Reading: Romans 8: 26-27 Verse 27: “The Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will”. Our prayer lives can run the gamut from rote mealtime prayers to times of deep prayer where we are barely using words. Our simple mealtime prayers are an acknowledgement of God’s gifts and a request for God’s blessings. Our daily prayers are usually petitions and requests, sometimes with a little thanksgiving and confession sprinkled in. In times of more pressing need our

Reading: Psalm 105: 1-11 and 45b Verse 4: “Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always”. The psalmist celebrates God’s presence among his people. God entered into covenant relationship with Israel early in the stages of humanity and has kept the covenant with Israel through a succession of leaders. Abraham and Jacob are mentioned in today’s Psalm. The psalmist encourages us to celebrate through song all the “wonders he has done”. To remember and celebrate God’s lo

Reading: Genesis 29: 15-28 Verse 18: “I’ll work for you seven years in return for your younger daughter Rachel”. After stealing Isaac’s blessing from his brother Esau, Jacob runs away to his mother’s family in Haran. His mother, Rebekah, had schemed to get the son she loved more the coveted birthright. Her love for Jacob led her to place him before his older brother Esau. Once Jacob safely arrives in Haran, he soon meets Laban, Rebekah’s brother. Laban says to Jacob, “You are

Reading: Matthew 13: 36-43 Verse 43: “Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father”. As Jesus and the disciples return to the house once again they ask him to explain a parable. Jesus had just told a story about planting seeds and they needed help with the interpretation. Jesus explains that he is the sower, planting good seeds in people’s lives. He does this work in the world – everywhere he goes. At the same time, Satan is at work in the same wo

Reading: Matthew 13: 24-30 Verse 29: “…while you are pulling the weeds you may root up the wheat with them”. I tend to be a fixer. When problems or issues arise I want to fix them. In general, most of us get uncomfortable when things are not right. In those cases our leaning is to make things right then and there. Many of us are like the servants in today’s parable. The parable begins with the planting of wheat in the field. During the night an enemy sows weeds in the same fi

Reading: Romans 8: 12-25 Verse 15: “You did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship”. In today’s passage we continue with Paul’s words concerning our struggle with sin. Over the past few weeks the readings from Romans have focused on our inner conflict with good and evil. In this week’s verses Paul begins by speaking of an “obligation” that we have. That obligation, using Paul’s word, is to live in alignment with God.

Reading: Psalm 139: 11-12 and 23-24 Verses 23-24: “Search me, O God, and know my heart… and lead me in the way everlasting”. As we wrap up Psalm 139 today we begin with a reminder that we cannot hide from God. In the opening ten verses we were reminded that God is everywhere and is at all times present. Today the psalmist reminds us that not even darkness can hide us. To God, the night shines like the day. God’s vision is 20/20 all the time. It is in the dark that we get astr

Reading: Psalm 139: 11-12 and 23-24 Verses 23-24: “Search me, O God, and know my heart… and lead me in the way everlasting”. As we wrap up Psalm 139 today we begin with a reminder that we cannot hide from God. In the opening ten verses we were reminded that God is everywhere and is at all times present. Today the psalmist reminds us that not even darkness can hide us. To God, the night shines like the day. God’s vision is 20/20 all the time. It is in the dark that we get astr

Reading: Psalm 139: 7-10 Verse 10: “Even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast”. Even there. Even there God is with us. In the quiet of the sanctuary on a Tuesday morning, God is there. In the excitement of worship on a Sunday morning, God is there. In the prayer on the couch and in the prayer on the walk to work, God is there. As the baby releases its first cry and as the person draws their last breath, God is there. In the spaces where we seek God

Reading: Psalm 139: 1-6 Verse 4: “Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord”. As we begin three days with the reading from Psalm 139, we look today at how intimately God knows us. Notice in the opening six verses how much of the active action is on God’s side of the equation. Yes, the psalmist comes and goes, sits and rises. But it is God who searches and perceives and knows completely. The psalmist understands well the dynamics of a relationship with God.

