The Daily Lectionary for SATURDAY, June 15, 2019

The Boy Jesus in the Temple
Luke 2:41-52

The Daily Lectionary

SATURDAY, June 15, 2019

(Revised Common Lectionary Year C)

Psalm 8

Divine Majesty and Human Dignity
To the leader: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of David.
1  O Lord, our Sovereign,
     how majestic is your name in all the earth!
   You have set your glory above the heavens.
2    Out of the mouths of babes and infants
   you have founded a bulwark because of your foes,
     to silence the enemy and the avenger.

3  When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
     the moon and the stars that you have established;
4  what are human beings that you are mindful of them,
     mortals that you care for them?

5  Yet you have made them a little lower than God,
     and crowned them with glory and honor.
6  You have given them dominion over the works of your hands;
     you have put all things under their feet,
7  all sheep and oxen,
     and also the beasts of the field,
8  the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,
     whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

9  O Lord, our Sovereign,
     how majestic is your name in all the earth!

Proverbs 4:1-9

Parental Advice
4:1 Listen, children, to a father’s instruction,
     and be attentive, that you may gain insight;
2  for I give you good precepts:
     do not forsake my teaching.
3  When I was a son with my father,
     tender, and my mother’s favorite,
4  he taught me, and said to me,
   “Let your heart hold fast my words;
     keep my commandments, and live.
5  Get wisdom; get insight: do not forget, nor turn away
     from the words of my mouth.
6  Do not forsake her, and she will keep you;
     love her, and she will guard you.
7  The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom,
     and whatever else you get, get insight.
8  Prize her highly, and she will exalt you;
     she will honor you if you embrace her.
9  She will place on your head a fair garland;
     she will bestow on you a beautiful crown.”

Luke 2:41-52

The Boy Jesus in the Temple2:41 Now every year his parents went to Jerusalem for the festival of the Passover. 42 And when he was twelve years old, they went up as usual for the festival. 43 When the festival was ended and they started to return, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but his parents did not know it. 44 Assuming that he was in the group of travelers, they went a day’s journey. Then they started to look for him among their relatives and friends. 45 When they did not find him, they returned to Jerusalem to search for him. 46 After three days they found him in the temple, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. 47 And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. 48 When his parents saw him they were astonished; and his mother said to him, “Child, why have you treated us like this? Look, your father and I have been searching for you in great anxiety.” 49 He said to them, “Why were you searching for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” 50 But they did not understand what he said to them. 51 Then he went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was obedient to them. His mother treasured all these things in her heart.

52 And Jesus increased in wisdom and in years, and in divine and human favor.

Optional parts of the readings are set off in [square brackets.]

The Bible texts of the Old Testament, Epistle and Gospel lessons are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Church of Christ in the USA, and used by permission.

The Daily Lectionary is a three year cyclical lectionary. We are currently in Year C. Beginning with the first Sunday of Advent in 2019, we will be in Year A. The year which ended at Advent 2018 was Year B. These readings complement the Sunday and festival readings: Thursday through Saturday readings help prepare the reader for the Sunday ahead; Monday through Wednesday readings help the reader reflect and digest on what they heard in worship. Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings, copyright © 2005 Consultation on Common Texts. www.commontexts.org
“... Did you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”

The Morning Prayer for SATURDAY, June 15, 2019

Saturday morning prayer

Lord on this preparation day, I jump into all that You have given me. Might I embrace each part of this glorious time, enjoying the service, relishing in the challenges, engaging with the fun and celebrating with laughter.

Lord on this day, may I enjoy the beauty of the created world all around me. Might I run, drive, walk and sing in the freedom of this day! Thank you that right now I can feel Your love flowing through each vein of my being, causing me to pulsate with vision and life. Lord, on this day I jump into all that You have given me. Amen.

Lord, on this preparation day, I wake to live and give.

May it be a worthwhile day, fill up to the brim.

A day with service, laughter, work and play,

A time to run and sing.

