Scripture: 2 Peter 3:8-13
Summary: One day for God is like 1000 years. God is not slow about fulfilling promises but is patient, wanting us all to repent. But the day of the Lord is coming when the heavens will pass away. What sort of person ought you to be, leading lives of holiness, hastening the coming of the day of God?
Thoughts: We know that at some point the day of the Lord will come. This day is referred to by many names, but in essence it is the day when God's dream will come true, when everything, on earth and in heaven, is as God would have it be. But in the meantime, what sort of people will we be? Will we be judging everyone that we meet, telling them that they are not following God's rules and what the consequences of that will be? Or will we be loving everyone that we meet, telling them about God's love and the difference it has made in our own lives? The choice is ours. What sort of person ought you to be?
Prayer: God help me to live for You, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of the Lord. Amen.
Showing posts with label God's love. Show all posts
Showing posts with label God's love. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Thursday, April 7, 2011
2 Peter 1:5-9 - What do I need to prop up my faith?
Scripture: 2 Peter 1:5-9
Summary: Support your faith with goodness, with knowlede, with self-control, with endurance, with godliness, with mutual affection, with love. They will keep you from being ineffective. For without them you are blind, forgetful of cleansing of past sins.
Thoughts: It is critical for us, as Christians, to have faith. Without faith, we are nothing. Faith is what is required for our salvation in Jesus Christ. But to continue to have faith, we have to support it with goodness. We have to choose good in our daily lives. And the goodness must be supported by knowledge. We need to continue to read and study so that our knowledge doesn't decay. The knowledge must be tempered with self-control as we make good choices in our daily lives. And endurance is required for those days when our self control fails. Endurance, not only in the long races, but in resisting the tempations that our lives are sprinkled with. Then we need to cultivate godliness, trying to follow in the path that Christ leads us. And we need to care about all people. Yes everyone. Even that person that drives you stark raving mad! But most importantly, we have to love. Love is the foundation that ultimately supports our faith. Without love, we are nothing. As Christ himself showed us, love can turn the world around. Thanks be to God!
Prayer: Help me, Lord, to cultivate all of these aspects of faith in my life. Amen.
Summary: Support your faith with goodness, with knowlede, with self-control, with endurance, with godliness, with mutual affection, with love. They will keep you from being ineffective. For without them you are blind, forgetful of cleansing of past sins.
Thoughts: It is critical for us, as Christians, to have faith. Without faith, we are nothing. Faith is what is required for our salvation in Jesus Christ. But to continue to have faith, we have to support it with goodness. We have to choose good in our daily lives. And the goodness must be supported by knowledge. We need to continue to read and study so that our knowledge doesn't decay. The knowledge must be tempered with self-control as we make good choices in our daily lives. And endurance is required for those days when our self control fails. Endurance, not only in the long races, but in resisting the tempations that our lives are sprinkled with. Then we need to cultivate godliness, trying to follow in the path that Christ leads us. And we need to care about all people. Yes everyone. Even that person that drives you stark raving mad! But most importantly, we have to love. Love is the foundation that ultimately supports our faith. Without love, we are nothing. As Christ himself showed us, love can turn the world around. Thanks be to God!
Prayer: Help me, Lord, to cultivate all of these aspects of faith in my life. Amen.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
1 Peter 3:7-9 - Who is my Beloved?
Scripture: 1 Peter 3:7-9
Summary: Husbands, show consideration for your wives, they too are heirs of life. Be united in spirit. Don't repay evil with evil.
Thoughts: I think today I will just skip over the fact that this writer calls women the weaker sex. I'm going to tell myself that this refers to our physical strength, which is usually less than the strenght of a man! Instead I want to focus on verse 8. "Finally, all of you, have unity of spirit, sympathy, love for one another, a tender heart, and a humble mind." If we really loved one another, even those people that we don't like, it would be alot harder to treat other people badly. For when you love someone, you want to treat them well and you want them to be healthy and happy. What if we lived as if every person with whom we came in contact was a loved one? The clerk at the grocery store, the woman with two squirmy kids in worship, the obnoxious driver on the freeway, the homeless man on the street corner. How would our attitude change toward them if we regarded them as a loved one? Perhaps I should use this season of Lent to remind myself that every human is a loved one of God and thus should be a loved one of mine.
