The Upper Room Daily Reflections, daily words of wisdom and faith in Nashville, Tennessee, United States "Seeing God’s Love" for Friday, 26 August 2016

The Upper Room Daily Reflections, daily words of wisdom and faith in Nashville, Tennessee, United States "Seeing God’s Love" for Friday, 26 August 2016
Today’s Reflection:
MAY I SEE TODAY
the largeness of your love
in even the smallest part of creation.
May I be ravished
by traces of your beauty
in earth and sky.
May I experience
the eternity of your grace
pulsing within each moment.[Earth Gospel: A Guide to Prayer for God’s Creation]
From page 130 of Earth Gospel: A Guide to Prayer for God’s Creation by 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 prayer. MAY I SEE TODAY
the largeness of your love
in even the smallest part of creation.
May I be ravished
by traces of your beauty
in earth and sky.
May I experience
the eternity of your grace
pulsing within each moment. Amen!
Today’s Scripture:
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.[Hebrews 13:8, NRSV]
This Week: pray for those who are grieving.

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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 website.
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This week we remember: Rose of Lima (August 23).

Rose of Lima
August 23
Born in 1586 in Peru, Isabel de Flores was nicknamed Rose because of her beauty. She admired Catherine of Siena and even as an adolescent practiced acts of penance and self-denial; Rose was determined to give herself to God. When suitors came seeking marriage, she scarred her face with lime and pepper so no one would want her and she could belong to God alone. When she was twenty she joined the Third Order of Dominic, moved to a tiny hut on her parents' property, and devoted herself to prayer. She wore a crown of thorns to remind her of Christ's suffering.
Besides her deep prayer life, Rose performed acts of mercy, reaching out to Indians, slaves, and the poor of Lima. After her sisters married and left the family home, she used their bedrooms as an infirmary. Word of her goodness spread. When she died at age thirty-one, thousands of people came to pay respects.
Rose of Lima was the first canonized saint from the Americas and is a patron saint of Peru and all of Latin America.
If Rose of Lima had taken the Spiritual Types Test, she probably would have been a Mystic. Rose of Lima is remembered on August 23.
Image is from Museo Lazaro Galdiano, Madrid.

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Lectionary Readings:
Sunday, 28 August 2016
(Courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library)

Jeremiah 2:4-13
Psalm 81:1, 10-16
Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16

Luke 14:1, 7-14
Scripture Text for 

Jeremiah 2:

4 Hear the word of Adonai, house of Ya‘akov

and all families in the house of Isra’el;

5 here is what Adonai says:

“What did your ancestors find wrong with me

to make them go so far away from me,

to make them go after nothings

and become themselves nothings?

6 They didn’t ask, ‘Where is Adonai,

who brought us out of the land of Egypt,

who led us through the desert,

through a land of wastes and ravines,

through a land of drought and death-dark shadows,

through a land where no one travels

and where no one ever lived?’

7 I brought you into a fertile land

to enjoy its fruit and all its good things;

but when you entered, you defiled my land

and made my heritage loathsome.

8 The cohanim didn’t ask, ‘Where is Adonai?’

Those who deal with the Torah did not know me,

the people’s shepherds rebelled against me;

the prophets prophesied by Ba‘al

and went after things of no value.

9 “So again I state my case against you,” says Adonai,

“and state it against your grandchildren too.

10 Cross to the coasts of the Kitti’im and look;

send to Kedar and observe closely;

see if anything like this has happened before:

11 has a nation ever exchanged its gods

(and theirs are not gods at all!)?

Yet my people have exchanged their Glory

for something without value.

12 Be aghast at this, you heavens!

Shudder in absolute horror!” says Adonai.

13 “For my people have committed two evils:

they have abandoned me,

the fountain of living water,

and dug themselves cisterns, broken cisterns,

that can hold no water!

Psalm 81:1 (0) For the Leader. On the gittit. By Asaf:

10 (9) There is not to be with you any foreign god;

you are not to worship an alien god.

11 (10) I am Adonai your God,

who brought you up from the land of Egypt.

Open your mouth, and I will fill it.’

12 (11) “But my people did not listen to my voice;

Isra’el would have none of me.

13 (12) So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts,

to live by their own plans.

