 | Daily Bible Reflections
for April 3, 2011 |
|  Dear Lordie,
This Sunday, remember that you are hidden in His heart.
Praying for you,
Bo Sanchez
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| | FAITHFUL TO THE END Try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. – Ephesians 5:10 God’s will. When I got renewed in 1991 and started my personal walk with the Lord, I learned of those two words and how I should strive to live according to them. It wasn’t easy at the start. When I would pray about a situation and try to submit my will to Him, there would be butterflies in my stomach. What if He wants me to do what I don’t want to do? What if it will be something terrible? As time went on and I got to know Him more in prayer and Scripture, I learned that God’s love for me is so great that I don’t have to be afraid about His will — it will always be for my eternal good. That paradigm shift has helped to always want to seek His will and to accept whatever happens. What I learned and continue to learn, however, is that I have to discipline myself so that I will be constantly open to that will. For it is so much easier to just follow what I want, to choose the comfortable way, and not to take time to listen to Him or to love. By His grace, I pray that the Lord will enable me to be faithful to Him until the end. Joy Sosoban (jsosoban@gmail.com) REFLECTION: Do you strive to do God’s will? Dearest Lord, I surrender to You my will. Enable me to do Yours. Amen. | |
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| | COMPANION | 1st READING in one year The oil used for anointing a king or priest is merely a symbol of a far greater reality, the actual anointing by God of the person for a particular task to which he has been called. The interesting thing here is that the anointed one, David, is the least of all the candidates. This tells us that God does not necessarily think or judge in the same way that we do. 1Samuel 16:1, 6-7, 10-13 1 The LORD said to Samuel: “Fill your horn with oil, and be on your way. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem, for I have chosen my king from among his sons.” 6 As Jesse and his sons came to sacrifice, Samuel looked at Eliab and thought, “Surely the LORD’s anointed is here before him.” 7 But the LORD said to Samuel: “Do not judge from his appearance or from his lofty stature, because I have rejected him. Not as man sees does God see, because man sees the appearance but the LORD looks into the heart.” 10 In the same way Jesse presented seven sons before Samuel, but Samuel said to Jesse, “The LORD has not chosen any one of these.” 11 Then Samuel asked Jesse, “Are these all the sons you have?” Jesse replied, “There is still the youngest, who is tending the sheep.” Samuel said to Jesse, “Send for him; we will not begin the sacrificial banquet until he arrives here.” 12 Jesse sent and had the young man brought to them. He was ruddy, a youth handsome to behold and making a splendid appearance. The LORD said, “There-anoint him, for this is he!” 13 Then Samuel, with the horn of oil in hand, anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and from that day on, the spirit of the LORD rushed upon David. P S A L M Psalms 23:1-3, 3-4, 5, 6 R: The Lord is my shepherd; there is nothing I shall want. 1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. 2 In verdant pastures he gives me repose; beside restful waters he leads me; 3 he refreshes my soul. (R) He guides me in right paths for his name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk in the dark valley I fear no evil; for you are at my side with your rod and your staff that give me courage. (R) 5 You spread the table before me in the sight of my foes; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. (R) 6 Only goodness and kindness follow me all the days of my life; and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD for years to come. (R) 2nd READING The image of being in darkness and coming into the light is a very powerful one. I remember once when I was walking through Hezekiah’s tunnel (a passage for water into Jerusalem) it was pitch black. I was feeling my way with my hands and feet! When I went down a couple of wrong ways, a fear arose within me about whether or not I was going to find the right way and it was worse because of the dark. The relief I experienced when I saw the first pin-prick of light that slowly got bigger and bigger was amazing. The fear lifted and I knew I was OK once again. Ephesians 5:8-14 8 Brothers and sisters: You were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light, 9 for light produces every kind of goodness and righteousness and truth. 10 Try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Take no part in the fruitless works of darkness; rather expose them, 12 for it is shameful even to mention the things done by them in secret; 13 but everything exposed by the light becomes visible, 14 for everything that becomes visible is light. Therefore, it says: “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.” G O S P E L It is totally perplexing that people would want to do away with Jesus after He has performed such an amazing miracle. What is wrong with the Pharisees? Perhaps it is jealousy; perhaps it is that they see Jesus as a threat to their power base. If we want to be a part of the Kingdom of God we will have to learn to work with the gifts that God has given us and rejoice over the gifts He has given to others. Anything less than this is unacceptable to the Holy Spirit. VERSE BEFORE THE GOSPEL I am the light of the world, says the Lord; whoever follows me will have the light of life. John 9:1-41 1 As Jesus passed by he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” 3 Jesus answered, “Neither he nor his parents sinned; it is so that the works of God might be made visible through him. 4 We have to do the works of the one who sent me while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” 6 When he had said this, he spat on the ground and made clay with the saliva, and smeared the clay on his eyes, 7 and said to him, “Go wash in the Pool of Siloam” — which means Sent —. So he went and washed, and came back able to see. 8 His neighbors and those who had seen him earlier as a beggar said, “Isn’t this the one who used to sit and beg?” 9 Some said, “It is,” but others said, “No, he just looks like him.” He said, “I am.” 10 So they said to him, “So how were your eyes opened?” 