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Written by Malcolm Guite, a contemporary English poet, singer-songwriter, academic, and Anglican priest.

In the Beginning, not in time or space,

But in the quick before both space and time,

In life, in Love, in co-inherent Grace,

In three in one and one in three, in rhyme,

In music, in the whole creation story,

In His own image, His imagination,

The Triune Poet makes us for His glory,

And makes us each the other’s inspiration.

He calls us out of darkness, chaos, chance,

To improvise a music of our own,

To sing the chord that calls us to the dance,

Three notes resounding from a single tone,

To sing the End in whom we all begin;

Our God beyond, beside us and within.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made.   [John 1:1-3]

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Written by Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892), and English Baptist preacher.

Remember that we have no more faith at any time than we have in the hour of trial. All that will not bear to be tested is mere carnal confidence. Fair-weather faith is no faith: only real faith in Jesus Christ can trust him when it cannot trace him, and believe him when it cannot see him.

So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. [Revelation 3:16]

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Written by Mark D. Roberts, a contemporary writer.

Gracious God, how many times have I forgotten you? A hundred? A thousand? Ten thousand? I shudder to think of the number. It’s not that I stopped believing in you or that my theology has changed. But practically, and especially in my emotions, I forget your presence in my life. Your faithfulness disappears from my consciousness for a while. I feel afraid . . . afraid of where my life is heading, afraid of how my children will turn out, afraid of missing your blessing, afraid of dying young, afraid of losing my job, afraid that this world will never know your true peace. .. you name it. (Indeed, Lord, you can name it!) Forgive me, Lord, for living as if you weren’t there. Forgive me for the times when I forget you and your strength. Help me to live each moment of each day with the sense of your presence. May I claim your promises and stake my life upon them. Even as you never forget me, dear Lord, may I never forget you. Amen.

I, even I, am he who comforts you. Who are you that you fear mere mortals, human beings who are but grass,  that you forget the Lord your Maker, who stretches out the heavens and who lays the foundations of the earth, that you live in constant terror every day because of the wrath of the oppressor, who is bent on destruction? [Isaiah 51:12-13]

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Written by Margaret Bottome (1827-1906), an American reformer, organizational founder, and author.

I remember a summer in which I said, “It is the ocean I need,” and I went to the ocean; but it seemed to say, “It is not in me!” The ocean did not do for me what I thought it would. Then I said, “The mountains will rest me,” and I went to the mountains, and when I awoke in the morning there stood the grand mountain that I had wanted so much to see; but it said, “It is not in me!” It did not satisfy. Ah! I needed the ocean of His love, and the high mountains of His truth within. It was wisdom that the “depths” said they did not contain, and that could not be compared with jewels or gold or precious stones. Christ is wisdom and our deepest need. Our restlessness within can only be met by the revelation of His eternal friendship and love for us.

The deep says, “It is not in me”; the sea says, “It is not with me.”  [Job 28:14]

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Written by Brian Doyle (1956-2017), an American writer.

A haunted day, September 11, here in the States that are still United in the wild idea that inter-independence is possible and glorious. A shivering day. It always will be.  I pray it never becomes a mere anniversary, an event only to remember murder and terror and fire and fear—or even worse, a day only to celebrate vengeance. No, I pray it becomes a day to remember courage and grace and love. I pray that will someday be the story of September 11. To remember right is to pray right, says my dad, and he knows about murderous souls; he fought against Hitler. He says to remember the roaring courage of the people who rushed to help, and the people who helped others out of the fire and ash, and the people who used their last minutes on earth to call their families and say “I love you. I love you. I will love you forever,” is to pray for them and us and even for the poor silly murderers, themselves just lanky, frightened boys, in the end, bloody boys terrified of a free world. He says to remember the firemen who ran up, knowing they would never come down, the passengers storming the cockpit, the sergeant who ran out of the Pentagon to catch women leaping from high windows is the way to erase the name of the chief murderer. He says that if we remember right, if we pray with our hearts in our mouths, maybe someday no one will remember the architect of ruin, but everyone will remember a day when the courage and mercy and glory of human beings rose to such a tide that no one will ever forget.

