Day 306
Ezekiel 3:16-6:14, Hebrews 4, Psalm 104:24-35, Proverbs 26:27
Day 305
Ezekiel 1:1-3:15; Hebrews 3:1-19; Psalm 104:1-23; Proverbs 26:24-26
“The earth belongs to the Lord, not to humankind. Therefore leaders should never act as if they own the place. While we can feel confident of our mission, we must remember we are stewards, not owners. We simply manage what He has established, based on His values and vision.”Many, many years ago I was driving through the mountains in North Carolina, and my son Kevin, who was about six at the time, looked out the window of our car at the beautiful vista in front of us and said to me, “Daddy this is God’s world, He only lets us use it.” The wisdom of a child! I then understood what Jesus meant when He described the Kingdom and said we need to be like children. The Rev. Ed Bartle St. Edward’s Episcopal Church Mount Dora, FL
Day 304
Lamentations 4:1-5:22; Hebrews 2:1-18; Psalm 103:1-22; Proverbs 26:23
"Bless the Lord, O my soul: And all that is within me, bless His holy name!" - Psalm 103:1How can this psalm be read without bursting out in joyful smiles and songs and dancing? The psalm tells us that the Lord forgives all our sins, heals all our diseases, redeems us from destruction, and crowns us with loving-kindness and tender mercies. Let’s dance! The psalm goes on to assure us that there will be reprimands for our constant disobedience and rebellion. Yet God does not deal with us–His children–according to our sins. (Thanks be to God!) He has not punished us according to the misdeeds we have committed for “His mercy is as high as the heavens above the earth for those who honor and seek Him.” It tells us that He has removed our transgressions as far as the east is from the west. Because He knows how vulnerable and delicately we are made. When we repent, when we turn away from our wrongdoing, He looks at it no more. We know that God loves all of His creation; after each day, He proclaimed it Good. And then, those created in His own image exercised their free will and brought sin into His perfect creation. In Hebrews 2, we are told that Jesus, through His sacrifice and by God’s gracious will, redeemed us from the grip of death. (Dance time again!) The Creeds of the church affirm Jesus in His incarnation as “Fully God and Fully man.” By being fully man and by being tempted in every way that we have ever been tempted, and yet not giving into sin, our Lord was able to “taste death and thereby break the power of him who had death at his command” (v. 14-15), so that we are be able to claim God’s mercy and total forgiveness. Bless the Lord O my soul… Let’s dance! Karin Cochran Church of the Incarnation Oviedo, FL
Day 303
Lamentations 2:20-3:66; Hebrews 1:1-14; Psalm 102:1-28; Proverbs 26:21-22
"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. ‘The Lord is my portion,’ says my soul, ‘therefore I will hope in him.’ The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him. It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord."It reminds me of my young daughter, angry with Daddy for some reason, running up and beating her little fists against my stomach (as high as she could reach). I just let her do it until she tired herself out, then picked her up and hugged her. That was usually all it took. Jeremiah knew exactly where to turn. God is big enough to receive our rants. What we have to remember is always to turn toward him in our anger, grief, or frustration, rather than turning away – remembering that the Lord is our portion, and that His steadfast love never ceases. Thanks be to God! The Rev’d Dr. Steve Clifton Christ the King Orlando, FL