Christ for the Long Haul

Day 16  Baby Step 7

There will be days you just can’t get out of bed. It hurts too much. There is too much to do. The odds feel insurmountable. It is easier to just turn over and go back to sleep. Those are the days to ask yourself. Is it can’t or won’t. 

If it is can’t, give yourself permission to rest in the arms of Jesus. 

If it is won’t, staying in bed won’t help. Get up. Get a grip. When we are in for the long haul, sometimes, just getting your feet over the side of the bed and walking to the kitchen is a statement for the power of Christ in you. No matter how much it hurts. No matter what you have to do. No matter the odds.

So watch your step, friends. Make sure there’s no evil unbelief lying around that will trip you up and throw you off course, diverting you from the living God. For as long as it’s still God’s Today, keep each other on your toes so sin doesn’t slow down your reflexes. If we can only keep our grip on the sure thing we started out with, we’re in this with Christ for the long haul. (Hebrew 3:12-14 MSG)

Whether you stay in bed or make it as far as the kitchen, dig deep. Find one blessing to concentrate on. Look for something as small as the fact that you can get from the bed to the coffee pot. Or concentrate on the greatest blessing of all. Turn your mind from whine to shine.

What can I give back to God
    for the blessings he’s poured out on me?
I’ll lift high the cup of salvation—a toast to God!
    I’ll pray in the name of God;
I’ll complete what I promised God I’d do,
    and I’ll do it together with his people.
When they arrive at the gates of death,
    God welcomes those who love him.
Oh, God, here I am, your servant,
    your faithful servant: set me free for your service!
I’m ready to offer the thanksgiving sacrifice
    and pray in the name of God.
I’ll complete what I promised God I’d do,
    and I’ll do it in company with his people,
In the place of worship, in God’s house,
    in Jerusalem, God’s city.
Hallelujah! (Psalm 116:12-19 MSG)





Begin the day's dance slowly. Stretch. Lengthen your muscles and your nerves. Move as much as you can, no matter how far you can. Focus on God's faithfulness. Find a way to resond.

Praise God, everybody!
    Applaud God, all people!
His love has taken over our lives;
God’s faithful ways are eternal.
    Hallelujah! (Psalm 117 MSG)



Listen for your marching orders, no matter how dire the circumstances. Know that the God who made you will give you what you need to accomplish the smallest or largest task you face. 

“I’m going to bring a flood on the Earth that will destroy everything alive under Heaven. Total destruction.

“But I’m going to establish a covenant with you: You’ll board the ship, and your sons, your wife and your sons’ wives will come on board with you. You are also to take two of each living creature, a male and a female, on board the ship, to preserve their lives with you: two of every species of bird, mammal, and reptile—two of everything so as to preserve their lives along with yours. Also get all the food you’ll need and store it up for you and them.”

Noah did everything God commanded him to do. (Genesis 6:17-22 MSG)

Know that at the end of they day, no matter if it is spent in quiet contemplation on your bed of pain and misery, or dancing through the hours like a mad dervish, there is a promised rest for we serve a God whose work is ongoing, but is at rest.


And so this is still a live promise. It wasn’t canceled at the time of Joshua; otherwise, God wouldn’t keep renewing the appointment for “today.” The promise of “arrival” and “rest” is still there for God’s people. God himself is at rest. And at the end of the journey we’ll surely rest with God. So let’s keep at it and eventually arrive at the place of rest, not drop out through some sort of disobedience. (Hebrews 4:8-11 MSG)

For we were made, for the work of praise. For looking beyond ourselves to Jesus, to others. To find joy in all our circumstances. To reach beyond ourselves to praise God and God all and only. For the bread of life, For the cup of salvation.

Hallelujah!
Praise God from heaven,
    praise him from the mountaintops;
Praise him, all you his angels,
    praise him, all you his warriors,
Praise him, sun and moon,
    praise him, you morning stars;
Praise him, high heaven,
    praise him, heavenly rain clouds;
Praise, oh let them praise the name of God—
    he spoke the word, and there they were!

He set them in place
    from all time to eternity;
He gave his orders,
    and that’s it! (Psalm 146:1-6 MSG)



No matter the road we travel today, internal or out into the world. We are one in the work we do. God weaves us together to permeate and permutate the world and those in it through prayer, praise, witness, work, service, song.

You were all called to travel on the same road and in the same direction, so stay together, both outwardly and inwardly. You have one Master, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who rules over all, works through all, and is present in all. Everything you are and think and do is permeated with Oneness. (Ephesians 1:4-6 MSG)

Watch your step, but trust the boundaries. The road is set before us. We know where we are headed. We may pass through a refining fire this day as we lay in a bed of pain. We may walk in paths that push us to our very limit. But we are road-tested. There is a place of quiet rest. Just depend on Christ alone. He knows. He has gone before us.

Bless our God, O peoples!

