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I John 4:20-21
Those who say, “I love God,” and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also. * * * * * * * We take sides. We look at headlines, choose an issue, and take a side. Those who claim their side for righteousness' sake are most vulnerable to being cruel to the one who stands on the other side. What have we gained? A cycle of hatred with both sides often claiming the name of God. A few weeks ago I chose to read a book by an author whose world view was light years from mine. The author did not change my mind about the issues but by the end of the book, I didn't hate the person. I confess I didn't even know that hate was there until it stopped. Hate doesn't always riot. Sometimes hate is just a microscopic bacteria that latches onto a healthy cell waiting for a vulnerable moment. We are all at risk to throw bricks in the name of God and propell them with the cancer of our hate. The only good option is to love first and listen well. Love still means that we will take a side but when love chooses a side, it picks up a brick not to throw it but to find the best place to lay it down to build a bridge. * * * * * * * * Holy God, Help us to love in deed and in truth. Amen.
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John 15: 7-8
If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. * * * * * * * There are many factors at work when it comes to the cycle of poverty in our culture. One factor that has been discovered regards the quality and quantity of words that a child from birth to age 3 hears from an adult. There is a significantly lower number of words and smaller variety of words heard by children raised in poverty. That fact alone diminishes certain aspects of their learning ability. Those children become parents who continue the cycle. For the sake of all children and the next generation, let's use our words and talk to our children in uplifting ways and often. Let them hear us speak of Jesus and the words he spoke so that those words will soak into the fiber of our hearts and minds and be made new. * * * * * * * Holy God, let the children hear your name pulled through our hearts and voices. Amen. Psalm 23
The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff— they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long. * * * * * * * * * Natural waters are rarely ever still. Oceans move. Rivers flow. A lake ripples. I suppose a puddle is still but then the temptation is too great to jump in it and splatter it everywhere. On the rare occasion, I have seen still water it is a sight to behold and it doesn't last. A breath of wind ruffles it. And so we are left to wander. We long for a living stillness that we can't seem to find on our own or create for ourselves. But when we are willing to be led, there is one who can still water and restore a soul. * * * * * * * * * Lead me, Lord. Amen. I John 3:16-18
We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help? Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. * * * * * * * In this Information Age, we have no excuses for not knowing, not seeing a person in need of help. We are all a part of a culture that makes sure that images are posted. For some of us, our new first instinct is to take a picture than to run to or for help. I can't help but wonder if we are creating a new wave in the future of those who will face the end of their earthly lives filled with regret - those who will say, "I wish I had loved the people in the pictures as much as I loved taking the pictures." Thankfully, we have time today to see the world's need and offer what we have for the sake of Jesus. It is never too late to get love right. Let's picture ourselves being Jesus today. * * * * * * * Holy God, help us to see clearly and to love outrageously today. Amen. John 10:14-16
I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I lay down my life for the sheep.I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. * * * * * * * * * Jesus said that he has "other sheep" who don't belong to this flock but who he intends to include. He may likely have been referring to Gentiles - getting the Jewish folks ready for a Gentile immigration into the flock. Today we still have "other sheep" mentality. There are few days that go by without a reminder from someone, benignly or with a little teeth, that I am a woman in a "man's job" or that I am not from around here. There are few days where there is not some reference to "them" - "those people" - "you know who I mean." Our identity and knowing the flock to whom we belong is important to us. To be a part of Jesus' flock means that these other allegiances need to have less power to separate. That sounds good but when it means letting go of the ability to mark our own territory and or deciding for ourselves who is in the flock or not, we stop listening to the shepherd's voice. From personal experience, that is not good. * * * * * * * * Good shepherd, help me to listen even when it is uncomfortable. Amen. Acts 3: 24-25
