Saturday, February 29, 2020

LENTEN DEVOTIONS 2020: Becoming a Beloved Community

BECOMING A BELOVED COMMUNITY
A Matthew 25 Journey to the Cross
(published by Presbyterians Today)


2.26.20 Ash Wednesday
Isaiah 58:6-7 (GNT)
The kind of fasting I want is this: Remove the chains of oppression and the yoke of injustice, and let the oppressed go free.  Share your food with the hungry and open your homes to the homeless poor. Give clothes to those who have nothing to wear, and do not refuse to help your own relatives.

Who are my neighbors?
Those who make me uncomfortable
As I blindly ignore


Open my eyes, Lord, open my heart to act, to the injustice around me. Amen. 





2.27.20
Psalm 51:4-6 MSG
You’re the One I’ve violated, and you’ve seen it all, seen the full extent of my evil.
You have all the facts before you; whatever you decide about me is fair.
I’ve been out of step with you for a long time, in the wrong since before I was born.
What you’re after is truth from the inside out. Enter me, then; conceive a new, true life.

You know my faults, God.
Turn me inside out with truth
Help me to heart-hear

Open my ears, Lord, to hear your voice of truth. Amen.
Background Photo from "50 Prayers of Creation Praise" by Ginger



2.28.20
Jonah 4:9-11 GNT
But God said to him, “What right do you have to be angry about the plant?”
Jonah replied, “I have every right to be angry—angry enough to die!”
The Lord said to him, “This plant grew up in one night and disappeared the next; you didn't do anything for it and you didn't make it grow—yet you feel sorry for it! How much more, then, should I have pity on Nineveh, that great city. After all, it has more than 120,000 innocent children in it, as well as many animals!”
When we’re under stress
One small event can tip the scales
And anger erupts

Breathe the calming quiet of your love to ease my stress, Lord. Amen.
Background Photo from "50 Prayers of Creation Praise" by Ginger


2.29.20
Luke 13:15-16 MSG
But Jesus shot back, “You frauds! Each Sabbath every one of you regularly unties your cow or donkey from its stall, leads it out for water, and thinks nothing of it. So why isn’t it all right for me to untie this daughter of Abraham and lead her from the stall where Satan has had her tied these eighteen years?”
Sabbath-law broken
To serve and heal the broken
Live by Christ’s Love-law

Like a frozen branch
Sabbath laws hold us pris’ner
From living Love laws

Lead me, Lord, to serve and live freely within the bounds of Love laws. Amen.
Background Photo by Rick!


3.1.20 First Sunday in Lent
Genesis 4:7 GNT
If you had done the right thing, you would be smiling; but because you have done evil, sin is crouching at your door. It wants to rule you, but you must overcome it.”

Rather than fighting
Could we discuss our diff’rence
Within bonds of love?


Help me, Lord, to resist the urge to be right, and listen with love to others. Amen.


3.2.20
Acts 8:26-30, 35-38 MSG
Later God’s angel spoke to Philip: “At noon today I want you to walk over to that desolate road that goes from Jerusalem down to Gaza.” He got up and went. He met an Ethiopian eunuch coming down the road. The eunuch had been on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and was returning to Ethiopia, where he was minister in charge of all the finances of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. He was riding in a chariot and reading the prophet Isaiah.
The Spirit told Philip, “Climb into the chariot.” Running up alongside, Philip heard the eunuch reading Isaiah and asked, “Do you understand what you’re reading?”
. Philip grabbed his chance. Using this passage as his text, he preached Jesus to him.
As they continued down the road, they came to a stream of water. The eunuch said, “Here’s water. Why can’t I be baptized?” He ordered the chariot to stop. They both went down to the water, and Philip baptized him on the spot.
May we break down walls
That separate the outcast

From community





3.3.20
Romans 12:10-13 MSG
Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.
Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder.
Open yourself up
Be a friend who loves deeply

Hospitality




3.4.20
Galatians 3:28 MSG
In Christ’s family there can be no division into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female. Among us you are all equal.
We are all equal -
With the same needs and desires

One Love-Family



3.5.20
Romans 8:26 MSG
Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans.


Background Photo: Sunrise from front porch of High Country Lane


3.6.20
2Corinthians 12:9 MSG
My grace is enough; it’s all you need.
My strength comes into its own in your weakness.
Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ’s strength moving in on my weakness.
When I am in doubt
Troubled, feel inadequate
God then moves to work
Background Photo: North wall of Echo Amphitheater near Ghost Ranch, NM

In my weakness, Lord, strengthen me to serve and build a loving community. Amen. 