14 (13) How I wish my people would listen to me,

that Isra’el would live by my ways!

15 (14) I would quickly subdue their enemies

and turn my hand against their foes.

16 (15) Those who hate Adonai would cringe before him,

while [Isra’el’s] time would last forever.

Hebrews 13:1

 Let brotherly friendship continue; 2 but don’t forget to be friendly to outsiders; for in so doing, some people, without knowing it, have entertained angels. 3 Remember those in prison and being mistreated, as if you were in prison with them and undergoing their torture yourselves.

4 Marriage is honorable in every respect; and, in particular, sex within marriage is pure. But God will indeed punish fornicators and adulterers.

5 Keep your lives free from the love of money; and be satisfied with what you have; for God himself has said, “I will never fail you or abandon you.”[Hebrews 13:5 Deuteronomy 31:6] 6 Therefore, we say with confidence,

“Adonai is my helper; I will not be afraid —

what can a human being do to me?”[Hebrews 13:6 Psalm 118:6]

7 Remember your leaders, those who spoke God’s message to you. Reflect on the results of their way of life, and imitate their trust — 8 Yeshua the Messiah is the same yesterday, today and forever.

15 Through him, therefore, let us offer God a sacrifice of praise continually.[Hebrews 13:15 Leviticus 7:12; 22:29; Psalms 50:14, 23; 107:22; 116:17; 2 Chronicles 29:31] For this is the natural product of lips that acknowledge his name.

16 But don’t forget doing good and sharing with others, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

Luke 14:1 One Shabbat Yeshua went to eat in the home of one of the leading P’rushim, and they were watching him closely.

7 When Yeshua noticed how the guests were choosing for themselves the best seats at the table, he told them this parable: 8 “When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, don’t sit down in the best seat; because if there is someone more important than you who has been invited, 9 the person who invited both of you might come and say to you, ‘Give this man your place.’ Then you will be humiliated as you go to take the least important place. 10 Instead, when you are invited, go and sit in the least important place; so that when the one who invited you comes, he will say to you, ‘Go on up to a better seat.’ Then you will be honored in front of everyone sitting with you. 11 Because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but everyone who humbles himself will be exalted.”

12 Yeshua also said to the one who had invited him, “When you give a lunch or a dinner, don’t invite your friends, brothers, relatives or rich neighbors; for they may well invite you in return, and that will be your repayment. 13 Instead, when you have a party, invite poor people, disfigured people, the crippled, the blind! 14 How blessed you will be that they have nothing with which to repay you! For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

The John Wesley's Notes-Commentary for 

Jeremiah 2:4-13

Verse 5

[5] Thus saith the LORD, What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain?

Vanity — Idols.

Vain — Fools; senseless as the stocks and stones that they made their idols of.

Verse 6

[6] Neither said they, Where is the LORD that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought, and of the shadow of death, through a land that no man passed through, and where no man dwelt?

Neither — They never concerned themselves about what God had done for them, which should have engaged them to cleave to him.

Of drought — Where they had no water but by miracle.

Death — Bringing forth nothing that might support life, therefore nothing but death could be expected; and besides, yielding so many venomous creatures, as many enemies that they went in continual danger of.

No man dwelt — As having in it no accommodation for travellers, much less for habitation.

Verse 7

[7] And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination.

My land — Consecrated to my name; by your idols and many other abominations.

Verse 8

[8] The priests said not, Where is the LORD? and they that handle the law knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit.

They — They that should have taught others, knew as little as they, or regarded as little, who are said here to handle the law, the priests and Levites, who were the ordinary teachers of the law.

Pastors — Either teachers, or kings and princes.

Prophets — They that should have taught the people the true worship of God, were themselves worshippers of Baal.

Verse 9

[9] Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the LORD, and with your children's children will I plead.

Plead — By his judgments, and by his prophets, as he did with their fathers, that they may be left without excuse.

Children — God often visits the iniquities of the parents upon the children, when they imitate their parents.

Verse 10

[10] For pass over the isles of Chittim, and see; and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there be such a thing.

Of Chittim — All the isles in the Mediterranean sea, with the neighbouring coasts; for the Hebrews call all people, that separated from them by the sea, islanders, because they came to them by shipping.

