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 !

12 March 2014

Wednesday 12th March

John 5.30–end

Believe! to hear his Word 

To hear the Father's voice, to "see His form" and for His word to abide in us, we must 'believe the one whom he has sent', verse 38 tells us.

Very well - we Christians believe, do we not? Fundamentally, mostly, sometimes, occasionally? Do we always deem Him to be true? (v31) In this passage, Jesus describes two obstacles to belief.

First, 'How can you believe when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God' (v44). Do we care for God's good opinion of us? Do we have the desire to be first in the Kingdom of God, to be exalted as His 'good and faithful servant' - not for competition over others, but in restless striving for His glory? If we seek this rather than the glory of one another, we might believe.
Second, are we reading and regarding the scriptures? 'Scriptures bear witness about me... if you do not believe his [Moses'] writings, how will you believe my words?' (v47). Are we seeking to comprehend God's plan, for Jesus, from within the Old Testament, also? If we believe Moses, we might better believe Jesus. Yet in this pursuit of knowledge and understanding, are we also coming directly to Him with our hearts, needy for life, like children? (re-read v39-40).

We all struggle with belief, and not always by the uprooting action of doubt, but sometimes the constriction of thorns - the worries of the world (Matthew 13). If we can learn to long for his Glory, to not 'refuse to come to him' and to seek greater understanding of the prophetic scriptures, we WILL better 'believe the one whom he has sent', and so: hear his voice, see his form and have his word abide in us. (v37-38)  

Jonathan de Leyser

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