Daniel's God Is Exalted

Beyond the Present Time
The Kingdom of God
Daniel's Vision of Change

Daniel 6:24-28

The Message

²⁴ Then the king commanded that the conspirators who had informed on Daniel be thrown into the lions’ den, along with their wives and children. Before they hit the floor, the lions had them in their jaws, tearing them to pieces.
^25-27 King Darius published this proclamation to every race, color, and creed on earth:

Peace to you! Abundant peace!
    I decree that Daniel’s God shall be worshiped and feared in all parts of my kingdom.
    He is the living God, world without end. His kingdom never falls.
    His rule continues eternally.
    He is a savior and rescuer.
    He performs astonishing miracles in heaven and on earth.
    He saved Daniel from the power of the lions.

²⁸ From then on, Daniel was treated well during the reign of Darius, and also in the following reign of Cyrus the Persian.

For Reflection

Darius declares that Daniel's God is adapted as an official religion.  Little is known, however, whether Darius would count himself among those obedient to God.  This move brought Daniel into not only God's protection but also the civil protection afforded in Darius' Kingdom.

Does such decree result in converts to God?  Perhaps.  It can be seen as a sort of reverse prohibition.  Yes there was somewhat less drinking during prohibition.  However, the unintended consequence was lawlessness and a growing body of organized criminals.  What would be the untended consequence of an American decree which favors Christianity?  Would Christians fare better in a fully Christian society?  Would such a move advance the Kingdom of God? 

Pray

for those who have not willing or able to accept God's terms for reconciliation.  Pray that all peoples would enjoy the peace and justice of God's compassion.

The Plot Fails

Beyond the Present Time
The Kingdom of God
Daniel's Vision of Change

Daniel 6:11-23

The Message

^11-12 The conspirators came and found him praying, asking God for help. They went straight to the king and reminded him of the royal decree that he had signed. “Did you not,” they said, “sign a decree forbidding anyone to pray to any god or man except you for the next thirty days? And anyone caught doing it would be thrown into the lions’ den?”
“Absolutely,” said the king. “Written in stone, like all the laws of the Medes and Persians.”
¹³ Then they said, “Daniel, one of the Jewish exiles, ignores you, O king, and defies your decree. Three times a day he prays.”
¹⁴ At this, the king was very upset and tried his best to get Daniel out of the fix he’d put him in. He worked at it the whole day long.
¹⁵ But then the conspirators were back: “Remember, O king, it’s the law of the Medes and Persians that the king’s decree can never be changed.”
¹⁶ The king caved in and ordered Daniel brought and thrown into the lions’ den. But he said to Daniel, “Your God, to whom you are so loyal, is going to get you out of this.”
¹⁷ A stone slab was placed over the opening of the den. The king sealed the cover with his signet ring and the signet rings of all his nobles, fixing Daniel’s fate.
¹⁸ The king then went back to his palace. He refused supper. He couldn’t sleep. He spent the night fasting.
^19-20 At daybreak the king got up and hurried to the lions’ den. As he approached the den, he called out anxiously, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve so loyally, saved you from the lions?”
^21-22 “O king, live forever!” said Daniel. “My God sent his angel, who closed the mouths of the lions so that they would not hurt me. I’ve been found innocent before God and also before you, O king. I’ve done nothing to harm you.”
²³ When the king heard these words, he was happy. He ordered Daniel taken up out of the den. When he was hauled up, there wasn’t a scratch on him. He had trusted his God.

For Reflection

It was God who saved Daniel.  It may also have been God who allowed the event to evolve.  God was using the king and the conspirators to set Daniel's credibility.  After this event, no one could deny Daniel's superior God.  To what extent can you trust God to use and protect you as He did Daniel?

Pray

thanking God for your salvation from the terrors of our time. Pray that when faced with your personal lion's den, you will trust that God will make it right.  Pray that God will use you, as he did Daniel, to advance his reign.

