FOCUS SCRIPTURE

2 Corinthians 3 : 13-18 (NRSV)

¹³not like Moses, who put a veil over his face to keep the people of Israel from gazing at the end of the glory that was being set aside. ¹⁴But their minds were hardened. Indeed, to this very day, when they hear the reading of the old covenant, that same veil is still there, since only in Christ is it set aside. ¹⁵Indeed, to this very day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their minds; ¹⁶but when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. ¹⁷Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. ¹⁸And all of us, with unveiled faces, seeing the glory of the Lord as though reflected in a mirror, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord, the Spirit.

DAILY BYTE

After forty days on the mountain with God, Moses rejoined the people, but they were afraid to look at him because his face was radiant with God’s glory.  In those days they believed that if they looked on God’s glory they would die because sinful people cannot bear the holiness of God.  But, now, for us everything has changed.  Jesus has made it possible for us to enjoy intimacy with God, and has also made it possible for us to reflect God’s grace and mercy through our lives and relationships.  We need no veil.  We don’t need to hide from God’s presence, and we don’t need to hide the character of God that is beginning to be revealed through us.  As we worship, we are invited to become people who encounter God, who “see” God face to face, and to be people who carry the radiance of God with us into the world.

Who have you known that has reflected God’s glory and grace to you?  What was it about them that touched you?  How have you experienced being changed by worship to be a little more like Jesus?  Has this change been noticed by anyone else?  What can you do this week to allow God’s presence to be seen through you?

PRAY AS YOU GO

You are God and I am me;

      and yet you welcome me into your presence, into your heart;

You are God and I am me;

      and yet you fill me with your Spirit, with your glory;

O Glorious God,

May my worship keep drawing me closer to you,

and may my worship change me,

      so that everyone I meet in whatever time or place,

may know your awesome goodness,

      through the ordinary person that I am.

Today’s devotion is taken from Rev John van de Laar’s outstanding book ‘The Hour That Changes Everything: How worship forms us into the people God wants us to be.’ Used with permission.

To order copies of this book and for other superb worship resources visit http://www.sacredise.com

FOCUS SCRIPTURE

Isaiah 6 : 1-9a (NRSV)

¹In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. ²Seraphs were in attendance above him; each had six wings: with two they covered their faces, and with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. ³And one called to another and said:  ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.’
⁴The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke. ⁵And I said: ‘Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!’

⁶ Then one of the seraphs flew to me, holding a live coal that had been taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. ⁷The seraph^* touched my mouth with it and said: ‘Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out.’ ⁸Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I; send me!’ ⁹And he said, ‘Go and say to this people:  “Keep listening, but do not comprehend;

DAILY BYTE

In a nation that was in turbulence after the death of good kin Uzziah, Isaiah finds his way to the Temple.  Here he is confronted with a glorious, disturbing, transforming vision of God.  Notice how, although Isaiah is fearful, expecting God’s judgement, God is kind, inviting and gracious.  It is clear here that although God is glorious and way beyond Isaiah’s - or our’s - attempts to understand God, the Diving Lover seeks relationship with human beings.  And as Isaiah accepts God’s invitation, he is able to hear God’s call, and become a partner with God.

In what ways do you find encountering God frightening?  Are there times when you expect nothing but judgement from God?  When have you been surprised by God’s grace?  Think about what it means that God is God - the majestic, eternal Creator of all - and yet, that God seeks relationship with you.  How do you feel about this?  In what ways can you offer yourself to be God’s partner today?

PRAY AS YOU GO

We would never have expected it,

      but you chose us.

We would never have believed it,

      but you have called us to follow you.

We would never have known it could happen,

      but you have given us a place in your liberating work of salvation

We are people of unclean lips,

      sinful men and women, weak and unworthy to be called by your name;

      and yet, against all expectations,

      not because we deserve it,

      but because you are gracious and loving,

      we are chosen.

Amen.

Today’s devotion is taken from Rev John van de Laar’s outstanding book ‘The Hour That Changes Everything: How worship forms us into the people God wants us to be.’ Used with permission.

