Today’s Reflection:
The searching and questioning have unsettled the soil of my soul, sort of like the springtime process of unsettling the serenity of the garden. I grab a hoe and loosen the dirt so sun and rain can probe to the roots below. Sometimes, faced with the need to till my “prayer garden,” all I can say is that I’m willing to “pick up the hoe”—just willing to begin.[Linda Douty, Praying in the Messiness of Life]
From pages 20-21 of Praying in the Messiness of Life: 7 Ways to Renew Your Relationship with God by Linda Douty. Copyright © 2011 by Linda Douty. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Upper Room Books. http://bookstore.upperroom.org/ Learn more about or purchase this book.
Today’s Question:
Describe experiences that move you to a greater sense of groundedness.
Today’s Scripture:
Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight.[Luke 24:31, NRSV]
This Week: pray for people those who are experiencing divorce.
-------
The Upper Room Daily Reflections in Nashville, Tennessee, United States "Full Body Knowing" for Friday, 28 April 2017
Today’s Reflection:
Loss reaches deep in the soul too. When our child dies, our soul is stripped of much of the comfort and security it had constructed for itself. The soul may have had a fundamental trust of the universe or God, but when a child is taken from us, the soul must fundamentally reorient itself. The world will never be as friendly as it was before. . . . To remember, to tell the story over and over, is the soul’s way of trying to re-understand and know itself in relation to the forces that hold life and threaten life.
It could be said that through remembering we come to “full body” knowing. When we tell of the one we have lost, we are integrating our body, mind, heart, and soul so that all of who we are fully experiences the truth of the loss.[Dan Moseley, Lose, Love, Live]
From page 62 of Lose, Love, Live: The Spiritual Gifts of Loss and Change by Dan Moseley. Copyright © 2010 by Dan Moseley. All rights reserved. Used by permission of Upper Room Books. http://bookstore.upperroom.org/ Learn more about or purchase this book.
Today’s Question:
What are ways you deal with lose and grief?
Today’s Scripture:
You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without defect or blemish.[1 Peter 1:18-19, NRSV]
This Week: pray for people those who are experiencing divorce.
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.
This week we remember: Mark the Evangelist (April 25).
Mark the EvangelistApril 25
It is widely accepted that this saint, the writer of the first gospel, is John Mark, cousin of Barnabas, and companion of Paul and Barnabas in the book of Acts (Acts 12:12 and 25). Many scholars believe that Mark was also the "young man" who followed Jesus after his arrest:
"A certain young man was following him, wearing nothing but a linen cloth. They caught hold of him, but he left the linen cloth and ran off naked."[Mark 14:15-16, NRSV]
The gospel of Mark dates to about A.D. 70. Mark's is the shortest gospel, telling Jesus' story simply and directly. It begins with John the Baptist and ends with the women visiting Jesus' empty tomb.
If St. Mark had taken the Spiritual Types Test he probably would have been a Lover. Mark's feast day is April 25.
(This image of Mark is detail from a statue by Donatello in Florence, 1411.)
Lectionary Readings
Sunday, 30 April 2017
(Courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library)
Acts 2:14a, 36-41
Psalm 116:1-4, 12-19
1 Peter 1:17-23
Luke 24:13-35
Lectionary Scripture:
Acts 2:14 Then Kefa stood up with the Eleven and raised his voice to address them: “You Judeans, and all of you staying here in Yerushalayim! Let me tell you what this means! Listen carefully to me!
36 Therefore, let the whole house of Isra’el know beyond doubt that God has made him both Lord and Messiah — this Yeshua, whom you executed on a stake!”
37 On hearing this, they were stung in their hearts; and they said to Kefa and the other emissaries, “Brothers, what should we do?” 38 Kefa answered them, “Turn from sin, return to God, and each of you be immersed on the authority of Yeshua the Messiah into forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Ruach HaKodesh! 39 For the promise is for you, for your children, and for those far away — as many as Adonai our God may call!”
40 He pressed his case with many other arguments and kept pleading with them, “Save yourselves from this perverse generation!”
41 So those who accepted what he said were immersed, and there were added to the group that day about three thousand people.
Psalm 116:1 I love that Adonai heard
my voice when I prayed;
2 because he turned his ear to me,
I will call on him as long as I live.
