Second Sunday Meditation: Loyalty And Courage In These Troubling Times

"Woe to those who call evil good and good evil,

who put darkness for light and light for darkness,

who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!

Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes

and prudent and shrewd in their own sight!

Isaiah 5:20-21

 A MEDITATION ON THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

"For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world

that He even gave up His only begotten, unique Son,  so

 that whoever believes in, trusts in, clings to, relies on,

 Him shall not perish, come to destruction, be lost,
 but have eternal, everlasting life.

For God did not send the Son into the world in order

to judge, to reject, to condemn, to pass sentence on the world,

but that the world might find salvation and be made 

 safe and sound through Him.

They who believe in Him, who cling to, trust in, rely on Him,

are not judged, they who trust in Him never come up for judgment;

for them there is no rejection, no condemnation,  they incur no

damnation; but they who do not believe have been judged already

because they have not believed in and trusted in the name of

the only begotten Son of God.  They are condemned for

refusing to let their trust rest in Christ's name.

The basis of the judgment lies in this:  the Light has come into

the world, and the people have loved the darkness rather than

and more than the Light, for their works were evil.

For every wrongdoer hates the Light, and will not come out into

the Light but shrinks from it, lest their works be exposed and reproved.

But they who practices truth, who do what is right, come out into

the Light; so that their works may be plainly shown to be what they are,

wrought with God, divinely prompted, done with God's help,

in dependence upon Him."

John 3:16-21

OH JESUS I HAVE PROMISED

O Jesus, I have promised, To serve Thee to the end;

Be thou forever near me, My Master and my Friend:

I shall not fear the battle, If Thou art by my side,

Nor wander from the pathway, If Thou wilt be my Guide.

O let me feel Thee near me! The world is ever near;

I see the sights that dazzle, The tempting sounds I hear;

My foes are ever near me, Around me and within;

But Jesus, draw Thou nearer, And shield my soul from sin.

O let me hear Thee speaking, In accents clear and still,

Above the storms of passion, The murmurs of self will!

O speak to reassure me, To hasten or control!

O speak, and make me listen, Thou Guardian of my soul!

O Jesus, Thou hast promised, To all who follow Thee

That where Thou art in glory, There shall Thy servant be;

And Jesus, I have promised, To serve Thee to the end;

O give me grace to follow, My Master and my Friend! 

Amen

"Oh Jesus I Have Promised"
(1868)

 John Ernest Bode

(1816-1874)

 English Anglican pastor, educator, 

poet, and hymn writer