Kedar — Arabia that lay east-south-east of Judea, as Chittim did more north or north-west; go from north to south, east to west, and make the experiment; look to Chittim the most civilized, or Kedar the most barbarous, yet neither have changed their gods.

Verse 11

[11] Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit.

Their glory — The true God, who was their glory; and who always did them good, giving them cause to glory in him.

Verse 12

[12] Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the LORD.

O ye heavens — A pathetical expression, intimating that it is such a thing, that the very inanimate creatures, could they be sensible of it, would be astonished.

Be desolate — Lose your brightness, as the sun seemed to do when Christ suffered.

Verse 13

[13] For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

Of living waters — A metaphor taken from springs, called living, because they never cease, or intermit; such had God's care and kindness been over them.

Cisterns — Either their idols, which are empty vain things, that never answer expectation, or the Assyrians, and Egyptians. Indeed all other supports, that are trusted to besides God, are but broken vessels.

Psalm 81:1, 10-16

Verse 10

[10] I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it.

Wide — Either to pray for mercies, or to receive the mercies which I am ready to give you.

Verse 15

[15] The haters of the LORD should have submitted themselves unto him: but their time should have endured for ever.

Him — Unto Israel.

Their time — Their happy time.

Verse 16

[16] He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat: and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee.

Honey — With all pleasant and precious fruits.

Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16

Verse 1
[1] Let brotherly love continue.

Brotherly love is explained in the following verses.

Verse 2

[2] Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.

Some — Abraham and Lot.

Have entertained angels unawares — So may an unknown guest, even now, be of more worth than he appears, and may have angels attending him, though unseen. Genesis 18:2; Genesis 19:1.

Verse 3

[3] Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with them; and them which suffer adversity, as being yourselves also in the body.

Remember — In your prayers, and by your help.

Them that are in bonds, as being bound with them — Seeing ye are members one of another.

And them that suffer, as being yourselves in the body — And consequently liable to the same.

Verse 4

[4] Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.

Marriage is honourable in, or for all sorts of men, clergy as well as laity: though the Romanists teach otherwise.

And the bed undefiled — Consistent with the highest purity; though many spiritual writers, so called, say it is only licensed whoredom.

But whoremongers and adulterers God will judge — Though they frequently escape the sentence of men.

Verse 5

[5] Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.

He — God.

Hath said — To all believers, in saying it to Jacob, Joshua, and Solomon. Genesis 28:15; Joshua 1:5; 1 Chronicles 28:20.

Verse 6

[6] So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me.

Psalms 118:6.

Verse 7

[7] Remember them which have the rule over you, who have spoken unto you the word of God: whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation.

Remember them — Who are now with God, considering the happy end of their conversation on earth.

Verse 8

[8] Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.

Men may die; but Jesus Christ, yea, and his gospel, is the same from everlasting to everlasting.

Verse 15

[15] By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.

The sacrifice — The altar is mentioned, Hebrews 13:10; now the sacrifices: 1. Praise; 2. Beneficence; with both of which God is well pleased.

Luke 14:1, 7-14

Verse 7

[7] And he put forth a parable to those which were bidden, when he marked how they chose out the chief rooms; saying unto them,

He spake a parable — The ensuing discourse is so termed, because several parts are not to be understood literally. The general scope of it is, Not only at a marriage feast, but on every occasion, he that exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that abaseth himself shall be exalted.

Verse 11

[11] For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.

Matthew 23:12.

Verse 12

[12] Then said he also to him that bade him, When thou makest a dinner or a supper, call not thy friends, nor thy brethren, neither thy kinsmen, nor thy rich neighbours; lest they also bid thee again, and a recompence be made thee.

Call not thy friends — That is, I do not bid thee call thy friends or thy neighbours. Our Lord leaves these offices of humanity and courtesy as they were, and teaches a higher duty. But is it not implied herein, that we should be sparing in entertaining those that need it not, in order to assist those that do need, with all that is saved from those needless entertainments? Lest a recompense be made - This fear is as much unknown to the world, as even the fear of riches.

Verse 14

[14] And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.

One of them that sat at table hearing these things — And being touched therewith, said, Happy is he that shall eat bread in the kingdom of God - Alluding to what had just been spoken. It means, he that shall have a part in the resurrection of the just.

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