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Have you prayed about it?

Hear my prayer, O LORD; listen to my cry for mercy. In the day of my trouble I will call to you, for you will answer me.
Psalm 86:6-7 (NIV)

Sometimes there are no immediate answers for the troubling events in life. We have prayed and cried and tried and gone sleepless and mourned and shouted. Still there are no answers. The days roll by in an agonizing parade of pain. Still there are no answers we can identify. What do we do? We can go to the Psalms. We allow let them raise up our heart’s cry. We are honest with the God of the entire universe and yet we can still anticipate mercy from him. We are convinced that in our troubles, he will not only hear us, but he will also care about what is happening in our lives.

Almighty God,
the only true Healer
of disease and Mender
of broken hearts,
please hear the cry today
of those I love who are
in such desperate situations.
May your will be done
in every one of their lives
with tenderness, grace,
and a sense of your presence.
And Lord, please be near me,
and help me see your
answer to my prayers.
Forever yours in the name of Jesus.
Amen.

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Forgiveness!

“But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day,” says the LORD. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.  And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the LORD.’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already,” says the LORD. “And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.” – Jeremiah 31:33-34 NLT

Jeremiah is God’s voice, speaking about the promise of the LORD’s new covenant that he will make with his people. Of course, knowledge of God’s “instructions” started with the prophets and others who spoke for God in Biblical times and starts with the Bible and people who speak for God now. However, knowledge is not nearly enough. We need to be empowered and transformed by the Holy Spirit of the living God who will place God’s instructions on our hearts and make them a part of us. As important as the scriptures are, the Spirit who inspired them is also the one who is essential for us to understand and live the intent of scripture. The Holy Spirit will inform, transform, and conform God’s people to be like Jesus (2 Corinthians 3:17-18). This promise of a new covenant also runs throughout the New Testament, but the work of the Spirit in this covenant is especially emphasized in John chapters 14-16 as Jesus promises the Comforter or Counselor or Advocate or Helper or Friend (depending on your translation). It is also emphasized powerfully in 2 Corinthians 3, which is probably a spiritual reflection about the fulfillment of God’s promise recorded by Jeremiah. Read 2 Corinthians 3 after reading today’s verses from Jeremiah. Rejoice that we have this promised time of grace and divine presence available to us in the Holy Spirit!

Almighty God, I rejoice in the sacrifice of Jesus and the work of your Holy Spirit to bring your promise of a new covenant alive in our day. I ask that the Spirit’s power, his force, his grace, be at work in me. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

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This World Needs Jesus.

My righteousness draws near speedily,
my salvation is on the way,
and my arm will bring justice to the nations.
The islands will look to me
and wait in hope for my arm.
Isaiah 51:5 (NIV)

God’s promises stand through the ages. He has fulfilled them in many different ways. He has punished evil nations, he has redeemed Israel according to his promises, and he has sent Jesus as Savior and redeemer. But most importantly of all, Jesus stands at the edge of history waiting to return and bring full redemption for God’s people and salvation for those everywhere who long for his return.

Sovereign Lord,
I see so much injustice in the world
and I long for truth, righteousness,
and justice to triumph.
While I long for the return of Jesus,
my heart also breaks for the many
that do not know Jesus
and for those who are
in rebellion to your will.
I don’t know what to ask
other than that your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven
and may the triumph
of your will begin with me.
In Jesus’ name I pray.
Amen.

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Taking a bite out of sin…

A new command I give you: Love one another as I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples.
John 13:34-35

How do you recognize Jesus’ followers? How do you find Christians? Jesus said they love each other just as he loved the disciples. In the immediate context this means he is willing to give sacrificially and extravagantly by dying for them at the cross, and he is also willing to love selflessly and practically by washing their feet. His ministry reveals he will do almost anything in between extravagant and practical. Imagine if we all read the Gospels and committed to love each other in the same way Jesus showed his love to his disciples!

And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.
Romans 5:5

It’s hard to believe that there is an endless supply of anything! But the promise of this passage, even in its context of suffering and difficulty, is that we have an endless supply of love as the Holy Spirit fills our hearts with love. This love is as big as God and is supplied by the Holy Spirit’s living inside us as followers of Jesus. We can receive and be blessed by God’s love, and we have the power to love others out of God’s deep reservoir of love.

