Morning Meditations

Today we read from Psalm 118, which is the Psalm that is quoted by the crowds on Palm Sunday. This meditation reflects on the fact that Jesus is often a very different kind of king than what we expect. We are challenged to lay aside our presuppositions about Jesus' kingdom and live into the type of kingdom Jesus is bringing into the world!

In the text today, Paul encourages his listeners to imitate him. He calls on followers of Christ to follow him in living in the way of the cross, and not be like those whose "God is their stomach and their glory is in their shame." Ultimately, during lent, we are called to name the sin that keeps us from being kingdom people so that we may pray as Christ taught us- "Your Kingdom Come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven."

Today we examine the words of Paul in Philippians chapter 3, where he considers all his previous attempts at righteousness to be rubbish. We learn that it is in knowing Christ through faith that we are made righteous, and ultimately end up living in right ways as we draw nearer to the heart of God.

In this episode, we read the beginning of the book of Job. Job teaches us that the worship of God is not dependent on what God gives us, but rather who God is!

The reading for today from 2nd Peter 2:4-21 describes a people who have lost their way and fallen into all kinds of sin. The words from the writer are harsh. Today's meditation reminds us that ultimately even the harsh words in scripture are to lead us back to relationship with God!

Today we look at a Psalm of Lament that reminds us that God wants us to be honest about our anger and frustration, even with our enemies. The amazing thing we find is that when we leave our enemy in God's hands, we open ourselves up to the potential of loving our enemies as God transforms us!

Today we read a passage from Deuteronomy that reminds the Israelites that everything they have is a gift from God. We North Americans could stand to hear this reminder as well. Remembering everything is a gift should then lead God's people to be generous towards God and toward those around them, especially the vulnerable populations like aliens, widows and orphans.

In today's meditation, we are reminded by the writer of Ecclesiastes that there is a time and a season for Everything. The challenge for us is to refrain from always looking toward a different time and realize that God is with us even in the worst of times. It might even be in these times that we grow the most.

In this episode we look at the story of Moses and how soul crushing circumstances can sometimes keep us from seeing the freedom that God wants to give us!

In this episode, we look at a Psalm of Protection and realize that our lives are in God's hands. The call of God's people is to trust God to be all that we need in any given circumstance!

Today we begin the journey of Lent. In this podcast we discus the fact that our fasting often is concerned about how God sees us, but our fasting should open our eyes to how God sees the world!

In this first episode, we look at what we hope to accomplish with this podcast and invite listeners to join us beginning Ash Wednesday, March 6th!