30 Oct 2024
Let us not find our own way due to the impatience of human nature. May we not grow weary of waiting on God. May His grace sustain us, and may we remain expectant until His deliverance comes. Exodus 32:15-25.
Daily Prayer for October 30
Praise the Lord, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples. For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord. Psalm 117, NIV Lord our God, we thank you that we may come to you and that our spirits can reach out for your help and your comfort. May we draw strength from communion with you, our Father. May we realize more fully that we are your children, truly your children, who throughout our pilgrimage are allowed to know you as our refuge and our help. Remember our world, and grant that many hearts awaken and turn to you, looking to you in all the fear and need which sweep over many people in our time. Let your Spirit be revealed to our hearts in quiet, bringing many experiences from you, O Lord our God, and from your kingdom. Protect us every day in the many lands throughout the earth. For the nations are yours; they shall receive life and blessing from you, and at last your kingdom will be revealed in all the world, to the eternal glory of your name. Amen. Recent articles on Plough Should ER Doctors Treat Bodies or People? Abraham M. Nussbaum A first-year medical student takes time to find out who her trauma patients really are, or were. Read now Can Making Art Make You a Better Mother? Jess Sweeney A mother of toddlers finds fellow travelers in Catherine Ricketts’s The Mother Artist: Portraits of Ambition, Limitation, and Creativity. Read now Is Tolerance Still a Virtue? Jake Meador When it comes to politics, sometimes you must patiently endure people you disagree with. Read now When God Intervenes in History Gustavo Gutiérrez The pivotal moment in human history happened in obscurity among people of little importance. Read now When Roads Are Washed Away Amanda Held Opelt After Hurricane Helene, the people of rural North Carolina are finding that a road is so much more than gravel and asphalt. Read now
Today’s Verse – Hebrews 10:29
How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? —Hebrews 10:29 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… We often look at the swift and dramatic discipline and punishment God used with his people in the Old Testament and are struck by its severity. The Holy Spirit reminds us that while this was true, to spurn grace and ridicule the sacrificial death of Jesus are actions all the more worthy of God’s punishment. Grace is incredible. It is marvelous. But to reject Jesus and all he did to bring us God’s love and salvation is to court disaster and reject any source of grace. Rejecting Jesus has harsh consequences, so please, dear friend, don’t! Please don’t reject God’s offer of love, mercy, grace, hope, and salvation in Jesus. As the apostle Peter said while inspired by the Holy Spirit: Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12). My Prayer… Holy and righteous Father, thank you for your painful and costly gift of grace. Please empower me to be a transmitter and sharer of that grace to others. Please bless me with the ability to share the message of Jesus in all its loveliness so others can know your salvation and not have to face your justice after having spurned your gracious gift to them in Jesus, in whose name I pray and plead. 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.
A Living Hope
Note from Jesus Dear Faithful One, Life is full of challenges when you are bound to the realities of mortality. I know, not just because I AM God, but also because I faced these realities in My physical body. I also know that many of My disciples have endured persecution and even faced martyrdom. As Peter addresses disciples facing imminent persecution and possible martyrdom, he doesn’t begin with kind words of encouragement. Rather, he starts his letter with an outburst of praise to the Father. He is overwhelmed with joy because of “a living hope” and “an eternal inheritance… that will never fade or fail.” Like the early disciples to whom Peter was writing, you did not witness My earthly life and ministry. As I promised Thomas, those who have not seen Me and yet still believe are blessed (John 20:29)! As Peter said, you are blessed because “you do believe in Him [Me] and celebrate with a joy that is glorious and beyond words. You are receiving the salvation of your souls as the result of your faith.” While you look back in faith on what I did, know that angels — the “heavenly messengers” — stood on tiptoe in anticipation of My coming (1 Peter 1:12). They knew their waiting and wondering about Me were to serve you and your fellow disciples, the very people on whom the end of ages has come. In times of trial and persecution, genuine encouragement always begins with Me and involves praise for what the Father has done through Me. Hope is built on faith in Me and on praise of My resurrection and glorification and the glory that you will share with Me! Platitudes and slogans will not sustain people through the storms of persecution and martyrdom; praise rooted in the things I have done for you and promised to you will sustain you! Verses to Live As you read these words of praise immediately following the opening salutation in the letter you call 1 Peter, I encourage you to read these words several times. Instead of being intimidated by your times, your enemies, or the threats against you, focus on the assurance of your hope — I have conquered what you face, and I will share My “praise, honor, and glory” when I AM “revealed at last”! Blessed is God, the Father of our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One! Because He has raised Jesus the Anointed from death, through His great mercy we have been reborn into a living hope — reborn for an eternal inheritance, held in reserve in heaven, that will never fade or fail. Through