Living in Harmony Is So Necessary; Rejoicing with Others is Symphony. Romans 12:9-16

Romans 12:9-16 The Message

^9-10Love from the center of who you are; don’t fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle.

^11-13Don’t burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don’t quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality.

^14-16Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath. Laugh with your happy friends when they’re happy; share tears when they’re down. Get along with each other; don’t be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don’t be the great somebody.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

Living in Harmony Is So Necessary

Wise believers acknowledge when Jesus said, “A new command I give you: Love one another” (John 13:34), this was not simply a suggestion for getting along.

So too, the Bible’s commands as to how we treat one another shouldn’t be considered optional. That’s not the nature of God’s commands at all.

As Christ’s followers, we must remember how our relationship with God affects our relationships with each other.

When we pray, “Our Father,” we acknowledge that we are part of a family that includes sisters and brothers. We’re each called to live in harmony together.

Today’s reading mentions specific ways of doing so, such as honoring one another above ourselves, holding to what is good, praying faithfully, sharing with people in need, showing hospitality, and not being haughty or proud.

When believers live in harmony, expressing their love for one another by sharing tears in times of sorrow and expanding their joy by celebrating together, they become appealing witnesses to their truest hope in Christ.

When a coworker or stranger observes, “It’s amazing how you guys love each other,” the cause of Christ moves forward. Jesus taught this when he prayed that all believers “may be one” and also “may be brought to complete unity.

Then,” he said to the Father, “the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me” (John 17:22-23).

Rejoicing with Others is So Symphony.

Romans 12:9-16 Complete Jewish Bible

⁹Don’t let love be a mere outward show. Recoil from what is evil, and cling to what is good. ¹⁰Love each other devotedly and with brotherly love; and set examples for each other in showing respect. ¹¹Don’t be lazy when hard work is needed, but serve the Lord with spiritual fervor. ¹²Rejoice in your hope, be patient in your troubles, and continue steadfastly in prayer. ¹³Share what you have with God’s people, and practice hospitality.

¹⁴Bless those who persecute you — bless them, don’t curse them! ¹⁵Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. ¹⁶Be sensitive to each other’s needs — don’t think yourselves better than others, but make humble people your friends. Don’t be conceited.

Can you hear the triumphant sounds of symphony of Christians in community?

Can you hear the ruckus of badly timed, tuned instruments of no Christians in community or harmony at all – a million of clashing cymbals + broken bugles?

1 Corinthians 13 The Message

The Way of Love

13 If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.

²If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing.

^3-7If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.

Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.

^8-10Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.

¹¹When I was an infant at my mother’s breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.

¹²We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!

¹³But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.

It is a good thing that God’s love stays in eternal harmony, His love never ends and His love forever bears all things because man’s love for his fellow man fails.

Shared faith, hope, love, joy are a great expression of sympathy. We typically use the word sympathy to describe a shared grief—but it applies equally to joy.

We understand sympathy when we use it in a sentence, but the word itself can be difficult to define. So consider its opposite: apathy. If apathy is akin to saying, “I couldn’t care less,” sympathy is akin to saying, “I couldn’t care more.” Sympathy is an identification with the experience of another person.

Many of us find it natural to “laugh with those who laugh, weep with those who weep.” It is instinctive for us to enter into the merriment and disappointment and pain of those we love and to cry at the sight or thought of their sadness.

This is a good thing, for to “bear one another’s burdens” is to “fulfill the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2).

To enter into the joy and success of others, however, is often the far greatest of challenges because it requires us to work against the grain of the fallenness of our human nature, which is prone to continuous resentment and bitterness.

Instead of someone’s success serving as an occasion for us to bless God and thank Him, it so easily becomes an occasion for everything contrary to love.

Most of us know how to avoid expressing envy. But there is a massive difference between not expressing envy and not feeling envy. We can modify our behavior enough to keep from showing it, but it requires spiritual transformation to get us to the point of not feeling it. This transformation begins with a well studied understanding of our identity as members of Christ’s body in true community.

Paul says that “we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another” (Romans 12:5). To be in community with Christ means we are members of Him and of one another in authentic community.

To put this another way: if we are in Christ, we are all on the same team.

When we grasp this, it will be as natural for us to enter into another’s joy as it is for a soccer player to rejoice at their teammate’s game-winning goal in just the same way as if they had scored it themselves. As God’s people, we win and lose—we enjoy and we grieve—in community as God is in community – all together.

God’s word calls you to “let love be genuine” (Romans 12:9)—and genuine, Christlike love conforms your feelings so that jealousy gives way to joy and apathy to true sympathy playing God’s symphony of peace. Is there anyone who you are standing aloof from in some way, either in their joy or their sadness?

Have you considered whom you will encourage with tickets to God’s symphony?

There is almost certainly someone you know who needs you to reach out and let them know that you are with them, praying for them and there for them as they walk a deep valley. Likewise, there will be someone whose joy you can share, and you can simply let them know that you praise God for His favor on their life.

Be that community, that symphony of someone’s of whom it can increasingly be said, “They couldn’t care more.” Ask the God of all compassion and comfort to work in you and through you by His Spirit to mold you into that person today.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Father God, we want to live with others in such a way that shows we are in a life-giving relationship with you. Grant us your Spirit to do so. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Psalm 150 The Message

150 ^1-6Hallelujah!
Praise God in his holy house of worship,
    praise him under the open skies;
Praise him for his acts of power,
    praise him for his magnificent greatness;
Praise with a blast on the trumpet,
    praise by strumming soft strings;
Praise him with castanets and dance,
    praise him with banjo and flute;
Praise him with cymbals and a big bass drum,
    praise him with fiddles and mandolin.
Let every living, breathing creature praise God!
    Hallelujah!

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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Unlocking those not so Mysterious Secrets to Loving Others As Jesus Did. Psalm 40:11

Psalm 40 New American Standard Bible 1995

God Sustains His Servant.

For the choir director. A Psalm of David.

40 I waited ^[a]patiently for the Lord;
And He inclined to me and heard my cry.
²He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the ^[b]miry clay,
And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm.
³He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God;
Many will see and fear
And will trust in the Lord.

⁴How blessed is the man who has made the Lord his trust,
And has not ^[c]turned to the proud, nor to those who lapse into falsehood.
⁵Many, O Lord my God, are the wonders which You have done,
And Your thoughts toward us;
There is none to compare with You.
If I would declare and speak of them,
They would be too numerous to count.

^6 [d]Sacrifice and meal offering You have not desired;
My ears You have ^[e]opened;
Burnt offering and sin offering You have not required.
⁷Then I said, “Behold, I come;
In the scroll of the book it is ^[f]written of me.
⁸I delight to do Your will, O my God;
Your Law is within my heart.”

⁹I have proclaimed glad tidings of righteousness in the great congregation;
Behold, I will not restrain my lips,
O Lord, You know.
¹⁰I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart;
I have spoken of Your faithfulness and Your salvation;
I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth from the great congregation.

¹¹You, O Lord, will not withhold Your compassion from me;
^[g]Your lovingkindness and Your truth will continually preserve me.
¹²For evils beyond number have surrounded me;
My iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to see;
They are more numerous than the hairs of my head,
And my heart has ^[h]failed me.

¹³Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me;
Make haste, O Lord, to help me.
¹⁴Let those be ashamed and humiliated together
Who seek my ^[i]life to destroy it;
Let those be turned back and dishonored
Who delight ^[j]in my hurt.
¹⁵Let those be ^[k]appalled because of their shame
Who say to me, “Aha, aha!”
¹⁶Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
Let those who love Your salvation say continually,
“The Lord be magnified!”
¹⁷Since I am afflicted and needy,
^[l]Let the Lord be mindful of me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
Do not delay, O my God.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

Happiness in Being Cared For by God

Psalm 40:11-12 The Message

^11-12Now God, don’t hold out on me,
    don’t hold back your passion.
Your love and truth
    are all that keeps me together.
When troubles ganged up on me,
    a mob of sins past counting,
I was so swamped by guilt
    I couldn’t see my way clear.
More guilt in my heart than hair on my head,
    so heavy the guilt that my heart gave out.

One of the most comforting truths for our lives is the providence of God.

The Lord Almighty takes care of us 100% of the time. The same God who created us also 100% sustains us. In this comfort we live and move and have our being.

God is the one who gives us breath and 100% of everything He knows we need.

God gives life to the seeds and plants we need for food. God gives us our daily bread and good health to enjoy. He even gives flavor to our food so that we can savor it. God is the one who preserves our life and delivers us from evil. The Lord God is our creator, provider, protector, redeemer, and our comforter.

The apostle Paul asks, “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32).

Our life does not drift on the winds of time at random, at the mercy of mere circumstances. We are all in the hands of the one who controls the universe.

How comforting it is to know that the God who rules the world is in control of our lives!

It is a great assurance to troubled souls and burdened hearts to know that God cares for them. He is thinking about you right now and has not forgotten your pain and need. Knowing this, everyone who seeks the Lord can be filled with joy.

Happiness is being unselfishly Cared for by Others

John 13:34-35 Amplified Bible

³⁴I am giving you a new commandment, that you ^[a]love one another. Just as I have loved you, so you too are to love one another. ³⁵By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you have love and unselfish concern for one another.”

The walk of life is filled with all kinds of relationships.

We pray that they’re mostly good ones that enrich our lives, but that’s not always the case.

They say people are here for a reason, a season, or a lifetime; unfortunately, some fall in the former.

Lucky for us, God redeems all things for good, and losing a friendship or just not clicking with someone from the start are no exceptions to that rule.

It doesn’t make it easier at the moment, though, and spending time around these people can be inevitable.

However, it’s during times like these that I’m often reminded of one of the more remarkable concepts in the faith, one that can be challenging when the temptation is to do the exact opposite.

Golden Rule #1 Treat everyone like Jesus died for them. (Matthew 7:7 – 12)

Because He did. Yes, even that stranger who was rude to you at Starbucks, even that ex-friend from your past who won’t stop spreading rumors about you and even that peer who won’t get off your nerves and those contrary to God’s ways.

All of them have the same opportunity for salvation as you.

It’s inviting to let those people hold a 100 year mortgage on the space between your ears, ruin your day, snap back, maybe say something bad about them too.

That’s not how Jesus taught us we’re supposed to publicly conduct ourselves.

Navigating the John 13:33 – 34 text is one of the more powerful exercises for self-control, but you have to remind yourself in those moments they are a child of God too and loved just the same as you. You can’t treat them as anything less.

Unlocking all those Secrets of Navigating John 13-34

1. Love God as God Loves Us.

Matthew 22:35-40 The Message

The Most Important Command

^34-36When the Pharisees heard how he had bested the Sadducees, they gathered their forces for an assault. One of their religion scholars spoke for them, posing a question they hoped would show him up: “Teacher, which command in God’s Law is the most important?”

^37-40Jesus said, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.’ This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ These two commands are pegs; everything in God’s Law and the Prophets hangs from them.”

It’s a simple concept. When Jesus was approached and asked outright what the greatest commandment was in Matthew 22:37, He didn’t hesitate to answer that it was to love the Lord your God with all of your heart. He continued to say that the second is like it and that you shall love your neighbor as yourself.

However bothersome that person is to you, they are your neighbor, and you are not asked to like them; you are commanded to love them.

Otherwise, you would not be loving God.

The two are so closely intertwined that you can’t have one without the other. Now, what is love? How do we love someone who has done us so wrong?

“And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.” Luke 6:31

Christianity demands kindness and just treatment, but the Bible has never instructed us to be doormats or pushovers.

Matthew 7:12 echoes the same sentiment referenced above.

To start, we can simply treat others civilly.

In fact, it truly is the most mature course of action for any interaction.

Being civil and respectful are the bare minimum acceptable standards, and no one benefits from gossip or behind the back snarky comments or dirty looks.

It’s certainly not expected to treat someone as a friend when they haven’t been one; it’s not good to reward harmful hurtful and 100% unacceptable behavior, but there are a few ways to have decorum going forward: Faith Hope and Love.

2. Pray for Others

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 The Message

^16-18Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.

It’s incredibly hard to continue feeling anger toward someone if you’re praying for them—not praying because you feel obligated, but genuinely sitting down and praying for that person. Putting yourself in your enemies’ shoes and too walking their path, very quickly gives you a new Kingdom perspective.

I’ve tried this out myself on occasion, and it had me thinking in ways I never would have thought about someone who betrayed me.

I felt compassion and even empathy.

It brought me peace in ways I didn’t know it would. I found myself thinking about all that may be going on in their lives to make them act in those ways.

Matthew 5:43-48 The Message

^43-47“You’re familiar with the old written law, ‘Love your friend,’ and its unwritten companion, ‘Hate your enemy.’ I’m challenging that. I’m telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the supple moves of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does. He gives his best—the sun to warm and the rain to nourish—to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty. If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that. If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that.

⁴⁸“In a word, what I’m saying is, Grow up. You’re kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.”

Maybe the grumpy and rude someone at Starbucks or Burger King had just received some bad or devastating news sometime during that day. I didn’t have to imagine the scenarios for ex-friends because, funny enough, I already knew them so well. They’d always had struggles with their family or even their own self-worth. We didn’t need to keep being friends, but I could pray for them.

3. Extend Grace

Ephesians 2:8-10 The Message

^7-10Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea, and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish! We don’t play the major role. If we did, we’d probably go around bragging that we’d done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing.

Remember, revenge, picking a fight, and gossiping are not the path to healing.

