SPIRITUAL EXERCISES & RSV BIBLE EXTRACTS - WEEK 103
STARTS THURSDAY 14th JANUARY 2010
“ABANDON YOURSELVES TO GOD”
(A) STEPS TOWARDS TOTAL ABANDONMENT OF SELF TO GOD
Weekly message No. 98 (9th January 1986).
Sharing the mission of Jesus.
“Dear children! I call you by your prayers to help Jesus along in the fulfilment of all the plans which He is forming here. And offer your sacrifices to Jesus in order that everything is fulfilled the way He has planned it and that Satan can accomplish nothing. Thank you for having responded to my call.”
PRACTICAL:
During this week try to help someone by prayer and word to find peace.
Thursday: Recognising the good tree by its fruits.
Matthew 7:15-20.
15“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? 17So, every sound tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears evil fruit. 18A sound tree cannot bear evil fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20Thus you will know them by their fruits.”
Friday: Jesus continues His mission through His disciples.
Mark 16:15-18.
15And he said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to the whole creation. 16He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. 17And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
Cf. John 20:21.
21Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.”
Saturday: Sharing the suffering of Christ for the sake of His Body, the Church.
Colossians 1:24.
24Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church.
Cf. 2 Corinthians 1:5-7.
5For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too. 6If we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation; and if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which you experience when you patiently endure the same sufferings that we suffer. 7Our hope for you is unshaken; for we know that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in our comfort.
Sunday: Sharing in the suffering of Christ.
1 Peter 4:12-16.
12Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal which comes upon you to prove you, as though something strange were happening to you. 13But rejoice in so far as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. 14If you are reproached for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. 15But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or a thief, or a wrongdoer, or a mischief-maker; 16yet if one suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but under that name let him glorify God.
Monday: Sharing Christ’s ministry of reconciliation.
2 Corinthians 5:17-19.
17Therefore, if any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; * the old has passed away, behold, the new has come. 18All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.
Tuesday: Christ living in us.
Galatians 2:20.
20I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Cf. John 14:23.
23Jesus answered him, “If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”
Wednesday: The joy of the disciples in experiencing power over the Evil One by using Jesus’ name.
Luke 10:17-20.
17The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!” 18And he said to them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing shall hurt you. 20Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you; but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”