Daily Prayer for November 5
The eyes of the Lord are on those who love him, a mighty shield and strong support, a shelter from scorching wind and a shade from noonday sun, a guard against stumbling and a help against falling. Sirach 34:19, NRSV Lord God Almighty, whose eyes keep watch over the whole world, we come before you with the evil from our surroundings still clinging to us. Grant that our lives may be in your hands. Give us your strength to find the way, even through suffering and distress. For we are yours, O Lord our God, and you have chosen your people to be strong and to be freed from all evils. Help us, we beseech you. May we know that you are with us and may your Word bring us blessing, to the glory of your name forever. Amen. Recent articles on Plough The Absurdity of Trying to Capture Childhood on Your Phone Bonnie Nichols Scott A mother grapples with the desire to document her daughter’s every smile and giggle. Read now The Problem of Christ in The Master and Margarita Alexander Raikin When the Soviet Union declared Christ a fairy tale, a censored novel daringly challenged the idea. The new film adaptation proves controversial too. Read now Why I Hunt Tim Maendel In the woods, being a predator connects me to our species’ natural history. Read now Jesus and the Future of the Earth Eberhard Arnold To the first Christians, the age to come was anything but otherworldly. Read now The Bruderhof and the State John Huleatt A lawyer reflects on how his Christian community interacts with government. Read now
Today’s Verse – Proverbs 11:4
Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death. —Proverbs 11:4 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… What is your primary investment? Only righteousness offers a truly long-term benefit! That’s why Jesus said: “So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:32-33). My Prayer… Holy God, thank you for valuing what is good, holy, and righteous. I praise you for empowering me through the Holy Spirit to develop those qualities I see in Jesus, have them formed in my character, and invest my life in what matters eternally. I thank you, in Jesus’ name. Amen. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.
Confidence
Note from Jesus Dear Disciple, John was a masterful writer. He used a simple vocabulary to share nuances of truth and depths of theological insight. His use of such simple language to communicate such depths still astounds scholars. His messages intrigue the most educated, speak to the heart of the weary, and give a clear, easily understandable message of truth. So when John says something very clearly and forcefully, you won’t miss his message. The verses today from 1 John emphasize how you can be confident of your salvation, how eternal life has already begun for My disciples, and how the Spirit of God in you is greater than the spirit at work in the world. John wanted his readers who faced doubts about their salvation to be confident about it! I did not come to create religious doubt. I came to find and save lost people (Luke 19:10). I came because We — Father, Son, and Spirit — love the lost people of the world and want them saved (John 3:16-17). I don’t want My disciples worried about whether they are inside of grace’s grasp. I don’t want you worried about your eternal destiny. John also didn’t want you to doubt. As he wrote 1 John, he had to deal with two opposite ends of a problem. Some of My disciples to whom he wrote were precious, good, sweet, kind people who believed in Me and were seeking to live as they should. Unfortunately, they were concerned about their salvation because they had been led to believe that they had to know enough or had to do enough to merit My salvation. They knew they had stumbled some and slipped into some sin. This ongoing struggle with sin made them feel worse and wrestle with doubt even more. However, there were others who were religiously arrogant. They talked about knowing Me at a special spiritual level, so they thought they didn’t have to be worried about the sinful things they did on a fleshly level. They were saying they were good, even though they persistently and intentionally indulged in sin. They insinuated that if the first group of My disciples had enough special knowledge, they wouldn’t be hung up on sin and could be confident in their salvation. John had the unenviable task of writing one simple letter to address both needs at the same time because both groups existed in the same churches. The Spirit did a masterful job of breathing truth through John and into the words that you read. John’s writing addressed believing in Me, doing good and godly things, loving your brothers and sisters in Christ, and pursuing a relationship with Me instead of sinking into some religious system. These teachings allowed both groups of these believers to assess where they stood in their relationship with the Father. The doubters could see that they really were in fellowship with the Father. The arrogant could recognize that they needed to correct some things in their lives if they were to be in fellowship with the Father. The focus today for you, however, is confidence in your relationship with the Father. I want you to be confident of your