Instead, embrace the power of love and grace.

It’s not necessary to maintain a friendship that causes you pain.

By choosing to love yourself and others, you can overcome the hurt.

“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” Ephesians 4:29

However, responding with malice or cruel intent is also not loving.

Act with grace and treat the other person with dignity.

Jesus wants us to set boundaries and defend ourselves in respectful ways, but seeking revenge is not our job.

God will repay; He expects us to do what is honorable.

“Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord. On the contrary: ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” – Romans 12:17-21

4. Pause before Reacting

Proverbs 3:5-8 New American Standard Bible 1995

⁵Trust in the Lord with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding.
⁶In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight.
⁷Do not be wise in your own eyes;
Fear the Lord and turn away from evil.
⁸It will be healing to your ^[a]body
And refreshment to your bones.

There are two different paths to take when dealing with someone we don’t get on with, whether we’ve just met them or known them for a long time.

Confrontation is the first option.

Is the situation worth having a conversation?

Obviously, that person in the Starbucks or the Burger King probably doesn’t need a conversation, but someone who did you wrong and you will likely keep seeing may need to be spoken to.

That peer from before, maybe you’re working on a project for school with someone who won’t do their part, or you have a coworker who won’t stop bugging you. They may need kind and intentional confrontation. If there’s something you can do to make that everyday reaction better, you should.

If it’s that friend from your past, sometimes an honest discussion can go a long way. But conversation isn’t always meant to salvage something. Sometimes, it’s meant for the circumstance to help you part ways, walk different divergent line.

Distance is the other option.

Tough love is love, too, and I’m a firm believer in that.

That can be executed by taking space if it’s possible.

Remember, you won’t always get closure the way you want it, and on occasion, that is all the closure you’ll get.

You’ll save yourself a lot of pain and struggle by making that choice to step away. Even if your relationship used to be close or maybe that person was just in your life quite a bit, they won’t always need that confrontation. Talking doesn’t solve everything. Walking away can be the best “I Love You” course of action.

Pray for discernment to determine which would be best for your situation.

God will help nudge you in the direction you should take.

It’s important to be astute going forward to protect yourself.

“Discretion will protect you, and understanding will guard you. Wisdom will save you from the ways of wicked men, from men whose words are perverse.” Proverbs 2:11-12

5. Remember, You Are Loved

Romans 5:8-11 The Message

^6-8Christ arrives right on time to make this happen. He didn’t, and doesn’t, wait for us to get ready. He presented himself for this sacrificial death when we were far too weak and rebellious to do anything to get ourselves ready. And even if we hadn’t been so weak, we wouldn’t have known what to do anyway. We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice. But God put his love on the line for us by offering his Son in sacrificial death while we were of no use whatever to him.

^9-11Now that we are set right with God by means of this sacrificial death, the consummate blood sacrifice, there is no longer a question of being at odds with God in any way. If, when we were at our worst, we were put on friendly terms with God by the sacrificial death of his Son, now that we’re at our best, just think of how our lives will expand and deepen by means of his resurrection life! Now that we have actually received this amazing friendship with God, we are no longer content to simply say it in plodding prose. We sing and shout our praises to God through Jesus, the Messiah!

Sometimes, in our heads, it can feel like, ‘How could a person who is so mean, rude, or awful have the opportunity for forgiveness in the same way I do’?

Why would Jesus make the “tough love” decision to go through all that grief, all that bodily pain and ultimate humiliation of the Cross to do that for them, too?

It’s because they need it, and you need it too. You need forgiveness like they do because you, too, have sinned. Jesus didn’t come to condemn; He came to save.

I desperately need the daily reminder that we are all sinners in need of His forgiveness and that while I may feel like the victim now, there have most definitely been instances in the past when I was the villain in someone else’s story, instances where I may not have conducted myself with grace and dignity.

It’s why we all deserve to be treated like Jesus died for us—because, thank goodness, thank God, He did so love us with an everlasting sacrifice of love!

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray.

Psalm 23 The Message

23 ^1-3God, my shepherd!
    I don’t need a thing.
You have bedded me down in lush meadows,
    you find me quiet pools to drink from.
True to your word,
    you let me catch my breath
    and send me in the right direction.

⁴Even when the way goes through
    Death Valley,
I’m not afraid
    when you walk at my side.
Your trusty shepherd’s crook
    makes me feel secure.

⁵You serve me a six-course dinner
right in front of my enemies.
You revive my drooping head;
my cup brims with blessing.

⁶Your beauty and love chase after me
every day of my life.
I’m back home in the house of God
for the rest of my life.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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“like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” Build a Strong Spiritual Foundation at Home. Matthew 7:26

Matthew 7:24-29 Amplified Bible

The Two Foundations

²⁴“So everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, will be like a wise man [a far-sighted, practical, and sensible man] who built his house on the rock. ²⁵ And the rain fell, and the floods and torrents came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. ²⁶And everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not do them, will be like a foolish (stupid) man who built his house on the sand. ²⁷And the rain fell, and the floods and torrents came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great and complete was its fall.”

²⁸When Jesus had finished [speaking] these words [on the mountain], the crowds were astonished and overwhelmed at His teaching; ²⁹for He was teaching them as one who had authority [to teach entirely of His own volition], and not as their scribes [who relied on others to confirm their authority].

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

Wise and Foolish Defined …

Matthew 7:26-27 The Message

^26-27“But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach. When a storm rolled in and the waves came up, it collapsed like a house of cards.”

At the end of his Sermon on the Mount, the most dramatic ethical and religious teaching of all time, Jesus closes with a parable to note this teaching is nothing if people do not put it into practice. Wise people still heed this biblical advice.

Sometimes it takes a crisis to spur us to act on the truth. I know someone who adamant – they would not quit smoking until they were diagnosed with cancer.

Jesus describes such a crisis in this parable.

In desert lands a rare storm can roll through a mountain pass and sweep away everything that is lodged only in sand.

Jesus pictures a disaster like that here to describe for his audience the crisis of the coming of God’s kingdom.

Interestingly, Jesus concludes the parable not with success, but with failure.

After describing the wise builder, Jesus leaves his audience pondering the example of the foolish one.

Jesus explains to his audience, “The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

Though not every disaster in our lives is a punishment, sometimes it takes a disaster to get us to pay closer attention to what Jesus is trying hard to teach.

Perhaps the most obvious lesson is we must live wisely, serving God faithfully.

If we are living too foolishly, we need to turn around before disaster strikes.

Understanding God’s Word is a first step, and acting on it must immediately follow. When we obey God’s Word, we stay in touch with our firm foundation.

Build a Strong Spiritual Foundation at Home

Isaiah 2:1-5 The Message

Climb God’s Mountain

2 ^1-5The Message Isaiah got regarding Judah and Jerusalem:

There’s a day coming
    when the mountain of God’s House
Will be The Mountain—
    solid, towering over all mountains.
All nations will river toward it,
    people from all over set out for it.
They’ll say, “Come,
    let’s climb God’s Mountain,
    go to the House of the God of Jacob.
He’ll show us the way he works
    so we can live the way we’re made.”
Zion’s the source of the revelation.
    God’s Message comes from Jerusalem.
He’ll settle things fairly between nations.
    He’ll make things right between many peoples.
They’ll turn their swords into shovels,
    their spears into hoes.
No more will nation fight nation;
    they won’t play war anymore.
Come, family of Jacob,
    let’s live in the light of God.

What and Who are you living for?

What and Who do you see as your primary ‘why’ for all you do each day?

These questions reveal much about what foundation we are building our lives upon. If all we can say is that we are not sure what the answer would be, we likely have not really seriously considered how all we do matters to the Lord.

We have been created in the Image of God on purpose with God’s purpose!

Matthew 7:24-27 states, “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

Jesus makes clear that what we are living for matters more than we can fully comprehend. He asks what we are putting into practice. Whose words are guiding us? He cautions that if we don’t follow Jesus’s way, life’s storms will come, and we will find ourselves drowning without a home to protect us.

A solid spiritual foundation is vital to our ability to live our life with peace and joy. Here are some ways we build a strong spiritual foundation in our homes:

1. Study God’s Word Together …

2 Timothy 2:14-18 Amplified Bible

An Unashamed Workman

¹⁴Remind the people of these facts, and solemnly charge them in the presence of God to avoid petty controversy over words, which does no good, and [upsets and undermines and] ruins [the faith of] those who listen. ¹⁵Study and do your best to present yourself to God approved, a workman [tested by trial] who has no reason to be ashamed, accurately handling and skillfully teaching the word of truth. ¹⁶But avoid all irreverent babble and godless chatter [with its profane, empty words], for it will lead to further ungodliness, ¹⁷and their teaching will spread like gangrene. So it is with Hymenaeus and Philetus, ¹⁸who have deviated from the truth. They claim that the resurrection has already taken place, and they undermine the faith of some.

Jesus tells us we must hear his words and put them into practice in order to build our house on the rock. In our modern context, that means studying God’s Word.

Why is knowing the Bible so important?

The Bible is the Holy Spirit inspired, living, and active Word of God.

Reading God’s Word is the best way to learn who God is and what he desires us to do with our lives.

We learn from the stories of those who walked with God long ago, we read poems that shed light on how we wrestle with God from time to time, we gain wisdom from all those Psalms, Proverbs and the prophets, and we can read the accounts of Jesus’ life and death in the Gospels. There is so much to gain from studying the Bible, the context, culture that existed at the time it was written.

When we know the stories of the Bible, we can begin to know God better and practice his ways.

The Bible has the ultimate power to guide us, correct us, convict us, change us, and motivate us. If we want our homes and our families to have a solid spiritual foundation, we must include prioritize the reading and studying of God’s Word.

2. Embrace the Power of Prayer Together

Matthew 26:40-41 The Message

^40-41When he came back to his disciples, he found them sound asleep. He said to Peter, “Can’t you stick it out with me a single hour? Stay alert; be in prayer so you don’t wander into temptation without even knowing you’re in danger. There is a part of you that is eager, ready for anything in God. But there’s another part that’s as lazy as an old dog sleeping by the fire.”

Matthew 26:41 says, “Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

Prayer not only connects us with God, but it also protects us.

When we pray often, we are inviting God’s Spirit into our daily lives, which guards us from harm and temptation. The point of having a strong spiritual foundation is protection. We need something stable to build our lives on so that we are grounded in truth when things get hard. The goal is an unshakable faith.

That faith is built through daily conversations with God.

It’s this back and forth with Jesus that grows solid roots of relationship in our homes and with our families.

James 1:5-8 The Message

^5-8If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You’ll get his help, and won’t be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who “worry their prayers” are like wind-whipped waves. Don’t think you’re going to get anything from the Master that way, adrift at sea, keeping all your options open.

James 5: 16 – 18 states, “Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed, Prayers of the righteous have power.

James 5:16-18 The Message

^16-18Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with. Elijah, for instance, human just like us, prayed hard that it wouldn’t rain, and it didn’t—not a drop for three and a half years. Then he prayed that it would rain, and it did. The showers came and everything started growing again.

The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”

Prayer is a vital part of our faith not only because it protects us but also because it is powerful! God moves, things change when we pray. Our hearts change, our relationships change, our views change, and even our circumstances change.

Prayer is the catalyst for forgiveness, is the precursor to miracles, and is the bedrock of our relationship with Jesus. Prayer is a vital part of building a solid spiritual environment in our homes, with and among our families, neighbors.

3. Never Get Tired of Serving One Another with Love

Galatians 5:13-15 The Message

^13-15It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life. Just make sure that you don’t use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom. Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love; that’s how freedom grows. For everything we know about God’s Word is summed up in a single sentence: Love others as you love yourself. That’s an act of true freedom. If you bite and ravage each other, watch out—in no time at all you will be annihilating each other, and where will your precious freedom be then?

Galatians 5:13 says, “For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.”

God is love, and a huge part of what he tells us as his people is to serve one another through love.

1 John 4:7-10 The Message

God Is Love

^7-10My beloved friends, let us continue to love each other since love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a relationship with God. The person who refuses to love doesn’t know the first thing about God, because God is love—so you can’t know him if you don’t love. This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him. This is the kind of love we are talking about—not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they’ve done to our relationship with God.

We live out that love through random selfless acts of service towards the people we are closest to as well as towards those in our community that need to feel the real and tangible love of God through us. (Matthew 10:38 – 42 The Message)

Matthew 10:38-42 The Message

^38-39“If you don’t go all the way with me, through thick and thin, you don’t deserve me. If your first concern is to look after yourself, you’ll never find yourself. But if you forget about yourself and look to me, you’ll find both yourself and me.

^40-42“We are intimately linked in this harvest work. Anyone who accepts what you do, accepts me, the One who sent you. Anyone who accepts what I do accepts my Father, who sent me. Accepting a messenger of God is as good as being God’s messenger. Accepting someone’s help is as good as giving someone help. This is a large work I’ve called you into, but don’t be overwhelmed by it. It’s best to start small. Give a cool cup of water to someone who is thirsty, for instance. The smallest act of giving or receiving makes you a true apprentice. You won’t lose out on a thing.”

Mother Teresa put it this way: “Love is a one-way street. It always moves away from self in the direction of the other. Love is the ultimate gift of ourselves to others. When we stop giving we stop loving, when we stop loving we stop growing, and unless we grow we will never attain personal fulfillment; we will never open out to receive the life of God. It is through love we encounter God.”