May Saturday be a day I walk

And breathe your goodness in,

Enjoy the beauty all around

And freedoms joy within.

Early Morning Prayer

You are the glorious morning,

You are refreshment and peace.

You are the sounds as the dawn breaks,

You are the rose that smells sweet.

You are the Lord, my creator,

You are the wonder of life.

You are the great words of wisdom,

I read them and fill up inside.

You are the wonderful sunrise,

You are restorer of hope.

You are the air that we breathe now,

You are the warm winter coat.

You are the Lord, my creator,

You are a love without end.

You are all grace and forgiveness,

I stand loved and free as your friend.

Verse of the Day SATURDAY, June 15, 2019

Proverbs 23:24 (NIV) The father of a righteous child has great joy; a man who fathers a wise son rejoices in him.

Read all of Proverbs 23

Listen to Proverbs 23

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Un dia a la Vez - Saturday, June 15, 2019

Oración por sabiduría de Dios

Porque el Señor da la sabiduría; conocimiento y ciencia brotan de sus labios.

~ Proverbios 2:6 (NVI)

Padre, en estos días estaba escuchando una enseñanza del pastor Charles Stanley donde hablaba de lo poderoso que es orar e interceder por otras personas, y que cuando uno ora por las necesidades de los demás, tú respondes de una manera especial.

Yo lo he experimentado con la oración diaria en el programa de la radio.

Por eso quiero, mi Dios, interceder durante este devocional por las necesidades de tus hijos y que desde el cielo hagas tu santa voluntad.

Dios mío, te suplico que le des a cada uno de mis amigos y hermanos mucha sabiduría. Tú dices que a cada uno se nos ha dado una porción y que te la pidamos si necesitamos más.

Padre, necesitamos ser sabios para que las decisiones que tomemos sean adecuadas. Para que las palabras que digamos, y aun nuestros pensamientos, estén llenos de ti y de tu santa voluntad.

Sabemos que tendremos situaciones que enfrentar, pero no queremos seguir equivocándonos y arrastrando a nuestros seres queridos.

Todo esto te lo pedimos en el nombre de Jesús.

Amén y amén.

Un Día a la Vez Copyright © by Claudia Pinzón
Oración por sabiduría de Dios

Standing Strong Through the Storm - Saturday, June 15, 2019

PERSISTENT PRAYER

As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the LORD by failing to pray for you.

~ 1 Samuel 12:23a (NIV)

An important aspect of prayer is to pray patiently. God meets our needs “at the proper time” (Galatians 6:9). Too often Christians weary of praying, and give up. This is often justified on the basis that God's failure to answer means the request is not according to His will. Remember, God can: 

Deliver - whatever we ask in His name; 

Delay - to fit His perfect timing (only He sees the end from the beginning); 

Deny - and say ‘No’ because we ask amiss or give a

Different and better answer.

Jesus urges us to be persistent in prayer (Luke 11:5-8). This does not mean that God does not want to meet our needs and that we need to try to persuade Him. It simply means that only God, who completely understands the whole situation, can know when and how to answer. Only when we have assurance in our hearts from the Lord, should we remove a matter from our prayer list.

Many times Christians lose heart in prayer because they do not recognize when the Lord does answer their prayers. Sometimes this is due to the fact that they did not pray specifically enough and sometimes because they have decided in advance how God must answer. Perhaps they think that only a great miracle can meet their need.

But the Lord may change the circumstances so that the need seems to be supplied “naturally.” Mature believers will recognize that the events of everyday life also come from the Lord. Our daily bread and safety are miracles of God in this troubled world Let us not presume to tell God how to answer, and let us praise Him for His daily care.

RESPONSE: Today I will acknowledge God gives His best to those who leave the choices to Him.

PRAYER: Lord, help me to be patient and persistent…and leave the answers to my prayers in Your hands.

Standing Strong Through The Storm (SSTS), a daily devotional message by SSTS author Paul Estabrooks. © 2011 Open Doors International. Used by permission.

