Pieces of the Puzzle

A day is coming that belongs to the LORD,

when that which has been plundered from you will be divided among you.

I will gather all the nations to Jerusalem for the battle,

the city will be captured,

the houses will be plundered,

and the women will be raped.

Half of the city will go forth into exile,

but what is left of the people won’t be eliminated from the city.

The LORD will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle.

On that day he will stand upon the Mount of Olives, to the east of Jerusalem.

The Mount of Olives will be split in half by a very large valley running from east to west.

Half of the mountain will move north,

and the other half will move south.

You will flee through the valley of my mountain,

because the valley of the mountains will reach to Azal.

You will flee just as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Judah’s King Uzziah.

The LORD my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.

On that day, there will be no light.

Splendid things will disappear.

On one day known to the LORD, there will be neither day nor night,

but at evening time there will be light.

On that day, running water will flow out from Jerusalem,

half of it to the Dead Sea

and half of it to the Mediterranean;

this will happen during the summer and the fall.

The LORD will become king over all the land.

On that day the LORD will be one,

and the LORD ‘s name will be one.

The entire land will become like the desert

from Geba to Rimmon, south of Jerusalem.

Jerusalem will be high up and firmly in place

from the Benjamin Gate to the place of the former gate,

to the Corner Gate, and from the Hananel Tower to the king’s wine vats.

People will dwell in it;

it will never again be destroyed.

Jerusalem will dwell securely.

This will be the plague with which the LORD will strike all the peoples who

swarmed against Jerusalem:

their flesh will rot, even while standing on their feet;

their eyes will rot in their sockets;

and their tongues will rot in their mouths.

On that day, a great panic brought on by the LORD will fall upon them;

they will all grasp at the hand of their neighbors;

neighbors will attack each other.

Even Judah will fight in Jerusalem.

The wealth of all the surrounding nations will be collected:

gold, silver, and a great abundance of garments. ~Zech. 14:1-11 (CEB)

“Every United Methodist preacher since the time of John Wesley has been asked a series of questions before being admitted into full membership in an annual conference. The first question is, ‘Have you faith in Christ?’ The second question is, ‘Are you going on to perfection?’ Seventeen more questions follow, and every candidate is to be led in discussion and understanding of the questions by the resident bishop of the area.

Once during the turbulent sixties, Bishop Gerlad Kennedy was asking these historic question of candidates standing before him in the presence of the annual conference session. When asked if he was going on to perfection, one candidate responded ‘No!’ Bishop Kennedy quickly replied, ‘Then where are you going?’ It was an appropriate question then, and it is an appropriate question now- not only for preachers but also for all Christians.

Where are you going? If you continue on the course you have charted, where will it all end? So often we discount Christ’s return, forgetting that in many ways Jesus Christ has never left. Or we begin reasoning that since Christ has never left. Or we begin reasoning that since Christ has not returned yet, why think about it? But the truth is that at the very best, our lives are short and soon we will have reached our destination, whether Jesus Christ will have returned in a cosmic unfolding or not. Are you going on toward God? If not, where are you going? It is always a good time to review and if necessary redirect your life toward God.” ~Rueben P. Job, A Guide for All Who Seek God

Almighty God, as you have given Jesus Christ to be Savior and Lord, grant us now grace to accept and rejoice in our salvation and in His lordship. Amen.

This is the confidence that we have through Christ in the presence of God. It isn’t that we ourselves are qualified to claim that anything came from us. No, our qualification is from God. He has qualified us as ministers of a new covenant, not based on what is written but on the Spirit, because what is written kills, but the Spirit gives life. ~ 2 Cor. 3:4-6 (CEB)

“It is not enough that we behave better; we must come to see reality differently. We must learn to see the depths of things, not just reality at a superficial level. This especially means we need to see the non-separateness of the world from God and the oneness of all reality in God: the Hidden Ground of Love in all that is. Prayer is a kind of corrective lens that, for some mysterious reason, seems to be my normal vision, and enables me to see what is as it really is.” ~From Silence on Fire by William H. Shannon

O God, the King eternal, who divides the day from the darkness, and turnest the shadow of death into the morning. Help me to see things as they are. Sharpen my focus to enable me to see Your truth this day. Amen.

So, brothers and sisters, because of God’s mercies, I encourage you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice that is holy and pleasing to God. This is your appropriate priestly service. Don’t be conformed to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you can figure out what God’s will is—what is good and pleasing and mature. ~Romans 12:1-2 (CEB)

“’Being in the world without being of the world.’ These words summarize will the way Jesus speaks of the spiritual life. It is a life in which we are totally transformed by the Spirit of love. Yet it is a life in which everything seems to remain the same. To live a spiritual life does not mean that we must leave our families, give up our jobs, or change our ways of working; it does not mean that we have to withdraw from social or political activities, or lose interest in literature and art; it does not require severe forms of asceticism or long hours of prayer. . . . What is new is that we have moved from the many things to the kingdom of God. What is new is that we are set free from the compulsions of our world and have set our hearts on the only necessary thing. What is new is that we no longer experience the many things, people, and events as endless causes for worry, but begin to experience them as the rich variety of ways in which God makes his presence known to us.” ~From Making All Things New by Henri J.M. Nouwen

Almighty God, send your transforming power into my life as I seek to serve you this day. Grant unto me wisdom, courage, grace, and strength to faithfully fulfill the work to which you have called me. In the name of Christ. Amen.