We grow to know God more by loving others. Love is an action. It’s giving something of ours away for the benefit of another. To be near God, we have to be near those brokenhearted. We have to serve the least of these. We have to utterly accept God’s love and turn around to freely give that same love away.

4. No Shame in the Gospel, Live from Faith to Faith

Romans 1:16-17 Amplified Bible

¹⁶I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation [from His wrath and punishment] to everyone who believes [in Christ as Savior], to the Jew first and also to the Greek. ¹⁷For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed, both springing from faith and leading to faith [disclosed in a way that awakens more faith]. As it is written and forever remains written, “The just and upright shall live by faith.”

Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”

In order to draw near to God, we have to have complete faith that he is who he says he is. That requires faith. Faith is fundamental to living a Christian life.

If we consider the great heroes of our faith revealed in Hebrews 11 in the Bible, they all share one thing in common: They did something in their lives that had defied all human logic and trusted God rather than following the world’s way.

Most of the time, the people around them thought they were crazy!

Noah built an ark before God invented rain. Abraham believed he would have many offspring with a wife that was barren. Moses went to free a whole nation by being God’s mouthpiece, all the while struggling with a speech impediment.

David went after a giant as an unarmed shepherd boy. It was an unshakable faith that pushed these heroes to move past what the natural world says is possible and first thing trusted that God is the one that has the real final say!

If everything we do only trusts what we can reason to be true, then we aren’t living with enough faith.

To build a faith that lasts for generations, we have to trust God to show us how he can use us to do abundantly more than we could ever ask, think, or imagine!

When we surrender to God’s way, our lives find a firm place to grow upon. Let God’s gentle Holy Spirit lead, guide you towards him. Jesus told us all we need is the faith of one single mustard seed to see mountains moved (Matthew 17:20).

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Psalm 119:105-112 The Message

^105-112By your words, God, I can see where I’m going;
    they throw a beam of light on my dark path.
I’ve committed myself and I’ll never turn back
    from living by your righteous order.
Everything’s falling apart on me, God;
    put me together again with your Word.
Adorn me with your finest sayings, God;
    teach me your holy rules.
My life is as close as my own hands,
    but I don’t forget what you have revealed.
The wicked do their best to throw me off track,
    but I don’t swerve an inch from your course.
I inherited your book on living; it’s mine forever—
    what a gift! And how happy it makes me!
I concentrate on doing exactly what you say—
    I always have and always will.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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When God’s Scriptures Teach Me God is Always So Close to Me, What Can I Do When I Feel so very Far from God? Acts 17:24-29 (26-27)

Acts 17:24-29New American Standard Bible 1995

²⁴The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; ²⁵nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; ²⁶and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, ²⁷that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; ²⁸for in Him we live and move and ^[a]exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’ ²⁹Being then the children of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

How far is too far away?

How far is not far enough?

How close is not close enough?

How near is not near enough?

How far is the north from the south?

How far is the east from the west?

There have been far too many times when I have felt far from God.

I have asked myself those rhetorical questions listed above far too often in the past year as I have been trying to find a physical and spiritual balance after my heart surgery last year. Rather than feeling a naturally close bond with Him, I too often have the unnatural feeling as though He is fifty million miles away.

If in this moment you are also struggling with feeling far from God, know that you are not alone. Most Christians have felt as far from God as the east is from the west, north from south at the same time least once in their walk with Him.

Psalm 13:1-4 The Message

13 ^1-2Long enough, God—
    you’ve ignored me long enough.
I’ve looked at the back of your head
    long enough. Long enough
I’ve carried this ton of trouble,
    lived with a stomach full of pain.
Long enough my arrogant enemies
    have looked down their noses at me.

^3-4Take a good look at me, God, my God;
I want to look life in the eye,
So no enemy can get the best of me
or laugh when I fall on my face.

This can be due to various factors such as health related and financial; however, there is a remedy for this feeling and it is found in God, the Father, Son, Spirit.

It is common to feel far from God, yet we never truly are far from Him.

Feeling far from God is a feeling—it is not a fact.

As believers, sometimes we will have to rely on what truth we know through the Word of God rather than what we feel. Feelings can come and go, feelings can linger, feelings will influence how we respond, yet God’s truth never changes.

There will be many times that we will rely too heavily on overwhelming feelings and not remember we have to rely on what indelible truth God’s Words reveal through the ministry and work of the Holy Spirit, rather than what we’ll feel.

God is greater than our feelings and just because we don’t feel Him doesn’t mean He is not there. God is always with us and always walking beside us.

He is never far from any of His children as He is always just one prayer away.

Matthew 11:28-30 The Message

^28-30“Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”

Sin can often make us run from God, which can make God feel distant from us.

When this happens, we have to know it is not God who is far from us, but that we are far from Him.

Genesis 3:6-10 Amplified Bible

⁶And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was delightful to look at, and a tree to be desired in order to make one wise and insightful, she took some of its fruit and ate it; and she also gave some to her husband ^[a]with her, and he ate. ⁷Then the eyes of the two of them were opened [that is, their awareness increased], and they knew that they were naked; and they fastened fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.

⁸And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool [afternoon breeze] of the day, so the man and his wife hid and kept themselves hidden from the ^[b]presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. ⁹ But the Lord God called to Adam, and said to him, “Where are you?” ¹⁰He said, “I heard the sound of You [walking] in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.”

In the beginning, Just as Adam and Eve fell into temptation, ate of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, became self aware and then ran and hid from God in the Garden after they were aware of their nakedness and sin (Genesis 3:7-24), we too fall to temptation run and hide from God when we have sin in our own lives.

If this is a possibility for you, and clearly not one of us is exempt from falling to sin and temptation, rest in the peace that you can repent and turn back to Him.

After repentance and asking God for forgiveness, for a new heart, you might not feel very far from Him anymore. You could feel closer to Him than ever before.

What Will It Take For Me To Accept God is that Close?

Acts 17:24-29The Message

^24-29“The God who made the world and everything in it, this Master of sky and land, doesn’t live in custom-made shrines or need the human race to run errands for him, as if he couldn’t take care of himself. He makes the creatures; the creatures don’t make him. Starting from scratch, he made the entire human race and made the earth hospitable, with plenty of time and space for living so we could seek after God, and not just grope around in the dark but actually find him. He doesn’t play hide-and-seek with us. He’s not remote; he’s near. We live and move in him, can’t get away from him! One of your poets said it well: ‘We’re the God-created.’ Well, if we are the God-created, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to think we could hire a sculptor to chisel a god out of stone for us, does it?

What a tremendous encouragement this passage from Acts should, could and would be for all who will seek God! This verse tells us that not only will we find God if we seek him, but we will not have far to look. He is close to us already.

How so?

For some of us, God may seem distant.

Maybe we think of heaven, God’s home, as far, too far away on the other “side” of this immense universe.

Paul disagrees.

God is a lot closer than we might think or take the necessary time to accept.

He is right here, right now.

All we need to do is “notice” the signs of his presence in our very existence.

Psalm 19 The Message

19 ^1-2God’s glory is on tour in the skies,
God-craft on exhibit across the horizon.
Madame Day holds classes every morning,
Professor Night lectures each evening.

^3-4Their words aren’t heard,
their voices aren’t recorded,
But their silence fills the earth:
unspoken truth is spoken everywhere.

^4-5God makes a huge dome
    for the sun—a superdome!
The morning sun’s a new husband
    leaping from his honeymoon bed,
The daybreaking sun an athlete
    racing to the tape.

⁶That’s how God’s Word vaults across the skies
from sunrise to sunset,
Melting ice, scorching deserts,
warming hearts to faith.

^7-9The revelation of God is whole
    and pulls our lives together.
The signposts of God are clear
    and point out the right road.
The life-maps of God are right,
    showing the way to joy.
The directions of God are plain
    and easy on the eyes.
God’s reputation is twenty-four-carat gold,
    with a lifetime guarantee.
The decisions of God are accurate
    down to the nth degree.

¹⁰God’s Word is better than a diamond,
better than a diamond set between emeralds.
You’ll like it better than strawberries in spring,
better than red, ripe strawberries.

^11-14There’s more: God’s Word warns us of danger
    and directs us to hidden treasure.
Otherwise how will we find our way?
    Or know when we play the fool?
Clean the slate, God, so we can start the day fresh!
    Keep me from stupid sins,
    from thinking I can take over your work;
Then I can start this day sun-washed,
    scrubbed clean of the grime of sin.
These are the words in my mouth;
    these are what I chew on and pray.
Accept them when I place them
    on the morning altar,
O God, my Altar-Rock,
    God, Priest-of-My-Altar.

We’re alive.

Where did our life come from?

From God!

We exist.

We move.

How so?

Our very mobility and being show that God is the source of our life.

More than that, claims Paul, God gave us ancestors and even prepared a place for each of them to live.

That’s also how we showed up—at a specific address, on a certain day.

An accident?

Random chance?

No! assures Paul.

God was at work, choreographing even our birth date and birth place as clues to his immediate involvement in our existence from day one.

To find God, an inviting first step is simply to embrace what we so deeply want to believe: our very existence can’t be just an accident.

We are not flukes.

We are created in the Image of God.

We know this deep in our very bones.

Life—our very life, existence—came from God, God alone. (Psalm 139:1 – 18)

Intersecting Faith & Life:

As Paul says in Acts 17:26-27, God is not far from any of us.

God appointed times in history and marked our boundary lands in order for humankind to seek Him out.

With proper searching, God wants us to reach out and find Him as He is not far from each of us.

God did not create the earth and everything in it just to leave His creation abandoned. Even though this is a popular idea among agnostics, it is not true.

God created the earth and everything in it in order to reveal His glory.

Through general and special revelation, God hoped some of us would take notice and reach out to Him.

As believers, who already know the Lord, He wants us to know that we can always reach out to Him.

There will never be a day when God will be far from us.

The Lord is by our side through every difficult day.

Feeling far away from God is common, yet He wants us to reach out to Him.

Whenever you feel you are far from God, first remember that feelings are not facts. After you have reminded yourself of this truth, turn to God in prayer.

Ask Him to help you know that you are with Him and to also reveal any sin in your life that could be making you run from God. (Psalm 51, Psalm 139:23-24)

Give the Lord time and He will give you answers.

Through reading the Bible and personal conviction, God will instruct you.

Even if sin is what is causing you to feel far from God, rest in the knowledge that it is not terminal.

You can turn to God, ask for His forgiveness, He will forgive you (1 John 1:9).

Through reading and studying God’s Holy Scriptures, praying for our God’s forgiveness and active repentance, you will not feel as far from God anymore.

If you are feeling far from God due to depression or feelings of deep sorrow, know that God is still with you in this dark valley.

Depression can be very difficult, isolating, yet God sits with you in the pain.

When we are going through depression, it can make us feel alone and as though nobody cares about us.

These are lies of the depression that we must combat and fight against.

God never leaves us alone, He loves us without conditions (Romans 8:37-39).

Run to Him instead of away from Him.

He will surround you with His love, peace, and protection.

Psalm 125 New American Standard Bible 1995

The Lord Surrounds His People.

A Song of Ascents.

125 Those who trust in the Lord
Are as Mount Zion, which cannot be moved but abides forever.
²As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
So the Lord surrounds His people
From this time forth and forever.
³For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest upon the ^[a]land of the righteous,
So that the righteous will not put forth their hands to do wrong.

⁴Do good, O Lord, to those who are good
And to those who are upright in their hearts.
⁵But as for those who turn aside to their crooked ways,
The Lord will lead them away with the doers of iniquity.
Peace be upon Israel.

With time and prayer, you won’t feel as far from God anymore.

He created you, He loves you, and that will never change.

Hebrews 13:8 Amplified Bible

⁸Jesus Christ is [eternally changeless, always] the same yesterday and today and forever.

Do you feel far from God today? If so, what can you do to help you feel closer to Him?
God is not far from each of us. Does resting in this promise bring you comfort? Why or why not?
How can you rely on what you know rather than how you feel?

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirt,

Let us Pray,

Psalm 23 The Message

⁴Even when the way goes through
    Death Valley,
I’m not afraid
    when you walk at my side.
Your trusty shepherd’s crook
    makes me feel secure.

⁵You serve me a six-course dinner
right in front of my enemies.
You revive my drooping head;
my cup brims with blessing.

⁶Your beauty and love chase after me
every day of my life.
I’m back home in the house of God
for the rest of my life.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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About Inviting God into Your Heart, About Taking a Selfie, Painting a self portrait Inviting God into our Hearts? Revelation 3:20-21

Hunt, William Holman; The Light of the World; St Paul’s Cathedral; http://www.artuk.org/artworks/the-light-of-the-world-230132

Revelation 3:20-21 The Message

^20-21“Look at me. I stand at the door. I knock. If you hear me call and open the door, I’ll come right in and sit down to supper with you. Conquerors will sit alongside me at the head table, just as I, having conquered, took the place of honor at the side of my Father. That’s my gift to the conquerors!

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

See? Here I Am! Knocking

Revelation 3:20-22 Complete Jewish Bible

²⁰Here, I’m standing at the door, knocking. If someone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he will eat with me. ²¹I will let him who wins the victory sit with me on my throne, just as I myself also won the victory and sat down with my Father on his throne. ²²Those who have ears, let them hear what the Spirit is saying to the Messianic communities.”’”

An unexpected knock at your door from a dear friend or family member is a welcome surprise.

Few occasions are as heart warming and precious as seeing a long-absent loved one unexpectedly comes from a great distance, who comes to visit his friend.

