Daily Scripture:The spirit of the Lord shall rest on him,the spirit of wisdom and understanding,the spirit of counsel and might,the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.His delight shall be in the fear of the Lord. (Isaiah 11:2-3)Daily Reflection:Today, in the lectionary, the Church remembers Joseph of Nazareth. Joseph was the man whom God guided to marry Mary and raise Jesus, from birth to toddler, child to teenager, and on to being a young man. Joseph was a man of whom - in his culture and at that time - much was asked by God. He was also a man who fulfilled what was asked of him. These words, from the prophet Isaiah, were not written of Joseph; but in order to undertake what God asked of him, these spirits of the Lord must have been upon Joseph. May we too have at least some of these spirits in our lives, and be as faithful and obedient to God as Joseph was.Revd David
Daily ScriptureThose who hope in God shall renew their strength. They shall run and not grow weary, they shall walk and not be tired. (Isaiah 40:29-31)Daily ReflectionHope misplaced leads to false hopes. We are often disappointed because what we had hoped for fails to happen, or because the actual thing turns out not to be as good as we’d hoped (like those seaside arcades which swallow up our coins and just sometimes yield up a feeble prize!). Hope in God, as Isaiah speaks of it, is about core hope, not hopes of escape but about strength to persevere, to keep walking and not give up, though the going is tough and our prayers for relief don’t meet with swift answers. Jesus, facing the worst, prayed to be spared the suffering but entrusted himself to God. David Harmsworth
Daily Reflection A slightly different form of reflection today......17th March….Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Many will be familiar with some words of a prayer attributed to St Patrick, “Christ with, Christ before me, Christ behind me….”; a prayer known as Lorica or “Breastplate”. Here is another part of that prayer; you may wish to pray it for yourself today: I arise today, through God's strength to pilot me, God's might to uphold me, God's wisdom to guide me, God's eye to look before me, God's ear to hear me, God's word to speak for me, God's hand to guard me, God's shield to protect me, God's host to save me I arise today Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity, Through belief in the Threeness, Through confession of the Oneness of the Creator of creation. Revd David
Daily Scripture‘The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: ‘Come, go down to the potter’s house, and there I will let you hear my words.’ So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was working at his wheel. The vessel he was making of clay was spoiled in the potter’s hand, and he reworked it into another vessel, as seemed good to him....Just like the clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in my hand..’ (Jeremiah 18, v1-4, V6)Daily ReflectionTo be human, is to sometimes get things wrong. We cannot ever be perfect. When we do get things wrong, I'm sure I'm not the only one who would welcome another chance to 'get it right'. Imagine you are the clay in the potter's hands...We've lost our shape, we've got it wrong and become something other than the potter intended.... Does he give up on us? Here's the truth.."He does not cast us utterly away; but puts us afresh upon the wheel, and ‘makes us again’" (Meyer)In these verses, we see that our walk with God is full of second, third, fourth...infinite chances at "getting it right". God never gives up on us. Today, yield yourself to Him afresh, and ask that He "make you again". Vicki Young