You are the one who created my innermost parts; you knit me together while I was still in my mother’s womb. I give thanks to you that I was marvelously set apart. Your works are wonderful—I know that very well. My bones weren’t hidden from you when I was being put together in a secret place, when I was being woven together in the deep parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my embryo, and on your scroll every day was written that was being formed for me, before any one of them had yet happened. God, your plans are incomprehensible to me! Their total number is countless! If I tried to count them—they outnumber grains of sand! If I came to the very end—I’d still be with you. ~Psalm 139:13-18 (CEB)

“My God, every fiber of my being vibrates at the touch of your grace- whereby I am given the privilege of being your child. My joy at your overwhelming gestures of love and the high privilege you extend to me of entering into your life invades my being with an acute sense of your ever- nearness. In response to this, my Lord, I offer praises to you.

Yet, my Lord, I am often cold toward you. I forget to love you for long periods of time- and this to my own harm and regret. Forgive me, Lord! Everloving God, set my life aflame with love for you only. O my God, I long to reflect your image through the world so that others might observe your doing in me and themselves be convinced that you love them also. Amen. ~Norman Shawchuck

You surround me—front and back.

You put your hand on me.

That kind of knowledge is too much for me;

it’s so high above me that I can’t fathom it. ~Psalm 139:5-6 (CEB)

“If any doctrines within the whole compass of Christianity may be properly termed fundamental, they are doubtless these two, -the doctrine of justification, and that of the new birth: The former relating to that great work which God does for us, in forgiving our sins; the latter to the great work which God does in us, in renewing our fallen nature. In order of time neither of these is before the other; in the moment we are justified by the grace of God, through the redemption that is in Jesus, we are also ‘born of the Spirit;’ but in order of thinking, as it is termed, justification precedes the new birth. We first conceive [God’s] wrath to be turned away, and then [God’s] Spirit to work in our hearts. ~From “sermon 45” by John Wesley

Almighty God, Thank you for the good work you do in me every day. I thank You for going before me, coming behind me and walking beside me everyday. Amen

When they finished eating, Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”

Simon replied, “Yes, Lord, you know I love you.”

Jesus said to him, “Feed my lambs.”  Jesus asked a second time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

Simon replied, “Yes, Lord, you know I love you.”

Jesus said to him, “Take care of my sheep.”  He asked a third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

Peter was sad that Jesus asked him a third time, “Do you love me?” He replied, “Lord, you know everything; you know I love you.”

Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. ~John 21:14-17 (CEB)

“Two millennia ago at an early morning breakfast by the Sea of Tiberius, Jesus had only one question for Peter: ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’ Jesus did not ask him about his effectiveness, or his skill, or anything but his love. Three times Jesus asked, ‘Simon, do you love me?’ Peter struggled for an adequate response to that probing query. Finally, he blurted out, ‘Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.’ Assured of his heart, Jesus gave Peter work to do: ‘Feed my lambs.’

The same question is asked of us. The same work is given to us.” ~From Prayer: Finding the Heat’s True Home by Richard J. Foster

Lord, creator of heaven and earth, you know my every thought. Yet you still call me to serve You. Guide my steps this day to not follow my own leading, but to turn to Yours instead. Help me feed Your sheep. Amen.

Thus says the Lord,

your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:

 “For your sake I send to Babylon

and bring them all down as fugitives,

 even the Chaldeans, in the ships in which they rejoice.

I am the Lord, your Holy One,

the Creator of Israel, your King.”

Thus says the Lord,

 who makes a way in the sea,

a path in the mighty waters,

who brings forth chariot and horse,

army and warrior;

they lie down, they cannot rise,

 they are extinguished, quenched like a wick:

“Remember not the former things,

nor consider the things of old.

Behold, I am doing a new thing;

now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?

 I will make a way in the wilderness

 and rivers in the desert.

The wild beasts will honor me,

 the jackals and the ostriches,

 for I give water in the wilderness,

rivers in the desert,

to give drink to my chosen people,

the people whom I formed for myself

 that they might declare my praise. Isaiah 43:14-21 (CEB)

“We often think of a new day as a point of new beginning. However, we know that new beginnings are available all the time. Life itself provides a constant opportunity to grow, and to grow is to become new, to have a new beginning. How is God calling you to begin anew today? Think for a moment about those areas in your life where new life is waiting to be born.

There is always opportunity for a new beginning in our relationship with God. Because God is infinite, unlimited possibilities for growth and starting anew exists. No matter how intimate the companionship we share with Jesus Christ today, there is room for growth and new beginnings.