“Here I am!” they say as you open your door, their presence fills you with joy.

Jesus stands at our door, knocking.

We may think sometimes that he is far removed from us and our church bodies.

But here he is, by his own revelation, as close as the door to our homes and our church communities. He wants us to see, hear his knocking—he is that close.

And Jesus longs for us to do more!

He wants us to be immediately hospitable, respond and open all our closed doors we have somehow (purposely?) neglected to install any door knob on.

Maybe you are afraid to open the door of your life to Jesus. After all, how does one welcome the Son of God, the Almighty, into their whole life? Or maybe just having Jesus walk inside your church building is as close as you want him to be.

But Jesus keeps standing outside, keeps knocking on the door, eager for us to open our lives to him. He wants to be as close as a beloved friend in our lives.

Proverbs 17:17 Complete Jewish Bible

¹⁷A friend shows his friendship at all times —
it is for adversity that [such] a brother is born.

Proverbs 27:17 Complete Jewish Bible

¹⁷Just as iron sharpens iron,
a person sharpens the character of his friend.

Do not worry about how to welcome Jesus in.

Do not worry about his intentions or reasons for the unexpected visit.

Just be hospitable, just open the door with the biggest and widest smile you can.

He promises to take care of the rest.

He will come in and celebrate with whoever opens the door, bringing joy and abundance and a meal of the finest food, so your life will be filled—with even more than the greatest feasting, fun, and goodness of life you could imagine.

Taking a Selfie, Painting a Self Portrait of You, Jesus

There’s a famous painting that I first saw many years ago that still resonates with me today.

The painter portrays Jesus Christ, looking directly at you, holding a lantern, standing outside of a door, knocking on it and just waiting to be let inside.

However, if you notice, there is no knob on the door for Himself to open it.

Only the person inside of the home, church, can open the door and let Him in.

According to Wikipedia, “The Light of the World (1851-1854) is an allegorical painting by English Pre-Raphaelite artist William Holman Hunt (1827-1910) representing the figure of Jesus preparing to knock on an overgrown and long-unopened door, illustrating Revelation 3:20.”

Hunt said, “I painted the picture with what I thought, unworthy though I was, to be divine command, and not simply a good subject.” He also mentioned that the lack of handle on the door represented “the obstinately shut mind.”

How many of us have shut Jesus out of not only out of our mind, but our heart?

Over the years, I’ve heard these popular reasons why people don’t choose Jesus.

It is not fashionable or the hottest or latest craze being spread on social media.

Mom and Dad did not do it so why should I?

Who has the time?

Who has the money?

Who has the inclination?

I spoke with a young woman who believes you only live once, so you need to party hard and have fun. She told me that Christianity just isn’t her “thing.”

An older woman told me that one of her Christian friends “finally” stopped talking to her about Jesus and beating her over her head with the Bible.

She was offended because she said that she held her own beliefs with the right to think and say whatever she wants to whoever, and however she wants. Pop culture also says to live your own truth and be the charter of your own destiny.

While all of these takes sound solid and reasonable to a point, they could not be further from the truth.

The Bible clearly teaches us that Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life.

And the only way to Heaven is through Him (John 14:6).

But Jesus is gentle, kind, so He will never force His way into our heart and life.

Just like Hunt’s painting of Revelation 3:20 shows us, we have to invite Him in.

Revelation 3:20-21 Amplified Bible

²⁰Behold, I stand at the door [of the church] and continually knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him (restore him), and he with Me. ²¹He who overcomes [the world through believing that Jesus is the Son of God], I will grant to him [the privilege] to sit beside Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down beside My Father on His throne.

This passage of Scripture matters because this world is not our forever home!

Human history on Earth will end and eternity in Heaven will begin for all who have confessed Him as Savior, let Jesus in and have decided to follow Him there.

We are all the worst kind of sinners incapable of saving ourselves, in desperate need of a Savior, but the Gospel news is we have a living Jesus to fill that role. (Romans 3:23)

Meanwhile, we cannot on our own successfully lead ourselves alone, navigate anything and everything in this thorn laden briar patch-life, without a Guide.

The good news is that God is willing and ready and able to lead us through our journey, help us survive all the figurative most energetic storms we encounter.

We have an everlasting hope when we have Him!

He is our only promised and willing and capable and able, everlasting hope!

Genesis 9:11-16 Complete Jewish Bible

¹¹I will establish my covenant with you that never again will all living beings be destroyed by the waters of a flood, and there will never again be a flood to destroy the earth.” ¹²God added, “Here is the sign of the covenant I am making between myself and you and every living creature with you, for all generations to come: ¹³I am putting my rainbow in the cloud — it will be there as a sign of the covenant between myself and the earth. ¹⁴Whenever I bring clouds over the earth, and the rainbow is seen in the cloud; ¹⁵I will remember my covenant which is between myself and you and every living creature of any kind; and the water will never again become a flood to destroy all living beings. ¹⁶The rainbow will be in the cloud; so that when I look at it, I will remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of any kind on the earth.”

There’s a beautiful song by Cheri Keaggy called “Part of Your Story.”

She sings that Jesus wants to be part of our life story, but we often don’t think we need Him.

Yet, He continues to shower us with blessings! He wakes us up every morning.

He sends sunshine to brighten our days and rain to water the grass. He’s given us a wide variety of beautiful flowers for us to admire and lovingly share with each other. Yet, the greatest demonstration of God’s love is the sacrifice of His Son (Jesus Christ) who unquestionably knows we are each worth dying for. (John 3:16-17)

The gift of salvation is completely free!

There’s nothing you nor I can do to earn it or deserve it (Ephesians 2:8-9).

All we need to do is hospitably open our doors and let Jesus into our heart.

He wants to spend eternity with us!

John 14:1-7 Complete Jewish Bible

14 “Don’t let yourselves be disturbed. Trust in God and trust in me. ²In my Father’s house are many places to live. If there weren’t, I would have told you; because I am going there to prepare a place for you. ³Since I am going and preparing a place for you, I will return to take you with me; so that where I am, you may be also. ⁴Furthermore, you know where I’m going; and you know the way there.”

⁵T’oma said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you’re going; so how can we know the way?” ⁶Yeshua said, “I AM the Way — and the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through me. ⁷Because you have known me, you will also know my Father; from now on, you do know him — in fact, you have seen him.”

That’s the whole point.

We have seen Him standing at the door.

We have heard Him knocking at our door.

Now, we need to be hospitable enough to open it and invite Him in?

In these most unusual and distressing of times, are we hospitable enough?

Jesus wants to spend time with you.

He knows you much better than you do and wants the same, you to know Him.

Only He can offer you an abundant life (John 10:10).

If you let Him, He will be your most faithful friend, advocate, counselor, and brother, ultimately your Savior who is the bridge between Earth and Heaven.

Will you go, let God in, and allow His glory to change your story for the better?

Intersecting Faith & Life:

John 10:7-16 Complete Jewish Bible

⁷So Yeshua said to them again, “Yes, indeed! I tell you that I am the gate for the sheep. ⁸All those who have come before me have been thieves and robbers, but the sheep didn’t listen to them. ⁹I am the gate; if someone enters through me, he will be safe and will go in and out and find pasture. ¹⁰The thief comes only in order to steal, kill and destroy; I have come so that they may have life, life in its fullest measure.

¹¹“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ¹² The hired hand, since he isn’t a shepherd and the sheep aren’t his own, sees the wolf coming, abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf drags them off and scatters them. ¹³The hired worker behaves like this because that’s all he is, a hired worker; so it doesn’t matter to him what happens to the sheep. ¹⁴I am the good shepherd; I know my own, and my own know me — ¹⁵just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father — and I lay down my life on behalf of the sheep. ¹⁶Also I have other sheep which are not from this pen; I need to bring them, and they will hear my voice; and there will be one flock, one shepherd.

If you haven’t invited Jesus to be your personal Savior and truest friend, what do believe are the excuses, the rationales, the theologies behind the hesitation?

How might it feel for you to know that the Creator of the Universe, the One who created you in His own image, loves you and wants to be part of your life story?

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Lord Jesus, what a gift of love and honor you bring by knocking at our door. Please forgive our inhospitality and do come in and transform us by your presence. Amen!

Psalm 23 Complete Jewish Bible

23 ⁽⁰⁾A psalm of David:

⁽¹⁾Adonai is my shepherd; I lack nothing.
²He has me lie down in grassy pastures,
he leads me by quiet water,
³he restores my inner person.
He guides me in right paths
for the sake of his own name.
⁴Even if I pass through death-dark ravines,
I will fear no disaster; for you are with me;
your rod and staff reassure me.

⁵You prepare a table for me,
even as my enemies watch;
you anoint my head with oil
from an overflowing cup.

⁶Goodness and grace will pursue me
every day of my life;
and I will live in the house of Adonai
for years and years to come.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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Viewing Ourselves Rightly, Accepting Ourselves With Very Sober Judgment. Romans 12:3 (1 – 8)

Romans 12:1-8 The Message

Place Your Life Before God

12 ^1-2So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

³I’m speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it’s important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.

^4-6In this way we are like the various parts of a human body. Each part gets its meaning from the body as a whole, not the other way around. The body we’re talking about is Christ’s body of chosen people. Each of us finds our meaning and function as a part of his body. But as a chopped-off finger or cut-off toe we wouldn’t amount to much, would we? So since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts in Christ’s body, let’s just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren’t.

^6-8If you preach, just preach God’s Message, nothing else; if you help, just help, don’t take over; if you teach, stick to your teaching; if you give encouraging guidance, be careful that you don’t get bossy; if you’re put in charge, don’t manipulate; if you’re called to give aid to people in distress, keep your eyes open and be quick to respond; if you work with the disadvantaged, don’t let yourself get irritated with them or depressed by them. Keep a smile on your face.

The Word of God for the People of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

Viewing Ourselves Rightly

No one is immune to the grievous sin of self-exaltation.

To find evidence of this, simply enter any kindergarten classroom.

In this little group of children, soon enough somebody will be singing their own praises about building the biggest tallest block tower or drawing the best family portrait—in other words, thinking of themselves more highly than they ought.

Constantly comparing ourselves with other people is a worldly way to think.

An exaggerated view of ourselves is a dreadful problem—one that puts others down and ignores our place before God. The answer, though, is not found in self-denigration, which is the opposite and equal error to self-exaltation.

This self-disparagement is also the product of pride because it still surfaces from contrasting and comparison ourselves to others. It is still self-focused.

The Christian’s view of self should be grounded in a mind renewed by God (Romans 12:1-2).

With this heavenly perspective, we find our value in God’s mercy and grace.

Our significance, identity, worth, and role all find their foundation in who God is, what God has done for us, not on any self exaggerated account of who we are or what we believe or boast about having done for Him to make His life better.

We are reminded of this proper perspective of self when we sing the lines “When I survey the wondrous cross, on which the Prince of glory died.”[1]

1 Isaac Watts, “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” (1707).

To survey the wondrous cross is to focus on the wonders of the gospel—the sobering truth that another has died in our place and borne our punishment.

In doing this, we realize “my richest gain I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride.”

Philippians 3:7-9 The Message

^7-9The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I’m tearing up and throwing out with the trash—along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant—dog dung. I’ve dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him. I didn’t want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ—God’s righteousness.

The cross both raises us and lowers us at the same time, and this frees us from needing to push ourselves too far forward in life and enables us, to with much sobriety, acknowledge great, greater, greatest ways in which God has gifted us.

This is thinking of ourselves with “sober judgment.”

The church, then, is to be noticeably different from the world in the way we view ourselves and each other. When we come together, united by the gospel, all else that relates to our identity, though not irrelevant, loses its primary significance, and we use our gifts not to please ourselves but to serve others.

Look soberly at the cross, where your Savior bled and died for your sins because while we were all still his enemies, He loved us. There is no room for you or me to feel too proud. There is no need for us to compare yourself to others. Instead, you can use all that He has given you in selfless, sober joyful service of others.

The Most Critical Task of Self: of Accepting Ourselves

Romans 12:3 Amplified Bible

³For by the grace [of God] given to me I say to everyone of you not to think more highly of himself [and of his importance and ability] than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has apportioned to each a degree of faith [and a purpose designed for service].

There is probably no single part of our inner life that’s more fragile and more important than our own self-concept.

Parents must wisely help children develop a healthy concept of self. All of us, in all stages of life, are shaped by our self-concept more than we’ll often realize.

In our Scripture reading for today, Paul cautions us, “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought.” It’s easy for us to think more highly of ourselves—or at least to sound as if we do. We can pretend very well, sound proud so easily.

It seems to me, though, that there are also many times when we think too lowly of ourselves. A lack of self-esteem is a drag on many of us. We remember so well what we cannot do or what we haven’t done well. We quickly look at others as though we falsely believe they have superior abilities, and we feel inadequate.

In our Scripture for today Paul also gives us some very healthy encouragement, however. He reminds us that, in Jesus Christ our Lord and our Savior, we are all important functional, functioning servants, and members of the body of Christ.

Romans 12:4-8 Amplified Bible

⁴For just as in one [physical] body we have many parts, and these parts do not all have the same function or special use, ⁵so we, who are many, are [nevertheless just] one body in Christ, and individually [we are] parts one of another [mutually dependent on each other]. ⁶Since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to use them accordingly: if [someone has the gift of] prophecy, [let him speak a new message from God to His people] in proportion to the faith possessed; ⁷if service, in the act of serving; or he who teaches, in the act of teaching; ⁸or he who encourages, in the act of encouragement; he who gives, with generosity; he who leads, ^[a]with diligence; he who shows mercy [in caring for others], with cheerfulness.

