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MEDITATION:

Written by Rueben P. Job (1928-2015), an American bishop of the United Methodist Church.

Most of us have lived long enough to have thought or said, “I could never do that!” It is a common response of ordinary people like us to a task that seems to demand extraordinary wisdom, strength, or faith. However, the Bible is filled with stories of those who told God they could not lead, witness, or perform the task they were asked to do. Of course they were right! They could not do the difficult—or even the simple and easy—on their own. The biblical stories from Abraham to the first-century Christians point out that only with power from beyond themselves could the faithful fulfill their calling.

What are you planning to do that you cannot possibly achieve without help from beyond yourself? What do you feel God is calling you to be and do that is impossible without God’s intervention in your life? These questions move us quickly to the realization that we often live our lives on the easy path of the least faith and effort. To observe the church is to see that we are not alone in choosing the easy path. Yet we know there is a better way and a higher calling for us as individuals, as congregations, and as denominations. The early disciples were told to wait upon God until the power came. They waited and the power did come. The book of Acts is a brief record of how the early church carried on its life and ministry with power from beyond itself. The record of individuals and Christian movements that have transformed the world to receive power from beyond themselves to fulfill their calling. This power was given to ordinary people who were called to live in an extraordinary way. Could that be your calling today?

PRAYER:

This prayer is from the Saram Primer, a book of prayers and Christian worship resources from the 1500s, collected at the Salisbury Cathedral.

Gracious God, you know how easy it is for us to be driven by the fear of other people, other things, and even our own thoughts. Help us to be motivated instead only in fear of you. Help us to see that fearing you is an invitation to living fully into the calling you have uniquely given to us. Help us to seek you in times of wilderness and in times of plenty, so that in all the times we live through we will faithfully reflect your love in the world. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

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MEDITATION:

Written by Christine Vogelsang, a contemporary author, speaker, teacher, and musician.

“How can she sleep through all of this noise?” Right in the middle of the action, conversations, loud shouting at the football game on television, was our sleeping one-month-old baby in her portable crib. She was missing the celebration of her big day of family gathered in her honor. Of course, later that night when all was quiet, she was wide awake and crying for attention. “Quiet! The baby’s sleeping!” was completely the opposite of her nature. Background noise and music is part of many households. When my husband and I visited a new parishioner, she left the TV on the entire time totally unaffected by the noise that competed with our conversation. My mother had the radio going during the day while she went about her household chores. There was a constant stream of music, news, radio skits and information. I enjoy music when I’m working, especially when the task allows my mind to wander. My children still remember the albums and songs I played when I cleaned the house. Background music is everywhere. I smile today when I hear elevator music that used to be cutting edge hard rock. I often played classical music when my students were working. Today when I see someone using earphones or earbuds at their desk, I wonder what they’re listening to and if should interrupt them if I have a question. In restaurants and other venues, music can be annoying if you can’t even shout a conversation. Music is vibrations that fill the airwaves. People talk about “feeling a good vibration” or getting “good vibes” from someone. The Beach Boys had a song in the 1960s called “Good Vibrations.”  Although they sang “I’m pickin’ up good vibrations” and “Got to keep those lovin’ good vibrations happening,” they were talking about more than music. They were talking about the emotional connection and ambiance of a relationship. This idea isn’t uncommon. After all, if something we experience or hear pleases us, we say it’s “music to our ears.” The opposite is true when that “music” is so strident and unrelenting in its criticism that it hurts our heart, our morale. But when we enthusiastically say good things about someone, we enjoy “singing their praises.” Of course, no one is singing, unless we are on stage in a musical production.

The way we conduct ourselves, what we say and how we say it, even our body language, is like the background music in our workplace, office, classroom, or home. There is a “soundtrack” that plays around us as leaders. We do send out certain “vibes.” When I worked as a temporary employee going from one office and business to another, I could feel the music of the place. Sometimes tension, competition, and doing enough to avoid the boss were vibrating off the walls. On the other hand, if I was lucky enough to meet the manager or boss of some companies, it became clear why the music of enthusiasm, energy, camaraderie, and helpfulness were the “songs” people were listening to and singing in their hearts. It’s the parent, the CEO, or the manager who creates the vibes, sets the tempo for the background music of a family, a company, a church, or an organization. Their music infiltrates the airwaves and sets the “tone” for those they lead. We can learn a lot from the Master composer, our Lord Jesus, who creates songs in our hearts, “surrounds me with songs of deliverance” (Psalm 32:7), and “calls forth songs of joy” (Psalm 65:8). He knows how important it is to be that steadfast source of encouragement and grace. When we’re tuned into His station, when we’re picking up His good vibrations, it will be music to the ears of those we lead. It will be a chorus of everyone singing the praises of those we work with; of those we work for. Above all, the best choir will be those who sing the praises of our Lord Jesus who keeps those loving good vibrations happening, who is the Master Conductor of our songs of joy!

