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God is Doing a New Thing
It’s a new year, a new beginning. And we at The Upper Room feel the excitement Read More
Doyle Burbank-Williams | Read Colossians 1:9-12
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Sign Up TodayMost houses are not plumb. Some were never built that way; others have settled or shifted. It is almost impossible to bring an out-of-plumb house back into true. We think of the world that way too: We just have to learn to live with it, askew as it is.
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Open our eyes to the off angles of life, O Christ, that our prayers of words might start the work of prayer that brings us back into plumb. Amen.
Amos is a farmer called by God to deliver a message to Jeroboam, the king of Israel (the Northern Kingdom in the divided monarchy). Because the king has not listened to the warnings from God, judgment will come. The psalmist also warns of judgment, in this case for those who oppress the weak and needy and fail to protect them from the wicked. Such heartless people will surely be brought low by God. The opening to the letter to the Colossians is a prayer of thanksgiving for their faith in Christ and the spiritual fruit they are producing in the world. The parable in the Gospel reading challenges our human tendency to ignore need. Jesus teaches that mercy should overcome any reason we might find to harden our hearts.
Read Amos 7:7-17. Look for God’s plumb line in the world. In what ways is the ground you stand on askew?
Read Psalm 82. If you sit on the council of the Most High, how does this change your perspective on the world?
Read Colossians 1:1-14. Prayers of mere words are just the beginning of prayer. To what prayerful actions do your prayerful words call you?
Read Luke 10:25-37. The author writes, “Even those trying to be faithful walk askew.” Consider how you live out Jesus’ call to love your neighbor.
Respond by posting a prayer.
"God doesn’t just save us for heaven in the future. God saves our hearts and souls and bodies in the here and now. God cares about our whole person, just as we are." Read more.