Each and every single one of us immeasurably counts as much as anyone else.

We all have unique God given gifts, some of them different from others, but all are important gifts from God meant to be fully used in the building up and the edification of His Kingdom. “Thy Kingdom Come, Thy Will Be Done on Earth.”

“In Christ we who [are each unique, created in the image of God]are many form one body, each [uniquely created by God] member belongs to all the others.”

Paul’s point is that we are all uniquely called to sacrificially give of our whole selves in His service and to discover and faithfully use the gifts God has given.

In Christ There Is No East or West [Author: John Oxenham (1908)]

1. In Christ there is no east or west,
in him no south or north;
but one great fellowship of love
throughout the whole wide earth.

2. In Christ shall true hearts everywhere
their high communion find;
his service is the golden cord
close binding humankind.

3. Join hands, then, people of the faith,
whate’er your race may be.
All children of the living God
are surely kin to me.

4. In Christ now meet both east and west,
in him meet south and north;
all Christly souls are one in him
throughout the whole wide earth.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Creator God, Author of my past, my present, and all of my tomorrows, I thank you for all the ways you have made me and the gifts you have given me. Help us all to affirm each other and to unconditionally utilize our gifts in loving service. For Jesus’ sake, Amen.

Psalm 91 Amplified Bible

Security of the One Who Trusts in the Lord.

91 He who ^[a]dwells in the shelter of the Most High
Will remain secure and rest in the shadow of the Almighty [whose power no enemy can withstand].
²
I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
My God, in whom I trust [with great confidence, and on whom I rely]!”
³
For He will save you from the trap of the fowler,
And from the deadly pestilence.
⁴
He will cover you and completely protect you with His pinions,
And under His wings you will find refuge;
His faithfulness is a shield and a wall.

⁵
You will not be afraid of the terror of night,
Nor of the arrow that flies by day,
⁶
Nor of the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
Nor of the destruction (sudden death) that lays waste at noon.
⁷
A thousand may fall at your side
And ten thousand at your right hand,
But danger will not come near you.
⁸
You will only [be a spectator as you] look on with your eyes
And witness the [divine] repayment of the wicked [as you watch safely from the shelter of the Most High].
⁹
Because you have made the Lord, [who is] my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place,
¹⁰
No evil will befall you,
Nor will any plague come near your tent.

¹¹
For He will command His angels in regard to you,
To protect and defend and guard you in all your ways [of obedience and service].
¹²
They will lift you up in their hands,
So that you do not [even] strike your foot against a stone.
¹³
You will tread upon the lion and cobra;
The young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.

¹⁴
“Because he set his love on Me, therefore I will save him;
I will set him [securely] on high, because he knows My name [he confidently trusts and relies on Me, knowing I will never abandon him, no, never].
¹⁵
“He will call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and honor him.
¹⁶
“With a long life I will satisfy him
And I will let him see My salvation.”

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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Happiness to Be Able to Help Dignify those who are down on their luck; in the margins, the untouchable places. Psalm 41:1-3

Psalm 41 The Message

41 ^1-3Dignify those who are down on their luck;
    you’ll feel good—that’s what God does.
God looks after us all,
    makes us robust with life—
Lucky to be in the land,
    we’re free from enemy worries.
Whenever we’re sick and in bed,
    God becomes our nurse,
    nurses us back to health.

^4-7I said, “God, be gracious!
    Put me together again—
    my sins have torn me to pieces.”
My enemies are wishing the worst for me;
    they make bets on what day I will die.
If someone comes to see me,
    he mouths empty platitudes,
All the while gathering gossip about me
    to entertain the street-corner crowd.
These “friends” who hate me
    whisper slanders all over town.
They form committees
    to plan misery for me.

^8-9The rumor goes out, “He’s got some dirty,
    deadly disease. The doctors
    have given up on him.”
Even my best friend, the one I always told everything
    —he ate meals at my house all the time!—
    has bitten my hand.

¹⁰God, give grace, get me up on my feet.
I’ll show them a thing or two.

^11-12Meanwhile, I’m sure you’re on my side—
    no victory shouts yet from the enemy camp!
You know me inside and out, you hold me together,
    you never fail to stand me tall in your presence
    so I can look you in the eye.

¹³Blessed is God, Israel’s God,
always, always, always.
Yes. Yes. Yes.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

Happiness to Be Able to Help

A compassionate heart is not among the most popular qualities in our world today. If you want to climb to the top, people say, you often have to trample on others. Compassion is considered an attribute of people who are weak.

But what does the Word of God have to teach and admonish us about this?

The Bible says, “Blessed are those who have regard for the weak.”

And this does not mean just thinking about people who are disadvantaged; it means caring about them, doing something about it, entering the moment. (Read, Study, Pray, the Parable of the Good Samaritan – Luke 15:11 – 32)

People who care are those who open their hearts with the willingness to share what they have with people in need. God’s generosity goes hand in hand with his compassion and his care as people seek to show God’s love in this world.

We find happiness not when we have everything in our hands but when we look beyond our own needs, our own biases and prejudices and also agendas to share with people in need, giving from our abundance as the Lord has given to us. (Read, Study and Pray over Genesis Chapter 1)

The generous person sows happily and reaps the blessed fruit of God’s ongoing favor. God himself multiplies our sowing so we can continue to give generously.

From the beginning, God provides for us and gives us health and strength to do more by spreading his love to others. When we open our hearts, souls, hands, and pockets, move our feet, to share from all that God has given us, we find joy and happiness too in giving freely as the Lord gives, without strings attached.

The Gospel is Good News for all, Without Exception!

https://www.yahoo.com/news/several-injuries-reported-suspected-chemical-144200065.html

Romans 14:10-14 Amplified Bible

¹⁰But you, why do you criticize your brother? Or you again, why do you look down on your [believing] brother or regard him with contempt? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God [who alone is judge]. ¹¹For it is written [in Scripture],

“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me,
And every tongue shall give praise to God.”

¹²So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.

¹³Then let us not criticize one another anymore, but rather determine this—not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block or a source of temptation in another believer’s way. ¹⁴I know and am convinced [as one] in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean [ritually defiled, and unholy] in itself; but [nonetheless] it is unclean to anyone who thinks it is unclean.

The Ministry and Mission of Passing Judgment or the Ministry and Mission of Extending God’s Forgiveness

To people outside the faith, Christians often seem like Goliath sized hypocrites who look on the rest of the world with great scorn and in high condemnation.

We are seen as highly critical and massively self-righteous. And sometimes it’s true. Sometimes our rejection, our rhetoric and derision make Christ look bad.

We condemn those who have heard only judgment and long for grace.

We disapprove of people who have made life choices different than our own. We wish common sense were a little more common in them but not any of us. Our impatience with others for whom Christ died shows how much we need him too.

Sometimes we lack wisdom, maturity, impulse control, we have been hurt, and our hearts cry far out for justice. We want to take judgment into our own hands.

We want to maximize our vengeance, we also want our maximum retribution.

Yet, Jesus teaches that the critically essential part of forgiveness involves our stepping back from our worldly desires, allowing God to take care of justice.

Matthew 5:43-48 Amplified Bible

⁴³“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor (fellow man) and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴But I say to you, ^[a]love [that is, unselfishly seek the best or higher good for] your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵so that you may [show yourselves to] be the children of your Father who is in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on those who are evil and on those who are good, and makes the rain fall on the righteous [those who are morally upright] and the unrighteous [the unrepentant, those who oppose Him]. ⁴⁶For if you love [only] those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do that? ⁴⁷And if you greet only your brothers [wishing them God’s blessing and peace], what more [than others] are you doing? Do not even the Gentiles [who do not know the Lord] do that? ⁴⁸You, therefore, will be perfect [growing into spiritual maturity both in mind and character, actively integrating godly values into your daily life], as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Romans 12:18-21 Amplified Bible

¹⁸If possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. ¹⁹Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave the way open for God’s wrath [and His judicial righteousness]; for it is written [in Scripture], “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. ²⁰But if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for by doing this you will heap ^[a]burning coals on his head.” ²¹Do not be overcome and conquered by evil, but overcome evil with good.

We may need good boundaries with those who are still broken, and God ordained civil authorities to restrain crime—but God alone is the judge.

Practically speaking, looking scornfully at our neighbor makes it difficult to share our witness.

If we Christians shared the truth of how we have fallen down, the world might receive us better. Admitting our brokenness would allow Jesus’ restoration to shine brighter. If we approached each other as fellow sinners pointing the way to salvation in Christ, to be forgiven, maybe more sinners would follow Christ.

How can we be more Christ like in our relationships, in our responses, in our conversations, and less biased and prejudiced with those ‘different neighbors’?

Psalm 139:23-24 Amplified Bible

²³
Search me [thoroughly], O God, and know my heart;
Test me and know my anxious thoughts;
²⁴
And see if there is any wicked or hurtful way in me,
And lead me in the everlasting way.

How can you show and extend grace today?

How can we show and extend the Love of God to everyone today?

John 3:16-18 Amplified Bible

¹⁶“For God so [greatly] loved and dearly prized the world, that He [even] gave His [One and] ^[a]only begotten Son, so that whoever believes and trusts in Him [as Savior] shall not perish, but have eternal life. ¹⁷For God did not send the Son into the world to judge and condemn the world [that is, to initiate the final judgment of the world], but that the world might be saved through Him. ¹⁸ Whoever believes and has decided to trust in Him [as personal Savior and Lord] is not judged [for this one, there is no judgment, no rejection, no condemnation]; but the one who does not believe [and has decided to reject Him as personal Savior and Lord] is judged already [that one has been convicted and sentenced], because ^[b]he has not believed and trusted in the name of the [One and] only begotten Son of God [the One who is truly unique, the only One of His kind, the One who alone can save him].

This passage is perhaps the best-known and best-loved verses in the Bible.

It comes in the context of a middle of the night secret conversation between Jesus and a beyond reproach highly respected Scholar, devout Jew, Nicodemus.

It is then put into action in the following chapter of John, when Jesus converses with a woman on the opposite end of the social, moral, and religious spectrum.

This teaches us something important: that the good news of Christ’s coming is not limited to highly respected pious people, like Nicodemus, but shatters all boundaries to extend even to the dejected, rejected, like the woman at the well.

The contrast between these two individuals is stark. Nicodemus was learned, powerful, respected, and theologically trained.

The Samaritan woman at the well was uneducated, without influence, despised, untouchable, illegal and immoral – everything those Jews of that day rejected.

Jesus’ interactions with both, however, display that all humans need a Savior.

Nicodemus’s meeting with Christ makes it clear that we can never do enough good to save ourselves.

Conversely, the Samaritan woman’s experience makes clear that no one can ever do enough bad to be beyond Christ’s reach.

Hardcore Truth be Revealed, We all, without exception, live under God’s wrath and judgment until we welcome the light of Christ’s salvation—whether you’re a Nicodemus, a Samaritan woman, a Levi/Matthew, or somewhere in between.

The whole world needs God’s Son; and God has given the whole world His Son.

Hardcore Truth: Because the gospel of Jesus does not discriminate, neither should we in proclaiming it.

While both Nicodemus and the woman at the well needed to hear the same good news, Jesus masterfully shared it with each one of them in a personalized way.

He did not engage them with the same formulaic conversation; with biased or prejudiced rhetoric, He met them where they were. He simply asked questions that had ultimately revealed their sinful hearts and God’s loving heart for them.

Just as God invites all to hear His gospel, so He invites all who are changed by this gospel to be the agents of change for others.

After her conversation with Jesus, the Samaritan woman ran back to her town, telling everyone of how He knew everything she had ever done (John 4:39).

The people then responded to her words and sought Jesus out.

This should encourage all of us, and especially those of us who lack confidence in extending the gospel invitation to others.

When God is at work, we’ll be amazed at what happens!

“For God so loved the world…” Such love has come to live in any who believe.

It empowers each of us to do what is necessary to live as God commands. It saves you from the chains that tie you to your past—be it a past of piety and of high pride, like Nicodemus’s, or a past of sordid decisions and shame, like the Samaritan woman’s. It spurs you to share this gospel of Son-giving, life-bringing love with those around you. Whoever believes will have eternal life.

In the name of God, the Father and God, the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Lord, forgive us for judging one another. Search us, Test us, Teach us, Show us how to shed our biases, prejudices, share our brokenness and to point others to Christ. Lord God, help us to open our hearts, extend our hands and feet to care about others and to share from the abundance you have given us. In the name of Jesus, Amen. Amen.

103 ^1-2O my soul, bless God.
From head to toe, I’ll bless his holy name!
O my soul, bless God,
don’t forget a single blessing!

^3-5    He forgives your sins—every one.
    He heals your diseases—every one.
    He redeems you from hell—saves your life!
    He crowns you with love and mercy—a paradise crown.
    He wraps you in goodness—beauty eternal.
    He renews your youth—you’re always young in his presence.

