Sunday review: May 16-21

Any one of these gems from this week’s posts might be enough to help you through today. Any one of the pieces from which they’re taken can give you—or a friend—the boost needed just to keep carrying on. Which of these mean the most to you?

May 16
Paul said what we sometimes forget: The surpassing power of God belongs to God and not us. Only in our surrender to Jesus can this almighty power be unleashed and used for God’s glory. It would seem that if we are looking for a formula to follow it might be this: more of Jesus and less of us.
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May 17
If we are going to follow Jesus, we will have to understand that he will sometimes make us comfortable and sometimes uncomfortable. It is all a part of how his transformation works.
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May 18
Often we want the ultimate judge to deal with everything in the here and now, and it doesn't actually work like that. God has an eternal time frame, and we generally stay stuck in the here and now.
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May 19
I don’t know if anyone will ask you or me for a gift today. If they do, I hope we all can give according to our hearts. But even if you aren’t asked for a financial contribution, I suspect there will be many opportunities to reach into your seed bag and sow some kindness, grace, mercy, and love. And when we plant such seeds, only goodness and mercy will flow and follow us all the days of our lives. Chances are good that the seed we sow will change not just our hearts but the hearts of many for eternity.
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May 20
We don’t know ahead of our tough moments how we will respond when they come. But we will be obedient and loving in our desperate situation only if we prepare now. How many times had Jesus gone off alone to be with his Father? How many times had he told him, “Not my will, but yours”? We know Gethsemane wasn’t the first time, because long before this, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus had included that idea in his model prayer: “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven.” Facing tough, desperate, uncertain times includes the hard and painful prayer of submitting our wills to God’s.
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May 21
Many centuries ago, God’s servant Nehemiah . . . assured his people, “The joy of the Lord is your strength.” It sounds like just another platitude, until you experience it. But we have a tendency to mouth the words without having had the experience. For me, it’s as much an aspiration as an accomplishment. Because often, this joy is a painful joy.
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Photo by George Milton at pexels.com

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