“With wondrous deliverance you answer us,
O God our savior. You are the hope of all the earth, And of far distant seas.” Ps.65:6 “Better than “ “Some people say it couldn’t get any worse, and others say it can Some people hide their faces in the sand And if I bow low enough Maybe I could understand We are all apart of this Wherever, whatever we think If only there could be a light in the hiding A hope in the silence and the shouting Once again a prophet will arise With a dream of a better than We can even dare to enter in A hope that stirs An action within to be better than and live better than and love better than before. Yes it will get worse, but God is better than and will do better things when we can raise our heads up high into the sky and proclaim his ways are good and his beauty will save this world.” Let us open our eyes to see his beauty in the face of the other The face of our beloved, his beauty in us. Pause and take in God creating a space for beauty in you this day and pray, Beautiful savior, beautiful Lord, we bow before you in our hearts today, humbly in need of your eyes to see. May your beautiful spirit of hope rise up within us to pray a better than is now, into tomorrow. May we look for your gift of grace to empower us to believe your ways of redemption and not receive the spirit of fear the world casts upon us. We stand in unity as one with you, here now, to bring the peace you died for. May we mend our ways to encourage one another to live in your peace and in the love that you give us. Come Holy Spirit and renew the face of the earth. “May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.” 2 Cor.13:11-14, Proverbs 8:19 “God is love”
“ For God so loved the world “ “The lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love.” We have all read these words in the Bible and they tell us who God is but how is this truth made manifest in us and in the world? In the bright corner of the earth where the sky meets the sea I behold beauty all around me and wonder how can the world be so full of ugliness? I hear from the spirit; Look to the most Holy Trinity that reveals unconditional and benevolent love for all of humanity . God,the father, manifests as creating love, Jesus, God's Son, manifests as saving love, and the Holy Spirit as the sanctifying love. So if we live in God and He lives in us then and only then will His love be made manifest to other people. Could we all make space in our hearts to consider His indwelling presence in us and in the world today? Would you take 10 minutes to be in silent prayer? Empty yourself of yourself, sit and wait for love to overcome all that blocks you from living this kind of love. Take 10 mins to overcome the suppression and oppression that comes from a world without the love of God. Consider the words from Gungor's song “Beautiful Things” “All this pain I wonder if I’ll ever find my way I wonder if my life could really change at all All this earth Could all that is lost ever be found? Could a garden come out from this old ground, at all? You make beautiful things out of dust You make beautiful things out of us All around, Hope is springing up from this old ground Out of chaos life is being found,in you You make beautiful things…” Pause to Pray: Creating God of love, we adore your unity, that you three are a constant flow of love and tenderness. May our hearts be opened up today to let your manifest presence of love come in. Help us to recognize and accept you as the creating God of love in everyone. We are in need of salvation every moment of the day and look to your beauty in the eyes of Jesus. May you sanctify our hearts through your Holy Spirit and be set free from the things that get in the way of your manifest love in us. We answer your call into the beauty of the trinity and listen for your voice to follow. Would you make all things new And bring beauty out of us. “Show me the right path, O Lord;
Point out the road for me to follow. Lead me by your truth and teach me. Let my soul be at rest again for the Lord Has been good to me.” Psalm 25:4,116:7 A light rain falls from the sky today Breathing a sigh of relief from all the stress and unrest in the world. His grace covers us even in the most worn out places of our souls. He meets us there. In our distress He will show us the right path and it starts with rest. Resting in the truth that God is good, and always love . His Holy Spirit is given to us to dwell inside us with the power to follow the right path. Pause and pray; With hands opened ready to receive We await your presence now, Allowing all the dust and leaves that cloud our senses to be blown away, To make a clear place for you to dwell. Speak into our hearts that which is not right with you, Reveal that which is in need of compassion and care. We accept your mercy and forgiveness We turn toward the path you have cleared for us to attend to this day. May the mercy that we have received flow forth from us . We trust in your compassion to answer the cries of the poor and forgotten,for those that have no voice. Protect all those that are speaking out for truth that your voice will be heard through them. May your love conquer over all hate and judgment. We pray . Amen Psalm 116:5
