To love as Jesus does

26 Sep 2013 Leave a comment

by jennifermcintyreblog in Devotions Tags: , , , , , , ,

Therefore, imitate God like dearly loved children. Live your life with love, following the example of Christ, who loved us and gave himself for us. He was a sacrificial offering that smelled sweet to God. ~Ephesians 5:1-2 (CEB)

“Compassionate people often inspire others to be compassionate. I feel this way whenever I meditate on the life of Jesus. I marvel at how Jesus was so consistently compassionate when he met the ill, the grieving, the hungry, the oppressed. He is often described as being ‘deeply moved in spirit’ or feeling compassion for people. Jesus touched torn and tattered people with an amazing awareness of their woundedness. The vastness of his ability to love and be loved is phenomenal.

I’ve also been inspired by compassionate people in history such as Dorothy Day, Mahatma Ghandi, Etty Hillesum, Tom Dooley, Mother Teresa, and Albert Schweitzer. I was in awe as I read about the English spiritual writer, Caryll Houselander. Psychologists would bring their mentally and emotionally ill patients whom they could not sure to live with Caryll because they were astounded at the affect her compassionate presence had on them. Caryll accepted and loved the patients and this made a dramatic healing impact on their health.

When I look at the lives of compassionate people I see some common characteristics. They often have significant suffering or painful life events of their own, a generous hear, a non-blaming and non-judging mind, a keen empathy, and a love that embraces the oneness of all creation.

I invite you to think about your teachers of compassion today. Who has taught you how to offer the cup of compassion to others?” ~From The Cup of Our Life by Joyce Rupp

Help me today O Lord, to show Your love to those I meet this day. Help me to see people as You see them, beloved and precious. Help me to look past present circumstances to who You know they are. Give me the ability to love with grace and mercy as Jesus did. Amen.

Getting dressed

22 Sep 2013 Leave a comment

by jennifermcintyreblog in Devotions Tags: , , , , ,

The apostles returned to Jesus and told him everything they had done and taught. Many people were coming and going, so there was no time to eat. He said to the apostles, “Come by yourselves to a secluded place and rest for a while.” They departed in a boat by themselves for a deserted place.

Many people saw them leaving and recognized them, so they ran ahead from all the cities and arrived before them. When Jesus arrived and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. Then he began to teach them many things.

Late in the day, his disciples came to him and said, “This is an isolated place, and it’s already late in the day. Send them away so that they can go to the surrounding countryside and villages and buy something to eat for themselves.”

He replied, “You give them something to eat.”

But they said to him, “Should we go off and buy bread worth almost eight months’ pay and give it to them to eat?”

He said to them, “How much bread do you have? Take a look.”

After checking, they said, “Five loaves of bread and two fish.”

He directed the disciples to seat all the people in groups as though they were having a banquet on the green grass. They sat down in groups of hundreds and fifties. He took the five loaves and the two fish, looked up to heaven, blessed them, broke the loaves into pieces, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all. Everyone ate until they were full. They filled twelve baskets with the leftover pieces of bread and fish. About five thousand had eaten. ~Mark 6:30-44 (CEB)

“Jesus was often prompted by compassion to act on behalf of those who were suffering loss, disease, and hunger. It seems inevitable that those who follow Jesus must also show compassion in all of their decisions and actions. This is especially true of those who relate to people suffering hunger, disease, and death. The followers of Jesus cannot ignore the needy of the world, and neither can we look away from the needs of the world. If our lives are modeled after the one we claim to follow, we will, as Jesus did, look with compassion upon all who cross our paths. Looking with compassion requires the further step of seeking to alleviate the pain that prompted our compassion.

Colossians 3:12 has provided a source of guidance and strength for my life for many years. ‘As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.’ The author of Colossians calls the followers of Jesus to clothe themselves with these five incredible qualities, and the first of them is compassion. As chosen ones, it is the only option. To be chosen as God’s beloved can only evoke gratitude and goodness. Therefore our response of compassion for the world is really a response to God’s unqualified love for us. How could we respond in any other way?

Jesus saw a need, had compassion, then sought to remedy the need. As Christians we seek to model our lives after Jesus. The pain of the world draws forth our compassion and our effort to remedy the need.

As God’s beloved, pray this week for you to see the needs around you and for compassion that will prompt actions to meet those needs with loving remedy. ~From A Guide to Prayer for All Who Seek God, Rueben P. Job

Heavenly Father, help me this day to clothe myself with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. May all I do this day be a reflection of you. Amen.

To gain my soul

19 Sep 2013 Leave a comment

by jennifermcintyreblog in Devotions Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Why would people gain the whole world but lose their lives? What will people give in exchange for their lives? ~Matt 16:26 (CEB)

“What I most desire for you is a certain calmness which recollection, detachment, and love of God alone can give. St. Augustine says that whatever we love outside God, so much the less do we love [God]. It is as a brook whence part of the waters is turned aside. Such a diversion takes away from that which is God’s and thence arise harassment and trouble. God would have all, and [God’s] jealousy cannot endure a divided heart. The slightest affection apart from [God] becomes a hindrance, and causes estrangement. The soul can only look to find peace in love without reserve. ~ From The Royal Way of the Cross: Letters and Spiritual Counsels of Francois de Salignac de la Mothe-Fenelon

Heavenly Father, I am nothing without You. My heart races, I feel lost and alone without You. Help me to not have a divided heart so that I may find the peace and love I need for this day. Amen.

