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Monthly Archives: July 2016

The completion of love is the end of fear

31 Jul

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Beautiful and loving God, we cast our gaze towards You as we bring our own sacrifice and praise into the house of the Lord.   Once lost, now we are found for “Where can we go from Your spirit? Or where can we flee from Your presence? If we take the wings of the morning and settle at the farthest limits of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead us, and Your right hand shall hold us fast” (Psalm 139: 7, 9-10 NRSV). Teach us all things about You. Unfold Your revelations and bind us to Your word so that we can be a blessing to all who know us and to those who don’t.

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10) but it is not the end, because the completion of love is the end of fear. Yes, it is a scary world but because of God’s love we will not fear, we will not falter, and we will not accept the darkness of the world. We will move forward in light and truth because God is never anywhere other than with us. “And even though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death” (Psalm 23:4), God is always with us.

 

 
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Posted by on July 31, 2016 in Conversations with God

 

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Change the trajectory of a chaotic world

24 Jul

Micah 6.8

Author of life, You spoke everything into creation, speak now into the realities and situations that are weighing heavily on our hearts.   Make this a safe place. Make our hearts and minds a safe place. Make us feel something that will change the trajectory of a chaotic world. Show us how to serve Your kingdom and not our own, by cutting through the boundaries that we have created so that we can, “seek justice, love mercy and walk humbly with our God” (Micah 6:8).

“God’s story goes from crucifixion to resurrection. We bear witness to this truth when we seek to end suffering. We cannot live out the gospel or the way of the cross, if we allow people to go from crucifixion to crucifixion. We must move from death to life. Not death to more death…The weight of the sin of the world is exposed when our self interest makes us totally unaware of the needs of the other” (Pastor Melissa Greene, Gracepointe Church). Make us aware. Make us aware today and everyday of the work that still needs to be done.

 

 
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Posted by on July 24, 2016 in Conversations with God

 

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Unite us in the solution of the Gospel

17 Jul

Great Defender, we come here for sanctuary because “where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom” (2 Corinthians 3:17) and no one is excluded from the grace of God. We’re here because we can’t see what You see, we can’t hear what You hear and we can’t feel what You feel. Open up the depths of our humanity to the awareness of Your compassion. Stop us from pointing fingers. Unite us in the solution of the Gospel of God’s love which “does not delight in evil but rejoices with truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres (and it) never fails” (1 Corinthians 13:6-8).

We have a lot of work to do. Lord, show us today how we can repair the wounds that divide us. “And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all” (Galatians 6:9-10) so that it shall be on earth as it is in heaven, just as the Father has always intended it to be.

 

 

 

 
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Posted by on July 17, 2016 in Conversations with God

 

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Speak to our fears

10 Jul

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Almighty God, we come to You because we need shelter. We come to You because we’re wrestling with divisions that bring chaos and not community.  We need to unlearn so many things because there is something wrong with saying words of grace and doing nothing. “Tune our ear(s) to wisdom and apply our hearts to understanding” (Proverbs 2:2) because we need to listen to the Word of God through the cries of the forgotten. Bring us back to being part of the change that needs to happen. Bring us back to being beacons of light in the darkness. Bring us back to You.

We cannot un-see what we have already seen. This past week forces us to see the work that is far from over. You tell us that, “if Your people, who are called by Your name, will humble themselves and pray and seek Your face and turn from their wicked ways, then You will hear from heaven, and You will forgive their sin and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14). Heal our land. Heal our hearts so that justice will flow. Speak to our fears, our frustrations and our anger so that we can stand firm on Your Word when the enemy is scattered. Deliver us from evil for Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen

 

 
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Posted by on July 10, 2016 in Conversations with God

 

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We will not be afraid

03 Jul

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Author of Life, because You “are with us; we will not be afraid” (Psalm 118:6). We’re here because there will always be questions on this side of heaven and we don’t have the answers. So pour out Your truth into the deserts of our hearts and speak into our history, speak into our now and speak into our future so that we can be smart enough to know that we do not ever need to sit comfortably in darkness.   We need to keep moving forward past the valleys, obstacles and mazes of life, one step at a time, towards the eternal light of God.

We will always know what we have done. Good and bad, we release all of our past into Your hands as You wash away the burdens of our mistakes and our fears.   Because of You, we can be a perpetual morning sunrise, always made new, filled with new possibilities in this story of life. Because of You, we know that each one of us matters to the One who created us.

 

 

 
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Posted by on July 3, 2016 in Conversations with God

 

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