3 The cords of death were all around me,
Sh’ol’s constrictions held me fast;
I was finding only distress and anguish.
4 But I called on the name of Adonai:
“Please, Adonai! Save me!”
12 How can I repay Adonai
for all his generous dealings with me?
13 I will raise the cup of salvation
and call on the name of Adonai.
14 I will pay my vows to Adonai
in the presence of all his people.
15 From Adonai’s point of view,
the death of those faithful to him is costly.
16 Oh, Adonai! I am your slave;
I am your slave, the son of your slave-girl;
you have removed my fetters.
17 I will offer a sacrifice of thanks to you
and will call on the name of Adonai.
18 I will pay my vows to Adonai
in the presence of all his people,
19 in the courtyards of Adonai’s house,
there in your very heart, Yerushalayim.
Halleluyah!
1 Peter 1:17 Also, if you are addressing as Father the one who judges impartially according to each person’s actions, you should live out your temporary stay on earth in fear. 18 You should be aware that the ransom paid to free you from the worthless way of life which your fathers passed on to you did not consist of anything perishable like silver or gold; 19 on the contrary, it was the costly bloody sacrificial death of the Messiah, as of a lamb without defect or spot. 20 God knew him before the founding of the universe, but revealed him in the acharit-hayamim for your sakes. 21 Through him you trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory; so that your trust and hope are in God.
22 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth, so that you have a sincere love for your brothers, love each other deeply, with all your heart. 23 You have been born again not from some seed that will decay, but from one that cannot decay, through the living Word of God that lasts forever.
Luke 24:13 That same day, two of them were going toward a village about seven miles from Yerushalayim called Amma’us, 14 and they were talking with each other about all the things that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed, Yeshua himself came up and walked along with them, 16 but something kept them from recognizing him. 17 He asked them, “What are you talking about with each other as you walk along?” They stopped short, their faces downcast; 18 and one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only person staying in Yerushalayim that doesn’t know the things that have been going on there the last few days?” 19 “What things?” he asked them. They said to him, “The things about Yeshua from Natzeret. He was a prophet and proved it by the things he did and said before God and all the people. 20 Our head cohanim and our leaders handed him over, so that he could be sentenced to death and executed on a stake as a criminal. 21 And we had hoped that he would be the one to liberate Isra’el! Besides all that, today is the third day since these things happened; 22 and this morning, some of the women astounded us. They were at the tomb early 23 and couldn’t find his body, so they came back; but they also reported that they had seen a vision of angels who say he’s alive! 24 Some of our friends went to the tomb and found it exactly as the women had said, but they didn’t see him.”
25 He said to them, “Foolish people! So unwilling to put your trust in everything the prophets spoke! 26 Didn’t the Messiah have to die like this before entering his glory?” 27 Then, starting with Moshe and all the prophets, he explained to them the things that can be found throughout the Tanakh concerning himself.
28 They approached the village where they were going. He made as if he were going on farther; 29 but they held him back, saying, “Stay with us, for it’s almost evening, and it’s getting dark.” So he went in to stay with them. 30 As he was reclining with them at the table, he took the matzah, made the b’rakhah, broke it and handed it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. But he became invisible to them. 32 They said to each other, “Didn’t our hearts burn inside us as he spoke to us on the road, opening up the Tanakh to us?”
33 They got up at once, returned to Yerushalayim and found the Eleven gathered together with their friends, 34 saying, “It’s true! The Lord has risen! Shim‘on saw him!” 35 Then the two told what had happened on the road and how he had become known to them in the breaking of the matzah.-------
Sunday, 30 April 2017
(Courtesy of Vanderbilt Divinity Library)
Acts 2:14a, 36-41
Psalm 116:1-4, 12-19
1 Peter 1:17-23
Luke 24:13-35
Lectionary Scripture:
Acts 2:14 Then Kefa stood up with the Eleven and raised his voice to address them: “You Judeans, and all of you staying here in Yerushalayim! Let me tell you what this means! Listen carefully to me!
36 Therefore, let the whole house of Isra’el know beyond doubt that God has made him both Lord and Messiah — this Yeshua, whom you executed on a stake!”
37 On hearing this, they were stung in their hearts; and they said to Kefa and the other emissaries, “Brothers, what should we do?” 38 Kefa answered them, “Turn from sin, return to God, and each of you be immersed on the authority of Yeshua the Messiah into forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Ruach HaKodesh! 39 For the promise is for you, for your children, and for those far away — as many as Adonai our God may call!”
