Presence

“I stand at the door and knock,” says the Lord. (Revelation 3:20). What a wonderful privilege that the Lord of all creation desires to come to me. I welcome His presence.

Freedom

Lord, guide me always
to do Your holy will,
knowing that Your strength
will carry me through.

Consciousness

Knowing that God loves me unconditionally,
I look honestly over the last day, its events and my feelings.
Do I have something to be grateful for? Then I give thanks.
Is there something I am sorry for? Then I ask forgiveness.

The Word of God

²⁹After Jesus had left that place, he passed along the Sea of Galilee, and he went up the mountain, where he sat down. ³⁰Great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the maimed, the mute, and many others. They put them at his feet, and he cured them, ³¹so that the crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the maimed whole, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel.

³²Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, “I have compassion for the crowd because they have been with me now for three days and have nothing to eat, and I do not want to send them away hungry, for they might faint on the way.” ³³The disciples said to him, “Where are we to get enough bread in the desert to feed so great a crowd?” ³⁴Jesus asked them, “How many loaves have you?” They said, “Seven, and a few small fish.” ³⁵Then ordering the crowd to sit down on the ground, ³⁶he took the seven loaves and the fish, and after giving thanks he broke them and gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds. ³⁷And all of them ate and were filled, and they took up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full.

Inspiration

Jesus always had compassion for the crowds that came to hear him. He feeds them first through his preaching on the level of their spirits, and then he looks after their bodily needs. Jesus said, ‘My words are spirit and they are life.’ Let us take his words into our hearts and respond to them with whatever words come to mind.

Jesus is still our Shepherd today and in prayer, we can be in his company. We can now take the words of Psalm 22, ‘The Lord is my Shepherd’, and allow them to speak to us, responding with whatever comes to mind. 

Conversation

I imagine now one of the Persons of the Trinity before me, Father, Son or Holy Spirit, whoever comes to my imagination most naturally, and I have a heart-to-heart conversation about what I have just read or what I am feeling and experiencing in my life today.

Conclusion

I thank God for His gift of love
as I go forth with joy and hope
to serve His people.

Amen