UNUSUAL KINDNESS - UNITY OCTAVE DAY 4

Tuesday - January 21, 2020

CALL: TRUST, DO NOT BE AFRAID, BELIEVE

The WORD says...

Acts 27: 22, 34

“For last night there stood by me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before the emperor; and indeed, God has granted safety to all those who are sailing with you.’ So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told. But we will have to run aground on some island.”

Let us PRAY...

Almighty God, 

our personal suffering leads us to cry out in pain 

and we shrink in fear when we experience sickness, anxiety or the death of loved ones. 

Teach us to trust You. 

May the churches we belong to be signs of Your providential care. 

Make us true disciples of Your Son who taught us to listen to Your word 

and to serve one another. 

In confidence we ask this in the name of Your Son, 

and in the power of the Holy Spirit. 

Amen.

Let us REFLECT...

·      What are the images of God that sustain you through times of questioning?

·      Where are the places and who are the people who give you hope for the future?

What to DO...

Global: 
Be inspired by those who show much resilience in the face of the storm..

Local: 
Set up a local group from your churches and community 

who commit to a deeper listening to one another  

Personal: 
Spend time with the people or in the place that give you most hope.

[courtesy: www.ctbi.org.uk/weekofprayer]

The Blue-eyed of God

WORD 2day: Tuesday, 2nd week in Ordinary time

January 21, 2020: 1 Samuel 16:1-13; Mark 2: 23-28

David is chosen over and above the rest of his brothers... all of them stronger and fitter. David proved so worthy of the choice. He loved God so much that God saw in him someone lovable. David could do anything because he knew he had won the special favour of God. 

Not that David was without fault; he was a very weak human being, very impetuous, and given into his sentiments. But that really did not matter in contrast to the strong and clear identity that he had: the chosen one of God! That identity determined the way he thought, spoke and acted in the role that God had given him. 

Jesus, in the Gospel, seems to refer to that fact, the fact that David was the blue-eyed boy of God. He could do things that no one else would dare do! He could throw some rules in the air and get going, because he knew God was with him and that he whole heartedly loved God. 

The message from Jesus today is that we too can grow to be blue-eyed children of God,  if we love God with all our heart, trust God with all our soul and surrender to God all our life.