Wichita, Kansas, United States - Great Plains Conference of the
United Methodist Church Daily Devotional for Wednesday, 16 July 2014
Today please be in prayer for:
Rebecca Hjelle
Blair First UMC
Missouri River District
Dick Webster
Waterloo UMC
Missouri River District
This Week's Lectionary
5th Sunday after Pentecost/in Kingdomtide – Green
Genesis 25:19-34
Psalm 119:105-112 or Psalm 25
Romans 8:1-11
Matthew 13:1-9, 18-23
Genesis 25: Jacob and
Esau
19-20 This is the family tree of Isaac son of Abraham: Abraham
had Isaac. Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah daughter of
Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan Aram. She was the sister of Laban the Aramean.
21-23 Isaac prayed hard to God for his wife because she was
barren. God answered his prayer and Rebekah became pregnant. But the children
tumbled and kicked inside her so much that she said, “If this is the way it’s
going to be, why go on living?” She went to God to find out what was going on.
God told her,
Two nations are in your womb,
two peoples butting
heads while still in your body.
One people will overpower the other,
and the older will
serve the younger.
24-26 When her time to give birth came, sure enough, there were
twins in her womb. The first came out reddish, as if snugly wrapped in a hairy
blanket; they named him Esau (Hairy). His brother followed, his fist clutched
tight to Esau’s heel; they named him Jacob (Heel). Isaac was sixty years old
when they were born.
27-28 The boys grew up. Esau became an expert hunter, an
outdoorsman. Jacob was a quiet man preferring life indoors among the tents.
Isaac loved Esau because he loved his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob.
29-30 One day Jacob was cooking a stew. Esau came in from the
field, starved. Esau said to Jacob, “Give me some of that red stew—I’m
starved!” That’s how he came to be called Edom (Red).
31 Jacob said, “Make me a trade: my stew for your rights as the
firstborn.”
32 Esau said, “I’m starving! What good is a birthright if I’m
dead?”
33-34 Jacob said, “First, swear to me.” And he did it. On oath
Esau traded away his rights as the firstborn. Jacob gave him bread and the stew
of lentils. He ate and drank, got up and left. That’s how Esau shrugged off his
rights as the firstborn.
Psalm 119: 105-112 By your words I can see where I’m going;
they throw a beam of
light on my dark path.
I’ve committed myself and I’ll never turn back
from living by your
righteous order.
Everything’s falling apart on me, God;
put me together again
with your Word.
Festoon me with your finest sayings, God;
teach me your holy
rules.
My life is as close as my own hands,
but I don’t forget
what you have revealed.
The wicked do their best to throw me off track,
but I don’t swerve an
inch from your course.
I inherited your book on living; it’s mine forever—
what a gift! And how
happy it makes me!
I concentrate on doing exactly what you say—
I always have and
always will.
Psalm 25: A David Psalm
1-2 My head is high, God, held high;
I’m looking to you, God;
No hangdog skulking for me.
3 I’ve thrown in my lot with you;
You won’t embarrass me, will you?
Or let my enemies get the best of me?
Don’t embarrass any of us
Who went out on a limb for you.
It’s the traitors who should be humiliated.
4 Show me how you work, God;
School me in your ways.
5 Take me by the hand;
Lead me down the path of truth.
You are my Savior, aren’t you?
6 Mark the milestones of your mercy and love, God;
Rebuild the ancient landmarks!
7 Forget that I sowed wild oats;
Mark me with your sign of love.
Plan only the best for me, God!
8 God is fair and just;
He corrects the misdirected,
Sends them in the right direction.
9 He gives the rejects his hand,
And leads them step-by-step.
10 From now on every road you travel
Will take you to God.
Follow the Covenant signs;
Read the charted directions.
11 Keep up your reputation, God;
Forgive my bad life;
It’s been a very bad life.
12 My question: What are God-worshipers like?
Your answer: Arrows aimed at God’s bull’s-eye.
13 They settle down in a promising place;
Their kids inherit a prosperous farm.
14 God-friendship is for God-worshipers;
They are the ones he confides in.
15 If I keep my eyes on God,
I won’t trip over my own feet.
16 Look at me and help me!
I’m all alone and in big trouble.
17 My heart and kidneys are fighting each other;
Call a truce to this civil war.
18 Take a hard look at my life of hard labor,
Then lift this ton of sin.
19 Do you see how many people
Have it in for me?
How viciously they hate me?
