Friday, November 30, 2012 -- Bringing Out The Best In Each Other (3)
Friday November 30, 2012
Jesus Christ left heaven's beauty and perfection to come to this broken and sinful world to show us how much God loves us. His only desire was that we would enter into a loving relationship with God and thereby experience fullness of life. Jesus Christ invites us today to drink deeply of the love that He freely offers us. Jesus then invites us to pass along that love to everyone we meet.
You feed them from the abundance of your own house, letting them drink from your river of delights. For you are the fountain of life, the light by which we see. Pour out your unfailing love on those who love you; give justice to those with honest hearts. (Psalm 36:8-10 NLT)
Yet it was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows that weighed him down. And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for his own sins! But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God’s paths to follow our own. Yet the Lord laid on him the sins of us all. (Isaiah 53:4-6 NLT)
Hundreds of years ago a simple man, St. Francis of Assisi, wrote some divinely inspired words about how one person might improve the environment of another. These words challenge us because they require us to be strong, to be steady, and to face difficulty with grace.
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is darkness, light;
and 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;
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen
What is unique about my life that can flavor and enhance the lives of others around me? What’s my experience of living as a recipient of the undeserved love of Jesus Christ and how do I express that love in situations described in the Prayer of St. Francis?
Audio for Friday, November 30, 2012 -- Bringing Out The Best In Each Other (3)
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