Daily Devotional Guide

December 3-10th, 2017

https://www.moillusions.com/candle-and-mirror-optical-illusion/

VISIO DIVINA 

is meditative/prayer practice that opens the heart and soul to connect with God through images.

Take time to study this image and consider what the Holy Spirit is communicating to you

through shape, feeling, light and texture.

How does this picture connect you to Genesis 1, John 1?

 How does the play of light, texture, content speak to you?

 Is God showing you something in this image that is relevant to your life today?

As we begin this time of Advent what does the candle represent to you? What about the snuffed reflection?

Prayer

MORNING

     The world begins in winter silence.

The trees outstretch their skeletal limbs waiting

as sentries for the spring. I begin this day

with hands outstretched

my own sentry of your abiding grace. Amen.

READINGS FOR REFLECTION

Use an additional resource like the Upper Room or any devotionals you prefer.

"There is not enough darkness in all the world
to put out the light of even one small candle." --Robert Alden

"There are two ways of spreading light:
to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it." --Edith Wharton

http://www.kentcrockett.com/cgi-bin/illustrations/index.cgi?topic=Light

DAILY SCRIPTURE READING

You may also like Lectio Divina a focused reading and meditation of scripture.

 Audio Lectio   

Chronological Bible

One Year Bible

  

 Virtues for Prayer Each Day of The Week:

love of God- Sunday                  self-denial -Wednesday and Friday

love of neighbor -Monday          resignation and meekness -  Thursday

humility -Tuesday                      and thanksgiving - Saturday

                                                          _{Heitzenrater, Richard P. (2013-08-20). Wesley and the People}

ABIDING IN THE SPIRIT

           * Find your quiet center, empty your mind, and be present to hear the voice

       of God. Color, write in a journal, listen to music, use prayer beads to help

       your focus. Concentrate upon what God is calling you to understand,

       change, make, explore…...

BENEDICTION

    Father of new beginnings and forgiveness.

Guide my path and place before me those who need your light.

 May I reflect the light to those whom have lost the flame of your abiding grace. Amen

  

DAYTIME

Set a reminder to pray throughout the day. Embrace the breath of prayer,

release your burdens, be thankful. Recall today’s readings, the Visio Divina

and meditate upon them and how they are affecting your day.

    Lord of blessing and wondrous moments, I come to rest in your presence.

I come to focus on love and loveliness, beauty and being beautiful.

I empty myself of all the darkness this day has placed upon my heart

that I may extend your love and beauty to those around me. Amen

EVENING

     Master of time, space, creator of love and provider of all good things

I come in faithfulness and in weariness. I seek your grace to sustain me

and reach deep within every corner of my soul. Brighten the corners of loneliness,

 regret, frustration, sadness, that snuff the light of grace.

 Lead me in your truth that I may reflect your light of Christ. Amen

Questions for Day that has Past 

It is important to reflect upon our day and where we may be more present in our faith

 and expressive in sharing God’s grace. These questions are in response

to what God begins within us. God is the force we respond to.

God is first. We live in response to his love given through Christ.

Did I love God in prayer with thankfulness and openness?

How will I love God more tomorrow?

Did I love others and share the beauty of God?

Was I generous with my time and resources?

Did I grow in faith?

Did I grow in love for God and others today?

Did I extend the forgiveness of Christ that I desire to receive?

Did I take time to appreciate all God has provided?

Did I love God through creative praise?

ABIDING IN THE SPIRIT*

BENEDICTION

     Voice of my heart and life, sing to me the beauty of your love.

Strike the light of hope that frees my soul that I may echo your song.

 I praise you and worship you and kneel in humility to the gift

of your selfless love found in Christ. I pray to rest in your peace

that I may arise renewed and bright to sing of your love and light. Amen

Daily Devotional Guide
November 26-December 3, 2017

Homeless Jesus


VISIO DIVINA 
is meditative/prayer practice that opens the heart and soul to connect with God through images. Take time to study this image and consider what the Holy Spirit is communicating to you through shape, feeling, light and texture.
How does this picture connect you to Matthew 25:31-46? How does the play of light, texture, content speak to you? Is God showing you something in this image that is relevant to your life today? Is faith, joy, mercy, justice, God, Christ, Spirit witnessed to in this image? What might you do if you came along this sculpture?

