Daily Prayer for July 18
Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth. John 4:23–24, NIV Lord our God, we thank you for being among us as our Father, for letting us be your children on earth. We thank you that as your children we can find life in spirit and in truth. Grant that each of us may find how our lives on earth can be lifted up by your Spirit. Your Spirit can bring us what we do not possess, so that our daily work, all our striving and struggling for the outward things of life, may be pervaded by what is higher and greater. Your Spirit can keep us from falling into base and petty ways, from getting lost in earthly experiences which do not last, no matter how much they demand our attention. We thank you for all you have done for your children. Continue to help us, that we may serve you every day in gladness and gratitude. Amen. Recent articles on Plough Violence Is Counterproductive Conrad Grebel, Felix Manz, Hans Denck and Menno Simons Early Anabaptist writers make the case against a Christian’s use of violence. Read now Toward a Gift Economy Simon Oliver Some goods and services have value beyond their market price. Read now When the Bees Lose Their Way Nick Ripatrazone A review of Liquid, Fragile, Perishable by Carolyn Kuebler. Read now The Home, a Monastery? Evan B. Howard To what extent can an ordinary nuclear family live a fully consecrated life? Read now Let Yourself Be Eaten Chiara Lubich Put yourself at the service of your neighbors. Read now
Today’s Verse – Revelation 7:17
[One of the elders from around the throne of God declared:] “For [Jesus] the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” —Revelation 7:17 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… What a beautiful picture! The One who died for us will nourish and refresh us. The One upon whom all eternity hinges will take time to comfort us personally. The One who has “destroyed death and brought immortality to light” (2 Timothy 1:10) sends us the Holy Spirit as our needed living water (John 7:37-39). No wonder Paul could say that he did not consider his present sufferings worth comparing to the glory that Jesus will reveal in us (Romans 8:18)! My Prayer… Father God and Sovereign LORD of all Creation, thank you for your incredible love for us. While we know we don’t deserve your overwhelming and generous grace, we rejoice in it. While we know our best attempts at honoring you fall short, thank you for promising to welcome us into your presence, care for us, and comfort us when we come home to you. Your love, O LORD, is beyond our comprehension and exhausts our appreciation while filling our hearts with wonder and praise. In Jesus’ name, we praise you. 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 Importance of Affirmation!
Note from Jesus Dear Child of the Father, While Paul was in Corinth, he waited anxiously to hear how the new believers in Thessalonica were doing. The Thessalonians had made a huge change when they became Christians, as he wrote to them: [Y]ou turned toward God and realigned your life to serve the one true living God — leaving your idols to crumble in the dust — and how you now await the return from heaven of His Son, Whom He raised from the dead — namely, Jesus — our rescuer from the wrath to come. In addition to the huge change in their lifestyles, the Thessalonians had endured some hardships because of their faith: You took to heart the word we taught with joy inspired by the Holy Spirit, even in the face of trouble. Since Paul was prevented from returning to Thessalonica (1 Thessalonians 2:17-18), he sent Timothy “to strengthen and encourage” them in their faith (1 Thessalonians 3:2 NIV) and report back to him on how the Thessalonian Christians were doing (1 Thessalonians 3:5). Paul was relieved that in the face of real suffering for Me, these new believers in Thessalonica were remaining faithful to Me and still thought favorably of him, My apostle. As Paul began the first of his two letters to the Thessalonians, he affirmed My new disciples. He thanked God for these new brothers and sisters in Thessalonica. His thanksgiving was not generic appreciation for new believers, but he was genuinely excited about their signs of true Christian maturity — faith, hope, and love (1 Corinthians 13:13). In his letter to them, he said: Your actions on behalf of the true faith, your tireless toil of love, and your unfailing, unwavering, unending hope in our Lord Jesus… To affirm them further, Paul then reminded these new believers that he knew God had selected them. He emphasized three things that show they were chosen by the Father: The way the “life-empowering, Spirit-infused message” had come to them. The way they (Paul, Silas, and Timothy) as messengers from God had come to them — they had lived “transparently” as great examples of My lifestyle for the Thessalonians. The way the Thessalonians had come to be a great example of outreach and faith to other churches. How important was it for Paul to start with affirmation? Extremely important! Remember that the Father affirmed Me right after My baptism by saying: “You are my dearly loved Son, and you bring me great joy.” (Luke 3:22 NLT) The Father gave Me assurance that I was His beloved Son Who brought Him joy, and He did this immediately before I faced a time of testing from the evil one. I faced struggles with the evil one, but I had been prepared by My Father! Paul is doing a similar thing with these new believers facing hardship, troubles, and sufferings. Paul had some very important doctrinal and moral truths to communicate to the Thessalonians and also some things to correct in them. However, he spent over sixty percent of this letter affirming them, praying for them, and stressing how important his relationship with them was to him. Despite all that they lacked in their understanding about morality and My return in glory, Paul began with an affirmation of their progress in their faith and confirmation of his love for them. Paul’s emphasis on affirmation is important for you to notice. As you encounter new and struggling disciples, I hope that you will remember his example of affirmation. The evil one is always sowing seeds of doubt in new believers’ hearts. When hardships and troubles come, new disciples can easily doubt their importance to Me and the growth of the kingdom. They need affirmation that they are loved. They need to be assured that faith in Me is the right choice. They need to be reminded that the sacrifices they are making and the hardships they are enduring are worth it. This affirmation is especially important at the earliest stages of faith. I don’t want the evil one to steal away new believers’ joy at being My disciples. I don’t want Satan to use hardships and suffering to lead My new disciples to fall away from Me. I don’t want the cares of the