The Plot to Undermine Daniel

Beyond the Present Time
The Kingdom of God
Daniel's Vision of Change

Daniel 6:1-10The Message (MSG)

Daniel in the Lions’ Den6 1-3 Darius reorganized his kingdom. He appointed one hundred twenty governors to administer all the parts of his realm. Over them were three vice-regents, one of whom was Daniel. The governors reported to the vice-regents, who made sure that everything was in order for the king. But Daniel, brimming with spirit and intelligence, so completely outclassed the other vice-regents and governors that the king decided to put him in charge of the whole kingdom.
4-5 The vice-regents and governors got together to find some old scandal or skeleton in Daniel’s life that they could use against him, but they couldn’t dig up anything. He was totally exemplary and trustworthy. They could find no evidence of negligence or misconduct. So they finally gave up and said, “We’re never going to find anything against this Daniel unless we can cook up something religious.”
6-7 The vice-regents and governors conspired together and then went to the king and said, “King Darius, live forever! We’ve convened your vice-regents, governors, and all your leading officials, and have agreed that the king should issue the following decree:

For the next thirty days no one is to pray to any god or mortal except you, O king. Anyone who disobeys will be thrown into the lions’ den.

8 “Issue this decree, O king, and make it unconditional, as if written in stone like all the laws of the Medes and the Persians.”
9 King Darius signed the decree.
10 When Daniel learned that the decree had been signed and posted, he continued to pray just as he had always done. His house had windows in the upstairs that opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he knelt there in prayer, thanking and praising his God.

 For Reflection

In the face of conspiratorial opposition, Daniel defies the decree and places himself in jeopardy.  Daniel's courage is grounded in his faith.  Each of us face some situations which test our courage.  Think about those times when you had to choose whether or not you would be true to your faith and put yourself in jeopardy. 

Pray

that you will follow the conviction of your faith.  Pray for the courage and the wisdom to trust in God.  Give thanks to the God who leads you into service in His kingdom.

God Deals with the Mighty

Beyond the Present Time
The Kingdom of God
Daniel's Vision of Change

Daniel 5:13-21The Message

13-16 So Daniel was called in. The king asked him, “Are you the Daniel who was one of the Jewish exiles my father brought here from Judah? I’ve heard about you—that you’re full of the Holy Spirit, that you’ve got a brilliant mind, that you are incredibly wise. The wise men and enchanters were brought in here to read this writing on the wall and interpret it for me. They couldn’t figure it out—not a word, not a syllable. But I’ve heard that you interpret dreams and solve mysteries. So—if you can read the writing and interpret it for me, you’ll be rich and famous—a purple robe, the great gold chain around your neck—and third-in-command in the kingdom.”
17 Daniel answered the king, “You can keep your gifts, or give them to someone else. But I will read the writing for the king and tell him what it means.
18-21 “Listen, O king! The High God gave your father Nebuchadnezzar a great kingdom and a glorious reputation. Because God made him so famous, people from everywhere, whatever their race, color, and creed, were totally intimidated by him. He killed or spared people on whim. He promoted or humiliated people capriciously. He developed a big head and a hard spirit. Then God knocked him off his high horse and stripped him of his fame. He was thrown out of human company, lost his mind, and lived like a wild animal. He ate grass like an ox and was soaked by heaven’s dew until he learned his lesson: that the High God rules human kingdoms and puts anyone he wants in charge.

For Reflection

How are you known?  Are you known, like Daniel, by the way your faith moves you to act?  Are you seen as full of the Holy Spirit?  Are you known by your wisdom that can only be derived by your obedience to God?
It is not the mighty that serve us.  It is only by the hand of God that we are well served. 

Pray

for the hope for human kind found in God's gracious promise.  Pray prayers of thanksgiving for the one God in whom we all can put our trust.  Pray for those mighty in power that they might know the wisdom of living lives in service to God.

Supporting Others in the Faith

Jesus Is Lord
Imitating Jesus
Spiritual Disciplines for a New Life

Colossians 4:7-17The Message 

7-9 My good friend Tychicus will tell you all about me. He’s a trusted minister and companion in the service of the Master. I’ve sent him to you so that you would know how things are with us, and so he could encourage you in your faith. And I’ve sent Onesimus with him. Onesimus is one of you, and has become such a trusted and dear brother! Together they’ll bring you up-to-date on everything that has been going on here.
10-11 Aristarchus, who is in jail here with me, sends greetings; also Mark, cousin of Barnabas (you received a letter regarding him; if he shows up, welcome him); and also Jesus, the one they call Justus. These are the only ones left from the old crowd who have stuck with me in working for God’s kingdom. Don’t think they haven’t been a big help!
12-13 Epaphras, who is one of you, says hello. What a trooper he has been! He’s been tireless in his prayers for you, praying that you’ll stand firm, mature and confident in everything God wants you to do. I’ve watched him closely, and can report on how hard he has worked for you and for those in Laodicea and Hierapolis.
14 Luke, good friend and physician, and Demas both send greetings.
15 Say hello to our friends in Laodicea; also to Nympha and the church that meets in her house.
16 After this letter has been read to you, make sure it gets read also in Laodicea. And get the letter that went to Laodicea and have it read to you.
17 And, oh, yes, tell Archippus, “Do your best in the job you received from the Master. Do your very best.”

