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MEDITATION:

Written by Joel Vande Werken, a contemporary pastor.

Are you too busy? It is hard to imagine many people answering “no” to that question today. Our lives are filled with things to do, places to go, people to meet. The distraction of all these things can overwhelm us. We were created with a clear purpose in life: to care for the world and for one another. But then sin came in and distorted our sense of purpose. Life comes at us quickly, and we often respond by just trying to keep up. Whether it’s the “rat race” at work, extracurricular activities with our kids, or other commitments, there are always more distractions and demands on our time. The harassment of all this is not new to our generation, though. Jesus walked among people who were overburdened with the stresses of life; they needed comfort, help, and rest. And “he had compassion on them, because they were . . . like sheep without a shepherd.” Jesus pays attention to people’s needs. And like a good shepherd, he tends, provides, guides, heals, and shares his love with all. He also points his followers to God’s work in restoring purpose to tired lives. He urges us to pray for all whom God wants to raise up as workers to share his good news of salvation and new life. Are you refocused and engaged in this empowering ­adventure?

PRAYER:

A prayer from the Roman Breviary, a liturgical book published in 1482 and became known as the Liturgy of the Hours.

O Lord,

be our Sanctifier and the Shepherd.

Strengthen and help us,

that in our daily life walk with you,

we serve you in all quietness of spirit;

through Jesus Christ our Master. Amen.O Lord,

be our Sanctifier and the Shepherd.

Strengthen and help us,

that in our daily life walk with you,

we serve you in all quietness of spirit; through Jesus Christ our Master. Amen.

MEDITATION:

Written by Lloyd Wicker, a contemporary pastor and chaplain in the US Navy.

It can be difficult to show compassion to someone you might despise. It can also be difficult to receive help from such a person. That’s because you would think of that person as an enemy. The parable of The Good Samaritan is about showing God’s love and compassion without strings attached, even for an enemy. The question could be asked, “How could a holy God offer love to any of us, who are basically his enemies because of all the sins we do against him?” The answer is grace (unearned favor)! In Jesus’ parable, a priest and a Levite pass by and notice the man who has been robbed and beaten, but they keep going without offering any help. Then along comes a Samaritan. (In those days the Jews and Samaritans despised each other.) This man stops and takes action in practical ways. He doesn’t just throw money at the problem; he also gives his time and resources to see that the beaten man is restored to health again. Many people tend to measure their love for God by their commitment to church attendance, Bible study, giving money for ministry, or volunteering at church. Yet loving our neighbor demands more. To love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength goes hand in hand with loving our neighbor as ourselves. We are commanded to do both—regardless of who they are, what they have done, or where they come from.

PRAYER:

A prayer inspired by Fratelli Tutti, the third encyclical of Pope Francis.

You teach us in your parable that there are two kinds of people–
–those who bend down to help and those who look the other way.
Which kind of people will we be?

We say, “Yes, Lord, I will love you and love my neighbor.”
But then we ask:
The migrant… is she my neighbor?
Those in poverty…are they my neighbors?
Victims of war across the world… are they neighbors?
One who faces racism… is he my neighbor?
Those disabled or elderly… are they my neighbors?

You remind us: Yes. All of us neighbors.

Show us how to love, Lord.
May we open our eyes.
May we emerge from our comfortable isolation.
May we build a world of compassion and dignity.

Lord Jesus, who was neighbor to all,
Help us to persevere in love.
Help us to restore dignity to the suffering.
Help us to build a society based not on exclusion, but on community.

Amen.

MEDITATION:

Written by Gerrit Bomhof a retired pastor and author.

