John 1:1-51 & John 1:38-39
Daily Scripture: John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
2 He was with God in the beginning.
3 All things came to be through him,
and without him nothing made had being.
4 In him was life,
and the life was the light of mankind.
5 The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness has not suppressed it., 14 The Word became a human being and lived with us,
and we saw his Sh’khinah,
the Sh’khinah of the Father’s only Son,
full of grace and truth., (Complete Jewish Bible)
John 1:38 Yeshua turned and saw them following him, and he asked them, “What are you looking for?” They said to him, “Rabbi!” (which means “Teacher!”) “Where are you staying?” 39 He said to them, “Come and see.” So they went and saw where he was staying, and remained with him the rest of the day — it was about four o’clock in the afternoon. (Complete Jewish Bible)
Prayer Tip: Therefore, dear friends, since you have been warned in advance, be on guard so that you aren’t led off course into the error of sinful people, and lose your own safe position. Instead, grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. To him belongs glory now and forever. Amen. (2 Peter 3:17-18)
This week I was reflecting on what a gift God gave us when he gave us the gift of thought and reason. He gave us these amazing, beautiful minds that have the ability to learn, grow, stretch and understand new ideas and create original thoughts. He gifted us with teachers and leaders and gave them the ability to share their knowledge in ways we can understand. We have books, podcasts, webinars, teachers and pastors at our fingertips to bring new ideas to us.
The news this week (and many weeks) reminded me that we don’t always use this gift in a way that is pleasing to God or beneficial to our brothers and sisters. We use our minds to focus on hateful ideas and words. We read books and articles that further incite rage in our hearts. Once we have focused our mind on these negative thoughts, sometimes even our actions follow and we commit violent, depraved acts.
As Peter said, I hope we will choose to use our minds to focus on growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord. We can choose to use our thoughts to meditate on his word and ways, and God will guide us to act in ways that are just, promote mercy and build bridges.
Dear Lord, Thank you for the gift of thought and choice. You have given us so much power. Please guide us to use that power in ways that build things up instead of tearing down, promote peace instead of violence and promote kindness instead of anger. Amen. (Ashly Cooley, Counseling & Support Ministries)
Ashly supports the Congregational Care ministry at Resurrection Leawood. She works primarily with our Counseling and Support ministries.
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- Dr. Bravestone: “We need each other, whether we like it or not”
- No one “got all the good stuff”
- Or download this week's printable GPS.
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Scripture quotations are taken from The Common English Bible ©2011.
Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
Leawood, Kansas 66224, United States
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