world to keep them from being effective in their discipleship (Mark 4:13-19). Please affirm new and struggling believers and help them stay on track in their lives of faith! Verses to Live As Paul begins his first letter to the Thessalonians, notice his emphasis on what these new believers are doing right! He is thankful for them. He sees the good work they have done and the great example they set even in the face of hardships. He reminds them of how they turned their lives around to follow Me. Paul begins with affirmation! Paul, Silvanus [also known as Silas], and Timothy to the church gathering in Thessalonica, those living in God the Father and in the Lord Jesus the Anointed. May grace and peace be yours from God our Father and the Lord Jesus the Anointed. We always thank God for all of you in our prayers. Your actions on behalf of the true faith, your tireless toil of love, and your unfailing, unwavering, unending hope in our Lord Jesus the Anointed before God our Father have put you consistently at the forefront of our thoughts. O brothers and sisters loved by God, we know He has chosen you. And here is why: what you experienced in the good news we brought you was more than words channeling down your ears; it came to you as a life-empowering, Spirit-infused message that offers complete hope and assurance! We lived transparently before you so that you would know what sort of people we truly are. We did it for your sake, and you have modeled your lives after ours just as we are modeling ours after the Lord. You took to heart the word we taught with
17 Jul 2024
So you finally get what you have longed for! Would you give it up? Would you pass Abraham’s test? 🤔 I’m asking myself the same question. He had such great faith, he didn’t hesitate to give up what was so precious to him, what would help fulfill God’s promise of him being the father of many nations. Hebrews 11:17-19.
Prayer and Mission
So if they didn’t and couldn’t, how dare we? If you want to discover your congregation’s God-given purpose, there can be no starting point other than prayer. If that’s not immediately apparent, a cursory glance at the book of Acts should make it clear! Acts begins with a group of disciples who had received the Great Commission, but had no clue how to fulfill it. Had they attempted to draft a mission statement at that point, it would have borne little resemblance to God’s divine plan. Their strategic initiatives would have been based on woefully wrong-headed assumptions. Of course, any such plan would have failed anyway for lack of spiritual power. Acts chronicles a series of crucial junctures where God challenges and changes the disciples’ false notions, surprising them with new directions and fresh opportunities that they could have scarcely imagined on their own. There is a common theme at each of these critical crossroads: prayer! For the earliest disciples, the generality of the Great Commission became a specific and focused strategic plan in response to intense prayer. God revealed the gospel message and poured out the gift of the Holy Spirit onto a group of disciples who had been praying constantly for ten days (Acts 1:14; Acts 2:1-4). God’s shockingly unexpected plan to receive Gentiles into the kingdom was revealed to Peter, who was deep in prayer at the time (Acts 10:9). Peter then inaugurated the Gentile outreach by teaching Cornelius, who had been praying at the same time (Acts 10:2). When Saul of Tarsus first appears in Acts, he is intent on fulfilling his personal mission statement, which is to intimidate and incarcerate all who follow Jesus (Acts 9:1-14). But because Saul is fervently praying following his Damascus road encounter with Christ, God sends Ananias to give him a radical new mission: carrying the message of Jesus to the Gentiles (Acts 9:15). Another radical shift in mission occurs when the Holy Spirit directs Saul (now known as Paul) away from Asia and into Macedonia. Paul and Lydia — who becomes the first European Christian — meet each other because they both seek out a place of prayer (Acts 16:13). Only through prayer could the first disciples have grown to understand the surprising twists and turns of God’s purposes. In response to prayer, they received boldness in the face of opposition (Acts 4:24-31) and they united around common goals (Acts 2:42). No wonder that the leaders of the Jerusalem church placed a higher priority on prayer than on “church management” (Acts 6:4). Today, even skilled, educated, and well-meaning leaders will go badly astray if they attempt to sharpen the church’s focus and define its purpose apart from an emphasis on prayer. Leaders of churches that are searching for preachers need to give special prominence to prayer. Again, the book of Acts is instructive. Through prayer, the early believers met the daunting challenge of fitting the right people with the right gifts into the right places at the right time. The apostles knew that their limited wisdom was insufficient to choose an individual to join their ranks, so they prayed and left the decision to God (Acts 1:23-26). With fervent prayer, six men were appointed to minister to the widows in Jerusalem (Acts 6:6). Through prayer, Barnabas and Paul were set apart as missionaries (Acts 13:3). And by means of prayer, elders were appointed to lead each fledgling congregation they established (Acts 14:23). One thing that cannot be discerned from a résumé is the internal state of a person’s heart. That is why those who selected spiritual leaders in the first century prayed to the God who “knows everyone’s heart” (Acts 1:24). Wise leaders today will learn from their example and do likewise. If you are a leader in a church that needs to rediscover or redefine its mission; if your church needs to hear a fresh call from God; and especially if you are in the process of searching for a minister, prayer must be your top priority. Without it, we stand no chance of recapturing the purity, the wisdom and the spiritual power of the earliest Church. This is part of an ongoing series of messages from the partners at Interim Ministry Partners on a church discovering its mission. These messages are based on a proven set of moves a congregation needs to make as it is transitioning in its preaching leadership and wants to focus on its mission. The following chart illustrates the key moves and the direction each of these moves should help the congregation move. About the author: Mark Frost has been in ministry for 41 years, 34 of which were spent with a single congregation. He is now working with churches in transition with Interim Ministry Partners. Mark is a loving and insightful minister who is loved and trusted by the congregations with whom he has worked because of his kind and loving demeanor, positive outlook, good grasp of Scripture and faithful ministry experience.
