Daily Bread

One of the beloved hymns in our United Methodist Hymnal is “Here I am, Lord.”  It is based on the call of the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 6:8 and his answer:  “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, ‘Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?’ And I said, ‘Here am I; send me!’” 

Years ago, Mother Teresa was being interviewed on a television program being broadcast internationally.  The interviewer reminded her that the show was being carried all over the United States and in a number of foreign countries, including her native Yugoslavia.

L. Dykes was my pastor at First United Methodist Church at Shreveport when I was a teenager.

Whenever I read Psalm 1, my first thought is my father’s funeral.  Perhaps that is even more the case, having just celebrated Father’s Day. 

Anyone who had to memorize Bible verses as a child memorized John 11:35—“Jesus wept.”  It is the shortest verse in the Bible, so it is a popular verse to memorize if you’re in a competition for the number of verses you can memorize.

What a comforting message for the children of Israel to hear!  What a comforting word for us to contemplate:  God carries us as a loving parent from the day we are born until we are old and gray.

As Father’s Day approaches, we have this passage from Psalm 103 that compares the compassion of God to the compassion of the most loving father.

Romans 8:25-28 is one of the most beloved passages of scripture.  In these few verses, Paul addresses hope, patience, the work of the Holy Spirit to help us in our times of weakness, and prayer. 

The first words Jesus speaks in the Gospel of John are important. John the Baptist is there to pave the way for Jesus, as he is in the other gospels. But, in John’s gospel he isn’t just the “voice crying in the wilderness.”

Acts 26:12-18 is one of the accounts of Paul’s dramatic conversion experience on the road to Damascus.  He went from being a persecutor of the Church to a passionate missionary proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ to anyone who would listen.