Called to Praise
There’s one kind of praise, an “easy” kind, that springs forth spontaneously from us when we are joyful. We use the phrase “prayer and thanksgiving” a lot, and this kind of praise actually is thanksgiving. It acknowledges the source of our joy.
“Stop the Glorification of Busy”
I want to start out and be honest. My personal devotional life lately has been very lacking. I have let myself get caught up in the busyness of this time of year and have a nice list of excuses. A friend of mine posted this quote on social media the other day and it HIT me between the eyes: “Stop the glorification of busy.” Wow! I am so guilty of this. Am I really too busy to find time each day to spend with Him!?! And if I am, then I seriously need to make a shift in my priorities.
9 Points to consider as we engage in works of compassion (from Richard Foster’s Celebration of Discipline):
“The Bread of Life”
“Christ had been exiled to Sunday mornings in our lives…We build him a temple but we live in our own houses… We must recognize that He makes fundamental claims on our entire being.
We are saddened by the loss the Detwiler family has experienced at the passing of their son Eric. They desire to share the testimony of God’s love and grace that was evident at his funeral service and hope it will encourage others.
Further Thoughts on Suffering
In 2 Corinthians 12, Paul talks about the glories he’s experienced—glory in suffering for Christ and the glory of a celestial vision. He then goes on to say, “in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me” (v. 7).
“My Ongoing Desire to Be Content”
Being content can be a constant struggle. The struggle between needs and wants and even the path my life has taken cause me to wrestle with just being content in the here and now. Why can’t we do this? Why can’t we have that? Why, why, why? It’s so easy to play the comparison game when we look at the size of someone else’s house or the “perfect” things others post on social media that are not perfect in my reality.
Here are the ancient prayers of confession that Pastor Bob mentioned in a recent message. He uses them in his personal prayer time and would recommend them for others as well, substituting I/my for we/our.
Some have asked about the solo sung at the Good Friday service this year. It is called Why and is sung in the clip below by Nicole Nordeman.
“Joy”
I remember waking up in high school feeling overwhelming joy with the Lord! These days, I say “good morning” to him with a cringe, a painful awareness of my sin and the feeling that I fall so short in every measure. Where has my joy gone? How do I get it back?
