DailyDec02

Lord, sometimes you surprise me with verses that I have known for years. I never really noticed before that you created light on the first day, but you did not create the sun, moon and stars until the fourth day. What are we to make of this? What is this light that you created on the first day? Is it visual light? Or is it the light of revelation? Of course there weren't any people yet, so I wonder to whom you were being revealed. In the beginning there was only darkness. Then you spoke. And the first thing you said was, "Let there be light." And it was so. You spoke light into being. You spoke and there was revelation, even though no one was there to receive it. And since there was light and there was darkness, that means there were seasons of revelation and seasons of silence. Before the sun, the moon and the stars there was night and day. And it was good. As I move through seasons of revelation, and especially seasons of silence, help me remember that it is good. I praise your holy name, now and forever. Alleluia and amen.

Lord, we seem to have trouble getting it exactly right. Some Christians believe the time for signs and wonders is over and that to desire them signals a lack of faith. Other Christians spend much of their time, energy and money chasing after signs and wonders, going to this conference and that, hoping to see what God is doing here and there. Lord, I just can't understand why the time of signs and wonders should be over. Scripture makes it clear that miracles draw people to the faith. And we can see from our own experience that miracles encourage the faithful. Lord I fervently pray that you unleash a new season of miracles upon the church today. Surprise us, Lord with your presence; surprise us with your gifts. And Lord, keep our hearts true so that we seek not after the gifts themselves, but rather the giver. We praise your holy name, now and forever. Alleluia and amen.

Acts 14:3,8-10 NRSV
So they remained for a long time, speaking boldly for the Lord, who testified to the word of his grace by granting signs and wonders to be done through them...
In Lystra there was a man sitting who could not use his feet and had never walked, for he had been crippled from birth. He listened to Paul as he was speaking. And Paul, looking at him intently and seeing that he had faith to be healed, said in a loud voice, 'Stand upright on your feet.' And the man sprang up and began to walk.

Acts 8:14-17 NIV
When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. When they arrived, they prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon any of them; they had simply been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.

How long, Lord did you leave me in exactly this same spot? I was baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus, and I received it gladly. But I didn't receive the Holy Spirit until about ten years later. By then I had already been a Pastor for 5 years. And it wasn't for lack of trying. You know I asked for it often enough. Perhaps I just needed the faith to receive it. And with obstinate people like me, building faith takes time. In any case Lord, I am glad you did send your Holy Spirit to fill me all those years ago. I continue to pray for all those Christians who have been baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus but who have never received the Holy Spirit. The world needs a great Holy Spirit infusion just now. Wash over our planet with your Holy Spirit, Lord. Let your power be revealed. Save us Lord, because at the rate we're going, there may not be a planet earth all that much longer. We need you to bring peace to our troubled world. Your Holy Spirit can do that. Fill the whole earth with your Spirit. Today is not too soon. Praise your holy name, now and forever. Alleluia and amen.

Most mornings I get up around 5am so I can spend some quiet time with the Lord. I will usually read about a chapter of scripture and then reflect on a verse or two within that chapter. I am not sure why, but I feel like I am supposed to share those reflections here, even though they can be rather personal at times. My hope is that you will be inspired to spend your own quiet time with the Lord. I wish you peace.

--Rev. Arthur Runyan

Draw me to your light, Lord; draw me to your truth. Summon me into your presence and show me the way to get there. Lord, I long for more of you; I am hungry for more of you. Some days I feel like I am literally starving for want of more of your holy presence. Lord, I am ruined. All I want is you. I don't understand why others don't understand that. Sometimes I feel, O God, that the church is the main thing standing between you and your people. Infiltrate the church, Lord. Send out your light and your truth and let the church be filled with them. Lord, you have called me to a ministry that few seem to want and yet so very many deeply need. Get me ready, Lord. Prepare me for that day when you release me to go forth and proclaim your glory It will never work unless you are in it. Fill me with your light and your truth that I might bring them to others. Praise your holy name, now and forever. Alleluia and amen.

