An Exemplary Faith

A Living Faith
What is Faith?
Faith Calls for Perseverance

1 Thessalonians 1:2-10

The Message

Convictions of Steel

 ^2-5Every time we think of you, we thank God for you. Day and night you're in our prayers as we call to mind your work of faith, your labor of love, and your patience of hope in following our Master, Jesus Christ, before God our Father. It is clear to us, friends, that God not only loves you very much but also has put his hand on you for something special. When the Message we preached came to you, it wasn't just words. Something happened in you. The Holy Spirit put steel in your convictions. ^5-6You paid careful attention to the way we lived among you, and determined to live that way yourselves. In imitating us, you imitated the Master. Although great trouble accompanied the Word, you were able to take great joy from the Holy Spirit!—taking the trouble with the joy, the joy with the trouble.
 ^7-10Do you know that all over the provinces of both Macedonia and Achaia believers look up to you? The word has gotten around. Your lives are echoing the Master's Word, not only in the provinces but all over the place. The news of your faith in God is out. We don't even have to say anything anymore—you're the message! People come up and tell us how you received us with open arms, how you deserted the dead idols of your old life so you could embrace and serve God, the true God. They marvel at how expectantly you await the arrival of his Son, whom he raised from the dead—Jesus, who rescued us from certain doom.

For Reflection

The Thessalonians were known to Paul by their hospitality.  Their hospitality was a result of their faith.  Through faith they demonstrated the visible gift of community.  Have you ever had the experience of visiting a friend after being away for a long time and realized that the relationship was as if you saw them only yesterday?

I think we tend to underestimate the value of fellowship.  We sometimes tend to fill all time and space that we share with our need for delivering messages.  In doing so, do we crowd out the time for the Holy Spirit ?

The Spirit moves in the fellowship of others.  The message, as Paul points out, is not just words. In fellowship, we are the message.

Pray

for the wisdom to experience the joy of each other.  Pray for the Holy Spirit to work in the fellowship of others; to cement the ties of our FAITH.  Pray that all find joy in the midst of their troubles.

An Enduring Faith

A Living Faith
What is Faith?
Faith Calls for Perseverance

Romans 5:1-5

The Message

Developing Patience

 ^1-2By entering through faith into what God has always wanted to do for us—set us right with him, make us fit for him—we have it all together with God because of our Master Jesus. And that's not all: We throw open our doors to God and discover at the same moment that he has already thrown open his door to us. We find ourselves standing where we always hoped we might stand—out in the wide open spaces of God's grace and glory, standing tall and shouting our praise. ^3-5There's more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we're hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we're never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary—we can't round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit!

For Reflection

"Passionate patience,"  how alliterative, how difficult!  Patience is difficult for one waiting for a soldier to return from a dangerous deployment.  Patience is difficult for one who waits for a potential life threatening diagnosis.  Patience is difficult when one waits for a child to return to faithful roots.  Patience is always difficult. 

Stumbling through the fumes of our modern times takes patience.   It is hard to wear the armor of faith.  Even though we stand within the sweet bubble of God's grace, our confidence, commitment and trust is challenged.  Wait. Those who do will never be shortchanged.

Pray

for patience.  Pray that you will be able to endure the pressures for self-reliance and exchange the impossible for the miracle of reliance on God.  Pray to keep your FAITH.

An Examined Faith

A Living Faith
What is Faith?
Faith Calls for Perseverance

2 Corinthians 13:5-10

The Message

 ^5-9Test yourselves to make sure you are solid in the faith. Don't drift along taking everything for granted. Give yourselves regular checkups. You need firsthand evidence, not mere hearsay, that Jesus Christ is in you. Test it out. If you fail the test, do something about it. I hope the test won't show that we have failed. But if it comes to that, we'd rather the test showed our failure than yours. We're rooting for the truth to win out in you. We couldn't possibly do otherwise.
   We don't just put up with our limitations; we celebrate them, and then go on to celebrate every strength, every triumph of the truth in you. We pray hard that it will all come together in your lives.
 ¹⁰I'm writing this to you now so that when I come I won't have to say another word on the subject. The authority the Master gave me is for putting people together, not taking them apart. I want to get on with it, and not have to spend time on reprimands.

For Reflection

What (for you) constitutes a test of faith?

For me, someone with whom I disagree and who is adamant about taking disagreeable action tests my faith.  I fight the tendency to strike in my defense of such untoward action.  Holding my tongue seems almost impossible. Avoiding a death spiral of argument seems inevitable.  I pray for patience.  I wait, boiling inside, but holding by the smallest thread, an aura of calm.

Sometimes, the cooling off period results in my realization that the disagreement is not as important as I once thought after all.  Sometimes, I find the right question that will lead to a negotiated satisfactory settlement.  Sometimes, I just have to suck it up and realize that, for now, the cause is lost.

