Daily Reflections (5th Sunday after Pentecost)

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Day 1

(Psalm 145:8)

Take some time to meditate on the words about God from this Psalm: gracious; merciful; slow to anger; abounding in steadfast love. Too often we can be quick to think about a judgemental God, ready to identify our faults and condemn us for them. But this is not the God we find in Scripture. We find a God who is incredibly patient: a God that forgives and waits for our response. Keep meditating on those words and remember how good God is.

Day 2

(Psalm 145:9)

If ever we need to see what God’s compassion is like, we only need to look through the Gospels. Jesus’ compassion reached out to so many people and it wasn’t an empty compassion. It was real and tangible. He healed, he touched people who no one else would. He even raised Lazarus from the dead. He cared about people and demonstrated just how much God loves us.  We can do nothing but respond with compassion to others, just as God has shown compassion for us.

Day 3

(Psalm 145:10)

What are you thankful for? Take some time to think of all the things you’d like to give thanks to God for. Maybe write a list. Then offer them to God, either through prayer, or through an action, such as putting the list on the fridge. Sometimes it’s easy to focus on all the things that are going wrong or the thing we don’t have, but it’s also good to take time to thank God for those things we do have or those things that are going right.

Day 4

(Psalm 145:11-12)

Take some time today to tell someone of the good things God is doing. Where is God at work? What in your life is good? Celebrate God’s glorious splendour.

Day 5

(Psalm 145:13)

My nephew contacted my parents the other day to tell them they needed to look out for a shooting star and wish for the virus to go away. I’d like to think that it’s his desire to reach out to the Creator, to God, to do something to help the world. He’s just framed it in the way he knows. We may not feel it, but God’s dominion endures, God is reigning and is faithful. There’s a deep urge in most of us to trust that beyond the world we see, something greater is at work and there is a better world waiting.

Day 6

(Psalm 145:14)

Jesus said the least shall be the greatest and the last shall be the first. Here is God’s preference for those who are falling or those who are bowed down. There’s echoes through Scripture of God having a preference for the poor, the underprivileged, the oppressed, the downtrodden. If you’re unsure of this, read Luke’s Gospel. Take some time to think about who God would side with in our world. Who are those who are falling? Is God calling you to be the hands of Christ to reach out to them?