Good morning friends! While today certainly will contain the usual doom and gloom of the prophetic text it starts off with one of the most lovely images of God and God's love for us - the potter and the clay. Sometimes our prayer responses are based on this very image you might recall! :) Anyways, I'll share more of what I find interesting below. I hope you are blessed and assured of God's love for you as you read the text today.
Scripture to Read
Audio Bible
Fun fact, I discovered that my GoPro has a 17:42 recording limit. This is what I get for trying to use different things haha. I'll go back to my phone tomorrow. Anyways, it cut out the Psalm right at the beginning so I've only included the audio bible for the "main" reading. I hope you'll go back to read the psalm on your own, or I suppose revisit day 18 by clicking here to listen to it on that video.
Questions to Consider
What does this teach me about God?
What does this teach me about humanity?
What does this teach me about the role of the prophet?
- My Thoughts -
Just a short thought for today, but an important reminder for us all. I (you) are greater than your worst mistake, and God is larger than it too. The story of the Potter and the Clay is such a powerful image through and through. From a potter whose hands carefully hold and mold the clay as it takes shape to the ability to reset the clay if anything goes wrong. That's grace right there. The thoughts I want to meditate on today is what does it feel like to know that God's hands are on me like a tight, and secure embrace and knowing that as long as God's with me (you) I (you) will continue to grow, but without God I (you) will just spin and spin on the potters wheel.
Prayer
Our prayer today is inspired by hymn 173 in our United Methodist Hymnal - Christ, Whose Glory Fills the Skies. I hope that you will take a moment to pray with, hum, sing, or recite the words to this lovely Charles Wesley hymn as your prayer today. Lyrics beneath the video :)
1. Christ, whose glory fills the skies,
Christ, the true, the only light,
Sun of Righteousness, arise,
triumph o'er the shades of night;
Dayspring from on high, be near;
Daystar, in my heart appear.
2. Dark and cheerless is the morn
unaccompanied by thee;
joyless is the day's return,
till thy mercy's beams I see;
till they inward light impart,
cheer my eyes and warm my heart.
3. Visit then this soul of mine; pierce the gloom of sin and grief; fill me, Radiancy divine, scatter all my unbelief; more and more thyself display, shining to the perfect day.