If I fail, relationships often suffer. and the loser loses more than the argument.  If my winning drives a brother or sister from the fold or does not endear him or her to the cross, what good is being right?

Pray

that in all that you do seek ways to express your confidence in, commitment to, and trust in the Lord that He will make all things right.

A Justifying Faiith

A Living Faith
What is Faith?
Faith Calls for Perseverance

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

What is the difference between "the letter of the law" and "the spirit of the law?"  Is seems that the letter of the law refers to the literal interpretation of rules while the spirit of the law refers to its intent.  What happens when the "letter" and the "spirit" are in conflict?  As Christians, we are confronted with this question daily.  Paul suggests that obeying the letter of the law ensures that others see us as righteous, but, the appearance of righteousness is not always an indication of one's righteousness.  Being righteous is not about rule keeping, but rather, keeping obedience to God which, at times, may not be interpreted by "rule keepers" as righteous.  God calls us to be obedient to the spirit of the law.  He calls us to follow His lead with confidence and trust in His promise with out regard for what others may view as righteous.  Perhaps, in a Christian context, this is what is meant by the phrase, "Keep the faith, baby. Keep the Faith."

Pray

that you will keep the Faith.  Pray that you will have the courage necessary for righteous living.  Pray that you will live a life in confidence and trust in the promise of God.

A Great Faith

A Living Faith
What is Faith?
Faith Calls for Perseverance

Matthew 8:5-13

The Message

 ^5-6As Jesus entered the village of Capernaum, a Roman captain came up in a panic and said, "Master, my servant is sick. He can't walk. He's in terrible pain."
 ⁷Jesus said, "I'll come and heal him."
 ^8-9"Oh, no," said the captain. "I don't want to put you to all that trouble. Just give the order and my servant will be fine. I'm a man who takes orders and gives orders. I tell one soldier, 'Go,' and he goes; to another, 'Come,' and he comes; to my slave, 'Do this,' and he does it."
 ^10-12Taken aback, Jesus said, "I've yet to come across this kind of simple trust in Israel, the very people who are supposed to know all about God and how he works. This man is the vanguard of many outsiders who will soon be coming from all directions—streaming in from the east, pouring in from the west, sitting down at God's kingdom banquet alongside Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Then those who grew up 'in the faith' but had no faith will find themselves out in the cold, outsiders to grace and wondering what happened."
 ¹³Then Jesus turned to the captain and said, "Go. What you believed could happen has happened." At that moment his servant became well.

For Reflection

More than a noun that indicates a set of beliefs, faith is the window to our confidence, conviction and trust.  Our faith is both reflected in our action and reinforced by it. Not only does our faith guide our action, our action influences our faith.  In a real sense what we do cements or undermines our confidence, conviction and trust in God.  The captain's faith in the power, grace and identity of Jesus Christ motivated his expression of confidence in Christ.  This Roman, not of the chosen people, had undeniable faith built on obedience and  firmly rooted to his action.  The congruence of his faith and action will ensure that his confidence, conviction and trust in Christ will not decline.  In a very real sense, for good or for ill, we all become what we do.  What are you doing that keeps you closely aligned with God?

Pray

that your actions lead you to a greater strength in your confidence, conviction and trust in God.  Pray that your action will reflect your obedience to God's will for your life.  Pray for others whose lives are inconsistent with God's will and are caught in downward spiracles of ill-conceived action and spiritual decline.

I Am with You Always

God's Creative Word
God Calls For Justice:  Justice Enacted
God Promised to Be With Us

Matthew 28:16-20

The Message

 ^16-17Meanwhile, the eleven disciples were on their way to Galilee, headed for the mountain Jesus had set for their reunion. The moment they saw him they worshiped him. Some, though, held back, not sure about worship, about risking themselves totally.
 ^18-20Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: "God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I'll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age."

For Reflection

Jesus is the human manifestation of God.  When he says "I will be with you," be assured that God is with you as you fulfill your charge as a disciple of  Christ.

Pray

that you will work for God's justice.  Pray that God's covenant will frame your judgment and hope.  Pray for the restoration of God's desire for a right and just balance of power in this world.  Pray for the realization of God's promise of a covenant of peace.  Pray for the desolate, ashamed and abandoned.  Pray that all will know that the Lord is present in this world.  Pray that all will find God's shalom.  Pray that you will entrust your life to God's promise.

