Don’t assume you have to be extraordinary to be used by God. You don’t have to have exceptional gifts, talents, abilities, or connections. God specializes in using ordinary people whose limitations and weaknesses make them ideal showcases for His greatness and glory. –Nancy Leigh DeMoss
All through the Bible God uses the most unlikely people. Most of them complained that they couldn’t do what was asked. God just doesn’t take “no” for an answer. He will use us in ways we never thought possible.
Loving God, you know our abilities and our weaknesses. Help us to answer yes when you call on us. AMEN
The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many”Matthew 20:28
It is so difficult to believe that someone would give his life for me. I don’t feel worthy of such a sacrifice. Think about it. You are standing on a street corner and a car comes up over the curb. The person next to you pushes you out of the way and is killed instead of you. Knowing this I would have to live my life differently.
That is why, knowing Christ’s sacrifice, I need to look carefully at how I am living my life.
Prayer: Jesus, thank you for sacrificing your life for me. I am unworthy of your love. Bring my life closer to your example. Amen
Men are not flattered by being shown that there has been a difference of purpose between the Almighty and them. Abraham Lincoln
We are good at going our own way. We plan without listening for God’s wisdom and then wonder what went wrong. Maybe we should listen first and act second. God may have a different plan.
Prayer: God of patience, you must grow tired of our strong-mindedness and willfulness. Help us to spend time with you in prayer and to be still and hear your voice. AMEN
It is so important that we do what we say we will. If we tell someone we will pray for them then we must do it. It seems that promise is made lightly today and not followed through. Be careful what you promise. God expects actions to fit.
Today I want to share another hymn that is special to me. The words speak to me when I sing it. Truly God is calling each of us to follow. He wants us abandon our selfish ways and follow him. He want us abandon the things that are holding us back. Come, he says, I am waiting.
This is a favorite version as it uses the Spanish (and English) and is played in that style. It doesn’t have all the verses but is beautiful.
Lyrics:
You have come down to the lakeshore
Seeking neither the wise nor the wealthy,
But only asking for me to follow.
Sweet Lord, you have looked into my eyes,
Kindly smiling, you’ve called out my name.
On the sand I’ve abandoned my small boat;
Now with you, I will seek other seas.
You know full well what I have, Lord;
Neither treasure nor weapons for conquest,
Just these my fishnets and will for working.
Sweet Lord, you have looked into my eyes,
Kindly smiling, you’ve called out my name.
On the sand I’ve abandoned my small boat;
Now with you, I will seek other seas.
You need my hands, my exhaustion,
Working love for the rest of the weary,
A love that’s willing to go on loving.
Sweet Lord, you have looked into my eyes,
Kindly smiling, you’ve called out my name.
On the sand I’ve abandoned my small boat;
Now with you, I will seek other seas.
You who have fished other waters;
You, the longing of souls that are yearning;
O loving Friend, you have come to call me.
Sweet Lord, you have looked into my eyes,
Kindly smiling, you’ve called out my name.
On the sand I’ve abandoned my small boat;
Now with you, I will seek other seas.
Sometimes I wonder if anyone has the ability to speak kindly. Dignity is a forgotten word. I can’t imagine Jesus being undignified. Angry yes, as he was with those selling at the temple. How close are we to being able to dig deep into our Christian life to withstand the frustrations that beset us. We must call on God to help us maintain the dignity expected of us as Christians.
I think this is the perfect time to center on a quote from Martin Luther King, Jr.
I am sure that Christ had no plan to be the most important person the world has ever known. His plan was to teach us about his father and how to live our lives. Each of us has a choice each day to live as Christ taught us. What is right is always the thing to do. We don’t know what the impact of that choice will be. It doesn’t matter.
We pray to God for many things. We pray for others, for health, about out daily lives. The list is too long to list. Sometimes our prayers are answered but it is not the answer we wanted. The answer can make us question how our beliefs. That can be scary. Don’t worry. Those answers will cause us to grow in the knowledge of God and his ways.
Isaiah has a clear picture of what we wait for during Advent. We wait for Jesus who can show us how to live. His life is our path. Follow it.
Isaiah 61: 1-3 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
1 The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the oppressed, to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and release to the prisoners; 2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; 3 to provide for those who mourn in Zion— to give them a garland instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the mantle of praise instead of a faint spirit.