The NIV Couples Devotional - Saturday, June 15, 2019

Righting Wrong Assumptions

John 9:1–41

His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

~ John 9:2 (NIV)

It’s so easy to make assumptions. I remember a time I made a hasty conclusion and was proved wrong.

I was teaching a writing course for a local university, and on the first night, I strolled up the front sidewalk and noticed a man sitting on the bench outside, smoking a cigarette. He was dirty, missing most of his front teeth, and he didn’t look too bright. His flannel shirt was torn, and his jeans were dirty. “He’s probably homeless,” I thought, moving on into the building.

As the students filed into class, I winced as I saw “Homeless” take a seat and pull a notebook out of his bag. “Oh, great,” I thought. “He’ll probably need remedial training; I bet he can’t string two sentences together.”

The man didn’t say a word during that first class. At the end of the three hours, I collected some paragraphs I had assigned to the students earlier that evening in which they were to describe a childhood experience that had affected them as adults.

I skimmed through the assignments and gasped in disbelief. “Homeless” could write! His paper was eloquent and heart wrenching; in short, it was the best first paper I’d read from a student in years.

This man subsequently went on to publish a book of essays dealing with his childhood.

The people of Jesus’ day were no different than I was. The man in John 9 must have had a rough life; because he had been born blind, people assumed he was being punished. Either he had sinned in the womb (or in a preexistent state) or else his condition was the result of the sin of his parents. Even Jesus’ disciples bought into those assumptions!

That kind of thinking still pervades our society, even among Christians: If you’d had more faith, your parent could have been cured of cancer. If you’d been a better husband or wife, your spouse wouldn’t have left you. On the flip side, those people over there have been so tremendously blessed; they must be doing something right.

We make judgments in marriage too. Assumptions about our spouse’s motives, feelings or rationale for doing something—without speaking about it first—can be so wrong. Yet our misconceptions can escalate into angry words, hard feelings and cold wars without us ever knowing the truth.

Jesus’ words in John 9:3 blow assumptions out of the water. “Neither this man nor his parents sinned . . . but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.” Likewise, God is working through our marriages and us, using various situations not to humble or exalt us but to reveal himself. He permits certain things to happen to us to teach us what it means to be his followers. So our assumptions may fall flat as we live out the works God displays in us.

We just need to be sure we open the Book before making judgments about what’s inside others.

Valerie Van Kooten

Let’s Talk

• What preconceived notions did we have of each other when we first met? Were they correct or not?
• Why is it dangerous to make assumptions about a person or situation before knowing much about it? How do we find out what’s really going on?
• When have our assumptions been proven wrong about others who were having a hard time? How did that change our response to them?

It’s so easy to make assumptions. I remember a time I made a hasty conclusion and was proved wrong.

LHM Daily Devotions - Clean House

"Clean House"

Jun. 15, 2019

And Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold and bought in the temple, and He overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those who sold pigeons. He said to them, "It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer,' but you make it a den of robbers." And the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them.

~ Matthew 21:12-14 (ESV)

The last week of our Savior's life had come. Within five days He would be betrayed, arrested, convicted, sentenced, crucified, and killed. Yet, with fewer than 100 hours of His earthly life left, Jesus thought not of Himself, the shame, the torture, the agony awaiting Him; rather, His loving thoughts went out to His believers, His church. The more we learn of Christ, the more deeply, we study His Gospels, the more humbly we bow before the self-denying mercy which made Him show gracious concern for us at all times, even in the shadow of death.

Our Lord had hardly entered Jerusalem when He went straight to the temple. The Son of God regularly worshiped in His Father's house. Although marked by no taint of transgression, no semblance of sin whatever, He never neglected to visit the temple for prayer and meditation.

