Spiritual formation

Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Devotions: Ps 38; 119:25-48; Is 44:24-45:7; Eph 5:15-33; Mk 4:21-34

Lord, I know I am subject to Your judgment; have mercy—I know there is no soundness in me except what comes from You. My loins are filled with burning; there is no soundness in my flesh. I groan from the tumult in my heart. All my longing, all my hopes and concerns are well known to You, and so are the plots of my enemies. I wait for You, for I can do nothing better. I pray: 'Don't let them rejoice over me, Father.' For I am teetering. I confess my iniquity and I am sorry for my sin. Do not forsake me, Lord; make haste to help me, my Savior! Revive me by Your word and teach me again to know and obey Your statutes. Put false ways far from me, and center me in the way of faithfulness. Give me understanding, to avoid the penalty of sin and to cling to the favor of the Lawgiver. Incline my heart to holiness, not to worldly gain, and turn away the reproach of men. Shower me with Your unfailing love and fill me with the light and truth of Your word. I revere Your truth and will meditate on Your statutes.

God says: 'I Am YHWH, Who formed you in the womb; I have redeemed you. I stretched out the heavens, and I do what I say. I control nature and history. I choose My human servants—Jacob, Cyrus, and others. I Am YHWH, and there is no other god. I make light and darkness, favor and woe. I Am YHWH!

What is exposed to light becomes visible—so wake up and let Christ illumine you! Take care how you walk; be wise, making the most of the time, for the days are evil. Don't be foolish; seek to know and to do God's will. Don't drink and get debauched; rather, imbibe the Spirit; address one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs; sing and make melody to the Lord with all your heart. Always, everywhere, for everything, give thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus the Messiah to God the Father. Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. Let wives be subject to their husbands as the the Lord, Who in turn is Head of the church, His body, as the husband is head of the wife, and is her savior. As the church is subject to Christ, let wives be subject to their husbands. And let husbands love their wives as Christ loves the church and sacrifices Himself for her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, that He might present the church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle, that she might be holy and without blemish. Just so, husbands should love their wives as their own bodies; who loves his wife, loves himself. No man every hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, as Christ does the church, because we are member of His body. It is for this cause that a many shall leave his parents and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This is a profound mystery, referring to human marriage and to the mystical union of Christ and the church. Let each husband love his wife as himself and let each wife respect her husband.

Jesus said, 'We don't bring lamps into our houses to put them under a basket or a bed; no, we put them on lampstands. What is now hidden is to become manifest; what is now secret will be revealed and come to light. Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear! Take heed, for the measure you give will be the measure you receive, and more. Whoever has much will receive even more; and from those who have naught, even what they have will be taken away. God's kingdom is like a man scattering seed on the ground. Then he goes about his daily round, waking and sleeping, while the seed sprouts and grows, he knows not how. First comes the tender shoot—the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. And when the grain has ripened, the farmer suddenly puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come. How else can I explain God's kingdom? It is like a grain of mustard seed: when sown, it is among the tiniest of all seeds on earth. Yet, when it grows up, what emerges is a great shrub that puts forth large branches, so that the birds of the air can nest in its shelter and shade.' Jesus proclaimed the word to His listeners in such ways, always in parables; but in private, He explained everything to His disciples.