Monday February 13, 2023

There was silence in the sky for about half an hour. Revelation 8.1

When God will be silent

There are beneficial silences. Some seem to have discovered it during the confinement of 2020. There are some who are signs of wisdom. The prophet Amos wrote : In times like these the wise are silent (Amos 5:13). And our time is very similar to his !

But there are some that send shivers down your spine. When, of two beings who love each other, one comes to be silent – is that called sulking ?, the other is in pain. Sometimes very badly. Is this what made the playwright Jacques Deval say : "Friendship lives on silence, love dies from it" ? And makes me beg you : If you love with a legitimate love, please don't stop saying it and saying it again !

But what about the half-hour one that Revelation reports and that we put in the lead ? Will God be silent as he did for 400 years before his first coming in Jesus ? Many times, I had the impression, when death silenced a servant of God, that it was divine patience, weary of the unbelief of humans, that silenced him.

Now, the silence of Revelation eight is followed, precisely, by the terrible plagues of divine judgment !

Do not be silent, you sentinels who have to warn the impious. And you whom he tries to warn, if only through a pandemic, do not wait for God to be silent to want to hear it. When he shuts up, it will be too late !

Richard Douliere

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Proposed reading : Book of Revelation, chapters 8 and 9.

Source (Live Today)

Friday 10 February 2023

The weeping willow

He is like a tree planted near a stream of water, which bears fruit in its season, and whose foliage does not wither : everything he does is successful for him. Psalm 1.3

Planted in a corner of the garden for a long time, the willow has remained small and not very extensive. Cut several times so as not to disturb the neighbours, there are only three branches left erect towards the sky, like the thumb and two fingers of a hand in the air. It is rather sad, compared to those magnificent weeping willows in parks, whose foliage can be admired descending to the edge of bodies of water.

In a gardening article, I discover that it is not a tree to plant in a garden, in town, if you don't want trouble with the neighbors ! Its deep and water-hungry roots cause many problems. The weeping willow has a powerful root system that destroys everything in its path : sewer, pipe... It needs more than ten meters to spread and can reach between fifteen and twenty meters high.

Jeremiah, like the psalmists, draws a comparison between such a tree and one who "drinks" at the Word of God and "takes root" in it. He constantly meditates on it and is not afraid of difficult times. He is happy, unlike the one who leans on man and turns his heart away from the Lord. Blessed is the man who puts his trust in the Lord ! (Psalm 84.13)

Beatrice Guerche

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Proposed reading : Book of the prophet Jeremiah, chapter 17, verses 5 to 8.

17.5 Thus says the Eternal : Cursed be the man who trusts in man, who takes the flesh for his support, and who turns his heart away from the Eternal !

17.6 He is like a wretch in the desert, and he does not see happiness coming ; he dwells in the scorched places of the desert, a salty land without inhabitants.

17.7 Blessed is the man who trusts in the Eternal, and whose hope is the Eternal.

17.8 He is like a tree planted by the waters, and stretching out its roots toward the stream ; it does not notice the heat when it comes, and its foliage remains green ; in the year of drought it has no fear, and it never ceases to bear fruit.

Source (Live Today)

Friday January 27, 2023

Free in spite of everything

All the doors were immediately opened and the bonds of all the prisoners were undone. Acts of the Apostles 16.26

Paul and Silas are in prison. They pray and sing when an earthquake shakes the foundations of the building. The phenomenon is so powerful that the cell doors open and the prisoners' bonds come loose. The rest of the text shows us that the prisoners, instead of taking advantage of this miraculous release, choose to stay in their cell with those who praised God despite their chains. They understood that inner freedom is more important than any other freedom.

We experience a comparable event when Christ comes into our lives. It acts as powerfully as an earthquake and frees us from the bonds that bound us to sin. But are we aware of the freedom we have ?

We are often dissatisfied with the environment in which we live. Work, place of life, family relations... are subjects of regular complaints. We feel that for us to be happier, our environment has to be different.

We then forget that Christ allows us true freedom. He loosed the bonds of sin that were leading us to spiritual death. May the worries of everyday life not make us forget that through faith in him we possess this freedom, whatever the circumstances of our lives.

