Everywhere
Monday Missive #100
This is my 100th Monday Missive. Wow! Have I really written that many poems in two years? I have been looking at the open rates (how many times a specific post has been viewed) for everything I have posted over the last two years. Monday Missives have been by far the most popular posts. The other posts have traditionally been viewed only about two-thirds as many times.
In 1963, Bob Dylan wrote “The Times They Are-a-Changin’”. Indeed, the times are -a-changin,’ and Christ Formed is also going through a change. Don’t worry! Monday Missive will not change. There will still be a Poem, a Prayer, and a Passage most Mondays.
But starting later this week, there will be a new element called Christ-Forming Questions, or CFQ for short. Most devotional writings contain a passage of scripture, a short commentary or story, and a prayer. There is nothing wrong with them — except most tend to be somewhat shallow in actually helping form a person in Christ. In other words, they do not ask you to think very deeply. My hope is that CFQ will lead you to think deeply about how you are and can be formed more into the image of Christ. The format for the new Christ-Formed Questions will be:
A Wednesday and Friday post based upon the scripture that I will be teaching the following Sunday in the Bible study class I teach.
Each post will contain a passage of scripture and two to three deep and thought-provoking questions for you to consider.
In the weeks I am not teaching, there will still be scripture passages with questions to consider.
I will also be posting longer articles on Medium, a very broad-based platform. On this platform, my posts will expand to include topics that are not specifically Christian in nature. I want to broaden the scope of my writing, and I think Medium is a better platform to do that. Since you are a subscriber to Christ Formed, you will be automatically signed up to my new site on Medium - gregmcole.online. Just like on Christ Formed, you will receive an email each time I post an article or poem. If you do not desire to follow me at gregmcole.online, you may unsubscribe at any time (it will not affect your Christ Formed subscription)
Now for Monday Missive #100!
A Poem: Ever Present
Ever present,
Everywhere,
God is with me;
Even when I don’t feel it.
Ever present,
Everywhere,
God goes before me,
Even when I can’t see it.
Ever present,
Everywhere,
God guides me,
Even when I am unaware.
Ever present,
Everywhere,
God protects me,
Even when I am careless.
Ever present,
Everywhere,
God has been,
My past,
My present,
My future;
Leading,
Guiding,
Protecting,
Even when I am unaware.
A Prayer: Lord, You Are Faithful
Father,
You have given me this day.
Another day of life.
Help me live it aware of
Your presence,
Your love,
Your grace,
Your power,
Your wisdom.
Help me to see
How you have
Guided me,
Protected me,
Gone before me,
Led me.
Help me live this day,
As a testimony
Of your faithfulness.
A Passage: For Reflection
“Am I a God who is only close at hand?” says the LORD. “No, I am far away at the same time. Can anyone hide from me in a secret place? Am I not everywhere in all the heavens and earth?” says the LORD.
— Jeremiah 23:23-24 NLT