“Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.” Ephesians 4:2 (NLT)
CHALLENGE
God, please keep our eyes, ears and hearts open to all signs of Your work in the people we meet.
PREPARATION
- Praise God for who He is
- Confess your sinfulness and need for cleansing
- Allow His Spirit to draw you near
- Listen as He speaks to you
REQUESTS
- Within our Westheights family, help us to be humble, gentle and patient with each other.
- Let our love for You, God, show through our actions at work and play.
- Through our love of God, may we extend our hands to all Christians.
THANKSGIVING
- Thank God for hearing you.
- Trust that God is at work to accomplish His will.
OPTIONAL READINGS
- Psalm 103:8-11
- 1 Corinthians 13:4-8
QUOTATION
“Communication leads to community, that is, to understanding, intimacy and mutual valuing.” – Rollo May
LIFE STORY
Throughout my long spiritual journey I have been exposed to many denominations of Christianity. Because our Spiritual Adventure is called CONNECT (associate with others) and because of the verse I have chosen (Ephesians 4:2 “…because of our love we should be humble, gentle, patient”), I am explaining my personal thoughts on denominations: a) denominations in Christianity are bad; b) denominations in Christianity are good; c) we have them so live with them.
They are bad only if they contradict the basic tenets of Christianity which in my humble opinion would be:-belief in God, Jesus became Man, suffered, died ,was buried, rose again and ascended in to heaven, Jesus will return, belief in the Holy Spirit, forgiveness of sins. They are good if the above beliefs are the heart of the Denominations. Their existence is a given so I would compare Denominations to a family-we have relatives who are top of our lists for family gatherings and others who we invite in love for the family-“be patient with each other, making allowances for each other’s faults because of your love.”
During our 50 plus years of marriage my wife and I have experienced many different denominations but I believe our spiritual journey was by God revealing himself to us in various ways and enabling us to CONNECT with God and so many good influences in our lives.
Contributed by: Roger Pownall