Category: Year C

1 John 5:1-5, 13-21

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            In a world that is constantly changing, the need for people to experience meaning and stability in their lives is more pronounced than ever.  Whether someone wonders if he will have his job tomorrow; whether someone worries about the state of the economy and if her investments will be secure; whether someone is anxious about what kind of world her kids will have when they grow up; whether someone feels adrift in an information age, glutted with so much stuff and not knowing what is real or true; whether someone becomes discouraged when difficulty seemingly has no end to it; whether someone is concerned about the church’s future; no matter what we are experiencing, there are some bedrock certainties that the Christian can hang his/her hat on:
 
            “I have written to let you know that you have eternal life.”
“We are certainthat God will hear our prayers when we ask for what pleases him.”
“If we know that God listens when we pray, we are sure that our prayers have already been answered.”
“We are sure that God’s children do not keep on sinning.  God’s own Son protects them, and the devil cannot harm them.”
            “We are certainthat we come from God.”
            “We know that Jesus Christ the Son of God has come and has shown us the true God.”
 
            Knowing God through loving and obeying Him is the sacred pathway to personal and corporate peace.  When the supreme ethic of love takes place in the believer’s life, through receiving it from God and giving it to others, it brings a sense of divine assurance in a sea of worldly uncertainty.  Security in God will always trump the insecurities of life.
 

 

            Loving God, I know that you listen to me.  I pray that your love and assurance will fill me to such a place that I have peace amidst the vicissitudes of this life.  May I rest in Jesus Christ through the work of your Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Psalm 137

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            On this side of heaven is a life full of love and heartbreak, celebration and lament, encouragement and insult.  It is a spiritually schizophrenic existence of both a kiss of heaven, and a taste of hell.  We live in a fundamentally broken world that is currently being reclaimed by God’s kingdom.  So, our emotions run the gamut from fun happiness to sheer sorrow.  Either way, especially through the difficult stretches of our lives, Christians are to tether themselves to their true home:  heaven.
 
            “If I forget you, let my right hand go limp.  Let my tongue stick to my mouth, if I don’t think about you above all else.”  The psalmist was speaking of Jerusalem, the city that represented the presence of God.  Being exiled to a foreign land, the Israelites were not to forget their real home.  The reality, for the believer in Jesus, is that heaven is our reality.  This present arrangement is like camping in a tent – it is a temporary home, and not our permanent residence.
 
            It is easy to forget our true home, which is why we need continual reminders of eternity’s scope.  We are not to get too familiar with our current living conditions.  Simple acts like looking up at the stars at night and/or gazing into the vast expanse of the day’s sky while walking the dog can be tangible reminders that we are meant for larger things, for the embrace of heaven.  Put your life in the perspective of your true home, and build your treasure there.
 

 

            Sovereign Lord, may your blessing be with those who embrace heaven as a way to impact the earth and all its inhabitants.  Let me be in awe of your large kingdom work and prepare me for the eternal, through Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

Matthew 20:29-34

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            The word “irony” is a term used to describe an outcome of an event that is different from expectation.  For example, my family doctor’s name when I was growing up was “Dr. Fail.”  In today’s Gospel lesson, two blind men are healed by Jesus and can see.
 
            Please take a little time and read the short account over a few times and ponder these three ironic observations from the story:
 
·     —A large crowd followed Jesus, but only two persons are his actual followers.
·     — Out the large crowd, it is two blind men that actually see Jesus for who he is.
·     —The crowd following Jesus was actually trying to keep the two needy blind men from Jesus.
 
Although Jesus was surrounded by lots of people, he was attentive to two non-descript men.  He was listening for them.  He responded to them.  He touched them.  Listening, responding, and touching were the ways Jesus blessed people.  We, also, need to have our spiritual eyes wide open to see the great need of lost people around us who need our listening ear, our responsive selves, and our caring touch.  May it be so to the praise of Jesus.
 

 

Gracious Lord Jesus, you heal those who cry out to you.  Help me to be like you and be aware of those around me who need your healing touch so that they might know the wonder of following you.  Amen.

Lamentations 3:19-26

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            Those who are regular readers of this blog know that I continually talk about the need to read and pray the Scriptures over and over again, slowly.  Reading our Bibles ought to be last thing we do in order to check it off our to-do list.  One of the reasons I believe so many Christians struggle today with how to cope with life in a difficult and changing world is that there is far too little contemplative and meditative readings of Holy Scripture.  Today’s poetry from the Old Testament is most certainly one of those Bible passages that really demands to be read several times with some thought, prayer, and flavor.  Here it is in the Contemporary English Version of the Bible:
 
19 Just thinking of my troubles
and my lonely wandering
makes me miserable.
20 That’s all I ever think about,
and I am depressed.
21 Then I remember something
that fills me with hope.
22 The Lord’s kindness never fails!
If he had not been merciful,
we would have been destroyed.
23 The Lord can always be trusted
to show mercy each morning.
24 Deep in my heart I say,
“The Lord is all I need;
I can depend on him!”
25 The Lord is kind to everyone
who trusts and obeys him.
26 It is good to wait patiently
for the Lord to save us.
 

 

Amen!