Incarnational Living: How does this play out?

Parts of the lectionary readings from Tues. really got me thinking. I could not decide which reading to meditate on. Something in each one grabbed me. Ps. 149:4 regarding the Lord's pleasure in his people, Exodus 40:38 -- God's presence with the people through each part of the journey, and 1 Thessalonians 4:10-12 with its instructions on how to live incarnational lives. So these bits from the readings all seem interconnected.

I had a great diagram of this in Word, but don't know how to add it here, so just imagine a cycle of the above in a circle: 1. God's delight in us. 2. His presence every stage of our journey. 3. Living an incarnational lifestyle--bearing witness of his presence in our lives, and then back to #1 bringing us full circle.

Speaking of full circle, remember what we read from Acts on Sunday? Ah yes, the all too familiar story of Stephen's stoning. Martyrdom was the stage of the journey where Stephen found his Lord's presence. He bore witness to God's presence, behaving properly toward unbelievers by praying for them...which takes him full circle to God delighting in his servant.

We may not be called to martyrdom, but certainly can bear Christ's likeness throughout our daily lives, even through small things. Earlier as I was writing, a neighbor's dog was howling. The neighbors seem generally clueless concerning how to behave as good neighbors. But rather than just being frustrated at their cluelessness, I prayed for them. What about you? What are those times when you have been aware of God's delight, known his presence in your stage of the journey, and found yourself living incarnationally? See my previous post for one woman's journey. Peace.

Picture from flickr.