Lectio Divina
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Jesus
Is there a thing beneath the sun
That strives with Thee my heart to share?
Ah! tear it thence, and reign alone,
The Lord of every motion there.
John Wesley
Prayer
Lord
I often forget
You
were killed
Not by strangers or thieves
but the devout
Those who claimed
to speak for God
They slandered your named
assassinated your character
and arranged for Rome
to hang you in the daylight
Jesus, you refused
their matrix
No ladder
No system of hierarchy
was of concern for you
You did
what you saw
Your Father doing
Righteousness
was not a badge
or a KPI
it was the shape
of your very breath
Oh God
set me ablaze!
May I burn
for one thing
Be my one reward
More than gold
more than title
more than safety
May all my fountains
rise from you
Even if it costs
the little I call my own
Blessing
Dear Friend
May you hunger for the sweetest rest.
The kind that only comes
when your life and your faith
are congruent.
May what you value
and how you live
take on the shape
of honesty.
May righteousness
be not a performance,
but an unsettling hunger
to live as Christ did,
knowing and being known
by the Father,
who Sends His Spirit
to empower holiness.
May you count all else as loss.
In the Name of the One
Who Endured the Cross
For the Joy Set Before Him
Amen
Beautiful. Thank you, Mike.
This speaks on many levels. Thank you for sharing your words