Enduring Temptation

FAITH IN ACTION:
LIVING AS FAITHFUL PEOPLE
God's Covenant
God Watches Over Joseph

1 Corinthians 10:1-13

The Message

 ^1-5Remember our history, friends, and be warned. All our ancestors were led by the providential Cloud and taken miraculously through the Sea. They went through the waters, in a baptism like ours, as Moses led them from enslaving death to salvation life. They all ate and drank identical food and drink, meals provided daily by God. They drank from the Rock, God's fountain for them that stayed with them wherever they were. And the Rock was Christ. But just experiencing God's wonder and grace didn't seem to mean much—most of them were defeated by temptation during the hard times in the desert, and God was not pleased. ^6-10The same thing could happen to us. We must be on guard so that we never get caught up in wanting our own way as they did. And we must not turn our religion into a circus as they did—"First the people partied, then they threw a dance." We must not be sexually promiscuous—they paid for that, remember, with 23,000 deaths in one day! We must never try to get Christ to serve us instead of us serving him; they tried it, and God launched an epidemic of poisonous snakes. We must be careful not to stir up discontent; discontent destroyed them.
 ^11-12These are all warning markers—danger!—in our history books, written down so that we don't repeat their mistakes. Our positions in the story are parallel—they at the beginning, we at the end—and we are just as capable of messing it up as they were. Don't be so naive and self-confident. You're not exempt. You could fall flat on your face as easily as anyone else. Forget about self-confidence; it's useless. Cultivate God-confidence.
 ¹³No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he'll never let you be pushed past your limit; he'll always be there to help you come through it.  

For Reflection
How do you fight temptation?  No one is exempt from the tyranny of temptation.  Temptation does not always arrive during hard times. The most difficult temptations are the ones which creep up on you.  Subtle changes over time are the most difficult to detect.  Sometimes a tiny taste is all it  takes.  Before you realize it, you are caught.  "I can handle a little bit, "  you lie to yourself.  You do not have to handle temptation alone.  When you find yourself engrossed in the ungodly, step away.  Confess your error and turn to god.  There is no shame in being human.  There is only shame in not recognizing your humanity.

Pray
pray that God will lead you from temptation. Pray that you will reject self-confidence for God-confidence.  Pray that you embrace the saving grace that God has promised and walk shamelessly into the light of Gods forgiveness.

Facing Temptation

FAITH IN ACTION:
LIVING AS FAITHFUL PEOPLE
God's Covenant
God Watches Over Joseph

Luke 22:39-46

The Message

A Dark Night

 ^39-40Leaving there, he went, as he so often did, to Mount Olives. The disciples followed him. When they arrived at the place, he said, "Pray that you don't give in to temptation." ^41-44He pulled away from them about a stone's throw, knelt down, and prayed, "Father, remove this cup from me. But please, not what I want. What do you want?" At once an angel from heaven was at his side, strengthening him. He prayed on all the harder. Sweat, wrung from him like drops of blood, poured off his face.
 ^45-46He got up from prayer, went back to the disciples and found them asleep, drugged by grief. He said, "What business do you have sleeping? Get up. Pray so you won't give in to temptation."

For Reflection
Tempted by life over death, Christ chose death.  It was his Father's will.  What might have the disciples been tempted to do?  How would giving in to their temptations altered the course of the Christ event?

We are at times tempted by the rational act when irrationality is a calling.  Can you think of a time when the irrational act was most appropriate?

Pray
for courage in carrying out irrational acts in service to God.

Joseph's Story

FAITH IN ACTION:
LIVING AS FAITHFUL PEOPLE
God's Covenant
God Watches Over Joseph

Acts 7:9-16

The Message

 ^9-10"But then those 'fathers,' burning up with jealousy, sent Joseph off to Egypt as a slave. God was right there with him, though—he not only rescued him from all his troubles but brought him to the attention of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. He was so impressed with Joseph that he put him in charge of the whole country, including his own personal affairs.
 ^11-15"Later a famine descended on that entire region, stretching from Egypt to Canaan, bringing terrific hardship. Our hungry fathers looked high and low for food, but the cupboard was bare. Jacob heard there was food in Egypt and sent our fathers to scout it out. Having confirmed the report, they went back to Egypt a second time to get food. On that visit, Joseph revealed his true identity to his brothers and introduced the Jacob family to Pharaoh. Then Joseph sent for his father, Jacob, and everyone else in the family, seventy-five in all. That's how the Jacob family got to Egypt.
 ^15-16"Jacob died, and our fathers after him. They were taken to Shechem and buried in the tomb for which Abraham paid a good price to the sons of Hamor.

For Reflection
      See what they did to Joseph?

     Oh, that's bad!

