Sweet in the Mouth; Bitter in the Stomach--Nov. 4, 2013

 Almighty God, your voice shakes the wilderness.

You have put us in your world to live,

children of your kingdom and

children of the evil one.

It is a world where what

is sweet as honey in the mouth

may in time turn bitter in the stomach,

and a world where bullies try to have their way.

I confess I do not know how to tell which sweets

may turn bitter, or how to tell a child of the

evil one from a child of your kingdom;

I am not sure how to stop a bully.

Lord God, strengthen our wills

against the intimidation of evil forces;

give us courage to taste what you offer to eat;

and remind us: you are the judge about the kingdom.

Lectionary Readings

Ps. 5; 145; 82; 29

Neh. 6:1-19

Rev. 10:1-11

Matt. 13:36-43

Selected Verses

Ps. 29:8

The voice of the LORD shakes the wilderness;
          the LORD shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.

Neh. 6:9

…for they all wanted to frighten us, thinking, "Their hands will drop from the work, and it will not be done."  But now, O God, strengthen my hands.

Rev. 10:10

So I took the little scroll from the hand of the angel and ate it; it was sweet as honey in my mouth, but when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter.

Matt. 13:38

"…the field is the world, and the good seed are the children of the kingdom; the weeds are the children of the evil one…"  [Jesus to his disciples]