Shalom...

"Shalom is present where body and mind are well, where the relation to others is positive, and where the presence of God is sensed and felt."  ~Preaching and Teaching the Psalms by James L. Mays, p.11

For each of you, I pray you will have "Shalom" today!!

Prayer of the Day...

One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples." He said to them, "When you pray, say:

"'Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation. '"

Luke 11:1-4 [Bible - New International Version]

Living a Prophetic Life

Have you ever had anyone challenge your thinking about the way you live out your faith? 

Recently, I heard a speaker who did just that...  and his challenge to each of us was that we might live and preach in such a way, that people would know that our God was real...  That our words and our actions would cause them to be shaken to the very foundations of their lives with God's "fire", so that they would "fall on their faces" and worship God...  not just think that we were wonderful Christ-followers... or great preachers... or great Sunday school teachers or youth workers...

As I have been thinking about this challenge, it came to me that in order to answer this challenge, one had to live a "prophetic life".  Don't misunderstand - I am not saying that one has to become a prophet...  becoming a prophet is not a "career choice" that one can study for, and then go seek a job.  In studying Old Testament prophets, it is clear that they became prophets at God's choosing.  They weren't looking to be prophets or proclaiming themselves as prophets...  God chose them... God called them... God made them prophets...  and they served at God's will, prophesying only when given a specific message from God.

But yet, thinking of this challenge brought the conclusion that Christ-followers needed to live "prophetic lives"...   So what does that mean?  Although I think I may live the rest of my life figuring that out, here is what I think now:

A prophetic life is a "called" life...

A prophetic life is a life that has "a knowledge of God"...

A prophetic life is one that is in communion with God...

A prophetic life is a surrendered life...

A prophetic life is one that brings God's message of hope and love to the world...

A prophetic life is one lived as a part of the community of believers...

If you have answered Jesus' call to follow him, and have surrendered your life to follow God's will... if you are continuing to learn about God as you live in communion with Him and in community with fellow believers... and if you are willing to share the message of hope and love that comes from God with a world that is desperate and hurting...  then you might be on the journey to live a prophetic life.

Jesus told his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.  Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."  [Matthew 9:37-38  New International Version of the Bible]  

Pray that more will answer God's call to live prophetic lives!

Why are they called "bills"? Why not "bobs" or "teds"?

"We would be delighted if you would pay your electric bill.  You will be de-lighted if you don't."

I read that one time on a page of puns and jokes.  I was thinking about it today because I have to pay my electric bill, or risk being "de-lighted."  Fortunately, I am able to pay it...  I have the funds available.  But there are many who do not, and so have their electricity cut off.

If you are one of the more fortunate people who complain about their electric bill, but yet have the funds to pay it [like yours truly], say a prayer for the millions of those who either cannot afford their electricity, or perhaps do not even have electricity to begin with.

Prayer of the Day

Great Spirit,

Grant that I may not criticize my neighbor until I have walked a mile in his moccasins.

anonymous

American Indian

Prayer of the Day

Morning has risen.  O God, take away from our heads the sleepiness of the night, and from our limbs the sleepiness of the night.  During this day protect us from every kind of ill and misfortune that we may return safely home at night.

A woman's morning prayer

Pygmies, Zaire, Africa

This prayer was taken from:  

Van de Weyer, Robert.  African Prayers:Praise, Thanksgiving, Hope and Trust.  Nashville, TN: Dimensions for Living, 2002.

Prayer of the Day

"from ghoulies and ghosties and long-leggety beasties and things that go bump in the night, good Lord, deliver us."

anonymous

scottish prayer c. 1800