20 Keep watch over me and keep me out of trouble;
Don’t let me down when I run to you.
21 Use all your skill to put me together;
I wait to see your finished product.
22 God, give your people a break
From this run of bad luck.
Romans 8: The Solution Is Life on God’s Terms
1-2 With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma
is resolved. Those who enter into Christ’s being-here-for-us no longer have to
live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation.
The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the
air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin
and death.
3-4 God went for the jugular when he sent his own Son. He didn’t
deal with the problem as something remote and unimportant. In his Son, Jesus,
he personally took on the human condition, entered the disordered mess of
struggling humanity in order to set it right once and for all. The law code,
weakened as it always was by fractured human nature, could never have done
that.
The law always ended up being used as a Band-Aid on sin instead
of a deep healing of it. And now what the law code asked for but we couldn’t
deliver is accomplished as we, instead of redoubling our own efforts, simply
embrace what the Spirit is doing in us.
5-8 Those who think they can do it on their own end up obsessed
with measuring their own moral muscle but never get around to exercising it in
real life. Those who trust God’s action in them find that God’s Spirit is in
them—living and breathing God! Obsession with self in these matters is a dead
end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life.
Focusing on the self is the opposite of focusing on God. Anyone completely
absorbed in self ignores God, ends up thinking more about self than God. That
person ignores who God is and what he is doing. And God isn’t pleased at being
ignored.
9-11 But if God himself has taken up residence in your life, you
can hardly be thinking more of yourself than of him. Anyone, of course, who has
not welcomed this invisible but clearly present God, the Spirit of Christ,
won’t know what we’re talking about. But for you who welcome him, in whom he
dwells—even though you still experience all the limitations of sin—you yourself
experience life on God’s terms. It stands to reason, doesn’t it, that if the
alive-and-present God who raised Jesus from the dead moves into your life,
he’ll do the same thing in you that he did in Jesus, bringing you alive to
himself? When God lives and breathes in you (and he does, as surely as he did
in Jesus), you are delivered from that dead life. With his Spirit living in
you, your body will be as alive as Christ’s!
Matthew 13: A Harvest Story
1-3 At about that same time Jesus left the house and sat on the
beach. In no time at all a crowd gathered along the shoreline, forcing him to
get into a boat. Using the boat as a pulpit, he addressed his congregation,
telling stories.
3-8 “What do you make of this? A farmer planted seed. As he
scattered the seed, some of it fell on the road, and birds ate it. Some fell in
the gravel; it sprouted quickly but didn’t put down roots, so when the sun came
up it withered just as quickly. Some fell in the weeds; as it came up, it was
strangled by the weeds. Some fell on good earth, and produced a harvest beyond
his wildest dreams.
9 “Are you listening to this? Really listening?” The Meaning of
the Harvest Story
18-19 “Study this story of the farmer planting seed. When anyone
hears news of the kingdom and doesn’t take it in, it just remains on the
surface, and so the Evil One comes along and plucks it right out of that
person’s heart. This is the seed the farmer scatters on the road.
20-21 “The seed cast in the gravel—this is the person who hears
and instantly responds with enthusiasm. But there is no soil of character, and
so when the emotions wear off and some difficulty arrives, there is nothing to
show for it.
22 “The seed cast in the weeds is the person who hears the
kingdom news, but weeds of worry and illusions about getting more and wanting
everything under the sun strangle what was heard, and nothing comes of it.
23 “The seed cast on good earth is the person who hears and takes
in the News, and then produces a harvest beyond his wildest dreams.”
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John Wesley’s Notes-commentary for:
Genesis 25:19-34
Verse 20
[20] And Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to wife,
the daughter of Bethuel the Syrian of Padanaram, the sister to Laban the
Syrian.
And Isaac was forty years old — Not much is related concerning
Isaac, but what had reference to his father, while he lived, and to his sons
afterward; for Isaac seems not to have been a man of action, nor much tried,
but to have spent his day, in quietness and silence.
Verse 21
[21] And Isaac intreated the LORD for his wife, because she was
barren: and the LORD was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.
And Isaac intreated the Lord for his wife — Though God had promised
to multiply his family, he prayed for it; for God's promises must not supersede
but encourage our prayers, and be improved as the ground of our faith. Though
he had prayed for this mercy many years, and it was not granted, yet he did not
leave off praying for it.
Verse 22
[22] And the children struggled together within her; and she
said, If it be so, why am I thus? And she went to enquire of the LORD.