Sometimes what you wear ­allows other people to see what you value and what your character is like. If you go to a sports game, you will be surrounded by a sea of team jerseys. When pictures of Prince Harry and Meghan of England first appeared in public, the apparel she wore was sold out in minutes.In today’s Scripture passage [Colossians 3:12], we are encouraged to dress in a way that shows what we value and who we are. In verses 5-11, we are reminded to put off things that are sinful, demeaning, and hurtful, such as malice, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed. Then we are urged to put on a new set of clothes: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. We also add love, “which binds them all together in perfect unity.” In other words, that makes our outfits perfectly coordinated! All of these articles were “worn” perfectly by Jesus Christ; as his followers, we model our lives after him.

I remember a time when I was wearing a “March for Jesus” tee shirt. I was in a department store and unhappy with the customer service department. I was ready to give the clerk a piece of my mind, but then I remembered what I was wearing. If I acted rashly, what would the clerk think of Jesus? Very quickly, my attitude and tone of voice changed for the better. May we always put on the mind of Christ and glorify him before others.

PRAYER:

Written by Gerrit Bomhof, the author of today’s meditation.

Coordinate our attitude with the clothing you call us to wear, Lord Jesus. Thank you for sharing the virtues that help us to identify with you. In your name, Amen.

MEDITATION:

Written by Dr. Charles Stanley, a contemporary pastor and founder of In Touch Ministries, which broadcasts his sermons through television.

There is nothing we can do to save our own souls, but we must wholly trust in Jesus who bore our sins and paid the penalty we deserved. It’s ironic that we surrender our souls to His authority for salvation yet try to control other areas of our lives. If Jesus is our Savior, and we acknowledge Him as Lord, then we should also realize that He is the Lord of our lives as well. Yet many Christians resist full surrender to Jesus because it seems too costly, too demanding. It’s not like surrendering to another person because when we yield ourselves to God, it includes every area of our lives— even the things hidden deep within our hearts. Yet this absolute surrender is exactly what God expects because Christ died for us, and we belong to Him. However, the application of this principle looks different for each believer. What one person finds easy to release to the Lord, someone else may not. But we can each sense what He is asking us personally to relinquish. It’s a conviction or that “thing” that keeps cropping up when we pray. It may be a bad attitude or habit, or it could be something that isn’t sinful but is not presently part of God’s will for our lives…Full surrender is like opening the closets of our lives and inviting Him to clean out whatever He wants. To try to keep parts of our lives to ourselves only hinders our walk with Him. Yet we often rationalize, saying, “This one little thing isn’t that important. After all, no one is perfect. We all have our weaknesses so God will understand.” But that’s not how the Lord operates. It requires that we open our hearts and lives to the Lord, asking Him to take out whatever does not please Him. We must be willing to confess, repent, walk away, give it up, and lay it down. Until we do, we will never become the person He wants us to be or enjoy His blessings.

PRAYER:

Written by Bob Hostetler, a contemporary author and speaker.

Lord God, my Sovereign, I offer You this day and all that will come to me in it. I surrender to You and ask You to sanctify every moment, every breath I take, every decision I make and all I think, say, or do. Let the words of my mouth, the work of my hands, and every meditation of my heart be pleasing to You, whatever may come, in Jesus’ name, amen.

MEDITATION:

Written by John Wesley (1703-1791), an English cleric, theologian and evangelist, who was a leader of a revival movement within the Church of England known as Methodism.

Christian joy is joy in obedience, joy in loving God and keeping God’s commandments; and yet not in keeping them as if we were thereby to fulfill the terms of the covenant of works, as by any works or righteousness of ours, we were to procure pardon and acceptance with God. Not so: we are already pardoned and accepted, through the mercy of God in Christ Jesus. Not as if we were by our own obedience to procure life, life from the death of sin: this also we have already from the grace of God. Us “hath he quickened, who were dead in sins,” and now we are “alive to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord.” But we rejoice in walking according to the covenant of grace, in holy love and happy obedience. We rejoice in knowing that, “being justified through his grace,” we have “not received that grace of God in vain,” that God having freely (not for the sake of our willing or running, but through the blood of the Lamb) reconciled us to himself, we run, in the strength which [God] hath given us, the way of [God’s] commandments.  “But can Christ be in the same heart where sin is?” Undoubtedly he can. Otherwise it never could be saved therefrom. Where the sickness is, there is the physician, “Carrying on his work within, striving till he cast out sin.” Christ indeed cannot reign, where sin reigns, neither will he dwell where any sin is allowed. But he is and dwells in the heart of every believer, who is fighting against all sin, although it be not yet purified, according to the purification of the sanctuary.

