The Lenten Journey March 5, 2018 Psalm 42:1-7 As a deer pants for streams of water so my soul pants after thee, o God. My soul thirst for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with him? My tears have been my food day and night while people say to me all day long Where is your God? These things I remember as I pour out my soul, how I used to go to the House of God under the protection of the Mighty One, with shouts of joy and Praise among the festive throng. Why, my soul are you downcast, why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God. For I will yet Praise My Savior and my God. My soul is downcast within me; therefore, I will remember you from the land of the. Jordan, the heights of Mount Mizar. Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; All your waves and breakers have swept over me. Reflection by Joyce Annis These verses in my words As the animals go to the waters for physical refreshment, I seek God-everywhere for Spiritual refreshment. I keep seeking with all of my heart this God of my first love. I have spent many nights crying out to God and my friends are asking Where is your God? I will remember that I used to be filled with joy and follow the crowds and join in singing your praises, God, feeling your presence. I don t know why I am feeling so empty inside as I make this journey. But, when I get there I will remember all the joys I knew. I have experienced a rough time in my life and I have felt the troubles like a waterfall rushing over me. I will find you Again I have that hope My short reflection I don t know that I ever felt so low as did the Psalmist in these verses. But, I have experienced times when I felt lost, like I didn t know where to turn. Prayer and time alone with God was my fortress, and still is. Our God is an awesome God
The Lenten Journey March 6, 2018 Psalm 25:3 10 3 Show me your ways, O LORD, and teach me your paths. 4 Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; in you have I trusted all the day long. 5 Remember, O LORD, your compassion and love, for they are from everlasting. 6 Remember not the sins of my youth and my transgressions; remember me according to your love and for the sake of your goodness, O LORD. 7 Gracious and upright is the LORD; therefore he teaches sinners in his way. 8 He guides the humble in doing right and teaches his way to the lowly. 9 All the paths of the LORD are love and faithfulness to those who keep his covenant and his testimonies. 10 For your Name s sake, O LORD, forgive my sin, for it is great. Reflection by Rosalie D Marinelli I didn t read the bible as a child or even an adult. It was not emphasized in my religion of birth. I did flip through the family bible occasionally (it was a decoration in our library). I liked the pictures. So the Psalms are a mystery to me. But my orders were to choose one that spoke to me. This Psalm didn t just speak to me; it SHOUTED! I had to read it several times. Not only was it a kind Psalm (I don t like angry ones); it described GOD THE TEACHER!! As a child, God was my Protector; as a young woman, He was my Confessor; as a mother, He was my Well of Patience; as a widow, He became my Source of Comfort. BUT, I never thought of Him as my Teacher! Of course He s my Teacher. He taught me to be strong, to be patient, to forgive myself and others. He is still teaching me and will always. God loves me, no matter how I disappoint Him. My job is to learn from HIS guidance. He wants only the best for me. His paths are love, faithfulness and forgiveness. Now I just have to LISTEN.
The Lenten Journey for March 7, 2018 Psalm 78:1 6 1 Hear my teaching, O my people; incline your ears to the words of my mouth. 2 I will open my mouth in a parable; I will declare the mysteries of ancient times. 3 That which we have heard and known, and what our forefathers have told us, we will not hide from their children. 4 We will recount to generations to come the praiseworthy deeds and the power of the LORD, and the wonderful works he has done. 5 He gave his decrees to Jacob and established a law for Israel, which he commanded them to teach their children; 6 That the generations to come might know, and the children yet unborn; that they in their turn might tell it to their children; Reflection by Anonymous In Psalm 78 we are told by God to hear his teaching and then pass it on. Recount God s praiseworthy deeds, His power and His wonderful works. We are to make sure we teach our children so that future generations will know and continue to pass it on. I m sure all parents have heard a child respond why when told to do something. I, as a parent, and as a school teacher have heard why an unbelievable amount of times. But the answer to why to God s command is for the sake of the children. Teach them: C - compassion of God toward us and us toward others H - honor and honesty I instruction, receive it and then teach it to others L love God and love each other D God s deeds are praiseworthy, are ours? R remember what God has done and share E encourage each other N necessary, in order to live like Christ and help our children to do the same Many of us desire to remember our lives and help our children remember by keeping journals and photo albums. We may even make a scrapbook for each child of their lives and experiences. But what about God in our lives? Look around, how successful have we been? Are we doing all we can to train a child in the way he/she should go? Do we talk frequently about what God is doing in our lives? PASS IT ON