^6-18God makes everything come out right;
    he puts victims back on their feet.
He showed Moses how he went about his work,
    opened up his plans to all Israel.
God is sheer mercy and grace;
    not easily angered, he’s rich in love.
He doesn’t endlessly nag and scold,
    nor hold grudges forever.
He doesn’t treat us as our sins deserve,
    nor pay us back in full for our wrongs.
As high as heaven is over the earth,
    so strong is his love to those who fear him.
And as far as sunrise is from sunset,
    he has separated us from our sins.
As parents feel for their children,
    God feels for those who fear him.
He knows us inside and out,
    keeps in mind that we’re made of mud.
Men and women don’t live very long;
    like wildflowers they spring up and blossom,
But a storm snuffs them out just as quickly,
    leaving nothing to show they were here.
God’s love, though, is ever and always,
    eternally present to all who fear him,
Making everything right for them and their children
    as they follow his Covenant ways
    and remember to do whatever he said.

^19-22God has set his throne in heaven;
    he rules over us all. He’s the King!
So bless God, you angels,
    ready and able to fly at his bidding,
    quick to hear and do what he says.
Bless God, all you armies of angels,
    alert to respond to whatever he wills.
Bless God, all creatures, wherever you are—
    everything and everyone made by God.

And you, O my soul, bless God!

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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Redeemed for Good Works: Will God Ever Ask Us to Do Something We Do Not Possess any of the Skill Set to do? Ephesians 2:7-10

Ephesians 2:7-10 The Message

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

Redeemed for Good Work: Masterpieces

Ephesians 2:1-10 Easy-to-Read Version

From Death to Life

2 In the past you were spiritually dead because of your sins and the things you did against God. ²Yes, in the past your lives were full of those sins. You lived the way the world lives, following the ruler of the evil powers^[a] that are above the earth. That same spirit is now working in those who refuse to obey God. ³In the past all of us lived like that, trying to please our sinful selves. We did all the things our bodies and minds wanted. Like everyone else in the world, we deserved to suffer God’s anger just because of the way we were.

⁴But God is rich in mercy, and he loved us very much. ⁵We were spiritually dead because of all we had done against him. But he gave us new life together with Christ. (You have been saved by God’s grace.) ⁶Yes, it is because we are a part of Christ Jesus that God raised us from death and seated us together with him in the heavenly places. ⁷God did this so that his kindness to us who belong to Christ Jesus would clearly show for all time to come the amazing richness of his grace.

⁸I mean that you have been saved by grace because you believed. You did not save yourselves; it was a gift from God. ⁹You are not saved by the things you have done, so there is nothing to boast about. ¹⁰God has made us what we are. In Christ Jesus, God made us new people so that we would spend our lives doing the good things he had already planned for us to do.

It is said that when Michelangelo, the great Renaissance sculptor, looked at an ordinary piece of marble, he envisioned his masterpiece long before he put his chisel to stone. In his mind, his creation existed even before he began to create.

Did you know that God, the greatest artist, has a glorious vision for each of his masterpieces, including you and me?

Long before creation, God had a purpose for our lives.

The apostle Paul tells us that we are God’s work of art.

He has been busy fashioning us in Christ to be his masterpiece.

But God did not create us merely for display.

God has created us so that, in turn, we too become artisans.

We are saved by God’s grace so that we will fulfill the plan God has had for us from the beginning.

What plan is that?

First, the good works God has prepared for us include a life of holiness.

And, remember, God created us to work: to cultivate his garden and to draw out the potential embedded in creation.

Though sin has damaged and distorted that plan, Jesus’ work on the cross has redeemed it.

We are re-created so that we may fulfill God’s original purpose for work!

How are we doing the good works which God has prepared in advance for us?

Will God Ever Ask Us to Do Something We Can’t Do?

There are an endless number of callings God gives to His people to labor at.

In each situation, we can probably come up with an infinite number of reasons we can’t follow through on those callings.

What we fail to consider is would God ask me to do something I cannot do?

Would God ask you to do something you cannot do?

Would God ask His Church to do something it cannot or will not do?

To answer this question, we must also consider why God created mankind in the beginning and consider how can we know when God is truly calling us.

Consider This: Why Did God Create Man?

Genesis 2:15 Amplified Bible

¹⁵So the Lord God took the man [He had made] and settled him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it.

On the first pages of Scripture, we witness the creation of the world, including man. God created the heavens and the earth before he made Adam because He already knew where mankind would live and exactly what their purpose was.

Genesis 2:15 states “The Lord God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work it and watch over it.”

We see similar instructions given to Noah after the flood in Genesis 9:1, “God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.’”

In the beginning and after the destruction by the flood, God specifically states His purpose in creating humanity.

He wants us to work and watch over what is His.

He wants us to be fruitful and multiply by keeping the values of family in our hearts.

To obey these instructions, we each must be willing to follow through on the calling(s) He has for us.

For God to call us to do something, He must know what we can do – even if we ourselves are not as aware of our skill set as God is of our respective skill sets.

Our individual gifts come from God, and he intended for us to use them to grow His kingdom.

Ephesians 2:10 Amplified Bible

¹⁰For we are His workmanship [His own master work, a work of art], created in Christ Jesus [reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, ready to be used] for good works, which God prepared [for us] beforehand [taking paths which He set], so that we would walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us].

Consider this: A Biblical Lens on God’s Instruction

God knew that mankind would always have questions about their purpose.

Because of that truth, He revealed many great personal examples in Scripture.

Moses was asked to bring the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt.

He questioned God.

He said he could not complete the task because he could not speak well.

But God had a plan already and knew that Moses was the one to save His people.

Then there was Esther, a young Hebrew girl who was to become a queen.

She may have thought she could not save her people, but God knew she could.

Through God’s plan, Esther became a queen and saved her people.

God told Jonah to go to Nineveh, but Jonah did not want to go.

He felt he could not because the Ninevites were dangerous people.

God knew Jonah could and gave him three days in a whale’s belly to consider his choice. With God’s help, Jonah went to Nineveh and proclaimed what God had told him. The Ninevites turned from their evil ways and were not destroyed.

The disciples may have thought they could not drop their fishing nets and just follow Jesus because they only knew the water and the nets.

When they did, the disciples were witnesses to the miracles and teachings of Jesus. The three years they spent walking and talking and listening with Jesus molded them into the witnesses for Christ that helped build the early church.

God has always been asking His people to obey commands.

In each situation, God’s instruction is doable because He has already set his own plan into motion. God did not leave Moses, Esther, Jonah, or his disciples.

It was with Him they accomplished their tasks.

Matthew 28:16-20 Amplified Bible

The Great Commission

¹⁶Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. ¹⁷And when they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some doubted [that it was really He]. ¹⁸Jesus came up and said to them, “All authority (all power of absolute rule) in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. ¹⁹Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations [help the people to learn of Me, believe in Me, and obey My words], baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always [remaining with you perpetually—regardless of circumstance, and on every occasion], even to the end of the age.”

Today, the Great Commission is still exactly the same; nothing has changed.

God will always be with us, as promised; Until the end of the age; God does not call us into ministry and mission to obey Him and leave us to our own devices.

How Do We Know What God Wants from Us?

James 4:7-10 The Message

^7-10So let God work his will in you. Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him make himself scarce. Say a quiet yes to God and he’ll be there in no time. Quit dabbling in sin. Purify your inner life. Quit playing the field. Hit bottom, and cry your eyes out. The fun and games are over. Get serious, really serious. Get down on your knees before the Master; it’s the only way you’ll get on your feet.

As God’s people, we want to do whatever God asks of us. The problem we have is that too often we struggle to know what God wants us to do. We spend a lot of precious time questioning Him and that can leave little time for obedience.

So, how can we know what God wants from us? We must start by preparing our hearts to hear the Holy Spirit. (James 4:8)

Preparation always starts with prayer.

It does not have to be an elaborate and elegantly worded prayer. It can be a simple prayer, one in which you confess your sins and God cleanses your heart. Prayer will fine tune our spiritual ears to hear the commands of our Lord.

We also need to search the Scriptures.

Isaiah 8:20 says, “Go to God’s instruction and testimony!”

Isaiah 8:19-22 The Message

^19-22When people tell you, “Try out the fortunetellers.
    Consult the spiritualists.
Why not tap into the spirit-world,
    get in touch with the dead?”
Tell them, “No, we’re going to study the Scriptures.”
    People who try the other ways get nowhere—a dead end!
Frustrated and famished,
    they try one thing after another.
When nothing works out they get angry,
    cursing first this god and then that one,
Looking this way and that,
    up, down, and sideways—and seeing nothing,
A blank wall, an empty hole.
    They end up in the dark with nothing.

Everything we need to know is right in front of us when we open God’s Word.

If we saturate our hearts and minds and quicken our hands and our feet, with eyes and ears tuned to God’s truth, we cannot miss what He is calling us to do.

God speaks in various and mysterious ways.

To allow yourself to hear Him, you must silence the distractions you have in your life.

We must turn the TV and social media off at times.

We must not fill our schedules with earthly obligations and forget the sacred obligation we have to the God who created us.

We must also seek counsel and consider the context of what we feel God is calling us to do.

Proverbs 11:14 says “Without guidance, a people will fall, but with many counselors there is deliverance.” Godly counsel will help you and me know if what we are feeling aligns with the character of God and will then produce kingdom fruits.

Consider: Why Do We Miss God’s Call?

Proverbs 3:5-12 The Message

^5-12Trust God from the bottom of your heart;
    don’t try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;
    he’s the one who will keep you on track.
Don’t assume that you know it all.
    Run to God! Run from evil!
Your body will glow with health,
    your very bones will vibrate with life!
Honor God with everything you own;
    give him the first and the best.
Your barns will burst,
    your wine vats will brim over.
But don’t, dear friend, resent God’s discipline;
    don’t sulk under his loving correction.
It’s the child he loves that God corrects;
    a father’s delight is behind all this.

I believe the number one reason we can miss God’s call is that we are simply too busy to hear him. We naively rely on our own understanding, miss the mark.

Proverbs 3:5-6 tell us we are to rely only on the Lord and when we do, our paths will become straight.

Our doubts can also keep us from seeing and hearing God’s call.

The idea that we cannot do something or don’t have time to carry out God’s instruction seriously clouds our judgement and hinders our faith in God.

Hebrews 11:5-6 The Message

^5-6By an act of faith, Enoch skipped death completely. “They looked all over and couldn’t find him because God had taken him.” We know on the basis of reliable testimony that before he was taken “he pleased God.” It’s impossible to please God apart from faith. And why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him.

We expect God to always speak in a bold, dramatic way.

God is not always going to give you loud, vivid instruction.

You may not get your answer from a burning bush; Elijah received his answer in a gentle whisper outside a cave on a high mountain top (1 Kings 19:12).

1 Kings 19:7-12 The Message

⁷The angel of God came back, shook him awake again, and said, “Get up and eat some more—you’ve got a long journey ahead of you.”

^8-9He got up, ate and drank his fill, and set out. Nourished by that meal, he walked forty days and nights, all the way to the mountain of God, to Horeb. When he got there, he crawled into a cave and went to sleep.

Then the word of God came to him: “So Elijah, what are you doing here?”

¹⁰“I’ve been working my heart out for the God-of-the-Angel-Armies,” said Elijah. “The people of Israel have abandoned your covenant, destroyed the places of worship, and murdered your prophets. I’m the only one left, and now they’re trying to kill me.”

^11-12Then he was told, “Go, stand on the mountain at attention before God. God will pass by.”

A hurricane wind ripped through the mountains and shattered the rocks before God, but God wasn’t to be found in the wind; after the wind an earthquake, but God was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake fire, but God wasn’t in the fire; and after the fire a gentle and quiet whisper.

When we quiet our souls is when we will hear Him call.

Missing God’s call can also happen when we do not prioritize worship.

God did not intend for man to do everything alone.

He wants us to have a strong Christian community that will encourage us, pray for us, and make disciples out of us.

Consider These Final Thoughts

1 Corinthians 15:58 Amplified Bible

⁵⁸Therefore, my beloved brothers and sisters, be steadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord [always doing your best and doing more than is needed], being continually aware that your labor [even to the point of exhaustion] in the Lord is not futile nor wasted [it is never without purpose].

Will God ask you to do something you cannot do?

No. God’s purpose for humanity was to steadfastly do the work He called us too.

Through examples like Moses, Esther, Jonah, the disciples, and many others in the Bible, God showed us that He would never call us to something we cannot do because we can do anything with His strength.

Philippians 4:10-20 Amplified Bible

God’s Provisions

¹⁰I rejoiced greatly in the Lord, that now at last you have renewed your concern for me; indeed, you were concerned about me before, but you had no opportunity to show it. ¹¹Not that I speak from [any personal] need, for I have learned to be content [and self-sufficient through Christ, satisfied to the point where I am not disturbed or uneasy] regardless of my circumstances. ¹²I know how to get along and live humbly [in difficult times], and I also know how to enjoy abundance and live in prosperity. In any and every circumstance I have learned the secret [of facing life], whether well-fed or going hungry, whether having an abundance or being in need. ¹³I can do all things [which He has called me to do] through Him who strengthens and empowers me [to fulfill His purpose—I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency; I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him who infuses me with inner strength and confident peace.] ¹⁴Nevertheless, it was right of you to share [with me] in my difficulties.

¹⁵And you Philippians know that in the early days of preaching the gospel, after I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of ^[a]giving and receiving except you alone; ¹⁶for even in Thessalonica you sent a gift more than once for my needs. ¹⁷Not that I seek the gift itself, but I do seek the profit which increases to your [heavenly] account [the blessing which is accumulating for you]. ¹⁸But I have received everything in full and more; I am amply supplied, having received from Epaphroditus the gifts you sent me. They are the fragrant aroma of an offering, an acceptable sacrifice which God welcomes and in which He delights. ¹⁹And my God will liberally supply (fill until full) your every need according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. ²⁰To our God and Father be the glory ^[b]forever and ever. Amen.

