God Has Done Great Things

 

Celebrating God Called to Praise God Live in the light of God (Isaiah 2:5)    The Joy of Worship Psalm 126 New International Version A song of ascents. 1 When the Lord restored the fortunes of[a] Zion,     we were like those who dreamed.[b] 2 Our mouths were filled with laughter,     our tongues with songs of joy. Then it was said among the nations,     “The Lord has done great things for them.” 3 The Lord has done great things for us,     and we are filled with joy. 4 Restore our fortunes,[c] Lord,     like streams in the Negev. 5 Those who sow with tears     will reap with songs of joy. 6 Those who go out weeping,     carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy,     carrying sheaves with them. For Reflection God delivered the Israelites out of Babylon, where God has sent them to be saved from the fall of Jerusalem. Even more miraculously, Cyrus, the tyrant, dismissed such a large number of captives and issued a decree for them to return to their own country to rebuild their city and temple. Moreover, Cyrus gave them presents. Indeed this was the hand of God. Pray In prayer, contemplate the ways the hand of God has guided your life. Forward to a friend

Delivered and Reconciled

 

Celebrating God Called to Praise God Live in the light of God (Isaiah 2:5)    Give Thanks For Deliverance Ephesians 2:11-22 The Message 11-13 But don’t take any of this for granted. It was only yesterday that you outsiders to God’s ways had no idea of any of this, didn’t know the first thing about the way God works, hadn’t the faintest idea of Christ. You knew nothing of that rich history of God’s covenants and promises in Israel, hadn’t a clue about what God was doing in the world at large. Now because of Christ—dying that death, shedding that blood—you who were once out of it altogether are in on everything. 14-15 The Messiah has made things up between us so that we’re now together on this, both non-Jewish outsiders and Jewish insiders. He tore down the wall we used to keep each other at a distance. He repealed the law code that had become so clogged with fine print and footnotes that it hindered more than it helped. Then he started over. Instead of continuing with two groups of people separated by centuries of animosity and suspicion, he created a new kind of human being, a fresh start for everybody. 16-18 Christ brought us together through his death on the cross. The Cross got us to embrace, and that was the end of the hostility. Christ came and preached peace to you outsiders and peace to us insiders. He treated us as equals, and so made us equals. Through him, we both share the same Spirit and have equal access to the Father. 19-22 That’s plain enough, isn’t it? You’re no longer wandering exiles. This kingdom of faith is now your home country. You’re no longer strangers or outsiders. You belong here, with as much right to the name Christian as anyone. God is building a home. He’s using us all—irrespective of how we got here—in what he is building. He used the apostles and prophets for the foundation. Now he’s using you, fitting you in brick by brick, stone by stone, with Christ Jesus as the cornerstone that holds all the parts together. We see it taking shape day after day—a holy temple built by God, all of us built into it, a temple in which God is quite at home. For Reflection What's in a label? Men, women, believers, non-believers, nons, gay, straight, black, white, brown, democrat, republican, these labels are more than descriptors. They divide us into groups of people who can at best coexist and, at worst, become walled off, living their lives in independent bubbles isolated from other bubbles.   Jesus is the pin that bursts the bubbles of isolation. He repealed the codes of separateness. He wrote the code of human connectedness. Come on, folks! Whom God has brought together, who are we to put asunder. Pray We all are the children of God, precious members in God's household. Pray for humility and compassion. Pray and work for justice and peace among all in God's household. Forward to a friend

Delivered through Jesus Christ

 

Celebrating God Called to Praise God Live in the light of God (Isaiah 2:5)    Give Thanks For Deliverance Ephesians 1:3-14 The Message The God of Glory 3-6 How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He’s the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him. Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son. 7-10 Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we’re a free people—free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free! He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth. 11-12 It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone. 13-14 It’s in Christ that you, once you heard the truth and believed it (this Message of your salvation), found yourselves home free—signed, sealed, and delivered by the Holy Spirit. This down payment from God is the first installment on what’s coming, a reminder that we’ll get everything God has planned for us, a praising and glorious life. For Reflection How can one separate Jesus from his gifts? Christ's blessings are who Christ is. To reduce this statement to its basic meaning is to say that in Christ we find God's Holy Spirit animating Jesus' every thought and deed. It is through Christ that we, too, are empowered by the Holy Spirit to minister to all people. Because we are all united in the Spirit and are free to follow the example of Jesus to be just, advocate for justice and be peaceful and advocate for peace that only comes through hope and radical trust in God. Pray Contemplate in prayer the profound power in the Way of Jesus to transform the world, one person at a time. Pray so that you can mirror as best you can the ministry of Christ. Forward to a friend

Delivered from Sin

 