Prayer: God, you are a father and mother to us all. But that means that all of these human beings on this earth are my siblings. Some of them are easy to love, but some are not. Help me to see the image of God in each of them, loving them with a tender heart. Amen.
Summary: Husbands, show consideration for your wives, they too are heirs of life. Be united in spirit. Don't repay evil with evil.
Thoughts: I think today I will just skip over the fact that this writer calls women the weaker sex. I'm going to tell myself that this refers to our physical strength, which is usually less than the strenght of a man! Instead I want to focus on verse 8. "Finally, all of you, have unity of spirit, sympathy, love for one another, a tender heart, and a humble mind." If we really loved one another, even those people that we don't like, it would be alot harder to treat other people badly. For when you love someone, you want to treat them well and you want them to be healthy and happy. What if we lived as if every person with whom we came in contact was a loved one? The clerk at the grocery store, the woman with two squirmy kids in worship, the obnoxious driver on the freeway, the homeless man on the street corner. How would our attitude change toward them if we regarded them as a loved one? Perhaps I should use this season of Lent to remind myself that every human is a loved one of God and thus should be a loved one of mine.
Prayer: God, you are a father and mother to us all. But that means that all of these human beings on this earth are my siblings. Some of them are easy to love, but some are not. Help me to see the image of God in each of them, loving them with a tender heart. Amen.
Friday, January 14, 2011
1 Peter 1:22-25 - born anew into love
Scripture: 1 Peter 1:22-25
Summary: You have purified your souls and have genuine mutuual love, so love one another. You have been born anew through the word of God. Our flesh withers but the word of God endures forever.
Thoughts: I have just finished a week at Perkins School of Youth Ministry. If you have never been, PSYM is a place were youth ministers gather from across the country to learn and fellowship together. I always leave PSYM feeling renewed.and challenged to continue God's work of bringing young people into relationship with God through Christ. Although it is easy to get disillusioned and disheartened by the state of the world, the state of the economy, or the state of youth today, I gain new hope from the stories of these people who work daily with youth. I find comfort in learning that I am not the only one dealing with the problems that I face and I always come away from PSYM with new ideas for my ministry. This scripture today reminds me of PSYM in 2 aspects. First, it tells us to "love one another deeply from the heart." I heard over and over again this week that relationships are the key to youth ministry. So I am returning my focus this year to loving each youth that I encounter, hoping that a glimpse of God's love for that person may be seen in my love. Second, the scripture says that "You have been born anew, not of perishable but of imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God." We have been born again. We all have the chance to remake ourselves in the image of God, as shown us by Jesus Christ. Let's take that chance, each day, to be like God as we love one another deeply!
Prayer: Loving and passionate God, create in me a new desire to be like You, to love all of those around me. Remind me each day that I have the chance, in that day, to start afresh, living my life following Christ. Amen.
Summary: You have purified your souls and have genuine mutuual love, so love one another. You have been born anew through the word of God. Our flesh withers but the word of God endures forever.
Thoughts: I have just finished a week at Perkins School of Youth Ministry. If you have never been, PSYM is a place were youth ministers gather from across the country to learn and fellowship together. I always leave PSYM feeling renewed.and challenged to continue God's work of bringing young people into relationship with God through Christ. Although it is easy to get disillusioned and disheartened by the state of the world, the state of the economy, or the state of youth today, I gain new hope from the stories of these people who work daily with youth. I find comfort in learning that I am not the only one dealing with the problems that I face and I always come away from PSYM with new ideas for my ministry. This scripture today reminds me of PSYM in 2 aspects. First, it tells us to "love one another deeply from the heart." I heard over and over again this week that relationships are the key to youth ministry. So I am returning my focus this year to loving each youth that I encounter, hoping that a glimpse of God's love for that person may be seen in my love. Second, the scripture says that "You have been born anew, not of perishable but of imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God." We have been born again. We all have the chance to remake ourselves in the image of God, as shown us by Jesus Christ. Let's take that chance, each day, to be like God as we love one another deeply!
