The Upper Room Daily Reflections from Nashville, Tennessee, United States "The Song of the Spirit" for Tuesday, 13 October 2015

 

The Upper Room Daily Reflections from Nashville, Tennessee, United States "The Song of the Spirit" for Tuesday, 13 October 2015
Today’s Reflection:

ROOTED AND GROUNDED in the Creator’s love,
entwined in Christ’s own life,
may you hear the song of the Spirit today
in trees and grass, in forest and field,
and in the tender stretching of your own heart. Amen![Sam Hamilton-Poore, Earth Gospel]
From page 150 of Earth Gospel: A Guide to Prayer for God’s Creationby Sam Hamilton-Poore. Copyright © 2008 by Sam Hamilton-Poore. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Upper Room Books. http://bookstore.upperroom.org/ Learn more about or purchase this book.
Today’s Question:
Pray today’s blessing. ROOTED AND GROUNDED in the Creator’s love,
entwined in Christ’s own life,
may you hear the song of the Spirit today
in trees and grass, in forest and field,
and in the tender stretching of your own heart. Amen!
Today’s Scripture"
Bless the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, you are very great.[Psalm 104:1, NRSV]
This Week: pray for those without enough food.
____________________________
Did You Know?
In need of prayer? The Upper Room Living Prayer Center is a 7-day-a-week intercessory prayer ministry staffed by trained volunteers, call 1-800-251-2468 or visit The Living Prayer Center web site.
____________________________

Saints, Inc.:
This week we remember: Teresa of Avila (October 15).
St. Teresa spent much of her early life in consternation because she considered herself to be too great of a sinner. She went to a monastery when she was sixteen years old. Although she was put out by this lifestyle at first, she ultimately chose a nun's life over marriage because she thought that it was the only way to keep herself from sinning. When Teresa became disillusioned with her convent at age 43, she moved out to start her own, a place where quiet reflection and mental prayer were stressed.
Teresa was always more keen on working than on theorizing. She let her love of God shine through her deeds rather than words. For twenty years before her death in 1582, she was instrumental in the creation of seventeen Carmelite convents in Spain and helped to revitalize Christianity in her area. Her most famous work, The Way of Perfection, provided her convents with guidelines on how to operate properly. Today it offers us ways to better live our Christian lives through our prayers and actions.
If St. Teresa had taken the Spiritual Types Test, she probably would have been a Lover. Teresa's feast day is October 15.

___________________________

Lectionary Readings:
Sunday, 18 October 2015
(Courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library)
Job 38:1-7, 34-41
Psalm 104:1-9, 24, 35c
Hebrews 5:1-10
Mark 10:35-45

Lectionary Scriptures:

Job 38:1 Then Adonai answered Iyov out of the storm:

2 “Who is this, darkening my plans

with his ignorant words?

3 Stand up like a man, and brace yourself;

I will ask questions; and you, give the answers!

4 “Where were you when I founded the earth?

Tell me, if you know so much.

5 Do you know who determined its dimensions

or who stretched the measuring line across it?

6 On what were its bases sunk,

or who laid its cornerstone,

7 when the morning stars sang together,

and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

34 “Can you raise your voice to the clouds

and make them cover you with a flood of rain?

35 Can you send lightning bolts on their way?

Will they say to you, ‘Here we are’?

36 “Who put wisdom in people’s inner parts?

Who gave understanding to the mind?

37 Who, by wisdom, can number the clouds?

Who can tilt the water-skins of heaven,

38 so that the dust becomes a mass [of mud],

and its clods stick together?

39 “Can you hunt prey for a lioness

or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,

40 when they crouch in their dens

or lie in ambush in their lairs?

41 Who provides food for the raven

when his young cry out to God

and wander about for lack of food?

Psalm 104:1 Bless Adonai, my soul!

Adonai, my God, you are very great;

you are clothed with glory and majesty,

2 wrapped in light as with a robe.

You spread out the heavens like a curtain,

3 you laid the beams of your palace on the water.

You make the clouds your chariot,

you ride on the wings of the wind.

