Accept the word

“Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.” -James 1:21

God is Great - All the time

A Grateful Parting

Thanksgiving and Prayer

³ I thank my God every time I remember you. ⁴ In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy ⁵ because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, ⁶ being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
⁷ It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me. ⁸ God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
⁹ And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, ¹⁰ so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, ¹¹ filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.   Philippians 1:3-11

This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

- Psalm 118:24 (NRSV)

 

My sons and I spent a week of vacation with my father. However, I soon became sad when I considered there were only a few days left before we would have to leave him to go home. Early one morning, I heard my father singing: “This is the day that the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”

 While I listened to his faithful words of grateful thanksgiving, I was reminded that God does not want our joy to be squelched. On the day we prepared to leave, my father offered a prayer. His words calmed me. “Dear God, thank you for this visit. Help us have grateful hearts for the time we have together.”

Too often we worry about what’s ahead. Or we sometimes hurry through our lives and forget that God creates purpose in the heart of each moment. When we are open to the Holy Spirit’s working in our lives, God can guide us and provide opportunities for us to recognize when we have been blessed. Then, God can reward us with a grateful heart as we learn to trust and obey our Creator.

 

The Author - Nancy Grachek Hodges (Illinois, USA) - from The Upper Room

Thought for the Day -

Prayer - Dear heavenly Father, thank you for moments we share with those we love who live far away. Help us feel your peace when it’s time to leave them, and allow us to live with gratitude. Amen.

Prayer focus - Families vacationing together

WWJRD ?

 

The Believers Pray

²³ On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. ²⁴ When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. ²⁵ You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David:

“‘Why do the nations rage
    and the peoples plot in vain?
²⁶ The kings of the earth rise up
    and the rulers band together
against the Lord
    and against his anointed one.^[a]’^[b]

²⁷ Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. ²⁸ They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.

 ²⁹ Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. ³⁰ Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

³¹ After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.   Acts 4:23-31

The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.  - Proverbs 28:1 (NRSV)
 

A few years ago in the United States, the acronym WWJD referred to a popular phrase — “What Would Jesus Do?” Until recently, I had a great misunderstanding about what those initials stood for. I thought when I was the nice girl who went to church and turned the other way when people offended me that I was being like Jesus. It is true that there are times when we must “turn the other cheek.” (See Matt. 5:39.)




However, as I have come to know Jesus more fully through God’s word, I have found Jesus to be a bold and courageous man who did not back down from confrontation and was not afraid

 of speaking the truth in love (See Eph. 4:15.), even if it offended people. I began to ask myself, “WWJRD — What Would Jesus Really Do?” As I looked to the people who followed Christ, I discovered men and women who were not afraid to stand boldly for Christ and all he taught. As I became more bold and courageous in my Christian walk, I found true freedom.
Too often, Christians in the church think that being a nice person is the way to be like Christ. However, when we see a fuller picture of Jesus through studying scripture, we can learn from him and find courage and boldness to stand for him. The truth of God’s word will set us free to be the people God created us to be and to find true peace and confidence through Christ.

 

The Author - Jodi Wheeler (Arizona, USA) - from The Upper Room

 

Thought for the Day - We can get to know the real Jesus by reading the Bible every day.

Prayer

Dear heavenly Father, help us to know Jesus and what he stood for. Give us the strength and courage to stand boldly for your kingdom. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
 

Prayer focus    For the courage to be bold

Lost and Found

15:1 Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming near to listen to him.
15:2 And the Pharisees and the scribes were grumbling and saying, "This fellow welcomes sinners and eats with them."
15:3 So he told them this parable:




15:4
"Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it?
15:5 When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices.
15:6 And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.'
1
5:7 Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.