The children struggled within her — The commotion was altogether
extra-ordinary, and made her very uneasy: If it be so, or, since it is so, why
am I thus? - Before the want of children was her trouble, now the struggle of
the children is no less so.
And she went to enquire of the Lord — Some think Melchizedek was
now consulted as an oracle, or perhaps some Urim or Teraphim were now used to
enquire of God by, as afterwards in the breast-plate of judgment. The word and
prayer, by which we now enquire of the Lord, give great relief to those that are
upon any account perplexed: it is a mighty ease to spread our case before the
Lord, and ask council at his mouth.
Verse 23
[23] And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb,
and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people
shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.
Two nations are in thy womb — She was now big not only with two
children, but two nations, which should not only in their manners greatly
differ from each other, but in their interest contend with each other, and the
issue of the contest should be that the elder should serve the younger, which
was fulfilled in the subjection of the Edomites for many ages to the house of
David.
Verse 25
[25] And the first came out red, all over like an hairy garment;
and they called his name Esau.
Esau when he was born was red and hairy, as if he had been
already a grown man, whence he had his name Esau, made, reared already. This
was an indication of a very strong constitution, and gave cause to expect that
he would be a very robust, daring, active man. But Jacob was smooth and tender
as other children.
Verse 26
[26] And after that came his brother out, and his hand took hold
on Esau's heel; and his name was called Jacob: and Isaac was threescore years
old when she bare them.
His hand took hold on Esau's heel — This signified, 1. Jacob's
pursuit of the birth-right and blessing; from the first he reached forth to
have catched hold of it, and if possible to have prevented his brother. 2. His
prevailing for it at last: that in process of time he should gain his point.
This passage is referred to Hosea 12:3, and from hence he had his name Jacob, a
supplanter.
Verse 27
[27] And the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning hunter, a man of
the field; and Jacob was a plain man, dwelling in tents.
Esau was an hunter — And a man that knew how to live by his
wits, for he was a cunning hunter.
A man of the field — All for the game, and never so well but as
when he was in pursuit of it.
And Jacob was a plain man — An honest man, that dealt fairly.
And dwelt in tents — Either, 1. As a shepherd, loving that safe
and silent employment of keeping sheep, to which also he bred up his children,
Genesis 46:34. Or, 2. As a student, he frequented the tents of Melchizedek or
Heber, as some understand it, to be taught by them divine things.
Verse 28
[28] And Isaac loved Esau, because he did eat of his venison:
but Rebekah loved Jacob.
And Isaac loved Esau — Isaac though he was not a stirring man
himself, yet he loved to have his son active. Esau knew how to please him, and
shewed a great respect for him, by treating him often with venison, which won
upon him more than one would have thought. But Rebekah loved him whom God
loved.
Verse 29
[29] And Jacob sod pottage: and Esau came from the field, and he
was faint:
Sod — That is, boiled.
Verse 30
[30] And Esau said to Jacob, Feed me, I pray thee, with that
same red pottage; for I am faint: therefore was his name called Edom.
Edom — That is, red.
Verse 31
[31] And Jacob said, Sell me this day thy birthright.
Sell me this day thy birth-right — He cannot be excused in
taking advantage of Esau's necessity, yet neither can Esau be excused who is
profane, Hebrews 12:16, because for one morsel of meat he sold his birth-right.
The birth-right was typical of spiritual privileges, those of the church of the
first-born: Esau was now tried how he would value those, and he shews himself
sensible only of present grievances: may he but get relief against them, he
cares not for his birth-right. If we look on Esau's birth-right as only a
temporal advantage, what he said had something of truth in it, that our worldly
enjoyments, even those we are most fond of, will stand us in no stead in a
dying hour. They will not put by the stroke of death, nor ease the pangs, nor
remove the sting. But being of a spiritual nature, his undervaluing it, was the
greatest profaneness imaginable. It is egregious folly to part with our
interest in God, and Christ, and heaven, for the riches, honours, and pleasures
of this world.
Verse 34
[34] Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he
did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his
birthright.
He did eat and drink, and rise up and went his way — Without any
serious reflections upon the ill bargain he had made, or any shew of regret.
Thus Esau despised his birth-right — He used no means to get the
bargain revoked, made no appeal to his father about it but the bargain which
his necessity had made, (supposing it were so) his profaneness confirmed, and
by his subsequent neglect and contempt, he put the bargain past recall.
Psalm 119:105-112
Verse 108
[108] Accept, I beseech thee, the freewill offerings of my
mouth, O LORD, and teach me thy judgments.
