Be Still
Find a quiet place where you won’t be interrupted. Get comfortable. Let your body relax and your mind quiet down. Take a few deep breaths and then ask God to make his presence known to you. Be still. Take some time to sit and soak up God’s presence.
Prayer of Approach
My Lord and friend, in the quietness of this hour, reconcile my contrary motives and conflicting desires. Give me a singleness of purpose that I may come into your presence unashamed and sit under your gaze without blushing. Amen.
Psalm 130
A song of ascents.
Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord;
Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive
to my cry for mercy.
If you, Lord, kept a record of sins,
Lord, who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness,
so that we can, with reverence, serve you.
I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits,
and in his word I put my hope.
I wait for the Lord
more than watchmen wait for the morning,
more than watchmen wait for the morning.
Israel, put your hope in the Lord,
for with the Lord is unfailing love
and with him is full redemption.
He himself will redeem Israel
from all their sins.
Devotional Thought
To be immersed in the world means also to suffer
fatal divisions between human beings. The self that is
severed from its inborn connection with God readily
becomes a “heart turned in upon itself.” If the “divided
self” characterizes our inner life, the “heart turned in
upon itself” is a telling image of our alienation from
one another. The self-seeking conveyed by Augustine's
phrase fills our field of vision with the shapes of our
own desires, eclipsing the profile of our neighbor's
need. The “heart turned in upon itself" isolates us
because it conceives of self-fulfillment in individual
ment is found only within the texture of mutuality God
terms. It will not acknowledge that our truest fulfill-
has chosen for authentic human life.
It is difficult to imagine how greatly our immersion
in the world pains God. This is not the pain of a regent
disobeyed but the anguish of a loving parent spurned
by a child in desperate want. We glimpse a vivid
recounting the chapters of Israel's faithlessness in the
wilderness, a voice still unknown to the psalmist utters
this remarkable lament, “O that my people would heed
that Israel would walk in my ways!" Here is the
heart's desire of our God, and the wellspring of that
reconciling love that would gather into one new crea-
tion all the scattered, shattered creatures so treasured
by their Creator (see Eph. 1:9-10).
As we are awakened to the ingathering love of
God, the brokenness that divides us from ourselves
and others begins to mend.
— John Mogabgab
2 Corinthians 13:1-12
This will be my third visit to you. “Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.” I already gave you a warning when I was with you the second time. I now repeat it while absent: On my return I will not spare those who sinned earlier or any of the others, since you are demanding proof that Christ is speaking through me. He is not weak in dealing with you, but is powerful among you. For to be sure, he was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by God’s power. Likewise, we are weak in him, yet by God’s power we will live with him in our dealing with you.
Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test? And I trust that you will discover that we have not failed the test. Now we pray to God that you will not do anything wrong—not so that people will see that we have stood the test but so that you will do what is right even though we may seem to have failed. For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. We are glad whenever we are weak but you are strong; and our prayer is that you may be fully restored. This is why I write these things when I am absent, that when I come I may not have to be harsh in my use of authority—the authority the Lord gave me for building you up, not for tearing you down.
Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.
Greet one another with a holy kiss.
Reflection
Take time to pause and reflect on your time with Jesus through the Scriptures and devotional thought. What thoughts are being drawn out of you? What emotions are being provoked? What might God be saying? Consider using a journal to write as you process, reflect, and pray.
Time for Prayer
God invites us to cast our cares on him because he cares for us. God is all-together good, already knows what we need, and is eager to give us good things. So we don’t need to pray out of anxiety or fear, but confident trust. Spend a few minutes making your requests known to God.
- For the church
- For others
- For myself
Closing Prayer
And now, my Lord, I thank you for reconciling my inner conflicts and healing my brokenness. Send me, I pray, from this place as Christ’s ambassador of reconciliation to those whom I meet this day. Amen.