For Reflection

Try this (or at least think it through).

Write a letter to your friends or to the church you have attended.  You don't have to send it -- just write it.   Who would you ask the reader(s) to remember for the good wishes they have for others in your circle.  To what extent would you extend God's hospitality to them as Paul has done?  Who in your closest circle of friends would you recommend to them as a faith counselor?   To whom among your friends and acquaintances would you turn for spiritual counsel?

Pray

that would seek to surround yourself with righteous supporters.  Pray that they would have the compassion, conviction and courage to counsel you in the faith.  Pray that all in the fellowship of God would offer mutually support as they grow together in grace. 

Guarding Your Words

Jesus Is Lord
Imitating Jesus
Spiritual Disciplines for a New Life

Ecclesiastes 5:1-6The Message

God’s in Charge, Not You

5 Watch your step when you enter God’s house.
    Enter to learn. That’s far better than mindlessly offering a sacrifice,
        Doing more harm than good.

2 Don’t shoot off your mouth, or speak before you think.
Don’t be too quick to tell God what you think he wants to hear.
God’s in charge, not you—the less you speak, the better.

3 Overwork makes for restless sleep.
Overtalk shows you up as a fool.

4-5 When you tell God you’ll do something, do it—now.
God takes no pleasure in foolish gabble. Vow it, then do it.
Far better not to vow in the first place than to vow and not pay up.

6 Don’t let your mouth make a total sinner of you.
When called to account, you won’t get by with
    “Sorry, I didn’t mean it.”
Why risk provoking God to angry retaliation?

For Reflection

"In the beginning was he word and the word was God."

How important are the words we use?  Our words are sometimes the only reflection of God in us. Others see God in what we say.  How well do you guard your words? How often do your words drive people apart rather than bring them closer together.  How often do you use words to control others rather than to suggest alternatives?  How well do your words preserve the other's right to choose?  How often do your words suggest to others that God's grace and offer of reconciliation is conditional?

Pray

that you will make the words you use consistent with the compassion and justice in God's call to you.

Living in Harmony

Jesus Is Lord
Imitating Jesus
Spiritual Disciplines for a New Life

Romans 15:1-6The Message 

15 1-2 Those of us who are strong and able in the faith need to step in and lend a hand to those who falter, and not just do what is most convenient for us. Strength is for service, not status. Each one of us needs to look after the good of the people around us, asking ourselves, “How can I help?”
3-6 That’s exactly what Jesus did. He didn’t make it easy for himself by avoiding people’s troubles, but waded right in and helped out. “I took on the troubles of the troubled,” is the way Scripture puts it. Even if it was written in Scripture long ago, you can be sure it’s written for us. God wants the combination of his steady, constant calling and warm, personal counsel in Scripture to come to characterize us, keeping us alert for whatever he will do next. May our dependably steady and warmly personal God develop maturity in you so that you get along with each other as well as Jesus gets along with us all. Then we’ll be a choir—not our voices only, but our very lives singing in harmony in a stunning anthem to the God and Father of our Master Jesus!

For Reflection

I hope that when I need a helping hand there will be those compassionate few who will strengthen me.  I hope that when others need support I will have sufficient compassion to assist.

Pray

for the wisdom to help appropriately.  Pray for the God-centered maturity to assist in humility, providing warm personal counsel.  Pray for those who need help but are unwilling to recognize their need. Pray that when you need help you will not be to proud to ask.
Ask God for help.  Pray prayers of thanksgiving for God's constant support.

