Read Think Pray for 29September - Proper 22C

30 September – 4 October
Read Think Pray

Monday

[I have to apologise for getting my weeks mixed up!  This should be next week's reflections.]

 

Read Psalm 37:1-9

Think

Psalm 37 is full of wisdom.  One thing it challenges me to do is be a little less greedy – and learn to be content.  It makes me think of Paul’s words:

…I have learnt to be content with whatever I have.

- Philippians 4:10

Pray

Be still before the LORD,
and wait patiently for him.

- Psalm 37:3

Tuesday

Read Habakkuk 1:1-3; 2:1-4

Think

In the 7^th Century before Christ the prophet Habakkuk stood up to speak out against the corruption of those who were powerful.  I particularly like 2:3-4.

You might be tempted to be a part of the corruption – a part of the injustice of the world.  But know that ‘your spirit will not be right within you’.  ‘The righteous live by their faith.’

 Pray

Lord, sometimes I want to take things into my own hands in order to get what I want.  Help me to let go of what I want, and trust you for what I need.  So that my Spirit would be right within me.

Amen.

Wednesday

Read 2 Timothy 1:1-14

Think

Paul speaks so fondly of his friend and son in the faith.  What seems to stand out for Paul as he writes is Timothy’s ‘sincere faith’.  One of my dictionaries describes the word as: ‘lacking in pretense or show.’

Paul is fond of Timothy and he seems to be encouraging him to ‘just be himself’.

Pray

Lord, help me to remember who you created me to be.

Thursday

Read Luke 17:5-10

Think

It might sound strange.  But sometimes we admire ourselves for our own righteousness. In verses 8-10 Jesus speaks about how slaves simply do what they are commanded to do without congratulating themselves for doing it.

Perhaps we ought to a bit more like humble slaves in our service of God?

Pray

Lord, help me to serve you just because you are God and I am not.

Friday

Read Luke 17:11-19

Think

In this story Jesus cleanses all ten lepers but only one of them is ‘made well.’  The one that returns to Jesus to give thanks.  Interestingly; it is not Jesus who makes the leper well.  It is the leper’s faith.

Pray

Spend some time giving thanks for all that God has done for you.

Read Think Pray | 23-27 September

23-27 September

Read Think Pray
Monday

Read Psalm 113

Think

I like the way that this Psalm is divided into two sections.  Verse 1-6 paint a picture of God’s greatness and power.  Verse 7-9 remind us that God is involved in the world at our level.

Raising the poor from the dust (Verse 7).

This is the God we serve; God who comes down to be with us in our difficulty and struggle.

Pray

Tell God what barrenness / dust / ash heaps you need help to get out of.  Concentrate more on telling God what’s happening than on telling him how to rescue you.

Tuesday

Read Amos 8:4-7

Think

Eugene Peterson translates verse 4-6: “Listen to this, you who walk over the weak, you who treat the poor people as less than nothing…”

How have you been a victim of injustice?  How does it feel to hear that God is keeping tabs on what people are up to?

How have you been a perpetrator of injustice?

Pray

Lord I’m very aware of when people are unfair to me, but not very aware of when I am unfair to others.  Help me to see more clearly.

Wednesday

Read 1 Timothy 2:1-7

Think

Paul calls us to pray for kings and all those in high positions, so that we may lead a ‘quiet and peacable life in all godliness and dignity.’

That is what God wants for the world – peace, godliness and dignity.  Paul reminds us to pray!

Do you pray for our countries leaders in business and politics?

Perhaps we should.

Pray

God bless Africa, Guard her children, Guide her leaders.  And give her peace.  Amen.

Thursday

Read Luke 16:1-13

Think

This really is a very confusing story.

In the light of chapter 15 (the story of the lost coin, lost sheep and prodigal son) I think it is about being generous with God’s grace.

Believing that God can forgive sinners like us.  But also knowing that God can forgive other sinners too.  It’s not up to us to do the judging.

Pray

Lord you forgive me so graciously but I am so reluctant to forgive others.  Help me.

Friday

Read 16:19-31

Think

If I listen to this parable as myself I hear it as hard or bad news.  I’m more like the rich man than like Lazarus.

But if I were poor; I would hear this story as incredibly good and hopeful news. The news that justice will prevail.

Pray

Lord help us to recognize Lazarus at our gate.

