Corrected vision

22 Nov 2013 Leave a comment

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

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.

Set my life aflame

20 Nov 2013 Leave a comment

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

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

Do you love me?

18 Nov 2013 Leave a comment

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

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.

Carrying on Your work

09 Nov 2013 Leave a comment

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But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. For each will have to bear his own load. ~Gal. 6:4-5 (ESV)

“After we had wandered many years in the new path, of salvation by faith and works; about two years ago it pleased God to show us the old way, of salvation by faith only. And many soon tasted of this salvation, ‘being justified freely, having peace with God, rejoicing in hope of the glory of God,’ and ‘having his love shed abroad in their hosts.’ These now ran the way of his commandments: They performed all their duty to God and man. They walked in all the ordinances of the Lord: and through these means, which he had appointed for that end, received daily grace to help in time of need, and went on from faith to faith.” ~From “Journal, June 22, 1740” by John Wesley

Heavenly Father, Help me to be about Your work this day. Give me the grace to see the tasks that You have laid out for me. Help me to carry on the work began by Your saints. Amen.

Instrument of God

30 Oct 2013 Leave a comment

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

Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions. Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness. For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace. ~Romans 6:12-14 (CEB)

“I know that many wiser and better Christians than I in these days do not like to mention heaven and hell even in a pulpit. I know, too, that nearly all the references to this subject in New Testament come from a single source. But then that source is our Lord himself. People will tell you it is St. Paul, but that is untrue. These overwhelming doctrines are dominical. They are not really removable from the teaching of Christ or of his Church. If we do not believe them, our presence in this church is great tomfoolery. If we do, we must sometime overcome our spiritual prudery and mention them.” ~From Fern-Seed and Elephants by C.S. Lewis

Help me this day O Lord to live as You would have me. Help me to be Your hands and feet to this hurting world. Help my focus this day be on You and not me. Amen.

Belief in the Church

29 Oct 2013 Leave a comment

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

We also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers. For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Christ Jesus that are in Judea. For you suffered the same things from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews. ~1 Thes. 2:13-14 (CEB)

The Church is an object of faith.  In the Apostles’ Creed we pray:  “I believe in God, the Father … in Jesus Christ, his only Son – in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting.”  We must believe in the Church!  The Apostles’ Creed does not say that the Church is an organization that helps us to believe in God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  No, we are called to believe in the Church with the same faith we believe in God.

Often it seems harder to believe in the Church than to believe in God.  But whenever we separate our belief in God from our belief in the Church, we become unbelievers.  God has given us the Church as the place where God becomes God-with-us.

O God, who through the grace of Your Holy Spirit purs the gift of love into the hearts of Your faithful people: Grant me health, both of mind and body, that I may love You with my whole strength, and with a glad hear perform those things which are pleasing to You; through Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen. ~adapted from The Book of Worship

Open to God

26 Oct 2013 Leave a comment

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

No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God. ‘Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me— not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” ~John 6:42-51 (CEB)

“If we are to experience God, we must be open to God, to the mystical, to the divine, appearing in our lives. And we must have an openness that is free of any preconditions about how that will happen. Looking for God in a godly form is the great historical mistake.” ~From In Pursuit of the Great White Rabbit by Edward Hays

Open my eyes O Lord, to see You in the world around be. Open my heart to fill Your love. Open my ears to hear Your whispers of love to my heart. Amen.

Compasssion as my guide

25 Oct 2013 Leave a comment

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

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” ~John 13:34-35 (CEB)

“For a Christian, an economic system is a means to an end- a mechanism for exchanging goods and services. . . . nothing more. We steer our lives by a higher value- the love ethic of Jesus. Central to our bearing the cross is our acceptance of Jesus’ love and our attentiveness to the needs of others. Love, not mammon, must be our guiding light.

Each of us can choose to change out of aspiration rather than desperation. We have the choice to live our faith. But living our faith will require ‘righteousness,’ that is, a genuine relationship with God. Compassion will be our guiding light, our rule I life. Justice will lead us to faithful stewardship- to care for and work on behalf of others in the global community. Shalom will be our reward.” ~From Climbing the Sycamore Tree by Ann Hagmann

Heavenly Father, may I be known this day by the love I show. May I aspire to be more like Jesus in my words and actions. May they be a testament of Your work in my life.

Chains of self-reliance

23 Oct 2013 Leave a comment

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

And as he was setting out on his journey, a man ran up and knelt before him and asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except God alone. You know the commandments: ‘Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.'” And he said to him, “Teacher, all these I have kept from my youth.” And Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “You lack one thing: go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” Disheartened by the saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

And Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How difficult it will be for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” And the disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus said to them again, “Children, how difficult it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God.” And they were exceedingly astonished, and said to him, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “With man it is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.” ~Mark 10:17-27 (CEB)

“There are some who resign themselves, but they attach conditions to it. They do not trust in God completely, so they take pains to provide for themselves just in case. Some offer everything at first, but later, beaten down by temptations, they go back to their old ways and thus make little progress in virtue. People like these will not gain the true freedom of a pure heart nor the grace of a joyful intimacy with me unless they surrender themselves unconditionally and offer themselves as a sacrifice to me each day. Without this total self-surrender a joyful union between us cannot exist, either now or ever.” ~From The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis

Almighty God, I come to You today seeking freedom that only You can give. Help me to break these chains of self-reliance. Help me to depend solely on You. Amen.

True devotion

28 Sep 2013 Leave a comment

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

True devotion, the kind that is pure and faultless before God the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their difficulties and to keep the world from contaminating us. ~James 1:27

“One of the few things John Wesley feared was the accumulation of wealth. As a biblical scholar and a practical theologian he was convinced that to follow Jesus Christ meant involvement with, and ministry among and to, the poor. This conviction led him to live on a modest income even when his writing was producing significant return. His solution was to give away all but the money he needed to buy the essentials.

This understanding of the relationship between following Christ and involvement with the poor led him to some unusual practices. It was not uncommon for him to beg in order to raise money for the poor . . .

Not only did Wesley beg on behalf of the poor, he preached to them and found ways to be with them. His journal is filled with entries that describe his experiences of visiting the poor, the prisoner, the sorrowing and the suffering. The false stereotypes of the day were shattered as he came to work with and to know the poor and the needy of the world. Had he ignored God’s urging to ministry with the poor he would have missed a large segment of the population that turned toward Christ through the Methodist movement. He would also have missed living and witnessing to a balanced faith that emphasized love for God and love for neighbor in very simple and practical ways.” ~From A Wesleyan Spiritual Reader Spiritual Reader by Rueben P. Job

Lord Jesus Christ, hasten the day when all of your people may know the joy, peace, and harmony of Your kingdom. Grant unto me this day the power to live within Your kingdom. In the name of Christ. Amen.

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