A prayer for the night

There are many wonderful and insightful prayers that come to us from the Celtic tradition. Here is one entitled: A Celtic Night Prayer (written by Beth Maxwell Boyle).  

"Creator God who upholds me,
Send your peace to sooth me,
When this world and its troubles,
Press hard down upon me.

Like a fair breeze from the south,
Your words they comfort me.
They make me long each day,
For everlasting justice and peace.

You alone have the wisdom of the ages,
You alone understand my heart.
Please Holy One give me rest and repose,
Give me the peace that only you can grant.

Give me repose this night and every night.
In the name of the Lamb,
The redeemer and the comforter,
Christ our King. 

Amen."

Psalm 42:8 - By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me— a prayer to the God of my life. 

Living in Grace

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 Prayer

r God who upholds me,
nd your peace to sooth me,
When this world and its troubles,
Press hard down upon me.

Like a fair breeze from the south,
Your words they comfort me.
They make me long each day,
For everlasting justice and peace.

You alone have the wisdom of the ages,
You alone understand my heart.
Please Holy One give me rest and repose,
Give me the peace that only you can grant.

Give me repose this night and every night.
In the name of the Lamb,
The redeemer and the comforter,
Christ our King.

Amen

​

By Beth Maxwell Boyle

The Gospel is...

Trying to define the 'Gospel' can either be overly complicated or seem too simplified. I really enjoy Tim Keller's definition of the Gospel. I pray that you would also find it helpful.

"The gospel is this: We are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope."

Luke 2:10 - “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people."

Luke 4: 18-19 - “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners,
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

What does the Good News (Gospel) mean to you today?

Living in Grace

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Rocks into water

When we read the words of Scripture, we see that people in Biblical times believed that miracles were very possible. Sadly, our modern age has brought with it a great degree of skepticism, and unless we can explain something, we are reluctant to believe it possible.

In Psalm 114, the Psalmist writes:

7 "Tremble, earth, at the presence of the Lord,
    at the presence of the God of Jacob,
8 who turned the rock into a pool,
    the hard rock into springs of water."

In this post-Easter season, the idea of God turning rock into water shouldn't be so hard to comprehend. He did a similar miracle through the hand of Moses (water from the rock) and then later through the example of Jesus, God raised him from the dead. 

Thought: What do the words of Psalm 114:7-8 mean for you today? Why are we so skeptical of things we cannot understand? 

Living in Grace

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The Rendevouz

 

The word 'rendevouz' means: "a meeting at an agreed time and place."

Although this word may have different connotations, it is an important word for us to reflect on in light of our relationship with God. Perhaps part of the modern dilemma is that we have agreed 'meeting times' with a whole range of people, but we struggle to stick to these times with God. Our one-on-one moments with God are so vital for our faith, but we still don't always make them a priority.

James Finley writes: "At the end of each rendevouz with the deeper place, we ask for the grace not to break the thread of that sensitivity as we go through the rest of our day."

James 4:8 - Come near to God and he will come near to you.

How are your meetings with Jesus going? 

Living in Grace

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Learning Perseverance

Do you ever get the impression that God is wanting to teach you something?

Or that you are experiencing much of the same kind of thing, and you wonder what lesson you need to take from these moments? 

Well, I have been having one of those weeks and sense that the lesson I need to learn is perseverance. I admit that I am not enjoying learning the lesson so much, but I do trust that I will soon understand why it is a value lesson to learn (or re-learn).

Can you relate in anyway? What are having to learn at the moment?

"May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance." - 2 Thessalonians 3:5

You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it." - Maya Angelou

"For great things do not just happen by impulse, but are a succession of small things linked together." - Vincent Van Gogh

Living in grace

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Choosing a way to pay a debt

“When I treat other people with kindness and love, it is part of my way of paying my debt to God and the world for the privilege of living on this planet.” - Ben Carson

I find it interesting that Ben Carson uses the word 'debt' in this quote, and especially in light of paying a debt to God. Having just come out of our Easter journey, we have been reminded that Christ paid a debt that we could never pay ourselves. 

So, what then could Ben be speaking about?

I think that he expresses a sentiment that should be practiced more widely in our world today - Living a life of love and kindness, in response to what God has already done for us. Yes, we can never fully repay what Jesus did for us, but we can surely live as if we are grateful for his love and act as if Christ's gift has transformed us in some way.

What do you think?

2 Corinthians 3:18 - And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

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A clean, smooth canvas

Jean Pierre De Caussade reflects on the difficult act of allowing God to shape and guide our lives:

"Our task is to offer ourselves up to God like a clean, smooth canvas and not bother ourselves about what God may choose to paint on it, but at every moment, feel only the stroke of his brush."

I am not sure how easily we allow God to do this, but I know that I often resist what God is trying to do in my life? What about you?

In this post-Resurrection season, how can we make ourselves more available for the work of God's Spirit in our lives?

Ephesians 2:10 - "For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

Living in Grace

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