“The eternal plans of God are in motion in a more powerful way than at any time in the history of the created world. This is bigger than Noah’s flood or the Israelite exodus or King David’s conquests. It’s bigger than COVID-19. This is the defining moment of history. All is about to be revealed. You need to hold on to the truth that while God’s victory may come through unexpected means at surprising times, it will come.”
Really? Why does one ‘victory’ mean it will be repeatable?
“Praise God for the victory that is not apparent yet. Pray for those who feel disappointed and defeated at this challenging time ? that God will protect them and open their eyes to his love, power and goodness.”
Certainly, can’t argue with that. But I wish He would open my eyes so I could be more certain.
“The fact that Jesus felt so deeply about his friends might surprise you. He was God and therefore you might see him as above all the emotions that grab our human hearts. But not so. He loved his friends (both men and women). He enjoyed spending time with them. He wanted to be surrounded by them. A special Passover meal together with them was his priority at this painful time. This was a meal that would normally be shared with natural family. But these guys were Jesus’ family.”
This does make me happy. To know that Jesus is the sort of character who wants to be with His peeps. The spirit of isolation within our community, even with my family due to this terrible time, while terrible could be the turning point for many of us. We might finally be able to balance the longing for community which we all have and develop a greater sense of the importance of the ‘other’
“One of the costs of social isolation is our inability to participate with Christians over 2000 years in celebrating the Lord’s Supper together in a church service. However, this does not mean that we are stopped from remembering the sacrifice of Jesus this way. Maybe we can do it alone. Maybe we can do it with our family. Maybe we can do it with a friend. The celebration of the Lord’s Supper remains central to our worship of Christ”.
I do agree with this. However, ‘our inability to participate with Christians in celebrating the Lord’s supper together in a church service’. Is not really true is it? We can do that whenever we want, through technology available to us. Wasn’t it the old show six million dollar man ‘we have the technology, we can rebuild’. The wonder of communion could actually be easier for people to discover because of this ‘social distancing’ and discovering of technology. The wonder of the Last Supper could turn into a wonder which helps people come to know God for the first time.
A particularly good message today. It does go someway in answering the question I raised in day 1. It is an encouragement to not seek the way that is self seeking or at least the easiest or safest option. The path for us does involve serving others… actually it more than ‘does involve’ but ‘MUST involve’. We can’t sit back and allow ourselves to become even more isolated than we already are from society.
God, please let your peace… no regardless of the level of peace I have. May you make me like Jesus, able to bring peace even when the circumstances around me are dark. Please forgive me when I have shied away from trouble when you have called me into it. Forgive me, when I have lashed out at others when I should have done the opposite. Thank you God that my troubles have not been any more worse than they have. Help us all at LIVE to be like you. Help us to overcome the isolation and to overcome the ignorance when it comes to you and your instrument of change for the world, the church. Help us be a better church for you. Please
6 Responses
Day 1 comments
“The eternal plans of God are in motion in a more powerful way than at any time in the history of the created world. This is bigger than Noah’s flood or the Israelite exodus or King David’s conquests. It’s bigger than COVID-19. This is the defining moment of history. All is about to be revealed. You need to hold on to the truth that while God’s victory may come through unexpected means at surprising times, it will come.”
Really? Why does one ‘victory’ mean it will be repeatable?
“Praise God for the victory that is not apparent yet. Pray for those who feel disappointed and defeated at this challenging time ? that God will protect them and open their eyes to his love, power and goodness.”
Certainly, can’t argue with that. But I wish He would open my eyes so I could be more certain.
Day 2 reflections
“The fact that Jesus felt so deeply about his friends might surprise you. He was God and therefore you might see him as above all the emotions that grab our human hearts. But not so. He loved his friends (both men and women). He enjoyed spending time with them. He wanted to be surrounded by them. A special Passover meal together with them was his priority at this painful time. This was a meal that would normally be shared with natural family. But these guys were Jesus’ family.”
This does make me happy. To know that Jesus is the sort of character who wants to be with His peeps. The spirit of isolation within our community, even with my family due to this terrible time, while terrible could be the turning point for many of us. We might finally be able to balance the longing for community which we all have and develop a greater sense of the importance of the ‘other’
Day 3 thoughts
“One of the costs of social isolation is our inability to participate with Christians over 2000 years in celebrating the Lord’s Supper together in a church service. However, this does not mean that we are stopped from remembering the sacrifice of Jesus this way. Maybe we can do it alone. Maybe we can do it with our family. Maybe we can do it with a friend. The celebration of the Lord’s Supper remains central to our worship of Christ”.
I do agree with this. However, ‘our inability to participate with Christians in celebrating the Lord’s supper together in a church service’. Is not really true is it? We can do that whenever we want, through technology available to us. Wasn’t it the old show six million dollar man ‘we have the technology, we can rebuild’. The wonder of communion could actually be easier for people to discover because of this ‘social distancing’ and discovering of technology. The wonder of the Last Supper could turn into a wonder which helps people come to know God for the first time.
Day 4
A particularly good message today. It does go someway in answering the question I raised in day 1. It is an encouragement to not seek the way that is self seeking or at least the easiest or safest option. The path for us does involve serving others… actually it more than ‘does involve’ but ‘MUST involve’. We can’t sit back and allow ourselves to become even more isolated than we already are from society.
Day 5
The lesson is a simple one – pray and pray and pray. Without praying you may not have the stamina to make a difference for the good
Day 6 Prayer
God, please let your peace… no regardless of the level of peace I have. May you make me like Jesus, able to bring peace even when the circumstances around me are dark. Please forgive me when I have shied away from trouble when you have called me into it. Forgive me, when I have lashed out at others when I should have done the opposite. Thank you God that my troubles have not been any more worse than they have. Help us all at LIVE to be like you. Help us to overcome the isolation and to overcome the ignorance when it comes to you and your instrument of change for the world, the church. Help us be a better church for you. Please