40 He pressed his case with many other arguments and kept pleading with them, “Save yourselves from this perverse generation!”
41 So those who accepted what he said were immersed, and there were added to the group that day about three thousand people.
Psalm 116:1 I love that Adonai heard
my voice when I prayed;
2 because he turned his ear to me,
I will call on him as long as I live.
3 The cords of death were all around me,
Sh’ol’s constrictions held me fast;
I was finding only distress and anguish.
4 But I called on the name of Adonai:
“Please, Adonai! Save me!”
12 How can I repay Adonai
for all his generous dealings with me?
13 I will raise the cup of salvation
and call on the name of Adonai.
14 I will pay my vows to Adonai
in the presence of all his people.
15 From Adonai’s point of view,
the death of those faithful to him is costly.
16 Oh, Adonai! I am your slave;
I am your slave, the son of your slave-girl;
you have removed my fetters.
17 I will offer a sacrifice of thanks to you
and will call on the name of Adonai.
18 I will pay my vows to Adonai
in the presence of all his people,
19 in the courtyards of Adonai’s house,
there in your very heart, Yerushalayim.
Halleluyah!
1 Peter 1:17 Also, if you are addressing as Father the one who judges impartially according to each person’s actions, you should live out your temporary stay on earth in fear. 18 You should be aware that the ransom paid to free you from the worthless way of life which your fathers passed on to you did not consist of anything perishable like silver or gold; 19 on the contrary, it was the costly bloody sacrificial death of the Messiah, as of a lamb without defect or spot. 20 God knew him before the founding of the universe, but revealed him in the acharit-hayamim for your sakes. 21 Through him you trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory; so that your trust and hope are in God.
22 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth, so that you have a sincere love for your brothers, love each other deeply, with all your heart. 23 You have been born again not from some seed that will decay, but from one that cannot decay, through the living Word of God that lasts forever.
Luke 24:13 That same day, two of them were going toward a village about seven miles from Yerushalayim called Amma’us, 14 and they were talking with each other about all the things that had happened. 15 As they talked and discussed, Yeshua himself came up and walked along with them, 16 but something kept them from recognizing him. 17 He asked them, “What are you talking about with each other as you walk along?” They stopped short, their faces downcast; 18 and one of them, named Cleopas, answered him, “Are you the only person staying in Yerushalayim that doesn’t know the things that have been going on there the last few days?” 19 “What things?” he asked them. They said to him, “The things about Yeshua from Natzeret. He was a prophet and proved it by the things he did and said before God and all the people. 20 Our head cohanim and our leaders handed him over, so that he could be sentenced to death and executed on a stake as a criminal. 21 And we had hoped that he would be the one to liberate Isra’el! Besides all that, today is the third day since these things happened; 22 and this morning, some of the women astounded us. They were at the tomb early 23 and couldn’t find his body, so they came back; but they also reported that they had seen a vision of angels who say he’s alive! 24 Some of our friends went to the tomb and found it exactly as the women had said, but they didn’t see him.”
25 He said to them, “Foolish people! So unwilling to put your trust in everything the prophets spoke! 26 Didn’t the Messiah have to die like this before entering his glory?” 27 Then, starting with Moshe and all the prophets, he explained to them the things that can be found throughout the Tanakh concerning himself.
28 They approached the village where they were going. He made as if he were going on farther; 29 but they held him back, saying, “Stay with us, for it’s almost evening, and it’s getting dark.” So he went in to stay with them. 30 As he was reclining with them at the table, he took the matzah, made the b’rakhah, broke it and handed it to them. 31 Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him. But he became invisible to them. 32 They said to each other, “Didn’t our hearts burn inside us as he spoke to us on the road, opening up the Tanakh to us?”
33 They got up at once, returned to Yerushalayim and found the Eleven gathered together with their friends, 34 saying, “It’s true! The Lord has risen! Shim‘on saw him!” 35 Then the two told what had happened on the road and how he had become known to them in the breaking of the matzah.-------
The Upper Room Ministries ®.
Copyright © 2017
PO Box 340004
Nashville, Tennessee 37203-0004, United States
-------
-------
No comments:
Post a Comment