Christian Reflection and Prayer

(from God's Daley Promise)

Scripture:

Make them pure and holy by teaching
them your words of truth.
John 17:17 NLT

Reflection:

Truth is unchanging

"Hey, Mom, guess what we learned
in school today?" Victor took off his
raincoat and dropped it on the floor
inside the back door.

"Did you know that people used to
think the world was flat?" Victor said.

"Did they?" Mom said, dropping her
mouth in an expression of shock.
"If it's not flat, what shape is it?"

"It's round," Victor said. "You know
that."

"You're right," Mom admitted. They
sat down in a chair next to a freestanding
globe in the corner of the front room. "But
all those years people  thought the world
was flat, was it flat or was it round?"

Victor thought for a moment before
answering firmly, "Round."

Mom nodded, "That's right, Victor. You
see what people thought didn't change
what was true, did it? Let me ask you one
more question, Victor. Some people say
the Word of God isn't true. What do you
think about that?"

Victor pondered his mom's question for
a long minute before answering. "What
they  think doesn't matter, does it,
Mommy?" Victor answered.
"You're right, Victor," Mom said.
"BECAUSE TRUTH DOESN'T CHANGE"

Adapted from The One Year® Book of
Josh MacDowell's Family Devotions by
Bob Hostetler, Tyndale House Publishers
(1997), p 122.

Scripture:

29 People will come from east and west
and north and south, and will take their
places at the feast in the kingdom of God.
Luke 13:29 (Today's New International Version)

Reflection:

Now wait a minute, this can't be right.

You all take a break for a minute, I'll be right
back, I've got to check my Bible about this
verse because this Just Can't Be Right!

   Well I'm back and sure enough I copied
this verse correctly.  I guess I might be
taking my place in heaven next to a Muslim.
Now wouldn't that be the ultimate joke on me.
I might be in heaven with a Muslim.  And here
all this time I was told to hate them because
they hate me and want to see me dead. If this
is not the case, "What am I going to do?"

Well this is what I have decided to do about
Muslims.

I am going to educate myself about Muslims
and their faith.  That won't be hard I have the
Internet.

I'm going to "respect" and "engage" my Muslim
neighbors.

I'm going to seek to have a relationship with
Muslims and talk with them about their faith.

I'm going to be honest with my Muslim
neighbors and learn to trust them.

My ultimate goal is to share my life and faith
with my Muslim brothers and sisters as they
share with me. The outcome, of all this, is
to love one another.  I can't do this if I hate
and fear them.  WOULD JESUS WANT
ANYTHING LESS?

I THINK NOT!

Quote:

"I still believe that people are really good at
heart. I simply can't build up my hopes on a
foundation consisting of confusion, misery
and death....If I look up to the heavens, I
think it will all come right, that this cruelty
too will end, and that peace and tranquility
will return again."
Anne Frank Diarist, Holocaust Victim
(1929-1945)

Prayer:

Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace.
Where there is hatred . . . let me sow love
Where there is injury . . . pardon
Where there is doubt . . . faith
Where there is despair . . . hope
Where there is darkness . . . light
Where there is sadness . . . joy
O, Divine Master,
Grant that I may not so much seek
To be consoled . . . as to console
To be understood . . . as to understand,
To be loved . . . as to love
For it is in giving . . . that we receive,
It is in pardoning, that we are pardoned,
It is in dying . . . that we are born to eternal life.
Saint Francis of Assisi

Scripture:

14 But as for you, continue in what
you have learned and have become
convinced of, because you know those
from whom you learned it, 15 and how
from infancy you have known the Holy
Scriptures, which are able to make you
wise for salvation through faith in Christ
Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed
and is useful for teaching, rebuking,
correcting and training in righteousness,
17 so that the servant of God[a] may be
thoroughly equipped for every good work.
(2 Timothy 3:14-17)

Reflection:

It is the 400th birthday of the King James
translation of the Holy Scriptures.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!  AND THANK YOU!

My favorite verses in the Bible have very
special meaning through the King James
translation.

16. "For God so loved the world that He gave
his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in Him shall not parish but have
everlasting life. 17.  God send not His
Son to condemn the world but that the
world through Him might be saved"!
(John 3:16,17).

"It has been claimed that these
contemporaries- William Shakespear
and the Bibles forty-seven translators--
influenced the development of modern
English and its linguistic beauty and
form more than any other source."

"It is wise to follow the words of St.
Augustine, 'TAKE UP AND READ'.

AMEN