Offerings — The sacrifices of prayer and praise.
Verse 109
[109] My soul is continually in my hand: yet do I not forget thy
law.
Is — Exposed to perpetual danger.
Psalm 25
Verse 2
[2] O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not
mine enemies triumph over me.
Ashamed — Disappointed of my hope.
Verse 3
[3] Yea, let none that wait on thee be ashamed: let them be
ashamed which transgress without cause.
Cause — Without any provocation of mine.
Verse 4
[4] Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths.
Teach — Teach me my duty, and cause me to keep close to it,
notwithstanding all temptations.
Verse 8
[8] Good and upright is the LORD: therefore will he teach
sinners in the way.
Upright — Holy and true, in all his declarations and offers of
mercy to sinners.
Therefore — He will not be wanting to such poor sinners as I am,
but will guide them into the way of life and peace.
Verse 9
[9] The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he
teach his way.
The meek — Such as meekly submit themselves to God, and are
desirous to be directed and governed by him.
Judgment — In the paths of judgment, in the right way.
Verse 10
[10] All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth unto such as
keep his covenant and his testimonies.
Paths — All the dealings of God with them, yea even those that
are afflictive, are done in kindness and faithfulness to them.
Verse 11
[11] For thy name's sake, O LORD, pardon mine iniquity; for it
is great.
For — Or, though (as this particle is often rendered) it be
great. Possibly he speaks of his sin against Uriah and Bathsheba. Great - Or,
much or manifold. For the Hebrew word signifies both great and much.
Verse 12
[12] What man is he that feareth the LORD? him shall he teach in
the way that he shall choose.
Chuse — Which God appointeth.
Verse 13
[13] His soul shall dwell at ease; and his seed shall inherit
the earth.
At ease — Heb. in Good; in the possession and enjoyment of the
true good.
The land — Canaan; which was given as an earnest of the whole
Covenant of Grace, and all its promises.
Verse 14
[14] The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he
will shew them his covenant.
The secret — His love and favour, which is called his secret,
Job 29:4; Proverbs 3:32, because it is known to none but him that enjoyeth it.
Will shew — He will make them clearly to understand it, both its
duties and its blessings; neither of which ungodly men rightly understand.
Verse 15
[15] Mine eyes are ever toward the LORD; for he shall pluck my
feet out of the net.
Pluck — He will deliver me out of all my troubles.
Verse 20
[20] O keep my soul, and deliver me: let me not be ashamed; for
I put my trust in thee.
Soul — My life.
Verse 22
[22] Redeem Israel, O God, out of all his troubles.
Israel — If thou wilt not help me, yet spare thy people who
suffer for my sake, and in my sufferings.
Romans 8:1-11
Verse 1
[1] There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in
Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
There is therefore now no condemnation — Either for things
present or past. Now he comes to deliverance and liberty. The apostle here
resumes the thread of his discourse, which was interrupted, Romans 7:7.
Verse 2
[2] For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made
me free from the law of sin and death.
The law of the Spirit — That is, the gospel.
Hath freed me from the law of sin and death — That is, the
Mosaic dispensation.
Verse 3
[3] For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through
the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for
sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
For what the law — Of Moses.
Could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh — Incapable
of conquering our evil nature. If it could, God needed not to have sent his own
Son in the likeness of sinful flesh - We with our sinful flesh were devoted to
death. But God sending his own Son, in the likeness of that flesh, though pure
from sin, condemned that sin which was in our flesh; gave sentence, that sin
should be destroyed, and the believer wholly delivered from it.
Verse 4
[4] That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us,
who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
That the righteousness of the law — The holiness it required,
described, Romans 8:11.
Might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but
after the Spirit — Who are guided in all our thoughts, words, and actions, not
by corrupt nature, but by the Spirit of God. From this place St. Paul describes
primarily the state of believers, and that of unbelievers only to illustrate
this.
Verse 5
[5] For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the
flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
They that are after the flesh — Who remain under the guidance of
corrupt nature.
Mind the things of the flesh — Have their thoughts and
affections fixed on such things as gratify corrupt nature; namely, on things
visible and temporal; on things of the earth, on pleasure, (of sense or
imagination,) praise, or riches.
But they who are after the Spirit — Who are under his guidance.
Mind the things of the Spirit — Think of, relish, love things
invisible, eternal; the things which the Spirit hath revealed, which he works
in us, moves us to, and promises to give us.
