Posted on 03/01/2006 4:51:30 AM PST by Knitting A Conundrum
In the sweat of your face
you shall eat bread
till you return to the ground,
for out of it you were taken;
you are dust, and to dust you shall return."
Genesis 3: 19 RSV
My days are past, my plans are broken off, the desires of my heart.
They make night into day; `The light,' they say, `is near to the darkness.'
If I look for Sheol as my house, if I spread my couch in darkness,
if I say to the pit, `You are my father,' and to the worm, `My mother,' or `My sister,'
where then is my hope? Who will see my hope?
Will it go down to the bars of Sheol? Shall we descend together into the dust?"
Job 17:11-16 RSV
Jesus answered them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, every one who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not continue in the house for ever; the son continues for ever. So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.
John 8:34-36 RSV
Hymn:
My sins, my sins, my Savior!
They take such hold on me,
I am not able to look up,
Save only, Christ, on Thee;
In Thee is all forgiveness,
In Thee abundant grace,
My shadow and my sunshine
The brightness of Thy face.
My sins, my sins, my Savior!
Their guilt I never knew
Till with Thee in the desert
I near Thy passion drew;
Till with Thee in the garden
I heard Thy pleading prayer,
And saw the sweat-drops bloody
That told Thy sorrow there.
Therefore my songs, my Savior,
E’en in this time of woe,
Shall tell of all Thy goodness
To suff’ring man below;
Thy goodness and Thy favor,
Whose presence from above
Rejoice those hearts, my Savior,
That live in Thee and love.
John Monsell
Prayer:
Father of mercy, like the prodigal son I return to You and say: "I have sinned against you and am no longer worthy to be called your son." Christ Jesus, Savior of the world, I pray with the repentant thief to whom You promised Paradise: "Lord, remember me in Your kingdom." Holy Spirit, fountain of love, I call on You with trust: "Purify my heart, and help me to walk as a child of light."
(Author unknown)
Quote for the Day
"Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections, but instantly set about remedying them - every day begin the task anew." + Francis de Sales
Meditation:
Out of the depths I cry unto you,
O Lord,
My Light and my Hope.
The darkness is deep today,
O Lord,
and I feel the waters rising
that threaten to sweep me away,
and in my fear
and in my anxiety
and in my hope
and in my longing,
I cry out to you.
Lord,
From dust you made me,
to dust will my body return,
but it is you who put the life in me,
it was you who breathed his last
so that I might live,
it was you who shattered death
so that you might take me home.
In the darkness of my fears
show me Golgotha, Lord,
that I might kneel
in the shadow of your cross
and see how much you care.
In the depths of my anxieties, O Lord,
show me your empty tomb,
and the hope you left with us
so we know your word is true.
When I feel so overwhelmed,
show me the Garden,
and how you sanctified the struggle
to do the right thing,
the Father's will
with your own dark moment.
O Lord,
who lets my cry come unto you,
who sends back the word,
"I know.
I am there with you.
I will never leave you alone,"
I trust in you,
be thou my strength,
my life,
my hope,
this day and always,
Amen.
Dear friends, please join me in a moment of prayer and reflection, and please feel free to add your thoughts or prayers for the day or prayer requests.
If you would like to be pinged when this is posted, or have the pings stop, just let me know.
Drop, drop, slow tears,
And bathe those beauteous feet,
Which brought from Heav’n
The news and Prince of Peace.
Cease not, wet tears,
His mercies to entreat;
To cry for vengeance:
Sin doth never cease.
In your deep floods
Drown all my faults and fears;
Nor let His eye see
Sin, but through my tears.
Phineas Fletcher
****************
It's a beautifully worded kick in the pants. :)
Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your doings from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; defend the fatherless, plead for the widow.
Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
Isaiah 1: 16-20 RSV
During Lent
Let us improve our spirit of prayer and recollection.
Let us free our minds from all that is not Jesus.
*Mother Teresa of Calcutta*
Dust
O Jesus,
you know how true it is -
from dust we are made.
Shaper of that dust
when human time began,
wearer of that dust
when the time of your emptying came,
and you chose to walk among us.
Amazing how much pain
that dust can contain,
so much darkness,
so much sin,
so much blood,
so much despair.
Amazing how much light
that dust can contain,
even God made flesh,
Emmanuel.
Fill us with your light,
O Shaper,
O Wearer,
O Redeemer,
and in your loving hands, O Lord,
may each touch of your light
upon our lives
turn us into the people
you choose to bring home.
Amen.
Psalm 90
Of Moses
Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations.
Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God.
Thou turnest man to destruction; and sayest, Return, ye children of men.
For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night.
Thou carriest them away as with a flood; they are as a sleep: in the morning they are like grass which groweth up.
In the morning it flourisheth, and groweth up; in the evening it is cut down, and withereth.
For we are consumed by thine anger, and by thy wrath are we troubled.
Thou hast set our iniquities before thee, our secret sins in the light of thy countenance.
For all our days are passed away in thy wrath: we spend our years as a tale that is told.
The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.
Who knoweth the power of thine anger? even according to thy fear, so is thy wrath.
So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.
Return, O LORD, how long? and let it repent thee concerning thy servants.
O satisfy us early with thy mercy; that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
Make us glad according to the days wherein thou hast afflicted us, and the years wherein we have seen evil.
Let thy work appear unto thy servants, and thy glory unto their children.
And let the beauty of the LORD our God be upon us: and establish thou the work of our hands upon us; yea, the work of our hands establish thou it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.