The Pharisees came and began to question Jesus. To test Him, they asked Him for a sign from heaven. He sighed deeply and said, “Why does this generation ask for a miraculous sign? I tell you the truth, no sign will be given to it.” Mark 8:11-12.

You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in Your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. Psalm 139:15-16.

And continuing our 351 Old Testament prophecies, promises of God, fulfilled in Jesus Christ, we come to number 60: To own the title, Anointed (Christ). Psalm 2:2: The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers take counsel together against the LORD and against His Anointed, saying, “Let us tear their fetters apart and cast away their cords from us!” And, John 1:41; Acts 2:36: He found first his own brother Simon and said to him, “We have found the Messiah” (which translated means Christ). Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both LORD and Christ – this Jesus whom you crucified.

I loved this today from Henri Nouwen in You Are The Beloved: “Compassion lies at the heart of our prayer for our fellow human beings. When I pray for the world, I become the world; when I pray for the endless needs of the millions, my soul expands and wants to embrace them all and bring them into the presence of God. But in the midst of that experience I realize that compassion is not mine but God’s gift to me. I cannot embrace the world, but God can. I cannot pray, but God can pray in me. When God became as we are, that is, when God allowed all of us to enter into His intimate life, it became possible for us to share in His infinite compassion. In praying for others, I lose myself and become the other, only to be found by the divine love that holds the whole of humanity in a compassionate embrace.”

I love that – When God became as we are – that is – when God allowed all of us to enter into His intimate life, it became possible for us to share in His infinite compassion. Creator God – Father, Son, Spirit, who is invisible to us in this physical life, allowed Himself to be seen in the face of Christ as He told Philip, “Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father.” “I and the Father are One.” John 10:30. He came to be among us and to live with us and to show us hope in Him. No wonder Jesus sighed deeply when the Pharisees asked for a sign from heaven so they could believe. He was standing right in front of them! He was bringing healing no human could bring – the healing that comes with knowing God. Last night on the news the sports reporter was smiling broadly as he talked about the World Cup soccer match held locally between Japan and Sweden. The Japanese tourists in the stadium sitting together had brought blue bags so they could each clean up any trash around them, and leave the bags neatly tied in the seat to show respect for the home country sponsoring the game their team played in. And the score was even and after the game, both team’s fans were dancing together in the street! You could feel the joy he was trying to say in words, and the only way he could express it was to say – that that was the World Cup! I am not a sports fan in any sense but my heart was lifted with hope and I could well imagine in God’s Kingdom when all nations and peoples and languages will be gathered together as family and imagine the joy we will all know then! I bet soccer balls will be there! My prayer of late for myself, deeply needed by me, is to stop seeing the negative as though it’s an awful, intrusive idol that I trust in more than God’s goodness; for my hope for all of us is in Him. I need Him and I pray we are all awakened to that need and respond with thankful joy and hope and praise!

***WESLEY’S PRAYER – O LORD God Almighty, Father of angels and men, we praise and bless Your holy name for all Your goodness and lovingkindness to humanity. We bless You for our creation, preservation, and for Your unceasing generosity to us throughout our lives. But above all, we bless You for Your great love in the redemption of the world by our LORD Jesus Christ. We bless You for bringing us safe to the beginning of a new day. Grant that this day we fall into no sin, neither run into any kind of danger. Keep us, we pray, from all things hurtful to body or soul, and grant us Your pardon and peace, so that being cleansed from all our sins, we might serve You with quiet hearts and minds and continue in the same until our life’s end, through Jesus Christ our Savior and Redeemer. Amen.***