This was the second time Jesus cleansed the temple. Once before, at the beginning of His ministry, He made a whip of cords and drove the sheep and oxen from His Father's house; and now, near the end of His earthly activity, He had to repeat His reformation. With human nature today still greedy, grasping, how we need to pray: "O Christ, keep on cleansing our churches! Keep on driving selfish profit seekers from our temples!" Like those who sold doves for sacrifice and exchanged different forms of money for coins acceptable to the temple treasury, always at their own gain, too many Americans are in church for what they can get out of it: more business, new contacts, personal publicity.

Churches seek the support of money power, political power, organization power, and at the same time set aside the Almighty's supreme power. They are rich in real estate, bonds, bank balances, but poor in faith. Especially did Jesus tell the crowd there in the cleansed temple, that His church is to be the dwelling place of the Almighty—and those who worship Him rightly.

The church Jesus founded, the church He wants today, the church He will bless eternally, has room and redemption for everyone. He showed this in Jerusalem, where He purified the temple. He not only preached the Law, but He also practiced His love, for we read, "And the blind and the lame came to Him in the temple, and He healed them."

By the simple Gospel of redemption, which is offered to you today in the Savior's Name, the church today can change the world, just as surely as it did in the apostolic first century and in the Reformation's sixteenth century.

THE PRAYER: Lord Jesus, keep on cleansing our churches until in Your second Advent You will bring us all to heavenly perfection! Come quickly, Lord Jesus! Amen

Reflection Questions:

• What do you like/dislike most about church?

• When Jesus said, "You make it (My house) a den of robbers," was He speaking to others besides those doing business there?

• Do you take any special care to prepare yourself for worshiping at church?

From "Christ, Keep on Cleansing Our Churches!" a sermon excerpt from Rev. Dr. Walter A. Maier, the first Speaker of The Lutheran Hour. Use these devotions in your newsletter and bulletin! Used by permission; all rights reserved by the Int'l LLL (LHM).
What do you like/dislike most about church?

Хліб Наш Насущній - Слова, які ранять

Слова, які ранять

Читати: 1 Самуїлова 1:1-8 | Біблія за рік: Неемії 1–3 ; Дії 2:1-21

Завантажити MP3

Дехто говорить, мов коле мечем, язик же премудрих – то ліки. — Приповістей 12:18

“Худа, худа!” − вигукував хлопчик за моєю спиною. “Худа, як дошка!” − приєднався до нього інший. У свою чергу я могла проспівати: “Палиці і каміння можуть зламати мої кістки, а слова ніколи мене не образять”. Втім, навіть будучи маленькою дівчинкою, я розуміла неправдивість популярної пісні. Недобрі й необдумані слова інколи ранили так сильно, що рани від них були глибшими і загоювалися набагато довше, ніж сліди від каменя або палиці.

Анну, безумовно, ранили бездумні слова суперниці. Елкана, її чоловік, кохав Анну, однак вона була бездітною. Натомість друга дружина, Пеніна, мала багато дітей. В культурі, де гідність жінки часто визначалася наявністю дітей, Пеніна додавала Анні болю, постійно “докучаючи їй” через бездітність. Вона продовжувала це робити, допоки Анна не починала плакати і вже не могла їсти (1 Сам. 1:6-7).

Елкана, звичайно, хотів їй добра. Але його слова: “Анно, чого ти плачеш… Чи ж я не ліпший тобі за десятьох синів?” не принесли бідоласі полегшення (в. 8).

Багато хто з нас, як і Анна, лишалися з болем через образливі слова. І дехто через власні рани ймовірно кидався на інших та ображав. Однак кожен із нас може звернутися до люблячого і співчутливого Бога за силою і зціленням (Пс. 26:5, 12-14). Його слова сповнені любові і благодаті.

А вам завдавали болю недобрі слова? Що допомогло вам зцілитися? Кому потрібно почути від вас слова, сповнені благодаті?

Господи, дякую Тобі за зцілення і надію! Допоможи нам завжди приходити до Тебе зі своїми ранами і завжди думати над тим, що ми говоримо. Пошли нам мудрість і терпіння.

Автор Елісон Кіеда

© 2019 Хліб Наш Насущній
А вам завдавали болю недобрі слова?