Living to Please God

Jesus Is Lord
Imitating Jesus
Spiritual Disciplines for a New Life

1 Thessalonians 4:1-12The Message

You’re God-Taught4 1-3 One final word, friends. We ask you—urge is more like it—that you keep on doing what we told you to do to please God, not in a dogged religious plod, but in a living, spirited dance. You know the guidelines we laid out for you from the Master Jesus. God wants you to live a pure life.
Keep yourselves from sexual promiscuity.
4-5 Learn to appreciate and give dignity to your body, not abusing it, as is so common among those who know nothing of God.
6-7 Don’t run roughshod over the concerns of your brothers and sisters. Their concerns are God’s concerns, and he will take care of them. We’ve warned you about this before. God hasn’t invited us into a disorderly, unkempt life but into something holy and beautiful—as beautiful on the inside as the outside.
8 If you disregard this advice, you’re not offending your neighbors; you’re rejecting God, who is making you a gift of his Holy Spirit.
9-10 Regarding life together and getting along with each other, you don’t need me to tell you what to do. You’re God-taught in these matters. Just love one another! You’re already good at it; your friends all over the province of Macedonia are the evidence. Keep it up; get better and better at it.
11-12 Stay calm; mind your own business; do your own job. You’ve heard all this from us before, but a reminder never hurts. We want you living in a way that will command the respect of outsiders, not lying around sponging off your friends.

For Reflection

Dance!  Dance! Dance! Living a life in obedience to God is not drudgery.  It is a way to free you to live an abundant life in witness to the promise of God.

Pray

that you will live a life of dignity.  Pray that you will act in compassion.  Pray that you will dance to God's music.

Devoted to Prayer

Jesus Is Lord
Imitating Jesus
Spiritual Disciplines for a New Life

Acts 1:6-14

The Message 

6 When they were together for the last time they asked, “Master, are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel now? Is this the time?”

7-8 He told them, “You don’t get to know the time. Timing is the Father’s business. What you’ll get is the Holy Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit comes on you, you will be able to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, all over Judea and Samaria, even to the ends of the world.”

9-11 These were his last words. As they watched, he was taken up and disappeared in a cloud. They stood there, staring into the empty sky. Suddenly two men appeared—in white robes! They said, “You Galileans!—why do you just stand here looking up at an empty sky? This very Jesus who was taken up from among you to heaven will come as certainly—and mysteriously—as he left.”
12-13 So they left the mountain called Olives and returned to Jerusalem. It was a little over half a mile. They went to the upper room they had been using as a meeting place:

Peter,
John,
James,
Andrew,
Philip,
Thomas,
Bartholomew,
Matthew,
James, son of Alphaeus,
Simon the Zealot,
Judas, son of James.

14 They agreed they were in this for good, completely together in prayer, the women included. Also Jesus’ mother, Mary, and his brothers.

For Reflection

 We don't know the whole of God's plan.  The promised kingdom will come in God's good time.  Until then, we are to be engaged in witnessing to the promise of a life in obedience to God's call for compassion, justice and peace.  Devotion to prayer is essential to that end.  The Holy Spirit will dwell within us and guide us and prayer is the path to God's will.

Pray

for those things which will enhance your obedience to God's will.  Pray in a way that will help you recognize your dependence upon God and are loved by God.  Pray prayers of thankfulness.  Pray prayers of intercession for the realization of the Kingdom of God.

Living in Gratitude

Jesus Is Lord
Imitating Jesus
Clothe Yourselves with Christ

Psalm 107:1-9The Message (MSG)

107 1-3 Oh, thank God—he’s so good!
    His love never runs out.
All of you set free by God, tell the world!
    Tell how he freed you from oppression,
Then rounded you up from all over the place,
    from the four winds, from the seven seas.

4-9 Some of you wandered for years in the desert,
    looking but not finding a good place to live,
Half-starved and parched with thirst,
    staggering and stumbling, on the brink of exhaustion.
Then, in your desperate condition, you called out to God.
    He got you out in the nick of time;
He put your feet on a wonderful road
    that took you straight to a good place to live.
So thank God for his marvelous love,
    for his miracle mercy to the children he loves.
He poured great draughts of water down parched throats;
    the starved and hungry got plenty to eat.

For Reflection

Not just studying, not just talking, but also, living your life in gratitude to God for all that comes to you through His grace is the greatest gift God could receive from you.

Pray

that you will live your life as a mirror of God's love and holiness and in the morality of Christ.  Pray that you will live free from common worldly practices, advocate for justice, and be a champion of compassion.

