A Day of Rest

Toward a New Creation
Judgment and Salvation

The Day of the Lord

Exodus 16:25-30  The Message

^25-26 Moses said, “Now eat it; this is the day, a Sabbath for God. You won’t find any of it on the ground today. Gather it every day for six days, but the seventh day is Sabbath; there won’t be any of it on the ground.”
²⁷ On the seventh day, some of the people went out to gather anyway but they didn’t find anything.
^28-29 God said to Moses, “How long are you going to disobey my commands and not follow my instructions? Don’t you see that God has given you the Sabbath? So on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. So, each of you, stay home. Don’t leave home on the seventh day.”
³⁰ So the people quit working on the seventh day.

For Reflection

It seems that it is God's intention that we rest from our labors.  God provides for us.  Life does not seem to mean that we work endlessly.  The day of rest is one of recreation.  It is a time of reflection on God's bounty and relief from the pressures of human existence.  God intends that we trust in God to provide.  The day of rest celebrate the freedom we enjoy living in the hollow of God's hand.

Pray

that you will take time to reflect on God's blessings.  Pray that you will give your worries and concerns to God.  Pray for the confidence in God so that you may rest and be restored and be freed from the pressures of survival to enjoy life and recognize the blessings from your creator.

A Day of Celebration

Toward a New Creation
Judgment and Salvation

The Day of the Lord

Exodus 23:14-19  The Message

¹⁴ “Three times a year you are to hold a festival for me.

¹⁵ “Hold the spring Festival of Unraised Bread when you eat unraised bread for seven days at the time set for the month of Abib, as I commanded you. That was the month you came out of Egypt. No one should show up before me empty-handed.
¹⁶ “Hold the summer Festival of Harvest when you bring in the firstfruits of all your work in the fields.
“Hold the autumn Festival of Ingathering at the end of the season when you bring in the year’s crops.
¹⁷ “Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Master, God.

¹⁸ “Don’t offer the blood of a sacrifice to me with anything that has yeast in it.

“Don’t leave the fat from my festival offering out overnight.
¹⁹ “Bring the choice first produce of the year to the house of your God.
“Don’t boil a kid in its mother’s milk.

For Reflection

We struggle with the conviction to be active in establishing the Kingdom on Earth.  We can hardly think of how to be part of God's Kingdom without considering the "will of God."  We pray "..thy will be done."  However, we struggle with the particulars of God's will.  How specific should we apply our assumptions about God's will?  Is it God's will that I should marry,  take this job, or experience this illness?  Or are questions of God's will better understood as God's hope and aspirations for human kind?  Or both?

Clearly in these passages it is God's will that we celebrate our relationship to God through specific rituals which which emphasize our joyful dependence upon God's benevolence.  Is it God's will that we celebrate God and recognize God's sovereignty?

Pray

that you will seek to understand God's will for your life.  Pray for the realization of God's Kingdom on Earth.

Connected Faith

The Gift of Faith
Restorative Faith


Joyous Faith

John 15:1-15  The Message

The Vine and the Branches

15 ^1-3 “I am the Real Vine and my Father is the Farmer. He cuts off every branch of me that doesn’t bear grapes. And every branch that is grape-bearing he prunes back so it will bear even more. You are already pruned back by the message I have spoken.

⁴ “Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can’t bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can’t bear fruit unless you are joined with me.
^5-8 “I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. This is how my Father shows who he is—when you produce grapes, when you mature as my disciples.
^9-10 “I’ve loved you the way my Father has loved me. Make yourselves at home in my love. If you keep my commands, you’ll remain intimately at home in my love. That’s what I’ve done—kept my Father’s commands and made myself at home in his love.
^11-15 “I’ve told you these things for a purpose: that my joy might be your joy, and your joy wholly mature. This is my command: Love one another the way I loved you. This is the very best way to love. Put your life on the line for your friends. You are my friends when you do the things I command you. I’m no longer calling you servants because servants don’t understand what their master is thinking and planning. No, I’ve named you friends because I’ve let you in on everything I’ve heard from the Father.

