Before the Foundation of the World

God's Creative Word
The Word Was in the Beginning
Wisdom's Part in Creation

Ephesians 1:3-10

The Message

The God of Glory

 ^3-6How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He's the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him. Long before he laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son. ^7-10Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we're a free people—free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free! He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth.

For Reflection 

We are part of God's grand plan for his creation.  We are free to choose -- to know good and evil.  In Christ we know good.  In Christ we reject evil.  God provides the path to righteousness and the wisdom to choose Him.

Pray

that you will choose God.  Pray that you will have the wisdom to listen to the wisdom of the scriptures.  Pray that you will embrace God's protection.  Pray that you uplift others to God.

The Gifts of Wisdom

God's Creative Word
The Word Was in the Beginning
Wisdom's Part in Creation

Proverbs 8:12-21

The Message

 ^12-21 "I am Lady Wisdom, and I live next to Sanity;
   Knowledge and Discretion live just down the street.
The Fear-of-God means hating Evil,
   whose ways I hate with a passion—
   pride and arrogance and crooked talk.
Good counsel and common sense are my characteristics;
   I am both Insight and the Virtue to live it out.
With my help, leaders rule,
   and lawmakers legislate fairly;
With my help, governors govern,
   along with all in legitimate authority.
I love those who love me;
   those who look for me find me.
Wealth and Glory accompany me—
   also substantial Honor and a Good Name.
My benefits are worth more than a big salary, even a very big salary;
   the returns on me exceed any imaginable bonus.
You can find me on Righteous Road—that's where I walk—
   at the intersection of Justice Avenue,
Handing out life to those who love me,
   filling their arms with life—armloads of life!

For Reflection 

God is the source of all wisdom.  His wisdom is a blessing for us.  His wisdom was alive at creation.  In a world of easy answers, a world of conflicting voices, a world of seductive reason, a world in demand of evidence based everything, is there room for spiritual based wisdom?  We yearn for wisdom that can only be captured  in one way:  in the company of the scriptures, the fellowship of believers, and the Holy Spirit.  God's wisdom allows us to find the truth of our existence and contribute in righteous ways.

Pray

that you will seek in all ways the wisdom of the Holy Spirit.  Pray that you will listen for God's gentle guidance.  Pray that you will face all people in humility and bath in the truth that is Jesus Christ.

The Call of Wisdom

God's Creative Word
The Word Was in the Beginning
Wisdom's Part in Creation

Proverbs 8:1-11

The Message

Lady Wisdom Calls Out

 ^1-11 Do you hear Lady Wisdom calling? Can you hear Madame Insight raising her voice?
She's taken her stand at First and Main,
   at the busiest intersection.
Right in the city square
   where the traffic is thickest, she shouts,
"You—I'm talking to all of you,
   everyone out here on the streets!
Listen, you idiots—learn good sense!
   You blockheads—shape up!
Don't miss a word of this—I'm telling you how to live well,
   I'm telling you how to live at your best.
My mouth chews and savors and relishes truth—
   I can't stand the taste of evil!
You'll only hear true and right words from my mouth;
   not one syllable will be twisted or skewed.
You'll recognize this as true—you with open minds;
   truth-ready minds will see it at once.
Prefer my life-disciplines over chasing after money,
   and God-knowledge over a lucrative career.
For Wisdom is better than all the trappings of wealth;
   nothing you could wish for holds a candle to her.

For Reflection
Words.  Sometimes I wonder about our ability to use language.  We are not hardwired to each other or to God.   Really, all we can do is create metaphors for our realities.  The word seems at times to be the essence of existence.
Plato understood when he said that the reality exists in archetypes.  We only catch a glimpse and our words are only a weak substitute for the real. In Plato's day, reality was unknowable.  Even by combining opinions and visions of what people thought was real, the truth of reality was impossible to discern.

John 1:1

New King James Version

The Eternal Word

1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

• After  the Christ event, truth became knowable.  What difference would it make in the way you interact with others if you believed the words you use were holy and a representation of God?

Pray

that you will treat your words as windows into God's will;  listen to the words of the world with God's ear. listen to the words of scripture; listen to God's whispered wisdom.