While our relationships with others do not have the range or depth or opportunity for growth, there is nevertheless room for fresh beginnings with family, friends, colleagues, coworkers, neighbors, caregivers, and those strangers who serve us day by day in shop, gas station, and restaurant. We have in our possession the key to changing- making new- each of these relationships. What slight or radical change is God calling you to make in relationship with God and with those persons who cross your life path every day? Follow the prompting God gives and launch a new beginning in this new day.” ~Rueben P. Job

Almighty God, send the light of Your Son into my life anew today. Let Your presence touch my mind and heart with Your mercy, grace, and truth. Direct my thoughts, speech, and steps to the end that I may walk in Your way today and always. In the name of Christ. Amen

But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. Isaiah 43:1 (ESV)

“For a long time, I prayed the words, ‘The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want. Fresh and green are the pastures where he gives me repose. Near restful waters he leads me to revive my drooping spirit.’ I prayed these words in the morning for half an hour sitting quietly on my chair trying only to keep my mind focused on what I was saying. I prayed them during the many moments of the day when I was going here or there, and I even prayed them during my routine activities. The words stand in stark contrast to the reality of my life. I want many things; I see mostly busy roads and ugly shopping malls; and if there are any waters to walk along they are mostly polluted. But as I keep saying: ‘The Lord is my shepherd. . . .’ and allow God’s shepherding love to enter more fully into my heart, I become more fully aware that the busy roads, the ugly malls, and the polluted waterways are not telling the true story of who I am. I do not belong to the powers and principalities that rule the world but to the Good Shepherd who knows his own and is known by his own. In the presence of my Lord and Shepherd there truly is nothing I shall want. He will, indeed, give me the rest my heart desires and pull me out of the dark pits of my depression.” ~From Here and Now by Henri J. M. Nouwen

Good Shepherd who knows me and claims me as His own, I thank You for Your scriptures that helps me find words when I am at a loss for my own. Shepherd my steps as I move through my routine activities this day. Keep me focused on truth. Help me feel Your Holy Presence when my spirits droop so that I may find true rest for my soul. Amen.

God said to Moses, “I am who I am.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘ I am has sent me to you. ‘” ~Exodus 3:14 (CEB)

“I am! Here is the home of the spirit, where we can hear and say, ‘I am,’ a kingdom of persons, a life larger than life. When God says ‘I am,’ all nature replies ‘Thou art,’ according to Christopher Smart, the mad poet of the eighteenth century, but then Jesus says ‘I am’ and we too can say ‘I am,” I have learned, and God says ‘Thou art,’ as if to say

You are,

You are known,

And you are loved.

~From The Homing Spirit by John S. Dunne

Creator Lord, who is and was and always will be, to say You know my name astounds me. To say I am loved by You leaves me humbled. I am who I am because you touched my heart. Thank You for calling to me. Amen.

While walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon (who is called Peter) and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And he said to them, “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on from there he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets, and he called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him. ~Matt 4:18-22 (CEB)

“Jesus invited Peter and his brother, Andrew, to forsake their business in order to string along with him, and ‘immediately they left their nets and followed him’. Soon Jesus called two other brothers to follow him. ‘Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed him’. The Gospel writers reveal a sense of immediacy accompanying Jesus’ call. They recognize a sense of timing. Jesus’ call to our lives is both immediate and timely.

Not only does Jesus call us to join ranks with him; he also names us. In recruiting Peter, Jesus said to him, ‘You Simon, . . . you are to be called . . . Peter’ (John 1:42). Gospel vignettes remind us that we must name Jesus for ourselves. Nathanael named Jesus ‘the Son of God. . . the King of Israel’ (John 1:49). In the early chapters of the Gospels, so many people are naming and being named. We too might allow Jesus to name us, to tell us who we really are. Naming someone defines the person, allows the person to take on an entirely new identity. When Jesus lays claim upon our lives, we are given a new name.

Why is all this naming necessary? For one thing, the ancients felt that a person had no distinct identity until he or she was named. This thought prevails among Native Americans today. I once named a young Native American man. The process of choosing the right name for this young man took two years, so carefully must the family discern who he will be- for the family and for the tribe. His name determines his destiny.

When john’s disciples broke ranks to follow after Jesus, he asked them, ‘Who are you looking for?’ They responded, ‘Where do you live?’ Jesus asked who, they responded where. There spirituality was unformed. They looked for grace in ‘things and places.” Jesus offered them grace in a living, loving relationship. Jesus still asks the ‘who’ questions- not merely ‘what’. ‘What are you?’ is a doing question with a doing reply: But ‘who” you are invites a being response. ‘Who’ inquiries into the soul of us. Who are you? What name has Jesus given you? What name have you given Jesus? ~Norman Shawchuck

Heavenly Father, You have called me out by name. You saw in me more than what I was. You call me by what I can be. I stand amazed at what You have claimed in me and I pray for the strength to live up to what I see through Your eyes. Amen.