Psalm 139 is one of my favorites. If we pray it, it reminds us of the truth that each and every one of us is created by God. We are the work of God’s hands. 

I love the imagery. Verse 13 claims, “You knit me together in my mother’s womb.” (I can just picture God weaving together the strands of DNA!) And then in verse: 14, “I praise you for I am fearfully and wonderfully made!”

What does it mean to be fearfully and wonderfully made? 

Perhaps this could also be translated, as “Full of awe,” or “astonishingly.” I praise you, O God, for I am made with awe and wonder… I praise you for I am astonishingly and wonderfully made.

In a day in age when so many people struggle with self-image, I wonder how many of us have fully embraced this message.  

Years ago, I heard a pastor say, “I think we need a new way of seeing. We need to learn to see one another and ourselves with the eyes of God. We need to learn to listen and sense the soul beneath the skin, the beauty and strength within.”

Sometime back, our choir sang an anthem based on this Psalm. The lyrics are as follows:

In the beginning, God shaped and formed me. I am skillfully and wonderfully made. I am the image of my Creator. In every part of me, His likeness is displayed.

For his own own purpose, God shaped and formed me. I have a place within his plan. I am in the image of my Creator. My past and future are secure within his hand. 

Let us pray: We thank you, O God, for creating us in your own image, and for loving us beyond measure. I pray that you would meet us today at the deepest point of our need. Recenter us. Heal us. And empower us to share your love. In Jesus; name. Amen.

Today’s message was written by Rev. Roger Kunkel, founder of Dial Hope.

A young woman stood before Beethoven’s piano in a Vienna museum. Presently she struck a few discordant notes. “I suppose,” she said to an attendant, “that many noted musicians have inspected this instrument.” “Oh, yes,” replied the man. “Recently Paderewski was here.” “Paderewski!” exclaimed the visitor. “Certainly, he must have played something wonderful.” “On the contrary, he did not feel worthy to touch it.” 

Friend of Dial Hope, wherever you are, this very moment – in a hospital bed, driving to work, your home, your place of business, a payphone, a helicopter over Iraq – you are on holy ground. It is holy because God is with you! Whether your heart is smiling or sad, whether you are lonely or afraid, whether you are hurting, whether you are celebrating – God is as close to you as breathing, nearer than hands or feet. Remember, God loves you just the way you are, but God refuses to leave you there. God wants you to have a heart like his. God wants you to be just like Jesus. Let today be a day filled with joy, hope, and contagious enthusiasm. 

Let us pray: God of love, we await the miracle of your grace in this time of prayer. Change the chemistry of our doubts and discouragements into a willingness to live the venture of faith. Give us the spontaneous emotion of a child of faith. In the name of the risen Christ. Amen. 

Over the past few days, we reflected on Ezekiel’s call story (2:1-5) and on how sometimes God sends prophets into our lives with the message we most need to hear. 

Today, I’m remembering a time when we were traveling up to North Carolina on Christmas Day. We stayed overnight at a hotel along the way. As I was waiting to check in, I stood behind an older woman who was in front of me at the desk. The clerk handed her the key, and I saw her hand the young woman a $100 bill. She said, “This is for you. Merry Christmas!” The clerk’s face just lit up, She said, “For me?” “Yes, for you. Merry Christmas!

A few moments later, I ended up on the elevator with this woman and I said, “That was so generous.”  And she said, “Well, you know, if someone is working in a hotel or restaurant on Christmas Day, it’s not because they want to. They obviously need the money…”  I thought: What would it be like to be so generous? It would have to feel pretty great. Could I be so generous? Are there other people who need my help?

God says to Ezekiel, whether the people hear or refuse to hear, they will know, they will know that a prophet has been among them.

How do we know if there has been a prophet among us?

In her book, Soul Feast, Marjory Thompson writing about listening for God said, “In any situation, it’s a good habit to ask: What’s God trying to say me through this?” What is God trying to say to me through this encounter, through this situation, through this person?

Again, I wonder who God may have put in your life right now. I wonder what God may be trying to say to you through that person. What would God have you hear? What would God have you do? How would God have you respond?

Let us pray:  Open our hearts, O God, to your prophetic word to us this day. Comfort us where we need comfort. Challenge us where we need challenged. And heal us where we need healing; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Yesterday we reflected on Ezekiel’s call story (2:1-5) and on how sometimes God sends prophets into our lives with the message we most need to hear. 

I can’t help but think about my friend Jim Campbell. I always thought of him as the mayor of Westminster Woods. We went to lunch once a month for years. Always had a big smile, a great sense of humor, ever joking – gently poking fun. After lunch, we would go visit people in rehab or skilled nursing, and Jim always wanted to offer the prayer. He was a man of deep faith.

Unless he told you, you’d never know that Jim had buried three of his four children as adults. They died in separate but tragic events over the course of many years. 

I think about Jim, this man had seen the worst of what life can do. And yet… there was a profound faith, a light, and a hope that tragedy could not touch.  Though he never said it out loud, he said it with his life. I think about it all the time: “What are you dealing with Joe, that God can’t handle…that God can’t get you through?”

I wonder who God may have put in your life right now. I wonder what God may be trying to say to you through that person. What would God have you hear? What would God have you do? How would God have you respond?

Let us pray:  Open our hearts, O God, to your prophetic word to us this day. Comfort us where we need comfort. Challenge us where we need challenged. And heal us where we need healing; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

The Apostle Paul once wrote, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”

Very rarely in scripture does Paul, or anyone else for that matter, say this clearly: This is God’s will for you. But here it is.  And it’s very simple – very spelled out. But by no means easy.

To rejoice is to take delight in, find pleasure in, revel in – relish, savor.  In fact, Paul wrote this letter in Greek, and the word he used is the word for rejoice – is the word chara. Have joy. Chara comes from the root word Charis – which means gift.  

If joy comes from charis – gift, then perhaps to rejoice, at least in part, is to become aware of the gifts: gifts of life, gifts of breath, gifts of forgiveness, gifts of reconciliation, gift of being able to get up in the morning; gift of the summer sunshine on my back. All gifts. 

To rejoice then, is to become aware that all of life is a gift. This moment is a gift. These people are a gift. The ability to communicate is a gift. My family and friends are all gifts.

Now if we look at this a little closer we see that rejoicing, praying, and giving thanks are integrally linked as rejoicing and giving thanks are prayers in and of themselves. It is really an outlook on life that Paul is encouraging. And it is an outlook that implies the need to stop and notice – to look around. 

When I was writing this, I had to pause for just a moment and take this advice myself. I was outside on my back porch and I noticed the birds singing, the cicada chirping, the morning sunlight streaming through the trees. By stopping and noticing – and delighting in it – I felt an almost immediate upwelling of joy.

I leave you a challenge. As you go throughout each day this week, I invite you to intentionally pause momentarily from time to time – find something to appreciate. Allow a full 15 – 30 seconds for it to fully sink in. Delight in. Let it soak in, and give thanks.  

Let us pray: Continue to open our eyes, O God, to the many gifts that surround us on every side. As we notice, open too our hearts, that we would find ways to respond. In Christ’s name. Amen.