Things That Make for Peace in Our Lives

Luke 19:42

If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes.

As Jesus weeped over Jerusalem, He spoke the words in Luke 19 to the Jews, who He knew would reject Him and His offer of salvation.  Because they rejected His offer, He transferred His offer to the willing Gentiles.

This principle is carried out in a different way in our daily lives.  Jesus prepares us to do His work and asks us to be obedient to His calling.  Sometimes He will give us simple urgings in the spirit to do something nice for someone, to pray for someone or to ask forgiveness from someone.  Often His urging may be for a simple act to bring a smile upon the face of another. Whatever He asks of us, if we accept His bidding, we will be given greater things to do for Him.  We will experience the peace and comfort that flows from serving Him.  If we do not accept His bidding, we will miss the peace He offers and we will miss a portion of the bigger plans that He has for our lives.  Sadly, He will move on to find the one who is willing serve Him readily.

Let us not miss His peace offering as the Jews did.  If the Lord is asking us to do anything today, let us surrender to His calling. 

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for allowing us to serve You.  We rejoice in knowing that You are pleased when we are obedient to Your urging.  We pray that You make us sensitive to the work that You call us to do.  May we find joy in even the smallest tasks.  May it all bring honor and glory to You, to Your Son and to the Holy Spirit.  We ask all these things in the name of the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ.

The Endless Gift of Love

1 Corinthians 13:7

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  Love never ends.

God is love.  His love is unconditional and without end.  His love for us is expressed explicitly through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus. 

We are able to love because God loved us first.  He created a spot in our hearts so that we could receive His love and return it to Him.  He gave us the capacity to share His love with the world around us.  He gave us the Holy Spirit so that our love could be an endless spring.

When we are living in accordance with the Holy Spirit within us, we are capable of extraordinary service to those around us.  When we try to live by the world's standards, we will choose to serve ourselves first.  The spontaneity of our love and service will tell us where we are living.

Let us not lose sight of the truth that the basis of our hope is so much more than our temperament.  Hope is a love gift from God.  Hope is God's love poured out to us in the form of grace.  Hope is the absence of sourness and gloom.  Hope is the essence of the Good News of God for the world.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for loving us unconditionally.  We thank You that Your love flows to us endlessly.  Prepare our hearts, Lord, so that we may become vessels of Your perfect love.  Cleanse us, Lord, of anything in our hearts that would restrict the flow of Your love in our lives.  May we bear much fruit for Your kingdom through the spontaneous release of Your love to the world around us.  We ask, Lord, that in this Easter season we may be living proof of the regeneration of our lives through our saving relationship with Our Savior, Jesus Christ.  We ask all these things in His precious name.

Delivering Good News to the Unworthy

Acts 9:17

So Ananias departed and entered the house.  And laying hands on him he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit."

And in an instant, Paul not only received his physical sight, he also received the filling of the Holy Spirit.  Thus, he received wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge of God and a holy reverence for God.  All of these gifts came on him at once. His vision of who He was in Christ, along with all of its associated power, served to allow him to replace the evil man that he had become with the new, righteous man that he was to become.

From this passage, we learn that for those of us who have received Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior that we become new men and women in Christ just as the sinner and prosecutor of the early church, Saul, became the new man Paul.  The teaching of the Holy Spirit reveals to us the faulty mindset that the world provides, allowing us to escape our ignorance and our pride.  The power of the Holy Spirit within us allows us to become new creatures who proclaim the Good News and serve as conduits of God's love.  

But do not miss the second message of this passage.  There would have been no conversion for Paul without the obedience of Ananias to got out and deliver the message of God, even though He questioned the righteousness of the one that he was called to minister to.  We must be careful not to withhold the message of hope from anyone because we feel they are not worthy.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for the anointing that we receive as disciples of Jesus Christ.  We pray that You will open our eyes to the things of the world that are creating ignorance and pride in our lives so that we may turn away from them.  We ask that You release the gifts of the Holy Spirit into our lives so that we may see the vision that You have for our lives and be empowered to go out as messengers of hope in the world that surrounds us.  We pray that our hearts are prepared to view every person as worthy to receive the Good News that we possess.  We ask all these things in the name of Our Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

The Intercession of the Holy Spirit

Romans 8:26

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.