I Am with You

God's Creative Word
God Calls For Justice:  Justice Enacted
God Promised to Be With Us

Haggai 1:7-14

The Message

 ⁷That's why God-of-the-Angel-Armies said:
   "Take a good, hard look at your life.
   Think it over."
 ^8-9Then God said:
   "Here's what I want you to do:
   Climb into the hills and cut some timber.
Bring it down and rebuild the Temple.
   Do it just for me. Honor me.
You've had great ambitions for yourselves,
   but nothing has come of it.
The little you have brought to my Temple
   I've blown away—there was nothing to it.
 ^9-11"And why?" (This is a Message from God-of-the-Angel-Armies, remember.) "Because while you've run around, caught up with taking care of your own houses, my Home is in ruins. That's why. Because of your stinginess. And so I've given you a dry summer and a skimpy crop. I've matched your tight-fisted stinginess by decreeing a season of drought, drying up fields and hills, withering gardens and orchards, stunting vegetables and fruit. Nothing—not man or woman, not animal or crop—is going to thrive."
 ¹²Then the governor, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, and the high priest, Joshua son of Jehozadak, and all the people with them listened, really listened, to the voice of their God. When God sent the prophet Haggai to them, they paid attention to him. In listening to Haggai, they honored God.
 ¹³Then Haggai, God's messenger, preached God's Message to the people: "I am with you!" God's Word.
 ^14-15This is how God got Zerubbabel, Joshua, and all the people moving— got them working on the Temple of God-of-the-Angel-Armies. This happened on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month in the second year of King Darius.

For Reflection

Do you set your most important ambitions on yourself?  Even if your self-centered ambitions have been realized, what of it?  Of human ambition, Carl Sandborg writes in Four Preludes on Playthings of the Wind: 

"It has happened before.  
Strong men put up a city and got  
  a nation together,
And paid singers to sing and women  
  to warble: We are the greatest city,  
    the greatest nation,  
    nothing like us ever was.  
   
And while the singers sang
and the strong men listened  
and paid the singers well  
and felt good about it all,  
  there were rats and lizards who listened  
  … and the only listeners left now
  … are … the rats … and the lizards."

Mankind's ambition is selfish and results in dust, to be blown away in the slightest wind. God's ambition results in substance. Is your ambition aligned with God's ambition? 

"And the wind shifts and the dust on a door sill shifts and even the writing of the rat footprints tells us nothing, nothing at all about the greatest city, the greatest nation where the strong men listened and the women warbled: Nothing like us ever was."

Pray

that you are not carried away into selfish ambitions.  Pray that you will be aligned with God's intent for your life.  Pray that the consequence  of your life is not shifting dust. 

I AM Has Sent Me

God's Creative Word
God Calls For Justice:  Justice Enacted
God Promised to Be With Us

Exodus 3:9-15

The Message

 ^9-10 "The Israelite cry for help has come to me, and I've seen for myself how cruelly they're being treated by the Egyptians. It's time for you to go back: I'm sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people, the People of Israel, out of Egypt."
 ¹¹ Moses answered God, "But why me? What makes you think that I could ever go to Pharaoh and lead the children of Israel out of Egypt?"
 ¹² "I'll be with you," God said. "And this will be the proof that I am the one who sent you: When you have brought my people out of Egypt, you will worship God right here at this very mountain."
 ¹³ Then Moses said to God, "Suppose I go to the People of Israel and I tell them, 'The God of your fathers sent me to you'; and they ask me, 'What is his name?' What do I tell them?"
 ¹⁴ God said to Moses, "I-AM-WHO-I-AM. Tell the People of Israel, 'I-AM sent me to you.'"
 ¹⁵ God continued with Moses: "This is what you're to say to the Israelites: 'God, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob sent me to you.' This has always been my name, and this is how I always will be known.

For Reflection

I AM! 

God declares self-existence.  God is the universe and the universe is God.  The universe is the  Word and the Word is God!  God is the ultimate reference for our speech. If we speak of the atom we speak of God.  If we speak of each other we speak of God.  Accepting God is being obedient to the will of the universe.  If we work in obedience to God's will we are aligned with the power of the universe, God.
In obedience to God, know that God is by your side. 

Pray

that you will have confidence that God is with you.  Pray that you, like Moses, will lead others into God's promise.

I Will Be with You

God's Creative Word
God Calls For Justice:  Justice Enacted
God Promised to Be With Us

Genesis 28:10-17

The Message

^10-12 Jacob left Beersheba and went to Haran. He came to a certain place and camped for the night since the sun had set. He took one of the stones there, set it under his head and lay down to sleep. And he dreamed: A stairway was set on the ground and it reached all the way to the sky; angels of God were going up and going down on it.
 ^13-15 Then God was right before him, saying, "I am God, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. I'm giving the ground on which you are sleeping to you and to your descendants. Your descendants will be as the dust of the Earth; they'll stretch from west to east and from north to south. All the families of the Earth will bless themselves in you and your descendants. Yes. I'll stay with you, I'll protect you wherever you go, and I'll bring you back to this very ground. I'll stick with you until I've done everything I promised you."
 ^16-17 Jacob woke up from his sleep. He said, "God is in this place—truly. And I didn't even know it!" He was terrified. He whispered in awe, "Incredible. Wonderful. Holy. This is God's House. This is the Gate of Heaven."

      from the River to the Rim.

