God's Simple Rules

SCRIPTURE
- Proverbs 3:13        
“Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding.” 

REFLECTION
- Mary Ellyn

MUSIC
-Healing Frequency

-Shadows by Gjeilo

NOTES
-

PRAYER OF LETTING GO
To You do I belong, O God,
into Your hands I surrender my life.
Pour out Your Spirit upon me
that I may love You perfectly,
and serve You faithfully
until my soul rests in You.

Transcript

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SPEAKER_03 0:24

Our scripture today tells us, blessed are those who find wisdom. That's become increasingly harder to do nowadays, as we are constantly bombarded at every turn with misinformation and mistruths. Let us not forget that in the midst of this morass, God's word, scripture is always truthful. Thank you for joining us, and welcome to prayer. In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

SPEAKER_04 1:08

O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth shall declare your praise.

SPEAKER_03 1:16

Psalm 14. The abundance of life's gifts. The hearts of fools say, There is no power in love. They live in illusion. They walk alone in utter darkness, calling it light. Oh, that the heart of all children might call upon their angel. Oh, that all people, all nations might know that harmony and beauty that reside in the creative world, that we are all one despite our differences, formed by God's hand.

SPEAKER_00 2:14

O that we may rejoice in life and in the abundance of God's gifts created and given to all.

SPEAKER_03 2:25

Glory be to the Father, to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.

SPEAKER_01 2:30

As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.

SPEAKER_02 2:39

A reading from Proverbs chapter 3, verse 13. Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding. The word of the Lord. He is six years old, and I have taught him many games over the years. Whenever we play a new game, we try to start with the instructions and learn the rules on how to play. Sometimes he likes to make up his own rules, though. And they somehow always seem to favor him. Whatever rules we end up going with, in the beginning, there's a learning curve as he tries to figure out how to play and ultimately win. He may even copy some of my moves as he learns how to play on his own. He uses the wisdom gained from the instructions and previous game experiences to shape his decisions in future games. Sure, he sometimes forgets the rules or needs to be shown the correct next step. That's okay. I do it as often and as many times as he needs. Love God and love your neighbor. And if we want to copy anyone's move, God also gave us the best example. Jesus Christ. Rules that are more convenient for us. It may feel like a win in the short term, but we find that we are further away from our ultimate victory. God is always there as many times as we need to remind us and place us on the right next step. We may fail, but we can ask for forgiveness to continue to grow. Most recently, my grandson and I started to play jazz together. Jess is a very strategic game, with the king being the most important piece on the board. You win the game if you capture the opponent's king. Now, unless you are a chess master, you maybe plan your next one or two moves. Similarly, in life, we try to figure out our next one or two moves. Luckily, we know a chess master God. God sees the entire board of our life. He sees every possible outcome and challenge ahead of us. And he is there to guide us through it all. We don't need to understand God's strategy. We simply need to gain the wisdom to trust him and surrender our needs for him to control our every move. With this understanding, we will capture the King and win the eternal game. We can spend eternity celebrating our victory, giving glory to God forever.

SPEAKER_03 7:47

Now let us bring our intercessions before the Lord. With confidence and trust, we pray.

SPEAKER_04 8:09

Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses. As we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

SPEAKER_03 8:23

Amen. Heavenly Father, thank you for the gift of wisdom and understanding. Help us to seek your truth above all earthly treasures and to walk faithfully in your ways. Grant us humble hearts that listen to your guidance, that our lives may be filled with the peace and blessings that come from knowing and following you. We ask this through Christ our Lord.

SPEAKER_04 8:56

To you do I belong, O God. Into your hands I surrender my life. Pour out your Spirit upon me, that I may love you perfectly and serve you faithfully until my soul rests in you.

SPEAKER_03 9:14

We thank you for joining us today and for being an integral part of our God-minute prayer community. May Almighty God bless you, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. We look forward to seeing you tomorrow.