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MEDITATION:

Written by Phil Togwell, a contemporary writer and leader of the Anglican Diocese of Durham’s Prayer Project.

Born in Northern Ireland in 1867, Amy Carmichael felt the call to mission at a young age. She served in Japan and Sri Lanka before ending up in India—all before intercontinental air travel! The focus of her work was rescuing young women from prostitution, and she developed a community that provided sanctuary for over a thousand children. Amy was a prolific writer, publishing at least 18 books. “Blessed are the single-hearted,’ she wrote, ‘for they shall enjoy much peace. If you refuse to be hurried and pressed, if you stay your soul on God, nothing can keep you from that clearness of spirit which is life and peace. In that stillness you will know what His will is.’”

In the midst of the complexity of life as a missionary in another culture, and in the midst of the intensity of front-line justice work, Amy prioritized the pursuit of God’s presence and peace. She understood that in order to have a wide impact, she needed to cultivate a deep spirituality. I ask myself, am I single-hearted? Have I allowed the complexity of my life (and the notifications on my phone) to crowd out God’s presence and drown out God’s still, small voice?

PRAYER:

Written by Phil Togwell, author of today’s meditation.

Father, help me to live this day to the full, being true to You in every way. Jesus, help me to give myself away to others, being kind to everyone I meet. Spirit, help me to love the lost, proclaiming Christ in all I do and say. Amen.

MEDITATION:

Written by Suzanne G. Farnham, a contemporary author and founder of Listening Hearts Ministry.

Learning to listen within our hearts may not come easily. We muse, Does God call ordinary people like us? And if so, to what? How can we distinguish God’s voice from all of the other voices that clamor at us—those of our culture, peer pressure, our careers, our egos? Amid our secular lives, where can we find support for our calls? And how can we remain faithful and accountable?

Christians have always struggled to understand what God would have them do. In 1835, Soren Kierkegaard wrote in his journal, What I really lack is to be clear in my mind what I am to do, not what I am to know…The thing is to understand myself, to see what God really wishes me to do…What good would it do me to be able to explain the meaning of Christianity if it had no deeper significance for me and for my life?

PRAYER:

Written by Carla Harding, a contemporary Christian author and director for 24-7 Prayer across Great Britain.

 Jesus, open my eyes to perceive You, realign my mind to believe You, and reawaken my heart to receive You, now and throughout the day to come. Amen.

MEDITATION:

Written by Evelyn Underhill (1875-1941), an English writer and pacifist known for her works on religion and spiritual practice. This is an excerpt from her book “Concerning the Inner Life.”

There are two movements that must be plainly present in every complete spiritual life. The energy of its prayer must be directed on the one hand towards God, and on the other toward [people]. The first movement embraces the whole range of spiritual communion between the soul and God; in it we turn toward Divine Reality in adoration, bathing, so to speak, our souls in the Eternal Light. In the second we return, with the added peace and energy thus gained, to the natural world; there to do spiritual work for and with God for [others]. Thus prayer, like the whole of  the inner life, “swings between the unseen and the seen.” Now both these movements are of course necessary in all Christians, but the point is that the second will only be well done where the first has the central place. The deepening of the soul’s unseen attachments must precede, in order that it may safeguard, the outward swing towards the world.

PRAYER:

Written by Ken Boa, a contemporary teacher, writer, speaker, and President of Reflections Ministries.

Heavenly Father, You have chosen me to obey Jesus Christ by the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. In Christ, You have granted me everything we need to manifest the fullness of life that is empowered by Your indwelling Spirit. I know that it is impossible to live out the spiritual life in my own resources and power and that only as I abide in Jesus and walk by the Spirit is it possible for me to display a life of godliness and righteousness. As I live by the Spirit, may I bear the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. May I be strengthened with power through Your indwelling Spirit so that I can live a life that will be pleasing to You and edifying to others. May the love of Christ overflow in my thoughts, words, and deeds this very day. Amen.

MEDITATION:

Written by Henri J. M. Nouwen (1932-1996), a Dutch priest, professor, writer, and theologian. This is an excerpt from his book “Making All Things New.”

Simplicity and regularity are the best guides in finding our way. They allow us to make the discipline of solitude as much a part of our daily lives as eating and sleeping. When that happens, our noisy worries will slowly lose their power over us and the renewing activity of God’s Spirit will slowly make its presence known. Although the discipline of solitude asks us to set aside time and space, what finally matters is that our hearts become like quiet cells where God can dwell, wherever we go, and whatever we do.

PRAYER:

Written by John Baillie (1886-1960) was a Scottish theologian and a Church of Scotland minister.

Show your loving kindness tonight, O Lord, to all who stand in need of your help. Be with the weak to make them strong and with the strong to make them gentle. Cheer the lonely with your company and the distracted with your solitude. Prosper your church in the fulfilment of her mighty task, and grant your blessing to all who have toiled today in Christ’s name. Amen.

MEDITATION:

Written by John Ortberg, a contemporary author, speaker, and former pastor. This is an excerpt from his book “The Me I Want to Be: Becoming God’s Best Version of You.”