     Well, Joseph caught the eye of the Pharaoh who put him in charge of the whole country.

     Oh, that's good!

     Then his brothers came before him and did not recognize that their fate was within Joseph's power.

    Oh that's bad!

     Well, Joseph told them who he was and managed to convince the Pharaoh to accept all of the family into Egypt to escape the famine.

     Oh, that's good!

     Perhaps.


Only the nearsighted eyes of human kind see single events as good or bad.  God sees beyond single events.  He has His eye on the big picture. Faith and hope helps us focus on the big picture


Pray
for the patience to follow your faith and hope in the promise of God.  Pray that you continually look beyond the present struggles and keep your eye on the realization of the Kingdom of God.

God Sent One Ahead

FAITH IN ACTION:
LIVING AS FAITHFUL PEOPLE
God's Covenant
God Watches Over Joseph

Psalm 105:16-22

The Message

 ^16-22 Then he called down a famine on the country,
      he broke every last blade of wheat.
   But he sent a man on ahead:
      Joseph, sold as a slave.
   They put cruel chains on his ankles,
      an iron collar around his neck,
   Until God's word came to the Pharaoh,
      and God confirmed his promise.
   God sent the king to release him.
      The Pharaoh set Joseph free;
   He appointed him master of his palace,
      put him in charge of all his business
   To personally instruct his princes
      and train his advisors in wisdom.

For Reflection
"MADALLA, Nigeria -- Bomb attacks on churches during Christmas services and a suicide blast in Nigeria killed at least 40 people Sunday amid spiraling violence claimed by Islamists.  A purported spokesman for Boko Haram, an Islamic sect, claimed responsibility for the bombing of a church outside the capital Abuja and other violence which stoked fear and anger in Africa's most populous nation."

Out of tragedy and apparent hopelessness Joseph triumphed because God willed it so, .  God watched over Joseph and He watches over us too.  Even when Christians face what seems to be hopelessness and extreme suffering.  God will not be defeated.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/international/christmas_bombs_kill_in_nigeria_I4MaoVjltFGFuSAGebHa3N#ixzz1hbrGAdDc

Pray
for those who suffer in the name of our savior, Jesus Christ.  Pray for those whose fear motivates hate.   Pray for the reconciliation of all people.  Pray to find the seed of hope in the face of tragedy.  Pray deeply to find your role in the realization of the Kingdom of God.

Jesus Birth Foretold

FAITH IN ACTION:
LIVING AS FAITHFUL PEOPLE
God's Covenant
According to the Promise

Luke 1:26-38

The Message (MSG)

A Virgin Conceives

 ^26-28In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to the Galilean village of Nazareth to a virgin engaged to be married to a man descended from David. His name was Joseph, and the virgin's name, Mary. Upon entering, Gabriel greeted her:

   Good morning!
   You're beautiful with God's beauty,
   Beautiful inside and out!
   God be with you. ^29-33She was thoroughly shaken, wondering what was behind a greeting like that. But the angel assured her, "Mary, you have nothing to fear. God has a surprise for you: You will become pregnant and give birth to a son and call his name Jesus.

   He will be great,
      be called 'Son of the Highest.'
   The Lord God will give him
      the throne of his father David;
   He will rule Jacob's house forever—
      no end, ever, to his kingdom."
 ³⁴Mary said to the angel, "But how? I've never slept with a man."
 ³⁵The angel answered,

   The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
      the power of the Highest hover over you;
   Therefore, the child you bring to birth
      will be called Holy, Son of God.
 ^36-38"And did you know that your cousin Elizabeth conceived a son, old as she is? Everyone called her barren, and here she is six months pregnant! Nothing, you see, is impossible with God."
   And Mary said,

   Yes, I see it all now:
      I'm the Lord's maid, ready to serve.
   Let it be with me
      just as you say.
   Then the angel left her.

For Reflection
With God the barren is made fruitful. Proclaim to the world that the Lord is with you.  Your barren self is now filled with the Holy Spirit so that you, like Mary, can magnify the Lord.  Trust in the Promise made to Abraham and now to you.

Pray
thanking God for the sacrifices He has made time and time again on behalf of His children.  Thank God for the truth which became knowable in Jesus Christ.  Praise God.  Listen, know that the Lord is with you.

