Daily Scripture‘Praise the Lord!How good it is to sing praises to our God; for he is gracious, and a song of praise is fitting.’ (Psalm 147 v 1)Daily ReflectionDo you ever find that the act of gazing at a beautiful painting, or listening to a piece of music or even reading a good book, makes you feel better - something deep within you has been moved by the sheer beauty of the scene, sound or word?This strange power that beauty has is almost akin to a ‘pain killer’ - it heals the wounds of our normal everyday lives - lives so often full of anxiety, stress & physical pain. There is something within our human nature that desperately searches for beauty - a search that cannot be suppressed even by the most terrible of events.God is gracious and God’s beautiful actions bring us life in the form of his wonderful creation - so let us sing praise to the Lord.Lyn Hayes ALM
Daily Scripture:‘I cry aloud to the Lord; to the Lord I make my supplication. I pour out my complaint before him and tell him of my trouble.’ (Psalm 142:1&2)Daily Reflection:Once again the psalmist is being completely open with God; telling Him exactly how he feels. The psalmist is obviously going through a bad time. He may have had no one else to speak to, so he pours out his troubles to God…..he complains to God…..he cries out to God. And he asks God (“I make my supplication”); but what does he ask for? That comes later in the psalm: he acknowledges God as his refuge, and asks Him to save him and to set him free. Complete honesty with God with how he is feeling. Were his prayers answered? We aren’t told. But if we don’t pray, our prayers can never be answered. Please do not give up. Be honest. Keep praying. God is still there even when we don’t hear the answer we want, when we want.Revd David
Daily Scripture‘Just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body.’ (1 Corinthians 12.12,13a)Daily ReflectionIt’s hard to overstate the benefits of physical health, when all the complex bits of our body function fully and work in coordination. Does this ever happen to perfection? The same dream applies to ‘bodies’ of people – families, faith groups, communities, nations. Even in a small group of Christian converts in the early days, individual members were failing to support the whole – the body’s limbs and organs at loggerheads. Paul’s response was to appeal to them to respect each other’s gifts and regard each member as equally vital to the health of the whole body. It really challenges Christians, and all families, communities and nations. What contribution am I making to the health, or to the dysfunction, of any body? David Harmsworth
Daily Scripture:‘O praise the Lord, all you nations; praise him, all you peoples.For great is his steadfast love towards us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures for ever. Alleluia.’ (Psalm 117)Daily ReflectionYou have just read a complete Psalm…..this is the shortest Psalm in the Bible; two verses. Yet it packs so much into it. We should praise the Lord: everyone; every nation. His love is “steadfast”; it is unwavering, reliable, constant, trustworthy. His faithfulness “endures for ever”. Not just every day of this life that we all live……but for ever. His steadfast love was there before we were born; all through this life; and will continue for us in the next stage of our life. That is why we should praise God; why we should shout out “praise the Lord”……Alleluia!! Prayer: Gracious God, we praise you for your faithfulness and pray that every nation may find your blessing in the face of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.Revd David.