3.7.20
Luke 12:13-15 MSG
Someone out of the crowd said, “Teacher, order my brother to give me a fair share of the family inheritance.”
He replied, “Mister, what makes you think it’s any of my business to be a judge or mediator for you?”
Speaking to the people, he went on, “Take care! Protect yourself against the least bit of greed. Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot.”


Open heart and purse-string
Build community, not barns
Generosity
Background Photo:  Embudo Creek near Farmhouse B&B in Dixon, NM
Help me use the generosity of your blessings, God, to build relationships of love. Amen. 


3.8.20
Luke 14:12-13 MSG
Then he turned to the host. “The next time you put on a dinner, don’t just invite your friends and family and rich neighbors, the kind of people who will return the favor. Invite some people who never get invited out, the misfits from the wrong side of the tracks. You’ll be—and experience—a blessing. They won’t be able to return the favor, but the favor will be returned—oh, how it will be returned!—at the resurrection of God’s people.”


Reach out and invite
Those who can't return the gift
God's blessings on you!

Background Photo:  Peaks of the San de Cristo Mountains north of Chama, NM
May I extend my beloved community beyond that which is comfortable, O God. Amen.  

3.9.20
1John 4:20-21 MSG

If anyone boasts, “I love God,” and goes right on hating his brother or sister, thinking nothing of it, he is a liar. If he won’t love the person he can see, how can he love the God he can’t see? The command we have from Christ is blunt: Loving God includes loving people. You’ve got to love both.
A simple command:
Love God, love ev'ryone else
You have to love both
Background Photo:  Wall decor at Embudo Presbyterian Church, Dixon, NM with image from Lester Casias' retaldo paintings superimposed. 
May my love for you, Lord, extend to everyone I encounter. Amen. 



3.10.20
Luke 10:36-37 MSG (Good Samaritan story)
What do you think? Which of the three became a neighbor to the man attached by robbers?” The one who treated him kindly, the religion scholar responded. Jesus said, “Go and do the same”.

Respond to distress
Be a Good Samaritan
Always help others

Background Phohto: Internet Source

Open my eyes, Lord, to see the needs of those around me and respond as Jesus commands. Amen.


3.11.20
Luke 21:4 GNT
For the others offered their gifts from what they had to spare of their riches; but she, poor as she is, gave all she had to live on.”


Give not from what's spare
Give from the depths of your heart
Even just two coins

Background Photo: Internet Source

May I freely give, Lord, from the heart and not from my abundance. Amen.


3.12.20
Psalm 23:1-3 MSG
God my shepherd! I don’t need a thing. You have bedded me down in lush meadows, you find me quiet pools to drink from. True to your word, you let me catch my breath and send me in the right direction.


We need quiet spaces
To catch our Creation breath
And converse with God

Background photo by Val Nitsche, CAV friend: Tonto National Monument

Grant us, Lord, the space to experience your created world and better discern our role in your Creation. Amen.


3.13.20
John 1:5 MSG
What came into existence was Life, and the Life was Light to live by. The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness; the darkness couldn’t put it out.


Life was born with Light
The Life-Light that blazed into being
Darkness can't defeat

Background photo by Ginger: Light shafts in Southern Oregon coast forest
Help us remember, God, you are the source of light and love as we go out to serve you. Amen.




3.14.20
Matthew 18:5 GNT
And whoever welcomes in my name one such child as this, welcomes me.

Welcome the children
they are Jesus in disguise
Love in tiny form

Background image: Internet source

God of strangers and outsiders, help us to welcome all with open arms and love. Amen.




