April 10th People Reflection

Monday 4/10/2006

Acts 2.1-13-They’re speaking our languages, describing God’s mighty works!

Deuteronomy 13-14-Yes. Obediently listen to GOD, your God.

Job 10-You gave me life itself, and incredible love.

2 Esdras 9.26-28-there I sat among the flowers and ate of the plants of the field…

Isaiah 42.1-9-now I will announce what will happen next.

Isaiah 53.1-3-We despised him and said, "He is a nobody!"

Psalm 63-Your love means more than life to me, and I praise you.

"Is Cincinnati a Pepsi town?" – Huh?- Never even occurred to me you had to be Pepsi or Coke I guess. A young woman next to me at the Red’s game yesterday. Starting conversation with small talk. She was new to Cincinnati. Came from Chicago. So we got to know each other. Talked for some time. I really couldn’t answer her original question but I guess it really didn’t matter anyway. It lead to knowing another person on a deeper level. At first I thought maybe she was speaking tongues. Cause I took her initial question literally. But that question was just an opener. And so the same in the Acts reading. Speaking in tongues- just an opener to a deeper relationship with God. Not some big deal like we make it out to be. Just and opener. I think it’s really for beginners anyway. God’s way of hooking some people. And then we listen to God. See what he has to say. Look to the Word. Listen to what he has to say. And we see Life. Life in Jesus. Life in Death. Jesus death. Life in the flowers of the field. Life in the food we eat. Life in the bread and wine. Life in the waters of baptism. And we listen to those tongues. And listen to what will happen next. Day after day. Listen to the love God gives and freely give his love and our love to a hurting world. Even in the small talk of a young woman at the Reds game. Giving life to another. "Is Cincinnati a Pepsi town?" – Yea- listen to someone speaking in tongues.

Prayer- Lord, open opportunities for me to hear tongues and to use tongues this day to speak Life to the world you send me into. -- Amen