DAILY REFLECTION
Thursday 16th May
This week leading to Pentecost Sunday, we suggest you listen to the Daily reflections on the ‘Thy Kingdom Come’ website. Here is the link: https://www.ctcinfohub.org/thy-kingdom-come-2024-daily-reflections/
In case you cannot get those reflection
Reading: Acts 2.1-4 When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. 4 All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability.
Reflection:
Acts 2:1-4 marks the birth of the Christian church with the Holy Spirit descending on the disciples, making them able to speak in various languages and to tell of Jesus’ message of forgiveness and love. This was as Jesus' promised.
For me today, it underscores the power of the Holy Spirit to help us to change our lives to become God meant us to be. It encourages us to ask the Spirit to guide us, live boldly in our faith. The Spirit helps us to share Christ's love across cultural and linguistic barriers.
This passage can inspires to trust the Spirit’s help to live out our lives as a witness to change people’s destiny in our own situations. A friend of a friend did that for me by knocking on my door at a turning point in my life and pointing me to his church for help.
Prayer: Lord, please fill us with your Holy Spirit so we too can help with spoken word to share the wonderful message of hope you have given us and change people’s eternal destiny. Amen.
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Wednesday 15th May
Reading: Matthew 9
37 Then he (Jesus) said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; 38 therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.”
Reflection: On the day of Pentecost those workers were equipped by the Spirit, went out into the field and reaped an incredible harvest.
Today – nothing has changed. There is still lots for us to do to bring God’s love to this broken world and communities, we may be few, and the same Holy Spirit is still ours! Think what a few disciples did.
We can pray, we can still be generous with our time and money, we can reach out for the vulnerable.
In Galatians 6, Paul makes a statement which seems apt for the times we find ourselves living in. He says 'Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.'
Thank you, God, that we can count on your Holy Spirit to strengthen us to what you call us to do right where we are.
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, help us by you Spirit to work together with love to give glory to God.
https://www.christianaid.org.uk/news/pentecost-reflection
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Tuesday 14th May
This week leading to Pentecost Sunday, we suggest you listen to the Daily reflections on the ‘Thy Kingdom Come’ website. Here is the link: https://www.ctcinfohub.org/thy-kingdom-come-2024-daily-reflections/
Another Daily reflection Lectio 365 which I also recommend as preparation for Pentecost.
Reading: Matthew 3:16-17
16 And when Jesus had been baptized, just as he came up from the water, suddenly the heavens were opened to him and he saw God’s Spirit descending like a dove and alighting on him. 17 And a voice from the heavens said, “This is my Son, the Beloved,[a] with whom I am well pleased.”
Reflection:
Matthew 3:16-17 describes the baptism of Jesus, where the heavens open, the Spirit descends like a dove started Jesus’ ministry. He announced that ministry 40 days later after reading the prophecy in Isaiah 61 “he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor .He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour.”
When the holy Spirit fell on the disciples at Pentecost that same commission came on the disciples and now comes on us.
Pentecost empowers us to live out our faith with boldness and unity. The Spirit's descent then signifies God's ongoing presence and guidance, inviting us to receive Christ’s love and spread the Gospel and continue the mission started at Jesus' baptism and passed on to us through Pentecost.
Prayer:
Lord, fill us with
your Spirit and help us to share your love and your work today. Amen
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Monday 13th May
This week leading to Pentecost Sunday we suggest you listen to the Daily reflections on the ‘Thy Kingdom Come’ website. Here is the link: https://www.ctcinfohub.org/thy-kingdom-come-2024-daily-reflections/
I have put an extract from another Daily reflection Lectio 365 today below which I also recommend as preparation for Pentecost.
Reading: Genesis 1-12
1 When God began to create[a] the heavens and the earth, 2 the earth was complete chaos, and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God[b] swept over the face of the waters.
Reflection: Just as the spirit made visible as a hovering bird at creation, so the spirit was made visible as a hovering dove at Jesus’s baptism, accompanied by the Father’s creative voice, thundering the affirmation, “you are my beloved son; with you I am well pleased”. Before a single word of teaching, any wonderous sign, or the calling of disciples, the father is loves and is pleased with Jesus.
