Thought for Thursday February 1

Lord, you are exalted over all.
“Yours, O LORD, are grandeur and power,
majesty, splendor, and glory.”
Lord, you are exalted over all.

Mark 6: 7 – 13  He instructed them to take nothing for the journey but a walking stick –no food, no sack, no money in their belts.

What things do I rely on for the journey Jesus has asked me to take?  Is there anything I drag with me (possession, habit, attitude) that just gets in the way?

Action:  Try letting go of something you are sure you need.

Thought for Wednesday January 31

Lord, forgive the wrong I have done.
You are my shelter; from distress you will preserve me;
with glad cries of freedom you will ring me round.
Lord, forgive the wrong I have done.

Mark 6: 1 – 6  Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary, and the brother of James and Joseph and Judas and Simon?

How do the people who knew me growing up describe [treat] me?  Do I find that comforting or annoying?

Action:  Learn something new about someone you have known forever.

Thought for Tuesday January 30

Listen, Lord, and answer me.
For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
abounding in kindness to all who call upon you.
Hearken, O LORD, to my prayer
and attend to the sound of my pleading.
Listen, Lord, and answer me.

Mark 5: 21 – 43  But his disciples said to him, "You see how the crowd is pressing upon you, and yet you ask, Who touched me?"

In the crowd of people that has surrounded me throughout my life, who has touched me?  How have I touched others?

Action:  Make it your goal to help (touch) as many people as have helped you, but don’t overburden yourself with a schedule.

 

Thought for Monday January 29

Lord, rise up and save me.
When I lie down in sleep,
I wake again, for the LORD sustains me.
I fear not the myriads of people
arrayed against me on every side.
Lord, rise up and save me.

 

 

Mark 5: 1 – 20  “What have you to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God?

 

What does Jesus have to do with me?  Is there a part of me that just wishes he would leave me alone?

 

Action:  Let Jesus into a corner of your life that you usually try to hide from him.

Thought for Friday January 26

Proclaim God’s marvelous deeds to all the nations.
Announce his salvation, day after day.
Tell his glory among the nations;
among all peoples, his wondrous deeds.
Proclaim God’s marvelous deeds to all the nations.

 

2 Timothy 1: 1 -8  Paul, an Apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God for the promise of life in Christ Jesus, to Timothy, my dear child: grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

I am grateful to God, whom I worship with a clear conscience as my ancestors did, as I remember you constantly in my prayers, night and day. I yearn to see you again, recalling your tears, so that I may be filled with joy,  as I recall your sincere faith that first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and that I am confident lives also in you.

To whom could I write such a letter?  Can I imagine anyone ever writing to me like this?

Action:  Write the letter, on paper, and put it in the mail.

Thought for Thursday January 25

Go out to all the world and tell the Good News.
Praise the Lord, all you nations;
glorify him, all you peoples!
Go out to all the world, and tell the Good News.

 

 

Mark 16: 15 – 18  These signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will drive out demons, they will speak new languages. They will pick up serpents with their hands, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not harm them.  They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.

 

Have I ever done any of these things?  Have I ever tried?

 

Action:  Make a specific effort to do one of these things: find a way to communicate with someone who seems isolated, be brave enough to deal with some evil head-on, help heal someone who is hurting – no snake-handling or poison-drinking.

 

Thought for Wednesday January 24

You are a priest forever, in the line of Melchizedek.
“Yours is princely power in the day of your birth, in holy splendor;
before the daystar, like the dew, I have begotten you.”
You are a priest forever, in the line of Melchizedek.

Mark 4: 1 – 20  A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and the birds came and ate it up.

What in my life “eats” the word of God before it can even begin to take root?  What can I do about it?

Action:  Identify something in your life that steals your attention from God and work to get more control over it.  For example: turn off your computer, cell phone, or ipad; put away your romance, spy, western or mystery novel for a little while every day; and of course quit binge watching Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones and Downton Abbey all of the time.  Whatever you do though, do not neglect the poor doggy who wants his belly rubbed.

