Month: March 2014

Welcomed Light in a Hardened World

2 Timothy 4:1-2

I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word;

Jesus Christ, the Living Word, came to earth to teach us about God and to reveal the salvation plan.  A large portion of His message was presented through the way that He lived and loved among the people.  He used His miracles to exhibit His love and to gain attention for His message – especially for those that would not listen to His message otherwise.

So it is with us.  Because most of the world now has hardened hearts for the spoken Word, we must draw them to the Word by the way that we live our lives.  Once we become a welcomed light in their lives, we can reveal the gospel to them.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the living presence of Your Son in our lives.  We pray that we may become broken vessels, surrendered to You, so that the world may be drawn to us by the Light that lives within us and shines forth from us.  Once they have come to us, we pray that You give us the strength and the boldness to proclaim the gospel.  

Joining Christ on the Cross

Galatians 2:20

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

When we accept our salvation, we join Jesus Christ in crucifixion.  Just as He accepted death on the Cross to wash away our sins, we accept the crucifixion of our own flesh to set aside our old nature and take on the nature of the One who dwells within us.  Our new nature rises through the power of the Holy Spirit to bring us victory over our sin stained flesh.

Unfortunately, our flesh does not go without a fight.  It is only by the grace of God that we are able to relinquish our old lives in exchange for our new lives in Christ.  

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the new lives that You have given us through the sacrifice of Your Son on the Cross.  We pray that You will show us the nature of Your grace.  We pray that You will give us the wisdom to toss aside any claim to our own merit and the faith to rely solely on Your grace.  

Following the Way, the Truth and the Life

John 6:67

“You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.

After teaching a particularly difficult lesson, a number of Jesus’ early disciples turned away from following Him.  At that point Jesus inquired of His apostles, “You do not want to leave too, do you?”

Today there are many churches teaching their own version of Scripture.  They choose not to follow God’s Holy Word as it is written.  In effect, they are walking away from Jesus because the lesson is too hard for them to follow.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You that You have provided Your inerrant Word for us to follow.  We pray that You enlighten us.  Open our minds so that we may understand the exact standard to which You are calling us.  Perfect Your strength in our weakness so that we may be steadfast in following the way, the truth and the life that is Your Son, Jesus.

What Challenges Will Life Bring Today

Romans 8:37

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  

What challenges will life bring today?  Will they be in the form of tribulation, distress or perhaps persecution?  It matters not for we are more than conquerors through Our Savior, Jesus Christ.  

In the midst of all these things we will rise up and find joy.  The undaunted presence of Jesus Christ makes the world’s challenges impotent.  No thing nor no power can put a wedge between us and the love of God that provides our resilience. 

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for liberating us from our present sufferings by providing the hope that comes from the freedom and glory that has been set aside for us.  We pray for the courage and the strength to face and defeat every trial that the enemy throws our way.  We rejoice in knowing that the victory is ours because it was first won on the Cross by Your Son, Jesus.

Seeking Wisdom

Jeremiah 33:3
Call to me and I’ll answer you, and will tell you about great and hidden things that you don’t know.

The Word of God is very specific.  Wisdom and understanding concerning all matters of life are available to us.  All we have to do is ask.

The trick is being persistent in asking for wisdom.  It is a building process.  The Lord knows that we are not able to digest too much information at one time.  He will feed us slowly as a baby is fed liquids until it is ready to move on to more solid foods.   

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank you for providing the Holy Spirit to teach us all things, including secret things and inaccessible things.  We humbly ask You to provide us the wisdom that we need to get through each day.  We ask that each day You will build our understanding of who You are so that we may have proper reverence for You.  We rejoice in knowing that one day we will stand before You in the image of Your Son and all of Your glory will be revealed to us.

May the World See Our Joy

Psalm 90:14

Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

There is nothing on this earth that satisfies like the love of Our Heavenly Father.  He created a void in our hearts that can only be filled by the presence of Jesus in our lives.  When we allow Jesus to be our sustenance, there is nothing that the world can offer that measures up.

