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Who’s at the Door
"Behold I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come and eat with him and he will eat with me." (Rev 3:20) This is the last in a series of texts chosen by Albert Bogle as Moderator for this year. It has been used powerfully over the years as an image of Christ standing at the door of the human heart seeking admission. It has helped thousands to make a personal response of faith to the Risen Christ.
However, the verse sits within the letter of the Risen Christ to the church at Laodicea, the lukewarm church which has become complacent and too comfortable to be effective for Christ. The image is one of Christ being excluded from his own church, standing on the doorstep seeking readmission.
In our prayers for the month, we will develop the theme of doors that stand open or closed. We have drawn on the imagery of the book of Revelation for key texts - with a little bit of poetic licence for the last one.
Daily Prayer
Dear Lord,
Sometimes you frighten us when you call us out of our comfort zones, out of our traditional places, and out of our depth, as you invite us out into the deep water. The shallows are familiar, and there is often company there. The deep is unknown, solitary and sometimes dangerous. But still you invite us to put out there and risk - destruction, humiliation, failure?
We sometimes wonder at this kind of "blessing", especially when others might be called by another way, and yet we also know that this is the place of your appointing for us, and it is in the deep things of the Spirit that we encounter the greatest challenges, wounds and fulfilment.
Daily Reading
When Jesus had finished speaking, he said to Simon, ‘Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.’ Simon answered, ‘Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.’ When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break.
Faith Story: Life Has Meaning
If you had told me in 1990 that I’d be happily married with four children, that I’d be at Bible college with no fixed income living by faith and yet needing nothing, I’d have called you a bare faced liar. The fact is in 1990 I...
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