PRAYER:

Written by John Eldredge, a contemporary American author, counselor and lecturer on Christianity.

Lord teach me to listen. The times are noisy and my ears are weary with the thousand raucous sounds which continuously assault them. Give me the spirit of the boy Samuel when he said to thee, “Speak for thy servant heareth.” Let me hear thee speaking in my heart. Let me get used to the sound of thy voice, that its tones may be familiar when the sounds of earth die away and the only sound will be the music of thy speaking voice.”

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MEDITATION:

Written by Sheryl Giesbrecht, a contemporary author, radio show host, and speaker.

God’s specialty is rearranging the ashes of our disappointments, despair, and dismay into something beautiful. He takes our mess and changes it into His message. A tangible, historical illustration of this spiritual truth occurred in the state park sprawling its 3,472 square miles across three states: Idaho, Montana and Wyoming, called the Yellowstone National Monument. It was the most devastating wildfire in the history of the national park system. The flames burned uncontrollably for nine months – from early June through the first snow in September. In early June, flames wiped out 1.2 million acres about 36% of the park’s over 2 million acres. The fire was finally extinguished in November 1988.  As the damage was tallied, the losses financially could not be recovered. Yet, God’s plan was yet to be revealed. In the same way, all of us have experienced ashes of loss:  Denial: “I wish I could believe God, but I just can’t.”   Depression: “I can’t get up.” Destruction:  “I’ve lost everything.”  Despair: “I don’t know why I am here.” Divorce:  “He/she left me” “I left him/her.” Death: “I miss my mom/dad/child.” Domestic Violence:  “I was afraid.” Discouragement: “I can’t see out of this hole.”  Disease: “I am going to die anyway, why not give up now?”

Ever wondered how God might restore a relationship that’s been consumed by the fire of jealousy? Or worried about how God will redeem your life since the life you had planned isn’t what is happening now? Sometimes these challenges and trials of our daily life seem like a wildfire that devastates everything or anyone we hold dear. It can be overwhelming, catastrophic, and feel like a dead end. After the wildfire’s smoke fades away, all that is left are ashes. The embers of dreams that have died, the remains of hope that has faded, and the residues of relationships that have become distant. God is a God who always restores, rebuilds, regenerates, that’s His character. God can use our story for His glory, but we must trust Him to restore and rebuild in His time. After the fires, the forest is more open, and more light reaches the forest floor. In the areas where the fire burned hottest, the mineral earth is exposed. Much of the dead wood, including stumps and logs is almost completely burned. Where the fire had been hottest is an ideal seedbed for the young giant sequoia seedlings. The heat of the fire causes giant sequoia cones to open, and thousands of seeds are released and fall to the soil. A few years after the wildfire wiped everything out, these plants increased in productivity. What had been considered to be a ‘natural catastrophe’ has been restored and regenerated into a lush forest, which has come back thicker and healthier than before it was burned. In the first few years following such a fire, often the area is covered with young giant sequoia trees. In the Yellowstone National Park – Lodgepole pines now fill about 80% of the park’s extensive forests. Most of these crowd each other out, but those which survive will become the forest of future giants. God has a plan for the ashes of your losses. He will restore, rebuild, regenerate your life. However, you and I have a choice, will we trust Him? We must let go of our past, surrender our dead dreams, frustrated hope, and disappointments with people. God can be trusted to work His will, in His way, in His timing.  The Sequoia seed reminds us that God has planted us here for a season. He wants you to be grounded, rooted deep in His Word, a person of prayer, a son or daughter of destiny. Make the time you are on this earth, a time to sit at His feet, study His Word, learn from Him, and listen to His voice as He directs your life. Remember, like the sequoia, those who survive will become a future Godly giant! Won’t you let God rebuild, restore and renew your life in His timing?