Unfortunately, men and women of all walks of life chase every type of earthly pleasure in efforts to fill the void in their hearts.  The fullness of joy will never be felt by them until they turn to their Savior for completion.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we rejoice in the joy in our hearts that You have provided by allowing us to receive Your Son, Jesus, as Our Savior.  May our days be filled with His sweet presence.  May the world know Him by our joyful countenance.

What Value Am I?

Acts 20:24

But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus–the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.

The apostle Paul knew exactly what Jesus called him to do.  He wavered not one iota from his calling.  He endured much to give the people of his time the message of salvation in his sermons and his written letters.  His words continue to educate and inspire over 2000 years later.

Like Paul, Jesus has a calling for our lives.  Surely our calling will not measure up to Paul’s calling, at least not in the eyes of man.  Be keenly aware that what may seem small in the eyes of man is glorious in God’s eyes.  The smallest deed done at the request of Our Heavenly Father can move mountains.  

Prayer
Heavenly Father, open our eyes so that we may see the good work that You ask of us.  Teach us how to separate our own inclinations to service from the calling that You have placed on our lives.  Teach us how to measure our usefulness, not by man’s standards, but by Your good and perfect means.  Strengthen us, Oh Lord, that we may not falter when the enemy tries to demean our work.

The Way of the Cross

John 21:17

He said, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Then feed my sheep”.

Peter, believing his love for Jesus was obvious to Jesus, became frustrated.  So Peter challenged Jesus, saying, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.”  Jesus’ response to Peter’s challenge was essentially, “Prove it.”  

Jesus calls on each of us who love Him to go out and do the work that He was doing.  He tended to all of the needs of the people, all the way to the Cross, because of His love for His Father.  Jesus expects us to take up His work, to take up our cross, because of our love for Him.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for sending Your Son, Jesus, to tend to our every need, especially our need to be freed from the sin that separates us from You.  In response to Your loving kindness, mercy and grace, we surrender our lives to You.  Show us the cross that You have prepared for us.  Instruct us in the way that we should go.  Strengthen us for the journey.  Release your power through us so that others may discover the Way of the Cross.

An All-Consuming Love

John 21:17

A third time he asked him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

Jesus asked Peter three times, “Do you love me?”  Peter was not hard of hearing.  The Greek translation reveals that Jesus was referring to a different level of love with each question.  The first question asked of Peter was if he loved Jesus as friends might love one another – eros.  The second question Jesus asked Peter was if he loved Jesus like he might love a brother or sister – philos.  The third time Jesus got to the heart of the matter.  He asked Peter if he had an all-consuming love for His Lord – agape.

As we grow as Christians, Jesus will challenge us until we reach an all-consuming love for Him.  All the along the way, the Holy Spirit will guide us, strengthen us and build us up as we work our way through our own personal journey of sanctification.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank you for the unearned, unconditional love that You have given us, so that we may have a love gift to return to You.  We exalt Your name for willingly sending Your only begotten Son to die on the Cross to cleanse us of our sins, so that we may be deemed acceptable to present our love gift to You.  May Your grace be with us so that we can experience the fullness of Your perfect love and respond with an all-consuming love for You and Your Son, Jesus.

Our Cupboard Is Always Sufficient

1 Kings 17:16

The bowl of flour was not exhausted nor did the jar of oil become empty, according to the word of the LORD which He spoke through Elijah.

Elijah, in accordance with God’s directive, went to the widow in Zarephath and requested that she make him some bread to eat.  She told Elijah that she could not feed him because she only had enough flour and oil to feed her and her son one more meal.  She then told Elijah they would die because their food supply would be exhausted.  Elijah told the woman if she made his meal first that her supply would never be exhausted.  And so it was by the word of the Lord. 

When we feel the call of the Lord to fulfill a service or a charity, we should never concern ourselves with what is in our cupboard.  The Lord will always supply what we need to fulfill His work.  And when the work is done, our cupboard will overflow.

Prayer,
Heavenly Father, we thank You for calling us to do Your good work.  We rejoice in knowing that You will equip us to do whatever you call us to do.  We exalt You as you bless us, knowing we will be a blessing to others.  All praise and glory to You.