Today’s text
Mark 1:4-11
John the Baptist was in the desert, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. All Judaea and all the people of Jerusalem made their way to him, and as they were baptized by him in the river Jordan they confessed their sins. John wore a garment of camel-skin, and he lived on locusts and wild honey. In the course of his preaching he said, 'After me is coming someone who is more powerful than me, and I am not fit to kneel down and undo the strap of his sandals. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.' It was at this time that Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John. And at once, as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit, like a dove, descending on him. And a voice came from heaven, 'You are my Son, the Beloved; my favor rests on you.'
Reflection
‘You are mine,’ truly a voice from heaven, revealing our secret need, and Jesus great knowledge.
I know the words are not first spoken to me, Loving Mystery. You speak them to Jesus, and from this moment his life flows like a stream. Not everything he does works, not everyone accepts or even understands him, and the powerful will destroy him.
But he goes his way with that knowledge that enlarges the soul and makes it great: He is treasured, wanted, assured that he belongs to you, who are Love mysterious and unfailing. Nothing that happens later can change this, no disappointment, no suffering, no failure, nothing.
This assurance is the source of his soul, the fountain of grace at the core of Jesus life, flowing outward to all, to me.
I am carried in a river called beloved, through the land of grace, beneath skies that resonate with the voice that assures, ‘You are mine.’
A voice from heaven. May I hear you today. Everyday.
Pr. David L. Miller
http://prayingthemystery.blogspot.com/
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Friday, January 09, 2009
Thursday, January 08, 2009
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Today’s text
Mark 1:4-11
John the Baptist was in the desert, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. All Judaea and all the people of Jerusalem made their way to him, and as they were baptized by him in the river Jordan they confessed their sins. John wore a garment of camel-skin, and he lived on locusts and wild honey. In the course of his preaching he said, 'After me is coming someone who is more powerful than me, and I am not fit to kneel down and undo the strap of his sandals. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.' It was at this time that Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John. And at once, as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit, like a dove, descending on him. And a voice came from heaven, 'You are my Son, the Beloved; my favor rests on you.'
Reflection
Stay with me, Jesus. Stay with me. I want to stand beside you in the water.
The water is muddy, murky and clouded with the mire of human imperfection--including my own. The water is no mere river but existence, life itself, and it doesn’t run clear and clean.
I need to stand there with you and feel your smile as you know that you are beloved. I need the favor that rests on you to shine also on me. I need to know your arm around me, welcoming me into your belovedness, even as the waters swirl.
I need to be lifted above the rejections and judgments that come my way, which I apparently accept. My sadness attests their power in my heart. My mind is a hall of voices, echoing accusations and denials present and long past, reminding me, as if I needed it, how odd and unacceptable I often am, even to myself.
The voices steal my identity from me and with it my joy, my vitality, my name.
Only now am I willing and able to fight to take it back.
Looking at you in water, smiling, something sparks in me. Certainly, I feel my need for your welcoming arm around me. But I also know the truth that every voice I carry within is a liar.
Only one voice tells the truth of my life, your voice. And you speak to me from the heart of your belovedness as we stand together in the waters. I feel your smile, a smile that is for me, even as you extend your arm and say, ‘Stand with me. Stand with me.’
And we stand side-by side, with the swirling waters around our ankles and the golden light of your belovedness enveloping us, filling our souls with the one truth that matters.
Pr. David L. Miller
Mark 1:4-11
John the Baptist was in the desert, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. All Judaea and all the people of Jerusalem made their way to him, and as they were baptized by him in the river Jordan they confessed their sins. John wore a garment of camel-skin, and he lived on locusts and wild honey. In the course of his preaching he said, 'After me is coming someone who is more powerful than me, and I am not fit to kneel down and undo the strap of his sandals. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.' It was at this time that Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John. And at once, as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit, like a dove, descending on him. And a voice came from heaven, 'You are my Son, the Beloved; my favor rests on you.'
Reflection
Stay with me, Jesus. Stay with me. I want to stand beside you in the water.
The water is muddy, murky and clouded with the mire of human imperfection--including my own. The water is no mere river but existence, life itself, and it doesn’t run clear and clean.
I need to stand there with you and feel your smile as you know that you are beloved. I need the favor that rests on you to shine also on me. I need to know your arm around me, welcoming me into your belovedness, even as the waters swirl.
