Dear Friends,
I hope you are well and that you are experiencing the peace of God during these challenging times.
Many of us at Red River Church just completed the Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Class. The anchor practice of the course is the Daily Office. The Daily Office is a means to stop at least twice a day to simply be with the Lord in a place of surrender and listening. The Daily Office asks us first to be silent and still before the Lord. Secondly, we focus on a small passage of scripture. There is a short devotion to read. Then, we answer a penetrating question. Finally, there is a prayer to pray, where we offer ourselves again to the Lord in a place of quiet listening.
A beautiful aspect of the Daily Office was that it enabled us to go deeper in Christ, and it also helped us to do this together as we were daily directed to the same scriptures, prayers, devotions, etc. Though the Daily Office is an individual calling, it has a significant community influence and impact. I believe something akin to the Daily Office can help us retain our sense of community during the Coronavirus pandemic.
I would like to continue to listen to the Lord together in Daily Office like devotions. Beginning Monday, March 23, I will email you a devotion each day, Monday through Friday, based loosely on the elements of the Daily Office. All of the devotions will come from the Psalms.
The Psalms are particularly relevant to us now as we seek to go deeper in Christ and also become more emotionally healthy. The Psalms show us the greatness of God as well as His tender compassion for us. The Psalms show how believers can be honest in our raw emotions before God and come to a place of peace and rest through honest lament before the Lord. The Psalms have both an individual aspect as well as a community characteristic. The Psalms reveal the contour of our own souls and yet are sung and spoken among believers.
Finally, I would like to ask each member of our church family to read at least one Psalm per day. Meditate upon the passage. Memorize parts of it if you can. Sing it unto the Lord. You might also write your own Psalm of lament, praise, worship, or prayer unto the Lord. We will explore these practices and more as we journey together, day by day.
Looking forward to the journey with you,
Keith