Month: February 2019

And while he was praying, the appearance of his face changed, and his clothes became dazzling white. (Luke 9:29) When Jesus was transfigured, the disciples there saw His glory, and God declared Him “my beloved Son”. God calls each of us His beloved children, and while we may not see each other transfigured in this way, God sees us as we really are.

We seem to forget that we are all the same, with the breath of God inside us, made in His image. We must remember that we are all connected to Him, and our brothers and sisters here on earth.

Marvelous God, You made each of us differently, but we are all the same in Your eyes. Help us to see Your glory in every person You have created. Amen.

God’s grace and mercy is given to us freely, but we must acknowledge our sins and accept His gift in order to be saved. We are weak and broken, but God’s love can mend us and bring us back together as His children.

We need God and each other in order to be complete. When we reject the responsibility for relationship we have been given, we are lessened.

Heavenly Father of us all, help us to see each other and ourselves as Your blessed creation, loved by You and charged with loving each other.

Then from the cloud came a voice that said, “This is my Son, my Chosen; listen to him!” (Luke 9:35)

Jesus came to be with us and one of us, but we must never forget who He is in eternity – the Son of God. We are broken and lost, but Jesus came to save us, to remind us that we are still God’s precious children, and we are loved and forgiven.

Heavenly Father, when we feel the weight of the world upon us, ease our doubts and fears. You are the ruler of all, and we put our trust in You. Help us to face each day with courage, knowing You are for us and with us. Amen.

“We shall see Jesus, just as He is.” To those who followed Him, Jesus was teacher and friend. Yes, they’d seen Him walk on water, heal the sick, raise the dead and feed the multitudes, but He was still the carpenter from Nazareth who had called them to follow Him. Even so, they believed in Him as the Son of God, sent for our salvation.

How do we see Jesus? It’s harder for us who didn’t walk the hills of Galilee with the Apostles to “see” Him, but we all have a mental picture of Him, some influenced by paintings and illustrations from our Sunday School days, but all from our own experience. How do people who have never met Jesus see Him? Hopefully they see Him in us – in our loving words and caring actions. That’s the very best picture of Jesus we can offer, sharing His love and grace with everyone.

Lord Jesus, help us to be Your disciples to the world, showing them that God is love and that He wants all His people back as part of His eternal family. Amen.

“But love your enemies, do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High; for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked.” (Luke 6:35) Jesus gives us a hard instruction – expect nothing in return. He teaches that because we have received His forgiveness we are to follow His example of giving…and not expect anything back from those to whom we give. We are not used to this kind of exchange, but Jesus tells us our reward is in Heaven, and we have become children of God by His grace.

God of grace and glory, we are grateful to be Your instruments on earth. Keep us aware of our task to give without receiving and to rejoice when souls turn to You. Bless us to be a blessing to those who still walk in darkness, that they may see Your light. Amen.

Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. (Luke 6:36) Jesus tells us that we should forgive and love as God does, a tough thing for humans to do. We expect apologies, hold grudges and try to “get back” at those we feel have wronged us.

God doesn’t work like that – thankfully! Without God’s mercy, no one could receive forgiveness and salvation. If God can forgive our sin, surely we can forgive each other for our words and actions.

Merciful God, help us to mend relationships with each other the same way You do, with forgiveness and love. Show us that our connection to You and our brothers and sisters is essential for our wellbeing and our way to eternal life. Amen.

“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them”. Luke 6:32

We are quite good at loving those with whom we agree for the most part. It’s fairly easy to get along with them. But Jesus tells us even sinners do that! We are called to do more – to love those who don’t see things our way, and even to love those who may hate us. That’s a tall order, but Jesus showed the way when He loved and forgave those who crucified Him.

Loving Lord, teach us how to love each other as You do. It is sometimes hard for us to see those who hate us as worthy of love, but You call us to follow You in doing so. May we be models of Your love and grace. Amen.

Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. (Luke 6:31) The Golden Rule Jesus taught us was to treat people the way we want to be treated. It means acting in ways that show our love for Christ in our daily interactions with others, giving what we’d like to receive. What if they don’t follow the Golden Rule? We are called to obey no matter what.

Loving Lord, it’s hard for us to love those who seem indifferent or hostile. We hear Your lesson and see Your example, but we still find ourselves angry when we are ignored or mistreated. Teach us how to better love each other, especially when it is difficult to do so. In Your name we pray, Amen.

“Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you” 1 Peter 5:7 Our doubts and fears shouldn’t be the focus of our lives. God is more than capable of handling anything we come up against. We are so desperate to be in control of our lives and situations, we fail to see how God will care for us if we only let Him.

God of all things, help us to let go of the worldly problems we stress over, giving our hearts and minds to You. Show us that living according to Your word and plan for us and being connected to You is the reason we were created. Amen.

God shared the very breath of life with us, and we owe Him everything. He calls us to see in each other that divine spark that makes us all His children. When we are cruel or unjust to others, we deny the divinity that lives in all of us.

Gracious God, help us to see Your love in everyone. Keep us from petty disagreements that only distract us from the work You would have us do. May we be a reflection of Your Grace to the world. In Your name we pray, Amen.