Prayer

MORNING
     Gracious Lord of frosted blades and steely sky, I lift my prayers to you this morning. I imagine these holy moments rising upon the wind like wisps of breath made seen in winter cold. I give to you the winter of my soul and urge your grace to thaw my doubts and center my day in love and beauty Amen.

READINGS FOR REFLECTION
Use an additional resource like the Upper Room or any devotionals you prefer.

Advent
     We begin a new Christian year this Sunday November 26th. We also celebrate the church season of Advent. The four weeks leading up to Christmas. We wait and remember the gift of God that he gave through self. I think sometimes that is the hardest gift to understand, and to reciprocate. If I present my authentic self, say what I truly understand to be true, will I be loved? The answer for God and ourselves is not necessarily. Some choose to reject Christ and the grace held within that gift. We also know we will be rejected as well. But! The gift we treasure and those who treasure God, Christ, and Holy Spirit with us are the kingdom of love and peace that others will try to buy this our society’s season of Christmas.

DAILY SCRIPTURE READING
You may also like Lectio Divina a focused reading and meditation of scripture.  Audio Lectio   http://alivenow.upperroom.org/audio-lectio/

Chronological Bible 
One Year Bible

Virtues for Prayer Each Day of The Week:

love of God- Sunday                  self-denial -Wednesday and Friday
love of neighbor -Monday          resignation and meekness -  Thursday
humility -Tuesday                      and thanksgiving - Saturday
                                                          Heitzenrater, Richard P. (2013-08-20). Wesley and the People

ABIDING IN THE SPIRIT
           * Find your quiet center, empty your mind, and be present to hear the voice
       of God. Color, write in a journal, listen to music, use prayer beads to help
       your focus. Concentrate upon what God is calling you to understand,
       change, make, explore…...

BENEDICTION
    God of silent love, I end this time of prayer reluctant to leave your presence.
 I tear myself away from your comfort and peace and place my day within your hands.
Cloak me in your love and power to live this day in fulness and passion to your gift
of Christ and my joy to share my love of you. Amen
   
DAYTIME 
Set a reminder to pray throughout the day. Embrace the breath of prayer,
release your burdens, be thankful. Recall today’s readings, the Visio Divina
and meditate upon them and how they are affecting your day.

    My Lord of peace, and inner strength I embrace your presence and seek your voice. Reach within me and remove all the seeds of wasted worry and stress. Plant within me the thoughts of hope and faith. Empower my day with your joy and the confidence of being your child born in grace. Amen


EVENING

     Master of the fading light and brightening stars I seek you in prayer to hear your challenges. Awake my inner awareness in faith to transform in your love to become more loving. Hold me accountable to the changes I need to make and remind me of your loving purpose to shape me, my life, my actions to be love. Amen


Questions for Day that has Past 
It is important to reflect upon our day and where we may be more present in our faith and expressive in sharing God’s grace. These questions are in response to what God begins within us. God is the force we respond to. God is first. We live in response to his love given through Christ.

Did I love God in prayer with thankfulness and openness?
How will I love God more tomorrow?
Did I love others and share the beauty of God?
Was I generous with my time and resources?
Did I grow in faith?
Did I grow in love for God and others today?
Did I extend the forgiveness of Christ that I desire to receive?
Did I take time to appreciate all God has provided?
Did I love God through creative praise?