PRAYER:

Written by Ted Loder (1931-2021), a pastor, political activist, author, and poet.  This is from his book “Guerrillas of Grace.”

Catch me in my anxious scurrying, Lord.  Hold my feet to the fire of your grace and make me attentive to my mortality that I may begin to die now to those things that keep me from living with you and with my neighbors on this earth; to grudges and indifference, to certainties that smother possibilities, to my fascination with false securities, to my addiction to sweatless dreams, to my arrogant insistence on how it has to be; to my corrosive fear of dying someday which eats away the wonder of living this day, and the adventure of losing my life in order to find it in you.

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MEDITATION:

Written by J. Brent Bill, a contemporary author of Quaker spiritual literature who has also worked as a pastor.   This is an excerpt from his book “Beauty, Truth, Life, and Love.”

Are you living the abundant life?  An abundant life—not an abundance life. There’s a significant difference between the two. Many of us middle-class North Americans are living the abundance life. We have more things than ever. Bigger televisions that grow smarter every day. Technology-laden cars telling us when we’ve drifted out of our lane or applying our brakes when someone in front of us stops suddenly. Computers more powerful than the ones that helped land men on the moon are held in the palms of our hands. Yet, for all our stuff, Henry David Thoreau’s 19^th – century dictum that “the mass of men [and women] lead lives of quiet desperation” is still true…Perhaps our lack of happiness or sense that our lives are less than they could be is because our abundance life is rooted in transient things. A dip in the economy can wipe out a lifetime of savings. Trade wars can raise the cost of goods to unaffordable levels, result in the elimination of jobs, put farmers out of business, and more. Plus, all these televisions, tablets, phones, cars, and clothes are constantly being replaced by new and better ones. Advertising, social media, and the like tell us we must have them. And, judging by our buying habits, we believe it…The sad thing is, I’m tempted by the new gadgets. I want those cool improvements. They won’t though, bring me the abundant life. When I am silent and still, I realize that the abundant life is a spiritual state of being. The abundance life is an acquisitional way of living. The abundant life that Jesus came to give us reveals itself in things such as “love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”…What will bring these things is growing into the person God created me to be, doing the work God meant me to do, being in the relationships I am supposed to have, and so on. I believe that the abundant life is found in four essential ideals. They can guide us into the life Jesus promised if we incorporate them into our daily lives. These four ideals are beauty, truth, life, and love. I think one reason that we who desire the abundant life miss living it is that we don’t often think about those four things as relating to life of the spirit and faith…Beauty, truth, life, and love move us beyond doing life and faith correctly into doing them well. They are central to the very essence of the life God desires for us to live because they are the very essence of God.

PRAYER:

Written by Janet Thompson, a contemporary speaker and author.

Lord, please guide me to the purpose and plans for which you created me. Help me to be receptive even when they’re not what I expected. Show me your ways, Lord. I want to live abundantly following the calling you have for my life. Amen.

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MEDITATION:

Written by Isaac Pennington (1617-1680), the son of the may of London who joined the Society of Friends (the Quakers) and suffered persecution for his beliefs. This is an excerpt from his work “Letters on Spiritual Virtues.”

Friends, our life is love and peace and tenderness. We are called to bear one another’s burdens, forgive one another, and never judge or accuse one another. Instead, we must pray for one another, helping one another up with a tender hand if there has been any slip or fall. O! wait to feel this spirit. Wait to be guided and to walk in this spirit that you may enjoy the Lord in sweetness and walk meekly, tenderly, peaceably, and lovingly with one another. Then you will be able to praise the Lord, and anything that has hindered you, you will be able to overcome in the Lamb’s dominion. That which is contrary shall be trampled upon as his life rises and begins to rule in you. So, watch your hearts and ways. Watch over one another in gentleness and tenderness. Know that we cannot help one another out of a snare of our own strength, for only the Lord, who must be waited upon, can do this in all and for all. So, attend to the Truth, to the service and enjoyment and possession of it in your hearts. Walk in such a way that you do not bring disgrace upon it, but instead, let the Truth be a good savor to others in the places where you live. May the meek, innocent, tender, righteous life that reigns within you and governs you, shine through you into the eyes of all with whom you speak. 

PRAYER:

Written by Dionysius Telmarharensis (?-845), patriarch of the Syrian Jacobite Church and author of important documents on Eastern Christianity.

God the Father,

source of Divinity,

good beyond all that is good,

fair beyond all that is fair,

in you is calmness, peace and unity.