And all the prophets, as many as have spoken, from Samuel and those after him, also predicted these days. You are the descendants of the prophets and of the covenant that God gave to your ancestors, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your descendants all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’ * * * * * * * * We often speak of what we have inherited from our parents. I have my father's nose, my mother's flappy arms and a host of other genetic tendencies toward certain diseases. We also claim to inherit character traits and flaws like stubbornness or perfectionism. From the time Abraham to the present what the people of God have passed from the hands of one generation to the next is a story. It is a story that is not just told but worn like a cloak. We choose to put on the promised blessing of God's people and that story shapes us into people capable of great love. * * * * * * * * Holy God, we claim again the promise of a place in your large family. Amen. Psalm 4: 6-8
There are many who say, “O that we might see some good! Let the light of your face shine on us, O Lord!” You have put gladness in my heart more than when their grain and wine abound. I will both lie down and sleep in peace; for you alone, O Lord, make me lie down in safety. * * * * * * * * * * I have a friend who is a "silver-lining" kind of guy. Throw a load of poo at this guy and his head will poke out of the pile with some "it's all good" remark. He is not naive. He is a very smart, faithful man. Drives me crazy but I can't imagine life without him. There are plenty of people who walk through their own lives and ours with poo-colored glasses. The world needs more people who can see God who actually looks at us and says, "It's all good." * * * * * * * * * * Holy God, Give us the eyes to see and the heart to shine. Amen. I John 3:6-7
No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. * * * * * * * I love the word "abide." It has the feel of "taking residence." It is more than passing through or stopping by. To abide in Jesus is to meld into his presence in such a way that we start living with the same accent of Jesus. We soak up Christ's character and take him into our vital organs and let Jesus course through our veins. There is a difference between an acquaintance of Jesus and one who has taken up residence inside the source of grace and life. Doing what is right becomes more natural than doing what is wrong. Sin happens when we forget where we live. * * * * * * * Holy God, help us to abide in you. Amen. Luke 24:39-41
Look at my hands and my feet; see that it is I myself. Touch me and see; for a ghost does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet. While in their joy they were disbelieving and still wondering, he said to them, “Have you anything here to eat?” * * * * * * * * It is as if Jesus is saying, "Ok, here are the scars in my hands and feet and if that isn't proof enough for you, give me something to eat." Being hungry for food is one of those signs of life. Sadly, as people near the end of their lives, they lose their interest in food. Loved ones who long to have more time with their dying one insist, "But you have to eat." We eat(nutritious food, of course) to affirm life, to keep us moving and alive into this day and the next. Jesus ate to affirm life and to help his disciples believe. To believe in Jesus is to believe in life itself. Eat that up. * * * * * * * * Lord, feed us with your Word. Amen. Exodus 12: 14
This day shall be a day of remembrance for you. You shall celebrate it as a festival to the Lord; throughout your generations you shall observe it as a perpetual ordinance. * * * * * * * * The Passover has been observed for thousands of years. Remembering the deliverance of God's people out of slavery into freedom was commanded and obeyed. Jesus, as he gathered with his disciples, delivered a new commandment to eat bread, drink wine as his body and blood and to remember. I am reminded of that old story about a parent trying to keep his child busy by taking a picture of the world and tearing it up as a make-shift puzzle. When the child put it together correctly and quickly, the parent was amazed. The child explained that there was a picture of a person on the other side and when the child put the person together, the world came together too. Jesus tore himself apart and offered the pieces to us and commanded us to remember him. Through his death and resurrection, we are given a vision of a world made whole. * * * * * * * * * * Jesus, remember me, when you come into your Kingdom. Amen. *********************************************** ELOGOS' Author's Note: May the blessed remembrance of these holy days chase away fear and give you joyful hope. ELOGOS will be off until April 13th. Please consider making a donation to my 40 Days of Lent Water to Thrive campaign. Some of you already have and I am deeply grateful. Psalm 116:12-13
What shall I return to the Lord for all his bounty to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation and call on the name of the Lord. * * * * * * * There is no greater April fool than the one who is ungrateful. * * * * * * * And all God's children say.... |
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