Today’s Verse – Luke 7:16
[After Jesus had raised the son of the widow from Nain: Those in the crowd who saw this] were all filled with awe and praised God. “A great prophet has appeared among us,” they said. “God has come to help his people.” —Luke 7:16 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… Jesus came to do God’s work. He came as the Son of God, God incarnate in human flesh (John 1:14-18). He came to reveal God. Jesus came, and many people praised God. He came so people could see God. Do you know Jesus? If you do, do you know him as well as you should? As Luke reminded us in this event, when people saw Jesus at work in our world, they said: “God has come to help his people.” Let’s look for God at work in our world today and invite him to use us to manifest his presence! My Prayer… O Gracious Father and Eternal God, thank you for revealing yourself, your love, your grace, and your salvation to us in Jesus. We thank you for visiting our world and making us your children. To you, O God belongs all glory and praise in the name of Jesus Christ. 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.
16 Jul 2024
Even as we pursue earthly goals, let us not forget eternal goals. The heroes of faith knew the importance of such goals and lived in hope. That focus helps us avoid many pitfalls if we value those goals. If we don’t, it will be evident. Hebrews 11:14-16.
Daily Prayer for July 16
But as for me, I will look to the Lord, I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me. Rejoice not over me, O my enemy; when I fall, I shall rise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me. Micah 7:7–8, RSV Dear Father in heaven, as your children we stand before you and lift our eyes to you. We are poor, needy people, often wretched and tormented. Let your eyes rest upon us. Grant us the help we need. Bless us when we gather in the name of Jesus Christ, that we may be a people who learn to serve you on all the paths we follow, even if it proves bitterly hard. Give us true faith for every moment. May we have joy and confidence that you are with your children, that you remain with them forever, until the great time of redemption when we will rejoice with all past generations and with all who are living today. Amen. Recent articles on Plough Toward a Gift Economy Simon Oliver Some goods and services have value beyond their market price. Read now When the Bees Lose Their Way Nick Ripatrazone A review of Liquid, Fragile, Perishable by Carolyn Kuebler. Read now The Home, a Monastery? Evan B. Howard To what extent can an ordinary nuclear family live a fully consecrated life? Read now Let Yourself Be Eaten Chiara Lubich Put yourself at the service of your neighbors. Read now Why Grow Tomatoes Laura Trimble Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s tomato plot. Read now
Today’s Verse – Mark 7:15
[Jesus challenged the outward show of religiosity among religious people who were ignoring their inner need to be humble and pure before God. He said:] “Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather, it is what comes out of a person that defiles them.’” —Mark 7:15 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… We get so hung up on externals, appearances, and facades. Jesus cuts to the core of God’s concern — our spiritual heart condition. He wants us to focus not only on what we put in our bodies but also on what we allow to grow in our hearts and simmer in our heads. Most of us need our inner world to receive our most earnest attention and the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. So, let’s be honest and ask if we are spending as much time focusing on our inner world as we are focusing on our external appearance and how we appear to others! In a world constantly preening for acceptance on social media, this may be one of the most critical spiritual challenges of our times. My Prayer… O God, who searches minds and hearts, may the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart be pleasing to you. I offer you my inner world to cleanse and redecorate by the sanctifying work of your Holy Spirit. Please guard my heart from evil ambitions and my mind from impure thoughts. I want my inner life and outer deeds to glorify you and honor 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.
15 Jul 2024
What are you looking for in this life? Have you achieved it? The heroes of faith in Hebrews 11 died before they got what they hoped for. Hebrews 11:13.