Many rebuked him and told him to be quiet, but he shouted all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called to the blind man, “Cheer up! On your feet! He's calling you.” Throwing his cloak aside, he jumped to his feet and came to Jesus. “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him. The blind man said, “Rabbi, I want to see.” “Go,” said Jesus, “your faith has healed you.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road. One thing that photography has taught me is to notice things that I would have just passed by in the past - like trees. I always see them now, their leaves, the color, their shape, their surroundings. I noticed them in a special way on a recent trip through the prairies of the Dakotas. The funny thing is that this noticing of things that I used to skip over has carried over into other areas of life, especially my Bible study. Noticing new details requires that you study the cultural context and geography of the passage in a good commentary as well as reading the passage over and over again. When you do dig deep you find a richness and complexity in the details that is beautiful and insightful.
I have read the story of blind Bartimaeus many times but this time when I read it I noticed the phrase, “throwing his cloak aside.” After reading several commentaries I learned that if you lived in Jericho you would rarely ever need a cloak to keep warm. For Bartimaeus his cloak was his identity. It was where he earned his living, for as a blind man his only source of income was from the coins thrown onto his cloak. But when he met Jesus he threw it all aside - his way of life, his identity - for a new identity in Christ. He didn’t go back and get his cloak. He followed Jesus on the road to Jerusalem. What will you throw aside to meet Jesus today? Read and study the story again. What else did you notice? Prayer Father God Teach us how to truly study your word, to dig into the scriptures. Thank you for the scholars who share their knowledge and study through their writings. Give us the insight to notice the small details insights you have for us in scripture. Amen
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Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. I have come to truly enjoy botanical gardens. They are wonderful works of art cared for many times by volunteers as well as paid staff. The more I visit them and spend time in them the more I see the hard work it takes to plant and maintain a garden. The story of the Bible and God’s love for us begins in a garden. Garden images run throughout the rest of the Bible. When I read these words from James I thought about how amazing it is that we can be like a garden. Just think - God’s word can be planted take root and grow in us. Like any garden it will take work to keep God’s word growing - pulling weeds is hard work. But oh the beauty of the life that is well-lived and cared for in the garden of Christ’s love.
Prayer Lord Jesus, Perfect Gardner Show us where the weeds are in our lives. Help us clear them away and prepare our hearts for your word. Help that word to take root and grow so that we can be spots of beauty in an oft-barren world. Amen Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. The mountain streams bring life to everything around them. Along with many others,I love to go there to enjoy their beauty. They refresh my soul. We come to God’s word in the same way. We need to read passages like these words of Paul to remind us who we are and to give us strength to go forward in difficult days. I love these beautiful words about this passage by N. T. Wright from the For Everyone Bible Commentary on Ephesians.
“As we read Ephesians today, to be strengthened and encouraged as Christians for the new tasks that lie ahead, we should remember that all genuine Christian life and action flows out of worship. True worship of the true God cannot help telling and retelling, with joy and amazement, the story of what this God has done in Jesus the Messiah.” Prayer Jesus Messiah We stand amazed at your love for us. May love for you flow through our praise and worship and strengthen us for the tasks you lay before us this day. Amen The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, as it is written in Isaiah the prophet: When John the Baptist preached in the wilderness he was the messenger preparing the way of the Lord. He was calling people to get ready for the one to come. He called people to be baptized, to wash. In the Old Testament books of Leviticus and Numbers you find many references to washing as a way of preparing to meet with God. Lent is a time for us to spend some time in water, too - a time of repentance, of cleansing from sin and freedom from shame.
We need water to survive but it also can clean, heal, and transform. Practicing Lent is something that I have only begun in recent years. This year, like last year, I decided to create a Lenten project for the blog. My posts during this season will include scripture about and images of water and its ability to clean and transform. I pray these images and scriptures will help us become aware again of the sin that separates us from God and the cost that Jesus paid to reunite us. Prayer Lord God, Cleanse us with the water of life that flows from Jesus as we prepare for our hearts for you. Amen The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even gives orders to impure spirits and they obey him.” I found this small bud in a flower garden around an old homestead in Roan Mountain State Park. Maybe it was the unusual line of red along the edges or the small drops of morning dew still hanging on to its petals that drew me to it. I have no idea what kind of flower this bud became, but I was amazed by its beauty, its newness, its promise.
For those of us who have been Christians and heard the gospel for a long time, we can forget how amazing the story of God’s love is. May we recover the amazement of the people who first heard Jesus teaching. See his beauty. Stand in awe before the hands that created our world and then hung on a cross. As I don’t know what kind of flower this bud became I don’t always know where Jesus teaching will lead, for truly it is a new teaching. No matter where Jesus leads we know that he is faithful and true. If we bow before him in awe and wonder he will conquer our demons and bring us new life. Prayer Amazing God Fill us again with the wonder of your great love that sent Jesus to teach us how to live. Amen I am the Lord's servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her. It was getting dark the summer afternoon that I took this image. The twilight makes the white flower stand out against its surrounding. It seems to shout joy in the darkness, opening up its petals to reveal its heart.
The words of Mary’s song ring out like the flower. She praises God even in a time that was not going to be easy. How could anyone believe her story, the story that would mark her maybe her whole life, unwed mother. This in a time when an unwed, pregnant women could even be stoned. She rejoiced because she trusted in a God who was her rescuer. Our joy and praise can ring out too. Christmas is coming and many will be away from family sheltering in place from the virus that ravages out world. It won’t be easy but join Mary and sing praise for the One who has come to rescue us. Prayer Break into our hearts with joy in our darkness this day. May we spend this day bringing glory to you. Amen He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, When I go to the mountains I always stop at the cabins. I try to imagine what the cabin would have been like filled with people and things. I think about what it was like to have to make a difficult journey through the mountains down to the town to get things the family couldn’t make themselves. What did it sound like when the father came home from the long journey into town? Was he relieved that the journey had been safe? Was he filled with joy when he saw his children come running to meet him?
We think about home a little more than during the holidays - some good memories and some hard. Whatever our memories of home are, we can rest assured that God provides us a home now and in the future that will be filled with joy. While currently we may only have little glimpses of what such joy feels like, there will come a time when we will come to the home God has prepared for us and great will be our shouts of joy. Prayer God of Our True Home Help us find glimpses of home this day. Fill our day with the joy of being with you. Amen The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.” There was a slight chill in the air as we watched the sun go down. Soon all the leaves would be gone leaving only the beautiful, graceful branches. The tree will remain through the winter waiting for the new leaves of spring. God’s word is like the tree that remains after the leaves are gone. It waits for us to come to read it again, especially in our darkest moments when everything around us seems to be falling down. Oftentimes we say this verse after the reading of scripture in worship as a rote response. May we never loose sight of how amazing this promise is and the gift we have of God’s word.
Prayer Lord God Open our hearts and minds to your word in a special way today. May it bring its glorious light into our darkness. 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