Hi all! I'm moving my blog to http://www.lakesidefellowship.org/?i=15065&mid=25. I hope you'll join me there and tell a friend or a gazillion about my blog! Thanks for reading! I hope it has helped you explore or deepen your faith!
Cameron
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Passing On The Mantle
There are moments when we stop, when we are quiet on the inside and a voice emerges, "Treasure this moment because your life is flying by!" What difference are we making in those around us? What are we passing on to our children and friends that will lead them more fully into life with God? Legacy, legacy, legacy...
Prayer
Gracious Jesus, give us eyes to see our day to day tasks and challenges from your eternal perspective. You have called us to spread your loving Kingdom in this world. Help us keep this purpose ever before us in our work, our parenting, our marriages, our day to day living! In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, amen.
2 Kings 2
Comments
A mantle was a garment worn in biblical times on the upper body. It was most often worn at night and during inclement weather as a protective garment, keeping in warmth and shielding one from precipitation or excessive sun. In some cases, it also was an embroidered garment symbolic of authority or power. Priests, prophets, and Kings sometimes wore these.
Elijah's term of service for God as a leading prophet is about done in today's text. Elisha persistently follows Elijah on his final tour to visit other prophetic groups under his leadership. Elijah keeps telling Elisha to leave him, but Elisha does not. Boldly, Elisha asks for a double portion of Elijah's spirit, probably meaning his prophetic spirit given by God. After Elijah is swept up by the heavenly chariots of fire, Elisha picks up Elijah's mantle, his power, his prophetic ability. God appoints Elijah's prophetic successor.
It's so easy to be consumed by the busyness of daily tasks that we lose sight of the fact that the world can and will go on without us one day. Someone else will do our job and live in our home and take up our volunteer positions. None of us is irreplaceable in the positions we hold. Not many of us will have statues made of us or have books written about us or have our names remembered in history classes. However, each of us is called to shape the world our children will inherit. We each have a call to mentor those who will replace us.
People seeking to follow Jesus must teach others to live in God's ways just as Jesus did. He taught and lived by example. His life showed people the Kingdom of love and healing and justice by doing love and healing and justice. What kind of mantle are we passing? Who is God calling us to pass his life to?
Prayer
Help us to seize the moments in our relationships as opportunities to mentor people Godly living so that they may find wholeness and eternal life in you Jesus. Help us to persistently follow you, our mentor and God, as Elisha followed Elijah. We must have the life you give so that we can share it with others! Amen.
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Prayer
Gracious Jesus, give us eyes to see our day to day tasks and challenges from your eternal perspective. You have called us to spread your loving Kingdom in this world. Help us keep this purpose ever before us in our work, our parenting, our marriages, our day to day living! In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, amen.
2 Kings 2
Comments
A mantle was a garment worn in biblical times on the upper body. It was most often worn at night and during inclement weather as a protective garment, keeping in warmth and shielding one from precipitation or excessive sun. In some cases, it also was an embroidered garment symbolic of authority or power. Priests, prophets, and Kings sometimes wore these.
Elijah's term of service for God as a leading prophet is about done in today's text. Elisha persistently follows Elijah on his final tour to visit other prophetic groups under his leadership. Elijah keeps telling Elisha to leave him, but Elisha does not. Boldly, Elisha asks for a double portion of Elijah's spirit, probably meaning his prophetic spirit given by God. After Elijah is swept up by the heavenly chariots of fire, Elisha picks up Elijah's mantle, his power, his prophetic ability. God appoints Elijah's prophetic successor.
It's so easy to be consumed by the busyness of daily tasks that we lose sight of the fact that the world can and will go on without us one day. Someone else will do our job and live in our home and take up our volunteer positions. None of us is irreplaceable in the positions we hold. Not many of us will have statues made of us or have books written about us or have our names remembered in history classes. However, each of us is called to shape the world our children will inherit. We each have a call to mentor those who will replace us.
People seeking to follow Jesus must teach others to live in God's ways just as Jesus did. He taught and lived by example. His life showed people the Kingdom of love and healing and justice by doing love and healing and justice. What kind of mantle are we passing? Who is God calling us to pass his life to?
Prayer
Help us to seize the moments in our relationships as opportunities to mentor people Godly living so that they may find wholeness and eternal life in you Jesus. Help us to persistently follow you, our mentor and God, as Elisha followed Elijah. We must have the life you give so that we can share it with others! Amen.
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Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Honest Faith
Just paste a smile on your face. It's easier that way. Then maybe no one will ask. You can pretend that everything is fine. People of faith are always supposed to be happy, right?
Prayer
Lord Jesus, we really want things to be fine. We want to be Barbie and Ken, the perfect people with the perfect lives, but we know better. Can we come to you with our terrible dirt, the choices we made when we thought no one was looking, the daily hurdles we must overcome? Can we be honest with you when we wonder where the good is in life? Give us grace to be real with you. To be free of pretense. Give us grace to seek you and give you praise by the power of your Holy Spirit. Amen.
Psalm 30
Comments
Prayer
Thank you for freeing us from the need to pretend everything's fine when it isn't. Thank you for being a God who can take the messes and struggles and failures of our lives and resurrect us! Thank you for bringing joy from sorrow, life fron death, and hope from hopelessness! May our lives give you praise! In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, amen.
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Prayer
Lord Jesus, we really want things to be fine. We want to be Barbie and Ken, the perfect people with the perfect lives, but we know better. Can we come to you with our terrible dirt, the choices we made when we thought no one was looking, the daily hurdles we must overcome? Can we be honest with you when we wonder where the good is in life? Give us grace to be real with you. To be free of pretense. Give us grace to seek you and give you praise by the power of your Holy Spirit. Amen.
Psalm 30
Comments
So the great warrior faced the clanging of swords, the thunder of horses, the burn of scissored flesh, the fear of death in battle, the loss of comrades in arms, the potential shame of loss to one's enemies. When injured and suffering and afraid, he called out to God saying, "What good will I do for you when I'm dead? Keep me alive and I will sing your praises!"
Interestingly, the psalmist equates his time of suffering with the absence, the "hiding" of God in his life. He can't feel God in the pain, though he reaches out for God anyway. Then in the joy of healing, of new life, of victory, he gives praise to God and proclaims that he will do so forever.
If this song was used to dedicate the temple, it would have called forth the collective memories of Israel, the times of enslavement, loss, and suffering when they wondered where God was. It would have also called forth the memories of how God broke the bonds of slavery, freed them, and led them to victory and to the promised land.
What do we do when we struggle and suffer? God, through the psalmist, encourages us to call out to him for help. What do we do when we find healing and joy? God, through the psalmist, encourages us to sing and share with the world what great things God has done for us.
Life is a mix of joy, sorrow, suffering, and delight. A life of faithfulness does not gloss over the tragedies and horrors. It cries out to God. A life of faithfulness does not exalt its own efforts when times are good. It sings and dances and points to the Lord who is gracious and good. Faithful lives look to God honestly, in good times and in bad.
Prayer
Thank you for freeing us from the need to pretend everything's fine when it isn't. Thank you for being a God who can take the messes and struggles and failures of our lives and resurrect us! Thank you for bringing joy from sorrow, life fron death, and hope from hopelessness! May our lives give you praise! In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, amen.
Daily Prayer
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