Gladden the soul of your servant, for to you, O LORD, I lift up my soul.
Psalm 86:4
This is David’s prayer and in it he talks about his steadfast love in the Lord. He has many troubles that we do not know about until later on in the Psalm. The only ones we know are that he is poor and needy. By confessing to “lift up his soul,” David knows and we can see that if we truly keep the faith that God will answer us by gladdening our soul. I understand that to mean that if we confess our sins and walk in God’s path, we will be forgiven.
Janice Buchan
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Friday, February 27, 2009
Lenten Reflection - February 27, 2009
Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up quickly; your vindicator shall go before you, the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
Isaiah 58:8
That is a nice thought but what do I have to do before the “Then”? God’s prophet is speaking what the Lord tells him to say. One of our anthems asks “How could I not have known Isaiah would be there?” And one of the praise songs we sing tells us “He will bear us on the breath of dawn and make us to shine like the sun.” That is surely to be desired. What must I do? I read back and find Isaiah is describing the way God wants me to spend a day of fasting. (Definitely not in black, with a long face) God wants me to break the chain of injustice, free the oppressed, cancel debts, feed the hungry, cloth the naked, be available to my own family—I’m thinking, two out of six isn’t too bad, but it’s not good either. It is just a beginning. That is what I have to do before the “then.”
Caroline Chisum
Isaiah 58:8
That is a nice thought but what do I have to do before the “Then”? God’s prophet is speaking what the Lord tells him to say. One of our anthems asks “How could I not have known Isaiah would be there?” And one of the praise songs we sing tells us “He will bear us on the breath of dawn and make us to shine like the sun.” That is surely to be desired. What must I do? I read back and find Isaiah is describing the way God wants me to spend a day of fasting. (Definitely not in black, with a long face) God wants me to break the chain of injustice, free the oppressed, cancel debts, feed the hungry, cloth the naked, be available to my own family—I’m thinking, two out of six isn’t too bad, but it’s not good either. It is just a beginning. That is what I have to do before the “then.”
Caroline Chisum
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Lenten Reflection - February 26, 2009
The Son of Man must undergo great suffering, and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day raised.
Luke 9:22
Jesus was praying with the disciples when Peter professed his belief that Jesus was Christ. Immediately after this, Jesus hits the disciples with the biggest test of their belief and faith in Him, and prophesied that he would be rejected, killed, and raised from the dead on the third day. He advised the disciples to live selflessly and not be ashamed of following Him.
What strikes us about this passages is that the same message is repeated verbatim in Matthew, Mark, and Luke—three times in their Gospels! We can conclude that the disciples were not getting Jesus’ message of His death and resurrection because He repeated himself three times. In Matthew 16, Peter rebuked Jesus saying, “Never, Lord! This shall never happen to you!” In turn, Jesus said to Peter, “Get behind me Satan! You are a stumbling block for me; for you are setting your mind not on divine things, but on human things.”
In our lives, we see denial every day. As high school students, we see our peers neglect “the right thing” and do what they see as fit. As adults, we make excuses, enable each other, and we set standards based on our own beliefs and values rather than God’s. We need to turn our denial into listening to God. The disciples had three warnings of Jesus’ treacherous death and resurrection. Let us direct our focus on “divine things” this Lenten season and listen to God when He is talking to us.
St. James’ YAC Sunday School Class(Young Adults in the Church, grades 11-12)
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Lenten Reflection - February 25, 2009
Repent, renounce all your offences, avoid all occasions for guilt. Shake off all the misdeeds you have committed and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit… repent and live.
Ezekiel 18:30, 31,32b
We may not heed every warning we receive in our lives, but many of us have taken advice when it was in our best interest. Many have quit smoking, started eating healthier, and now exercise to some extent. We see doctors regularly, take vitamins, wear seat belts, and so on. We do all this in order to achieve a quality of life that makes us “feel good.”
But how do we nourish our souls? What can we do? What action will help us live out this passage? Let us turn to page 352 of The Book of Common Prayer for guidance: “Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen.”
Let us not just read this – with God’s help, let us LIVE this. Make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Repent and live.
Earl Buffaloe
Ezekiel 18:30, 31,32b
We may not heed every warning we receive in our lives, but many of us have taken advice when it was in our best interest. Many have quit smoking, started eating healthier, and now exercise to some extent. We see doctors regularly, take vitamins, wear seat belts, and so on. We do all this in order to achieve a quality of life that makes us “feel good.”
But how do we nourish our souls? What can we do? What action will help us live out this passage? Let us turn to page 352 of The Book of Common Prayer for guidance: “Most merciful God, we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done, and by what we have left undone. We have not loved you with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We are truly sorry and we humbly repent. For the sake of your Son Jesus Christ, have mercy on us and forgive us; that we may delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your Name. Amen.”
Let us not just read this – with God’s help, let us LIVE this. Make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. Repent and live.
Earl Buffaloe
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