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 !

01 December 2019

First Sunday of Advent ++ ...come let us walk in the light of the Lord! ++ venez, et marchons à la lumière de l'Eternel! ++ laten wij wandelen inn het licht van de HERE...


Isaiah 2.1-5
Esaïe 2.1-5
Jesaja 2.1-5
…come let us walk in the light of the Lord!
…venez, et marchons à la lumière de l’Eternel !
…laten wij wandelen in het licht van de HERE…
(from Isaiah 2.5)
In these dark (and wet) days, our attention starts to turn to Christmas light on the horizon.
Isaiah 1 and 2 offer a vivid and abrupt transition from darkness to light. From the darkness of impending judgment in the context of a dire spiritual, political and national security situation (Isaiah 1), Isaiah 2 speaks about glorious hope. People will long for God to instruct them in the way of life. An era of bliss and peace would start:
He shall judge between the nations,
    and shall decide disputes for many peoples;
and they shall beat their swords into plowshares,
    and their spears into pruning hooks;
nation shall not lift up sword against nation,
    neither shall they learn war anymore.
(Isaiah 2.4)
Isaiah finishes this hope-filled section with the exhortation ‘come let us walk in the light of the Lord’ (v. 5).
These words of Isaiah find their fullest meaning in Jesus, who teaches us the way of peace and the way of life. Jesus is the way. He is the Prince of Peace. Jesus said, ‘whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life’ (John 8:12). 
Thomas A Kempis uses these words of Jesus to open the first meditation in his book The Imitation of Christ, written over five-hundred years ago. Thomas encourages us to pattern our whole life on that of Christ. In this season where so much in the world screams ‘instant gratification!!’, Thomas says:
It is vanity to wish for long life
and to care little about a well-spent life.
It is vanity to be concerned with the present only
and not to make provision for things to come.
It is vanity to love what passes quickly
and not to look ahead where eternal joy abides.
As we long for lives that truly satisfy, ‘…come let us walk in the light of the Lord’. Come let us follow Jesus ……so we will never walk in darkness.

Paul Vrolijk

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