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Today is Thursday, the twenty-third day of May, 2024, in the first week of Ordinary Time.

May the peace of Christ surround you and yours today and every day!

Day 24,178

After waiting almost two hours for a procedure that takes, maybe, five minutes, C got her steroid injection, yesterday morning. Her pain level was through the roof during the waiting time, and I strongly feel like maybe only one person in the entire facility had any clue as to how much pain she was in. This morning, she is still experiencing pain, but the intensity level seems to be much lower. Once again, she has an appointment with a spine surgeon tomorrow morning. If she feels capable of driving herself, I will be at work. If not, I will take her and go in after the appoint, like I did, yesterday.

We are going to take S to a new psychiatrist, this morning, appointment at 11:30. C is going to try to come with us, to meet the new doctor. Hopefully, this will go better than the last one.

Thank you all for your continued prayers and support during this time. It is such a helpless feeling when someone you love is experiencing so much pain and there is nothing you can do about it. I’m so mentally messed up that I had a cup of coffee in the middle of the afternoon, yesterday! I never do that.

TODAY’S DEVOTIONAL AND PRAYERS

Holy and Gracious God,
I confess that I have sinned against You.
Some of my sin I know - 
the thoughts and words and deeds
of which I am ashamed - 
but some is known only to You.
In the name of Jesus Christ
I ask for forgiveness. 
Deliver and restore me,
that I may rest in peace.

"I praise You, God, for this day. I begin by asking that You would strengthen my resolve. I know I am born sinful and live in a broken and sinful world. Help me, however, to avoid sinful temptations today. Keep me, I pray, from careless thoughts and words, selfish actions, gossip, envy, and other sins. Make my life instead a witness to the hope that I have in Christ. As He sacrificed His life out of love for me, help me follow His example and sacrifice of my own well-being to love and serve others in my life. In all things, preserve me in the faith by Your Word, that I may rejoice in my identity in Christ. In Jesus' name. Amen."
(Portals of Prayer, Prayer for Thursday Morning)

“They do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.”
(John 17:16-17 NRSV)

Today I am grateful:

• for the “High Priestly Prayer” of Jesus, which included all of us who would believe, down through the ages
• that we do not belong to this world, but our citizenship is in heaven
• for the truth of God’s Word
• for the peacefulness and contentment of the cat laying in front of me, right now
• that, because the Lord is my shepherd, I can live a life lacking nothing

Dear God and Father of us all, sanctify us in your truth. Your Word is truth. We come before your presence and ask you to touch us with your Spirit, to shape our lives in the truth and in the joy of your name. Touch us with your Spirit, that we may carry out our tasks in your service. May your face shine on us and on all needy people who turn to you. May your power be given ever more fully, and may your cause become great in the world until at last it brings new life to all nations. Amen.
(Daily Prayer from Plough.com)

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Clap your hands, all you peoples; 
shout to God with loud songs of joy.
(Psalms 47:1 NRSV)

When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion, 
we were like those who dream. 
Then our mouth was filled with laughter, 
and our tongue with shouts of joy; 
then it was said among the nations, 
"The LORD has done great things for them." 
The LORD has done great things for us, and we rejoiced. 

Restore our fortunes, O LORD, 
like the watercourses in the Negeb. 
May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy. 
Those who go out weeping, 
bearing the seed for sowing, 
shall come home with shouts of joy, 
carrying their sheaves.
(Psalms 126:1-6 NRSV)

Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
(Ephesians 3:20-21 NRSV)

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Let those who fear the LORD say, 
"His steadfast love endures forever." 

Out of my distress I called on the LORD; 
the LORD answered me and set me in a broad place. 
With the LORD on my side I do not fear. 
What can mortals do to me? 
The LORD is on my side to help me;
 I shall look in triumph on those who hate me. 
It is better to take refuge in the LORD 
than to put confidence in mortals.
 It is better to take refuge in the LORD 
than to put confidence in princes.
(Psalms 118:4-9 NRSV)

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The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not want. 
He makes me lie down in green pastures; 
he leads me beside still waters; 
he restores my soul. 
He leads me in right paths for his name's sake.

 Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; 
for you are with me; 
your rod and your staff—they comfort me. 

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; 
you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me 
all the days of my life, 
and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD 
my whole life long.
(Psalms 23:1-6 NRSV)

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I don’t have much commentary, this morning. I was struck with a strong sense of contentment, this morning, in the face of everything that is going on. No, I’m not content that my wife is in great pain. Not at all. But there is nothing that I can do about that, other than pray for her and support her as we go through procedures and so on. I can be there for her to drive her places, if needed, and then, if surgery happens, to care for her during her recovery. But I can’t stop the pain.

God doesn’t call us to stop the pain. We feel helpless, so often, because we can’t, and yet we want to try. I think we struggle in the same way with sin in our world. We see wrongdoing, and we want to stop it. But, again, God doesn’t call us to rid the world of sin. He calls us to take care of the victims of sin; to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, protect those who suffer abuse, visit prisoners and the sick, and free the oppressed. We can’t stop the pain, but we can put “salve” on the wounds.

The Lord is my shepherd. Because of this, I can live a life without lack. I’ve addressed this before, but it comes around again, occasionally. This doesn’t mean that God is going to give me everything I want. That’s how some people, well-meaning as they may be, read passages like that. In our culture, we often confuse needs with wants.

But when I read Psalm 23, I see God changing my wants. The way I can live a life without lack is to want less, to expect less, and, therefore, lack nothing. It is, as Paul said, to be content with what I have.

Not that I am referring to being in need; for I have learned to be content with whatever I have. I know what it is to have little, and I know what it is to have plenty. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being well-fed and of going hungry, of having plenty and of being in need. I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
(Philippians 4:11-13 NRSV)

Contentment. Today’s header photo exhibits that. That’s my cat, by the way (just don’t look at the mess under the desk)(of course, you just looked at the mess under the desk). Cats have the art of contentment down pat. We could learn a lot from them.

When I experience the contentment of which Paul speaks, which is shown in Psalm 23, “I can do all things through him who strengthens me.”

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Thank You, Father, for this unexpected message, this morning. I wasn’t expecting to get a word about contentment, today. Of course, I don’t know what I was expecting, but as I started reading Your Word, it wasn’t that. But You have given me great truth and great inspiration, and You used a little cat to do it, along with truth from Your Word.

I thank You, always, for the inspiration of Psalm 23. There’s a reason it is probably the most popular passage in all of Scripture (with the possible exception of John 3:16, and that elusive verse that says You help those who help themselves). I thank You that, this morning, You led me beside still waters and made me lie down in a green pasture. You have, indeed, restored my soul, this morning.

My table is filled, my cup overflows, and this in the presence of all who know me. And I, as Dallas Willard so perfectly writes, will share this full table and overflowing cup with all who know me. Even if they happen to be my “enemy.” I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me, because You have taught me to be content.

Now, may I remember that tomorrow, and even in a few hours, when something happens (because it always does) to threaten that peace and contentment.

"Listening God, you invited us to pray, to call on you and change our world. How bored you must be with our sometimes safe and harmless prayers. Saturate our lives with the Holy Spirit so that we know what to pray, who to pray for, and how best to pray. Holy Spirit, shake up the ways we pray, quickening our hearts and expanding our expectations so that we may live our faith more boldly. Amen."
(Seeking God's Face, Ordinary Time - Day 4)

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Now may the God of peace, who brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, make you complete in everything good so that you may do his will, working among us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.
(Hebrews 13:20-21 NRSV)

Grace and peace, friends