Arnaud Pottier

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Proposed reading : Gospel according to John, chapter 8 verses 30 to 36.

8.30 As Jesus said this, many believed in him.

8:31 Then he said to the Jews who had believed in him : "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,

8:32 you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

8.33 They answered him : “We are descendants of Abraham and we have never been slaves to anyone. How can you say : 'You will become free' ?"

8.34 "Verily, verily, I say unto you," Jesus answered them, "everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin.

8.35 Now the slave does not remain forever in the family ; it is the son who stays there forever.

8.36 If therefore the Son sets you free, you will be truly free.

Source (Live Today)

Wednesday January 25, 2023

Letting go

Then, having called the crowd with his disciples, he said to them, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. Mark 8.34

In this verse, Jesus lays down three conditions for those who want to come to him with a sincere heart :

Let him deny himself. Is it asceticism ? Oh no, it's entrusting Jesus with the direction of your life, trusting him for a small decision to be made as well as for a big one. “Lord, I put all my trust in you, because I know you will never leave me." (Cf. Hebrews 13.5) Let's face it, denying ourselves is not easy for us, because our personal ego parasitizes our life with its tyrannical demands. But Jesus delivers us from this despotism of “me, I”!

May he take up his cross. No, it is not a Stations of the Cross ! Our salvation is based solely on the cross of Jesus, who died for us. Indeed, for Jesus, the price to pay was nothing other than his death on the cross ! Here, it is simply a question of living in the footsteps of Christ by obeying the will of God whatever the cost.

Let him follow me. To follow Jesus every day of our life, to constantly look at Jesus, to know him better and better by reading his Word. Following Jesus as the disciples followed him : Immediately they left the nets and followed him. (Matthew 4.20)

This, then, is the secret to a fulfilling life of discipleship !

Jose Petrocchi

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Proposed reading : Gospel according to Luke, chapter 9, verses 57 to 62.

9.57 While they were on the way, a man said to him, Lord, I will follow you wherever you go.

9.58 Jesus answered him, Foxes have dens, and the birds of the air have nests : but the Son of Man has no place where he can lay his head.

9.59 He said to another, Follow me. And he answered : Lord, let me first go and bury my father.

9.60 But Jesus said unto him : Let the dead bury their dead ; and you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.

9.61 Another said, I will follow you, Lord, but let me first go and take leave of those of my house.

9.62 Jesus answered him, Whoever puts his hand to the plow and looks back is not fit for the kingdom of God.

Source (Live Today)

Tuesday January 10, 2023

The blinking lights

Everything he does succeeds. Psalm 1.3

My father – trained and confronted with the joys and sorrows of agriculture on a cattle farm in Normandy – told me : “It takes breakdowns to repair, failures to train. Modern society praises merits and successes. For one, it will be to make a lot of money – if possible in a short time – for another, to acquire a good place to be recognized or to be sheltered from future economic storms. Another person will apply all the beauty and health tips to live the present life intensely. Is this the success or the happiness expressed by the psalmist when he writes : Everything he does succeeds with him ?

When crossing roads or facing dangerous passages, we are all familiar with flashing lights. Thanks to the infallible gaze of God, from whom nothing and no one escapes, we also find flashing signals in this first psalm, with three useful warnings, whatever our situation. (Psalm 1.1) The psalmist warns against the wicked, sinners and scoffers.

To meet the expectations of our hearts, the royal road of the psalmist is meditation on the Word of God. (verse 2) The goal, granted and open to all, is a fruitful life, always vigorous, guarded from aridity and sterility. True success is not that advocated by men !

Bernard Fourmont

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Proposed reading : Psalm 1.

1.1 Blessed is the man who does not walk after the counsel of the wicked, who does not stop in the way of sinners, and does not sit with scoffers.

1.2 But who delights in the law of the Eternal, and meditates on it day and night.

1.3 He is like a tree planted by a stream of water, which bears fruit in its season, and whose foliage does not wither ; everything he does succeeds.

1.4 It is not so with the wicked : they are like chaff that the wind blows away.

1.5 Therefore the wicked do not stand in the day of judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous ;

1.6 For the Eternal knows the way of the righteous, and the way of sinners leads to destruction.

Source (Live Today)