Supporting Your Faith

FAITH IN ACTION:
LIVING AS FAITHFUL PEOPLE
God's Redemption
Fruits of Redemption

2 Peter 1:3-8

The Message

Don't Put It Off

 ^3-4Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the One who invited us to God. The best invitation we ever received! We were also given absolutely terrific promises to pass on to you—your tickets to participation in the life of God after you turned your back on a world corrupted by lust. ^5-9So don't lose a minute in building on what you've been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others. With these qualities active and growing in your lives, no grass will grow under your feet, no day will pass without its reward as you mature in your experience of our Master Jesus. Without these qualities you can't see what's right before you, oblivious that your old sinful life has been wiped off the books.

For Reflection
It's all common sense.  But, a very specialized common sense.  It is a common sense given us by the transformational power of the Holy Spirit.  All we need is complete trust in the Lord.  It is a common sense that needs continuous development in the fellowship of believers.  Grow into the lives we were promised.

Pray
that you will continue to grow into grace.  Pray that you will continue to seek communion with the Holy Spirit.  Pray that you will mature with Christ at your side.

Faith Working through Love

FAITH IN ACTION:
LIVING AS FAITHFUL PEOPLE
God's Redemption
Fruits of Redemption

Galatians 5:2-6

The Message

 ^2-3I am emphatic about this. The moment any one of you submits to circumcision or any other rule-keeping system, at that same moment Christ's hard-won gift of freedom is squandered. I repeat my warning: The person who accepts the ways of circumcision trades all the advantages of the free life in Christ for the obligations of the slave life of the law. ^4-6I suspect you would never intend this, but this is what happens. When you attempt to live by your own religious plans and projects, you are cut off from Christ, you fall out of grace. Meanwhile we expectantly wait for a satisfying relationship with the Spirit. For in Christ, neither our most conscientious religion nor disregard of religion amounts to anything. What matters is something far more interior: faith expressed in love.

For Reflection

"Faith expressed in love."

My wife and I decided to have a sandwich for dinner at a local bar.    We were seated next to the pool tables.  The bar was a local pub where people went after work to have a beer and play a little pool.  Some women and men even brought their own pool cues.

Both of us were dressed for work when business casual was not always the code.  We both ordered water and hamburgers.  One of the men playing pool missed a shot and expressed his disappointment vulgarly.  He turned toward my wife and  I and apologized.  It was as though I had "PREACHER" tattooed on my forehead.

I have noticed others responding to me in an almost instant rapport.  Could it be that God's grace is visible on those of faith?  It doesn't always happen that way. Could it be that God needed to let his grace flow.  I bet you have experienced this same sort of thing.

Pray
that you will not limit your response to life to following the rules.  Confess your deviations from the rules and from expressions of love.  Know that you are forgiven and God will use you life in the realization of His kingdom.  Hallelujah!

Chosen to be Obedient

FAITH IN ACTION:
LIVING AS FAITHFUL PEOPLE
God's Redemption
Fruits of Redemption

1 Peter 1:1-5

The Message

 ^1-2I, Peter, am an apostle on assignment by Jesus, the Messiah, writing to exiles scattered to the four winds. Not one is missing, not one forgotten. God the Father has his eye on each of you, and has determined by the work of the Spirit to keep you obedient through the sacrifice of Jesus. May everything good from God be yours!

A New Life

 ^3-5What a God we have! And how fortunate we are to have him, this Father of our Master Jesus! Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we've been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven—and the future starts now! God is keeping careful watch over us and the future. The Day is coming when you'll have it all—life healed and whole,

For Reflection
I have never been one to respond blindly to authority.  So, when I first encountered the concept of obedience, it disturbed me.  But, the fact is that in order to be freed to become what God wished me to become I had to accept the paradox that to become free I had to become loyally obedient to God.  Freedom results from obedience to God's law and his promise.  It is a freedom worth the sacrifice of the only thing I possess -- my independent self.  Giving up one's reliance on one's self for reliance on God's promise is a sacrifice worth making and reasserting each day.

Pray
that you will continue to reject the temptation to return to the self you had been.  Pray for the courage to sacrifice your self each day so that you can live the life promised.