Father of Compassion and God of all grace, I thank you for teaching me to love
through the example of Jesus. Thank you for your powerful grace that is given to me through your Spirit and enables me both to receive your love and to love others as Jesus did. May my life reflect this powerful gift in both good times and hard times. May my words and actions reflect his love toward your people today, tomorrow, and until you bring us all home to you. In the name of Christ, my Great Example, I pray. Amen.

 

A Heavier Judgment on Teachers and Leaders!

Light to See
“The church exists by mission, as fire exists by burning.” — Emil Brunner

Read About It
“You were born a total sinner!” [the Jewish leaders answered to the man who had been healed of his blindness and who said Jesus had to be from God]. “Are you trying to teach us?” And they threw him out of the synagogue.
— John 9:34 NLT

Look It Up
James 3:1
Matthew 23:27-36
John 7:16-17

Think About It
God despises the abuse of power. He repeatedly warned against it in Old Testament times, [1] and he warns those who teach and lead in his Kingdom that they had better do so honorably or they will stand under harsher judgment. When these religious authorities cannot discount the truth of the healed man’s statements and they cannot discredit Jesus, they resort to shaming the man and expelling him from their society. In other words, they want to get rid of the witness and the evidence. Such behavior is damnable. If we are leaders – and we are all influencing someone, let’s be warned of how awful such behavior is and how God abhors it. [1] For example, Isaiah 10:1-2.

Pray About It
Almighty and holy Father, please give me the courage to always look for truth. Help me never be so self-deceived that I resort to such deplorable actions as these religious leaders in today’s verse. Give me a teachable heart that yearns for your truth. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

What Will You Choose?

“Jesus, like any good fisherman, first catches the fish; then He cleans them.” — Mark Potter

Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful nature will harvest decay and death from that sinful nature. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit. — Galatians 6:8 NLT

We have to make a choice. There are only two possibilities: Either we will choose to live out of our sinful nature, or we will choose to live to honor and please the Spirit of God within us. To do the first, we need no real commitment — we will live out of our sinful nature by default; no surrender to a higher calling is required. To do the latter (to live to honor and please the Spirit), we must intentionally yield to the Spirit’s influence in our lives. In the dance of life, we want to yield daily to the leading of the Holy Spirit! The results of this daily choice are starkly opposite: a self-centered, sinful life leading to decay and death on the one hand versus abundant life leading to everlasting life!

Father in Heaven, I choose to live to please your Spirit. I believe the Holy Spirit is at work in me to bring life in me. I want that life, your everlasting life. So please influence me in every aspect of my life through the work of your Holy Spirit within me. I ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Admitting the Truth

Light to See
“It’s a good thing to have all the props pulled out from under us occasionally.
It gives us some sense of what is rock under our feet, and what is sand.”
— Madeleine L’Engle

Read About It
Then [the Jewish leaders cursed the man who had been healed of his blindness] and said, “You are [Jesus’] disciple, but we are disciples of Moses! We know God spoke to Moses, but we don’t even know where this man comes from.”
— John 9:28-29 NLT

Look It Up
John 1:16-18
John 5:39-46
John 17:25

Think About It
Sadly, about the only truthful thing the Jewish authorities said about Jesus in the whole episode was that they knew nothing about him. But, if they really knew Moses, as they said they did, they would have known Jesus. If they really knew God, they would have known Jesus. So many people reject Jesus because they don’t really know him – church experiences, church people, or chosen lifestyles get in their way of knowing Jesus. As we seek to reach the lost, we must remember that the core, the essence, the truth we share is centered in Christ Jesus. Rather than getting lost in a lot of church jargon, let’s share Jesus with them. Let’s help them see the Savior.

Pray About It
Then Dear heavenly Father, thank you for sending Jesus. I know that he is your greatest message. Forgive me for the times that I have gotten lost in religious arguments and forgotten to share Jesus with those who need him. Bless my efforts to share Jesus with those who do not recognize him as their Lord and Savior. It’s in Jesus’ precious and mighty name that I pray. Amen.

What is Your Opinion?