15:8 "Or what woman having ten silver coins, if she loses one of them, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it?
15:9 When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin that I had lost.'
15:10 Just so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." 15:11 Then Jesus said, "There was a man who had two sons.
15:12 The younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.' So he divided his property between them.
15:13 A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living.
15:14 When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need.
15:15 So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs.
15:16 He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything.
15:17 But when he came to himself he said, 'How many of my father's hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger!
15:18 I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you;
15:19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands."'
15:20 So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him.
15:21 Then the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'
15:22 But the father said to his slaves, 'Quickly, bring out a robe--the best one--and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.
15:23 And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate;
15:24 for this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!' And they began to celebrate.
15:25 "Now his elder son was in the field; and when he came and approached the house, he heard music and dancing.
15:26 He called one of the slaves and asked what was going on.
15:27 He replied, 'Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fatted calf, because he has got him back safe and sound.'
15:28 Then he became angry and refused to go in. His father came out and began to plead with him.
15:29 But he answered his father, 'Listen! For all these years I have been working like a slave for you, and I have never disobeyed your command; yet you have never given me even a young goat so that I might celebrate with my friends.
15:30 But when this son of yours came back, who has devoured your property with prostitutes, you killed the fatted calf for him!'

15:31 Then the father said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.
15:32 But we had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.'"

 Luke 15:1-32

 

 

 

 

We have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.

- Romans 6:4 (NRSV)

 

When word came that a famous boxing champion from my country had renewed his faith in Jesus, the news excitedly circulated in the social media. Many Christians praised God and speculated how this world-renowned athlete could be used to further God’s kingdom. A faith that was lost had been found. In Luke 15 Jesus told three parables about losses: a lost sheep, a lost coin, and a lost son. In all three stories there was great rejoicing and a celebration when the lost item or person was found. The father in the story of the prodigal son remarked to his older son,

 

“We had to celebrate and rejoice, because this brother of yours was dead and has come to life; he was lost and has been found.” Apart from Christ, we all are spiritually dead in our sins. In baptism we are buried with Christ and raised to new life. This is what the angels celebrate in Luke 15:10 — new life.

 

The Author - Marc Villa-Real (Rizal, Philippines) - from The Upper Room

Thought for the Day - We are never lost when we have faith in Christ.

Prayer

Dear Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for our sins, for forgiving us, and for bringing us new life. Amen.

Prayer focus - Those rededicating their lives to Christ

The Bridge

 

6:4 Therefore we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
6:5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.
6:6 We know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be enslaved to sin.
6:7 For whoever has died is freed from sin.
6:8 But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
6:9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.
6:10 The death he died, he died to sin, once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.
6:11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.  Romans 6:4-11

 

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. - 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NIV)
 

I watch the swift, smooth, swollen Mississippi River as it glides by. Just below the surface, deep, roiling currents tug and push. As I gaze across the river, I contemplate what would be required to ford such a monstrous body of water on my own. With no tools at hand, with no instructions, without a bridge — how could I presume to make it across this huge, murky divide? By my own efforts, it would simply be impossible. While I watch the river, I think about how swiftly my life is coursing by. Underneath the illusion of a smooth surface, emotional currents of ego and pride tug at me. Just as I cannot fathom swimming alone across the river, I cannot grasp any means by which I can reach heaven on my own.

 

 How can I ever stand before God without tools, without instructions, without a bridge? Through my own efforts, I cannot. No one can. Thankfully, God provided the way and built a bridge to heaven and everlasting life through his son, Jesus Christ. This bridge was made possible by way of a great sacrifice and glorious resurrection. Jesus is the bridge that crosses the great divide between us and eternity. We must simply believe to receive salvation.

 

The Author -Mary Hughes (Missouri, USA) - from The Upper Room

Thought for the Day -Christ’s resurrection provides us a bridge to salvation.

Prayer

Dear God, thank you for offering a way to spend eternity with you. Teach us to love and serve you each day of our lives. Amen.

Prayer focus  Those drowning in everyday living activities.

Our Shield

“As for God, his way is perfect: The LORD’s word is flawless; he shields all who take refuge in him.” -Psalm 18:30