| p1. February 1-9 Lamentation: Feb 1. And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, �This is my son, the Beloved, with whom I am well pleased.� See Matthew 3:16-17. This event signified Jesus� strong sense of belonging, identity, and calling. Those of us baptized begin a similar journey. We might have sojourned in a wilderness and been tempted to give it all up, but we are still God�s children, called for a purpose. With Jesus we are your beloved children, with whom you are well pleased. Amen. Feb 2. May there be abundance of grain in the land�and may people blossom in the cities like the grass of the field. See Psalm 72. The righteous ruler, equipped with the justice of God, brings prosperity to the kingdom. Leadership is not exercised in isolation from God. It is an extension of God�s purpose, bringing order to creation and becoming the means through which God blesses the people. Leadership is not primarily about power or influence, as it is so often practiced today. The leadership that pleases God is a spiritual enterprise that seeks to be a vehicle for God�s purpose and blessing. The leader becomes a servant for the good of all. Bless our world with a full measure of your justice, O God. Amen. Feb 3. Just as we have borne the image of the one of dust, we shall also bear the image of the one of heaven. See 1 Corinthians 15:49. The �one of dust� is Adam, who sinned, and the �one of heaven� is Jesus, who did not. The apostle Paul writes to the church at Corinth about sanctifications, the sanctifying process by which Christians were to become less like Adam and more like Christ. It was not a process of �spiritualizing� the body; it was a process of God resurrecting the body, resurrecting how we should have been in a world without sin. Coming out may be both a painful and joyful journey in which we never finally arrive. It requires discipline, changing one�s patterns of denial and coping and avoidance, and adopting a newfound sense of responsibility and response-ability. Coming out parallels becoming like Christ. Neither coming out nor becoming like Christ makes us perfect, but both offer us an integrity�an integrity of body and soul, of sex and spirit, of the personal and public self. Grant us the integrity by which we may harmonize all we are, all we believe, all we say, and all we do. Feb 4. But each of us was given grace according to the measure of Christ�s gift. See Ephesians 4:7, 11-16. You and I are gifted people. But it is not always easy to get gifted people to work together. The more options we have, the less dependent we are on others for the necessities of life. And the less we see ourselves in relation to one another. The gifts of Christ are not used in isolation but for the growth of the body. Growth anchored in love, not in personal gain, fame, or achievement. The call for unity in the body of Christ is no small matter. The whole body needs more than a collection of individual talents and gifts. The body needs growth as each part comes together and does its work. May I use the gifts I have been given to lift up and strengthen the body of Christ. Amen. Feb 5. Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the Earth�It is God that made us, and we are God�s. See Psalm 100:1, 3. The inhospitable or negative response the gay and lesbian community has received from many religious organizations or people is NOT God�s reaction to the gay and lesbian community. If only Christian and Muslim people could only know the multitude of gay and lesbian musicians and vocalists who �make a joyful noise to God� in their places of worship. Yet many of these people (including Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad) resist believing that it is God who made us, and that we are God�s. The very fact that we can praise God says much about our faithfulness. The very fact that we exist within God�s diverse creation shows that God made us. God, forgive us for equating the inhospitable and negative response we receive from many Christians and Muslims with your response to us. Jesus loves me this I know, for the bible tells me so. Amen. Feb 6. For it was you who formed my inward parts, you knit me together in my mother�s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. See Psalm 139:13-14. God wove together our bodies. God wove together our gender and our sexuality. The tender intimacy of God�s personal involvement in our embryonic creation is a cause for praise, awe, and wonder. God must have conceived us the way we are. If we are straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender, God made us that way. God is very powerful and did not make any mistakes while creating us. God is very creative and not committed to one formula of existence. God is not as dull or unimaginative as some people seem to think. Feb 7. I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. See Ephesians 1:16. I�ve read that the worst threat that can happen to you in an evangelical Christian church is when a person says, �I will pray for you�� which means that they believe your thinking or behavior is seriously wrong. One of the most important lessons of the One Minute Manager, a quick guide to better business management, is the concept that it is better to catch someone doing something right than to catch someone doing something wrong. This is also true spiritually. It is better to give thanks to someone, building self-worth, than to blame and shame. Instead of using our prayers as a means to control, how much better it would be to use them to love one another. Feb 8. Jesus said, �How often I have desired to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings. See Luke 13:31-35. Many birds will use themselves as decoys when a predator comes near their nests. They try to lead the predator away form their nests, willing to sacrifice themselves for their offspring, just as Jesus does for us. Lord Jesus, I stand in the shelter of your wings this day, through all that I may face. Amen. Feb 9. The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty. See Psalm 29. What a comfort it is to know that God is in everything and is everywhere. Dear God, thank you for making yourself known to me in the mighty power of your creation. Help me to know you�re always with me. Amen. |
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