Return, O faithless children, says the Lord, for I am your master; I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion.
Todays reading is about bringing people together to ‘honour the name of the Lord’.
Bringing people together is often, but not exclusively, a role that is left to women to fulfil whether it is calming arguing siblings, re-uniting families or caring for orphans and refugees. Our loving God wants us all to live in a caring harmony.
We have been remembering Betty a lifelong member of the Women’s Wednesday Group who personifies this aim of caring for all, sharing troubles and worries and supporting others through difficult times as well as rejoicing in life’s good times – we thank God that we have been within her circle.
At the same time when I think of women world-wide I am reminded of the posters we have in our toilets of their twinning with a toilet in a less well developed area of the world, there are still today places with no toilets and we pray today for the safety of all those do not have the facilities which we enjoy every day.
We know that God loves each individual and we praise him for the developments we see in the world and pray for those who still suffer abuse, discrimination or oppression. We are aware of God’s presence everywhere and remember how he hurts when we hurt others.
Let us all allow God into our lives today.
Ponder… What feature of worship helps you sense the presence of God? What have you had to let go of in order to allow God in? What happened?
Pray… FOR OUR COMMUNITY Pray for women of all ages, especially our Wednesday Women’s Group, who meet weekly for fellowship and friendship together. FOR THE WORLD Pray for women throughout the world, especially in countries or societies where women suffer oppression or discrimination.
Act… Tell someone you love them.