Read Think Pray | 15 September | Proper 19C

16-20 September
Read Think Pray
Monday

Read Psalm 51:1-10

Think

The background story to this Psalm is David’s adultery with Bathsheba.  The prophet Nathan confronts him with his sin and he repents.  What is interesting is that David doesn’t see what he has done wrong until someone actually tells him.

Pray

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me.

- Psalm 50:10

Tuesday

Read Exodus 32:7-14

Think

So God heard the cries of the Israelites in slavery in Egypt.  He sent Moses to set them free. Moses led them to freedom and he went up the mountain to receive the ten commandments from the Lord.  This commandments were the constitution of the new Kingdom. 10 rules to set them free.

Meanwhile, the people were impatient; they quickly made an idol for themselves.  This kind of behavior would ultimately lead them back into oppression; this time not by the Egyptians; but their own oppression.

God decides to end it here; but Moses begs for mercy; and God relents.

Pray

Lord, you do everything in your power to set me free but I keep on doing the things that keep me in bondage. Be patient with me I pray.
Amen

Wednesday

Read 1 Timothy 1:12-17

Think

In this passage Paul is speaking. Paul who murdered Christians; who supervised the stoning of St Stephen.  He uses himself as an example of what God can do with even the worst of sinners.

Pray

…the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵ The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the foremost.

- 1 Timothy 1:14-15

Thursday

Read Luke 15:1-10

Think

Excuse the old language; but in John Wesley’s sermons on the sermon on the mount he writes:

Let us observe, who it is that is here speaking, that we may take heed how we hear. It is the Lord of heaven and earth, the Creator of all…

- John Wesley, Sermon 21

In these parables; God is telling us what God is like.  God is like a shepherd who risks himself to go looking for one lost sheep.  God is like a woman who looks for one lost coin and rejoices when she finds it!

Pray

Lord, sometimes I am so mindful of my own sin that I forget the extent of your love for me; I forget how you value me.  Help me to see myself and others through your eyes. Amen.

Friday

Read Luke 16:1-13

Think

This is a very confusing parable.  The best I can make of it is that it is a call to practice grace and generosity.  This means forgiving the things that others do; it means being humble; it means being ‘graceful.’

Pray

Lord, help me to be generous.

9-13 September | Read Think Pray

9-13 September (18C)
Read Think Pray
Monday

Read Psalm 1

Think

Psalm 1 is a very simple Psalm, presenting two paths.  The two paths are defined by what we pay attention to.  Those who pay attention to the advice of the wicked are not happy / blessed.  Those who pay attention to the ‘law’ of God are.

Pray

Pray for discerning ears and eyes; that we wouldn’t let the ‘advice of the wicked’ overwhelm the still small voice of God in our hearts.

Tuesday

Read Deuteronomy 30:15-20

Think

Choose life. “Loving the LORD your God, obeying him, and holding fast to him; for that means life to you…” (Dt 30:19-20)

Yesterday’s Psalm spoke of those who pay attention to God as well watered trees.  This passage invites us to make God our number 1 priority – in so doing we are choosing life.

Jesus reveals God’s heart to us: “I have come to give you life and life in abundance!”

The key word is ‘choose.’

Pray

Lord, I often complain about things that rob me of life. But if I’m honest; I choose them for myself. Help me to choose rightly.

Wednesday

Read Philemon 1-21

Think

This is a fascinating letter.  Paul writing to a slave owner about an escaped slave who has become a Christian; it turns out that the slave owner is also a Christian and Paul knows him. So the escaped slave returns to his owner with a letter from Paul asking for forgiveness for escaping and release from slavery.  (It would make a great movie!)

Pray

Lord, following you is sometimes quite difficult.  But it is the only way in which I truly become free.  Set me free from my addiction to so many other things and voices so that I can follow you in joy and freedom.

Thursday

Read Luke 14:25-33

Think

It seems strange; but Jesus seems to be trying to discourage people from following him.  He invites us to count the cost. Do we really want to follow Jesus?

Pray

Lord, following you is costly.  Help me not to lose heart.

Friday

Read Luke 15:1-10

Think

I love the parable of the lost coin; verses 8-10. In my mind’s eye I try to picture the woman’s face from the coin’s perspective.  Bending over – peering into a dark corner; her eye’s and face lighting up with joy at the relief of finding her treasure.

This is the face of God.

Pray

Lord, help me to see myself as you see me.