    Give him a thunderous welcome!
Didn’t he set us on the road to life?
    Didn’t he keep us out of the ditch?
He trained us first,
    passed us like silver through refining fires,
Brought us into hardscrabble country,

    pushed us to our very limit,
Road-tested us inside and out,
    took us to hell and back;
Finally he brought us
    to this well-watered place. (Psalm 66:8-12 MSG)

Once you have traveled with and through the pain, find a way to reach out to others who are bound and fragmented who have yet to hear the good word. Reach out  and offer to walk step by step from their dark, stormy place to the light you found wrestling through the night. Tell your story to all who will listen.

Then he said, “Son of man, get all these words that I’m giving you inside you. Listen to them obediently. Make them your own. And now go. Go to the exiles, your people, and speak. Tell them, ‘This is the Message of God, the Master.’ Speak your piece, whether they listen or not.” (Ezekiel 3:10-11 MSG)

Peter fairly exploded with his good news: “It’s God’s own truth, nothing could be plainer: God plays no favorites! It makes no difference who you are or where you’re from—if you want God and are ready to do as he says, the door is open. The Message he sent to the children of Israel—that through Jesus Christ everything is being put together again—well, he’s doing it everywhere, among everyone.

 “You know the story of what happened in Judea. It began in Galilee after John preached a total life-change. Then Jesus arrived from Nazareth, anointed by God with the Holy Spirit, ready for action. He went through the country helping people and healing everyone who was beaten down by the Devil. He was able to do all this because God was with him.

 “And we saw it, saw it all, everything he did in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem where they killed him, hung him from a cross. But in three days God had him up, alive, and out where he could be seen. Not everyone saw him—he wasn’t put on public display. Witnesses had been carefully handpicked by God beforehand—us! We were the ones, there to eat and drink with him after he came back from the dead. He commissioned us to announce this in public, to bear solemn witness that he is in fact the One whom God destined as Judge of the living and dead. But we’re not alone in this. Our witness that he is the means to forgiveness of sins is backed up by the witness of all the prophets.”

No sooner were these words out of Peter’s mouth than the Holy Spirit came on the listeners. The believing Jews who had come with Peter couldn’t believe it, couldn’t believe that the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out on “outsider” non-Jews, but there it was—they heard them speaking in tongues, heard them praising God. (Acts 10:34-46 MSG)

Let God speak through you. Trust the Holy Spirit to share the joy you found in God's love that never quits.

Once people have seen the light, gotten a taste of heaven and been part of the work of the Holy Spirit, once they’ve personally experienced the sheer goodness of God’s Word and the powers breaking in on us— (Hebrews 6:4 MSG)

Thank God because he’s good,
    because his love never quits.
Tell the world, Israel,
    “His love never quits.”
And you, clan of Aaron, tell the world,
    “His love never quits.”
And you who fear God, join in,
    “His love never quits.” (Psalm 118:1-4 MSG)

Amen.

Peterson, Eugene H. The Message (MSG). Carol Stream, IL: NavPress, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002.

Righteousness

There is value, great value, in living according to God’s law. Happy are those who avoid unrighteous behavior. The effect of the righteous life is one's unwavering commitment to God’s word. To be “righteous” is to have a “healthy relationship” with God, to live wisely.

To live righteously, is to live a decent life, that is reputable, moralistic, noble, principled, right-minded, and virtuous. To live righteously, is to live a good life that is virtuous, exemplary, guiltless, inculpable, innocent, irreproachable, and pure. Righteousness is doing that which is just, acting rightly or justly; conforming to the standard of the divine or the moral law; to be just and upright, free from sin.  When one lives righteously, one lives a life without prejudice; characterize by evenness.

I remember. when we did a “hunger weekend” with the youth group. On Friday night,  we went without supper and spent the night carrying everything we brought with us in large garbage bags. We moved from place to place in the church and read aloud the prophets, the psalms, and the gospels. The next morning we went to the local grocery store and gathered a box of vegetables left by the dumpster. I remember the turned up noses, the “eeww’s,” the “I’m not eating THAT.” We cleaned and cut off moldy places and soft parts and put them all in a pot with water to simmer. That was breakfast.

We went to a soup kitchen in a nearby town to help serve lunch. The smell of unwashed bodies was offensive. When a mother, in apparent drug withdrawal, brought her four- or five- year-old son through the  food line, one could see the righteous indignation on the faces of the youth group. We went back to the church fellowship hall.  We compared what we had seen and felt to the scriptures we had read. We talked about their outraged sense of justice, decency and fair play, their sense of righteous indignation.

Trusting God in different ways came out of that indignation. All of them have mentioned that weekend to us at one time or another. For some,  it helped God call them into ministry as pastors and social workers, but for all, it changed the way they viewed others.

Every day  is an opportunity to trust God in different ways. In the midst of daily life,one can increase  trust in God, confidently and faithfully, knowing one's life is enfolded in God’s attention and love.

God is a God of power, wisdom and authority, John Wesley saw over an over the spirit of bondage transformed to the spirit of adoption as we awaken to our sin. God does not force conversion on us. We must seek adoption. However it is only God who can complete the transformation.

It is God who, hearing one's cries and caring for all like a good parent, now infuses life with “heavenly healing light.” Hearts are strangely warmed, so one's consciousness is dominated no longer by sin and law, but by God’s capacity to love, heal and make new.

