Start With Dessert

 

Mercy triumphs

     over judgement.

        James 2. 13

For Thanksgiving,

we bring our specialties

    to the table,

our traditional offerings

 that everyone expects.

This year,

         make it mercy.

More than just a thin kindness,

but extending goodwill,

to see the best in others

  and want the best for them.

Judgment, criticism

and condemnation 

  lock the doors to 

  any kind of change.

But mercy pushes back

the darkness,

rejoices against circumstances,

and opens all realms to the

  possibility of reconciliation.

Judgment is a life sentence

            without parole.

Mercy releases

    the entire relationship.

But we cry,

     "they don't deserve mercy".

Neither do we.

O LORD,

With Your strength

and a huge dollop of Your grace,

  help us to be the ones

to bring mercy

  into our gatherings.

May we start with dessert

and let Your goodness preside.

Grant to us new triggers

loving instead of criticizing,

listening instead of avoiding,

seeing You, others, ourselves

         and this situation

with a fresh heart

    that only You can give. 

Them Bones, Them Bones, Them Dry Bones

 

The hand of the LORD

  was upon me,

and He brought me out

in the Spirit of the LORD

and set me down

in the middle of the valley.

It was full of bones.

       Ezekiel 37. 1

It is not that we have

   made a wrong turn

or misunderstood

   the center of His will.

Sometimes the places

   of greatest flourishing

are the least likely,

most unexpected,

barren and hopeless 

         patches of ground.

But God changes the

          landscape,

even knee-deep in

  dry bones and despair,

exactly where 

    to seek the LORD there.

Far beyond our abilities

    or imagination,

it is He

  who brings the bones together

--that which seems to be

disconnected, broken and lifeless.

And God unfolds His glory

    right before us.

Never give up

on what God can do

with all the bones around us.

Or what He can do

        through us.

Even here.

Even in this broken place.

O LORD,

Please help us

not to see beyond the bones

all around us,

but to trust You right here

     in their midst.

We pray for not just connecting

  what has fallen apart,

but healing

       for what can be.

May Your hand be upon us

    in this day ahead.

Help us grasp 

  not just possibilities

but Your realm of redeeming.

     

Just Like Southerners Hug

 

Do not neglect

   to show hospitality

        to strangers,

for thereby some have

entertained angels

                unawares.

             Hebrews 13. 2

God has placed 

    all manner of people

on our paths

  to love them tangibly.

Hospitality does not mean

  setting a beautiful table,

but inviting others

             to our table,

loving those we may not

              even know yet.

In Greek, hospitality

  is defined as love of strangers.

And entertainment

       is what that looks like,

   to receive a guest,

welcome them as someone special,

just as Southerners hug

  everyone within reach.

O LORD,

We pray that today

You would help us to

  entertain angels unawares,

willing to lean in,

step forward, put on the coffee,

set the table for conversation,

unlock the doors

     of our hearts,

and see what Your love

   can do in others' lives.

Help us to see strangers

   as others to love,

taking the initiative even to say,

    Hi, my name is______.

We may not know them,

   but You do.

The Fine Art of Ambushing

Strive for peace

  with everyone....

      Hebrews 12. 14

Want to know how

to approach and navigate

difficult situations

  and impossible relationships?

Ambush them.

Go forth differently

      and unexpectedly

by bringing peace into it.

Bury the ammunition

  so carefully stored.

Cast the weapons aside.

Surprise them

  and perhaps ourselves.

by allowing God's grace 

  to do something different here.

The Greek word for strive

means to pursue, press on, 

run swiftly to reach the goal

   with a new heart.

Not just going to happen.

Train for it.

O LORD,

There is not one of us

who does not struggle

   with something 

   or someone.

Help us to not just 

remember to pray for peace

   in these circumstances,

                 but strive for it

in tangible and intangible ways.

Order our steps there..

Re-order our hearts.

 

 

God Brings Us Through

 

By faith

Moses left Egypt,

not being afraid

    of the anger of the king,

for he endured as seeing Him

        who is invisible.

           Hebrews 11. 27

The plagues were not designed

just to change Pharoah's mind,

but to strengthen Moses' heart.

Moses was no longer afraid

   of what had previously

   paralyzed him.

He no longer said to God,

"You've got the wrong man,"

but now, "Let's roll."

In faith, Moses obeyed,

even in what had seemed

    impossible to him.

God forms something

    different in us too.

Obedience always brings us

to a deeper dimension 

    of trusting God

    and builds His endurance

    in us in extreme places.

Even when we don't understand,

God completes the unseen

and gives us His strength.

O LORD,

It is not for Moses' own courage

   that we remember him,

but for His obedience to You

in extenuating circumstances.

You call for us to go forth,

    but not alone.

               Not without You.

And You leave in the wake

 an enduring witness

  for thousands of years afterward.

Moses couldn't imagine that.

Neither can we.

Grant to us Your strength

   even in what we face today.

You bring us through.

Or The 457th Time

 

Now faith is the 

  assurance of things hoped for,

the conviction 

      of things not seen.

            Hebrews 11. 1

If we knew what 

     was going to come about,

we would not need faith.

If we knew the outcome,

  we would not seek God.

Faith means

       trusting in God

even in what we cannot yet see.

God does not show up.

      God shows us.

He reveals Himself to us.

Things do not just happen.

    But God unfolds them.

Unseen realities

        are no less real.

We can stake our lives

    on the Almighty,   

based on conviction

       rather than proof.

We throw our lot with Him.

With all He has done,

with all God is doing,

He is not about

   to abandon us now.

O LORD,

Thank You for deepening 

          our belief in You

     to trusting in You.

You are here.

You are working in us.

You continue to work

   until our faith becomes sight.

In Your Word,

the word faith appears 458 times,

just in case we forget,

just in case we didn't get it

     the first or 457th time.

May You find us faithful

    and full of faith in You.

Show us how to do that

      in this day before us.

 

That Sort of Different

 

And the people said to me,

"Will you not tell us what

these things mean for us,

that you are acting thus?"

Then I said to them,

"The word of the LORD

       came to me."

       Ezekiel 24. 19-20

Live that differently.

Make unexpected choices.

Respond in fresh ways.

Not just to be weird,

not for attention drawn to us,

   but to Whom we belong

             and have our being.

As theologian NT Wright said

recently in Time magazine,

"...for people to say,

'How come you seem to be

    sort of different?'

And the answer is,

'Well, we follow this man 

           called Jesus."

And that ought to show.

 

O LORD,

Help us to live before You

in ways that others

       can see You

and the difference You make

      in what we say,

how we pray,

what we do,

and how we love others.

Empower us to

   be that sort of different.

Soften our hearts

    and change our actions,

attitudes and responses

for Your glory

  even in this mess today.