PRAYER:

Written by Pete Briscoe, a contemporary pastor, radio host, and author.

Heavenly Father, we are saved by no works of our own, but by your sacrifice alone. Let us take joy in that, and glorify your name. Father, do not allow us to doubt your grace. You have taken every sin upon your shoulders, and washed away every blemish from our hearts. Amen.

MEDITATION:

This meditation is an excerpt from a book by contemporary authors Ken Blanchard, Phil Hodges, and Phyllis Hendry: “Lead Like Jesus Revisited.”

People often see leadership based on an “It’s all about me” approach. In all kinds of organizations and institutions, the rewards of money, recognition, and power increase as an individual moves up the hierarchy. Self-promotion (pride) and self-protection (fear) dominate today’s leadership style. Many leaders act as if the sheep are there only for the benefit of the shepherd. In personal relationships, leadership based on mutual respect, loving care, self-sacrifice, and openness is often undermined when pride, fear, and indifference replace intimacy with isolation…An alternative approach to leadership is driven by four basic beliefs:  1) Leadership happens anytime we influence the thinking, behavior, or development of another person, 2) Jesus is the greatest leadership model of all time, 3) Servant leadership is the only approach to leadership that Jesus validates for His followers and, 4)  Effective leadership begins on the inside with our hearts…Leadership is the alignment of four essential domains: the heart, the head, the hands, and the habits.

PRAYER:

This prayer is from Xavier University’s Jesuit Resource.org resource.

Leadership is hard to define. 
Lord, let us be the ones to define it with justice. 
Leadership is like a handful of water. 
Lord, let us be the people to share it with those who thirst.
Leadership is not about watching and correcting. 
Lord, let us remember it is about listening and connecting. 
Leadership is not about telling people what to do. 
Lord, let us find out what people want.
Leadership is less about the love of power,
and more about the power of love.

Lord, as we continue to undertake the role of leader let us be 
affirmed by the servant leadership we witness in your son Jesus.
Let us walk in the path He has set and let those who will, follow.

Let our greatest passion be compassion. 
Our greatest strength love. 
Our greatest victory the reward of peace.

In leading let us never fail to follow. 
In loving let us never fail. Amen.

MEDITATION:

Written by Rich Villodas, a contemporary American pastor and author. This is an excerpt from his book “The Deeply Formed Life: Five Transformative Values to Root Us in the Way of Jesus.”

Our lives can easily take us to the brink of burnout. The pace we live at is often destructive. The lack of margin is debilitating. We are worn out. In all of this, the problem before us is not just the frenetic pace we live at but what gets pushed out from our lives as a result; that is, life with God…What would it look like to live at a different pace? What if there were a rhythm of life that could instead enable us to deeply connect with God, a lifestyle not dominated by hurry and exhaustion but by margin and joy? As long as we remain enslaved to a culture of speed, superficiality, and distraction, we will not be the people God longs for us to be. We desperately need a spirituality that roots us in a different way…The pace of our lives can be brutal.  The late theologian Kosuke Koyama wrote a book titled Three-Mile-an-Hour God.  Dr. Koyama was trying to convey that if we want to connect with God, we’d be wise to travel at God’s speed. God has all the time in the world, and as a result, he is not in a rush. Thus, Koyama’s claim that God travels at three miles an hour is not an arbitrary figure. On average, humans walk at this pace. And it’s in just such ambling, unhurried, and leisurely moments that we often encounter God. N.T. Wright similarly affirmed, “It is only when we slow down our lives that we can catch up with God.” … Speed has helped remake our world in ways that are wonderful and liberating. But speed has also caused our connections with God and others to be incredibly superficial. There’s a severe lack of depth in our lives and communities because we have allowed ourselves to be swept up by a world under the influence of addictive speed. And, as philosopher Dallas Willard famously said, “Hurry is the enemy of spiritual life in our day.”