We have the experience of most adopted children: once we feel abandoned to the powers and principalities, but now we can count on the kindness and support of a loving parent. Once we were bound to fear, but now we are marked with the holiness and happiness of the family of God

The “good news” is the proclamation of God’s kingdom, manifested in the ministry, death, and resurrection of Jesus. “Repentance” is not just a feeling of regret, but an ordering of one’s life as to be acceptable to God. Jesus himself receives baptism by John, joining this group of people who have ritually dedicated themselves to righteousness; to true religion.

We must not substitute rituals for Christ-centered faith. Instead, we should enter into  a life of rigorous discipline of study prayer and good works. True religion is a matter of the heart and is characterized by Spirit-inspired joy, holiness, and peace. To John Wesley, these were the irrefutable marks of the kingdom of God.

I encourage you to choose a short passage of scripture that stops or strangely warms your heart. Meditate on those words. Write them on a card and keep them  with you. Write them, with soap, on your mirror. To meditate on God’s word literally means to mumble or utter it under the breath.

Romanian Orthodox Chant - Psalm 1,2,3 at Putna Monastery

by danteselu•5 years ago•195,274 views

www.sfantulioanrusul.ro Psalm 1,2,3 at Putna Monastery, Romania 

God's Righteous Servant. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.defendproclaimthefaith.org/gods_righteous_servant.htm

 "An outline of a Bible-school curriculum". (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.archive.org/stream/outlineofbiblesc00peas/outlineofbiblesc00peas_djvu.txt

Reflecting on Our Faith - UMC.org, http://www.umc.org/site/c.lwL4KnN1LtH/b.2310045/k.4A66/Reflecting_on_Our_Faith.htm

(accessed January 14, 2013

Kim Hill - Psalm 1 Uploaded on Apr 30, 2007 Call to worship based on Psalm 1 Visit us at www.phillycgc.org

“righteous.” equitable." Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged. Merriam-Webster, 2002. http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com (14 Jan. 2013).

Monday, January 14, 2013

Psalm 1, 2, 3, 4, 7

Isaiah 40:12-23

Ephesians 1:1-14

Mark 1:1-13

Daily Readings from The Voice, the internet web site of CRI/Voice, Christian Resource Institute, a global and ecumenical ministry dedicated to providing biblical and theological resources for growing Christians. www.crivoice.org Readings based on the Revised Lectionary of the Book of Common Prayer.

The Wesley Study Bible, New Revised Standard Version, Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2009. 

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Be Still

Daily Readings Book of Common Prayer

Sunday,  January 6, 2013

http://www.crivoice.org/epiphany1.html

Psalm 46 : Trust the Lord's saving presence in the midst of cosmic upheaval and geopolitical uproar. God is our refuge, our sanctuary. God calls us to "Be still and know that I am God."

Psalm 97 :  A song extolling God's glory. His incomparable greatness motivates praise. "For you, O Lord, are most high over all the earth."

Psalm 96 : A call to praise and worship God in the sanctuary where God's presence can be experienced powerfully.

Psalm 100 : A call to give thanks in the temple. A call to come into His presence and celebrate God's goodness.

Isaiah 52: 7-10 : "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger who announces peace, who brings good news, who announces salvation, who says to Zion, 'Your God reigns.'"

Revelation 21: 22-27 In the New Heaven and the New Earth the role of God, the Lamb is to be the temple and the source of all light.

Matthew 12:14-21 Jesus fulfills Isaiah's prophecy of God's chosen servant's desire for secrecy, and foreshadows and becomes key to the great commission where Jesus commands his disciples to carry the Good News to Gentiles and Jews alike.

The  Wesley Study Bible, New Revised Standard Version, Abingdon Press, 2009

Three gentile kings seek and find the King of the Jews, the holy child. They follow a new star that stops over the place where they child was. When they saw the star stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. We too can follow the Lamb who is become our light. His righteousness is become our righteousness, and we are called to "be still" and know that we are in the presence of God.

They knelt and paid him homage. They opened their treasure chests. They offered him gifts of gold frankincense and myrrh. God's incomparable greatness motivated their praise. In the temple, the sanctuary of the presence of the holy child, the Son of the Trinity, the magi were called into God's temple. They came into God's presence and celebrated God's goodness. We, too are called into our sanctuaries, our holy of holies, into Jesus who is become for us the temple. 

In Herod's court, the kings created geopolitical upheaval. The kings were perceptive enough not to return to Jerusalem. Joseph once again heeded the words of the angel of the Lord and fled with Mary and Jesus to Egypt. He must have pondered the angel's words that Jesus would save his people. That once again God would "call his son out of Egypt."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHf1p3C8iVw

We are called out of our places of exile, our positions of enslavement, our habitations of pain, back to the high hill. We are commissioned with all disciples to be the messengers of the Father to share the Good News of the Son, Jesus, King of Kings, the sacrificial Lamb. By the power of the Holy Spirit we are sent to the mountain tops to declare peace, good news, and salvation.

"Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember I am with you always, to the end of the age." Matthew 28: 16-20 (NRSV)