Christian Reflection and Prayer

Recalling his past life, a man from
Washington, D.C. said, "I somehow
managed to become homeless for the
first time in my life"... "I was in this room
with about a hundred guys. You could
hear them coughing and turning as they
tried to get comfortable for the night. It
got a little quieter, and then, somewhere
from out of the darkness a voice said,
'Our Father who art in Heaven...' and the
entire dormitory joined in. At the end of
the prayer, another voice began, 'Now I
lay me down to sleep...' Even now, years
later, I get goosebumps thinking of it. That
minute, I realized that whoever we are, the
Lord is wherever we are. I could feel him in
the shelter, like never before. And he
replaced my fears with peace, and now I
see Him every day in my brothers and
sisters, wherever I go."

(from Sermons on Line)

Prayer:

Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be
thy name.Thy kingdom come, Thy will be
done in earth, as it is in heaven.Give us this
day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts,
as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not
into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For
thine is the kingdom, and the power, and
the glory, for ever. Amen.

Scripture:

"You are the Christ, the Son of the
Living God" (Matthew 16:16).

Reflection:

As a Christian, I find myself sometimes trying
to make Jesus Christ into my own preconception.
To one extent or another I often find myself
trying to mold and shape my Savior into my
own desire.  I want Christ on my terms not
His  I sometimes refuse to let Him come
into my life on His terms.

When I went to seminary I was fortunate
enough to have one of the leading
authorities on Dietrich Bonhoeffer, as
my mentor. 

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was executed by the
Nazis for refusing to submit to Hitler's
tyranny. One of his close friends has written
about an experience he had with Bonhoeffer
one Sunday as they walked home from
Church together. They were talking about
the service and the sermon and so on when,
suddenly, Bonhoeffer's friend told him that
there was something about him he found
very upsetting. "There are times when you
seem distant and cold," he said. "Sometimes
it is hard to get close to you. Sometimes
you seem unresponsive, and you make
people feel uncomfortable." Suddenly,
Bonhoeffer stopped the man short by
exclaiming, "Why can't you let somebody
be who he is?" We do this, even to Jesus.
Why can't we let Him be who He is?

JESUS, WHY CAN'T WE LET HIM BE
WHO HE IS.

Christ is there to enrich our lives, He is
there to fill the emptiness.  We need to
receive Him on His terms. 

ACCEPT CHRIST AS CHRIST AND
YOUR LIFE WILL OH SO CHANGE.

The minister was  preoccupied with
thoughts of how he was going to  ask
the congregation to come up with
more money  than they were expecting
for repairs to the church  building.
Therefore, he was annoyed to find that 
the regular organist was sick and a
substitute had  been brought in at the
last minute. The substitute  wanted to
know what to play. Here's a copy of 
the service," he said impatiently. "But,
you'll  have to think of something to play
after I make  the announcement about
the finances."During  the service, the
minister paused and said, "Brothers
and Sisters, we are in great difficulty;
the  roof repairs cost twice as much
as we expected and  we need $4,000
more. Any of you who can pledge $100
or more, please stand up."
At that moment, the substitute organist
played "The Star  Spangled Banner."
And that is how the substitute became
the regular  organist!