And I, who have received the same spirit, and close not first in the power of the kingdom, but with the love and approval of the King himself. Will I dare to believe him when the father says over me at the beginning of this new day, “you are my beloved; with you I am well pleased.”
Prayer: father, I receive your love and affirmation right now – not as a reward for good behaviour-but as grace freely given. Like the wondering Prodigal, I am welcomed into this day by Your embrace. I dare to believe a fresh in Your love this day.
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Friday 10th May
Reading: Colossians 312 Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. 13 Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.
Reflection: These verses can be a prayer for how we all can live. God has chosen us and loves us despite our flaws. We are encouraged to put on these precious clothes. If we don’t feel we have these, we are urged to wear them until they become a second nature to us. compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.They are beautiful! The world around us needs to see them. They bring beauty to every situation.
Verse 13 tells us that forgiving each other is the condition of our release for prosecution for our flaws and failures of the past by a God of love. Love, God’s love, is another garment we are asked to wear. We need God to give it to us as it is what binds us together as Christ’s followers as we are “called in one body”.
Finally, Paul asks us to let peace rule in our hearts and be thankful. Letting peace rule in our hearts assumes that it needs to win over all the voices in our head. Lets do that and thank God for the peace and the love he promises to shed abroad in our hearts (Romans 5.5).
Prayer: Lord, please help us to put on these Godly clothing and let your peace rule in our hearts today. Amen.
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Thursday 9th May
Ascension day
Reading: Acts 1.6-11
So when they had come together, they asked him, ‘Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?’ He replied, ‘It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’ When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. While he was going and they were gazing up towards heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up towards heaven? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.’
Reflection:
Today we celebrate Jesus ascending to heaven. After his death and resurrection Jesus showed himself to the disciples. Yet on this day, he leaves them physically for ever. His last words is to prepare them to move their focus from his physical presence to the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit.
The disciples are to be witnesses, starting from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth. Their mission is to change from not just their land in Israel but to the ends of the earth.
For the message of God’s love and their message will free people from their broken lives into the hope for all people. In a few days on Pentecost they will be given the Spirit to do so.
May we join them in this mission to sharing the Good News to all, by asking Jesus to fill us with his Spirit.
Prayer: Lord, please help us through prayer and with spoken
word to share the wonderful message of hope you have given us. Amen.
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Wednesday 8th May
Reading:1 Peter 4
7 The end of all things is near; therefore be serious and discipline yourselves for the sake of your prayers. 8 Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins. 9 Be hospitable to one another without complaining. 10 Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received.
Reflection: Life is short (verse7!). Let’s live with purpose God’s will for us. Peter urges us above all, to love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. We are all imperfect. Our flaws rub against each other. Christ's love for us compels us to look past faults and shortcomings, to forgive, and to reconcile.
In a world full of division and strife, our love for one another stands as a powerful testimony to the transformative power of Christ. We are called to live with intentionality, love deeply, show hospitality, and use our gifts to serve others. By doing so, we not only make the most of our time on earth but also contribute to the unity and flourishing of the body of Christ. If we cannot work together in love and unity, we fail to share the image of Christ in this world
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, help us
by you Spirit to work together with love to give glory to God.
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Tuesday 7th May
Reading: Psalm 125
1 Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion,
which cannot be moved but abides forever.
2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
so the Lord surrounds his people
from this time on and forevermore.
3 For the sceptre (sword) of wickedness shall not rest
on the land allotted to the righteous,
so that the righteous might not stretch out
their hands to do wrong.
4 Do good, O Lord, to those who are good
and to those who are upright in their hearts.
5 But those who turn aside to their own crooked ways,
the Lord will lead away with evildoers.
Peace be upon Israel!
Reflection: This Psalm promises that as we trust God we are surrounded by a protected fortress. If we still have anxiety, we have to speak to our souls like David did in Psalm 43.
“Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise him, my help and my God”. We need to ‘Be still, and know that He is God’.
Praise and thankfulness puts us in line with trusting God again even if we don’t feel it.
Paul reminds us not to “worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has already to experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard our hearts and minds as we live in Christ Jesus.
Faith is the strength by which we emerge out of our shattered world view and mind-set into the light of God’s love and trust.
Prayer:
Lord, we pray to be
strong and of good courage. Help us not to be afraid or dismayed for you are
with us. Amen
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