“How kind the Lord is! How good He is, so merciful, this God of ours.” Song; “I love you Lord, for your mercy never fails me All my days, I’ve been held in Your hands From the moment that I wake up Until I lay my head Oh, I will sing of the goodness of God” As you take a breath this morning you breathe in life from the creator, the very breath he gave you to breathe , to move and have your being. It begins here. His goodness in us. Let gratefulness well up inside you for all of the goodness of God in your life. For He has made His dwelling place in you. Pause to pray and give thanks; “Lord we give back to you all that you had given to us. Our very life and mission on earth. You alone are good and we find all that we need in you. We receive your Holy Spirit of might to live the way you have called us to. For you have promised to give us the spirit to empower us to live a larger life. Help us to step into this expansive space that feels a bit scary at times. To trust you in the unknown and believe that your word is true, and will come to pass. You will be with us to the ends of the earth. Let us live and love largely in the impossible situations we face today. May we trust you always and love you deeply with a grateful heart. Give us eyes to see your beauty and goodness in the world, the wonderful, amazing work of your hands,so that we may co-create with you beauty and goodness too. We pray for the weak to receive your power and strength to believe that you will pull them up and give them the ability to hope, pray and live larger than their circumstances. Let them know that you are their defense, their strength and salvation.Ex.15:2 May we be your hands and feet today to show your goodness to all. In the beautiful name of Jesus we pray. Amen “He himself is our peace who has made both groups one and tore down the dividing wall of hostility.”Eph.2:14
Take a moment now to enter the peace of Christ. Recall with a grateful heart all of the good things in your life. Remember every time God has been faithful to you. Give him thanks as we pause to pray. “ Ever faithful God, you show us the path of life. We trust in you and pray that you will guide us in your truth. Pour out your spirit of truth upon all government officials to work toward justice , peace and reconciliation. May your peace rule and guard all peoples. May your peace be in us so when others see us they see your mercy And when others know us they will know your mercy. May we be the church without any dividing walls , and may your peace reign in our hearts . We confess our weakness and tendency toward hostility and ask your forgiveness. Would you create a clean and new heart in us to love the way you love. We recognize that this is beyond our human efforts and we yield to the spirit of Christ who is our peace to be the center of our lives. We give you permission to tear down the walls we erect without even knowing we do so. Lord have mercy on us this day we pray.” Shalom “Be faithful to pray as intercessors with alert minds and thankful hearts” Col.4:2
This month we will focus on the goodness of God in the midst of all the badness in the world. Remember that we stand on Gods’ word to us that His goodness will follow us all the days of our lives. What is his goodness I ask? Every day I wake up believing in His love for me and the world. It is the goodness of the Lord that leads us to repentance which is a change of mind, a turning around , turning towards what is true. The majority of us have not suffered the way our brothers and sisters have under the sickness of prejudice and hate. We live in a fallen world who is unaware of God’s goodness to them. Jesus was always about turning things that were wrong right side up. All the wrong ways of thinking, skewed and wrong motives, hurtful ways of living. He spoke truth to set people free in their minds and hearts. Let us examine our own hearts and ways of thinking now before the loving gaze of God. Let the Holy Spirit burn away all false motives and thinking that clouds our view towards others. Pause now to Pray; O’God, Send your light of goodness into the world where there is such darkness and pain, may your goodness be shown, may your love be known. We feel helpless, and speechless yet we know your Holy Spirit gives us the power to speak the words others will understand. Would you pour out your spirit of truth upon those who rule over this country to bring healing to our land. May the eyes of hearts be open to see the goodness of God in the land of the living. We thank you for your great love and mercy. May we have an alert mind to pray this very hour, In the name of Christ our Lord. Shalom A prayer from 2 Peter 1:2-3
“May you have more and more grace and peace as you come to know our Lord more and more. By his divine power, he has given us all the things that we need for life and for true devotion, bringing us to know God himself, who has called us by his own glory and goodness.” This is the gift we receive to know him more and to be loved by him, through his divine power . It is this power that allows us to increase our devotion to that which is true. His goodness displayed in us and through us. We wake up to a very dark world today and this concern can be very weighty on our souls. I wonder how big are the shoulders of God that he carries this weight, the weight of sin and darkness of the whole world? To know him more and more, his divine power is given to us. To know his goodness and his glory so we may climb up upon his shoulders and stand with our arms lifted high and proclaim the goodness of God. Only by his goodness can we be saved and only by his goodness can we ever be good enough to see the goodness in others. “This is God's concern; that each person is loved abundantly and treated with dignity, so they may do likewise.” Let’s pray; Good, Good Father, We come to you in humility knowing that only you are good. We thank you that you have given us everything we need for life and true devotion. Fill us once again with your divine power to be loved, to be good, so we may love others into your goodness. Fill us with your glory, grace and peace to know you Lord and hear your call to us this day. We pray for your heavenly kingdom to invade the darkness in every man's soul so that your light will shine forth. Remove the blinders from eyes that hate and those who do harm so they may see your love is the only way. May we each receive your divine love and dignity this day in our souls and extend outwards you grace . So that others will know they are abundantly loved and valued this day. We ask these things in the beautiful name of Jesus. Amen |