Love of God and neighbour

My pension Every man is a piece of the continent, A part of the main. John Donne   Read Deuteronomy 24:19—22 It is one of life’s satisfactions, I find, to make my living. If I have been able to find a job, an occupation that provides income, a business, employment in someone’s office or factory,…

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Love of God and neighbour

Really finding the real person Even before a word is on my tongue, O Lord, you know it completely. Psalm 139:4   Read Philemon 10—16 Let me sift through the fellow believers I know. Some of them I talk with more than others. I know them well. Our thoughts run along similar lines. Even when…

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 Love of God and neighbour

The life I’m made for O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; For his steadfast love endures forever. Psalm 107:1     Read Mark 12:28—34 My life is pretty listless if I don’t know any driving passion or purpose, if I just drift from one day to the next for whatever comes…

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Love of God and neighbour

God’s righteousness and me Plead my cause and redeem me; Give me life according to your promise. Psalm 119:154   Read Romans 3:19—22 Whenever I have tried to prove myself — the whole business of trying to prove myself before God and the watching world — I have been degraded to the status of a…

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Love of God and neighbour

The generous life But when you give alms, Do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Matthew 6:3   Read 2 Samuel 9:6—11 If I were king, as David was, there would always be another interpretation of my behaviour. What I presented as generosity of heart, the honouring of an…

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Love of God and neighbour

The love story The alien who resides with you Shall be to you as the citizen among you. Leviticus 19:34   Read Luke 10:30—37 So Jesus draws me into the story. I can’t help making my own judgements. I’m looking at the beaten-up man. I’m moved. I’ve crossed a border now, and I’m letting a…

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The great healing

Come to Zion with singing Guide me, O thou Great Jehovah, Pilgrim through this barren land. William Williams   Read Isaiah 35:5—10 Before Israel went into the Promised Land they drooled over pictures of it. It was a land flowing with milk and honey. There they would grow fat.[1] In this passage I am again…

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The great healing

Beyond healing You are my help and my deliverer; O Lord, do not delay! Psalm 70:5   Read Matthew 8:14—17 Any healing of any individual is worth celebrating. I don’t have to find an argument for health and fitness and a body ready to serve God and love my neighbour. It proves itself. But this…

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The great healing

The troubler of Israel Trust in him at all times, O people; Pour out your heart before him; for God is a refuge for us. Psalm 62:8   Read Matthew 9:27—34 Illness, blindness, demon possession, loss of speech: all of them are a rupture in the flow of life. Intrusions. I know it even when…

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The great healing

All of a piece The Lord is good to all, He his compassion is over all that he has made. Psalm 145:9   Read Acts 9:31—42 Here I am tonight, looking over Peter’s shoulder, and I see those eyes open! Tabitha! By the power of God! She who was washed and laid out dead is…

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