm 66:6-9

“Bless our God, O peoples, let the sound of his praise be heard, who has kept us among the living, and has not let our feet slip.” vss. 8-9

Life at its best can be precarious; we never know when our footing will be lost and our dreams dashed. Even when we live prudentially and carefully we can’t control everything; the unexpected is always close at hand. Natural disasters, accidents, shootings, dread diseases…all lurk waiting to strike. Because we know this to be true, each new day of living becomes even more precious. Often, because of the press of schedules and our daily demands, we forget how remarkable it is to be alive in whatever time and place we are at. Prayers of thanksgiving slip out of mind and we take the gift of pure existence for granted. The psalmist reminded the peoples how blessed they were and called them back to the praise of God. What he has in mind is a morning offering of thanksgiving for the joy of another day. It may very well be that a day of calamity will come…no nation or person has immunity…but that’s no reason for perpetual dread or existential angst. The gift of life has been breathed into us by the Spirit of God…let us rejoice and give thanks for as long as that breath remains. It really is the one priceless gift…its value cannot be matched!

Thought for the Day: What was my morning offering today?

Psalm 66:1-5

“Make a joyful noise to God, all the earth; sing the glory of his name; give to him glorious praise.” vs. 1-2

The psalmist was calling together a praise choir, one that could make a joyful noise to God and properly glorify God’s name. And he wasn’t just calling on human voices! He believed that all the noise of the earth could be construed as a praise song to God. When we can begin to think in such expansive ways our whole perception of the world around us changes. Every day our ears overhear countless sounds of varying origins and intensities…it’s like a constant symphony with a myriad of instruments…and together all those vibrations produce a continual hymn of praise to the Creator. We really do live in a spectacular universe…and the more we awaken our ears to listen, the more appreciative we become. The contented purring of a cat, the rush of water in a fountain, the sound of a storm in the distance, the whir of a fan in a quiet room…all those voices join ours in singing to the Lord a new song. Of course most of the time we get so absorbed in our daily tasks that our ears are dulled and we miss the music. But what joy is ours in those moments, when like the psalmist we actually add our own voices to the mix. We don’t need to worry about being in tune…even our off notes are a part of the harmony of praise. And God especially loves joyful noises!

Thought for the Day: What’s my favorite sound in nature?

Isaiah 66:10-14

“Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice with her in joy, all you who mourn over her—that you may nurse and be satisfied from her consoling breast; that you may drink deeply with delight from her glorious bosom.” vss. 10-11

Even the prophet knew that patriarchal language was not sufficient in describing the bounty of the Lord’s goodness. He’d seen children drinking from their mothers’ breasts with delight and enthusiasm…and he knew that this was the best possible way to describe the consoling and nurturing love of God. For centuries such images of God were considered inappropriate, a threat to God’s supposedly masculine being. Of course we know better than that…God is neither male nor female…but we still tend to use patriarchal terms in our worship and prayer. It’s such a blessing when we can break loose from those old stereotypes and use the language of motherhood to describe our relationship to the Lord. Perhaps we can even imagine ourselves finding comfort in nursing from God’s glorious bosom. Such images seem to resonate with the needs of our souls…why else would Mother’s Day rival Easter in most of our congregations? God is our Mother in heaven, one who calms our frightened hearts with deep embraces of tender, forgiving love. God is also Mother earth, daily bringing forth life and sustaining every living creature. Oh how rich our worship can become when we begin to use feminine language in our prayers and songs!

Thought for the Day: How is a mother’s love different?

Luke 9:57-62

“Jesus said to him, ‘No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.’” vs. 62

Sometimes the things that Jesus told his disciples are clear and concise and we have no difficulty understanding what he had in mind. But not always! His comments to prospective followers in these verses fall into more of a cryptic category. People are interested in joining his movement but he’s anything but welcoming. In fact he seems downright discouraging. As we look deeper however we do sense a common theme…he doesn’t want anyone to become his follower unless they cut their ties with the past. He sums up his advice with an observation that comes right from the farm. No one can plow a straight furrow while looking backwards at where they’ve been. Every good farmer knows that! Likewise, no one can know the fullness of kingdom living if their focus is yesterday and not tomorrow. We’ll never be able to change the past…for better or for worse, it’s already been lived. The photographic evidence is complete and stored away. But the future is a different matter. Our scripts can be rewritten…whole new exciting chapters can be added. In Christ the possibilities are endless and the blessings are new with each dawning day. There’s no more going in circles, no more hopeless repetitions of past mistakes. And tomorrow will always be a better day!

Thought for the Day: Why do we like to live in the past?

Luke 9:51-56

“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?’” vs. 54

James and John had been with Jesus from the beginning. They’d seen him preach, teach, and heal the sick…they likely were confident that he was the messiah, the one sent by God for the sake of Israel. But they still hadn’t grasped the inclusive nature of his mercy and love. In their eyes, anyone who didn’t receive him was deserving of death. And they believed that as disciples they’d been called to be his enforcers. It seems they were eager to see the Samaritans burn. In the long history of Christianity there have been numerous occasions when so-called disciples have eagerly adopted that role. In countless crusades and pogroms through the years thousands of people have been put to death by soldiers of the cross. Such behaviors have left an indelible stain on the reputation of the church, one that has been virtually impossible to eradicate. And the temptation hasn’t gone away! We continue to practice exclusion in our efforts to be faithful. We write off unbelievers and imagine that God does the same. And Jesus keeps on rebuking us and calling us back to the core of the gospel. God’s mercy is inexhaustible and extends far beyond our contrived and artificial boundaries. When our message of love is refused we don’t stop our loving. It’s in loving the unlovable that we discover the essence of loving!

