Feeling Small
(Devotion edited by Graeme Harrison)
PRAYER:
All beings pay you homage,
those that think and those that cannot.
The universal desire, the groaning of all creation aspires towards you.
Towards you all beings that can read your universe raise a hymn of silence.
The movement of the universe surges towards you;
of all beings you are the goal,
you who are beyond all things.
(Gregory of Nazianus c. 330-389AD )
Read:
Mark 4:30-32. Read this 3 times, each time asking God’s help and thinking about those words or phrases that leap out at you.
Again he said, “What shall we say the kingdom of God is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard seed, which is the smallest of all seeds on earth. Yet when planted, it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big branches that the birds can perch in its shade.”
(Mark 4:30-32 NIV)
Thought for the Day:
We are in a world that assumes being small and overlooked is the same as being powerless. Jesus refutes this. With his handful of mostly illiterate followers in a poor occupied, irrelevant country, he defies the world of power-men, money and might. God’s growth takes place where the powerful are not looking; amongst the so-called ‘little’ people. The most natural thing in the world is for the little seed to grow.
In serving God, have you ever felt little and ineffectual? Perhaps there is good news in here for you today.
Strengthening God
(Devotion edited by Ros McDonald)
Image: Giant Tingle trees, Valley of Giants, W.A., Wayne McDonald
Prayer: Cascade through us
You, Spirit-Friend, who are the light of the dreary and the life of the weary, rise up within us this day!
Leap up like the sun over dark valleys and enlighten both our path and our minds.
Surge up like the springtime sap in vines and enliven our hands for fruiting and our spirit for loving.
You, Spirit-Friend, who are older than the beginning and younger than the end, cascade through us with your light and life until we spill over with wonder, love and praise.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
(Sourced from Jesus our Future, Bruce Prewer, 1998)
Read:
Isaiah 40:28-31 (NIV)
Read this 3 times, each time asking God’s help and thinking about those words or phrases that leap out at you.
Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
Thought for the day:
Isaiah is writing to a people who have grown weary in their faith. Instead of judgement, here God gives them a word of encouragement, reminding them of the strength that comes from faith in the “everlasting God, Creator of the ends of the earth”. Many of us are weary from living in lockdown and all that means for us. May we draw strength today from the encouraging words in the bible, and from prayer.
Finish by rereading the prayer.
Wisdom
(Devotion edited by Graeme Harrison)
PRAYER:
Heavenly Father, I thank you for the love that follows me through all my days. Thank you that you inform my mind with your truth and you strengthen my will with your grace. I thank you for every evidence of your Spirit’s leading as you reveal your purpose for my life.
Dear Father make me a human channel through which your divine love and grace flows.
Adapted from Busy People and Private Prayers by John Baillie. Used with permission from publisher., David Clarkson. 2014
(Quoted in LFC Elders Prayer Diary 3)
Read:
Romans 12:9-16. Read this 3 times, each time asking God’s help and thinking about those words or phrases that leap out at you.
9Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10Be devoted to one another in love. Honour one another above yourselves. 11Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervour, serving the Lord. 12Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
14Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.
(Romans 12:9-16 NIV)
Thought for the Day:
Paul collects a grab bag of insights describing what it is like to live the Christian life in the world he lived in.
If it was you passing on wisdom to a new Christian about how to live as a follower of Christ in Australia in 2020, what might be on your list?
Kind God
(Devotion edited by Ros McDonald)
Prayer: Jesus’ hands
Jesus’ hands were kind hands, doing good to all,
healing pain and sickness, blessing children small,
washing tired feet, and saving those who fall:
Jesus’ hands were kind hands, doing good to all.
Take my hands, Lord Jesus, let them work for you,
make them strong and gentle, kind in all I do;
let me watch you, Jesus, till I’m gentle too,
till my hands are kind hands, quick to work for you.
(Words by M. Cropper 1886-1980, Together in Song hymnbook #236)
Read:
Colossians 3:12-14 (NIV)
Read this 3 times, each time asking God’s help and thinking about those words or phrases that leap out at you.
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
Thought for the Day:
Clare Boyd-Macrae is a writer and Executive Secretary in the VicTas Uniting Church Synod office. In a recent newspaper article she writes: “Kindness is underrated. It sounds weak and sappy. In reality, it has to be immensely strong to withstand what life throws at us. In ordinary times, as well as in crises like war and pandemic, kindness is a vital part of what will get us through and keep us human.”
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/faith-column-tea-for-two-has-kept-our-marriage-strong-for-40-years-20200813-p55lhv.html
Finish by rereading the prayer.
Challenging God
(Devotion edited by Ros McDonald)
Image: Wayne McDonald Lake Mungo sunrise 2009
On watching Bible Project, the Habit of Open-Mindedness, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNLd1XPkWLk
Prayer: God help us to change
God help us to change.
To change ourselves and to change our world.
To know the need for it.
To deal with the pain of it.
To feel the joy of it.
To undertake the journey without understanding the destination.
The art of gentle revolution.
Amen.
(By Michael Leunig, Sourced from Be Our Freedom Lord, Terry Falla, 2015)
Read:
Acts 10: 34-36 (NIV)
Read this 3 times, each time asking God’s help and thinking about those words or phrases that leap out at you.
Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favouritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.
(Peter is speaking here to a group of non-Jews, ie. Gentiles. In verses 37-43, Peter gives them a summary of Jesus’ death and resurrection, affirming that Jesus “is the one whom God appointed”.)
Acts 10:44-48
While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on Gentiles. For they heard them speaking in tongues and praising God. Then Peter said, “Surely no one can stand in the way of their being baptized with water. They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.” So he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked Peter to stay with them for a few days.