God, this is one of those verses that I just tend to skim over when I read it. I dismiss it as hyperbole, and I admit I still have trouble understanding the notion that you love me. I mean, in my head I know you love me. However, in my past there are years of Southern Baptist upbringing. The preachers I grew up hearing did not worship a God of love (or if they did, they kept it a secret). The God they taught us about was a righteous Father and a stern task master. He had a list of sins, and if ever we should commit one, we were destined for Hell. God's house was a stark place with uncomfortable hard wooden benches called pews. Sunday worship was an hour of unfathomable boredom, punctuated by threats from the preacher of what God would do to us if we misbehaved. The concept of grace was foreign to us. Grace was just a bunch of words we had to say before we could eat. The fact that I came through all that and still want to serve you is a miracle in itself. Even as an adult I had to learn what love was before I could wrap my brain around the notion of your love for me. But love is not for wrapping one's brain around, it is for wrapping one's heart around. And understanding of love comes not from study but from experience. Of course, it would have helped if somewhere along the line I had found a church that knew how to worship you. That didn't happen until 1996 when I was 48 years old already. Lord help me. I don't want anybody else to perish without learning what passion for you (and from you) feels like. Grant me the grace to proclaim your love to a lonely nation within a broken world. Because your steadfast love is as high as the heavens, and your faithfulness does extend to the skies. Praise your holy name, now and forever. Alleluia and amen.

God, I wonder how people can stand in your presence and not tremble. I wonder how people can behold your glory and not fall on the floor. I wonder how people who have felt your healing love pierce their broken heart can settle for rote religion. I wonder and I wonder and I can only conclude that they have not really stood in your presence, they have not really beheld your glory, they have not really been pierced by your healing love. There was a time when this was true for me. Oh, I loved you and I wanted to serve you, but I didn't really know you. Worse yet, I thought I did. And do I know you now? I know you so much better than I did just a couple of years ago. And yet... And yet, I fear (or is it hope) that a couple of years from now I will look back on today and say that I barely knew you at all. Lord, let me know you more and more, each and every day. Praise your holy name, now and forever. Alleluia and amen.

Sometimes, O Lord, we can read a verse of scripture over and over and over again, for much of our lives, and still miss little details. I noticed today for the first time that this verse does not say when Jesus was born, but rather after. I mean I know that we celebrate Epiphany twelve days after Christmas, and that Epiphany celebrates the revelation of the Christ child to the non-Jewish world, specifically the wise men. But I have also seen way too many Christmas pageants and Christmas cards with pictures of wise men visiting Joseph and Mary in the stable, even though Matthew 2:11 clearly states that the wise men visited the holy family not in a stable, but in a house. By the time the wise men got there, Joseph and Mary had been able to find a room, move out of the stable, and start receiving guests. We don't know when the star appeared and we don't know how far or how long the wise men traveled before they got to Bethlehem. We don't even know their mode of transport. (Camels are not mentioned in the text.) If it took them 12 days, as the church suggests, they may have traveled as far as 300 miles. If it took them 2 years, as Matthew 2:16 suggests, they could have come all the way from China. Why I am even giving it thought is just because I never noticed that word, after. Perhaps I should read my Bible more carefully. Who knows what else I might find? Praise your holy name, now and forever. Alleluia and amen.

What a strange verse this is, O Lord. It points to the difficulty of trying to get our human brains to grasp the concept of the trinity and to find language to describe it. Trying to understand the similarities and differences of God the Father and God the Son taxes the noblest of minds. Add to that our apparent fondness for using the word God as a shorthand for God the Father. And so we get phrases like, "No one has seen God except God the Son who is close to the Father's heart." A person can go crazy trying to figure that out. It reminds me of Catherine Janeway's treatise on time travel, "The future is the past. The past is the future. It all gives me a headache." Concepts like this require more than scientific inquiry; they require revelation. Only God can make clear to us the mysteries of the Godhead. Even then, it takes faith for us to grasp them. I have been taught and do accept that the Father is God, the Son is God and the Holy Spirit is God, and yet there is still only one God. I believe when Jesus says, "The Father and I are one." And yet I note that Jesus prays to the Father, but he is not talking to himself. No wonder atheists, Unitarians and Jehovah's Witnesses have trouble with this. It makes no sense. And yet it remains as true as can be. Lord, get me out of my head and back in my heart. Thanks. Praise your holy name, now and forever. Alleluia and amen.

See, Lord, this is the deal. We want to see your glory manifest on earth, not for our sake, but for yours. Well OK, Lord, you know our hearts. You know we are not perfect. You know that at least some part of us wants to behold your glory for our own fulfillment. We are only human. We want to be on the winning team. We want others to see how right we are about you. But Lord, please do not let our own sin and shortcomings rob the world of your presence and your glory. There is an epidemic of disbelief in you. So many folks think of you as a quaint idea whose time has past. At best they tolerate us for our antiquated but harmless beliefs. But at worst they ridicule and mock us, all the while ridiculing and mocking you. Lord, your church traded in its inheritance for a cup of soup a long time ago. We confess and repent of our sin of being more concerned about the growth and maintenance of the church than in serving and honoring and worshiping you. Show yourself, Lord. Our world needs your intervention, now more than ever. Overlook our vanity, I pray and let the world behold your glory for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness. It is all about you, Lord. Praise your holy name, now and forever. Alleluia and amen.