11 He replied, “The man called Jesus made clay and anointed my eyes and told me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went there and washed and was able to see.” 12 And they said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I don’t know.” 13 They brought the one who was once blind to the Pharisees. 14 Now Jesus had made clay and opened his eyes on a sabbath. 15 So then the Pharisees also asked him how he was able to see. He said to them, “He put clay on my eyes, and I washed, and now I can see.” 16 So some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, because he does not keep the sabbath.” But others said, “How can a sinful man do such signs?” And there was a division among them. 17 So they said to the blind man again, “What do you have to say about him, since he opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.” 18 Now the Jews did not believe that he had been blind and gained his sight until they summoned the parents of the one who had gained his sight. 19 They asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How does he now see?” 20 His parents answered and said, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. 21 We do not know how he sees now, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him, he is of age; he can speak for himself.” 22 His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone acknowledged him as the Messiah, he would be expelled from the synagogue. 23 For this reason his parents said, “He is of age; question him.” 24 So a second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give God the praise! We know that this man is a sinner.” 25 He replied, “If he is a sinner, I do not know. One thing I do know is that I was blind and now I see.” 26 So they said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” 27 He answered them, “I told you already and you did not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you want to become his disciples, too?” 28 They ridiculed him and said, “You are that man’s disciple; we are disciples of Moses! 29 We know that God spoke to Moses, but we do not know where this one is from.” 30 The man answered and said to them, “This is what is so amazing, that you do not know where he is from, yet he opened my eyes. 31 We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if one is devout and does his will, he listens to him. 32 It is unheard of that anyone ever opened the eyes of a person born blind. 33 If this man were not from God, he would not be able to do anything.” 34 They answered and said to him, “You were born totally in sin, and are you trying to teach us?” Then they threw him out. 35 When Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, he found him and said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 36 He answered and said, “Who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” 37 Jesus said to him, “You have seen him and the one speaking with you is he.” 38 He said, “I do believe, Lord,” and he worshipped him. 39 Then Jesus said, “I came into this world for judgment, so that those who do not see might see, and those who do see might become blind.” 40 Some of the Pharisees who were with him heard this and said to him, “Surely we are not also blind, are we?” 41 Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you are saying, ‘We see,’ so your sin remains.” my reflections t h i n k : God does not necessarily think or judge in the same way that we do. God’s special verse/thought for me today________________ _________________________________________________________
T O D A Y ’ S BLESSING LIST Thank You Lord for: ____________________________________ _______________________________________________________ READ THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR 1 Kings 20-22 SABBATH PAUSE My weekly time with God THANK YOU LIST Things to be grateful for from the past week ________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ SPECIAL NEEDS Things to ask God for in the coming week ________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ HIDDEN TREASURE Most important word God told me this week _______________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ | |
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| | SABBATH | LIVE IN THE LIGHT The Gospel reveals to us an interesting reality that unfolds as the story goes on. These 41 verses are loaded with intrigue, cultural sensitivities and controversy. The man blind from birth receives his sight and believes in Jesus. The Pharisees, who claim to see, end up blinded by their own ignorance. The characters seem to be at a tug-of-war between belief and unbelief, tradition and culture, light and darkness. Light and darkness is a common theme throughout the Gospel of John, emphasized here in the story between the belief of the man born blind and the unbelief of the Pharisees. The story is delightful, matter-of-fact and an easy read for those who enjoy a tale of intrigue. Who is the good person? Who is the bad person? Will the good person win in the end? Each of us can identify with the characters in the story. Sometimes we are like the Pharisees struggling to believe, caught up in the blindness of our own ignorance and rebellion. On the other hand, sometimes we are like the man who begins to see the Lord and acknowledge Jesus as Lord and Savior of our life. As we move closer to the celebration of our faith and life in the Easter victory, let us ask the Lord to fill us with His wisdom and light, to see plainly that He is the Lord of our lives. May He remove the blindness of pride, ignorance and sin in our lives as we look to Him and worship Him in spirit and truth. Fr. Brian Steele, MGL Reflection Question: What areas of my life are in the darkness and that I’m not willing to expose in the light? Lord, I give You all the darkness that dwells within me. I expose them to the light of Your goodness and mercy. Help me to live as a child of light. Amen. St. Agape, pray for us. | |
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