To order copies of this book and for other superb worship resources visit http://www.sacredise.com

FOCUS SCRIPTURE

John 17 : 21-23 (NRSV)

²¹that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. ²²The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, ²³I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

DAILY BYTE

This prayer is often called “The High Priestly Prayer of Jesus”.  Here Jesus comes to God and prays on behalf of his followers - those who were with him back then, and those of us who have chosen to follow him throughout the ages since.  One word summarises the content of this prayer - “unity”.  Jesus prays that all his followers would be one; inviting us into the unity Jesus enjoyed with God the Father and the Holy Spirit.  The intimate union of the Godhead is available for us to share!  And it is in knowing God - that we find eternal life, abundant life, life to the full (John 17:3).  What grace and generosity we find in God.  What a wonderful opportunity God gives us to live lives that are filled with God’s presence.

What do the words “one with God” mean for you?  In what ways do you already experience being on with God?  How do you think worship can help you to connect with God even more?  Why not try and spend today in a constant sense of union with God, and see what kind of difference that makes?

PRAY AS YOU GO

You never really get tired of knocking, do you, Jesus?

Your gentle persistence as you seek a welcome

      is both amazing and disturbing;

There are times when I wish you would just leave me alone;

      times when I don’t want to have to deal with you;

Your constant seeking of attention

      for the hidden and voiceless ones,

      your gentle call to live always from the best of me,

      your persistent presence making itself known

      in all that I do and say and think.

But, most of the time, I am grateful that you seek to be welcomed;

      I am glad that you give me the voice to invite you in

      and that you welcome me so freely;

It seems strange that, as God, you don’t just demand entrance but wait for me to open the door;

that you don’t just radiate your glory and make your knocking unmistakable,

instead of hiding in the faces of children and creatures, earth and sky, broken and wounded ones.

But, for all its mystery, your coming, your knocking

      your gentle asking for access is a gift beyond measure;

A gift that I receive, when I remember who you are, with humble thanks and open submission.

Amen.

Today’s devotion is taken from Rev John van de Laar’s outstanding book ‘The Hour That Changes Everything: How worship forms us into the people God wants us to be.’ Used with permission.

To order copies of this book and for other superb worship resources visit http://www.sacredise.com

FOCUS SCRIPTURE

Song of Songs 1 : 1-4 (NRSV)

The Song of Solomon

¹The Song of Songs, which is Solomon’s. ² Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth!  For your love is better than wine, ³ your anointing oils are fragrant, your name is perfume poured out; therefore the maidens love you. ⁴ Draw me after you, let us make haste.  The king has brought me into his chambers.  We will exult and rejoice in you; we will extol your love more than wine; rightly do they love you.

DAILY BYTE

The Song of Solomon is an ancient love poem, thought to have been written by King Solomon.  The language is passionate and, in places, quite explicit.  It is clear that the Scriptures are very comfortable with sexual language.

Throughout the centuries this song has been seen as an allegory of God’s love for God’s people.  It resonates with the sexual language that is used in the Bible to describe our intimacy with God, and invites us to become passionate in our worship of our Divine Lover.  There are some reasons why we sometimes get uncomfortable with entering worship in this way, though.  For some of us we have separated the spiritual and the physical aspects of our lives to much that it seem wrong to think of worship in this way.  For others, particularly men, we have become so used to masculine language - or other-worldly language - for God that we find it uncomfortable to think of God as a “Lover” like this.  But, perhaps, if we can open ourselves to this idea, and invite God to show us what it might mean for us to experience God intimately and passionately, we can find a new joy and energy in our faith and our worship.  Are you willing to try it?

Read the passage again, slowly.  How does this language feel to you?  In what way could you begin to explore the metaphor of “Lover” in your relationship with God?  How do you think it might change your faith and your worship to begin to embrace true intimacy with God?  What might be standing in your way and keeping you from this journey?

PRAY AS YOU GO

O Divine Lover,

How relentless You are

      in drawing our attention to Your devotion to us:

You embody Yourself in planets and worlds,

in creatures and beauty

      and You fill our lives with colour and with joy.

You decant Your desire for us

      into the hearts of our friends and families and touch us through their comfort and their compassion.

Yours is a subversive, uncontainable love, O Beloved.

      It finds us even when we try to hide;

      It reaches us, though all the world would seek to build walls against it.

And it has invaded our hearts,

      softening them and igniting love for You in us.

We praise You for this love.

      And we bring the love-token of our worship in return.

Amen.

Today’s devotion is taken from Rev John van de Laar’s outstanding book ‘The Hour That Changes Everything: How worship forms us into the people God wants us to be.’ Used with permission.

