Daily Devotions
Welcome to the Christmount devotional page. This page is designed to offer you thoughtful meditations and inspiration.
Here are a few suggestions to make
your prayer time more meaningful:
Pick a regular time and place to
pray. This is not always possible, and God certainly doesn’t require it, but doing so
helps you make a daily commitment as you seek to grow more aware of God’s presence.
Be aware of your breathing and
begin in silence. Breathe deeply, focusing on letting the breath fill you "from the
bottom up" rather than breathing in a shallow way. Focus your breath down toward the
center of your body, to a spot just above your navel. Prayer experts suggest that you need
to be aware of your breathing to help calm your spirit and still your mind. Sitting up
straight in a chair helps facilitate good breathing, and makes our body a part of our
prayer.
Some people light a candle
and/or burn incense to set an atmosphere for prayer, but this is entirely up to you.
Sometimes atmosphere can be helpful to the process.
Set up your prayer place before you
begin: make sure you have a Bible or Psalter, a journal if you use one, a prayer list, and
turn the phone off or have someone answer it while you practice your devotion.
Scripture: John 1: 1 – 5
The Gospel According to John begins with the creation. It is kind of a New Testament version of the history of the world, with John taking out all the unnecessary parts of that history (in his opinion!) to get to the gist of the matter: the Christ event.
Unlike Genesis, John is not concerned with the history of people; he assumes his readers have had more than their fill of that history. What he does is to talk about the real reason for the creation: so that God could come into the world and live among us.
For John the preexistence of Jesus from the beginning is important so that we can understand that from the very idea of creation, God had it in mind to be a part of that creation.
What a wonder for us to have this kind of God, who cares enough to do more than make us, but to be part of us!
Prayer: “God, thank you that you are in our lives, even before we are aware of you, in Jesus’ name, amen.”
Monday, June 18
Scripture: John 2: 1- 11
There are some who use this miracle story as evidence that Jesus was married. They say that Jesus would not have been responsible for the wine unless he were the host, and the host would have been the bridegroom.
I admit to not knowing enough about these things to know for sure whether this is true or not. The Gospel writers saw history different from the way we do: what happened to Joseph? Where was Jesus from age 12 to 30? What years did all these things take place? What is Jesus’ real birthday?
What we know here is simple: Jesus, in his usual kind manner, was willing to provide the wine for the wedding feast when it ran out. And it was good wine, the best. No surprise there.
What is a surprise is why the writer included it in his story of Jesus: it is the first sign of who Jesus was, and it led people to follow him. Like people these days, our ancestors would follow anyone who could provide lots of good wine, I suppose.
More than that, though: in all likelihood, the writer would have told us that it was Jesus’ wedding if it had been; what is important here is the first evidence of Jesus’ power over the laws of nature, over the laws of life. Wine does not turn into water on its own accord. In a simple story, John is telling us two things about Jesus: he was a man of this world, attending a celebration and being a willing participant in the joys of life; and that he was the Sovereign over nature. In life and greater than life at the same time.
Prayer: “O God, we thank you that you see fit to be part of our lives, even today, as we explore the story of Jesus and find him with us always, in his name we pray this, amen.”
Tuesday, June 19
Scripture: John 4: 21 – 25
What is it to worship God in spirit and in truth?
It is more than the lip service we often pay to worship by being physically present but mentally somewhere else.
It is more than going through the motions of worship but caring little for its impact on our lives.
It is more than letting worship happen to us but having no real input into the meaning and purpose of why we worship.
To worship in spirit and truth is to try to understand the nature of worship, participate in it regularly, and to find ways to worship so that all the elements of worship point us to God and our relationship with each other.
Prayer: “God, help us to learn to worship you each day, in Jesus’ name, amen.”
Wednesday, June 20
Scripture: John 7: 1- 13
Speaking of Jesus’ family life: Jesus had brothers! We think of him so often as a solitary figure with no close relationships except for the disciples and Lazarus and a few women among whom were his Mother and the sisters Mary and Martha. Here, we get a glimpse, however fleeting, of his personal life.