4 You make winds your messengers,

fiery flames your servants.

5 You fixed the earth on its foundations,

never to be moved.

6 You covered it with the deep like a garment;

the waters stood above the mountains.

7 At your rebuke they fled;

at the sound of your thunder they rushed away,

8 flowing over hills, pouring into valleys,

down to the place you had fixed for them.

9 You determined a boundary they could not cross;

they were never to cover the earth again.

24 What variety there is in your works, Adonai!

How many [of them there are]!

In wisdom you have made them all;

the earth is full of your creations.

35 May sinners vanish from the earth

and the wicked be no more!

Bless Adonai, my soul!

Halleluyah!

Hebrews 5:1 For every cohen gadol taken from among men is appointed to act on people’s behalf with regard to things concerning God, to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. 2 He can deal gently with the ignorant and with those who go astray, since he too is subject to weakness. 3 Also, because of this weakness, he has to offer sacrifices for his own sins, as well as those of the people. 4 And no one takes this honor upon himself, rather, he is called by God, just as Aharon was.

5 So neither did the Messiah glorify himself to become cohen gadol; rather, it was the One who said to him,

“You are my Son;

today I have become your Father.”[Hebrews 5:5 Psalm 2:7]

6 Also, as he says in another place,

“You are a cohen forever,

to be compared with Malki-Tzedek.”[Hebrews 5:6 Psalm 110:4]

7 During Yeshua’s life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions, crying aloud and shedding tears, to the One who had the power to deliver him from death; and he was heard because of his godliness. 8 Even though he was the Son, he learned obedience through his sufferings. 9 And after he had been brought to the goal, he became the source of eternal deliverance to all who obey him, 10 since he had been proclaimed by God as a cohen gadol to be compared with Malki-Tzedek.

Mark 10:35 Ya‘akov and Yochanan, the sons of Zavdai, came up to him and said, “Rabbi, we would like you to do us a favor.” 36 He said to them, “What do you want me to do for you?” 37 They replied, “When you are in your glory, let us sit with you, one on your right and the other on your left.” 38 But Yeshua answered, “You don’t know what you’re asking! Can you drink the cup that I am drinking? or be immersed with the immersion that I must undergo?” 39 They said to him, “We can.” Yeshua replied, “The cup that I am drinking, you will drink; and the immersion I am being immersed with, you will undergo. 40 But to sit on my right and on my left is not mine to give. Rather, it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”

41 When the other ten heard about this, they became outraged at Ya‘akov and Yochanan. 42 But Yeshua called them to him and said to them, “You know that among the Goyim, those who are supposed to rule them become tyrants, and their superiors become dictators. 43 But among you, it must not be like that! On the contrary, whoever among you wants to be a leader must be your servant; 44 and whoever wants to be first among you must become everyone’s slave! 45 For the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve — and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

John Wesley's Notes-Commentary for Job 38:1-7

Verse 1
[1] Then the LORD answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,
Lord — The eternal word, Jehovah, the same who spake from mount Sinai.
Answered — Out of a dark and thick cloud, from which he sent a tempestuous wind, as the harbinger of his presence. In this manner God appears and speaks to awaken Job and his friends, to the more serious attention to his words; and to testify his displeasure both against Job, and them, that all of them might be more deeply humbled and prepared to receive, and retain the instructions which God was about to give them.
Verse 2
[2] Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?
Counsel — God's counsel. For the great matter of the dispute between Job and his friends, was concerning God's counsel and providence in afflicting Job; which Job had endeavoured to obscure and misrepresent. This first word which God spoke, struck Job to the heart. This he repeats and echoes to, chap. 42:3, as the arrow that stuck fast in him.
Verse 3
[3] Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.
Gird up — As warriors then did for the battle.
Verse 4
[4] Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.
Where — Thou art but of yesterday; and dost thou presume to judge of my eternal counsels! When - When I settled it as firm upon its own center as if it had been built upon the surest foundations.
Verse 5
[5] Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?
Measures — Who hath prescribed how long and broad and deep it should be.
Line — the measuring line to regulate all its dimensions.
Verse 6
[6] Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof;
Foundations — This strong and durable building hath no foundations but God's power, which hath marvelously established it upon itself.
Cornerstone — By which the several walls are joined and fastened together, and in which, next to the foundations, the stability of a building consists. The sense is, who was it that built this goodly fabrick, and established it so firmly that it cannot be moved.
Verse 7
[7] When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?
Stars — The angels, who may well be called morning-stars, because of their excellent lustre and glory.
Sons of God — The angels called the sons of God, because they had their whole being from him, and because they were made partakers of his Divine and glorious image.
Shouted — Rejoiced in and blessed God for his works, whereby he intimates, that they neither did advise or any way assist him, nor dislike or censure any of his works, as Job had presumed to do.