Inheritance through the Promise

FAITH IN ACTION:
LIVING AS FAITHFUL PEOPLE
God's Covenant
According to the Promise

Galatians 3:13-18

The Message

 ^13-14Christ redeemed us from that self-defeating, cursed life by absorbing it completely into himself. Do you remember the Scripture that says, "Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree"? That is what happened when Jesus was nailed to the cross: He became a curse, and at the same time dissolved the curse. And now, because of that, the air is cleared and we can see that Abraham's blessing is present and available for non-Jews, too. We are all able to receive God's life, his Spirit, in and with us by believing—just the way Abraham received it.
 ^15-18Friends, let me give you an example from everyday affairs of the free life I am talking about. Once a person's will has been ratified, no one else can annul it or add to it. Now, the promises were made to Abraham and to his descendant. You will observe that Scripture, in the careful language of a legal document, does not say "to descendants," referring to everybody in general, but "to your descendant" (the noun, note, is singular), referring to Christ. This is the way I interpret this: A will, earlier ratified by God, is not annulled by an addendum attached 430 years later, thereby negating the promise of the will. No, this addendum, with its instructions and regulations, has nothing to do with the promised inheritance in the will.
 ^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.

For Reflection
You have been redeemed.  No more self-loathing.  No more self-reliance.  No more selfishness. 

Whoa!  Wait a minute.  No more self-reliance? 

Yes.  No more self-reliance.  It is no longer all about you.  It is about God.  You may rely on Him to lead you through life, doing his bidding.  Christ has come, freeing you from a rule centered life.  Christ has come freeing you to fulfill the promise made to Abraham.

To be sure, your reliance upon God does not remove your responsibility to live a righteous life.  It does mean, however, you do not have to go it alone. Live in the Promise.

Pray
Pray for the courage to rely on God.  Pray for the strength to follow Him wherever He may take you. Pray for the wisdom to live a righteous life.  Pray for the patience to listen for the Holy Spirit.

Decendants of Abraham

FAITH IN ACTION:
LIVING AS FAITHFUL PEOPLE
God's Covenant
According to the Promise

Galatians 3:6-12

The Message (MSG)

 ^5-6Answer this question: Does the God who lavishly provides you with his own presence, his Holy Spirit, working things in your lives you could never do for yourselves, does he do these things because of your strenuous moral striving or because you trust him to do them in you? Don't these things happen among you just as they happened with Abraham? He believed God, and that act of belief was turned into a life that was right with God.
 ^7-8Is it not obvious to you that persons who put their trust in Christ (not persons who put their trust in the law!) are like Abraham: children of faith? It was all laid out beforehand in Scripture that God would set things right with non-Jews by faith. Scripture anticipated this in the promise to Abraham: "All nations will be blessed in you."
 ^9-10So those now who live by faith are blessed along with Abraham, who lived by faith—this is no new doctrine! And that means that anyone who tries to live by his own effort, independent of God, is doomed to failure. Scripture backs this up: "Utterly cursed is every person who fails to carry out every detail written in the Book of the law."
 ^11-12The obvious impossibility of carrying out such a moral program should make it plain that no one can sustain a relationship with God that way. The person who lives in right relationship with God does it by embracing what God arranges for him. Doing things for God is the opposite of entering into what God does for you. Habakkuk had it right: "The person who believes God, is set right by God—and that's the real life." Rule-keeping does not naturally evolve into living by faith, but only perpetuates itself in more and more rule-keeping, a fact observed in Scripture: "The one who does these things [rule-keeping] continues to live by them."

For Reflection
God is extravagant.  He holds nothing back.  His Holy Spirit works miracles in your life. Through him you are the strongest force for good in the world.  Embrace your indebtedness to God.

Pray
that you will hold nothing back from God.  Pray that His faith in you is not misplaced.  Pray that your belief in God will never falter.

A Faithful Heart

FAITH IN ACTION:
LIVING AS FAITHFUL PEOPLE
God's Covenant
According to the Promise

Nehemiah 9:6-10

The Message

 ^5-6 Blessed be your glorious name,
   exalted above all blessing and praise! You're the one,
   God, you alone; You made the heavens,
   the heavens of heavens, and all angels; The earth and everything on it,
   the seas and everything in them; You keep them all alive;
   heaven's angels worship you!
 ^7-8 You're the one, God, the God
   who chose Abram And brought him from Ur of the Chaldees
   and changed his name to Abraham. You found his heart to be steady and true to you
   and signed a covenant with him, A covenant to give him the land of the Canaanites,
   the Hittites, and the Amorites, The Perizzites, Jebusites, and Girgashites,
   —to give it to his descendants. And you kept your word
   because you are righteous.
 ^9-15 You saw the anguish of our parents in Egypt.
   You heard their cries at the Red Sea; You amazed Pharaoh, his servants, and the people of his land
   with wonders and miracle-signs. You knew their bullying arrogance against your people;
   you made a name for yourself that lasts to this day. You split the sea before them;
   they crossed through and never got their feet wet; You pitched their pursuers into the deep;
   they sank like a rock in the storm-tossed sea. By day you led them with a Pillar of Cloud,
   and by night with a Pillar of Fire To show them the way
   they were to travel. You came down onto Mount Sinai,
   you spoke to them out of heaven; You gave them instructions on how to live well,
   true teaching, sound rules and commands; You introduced them
   to your Holy Sabbath; Through your servant Moses you decreed
   commands, rules, and instruction. You gave bread from heaven for their hunger,
   you sent water from the rock for their thirst. You told them to enter and take the land,
   which you promised to give them.