Light to See
 “Satan, the Hinderer, may build a barrier about us,
but he can never roof us in, so that we cannot look up.”
— J. Hudson Taylor 

Read About It
Then [the people questioning the man who had been healed of his blindness took him] to the Pharisees, because it was on the Sabbath that Jesus had made the mud and healed him. The Pharisees asked the man all about it.
So he told them, “He put the mud over my eyes, and when I washed it away, I could see!” Some of the Pharisees said, “This man Jesus is not from God, for he is working on the Sabbath.” Others said, “But how could
an ordinary sinner do such miraculous signs?” So there was a
deep division of opinion among them. Then the Pharisees
again questioned the man who had been blind and demanded,
“What’s your opinion about this man who healed you?”
The man replied, “I think he must be a prophet.”
— John 9:13-17 NLT

Look It Up
1 John 5:8-10
Matthew 23:13-15
Matthew 12:9-14

Think About It
While many parents are conscientious and dedicated to raising their children in the Lord, unfortunately, there are also some parents who view their children only as mere biological products. Their tie to their children is simply genetic, neither spiritual nor emotional. That’s the kind of parents the healed man had. They were more concerned about their place in the synagogue than with their son’s healing and spiritual development. They left their son on his own to defend himself and to fend for himself. As God’s people, we must remember his heart for the orphaned and abandoned, and we must defend and care for them as God’s people. We must care for our own families as well as those people who are abandoned and alone.
(1 Timothy 5:8; Matthew 25:34-36, 40)

Pray About It
Dear Heavenly Father, please forgive me for the times that I have wrongly used your word to hurt other people. Empty me of my theological and doctrinal arrogance that could blind me to your work in the people around me. May I always love and respect people as you do. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

Bending Reality

Light to See
“The greatest battles are fought in the mind.”
— Casey Treat

Read About It
Then [the people questioning the man who had been healed of his blindness took him] to the Pharisees, because it was on the Sabbath that Jesus had made the mud and healed him. The Pharisees asked the man all about it.
So he told them, “He put the mud over my eyes, and when I washed it away,
I could see!”  Some of the Pharisees said, “This man Jesus is not from God, for he is working on the Sabbath.” Others said, “But how could an ordinary sinner do such miraculous signs?” So there was a deep division of opinion among them. Then the Pharisees again questioned the man who had
been blind and demanded, “What’s your opinion about this man
who healed you?” The man replied, “I think he must be a prophet.”
— John 9:13-17 NLT

Look It Up
1 John 5:8-10
Matthew 23:13-15
Matthew 12:9-14

Think About It
Isn’t it interesting how we can “bend” reality to make it fit faulty theology? This man was healed. He was healed on the Sabbath. But, in the theological wrangling of the Pharisees, that “work” of healing was a violation of the Sabbath. So either Jesus was bad, or the man hadn’t really been healed. Some disagreements on obscure or much-debated minor theological points are inconsequential. However, when we use disagreements to wall out and condemn people, or when we use them to make God’s good work appear
to be something bad, then those theological positions become evil. Theological principles can be misused, but that misuse doesn’t mean
we water down the plain teaching of Scripture on morality and all
other aspects of our lives as disciples or on the nature of Jesus;
it does mean that we should be a lot more humble and generous
when it comes to the value of people.

Pray About It
Dear Heavenly Father, please forgive me for the times that I have wrongly used your word to hurt other people. Empty me of my theological and doctrinal arrogance that could blind me to your work in the people around me. May I always love and respect people as you do. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

 

Beyond Appearances

Light to See
“Christ is with those of humble mind,
not with those who exalt themselves over his flock.”
— Clement of Rome

Read About It
His neighbors and others who knew [the man whose sight was restored by Jesus] as a blind beggar asked each other, “Isn’t this the man who used to sit and beg?” Some said he was, and others said, “No, he just looks like him!”
But the beggar kept saying, “Yes, I am the same one!”
They asked, “Who healed you? What happened?” He told them,
“The man they call Jesus made mud and spread it over my eyes and told me, ‘Go to the pool of Siloam and wash yourself.’ So I went and washed, and now I can see!” “Where is he now?” they asked. “I don’t know,” he replied.
— John 9:8-12 NLT

Look It Up
1 John 3:16-17
James 2:12-13
Luke 10:2 1 John 3:16-17

Think About It
How often have you judged someone simply based on his or her appearance? The folks who were supposed to be the neighbors of this man Jesus healed knew him only as a label. That label was based on his physical blindness and his need to beg. They never spent enough time to move beyond the label to the man. They didn’t know him, only his label. They didn’t bother to befriend him because he was a blind beggar. Before we become self-righteous, let’s ask how different we are! We all need to ask ourselves: Do I make unfair assumptions about people based on external appearances? Do I use labels to push people away so that I do not have to deal with them in everyday life? As Jesus’ disciples, we need to overcome any of these tendencies we might have and show Jesus’ love to everyone.