ABIDING IN THE SPIRIT*

BENEDICTION
     Father of my faith, provider of grace and power, creator of forgiveness and redemption through your gift of self found in Christ. I place before you the challenges, and the failures this day has contained. I turn from the words and actions that harmed others, myself, you. I yearn for a new day free from the weight of sorrow and regret. I pray your forgiveness and seek rest and comfort. Bring me peace as I sleep that I may awaken to your will and love. Amen

Daily Devotional Guide
November 19-26, 2017

https://comingintothelightofaliyah.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/key-hole.jpg?w=558

The Kingdom of Heaven is like…..

a man who goes away and gives his money to his servants and comes back
to find two servants have increased his wealth and one has returned it unchanged.
That servant is cast away. What about that speaks of heaven?
If we define the kingdom of heaven as the realm of God beyond space, time,
and eternal glory this makes no sense at all. If we go back into the depths of the Greek words
and state it this way: the realm of God’s power to lift one up, and provide atonement.
It becomes easier to understand. Christ gives to each of us the Holy Spirit and power
to do what we can do to bring grace alive in the world.
We must not bury God’s grace to be returned unchanged and soiled with dirt. 

VISIO DIVINA
is meditative/prayer practice that opens the heart and soul to connect with God through images.
Take time to study the picture and consider what the Holy Spirit is communicating to you
through shape, feeling, light and texture.
How does this picture connect you to Matthew 25:14- 30 and reach into your heart?
How does the play of light, texture, content speak to you?
Is God showing you something in this image that is relevant to your life today?
Is faith, joy, mercy, justice, God, Christ, Spirit witnessed to in this image?
Where does the key hole lead? What is the key? Where is the key?

Prayer

MORNING
     Lord of dawning day and living light
 I open my center to realize your presence and grace.
 I empty my mind to be filled with your Spirit
 that it is your direction, your path, your power that leads me forward.
 Teach me, guide me, challenge me in how I share your love.
Amen

READINGS FOR REFLECTION
Use an additional resource like the Upper Room or any devotionals you prefer.

Give Me the Dirt
     I love dirt, digging, warm soil, planting, and discovery.
I cannot remember a time that I didn’t have my hands in the soil.
 All gardeners know that in digging there is discovery.
Discovery of God in nature and growth, discovery of ourselves
and our capabilities, and of what has been lost to the passage of time.
I have never unearthed anything of importance like dinosaur bones, or arrowheads.
My discoveries tend toward a lost hair clip, army men, marbles.
Those items of little significance in the life of a child.
They revealed to me the life of those who have passed before and lived on the dirt before me.
     Our parable refers to hiding things in the dirt. Not an accidental
or careless childhood moment of forgetfulness, but a purposeful excavation.
The grace of God is buried and hidden away.
Fear and worry take hold as grace lives in its hidey hole.
The man lives in this dirty state avoiding the true life he buried away.
     We bury things away within the soil of our inner selves.
We avoid our hurt and shame by shoveling more and more atop
pushing it all deeper and deeper. When grace is buried,
it isn’t the grace that lives in darkness.
Grace is light and hope, faith, trust, and peace.
When we bury grace, we live in the darkness
separated from the God of love who forgives through Christ,
and prevails within us through the Holy Spirit.
We live in God’s light sharing love and growing richer
and brighter sowing marbles and hairclips of faith for those who follow.
We live atop the earth in the light of grace, not within our earthly
fears and shame consumed by darkness.



DAILY SCRIPTURE READING
You may also like Lectio Divina a focused reading and meditation of scripture.
 Audio Lectio   http://alivenow.upperroom.org/audio-lectio/

Chronological Bible 
One Year Bible


Virtues for Prayer Each Day of The Week:

love of God- Sunday                  self-denial -Wednesday and Friday
love of neighbor -Monday          resignation and meekness -  Thursday
humility -Tuesday                      and thanksgiving - Saturday
                                                          Heitzenrater, Richard P. (2013-08-20). Wesley and the People

ABIDING IN THE SPIRIT
           * Find your quiet center, empty your mind, and be present to hear the voice
       of God. Color, write in a journal, listen to music, use prayer beads to help
       your focus. Concentrate upon what God is calling you to understand,
       change, make, explore…...