Renewed by the Holy Spirit

FAITH IN ACTION:
LIVING AS FAITHFUL PEOPLE
God's Redemption
Fruits of Redemption

Titus 3:1-7

The Message

He Put Our Lives Together

 ^1-2Remind the people to respect the government and be law-abiding, always ready to lend a helping hand. No insults, no fights. God's people should be bighearted and courteous. ^3-8It wasn't so long ago that we ourselves were stupid and stubborn, dupes of sin, ordered every which way by our glands, going around with a chip on our shoulder, hated and hating back. But when God, our kind and loving Savior God, stepped in, he saved us from all that. It was all his doing; we had nothing to do with it. He gave us a good bath, and we came out of it new people, washed inside and out by the Holy Spirit. Our Savior Jesus poured out new life so generously. God's gift has restored our relationship with him and given us back our lives. And there's more life to come—an eternity of life! You can count on this.

For Reflection
You and I are living in the hollow of God's hand. Of what do we have to fear?  To whom do we have to justify ourselves?  We are justified by God's faith in us and our faith in God.  We are free to be all that we were meant to be -- patient, kind, generous, faithful, and gentle in response to God's promise.  Listen to the Holy Spirit.  God will guide and protect you.  This is the life we are intended to live.

Pray
praising God for his grace.  Pray prayers of thanksgiving for the power of his transforming love.  Pray that we will not become trapped in the drama of the moment and forget that we are children of God.

The Works of the Flesh

FAITH IN ACTION:
LIVING AS FAITHFUL PEOPLE
God's Redemption
Fruits of Redemption

Galatians 5:16-21

The Message

 ^16-18My counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God's Spirit. Then you won't feed the compulsions of selfishness. For there is a root of sinful self-interest in us that is at odds with a free spirit, just as the free spirit is incompatible with selfishness. These two ways of life are antithetical, so that you cannot live at times one way and at times another way according to how you feel on any given day. Why don't you choose to be led by the Spirit and so escape the erratic compulsions of a law-dominated existence?
 ^19-21It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community. I could go on.
   This isn't the first time I have warned you, you know. If you use your freedom this way, you will not inherit God's kingdom.

For Reflection
Paul calls for a life, obedient to His will for us and the role we fill in the realization of the Kingdom of God.  It is not just us working toward peace and justice but it is also us, joyfully engrossed in the love and protection that is offered in God's promise.  To what extent do you practice your faith?

Pray
that you won't feed the compulsions of selfishness.  Pray that you will give yourself over completely and without reservation to the Holy Spirit.

Until Christ is Formed in You

FAITH IN ACTION:
LIVING AS FAITHFUL PEOPLE
God's Redemption
Heirs to the Promise

Galatians 4:12-20

The Message

 ^12-13My dear friends, what I would really like you to do is try to put yourselves in my shoes to the same extent that I, when I was with you, put myself in yours. You were very sensitive and kind then. You did not come down on me personally. You were well aware that the reason I ended up preaching to you was that I was physically broken, and so, prevented from continuing my journey, I was forced to stop with you. That is how I came to preach to you.
 ^14-16And don't you remember that even though taking in a sick guest was most troublesome for you, you chose to treat me as well as you would have treated an angel of God—as well as you would have treated Jesus himself if he had visited you? What has happened to the satisfaction you felt at that time? There were some of you then who, if possible, would have given your very eyes to me—that is how deeply you cared! And now have I suddenly become your enemy simply by telling you the truth? I can't believe it.
 ¹⁷Those heretical teachers go to great lengths to flatter you, but their motives are rotten. They want to shut you out of the free world of God's grace so that you will always depend on them for approval and direction, making them feel important.
 ^18-20It is a good thing to be ardent in doing good, but not just when I am in your presence. Can't you continue the same concern for both my person and my message when I am away from you that you had when I was with you? Do you know how I feel right now, and will feel until Christ's life becomes visible in your lives? Like a mother in the pain of childbirth. Oh, I keep wishing that I was with you. Then I wouldn't be reduced to this blunt, letter-writing language out of sheer frustration.

For Reflection
When times are difficult, we are renewed by the memories of our encounters with the Holy Spirit.  Rely on God.  Let no one convince you that the right path to salvation is dependent on the approval of human egos.  How do you deal with those who preach dependence on them?

Pray
thanking God for the sacrifice of the Cross.  Pray that you will see all as equals in the Kingdom of God. Pray that we will move beyond the divisions that separate us.  Pray that your will celebrate the differences among us as gifts of the one body of true believers.