eternal life. Today’s message is for you. It is for your encouragement. I want it to boost your confidence in being the Father’s child! Verses to Live Today I want you to focus on the verses that talk about the confidence you can and should have as My disciple. You believe in Me. You believe that I am the Father’s Son, God come in human flesh. You are living a life full of goodness and obedience and not living a life that “persists” in sin. You love your brothers and sisters. You long to do more than know about Us and participate in religious exercises. You want to know Us and to enter into a relationship with the Father as His child. You want to experience Me, not only as Savior but also as your older brother and example. You want to recognize the presence of the Holy Spirit, Who is your anointing from the Father and Who teaches you and guides you into all truth about Me. These verses are for you. We want to tell you about the One Who was from the beginning. We have seen Him with our own eyes, heard Him with our own ears, and touched Him with our own hands. This One is the manifestation of the life-giving Voice, and He showed us real life, eternal life. We have seen it all, and we can’t keep what we witnessed quiet — we have to share it with you. We are inviting you to experience eternal life through the One Who was with the Father and came down to us. What we saw and heard we pass on to you so that you, too, will be connected with us intimately and become family. Our family is united by our connection with the Father and His Son Jesus, the Anointed One; and we write all this because retelling this story fulfills our joy. (1 John 1:1-4) If we walk step by step in the light, where the Father is, then we are ultimately connected to each other through the sacrifice of Jesus His Son. His blood purifies us from all our sins. If we go around bragging, “We have no sin,” then we are fooling ourselves and are strangers to the truth. But if we own up to our sins, God shows that He is faithful and just by forgiving us of our sins and purifying us from the pollution of all the bad things we have done. (1 John 1:7-9) I am writing to you, my children, because your sins have been forgiven by the authority of His name. I am writing to you, fathers and mothers, because you have known Him as the Creator, as the One Who started everything. I am writing to you, young people, because He has
04 Nov 2024
Our faith in God’s love, mercy and faithfulness is important. Let us believe that He hears our prayers and sees our plight. Let us also believe His word. Psalm 119:65-66.
Daily Prayer for November 4
You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant. Hebrews 12:22–24a, NIV Lord our God, we thank you that you have redeemed us and that we may feel united with your holy ones, those in heaven and those on earth who are gathered around Jesus Christ, a people growing in number and strength from year to year. We thank you that we too belong to them, and we ask you to keep our hearts aware of this unity so that we may be joyful, redeemed people who find ever greater deliverance, full of praise and thanks, full of certainty and joy. Grant this to us, for we are your people, born out of your power as Savior and gathered for the sake of your kingdom. Guard your gifts and your powers within us. Continue your redemption of the whole world until joy floods through our whole being and we can praise you for the life you have already given us here on earth. Amen. Recent articles on Plough The Problem of Christ in The Master and Margarita Alexander Raikin When the Soviet Union declared Christ a fairy tale, a censored novel daringly challenged the idea. The new film adaptation proves controversial too. Read now Why I Hunt Tim Maendel In the woods, being a predator connects me to our species’ natural history. Read now Jesus and the Future of the Earth Eberhard Arnold To the first Christians, the age to come was anything but otherworldly. Read now The Bruderhof and the State John Huleatt A lawyer reflects on how his Christian community interacts with government. Read now All the Saints, and the Ones They Leave Behind Logan Hoffman Logan Hoffman learns lessons about eternity from Eugene Vodolazkin’s novel Laurus. Read now
Today’s Verse – Hebrews 11:3
By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. —Hebrews 11:3 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… Where did it all come from? Where did matter, energy, order, beauty, specificity, diversity, and time come from? How did our universe come to possess complexity and structure when all we know about our existence moves to decay, disorder, and death? By faith, we know it came from the articulated design of our Heavenly Father! Out of chaotic nothingness, God spoke into existence all creation. My Prayer… We thank you, dear LORD, for the incredible world that you made. Thank you for the principles of order that govern our world and help us understand it. Thank you for the intricacies and beauty that humble us. Our hearts soar at the variety and majesty of your vast and astounding creation. In Jesus’ name, we praise and thank you as we look at what you have done with amazement. Amen. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.