For Reflection
What's in a name?  When God made his promise to Abram he also changed Abram's and Sarai's names to Abraham and Sarah.  When an infant is baptized, the parents are asked for the child's name,  My aunt's certificate of birth from a Lutheran church in Hungary bears her Christian Name and certifies her Christian lineage.  One is known by his or her name both literally and figuratively.  All that you are is associated with your name.  In Abram, God found a true heart.  He changed Abram's name to reflect to all the nature of Abram and His covenant with him.

God has changed your name too. He has placed you in the paths of those who need to know Him.  You are known by His name and He has faith in you to fulfill his promise.

Pray
thanking God for His faithfulness in his creation.  Praise him for the gift of Abraham's linage.  Thank God for the grace opportunities that he has placed before you.  Pray for the wisdom to fulfill his promise.

God is Faithful

FAITH IN ACTION:
LIVING AS FAITHFUL PEOPLE
God's Covenant
According to the Promise

2 Corinthians 1:18-22

The Message

 ^17-19Are you now going to accuse me of being flip with my promises because it didn't work out? Do you think I talk out of both sides of my mouth—a glib yes one moment, a glib no the next? Well, you're wrong. I try to be as true to my word as God is to his. Our word to you wasn't a careless yes canceled by an indifferent no. How could it be? When Silas and Timothy and I proclaimed the Son of God among you, did you pick up on any yes-and-no, on-again, off-again waffling? Wasn't it a clean, strong Yes?
 ^20-22Whatever God has promised gets stamped with the Yes of Jesus. In him, this is what we preach and pray, the great Amen, God's Yes and our Yes together, gloriously evident. God affirms us, making us a sure thing in Christ, putting his Yes within us. By his Spirit he has stamped us with his eternal pledge—a sure beginning of what he is destined to complete.

For Reflection
God gives us a clean strong yes. There is no question that God will fulfill His promise in and through us.  We bathe in his glorious holiness.  We can not escape His faithfulness.

Pray
for confidence in Gods promise.  Pray for the faith of our spiritual father, Abraham.  Pray that we will never doubt the will of God.

Concern for Our Decendants

Joshua 22:21-29  The Message

 ^21-22 The Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh replied to the heads of the tribes of Israel:
      The God of Gods is God,
      The God of Gods is God!
 ^22-23 "He knows and he'll let Israel know if this is a rebellious betrayal of God. And if it is, don't bother saving us. If we built ourselves an altar in rebellion against God, if we did it to present on it Whole-Burnt-Offerings or Grain-Offerings or to enact there sacrificial Peace-Offerings, let God decide.
 ^24-25 "But that's not it. We did it because we cared. We were anxious lest someday your children should say to our children, 'You're not connected with God, the God of Israel! God made the Jordan a boundary between us and you. You Reubenites and Gadites have no part in God.' And then your children might cause our children to quit worshiping God.
 ²⁶ "So we said to ourselves, 'Let's do something. Let's build an altar—but not for Whole-Burnt-Offerings, not for sacrifices.'
 ²⁷ "We built this altar as a witness between us and you and our children coming after us, a witness to the Altar where we worship God in his Sacred Dwelling with our Whole-Burnt-Offerings and our sacrifices and our Peace-Offerings.
    "This way, your children won't be able to say to our children in the future, 'You have no part in God.'
 ²⁸ "We said to ourselves, 'If anyone speaks disparagingly to us or to our children in the future, we'll say: Look at this model of God's Altar which our ancestors made. It's not for Whole-Burnt-Offerings, not for sacrifices. It's a witness connecting us with you.'
 ²⁹ "Rebelling against or turning our backs on God is the last thing on our minds right now. We never dreamed of building an altar for Whole-Burnt-Offerings or Grain-Offerings to rival the Altar of our God in front of his Sacred Dwelling."

For Reflection
How visible is God in your life?  Do others see Him in you?  What symbolized your commitment to God and is a visual reminder of your relationship with God?

Pray
that you will be a witness to God's grace.  Pray that others will see your faith in action and recognize it for God's will.

