Prayer on Psalm 23

O Lord, you are my shepherd and my Divine King. Because YOU ARE, I will not suffer in want. Help me to trust you to meet my needs.

You, O Lord, provide for me time and space for rest.  Let me willingly and eagerly go to lie in your green pastures! Let me rest by the peaceful still waters and allow you to restore my soul.  In your presence I am made whole.

O Lord, lead me in right paths and for your name’s sake grant me grace to go only where you lead, ever forsaking my own ways.

Sometimes I walk through deep and dark valleys, yet you are with me and evil cannot touch me.  You protect me, even with your Holy rod and staff to correct and guide.  Lord, forever keep me from harm.

You feed me, My Lord, at your table until I am more than satisfied … even in the presence of those who wish me evil. You honor me, anointing my head with oil, filling me with your Spirit. I am in awe.

May your goodness and mercy follow me all of my days. Lord, let me dwell in your Kingdom, now and forever.

AMEN

Epiphany: the Light Has Come

The baby was born, the three Wise Men have arrived, and the world is filled with Light. 

Today, Jan. 6, is Epiphany, the day in the church year when we remember those three gift bearers who followed the star to find the Christ child. They followed a light to find the Light of the World! Something I read recently pointed out that the Wise Men were astrologers who looked to the heavens for signs and guidance. They were not worshipers of the One True God. Yet God, whose Wisdom is far greater than that of any wise man, chose these “pagans” to be some of the first people who worshiped the King of Kings. God even spoke to them in a dream, telling them not to return to tell King Herod where to find the baby whose star they followed. (See Matthew 2:1-12)  How can God speak to a pagan, and why would God want to anyway? What does the fact that God did choose to do this say to us today? How should this fact affect how we look at people who don’t worship or believe as we Christians do?

The Light has come and in Him there is no darkness. As followers of the Christ, we are called to be light bearers, carrying His light into the world. The wise men probably did not understand that it was the King of Kings, God’s own son, that they travelled to visit. They did not name Him as the Son of God, yet they worshiped Him, and perhaps they too became filled with Light, and took that Light with them back to the land from which they came. How could one be in the presence of God and not be changed?

The Light has come and in Him there is no darkness. As followers of the Christ, we are called to live Light filled lives. Do we even know what that means? Do we really want to know? The Wise Men travelled for a long time, through the desert, up hills and down, with no map and no previous experience in the place to which they travelled. All they had was a light to follow, and in the end they found Him whom they sought. How far are we willing to go into uncharted territory seeking God, and how long are we willing to take? We have a Light to follow, but do we allow the Light to lead us?

The baby was born, the three wise men have arrived, and now let us pray that we will have the wisdom and determination to follow the Light and to allow the Light to fill us and transform us.

Money, Money

The only way not to think about money is to have a great deal of it.

Edith Wharton
US novelist (1862 – 1937)

 4 Give up trying so hard to get rich. 

 5Your money flies away before you know it,  just like an eagle suddenly taking off.

 Proverbs 23:4-6 (Contemporary English Version)

Scripture verse provided by BibleGateway.com

I think (and worry) about money much more than I’d like to. I don’t like to balance my checkbook and find the whole topic of finances to be confusing at best. I’d rather not think about money at all, but I doubt that I’ll ever have so much as to be able to forget about it! Right now I’m just hoping I can pay all the bills next month.  Any money I have certainly does seem to fly away, in spite of my constant efforts to cut costs and make an extra buck here and there. 

I have no desire to be “rich”,  just “financially secure”. The truth is, I will probably never achieve either of those states. So where does that leave me? Just trusting God, that’s where. I’ll do my best, pray for guidance, and trust that my needs will be met in one way or another. I admit, I can’t handle my life or my money on my own. I need all the help I can get!

 

Some Things CAN Go Either Way

I’ve been reading Bright Evening Star: Mystery of the Incarnation by Madeleine L’Engle. (Copyright 1997, Crosswicks Inc.) She refers to reading from Eugene Peterson’s The Message.