BENEDICTION
    God of the soil, creator of my earthly self,
and giver of your Holy Spirit, unearth and banish my fears and hesitancies.
 Empower me to live in the love of Jesus
bestowing compassion, understanding, and mercy. Amen

DAYTIME
Set a reminder to pray throughout the day. Embrace the breath of prayer,
release your burdens, be thankful. Recall today’s readings, the Visio Divina
and meditate upon them and how they are affecting your day.

    I pray in thanksgiving for this day and hour.
I pray into your Spirit of love and patience to refocus and recharge.
I dig down to the foundation set by Christ
and center upon this gift of life made known through death and resurrection.
Change my thoughts to honor what is beautiful and life giving.
Guide me to set aside that which is hurtful and damaging to myself and others.
Bring me peace.
Amen

EVENING
     Father of the gloaming light of evening darkness.
Teacher of life and light awaken my self-awareness that I may be transformed
by your grace and word. Show me the errors of this day
and in your love, change me. Guide me to grow in love and mercy. Amen

Questions for Day that has Past 
It is important to reflect upon our day and where we may be more present in our faith
and expressive in sharing God’s grace. These questions are in response to what God begins within us.
 God is the force we respond to. God is first. We live in response to his love given through Christ.

Did I love God in prayer with thankfulness and openness?
How will I love God more tomorrow?
Did I love others and share the beauty of God?
Was I generous with my time and resources?
Did I grow in faith?
Did I grow in love for God and others today?
Did I extend the forgiveness of Christ that I desire to receive?
Did I take time to appreciate all God has provided?
Did I love God through creative praise?

ABIDING IN THE SPIRIT*

BENEDICTION
     Father of gentle quiet I place my day before you.
I place all my need, my anger, selfishness, and pride before you.
I pray for your forgiveness and the power to begin the morrow with
clearness and purpose to love better and more fully.
In your mercy, hear my prayer and grant me peaceful rest. Amen

November 12-19, 2017

Daily Devotional Guide

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/Blake_Wise_And_Foolish_Virgins_1826.jpg

Tending the Lamp

We take light and electricity for granted.

All we do is flip a switch and our space is bathed in light.

Imagine the work of tending to lamps

and the consequences of being caught in the darkness.

The parable of the ten maidens speaks of preparedness and outcome.

This illustration is more about our inner light, salvation, and peace

than it is about the oil for a lamp. What are you not tending to in your life

to keep your inner light ablaze and darkness at bay?

VISIO DIVINA is meditative/prayer practice that opens the heart and soul

 to connect with God through images.

Take time to study the picture and consider what the Holy Spirit

 is communicating to you through shape, feeling, light and texture.

How does this representation of Matthew 25: 1-13 reach into your heart?

How does the play of light, texture, content speak to you?

Is God showing you something in this image that is relevant to your life today?

Is faith, joy, mercy, justice, God, Christ, Spirit witnessed to in this image?

What is the figure in the sky? Does it change the context of the wedding?

Prayer

MORNING    prayer music

     Lord of morning light and bird songs of love and hope,

 I come to center myself in your grace and peace.

The day before me pulls me to rush in my prayers.

Ease my worries, still the demands upon me

and focus my spirit upon your son, this gift of perfect love.

Awaken me to your presence and the importance of

your guidance and comfort for my life.

 Seek my inner spaces and impart within me

the yearning to serve in love all your people. Amen

READINGS FOR REFLECTION

Use an additional resource like the Upper Room or any devotionals you prefer.

Group Work

     Who ever thought that group work was ever a positive learning experience?

Yes, there is a lesson to learn about the dynamics of working with others to achieve a goal or purpose.

Unfortunately, it is a lesson about those who work toward achievement and those

who sit back to ride the grade train. It has always been to me, my children,

and other students, youth to adult, a symphony of frustration to the lack

of commitment to partners in the group, the ability to meet,

 and just plain ol’ group members who won’t participate.

     Our faith is not something we can sit back and allow others to carry for us.

We must do our work to get the grade. Faith is an active life consuming, challenging

 and transforming endeavor. It is a gift given and responded to.