Spiritual Discipline

18 Sep 2013 Leave a comment

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Train yourself for a holy life! While physical training has some value, training in holy living is useful for everything. It has promise for this life now and the life to come. ~1 Tim 4:7b-8 (CEB)

“By participating in Christian disciplines, we live out our desire and intention to cooperate with the Holy Spirit. As we do so, we are encouraged, instructed, healed, challenged, loved, renewed, and beckoned to God and godly living.

While it is true that God is in every when and where and that many other things besides disciplines contribute to our deepening relationship with God, we discover that it makes a meaningful difference in everyday life when we set aside time, space, and ourselves to be more fully present with and attentive and responsive to God. Disciplines are like faithful companions on the way. The benefit we seek and desire most is deepening companionship with God. We come away from other pursuits to listen for the still, small voice that is our beloved Savior, the Holy One, our Creator, God.” ~From Holy Invitations by Jeanette A. Bakke

Lord, how magnificent are Your ways. The more time I spend with You the more I desire to know You deeper. Guide this time with You, O Lord, so the relationship will grow even stronger. Help me to continue to hear Your still small voice as I journey through this day. Amen.

Solitude

17 Sep 2013 Leave a comment

by jennifermcintyreblog in Devotions Tags: , , , , , , ,

Early in the morning, well before sunrise, Jesus rose and went to a deserted place where he could be alone in prayer. ~Mark 1:35 (CEB)

“Solitude is obviously intended to be far more than just being physically alone. It is the way we form a habit of retreat, creating a space and a time when God can speak to us. Perhaps you are fortunate enough to have some place in your house that could become a place of retreat. Some people have a favorite walk that becomes a ‘prayer walk.’ Every large city, despite the noise and crowds, has places of great solitude and peace. Often city center churches are examples of this. What is certain is that if we create a place where we can regularly turn to God, [God] will meet us there. There, as Amma Syncletica said, ‘it is possible to be a solitary in one’s mind while living in a crowd.’ Time spent with God in solitude will always bring a harvest. The problems we have outside the solitude will seem different when we return to them refreshed and strengthened. The surer sense of our relationship with Christ that solitude brings spills over into everything else we do. When Moses came down from his solitude on Mount Sinai, his face shone (Exod. 34:29-35). For you, too, solitude can be a place of transfiguration, a meeting place with the living God.” ~From The Interior Mountain by Simon Peter Iredale

Come away with me O Lord, to a quiet place where I may hear your voice as it whispers to me. May the solitude I seek in this moment give me the strength needed for this day. May my face shine from being in Your Presence. Help me remember throughout the rest of this day to stop and listen for Your voice so that I may know more clearly the way to go. Amen.

Come to me, O God

16 Sep 2013 Leave a comment

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“My God, I lift my face toward you now like a hungry child asking to be fed. My soul is starved; my flesh years for the touch that only you can give. Come to me, O God, and stay with me; I abandon myself into your hands. Do with me as you will, and whatever you do with me, I thank you. I am prepared for anything; I will accept everything so long as your will is accomplished in the totality of my living.

My God, I give myself to you, placing myself in your hands as a gift of love. It is necessary for me to give myself to you in confidence and without reserve because I love you, and I know you love me also.

Reach down inside me now, O God, and change the gears that race and roar. In place of turmoil give me peace; in place of frenzy five me patience. Then shall I be more like Jesus, who taught us to make room for you in our hectic days.

Teach me, God, to make room for you in all the events and affairs of my days. Then I shall find rest. Then I will be at peace with my self and with you.” ~Norman Shawchuck

Sins of the spirit

14 Sep 2013 Leave a comment

by jennifermcintyreblog in Devotions Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

If you forgive others their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you don’t forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your sins. ~Matt. 6:14-15 (CEB)

“But there are two sins, not of individual deed, but of spiritual condition, which cannot be forgiven; that is, as it seems to me, which cannot be excused, passed by, made little of by the tenderness even of God, inasmuch as they will allow no forgiveness to come into the should, they will permit no good influence to go on working alongside of them; they shut God out altogether. Therefore the man guilty of these can never receive into himself the holy renewing saving influences of God’s forgiveness. God is outside of him in every sense, save that which springs from his creating relation to him, by which, thanks be to God, he yet keeps a hold of him, although against the will of the man who will not be forgiven. The one of these sins is against man; the other against God.