For Reflection

How do you stay connected to Christ?  How do you maintain the love of the Father in your soul? 

We make ourselves connected to Christ, God and each other, through study,  fellowship, and prayer.  These three things are essential to making one's self at home in the Lord.

Pray

that you will study your faith, discuss it in the fellowship of others, and above all pray often.  Pray so that you might become one with the Father, the Son and the Spirit.

Sending Faith

The Gift of Faith
Restorative Faith


Joyous Faith

3 John 2-8  The Message

^1-4 The Pastor, to my good friend Gaius: How truly I love you! We’re the best of friends, and I pray for good fortune in everything you do, and for your good health—that your everyday affairs prosper, as well as your soul! I was most happy when some friends arrived and brought the news that you persist in following the way of Truth. Nothing could make me happier than getting reports that my children continue diligently in the way of Truth!

Model the Good

^5-8 Dear friend, when you extend hospitality to Christian brothers and sisters, even when they are strangers, you make the faith visible. They’ve made a full report back to the church here, a message about your love. It’s good work you’re doing, helping these travelers on their way, hospitality worthy of God himself! They set out under the banner of the Name, and get no help from unbelievers. So they deserve any support we can give them. In providing meals and a bed, we become their companions in spreading the Truth.

For Reflection

One cannot hide one's faith, or for that matter, lack of faith.  One's faith is a fundamental guiding influence on what we do.  That principle will always be visible to the discerning person.  Make sure that the prime guiding principle of your life is found in the WAY.

Pray

That you will make every effort to develop a consistent principle of love, justice, forgiveness, and compassion.  Pray so that your relationship with God grows more and more intimate.

Fruitful Faith

The Gift of Faith
Restorative Faith


Joyous Faith

Galatians 5:19-26  The Message

^19-21 It is obvious what kind of life develops out of trying to get your own way all the time: repetitive, loveless, cheap sex; a stinking accumulation of mental and emotional garbage; frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community. I could go on.

This isn’t the first time I have warned you, you know. If you use your freedom this way, you will not inherit God’s kingdom.
^22-23 But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.
^23-24 Legalism is helpless in bringing this about; it only gets in the way. Among those who belong to Christ, everything connected with getting our own way and mindlessly responding to what everyone else calls necessities is killed off for good—crucified.
^25-26 Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives. That means we will not compare ourselves with each other as if one of us were better and another worse. We have far more interesting things to do with our lives. Each of us is an original.

For Reflection

I had a running argument with a lawyer in one of my Sunday school classes many years ago.  It involved planning.  He, the lawyer, contended that unless one planned for all contingencies one was not in control of one's own fate.  I responded, each time, by saying. "I made a plan once.  God laughed!"

Sarcastic?  Yes, that was the fun in it.  However, one can never plan for all contingencies.  There are too many unknowns and unknowables to mess up the best plan.  I concede that if one must plan, one must plan loosely so that he or she is not so tied to a plan that he or she cannot alter direction as unanticipated events emerge.  Besides, over planning may indicate to heavy reliance on self and not enough reliance on God.

Perhaps we need to become less skilled in making plans and more skilled in exploiting circumstance.

Pray

that you will be willing to live the life of the Spirit.  Pray that you will have the patience to relax your own agendas and tune into God's agendas.  Pray that you will keep and eye on the objective and let the plan evolve in God's way.

Proclaimed Faith

The Gift of Faith
Restorative Faith


Joyous Faith

Psalm 19:1-5  The Message

A David Psalm

19 ^1-2 God’s glory is on tour in the skies,
    God-craft on exhibit across the horizon.
Madame Day holds classes every morning,
    Professor Night lectures each evening.