God made you to flourish—to receive life from outside yourself, creating vitality within yourself and producing blessing beyond yourself. Flourishing is God’s gift and plan, and when you flourish you are in harmony with God, other people, creation, and yourself. Flourishing is not measured by outward signs such as income, possessions, or attractiveness. It means becoming the person He had in mind in creating you. Flourishing means moving toward God’s best version of you. As God helps you grow, you will change, but you will always be you. An acorn can grow into an oak tree, but it cannot become a rose bush. It can be a healthy oak or it can be a stunted oak—but it won’t be a shrub. You will always be you—a growing, healthy you or a languishing you—but God did not create you to be anybody else. He pre-wired your temperament. He determined your natural gifts and talents. He made you feel certain passions and desires. He planned your body and mind. Your uniqueness is God-designed. Some people think that if they seek to grow spiritually, they will have to become someone else. But God won’t discard your raw material. He redirects it. Before Paul met Jesus, he was a brilliant, passionate zealot who persecuted people. Afterward, he was a brilliant passionate zealot who sacrificed himself for people…God doesn’t make anything and then decide to throw it away. He creates and then if there is a problem, he rescues…Here is the good news: When you flourish, you become more you. You become more that person God had in mind when he thought you up. You don’t just become holier. You become you-ier. You will change; God wants you to become a “new creation.” But “new” doesn’t mean completely different; instead, it’s like an old piece of furniture that gets restored to its intended beauty.

PRAYER:

From the Mozarabic Breviary, a liturgical rite of the Latin Church once used in the Iberian Peninsula in what is now Spain and Portugal. Developed during Visigoth rule in the 500s.

O Lord,

make us flourish like pure lilies

in the courts of your house,

and make us display to your people

the fragrance of good works

and the example of a godly life;

through your mercy, O our God,

you are blessed,

and live and govern all things, now and forever. Amen.

MEDITATION:

Written by Oswald Chambers.  This is an excerpt from his book “My Utmost for His Highest.

God gives us the vision, then He takes us down to the valley to batter us into the shape of the vision, and it is in the valley that so many of us faint and give way. In the light of the glory of the vision we go forth to do things, but the vision is not real in us yet, and God has to take us into the valley and put us through fires and floods to batter us into shape until we get to the place where He can trust us with the veritable reality. Ever since we had the vision God has been at work, getting us into the shape of the ideal, and over and over again we escape from His hand and try to batter ourselves into our own shape. The vision is not a castle in the air, but a vision of what God wants you to be. Let Him put you on His wheel and whirl you as He likes, and as sure as God is God and you are you, you will turn out exactly in accordance with the vision. Don’t lose heart in the process.  If you have ever had the vision of God, you may try as you like to be satisfied on a lower level, but God will never let you.

PRAYER:

This is a prayer transcribed from the Dead Sea Scrolls.

I have reached the inner vision

and through Thy spirit in me

I have heard Thy wondrous secret.

Through Thy mystic insight

Thou hast caused a spring of knowledge

to well up within me,

a fountain of power,

pouring forth living waters,

a flood of love

and of all-embracing wisdom

like the splendor of eternal Light.

MEDITATION:

Written by Dana Allin, a contemporary pastor and synod executive.

I have always felt like the beginning of Ephesians 5 reads a lot like Proverbs. Paul seems to string together a lot of wonderful, but short, instructions on how we are to live in light of the grace of God… Ephesians 5:15-16 says, “Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil.”   The concept of making the most of every opportunity can be anxiety and guilt-producing. We can constantly ask, “Is what I am doing the absolute best use of my time?” I don’t think this kind of relentless pressure is helpful, nor is beating ourselves up when we spend too much time binge-watching Netflix. I also don’t think it means we need to be working 24/7. In fact, Scripture commands certain rhythms in our lives to balance where we put our time and energy.  In light of that reality, it is very helpful to take a proactive step to determine how we may best steward the time and relationships that God has entrusted to us.

It is helpful to think through this question as an individual and as a church. For example, here are the questions, or types of questions, I ask myself every year: What opportunities is God putting before me that I might take for granted or be oblivious to? Another way to put it is, “What are the opportunities before me of which I need to be mindful? Sometimes I can get so caught up in my own agenda that I forget the opportunities God is giving me each day to be able to further instill the gospel in my family. In addition, when I play tennis, sometimes I think the purpose of that is simply for exercise and to get my mind off of other things. However, the reality is that both of these situations are often opportunities to share the gospel in word and deed.  What are the important things I want to do in my personal life that may get crowded out by the less important? This doesn’t necessarily mean that you need to cut out all Netflix. However, we know there are times we can get sucked into shows or endless scrolling through social media that do keep us from using our time most wisely. Therefore, the question might be, what are the things I really want to make time for (exercise, reading, relationships, time with Lord) and how do I make sure those important things make it into my day? What are the important things I want to do in my vocational life that might get crowded out by the less important? Peter Drucker famously said that he never met executives that couldn’t remove 25% of what they were doing from their plates and no one would know the difference. Imagine regaining a whole workday a week to reallocate your time to what is the most important work. Therefore, the question becomes, “What do I need to stop doing and what do I need to start doing?”