Living in Peace

Jesus Is Lord
Imitating Jesus
Clothe Yourselves with Christ

John 14:25-31

The Message 

25-27 “I’m telling you these things while I’m still living with you. The Friend, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send at my request, will make everything plain to you. He will remind you of all the things I have told you. I’m leaving you well and whole. That’s my parting gift to you. Peace. I don’t leave you the way you’re used to being left—feeling abandoned, bereft. So don’t be upset. Don’t be distraught.
28 “You’ve heard me tell you, ‘I’m going away, and I’m coming back.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I’m on my way to the Father because the Father is the goal and purpose of my life.
29-31 “I’ve told you this ahead of time, before it happens, so that when it does happen, the confirmation will deepen your belief in me. I’ll not be talking with you much more like this because the chief of this godless world is about to attack. But don’t worry—he has nothing on me, no claim on me. But so the world might know how thoroughly I love the Father, I am carrying out my Father’s instructions right down to the last detail.
“Get up. Let’s go. It’s time to leave here.”

For Reflection

 As I am writing this, it is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent.  These passages are a revelation of things to come for the disciples.  Religious leaders come and go, but Christ assures us that He will never abandon us.  He will send emissaries to guide and comfort us.  He will prepare a path to follow as we grow in grace.  Godlessness is always on the attack.  With Christ at our side, we need not fear nor succumb to the pressures of this world.  Get up!  It's time to face the world with unbridled courage and compassion.

Pray

thanking God for the gift of his son Jesus.  Thank God for the sacrifice made so that we might see the path to righteousness and grace.

Forgiving as You Were Forgiven

Jesus Is Lord
Imitating Jesus
Clothe Yourselves with Christ

Matthew 18:21-35

The Message 

A Story About Forgiveness21 At that point Peter got up the nerve to ask, “Master, how many times do I forgive a brother or sister who hurts me? Seven?”
22 Jesus replied, “Seven! Hardly. Try seventy times seven.
23-25 “The kingdom of God is like a king who decided to square accounts with his servants. As he got under way, one servant was brought before him who had run up a debt of a hundred thousand dollars. He couldn’t pay up, so the king ordered the man, along with his wife, children, and goods, to be auctioned off at the slave market.
26-27 “The poor wretch threw himself at the king’s feet and begged, ‘Give me a chance and I’ll pay it all back.’ Touched by his plea, the king let him off, erasing the debt.
28 “The servant was no sooner out of the room when he came upon one of his fellow servants who owed him ten dollars. He seized him by the throat and demanded, ‘Pay up. Now!’
29-31 “The poor wretch threw himself down and begged, ‘Give me a chance and I’ll pay it all back.’ But he wouldn’t do it. He had him arrested and put in jail until the debt was paid. When the other servants saw this going on, they were outraged and brought a detailed report to the king.
32-35 “The king summoned the man and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave your entire debt when you begged me for mercy. Shouldn’t you be compelled to be merciful to your fellow servant who asked for mercy?’ The king was furious and put the screws to the man until he paid back his entire debt. And that’s exactly what my Father in heaven is going to do to each one of you who doesn’t forgive unconditionally anyone who asks for mercy.”

For Reflection

When you decide that someone has wronged you to the extent that you cannot forgive him or her, what is accomplished?  Why have you decided not to forgive?

I suspect the decision is about you.  Perhaps because the act or person whom you decide not to forgive has harmed your reputation, or caused you financial or physical harm you can assign blame for your predicament to another.  Sometimes the person for whom forgiveness is withdrawn doesn't even know that he or she has harmed you.

In withdrawing forgiveness one assumes power over the offending person where none actually exists.   This act of asserting power is not an act of compassion.  Forgiveness is the prime act of reconciliation.  Forgiveness is just and compassionate.

Pray

That you faith will lead you to compassionate decision-making.  Pray that you will remember the state of divine forgiveness in which you reside and model that forgiveness in your interactions with others.