^3-4 Their words aren’t heard,
    their voices aren’t recorded,
But their silence fills the earth:
    unspoken truth is spoken everywhere.

^4-5 God makes a huge dome
    for the sun—a superdome!
The morning sun’s a new husband
    leaping from his honeymoon bed,
The daybreaking sun an athlete
    racing to the tape.

For Reflection

Look at your world.  Look and understand the power in the storm followed by the comfort of clear skies.  Look at the darkness of the night and realize that only through that darkness can we see the light of the guiding stars.  Observe the natural environment  It is a sign of God's enduring passion for God's creation.  It is a sign of God's enduring love for you.

Pray

prayers of thanksgiving and praise for the living God.  Pray that your life will become a sacrifice to God's holy plan for all humankind.

Dancing Faith

The Gift of Faith
Restorative Faith

Joyous Faith

Jeremiah 31:11-14  The Message

^10-14 “Hear this, nations! God’s Message!
    Broadcast this all over the world!
Tell them, ‘The One who scattered Israel
    will gather them together again.
From now on he’ll keep a careful eye on them,
    like a shepherd with his flock.’
I, God, will pay a stiff ransom price for Jacob;
    I’ll free him from the grip of the Babylonian bully.
The people will climb up Zion’s slopes shouting with joy,
    their faces beaming because of God’s bounty—
Grain and wine and oil,
    flocks of sheep, herds of cattle.
Their lives will be like a well-watered garden,
    never again left to dry up.
Young women will dance and be happy,
    young men and old men will join in.
I’ll convert their weeping into laughter,
    lavishing comfort, invading their grief with joy.
I’ll make sure that their priests get three square meals a day
    and that my people have more than enough.’” God’s Decree.

For Reflection

When was the last time you were overwhelmed with joy?  Was it a particular piece of art, music literature which initiated the feeling?  Or was it seeing that one whom you love had a wonderful blessing?  Or was it an unexpected pleasure in your own life?  Pure joy, ecstasy, is a spiritual gift  one that converts weeping into laughter and plodding into dance.  Living in Joy is how God means life to be.

Pray

that you find the joy in living a life that God intended you to live.

Certain Faith

The Gift of Faith
Restorative Faith


Childlike Faith

Luke 1:46-56The Message (MSG)

^46-55 And Mary said,

I’m bursting with God-news;
    I’m dancing the song of my Savior God.
God took one good look at me, and look what happened—
    I’m the most fortunate woman on earth!
What God has done for me will never be forgotten,
    the God whose very name is holy, set apart from all others.
His mercy flows in wave after wave
    on those who are in awe before him.
He bared his arm and showed his strength,
    scattered the bluffing braggarts.
He knocked tyrants off their high horses,
    pulled victims out of the mud.
The starving poor sat down to a banquet;
    the callous rich were left out in the cold.
He embraced his chosen child, Israel;
    he remembered and piled on the mercies, piled them high.
It’s exactly what he promised,
    beginning with Abraham and right up to now.

⁵⁶ Mary stayed with Elizabeth for three months and then went back to her own home.

For Reflection

Mary was certain that when she spoke of God, she understood her relationship to God and what God is.  She praised God by remembering what God had done.

Pray

Praise God by remembering what god has done during your lifetime.  Confess before God and repent in response to God,s love.

Innocent Faith

The Gift of Faith
Restorative Faith


Childlike Faith

Matthew 18:1-5The Message (MSG)

Whoever Becomes Simple Again

18 At about the same time, the disciples came to Jesus asking, “Who gets the highest rank in God’s kingdom?”

^2-5 For an answer Jesus called over a child, whom he stood in the middle of the room, and said, “I’m telling you, once and for all, that unless you return to square one and start over like children, you’re not even going to get a look at the kingdom, let alone get in. Whoever becomes simple and elemental again, like this child, will rank high in God’s kingdom. What’s more, when you receive the childlike on my account, it’s the same as receiving me.

