Day 13 - Week 2 Day 6 Sent

Today's reading

Genesis 23 - 24:14
Psalms 12
Isaiah 10:20 - End of 10
Matthew 10:1-23

Good morning.  Yesterday, I was encouraged by someone, who has become a good friend, and has been reading these posts.  He has encouraged me to "move deeper from making observations...and maybe reflecting a little" to show how these themes and observations are forming and shaping me.  In short put a bit more "Steve" in it.  I really appreciated that and I am encouraged.  From now on, I will be doing it.  I do appreciate comments on these posts and I'd encourage you, the reader to participate and suggest what these posts and reading are saying to you.

Thoughts for today

  • I see a theme in today's readings of being sent.  
    • After Sarah's passing, Abraham sends his most trusted servant out with a vow to find a wife for Isaac.  Now Abraham was trusting God to send an angel before the servant and the servant is trusting God.  The servant prays in Genesis 24:12-14 and asks God for a very specific way to recognize who Isaac's wife will be.  
    • In Matthew 10 Jesus sends out his disciples with "authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness"
Have you ever been "sent"?  I have been sent.  For a Jesus Follower, I have been sent to "Love the Lord with all my heart and Love my neighbour as my self".  I've been sent to "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of Father and the Son and the Holy spirit...".  It's interesting, that all Jesus followers are sent in this manner.  I fail at times but I'm still sent.  Loving my neighbour as myself can be difficult.  Now, who's my neighbour?  They don't necessarily have an address beside mine.  They often are the person you drive by on the highway when they are clearly in distress.  This was a tough lesson for me.  My wife has always understood it.....but not me, I'M ON A SCHEDULE!!!  Here's an example:  I was a technical director at the church where I worked.  It was a Sunday morning and I wasn't working that week but we still went to the church even though it was about an hour from our home.  On this drive, we drove over the crest of a hill.  A car was at the side of the road and the driver was walking ahead of the car down the road.  We were going to be late for church so I zoomed right by.  Our car got very quiet.  Husbands, you know that quietness!!!  I drove about a kilometre farther, pulled over in a gas station, turned around and went back to get the guy.  And of course, he was just out of gas.  He appreciated the drive and I served and "Loved" my neighbour.  Now don't think that from now on, Steve always pulls over to help.  No, there are still times when the car get's quiet!!  Sylvia is also sent by God in these circumstances.  She loves me by making it clear God is speaking and that I need to adjust.  We are called in many ways!!   Sometimes, we just need to pay attention.

  • In Psalm 12 David talks about how the "Godly man ceases to be" and "the faithful disappear from among the sons of men".  Isn't that the truth today.  Remember, the "words of the LORD are pure words".  I have a consistent goal to make a difference.  I pray, and I pray for the reader, that I'd be a representative of the LORD's pure words and not of the ones who "speak falsehood to one another; with flattering lips" and "with a double heart"  Seek pure things, and Love your neighbour.  How much better and fulfilled we will be!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 15 - Week 3 Day1 Let Your Heart Rest

Today's reading Genesis 24:61 - End of 25 Psalms 14 Isaiah 12 - 13:5 Matthew 11 Thought for today (sorry but this is heavy) Today my heart is heavy.  I couldn't sleep well.  I figured that I may as well get up and do my morning reading and blog post.  So much is going on this world!  So much death.  So much war.  I long for what we read about yesterday of the eventual peace that will be in God's Kingdom.  In Psalm 14 from today's reading, we read "The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God."  They are corrupt, they have committed abominable deeds; There is no one who does good...They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt; There is no one who does good, not even one. "  This is a Psalm of David, Israel's great king who God describes as a man after His own heart.  I think it's because David always wore his heart on his sleeve.  He was real and you see it in the Psalms he wrote.   My heart is heavy because...
Read more

Day 25 Week 4 Day 4 Green Pastures

Today's reading (Bible in 1 year) Genesis 36 Psalm 23 Isaiah 22:1-14 Matthew 17 Last evening, my wife, Sylvia, read a statement to me from a bishop in the Episcopalian church in New Hampshire.  He advised his Episcopal clergy to get their affairs and wills in order "because it may be that now is no longer the time for statements, but for us with our bodies to stand between the powers of this world and the most vulnerable".  Sometimes, peacemaking puts one in the place where death is a possibility in the protection of the most vulnerable.  It's an ominous thing to think about. Today we read Psalm 23.  What a powerful Psalm to read in it's fullness but hopefully you just read it and I'll simply mention verse 4 where it says " Even though I walk through the valley of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me " Did you hear that?   You are with me! On November 16, 2025 my mom passed away and went to be with Jesus, 2 days before her 98th birthday.  My mo...
Read more

Day 20 - Week 3 Day 6 The Rock

Today's reading (Bible in 1 Year) - If you have not read my introduction or blog from the beginning, I felt a strong motivation to read the whole Bible in a year and discover something new each day to share. Genesis 30:25 - end of 30 Psalm 18 Isaiah 17 Matthew 13:44 - end of 13 Thought for the day We have rocks!  We live on a rocky shore and our whole property is full of rocks.  You can't dig down more than 6" anywhere on our property and not find a rock.  It's very frustrating when you're trying to dig a garden or plant a tree.  Interesting though, they shift.  Every spring, my mower finds new rock locations.  During the winter freeze and thaw and freeze and thaw and freeze and thaw (that's how it is here), the rocks in the ground shift again and again.   There is one rock on our property that does not shift!  At the shore we have a lava rock outcropping.  It's goes out about 20 ft and and at high tide, you can touch the water from it. ...
Read more