Daily Office Readings for Tuesday of the Third Week of Lent: Year 2
Morning, Psalm 78:1 to 39; Evening, 78:40 to 72;
Genesis 45:1 to 15; 1st Corinthians 7:32 to 40; Mark 6:1 to 13:
“Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?’ And they took offence at him.” (Mark 6:3)
Just because we know someone and their family, and our opinion of them is not very favorable to us, does not mean that God is not making good use of them for a better life in the community in which that person lives. But in this case, we’re talking about God Incarnate. His community thought they knew everything about Jesus solely because they knew his earth family and had already decided that he was not Godly. They were so wrong. Besides that, God is able to use anybody to do God’s work, which includes you.
When we judge someone as unusable by God, we are not judging them, we are judging and limiting the power of God. God can use any human, (and in some cases our pets or even animals in nature, or a burning bush) to affect our path or direction in life. Every one of us must be open, and remain open, to God’s desire to use us for the good of the community in which we live, or quite possibly, for a distant community we have yet to be a member of.
Let us pray:
Dear Lord God of all Goodness and love, assist us in our desire to be instruments of your plan to bring peace and harmony among all people, those we know, and especially those who have yet to know you. Help us to show those who think they know us how you have improved our lives for the better and that that same improvement is here for them as well. We ask this in the Name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who told us to ask in His Name. Amen.
Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine and Russia, Israel and Palestine, and our schools including St. Augustine in Raleigh, North Carolina.
As we listen to what the Spirit of God is saying to us, let us live to love and serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John
onewhoponders 