 

Thought for Tuesday January 23

Here am I Lord; I come to do your will.
Your justice I kept not hid within my heart;
your faithfulness and your salvation I have spoken of;
I have made no secret of your kindness and your truth
in the vast assembly.

Here am I Lord; I come to do your will.

Mark 3: 31 – 35  A crowd seated around him told him, “Your mother and your brothers and your sisters are outside asking for you.”  But he said to them in reply, “Who are my mother and my brothers?”

What do I think Mary would have said in response to this?  Does my relationship with my family help me to be a more faithful, loving and spiritual person?

Action:  Write, call, text, email or visit someone in your family today.

Thought for Monday January 22

My faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him.
“My faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him,
and through my name shall his horn be exalted.
I will set his hand upon the sea,
his right hand upon the rivers.”
My faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him.

 

Mark 3: 22 – 30  If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.

 

What are the effects of division in society?  Am I encouraging division?

 

Action:  Join in with a project you believe transcends divisions to focus on solutions.

Thought for Wednesday January 17

Blessed be the Lord, my Rock!
My refuge and my fortress,
my stronghold, my deliverer,
My shield, in whom I trust,
who subdues my people under me.
Blessed be the Lord, my Rock!

1 Samuel 17: 32 – 51  David spoke to Saul: "Let your majesty not lose courage. I am at your service to go and fight this Philistine."  But Saul answered David, "You cannot go up against this Philistine and fight with him, for you are only a youth, while he has been a warrior from his youth."

Am I willing to fight for my king?  Do people ever underestimate me?

Action:  Go slay a giant of a problem.

Thought for Tuesday January 16

I  have found David, my servant.
Once you spoke in a vision,
and to your faithful ones you said:
“On a champion I have placed a crown;
over the people I have set a youth.”
I  have found David, my servant.

 

Mark 2:23 – 28  At this the Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the sabbath?”

What do I deem to be unlawful on the sabbath that is OK at other times? What is the “spirit” of my sabbath?

Action:  As you go through your week, make an effort to plan your time so your sabbath day isn’t just an extra day to “catch up” or finish whatever you are doing the rest of the week. 

Thought for Monday January 15

To the upright I will show the saving power of God.
“Why do you recite my statutes,
and profess my covenant with your mouth,
Though you hate discipline
and cast my words behind you?”
To the upright I will show the saving power of God.

 

 

Mark 2: 18 – 22  People came to Jesus and objected, “Why do the disciples of John and the disciples of the Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?”

 

Do the people who are complaining fast?  Do I pay more attention to what other people do or to what I am doing?

 

 

Action:  Fast when no one else is.

 

Thought for Friday January 12

Forever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.
Blessed the people who know the joyful shout;
in the light of your countenance, O LORD, they walk.
At your name they rejoice all the day,
and through your justice they are exalted.
Forever I will sing the goodness of the Lord.

Mark 2: 1 -12  Unable to get near Jesus because of the crowd, they opened up the roof above him.

Do the “crowds” ever block me from getting to Jesus?  Do crowds ever bring me to Jesus?

Action:  Before you get caught up in a crowd, make sure they are taking you toward something good.

Thought for Thursday January 11

Redeem us, Lord, because of your mercy.
Yet now you have cast us off and put us in disgrace,
and you go not forth with our armies.
You have let us be driven back by our foes;
those who hated us plundered us at will.
Redeem us, Lord, because of your mercy.

 

Mark 1: 40 – 45  A leper came to him and kneeling down begged him and said, “If you wish, you can make me clean.” Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand, touched the leper, and said to him,  “I do will it. Be made clean.”

 

Would Jesus have healed this man even if he didn’t pity him?  Am I more inclined to help someone for whom I feel pity?

 

Action:  Do something for someone for whom you feel no pity.

Thought for Wednesday January 10

Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.
I have waited, waited for the LORD,
and he stooped toward me and heard my cry.
Blessed the man who makes the LORD his trust;
who turns not to idolatry
or to those who stray after falsehood.
Here am I, Lord; I come to do your will.