To order copies of this book and for other superb worship resources visit http://www.sacredise.com

For the next few weeks, our BDCs will be based on the daily devotions from the book “The Hour That Changes Everything” by John van de Laar.  Join us as we journey…

FOCUS SCRIPTURE        

Read Psalm 42

DAILY BYTE

The cry of the psalmist is the cry of every person who has ever lived.  Whether we acknowledge it or not, whether we use the name “God” or not, we all long for intimacy with God, with Spirit, with the transcendent reality that sustains the universe.  Like the psalmist we can all remember times when we had a glimpse of this reality, when, in an unexpected moment, we became gloriously aware of God’s presence and love.  In this psalm, the writer uses his memory of such a time to inspire and encourage him to hope for the future.  God is still present even through he may not feel it, and he is able to commit to the quest for intimacy again.

How does the psalmist’s longing resonate with you?  When have you experienced times of close connection with God?  To what extent do you feel that worship draws you into intimacy with God in your life now?  How can you commit to the quest for intimacy in a more purposeful, intentional way over the next seven weeks?

PRAY AS YOU GO

I am one who seeks after love,

      I long for its touch, I yearn for the warm softness of its kiss

In this place I wait

      and open my heart.

I am one who remembers my Lover,

      The God who seeks, the God who calls my name;

      The God that I love because God loved me first;

      The God who invites me into joyful intimacy;

      The Lover whose offer I will not neglect.

This is my time to respond and worship.

Alleluia.

Amen.

DAILY BYTE

This week we’re exploring how God’s dream for our lives can enable us to live more abundantly. Yesterday, we started looking through one window in scripture that provides a stunning view of God’s dream for us – that beautiful verse in Micah 6:8:

What does the LORD require of you?

To do justice, to love kindness,

and to walk humbly with your God.

It was suggested that if acts of justice (seeking to make right what is wrong) were embraced as our first priority, our lives would immediately become beautiful instruments of transformation in the world. However, if ‘doing justice’ were our only priority, we would quickly grow weary, disillusioned and burnt out. This is often seen in social activist circles – how people start out with great enthusiasm and the best intentions in the world to make a difference. But the enormity of the challenge and their human frailties mean that they are unable to sustain their efforts, or if they do it’s often at the expense of joy and wellbeing, as they grow weary, bitter and cynical.

If ‘doing justice’ is to be a sustainable, life-long project, we need to be resourced in long-term ways. This is where Micah 6:8 is so hugely helpful. Again, we would normally expect that our resourcing for acts of justice would be found in a nurturing relationship with God, which of course is correct. But notice that this verse doesn’t rush to that conclusion too quickly. It first suggests that ‘loving kindness’ is something that God requires of us.

I find this a beautiful, and hopeful thought. That kindness is at the very heart of God’s dream for our lives, and is one of the important ways in which we can be resourced for the work of ‘doing justice’ in the world. How sad that so often those who are striving to do good forget the importance of being kind. Yes, they’re seeking to make a difference, but at the expense of relational integrity. As one little boy once prayed, “Dear God, please make all the bad people good, and the good people nice!”

Kindness, towards others and also towards ourselves, is an essential part of God’s dream for our lives. It reminds us to tread gently when we’re journeying into the landscape of other people’s stories. Best of all, kindness isn’t a difficult or complex concept to understand. Being kind is something that all of us can do, and when we do, we discover that it is what God requires of us, for kindness is an essential part of God’s dream for us, that will enable us to live more abundant lives.

PRAY-AS-YOU-GO

Dear God. Today, help me to be kind. Amen

SCRIPTURE READING

Micah 6:8

He has told you, O mortal, what is good;

and what does the LORD require of you

but to do justice, and to love kindness,

and to walk humbly with your God.

DAILY BYTE

We begin to live more abundant, fruitful lives when we allow God’s dream for our lives to shape how we see ourselves and our place and purpose in the world.

So what is God’s dream for our lives?

It’s a rich question that can be answered in many different ways. There are so many different references in Scripture as to what God wants for us and requires of us. It all points to the same over-arching purpose of God that we live more abundant lives. But rather than trying to collapse it all into ‘one thing’, I prefer to the distinct answers to that question to open me to the diverse possibilities for my life. Thank God for the many different windows that can be found in the Bible that offer us differing perspectives on the dream of God.