PRAYER:

Written by Rachel Wojo, a contemporary author and speaker.

Dear Father,

Thank you for this exact point in time.

Sometimes I struggle

To enjoy the gift of the present.

I push forward before your timing is perfect

And then feel the pain of rushing.

My spirit longs to savor the moment

While my mind scrambles to snatch the next minute.

Will you slow my heart to beat your rhythm?

Will you sync my step to mirror your tempo?

May my spirit fail to chase after the next beautiful experience

Until I’ve unwrapped the gift of right now-the present.

Amen.

MEDITATION:

Written by Edward J. Farrell (1897-1993), pastor and author.  This is an excerpt from his book “Gathering the Fragments.”

We begin, sometimes without realizing it, to worship things, to relate to them as persons. And in the process, we inevitably relate to other persons as if they were things. No wonder Jesus spoke five times as often about money and earthly possessions as about prayer. And everywhere in scripture, we hear the warnings; money has power, wealth is addictive. Be careful, be on your guard…When God breaks in on a sufficiently prepared people, a new generosity emerges, one that is outgoing, joyous, spontaneous, and free. Growth in Christian discipleship manifests itself by compassion for the poor. A new stewardship unfolds, a stewardship that cares deeply for all of God’s created order, including the earth and its fullness—people, animals and things.

PRAYER:

Today’s prayer is Jonah’s prayer for Salvation (Jonah 2:2-9).

In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help, and you listened to my cry. You hurled me into the depths, into the very heart of the seas, and the currents swirled about me; all your waves and breakers swept over me. I said, ‘I have been banished from your sight; yet I will look again toward your holy temple.’ The engulfing waters threatened me, the deep surrounded me; seaweed was wrapped around my head. To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you, Lord my God, brought my life up from the pit. “When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple. “Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God’s love for them. But I, with shouts of grateful praise,  will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good.  I will say, ‘Salvation comes from the Lord.” 

MEDITATION:

Written by Joan Puls, a contemporary author. This is an excerpt from her book “Every Bush is Burning.”

Spend some time with children. Count among your friends and regular associates those who are poor. Learn from the sick and those who treat life as the gift it is. And observe true lovers, or better, become one. Such as these are sacraments of freedom in a world frightened by its own uncontrolled destructiveness and oppressed by its own denial of innocence and gentleness.  It was not by accident that Jesus placed a child in the midst of his adult followers and said: “Unless you become like this…” Spontaneous in your response to life, honest in your assessment of people, vulnerable to the world about you. Children are obedient to their element: innocent joy, eager trust, endless inquisitiveness.

PRAYER:

Written by Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855), a Danish philosopher, theologiean, poet, social critic, and religious author. .

God our heavenly Father, when the thought of you wakes in our hearts, let its awakening not be like a startled bird that flies about in fear. Instead, let it be like a child waking from sleep with a heavenly smile.  

MEDITATION:

Written by Mother Teresa (1910-1997), a nun and missionary who dedicated her life to care for the destitute and dying in the slums of Calcutta, India.

Just allow people to see Jesus in you

to see how you pray

to see how you lead a pure life

to see how you deal with your family

to see how much peace there is in your family,

Then you can look straight into their eyes and say, “This is the way.” You speak from life, you speak from experience.

PRAYER:

Written by Izwe Nkosi, a contemporary South African author, passionate about worship and prayer.

God of every blessing, I invite you to shape my soul with Your words and inspire my life through Your works. Teach me to walk in the way of blessing. Amen.