For Reflection

Since humankind first walked the Earth, God has protected them.  He singled out Israel as an example of the result of reconciliation to God and promised blessings to them.  In spite of their disobedience to Him, God never abandoned them.  God will not abandon you.  Reconciling humankind to Him, is God's just cause. He sacrificed Himself for that end. He calls each one of us to sacrifice in His name for justice and reconciliation. We are the sheep of his pasture and all who are obedient to him shepherds to the unreconciled.

Pray

that you will be obedient to God's call for justice and reconciliation.  Pray that you will have to courage to act on God's call for action.  Pray that you will be willing to face the rejection of those who are afraid to shed the conventional wisdom of this world and reject God's call into His Kingdom.

The Lord is My Shepherd

God's Creative Word
God Calls For Justice:  Justice Enacted
God Promised to Be with Us

Psalm 23

The Message

A David Psalm

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

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

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

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

For Reflection

This version sure sounds different.  But, this language does something important.  It makes this beloved psalm sound contemporary.  Too often old biblical language allows one to discount or at best misinterpret  the meaning of biblical passages.

Those who follow Christ make a great sacrifice.  They are different from the world.  They renounce property, happiness, rights, honor, violence and even their own righteousness in favor of humility.  In this, Christians are offensive to the world.  Christians will suffer for a just cause.

This psalm confirms the protection God offers to those who have committed themselves to Him and, therefore, suffer as one of His disciples.  How well are you prepared to suffer in God's name for a just cause? 

Pray

that you will have the wisdom to discern a God-driven just cause.  Pray for the courage to suffer for a just cause.  Listen to the Lord. Let Him send you in the right direction.

The Gracious and Righteous Lord

God's Creative Word
God Calls For Justice:  Justice Enacted
Praise for God's Justice

Psalm 116:5-19

The Message

    I love God because he listened to me, listened as I begged for mercy.
   He listened so intently
      as I laid out my case before him.
   Death stared me in the face,
      hell was hard on my heels.
   Up against it, I didn't know which way to turn;
      then I called out to God for help:
   "Please, God!" I cried out.
      "Save my life!"
   God is gracious—it is he who makes things right,
      our most compassionate God.
   God takes the side of the helpless;
      when I was at the end of my rope, he saved me.

 ^7-8 I said to myself, "Relax and rest.
      God has showered you with blessings.
      Soul, you've been rescued from death;
      Eye, you've been rescued from tears;
      And you, Foot, were kept from stumbling."

 ^9-11 I'm striding in the presence of God,
      alive in the land of the living!
   I stayed faithful, though bedeviled,
      and despite a ton of bad luck,
   Despite giving up on the human race,
      saying, "They're all liars and cheats."

 ^12-19 What can I give back to God
      for the blessings he's poured out on me?
   I'll lift high the cup of salvation—a toast to God!
      I'll pray in the name of God;
   I'll complete what I promised God I'd do,
      and I'll do it together with his people.
   When they arrive at the gates of death,
      God welcomes those who love him.
   Oh, God, here I am, your servant,
      your faithful servant: set me free for your service!
   I'm ready to offer the thanksgiving sacrifice
      and pray in the name of God.
   I'll complete what I promised God I'd do,
      and I'll do it in company with his people,
   In the place of worship, in God's house,
      in Jerusalem, God's city.
   Hallelujah!

For Reflection

What can you give back to God?  Make a list.  Do it! Make a prayer.  Toast to God.  Complete a promise to God. 

Pray

thanking God for all that he has done for you.  Thank God for His protection.  Thank Him for His blessings.  Thank him for His sacrifice.  Thank Him for listening to you.  Thank Him for helping you to stay faithful.  Sing Hallelujah!

The Lord Loves Righteousness and Justice

God's Creative Word
God Calls For Justice:  Justice Enacted
Praise for God's Justice

Psalm 33:1-5

The Message

    Good people, cheer God! Right-living people sound best when praising.
   Use guitars to reinforce your Hallelujahs!
      Play his praise on a grand piano!
   Invent your own new song to him;
      give him a trumpet fanfare.

 ^4-5 For God's Word is solid to the core;
      everything he makes is sound inside and out.
   He loves it when everything fits,
      when his world is in plumb-line true.
   Earth is drenched
      in God's affectionate satisfaction.

