Today is Wednesday, May 29, 2019.
Day 22,357
Thirty-six days until July 4
Once again, I’m short on time. The Texas Rangers won, 11-4. Adrian Sampson got the win. They’re 26-26, in third place in the AL West, nine games out. They play Seattle again today, at 2:40 PM CDT. Jose Leclerc will take the mound for Texas
The Red Sox lost, 7-5, when the Indians scored 5 in the top of the ninth. Travis Lakins took the loss. They are 29-26, in third place in the AL East, 6.5 games out. They play Cleveland again today, at 5:10 PM CDT. Ryan Weber will start for Boston.
TODAY’S DEVOTIONAL AND PRAYERS
All Scriptures are from the ESV unless otherwise noted
Love the LORD, all you his saints! The LORD preserves the faithful but abundantly repays the one who acts in pride.
Be strong, and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for the LORD!
Psalm 31:23-24
Today I am grateful:
1. That this is only a four day work week
2. That, even though it may feel/look the same, this morning is completely new and different from yesterday morning
3. That all parts of the body of Christ are equally needed
4. That, no matter how dark my day might seem, there are moments of beauty to be embraced and treasured
5. For the Psalms, which teach me to respond to the Word of God to me
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you,
because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
If we have died with him, we shall also live with him;
if we endure, we shall also reign with him.
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you,
because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.
(The Book of Common Prayer)
(From Daily Guideposts 2019)
Those who seek me diligently find me. . . . My fruit is better than gold, even fine gold.
Proverbs 8:17, 19
“No matter how awful my day has been, there are always some gifts of beauty in it, however small. Every night I review my day and ask God to help me find them, and He always does.”
So begins today’s reading, as writer Kim Taylor Henry recounts some words from a dear friend who is battling a serious illness. Those words triggered a memory in Kim’s mind, a memory of being eight years old, next to her grandpa, who was showing her how to sift mud to find gold.
“My friend’s comments remind me God is our expert gold miner. No matter how dirty or dark our days, they hold nuggets of beauty, of God’s wonders–gifts of life as it is meant to be.” Just like the gold miner, it is up to us to sift through the muck and mire and find those “nuggets” and discard the mud.
This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
1 John 1:5
And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
2 Peter 1:19
Father, as cliche as this may sound, help me find the gold in each day, and, most especially, help me throw away the mud, the parts that I don’t need to dwell upon. Help me seek you today, knowing that, if I seek, I will find. Spirit remind me of that truth, that I may have confidence in my seeking. And show me the beauty. When I start focusing on the negative, because I probably will, show me the beauty.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.
Jude 1:24-25
Grace and peace, friends.
Spaces of Beauty, Grace, Prayer, and Mercy 