1 Samuel 3: 1 – 10, 19 - 20    The LORD called to Samuel, who answered, "Here I am." Samuel ran to Eli and said, "Here I am. You called me." "I did not call you," Eli said. "Go back to sleep."  So he went back to sleep.

When I hear myself being called, what do I experience - apprehension, excitement, dread, joy, etc.?  How do I think Samuel felt when he thought he was being called and Eli told him he was not?

Action:  Get plenty of rest so you are ready to respond when you are called.

Thought for Tuesday January 9

My heart exults in the Lord, my Savior.
“My heart exults in the LORD,
my horn is exalted in my God.
I have swallowed up my enemies;
 I rejoice in my victory.”
My heart exults in the Lord, my Savior.

Mark 1:21 – 28  All were amazed and asked one another, “What is this? A new teaching with authority. He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him.”

Do I expect those in authority to have more power over their sins than I have over mine?  Am I ready to accept Jesus’ authority over my sins – not just his advice, or teaching, or assistance?

Action:  Exercise your own authority over your own sins and failings.

Though for Monday January 8

You will draw water joyfully from the springs of salvation.
Give thanks to the LORD, acclaim his name;
among the nations make known his deeds,
proclaim how exalted is his name.
 You will draw water joyfully from the springs of salvation.

 

Isaiah 55: 1 – 11  Thus says the LORD:  All you who are thirsty, come to the water!

Have I ever really experienced the fear of not having water?  Have I ever experienced the fear of not having a loving God?

Action:  Find a way to help people who do not have a good source of clean water to drink or even to bathe.

 

 

 

Thought for Thursday January 4

All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.
Let the sea and what fills it resound,
the world and those who dwell in it;
Let the rivers clap their hands,
the mountains shout with them for joy before the LORD.
All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.

 

John 1: 35 – 42 Jesus turned and saw them following him and said to them, “What are you looking for?”

Am I looking for anything?  Is there something I really don’t want to find?

Action:  Stop looking for the things that don’t matter and start looking for the ones that do.

Thought for Wednesday January 3

All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.
All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation by our God.
Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands;
break into song; sing praise.
All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.

John 1: 19 – 28  When the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to him to ask him, “Who are you?”

What is my most honest answer for “Who are you?”?  Who do I really want to be?

Action:  If there is a difference between who you are and who you want to be, make a change in your life to close the gap.

Thought for Tuesday January 2

All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.

All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation by our God.

Sing joyfully to the LORD, all you lands; break into song; sing praise.

All the ends of the earth have seen the saving power of God.

1 John 2: 22  - 28  Let what you heard from the beginning remain in you.  If what you heard from the beginning remains in you, then you will remain in the Son and in the Father.  And this is the promise that he made us: eternal life.

What remains in me when I am at my lowest?  Does the promise of eternal life sustain me?

Action:  Let God’s word remain in you – think about it, ponder it, pray about t, share it and live it.

Thought for Friday December 29

Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice!
Sing to the LORD a new song;
sing to the LORD, all you lands.
Sing to the LORD; bless his name.
Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice!

 

Luke 2: 22 – 35  Now there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon.   This man was righteous and devout, awaiting the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.

Do I know anyone like this?  Would anyone ever describe me this way?

Action:  Work on being righteous (not self-righteous) and devout.

Thought for Thursday December 28

Our soul has been rescued like a bird from the fowler’s snare.
Broken was the snare,
and we were freed.
Our help is in the name of the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.
Our soul has been rescued like a bird from the fowler’s snare.

 

Matthew 2: 13 – 18  The angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you.  Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him.”

Is “run away and hide” the advice I would expect from the God who sent plagues to Egypt, wiped out the Amalekites, and destroyed Jericho?  Does the birth of Jesus seem to usher in a new era in God’s dealings with his people?

Action: Make a point of doing something nice for the “innocent” people around you.