Living in Love

Jesus Is Lord
Imitating Jesus
Clothe Yourselves with Christ

1 John 3:10-17

The Message 

9-10 People conceived and brought into life by God don’t make a practice of sin. How could they? God’s seed is deep within them, making them who they are. It’s not in the nature of the God-begotten to practice and parade sin. Here’s how you tell the difference between God’s children and the Devil’s children: The one who won’t practice righteous ways isn’t from God, nor is the one who won’t love brother or sister. A simple test.
11 For this is the original message we heard: We should love each other.
12-13 We must not be like Cain, who joined the Evil One and then killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because he was deep in the practice of evil, while the acts of his brother were righteous. So don’t be surprised, friends, when the world hates you. This has been going on a long time.
14-15 The way we know we’ve been transferred from death to life is that we love our brothers and sisters. Anyone who doesn’t love is as good as dead. Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know very well that eternal life and murder don’t go together.
16-17 This is how we’ve come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves. If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God’s love? It disappears. And you made it disappear.

9-10 People conceived and brought into life by God don’t make a practice of sin. How could they? God’s seed is deep within them, making them who they are. It’s not in the nature of the God-begotten to practice and parade sin. Here’s how you tell the difference between God’s children and the Devil’s children: The one who won’t practice righteous ways isn’t from God, nor is the one who won’t love brother or sister. A simple test.
11 For this is the original message we heard: We should love each other.
12-13 We must not be like Cain, who joined the Evil One and then killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because he was deep in the practice of evil, while the acts of his brother were righteous. So don’t be surprised, friends, when the world hates you. This has been going on a long time.
14-15 The way we know we’ve been transferred from death to life is that we love our brothers and sisters. Anyone who doesn’t love is as good as dead. Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know very well that eternal life and murder don’t go together.
16-17 This is how we’ve come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves. If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God’s love? It disappears. And you made it disappear.

For Reflection

Loving as Christ would have us love is a sacrificial act.  Love is unconditional, no strings attached.  Love expects little in return.  Acting out of love for human kind is selfless.  When we live in love we have no room for hate, no room for jealousy, no room for selfishness.  Living in love means living a life of compassion.

Pray

that you will live a life of compassionate acts.  Pray that you will have the strength to live your life valuing justice and the worth of others.  Pray for the strength to reject cultural expectations of revenge, and power lodged in the domination of others.  Pray that you will serve God by lifting up others.

Setting Aside Doubt

Jesus Is Lord
Imitating Jesus
Clothe Yourself with Christ

Matthew 14:22-33

The Message

Walking on the Water

^22-23 As soon as the meal was finished, he insisted that the disciples get in the boat and go on ahead to the other side while he dismissed the people. With the crowd dispersed, he climbed the mountain so he could be by himself and pray. He stayed there alone, late into the night.

^24-26 Meanwhile, the boat was far out to sea when the wind came up against them and they were battered by the waves. At about four o’clock in the morning, Jesus came toward them walking on the water. They were scared out of their wits. “A ghost!” they said, crying out in terror.
²⁷ But Jesus was quick to comfort them. “Courage, it’s me. Don’t be afraid.”
²⁸ Peter, suddenly bold, said, “Master, if it’s really you, call me to come to you on the water.”
^29-30 He said, “Come ahead.”
Jumping out of the boat, Peter walked on the water to Jesus. But when he looked down at the waves churning beneath his feet, he lost his nerve and started to sink. He cried, “Master, save me!”
³¹ Jesus didn’t hesitate. He reached down and grabbed his hand. Then he said, “Faint-heart, what got into you?”
^32-33 The two of them climbed into the boat, and the wind died down. The disciples in the boat, having watched the whole thing, worshiped Jesus, saying, “This is it! You are God’s Son for sure!”

For Reflection

A large component of faith is confidence.  How confident are you in God's promise to provide?  How often do you let fear control your actions?  Walk with God in confidence and fearlessly.

Pray

that you will have the faith to walk above this world's troubles.  Pray for confidence in the Lord's promise of a just and fufillilng life.  pray that your faith will drive out fear.

Those Who Love God

Jesus Is Lord
Imitating Jesus
The Supremacy of Jesus Christ

Romans 8:26-30

The Message

^26-28 Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That’s why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good.
^29-30 God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him. After God made that decision of what his children should be like, he followed it up by calling people by name. After he called them by name, he set them on a solid basis with himself. And then, after getting them established, he stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what he had begun.

For Reflection

We all suffer.  God suffers with us.  We pray and God prays in and for us.  We all wait, understanding our time.  God waits. His time is not our time.  Wait for God. He is with you.  Take comfort in his presence and in knowing that all hope will be realized.