For Reflection

Out three children were always batteling for rank.  What was the ranking seat in the rear of the car?  Not the window seat!  There were two of them.  It was the middle seat.  There was only one of them.

The disciples asked about how each ranked in Christ's favor.  But, Jesus did not respond regarding ranking.  He responded regarding their lack of understanding.  They were as immature as young children.  They needed to start at square one and start their faith journeys at the elemental stage.  Each who would begin the faith journey would rank equally high in God's eyes.  Faith is not a zero sum game where one wins because another loses.  Faith is a matter of study, prayer, and working toward a compassionate, forgiving and just existence in a right relationship with God.

How are your progressing?

Pray

that you will work for justice, compassion and a right relationship with God.

Children of Freedom

The Gift of Faith
Restorative Faith


Childlike Faith

Galatians 3:23-29  The Message

^23-24 Until the time when we were mature enough to respond freely in faith to the living God, we were carefully surrounded and protected by the Mosaic law. The law was like those Greek tutors, with which you are familiar, who escort children to school and protect them from danger or distraction, making sure the children will really get to the place they set out for.
^25-27 But now you have arrived at your destination: By faith in Christ you are in direct relationship with God. Your baptism in Christ was not just washing you up for a fresh start. It also involved dressing you in an adult faith wardrobe—Christ’s life, the fulfillment of God’s original promise.

In Christ’s Family

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

For Reflection

Good advice for young parents is when a child asks you a question answer it simply only to satisfy the child's request.  Answering with too much information will confuse the child. If the child wants to know more than your answer has given the child will ask.

And so it is with faith.  New believers need simple explanations.  As they mature they will ask for more information.  As you mature in your faith ask questions. Deepen your understanding of your faith. Read the scriptures.  Discuss them with other believers.  Don't be afraid to doubt. Above all, pray.

Pray

that you will listen for God's will for you in the study of scripture, discussion with others, and in quiet time prayer in the presence of God.

Children of the Light

The Gift of Faith
Restorative Faith


Childlike Faith

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11  The Message

5 ^1-3 I don’t think, friends, that I need to deal with the question of when all this is going to happen. You know as well as I that the day of the Master’s coming can’t be posted on our calendars. He won’t call ahead and make an appointment any more than a burglar would. About the time everybody’s walking around complacently, congratulating each other—“We’ve sure got it made! Now we can take it easy!”—suddenly everything will fall apart. It’s going to come as suddenly and inescapably as birth pangs to a pregnant woman.

^4-8 But friends, you’re not in the dark, so how could you be taken off guard by any of this? You’re sons of Light, daughters of Day. We live under wide open skies and know where we stand. So let’s not sleepwalk through life like those others. Let’s keep our eyes open and be smart. People sleep at night and get drunk at night. But not us! Since we’re creatures of Day, let’s act like it. Walk out into the daylight sober, dressed up in faith, love, and the hope of salvation.
^9-11 God didn’t set us up for an angry rejection but for salvation by our Master, Jesus Christ. He died for us, a death that triggered life. Whether we’re awake with the living or asleep with the dead, we’re alive with him! So speak encouraging words to one another. Build up hope so you’ll all be together in this, no one left out, no one left behind. I know you’re already doing this; just keep on doing it.  you cannot live in fear of tomorrow.  Have trust in the Lord.  God will not abandon you.

For Reflection

Live creatively.  Live supportively,  Live in the Grace of God  Make your life a powerful prayer to God.

Pray

for the courage to live the life  God has intended you to live.