34-41

Verse 34
[34] Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that abundance of waters may cover thee?
Cover thee — Thy land when it needs rain.
Verse 38
[38] When the dust groweth into hardness, and the clods cleave fast together?
Mire — By reason of much rain.
Verse 39
[39] Wilt thou hunt the prey for the lion? or fill the appetite of the young lions,
Hunt — Is it by thy care that the lions who live in desert places are furnished with necessary provisions? This is another wonderful work of God.
Verse 41
[41] Who provideth for the raven his food? when his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat.
Raven — Having mentioned the noblest of brute creatures, he now mentions one of the most contemptible; to shew the care of God's providence over all creatures, both great and small. Their young ones are so soon forsaken by their dams, that if God did not provide for them in a more than ordinary manner, they would be starved to death. And will he that provides for the young ravens, fail to provide for his own children.

Psalm 104:1-9

Verse 2
[2] Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain:
Light — With that first created light, which the psalmist fitly puts in the first place, as being the first of God's visible works.
Verse 3
[3] Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters: who maketh the clouds his chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind:
Waters — In the waters above the heavens, as they are called, Genesis 1:7.
Verse 4
[4] Who maketh his angels spirits; his ministers a flaming fire:
Spirits — Of a spiritual or incorporeal nature, that they might be fitter for their employments.
Fire — So called for their irresistible force and agility, and fervency in the execution of God's commands.
Verse 5
[5] Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed for ever.
Who laid — Heb. he hath established the earth upon its own basis, whereby it stands as fast and unmoveable, as if it were built upon the strongest foundations.
Forever — As long as the world continues. God has fixt so strange a place for the earth, that being an heavy body, one would think it should fall every moment. And yet which way so ever we would imagine it to stir, it must, contrary to the nature of such a body, fall upwards, and so can have no possible ruin, but by tumbling into heaven.
Verse 6
[6] Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a garment: the waters stood above the mountains.
The deep — In the first creation, Genesis 1:2,9.
Verse 7
[7] At thy rebuke they fled; at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away.
Rebuke — Upon thy command, Genesis 1:9.
Fled — They immediately went to the place which God had allotted them.

24, 35c

Verse 35
[35] Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless thou the LORD, O my soul. Praise ye the LORD.
Praise ye the Lord — Heb. Hallelujah. This is the first time that this word occurs. And it comes in here on occasion of the destruction of the wicked. And the last time it occurs,Revelation 19:1; 3,4,6, it is on a like occasion, the destruction of Babylon.