Relationship with the Father
Note from Jesus Dear Child of the Glorious and Gracious Father, As John neared the end of his physical life, he wrote three short letters to help churches facing all sorts of challenges. He also wrote the Apocalypse, which you know as the book of Revelation. Each of these writings deals with real and problematic issues for My disciples near the end of the first century. For the next several days, you will be reading from the short letters of John. Today, your focus will be the first chapter and a little of the second chapter of 1 John. First John is a beautiful little tapestry of pastoral concern for My followers. John emphasizes what the Father wants and doesn’t want in His relationship with you as His child. The Father doesn’t want just a bunch of religious adherents going through religious motions. He wants a genuine relationship with you as His child. In this relationship, you are open and transparent with your Father. You bring everything into the light with nothing hidden. When you are open about who you are and about what is going on in your life and when you demonstrate My love, then you are walking in the Father’s light (1 John 1:7). My sacrifice purifies you from all sin. This relationship in the light of My Father’s glory and grace should bring you confidence in your relationship with Us. You know Us and have a relationship with Us as Father, Son, and Spirit. There are three ways that you can assure your heart that you are in this special relationship with us: When you believe in Me as the Father’s Son, God Who came in human flesh. When love is demonstrated in your relationships with each other. When there is goodness found in your actions. These three qualities allow you to rest assured that your relationship with the Father is secured and life-giving. This is how you walk in the Father’s light. The six themes emphasized by the words underlined above are woven into the tapestry of this short letter again and again. John doesn’t have huge blocks of teaching about any one of these in one place. Instead, like a beautiful piece of symphonic music, he weaves these key themes into his music again and again with slight variations and connections. If you read this letter several times, the Spirit helps you pick these themes up as the soundtrack of your life. Here are these six key themes emphasized in 1 John: Relationship with the Father is a genuine relationship, not a shallow religiosity. Confidence comes from your relationship with the Father because of My sacrifice, His grace, and the Spirit’s assurance in your heart. Knowledge of Me and that I AM just and faithful leads My disciples to live faithfully and act justly. Faith that I AM the Father’s Son, Jesus, Who came as God in human flesh, is the key to your overcoming the world and living for Me. Love for each other as brothers and sisters shows that you know the Father’s love and are the Father’s children. Goodness is found in your actions, thoughts, and words when you are in a genuine relationship with the Father. Listen for these themes. Since 1 John is so short, read it several times over the next several days. Don’t try to dissect each short passage, but listen to the letter as you would listen to a great piece of music. Let the interplay of the themes seep into your heart and capture your life. Each of these six themes will repeat in different connections with each other as a short musical riff and then connect you to the next theme. And like all good music, the interplay of these themes brings a freshness to your life — and in this case, it brings you the assurance and joy of eternal life that actually has already begun for you as My disciple! Verses to Live Today’s verses begin with a paragraph about your relationship with the Father and with each other. These relationships bring you an experience of eternal life. They provide you a connection with the Father and Me. This connection is about relationships and experiences that are intimately real and that bring you into Our family. These relationships are based upon My mission as God in human flesh Who lived among real people who could see Me, hear Me, and touch Me both before and after My crucifixion and resurrection. It was this mission that the Father sent Me to accomplish and that made your relationship with the Father as His beloved child possible. You don’t have to pretend that you are perfect. Just bring who you are to the Father. Be open, honest, and transparent with Him in the light of His glory and grace. When you are, My sacrifice for you purifies you, connects you to others who are saved by this same grace, and prepares you to live for Me. So be filled with hope and joy as you read these words of assurance from My beloved disciple, John. We want to tell you about the One Who was from the beginning. We have seen Him with our own eyes, heard Him with our own ears, and touched Him with our own hands. This One is the manifestation of the life-giving Voice, and He showed us real life, eternal life. We have seen it all, and we can’t keep what we witnessed quiet — we have to share it with you. We are inviting you to experience eternal life through the One Who was with the Father and came down to us. What we saw and heard we pass on to you so that you, too, will be connected with us intimately and become family. Our family is united by our connection with the Father and His Son Jesus, the Anointed One; and we write all this because retelling this story fulfills our joy. What we are telling
Daily Prayer for November 3
This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 1 John 1:5, NIV Lord our God, rule over us in strength, and grant us your light. Let your Spirit be with us to confirm what has already taken place in our hearts, so that we have joy and trust even under all the strain and stress of this life. Shine into the darkness of the world. Shine for all people. May we be shown more and more clearly what we have been created for. Strengthen our faith for the future, our faith in everything good, for however hidden the good may be, it must at last come to the light. May we and all the world bring praise and honor to you. Amen. Recent articles on Plough Why I Hunt Tim Maendel In the woods, being a predator connects me to our species’ natural history. Read now Jesus and the Future of the Earth Eberhard Arnold To the first Christians, the age to come was anything but otherworldly. Read now The Bruderhof and the State John Huleatt A lawyer reflects on how his Christian community interacts with government. Read now All the Saints, and the Ones They Leave Behind Logan Hoffman Logan Hoffman learns lessons about eternity from Eugene Vodolazkin’s novel Laurus. Read now The Renegade Monk Andrea Grosso Ciponte and Dacia Palmerino Over five hundred years ago, Martin Luther battled for freedom of faith. Read now
Today’s Verse – Luke 11:2-4
He said to them, “When you pray, say: ‘Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. Give us each day our daily bread. Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us. And lead us not into temptation.’” —Luke 11:2-4 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… We approach the LORD as the holy and almighty God to be worshiped in reverence and our Abba Father, whom we approach as loving children. Rather than needing long, ornate, and lofty prayers, God wants us to speak with him about the most basic everyday issues and needs of our lives, trusting that he hears us and responds to our spiritual and physical requests by doing what we need while aligning us to his will and blessing us with his grace. My Prayer… Dear Father, thank you for being a holy God who is ever near. Please do your will in my life and use me to your glory. Forgive me as I work on forgiving those who have sinned against me. I know that you will bless me in my life with my daily needs. I come to you in Jesus’ name, dear Father, confident that you love us and do what is best for us in your will. Amen. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.