Now That Faith Has Come

FAITH IN ACTION:
LIVING AS FAITHFUL PEOPLE
God's Redemption
Heirs to the Promise

Galatians 3:19-29

The Message

 ^18-20What is the point, then, of the law, the attached addendum? It was a thoughtful addition to the original covenant promises made to Abraham. The purpose of the law was to keep a sinful people in the way of salvation until Christ (the descendant) came, inheriting the promises and distributing them to us. Obviously this law was not a firsthand encounter with God. It was arranged by angelic messengers through a middleman, Moses. But if there is a middleman as there was at Sinai, then the people are not dealing directly with God, are they? But the original promise is the direct blessing of God, received by faith.
 ^21-22If such is the case, is the law, then, an anti-promise, a negation of God's will for us? Not at all. Its purpose was to make obvious to everyone that we are, in ourselves, out of right relationship with God, and therefore to show us the futility of devising some religious system for getting by our own efforts what we can only get by waiting in faith for God to complete his promise. For if any kind of rule-keeping had power to create life in us, we would certainly have gotten it by this time.
 ^23-24Until the time when we were mature enough to respond freely in faith to the living God, we were carefully surrounded and protected by the Mosaic law. The law was like those Greek tutors, with which you are familiar, who escort children to school and protect them from danger or distraction, making sure the children will really get to the place they set out for.
 ^25-27But now you have arrived at your destination: By faith in Christ you are in direct relationship with God. Your baptism in Christ was not just washing you up for a fresh start. It also involved dressing you in an adult faith wardrobe—Christ's life, the fulfillment of God's original promise.

In Christ's Family

 ^28-29In Christ's family there can be no division into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female. Among us you are all equal. That is, we are all in a common relationship with Jesus Christ. Also, since you are Christ's family, then you are Abraham's famous "descendant," heirs according to the covenant promises.

For Reflection
We are saved from the tyranny of the law.  We are free to let our faith guide our obedience to God.  The more mature we become as we grow in our faith, the more important the personal relationship we enjoy with God. We adhere to the law of Moses because we have faith in God.  We are free to act in the grace of God when following the letter of the law is difficult.  We temper the law with faith and give judgment over to God. Now that faith has come, belonging to God is like belonging to a loving, forgiving family.  All of us prodigals can return and continue living righteous lives in the hollow of God's hand.

Pray
That you embrace the equality of all in the eyes of God.  Pray that you will lead a righteous life free from the need to feel unique in your faith.  Pray that you see all people as children of God.  Pray for the humility that marks you as a follower of Christ.

The Gift of Righteousness

FAITH IN ACTION:
LIVING AS FAITHFUL PEOPLE
God's Redemption
Heirs to the Promise

Romans 4:1-8

The Message

Trusting God

 ^1-3 So how do we fit what we know of Abraham, our first father in the faith, into this new way of looking at things? If Abraham, by what he did for God, got God to approve him, he could certainly have taken credit for it. But the story we're given is a God-story, not an Abraham-story. What we read in Scripture is, "Abraham entered into what God was doing for him, and that was the turning point. He trusted God to set him right instead of trying to be right on his own." ^4-5If you're a hard worker and do a good job, you deserve your pay; we don't call your wages a gift. But if you see that the job is too big for you, that it's something only God can do, and you trust him to do it—you could never do it for yourself no matter how hard and long you worked—well, that trusting-him-to-do-it is what gets you set right with God, by God. Sheer gift.
 ^6-9David confirms this way of looking at it, saying that the one who trusts God to do the putting-everything-right without insisting on having a say in it is one fortunate man:

   Fortunate those whose crimes are carted off,
      whose sins are wiped clean from the slate.
   Fortunate the person against
      whom the Lord does not keep score.
Do you think for a minute that this blessing is only pronounced over those of us who keep our religious ways and are circumcised? Or do you think it possible that the blessing could be given to those who never even heard of our ways, who were never brought up in the disciplines of God? We all agree, don't we, that it was by embracing what God did for him that Abraham was declared fit before God?

For Reflection
What a Gift!  The end to guilt.  The promise of infinite acceptance and forgiveness.  All of this even for all those who were not brought up in the Faith.  Embracing God's promise and uncompromising trust in Him is all it takes.  To what extent do you trust in God?

Pray
Thank God for not keeping score.   Thank God for the freedom to err.  Thank God for the invitation to participate in His kingdom.  Thank God for His steadfast faith in you.

