7.31.08

Here are the daily scripture and reflection questions for Thursday. Click on the scripture link below to access today’s reading, then take time to reflect on the questions below.

John 1:4-13

Like Psalm 139, which you read on Tuesday, the prologue to John’s gospel talks about light and darkness. But now the light of God had come as a human being named Jesus, and brought with him the invitation for every person to live fully into our destiny as children of God.

• What implications do you see in the fact that every person you meet is included in Jesus’ love, and has the right to be seen as a child of God? Are there people you tend to regard as less valuable than that?
• What implications do you see in the fact that you are included in Jesus’ love, and have the right to be included as a child of God? Are there times when you struggle to value yourself as highly as God does?

7.30.08

Here are the daily scripture and reflection questions for Wednesday. Click on the scripture link below to access today’s reading, then take time to reflect on the questions below.

Ecclesiastes 3:1-11

In this passage, a wise old Hebrew teacher—maybe Solomon, maybe someone else—offers a broad perspective on life. Step back from the day-to-day grind, he says, and see that God has made everything beautiful “in its time,” and has set eternity in every human heart.

• Are there people you know whose inner beauty remains hidden from you? How can your relationship with God open your eyes to the value of every person, the lessons to be learned in every experience?
• Consider the forces at work in your life to lock your gaze onto “right now,” onto the values and concerns of this world. If God has set eternity in your heart, how are you nurturing that eternal perspective? How does that perspective help you find peace amid the pressures of your life?

7.29.08

Correction to yesterday’s post- The scripture reference was incorrect in yesterday’s GPS. The correct scripture is Luke 7:36-50. We are sorry for any confusion this may have caused.

Here are the daily scripture and reflection questions for Tuesday. Click on the scripture link below to access today’s reading, then take time to reflect on the questions below.

Psalm 139:1-12

Have you ever tried to run away from God? Or maybe had moments when you feared God had given up on you? The psalmist says that, no matter where we go, God goes there with us—and that God will always guide and support us.

• Suppose all of the promises in this psalm were shaped into a “commercial” for God. Would you believe them? Would you want to have a God who watched over you so faithfully and patiently?
• What are the parts of your life, of yourself, that you keep the most hidden? Do you realize that God knows all about them—and looks on you with compassion and love anyway? Talk to God about those hidden things today—and listen inwardly for God’s response.

7.28.08

Here are the daily scripture and reflection questions for Monday. Click on the scripture link below to access today’s reading, then take time to reflect on the questions below.

Luke 7:36-50

In this story, both Simon the Pharisee and Jesus think they know all about the woman who washes Jesus’ feet with her tears. But only Jesus sees clearly the beauty of the person behind the surface ugliness of her life—and he responds with grace.

• How do you understand the message of the story Jesus tells Simon? Do you see yourself as someone for whom God has forgiven a large moral debt, or only a small one? What difference, if any, does that make in your relationship with God?
• A good reputation can be a valuable asset. Might accepting this “sinful” woman’s expression of love have damaged Jesus’ reputation, and made him less acceptable to people like Simon? What price(s) do you believe are too high to pay to maintain your reputation?

7.27.08

Use this weekly prayer to help you begin your time with God each day.

O God, you know that there is beauty and worth in all of creation – because you put it there in the first place. Open my eyes as I read your word this week, that I may more clearly see your imprint in every person I meet. Amen.

Click here to download a printable version of this week’s GPS.

7.26.08

Here are the daily scripture and reflection questions for Saturday. Click on the scripture link below to access today’s reading, then take time to reflect on the questions below.

1 Timothy 1:12-17

In the end, we can only learn to accept others as we are willing to take in the truth that God has accepted us. In today’s passage, the writer confesses his brokenness, not in grudging, minimizing terms, but in extravagant language: “I’m the worst of sinners.” But even so, he says, God has accepted me!

• In this passage, we find a reference to God’s “immense patience.” Reflect on this week’s readings—what are some examples of that patience? Where do you need God to be immensely patient with you?
• “Here is a trustworthy saying: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.” Do you trust that saying? If so, how does that trust show itself in your daily attitudes and actions?

7.25.08

Here are the daily scripture and reflection questions for Friday. Click on the scripture link below to access today’s reading, then take time to reflect on the questions below.

Ephesians 2:11-22

High School Musical ends with the song “We’re All In This Together.” Paul makes that point in these verses, alluding to the physical wall in the Jerusalem Temple which divided Gentile worshipers from those who were Jewish. Christ tore down the spiritual dividing wall, he says, to make one new humanity out of the two.

• How does accepting our own brokenness, and God’s grace as the only adequate answer to that brokenness, bring down the walls of status and assumed superiority that divide us from one another?
• How accepting are you toward people who worship at a different church than you? Who work for a rival business? Who cheer for a different college or pro sports team? Who support a different presidential candidate? Ask God to help you make Jesus your source of peace with others.

7.24.08

Here are the daily scripture and reflection questions for Thursday. Click on the scripture link below to access today’s reading, then take time to reflect on the questions below.

Romans 15:1-7

This passage is about how we relate to others whose practices and opinions may differ from ours. (If you have time, read chapter 14 to get the full impact of Paul’s words.) In the end, Paul says, we don’t accept others because we are “nice” people—we accept others because God in Christ has accepted us.

• Paul mentions “endurance” and “encouragement.” How do you find those qualities important when you are dealing with people you struggle to accept?
• Paul says that when we accept one another we “bring praise to God.” How does showing acceptance to others, even if we disagree with them, bring God praise? How good are you at praising God in this way?

7.23.08

Here are the daily scripture and reflection questions for Wednesday. Click on the scripture link below to access today’s reading, then take time to reflect on the questions below.

Luke 23:32-43

Acceptance often seems to come more easily when we are safe and comfortable ourselves. That’s what makes this story so remarkable—Jesus was being executed on a cross, in the most painful and humiliating way the Romans could devise. Yet even under those circumstances he lived acceptance and forgiveness.

• While soldiers rolled dice to see which of them would get Jesus’ clothes, and religious rulers sneered, Jesus asked God to forgive them. Have you ever felt “unforgivable”? Are you willing to accept that Jesus is willing to forgive you?
• Consider the thief’s extraordinary request to Jesus. What made him think this crucified man would ever have a kingdom? Have you even felt (or known someone who felt) that “I’ve done too much—waited too long—I can’t turn to God now?” What does this story say to that attitude?

7.22.08

Here are the daily scripture and reflection questions for Tuesday. Click on the scripture link below to access today’s reading, then take time to reflect on the questions below.

Matthew 15:21-28

Is this really a story of acceptance? The ending says “yes”—and many Bible students suggest that we can better understand Jesus’ harsh-sounding words if we picture him saying them with a twinkle in his eye, parodying the narrow views of too many of his countrymen (and even his disciples).

• In today’s story, Jesus’ disciples express their prejudice against this foreign woman. Jesus seems to play along, but only to challenge their attitude. What exclusive feelings and attitudes do you have that Jesus might challenge?
• How did a story like this, in a gospel addressed to a primarily Jewish-Christian audience, speak to the divisions in the early church? How does it speak to our denominational, political and ethnic divisions today?