faith, God’s power is standing watch, protecting you for a salvation that you will see completely at the end of things. You should greatly rejoice in what is waiting for you, even if now for a little while you have to suffer various trials. Suffering tests your faith which is more valuable than gold (remember that gold, although it is perishable, is tested by fire) so that if it is found genuine, you can receive praise, honor, and glory when Jesus the Anointed, our Liberating King, is revealed at last. Although you haven’t seen Jesus, you still love Him. Although you don’t yet see Him, you do believe in Him and celebrate with a joy that is glorious and beyond words. You are receiving the salvation of your souls as the result of your faith. The prophets who spoke of this outpouring of grace upon you diligently searched and inquired of the Lord about this salvation: to whom and to what time was the indwelling Spirit of the Anointed referring when He told them about the suffering of the Anointed and the honor that would follow it? The Spirit revealed to them they were not serving themselves but you. And you have learned from those who told you the good news by the Spirit that was sent down from heaven. Even the heavenly messengers would like to explore this news. (1 Peter 1:3-12) Response in Prayer O Father, thank You for my living hope, Jesus Christ, the Anointed One. Thank You for His victory over sin, death, and hell. Thank You for the character and compassion that He demonstrated while on earth. Thank You for the assurance of my victory over sin, death, and hell because I am united with Him. I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen. ‘A Year with Jesus’ is written by Phil Ware. © 1998-2024, Heartlight, Inc. ‘A Year with Jesus‘ is part of the Heartlight Network.All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Voice™. © 2008 by Ecclesia Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
29 Oct 2024
May we be teachable as we grow. May we remain humble and accept that we still have a lot to learn. This attitude will sustain growth and the Lord will have the desired impact in us. John 14:26.
Today’s Verse – Proverbs 10:28
The prospect of the righteous is joy, but the hopes of the wicked come to nothing. —Proverbs 10:28 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… Good news! When we seek righteousness, justice, holiness, mercy, and godliness — qualities of our Father in heaven — our future is with him and will be full of joy. Don’t let the darkness that may be around you now steal away the glorious dawn of joy that has already begun to appear but will dawn brighter than the sun with the return of our Savior in glory! My Prayer… Father, please forgive me for the times I’ve grown depressed and melancholy over the apparent condition of my world, the culture around me, or my current situation. Thank you, dear Father, for your promise of victory and the glorious blessings that lie ahead when Jesus returns to take me home in glory. Please continue your transformational work through the Holy Spirit as I keep my eyes on Jesus, in whose name I pray. 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.
Worship in Your Daily World
Note from Jesus Dear Disciple, While involving yourself in Christian assembly and gathering together with believers for encouragement, exhortation and worship are important (Hebrews 10:19-25), your worship should be much more extensive than an hour or two of the week spent with other believers. We — Father, Son, and Spirit — want your whole life to be your worship. It must be much more than just a little sliver of your time offered one or two days of the week. I commanded you to love Us “with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30). That means that everything you do should be done as part of your worship. Paul said it well when he wrote to Christians in Rome: Brothers and sisters, in light of all I have shared with you about God’s mercies, I urge you to offer your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice to God, a sacred offering that brings Him pleasure; this is your reasonable, essential worship. (Romans 12:1) As My writer of Hebrews comes to the end of his “word of exhortation” (Hebrews 13:22), he calls on his readers — and I’m calling on you — to worship in all of your daily world with head, heart, and hands. Unfortunately, the chapter divisions in your Bibles can sometimes lead you to miss the Holy Spirit’s message. With the chapter break, Hebrews chapter 12 ends with a call to worship with “awe and reverence.” Some mistakenly think this is talking about being reverent when you gather for Christian assembly. Now, of course, all worship needs to be approached with “awe and reverence.” However, this division between chapter 12 and chapter 13 in your Bibles may lead you to miss the main point being made by the Holy Spirit. This “awe and reverence” needs to be a part of your worship in the daily world. In fact, He tells how to worship in “awe and reverence” in the first 14 verses of chapter 13. He then returns to the thought He began at the end of chapter 12: “the praise of lips that confess His [My] name without ceasing” and doing “what is good” and sharing “what we [you] have.” These are the “sacrifices” that please Us! So what specifically is this worship in your daily world that is done with “awe and reverence”? Here are some exhortations from this section of Hebrews: Let your love continue toward each other. Extend hospitality, including to strangers. Don’t forget to care for those in prison for their faith. Value marriage and keep your marriage sexually pure and dedicated to the person to whom you are married. Stay away from greed and the love of money; be content with what you have. Trust that We will never forsake you. Follow your Godly leaders and live the kind of life they have lived. Stay away from new and strange teachings. Avoid the type of worship that