Claimed, gathered and sent

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All Christians have their own circle of those who have requested them to intercede on their behalf, or people for whom for various reasons they know they have been called upon to pray. First of all, this circle will include those with whom they must live every day. With this we have advanced to the point at which we hear the heartbeat of all Christian life together. A Christian community either lives by the intercessory prayers of its members for one another or the community will be destroyed. I can no longer condemn or hate other Christians for whom I pray, no matter how much trouble they cause me. In intercessory prayer the face that may have been strange and intolerable to me is transformed into the face of one for whom Christ died, the face of a pardoned sinner. That is a blessed discovery for the Christian who is beginning to offer intercessory prayer for others. As far as we are concerned, there in no dislike, no personal tension, no disunity or strife, that cannot be overcome by...

The psalmist proclaims, " When I am afraid, I will trust in you" (Psalm 56:3). This is what I was meditating on this morning. Of course, my mind wandered to that song "You are my Hiding Place" from Psalm 32 and the chorus, "Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in you." Fears take on many forms. Children are afraid of the dark, of the absence of their parents. We as adults fear losing those we love through distance or divorce. My greatest fear right now is that my words and actions might discredit my Lord. The past couple of weeks at work have been difficult for all of us. Last week I raised my voice in response to my supervisor. At lunch I wept over my lack of self control. I had read and meditated in the morning on that portion of scipture, "May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight..." (Psalm 19:14). I was so far off in left field from that. As that day progressed, perhaps my words were better ...