Week of August 29, 2010, Hebrews 13:1-8, 15-16

One of the Scriptures for Sunday is from parts of Hebrews, chapter 13, verses 1 to 8 and verses 15 and 16. The writer gives us words for holy living and reminds us of God’s promises.
1Keep on loving each other as brothers. 2Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it. 3Remember those in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.
4Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. 5Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said [in the books of Deuteronomy and Psalms],
"Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you." 6So we say with confidence,
"The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?"
7Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith. 8Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. …
15Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name. 16And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.

Dear Lord, Your word to us is so powerful and alive. You remind us of principles for living rightly, and then You help us by reminding us of Your promises – that You are always with us, You are our Helper, You give us confidence, and we need not be afraid.

So help us, Lord, to love and respect each other, to welcome strangers, to remember those in prison, to be pure in thought and actions, to be freed from greed, to be content with what we have, to use our finances wisely, to remember our leaders – especially those who have encouraged and mentored us in the faith, to imitate those with strong faith and trust in You, to do good, and to share with others.

Remind us, Jesus, that You have not, You do not, You will not change, for You are the same from the beginning of creation, to the time when You became the living Word incarnate, to the present day, powerfully present in our lives. Jesus, may our lives be a living sacrifice of praise, continually, always, offered to You.

Thanks for Your love, Your peace, Your presence with us always. Amen.

The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you His strength and His great peace. In the name of the Father and of the Son of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

You may leave a message or prayer request by emailing me at: peacewm@tds.net.
May we be more and more aware of God’s power and presence working in our lives each day.

Week of August 22, 2010, Psalm 103:1-8

One of the Scriptures for Sunday is from Psalm 103, verses 1 to 8 – a psalm about the promises of God:

1 Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
2 Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits-
3 who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,
4 who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,
5 who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.
6 The LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.
7 He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel:
8 The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.

Dear Lord, we praise You. From our innermost being, Lord, we praise Your holy name. May we never forgot and take for granted what You do for us, the many benefits that You provide. You forgive our sins. You heal our diseases. You redeem our lives, and take us out of the pit of destruction and crown us with love and compassion. You satisfy our desires, Lord, with good things. You renew our youth like a soaring eagle, above the mountaintop, so that we can see things from Your holy perspective, so that we can rest in You, so that we can look to You in all things.

You work righteousness and justice for the oppressed, Lord. Even when we can’t see it at the present time, we know You are working to make things right. Just as You made known Your ways to Moses, and how You worked among the people, You also make Your ways known to each of us, and You work intimately in our lives. For You care for us, Lord, and Your love for us is never-ending.

Lord, You are compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in love. Thanks, Jesus, for Your presence with us, Your peace that You bring to us, Your abounding love to us in all situations of our lives. Amen.

May the Lord bless you as you go on your way. May He go before you to show you the way. May He go behind you to encourage you. May He go beside you to guide and befriend you. May He always be above you to watch over you. And may He be within you to give you peace.

In the name of the Father and of the Son of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

You may leave a message or prayer request by emailing me at: peacewm@tds.net.
May you know God’s love, God’s peace, and God’s presence with you more and more each day.

Week of August 15, 2010, Hebrews 12:1-2

One of the Scriptures for Sunday is from the letter to the Hebrews. In chapter 11, known as the chapter of faith, where many examples are given showing men and women of faith, they trusted in God, even though the things they were promised were not in evidence yet. So we come to Jesus who helps us to come to faith and who matures and perfects our faith. The text is from the first two verses of chapter 12:

1Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. 2Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Jesus, You show us how to live our lives fully, giving You thanks and praise. You are our encourager, even as we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses – people who have gone before us, living the faith by their example, and are now with You.

Help us to throw off everything that hinders our relationship with You. Help us to deal with the sins in our life that entangle and ensnare us, to confess them, asking forgiveness. Help us to run with perseverance the race that is marked out for us – to never give up, to trust in You and Your ways, Jesus, even though we may not have the evidence of things that we have hoped for. Help us, also Jesus, to keep our eyes fixed on You, the author and perfector of our faith, for You endured the cross. You suffered and died for each of us. You rose again from the grave. And You are seated at the right hand of God’s throne.

Thanks, Jesus, for Your example of living, of sharing and caring, of bringing peace to a messed up world, of always blessing us with Your presence. Amen.

May the Lord bless you as you go on your way. May He go before you to show you the way. May He go behind you to encourage you. May He go beside you to guide and befriend you. May He always be above you to watch over you. And may He be within you to give you peace.

In the name of the Father and of the Son of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

You may leave a message or prayer request by emailing me at: peacewm@tds.net.
May you know God’s peace and God’s presence with you more and more each day.

Week of August 8, 2010, Psalm 32:12-22

One of the Scriptures for Sunday is from Psalm 32, verses 12-22. The entire psalm is a call to praise the Lord, and this section gives us the reasons why we praise God:
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people he chose for his inheritance.
13 From heaven the LORD looks down and sees all mankind;
14 from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth-
15 he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do.
16 No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength.
17 A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save.
18 But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,
19 to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine.
20 We wait in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield.
21 In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name.
22 May your unfailing love rest upon us, O LORD, even as we put our hope in you.

Dear Lord, You are a great God, awesome and mighty, and You are our God, and we are Your people. You have formed the hearts of all, and You consider everything we do. From Your dwelling place, You watch all things – everything, everywhere is under Your watchful eye. A great army does not save, a warrior with great strength cannot save himself, we cannot save ourselves from deliverance without Your help and power, O God. But Your eyes are on all those who fear You, on all of us who hope in Your unfailing love. For You deliver from death. You save. You rescue. It is not by our might or by our mind, but by Your Spirit, Lord, that we move and have our being. Your Spirit fills us, heals us, strengthens us.

We wait in hope on You, Lord. For You are our help and our shield – our Provider and our Protector. Our hearts rejoice in You, and we trust in Your holy name.

Jesus, thanks for Your unfailing love, Your overwhelming peace, Your powerful presence with us always. Amen.

The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you. The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you His strength and His great peace. In the name of the Father and of the Son of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

You may leave a message or prayer request by emailing me at: peacewm@tds.net.
For God is our Hope and our Help and our Shield. May we be more and more aware of God’s presence in us and God working in our lives each day.