Repair the things that divide us from each other

and restore our unity of love

like your divine love.

And as you are above all things,

unite us in goodness and love

that we may be spiritually one,

with you and with each other,

through your peace which makes all things peaceful

and through the grace, mercy, and tenderness

of your only Son., Jesus Christ. Amen.

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MEDITATION:

Written by L.B. Cowman (1870-1960), an American writer and author of devotional books.

Our too general neglect of looking for answers to what we ask shows how little we are in earnest in our petitions. A husbandman is not content without the harvest; a marksman will observe whether the ball hits the target; a physician watches the effect of the medicine which he gives; and shall the Christian be careless about the effect of his labor? Every prayer of the Christian, made in faith, according to the will of God, for which God has promised, offered up in the name of Jesus Christ, and under the influence of the Spirit, whether for temporal or for spiritual blessings, is, or will be, fully answered. God always answers the general design and intention of His people’s prayers, in doing that which, all things considered, is most for His own glory and their spiritual and eternal welfare. As we never find that Jesus Christ rejected a single supplicant who came to Him for mercy, so we believe that no prayer made in His name will be in vain.

PRAYER:

This prayer is from the Presbyterian Mission Agency.

I asked God for strength that I might achieve,

I was made weak that I might learn humbly to obey.

I asked for health that I might do great things.

I was given infirmity that I might do better things.

I asked for riches that I might be happy.

I was given poverty that I might be wise.

I asked for power that I might that I might have the praise of men.

I was given weakness that I might feel the need of God.

I asked for all things that I might enjoy life. I was given life that I might enjoy all things.

I got nothing that I asked for—but everything that I had hoped for.

Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered. I am, among all men, most richly blessed.

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MEDITATION:

Written by Dallas Willard (1935-2013), an American philosopher known for his writings on Christian spiritual formation.  This is an excerpt from his work “Renewing the Christian Mind: Essays, Interviews, and Talks.”

Spiritual formation in Christ is the process through which disciples or apprentices of Jesus take on the qualities or characteristics of Christ himself, in every essential dimension of human personality. The overall orientation of their will, the kinds of thoughts and feelings that occupy them, the “automatic” inclinations and “readinesses” of their body in action, the prevailing posture of their relations toward others, and the harmonious wholeness of their soul—these all, through the formative processes undergone by his disciples, increasingly come to resemble the personal dimensions of their master. “A pupil is not above his teacher,” Jesus said, “but everyone, after he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher” (Luke 6:40).

PRAYER:

This prayer is from the PrayRay prayer website.

Man is not perfect so if I make a man my ultimate role model, then I am bound to do mistakes or fail. But if I make you Lord my ultimate role model, a light will shine on my path. I will never be able to make mistakes, and I will be successful.  Therefore, Lord Jesus, I make you my number one role model today. I want to do the things you do, I want to behave just like you, I want to show love to people and heal people. I pray that you help me, Lord. Amen.

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MEDITATION:

This meditation is from Maranatha Christian Ministries.

We all know that the Bible says that man was created in the image of God. As God’s highest creation, and in that image, it is a given that man should be free. There is no scriptural foundation for any other teaching. That is one of the reasons that America is a great nation. It is founded on the liberating Biblical concept of freedom. When the citizens of the early colonies declared their freedom from and independence of England, it was a great day for freedom and the church. The United States was born. Since that time we have taken great pride in our freedoms and our independence from other tyrannical nations. It is a good thing to be free to worship God and that is what our founding fathers worked, fought, and died for. Sadly enough though, too many have taken that independent spirit too far and have become totally independent of any and all powers and entities, resulting in rebellion. As a Christian, independence is never more demonstrated than when we exercise total dependence on God. We were never intended to be independent of Him or His ways. He created us to depend on Him and thus to find our total fulfillment in Him, to find His perfect strength by acknowledging our own weakness. (2 Cor. 10: 9-10). On this day that we as Americans proudly, and justly so, give honor to our country, one nation under one God, let us also along with this day of independence declare that this is our Day Of Dependence. A day that we acknowledge that we depend on God for everything in this life. A day that we know that we live and move and have our being in Him. To God be the glory for our United States of America and for the liberty with which Christ has set us free. In Christ, we have real freedom.

PRAYER:

Written by William Wilberforce (1759-1833), a British politician, philanthropist and leader of the movement to stop the slave trade.