Faith Completed by Works

FAITH IN ACTION:
LIVING AS FAITHFUL PEOPLE
God's Covenant
The Lord Provides

James 2:14-24 The Message

Faith in Action

 ^14-17Dear friends, do you think you'll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, "Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!" and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn't it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense? ¹⁸I can already hear one of you agreeing by saying, "Sounds good. You take care of the faith department, I'll handle the works department."
   Not so fast. You can no more show me your works apart from your faith than I can show you my faith apart from my works. Faith and works, works and faith, fit together hand in glove.
 ^19-20Do I hear you professing to believe in the one and only God, but then observe you complacently sitting back as if you had done something wonderful? That's just great. Demons do that, but what good does it do them? Use your heads! Do you suppose for a minute that you can cut faith and works in two and not end up with a corpse on your hands?
 ^21-24Wasn't our ancestor Abraham "made right with God by works" when he placed his son Isaac on the sacrificial altar? Isn't it obvious that faith and works are yoked partners, that faith expresses itself in works? That the works are "works of faith"? The full meaning of "believe" in the Scripture sentence, "Abraham believed God and was set right with God," includes his action. It's that mesh of believing and acting that got Abraham named "God's friend." Is it not evident that a person is made right with God not by a barren faith but by faith fruitful in works?

For Reflection
Is it time to put your money where your mouth is?  One can perform good works apart from faith in God.  One can not, however, have faith in God and not perform good works.  There is a difference between the two.  Apart from God one may expect a return for good works.  In God no such expectation is valid.  The reward for good works is indebtedness to God.

Pray
thanking God for opportunities to increase your debt to God.  Thank God for the opportunity for His grace to flow through you.

Not Withholding His Only Son

FAITH IN ACTION:
LIVING AS FAITHFUL PEOPLE
God's Covenant
The Lord Provides

Genesis 22:15-19 The Message

 ^15-18 The angel of God spoke from Heaven a second time to Abraham: "I swear—God's sure word!—because you have gone through with this, and have not refused to give me your son, your dear, dear son, I'll bless you—oh, how I'll bless you! And I'll make sure that your children flourish—like stars in the sky! like sand on the beaches! And your descendants will defeat their enemies. All nations on Earth will find themselves blessed through your descendants because you obeyed me."
 ¹⁹ Then Abraham went back to his young servants. They got things together and returned to Beersheba. Abraham settled down in Beersheba.

For Reflection
Think about how hard it would be to give up your child in obedience to God.   Abraham was so faithful to God that in agony he was willing to do just that.  How hard then, can it be to reject conventional wisdom, selfishness, material possessions, or adherence to culturally embedded wisdom?  God hoped that  Abraham would follow through. God has the same faith in you that He had in Abraham.   God hopes for your continuing obedience to His will.  What do you hope for?

Pray
that you will withhold nothing from God.  Pray that you will give yourself over completely to His will.  Spend time meditating on how surrender to God would change you.

Born Through the Promise

FAITH IN ACTION:
LIVING AS FAITHFUL PEOPLE
God's Covenant
The Lord Provides

Galatians 4:21-28

The Message

 ^21-31Tell me now, you who have become so enamored with the law: Have you paid close attention to that law? Abraham, remember, had two sons: one by the slave woman and one by the free woman. The son of the slave woman was born by human connivance; the son of the free woman was born by God's promise. This illustrates the very thing we are dealing with now. The two births represent two ways of being in relationship with God. One is from Mount Sinai in Arabia. It corresponds with what is now going on in Jerusalem—a slave life, producing slaves as offspring. This is the way of Hagar. In contrast to that, there is an invisible Jerusalem, a free Jerusalem, and she is our mother—this is the way of Sarah. Remember what Isaiah wrote:

   Rejoice, barren woman who bears no children,
      shout and cry out, woman who has no birth pangs,
   Because the children of the barren woman
      now surpass the children of the chosen woman.
Isn't it clear, friends, that you, like Isaac, are children of promise? In the days of Hagar and Sarah, the child who came from faithless connivance (Ishmael) harassed the child who came—empowered by the Spirit—from the faithful promise (Isaac). Isn't it clear that the harassment you are now experiencing from the Jerusalem heretics follows that old pattern? There is a Scripture that tells us what to do: "Expel the slave mother with her son, for the slave son will not inherit with the free son." Isn't that conclusive? We are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman.

For Reflection
The early Christians struggled with the question, "Does one have to become Jewish before one becomes a Christian?"  This explanation may be a bit foreign to our understanding.  However, if seen as an allegory, the metaphor is strong.  One can be in a relationship with God by following the law.  But it is difficult.  Being a slave to the law produces more slavery to the law.  This relationship is not fruitful.  On the other hand, Christ has shown us that we can be free from servitude to the law.  Like the children of Sarah, we are children of the promise, free to live as God intended us to live - free to follow the intent of the law and not be enslaved by the letter of the law.  Faithfulness to the law may not always lead to faithfulness to God.

