The church we've been attending lately, Unity of St. Cloud, is part of the larger Unity School of Christianity. I actually had an earlier connection to them in college when by some coincidence or other I subscribed to their publication, The Daily Word. It is a devotional "magazine" with a positive spiritual message, really an affirmation, and a short Bible passage to read each day. I liked it so much in college, and it helped me through many a rough patch Freshman year, that I gave my Grandma a gift subscription for years too. I just wanted to let you know about it today so you can read it online each day if you want, as I've been doing.
Today's message is about "COMFORT" and the verse is from Psalm 119:
“Let your steadfast love become my comfort according to your promise to your servant.” —Psalm 119:76
I remember from Seminary that those words "steadfast love" come from the Hebrew word "hesed". I remember the definition(s) of this word being incredibly comforting and meaningful to me back in Sem. It's actually quite hard to define a Hebrew word precisely, because each one is rich with meaning and layers and depth that an English word just often doesn't have. But here's a stab at it: Hesed is God's loving faithfulness, God never leaving us, God merciful and loyal and always steadfast.
I'm not trying to proselytize here (you know me I wouldn't do that!), but I think it's cool that over and over in the Old Testament, as well as the New, there are examples of God sticking with Her/His people through whole bunches of troubles and tribulations. I find it comforting to know that even as people mess up time and time again, God is there with love to give.
It was good to be reminded of Hesed today!
(p.s. if you Google "Unity School of Christianity", you'll see that it's a "new age cult". Ha! Actually, if you click on the link you will find there a pretty good criticism of Unity. If you want to learn how it contrasts with the mainline Christian church it's a good read. I actually quite like what he says about Unity, judging it as a cult or not. We like the message we hear there, and we'll keep going for now. I'll let you know when they start the brainwashing! And if we suddenly disappear, call the authorities and tell them Barbara did it!--she's our very kind, very very *positive* minister who seems sane so far...but I guess you never know.)
Today's message is about "COMFORT" and the verse is from Psalm 119:
“Let your steadfast love become my comfort according to your promise to your servant.” —Psalm 119:76
I remember from Seminary that those words "steadfast love" come from the Hebrew word "hesed". I remember the definition(s) of this word being incredibly comforting and meaningful to me back in Sem. It's actually quite hard to define a Hebrew word precisely, because each one is rich with meaning and layers and depth that an English word just often doesn't have. But here's a stab at it: Hesed is God's loving faithfulness, God never leaving us, God merciful and loyal and always steadfast.
I'm not trying to proselytize here (you know me I wouldn't do that!), but I think it's cool that over and over in the Old Testament, as well as the New, there are examples of God sticking with Her/His people through whole bunches of troubles and tribulations. I find it comforting to know that even as people mess up time and time again, God is there with love to give.
It was good to be reminded of Hesed today!
(p.s. if you Google "Unity School of Christianity", you'll see that it's a "new age cult". Ha! Actually, if you click on the link you will find there a pretty good criticism of Unity. If you want to learn how it contrasts with the mainline Christian church it's a good read. I actually quite like what he says about Unity, judging it as a cult or not. We like the message we hear there, and we'll keep going for now. I'll let you know when they start the brainwashing! And if we suddenly disappear, call the authorities and tell them Barbara did it!--she's our very kind, very very *positive* minister who seems sane so far...but I guess you never know.)
Comments
P.S. Thanks for the comment and nice to "meet you". Looks like we have a lot in common!