| p4. July 25-31 Tabernacle: July 25. �Go from your country and your kindred�to the land that I will show you�I will bless you�so that you will be a blessing� (Genesis 12:1-2). When Abraham and Sarah heard this challenge from God, they were not oppressed. They had just settled down. But the invitation to move on came anyway. Just when we�ve settled down or settled in, we�ve had to move on to be blessed. Sometimes it meant leaving families, friends, hometowns, or rural communities to be ourselves. We grieve letting go of the familiar just as we fear the familiar may not prove friendly to the �stranger� within us. Spirit of restlessness, in your call to journey toward the unfamiliar, we pray for blessings that we might be a blessing. July 26. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God (Romans 8:14). Bless all who are led by your Spirit to do what is right. Give them the inheritance promised your children. July 27. Jesus said,��I am the way, and the truth, and the life� (John 14:6). Jesus is our way, our truth, and our life. Jesus is our cloud in the tabernacle who leads us through the wilderness. Christ Jesus, forgive us, the church, for using your name to reject others rather than to follow you and love one another. July 28. Say to those who are of a fearful heart, �Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God�God will come and save you� (Isaiah 35:4). �Take heart, it is I; do not be afraid� (Mark 6:50). The world changes around us. Even standing still, we continue to �move� through the wilderness. God comes to us and comforts us in our fear- in one another, as we tabernacle together in the wilderness. July 29. �Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life� (Matthew 6:25). God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference. July 30. Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths (Proverbs 3, 5-6). Living one day at a time; Enjoying one moment at a time; Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; Taking, as He did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it; Trusting that He will make all things right if I surrender to His Will; That I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with Him, forever in the next. Amen. (Reinhold Niebuhr) July 31. �Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you� (Luke 11:9). The quest is a classic metaphor for the spiritual life. Seeking meaning, purpose, passion, and fulfillment for life sets us on a heroic adventure. Jesus� words here have less to do with day-to-day needs than ultimate ones. What has given direction to many lesbians and gay men is the quest for rights in our society. What has given purpose to many lesbian and gay Christians is the quest to open the church�s door wider, so that more may enter. Bless all the doors that lead to you, O God. Bless all who enter. |
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