The Promise Is for You

FAITH IN ACTION:
LIVING AS FAITHFUL PEOPLE
God's Redemption
Heirs to the Promise

Acts 2:32-39

The Message

 ^29-36"Dear friends, let me be completely frank with you. Our ancestor David is dead and buried—his tomb is in plain sight today. But being also a prophet and knowing that God had solemnly sworn that a descendant of his would rule his kingdom, seeing far ahead, he talked of the resurrection of the Messiah—'no trip to Hades, no stench of death.' This Jesus, God raised up. And every one of us here is a witness to it. Then, raised to the heights at the right hand of God and receiving the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father, he poured out the Spirit he had just received. That is what you see and hear. For David himself did not ascend to heaven, but he did say,

   God said to my Master, "Sit at my right hand
   Until I make your enemies a stool for resting your feet."
"All Israel, then, know this: There's no longer room for doubt—God made him Master and Messiah, this Jesus whom you killed on a cross."
 ³⁷Cut to the quick, those who were there listening asked Peter and the other apostles, "Brothers! Brothers! So now what do we do?"
 ^38-39Peter said, "Change your life. Turn to God and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, so your sins are forgiven. Receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is targeted to you and your children, but also to all who are far away—whomever, in fact, our Master God invites."

For Reflection
The gift of the Holy Spirit is yours to accept.  Embrace the promise of salvation. Remember the meaning of baptism.  Strengthen you faith through the communion of believers.

Pray
thanking God for His invitation to His powerful, comforting presence in your life. Pray for all people who have not accepted God's grace.  Pray that you will be a witness to God's promise to the world.

Ancestor to a Multitude of Nations

FAITH IN ACTION:
LIVING AS FAITHFUL PEOPLE
God's Redemption
Heirs to the Promise

Genesis 17:1-8

The Message

 ^1-2 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, God showed up and said to him, "I am The Strong God, live entirely before me, live to the hilt! I'll make a covenant between us and I'll give you a huge family." ^3-8 Overwhelmed, Abram fell flat on his face.
   Then God said to him, "This is my covenant with you: You'll be the father of many nations. Your name will no longer be Abram, but Abraham, meaning that 'I'm making you the father of many nations.' I'll make you a father of fathers—I'll make nations from you, kings will issue from you. I'm establishing my covenant between me and you, a covenant that includes your descendants, a covenant that goes on and on and on, a covenant that commits me to be your God and the God of your descendants. And I'm giving you and your descendants this land where you're now just camping, this whole country of Canaan, to own forever. And I'll be their God."

For Reflection
 Abraham had a transformational moment.  He moved from Abram, the patriarch of a troubled family to Abraham, the father of a great nation of Jews.  Beyond that, the transformation gave us all a singular path to God.  Through Abraham, God extends his promise to all people.  From that moment on, God's faith in human-kind extended His promise to Abraham so that all may be invited to participate in The Kingdom of God.

Our transformational moment begins when we accept the grace of God's promise.  We are transformed by our faith in God and God's faith in us.  While our faith in God may fluctuate, God's faith in us never varies.

Pray
that you will always remember that God's promise is yours to accept.  Pray that, when your faith is challenged, you will return to the scriptures and to confidence in God's promise.

What Do I Still Lack

FAITH IN ACTION:
LIVING AS FAITHFUL PEOPLE
God's Redemption
FREED FROM THE LAW THROUGH CHRIST

Matthew 19:16-26

The Message

 ¹⁶Another day, a man stopped Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?"
 ¹⁷Jesus said, "Why do you question me about what's good? God is the One who is good. If you want to enter the life of God, just do what he tells you."
 ^18-19The man asked, "What in particular?"
   Jesus said, "Don't murder, don't commit adultery, don't steal, don't lie, honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as you do yourself."
 ²⁰The young man said, "I've done all that. What's left?"
 ²¹"If you want to give it all you've got," Jesus replied, "go sell your possessions; give everything to the poor. All your wealth will then be in heaven. Then come follow me."
 ²²That was the last thing the young man expected to hear. And so, crest-fallen, he walked away. He was holding on tight to a lot of things, and he couldn't bear to let go.
 ^23-24As he watched him go, Jesus told his disciples, "Do you have any idea how difficult it is for the rich to enter God's kingdom? Let me tell you, it's easier to gallop a camel through a needle's eye than for the rich to enter God's kingdom."
 ²⁵The disciples were staggered. "Then who has any chance at all?"
 ²⁶Jesus looked hard at them and said, "No chance at all if you think you can pull it off yourself. Every chance in the world if you trust God to do it."

