March 21 Judges 3-5 & 1 Cor. 3

Jesus will tell us that where two or three are gathered there, I am in their midst. The other side of the coin is where two or three come to gather there is trouble. I say that half-jokingly, but the Israelites do seem to bear this out. As they begin to come together as a nation, they seem to fall into cycles of trouble. That is followed by searching for the Lord’s help through a wish judge for the people. Pray for gift of wise leaders, for our Church, our cities and country, the world. You may want to pray Deborah’s Song as a song. The Choir of New College Oxford has a YouTube of her song at https://youtu.be/pQMJ6oPkD2s

Chapter 3 of First Corinthians challenges us to assess our maturity before the Lord. Paul is striving to nurture the Corinthians into adulthood, but their humanness is getting in the way. Jealousy and rivalry consume them, which keeps them from fully embracing Christ. Let us pray for openness to Christ who desires to build upon us through those who minister among us. May our foundation be Christ, not gold or precious stone for they will not last. You ARE the temple of God. Christ, as you remember from Hebrews, is the same yesterday, today and forever. Christ came to God’s temple on earth. You are God’s holy temple, trust in the wisdom of God found in Jesus Christ who attends you.