 | Daily Bible Reflections
for April 13, 2011 |
|  Dear Lordie,
See Him beside you this whole Wednesday!
Praying for you,
Bo Sanchez
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| | LOOK ALIKE! “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” – John 8:36 When Kris fell off her bike and suffered a severe brain injury, doctors weren’t sure she would survive. For days she hovered between life and death. The first good news came when she opened her eyes. Then she responded to simple voice commands. Slowly but surely, she was recovering. After days of discouragement, her husband rushed to us and shouted, “Kris is back!” Physically, emotionally, psychologically and mentally, Kris was becoming the self who we knew and loved. Kris’s fall reminds me of what theologians refer to as the fall of mankind. Her struggle to recover parallels our struggle to overcome the brokenness of sin. Friend, don’t be discouraged. You are God’s child. You just have fallen. You are never more the child of your Father in the future as you are now. Those who’ve been set free by Christ are always God’s child. Our victories in our daily battle with sin don’t make us God’s child. Their work is to transform us to look like our Father — a recovery process of becoming like Him. Yes, you’re free. And you will be like your Dad. That’s for sure! Jon Escoto (faithatworkjon@ gmail.com) 13 REFLECTION: Have you been discouraged by the slow progress of your recovery? God never gives up on His child. Father, embrace me today amidst my discouragement. Make me experience the truth that I am Your child and You are my Father. Strengthen my hope that I have no other destination but to become like You. | |
Didache | Companion | Sabbath | Top
| | COMPANION | 1st READING The righteous person is able to stand firm and upright no matter what situation he or she is in. Even if it is in the midst of a fire, the righteous person will not lose his or her holiness. They may lose their mortal life but that will not bother them too much because they know they are going to a better life with God forever in heaven. This is the benefit of living a holy life – you will actually look forward to and embrace death as the beginning of a new and better life. Daniel 3:14-20, 91-92, 95 14 King Nebuchadnezzar said: “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you will not serve my god, or worship the golden statue that I set up? 15 Be ready now to fall down and worship the statue I had made, whenever you hear the sound of the trumpet, flute, lyre, harp, psaltery, bagpipe, and all the other musical instruments; otherwise, you shall be instantly cast into the white-hot furnace; and who is the God that can deliver you out of my hands?” 16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered King Nebuchadnezzar, “There is no need for us to defend ourselves before you in this matter. 17 If our God, whom we serve, can save us from the white-hot furnace and from your hands, O king, may he save us! 18 But even if he will not, know, O king, that we will not serve your god or worship the golden statue which you set up.” 19 King Nebuchadnezzar’s face became livid with utter rage against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. He ordered the furnace to be heated seven times more than usual 20 and had some of the strongest men in his army bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and cast them into the white-hot furnace. 24 [91] King Nebuchadnezzar rose in haste and asked his nobles, “Did we not cast three men bound into the fire?” “Assuredly, O king,” they answered. 25 [92] “But,” he replied, “I see four men unfettered and unhurt, walking in the fire, and the fourth looks like a son of God.” 28 [95] Nebuchadnezzar exclaimed, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who sent his angel to deliver the servants that trusted in him; they disobeyed the royal command and yielded their bodies rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.” P S A L M Daniel 3:52, 53, 54, 55, 56 R: Glory and praise for ever! 29 [Dan 3:52] “Blessed are you, O Lord, the God of our fathers, praiseworthy and exalted above all forever; and blessed is your holy and glorious name, praiseworthy and exalted above all for all ages. (R) 30 [Dan 3:53] Blessed are you in the temple of your holy glory, praiseworthy and glorious above all forever. (R) 31 [Dan 3:54] Blessed are you on the throne of your kingdom, praiseworthy and exalted above all forever. (R) 32 [Dan 3:55] Blessed are you who look into the depths from your throne upon the cherubim, praiseworthy and exalted above all forever. (R) 33 [Dan 3:56] Blessed are you in the firmament of heaven, praiseworthy and glorious forever. (R) G O S P E L In many ways, I think John 8:31-32, the start of our Gospel Reading today, is the heart of John’s Gospel as it draws together so many of the themes of the Gospel – abiding in God’s Word, truth, freedom, discipleship, learning and so on. Let us pray for the grace to abide or live in God’s Word so that the truth will always be a part of our life and consequently true freedom as well. This is what a disciple’s life should look like. VERSE BEFORE THE GOSPEL Blessed are they who have kept the word with a generous heart and yield a harvest through perseverance. John 8:31-42 31 Jesus then said to those Jews who believed in him, “If you remain in my word, you will truly be my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 They answered him, “We are descendants of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How can you say, ‘You will become free’?” 34 Jesus answered them, “Amen, amen, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. 35 A slave does not remain in a household forever, but a son always remains. 36 So if a son frees you, then you will truly be free. 37 I know that you are descendants of Abraham. But you are trying to kill me, because my word has no room among you. 38 I tell you what I have seen in the Father’s presence; then do what you have heard from the Father.” 39 They answered and said to him, “Our father is Abraham.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works of Abraham. 40 But now you are trying to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God; Abraham did not do this. 41 You are doing the works of your father!” So they said to him, “We are not illegitimate. We have one Father, God.” 42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and am here; I did not come on my own, but he sent me.” my reflections t h i n k : This is the benefit of living a holy life – you will actually look forward to and embrace death as the beginning of a new and better life. 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 Chronicles 7-8 1 Chronicles 7-8 | |
Didache | Companion | Sabbath | Top
| | SABBATH | THE TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE The tension is mounting between Jesus and the Jews. As time ticks away, Jesus is trying to win over the crowd to the truth. However, it seems to no avail. He came unto His own and His own would not accept Him, as John tells us in the prologue, the beginning of His Gospel. Throughout His life, Jesus has laboriously defended His Father and the cause of truth. He has tried to elude them from the grasp of Satan. If only they have eyes that see and hearts that believe, they would certainly put their hope in Jesus, the Son of God, and the truth would set them free. As it is, the Jews find themselves bound up in their stubbornness and ignorance. They proudly call themselves descendants of Abraham, yet in boasting of this truth, they fail to see that Jesus, Son of the Jews, is also a descendant of this father of faith. The greatest tragedy that Jesus experienced up to the point of His death is that of ignorance of the truth. Even Pilate questioned Jesus about truth. Pilate, seemingly sidelined by the authorities of the day, gives in to popular demand rather than the truth. Often those who stand on the side of the truth are the minority, which is why they are seemingly unpopular. Every day, we are fed with lies. It is so common that oftentimes, we forget what the truth is even if it really matters. Little white lies turn into big black lies, dishonesty turns into corruption, and falsehood in turn produces the blind eye of ignorance. “Truth” in the Bible denotes the quality of faithfulness and reliability. When we speak of God’s truth, it is the loving faithfulness of God that we are referring to. Truth is also the reliable knowledge in the factual sense. When Jesus speaks of Himself as the Truth, the truth here means the loving faithfulness of God. Jesus prays at the Last Supper that His disciples be sanctified in the truth (John 17). The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth who stands by Christ and witnesses to the truth. Fr. Brian Steele, MGL Reflection Question: Am I living on the side of truth or am I living a life of lies? Lord, teach me the truth for it is this that will set me free. Amen. St. Carpus, pray for us. | |
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