We’re all aware that difficult times befall all of us.  And God’s disapproval of our actions and great love for us invites both correction and blessing.  There is nothing more blessed than to know that our God is near.  This is especially true when we acknowledge (confess) that our actions have been unjust.  That, of course, is the first step toward drawing God near.  But there is a process involved — a process that God has established as the correct protocol.  God says first — humble ourselves.  Carrying around an attitude of pride or arrogance says to God that we believe we deserve more recognition than God.  Second — prayer and earnestly seeking God and turning from our wickedness.  We already know that God is typically found among the lowly and despised, yet our desire is often to be recognized among the high and mighty.  Yet, there is no one higher and mightier than God.  So, perhaps seeking God’s face will be found in the places that are most uncomfortable for us to look.  And oddly enough, those places among the lowly and despised are where Jesus hung out and where injustice is more than likely a rule of thumb and in need of the most attention from God’s people.  God’s justice is not rocket-science.  It’ just a matter of seeking God’s presence and being where God is most likely to be found, doing the things that give God the most pleasure, and then trusting that God will hear us.  And God’s eyes and heart will always be where God’s name is praised — in the place where God’s temple is.  And God is present with us and we are the temple of God when we are doing justice among the least of God’s children.

• What is one issue of injustice that you are willing to humble yourself before God and pray about, and seek God’s face where God is found this year?
• Who will you invite to join you on your journey to seek and find God’s face?
• How will these actions impact your life and the lives of those where you seek God?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer
Gracious God, empower me to put aside any prideful feelings I have, humble myself to seek and find your face through prayer and service to the least of Your children.

         We all long for better times.  We live for the day when justice and equality will be the norm for every living person — when (in effect) the kingdom of God comes on earth as it is in heaven and justice — God’s justice — rules the day.  And because living and wanting better times is such a personal thing, we all have our own ideas about how we should go about achieving it.  But we forget one important factor.  God also has an idea about how we should go about achieving it.  And God’s plan is to first address the injustice present in our personal lives.  If injustice is the cause of our misery — personally or communally — then the remedy is to get rid of injustice.  The problem is that injustice doesn’t just go away.  It has to become as intolerable as a poisonous  infection would be to our bodies.  It doesn’t seem like that’s the place where injustice begins.  But God is on point with this.  So, we are advised to put iniquity out of our hands and to deny injustice an active place in our lives.  God understands — even if we haven’t figured it out yet — that if sin and injustice are active in our hands, then they are active in our homes.  If there is injustice in our homes, then there is injustice in our communities.  If there is injustice in our communities, then there is injustice in our county.  And the cycle of injustice just grows like a malignant cancer until the entire world is infected with the life-threatening presence of injustice.  So, it is only by ridding injustice from the places we live that misery gets evicted from us and life begins to take on a new and revived existence.  It’s then that we can experience the bright and radiant sunshine of life and living in the presence of God.  We begin living and thriving instead of just existing and surviving.  That has always been God’s desire for us.

• In what ways are you able and willing to take an active role in making your home and community a more just place?
• How can you work to involve your friends and/or your church in your efforts?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer
Loving God, guide me into a greater awareness of where injustice is present in me. Help me to get rid of it so that I may become a more just person, helping your Kingdom come on earth.

         Perhaps things were much different when these words in Holy Scripture were written.  Today the idea of showing hospitality to strangers (inviting people you don’t know into your home if only momentarily) is met with a healthy dose of cynicism and caution.  Today, the idea of allowing some stranger into our homes also invites us to consider “squatter rights and laws”, wrongful evictions, and other laws that protect those who may be homeless over those who have homes and may choose to show hospitality to others.  We are challenged, then, to find other ways to “keep loving one another as brothers and sisters” while at the same time finding workable housing solutions for those who may be strangers among us or are simply unable to find affordable housing solutions.

         And yet, the reality is, while times have changed, justice for the poor and empathy for those separated from family and friends has not changed.  We — as God’s people — still have an obligation to honor God by showing compassion and empathy for those who are considered “have-nots”.  The key is not how we practice justice, but that we practice justice.  And we must do it in ways that both honors God and those who find themselves in the unfortunate circumstance of being without an adequate living space — if only for one night.

         Our and other communities have chosen to criminalize homelessness by establishing laws allowing the arrest of individuals found sleeping in their vehicles and in public spaces without a place to stay.  Our community — as well as many others — have failed to address homelessness in a way that gives dignity to the homeless community regardless of how they now find themselves to be without shelter.  The question becomes, “How do we both honor God and give dignity to those who are homeless without criminalizing their poverty?”  And the answer is to do the just and empathetic thing according to God’s word by showing compassion, mercy, and understanding to those who may now find themselves holding the short end of life’s stick.

• How can we effectively “keep loving one another as brothers and sisters” without providing adequate solutions to remedy homelessness?
• What would you be willing to do to support your church in helping to find a solution to “show hospitality to strangers … “by finding a solution to the homeless situation in our community?

Todays Prayer

Today’s Prayer
Loving God, give me both the wisdom and strength to work in finding a long-term solution to address the homelessness that surrounds me.