Pray for each other so that you may be healed. [James 5:16]

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

Should Sorrow lay her hand upon thy shoulder,
And walk with thee in silence on life’s way,
While Joy, thy bright companion once, grown colder,
Becomes to thee more distant day by day?
Shrink not from the companionship of Sorrow,
She is the messenger of God to thee;
And thou wilt thank Him in His great tomorrow
For what thou knowest not now, thou then shalt see;
She is God’s angel, clad in weeds of night,
With ‘whom we walk by faith and not by sight.’

Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing [2 Corinthians 6:10]

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Written by Tom Tarrants, a contemporary minister, author, and mentor.

We’ve got enough troublemakers. We need some peacemakers…We need to seek truth. We need to pray, “God show me the truth. Open my eyes to see.” And we need to be agents of truth, to speak truth, and we need to do what Jesus said and what Moses recorded for us: Love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love our neighbor as ourselves. Jesus illustrated it in Luke 10, the parable of the Good Samaritan. What can we do that is concrete, practical? Love is not some emotional kind of buzz or something in the Bible. It’s practical, serving and helping people that are in need, doing for them what you’d want them to do for you if you were in their shoes. That’s very simple. There’s nothing complicated at all about that. And so pray. “God help me to love You with all my heart and help me to love my neighbor.” And to remember, too, that there’s not a back door that says, “Okay, I’ll love my neighbor, but I’m going to hate my enemies. I’m going to hate whoever our enemy happens to be.” Jesus said, love your enemies, too. We’re kind of boxed in with Jesus. And become people of love. That’s what we’re called to be if we truly know Jesus.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me. [John 14:6]

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Today’s prayer is from the Book of Common Prayer

Direct us, O Lord, in all our doings with your most gracious favor, and further us with your continual help; that in all our works begun, continued, and ended in you, we may glorify your holy Name, and finally, by your mercy, obtain everlasting life; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil. So do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. [Ephesians 5:15-20]

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Written by Ruth Chou Simons, a contemporary author. This is an excerpt from her book “Now and Not Yet.”

In the Old Testament, we read of the forty-year journey God’s people, the Israelites, took in the desert due to their disbelief and disobedience even after God led them out of slavery in Egypt. While some deserts are the result of waywardness (like Israel experienced), oftentimes we find ourselves in parched and weary places unexpectedly. For some, it’s the wilderness of a chronic illness, a lifelong battle, or a life circumstance that feels like an endless desert with no oasis. For some, the desert is a spiritually dry place you wish didn’t exist. A barren place that tempts you to doubt and fear. A place that reads only lack and loss instead of freedom and flourishing…Each and every way God met the Israelites in the desert was for the purpose of showing them that they were secure in His care. That they need only to surrender their self-sufficiency and believe God to be who He claimed to be. To trust that He would do what He said He would do and, in response, obey Him because they trusted Him more than they believed in their own ways.

And He humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. [Deuteronomy 8:3]

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Written by Laura Bailey, a contemporary author.

Growing up in church, I often heard that God desires children to obey their parents. These verses were usually used to encourage good behavior, focusing on a child’s outward actions rather than the inward heart’s motivation…Children are to exhibit godly obedience, one that is not rooted in blind submission but in the heart’s desire to submit to the Lord and those whom the Lord places in authority over their lives. The family dynamic between parental authority and child submission is an allegory for the relationship we all should have with our Father in Heaven. Why should children obey their parents? Because it’s the right thing to do! … Children following their parents’ instructions isn’t just a suggestion; it’s an expectation. Yes, there will be times, countless times, when it will be difficult to submit to their leadership. Parents often give instructions, guidelines, and rules that are difficult for children to digest; they want to know why, and it’s in our human nature to rebel against authority.  But this command is given under the premise that parents love and protect their children and that children obey them until they live independently…The fifth commandment is the first one that comes with a promise—precisely when it was first given, the promise was to the children of Israel that they would live a long, blessed life in the promised land. However, in a broader application for us today, children who respect and honor their parents will likely have an easier time in life, as obeying our parents is the cornerstone of understanding submission to authority. 

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.  “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first
commandment with a promise— “so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth. [Ephesians 6:1-3]

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