There is inconvenience, and then there is trouble. There is trouble, and then there is affliction. There is affliction, and then there is great affliction. Each is a challenge to our faith, Lord. For lots of folks, faith falters at the slightest inconvenience. They get one too many red lights on the way to work and begin to doubt the existence (or at least the favor) of God. Those who hold on to their faith during inconvenience find it easier to hold on to when trouble comes. But there are those who still believe that it is God's job to keep trouble away, and if trouble comes then God must not be as powerful as we thought. But even those who keep the faith during trouble can have a rough time of it when affliction comes. When we are personally afflicted with illness or calamity, it is tempting to think that God has abandoned us, or worse yet, that there is no God Then there is great affliction. This brings us to death's very door. More than that, great affliction makes us long for death to stop the pain. This is the greatest test of our faith. Why do you allow it, O Lord? Are inconvenience, trouble, affliction and great affliction simply tests of our faith? Or are they the price of freedom? Whatever your reason, O Lord, grant us the grace to hold fast to our faith through all of them. And Lord, I've got this strange feeling that if we will learn how to keep our faith during minor inconveniences, the rest will come a whole lot easier. Thank you, Lord. Praise your holy name, now and forever. Alleluia and amen.

Your faithfulness, O God, endures forever. Why is that so hard for us to believe? A modern liturgical chant proclaims that "God is good. . .all the time." We repeat that so blithely, that I sometimes wonder if we have really considered the words. We all know that God is good when the blessings pour down like the sweet, spring rain. But there are also times when we wander about, lost in the wilderness of our lives. God doesn't seem so good in those times. To proclaim God as good when everything else in our lives seems so categorically bad seems as folly to non believers. For believers it can be difficult as well. But that doesn't make it any less true. Your faithfulness, O God, does indeed endure forever. Whether we feel it or not, whether we are even aware of it or not, your faithfulness is there. Whether we can see it or not, you are still there keeping your word. So Lord, this day I pray for the grace to believe in your goodness, even on those days when it does not seem evident. Especially on those days, may I say, "Praise your holy name, now and forever." Alleluia and amen.

What can mortals do to me? O Lord, you know what they can do. They can shame me, humiliate me, torture me, and kill me. Mortals have the power and the authority to cause me much pain, even unto death. We have all seen the consequence of "man's inhumanity to man." The psalmist's rhetorical question has some very real answers that are not pleasant. And yet, the fact that the psalmist asks such a rhetorical question invites us to look to a higher plane for a truer answer. The psalmist was not unaware of the suffering humans can cause. However, the psalmist challenges us to look beyond the present reality to the ultimate reality. Jesus said, "Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear the one who can destroy both soul and body in hell." And while the contexts are different, both Jesus and the psalmist encourage us to take our eyes off our human tormentors and to fix our gaze on the Lord. For it is in you, O God, that we have our ultimate salvation, as well as our immediate protection. As Paul wrote, "If God is for us, who can stand against us?" These can be hard things to remember in times of trial, O Lord. But we pray for the grace to remember and to trust in you and praise you at all times and in all situations. Praise your holy name, now and forever. Alleluia and amen.

This entire Psalm (and it is a long one) is an ode to keeping your commandments, O God. As I read and pondered and prayed over it, I was reminded of countless legalistic Christians I have known who have acted very much like this Psalm was the most important chapter in all of Holy Scripture. Indeed, I am continually amazed at the huge number of Christians I meet who know nothing of grace, who find it next to impossible either to give or receive forgiveness. They believe that forgiveness must be earned by working the program. They say we can only be saved if we repent of our wicked ways, beat ourselves up sufficiently, and then redouble our efforts to sin no more. They preach that salvation only comes by keeping the Law. Lord, I know you hate sin. And Lord, I know you want what is best for us. And I thank you that you have kept me from legalism for most of my 55 years. Yes, Lord, I did have occasional lapses. Please forgive my sin in those times of trying to earn my salvation. It all comes from you, Lord. Salvation comes from you, repentance comes from you, forgiveness comes from you. Grant me the grace, I pray, to sit still long enough to receive all three...from you. Praise your holy name, now and forever. Alleluia and amen.