If you feel that God is calling you to do something, put the distractions and doubts aside.

Pray and search the Scriptures.

Participate in worship and lean on your Christian community to guide you.

If you do these things, you will be given the strength and knowledge to do whatever God calls you too.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

God, our Creator, Jesus, our Blessed Redeemer, we are in awe of the way you re-create broken people like us to be your masterpieces. Help us to honor you each day by doing the works you have prepared in advance for us to do. Amen.

Psalm 119:105-112 The Message

^105-112By your words I can see where I’m going;
    they throw a beam of light on my dark path.
I’ve committed myself and I’ll never turn back
    from living by your righteous order.
Everything’s falling apart on me, God;
    put me together again with your Word.
Adorn me with your finest sayings, God;
    teach me your holy rules.
My life is as close as my own hands,
    but I don’t forget what you have revealed.
The wicked do their best to throw me off track,
    but I don’t swerve an inch from your course.
I inherited your book on living; it’s mine forever—
    what a gift! And how happy it makes me!
I concentrate on doing exactly what you say—
    I always have and always will.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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Today, I am Contemplating, Praying, Upon Some Very Powerful Truths Our Prayers of Intercession Will Reveal… 2 Corinthians 1:8 – 11

2 Corinthians 1:8-11 Amplified Bible

⁸For we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about ^[a]our trouble in [the west coast province of] Asia [Minor], how we were utterly weighed down, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life [itself]. ⁹Indeed, we felt within ourselves that we had received the sentence of death [and were convinced that we would die, but this happened] so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead. ¹⁰He rescued us from so great a threat of death, and will continue to rescue us. On Him we have set our hope. And He will again rescue us [from danger and draw us near], ¹¹while you join in helping us by your prayers. Then thanks will be given by many persons on our behalf for the gracious gift [of deliverance] granted to us through the prayers of many [believers].

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

Truth: Jesus Always Lives to Intercede and Intervene

Today, I find myself reflecting on the indelible truth that Jesus intercedes for us, and that encourages us to intercede for others. As we pray for others, we lift them up to God, asking that in Jesus’ name God’s blessings pour into their lives.

As we contemplate the magnitude of that truth, as we pray for others, it’s important to know that our requests are not limited by time and space.

In today’s passage we read of Paul’s greatest struggles, both physical and spiritual, in carrying out his calling as the Apostle to the Gentiles. Time after time Paul suffered severe life threatening beatings, a few assassination plots, shipwrecks, imprisonment, the imminent threat of immediate beheading.

I do not guess that there are many people who will come to read this will have experienced the breadth of suffering Paul did. However, it is a distinct reality that this devotional will encounter someone who has suffered a deep measure of personal injury, sacrificed far more than their “fair share” for their faith.

For them, we lift them up in our prayers knowing God through Jesus answers.

Yet we also read throughout his letters it did not prevent him from asking God to fill the lives of his fellow believers there with the power of spiritual blessing.

When we pray for others, we ask, plead, God to pour out his resources on them, showering them with his limitless love and grace. It’s because we recognize our own limits we’ll ask God to do for others what we are powerless to do ourselves.

Intercessory prayer demonstrates our love for others.

We forget ourselves in prayer and seek God’s best for others—even going so far as to pray for those whom we consider our enemies.

Matthew 5:43-48 Amplified Bible

One of the kindest, most powerful things someone can ever say to us is

“I’m praying for you.”

It means they want us to thrive in ways that only God can accomplish.

Whom is the Lord leading you to pray for today?

Contemplating Powerful Truths Paul’s Prayers Reveal about Spirit-Led Living Today.

2 Corinthians 1:8-11 The Message

^8-11We don’t want you in the dark, friends, about how hard it was when all this came down on us in Asia province. It was so bad we didn’t think we were going to make it. We felt like we’d been sent to death row, that it was all over for us. As it turned out, it was the best thing that could have happened. Instead of trusting in our own strength or wits to get out of it, we were forced to trust God totally—not a bad idea since he’s the God who raises the dead! And he did it, rescued us from certain doom. And he’ll do it again, rescuing us as many times as we need rescuing. You and your prayers are part of the rescue operation—I don’t want you in the dark about that either. I can see your faces even now, lifted in praise for God’s deliverance of us, a rescue in which your prayers played such a crucial part.

I deeply believe that one can tell a lot about a person based on how they pray.

Thankfully, God invites us to come to Him authentically, laying bare our souls before Him, expressing our heaviest and rawest emotions. (Psalms 13, 51, 63)

Unveiling the deepest parts of us to the One who loves us unconditionally, when we praise Him, when we cry out in frustration, is an indelibly beautiful thing.

In fact, the greater our intimacy with Christ, the less filtered our words become.

This is precisely why I find Paul’s prayers so empowering and deeply inspiring.

Through them, the first century church planter demonstrates what it looks like to live in the depths of full blown crisis and to fully yielded to God and His plans.

His prayers recorded in Scripture reveal characteristics of a Spirit-led Christian.

1. They Make Intercessory Prayer a Lifestyle Choice

As we grow closer to Christ, our desire to connect with Him, hear from Him, and participate with Him in His kingdom plans increase.

Matthew 9:36-38 Amplified Bible

³⁶When He saw the crowds, He was moved with compassion and pity for them, because they were dispirited and distressed, like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is [indeed] plentiful, but the workers are few. ³⁸So pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.”

We also recognize we cannot love Him and others well in our own strength. We realize, in progressively deepening, thought provoking, spirit quickening ways, just how much we and our world need His wisdom, power, presence, and grace.

In discussing Paul, his biblical letters, late Reverend Dr. Timothy Keller wrote,

“He does not see prayer as merely a way to get things from God but as a way to get more of God himself.”

He turned to the Lord, his closest companion and ever-present source of strength, for every need, with every frustration, and with every praise.

His prayers reveal a quickened heart that remained vitally connected to Christ, in both joyous and frightening moments, and that at the sacrifice of everything he held dear, wanted others to experience the same intimacy with the Savior.

Numerous times, he mentioned how he “always” prayed for various people or “constantly” remembered them in his prayers.

In his letters to the Romans and to the Colossians whom he never saw, he thanked God for the witness of their faith, in 2 Corinthians 1:11 for the Lord’s comfort for the hurting, and in Philippians for their partnership in the gospel.

In his letter to Timothy, he urged the leader to pray for all the people, and in Ephesians he asked for all prayers that he might fearlessly share the gospel.

In each of these instances and more, Paul demonstrated his humble, ongoing communication with His Savior and how much he absolutely prioritized this in his life and ministry.

How much of a priority is intercessory prayer for you in these challenging days?

2. They Celebrate God and Celebrate Evidence of Grace

John 14:12-14 Amplified Bible

¹²I assure you and most solemnly say to you, anyone who believes in Me [as Savior] will also do the things that I do; and he will do even greater things than these [in extent and outreach], because I am going to the Father. ¹³And I will do whatever you ask in My name [^[a]as My representative], this I will do, so that the Father may be glorified and celebrated in the Son. ¹⁴If you ask Me anything in My name [as My representative], I will do it.

I know it is said somewhere in the bible “when we celebrate God, we multiply.”

Consider some of your most motivating experiences — the teacher who spoke words of affirmation that led to your current career.

Or, perhaps a coach saw and called out one of your emerging talents.

Most likely, such encouragement motivated you to try harder, work harder, study harder — to become the student or athlete they envisioned. I imagine we can all think of times when a critical statement produced the opposite effect.

Perhaps Paul, a thriving early church leader, understood this, or maybe he was simply overjoyed by the spiritual progress he witnessed.

Regardless, he always seemed to recognize God’s hand in people’s lives.

To the believers in ancient Corinth, he wrote,

“I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Jesus. For in him you have been enriched in every way — with all kinds of speech and with knowledge — … Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed” (1 Corinthians 1:4-7).

In Colossians, he thanked God for the people’s faith in Christ and love for all others, both of which sprung “from the hope stored up” in heaven (Col. 1:3-6).

³We give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, as we pray always for you, ⁴for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus [how you lean on Him with absolute confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness], and of the [unselfish] ^[a]love which you have for all the saints (God’s people); ⁵because of the [confident] hope [of experiencing that] which is reserved and waiting for you in heaven. You previously heard of this hope in the message of truth, the gospel [regarding salvation] ⁶which has come to you. Indeed, just as in the whole world the gospel is constantly bearing fruit and spreading [by God’s power], just as it has been doing among you ever since the day you first heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth [becoming thoroughly and deeply acquainted with it].

He expressed similar gratitude for those in Thessalonica, stating,

“We always thank God for all of you and continually mention you in our prayers. We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 1:2-3).

To the church in Rome, he wrote, “First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world” (Romans 1:8).

I find these words particularly significant when I consider how some of the first century Christians to whom he wrote behaved.

Although some of the churches, such as the one in Thessalonica, were thriving, others were experiencing serious problems.

For example, in Corinth, people were excusing blatant sexual immorality – including temple prostitution and incest – as being permissible because of one’s freedom in Christ. The community was also plagued with division fueled by not so choice rhetoric, finger pointing, wild accusations and favoritism.

The church in Rome, comprised of Jews and Greeks, was divided as well.

People argued about the right way to follow Jesus and what and how Gentiles were to participate in religious sacraments.

But, while Paul addressed these issues, calling believers to holiness, he didn’t allow their sinful behaviors to overshadow God’s grace.

Plus, most of these men and women were relatively new in their faith.

Likely, Paul understood that it takes time for one to change from deep pagan, polytheistic mentalities to a gospel-infused worldview that permeated every area of one’s life.

I’m reminded of my early twenties. Although I somewhat responded to the word of God as a child, I didn’t grow in my faith until my early to mid forties, when I connected with a group of committed bible believing Christ-followers.

My perspective, formed by popular culture for over those intervening two decades, changed slowly, one Bible lesson, sermon, and prayer at a time.

This held as true for first century believers, especially those with deep pagan backgrounds, as it does for the men and women sitting in the pews beside us each Sunday. And if in a crowded gym, what is the assortment of their beliefs?

One morning when I was working out on a treadmill, I saw a young lady with a rainbow t-shirt on which said; “ask me what real inclusion means.” Genesis 9

May we, like Paul, remember, wherever they, or we, are at in our journey, where they live into their journey as we are always lavished with grace on top of grace.

3. They Yearn for Everyone to Come to Know Jesus

2 Corinthians 9:13-15 Amplified Bible

¹³Because of this act of ministry, ^[a]they will glorify God for your obedience to the gospel of Christ which you confess, as well as for your generous participation [in this gift] for them and for all [the other believers in need], ¹⁴and they also long for you while they pray on your behalf, because of the surpassing measure of God’s grace [His undeserved favor, mercy, and blessing which is revealed] in you. ¹⁵Now thanks be to God for His indescribable gift [which is precious beyond words]!

God’s love has a multiplying effect.

The more we take it in, the more we have to give.

Scholars also teach us to teach others that we become like the thing we worship.

Therefore, the closer and longer we follow Jesus, the more we resemble Him.

His desires become ours, and His driving focus, outside of bringing glory to the Father, is bringing life to souls once dead.

His passion for me, you, his church and the world was so great that He willingly endured one of the cruelest executions known to man, to bring us salvation and entrance directly into God’s global, eternal family.

Paul embraced hardship and intense persecution for the same reason.

He was willing to endure anything, everything even intense pain, if through it, others might turn to Christ.

Philippians 3:7-9 Amplified Bible

⁷But whatever former things were gains to me [as I thought then], these things [once regarded as advancements in merit] I have come to consider as loss [absolutely worthless] for the sake of Christ [and the purpose which He has given my life]. ⁸But more than that, I count everything as loss compared to the priceless privilege and supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord [and of growing more deeply and thoroughly acquainted with Him—a joy unequaled]. For His sake I have lost everything, and I consider it all garbage, so that I may gain Christ, ⁹and may be found in Him [believing and relying on Him], not having any righteousness of my own derived from [my obedience to] the Law and its rituals, but [possessing] that [genuine righteousness] which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith.

That included those who with animosity, envy and jealously followed him from town to town, hoping to immeasurably increase the intensity of his difficulties.

But he refused to waste time on bitterness. Instead, he wrote:

Philippians 1:15-17 Amplified Bible

¹⁵Some, it is true, are [actually] preaching Christ out of envy and rivalry [toward me—for no better reason than a competitive spirit or misguided ambition], but others out of goodwill and a loyal spirit [toward me]. ¹⁶The latter [preach Christ] out of love, because they know that I have been put here [by God on purpose] for the defense of the gospel; ¹⁷but the former preach Christ [insincerely] out of selfish ambition [just self-promotion], thinking that they are causing me distress in my imprisonment.

In Romans 9:3, he wrote, “For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my people, those of my own race.”

These words gain significance when one recognizes that the men following Paul from one village or city to another were, like him very Jewish, Paul’s people.

While they ultimately longed to increase Paul’s persecution, and incited a mob to help, Paul, instead, prioritized God and Jesus and prayed for their salvation.

Throughout his letters, the evangelist taught many important lessons and spoke powerful, life-changing truths. He encouraged, inspired, and corrected.

But most importantly, he routinely turned to God – in every season, whether hungry or fed, joyous or discouraged. Sprinkled throughout his New Testament letters, his intercessory prayers reveal patterns and passions of a Spirit-led life.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Thank you, Lord, for putting neighbors in my life who pray for me. You bless and strengthen me by their prayers. Help me to pray for others too. For Jesus’ sake, Amen.