Pray About It
Father, please forgive me. I confess that many times I do not view people as you do. I find myself dismissing them based on external appearances, so I don’t have to involve myself in their lives. Father, I don’t want to use my time with folks who won’t change. However, dear Father, I also don’t want to neglect to bless anyone that you send my way, including anyone that has not yet experienced your grace. Please give me the wisdom to know how to respond appropriately so that I do what you would have me do in the life of anyone I meet. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

Light to See

“Somebody is waiting on the other side of your obedience.”
— Tim Storey

Read About It
[Talking about the man who had been born blind, Jesus continued,]
“But while I am here in the world, I am the light of the world.”
Then he spit on the ground, made mud with the saliva, and spread the mud over the blind man’s eyes. He told him, “Go wash yourself in the pool of Siloam”
(Siloam means “sent”). So the man went and washed and came back seeing!
— John 9:5-7 NLT

Look It Up
John 13:12-17, Matthew 7:21-23, James 1:21-25

Think About It
Jesus longs to bring us his blessings. A blessing that we desperately need is the sight to see things as they are and to be able to discern Jesus’ will and follow it. So often we view obedience as a burden rather than a blessing. However, Jesus wants to bless us through our obedience just as he blessed the blind man. Obeying Jesus, doing what he sends us to do, brings a much greater blessing than any perceived burden it might entail.

Pray About It
O gracious and generous Father, please make my heart pliable and open to your truth. Help me not only understand your will but also obey it with joy and expectation. Forgive me for being reluctant to obey when I do not fully understand why you want me to do something. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Urgency

“The reason that most major goals are not achieved
is that we spend our time doing second things first.”
— Robert J. McKain

Read About It
[To his disciples, Jesus continued,] “We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us. The night is coming, and then no one can work.”
— John 9:4 NLT

Look It Up
John 13:21-30, James 4:13-16, John 11:9-10

Think About It
Jesus recognizes that his time on earth is short. He feels a sense of urgency to get the work of God completed. He also shares the importance of getting that work done with his disciples. Many of us have all sorts of distractions crowding into our lives. Some of these distractions seem important to us. Others, we recognize as insignificant intrusions. The real question, however, is this: How well are we doing with placing God’s priorities first in our lives regardless of the apparent importance of possible distractions?
Do we feel a sense of urgency to get God’s work done?
Is God’s work our focus or just another item to check off our
“to do” list crowding into our busy lives?

Pray About It
Holy God, help me better know how to order my priorities.
Please help me be more confident of the things you want most for me to do. Father, I gladly submit my will to be led by your Spirit and commit to live my life for your glory.  Please guide my way. In Jesus’ name, I ask it. Amen.

Unrelenting Mission – The Spirit Fell on Them!

“To the world, you may be one person, but to one person, you may be the world.”
— Author Unknown

Read About It

“As I began to speak [to Cornelius, along with his family and friends],” Peter continued, “the Holy Spirit fell on them, just as he fell on us at the beginning. Then I thought of the Lord’s words when he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.'” 
Acts 11:15-16 NLT

Look It Up

1 Peter 3:15 and Matthew 3:11

Think About It

Jesus promised his disciples that the power of the Holy Spirit would help them become witnesses to people all over the world (Acts 1:8). Luke emphasized that Jesus kept this promise, and made clear his acceptance of new groups of people, through the coming of the Holy Spirit. At this God-designed intersection of grace and God-seeking Gentiles, once again Jesus poured out the Holy Spirit, this time on Cornelius, his relatives, and friends – all of whom were Gentiles. The Good News message included Jewish people from all over the world on Pentecost (Acts 2:5-12). Now, by showing his favor through sending the
Holy Spirit, Jesus was leading his disciples to include non-Jews.
One of the great functions of the Holy Spirit is to open new pathways
for Jesus’ disciples to reach people never reached.
But, are we praying and expecting the Spirit to do that today?

Pray About It

Lord Jesus, I ask that you pour out the Holy Spirit with power and guide us to the groups of people whose hearts are yearning to know the hope that is in Jesus. I pledge to you, O Lord, that I am waiting in expectation to do what I can to reach them with your love and grace. But, Lord, I believe that we need your help to awaken us to our opportunities and your promise to use us as witnesses. Amen.