Verse 6
[6] For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually
minded is life and peace.
For to be carnally minded — That is, to mind the things of the
flesh.
Is death — The sure mark of spiritual death, and the way to
death everlasting.
But to be spiritually minded — That is, to mind the things of
the Spirit.
Is life — A sure mark of spiritual life, and the way to life
everlasting. And attended with peace - The peace of God, which is the foretaste
of life everlasting; and peace with God, opposite to the enmity mentioned in
the next verse.
Verse 7
[7] Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not
subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
Enmity against God — His existence, power, and providence.
Verse 8
[8] So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
They who are in the flesh — Under the government of it.
Verse 9
[9] But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be
that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of
Christ, he is none of his.
In the Spirit — Under his government.
If any man have not the Spirit of Christ — Dwelling and
governing in him.
He is none of his — He is not a member of Christ; not a
Christian; not in a state of salvation. A plain, express declaration, which
admits of no exception. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear!
Verse 10
[10] And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin;
but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
Now if Christ be in you — Where the Spirit of Christ is, there
is Christ.
The body indeed is dead — Devoted to death.
Because of sin — Heretofore committed.
But the Spirit is life — Already truly alive.
Because of righteousness — Now attained. From Romans 8:13, St.
Paul, having finished what he had begun, Romans 6:1, describes purely the state
of believers.
Matthew 13:1-9,18-23
Verse 2
[2] And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so
that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.
He went into the vessel — Which constantly waited upon him,
while he was on the sea coast.
Verse 3
[3] And he spake many things unto them in parables, saying,
Behold, a sower went forth to sow;
In parables — The word is here taken in its proper sense, for
apt similes or comparisons. This way of speaking, extremely common in the
eastern countries, drew and fixed the attention of many, and occasioned the
truths delivered to sink the deeper into humble and serious hearers. At the
same time, by an awful mixture of justice and mercy, it hid them from the proud
and careless. In this chapter our Lord delivers seven parables; directing the
four former (as being of general concern) to all the people; the three latter
to his disciples.
Behold the sower — How exquisitely proper is this parable to be
an introduction to all the rest! In this our Lord answers a very obvious and a
very important question. The same sower, Christ, and the same preachers sent by
him, always sow the same seed: why has it not always the same effect? He that
hath ears to hear, let him hear!
Verse 4
[4] And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the
fowls came and devoured them up:
And while he sowed, some seeds fell by the highway side, and the
birds came and devoured them — It is observable, that our Lord points out the
grand hinderances of our bearing fruit, in the same order as they occur. The
first danger is, that the birds will devour the seed. If it escape this, there
is then another danger, namely, lest it be scorched, and wither away. It is
long after this that the thorns spring up and choke the good seed. A vast majority
of those who hear the word of God, receive the seed as by the highway side. Of
those who do not lose it by the birds, yet many receive it as on stony places.
Many of them who receive it in a better soil, yet suffer the thorns to grow up,
and choke it: so that few even of these endure to the end, and bear fruit unto
perfection: yet in all these cases, it is not the will of God that hinders, but
their own voluntary perverseness.
Verse 8
[8] But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit,
some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.
Good ground — Soft, not like that by the highway side; deep, not
like the stony ground; purged, not full of thorns.
Verse 19
[19] When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and
understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which
was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.
When any one heareth the word, and considereth it not — The
first and most general cause of unfruitfulness.
The wicked one cometh — Either inwardly; filling the mind with
thoughts of other things; or by his agent. Such are all they that introduce
other subjects, when men should be considering what they have heard.
Verse 20
[20] But he that received the seed into stony places, the same
is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;
The seed sown on stony places, therefore sprang up soon, because
it did not sink deep, Matthew 13:5.
He receiveth it with joy — Perhaps with transport, with ecstacy:
struck with the beauty of truth, and drawn by the preventing grace of God.
Verse 21
[21] Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while:
for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he
is offended.
Yet hath he not root in himself — No deep work of grace: no
change in the ground of his heart. Nay, he has no deep conviction; and without
this, good desires soon wither away.
He is offended — He finds a thousand plausible pretences for
leaving so narrow and rugged a way.
Verse 22
[22] He also that received seed among the thorns is he that
heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches,
choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.