I need to be lifted above the rejections and judgments that come my way, which I apparently accept. My sadness attests their power in my heart. My mind is a hall of voices, echoing accusations and denials present and long past, reminding me, as if I needed it, how odd and unacceptable I often am, even to myself.
The voices steal my identity from me and with it my joy, my vitality, my name.
Only now am I willing and able to fight to take it back.
Looking at you in water, smiling, something sparks in me. Certainly, I feel my need for your welcoming arm around me. But I also know the truth that every voice I carry within is a liar.
Only one voice tells the truth of my life, your voice. And you speak to me from the heart of your belovedness as we stand together in the waters. I feel your smile, a smile that is for me, even as you extend your arm and say, ‘Stand with me. Stand with me.’
And we stand side-by side, with the swirling waters around our ankles and the golden light of your belovedness enveloping us, filling our souls with the one truth that matters.
Pr. David L. Miller
Monday, January 05, 2009
Monday, January 5, 2009
Today’s text
Mark 1:4-11
John the Baptist was in the desert, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. All Judaea and all the people of Jerusalem made their way to him, and as they were baptized by him in the river Jordan they confessed their sins. John wore a garment of camel-skin, and he lived on locusts and wild honey. In the course of his preaching he said, 'After me is coming someone who is more powerful than me, and I am not fit to kneel down and undo the strap of his sandals. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.' It was at this time that Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John. And at once, as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit, like a dove, descending on him. And a voice came from heaven, 'You are my Son, the Beloved; my favor rests on you.'
Reflection
Someone is coming.
And John is waiting, waiting for his heart’s desire, waiting for the fulfillment of his joy, waiting for completion of a promise that he may have begun to wonder about. Will it happen?
I would have wondered. Doubts on days when nothing much was happening weigh my soul with the gravity of grayness. Life goes on but without the splendor of hope or the electricity of expectation.
But not today … or yesterday. Today, my body bears a fire. Burning steadily at my core, it sparks to flame at the words, ‘after me is coming someone who is more powerful,’ someone who baptizes with fire.
Is this the fire I feel, Jesus, your holy flame, the breath of your life?
I have done nothing to fan its burning beyond reading these words, suddenly to find this joy and knowledge, yes knowledge, that you come and will again to me.
This fire is beyond faith, for it gives already the experience of your presence. It fulfills in some fashion your promise to come--and to come to me. Promise has become presence, expectation has become possession, and hope has become reality.
Yes, there is more of you of you to know and receive. But the fire of your life burns with warm assurance and natural joy. For you come and always will.
So come Lord Jesus. Light each day the fire of expectation in my heart. Satisfy the soul's fondest desire.
Pr. David L. Miller
Mark 1:4-11
John the Baptist was in the desert, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. All Judaea and all the people of Jerusalem made their way to him, and as they were baptized by him in the river Jordan they confessed their sins. John wore a garment of camel-skin, and he lived on locusts and wild honey. In the course of his preaching he said, 'After me is coming someone who is more powerful than me, and I am not fit to kneel down and undo the strap of his sandals. I have baptized you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit.' It was at this time that Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John. And at once, as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit, like a dove, descending on him. And a voice came from heaven, 'You are my Son, the Beloved; my favor rests on you.'
Reflection
Someone is coming.
And John is waiting, waiting for his heart’s desire, waiting for the fulfillment of his joy, waiting for completion of a promise that he may have begun to wonder about. Will it happen?
I would have wondered. Doubts on days when nothing much was happening weigh my soul with the gravity of grayness. Life goes on but without the splendor of hope or the electricity of expectation.
But not today … or yesterday. Today, my body bears a fire. Burning steadily at my core, it sparks to flame at the words, ‘after me is coming someone who is more powerful,’ someone who baptizes with fire.
Is this the fire I feel, Jesus, your holy flame, the breath of your life?
I have done nothing to fan its burning beyond reading these words, suddenly to find this joy and knowledge, yes knowledge, that you come and will again to me.
This fire is beyond faith, for it gives already the experience of your presence. It fulfills in some fashion your promise to come--and to come to me. Promise has become presence, expectation has become possession, and hope has become reality.
Yes, there is more of you of you to know and receive. But the fire of your life burns with warm assurance and natural joy. For you come and always will.
So come Lord Jesus. Light each day the fire of expectation in my heart. Satisfy the soul's fondest desire.
Pr. David L. Miller
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