Celebrating God Called to Praise God Live in the light of God (Isaiah 2:5)    Give Thanks For Deliverance   Ephesians 2:1-10 The Message He Tore Down the Wall 2 1-6 It wasn’t so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. You let the world, which doesn’t know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief and then exhaled disobedience. We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It’s a wonder God didn’t lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us. Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, he embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on his own, with no help from us! Then he picked us up and set us down in the highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah. 7-10 Now God has us where he wants us, with all the time in this world and the next to shower grace and kindness upon us in Christ Jesus. Saving is all his idea and all his work. All we do is trust him enough to let him do it. It’s God’s gift from start to finish! We don’t play the major role. If we did, we’d probably go around bragging that we’d done the whole thing! No, we neither make nor save ourselves. God does both the making and saving. He creates each of us by Christ Jesus to join him in the work he does, the good work he has gotten ready for us to do, work we had better be doing. For Reflection To what extent are we, even as believers, guilty of being carnally minded? By that I mean to what extent do we choose common understanding and common practice over the understand and practice of our faith? Do we elevate our importance as Christians when we do something we think is righteous or are we humbled by our role as a servant of God? To what extent do we follow the culture in which we are immersed or the paradoxical culture illustrated in the beatitudes? Pray Pray and humble yourself before God. Pray and join God as a confederate in the manner of Christ. Forward to a friend

Salvation Requires Witness

Responses to God's Faithfulness

God is Faithful

Live in the light of God (Isaiah 2:5) 

Faith Saves

Mark 13:9-13 New International Version
9 “You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of me, you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them. 10 And the gospel must first be preached to all nations. 11 Whenever you are arrested and brought to trial, do not worry beforehand about what to say. Just say whatever is given you at the time, for it is not you speaking, but the Holy Spirit.
12 “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. 13 Everyone will hate you because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.

For Reflection

As God confederates, we are change agents. In organizations, those people who initiate change almost always suffer personal losses. Yet, the change that was initiated may actually become realized in policy and practice. For Christians, the effect of this phenomenon is multiplied because our values and practices run counter to commonly held norms.

Christians are asked to be non-violent, to be forgiving rather than vengeful, to champion justice over malicious enforcement of rules, to create systems that distribute the resources of a governed body equitably among its people. Christians reject selfishness for humble servitude. We practice love and reject hate. We challenge false prophets and despots.

Pray

Pray often about all things so that in your suffering for the love of God and the Way of Jesus Christ, you will remain steadfast.  When life's tribulations frustrate you, pray and listen for Christ, whispering from your soul, "Remember Me and take comfort in My promise.

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Your Sins Are Forgiven

Responses to God's Faithfulness

God is Faithful

Live in the light of God (Isaiah 2:5) 

Faith Saves

Luke 5:20-26 The Message 
18-20 Some men arrived carrying a paraplegic on a stretcher. They were looking for a way to get into the house and set him before Jesus. When they couldn’t find a way in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof, removed some tiles, and let him down in the middle of everyone, right in front of Jesus. Impressed by their bold belief, he said, “Friend, I forgive your sins.”
21 That set the religion scholars and Pharisees buzzing. “Who does he think he is? That’s blasphemous talk! God and only God can forgive sins.”
22-26 Jesus knew exactly what they were thinking and said, “Why all this gossipy whispering? Which is simpler: to say ‘I forgive your sins,’ or to say ‘Get up and start walking’? Well, just so it’s clear that I’m the Son of Man and authorized to do either, or both.  ” He now spoke directly to the paraplegic: “Get up. Take your bedroll and go home.” Without a moment’s hesitation, he did it—got up, took his blanket, and left for home, giving glory to God all the way. The people rubbed their eyes, incredulous—and then also gave glory to God. Awestruck, they said, “We’ve never seen anything like that!”

For Reflection

My Austrian grandmother, then in her eighties, was a devout Christian.  In the mid-1940's she would listen to Kathryn Kuhlman's radio broadcast ministry. Kuhlman was one of the most well-known healing ministers in the world. When Kuhlman began her prayers for healing, my grandmother would place her hand on the radio and mouth the prayer along with her. Did it heal her physically? I don't know. But it was a sign of the strength of her faith and the confidence in God speaking through Kuhlman.

I suspect that Jesus saw in the paraplegic and his friends that kind of strong faith in the healing power of Jesus. Though they had eyes to see, the Pharisees could see only a violation of religious rules and dogma. They could not comprehend the meaning of what they had experienced.

Pray

Pray so that you will be able to see the miracle of physical and spiritual healing occurring all around you. Pray and be awestruck and give all glory and honor to God. Pray and see what others cannot.

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Faith in Action

Responses to God's Faithfulness

God is Faithful

Live in the light of God (Isaiah 2:5) 

Faith Can Heal

Luke 6:46-49 The Message

46-47 “Why are you so polite with me, always saying ‘Yes, sir,’ and ‘That’s right, sir,’ but never doing a thing I tell you? These words I speak to you are not mere additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundation words, words to build a life on.
48-49 “If you work the words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who dug deep and laid the foundation of his house on bedrock. When the river burst its banks and crashed against the house, nothing could shake it; it was built to last. But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life, you are like a dumb carpenter who built a house but skipped the foundation. When the swollen river came crashing in, it collapsed like a house of cards. It was a total loss.”

For Reflection

Knowing God's precepts is not enough. One must also put them into practice.

Pray

Pray so that you can develop a practice of living in love with God and a follower of the way of Jesus Christ.  

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