Tim’s Daily Bread Devotional 12.20.20

By December 20, 2020Daily Bread

Good morning! I hope this day finds you and your family well, and I want you to know that you are in my prayers daily during this difficult time.

I invite you to take a few moments with me to reflect on today’s Upper Room Devotional below — as well as on the theology woven into “It is well with my soul.”

Today’s Scripture:

Deuteronomy 7:7-9 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

It was not because you were more numerous than any other people that the Lord set his heart on you and chose you—for you were the fewest of all peoples. It was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath that he swore to your ancestors, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who maintains covenant loyalty with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations,

Tim’s Devotional Reflection for Today

Our reading for today is just one place out of many where memory of the past feeds confidence and trust in the present and the future.  It is a reminder of all that God has done in the past and therefore a reminder of the faithfulness of God.

Remembering is central to our faith and our worship.  One of the things we do in worship is to remember what God has done.  In the service of Holy Communion we remember:

“On the night in which he gave himself up for us, the Lord Jesus took bread…”

“…in remembrance of these your mighty acts in Jesus Christ, we offer ourselves in praise and thanksgiving as a holy and living sacrifice, in union with Christ’s offering for us…”

As the Psalmist puts it, “For the Lord is good; God’s steadfast love endures forever, and God’s faithfulness to all generations.” (Psalm 104:5)

I invite you to pray the words of this hymn today as you remember:

 

  1. Great is thy faithfulness, O God Creator.

There is no shadow of turning with thee.

Thou changest not, thy compassions, they fail not.

As thou hast been thou forever wilt be.

 

Refrain:

Great is thy faithfulness!

Great is thy faithfulness!

Morning by morning new mercies I see.

All I have needed thy hand hath provided.

Great is thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

 

  1. Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest,

sun, moon, and stars in their courses above,

join with all nature in manifold witness

to thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love. [Refrain]

 

  1. Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,

thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide,

strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow;

blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside! [Refrain]

Thank you for sharing this early moment of your day with me, with God, and with the words and music that I hope you will carry with you throughout the coming day and night.

I am so grateful for you, for our church, and for the Love that will see us all through this very difficult time. Please stay safe and well and we’ll be together again in spirit tomorrow morning!

Grace and Peace,


Dr. Tim Bruster
Senior Pastor

Here’s more about this passage of scripture via Upper Room devotionals:

A DAUGHTER’S GIFT

God delights in any gift of love.

read more