Peaceful Faith

The Gift of Faith
Restorative Faith

Childlike Faith

Isaiah 11:1-9n  The Message

A Green Shoot from Jesse’s Stump

11 ^1-5 A green Shoot will sprout from Jesse’s stump,
    from his roots a budding Branch.
The life-giving Spirit of God will hover over him,
    the Spirit that brings wisdom and understanding,
The Spirit that gives direction and builds strength,
    the Spirit that instills knowledge and Fear-of-God.
Fear-of-God
    will be all his joy and delight.
He won’t judge by appearances,
    won’t decide on the basis of hearsay.
He’ll judge the needy by what is right,
    render decisions on earth’s poor with justice.
His words will bring everyone to awed attention.
    A mere breath from his lips will topple the wicked.
Each morning he’ll pull on sturdy work clothes and boots,
    and build righteousness and faithfulness in the land.

A Living Knowledge of God

^6-9 The wolf will romp with the lamb,
    the leopard sleep with the kid.
Calf and lion will eat from the same trough,
    and a little child will tend them.
Cow and bear will graze the same pasture,
    their calves and cubs grow up together,
    and the lion eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child will crawl over rattlesnake dens,
    the toddler stick his hand down the hole of a serpent.
Neither animal nor human will hurt or kill
    on my holy mountain.
The whole earth will be brimming with knowing God-Alive,
    a living knowledge of God ocean-deep, ocean-wide.

For Reflection

Here it is in all of its metaphoric splendor.   The prophesy of Christ.  The promise of the age of justice, of compassion, of forgiveness, and of righteousness; the Gift of Grace incarnate in human flesh.
Built on love, a transformed existence in the Kingdom of God is foretold in sharp contrasts.  The knowledge of Goodness triumphs over the common knowleges of hate, injustice, and a passion for selfish self-determination; Godlessness.

Pray

prayers of gratitude for the living Lord.  In quiet prayer listen for the God whispers.

Living a Fulfilled Life

The Gift of Faith
Restorative Faith

Humble Faith

Luke 1:68-80  The Message

^67-79 Then Zachariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied,

Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel;
    he came and set his people free.
He set the power of salvation in the center of our lives,
    and in the very house of David his servant,
Just as he promised long ago
    through the preaching of his holy prophets:
Deliverance from our enemies
    and every hateful hand;
Mercy to our fathers,
    as he remembers to do what he said he’d do,
What he swore to our father Abraham—
    a clean rescue from the enemy camp,
So we can worship him without a care in the world,
    made holy before him as long as we live.
And you, my child, “Prophet of the Highest,”
    will go ahead of the Master to prepare his ways,
Present the offer of salvation to his people,
    the forgiveness of their sins.
Through the heartfelt mercies of our God,
    God’s Sunrise will break in upon us,
Shining on those in the darkness,
    those sitting in the shadow of death,
Then showing us the way, one foot at a time,
    down the path of peace.

⁸⁰ The child grew up, healthy and spirited. He lived out in the desert until the day he made his prophetic debut in Israel.

For Reflection

Have you ever lamented, "Oh God,  there's got to be more to life than this."  Well, what ever the unfulfilling "this" was, there is more to life than "this".

Have you the courage to embrace salvation as offered to us in the life of Christ?

Pray

  That "God’s Sunrise will break in upon us,
Shining on those in the darkness,
    those sitting in the shadow of death,
Then showing us the way, one foot at a time,
    down the path of peace."

Living a Peaceful Life

The Gift of Faith
Restorative Faith

Humble Faith

1 Peter 2:9-17  The Message

^9-10 But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God’s instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you—from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted.

^11-12 Friends, this world is not your home, so don’t make yourselves cozy in it. Don’t indulge your ego at the expense of your soul. Live an exemplary life among the natives so that your actions will refute their prejudices. Then they’ll be won over to God’s side and be there to join in the celebration when he arrives.

^13-17 Make the Master proud of you by being good citizens. Respect the authorities, whatever their level; they are God’s emissaries for keeping order. It is God’s will that by doing good, you might cure the ignorance of the fools who think you’re a danger to society. Exercise your freedom by serving God, not by breaking the rules. Treat everyone you meet with dignity. Love your spiritual family. Revere God. Respect the government.