He that received the seed among the thorns, is he that heareth
the word and considereth it — In spite of Satan and his agents: yea, hath root
in himself is deeply convinced, and in a great measure inwardly changed; so
that he will not draw back, even when tribulation or persecution ariseth. And
yet even in him, together with the good seed, the thorns spring up, Matthew
13:7. (perhaps unperceived at first) till they gradually choke it, destroy all
its life and power, and it becometh unfruitful. Cares are thorns to the poor:
wealth to the rich; the desire of other things to all.
The deceitfulness of riches — Deceitful indeed! for they smile,
and betray: kiss, and smite into hell. They put out the eyes, harden the heart,
steal away all the life of God; fill the soul with pride, anger, love of the
world; make men enemies to the whole cross of Christ! And all the while are
eagerly desired, and vehemently pursued, even by those who believe there is a
God!
Verse 23
[23] But he that received seed into the good ground is he that
heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth
forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.
Some a hundred fold, some sixty, some thirty — That is, in
various proportions; some abundantly more than others.
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Today’s Devotion:
Nashville, Tennessee, United States - The Upper Room Daily
Devotional "Live it!" for Wednesday, 16 July 2014 - Read Ezekiel
33:30-32 “As for you, son of man, you’ve become quite the talk of the town.
Your people meet on street corners and in front of their houses and say, ‘Let’s
go hear the latest news from God.’ They show up, as people tend to do, and sit
in your company. They listen to you speak, but don’t do a thing you say. They
flatter you with compliments, but all they care about is making money and
getting ahead. To them you’re merely entertainment—a country singer of sad love
songs, playing a guitar. They love to hear you talk, but nothing comes of it.
33 “But when all this happens—and it is going to happen!—they’ll
realize that a prophet was among them.”
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do
what it says.(James 1:22 (NIV))
In the midst of busy lives, even when we make daily Bible
reading a priority we sometimes find ourselves merely scanning the pages and
not reading the scripture in ways that can help us apply its truths. When we
read the Bible as if hearing that story or that event for the first time, we
can discover something new in its pages. And it can be an inexhaustible source
of truth and encouragement. The prophet Ezekiel spoke to the people of his day
about applying the word of God to their lives. They loved to listen to the word
but did not do well in practicing what they heard. So God spoke to Ezekiel,
saying, “To them you are like a singer of love songs, one who has a beautiful
voice and plays well on an instrument; they hear what you say, but they will
not do it” (33:32, NRSV). Jesus expanded on this theme: “Everyone who hears
these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built
his house on the rock” (Matt. 7:24, NIV). Scripture takes on tremendous power
when we apply it every day. It addresses our problems, displaying God’s concern
for us and God’s wisdom to help solve these problems. Putting the word of God
into practice can improve our relationships and give us direction for our
lives. Instead of resolving only to read the Bible, we can resolve to live it!
The Author: Andy Baker (Tennessee, USA)
Thought for the Day: What is God’s word showing me today?
Prayer: Dear God, as we read your word, help us to discern your
message for our hearts and lives each day. Amen.
Prayer focus: Someone who doesn’t have access to a Bible
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O God of all Creation and all creatures great and small, God of
all peoples and each child born everywhere, open our hearts we pray to the
children in this place and to all the precious children who have been displaced
from their homes by poverty, violence, economic injustice and exploitation and
forced to flee for their lives to this land. May we like Rachel cry out for
them. May we like Hagar seek springs in the desert for them. May we like Miriam
protect them from the powerful who would do them harm. May we like Mary celebrate
them as gifts of God to us all. May we like Jesus proclaim to the hard hearted
of this land “ Let the children come. Do not hinder them. For to such as these
belongs the realm of the God of justice and compassion and peace and when we
exclude them we exclude ourselves from that realm.”
O God we pray for those in this place and beyond this place who
are seeking to be instruments of your tender , loving care, your wings of
protection and your spirit of justice on behalf of these vulnerable ones. Grant
them wisdom, Grant them courage for their living of these days. And, Lord,
touch the hearts and consciences of the decision makers of this land so that
they might rise above the prejudices , vanities and petty ambitions that would
cause them to treat these precious children as pawns in the game of politics.
Move our leaders, O God, to do what is right , what is good , what is humane
and to refuse to cast these children back callously to the lands of their
suffering.
Hear our prayer O Lord, incline your ear to us and grant all
peoples and each child everywhere your peace. This we pray in the name of all
that is Holy and Sacred. Amen.(Pastor Danuiel Farley)
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Contact Information:
Great Plains Conference of the United Methodist Church
9440 E Boston, Suite 160
Wichita KS 67207
316-686-0600
800-745-2350
info@greatplainsumc.org
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