We can’t lift excuses not to meet with God, read scripture, pray, and worship.

It is all necessary. The parable of the maidens casts a symbolic darkness upon

 those who have not done their work. They must go back

and in so doing they miss the wedding. Their wedding to Christ and eternal glory.

DAILY SCRIPTURE READING

You may also like Lectio Divina a focused reading and meditation of scripture. 

Audio Lectio   http://alivenow.upperroom.org/audio-lectio/

One Year Bible

Chronological Bible

Virtues for Prayer Each Day of The Week:

love of God- Sunday                  self-denial -Wednesday and Friday

love of neighbor -Monday          resignation and meekness -  Thursday

humility -Tuesday                      and thanksgiving - Saturday

                                                          _{Heitzenrater, Richard P. (2013-08-20). Wesley and the People}

ABIDING IN THE SPIRIT

           * Find your quiet center, empty your mind, and be present to hear the voice

       of God. Color, write in a journal, listen to music, use prayer beads to help

       your focus. Concentrate upon what God is calling you to understand,

       change, make, explore…...

BENEDICTION

    Lord, I pray your divine spirit that resides within the center of my being is

the light and path that I follow through all that comes before me in this day.

I pray for the eyes to see your glory around me in all I see

 and all the people I encounter. May I be also your light to them. Amen

DAYTIME

Set a reminder to pray throughout the day. Embrace the breath of prayer,

release your burdens, be thankful. Recall today’s readings, the Visio Divina

 and meditate upon them and how they are affecting your day.  Will a song bring

peace and stillness and focus upon the divine?  Holy Spirit Muse Divine

     Lord of the stillness, the whispered voice, silent smoke, and peaceful beams of light,

I pause to experience, to hear your voice upon my soul. Remove the needless from me,

the empty, the trite, fill me with life, glory, peace, and the purity of love for you,

 Christ, your world, your children that I may love the image within me you have created. Amen

EVENING

Gracious father, teacher, mentor, open me to your loving correction.

Keep me focused upon the reality of who I am,

and who you are transforming me to be.

Awake an inner truth and honesty of myself that I may grow

and transform in your grace, Amen

Questions for Day that has Past

Did I take time to be in prayer with God and to be thankful for his mercies and blessings?

What are my goals tomorrow to be more connected to the Divine?

Did I in some way share the beauty of God to others through my words or actions?

Was I generous with my time and resources?

Did I challenge myself in faith?

Did I grow in love for God and others today?

Did I extend the forgiveness that I desire to receive?

Did I take time to be present and enjoy all God has provided?

Did I sing, create, or dedicate some act of praise to God?

ABIDING IN THE SPIRIT*     prayer music

BENEDICTION

As the day departs, night descends, weariness takes hold of my thoughts and body

I come before you Lord. I entrust my vulnerabilities to you as I seek to sleep in peace.

I confess to you all that I have failed to achieve in your divine love.

In your mercy and gracious compassion forgive me this day.

Bring me all that I need to rest and in renewed grace love more fully tomorrow. Amen

Daily Devotional Guide
November 5-12, 2017

                                                         https://dan1953.files.wordpress.com/2015/03/martinluther_hammer.jpg

It has been five hundred years since Martin Luther voiced his concerns with the Roman Catholic Church. Luther desired the church to embrace salvation by grace and not those works imposed upon the people by the church. He was hoping to drain the Roman Catholic swamp. Little did he know that he would be responsible for the Reformation and the establishment of the protestant form of Christianity. His main tenant is that we are saved by faith in Jesus Christ through the grace of God,
not by empty works required by man.


VISIO DIVINA 
is meditative/prayer practice that opens the heart and soul
to connect with God through images.
Take time to study the picture and consider what the Holy Spirit
is communicating to you through shape, feeling, light and texture.

How does this representation of Luther and his 96 theses speak to you?
How does the play of light, texture, content speak to you?
Is God showing you something in this image that is relevant to your life today?
Is faith, joy, mercy, justice, God, Christ, Spirit witnessed to in this image?
Why is there not a face displayed? Does that play in your imagination?

