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.

To Increase and Abound in Love--Dec. 1, 2016


God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,
God of the living, not of the dead,
we love you, O God, our strength;
we come to you, to walk in your light.
Grant that we may increase and abound
in love for one another, for all, and for you.

Lectionary Readings
Ps. 18:1-20; 147:12-20; 126; 62
Isa. 2:5-22
1 Thess. 3:1-13
Luke 20:27-40
           
Selected Verses
Ps. 18:1
I love you, O LORD, my strength.

Isa. 2:5
O house of Jacob,
     come, let us walk
     in the light of the LORD! 

1 Thess. 3:12
And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another and for all, just as we abound in love for you. 

Luke 20:37-38
"…And the fact that the dead are raised Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.  Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive."  [Jesus to the Sadducees, in answer to their question]

Posted by Elmer E. Ewing

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