The former is unforgiveness to our neighbor; the shutting of him out form our mercies, from out love- so from the universe, as far as we are a portion of it- the murdering therefore of our neighbor. It may be an infinitely less evil to murder a man than to refuse to forgive him. The former may be the act of a moment of passion: the latter is the heart’s choice. It is spiritual murder, the worst, to hate, to brood over the feeling that excludes, that kills the image, the idea of the hated.” ~ From The Creation in Christ by George MacDonald

Father in Heaven, Help me to love my neighbors as You love them. Help me to see past my own opinions and judgments.  Allow others to see Your mercies through me. Amen.

Jubilee

12 Sep 2013 Leave a comment

by jennifermcintyreblog in Devotions Tags: , , , , , ,

The LORD God’s spirit is upon me,

because the LORD has anointed me.

He has sent me

to bring good news to the poor,

to bind up the brokenhearted,

to proclaim release for captives,

and liberation for prisoners,

to proclaim the year of the LORD ‘s favor

and a day of vindication for our God,

to comfort all who mourn,

to provide for Zion’s mourners,

to give them a crown in place of ashes,

oil of joy in place of mourning,

a mantle of praise in place of discouragement.

~Isaiah 61:1-3a (CEB)

“Forgiveness can be the great cleansing action that allows one to begin again. Retribution or restitution is not enough. They serve as payback but they do not allow for the deep scouring that is necessary to truly start anew. The ancient Israelites knew the principle well for they instituted the practice of the Sabbath year. Each seventh year was set aside so that everything could begin over again: Fields lay fallow and all debts were forgiven. This crucial period of rest was seen as necessary for the harmonious functioning of society and the fertility of the land. The earth can be depleted, our societies become imbalanced and unjust. Similarly, as individuals and as families we require a time of absolution so that we might truly begin again and become fertile fields that yield a rich harvest.

The prayer most identified with Christianity, one taught to us by Jesus himself, incorporates the crucial insight that forgiveness is a key ingredient as we live into the promised kingdom.” ~ From The Time Between by Wendy M. Wright

Heavenly Father, send a Jubilee my way. Help me to rest so that from my life a rich harvest may grow. Amen.

Walking towards the light

10 Sep 2013 Leave a comment

by jennifermcintyreblog in Devotions Tags: , , , , , , ,

And Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning he returned to the temple. All the people gathered around him, and he sat down and taught them. The legal experts and Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery. Placing her in the center of the group, they said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of committing adultery. In the Law, Moses commanded us to stone women like this. What do you say?” They said this to test him, because they wanted a reason to bring an accusation against him. Jesus bent down and wrote on the ground with his finger.

They continued to question him, so he stood up and replied, “Whoever hasn’t sinned should throw the first stone.” Bending down again, he wrote on the ground. Those who heard him went away, one by one, beginning with the elders. Finally, only Jesus and the woman were left in the middle of the crowd.

Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Is there no one to condemn you?”

She said, “No one, sir.”

Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on, don’t sin anymore.” John 8:1-11 (CEB)

“It may sound paradoxical, but no man is condemned for anything he has done; he is condemned for continuing to do wrong. He is condemned for not coming out of the darkness, for not coming to the light, the living God, who sent the light, His Son, into the world to guide him home.” ~From  Creation in Christ by George McDonald

Heavenly Father, help me this day to see more clearly the things that I must change. Help me to not be stuck on what I have done wrong. Help me instead to see what I can do correctly this day, this moment. Help me to continue to walk towards Your light. Amen.

Today

09 Sep 2013 Leave a comment

by jennifermcintyreblog in Devotions Tags: , , , , , ,

There’s a season for everything

and a time for every matter under the heavens:

a time for giving birth and a time for dying,

a time for planting and a time for uprooting what was planted,

a time for killing and a time for healing,

a time for tearing down and a time for building up,

a time for crying and a time for laughing,

a time for mourning and a time for dancing,

a time for throwing stones and a time for gathering stones,

a time for embracing and a time for avoiding embraces,

a time for searching and a time for losing,

a time for keeping and a time for throwing away,

a time for tearing and a time for repairing,

a time for keeping silent and a time for speaking,

a time for loving and a time for hating,

a time for war and a time for peace.

~Ecc. 3:1-8 (CEB)

In the church calendar we are in the “Ordinary Times”. Easter time is just a memory. Christmas is still just out of reach. Summer is over and the fall schedule has kicked in. Today is just another Monday. What could make it special? But then I get to thinking…

Today God gives you a new opportunity to praise Him. “This is the day that the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24)

Today God provides for you and wants your trust. “Give us day by day our daily bread.” (Luke 11:3)

Today God wants to speak to you through His word. The believers at Berea “searched the Scriptures daily.” (Acts 17:11)

Today God desires to renew your inner person. “The inward man is being renewed day by day.” (2Cor. 4:16)

Today may be an ordinary day but through God’s provisions every day can be special.

Lord, I thank You for providing for my everyday needs. I thank You for renewing me every day. I thank You for Your scriptures that lead me ever closer to You. I thank You for this ordinary day and I will rejoice in all that You have given me. Amen.

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