For Reflection
To what do you hold on tight? To what extent does what you value inhibit your commitment to your faith?

Pray
that you will allow God to guide you beyond yourself. 

Faith and Salvation

FAITH IN ACTION:
LIVING AS FAITHFUL PEOPLE
God's Redemption
FREED FROM THE LAW THROUGH CHRIST

Hebrews 10:32-39

The Message

 ^32-39Remember those early days after you first saw the light? Those were the hard times! Kicked around in public, targets of every kind of abuse—some days it was you, other days your friends. If some friends went to prison, you stuck by them. If some enemies broke in and seized your goods, you let them go with a smile, knowing they couldn't touch your real treasure. Nothing they did bothered you, nothing set you back. So don't throw it all away now. You were sure of yourselves then. It's still a sure thing! But you need to stick it out, staying with God's plan so you'll be there for the promised completion.

   It won't be long now, he's on the way;
      he'll show up most any minute.
   But anyone who is right with me thrives on loyal trust;
      if he cuts and runs, I won't be very happy.
But we're not quitters who lose out. Oh, no! We'll stay with it and survive, trusting all the way.

For Reflection
Our faith is always on attack.  It may not be as obvious as this scripture suggests. But, it may be so subtle it escapes our attention,  In this way attacks on our faith may be more difficult to counter.  Check your faith by reflecting on your behavior.  Seal yourself against creeping doubt.

Pray
after reading scripture.  Pray after reflecting on your day.  Listen quietly for God's whispered advice.

The Righteous Live by Their Faith

FAITH IN ACTION:
LIVING AS FAITHFUL PEOPLE
God's Redemption
FREED FROM THE LAW THROUGH CHRIST

Habakkuk 2:1-5

The Message

 ¹ What's God going to say to my questions? I'm braced for the worst. I'll climb to the lookout tower and scan the horizon.
I'll wait to see what God says,
   how he'll answer my complaint.

Full of Self, but Soul-Empty

 ^2-3And then God answered: "Write this.
   Write what you see.
Write it out in big block letters
   so that it can be read on the run.
This vision-message is a witness
   pointing to what's coming.
It aches for the coming—it can hardly wait!
   And it doesn't lie.
If it seems slow in coming, wait.
   It's on its way. It will come right on time. ⁴"Look at that man, bloated by self-importance—
   full of himself but soul-empty.
But the person in right standing before God
   through loyal and steady believing
   is fully alive, really alive.
 ^5-6"Note well: Money deceives.
   The arrogant rich don't last.
They are more hungry for wealth
   than the grave is for cadavers.
Like death, they always want more,
   but the 'more' they get is dead bodies.
They are cemeteries filled with dead nations,
   graveyards filled with corpses.
Don't give people like this a second thought.
   Soon the whole world will be taunting them:

For Reflection 

"Full of self, but soul-empty."  I think that, paradoxically, it turns out that the sacrifice of self for Christ, is in the end, no sacrifice at all.   It is a a full realization of God's promise for human potential.  True living begins when selfishness ends.

Pray
for continuing commitment to selfless lives. Pray for the wisdom to see the difference it makes.

The Curse of Sin

FAITH IN ACTION:
LIVING AS FAITHFUL PEOPLE
God's Redemption
FREED FROM THE LAW THROUGH CHRIST

Deuteronomy 27:15-26

The Message

 ^14-26 The Levites, acting as spokesmen and speaking loudly, will address Israel:

   God's curse on anyone who carves or casts a god-image—an abomination to God made by a craftsman—and sets it up in secret.
      All respond: Yes. Absolutely.
   God's curse on anyone who demeans a parent.
      All respond: Yes. Absolutely.
   God's curse on anyone who moves his neighbor's boundary marker.
      All respond: Yes. Absolutely.
   God's curse on anyone who misdirects a blind man on the road.
      All respond: Yes. Absolutely.
   God's curse on anyone who interferes with justice due the foreigner, orphan, or widow.
      All respond: Yes. Absolutely.
   God's curse on anyone who has sex with his father's wife; he has violated the woman who belongs to his father.
      All respond: Yes. Absolutely.
   God's curse on anyone who has sex with an animal.
      All respond: Yes. Absolutely.
   God's curse on anyone who has sex with his sister, the daughter of his father or mother.
      All respond: Yes. Absolutely.
   God's curse on anyone who has sex with his mother-in-law.
      All respond: Yes. Absolutely.
   God's curse on anyone who kills his neighbor in secret.
      All respond: Yes. Absolutely.
   God's curse on anyone who takes a bribe to kill an innocent person.
      All respond: Yes. Absolutely.
   God's curse on whoever does not give substance to the words of this Revelation by living them.
      All respond: Yes. Absolutely.

For Reflection
Can't you just see the crowd chanting in response?  The Levites could have added any taboo they wanted and the crowd would have responded, "Yes. Absolutely!" 

The rules would increase in number and complexity and would soon become so massive that they would lose their power to guide God-like action.  Interpreters of the rules would gain power with their special incite.  The rules driven faith would ripen in abuse.

Think about the rules that govern your life.  How many times have you had to ignore one rule to serve another?

Pray
thanking God for His constant protection.  Pray that you will respond to God when he calls you to action.  Pray so that you will hear God's will.

Keep the Law and Live

FAITH IN ACTION:
LIVING AS FAITHFUL PEOPLE
God's Redemption
FREED FROM THE LAW THROUGH CHRIST

Leviticus 18:1-5

The Message

 ^1-5 God spoke to Moses: "Speak to the People of Israel. Tell them, I am God, your God. Don't live like the people of Egypt where you used to live, and don't live like the people of Canaan where I'm bringing you. Don't do what they do. Obey my laws and live by my decrees. I am your God. Keep my decrees and laws: The person who obeys them lives by them. I am God.

For Reflection
God wanted His people to live extraordinary lives as his chosen people.  His strategy was command and control.  If his people lived as He commanded, they would have been seen as people united and protected by God.  God calls us all to live extraordinary lives apart from the social, cultural, technical and political influences of our times.  How are you doing?

Pray
thanking God for his guiding hand.  Thank him for his ever present protection.  Ask God to use you in realizing His kingdom on Earth.

Justified by Faith in Christ

FAITH IN ACTION:
LIVING AS FAITHFUL PEOPLE
God's Redemption
Justified by Faith in Christ

Galatians 2:15-21

The Message

 ^15-16We Jews know that we have no advantage of birth over "non-Jewish sinners." We know very well that we are not set right with God by rule-keeping but only through personal faith in Jesus Christ. How do we know? We tried it—and we had the best system of rules the world has ever seen! Convinced that no human being can please God by self-improvement, we believed in Jesus as the Messiah so that we might be set right before God by trusting in the Messiah, not by trying to be good.
 ^17-18Have some of you noticed that we are not yet perfect? (No great surprise, right?) And are you ready to make the accusation that since people like me, who go through Christ in order to get things right with God, aren't perfectly virtuous, Christ must therefore be an accessory to sin? The accusation is frivolous. If I was "trying to be good," I would be rebuilding the same old barn that I tore down. I would be acting as a charlatan.
 ^19-21What actually took place is this: I tried keeping rules and working my head off to please God, and it didn't work. So I quit being a "law man" so that I could be God's man. Christ's life showed me how, and enabled me to do it. I identified myself completely with him. Indeed, I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, and I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not "mine," but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I am not going to go back on that.
   Is it not clear to you that to go back to that old rule-keeping, peer-pleasing religion would be an abandonment of everything personal and free in my relationship with God? I refuse to do that, to repudiate God's grace. If a living relationship with God could come by rule-keeping, then Christ died unnecessarily.

For Reflection
God uses us warts and all.  None are without sin.  Our calling is not to impress God but to love and answer his call.  Christ did not die to reinforce the rules, but rather, to free us from them.  The guilt in sin is not that we screwed up, but that we did not accept our fault and bathe in the forgiveness of God transformed by his grace.  We are justified by faith,(God's in us n we in Him.).  We are sanctified by following His call.

Are you ready for the radical departure from the ways of your world?

Pray
By the power of the Holy Spirit go forth and be a blessing to others as God has blessed you.