3.15.20
Matthew 14:14-16 (Feeding of Five Thousand)
Jesus had compassion on them….and said, “Don’t send them away. You yourselves give them something to eat.”


May I make it my personal responsibility, Lord, to feed the hungry around me. Amen. 



3.16.20
James 1:27 GNT
What God the Father considers to be pure and genuine religion is this: to take care of orphans and widows in their suffering and to keep oneself from being corrupted by the world.

Take that which God gives
And multiply to help all
In distress and need

Background Image by Ginger: Saguaro National Park, Rincon Mt District

God, open our eyes so that we may see those who need our care and love in your name. Amen.



3.17.20
Luke 24:32-33 GNT
They said to each other, “Wasn't it like a fire burning in us when he talked to us on the road and explained the Scriptures to us?” They got up at once and went back to Jerusalem, where they found the eleven disciples gathered together with the others.

Fam’lies united
After years of separation
Lessons for the world
Background Image by Ginger: Saguaro National Park East

Lord of new beginnings, thank you for bringing together the broken and reconciling mankind. Amen.




3.18.20
Matthew 25:37-40 MSG
Master, what are you talking about? When did we ever see you hungry and feed you, thirsty and give you a drink? And when did we ever see you sick or in prison and come to you?’ Then the King will say, ‘I’m telling the solemn truth: Whenever you did one of these things to someone overlooked or ignored, that was me—you did it to me.’

To the least of these…
Hear the command of Jesus
Strangers no longer


Background Image by Ginger:  Hoodoos on Catalina Highway, Mt. Lemmon, Arizona

Creator God, giver of all that we need, grant us and abundance of generosity to be able to give and to care. Amen.



3.19.20
Luke 14:13-14 GNT
When you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind; and you will be blessed, because they are not able to pay you back. God will repay you on the day the good people rise from death.”

In ev’ry matter
Serve those who cannot repay
Blessings will follow


Background Image by Ginger: Leaf skeleton, Marshall Gulch Trail, Mt. Lemmon


Give us the boldness, Lord, to risk our comfortable lives and open our churches and homes to those we think will bring us discomfort. Amen.



3.20.20
Isaiah 58:6-7 GNT
The kind of fasting I want is this: Remove the chains of oppression and the yoke of injustice, and let the oppressed go free. Share your food with the hungry and open your homes to the homeless poor. Give clothes to those who have nothing to wear, and do not refuse to help your own relatives.

Loosen unjust bonds
Feed the hungry, tend the sick
All are our brothers

Background Photo by Ginger: Building a CHRPA ramp in Tucson, AZ


Help us, O God, to see those who are “fenced-off” and dehumanized. Teach us to love as you have loved us. Amen.



3.21.20
Deuteronomy 31:6 MSG
Be strong. Take courage. Don’t be intimidated. Don’t give them a second thought because God, your God, is striding ahead of you. He’s right there with you. He won’t let you down; he won’t leave you.”

Fear not the stranger
Embrace one ‘nother in love
For fear begets more fear


Background Photo from an old book of Pacific NW images



Grant us, God, strength in the face of fear and wisdom to seek understanding. Amen.

3.22.20
Joshua 1:6 MSG
Strength! Courage! You are going to lead this people to inherit the land that I promised to give their ancestors. Give it everything you have, heart and soul.


Strength! Courage! Be leaders
God is with our community
Trust in God's presence

Background Photo by Bob McLean (one of my dad's slide memories - Sierra Nevada mountains)


Lord, grant us the courage, passion and vision to reach beyond the walls of our comfort zone. Amen.



3.23.20
Ezekiel 3:5 GNT
So I came to Tel Abib beside the Chebar River, where the exiles were living, and for seven days I stayed there, overcome by what I had seen and heard.

The quilt of mankind:
Many shapes, colors, sizes
Shared humanity

Background Photo by Ginger: Rock Lake along Continental Divide Trail, Colorado

Lord, continue to remind us that we are bound together in this beautiful fabric of a shared humanity. Amen.