We all have rules that we follow to live a faithful Christian life.  They are a confusing mess of moral concepts and scriptural illusions.  Each of us is responsible for examining the basis for our own behavior.  Think about a time when your "Christian Rules" did not seem to fit the circumstances you faced.  How did you resolve the dilemma?

Pray
that you will listen to God's call to be a slave to his word.  Pray that your rules will be tempered in the wisdom of love and justice.  Pray that you will recognize rules do not govern your life in Christ only obedience to His will to serve Him.

All Your Needs

FAITH IN ACTION:
LIVING AS FAITHFUL PEOPLE
God's Covenant
The Lord Provides

Philippians 4:15-20 The Message

 ^15-17You Philippians well know, and you can be sure I'll never forget it, that when I first left Macedonia province, venturing out with the Message, not one church helped out in the give-and-take of this work except you. You were the only one. Even while I was in Thessalonica, you helped out—and not only once, but twice. Not that I'm looking for handouts, but I do want you to experience the blessing that issues from generosity.
 ^18-20And now I have it all—and keep getting more! The gifts you sent with Epaphroditus were more than enough, like a sweet-smelling sacrifice roasting on the altar, filling the air with fragrance, pleasing God no end. You can be sure that God will take care of everything you need, his generosity exceeding even yours in the glory that pours from Jesus. Our God and Father abounds in glory that just pours out into eternity. Yes.

For Reflection
Paul has given over his life to God.  At this stage he is dependent upon the gifts of others to support his ministry.  At first it was difficult, but later Paul is well, but meagerly, supported.  Here he praises the church at Macedonia for the faith they have placed in him to spread the good news of Jesus Christ.  As God has blessed him and has lead others to support and bless his ministry, Paul assures the followers that as God has met his needs through them, their needs will be met also.

Act as though the more you do in God's name the more indebted you be come to Him.  He give you much more than you could possibly give to Him.  Have faith. Trust in God.  He will meet your needs as well.

Pray
praising God for his bountiful goodness.  Thank Him for the blessings he has given to you.  Pray that others will develop the strength and courage to trust God to provide.

The Eternal Covenant

FAITH IN ACTION:
LIVING AS FAITHFUL PEOPLE
God's Covenant
A Promise to Abraham

Hebrews 13:17-21

The Message

 ¹⁷Be responsive to your pastoral leaders. Listen to their counsel. They are alert to the condition of your lives and work under the strict supervision of God. Contribute to the joy of their leadership, not its drudgery. Why would you want to make things harder for them?
 ^18-21Pray for us. We have no doubts about what we're doing or why, but it's hard going and we need your prayers. All we care about is living well before God. Pray that we may be together soon.

   May God, who puts all things together,
      makes all things whole,
   Who made a lasting mark through the sacrifice of Jesus,
      the sacrifice of blood that sealed the eternal covenant,
   Who led Jesus, our Great Shepherd,
      up and alive from the dead,
   Now put you together, provide you
      with everything you need to please him,
   Make us into what gives him most pleasure,
      by means of the sacrifice of Jesus, the Messiah.
   All glory to Jesus forever and always!
      Oh, yes, yes, yes.

For Reflection
Listen to your pastoral leaders.  We are not talking about absolute submission here.  We are speaking about being obedient to pastoral leaders who are themselves true to the scriptures and to God's will. This means that we are all fallible.  Each of us has a responsibility to study and discuss the implication of scripture to our faith journey.  Each of us has the responsibility to decide what action to take and what council to follow that is consistent with the written word.  Read, pray, and listen for God's recommendation.

Pray
listening closely for God's advice.  Pray that your understanding of scripture is consistent with God's will.  Pray that pastoral leaders will temper the pressure of leadership with reflection on scripture and God's promise.  Pray and hope for the fulfillment of God's Kingdom on earth.

Righteousness by Faith

FAITH IN ACTION:
LIVING AS FAITHFUL PEOPLE
God's Covenant
A Promise to Abraham

Romans 4:9-15

The Message

 ^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?
 ^10-11Now think: Was that declaration made before or after he was marked by the covenant rite of circumcision? That's right, before he was marked. That means that he underwent circumcision as evidence and confirmation of what God had done long before to bring him into this acceptable standing with himself, an act of God he had embraced with his whole life.
 ¹²And it means further that Abraham is father of all people who embrace what God does for them while they are still on the "outs" with God, as yet unidentified as God's, in an "uncircumcised" condition. It is precisely these people in this condition who are called "set right by God and with God"! Abraham is also, of course, father of those who have undergone the religious rite of circumcision not just because of the ritual but because they were willing to live in the risky faith-embrace of God's action for them, the way Abraham lived long before he was marked by circumcision.
 ^13-15That famous promise God gave Abraham—that he and his children would possess the earth—was not given because of something Abraham did or would do. It was based on God's decision to put everything together for him, which Abraham then entered when he believed. If those who get what God gives them only get it by doing everything they are told to do and filling out all the right forms properly signed, that eliminates personal trust completely and turns the promise into an ironclad contract! That's not a holy promise; that's a business deal. A contract drawn up by a hard-nosed lawyer and with plenty of fine print only makes sure that you will never be able to collect. But if there is no contract in the first place, simply a promise—and God's promise at that—you can't break it.