Pray

for unending hope.  Pray for the confidence in your faith that will carry you through the trials in your life. Pray that you will actively seek the joys in your life to carry you through troubles.  Pray that you will see God transforming all that is in your life to the glory he intends for you.

Those Who Live in the Spirit

Jesus Is Lord
Imitating Jesus
The Supremacy of Jesus Christ

Romans 8:6-11

The Message

^5-8 Those who think they can do it on their own end up obsessed with measuring their own moral muscle but never get around to exercising it in real life. Those who trust God’s action in them find that God’s Spirit is in them—living and breathing God! Obsession with self in these matters is a dead end; attention to God leads us out into the open, into a spacious, free life. Focusing on the self is the opposite of focusing on God. Anyone completely absorbed in self ignores God, ends up thinking more about self than God. That person ignores who God is and what he is doing. And God isn’t pleased at being ignored.
^9-11 But if God himself has taken up residence in your life, you can hardly be thinking more of yourself than of him. Anyone, of course, who has not welcomed this invisible but clearly present God, the Spirit of Christ, won’t know what we’re talking about. But for you who welcome him, in whom he dwells—even though you still experience all the limitations of sin—you yourself experience life on God’s terms. It stands to reason, doesn’t it, that if the alive-and-present God who raised Jesus from the dead moves into your life, he’ll do the same thing in you that he did in Jesus, bringing you alive to himself? When God lives and breathes in you (and he does, as surely as he did in Jesus), you are delivered from that dead life. With his Spirit living in you, your body will be as alive as Christ’s!

For Reflection

Life is full of paradoxes.  It seems the more one focuses on one's self the more difficult it is to discover one's real self.  However, if one focuses on that which is superordinate, or larger than one's self, one finds one's self in it.  I suppose the moral is,  "Take care to invest your self into those things which are worthy of your most valuable asset, your soul.  Investing in what is true, just and laden with compassion always seems to be a most wise choice."

Pray

that you find in your faith in God those things which are true, just and compassionate and which lead to the realization of God's plan for you and for His Kingdom.

Those Who Are in Christ Jesus

Jesus Is Lord
Imitating Jesus
Full Life in Christ

Romans 8:1-5

The Message

The Solution Is Life on God’s Terms

8 ^1-2 With the arrival of Jesus, the Messiah, that fateful dilemma is resolved. Those who enter into Christ’s being-here-for-us no longer have to live under a continuous, low-lying black cloud. A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death.

^3-4 God went for the jugular when he sent his own Son. He didn’t deal with the problem as something remote and unimportant. In his Son, Jesus, he personally took on the human condition, entered the disordered mess of struggling humanity in order to set it right once and for all. The law code, weakened as it always was by fractured human nature, could never have done that.
The law always ended up being used as a Band-Aid on sin instead of a deep healing of it. And now what the law code asked for but we couldn’t deliver is accomplished as we, instead of redoubling our own efforts, simply embrace what the Spirit is doing in us.
^5-8 Those who think they can do it on their own end up obsessed with measuring their own moral muscle but never get around to exercising it in real life.

For Reflection

Command and control, that is what the law is all about.  It is limited by the frailty of human nature and its inherent inability to account for all possible circumstances.  The law is not necessarily about truth and justice.  Rules can some times take a life or their own bearing no resemblance to the real world or even to the rationality for which they were designed.  The law is about punishing violations and violators.  It is not about restoration or the transformation of the human condition.

This is not to say that the law is of no value.  Without law Chaos reigns. However, the law is not effective with out its counterpart, reconciliation.

Pray

that you are obedient not only to the law of God, but also, to the intent of the law.  Pray for the reconciliation of all people to God.  Pray that the wind of transformation in the Lord will blow in to every corner of the universe.

Those Called by God

Jesus Is Lord
Imitating Jesus
The Supremacy of Jesus Christ

Acts 2:37-42

The Message

³⁷ Cut to the quick, those who were there listening asked Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers! Brothers! So now what do we do?”
^38-39 Peter said, “Change your life. Turn to God and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, so your sins are forgiven. Receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is targeted to you and your children, but also to all who are far away—whomever, in fact, our Master God invites.”
⁴⁰ He went on in this vein for a long time, urging them over and over, “Get out while you can; get out of this sick and stupid culture!”
^41-42 That day about three thousand took him at his word, were baptized and were signed up. They committed themselves to the teaching of the apostles, the life together, the common meal, and the prayers.