How much of a life he had with us, yet we do not find him among us, but look to heaven for signs that he is there. How much we need him among us, walking through life with us, living among us, caring for us, reassuring us in the dark times and laughing with us in the good ones.
He had brothers. He lived with us, died like us, but unlike us rose from the dead so that we could be more like him than he like us. What joy, to have God love us this much!
Prayer: “God, thank you for Jesus, and help us to understand not only his divinity but his humanity, that it might teach us how to live more fully, in his name we pray, amen.”
Scripture: John 8: 1 – 11
In an election year, this story is probably apropos. There will be lots of finger-pointing, mud-slinging, false and true accusations, allegations of every sort, all proving that the other side is evil and that only this side can bring about the necessary changes the town, county, state, or country needs (even if this side has been in power for years, there’s still the claim that the needed changes can finally be accomplished, although this side or that has had plenty of opportunity to get the changes made!).
Whatever our particular political shade, we can all learn a thing or two about life in this story about Jesus and the woman caught in adultery. First, there are always people around to accuse others of evil; second, Christians had better not be in the crowd of accusers, no matter the sin.
My favorite bunch of accusers these days are those semi-Christians who seldom attend church but are the first to promote so-called Christian causes. Who decides what is Christian and what isn’t? Is it Christian to be unloving, unmerciful, close-minded, mean-hearted, cruel-spirited, hateful, judgmental?
And who among us isn’t these things, on top of whatever other evil acts we perform daily: gossip, rumor-spreading, half-truth telling, lying to our bosses and spouses and friends, stealing tax money from the country we so love and sing about, not to mention the religious sins?
Who throws that first stone in a time when stone-throwing has become a sign of Christian faith (just ask the news agencies who always rush to quote Jerry Falwell or Pat Robertson for the “Christian” viewpoint)?
Prayer: “God, help us to check our own lives for purity before we go around attacking others. Help us to know that self-examination and self-honesty are the only ways to peace and to finding you authentically, in the name and for the cause of Jesus we ask this, amen.”
Friday, June 22
Scripture: John 14: 1- 4
A favorite funeral verse here, but it is actually a text about life. Not just eternal promises, this, but also a call to life in all its variety.
“Many mansions:” I have always thought that God created variety rather than sameness, that only humans seem obsessed with making thousands of cans of soup exactly like the last thousands: God takes time with stars and snowflakes and each of us, no two alike.
“Many mansions:” many opinions, many skin colors, many ways of worship, many interests that differ from others; some conservative, so that we won’t go off the deep end into anarchy; some liberal, so that we won’t become stale and narrow in our living and thinking; some outgoing, so that the poor and marginalized will be noticed, loved, ministered to; some in-looking, so that we will not forget our spiritual nature and God.
“Many mansions:” so that we everyone will have a place.
Every one.
Prayer: “God, may we celebrate this day the wonderful variety of all of us, and honor and respect all people, because all of them, all of us, are your children, loved and cared about no matter what, in Jesus’ name, amen.”
Saturday, June 23
Scripture: John 21: 15 – 19
“Do you love me?”
Jesus asks each of us this question, daily, but especially after our failures and defeats. Always reminding us that the worst in us is not so bad that our love for him is compromised, Jesus finds us at our worst instead of our best because our ego and pride is not in the way any more. No longer do we think that we can save ourselves: we have proven (once again!) that we cannot. No, we are dependent on the One who is God with us to lead us out of our darkness.
His gentleness and kindness and affection to us, his loving knowledge of us, is revealed in this question: do you love me? I can remember thinking, and still am amazed, that certain people have loved and still love me, me, the one who…. Maybe you can share this amazement, too.
“Do you love me?” Jesus, you really want to know this, you really care to know it, you really mean you want me to love you after all I’ve done?
Yes.
Prayer: “Gracious God, we love you because you first loved us. Amazing! Thank you more than we can say or know, in the name of Jesus we ask this and all things, amen.”
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