values special foods. Join Me and My work, even if it means being pushed outside the acceptance of the crowd. This principle is valid even if your holy life leads to suffering for My cause. Remember that you have a better future with Me. This, My dear disciple, is true worship. Yes, I love it when you praise the Father and confess My name in word and song. However, don’t forget to do good to all people and share what you have, who you are, and what you believe with others. This, My dear disciple, is also real worship. These are things that you can do each day to worship Us with “awe and reverence”! Verses to Live Writers and speakers in the first century often signaled that material went together by using a technique called inclusio. Basically, they put verbal brackets or bookends around their teaching. These bookends used similar language to show that the spoken or written words between them went together. The writer of Hebrews used this technique to frame this section on worship. He began with an emphasis on worship (Hebrews 12:28-29) and ended with this same theme (Hebrews 13:15-16). In between these two verbal brackets, he shared what this worship looked like in the everyday world of the disciples. Focus on two things as you read this material with its bookends: Notice how this list from 2,000 years ago is still relevant, needed, and proper in your day. Ask yourself what other things you could add to this list about how to worship the Father in your daily world. Therefore, let us all be thankful that we are a part of an unshakable Kingdom and offer to God worship that pleases Him and reflects the awe and reverence we have toward Him, for He is like a fierce fire that consumes everything. Let love continue among you. Don’t forget to extend your hospitality to all — even to strangers — for as you know, some have unknowingly shown kindness to heavenly messengers in this way. Remember those imprisoned for their beliefs as if you were their cellmate; and care for any who suffer harsh treatment, as you are all one body. Hold marriage in high esteem, all of you, and keep the marriage bed pure because God will judge those who commit sexual sins. Keep your lives free from the love of money, and be content with what you have because He has said, “I will never leave you; I will always be by your side.” Because of this promise, we may boldly say, The Lord is my help — I won’t be afraid of anything. How can anyone harm me? Listen to your leaders, who have spoken God’s word to you. Notice the fruits of their lives and mirror their faith. Jesus the Anointed One is always the same: yesterday, today, and forever. Do not be carried away by diverse and strange ways of believing or worshiping. It is good for the heart to be strengthened
28 Oct 2024
May a desire for spiritual growth be stirred up in our hearts. A desire to know God more. And may the Lord respond and help us by sending the Holy Spirit to minister to us and guide us. May Hebrews 10:15-16 become a reality.
Daily Prayer for October 28
Sacrifice thank offerings to God, fulfill your vows to the Most High, and call on me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me. Psalm 50:14–15, NIV Dear Father in heaven, we want to praise you together and to thank you with all our hearts for your goodness and your deliverance from our many needs. Accept our thanks, and help us go on our way with ever joyful hearts. Make us ready for whatever you have prepared for us, your children. Bless us in our individual lives and bless us in our community. Let your Spirit shed its rays into all places to comfort people’s hearts and to restore and strengthen their faith. May your name be praised forevermore. Amen. Recent articles on Plough Is Tolerance Still a Virtue? Jake Meador When it comes to politics, sometimes you must patiently endure people you disagree with. Read now When God Intervenes in History Gustavo Gutiérrez The pivotal moment in human history happened in obscurity among people of little importance. Read now When Roads Are Washed Away Amanda Held Opelt After Hurricane Helene, the people of rural North Carolina are finding that a road is so much more than gravel and asphalt. Read now Becoming a Free Person Sr. Carino Hodder, OP Lying face down on the stone-cold floor was the first step to freedom. Read now Those Baffling Beatitudes Charles E. Moore Are Jesus’ blessings within reach of ordinary people like me, who aren’t particularly poor, meek, or pure in heart? Read now
Today’s Verse – 1 Samuel 10:27
But some troublemakers said, “How can this fellow save us?” They despised him and brought him no gifts. But Saul kept silent. —1 Samuel 10:27 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… Some folks didn’t want Saul to serve them as King because of his simple background and non-aristocratic family history. So often, we tend to do the same thing today — label people and discount their ability to lead God’s people or serve in God’s Kingdom because of their heritage or past. God, however, doesn’t look at a person’s pedigree. He searches their heart. So, dear leader, please stick close to the LORD, because you will be criticized. But please, don’t react to every little criticism or slight; devote yourself to serving the LORD boldly. And to those of us called to follow God’s leaders, let’s refuse to dismiss someone as God’s leader because she or he lacks some noble pedigree. Remember the vast variety of people God used in the stories we find in the Bible. Trust that our God will be just as creative in his choice of people he wants to lead us in our day. My Prayer… Dear God, please forgive me for the times I doubted your selection of leaders. Please give me, along with the congregation, the ability to discern who your leaders are in our midst and not judge them on surface issues. Please provide them with the courage to lead unselfishly and faithfully. 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.