@FirstChurchofJerusalem
Today's Early Church Wisdom
“I shall not hesitate also to put into ordered form for you, along with the interpretations, everything I learned carefully in the past from the elders and noted down carefully, for the truth of which I vouch. For unlike most people, I took no pleasure in those who told many different stories, but only in those who taught the truth. Nor did I take pleasure in those who reported their memory of someone else’s commandments, but only in those who reported their memory of the commandments given by the Lord to the faith and proceeding from the Truth itself. And if by chance anyone who had been in attendance on the elders arrived, I made enquiries about the words of the elders—what Andrew or Peter had said, or Philip or Thomas or James or John or Matthew or any other of the Lord’s disciples, and whatever Aristion and John the Elder, the Lord’s disciples, were saying. For I did not think that information from the books would profit me as much as information from a living and surviving voice.
~ Papias of Hierapolis (c. 60–130 AD) From the Preface to his lost ‘Expositions of the Sayings of the Lord’
This week's Psalm is Psalm 31 'My Rock, My Shield, My Song'

Lacking Power?

Recharge your life

Being finite, we must all face the fact that our human power is limited. Perhaps it can be increased with the help of others, or by increased wealth, or extended influence, but at the end of the day, however determined and resourced we may be from a human point of view, we remain limited in power. This means that even when we think we know what is best, we may not be able to achieve it. Limited power, like limited knowledge, restricts our ability to do all that we would. Only by connecting with an all-powerful source, may we escape from this limitation. Those who dwell in the secret place of the Most High (Psalm 91) connect with the greatest Power in the universe, and this Power is loving. As the poet Dante says, this is the Love that moves the planets and the stars. If we will choose to daily walk and talk with Jesus, this Power, this Love, will also move us. And not just us! If we’ll abide in Him, this Power will move things through us, even the mountains that we face as we travel the rocky road of life. Don’t neglect this power today. If you’re concerned to keep your mobile phone charged, how much more concerned should you be to charge up your life! That’ll only happen in an active personal relationship with Jesus.