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I once was lost…

“Today, if you are reading this and you have been marginalised, belittled, ostracised, or left out in the cold; if you have made mistakes, hurt others, or hurt yourself; if you have walked away from relationships, said harsh words, or behaved badly; if you are continually hijacked by inappropriate or disturbing thoughts, desires, or feelings; if you feel undeserving, a lack of self-worth, or that you are unlovable; then hear the message of Jesus — that God loves you, has come to you, and wants you to find your home in them.” Rev Gav, 2022

Daily Prayers

Morning Prayer

Your love, O Lord, is never ending
and your mercies endure forever.
They are new every morning.
Great is your faithfulness!

The night has passed, and the day lies open before me,
and so, at the dawn of this new day, I come before you
with an open heart and ready to be filled with your love.

As I rejoice in the gift of this new day,
so may the light of your presence, O God,
set my heart on fire with love for you.
Fill me with your life-giving Spirit
that I might be Jesus to all I meet
and a vessel for your unending love.

Loving God, who abides in heaven,
you are the Father and Mother of us all.
May your holiness be declared,
your justice be observed,
your will be embraced,
and your sovereignty be established
on earth as in heaven.
With the bread we need for today, feed us.
In the hurts we absorb from one another, forgive us.
In times of temptation and testing, strengthen us.
From trials too great to endure, spare us.
And from the grip of all that is evil, free us.
For the kin-dom, the power,
and the glory are yours
now and for ever.

Prayed 74 times.

Afternoon Prayer

Where can I go from your spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
If I ascend into heaven, you are there.
If I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I ride the wings of the morning
and dwell by the farthest oceans,
even there your hand shall lead me,
and your right hand shall hold me fast.

Holy God,
kindle in me the fire of your love
that I may bring warmth to the world.
May I be led from death to life,
from falsehood to truth;
from despair to hope,
from fear to trust;
from hate to love,
from war to peace.
And may I be so anointed with your Spirit
that I may be filled with both your peace and joy,
and live and work to your praise and glory.

For all that has past I thank you
and for all that lies ahead I give you praise.
May my eyes be open to see you
in all whom I serve and encounter.

Help me be Jesus to the world.
Help me be your hands and your feet.
Help me have your heart for the broken-hearted.
Help me be Jesus to a world
that needs you more than words can tell.
Help me be Jesus to the world.

And may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit,
be with me and all those I hold dear,
Now and for evermore.

Prayed 30 times.

Evening Prayer

Be still and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations.
I will be honoured in the earth.

Loving God,
As this day draws to a close
may I know your grace, mercy, and peace.
Cleanse my heart and mind
of all anxiety, weariness, and pain,
and in the stillness,
may I know your loving presence.

As I reflect on my day,
I give you thanks for all that has been done
And let go of all that has not been done,
handing it over to you
to make good that which I am unable.

For the love I have shared, I am grateful.
For provision and nurture, I am grateful.
For kindness given, I am grateful.
For the sorrow I have caused, I pray for forgiveness.
For injustices ignored, I ask for mercy.

As I look forward to this night
I cast my fears upon you –
fears of the world’s darkness
and fears in my inner being.
May I find my rest in you.

May the peace of your Spirit
that transcends all understanding
fill me and all those I love and hold dear.

Tomorrow is a new day
with new joys and new possibilities.
May I wake tomorrow
feeling refreshed, expectant, joyful,
and with a heart full of your love.

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour.

For you are with me,
now and always.

Prayed 19 times.

Night Prayer

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me,
for I am gentle and humble in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Holy God,
Into your hands I commend my spirit.
Keep me as the apple of your eye.
and hide me under the shadow of your wings.
Protect my conscious and my unconscious,
and guard me as I sleep this night
that my dreams will be filled with hope
and my rest be in your loving arms.

Spirit, in whom I live and move and have my being,
from you, nothing is hidden.
Breathe into me your cleansing wind
that I may be filled with your unending love.

Before the ending of the day,
Creator of the world, we pray
That you, with steadfast love, would keep
Your watch around us while we sleep.

From evil dreams defend our sight,
From fears and terrors of the night;
Tread underfoot our deadly foe
That we no sinful thought may know.

O Father, that we ask be done
Through Jesus Christ, your only Son;
And Holy Spirit, by whose breath
Our souls are raised to life from death.

Jesus Christ,
I cast my burdens unto you,
and ask that my soul might be refreshed as I sleep.
For I am yours and you are mine.
Now and forever.

Prayed 38 times.

Daily Bread

Our weekday devotion.

Rev Gav | Dec 17

Adopted

We are adopted into God’s family.

An account of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

Abraham was the father of Isaac, and Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers, and Judah the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, and Perez the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Aram, and Aram the father of Aminadab, and Aminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon, and Salmon the father of Boaz by Rahab, and Boaz the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse, and Jesse the father of King David.

And David was the father of Solomon by the wife of Uriah, and Solomon the father of Rehoboam, and Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asaph,and Asaph the father of Jehoshaphat, and Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah, and Uzziah the father of Jotham, and Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, and Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, and Manasseh the father of Amos, and Amos the father of Josiah, and Josiah the father of Jechoniah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.

And after the deportation to Babylon: Jechoniah was the father of Salathiel, and Salathiel the father of Zerubbabel, and Zerubbabel the father of Abiud, and Abiud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor, and Azor the father of Zadok, and Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud, and Eliud the father of Eleazar, and Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah.

So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations.

If you made it through this morning’s Bible Reading without glazing over, well done! Haha! The lineage of Jesus isn’t the most exciting Bible reading, or is it?

Matthew was writing to a predominantly Jewish audience, and we can tell this because of the language he used, the stories he included, and the emphases he applied. Now, lineage was incredibly important to the Jewish people. It established your identity, role, place in the community, and reinforced your heritage, and this is why Matthew began his gospel with the lineage of Jesus.

In Judaism, your Jewish status was passed down through your mother and your tribe through your father. In other words you could (pretty much) only be Jewish if you had a Jewish mother (no matter who the father was). Therefore, because Jesus clearly had a Jewish mother, he was Jewish, and his adopting father was of the ‘royal’ tribe of Judah which linked him to King David.

“In the first seventeen verses of Matthew we meet forty-six people whose lifetimes span two-thousand years. All were ancestors of Jesus, but they varied considerably in personality, spirituality, and experience. Some were heroes of faith such as Abraham, Isaac, Ruth, and David. Some had shady reputations, such as Rahab and Tamar. Many were very ordinary, such as Hezron, Aram, Nahshon, and Achim. And others were evil, such as Manasseh and Abijah. God’s work in history is not limited by human failures or sins, and he works through ordinary people. Just as God used all kinds of people to bring his Son into the world, he uses all kinds today to accomplish his will. And God wants to use you.” (from the Handbook of Biblical Application)

Jesus was adopted into the royal line of Judah. We are adopted, by Jesus, into God’s family, and we can tack our names on to the end of this list because we are all children of God, with Christ as our adopting parent.

Some of us may be heroes of the faith, some of us may have shady reputations, some of us are very ordinary, and perhaps some of us have done some pretty wicked things, however, God still adopts us and calls us children. How cool is that?

Photo by Jametlene Reskp on Unsplash

Holy God
How good it is
to be adopted into your family
and to be called your child.
Thank you for accepting me
and welcoming me
into your heavenly home.
May my life honour you
and bring you great joy.
Now and forever.

Prayed 7 times.