Called Through God's Grace

FAITH IN ACTION:
LIVING AS FAITHFUL PEOPLE
God's Redemption
Justified by Faith in Christ

Galatians 1:11-24

The Message

 ^10-12Do you think I speak this strongly in order to manipulate crowds? Or curry favor with God? Or get popular applause? If my goal was popularity, I wouldn't bother being Christ's slave. Know this—I am most emphatic here, friends—this great Message I delivered to you is not mere human optimism. I didn't receive it through the traditions, and I wasn't taught it in some school. I got it straight from God, received the Message directly from Jesus Christ.
 ^13-16I'm sure that you've heard the story of my earlier life when I lived in the Jewish way. In those days I went all out in persecuting God's church. I was systematically destroying it. I was so enthusiastic about the traditions of my ancestors that I advanced head and shoulders above my peers in my career. Even then God had designs on me. Why, when I was still in my mother's womb he chose and called me out of sheer generosity! Now he has intervened and revealed his Son to me so that I might joyfully tell non-Jews about him.
 ^16-20Immediately after my calling—without consulting anyone around me and without going up to Jerusalem to confer with those who were apostles long before I was—I got away to Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus, but it was three years before I went up to Jerusalem to compare stories with Peter. I was there only fifteen days—but what days they were! Except for our Master's brother James, I saw no other apostles. (I'm telling you the absolute truth in this.)
 ^21-24Then I began my ministry in the regions of Syria and Cilicia. After all that time and activity I was still unknown by face among the Christian churches in Judea. There was only this report: "That man who once persecuted us is now preaching the very message he used to try to destroy." Their response was to recognize and worship God because of me!

For Reflection
Paul, like our present day ministers, speaks from authority not as an authority.  In our reformed tradition, we are all priests.  None of us can speak with authority, but we speak from the knowledge of the scriptures.  Therefore, our imperative is to seek out the truth in Jesus Christ and allow the grace of God to flow through us. 

Whether we grew up in the church or not, we all have a transformational story to tell.  Tell your story,  Sing what is in your heart.  God will do the rest.

Pray
that you realize your justification by faith.  Pray that you will strive to prepare yourself by studying the scriptures and discussions with the faithful.  Pray that you will respond to God's call when ever he needs you.

Challenged by a Different Gospel

FAITH IN ACTION:
LIVING AS FAITHFUL PEOPLE
God's Redemption
Justified by Faith in Christ

Galatians 1:1-10

The Message

 ^1-5 I, Paul, and my companions in faith here, send greetings to the Galatian churches. My authority for writing to you does not come from any popular vote of the people, nor does it come through the appointment of some human higher-up. It comes directly from Jesus the Messiah and God the Father, who raised him from the dead. I'm God-commissioned. So I greet you with the great words, grace and peace!  We know the meaning of those words because Jesus Christ rescued us from this evil world we're in by offering himself as a sacrifice for our sins. God's plan is that we all experience that rescue. Glory to God forever! Oh, yes!

^6-9I can't believe your fickleness—how easily you have turned traitor to him who called you by the grace of Christ by embracing a variant message! It is not a minor variation, you know; it is completely other, an alien message, a no-message, a lie about God. Those who are provoking this agitation among you are turning the Message of Christ on its head. Let me be blunt: If one of us—even if an angel from heaven!—were to preach something other than what we preached originally, let him be cursed. I said it once; I'll say it again: If anyone, regardless of reputation or credentials, preaches something other than what you received originally, let him be cursed. ^10-12Do you think I speak this strongly in order to manipulate crowds? Or curry favor with God? Or get popular applause? If my goal was popularity, I wouldn't bother being Christ's slave. Know this—I am most emphatic here, friends—this great Message I delivered to you is not mere human optimism. I didn't receive it through the traditions, and I wasn't taught it in some school. I got it straight from God, received the Message directly from Jesus Christ.

For Reflection
Written centuries ago, this criticism of the emerging church is as contemporary today as it was then.  God's message is one of hope and peace.  It is the promise of a transformational life in his protective hand.

One can not know a dog by looking at one ear.  One must observe the whole animal including its behavior.  So it must be with those who proclaim the gospel  One must observe the whole person and must observe that his works reflect accurately the whole scripture not just selected passages.

Pray
thanking God for His constant protection.  Pray that you will respond to God when he calls you to action.  Pray so that you will hear God's will.