February 15: Far Better

Affirmation: It’s okay not to be okay. I allow myself to feel what I feel.

My affirmations repeat on the same date each month, and this one is true but sometimes difficult. Yesterday I learned that two people -one a man who I  had as a 4th grader, the other a mom of two of my former 4th graders were both killed in separate domestic violence incidents last Friday. In the last 2 weeks, we have had two other deaths in our circle that have impacted us greatly.
So I have been consciously allowing myself to feel the grief and trying to journal and acknowledge that I am feeling the loss, grief, sadness, uncertainty, heartbreak.
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Ponder, Personalize: Today, personalize the phrase: “…He will take great delight in you;…” As you go through your day, remind yourself that God takes great delight in YOU. (This is a perfect focus for me today. No matter what is happening in my life, God is with me and still loves me. It is true for you, too.)

Zephaniah 3:17 

“The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.” 

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Praying the Message of Jesus: A Year of Thoughts and Prayers
by Eugene Peterson

                     Feb 15


Far Better

"Unless you do far better than the Pharisees in the matters of right living, you won't know the first thing about entering the kingdom."

MATTHEW 5.20 

Religion that is a matter of careful, moral calculation is all wrong. The gospel requires a leap of faith. Christ does not counsel a safe, manageable morality that anyone can learn in ten easy lessons, but a reckless adventurous life commitment. 

 

What was the righteousness of the scribes? 

 

I do not want to be a religious bookkeeper, Lord, but a faith explorer, ready to take risks without counting the cost, ready to love without taking out insur­ance against suffering, ready to plunge into obedience without calculating my rewards. Amen. 

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