Lenten Journey for March 8, 2018 Psalm 95:6-11 6 Come, let us bow down, and bend the knee, and kneel before the LORD our Maker. 7 For he is our God,and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. Oh, that today you would hearken to his voice! 8 Harden not your hearts,as your forebears did in the wilderness, at Meribah, and on that day at Massah, when they tempted me. 9 They put me to the test, though they had seen my works. 10 Forty years long I detested that generation and said, "This people are wayward in their hearts; they do not know my ways." 11 So I swore in my wrath, "They shall not enter into my rest." Reflection by Rev. Cynthia Radley What a wonderful invitation we have been given! To come into the presence of Almighty God, the Creator of heaven and earth! We are His creation, made in His image, yet we are invited to come into His presence. To come into His presence and worship Him on bended knee. To bow down, to lay prostrate before the Lord is an acknowledgement of our complete unworthiness and our willingness to recognize that God is all-powerful, all knowing, our Master. We are the sheep of His hand. A shepherd feeds and loves and protects his sheep with constancy and intimacy and is even willing to lay down his life for the least of his sheep. Since God is so much more than any human shepherd could ever be, we know that as our shepherd, He will always love us, feed us, protect and take care of us. The psalmist begs us to listen to God s voice today. It is so easy for us to forget to listen to God in the midst of our busy lives and to harden our hearts to what He has to say. We are admonished to not be like the Hebrews who, although they saw the miraculous works of God, hardened their hearts and turned their backs on Him. This angered God, who swore that they will never enter into His rest. So today and every day, let us come into God s presence on bended knee and worship Him. Then and only then will we receive the peace and the blessings that He offers us freely.
The Lenten Journey for March 9, 2018 Psalm 81:8 14 8 Hear, O my people, and I will admonish you: O Israel, if you would but listen to me! 9 There shall be no strange god among you; you shall not worship a foreign god. 10 I am the LORD your God,who brought you out of the land of Egypt and said,"open your mouth wide, and I will fill it." 11 And yet my people did not hear my voice, and Israel would not obey me. 12 So I gave them over to the stubbornness of their hearts, to follow their own devices. 13 Oh, that my people would listen to me! that Israel would walk in my ways! 14 I should soon subdue their enemies and turn my hand against their foes. Reflection by Phyllis Peacock God is reminding his people fleeing Egypt that they must open their minds to the laws and teachings that God has given to Moses for their worship of God. God is reminding his people that they must have no other gods to worship. God is also reminding his people that by following this devotion that their mouths will be filled with the words to worship God. The people out of Egypt are failing in their devotion and will be punished. God does keep the promise of bringing the people to the promise land.
The Lenten Journey for March 10, 2018 Psalm 51:15 20 15 Deliver me from death, O God, and my tongue shall sing of your righteousness, O God of my salvation. 16 Open my lips, O Lord, and my mouth shall proclaim your praise. 17 Had you desired it, I would have offered sacrifice, but you take no delight in burnt-offerings. 18 The sacrifice of God is a troubled spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise. 19 Be favorable and gracious to Zion, and rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. 20 Then you will be pleased with the appointed sacrifices, with burnt-offerings and oblations; then shall they offer young bullocks upon your altar. Your Reflection Here:
The Lenten Journey for March 11, 2018 Psalm 107:1-3, 17-22 1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, and his mercy endures for ever. 2 Let all those whom the LORD has redeemed proclaim that he redeemed them from the hand of the foe. 3 He gathered them out of the lands; from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south. 17 Some were fools and took to rebellious ways; they were afflicted because of their sins. 18 They abhorred all manner of food and drew near to death's door. 19 Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. 20 He sent forth his word and healed them and saved them from the grave. 21 Let them give thanks to the LORD for his mercy and the wonders he does for his children. 22 Let them offer a sacrifice of thanksgiving and tell of his acts with shouts of joy. Reflection by Bonnie Saxon I loved reading these verses! They are incredibly relevant for today! Thinking about it, that's amazing, given how much time has passed since they came into being. Just a quick trip through the verses: First, the people are told what they should do: give thanks to God and tell the story of redemption; next, these people are identified as being from everywhere. So far, this could be a letter to us: We are to give thanks and share the story of redemption... We have an addition to the story... We have Jesus. The next verses are also highly relevant for us, now. The people became fools, got sick, quit eating good food and almost died. Then they cried to
God to save them. He healed them. Our God is a forgiving God who loves us. He was then and he is now. The last couple of verses go back to the beginning of the psalm, telling the people, us, what to do. We are to give thanks for His love even though we seem to be slow to learn...after all we were told to do this 22 verses ago! We are to give offerings, share the story of His works, and sing hymns of joy. It seems to me that these verses pretty much tell the Old Testament story like it is. Thank our loving God. Give offerings. Sing joyfully.