Thought for the Day:
After experiencing a God-given vision Peter has changed his whole attitude towards Gentiles. Previously he insisted that any Gentile becoming a follower of Jesus must become like the Jews by being circumcised. Now he realises that God accepts people from all nations. This is an amazing change.
Just when we think that we are secure in what we believe, God can challenge us to accept new ways of thinking. May we be open to God’s prompting to grow and change in our faith.
Finish by rereading the prayer.
Grieving God
(Devotion edited by Ros McDonald)
Prayer: The Comforting
Let us place our losses in the hands of God.
Dear God, you who cried when you lost a friend,
who wept over Jerusalem,
who asked friends to stay with you
while you struggled with your life,
please stay with us now, holding us in your love.
Cover our lives with the fragrant oil of your healing,
send your Spirit to comfort us in our grief,
and fill our emptiness with new things.
Gather our scattered lives into a community of love,
where loss can be shared and gifts can be given
for the easing of mourning.
We pray these prayers in confidence,
for you are our restoration and the renewal of our hope.
Amen.
(Sourced from In This Hour, Dorothy McRae-McMahon, 2001)
Read:
John 11: selected verses (NIV)
Read this 3 times, noting especially the emotion in this passage. Each time ask God’s help and think about those words or phrases that leap out at you.
Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”
On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother.
When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.
“Where have you laid him?” he asked.
“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.
Jesus wept.
Thought for the Day:
Like Lazarus, many in our country are sick. We grieve for those who have died, for those who have lost employment, lost hope, lost the ability to see friends and family, lost the ability to freely leave home.
Through Jesus we meet a God who grieves with us and for us. Here, near the body of his dear friend, Jesus is “deeply moved in spirit and troubled”, affected by the weeping of the mourners.
We can give thanks that we are not alone. God is with us.
Finish by rereading the prayer.
Present God
(Devotion by Ros McDonald)
In response to watching Compass on ABCTV Sunday 9th August which followed the last months of the life of Jeremy Spinak AM, who died at aged 36. A leader in the Jewish community, in the end he lost his sense of connection with God.
https://iview.abc.net.au/show/compass
Prayer: Eternally present
O Thou eternally present,
timeless Existence
beyond all time,
we are always present to You,
even when we have forgotten You
or simply turned away from You
because we ran out of time.
Give us the sense
to take the time
for what is really important:
those deep, sustaining relationships
that bind us to the ones we love
and the sacred, Spirit-fed,
life-giving bond
we know we share with You.
Be present to us
all of the time,
now and forever.
Amen.
(Sourced from WomanWitness, Miriam Therese Winter, 1992)
Read:
John 14: 15-20 (NIV)
Read this 3 times, each time asking God’s help and thinking about those words or phrases that leap out at you.
“If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.”
Thought for the Day:
Knowing that he is about to leave his disciples, Jesus is comforting them, assuring them that through the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, Jesus will dwell within them. This indwelling does not depend on how close we feel to God, or whether we have a sense of the presence of God. God’s Spirit is within us because God, through Jesus, has promised it will be. Jesus says that “I will not leave you as orphans”. His use of the word “orphan” reminds us that we are members of God’s family. Jesus tells his disciples, and us, that there is a connection between receiving the Holy Spirit and keeping Jesus’ command to love. Look for opportunities to let God’s love flow through you today.
Finish by rereading the prayer.
Exchange
(Devotion edited by Graeme Harrison)
PRAYER:
Father of love give me an open mind, a mind ready to welcome and to receive the new light and knowledge you reveal to me. Let the past never set a limit to the future. Give me courage to change my mind when that is needed. Let me be tolerant to the thoughts of others and hospitable to the light that comes to me through them.
(LFC Elders Prayer Diary 3, Friday Morning )
Read:
Matthew 13:44-46. Read this 3 times, each time asking God’s help and thinking about those words or phrases that leap out at you.
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.
“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls.
When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it.
(Matthew 13:44-46 NIV)
Thought for the Day:
Where did your mind linger; on what is gained or on what is given up? Why?
Image of God
(Devotion edited by Graeme Harrison)
PRAYER:
Faithful Father,
give me greater faith and hope and make me more constant in love.
In loving let me believe, and in believing let me love, and in loving and in believing let me hope for a more perfect love and a more unwavering faith,
through Jesus Christ my Lord.
(LFC Elders Prayer Diary 3, Thursday Morning )
Read:
Galatians 3:26-29. Read this 3 times, each time asking God’s help and thinking about those words or phrases that leap out at you.
So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
(Galatians 3:26-29NIV)
Thought for the Day:
There is a battle going on since the fall of humanity into sin; who controls God’s image? Is it God or self-serving humans?
One cynical 19th century philosopher put it this way, ‘Man has made god in his own image’. By this he meant that human beings are always trying to figure out how to change god’s media image so that he fits whatever they want to do. The British did it with their catchy PR phrase “For God, King and Empire”. It took some serious spin and PR to change God’s ‘media’ image from “gentle Jesus meek and mild” to Empire builder, invader and conqueror of other people’s homelands but they did it. Quite successfully too.
The battle to control God’s public image with spin is as old as the tower of Babel.
But Paul points out that God has reclaimed control of how he is portrayed in the public space by sending Jesus Christ. God fights back by disempowering all the divisions that benefit the privileged over the underprivileged: “neither
Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female”.
It is the privileged who twist god’s image to favour themselves but what if Jesus creates a community where God saves us all equally, values us all equally, gives us all the same privileges in the Kingdom of God. This God is no-one’s patsy and needs no spin doctor to speak for God. God has spoken and the crucified Christ is his Word.
Let God speak.