Suggestion for Daily Use

Follow the ‘Daily Prayer’ at the side+++Suivez le ‘Prière Quotidienne’. Read the bible passages and then the meditation. Pray, tell God how you felt about the reading and share the concerns of your life with him. Maybe you will continue the habit after Lent. Lisez les passages bible et après la méditation. Priez, dites à Dieu que vous avez ressenti à propos de la lecture et de partager les préoccupations de votre vie avec lui. Peut-être que vous allez continuer l'habitude après le Carême. Daily Prayer Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. Luke 4.1-2 Now is the healing time decreed For sins of heart, of word or deed, When we in humble fear record The wrong that we have done the Lord. (Latin, before 12th century) Read: Read the Bible passage. Read the meditation Pray: Talk to God about what you have just read. Tell him your concerns - for yourself, your family, our church family, our world. Praise him. Pray the collect for the week – see next pages. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless his holy name. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits. Prière Quotidienne Jésus, rempli de l'Esprit Saint, revint du Jourdain et le Saint-Esprit le conduisit dans le désert où il fut tenté par le diable durant quarante jours. Luc 4.1-2 Maintenant le temps de la guérison est décrété Pour les péchés du cœur, de la parole et des actes, Lorsque nous nous souvenons avec humilité Le mal que nous avons fait au Seigneur. Lire : Lisez le passage de la Bible. Lisez la méditation. Prier : Parlez avec le Seigneur de ce que vous avez lu. Parlez-lui de vos préoccupations pour vous-même, votre famille, notre famille de l’église, notre monde. Louez-le. Priez la collecte pour la semaine. Voyez les pages suivantes Mon âme, bénis le Seigneur ! Que tout qui est en moi bénisse son saint nom. Mon âme, bénis le Seigneur, et n’oublie aucun de ses bienfaits !

11 December 2018

Tuesday December 11 ~~~A call to the mature





Isaiah is one of my favourite books. Its declamatory, energetic, earnest, and outreaching style is attractive in its aim to bring rebellious people back under God’s protective wing. What caught my eye in chapter 46 was the call to older people who had been carried by God throughout their lives to remain faithful. The chapter points out that older people are susceptible to the temptation of turning gold into a god. 

Our modern-day parallel would perhaps be the dangers of putting too much store by the accumulated savings and pension entitlements that some older people have access to.

The chapter warns that though the mature may “cry out to it (gold), it does not answer” - a misplaced trust in financial wherewithal that produces no fruit.

For sure, over-satisfaction with wealth can lead to a state of “stubborn heartedness” and a standing that is “far from righteousness” (v. 12).

God’s stark response is “I am God and there is no other; I am God and there is none like me” (v. 9). Only God himself has a license to be so arrogant!

 But at the same time, the chapter finishes with the makings of a solution: in his compassion, God makes the move towards sinful people, saying he is “bringing my righteousness near” - a foretaste of the later offer of salvation through Christ perhaps. Let’s be inspired throughout our lives, and especially as we get older, to remain clear-headed about where our true gold resides.


Le chapitre 46 d’Isaïe nous avertit du danger, tant qu’on devient plus âge, de se fier à l’or physique et pas à l’or spirituel, qui survient de Dieu.

Sue Bird


Attribution:
Death and the Miser, by Thomas Rowlandson, December 20, 1801,The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 1959, www.metmuseum.org.

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