I am an emeritus professor from Cornell University and was a Commissioned Lay Preacher in the Presbyterian Church (USA). For many years I have followed the Daily Lectionary as printed in the Mission Yearbook of my church. For each day of a two-year cycle, the lectionary lists four psalms and three other scriptural passages--usually one from the Old Testament and two from the New Testament. My practice is to copy down a verse or two from one of the psalms and from each of the other three passages. After I have written out all four selections, I reflect upon them, rearrange their order, and incorporate them into a meditation. Sometimes I retain much of the original wording; sometimes all that remains of a selection is an idea that was stimulated when I read the original words. All selections are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible. For the Daily Lectionary, see the link below.

For a Joy that Is Complete--Jan. 1, 2013


 Happy are those whose help is in you,
whose hope is in you, our God.

You called Abram to walk before you
and be blameless.  He could not
carry out that command--
much less can I.

Still, Jesus promised that if we ask,
we will receive; and our joy will be complete.
Help me, then, to ask.  Help me to ask for a life
lived in Christ, rooted and built up in him,
established in faith.  And let me abound
in thanksgiving for your grace.

Lectionary Readings

Ps. 98; 146; 99; 8

Gen. 17:1-12a, 15-16
Col. 2:6-12
John 16:23b-30

Selected Verses

Ps. 146:5

Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
          whose hope is in the LORD their God…

Gen. 17:1
When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram, and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless.  …

Col. 2:6-7
As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

John 16:24b
"…Ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be complete.”  [Jesus to this disciples]

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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