The Foundation
Note from Jesus Dear Disciple, The foundation for everything you hold dear as a Christian and as My disciple is this one fundamental truth: I came as God, in human flesh, Jesus the Christ, the Anointed One, the Son of the only true and living God. Peter confessed something very similar to this at a vital turning point in My ministry and in his life (Matthew 16:16). Over the centuries, many have tried to make Me less than God come in human flesh, but for Me to be the Son of the Father meant no less than this. When I identified Myself as the Father’s Son, My Jewish opponents wanted to kill Me for “making himself [Myself] equal with God” (John 5:16-18 NLT). To come as the Son of God meant, and still means, that I was God in human flesh. I was God come in human flesh from conception through the cross to the resurrection and the ascension! People have speculated trying to determine someone specific who is the evil antiChrist. However, John reminded My disciples that they needed to be seriously concerned about those among them who were obviously antiChrists: the many religious people who were (and still are) trying to separate My identity from the Father. They want to make Me less than God in human flesh. Some even claim that I was a created being — that I was not always in existence and not really God. These false doctrines and notions undermine the power of My cross (1 Corinthians 1:17-18; Colossians 2:15; Philippians 2:5-11). They discount the incredible grace of My full humanity in My incarnation (John 1:1-18). They dispute what it means for Me to be the true, living, and complete Word and Message of God (Hebrews 1:1-3). I was with the Father at creation. Not only did I make all things, but I continue to hold them together by My will and power (John 1:1-3; Colossians 1:15-19). I sent you the anointing, the Holy Spirit, to be with you. The Spirit will guide you into all truth so that you will not be led astray by the antiChrists in your day (John 16:12-15). You don’t need to fear these false teachers; just test the spirit of these teachers to see if they bring the truth about Me (1 John 4:1-6). If they do not, don’t associate with them. Those who do not hold to My genuine identity undermine Who I AM and what I did to bring you salvation. If you hold to My true identity, if you believe in Me as Peter did, you can rest assured of this one certainty: you can be sure of your salvation! Verses to Live What follows is a collection of John’s strong words about the antiChrists who seek to undermine My identity. They existed in the early days of My church, and they exist in your day. Please know this: you must heed John’s words of warning, but not in fear. Trust in the Holy Spirit Whom I poured out on you when you were born into the Father’s family (John 16:5-11; Titus 3:3-7). The Spirit is your anointing, your assurance that you have the truth and that you belong to the Father. So believe in Me and trust what I say to you: your anointing will guide you into all truth and will confirm what John says about Me! My children, this is the final hour. You have heard that the antiChrist, the greatest enemy to His kingdom, is coming, but in fact, many antiChrists are already here. This development tells us how late it really is. A group has left us, but they were not part of our family. If they were truly our brothers and sisters, they would have remained for the duration with us. When they left, they made it ever so obvious that they were not part of us. You have been given an anointing, a special touch from the Holy One. You know the truth. I am not writing to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it. You know that no lie belongs to the truth. The liar is the one who says, “Jesus is not really the Anointed One.” This is the antiChrist, the one denying both the Father and the Son. Anyone who denies the Son does not know the Father. The one affirming the Son enjoys an intimate relationship with the Father as well. Let the good news, the story you have heard from the beginning of your journey, live in and take hold of you. If that happens and you focus on the good news, then you will always remain in a relationship with the Son and the Father. This is what He promised us: eternal life. I also am writing to warn you about some who are attempting to deceive you. You have an anointing. You received it from Him, and His anointing remains on you. You do not need any other teacher. But as His anointing instructs you in all the essentials (all the truth uncontaminated by darkness and lies), it teaches you this: “Remain connected to Him.” (1 John 2:18-27) There is a sure way for us to know that we belong to the truth. Even though our inner thoughts may condemn us with storms of guilt and constant reminders of our failures, we can know in our hearts that in His presence God Himself is greater than any accusation. He knows all things. My loved ones, if our hearts cannot condemn us, then we can stand with confidence before God. Whatever we may ask, we receive it from Him because we follow His commands and take the path that pleases Him. His command is clear: believe in the name of His Son, Jesus the Anointed, and love one another as He commanded. The one who follows His teaching and walks this path lives in an intimate relationship with God. How do we know