Today I’d like us to reflect briefly on that well-known verse from Micah 6:8, which reads:

What does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

In recent months I’ve been pondering this verse deeply. There is much that can be said about it, but today let me offer this brief observation. The three key phrases in the verse – doing justice, loving kindness & walking humbly with God – occur in an unusual sequence.

Normally, in church circles, the initial focus of the faith journey is upon one’s personal relationship with God (“walking humbly with God”), then on one’s relationships with others (“loving kindness”), and finally, maybe, one’s relationship with the wider world (“doing justice”).

But in this verse that usual order is reversed. What if we were to take this order seriously, that in response to the question, ‘What does the LORD require of you?” the FIRST response would be – do justice! In other words, seek to make right what is wrong. Seek to put the world to rights again. How might our lives be radically and forever changed if we understood our primary task in the world to be that of ‘doing justice’? What would happen if we looked around to see what we might notice that is unfair, unjust, broken, messed up or just plain wrong, and then to try to do something about it?

I have a hunch that immediately we would begin to live more transformed & transforming lives that would be much closer to God’s dream of abundance for us and for our world.

However, the verse doesn’t end there. And if ‘doing justice’ is the only thing that we seek to do, pretty soon we are going to grow despondent, disillusioned, frustrated and burnt out.

Which brings us to the next part of the verse. But we’ll save those reflections for tomorrow.

PRAY-AS-YOU-GO

Lord God, as we look around at our world there is much that we recognize is unjust. There is such need in our world for that which is wrong to be made right. And more often than not we can feel totally overwhelmed by the enormity of the need, and so we end up doing nothing. Help us, we pray, to recognize that works of justice lie at the heart of your dream for our lives, and that when we embrace that responsibility we discover an abundance and fruitfulness that we never dreamed possible. Give us courage and strength we pray to do what you require of us. Amen

SCRIPTURE READING

Micah 6:8

He has told you, O mortal, what is good;

and what does the LORD require of you

but to do justice, and to love kindness,

and to walk humbly with your God.

DAILY BYTE

This week we’re exploring the theme of abundant living. Yesterday I shared the  story of a man who took an ocean cruise, but settled for cheese sandwiches instead of the delicious meals that were freely available on board. I suggested that this is often true in the ways in which we live our lives.

It seems crazy that we’d settle for stale, mouldy cheese sarmies when a five star banquet is on offer. And yet, that’s exactly what we do. Instead of living extraordinary lives, there’s a mediocrity that often characterizes our existence. Listen to these words of Eugene Peterson. He writes:

“The puzzle is why so many people live so badly. Not so wickedly but inanely. Not so cruelly, but so stupidly. There is little to admire and less to imitate in the people who are prominent in our culture. We have celebrities but not saints. Famous entertainers amuse a nation of bored insomniacs. Infamous criminals act out the aggressions of timid conformists. Petulant and spoiled athletes play games vicariously for lazy and apathetic spectators. People, aimless and bored, amuse themselves with trivia and trash. Neither the adventure of goodness nor the pursuit of righteousness gets headlines.”

What a telling comment about the ways in which people settle for second best, mediocre lives. In what ways might this be true for you? And why do you think it is so? Is it because you don’t really believe that you deserve the best? Is it because you’re afraid of being disappointed again, and so have lowered your expectations of what your life can be like? Is it because you “know” that you’ll just end up messing-up, so are hesitant to even try? Is it because you’ve been burned and broken by life in ways that have left you feeling bruised and bitter, and so you’re hugely resistant to risk anything that might expose you to being hurt again?

If any of this is true for you, then hear the good news of the gospel. It doesn’t have to be this way! There is another alternative. You don’t have to just go-through-the-motions of living. Your life can be extraordinary! You can be vibrantly alive! You can live in a way that adds to the beauty of the world!

How? Through the grace of God, of course. But more particularly, by allowing God’s dream for your life to begin to shape how you see yourself and your place and purpose in the world.

That will be the focus of our devotions for the rest of this week – God’s dream for our lives. As you prepare to reflect upon that, maybe you’d like to make the prayer below your own.

PRAY-AS-YOU-GO

God of extravagant love and grace. I long for my life to be shaped not by the mediocrities of my past, but rather by the daring dreams that you have for me in your heart. Help me to trust you, and show me the practical ways in which I can co-operate with you. Amen

SCRIPTURE READING

Jeremiah 29:11

‘I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD. ‘Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future.’