For Reflection

Government is God's way as is righteous God's way.  Our holy calling for priestly work is not the destruction of law and order, but rather, the perfection of law and order.  Our task is to make the unjust systems; just, to make the heartless; compassionate, to make the vengeful; forgiving, to live courageously, in humility, obedient to God.

Pray

that you will be prepared to accept a new life in the hollow of God's hand.  Pray that you will accept the opportunities to serve God.  Pray for the healing hand of God to comfort and guide you toward righteous living.

Living a Blessed Life

The Gift of Faith
Restorative Faith

Humble Faith

Matthew 5:1-10  The Message

You’re Blessed

5 ^1-2 When Jesus saw his ministry drawing huge crowds, he climbed a hillside. Those who were apprenticed to him, the committed, climbed with him. Arriving at a quiet place, he sat down and taught his climbing companions. This is what he said:

³ “You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.
⁴ “You’re blessed when you feel you’ve lost what is most dear to you. Only then can you be embraced by the One most dear to you.
⁵ “You’re blessed when you’re content with just who you are—no more, no less. That’s the moment you find yourselves proud owners of everything that can’t be bought.
⁶ “You’re blessed when you’ve worked up a good appetite for God. He’s food and drink in the best meal you’ll ever eat.
⁷ “You’re blessed when you care. At the moment of being ‘care-full,’ you find yourselves cared for.
⁸ “You’re blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world.
⁹ “You’re blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That’s when you discover who you really are, and your place in God’s family.
¹⁰ “You’re blessed when your commitment to God provokes persecution. The persecution drives you even deeper into God’s kingdom.

For Reflection

Living the life that Christ taught us to live is to live a paradox.  What the common culture is obsessed to do, Christians are asked to question.  To find your true self one has to abandon one's self -- loose yourself to find yourself! 

Pray

to be fearless in obedience to our Living God.

Living Humbly

The Gift of Faith
Restorative Faith

Humble Faith

Micah 6:6-8  The Message

^6-7 How can I stand up before God
    and show proper respect to the high God?
Should I bring an armload of offerings
    topped off with yearling calves?
Would God be impressed with thousands of rams,
    with buckets and barrels of olive oil?
Would he be moved if I sacrificed my firstborn child,
    my precious baby, to cancel my sin?

⁸ But he’s already made it plain how to live, what to do,
    what God is looking for in men and women.
It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor,
    be compassionate and loyal in your love,
And don’t take yourself too seriously—
    take God seriously.

For Reflection

Bring to God what you cherish the most.  Bring yourself!

What would God want with buckets of coin?  What need has God for your social position?  God knows an empty promise when God hears one.

Bring To God the only thing God wants.  Bring your love!

Pray

that you will "... Do what is fair and just to your neighbor,
    be compassionate and loyal in your love,
And don’t take yourself too seriously—
    take God seriously.

Faith in a Merciful God

The Gift of Faith
Restorative Faith

Humble Faith

Daniel 9:15-19  The Message

^15-17 “‘Master, you are our God, for you delivered your people from the land of Egypt in a show of power—people are still talking about it! We confess that we have sinned, that we have lived bad lives. Following the lines of what you have always done in setting things right, setting people right, please stop being so angry with Jerusalem, your very own city, your holy mountain. We know it’s our fault that this has happened, all because of our sins and our parents’ sins, and now we’re an embarrassment to everyone around us. We’re a blot on the neighborhood. So listen, God, to this determined prayer of your servant. Have mercy on your ruined Sanctuary. Act out of who you are, not out of what we are.
¹⁸ “‘Turn your ears our way, God, and listen. Open your eyes and take a long look at our ruined city, this city named after you. We know that we don’t deserve a hearing from you. Our appeal is to your compassion. This prayer is our last and only hope:

¹⁹ “‘Master, listen to us!
    Master, forgive us!
    Master, look at us and do something!
    Master, don’t put us off!
    Your city and your people are named after you:
    You have a stake in us!’