Prayer

MORNING
     God of night and dawning day, the hours of light diminish
as the season hastens to winter darkness.
Light that inner flame within my heart that I may not be consumed
by the heaviness of winter chill and weather.
Awaken my joy to see your grace in my every day.
Stir within me an uneasy awareness to combat the
 empty focus of the secular Christmas season. Amen

READINGS FOR REFLECTION
Use an additional resource like the Upper Room or any devotionals you prefer.

Coats
     Coats seem to accumulate, and I find space for them a challenge.
You have spring, summer, fall, and winter. Coats for work outside, snow pants, and coveralls.
There are coats for when it is really really cold, and coats that just look good.
The closet is full and there is no room for the coats that arrive with family and friends.
 So, I decided the solution was a coat tree.
     I was on Facebook. A sometimes enjoyable, sometimes exasperating, frustrating,
and maybe offensive experience. It was there I saw a post about a woman I know asking for help.
She is having difficulty paying for her MS medicine. A former teacher in South Bend, a woman of faith,  a great volunteer now needed help surviving. We can question why, her medical choices,
her lack of planning, …… All of which I do not know.
What I do know is she needs medicine far more than I need a coat tree.
I contributed to her Go Fund Me page and probably will again.
     I don’t share this for a pat on the back, or for some halo of kindness. I share this because it was easy, and it was the right thing to do. This is loving others before myself. This is following Christ and being concerned with the interests of others. This is what love can look like.
     I am flawed and selfish, but sometimes I get things right. You can too!

DAILY SCRIPTURE READING
You may also like Lectio Divina a focused reading and meditation of scripture.
try going to audio lectio

One Year Bible
Chronological Bible 

Virtues for Prayer Each Day of The Week:

love of God- Sunday                  self-denial -Wednesday and Friday
love of neighbor -Monday          resignation and meekness -  Thursday
humility -Tuesday                      and thanksgiving - Saturday
                                                          Heitzenrater, Richard P. (2013-08-20). Wesley and the People

ABIDING IN THE SPIRIT
           * Find your quiet center, empty your mind, and be present to hear the voice
       of God. Color, write in a journal, listen to music, use prayer beads to help
       your focus. Concentrate upon what God is calling you to understand,
       change, make, explore…...

BENEDICTION
    Father, what would I do without Jesus? I am dependent upon this
 gift of profound and confounding love. Teach me to live within this
 blessing of grace and to grow in love for you and all around me. Amen

DAYTIME 
Set a reminder to pray throughout the day. Embrace the breath of prayer,
release your burdens, be thankful. Recall the readings of
this day and contemplate how they are affecting your day.

    Lord, of my quiet center, I reach for your peace.
Calm the demands of this day and the weight of my responsibilities.
Bring me focus into love and to what is everlasting.
Prioritize my energies into the positive and joyful challenges enfolded in your grace, Amen

EVENING
Lord of my soul, open my understanding, challenge me to grow,
 focus my mind that I may learn and grow in love for you, others and myself.
Inspire me forward toward perfect love. Amen

Questions for Day that has Past

Did I take time to be in prayer with God and to be thankful for his mercies and blessings?
What are my goals tomorrow to be more connected to the Divine?
Did I in some way share the beauty of God to others through my words or actions?
Was I generous with my time and resources?
Did I challenge myself in faith?
Did I grow in love for God and others today?
Did I extend the forgiveness that I desire to receive?
Did I take time to be present and enjoy all God has provided?
Did I sing, create, or dedicate some act of praise to God?

ABIDING IN THE SPIRIT*

BENEDICTION

Lord Jesus, I pray you understand my sorrow and regret for all I failed to see, do, say
 that would bring your love and image into the world.
I confess my fears, my failings, my ignorance, and avoidances.
I seek to love better as the night gives way to the dawn.
 I pray for sleep of peace, and rest and that you
fill the night and my dreams with love and beauty.  You are my grace         Amen