Hebrews 5:1-10

Verse 1
[1] For every high priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins:
For every high priest being taken from among men — Is, till he is taken, of the same rank with them.
And is appointed — That is, is wont to be appointed.
In things pertaining to God — To bring God near to men, and men to God.
That he may offer both gifts — Out of things inanimate, and animal sacrifices.
Verse 2
[2] Who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity.
Who can have compassion — In proportion to the offence: so the Greek word signifies.
On the ignorant — Them that are in error.
And the wandering — Them that are in sin.
Seeing himself also is compassed with infirmity — Even with sinful infirmity; and so needs the compassion which he shows to others.
Verse 4
[4] And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron.
The apostle begins here to treat of the priesthood of Christ. The sum of what he observes concerning it is, Whatever is excellent in the Levitical priesthood is in Christ, and in a more eminent manner; and whatever is wanting in those priests is in him.
And no one taketh this honour — The priesthood.
To himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron — And his posterity, who were all of them called at one and the same time. But it is observable, Aaron did not preach at all; preaching being no part of the priestly office.
Verse 5
[5] So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee.
So also Christ glorified not himself to be an high priest — That is, did not take this honour to himself, but received it from him who said, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee - Not, indeed, at the same time; for his generation was from eternity. Psalms 2:7.
Verse 6
[6] As he saith also in another place, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
Psalms 110:4.
Verse 7
[7] Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;
The sum of the things treated of in the seventh and following chapters is contained, Hebrews 5:7-10; and in this sum is admirably comprised the process of his passion, with its inmost causes, in the very terms used by the evangelists.
Who in the days of his flesh — Those two days, in particular, wherein his sufferings were at the height.
Having offered up prayers and supplications — Thrice.
With strong crying and tears — In the garden.
To him that was able to save him from death — Which yet he endured, in obedience to the will of his Father. And being heard in that which he particularly feared - When the cup was offered him first, there was set before him that horrible image of a painful, shameful, accursed death, which moved him to pray conditionally against it: for, if he had desired it, his heavenly Father would have sent him more than twelve legions of angels to have delivered him. But what he most exceedingly feared was the weight of infinite justice; the being "bruised" and "put to grief" by the hand of God himself. Compared with this, everything else was a mere nothing; and yet, so greatly did he ever thirst to be obedient to the righteous will of his Father, and to "lay down" even "his life for the sheep," that he vehemently longed to be baptized with this baptism, Luke 12:50. Indeed, his human nature needed the support of Omnipotence; and for this he sent up strong crying and tears: but, throughout his whole life, he showed that it was not the sufferings he was to undergo, but the dishonour that sin had done to so holy a God, that grieved his spotless soul. The consideration of its being the will of God tempered his fear, and afterwards swallowed it up; and he was heard not so that the cup should pass away, but so that he drank it without any fear.
Verse 8
[8] Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;
Though he were a Son — This is interposed. lest any should be offended at all these instances of human weakness. In the garden, how frequently did he call God his Father!Matthew 26:39, etc. And hence it most evidently appears that his being the Son of God did not arise merely from his resurrection.
Yet learned he — The word learned, premised to the word suffered, elegantly shows how willingly he learned. He learned obedience, when be began to suffer; when he applied himself to drink that cup: obedience in suffering and dying.
Verse 9
[9] And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him;
And being perfected — By sufferings, Hebrews 2:10; brought through all to glory.
He became the author — The procuring and efficient cause.
Of eternal salvation to all that obey him — By doing and suffering his whole will.
Verse 10
[10] Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec.
Called — The Greek word here properly signifies surnamed. His name is, "the Son of God." The Holy Ghost seems to have concealed who Melchisedec was, on purpose that he might be the more eminent type of Christ. This only we know,-that he was a priest, and king of Salem, or Jerusalem.

Mark 10:35-45

Verse 35
[35] And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, come unto him, saying, Master, we would that thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall desire.
Saying — By their mother. It was she, not they that uttered the words. Matthew 20:20.
Verse 38
[38] But Jesus said unto them, Ye know not what ye ask: can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?
Ye know not what ye ask — Ye know not that ye ask for sufferings, which must needs pave the way to glory.
The cup — Of inward; the baptism - Of outward sufferings. Our Lord was filled with sufferings within, and covered with them without.
Verse 40
[40] But to sit on my right hand and on my left hand is not mine to give; but it shall be given to them for whom it is prepared.
Save to them for whom it is prepared — Them who by patient continuance in well doing, seek for glory, and honour, and immortality. For these only eternal life is prepared. To these, only he will give it in that day; and to every man his own reward, according to his own labour.
Verse 45
[45] For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.
A ransom for many — Even for as many souls as needed such a ransom, 2 Corinthians 5:15.