PRAYER:

Written by Timothy Keller, a contemporary American pastor, theologian, and author.

Lord, today give me a sense of your presence and wisdom and compassion in all my dealings. Let me accept whatever degree of success or difficulty in my work you give me this day and especially let me be ready to be interrupted to do good to others, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

MEDITATION:

Written by Arthur Schoonveld, a contemporary retired minister and author.

The other day I heard someone ask another person, “What do you do?” The person answered by saying, “Oh, I’m just a housewife.” Perhaps you too have heard someone say, “I’m just a farmer,” or “I’m just a secretary,” or “I’m just a factory worker,” or “I’m just a country preacher.” In any culture, we have our rankings, and our sense of worth is often measured by the work we do. The more impressive your career, the more “important” you are. Celebrities especially get lots of attention when something happens in their lives. Thankfully the Bible does not measure our worth by how high we have climbed the social ladder or how much education we have. In today’s verse, we read, “Whatever you do . . . do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus.” When life on earth comes to an end, what matters is not how high we climbed, but whether we were faithful to the Lord in whatever calling we pursued. What counts is whether we clothed ourselves with compassion, humility, patience, and other fruitful signs of Christ’s work in our lives. My father was a farm ­laborer most of his life. He never served on a board or received recognition. But he was faithful in his calling, and he served the Lord as he raised his family. Whatever he did, he tried to do it in the name of the Lord. And that’s what counts!

PRAYER:

Written by Arthur Schoonveld, author of today’s meditation.

Father in heaven, make each one of us faithful in our calling, and help us to do all things “in the name of the Lord Jesus.” Amen.

MEDITATION:

Written by Inés Velásquez-McBryde, a contemporary pastor, writer, speaker, and chaplain at Fuller Theological Seminary.

I sat outside of my house under a dark yet starry night to take a phone call. I shared with a friend and fellow local pastor some disappointing obstacles in the church-planting journey. An enormous possibility had fallen through and I was discouraged and disoriented. He asked me a poignant question: “Do you feel hopeless?” Instinctively I looked up at the sky pondering my answer. I saw the twinkle of stars and galaxies far. “I cannot deny that the circumstances seem hopeless, but I am not without hope.” He dug again: “HOW are you not hopeless, though?” I am not hopeless because I count the stars.

Often in the story of Abram/Abraham, the Lord invited him to look up at the sky. It usually occurred after a time of disappointment. On my dark starry night, I told my friend that it felt like Lot had just taken the best part of the land of the Jordan. Abram may have thought he was left with the scraps or none at all. In our particular verse above, we hear the promise of an heir even while Abram was childless. Abram could not see the signs of descendants, but God showed him the signs of God’s promises. Count the stars, if you are able to count them… There are two ways to count the stars. I have counted the times of God’s past faithfulness in my life and the many ways God was a living preposition. The resolution had come by going through, above, around or under the pain and never quite with the results that I expected. I have also counted the stars by considering that God’s faithfulness came through friends. They became stars and signs of hope to me. At that time the individual calls, emails, texts, and words of encouragement strengthened my resolve and resilience. A former pastor gave me a short leadership talk: “This is a momentary setback, but in the end, they reveal greater blessings to those who persist in prayerful pursuit. Please take it from someone who’s been there before and learn to pivot from disappointment to determination. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus.” Count the stars, fellow pilgrims. The way around the pain and the witnesses to the pain are signs of God’s presence and promise.

PRAYER:

Written by Inés Velásquez-McBryde, author of today’s meditation.

God of the stars, maker and placer of stars, you who know the stars by name, who placed them in the heavens, you who keep the planets orbiting in perfect motion, we pray to you, our Creator. For times of dark disappointment, would you be the lifter of our countenance and the comfort of our weary souls. Would that we lift up our eyes to the heavens and count the stars. Teach us to number the ways in which your faithfulness has been made known in our lives. Teach us to trust your faithfulness even as we defy the darkness with that simple trust. May our faithfulness be marked by your perfect fidelity. Grant us grace. Amen.

MEDITATION:

Written by Billy Graham (1918-2018), an American evangelist and minister.

Today many people are living in the bondage of fear. In a recent study, a psychiatrist said that the greatest problem facing his patients was fear. Fear of going insane, committing suicide, being alone, or fear of heart disease, cancer, disaster, or death. We are becoming a nation of fearful people. Anxiety is the natural result when our hopes are centered in anything short of God and His will for us. Down through the centuries in times of trouble, temptation, trial, bereavement, and crisis, God has brought courage to the hearts of those who love Him. The Bible is crowded with assurances of God’s help and comfort in every kind of trouble that might cause fears to arise in the human heart. Today the Christian can come to the Scriptures with full assurance that God is going to deliver the person who puts his trust and confidence in God. Christians can look into the future with promise, hope, and joy, and without fear, discouragement, or despondency.

PRAYER:

Written by Debbie McDaniel, a contemporary Christian author.

We praise you, God, for you go before us and cover us from behind. You walk beside us and make our footsteps firm. You are our Protector and Defense. We never have to fear that we’re alone, thank you for your powerful Presence surrounding us. We renew our focus on You this day and thank you in advance for all that you will do. Amen.