Matthew 6:9-13 Amplified Bible

⁹“Pray, then, ^[a]in this way:

‘Our Father, who is in heaven,
^[b]Hallowed be Your name.
¹⁰
‘^[c]Your kingdom come,
Your ^[d]will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹
‘Give us this day our ^[e]daily bread.
¹²
‘And forgive us our ^[f]debts, as we have forgiven our debtors [letting go of both the wrong and the resentment].
¹³
‘And do not ^[g]lead us into temptation, but deliver us from ^[h]evil. ^[i][For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.]’

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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The Bride and the Bridegroom, The Husband and the Wife; When You Are Simply not Feeling very Compatible. 1Corinthians 1:10

1 Corinthians 1:10-25 The Message

The Cross: The Irony of God’s Wisdom

¹⁰I have a serious concern to bring up with you, my friends, using the authority of Jesus, our Master. I’ll put it as urgently as I can: You must get along with each other. You must learn to be considerate of one another, cultivating a life in common.

^11-12I bring this up because some from Chloe’s family brought a most disturbing report to my attention—that you’re fighting among yourselves! I’ll tell you exactly what I was told: You’re all picking sides, going around saying, “I’m on Paul’s side,” or “I’m for Apollos,” or “Peter is my man,” or “I’m in the Messiah group.”

^13-16I ask you, “Has the Messiah been chopped up in little pieces so we can each have a relic all our own? Was Paul crucified for you? Was a single one of you baptized in Paul’s name?” I was not involved with any of your baptisms—except for Crispus and Gaius—and on getting this report, I’m sure glad I wasn’t. At least no one can go around saying he was baptized in my name. (Come to think of it, I also baptized Stephanas’s family, but as far as I can recall, that’s it.)

¹⁷God didn’t send me out to collect a following for myself, but to preach the Message of what he has done, collecting a following for him. And he didn’t send me to do it with a lot of fancy rhetoric of my own, lest the powerful action at the center—Christ on the Cross—be trivialized into mere words.

^18-21The Message that points to Christ on the Cross seems like sheer silliness to those hellbent on destruction, but for those on the way of salvation it makes perfect sense. This is the way God works, and most powerfully as it turns out. It’s written,

I’ll turn conventional wisdom on its head,
I’ll expose so-called experts as shams.

So where can you find someone truly wise, truly educated, truly intelligent in this day and age? Hasn’t God exposed it all as pretentious nonsense? Since the world in all its fancy wisdom never had a clue when it came to knowing God, God in his wisdom took delight in using what the world considered stupid—preaching, of all things!—to bring those who trust him into the way of salvation.

^22-25While Jews clamor for miraculous demonstrations and Greeks go in for philosophical wisdom, we go right on proclaiming Christ, the Crucified. Jews treat this like an anti-miracle—and Greeks pass it off as absurd. But to us who are personally called by God himself—both Jews and Greeks—Christ is God’s ultimate miracle and wisdom all wrapped up in one. Human wisdom is so cheap, so impotent, next to the seeming absurdity of God. Human strength can’t begin to compete with God’s “weakness.”

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

I am wondering today as I write this devotional today if we can all agree on this;

Brides and Bridegrooms, Husbands and Wives, the Body of Christ, we all called by God to be holy and set apart unto Him but we are also called into fellowship with our Christian brothers and sisters in Christ. We are each urged by God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit to be of the same mind and of the same judgment.

The divisions and the disunity that was evident within the Corinthian church so long ago, is equally, publicly, conspicuous in the Body of Christ today, and Paul and the community and unity of the Trinity are lovingly exhorting each one of us to agree amongst ourselves so that there is no disharmony, disagreement, or dissention amongst us. Can we stop taking shavings out of the Cross of Christ?

This call for singleness of heart is founded only upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and never our preferred preacher or favored ministry, or our preferred theologies, ideologies, political zealousness, denominational tactics.

We are to have the mind of Christ. We are to develop the same attitude of heart toward each other Christ Jesus has for us so that with one mind and one voice we may only glorify our God Who in heaven, our Savior, Jesus Christ our Lord.

1 Timothy 2:4-7 The Message

^4-7He wants not only us but everyone saved, you know, everyone to get to know the truth we’ve learned: that there’s one God and only one, and one Priest-Mediator between God and us—Jesus, who offered himself in exchange for everyone held captive by sin, to set them all free. Eventually the news is going to get out. This and this only has been my appointed work: getting this news to those who have never heard of God, and explaining how it works by simple faith and plain truth.

In a time when there are ever deepening divisions in the world, how important is it to go out of our way to love our brothers and sisters in the Body of Christ?

Can we not just be about God’s business; let us be those who build each other up in love, encouraging and comforting each other as we see the day approaching?

And can we not just be husband and wife, being husband and wife in unity, may our love for each other flow out into the world so that unbelievers may see our love, be drawn to Jesus, and enter into a saving knowledge of our loving Savior?

When You Simply Aren’t Feeling the Compatibility

1 Corinthians 1:10-17 Amplified Bible

¹⁰But I urge you, believers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you be in full agreement in what you say, and that there be no divisions or factions among you, but that you be perfectly united in your way of thinking and in your judgment [about matters of the faith]. ¹¹For I have been informed about you, my brothers and sisters, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are quarrels and factions among you. ¹²Now I mean this, that each one of you says, “I am [a disciple] of Paul,” or “I am [a disciple] of Apollos,” or “I am [a disciple] of Cephas (Peter),” or “I am [a disciple] of Christ.” ¹³Has Christ been divided [into different parts]? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized into the name of Paul? [Certainly not!] ¹⁴I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, ¹⁵so that no one would say that you were baptized into my name. ¹⁶Now I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I do not know if I baptized anyone else. ¹⁷For Christ did not send me [as an apostle] to baptize, but [commissioned and empowered me] to preach the good news [of salvation]—not with clever and eloquent speech [as an orator], so that the cross of Christ would not be ^[a]made ineffective [deprived of its saving power].

Some say opposites attract.

Others urge couples to marry someone with whom they have lots in common.

Regardless of how the relationship starts out, there will almost inevitably come a season or two in a couple’s life where they just aren’t feeling very compatible.

People will inevitably grow and change over the years as individuals, so what perhaps started out as having a lot in common, morphed into having more differences than connections. This growth and its subsequent change can be very discouraging for couples, and even turn into a frequent source of conflict.

In a very tangible sense, Jesus Christ and compromise is usually the key.

If one half of the married couple enjoys science fiction or fantasy movies, and the other prefers dramas, documentaries or romantic comedies, take turns.

Someone loves Thai food but hates seafood?

Simply switch out who gets to choose on every other date night.

It doesn’t have to be complicated, but it does require a generous, humble and patient and merciful heart toward your spouse. You might not love the food or activity in question, but you love your spouse, so there is always a measure of joy to be found in going along with what delights them, brings them happiness.

When both people in the marriage do this for each other, unity can be found.

But some areas of differences in marriage don’t always get resolved so easily.

Perhaps your frequent incompatibility with your spouse isn’t over surface level decisions such as what to eat or what movie to watch, but rather, are deeper issues of the heart, such as parenting styles, family relationships, theologies.

These types of differences can grow argumentative, wearisome, but take heart!

If you both take time to pick up a Bible, study it together, pray over it together and patiently wait for God, You just might not be quite as different as you fear.

Step back from the frequent arguing or disunity, take a breath, to look at each other, into their eyes as God looks into ours, and ask yourself these questions.

Does my spouse love God? Do I love God?

Does my spouse desire the best for our family? Do I?

Does my spouse seek to follow after Jesus? Do I?

Does my spouse look to grow our children in the Lord? Do I?

Does my spouse desire unity in our home? Do I?

Does my spouse love me despite our differences? Do I love my spouse?

If the above answers are yes, congratulations!

Start there.

Continue here …

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 Amplified Bible

⁹Two are better than one because they have a more satisfying return for their labor; ¹⁰for if ^[a]either of them falls, the one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and does not have another to lift him up. ¹¹ Again, if two lie down together, then they keep warm; but how can one be warm alone? ¹²And though one can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

Instead of the two of you fixating on what you can’t change about each other, focus with God the Father, Son, Spirit, on where you do agree and build on that.

When Paul wrote to the church of Corinth in 1 Corinthians, he urged them toward unity. Not because they were arguing over the color of the carpet in the sanctuary, but because of their particularly unique leadership and mentality.

Some were saying they followed the teachings of Paul, others claimed Apollos or Cephas. Paul was reminding them to drop their pride. keep first things first.

1 Corinthians 8:5-13 Amplified Bible

⁵For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords, ⁶yet for us there is but one God, the Father, ^[a]who is the source of all things, and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things [that have been created], and we [believers exist and have life and have been redeemed] through Him.

⁷However, not all [believers] have this knowledge. But some, being accustomed [throughout their lives] to [thinking of] the idol until now [as real and living], still eat food ^[b]as if it were sacrificed to an idol; and because their conscience is weak, it is defiled (guilty, ashamed). ⁸Now food will not commend us to God nor bring us close to Him; we are no worse off if we do not eat, nor are we better if we do eat. ⁹ Only be careful that this liberty of yours [this power to choose] does not somehow become a stumbling block [that is, a temptation to sin] to the weak [in conscience]. ¹⁰For if someone sees you, a person having ^[c]knowledge, ^[d]eating in an idol’s temple, then if he is weak, will he not be encouraged to eat things sacrificed to idols [and violate his own convictions]? ¹¹For through your knowledge (spiritual maturity) this weak man is ruined [that is, he suffers in his spiritual life], the brother for whom Christ died. ¹²And when you sin against the brothers and sisters in this way and wound their weak conscience [by confusing them], you sin against Christ. ¹³Therefore, if [my eating a certain] food causes my brother to stumble (sin), I will not eat [such] meat ever again, so that I will not cause my brother to stumble.

To stay united on what really mattered, to be of one mind and one doctrine.

We can learn the exact same lessons in our marriages. Running with endurance alongside our spouse is a sure way to keep our focus on God and Jesus, off petty differences and toward common goals – unity and community, pray together, ask the Lord to unite you in the areas where it matters most—on His kingdom.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Heavenly Father, forgive the times when I have allowed foolish pride or a careless attitude to cause disunity to fester within my heart towards my brothers and sisters in Christ. May I be of one heart and mind with other believers, knowing that we are all one in Christ Jesus our Lord, in Whose name I pray, AMEN.

Matthew 6:9-13 Amplified Bible

⁹“Pray, then, ^[a]in this way:

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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Romans 12:9-16 The Message

Living in Harmony Is So Necessary

Rejoicing with Others is So Symphony.

Romans 12:9-16 Complete Jewish Bible

1 Corinthians 13 The Message

The Way of Love

Psalm 150 The Message

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Psalm 40 New American Standard Bible 1995

God Sustains His Servant.

For the choir director. A Psalm of David.

Happiness in Being Cared For by God

Psalm 40:11-12 The Message

Happiness is being unselfishly Cared for by Others

John 13:34-35 Amplified Bible

Unlocking all those Secrets of Navigating John 13-34

1. Love God as God Loves Us.

Matthew 22:35-40 The Message

The Most Important Command

2. Pray for Others

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 The Message

Matthew 5:43-48 The Message

3. Extend Grace

Ephesians 2:8-10 The Message

4. Pause before Reacting

Proverbs 3:5-8 New American Standard Bible 1995

5. Remember, You Are Loved

Romans 5:8-11 The Message

Psalm 23 The Message

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Matthew 7:24-29 Amplified Bible

The Two Foundations

Wise and Foolish Defined …

Matthew 7:26-27 The Message

Build a Strong Spiritual Foundation at Home

Isaiah 2:1-5 The Message

Climb God’s Mountain

1. Study God’s Word Together …

2 Timothy 2:14-18 Amplified Bible

An Unashamed Workman

2. Embrace the Power of Prayer Together

Matthew 26:40-41 The Message

James 1:5-8 The Message

James 5:16-18 The Message

3. Never Get Tired of Serving One Another with Love

Galatians 5:13-15 The Message

1 John 4:7-10 The Message

God Is Love

Matthew 10:38-42 The Message

4. No Shame in the Gospel, Live from Faith to Faith

Romans 1:16-17 Amplified Bible

Psalm 119:105-112 The Message

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Acts 17:24-29New American Standard Bible 1995

Psalm 13:1-4 The Message

Matthew 11:28-30 The Message

Genesis 3:6-10 Amplified Bible

What Will It Take For Me To Accept God is that Close?

Acts 17:24-29The Message

Psalm 19 The Message

Psalm 125 New American Standard Bible 1995

The Lord Surrounds His People.

A Song of Ascents.

Hebrews 13:8 Amplified Bible

Psalm 23 The Message

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Revelation 3:20-21 The Message

See? Here I Am! Knocking

Revelation 3:20-22 Complete Jewish Bible

Proverbs 17:17 Complete Jewish Bible

Proverbs 27:17 Complete Jewish Bible

Taking a Selfie, Painting a Self Portrait of You, Jesus

Revelation 3:20-21 Amplified Bible

Genesis 9:11-16 Complete Jewish Bible

John 14:1-7 Complete Jewish Bible

John 10:7-16 Complete Jewish Bible

Psalm 23 Complete Jewish Bible

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Romans 12:1-8 The Message

Place Your Life Before God