In his version of John’s Gospel I was startled to read of Jesus’ appearance to the
disciples after the Resurrection. He blesses them with his peace. Then he tells
them that when they forgive people’s sins they are gone forever. And then,
instead of the familiar, “Whosoever sins you retain on earth, they are retained
in heaven,” which has always bothered me, Eugene Peterson’s version says,
“If you don’t forgive the sins, what will you do with them?” (p.41)

L’Engle goes on to relate that she had the opportunity to ask Eugene Peterson who he justified this particular translation of this passage. He replied, “The Greek can go either way. I chose that way.” (p.41)

That passage has always bothered me too, so I was relieved to read this. This speaks to me about other passages that may ‘bother me’ as well. I do not read Greek or Hebrew so I must trust those who do to have made an accurate translation of the original scripture texts. BUT, there are obviously words and phrases that can “go either way”. I think it’s safe to assume that those passages that seem to make no sense, or seem not to fit in with the overall theme of the text, may come across differently in the translation than the original author intended. Another mystery….live with God is full with them.

His Mercy Endures Forever

Psalm 136 begins: Give thanks to the Lord for he is good, for his mercy endures forever. Interestingly, every verse in this Psalm ends with the words his mercy endures forever. It struck me today as I read this that the fact that God’s mercy endures forever is a fact that the psalmist wanted people to remember. Indeed, I’m sure God himself wants us to remember that his mercy endures forever. In the spirit of this Psalm, I write one of my own.

Give thanks to the King of Kings,

for his mercy endures forever;

Who has created all that is,

for his mercy endures forever;

Who formed me from the dust,

for his mercy endures forever;

Who knows every thought of my heart,

for his mercy endures forever;

Who accepts me and loves me without condition,

for his mercy endures forever;

Who works good in even the bad things of life,

for his mercy endures forever;

Who cares for those that concern me,

for his mercy endures forever;

Who allows me to struggle so that I can grow,

for his mercy endures forever;

Who is, who was, who is to come,

for his mercy endures forever.

Give thanks to the great I AM

for his mercy endures forever.

My Prayer

I remember the days of old,

I think about all your deeds,

I meditate on the works of your hands.

I stretch out my hands to you;

my soul thirsts for you like a parched land.

Answer me quickly, O Lord; my spirit fails.

Do not hide your face from me,

or I shall be like those who go down to the Pit.

Let me hear of your steadfast love in the morning,

for in you I put my trust.

Teach me the way I should go,

for to you I lift up my soul.

Psalm 143:5-8 NRSV

 

They Kept Rowing

I’m so glad that today is Sunday. Church was, as always, was so meaningful. It seems that most every week something in the service touches me right where I am.

The sermon today was based on the gospel lesson. The five thousand had been fed and the disciples are rowing across a choppy sea to Bethsaida at Jesus’ request. Walking upon the water, He nears their boat and they are afraid, thinking they are seeing a ghost. Jesus then gets into the boat and the wind ceases. Eventually they cross the sea and end up at Gennesaret.
It was pointed out that no where in this passage does it say that the boat was suddenly transported to the shore once Jesus got into the boat. So we can assume that the disciples kept rowing to get across the sea. They were struggling on their journey, they became afraid when they saw Jesus but did not recognize him, and then Jesus calmed the wind causing the rowing to be less of a struggle; but the disciples did keep rowing. They did what was necessary to get to the other side. Interestingly enough, when they got to the other side they were at Gennesaret, not Bethsaida. They did not end up where they were headed, but the following verses tell us that many miracles of healing took place as the sick were brought to Jesus. They didn’t end up where they thought they were going, but the ministry continued.

Keep rowing: sounds reminiscent of yesterday’s post “Just Keep Plodding Along”. I’ll never get anywhere if I give up and stop. If the disciples were upset that they ended up in a different location than where they were planning to go, the scriptures don’t tell us. The important thing for me to note however, is that things turned out just fine. For all we know, maybe even better than they would have if they’d gotten to their planned destination. Jesus didn’t seem concerned that they didn’t make it to Bethsaida that day; he just took advantage of the situation and met the needs of the people in Gennesaret. The Gennesaret people were blessed.

Ok Jesus, I think I get it: keep rowing and you’ll take care of the rest. I believe Lord, help my unbelief.