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July 18, 2023

Beloved Children of God

Ira Stan Campbell   |   Read Genesis 28:18-19

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Lectionary Week
July 17–23, 2023
Scripture Overview

As God promised land and descendants to Abraham, in the reading from Genesis God confirms these same promises to Abraham’s grandson Jacob. The psalmist meditates on and takes comfort in the fact that God knows everything and is everywhere. He asks God to search his heart and reveal if there are sins away from which he needs to turn. The Romans passage continues Paul’s reflection on the life in the Spirit. Because we are children of God, we cry out with confidence that God will hear and answer. Jesus tells a parable in Matthew concerning the final judgment. He says that the wicked will be taken first, then the righteous will be gathered together.

Questions and Suggestions for Reflection

Read Genesis 28:10-19a. When has God quietly been at work in your life? How do these experiences help you recognize God’s presence with you in ordinary days?Read Psalm 139:1-12, 23-24. God already knows us completely. What is holding you back from inviting God to search your heart?Read Romans 8:12-25. Consider the ways you already resemble God. In what ways do you wish to be transformed to resemble God more fully?Read Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43. Reflect on a time when you were frustrated by God’s inaction in the face of injustice. In hindsight, how was God at work?

Respond by posting a prayer .

Genesis 28:18-19

18 After Jacob got up early in the morning, he took the stone that he had put near his head, set it up as a sacred pillar, and poured oil on the top of it. 19 He named that sacred place Bethel, though Luz was the city’s original name.

Unless otherwise indicated, scripture quotations are from the Common English Bible. Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible. Used by permission.

A shift in my spiritual perspective occurred when I began to see all situations or places as potentially holy. From this viewpoint, walking the streets of Jerusalem or along the shores of Galilee is no more holy than strolling the paved boulevards of Birmingham or the red-clay back roads of...

Holy God, thank you for the places where I especially felt your presence. Help me to recall these times and to find strength for my journey in these remembrances. Amen.


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