Thursday, November 13, 2008

Receiving November 15, 2008, worship scriptures

Scriptures for November 15, 2008
Judges 4:1-7
Psalm 123
1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
Matthew 25:14-30

Part I - Receiving the Word as spirit and life for yourself
This part is a continuing invitation to grow in receptivity. Give thought, and heart, to how you receive. Receiving the Word gives you life. That is something to ponder in your heart and to cherish! For a few suggestions about receiving the Word as spirit and life go to Part I in the previous posts in this series. Also see http://charistis.blogspot.com/2008/03/receiving-word-as-spirit-and-life.html

Part II - Reflections on this week's scriptures (one place for you to compare notes)
Prayer for Receptivity
My mind tries to grasp and explain things
Your Word included.
My heart takes things in.
It's there in my heart the center of
my whole being
that Your Word, God, is
spirit and life.
I'm receptive and
wanting to be
more receptive.
Let Your Word be
the spirit and life it is
not so much wrestled with as
waited on.

Judges 4:1-7
"...the children of Israel again did evil..." (vs. 1)
They were sold and harshly oppressed; they cried out to the LORD, and they came to Judge Deborah and were sent to war. Hard, complicated, disturbing, yet not hopeless! The passage ends, "...I will deliver him into your hand." (vs. 7)

Psalm 123
"Unto You I lift up my eyes,
O You who dwell in the heavens.
"Have mercy on us, O LORD, have mercy on us!
For we are exceedingly filled with contempt." (vss. 1 and 3)
Israel was harshly oppressed and aware that they brought this on themselves by doing evil again. Imagine the contempt they received from the ruling power that scorned and oppressed them. A harder-to-bear contempt came from within them. I can imagine how they felt about themselves for getting themselves into their oppression. Yet this is not hopeless. Although they were filled with contempt from outside and inside, they knew the One who sold them into harsh oppression was the One to ask for mercy. They also knew it was mercy they needed. That was enough.
Mercy responds to the hard, complicated, disturbing, yet-not-hopeless circumstance. Mercy responds, it occurs to me, by first changing self-contempt into healthy guilt, guilt that is confessed and forgiven.
Have mercy on us, today also, O LORD, have mercy on us! Things are still hard, complicated, disturbing, yet-not-hopeless! We need self-contempt turned into healthy guilt, guilt confessed and forgiven.

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11
"But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation.
"For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ." (vss. 8 and 9)

Matthew 25:14-30
"'For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance..." (vs 29)
Faith, love and hope (1 Thessalonians 5:8) are what we have! More faith, love and hope are given. There is no limit to how much more!

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