For Reflection

To some praise comes easy.  For others it is and uncomfortable display of emotion, an out of control experience.  Praise is lively. Praise is a release of emotional commitment.  Praise is a loud applause.  If you applaud an athletic or artful performance you can also lift applause to God.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPtpPz8fxwk&feature=related

Pray

Praise God with beautiful noise.  Sing songs of praise (even if it is only in your head!)

The Righteous Will Flourish

God Calls For Justice:  Justice Enacted
Praise for God's Justice

Proverbs 11:27-31

The Message

 ²⁷ The one who seeks good finds delight;
   the student of evil becomes evil.

 ²⁸ A life devoted to things is a dead life, a stump;
   a God-shaped life is a flourishing tree.

 ²⁹ Exploit or abuse your family, and end up with a fistful of air;
   common sense tells you it's a stupid way to live.

 ³⁰ A good life is a fruit-bearing tree;
   a violent life destroys souls.

 ³¹ If good people barely make it,
   what's in store for the bad!

For Reflection

How do we learn about each other?  Mostly by what we say, what we do and what is said about us.  Our reputation is our most important asset.  It is, however, completely our of our control.  How do we develop a good reputation?  Only one way.  Seek good and live a God-shaped life.  We become what we hope for.  Pray for and hope for a righteous life filled with delight in goodness.  Even if you barely make it, you have done well!  It is not about how well you pray. It is about the fact that you pray.  The grace of God will assure you even if you barely make it

Pray

for a righteous life.  Confess your weaknesses.  Conform your life to your belief in the righteousness of God.  Pray for the saving grace of God to deliver you from your own short comings.

God's Children Now

1 John 2:28-3:3

The Message

Live Deeply in Christ

 ²⁸And now, children, stay with Christ. Live deeply in Christ. Then we'll be ready for him when he appears, ready to receive him with open arms, with no cause for red-faced guilt or lame excuses when he arrives. ²⁹Once you're convinced that he is right and righteous, you'll recognize that all who practice righteousness are God's true children.

1 John 3

 ¹ What marvelous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it—we're called children of God! That's who we really are. But that's also why the world doesn't recognize us or take us seriously, because it has no idea who he is or what he's up to. ^2-3But friends, that's exactly who we are: children of God. And that's only the beginning. Who knows how we'll end up! What we know is that when Christ is openly revealed, we'll see him—and in seeing him, become like him. All of us who look forward to his Coming stay ready, with the glistening purity of Jesus' life as a model for our own.

For Reflection

What is difference between a follower, a believer and a disciple?  A follower shows interest.  A believer shows commitment.  A disciple acts on his interest and belief.  Are you a disciple?

Pray

that you will become disciples of Christ.  Pray that you will strive to live a life consistent with your place in the hollow of God's hand.

Pursue Righteousness

God's Creative Word
God Calls For Justice:  Justice Enacted
Praise for God's Justice

1 Timothy 6:11-16

The Message

Running Hard

 ^11-12But you, Timothy, man of God: Run for your life from all this. Pursue a righteous life—a life of wonder, faith, love, steadiness, courtesy. Run hard and fast in the faith. Seize the eternal life, the life you were called to, the life you so fervently embraced in the presence of so many witnesses. ^13-16I'm charging you before the life-giving God and before Christ, who took his stand before Pontius Pilate and didn't give an inch: Keep this command to the letter, and don't slack off. Our Master, Jesus Christ, is on his way. He'll show up right on time, his arrival guaranteed by the Blessed and Undisputed Ruler, High King, High God. He's the only one death can't touch, his light so bright no one can get close. He's never been seen by human eyes—human eyes can't take him in! Honor to him, and eternal rule! Oh, yes.

For Reflection

Run from the tyranny and corruption of our time.  Pursue a righteous life.  What is a righteous life?  It is one filled with wonder, faith, love, steadiness and courtesy.  It is a life lived in hospitality.  Where do you find this life?  Look into the life of Christ.  How do I gain the wisdom to live such a life?  Look into the scriptures, pray and listen for the word of God.  Where do I get the courage to live such a life?  Sustain a strong faith in God and trust in His promise.

Pray

that you will find a life full of wonder, faith, love, steadiness and courtesy.  Pray for the wisdom and courage to live a righteous life. Dream of and hope for righteousness.

The Light of the World

God's Creative Word
God Calls For Justice:  Justice Enacted
Praise for God's Justice

John 8:12-19

The Message (MSG)

You're Missing God in All This

 ¹²Jesus once again addressed them: "I am the world's Light. No one who follows me stumbles around in the darkness. I provide plenty of light to live in."  ¹³The Pharisees objected, "All we have is your word on this. We need more than this to go on."
 ^14-18Jesus replied, "You're right that you only have my word. But you can depend on it being true. I know where I've come from and where I go next. You don't know where I'm from or where I'm headed. You decide according to what you can see and touch. I don't make judgments like that. But even if I did, my judgment would be true because I wouldn't make it out of the narrowness of my experience but in the largeness of the One who sent me, the Father. That fulfills the conditions set down in God's Law: that you can count on the testimony of two witnesses. And that is what you have: You have my word and you have the word of the Father who sent me."
 ¹⁹They said, "Where is this so-called Father of yours?"
   Jesus said, "You're looking right at me and you don't see me. How do you expect to see the Father? If you knew me, you would at the same time know the Father."