For Reflection
We are the spiritual family of Abraham -- uncircumcised, but set right by God. Our covenant with God is not a contract, but rather, an unbreakable promise.  God has faith in us.  He has hope that we will fulfill his promise.  He gives us loving support to enable the fulfillment of His promise.  All we have to do is pray and become obedient to His will.  God makes his declaration of faith in us before we have had faith in Him.  Abraham's circumcision was a sign of his commitment to God.  What is your sign of commitment to God?

Pray
to become an obedient participant in the Holy Kingdom of God.  Pray that you will deepen your faith and hope in the fulfillment of God's promise.  Pray, asking God to open your mind and heart to hear and follow His will for you.

Strong in Faith

FAITH IN ACTION:
LIVING AS FAITHFUL PEOPLE
God's Covenant
A Promise to Abraham

Romans 4:16-25

The Message (MSG)

 ¹⁶This is why the fulfillment of God's promise depends entirely on trusting God and his way, and then simply embracing him and what he does. God's promise arrives as pure gift. That's the only way everyone can be sure to get in on it, those who keep the religious traditions and those who have never heard of them. For Abraham is father of us all. He is not our racial father—that's reading the story backward. He is our faith father.
 ^17-18We call Abraham "father" not because he got God's attention by living like a saint, but because God made something out of Abraham when he was a nobody. Isn't that what we've always read in Scripture, God saying to Abraham, "I set you up as father of many peoples"? Abraham was first named "father" and then became a father because he dared to trust God to do what only God could do: raise the dead to life, with a word make something out of nothing. When everything was hopeless, Abraham believed anyway, deciding to live not on the basis of what he saw he couldn't do but on what God said he would do. And so he was made father of a multitude of peoples. God himself said to him, "You're going to have a big family, Abraham!"
 ^19-25Abraham didn't focus on his own impotence and say, "It's hopeless. This hundred-year-old body could never father a child." Nor did he survey Sarah's decades of infertility and give up. He didn't tiptoe around God's promise asking cautiously skeptical questions. He plunged into the promise and came up strong, ready for God, sure that God would make good on what he had said. That's why it is said, "Abraham was declared fit before God by trusting God to set him right." But it's not just Abraham; it's also us! The same thing gets said about us when we embrace and believe the One who brought Jesus to life when the conditions were equally hopeless. The sacrificed Jesus made us fit for God, set us right with God.

For Reflection
Abraham believed in spite of the impossibility of God's promise.   Abraham was obedient in his hope for the promise of God.  Abraham acted with out question or doubt.  When God sets before you the impossible, do you hesitate?

Pray
that you will be obedient to God's will for you.  Thank God for His grace.  Pray that you will hold strong to hope in the face of what may seem to be hopeless circumstances.  Pray for those with little hope.

Abraham's Faith Tested

FAITH IN ACTION:
LIVING AS FAITHFUL PEOPLE
God's Covenant
A Promise to Abraham

Hebrews 11:17-22

The Message

 ^17-19By faith, Abraham, at the time of testing, offered Isaac back to God. Acting in faith, he was as ready to return the promised son, his only son, as he had been to receive him—and this after he had already been told, "Your descendants shall come from Isaac." Abraham figured that if God wanted to, he could raise the dead. In a sense, that's what happened when he received Isaac back, alive from off the altar.
 ²⁰By an act of faith, Isaac reached into the future as he blessed Jacob and Esau.
 ²¹By an act of faith, Jacob on his deathbed blessed each of Joseph's sons in turn, blessing them with God's blessing, not his own—as he bowed worshipfully upon his staff.
 ²²By an act of faith, Joseph, while dying, prophesied the exodus of Israel, and made arrangements for his own burial.

For Reflection
As they lived by their faith in God and God's faith in them, they died in faith.  Blessing their families, they passed the faith to the next generations. God has faith in you to live lives filled with hope in the promise of God. Are you willing to have faith in God by blessing the next generation?

Pray
thanking God for his faith in you.  Pray that God's faith in you will be returned in your blessing to others.

