Loving in the Day; Singing in the Night

How do you spend your day . . . and your night? The Bible has a suggestion. Love in the daytime – both receiving and sharing God’s love. In his “Ragamuffin Gospel,” Brennan Manning wrote: “We should be astonished at the goodness of God, stunned that He should bother to call us by name, our mouths wide open at His love, bewildered that at this very moment we are standing on holy ground.” Then we pass that wonderful love on to others. Thaddeus of Vitovnica, a Serbian Orthodox elder and published author, wrote, “When we talk to our fellow men and they tell us about their troubles, we will listen to them carefully if we have love for them. We will have compassion for their suffering and pain, for we are God’s creatures; we are a manifestation of the love of God.” But what of the night? Songs! Songs from God, as stated in Job 35:10, “God my Maker, Who gives songs in the night.” Songs that get you through a rough night. Songs that get you through a good night. Sing yourself to sleep. Awake singing. Then love. How do these two – loving and singing – go together? In the Psalms: “The LORD will command His lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night His song shall be with me” (Psalm 42:8).

Join me in remembering the following global concerns:
• Pray for Martha and the Leadership Training Retreat on Sept. 14-18 in Braunschweig, Germany.
• Pray for Joe and for Linda as they work together to coordinate efforts to minister and assist in the eastern regions of Ukraine as the region begins rebuilding in areas now under Ukraine control.
• Pray for Mary who serves among Russian Jews in Israel that she will be kept safe between cease-fire agreements.
• Give thanks that Melissa passed her language evaluation and pray that she can continue to grow in her language learning and use the language to share Truth with people she serves.