Thought for the Day: Why are some Christians so eager to condemn?

Galatians 5:15-25

“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.” vss. 22-23

Once we recognize that we have been set free from the law, two distinct possibilities for living await us. In Paul’s terms, one option is to allow the desires and passions of the flesh determine what we will say and do. It’s a tempting alternative! Our desires are close at hand and offer their own form of gratification…but such a life will never give us an experience of Christ-like living. The other option is to allow the Holy Spirit to be our guide and director and walk in the way of Jesus. Paul’s description of the fruits resulting from such a life deserves to be memorized and engraved on our hearts, not as some sort of new legalism, but as a description of the beautiful life. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…these are the attributes that are seen in us when our Christ-light begins to shine. They don’t happen because we will them…fruits can never be forced. Rather, they flow naturally out of the love relationship we have with God through Jesus. If they’re not present it’s because we’ve somehow allowed the cares of the world to intrude and obscure the Christ who dwells within. When by grace God’s healing comes, our light begins to shine once more and those precious fruits will abound.

Thought for the Day: Which fruits of the Spirit are most obvious in me?

Galatians 5: 1, 13-15

“For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another.” vs. 13

Freedom was huge for Paul. He believed with all his heart that in Christ the Galatians had been set free and he couldn’t understand how they could be seduced by charlatan preachers and submit once again to the slavery of the law. They had been called to freedom, but should not see their freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence. It’s this tendency that has continued to be a challenge for the people of God. Again and again followers of Jesus have abused the gift of freedom by doing whatever they please with no restrictions. Some have abandoned every vestige of morality under the guise of living freely. Nothing could be further from Christ-like living. We should know that the guiding principle of life in Christ is love, the love that God has for us and the love we are called to show for others. Paul says that in Christ, having been set free from the slavery of the shoulds, we are to freely become love-slaves to one another. That’s what true love does, it binds us to our neighbor with cords that cannot be broken. This is the love we see in the cross of Jesus, it’s a self-giving love that could even mean dying for the other. What a blessing it is to be a part of such a loving faith community! It’s the true family of God, a bulwark of stability and caring in our often cut-throat world.

Thought for the Day: What do love-slaves do for one another?

Psalm 16:7-11

“You show me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy; in your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” vs. 11

The Lord was not a stranger to the psalmist…they had a connection that had begun with the breath of the Spirit in creation and that had continued throughout his life. Not a day passed without a prayer of thanksgiving and songs of praise. Many of us have come to know that Divine Presence as the Christ and use the psalmist’s language to express the joy we feel in the intimacy of that relationship. By looking to the Christ and making Jesus our guide we discover the path of life and learn how to navigate the treacherous twists and turns of daily existence. In the shelter of that guiding presence we experience the fullness of joy and the amazing contentment that faith can bring. Of course there will be challenges…we only need a brief look at the life of Jesus to know that a cross-centered life will bring suffering and pain. Those who follow in his steps can expect the same…it’s what happens when love captures us and we begin to live for others. But the benefits are enormous…the psalmist reports that in the Lord (who is the Christ) there will be pleasures forevermore. As another psalmist wrote, “Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the House of the Lord forever.” 

Thought for the Day: What pleasures has the Christ-life brought me? 

Psalm 16:1-6

“The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; I have a goodly heritage.” vs. 6

Many followers of Jesus end up with more possessions than they ever dreamed that they would have. They live in large comfortable homes and drive luxurious vehicles. They go on cruises to exotic places and take vacations trips to distant parts of the world. Their retirement funds have been well invested and their lives will be secure for as long as they live. It’s not unusual in such circumstances to have regular feelings of guilt, particularly when we see the large numbers of people in our world who live in poverty with none of the material comforts that we hold dear. How is it that we have so much when others have so little? We know it’s not because of our hard work…many poor people work much harder than we do. Mostly it’s because we live in the richest country in the world and have had the benefit of wonderful education and work opportunities. So how shall we deal with our affluence? The psalmist would simply give thanks to God…the boundary lines had fallen for him in pleasant places and he had a goodly heritage. The same is true for us. Feeling guilty about our prosperity serves no purpose at all. Instead we should rejoice in the fact that we have the opportunity to be unbelievably generous! We can give away enormous amounts of money and goods, more than we ever dreamed, and we can do enormous good for the hurting people of the world. And so we will!

Thought for the Day: How much is enough?

1 Kings 19:15-16, 19-21

“He returned from following him, took the yoke of oxen, and slaughtered them; using the equipment from the oxen, he boiled their flesh, and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he set out and followed Elijah, and became his servant.” vs. 21

Elijah needed a successor, someone to follow him for a time and then take over his position as prophet in Israel. Guided by the Spirit he threw his mantle over Elisha as he was out in the field plowing. Thrilled by his nomination Elisha asked only to be able to say good-bye to his parents…and Elijah sent him away. More was required. Elisha had to make a complete break with the past…and he did. He sacrificed his livelihood and became Elijah’s servant. Sometimes that’s how it works when the Spirit blows through our lives. We feel called in a new direction and get excited about the prospects. We forget that pursuing newness will often mean sacrifice and massive change. And we won’t be able to move forward until we’ve broken the yoke of the past and dealt with all the required endings. Our actions may not be as graphic as those required of Elisha but that shouldn’t minimize their importance. The good news is that when the call is truly the work of the Spirit our new life as servants of Christ will be a blessing to the world…and bring satisfaction to our souls.

Thought for the Day: What do I need to give up in order to move ahead?