Reading: Genesis 28: 10-19a Verse 17: “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God”. As today’s passage opens we find Jacob leaving home, headed for Haran, the home of his mother’s family. Jacob is fleeing in fear because he stole the birthright from his twin brother Esau. By returning to the ancestral lands, he will first be safe and, second, Isaac and Rebekah hope he will find a wife from among the relatives. They hope that God will provide a good wi

Reading: Romans 8: 1-11 Verse 9: “You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you”. Paul continues in today’s passage to flesh out how life with Christ is different than life without Christ. Choosing to invite and live with Jesus in our hearts, we are freed from the law and the confines of this world. In the opening verses of chapter eight Paul also reminds us that Jesus paid the price for our sin. These two things al

Reading: Romans 8: 1-11 Verse 1: “There is now no condemnation… because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death”. Once a person accepts Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, life is forever changed. Before accepting Jesus we are tied to the flesh, to the sinful nature within us. Without Christ we live for ourselves, seeking to fulfill selfish desires and pleasures. Our focus is totally inward. The law of sin and death has almost

Reading: Matthew 13: 1-9 and 18-23 Verses 3 and 4: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed…” Today’s parable is one of my favorites. The parable of the sower is one of my favorites because of the underlying message and directive. On a surface, practical level, it is the story of a farmer who probably wasn’t very successful – at least be farming standards. No farmer worth his weight in seeds would plant seeds in shallow soil or amongst rocks, nevermin

Reading: Isaiah 55: 10-13 Verse 11: “My word that goes out from my mouth: it will not return to me empty”. Isaiah was a prophet that wrote to a nation who was astray from the Lord. Chapter 55 opens with a beautiful invitation from God to his wayward children: “Come, all who are thirsty, come to the waters”. God is flinging open the doors for his people to return, to come and drink of his mercy and love. Isaiah encourages the people to “seek the Lord while he may be found”. Th

Reading: Psalm 119: 105-112 Verse 105: “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path”. Today’s passage centers on knowing God’s words or laws. The psalmist writes of following God’s ways no matter what life brings. For the psalmist it seems especially important to hold onto God’s words and laws in times of suffering and during trials. This tends to be our natural tendency – we pray most fervently when we are desperate or feeling very helpless or powerless. Yet as be

Reading: Genesis 25: 19-34 Verse 31: “Jacob replied, ‘First sell me your birthright'”. Today’s passage centers around twins – Esau and Jacob. At birth only seconds separate the moment they come out of the womb. Esau emerges first, with Jacob immediately following him, grasping his brother’s heel. The image of brothers wrestling as they enter the world is an extension of what they did in the womb and is a foreshadowing of their future relationship. Esau grows up to become a ma

Reading: Genesis 25: 19-34 Verse 21: “Isaac prayed to the Lord on behalf of his wife, because she was barren”. Last week we looked at the miraculous story of finding a wife for Isaac. The baby born when mom and dad were 90 and 100, respectively, marries a wife that clearly God had a hand in selecting. Remember how the servant’s prayer was exactly how things unfolded in finding Rebekah? It seemed like a fairy tale beginning to a storybook marriage. But then, in today’s passage

Reading: Matthew 11: 25-30 Verse 29: “Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart”. In the second section of this week’s passage from Matthew 11, Jesus begins by reminding us that faith comes to those who are pure in heart and who have a childlike heart. Faith is, after all, a thing of the heart, not of the head. The wise of this world have no need for faith in Jesus – at least in their minds. Only those whom God chooses to reveal the Son to w

Reading: Matthew 11: 16-19 Verse 18: “John came neither eating or drinking… The Son of Man came eating and drinking”. Today’s passage from Matthew is part of Jesus’ response to John the Baptist asking if Jesus really is the one to come, “or should we expect someone else”? John is in prison for speaking the truth against the political leader. From prison he sees Jesus’ ministry as much different than his own. John had gone into the wilderness, away from the trappings of the wo