Lord God, Almighty, you have made all the peoples of the earth for your glory, to serve you in freedom and in peace: Give to the people of our country a zeal for justice and the strength and forbearance, that we may use our liberty in accordance with your gracious will: through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. 

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MEDITATION:

Written by Thaddeus J. Williams, a contemporary professor of theology and ethics. This is an excerpt from his book “Confronting Injustice Without Compromising Truth.”

Paul refuses to interpret any inch of reality apart from God. To cut God off from our understanding is to block out the sun and bump around in the dark. We see everything in its truest light when we view it in light of God’s existence. That includes the way we see humanity’s grim track record of injustice as well as our own underrated capacity for evil…We pretend otherwise, but a transcendent power runs the universe, and deep down we know we are not him. God is God and we are not. We aren’t the Creator; we are the creatures. But we suppress that most fundamental truth about the basic structure of existence. This blurs out our vision of everything else…Refusing to give the Creator the honor and gratitude he is due, we turn and bow to the cosmos. We endow created things with an ultimate value that they are not due. This is a double injustice. We fail to give both the Creator and the creation what they are properly due. In Paul’s language, we “exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator…This tragedy plays out in gruesome detail throughout the Old Testament. Slavery, murder, rape, child abuse, and theft happen when people worship idols instead of God. The first commandment, to have no gods before God, is where any authentically Christian vision of justice begins. Devalue the original by putting something else in his place and it’s easier to treat the images of God like garbage. That is what is so profound about Paul’s take on injustice in Romans 1. He does not merely note that humanity is “full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, [and] maliciousness,” then blames all that injustice on society and dream up a utopian political solution the way Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels did. Paul does not look at the bad fruit on the human tree and then suggest replanting it in the different soil of some new political ideology. Paul knows that the human tree is so hopelessly sick that whatever soil you plant it in, toxic fruit will form. No amount of political revolution, social engineering or policy tweaking will stop envy, strife, deceit, and maliciousness from sprouting out of our sick hearts. Why were all the utopias of the modern era doomed to fail? Because the evil did not originate in politics, society, or the economy. It is expressed there, but evil originates in human hearts that “exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things” and the sun and water and gold and sex and power…This is how Paul adds deeper hues to our picture of injustice. Look deep enough underneath any horizontal human-against-human injustice and you will always find a vertical human-against-God injustice, a refusal to give the Creator the worship only the Creator is due. All injustice is a violation of the first commandment.

PRAYER:

Written by William Temple (1881-1944), a bishop in the Church of England and Archbishop of Canterbury.

O Almighty God, the Father of all humanity, turn, we pray, the hearts of all peoples and their rulers, that by the power of your Holy Spirit peace may be established among the nations on the foundation of justice, righteousness, and truth; through him who was lifted up on the cross to draw all people to himself, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

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MEDITATION:

Written by Tommy Nelson, a contemporary pastor and author. This is an excerpt from his book “A Life Well Lived.”

Solomon observes [in Ecclesiastes] the inequity of life. Sometimes bad guys win and good guys suffer. Johnny Christian doesn’t always score the touchdown, and Paul Pagan doesn’t always fumble the ball. That’s a fact. Do you have a problem with that? Would you rather have a “perfect” universe? Wouldn’t it be great if, after a driver ran you off the road, his car would break down five minutes later? Or if someone cheated you in business, he would go bankrupt the next month? Or if someone got angry and yelled at you, her teeth would fall out that night? Wouldn’t that be wonderful?  But unfortunately, you’d have to live in the same universe. So if you gossiped about someone, your tongue would turn green. Every time you lusted or envied another person, more of your hair would fall out. Every time you spent money on something you didn’t need, the food in your refrigerator would rot overnight. Would you want to live in a world like that? None of us want that kind of instant justice from God. God’s patience with sin is an incredible blessing—otherwise, all of us would come under His immediate judgment.  Here’s a fact to comfort us: There will be a day when God will deal with evil. The question is not, “Why does God not punish evil?” But, “Why does He not punish evil now?”  He will deal with it.

PRAYER:

The author of this prayer is unknown.

Heavenly Father, in your love you have called us to know you, led us to trust you, and bound our life with yours. Surround us with love and protect us from evil. Fill us with the holy spirit so we walk in the way of Christ and grow in our knowledge of your love.

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