Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God. If you look up to the top of the mountain you will see the rock wall of the overlook. There are actually people up there but they are dwarfed by the size of the mountain. After Jesus has spent 40 days with his disciples after his resurrection, the scripture tells us that he blessed them while he was carried up into heaven. The disciples looked up.
We don’t really know if heaven is “up.” In our modern age we have seen the vastness of outer space. While we don’t know where heaven is, we do know in a spiritual sense that it is “up.” We serve a God greater than our knowledge of space. Our God is always higher than our circumstances and understanding. We can always look up to him. The Lord Jesus, who the disciples had followed on earth, was no longer going to be with them in a physical way. But they weren’t sad. They worshiped him and were filled with great joy for he had blessed them. Prayer O Great and Mighty God We bow before you in gratitude and look up to you. Help us to keep our focus on you and not on ourselves so that we can be filled with the joy you promised. Amen
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Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds. It was only a short distance to the mountain overlook so we wouldn't be walking against the wind for very long. When we got to the overlook we watched as the clouds blew in over the mountains and valleys. It felt like we could reach out and touch them. While we may have to climb a mountain to touch the clouds, we don’t have to do anything to see and feel God’s love. His love and faithfulness is as expansive and the sky and clouds. It reaches everyone from the highest mountains to the deepest valleys.
Prayer Loving Father, Thank you for your love and faithfulness that is so great it extends to the heavens, but also reaches down to fill our lives. Amen Oh sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things! What kind of flowers will these buds become? Right now I don’t really know since they are only buds. But based on the shape of the leaves and size of the plant, a flower expert could tell me what kind of flowers these will be. The flowers will be new blooms on an old plant.
Our songs of praise are like this, both old and new. We will sing new songs of praise to God, but those songs are based on the way he has cared for us in the past. Singing a new song isn’t easy. Even if it is a simple song you must learn words and melody. Singing a new song of praise to the Lord requires trusting him, for we know he has always been faithful in the past. Prayer Strong and Mighty Lord, Show us new ways to sing a song of praise for the marvelous things you have done in our lives. Amen Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your waves have gone over me. You can hear the roar of the waterfalls as soon as you open the car door at the pull off. Even though they are set off from the road you still hear them. Powerful waterfalls can fill us with a sense of awe but also danger. One wrong step, one slip on wet rocks, and we could be swept away.
When we come upon times of trouble in our lives we can feel like we are going to be swept away. Even though the writer of this psalm felt overcome by the waves he still knew that the waterfalls were God’s waterfalls. Instead of looking at the power of the waves he remembers the steadfast love of God and even in his darkest night he sings the song God gave him to sing. Prayer Creator of Waterfalls When we face difficult times and feel like we are being swept away, remind us to look to your steadfast love. For it was you who made the waterfalls and you who will bear us safely through them. Amen But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. They are so small that if you are not looking for them you won’t see them, these tiny little flowers called Toothwort (They do kind of look like little teeth.) These were right along the trail, and I know I have walked by them many times on my hikes in the park. But I wasn’t really hiking that day, I was walking slowly in the rain looking for wildflowers. To see these tiny little flowers you have to pursue them.
Paul in this letter to his younger friend and minister, Timothy, first warns him about things that he would need to flee from - things like pride and the love of things. Then he gives him the traits he needs to develop. Just like seeing these small, gentle, white flowers requires slow and intentional looking, these traits or ways of being don’t come naturally, they must be pursed. Prayer Loving Father. Teach me your ways. Develop in me the desire to pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, and gentleness. Amen Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises! As I was just sitting and watching the sky toward the end of our day in the mountains, the sun that had moved behind the clouds suddenly broke through and reflected beautiful color all around. It was as if the sky and clouds were breaking forth into joyous song of praise. I am more likely to make a joyful noise when I am praising God than when I am thinking about myself. Sing his praises, like the clouds and sky, and you will break forth into a joyous song of praise.
Prayer Great Lord, Thank you for the joy we see in your world. May we fill our lives with praise to you and break forth into joyful song that shares your love. Amen For you have delivered my soul from death, yes, my feet from falling, The path around the lake was covered with leaves, which can make it hard to see the roots and rocks, but the sun shone through the leaves and lit up the path. It was the light of the sun that made the colors of the leaves, sky, and lake so beautiful that day. When we look to God to be the light of our life, then we walk without stumbling, even on paths that are covered with leaves and filled with danger. We also see more of his beauty on the path ahead.
Prayer God of Light, Fill our lives with your light today. Help us to reflect the light of your love so those we meet along the way may walk toward your light. Amen It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; There is something so special about the golden light of morning. In morning light things that we don’t even notice in the harsh light of day are made beautiful. There is a special kind of quiet in the mornings, too, especially if you are in nature. It is a good thing to make the effort to get up early and watch the night gradually turn to day. God has kept us safe through another night and the golden light of morning reveals his wonderful world. Now is the time to give praise, to begin our day with gratitude for the steadfast love of our Lord, to see the joy in his works.
Prayer O Most High, We humbly bow in gratitude for your steadfast love. We rejoice at the beauty of the works of your hands. Help us walk through this day remembering your steadfast love and to share the joy of the morning with all we meet. Amen And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? I found them again, the beautiful yellow lady slippers. There were in the same place they were last year. I can’t explain the feeling you get when you see them there, standing tall in the morning sun. Nothing can compare to the beauty in God’s world. Why do we worry about unimportant things like how we look or what other people think? The next time worry creeps into your thoughts, look at the flowers God made beautiful and know that he will take care of you, like he takes care of the yellow lady slippers.
Prayer Loving Father, Thank you for the beauty in your world. Help us to replace our worry with faith in your constant loving care. Amen |
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Soli Deo Gloria,
1 Corinthians 10:31
© 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 Karen Milligan
1 Corinthians 10:31
© 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 Karen Milligan