Month: February 2014

The Exchanged Life

2 Corinthians 5:14

Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life.

It is the righteousness of our beloved, Jesus Christ, that shines forth in us when we submit ourselves to be vessels of His perfect love.  The love of Jesus in our lives is what allows us to show the world what living for Christ is all about.  If we ever try to show the world Jesus through our own holiness, and not through the righteousness that we have received from Our Savior, we will fail.

Prayer,
Heavenly Father, we pray that our living testimony will be anchored by the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives.  May Your strength be perfected in us so that our weaknesses may be overcome.  May the world see the way, the truth and the life of Jesus through us as we leave our old lives behind in exchange for the our new lives in Christ.

The God in Whom We Trust

1 Corinthians 4:13
when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world–right up to this moment.

Paul and those who joined with him in spreading the gospel message were attacked viciously by the social media of their day.  How remarkable it is that Paul’s words of 2000 years ago are so accurate today.  The voice of our corrupt world screams out against the gospel message wherever it is presented.  The persecution of Tim Tebow is a perfect example.  He has suffered vicious attacks in all forms of media simply because he is willing to express the truth about His Savior. 

Unfortunately, the attacks of the enemy have quieted the voices of most Christians.  We have sat back and watched as prayer has been taken out of our schools and community events, the Ten Commandments have been removed from display in public places and the mention of Jesus has basically been banned in any form, unless of course, it is used to ridicule Him.

Prayer,
Heavenly Father, we pray that You will shine Your Light upon our land and our people so that we may exalt You as Almighty God, so that we may turn to You as Our Rock and Our Foundation.  May the laws of our land and the actions of our people come into alignment with Your laws, Your commandments and Your Holy Word.  Once again may we call upon You as the God in whom we trust.

Vessels of Your Redemptive Power

1 Corinthians 1:17

For Christ didn’t send me to baptize, but to preach the Good News–and not with clever speech, for fear that the cross of Christ would lose its power.

Surely Paul served the emerging church in a number of ways, but he understood that God had called him and equipped him specifically to preach the Good News.  Paul teaches us that, as we serve our churches and communities, it is important that we call on the Holy Spirit to help us to find out what God has specifically equipped us to do in service to His Kingdom.  No role is too big, nor is any role too small, when we are doing what Our Creator called us to do.

Then Paul expands his message to make sure that we recognize that the redemptive power of the Cross does not rely on anything that we do.  It is not our enticing words or the strength of our presentation that wins hearts.  We are simply vessels of the divine truth of God’s mercy on all of us.  We should never consider ourselves to be the reason that a soul came to Christ.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we pray that you open our eyes so that we can see the unique ways that you have endowed us to serve you.  We pray that you will prepare our hearts so that we serve you as humble vessels of Your divine, redemptive power.