For Reflection

When do you look but not see?  When do you hear but not listen? What do you touch but do not feel?  What do you taste but do not savor?   

Father, Son, and Spirit; three distinct and equal entities that are consubstantial, one and the same.  To experience one is to experience all.  To understand Jesus is to understand the Father and the Spirit.  God is beyond what we can see, hear, feel, smell and touch.  Since we are limited by our five senses, we are limited in understanding God who is unlimited.  What lies beyond we can understand is known only through faith.  Faith is fueled by confidence in God.  "Where is the evidence?" you ask. Wrong question!

Pray

that you will live your life in faith.  Pray that you will seek the face of God in his creation.  Pray that you will look and see, taste and savor, hear and listen, touch and feel. the abiding love that is God.

If We Confess Our Sins

God's Creative Word
God Calls For Justice:  Justice Enacted
Praise for God's Justice

1 John 1:5-9

The Message

Walk in the Light

 ⁵This, in essence, is the message we heard from Christ and are passing on to you: God is light, pure light; there's not a trace of darkness in him. ^6-7If we claim that we experience a shared life with him and continue to stumble around in the dark, we're obviously lying through our teeth—we're not living what we claim. But if we walk in the light, God himself being the light, we also experience a shared life with one another, as the sacrificed blood of Jesus, God's Son, purges all our sin.
 ^8-10If we claim that we're free of sin, we're only fooling ourselves. A claim like that is errant nonsense. On the other hand, if we admit our sins—make a clean breast of them—he won't let us down; he'll be true to himself. He'll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing. If we claim that we've never sinned, we out-and-out contradict God—make a liar out of him. A claim like that only shows off our ignorance of God.

For Reflection

Put your money where your mouth is!  In spite of the devotion that we may profess, or for that matter, practice, we can not achieve perfection.  We are imperfect creatures. How could we be so arrogant to believe otherwise?  Confession is is a practice best suited for living in grace. Only when we recognize our faults can we take that first step toward repentance.  Only by confession and repentance can we entreat God's mercy.

Pray

confessing your sins to God.  Ask for His forgiveness. Pray to receive His cleansing grace and mercy.

Take Your Stand

God's Creative Word
God Calls For Justice:  Justice Enacted
Praise for God's Justice

1 Samuel 12:6-16

The Message

 ^6-8 And the people said, "He is witness."
    Samuel continued, "This is the God who made Moses and Aaron your leaders and brought your ancestors out of Egypt. Take your stand before him now as I review your case before God in the light of all the righteous ways in which God has worked with you and your ancestors. When Jacob's sons entered Egypt, the Egyptians made life hard for them and they cried for help to God. God sent Moses and Aaron, who led your ancestors out of Egypt and settled them here in this place.
 ⁹ "They soon forgot their God, so he sold them off to Sisera, commander of Hazor's army, later to a hard life under the Philistines, and still later to the king of Moab. They had to fight for their lives.
 ¹⁰ "Then they cried for help to God. They confessed, 'We've sinned! We've gone off and left God and worshiped the fertility gods and goddesses of Canaan. Oh, deliver us from the brutalities of our enemies and we'll worship you alone.'
 ¹¹ "So God sent Jerub-Baal (Gideon), Bedan (Barak), Jephthah, and Samuel. He saved you from that hard life surrounded by enemies, and you lived in peace.
 ¹² "But when you saw Nahash, king of the Ammonites, preparing to attack you, you said to me, 'No more of this. We want a king to lead us.' And God was already your king!
 ^13-15 "So here's the king you wanted, the king you asked for. God has let you have your own way, given you a king. If you fear God, worship and obey him, and don't rebel against what he tells you. If both you and your king follow God, no problem. God will be sure to save you. But if you don't obey him and rebel against what he tells you, king or no king, you will fare no better than your fathers.
 ^16-17 "Pay attention! Watch this wonder that God is going to perform before you now! It's summer, as you well know, and the rainy season is over. But I'm going to pray to God. He'll send thunder and rain, a sign to convince you of the great wrong you have done to God by asking for a king."

For Reflection

Judgment and mercy are common strategies that God uses to discipline his people and influence their obedience to Him.  Time and time again God's people succumb to the temptation of taking matters into their own hands. How about you? On whom do you rely?  Who is your commander-in-chief? 