For Reflection

What more do you need to know to act upon your faith?  In Jesus day the culture was dominated by injustice from the Jewish leaders and Roman conquerors. Wars among the rulers, violent skirmishes among insurrectionists, extreme poverty, vile punishments to keep the conquered people in line and deep hatred among the neighboring cultures were commonplace. 

It is no wonder Peter counseled to get away from this "sick and stupid culture."  Is it so different today?  As Christians we are saved, free to work for justice and peace both individually and as a member of the Kingdom of God.

Pray

that you will not hesitate to heed Gods call to do His work.  Pray that you will live fully in the community of the faithful, share so that no one is wanting for those things basic to human existence, sanctuary, food, shelter, clothing, hope and a sense of self-worth.  Pray for the wisdom and courage to heed the call of God.

Those Touched by Jesus

Jesus Is Lord
Imitating Jesus
The Supremacy of Jesus Christ

Matthew 8:1-4

The Message

He Carried Our Diseases

8 ^1-2 Jesus came down the mountain with the cheers of the crowd still ringing in his ears. Then a leper appeared and went to his knees before Jesus, praying, “Master, if you want to, you can heal my body.”

^3-4 Jesus reached out and touched him, saying, “I want to. Be clean.” Then and there, all signs of the leprosy were gone. Jesus said, “Don’t talk about this all over town. Just quietly present your healed body to the priest, along with the appropriate expressions of thanks to God. Your cleansed and grateful life, not your words, will bear witness to what I have done.”

For Reflection

When we have addressed these passages in past times, the major question raised was, " Why did Jesus not want the leper to talk about this?"  We never quite arrived at a reasonable answer.

Now, it occurs to me that it is not that Jesus wanted the leper not to talk about it.  Jesus wanted others to recognize the change in the leper and ask him about it.  I think Jesus knew that If the leper sought out suitable street corners and shouted out that he had been cured the focus would surely been directed to this physical change and not to his spiritual change.  

Jesus asked of the leper just what he asks of us today.  Live a grateful life as a witness to your spiritual transformation.  Spoken quietly and in humility, the justice and compassion of God's gift will alone be more powerful than a multi-media barrage.

Pray

that your life, lived well in Christ, will scream volumes about the power of the Holy Spirit.  Give thanks and praise for your life; transformed by God's grace.

The Compelling Call of Christ

Jesus Is Lord
Imitating Jesus
The Supremacy of Jesus Christ

Matthew 4:18-25

The Message

^18-20 Walking along the beach of Lake Galilee, Jesus saw two brothers: Simon (later called Peter) and Andrew. They were fishing, throwing their nets into the lake. It was their regular work. Jesus said to them, “Come with me. I’ll make a new kind of fisherman out of you. I’ll show you how to catch men and women instead of perch and bass.” They didn’t ask questions, but simply dropped their nets and followed.
^21-22 A short distance down the beach they came upon another pair of brothers, James and John, Zebedee’s sons. These two were sitting in a boat with their father, Zebedee, mending their fishnets. Jesus made the same offer to them, and they were just as quick to follow, abandoning boat and father.
^23-25 From there he went all over Galilee. He used synagogues for meeting places and taught people the truth of God. God’s kingdom was his theme—that beginning right now they were under God’s government, a good government! He also healed people of their diseases and of the bad effects of their bad lives. Word got around the entire Roman province of Syria. People brought anybody with an ailment, whether mental, emotional, or physical. Jesus healed them, one and all. More and more people came, the momentum gathering. Besides those from Galilee, crowds came from the “Ten Towns” across the lake, others up from Jerusalem and Judea, still others from across the Jordan

For Reflection

Christ called all who would hear, that salvation from political tyranny from dominating governments, dominating religious practices, and dominating cultures that seduced people away from God's intention for his creation had arrived.  Not as expected in yet another domination system, but rather a trans-formative life of healing, justice, and compassion.  It was then, as it is now, a compelling call for freedom, justice, and compassion.

 

Pray

that you will heed Christ's call to a life in obedience to God and dominated by His call to seek healing, justice, and compassion.  Pray that your life reflects the life that is exemplified in the life and death of Jesus Christ.