3.24.20
Mark 2:3 MSG
They brought a paraplegic to him [Jesus], carried by four men.

Be the helping hand
Now...more than ever, reach out
Connect with neighbor

Background Image: Internet

Guide us, Lord, to see the resources you provide to enable us to help one another. Amen.



3.25.20
Psalm 139:2-3 MSG
I’m an open book to you; even from a distance, you know what I’m thinking. You know when I leave and when I get back; I’m never out of your sight.

God knows me deeply
Do I take the time to learn
My neighbors as well?

Background Image: Internet

May I give my neighbors and strangers the same gracious loving attention you bestow, O God. Amen.



3.26.20
1Corinthians 13:12 MSG
We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!

A pandemic fog
Blurs our vision; clouds our hearts
Shine through the darkness!

Background Image: Internet

God of mercy, help us to see ourselves completely. Strengthen us for the long night of uncertainty ahead. Amen.



3.27.20
Mark 2:11-12 MSG
Get up. Pick up your stretcher and go home.” And the man did it—got up, grabbed his stretcher, and walked out, with everyone there watching him. They rubbed their eyes, incredulous—and then praised God, saying, “We’ve never seen anything like this!”

Search within oneself
Discover the innate gifts
Then use them to serve

Background Image: Internet

Help us, O God, to remove the barriers that prevent people from using the gifts you have granted. Amen.



3.28.20
1Corinthians 12:6-7 MSG
Each person is given something to do that shows who God is: Everyone gets in on it, everyone benefits. All kinds of things are handed out by the Spirit, and to all kinds of people! The variety is wonderful…..
We all have God-gifts
Ready to be shared with all
Do I let light shine?

Background Image by Ginger: Sunlight filtering through Oregon Coast forest

Open our eyes, Lord, to notice and acknowledge the many gifts you give to all of us. Amen.


3.29.20
Mark 10:17, 21-22 MSG
Good Teacher, what must I do to get eternal life?”…Jesus looked him hard in the eye—and loved him! He said, “There’s one thing left: Go sell whatever you own and give it to the poor. All your wealth will then be heavenly wealth. And come follow me.” The man’s face clouded over. This was the last thing he expected to hear, and he walked off with a heavy heart. He was holding on tight to a lot of things, and not about to let go.

Am I holding tight?
Trappings don’t really matter
Just follow Jesus

Background Image from Internet

God of enough, help us to imagine and preserve a world where there is enough for everyone. Amen.



3.30.20
1 Peter 2:24 MSG
He used his servant body to carry our sins to the Cross so we could be rid of sin, free to live the right way. His wounds became your healing

See the light shining
Through the cracks of sinful wounds
Love is thus revealed

Background Image by Internet

May we celebrate the cracks in our lives, Lord, knowing they are the places where love is revealed. Amen.



3.31.20
John 8:31-32 GNT
If you obey my teaching, you are really my disciples; you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 


Freedom of truth comes
When we hear oppressed voices
And respond with love

Background Image Internet source
Open my ears, Lord, to the truth spoken by the voices of those hurting around me. Amen.



4.1.20
1John 3:17 MSG
If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God’s love? It disappears. And you made it disappear.

Our world is hurting
We who can must show God's love
No cold shoulders turned

Background Image edited internet source
God of love, help me to love with generosity from my abundance. Amen.



4.2.20
Matthew 5:42 GNT
When someone asks you for something, give it to him; when someone wants to borrow something, lend it to him.


It's a simple fact:
The Lord provides, we supply
Give what is needed!


Background Image Internet Source


Reassure me, Lord, that you provide all I need to be a generous friend to strangers. Amen.



4.3.20
Mark 14:7 Voice
The poor will always be with you, and you can show kindness to them whenever you want. But I won’t always be with you.


Be intentional
Seek the tale behind the face
LOOK for ways to help

Background Photo by Giunger: Thousand Springs, Idaho

Dear Lord, please help me to intenbtionally look for people I can help. Amen.