The Faith of Abraham

FAITH IN ACTION:
LIVING AS FAITHFUL PEOPLE
God's Covenant
A Promise to Abraham

Hebrews 11:8-16

The Message

 ^8-10By an act of faith, Abraham said yes to God's call to travel to an unknown place that would become his home. When he left he had no idea where he was going. By an act of faith he lived in the country promised him, lived as a stranger camping in tents. Isaac and Jacob did the same, living under the same promise. Abraham did it by keeping his eye on an unseen city with real, eternal foundations—the City designed and built by God.
 ^11-12By faith, barren Sarah was able to become pregnant, old woman as she was at the time, because she believed the One who made a promise would do what he said. That's how it happened that from one man's dead and shriveled loins there are now people numbering into the millions.
 ^13-16Each one of these people of faith died not yet having in hand what was promised, but still believing. How did they do it? They saw it way off in the distance, waved their greeting, and accepted the fact that they were transients in this world. People who live this way make it plain that they are looking for their true home. If they were homesick for the old country, they could have gone back any time they wanted. But they were after a far better country than that—heaven country. You can see why God is so proud of them, and has a City waiting for them.

For Reflection
Faith and hope are counterparts.  Abraham kept a eye on the city of God he hoped for.  Sarah kept her eye on the promise of God that she hoped for.  One's hope doesn't have to be realized to be effective in sustaining faith.  Hope is an act of faith.  What do you hope for that sustains your faith and enables you?

Pray
that your hope for the fulfillment of God's promise will sustain you.  Pray for God to open you eyes and your heart to the results of faith in your life.

We Have This Hope

FAITH IN ACTION:
LIVING AS FAITHFUL PEOPLE
God's Covenant
A Blessing for All Nations

Hebrews 6:13-20

The Message

God Gave His Word

 ^13-18When God made his promise to Abraham, he backed it to the hilt, putting his own reputation on the line. He said, "I promise that I'll bless you with everything I have—bless and bless and bless!" Abraham stuck it out and got everything that had been promised to him. When people make promises, they guarantee them by appeal to some authority above them so that if there is any question that they'll make good on the promise, the authority will back them up. When God wanted to guarantee his promises, he gave his word, a rock-solid guarantee—God can't break his word. And because his word cannot change, the promise is likewise unchangeable. ^18-20We who have run for our very lives to God have every reason to grab the promised hope with both hands and never let go. It's an unbreakable spiritual lifeline, reaching past all appearances right to the very presence of God where Jesus, running on ahead of us, has taken up his permanent post as high priest for us, in the order of Melchizedek.

For Reflection
God's faith takes action in His covenants.  He puts it all on the line, promising and delivering blessings.  Such faithfulness is stable and reliable.  A proper response to God's faithfulness is our willingness to submit to God's will and to hope for the realization of His kingdom.

Pray
that God's blessing will be accepted in all nations.  Pray that His kingdom will evolve world wide.  Pray for the redemption of all peoples.  Pray that you will have confidence in God's faithfulness and submit your life in his obedient service.

Abraham, Our Ancestor

FAITH IN ACTION:
LIVING AS FAITHFUL PEOPLE
God's Covenant
A Blessing for All Nations

Matthew 3:1-10

The Message

Thunder in the Desert!

 ^1-2 While Jesus was living in the Galilean hills, John, called "the Baptizer," was preaching in the desert country of Judea. His message was simple and austere, like his desert surroundings: "Change your life. God's kingdom is here."  ³John and his message were authorized by Isaiah's prophecy:

   Thunder in the desert!
   Prepare for God's arrival!
   Make the road smooth and straight!
 ^4-6John dressed in a camel-hair habit tied at the waist by a leather strap. He lived on a diet of locusts and wild field honey. People poured out of Jerusalem, Judea, and the Jordanian countryside to hear and see him in action. There at the Jordan River those who came to confess their sins were baptized into a changed life.
 ^7-10When John realized that a lot of Pharisees and Sadducees were showing up for a baptismal experience because it was becoming the popular thing to do, he exploded: "Brood of snakes! What do you think you're doing slithering down here to the river? Do you think a little water on your snakeskins is going to make any difference? It's your life that must change, not your skin! And don't think you can pull rank by claiming Abraham as father. Being a descendant of Abraham is neither here nor there. Descendants of Abraham are a dime a dozen. What counts is your life. Is it green and blossoming? Because if it's deadwood, it goes on the fire.

For Reflection
How well do you follow the rules?  Do you have rules that you have made that you follow without variation? How often do you bend the rule to follow its intent?  That is the point John was making.  Pharisees and  Sadducees followed the rules but ignored the intent.  They adorned them selves in the robes of God but did not allow Him to guide their lives.  Following the rules can be important, but being obedient to God's will is not rule bound.  Faith gives you the confidence to step into righeousness.

Pray
for the wisdom to follow the intent that is God's will.  Pray that you act in love.  Pray that others will recognize God in you by observing your faith in action.