Pray

for mercy when you begin to think that you alone can handle your troubles.  Pray that you understand the judgment God delivers when you forget whom you serve.  Pray for the courage to let god deliver you from temptation to be only self-reliant.  Pray for the patience to rely on God.

Before God in Our Guilt

God's Creative Word
God Calls For Justice:  Justice Enacted
Praise for God's Justice

Ezra 9:10-15

The Message

 ^10-12 "And now, our God, after all this what can we say for ourselves? For we have thrown your commands to the wind, the commands you gave us through your servants the prophets. They told us, 'The land you're taking over is a polluted land, polluted with the obscene vulgarities of the people who live there; they've filled it with their moral rot from one end to the other. Whatever you do, don't give your daughters in marriage to their sons nor marry your sons to their daughters. Don't cultivate their good opinion; don't make over them and get them to like you so you can make a lot of money and build up a tidy estate to hand down to your children.'
 ^13-15 "And now this, on top of all we've already suffered because of our evil ways and accumulated guilt, even though you, dear God, punished us far less than we deserved and even went ahead and gave us this present escape. Yet here we are, at it again, breaking your commandments by intermarrying with the people who practice all these obscenities! Are you angry to the point of wiping us out completely, without even a few stragglers, with no way out at all? You are the righteous God of Israel. We are, right now, a small band of escapees. Look at us, openly standing here, guilty before you. No one can last long like this."

For Reflection

What kind of advice is this for living in our modern world?  Does it really call for separating ourselves in some cult-like way from the temptations of modern culture?

Not necessarily, but, we do live in a polluted land full of obscene vulgarities.  Corruption of morality abound just as they always have.  If taken metaphorically, the advice against intermarriage is potent.  When we accept or rationalize even minor amoralities we succumb to the tyranny of common wisdom.  God-centered wisdom is sometimes challenged by cultural-centered wisdom.  How do you tell the difference?  When the option to choose God-centered wisdom is difficult, how do you respond?  How married are you to cultural wisdom?

Pray

that you will have the wisdom and courage to live in this world and not to be corrupted by it.  Pray for God-centered wisdom so you may live righteously in the light of God's grace.

Shadowed Times and Hard Hearts

God's Creative Word
God Calls For Justice:  Justice Enacted
Praise for God's Justice

Exodus 9:27-35

The Message

 ^27-28 Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron. He said, "I've sinned for sure this time—God is in the right and I and my people are in the wrong. Pray to God. We've had enough of God's thunder and hail. I'll let you go. The sooner you're out of here the better."
 ^29-30 Moses said, "As soon as I'm out of the city, I'll stretch out my arms to God. The thunder will stop and the hail end so you'll know that the land is God's land. Still, I know that you and your servants have no respect for God."
 ^31-32 (The flax and the barley were ruined, for they were just ripening, but the wheat and spelt weren't hurt—they ripen later.)
 ³³ Moses left Pharaoh and the city and stretched out his arms to God. The thunder and hail stopped; the storm cleared.
 ^34-35 But when Pharaoh saw that the rain and hail and thunder had stopped, he kept right on sinning, stubborn as ever, both he and his servants. Pharaoh's heart turned rock-hard. He refused to release the Israelites, as God had ordered through Moses.

For Reflection

These were shadowed times.  Moses has realized that he and the Israelites have been disobedient.  In an attempt to reconcile his people to God, Moses confesses his sins and entreats a sign of God's mercy to all the people.  Pharaoh, however, was not influenced by God's sign.  He maintained separation from God, sinning and becoming even more committed to his ways.
Judgments and Mercy's, punishments and rewards -- all are forms of coercion.  Some people respond in repentance while others remain unrepentant.  What do you suppose leads to one's confirmation of sin when consequences of judgment and mercy are obvious?

Pray

that having experienced God's judgment and mercy you respond in repentance.  Pray that you remain faithful to your commitments in God's covenant.

Love Good and Establish Justice

God's Creative Word
God Calls For Justice:  Justice Enacted
Praise for God's Justice