____________________________

Upper Room Ministries, a ministry of Discipleship Ministries

PO Box 340004

Nashville, Tennessee 37203-0004, United States
____________________________

Sermon Story "Meeting God" by Gary Lee Parker for Sunday, 18 October 2015 with Scripture: Job 38:1 Then Adonai answered Iyov out of the storm:

2 “Who is this, darkening my plans

with his ignorant words?

3 Stand up like a man, and brace yourself;

I will ask questions; and you, give the answers!

4 “Where were you when I founded the earth?

Tell me, if you know so much.

5 Do you know who determined its dimensions

or who stretched the measuring line across it?

6 On what were its bases sunk,

or who laid its cornerstone,

7 when the morning stars sang together,

and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

34 “Can you raise your voice to the clouds

and make them cover you with a flood of rain?

35 Can you send lightning bolts on their way?

Will they say to you, ‘Here we are’?

36 “Who put wisdom in people’s inner parts?

Who gave understanding to the mind?

37 Who, by wisdom, can number the clouds?

Who can tilt the water-skins of heaven,

38 so that the dust becomes a mass [of mud],

and its clods stick together?

39 “Can you hunt prey for a lioness

or satisfy the appetite of the young lions,

40 when they crouch in their dens

or lie in ambush in their lairs?

41 Who provides food for the raven

when his young cry out to God

and wander about for lack of food?

We come to the time in the story of Job that God, Himself, comes to Job. God does not come to Job as he was hoping God would that he could defend his innocense of a sin his friends or wife thought he had committed to receive the punishment they were saying Job was receiving for his sins, but God came to speak. God came to Job to ask him to be quiet and answer the questions if he thinks he is so intelligent. The Questions that God begins to ask Job are the only questions that someone who was arouond when God created everything. Job listened to the questions God was asking him and realized that he needed to repent of his sins for thinking he is equal with God. How would you respond to God coming and asking you similar questions? How would you repond concerning your own sins? How would you listen to God speaking? We have been known to want to speak and not listen to God, yet the people who have intellectual impairments tend to realize that they need to listen rather than speak. We come to realize that we who are not intellectual impaired as the world defines it, we do not know what God knows and how He really works. For this we need to confess and repent of our sins. We realize that we need God's voice to hear as we receive His blessings and power for our lives as we come and eat the Body of Jesus and drink His Blood as we participate in community of the Holy Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist. We come to God's table singing the Hymn "Voice of Truth" by Casting Crowns

Oh what I would do to have

The kind of faith it takes

To climb out of this boat I'm in

On to the crashing waves

To step out of my comfort zone

Into the realm of the unknown

Where Jesus is

And He's holding out His hand

But the waves are calling out my name

And they laugh at me

Reminding me of all the times

I've tried before and failed

The waves they keep on telling me

Time and time again

"Boy, you'll never win!

You'll never win!"

But the voice of truth tells me a different story

The voice of truth says, "Do not be afraid!"

And the voice of truth says, "This is for My glory"

Out of all the voices calling out to me

I would choose to listen and believe the voice of truth

Oh what I would do to have

The kind of strength it takes

To stand before a giant

With just a sling and a stone

Surrounded by the sound

Of a thousand warriors

Shaking in their armor

Wishing they'd have had the strength to stand

But the giant's calling out my name

And he laughs at me

Reminding me of all the times

I've tried before and failed

The giant keeps on telling me

Time and time again

"Boy you'll never win!

You'll never win!"

But the voice of truth tells me a different story

The voice of truth says, "Do not be afraid!"

And the voice of truth says, "This is for My glory"

Out of all the voices calling out to me

The voice of truth tells me a different story

The voice of truth says, "Do not be afraid!"

And the voice of truth says, "This is for My glory"

Out of all the voices calling out to me

I would choose to listen and believe

I would choose to listen and believe the voice of truth

The voice of truth

____________________________

Gary Lee Parker

4147 Idaho Street, Apt. 1

San Diego, California 92104-1844, United States
____________________________