DAILY BYTE

A man had a life-long dream to go on an ocean cruise. For years he saved the little money he could until finally he had enough to take a seven day cruise. However, he only had enough money to pay for the cruise itself, not for any of the meals on board. But that didn’t worry him. Because he loved cheese sandwiches. And so he packed a big Tupperware container full of cheese sarmies to last him the duration of his trip.

The cruise began and for the first couple of days it was fantastic. At mealtimes, others would go off to the dining room, but he’d head back to his cabin to tuck into his cheese sarmies with relish. They were delicious and life had never been this good.

By the third day he was getting a bit tired of his cheese sarmies, but he reminded himself that it was a small price to pay to be on his dream cruise. On the 4^th day he found himself looking through the windows of the dining room at meal times, fantasizing what it would be like to be inside. By the 5^th day he couldn’t stomach another cheese sarmie, and by the 6^th day the incredible aromas that would waft out of the dining room were enough to make him think about jumping overboard.

On the final morning of the cruise, just before the liner returned to port, he could take it no more. He found a crew member, and pleaded with him to bring him something from the breakfast buffet – a rasher of bacon, a muffin, a piece of fruit, anything. The crew member looked at him and said, ‘But sir, all the meals are included in the price of your ticket.’

How does that story make you feel? It hits me in the gut – ahhh, what a waste! That poor guy, he could have been in the dining-room all along, feasting to his heart’s content. Instead, he’s missing out – eating cheese sarmies. What a pity! What a disappointment! What an idiot!

It’s a made-up story, but the sad and tragic truth is that it happens in the real world all the time. Yes, even in our own lives. We end up missing out on so much abundance that’s freely available, settling for cheese sarmies when in fact we could be feasting on the most sumptuous fare.

This week we’ll explore this theme, as we consider how we can live juicier, richer, more soulful lives.

PRAY-AS-YOU-GO

Lord Jesus Christ, you came that we might have life, and have it more abundantly. Forgive us the many ways in which we settle for so much less than what you intend for us. Help us to see the ways in which this is true in our lives, and give us the courage to take hold of the fuller, freer lives that you hold out to us. Amen.

SCRIPTURE READING

John 10:10

Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it more abundantly.”

DAILY BYTE

I have always been fascinated by baptisms, especially as a child.  I would watch my mother, who was one of our church’s ministers, go through the ritual with the water and prayer, but that wasn’t the end of it.  At every baptism, there was a time, when I – we, as a congregation – also had words to speak! 

We acknowledged yesterday that baptism is about being named a beloved child of God, and that this is a mysterious gift that God gives to each one of us, personally. 

And yet, baptism is not only about being an individual child of God.  Baptism is actually about being children of God in community.  When we baptize someone into the community of faith, in the Methodist Church we commit all together to these promises: with God’s help members of the body of Christ will so maintain the common life of worship and service that all children among us may grow in grace and in the knowledge and love of God and of his son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.  This is anything but a selfish and individualistic act. 

In baptism, we understand ourselves to be beloved, but we also affirm the belovedness of others around us – even when we don’t feel like it or we’ve been hurt by others.  Just as no one is prevented from being baptized, God affirms all of our belovedness and uses all of us in this family to transform one another gracefully and walk with each other through times of being in the desert wilderness. 

We are all called to different things – but no matter what our specific gifts or vocations, each one of us has the ability to accept and extend grace, following the example of John the Baptist and preparing the way for Christ to do his great work of forgiving and redeeming. 

And so, if you have already been baptized, think today about what that really means.  How does your baptism change the way that you relate to others?  Do you allow yourself to receive grace from God and from other people? 

If you have not been baptized, think and pray about whether or not this is the time to accept God’s grace and become a part of a community that shares grace and love with one another.  If you desire to be baptized, do not be afraid to speak with a minister!

PRAY-AS-YOU-GO

Gracious God, we thank you for giving us your grace in baptism.  Thank you for that sweet mystery and for the way it draws us together as a community – as a family.  Together we die to ourselves and our own selfishness and desires, and together we rise to be born again and named as your beloved children.  Help us to accept your grace and love, as it overflows in us, so that we learn to share it with others.  Amen.