Prayer: Loving and passionate God, create in me a new desire to be like You, to love all of those around me. Remind me each day that I have the chance, in that day, to start afresh, living my life following Christ. Amen.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Galatians 5:22-26 - Love Makes the Difference
Scripture: Galatians 5:22-26
Summary: The fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Let's live by the Spirit and be guided by the Spirit.
Thoughts: Sometimes we get so caught up in loving God and following Jesus that we forget the Spirit and the gifts that we receive from the Spirit. Not to say that God and Jesus are not important, only that the Spirit is equally so. How much better would our lives be if we spent time each dayfocusing on the gifts that the Spirit brings to us. I know that I could definitely use more patience, for example!
Prayer: Holy Spirit, I know that you are with me always, but often I am not listening to you. Open my heart so that I might hear your nudgings more clearly. Amen.
Summary: The fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Let's live by the Spirit and be guided by the Spirit.
Thoughts: Sometimes we get so caught up in loving God and following Jesus that we forget the Spirit and the gifts that we receive from the Spirit. Not to say that God and Jesus are not important, only that the Spirit is equally so. How much better would our lives be if we spent time each dayfocusing on the gifts that the Spirit brings to us. I know that I could definitely use more patience, for example!
Prayer: Holy Spirit, I know that you are with me always, but often I am not listening to you. Open my heart so that I might hear your nudgings more clearly. Amen.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
John 11:28-37 - Love Makes the Difference
Scripture: John 11:28-37
Summary: This scripture occurs after Jesus' friend, Lazarus, dies. His sisters Mary and Martha send for Jesus but he dies before Jesus gets there. In the reading, Jesus arrives at their house and Mary tells him that if he had been her Lazarus wouldn't have died. Everyone is crying and Jesus begins to cry too. Then they ask if Jesus could not have kept him from dying. It is here the reading ends. Most of us know that next in the story Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead, but this is not in today's reading.
Thoughts: Jesus loved Martha, Mary and Lazarus as if they were his own family. He was sad that his friend had died and sad that his other friends were grieving that loss. Just as Jesus loved Lazarus and his family, so God loves us. And in response to the love of God, we are called to love one another. Mother Teresa tells of nuns that come to help her in Calcutta and when they left they said "I have received much more than I have given and I can never be the same person again; because I have touched Christ, I have understood what love is. What it is to love and to be loved!" It is often through contact with the least of these that we are led to really understand God's love.
Prayer: Loving God, may our love for You, and for all of humanity, continue to grow in the presence of Your love for us. Amen.
Summary: This scripture occurs after Jesus' friend, Lazarus, dies. His sisters Mary and Martha send for Jesus but he dies before Jesus gets there. In the reading, Jesus arrives at their house and Mary tells him that if he had been her Lazarus wouldn't have died. Everyone is crying and Jesus begins to cry too. Then they ask if Jesus could not have kept him from dying. It is here the reading ends. Most of us know that next in the story Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead, but this is not in today's reading.
Thoughts: Jesus loved Martha, Mary and Lazarus as if they were his own family. He was sad that his friend had died and sad that his other friends were grieving that loss. Just as Jesus loved Lazarus and his family, so God loves us. And in response to the love of God, we are called to love one another. Mother Teresa tells of nuns that come to help her in Calcutta and when they left they said "I have received much more than I have given and I can never be the same person again; because I have touched Christ, I have understood what love is. What it is to love and to be loved!" It is often through contact with the least of these that we are led to really understand God's love.
Prayer: Loving God, may our love for You, and for all of humanity, continue to grow in the presence of Your love for us. Amen.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
