Morning Grace

“With what shall I come before the LORD,      and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,      with calves a year old? Will the  Lord  be pleased with thousands of rams,      with ten thousands of rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,      the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?” 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? ~Micah 6:6-8 And now, dear brethren, may the Lord give you understanding in all things, and a heart to do his will. The Lord bless you and keep you, and cause his face to shine upon you. The Lord dispose you to do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly before him; and finally give you an inheritance with all them that are sanctified. ~ Vermont Baptists to...

Comfort, O comfort my people,      says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,      and cry to her that she has served her term,      that her penalty is paid, that she has received from the LORD’s hand      double for all her sins. A voice cries out: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD,      make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up,      and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level,      and the rough places a plain. ~ Isaiah 40:1-4 The Wilderness holds answers to more questions than we have yet learned to ask. ~  Nancy Newhall No image is more indelible to the season of Advent than John the Baptist. The prophet is heralded in Matthew, Mark, and Luke by words from the Old Testament prophet, Isaiah: words that are as familiar as John himself. For the Hebrew p...

- Re-read the passages from this week's devotions. Choose the one that is most meaningful to you to be your prayer focus for today. They are: Psalm 59:9 Luke 12:25-40 Jeremiah 23:5 Mark 12:1-12 - Read the passage again and identify a word or phrases that jump out at you. - Read the passage again, and if possible read from a different translation ( biblegateway.com  has many translations you can choose from). Identify where this passage might be touching your life today. How is this relevant to your life? - Read the passage a third time, again in a different translation if possible. Ask yourself what God is calling you to do or to be from this passage. What change might God be moving your toward? - Close with a silent prayer, listening to God rather than speaking to God. What actions will you take today based on this prayer? - Recite the Lord's Prayer.

Then he began to speak to them in parables. “A man planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a pit for the wine press, and built a watchtower; then he leased it to tenants and went to another country.  When the season came, he sent a slave to the tenants to collect from them his share of the produce of the vineyard.  But they seized him, and beat him, and sent him away empty-handed.  And again he sent another slave to them; this one they beat over the head and insulted.  Then he sent another, and that one they killed. And so it was with many others; some they beat, and others they killed.  He had still one other, a beloved son. Finally he sent him to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’  But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’  So they seized him, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.  What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy...

T he days are surely coming, says the  Lord , when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. ~ Jeremiah 23:5 Waiting for the spark of heaven to fall. ~ Matthew Arnold What are you waiting for? In this season of anticipation, what is it that sets your heart alight? What is it you hope for? What is it that is worth the wait? The Jewish people over two thousand years ago waited for a Messiah. One that would release them from bondage and injustice. Today, we still see tragedy and violence in our world. We see refugees fleeing from their homes for an uncertain future.  We see people waiting for a cure for a pandemic. We see shootings and bombings and cries for equality and end to injustice. We face racism and prejudice and political division. And I'll bet closer to home, you face something more personally troubling. Something that you wish would end. An illness of a beloved. Fam...

“Be dressed for action and have your lamps lit;  be like those who are waiting for their master to return from the wedding banquet, so that they may open the door for him as soon as he comes and knocks.  Blessed are those slaves whom the master finds alert when he comes; truly I tell you, he will fasten his belt and have them sit down to eat, and he will come and serve them.  If he comes during the middle of the night, or near dawn, and finds them so, blessed are those slaves. “But know this: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he  would not have let his house be broken into.  You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an unexpected hour.” ~ Luke 12:25-40   “Wake up.  If your eyes are sleeping  then wipe them gently.  You need to be awake for this.  It is a matter of life and death.  Wake up!  If your mind is sleeping  then shake it quickly.  You need to be awake for th...

Oh my strength, I will watch for you; for you O God are my fortress. ~ Psalm 59:9    Open our eyes, Lord. We want to see Jesus, To reach out and touch him,  And say that we love him. ~ Robert Cull Advent is the season of waiting. And four words signify the ways in which we wait for Christmas Eve and Life to come. So for this Advent season, I want to share these words that will remind us to pause with bated breath for God to come into our midst. The word for this week is "Watch."  We wait for God, but we wait with eyes open. We are like watchmen at their posts in a posture of anticipation and expectation. Alert. Waiting for the one who is our strength and fortress. So this week, let's be alert for the one to come! For the Light to come into the world! Open our Eyes Lord! We want to see you! Amen Advent Meditation: Sit in stillness, reciting either this psalm or the words to this hymn as you imagine seeing the Christ child come into the world.