4.4.20
Psalm 118:26-29 MSG
Blessed are you who enter in God’s name—from God’s house we bless you! Thank God—he’s so good. His love never quits!


Covid means entry
To God's Creation house, but
His love never quits!

Background Photo by Luke Rembold: Mount Rainer, Washington

Remind me, Lord, of the community of your Love that bind us together. Amen.



4.5.20 Palm Sunday
Romans 12:6a Voice
Since our gifts vary depending on the grace poured out on each of us, it is important that we exercise the gifts we have been given.


We all can wave palms
The gift of praise is in all -
From our home...of course!

Background Image: Internet source
God, help me look beyond the surface to the gifts you have bestowed in all. Amen.


4.6.20 Monday of Holy Week
Luke 10:29 MSG
Looking for a loophole, he asked, “And just how would you define ‘neighbor’?”

Who IS my neighbor?
Just the known friend next door? No!
Beyond comfort zone!

Background Image: Internet source
God of ALL people, help me to open my heart to those who are different from me, help me to see neighbor in all. Amen.



4.7.20 Tuesday of Holy Week
Leviticus 19:34a Voice
You must treat the outsider as one of your native-born people—as a full citizen—and you are to love him in the same way you love yourself;

Outsider? Neighbor?
Treat all in the same manner:
With LOVE as God loves

Background Image: Internet source of the daffodils I wish were more than 2" tall in my yard! 

Loving God, help us invite all to the table that Christ has set for us. Amen.



4.8.20 Wednesday of Holy Week
1 John 3:17 GNT
If we are rich and see others in need, yet close our hearts against them, how can we claim that we love God?

We who have plenty
Must open our hearts to the poor
Share God's love and grace

Background Image Internet source: Tulips I can no longer grow that were abundant in
our old house (deer eat them here!)
God, open my heart to the opportunities to share with others, and in doing so show the world your grace and goodness. Amen.



4.9.20 Maundy Thursday
John 13:15-16 Voice
I am your example; keep doing what I do. I tell you the truth: a servant is not greater than the master. Those who are sent are not greater than the one who sends them.

We are all servants
Washing feet, feeding hungry
One God, Lord, Master

Background Image: Internet Source
Lord of washed feet, may I walk these next days in your place, and treat others as you have preached. Amen.



4.10.20 Good Friday
Luke 14:27-28 MSG
Anyone who won’t shoulder his own cross and follow behind me can’t be my disciple.

I am afraid, Lord
Crosses are heavy, painful
It's hard to follow

Background Image: Internet Source
Grant me the courage, Lord, to overcome my fears of cross-carrying, to obey your command and follow. Amen.



4.11.20 Holy Saturday
Mark 15:34, 36-37 MSG
At three o’clock, Jesus groaned out of the depths, crying loudly, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?” …. But Jesus, with a loud cry, gave his last breath. At that moment the Temple curtain ripped right down the middle.
Temple curtain rips
Nothing divides us from God
Christ, the sacrifice

Background Image Internet source
Remind us, Lord, that resurrection happens step by step, yet the curtain separating us from you has been removed. Amen.



4.12.20 Easter Sunday
Matthew 28:1-6 MSG
After the Sabbath, as the first light of the new week dawned, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to keep vigil at the tomb. Suddenly the earth reeled and rocked under their feet as God’s angel came down from heaven, came right up to where they were standing. He rolled back the stone and then sat on it. Shafts of lightning blazed from him. His garments shimmered snow-white. The guards at the tomb were scared to death. They were so frightened, they couldn’t move. The angel spoke to the women: “There is nothing to fear here. I know you’re looking for Jesus, the One they nailed to the cross. He is not here. He was raised, just as he said.
The church is empty
But we can rejoice because
The tomb was also!

Background Image Internet Source plus my butterflies
Empower us all, Lord, to hear and believe the Hallelujah message of the Resurrection! Bring us all to new life as a beloved community. Amen. 









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