Amos 5:8-15

The Message

Raw Truth Is Never Popular

 ^7-9 Woe to you who turn justice to vinegar
   and stomp righteousness into the mud.
Do you realize where you are? You're in a cosmos
   star-flung with constellations by God,
A world God wakes up each morning
   and puts to bed each night.
God dips water from the ocean
   and gives the land a drink.
   God, God-revealed, does all this.
And he can destroy it as easily as make it.
   He can turn this vast wonder into total waste. ^10-12People hate this kind of talk.
   Raw truth is never popular.
But here it is, bluntly spoken:
   Because you run roughshod over the poor
   and take the bread right out of their mouths,
You're never going to move into
   the luxury homes you have built.
You're never going to drink wine
   from the expensive vineyards you've planted.
I know precisely the extent of your violations,
   the enormity of your sins. Appalling!
You bully right-living people,
   taking bribes right and left and kicking the poor when they're down.
 ¹³Justice is a lost cause. Evil is epidemic.
   Decent people throw up their hands.
Protest and rebuke are useless,
   a waste of breath.
 ¹⁴Seek good and not evil—
   and live!
You talk about God, the God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
   being your best friend.
Well, live like it,
   and maybe it will happen.
 ¹⁵Hate evil and love good,
   then work it out in the public square.
Maybe God, the God-of-the-Angel-Armies,
   will notice your remnant and be gracious.

For Reflection

Those who do not speak out, those who do not act, and those who turn a blind eye to injustice are as sinful as those who practice injustice.  let your God guide your participation in His justice.

Pray

that you will pray frequently.  Pray that you will listen to God's wisdom.  Pray that you will rise to the opportunities to influence justice.

God Will Grant Justice

God's Creative Word
God Calls For Justice:  Justice Enacted
Praise for God's Justice

Luke 18:1-8

The Message

The Story of the Persistent Widow

 ^1-3Jesus told them a story showing that it was necessary for them to pray consistently and never quit. He said, "There was once a judge in some city who never gave God a thought and cared nothing for people. A widow in that city kept after him: 'My rights are being violated. Protect me!' ^4-5"He never gave her the time of day. But after this went on and on he said to himself, 'I care nothing what God thinks, even less what people think. But because this widow won't quit badgering me, I'd better do something and see that she gets justice—otherwise I'm going to end up beaten black-and-blue by her pounding.'"
 ^6-8Then the Master said, "Do you hear what that judge, corrupt as he is, is saying? So what makes you think God won't step in and work justice for his chosen people, who continue to cry out for help? Won't he stick up for them? I assure you, he will. He will not drag his feet. But how much of that kind of persistent faith will the Son of Man find on the earth when he returns?"

For Reflection

Doesn't it surprise you that God will use us, corrupt, imperfect human beings as we are, to his perfect and just ends?  I know I am always surprised by how God works in our lives.

Pray

that you will look for God even in the most unlikely places.  Pray that you will give your self to God so that He may use you for his just ends.

God's Continual Guidance

God's Creative Word
God Calls For Justice:  Justice Enacted
Praise for God's Justice

Isaiah 58:9-14

The Message

 ^6-9"This is the kind of fast day I'm after:
   to break the chains of injustice,
   get rid of exploitation in the workplace,
   free the oppressed,
   cancel debts.
What I'm interested in seeing you do is:
   sharing your food with the hungry,
   inviting the homeless poor into your homes,
   putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad,
   being available to your own families.
Do this and the lights will turn on,
   and your lives will turn around at once.
Your righteousness will pave your way.
   The God of glory will secure your passage.
Then when you pray, God will answer.
   You'll call out for help and I'll say, 'Here I am.'

A Full Life in the Emptiest of Places

 ^9-12"If you get rid of unfair practices,
   quit blaming victims,
   quit gossiping about other people's sins,
If you are generous with the hungry
   and start giving yourselves to the down-and-out,
Your lives will begin to glow in the darkness,
   your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight.
I will always show you where to go.
   I'll give you a full life in the emptiest of places—
   firm muscles, strong bones.
You'll be like a well-watered garden,
   a gurgling spring that never runs dry.
You'll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew,
   rebuild the foundations from out of your past.
You'll be known as those who can fix anything,
   restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate,
   make the community livable again. ^13-14"If you watch your step on the Sabbath
   and don't use my holy day for personal advantage,
If you treat the Sabbath as a day of joy,
   God's holy day as a celebration,
If you honor it by refusing 'business as usual,'
   making money, running here and there—
Then you'll be free to enjoy God!
   Oh, I'll make you ride high and soar above it all.
I'll make you feast on the inheritance of your ancestor Jacob."
   Yes! God says so!

For Reflection

Last Sunday was a service of hymn singing, a service devoted to praise.  We don't do this often, so, when we have a Sunday of praise, it is special, a day of celebration, not "business as usual."  Also last Sunday a news commentator spoke of America's growing poor population and our reluctance to support programs for the poor because of a growing pressure to cut government expenditures.

Perhaps our churches need to take a hint from Isaiah. Treat the Sabbath as a day of Joy, celebrating God and spend the intervening time ministering to the poor and take up the slack where the poor have little assistance and are in need of sanctuary.  Christian hospitality can break the chains of injustice.

Pray

that you will dedicate your life to fulfilling God's call to break the chains of injustice.  Pray that you will approach God's work in humility offering hospitality to all.