For Reflection

Is God angry with our city?  Are those of us who know better than to ignore God obedient to God's will?  Are we teaching our children well?  Are we speaking out for compassion, justice and forgiveness?  Are we courageous enough to speak against the common culture?  Or are we waiting for God's judgment to solve all our troubles?

God, through Jesus Christ, has shown us the way for salvation?  Are we willing to take that path?

Pray

that you will be willing and prepared to take that walk into the Kingdom of God.  Pray for the courage obedience to God requires.  Pray for the wisdom to follow Christ.

Giving Thanks

The Gift of Faith
Restorative Faith
Grateful Faith

Luke 22:14-20  The Message

^14-16 When it was time, he sat down, all the apostles with him, and said, “You’ve no idea how much I have looked forward to eating this Passover meal with you before I enter my time of suffering. It’s the last one I’ll eat until we all eat it together in the kingdom of God.”
^17-18 Taking the cup, he blessed it, then said, “Take this and pass it among you. As for me, I’ll not drink wine again until the kingdom of God arrives.”
¹⁹ Taking bread, he blessed it, broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, given for you. Eat it in my memory.”
²⁰ He did the same with the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant written in my blood, blood poured out for you.
 

For Reflection

As I write this Passover begins.  It reminds me of the faith God has in us.  Why else would God protect us, nurture us, and send God's son to be crucified to show us how to live our lives in the Kingdom of God?

The supper was a moving, revealing moment for the disciples that signified the love, faith, hope and compassion of a life lived as the Father would have us live it.  This new covenant, sealed by the blood of Jesus, is written on the hearts of each of us.  As you eat together, celebrate the communion you enjoy with each other in the Household of God.

Pray

often!  Pray prayers of thanksgiving.  Pray prayers of intercession. Pray prayers of repentance.  Pray so that you might live in the presence of God.

Living Gratefully

The Gift of Faith
Restorative Faith
Grateful Faith

Colossians 2:6-15  The Message

From the Shadows to the Substance

^6-7 My counsel for you is simple and straightforward: Just go ahead with what you’ve been given. You received Christ Jesus, the Master; now live him. You’re deeply rooted in him. You’re well constructed upon him. You know your way around the faith. Now do what you’ve been taught. School’s out; quit studying the subject and start living it! And let your living spill over into thanksgiving.

^8-10 Watch out for people who try to dazzle you with big words and intellectual double-talk. They want to drag you off into endless arguments that never amount to anything. They spread their ideas through the empty traditions of human beings and the empty superstitions of spirit beings. But that’s not the way of Christ. Everything of God gets expressed in him, so you can see and hear him clearly. You don’t need a telescope, a microscope, or a horoscope to realize the fullness of Christ, and the emptiness of the universe without him. When you come to him, that fullness comes together for you, too. His power extends over everything.
^11-15 Entering into this fullness is not something you figure out or achieve. It’s not a matter of being circumcised or keeping a long list of laws. No, you’re already in—insiders—not through some secretive initiation rite but rather through what Christ has already gone through for you, destroying the power of sin. If it’s an initiation ritual you’re after, you’ve already been through it by submitting to baptism. Going under the water was a burial of your old life; coming up out of it was a resurrection, God raising you from the dead as he did Christ. When you were stuck in your old sin-dead life, you were incapable of responding to God. God brought you alive—right along with Christ! Think of it! All sins forgiven, the slate wiped clean, that old arrest warrant canceled and nailed to Christ’s cross. He stripped all the spiritual tyrants in the universe of their sham authority at the Cross and marched them naked through the streets.

For Reflection

God resides in you and you reside in God.  Jesus has shown us the way of righteousness and obedience.  Give yourself up to the fullness of a life in the resurrected Christ.

Pray

That you will be obedient to God as Christ was obedient.  Pray for the trust and courage that such obedience requires.