While intercessory prayer is very rewarding and plays a powerful role in deepening our relationship with Our Heavenly Father, it can sometimes lead us down paths that are challenging, perhaps even frustrating.  The Holy Spirit has been placed along side of us to insure that we are not deterred by our frustrations.  There are several important areas where the Holy Spirit supports us in our weakness.

First, the Holy Spirit is our perfecter in praying for the true needs of others.  We are generally very comfortable seeking the hand of God for protection and provision for ourselves, our families and those close to us.  It is natural and easy for us to pray for those that we love.  At times, however, we may be at a loss to know what the will of God is in the lives of those that we are praying for.  We can be comforted and confident in knowing that our prayers will be perfected before the Father by the Holy Spirit.  

Second, the Holy Spirit opens our eyes and soften our hearts toward all mankind.  It is not our nature to pray for those we do not feel close to or perhaps even dislike because of their behavior toward us or others.  In His ministry, Jesus often argued with the apostles because He wanted to be among those in the most need of His redemptive work, not those that were more socially acceptable.  Jesus wants us to intercede for the world around us, whether we feel drawn or repulsed by the ones that we pray for.  As we mature in Christ, the Holy Spirit will help build up our sensitivity to and our desire to pray for the needs of all mankind.

Finally, the Holy Spirit has been sent to strengthen us when we are personally overpowered by the things that the world has brought against us.  When we are so broken that we do not even know what to pray for, the Holy Spirit is beside us to silence our fears and help us through our discouragements.  Most importantly, the Holy Spirit stands with us to make intercession for us before the Father so that the enemy cannot prevail against us.  

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You that You have provided Your Holy Spirit to help us pray in accordance with Your will for our lives and the lives of others.  We rejoice in knowing that the Holy Spirit will perfect our prayers before You.  We pray, Lord, that Your Holy Spirit will prepare our hearts to be intercessors for all of mankind.  Be they far or near, be they friend or foe, Father, teach us how to pray for their needs. When we are too weak to pray properly, or even pray at all, may Your Holy Spirit strengthen us and intercede for us.  We pray all these things in the name of Our Blessed Hope and Assurance, Jesus Christ.

The Spirit of the Lord that Rests Upon Us

Isaiah 11:2

And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.

In this passage, Isaiah was prophesying of the nature of our coming Savior.  Because we are indwelled by Jesus Christ when we accept Him as Our Savior, we inherit this wondrous nature for ourselves.  The inheritance that we receive is not temporary or occasional.  It is a permanent and enduring influence on our lives.

With our inheritance, we receive three pairs of spiritual graces:

1) Wisdom and understanding which provides the ability to perceive moral and intellectual truths.

2) Counsel and might which provides the direction and the power to carry out the plans that emerge from our spiritual insight.

3) Knowledge and fear of the Lord which provide the foundation for our relationship with the one true God, Our Father in heaven.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for the wondrous nature that You have given us in Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior.  We pray that the fullness of the Holy Spirit will rest upon us.  We seek Your wisdom so that we may have understanding in all matters.  We seek your counsel that we may become mighty warriors for Your kingdom.  We ask, Lord, that You inspire us to take the knowledge that we have of You and turn it into a reverent awe that changes how we live every moment of our lives.  We ask all these things in the name of the Lord of all grace, Jesus Christ.

The Privilege of Intercession

Isaiah 59:16

He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no one to intercede; then his own arm brought him salvation, and his righteousness upheld him.

Jesus was sent to earth to be the perfect intercessor for all mankind.  He took the mantle that no one else could take.  The Son of God came as Son of Man to be Our Redeemer.  His Holy Spirit followed Him to be Our Sanctifier and Our Comforter.  He stands forever before the Father in righteousness on behalf of all men.  No human champion could ever meet the perfect intercessory requirements of the Father.

Though there is not one of us good enough to be true intercessors, Almighty God allows us the privilege to stand in intercessory prayer for others.  Our privileges are not earned.  They are granted through our relationship with Jesus Christ.  

Intercessory prayer is the perfect service for each of us to enter.  We communicate with God on behalf of others.  We go before the Father in worship and solicitation for His divine assistance.  We seek His will for those that we pray for.   Through the process, the needs of many or met and our relationship with the Father grows to be like the relationship that the Father has with The Son.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You that You have provided Your Son to stand before Your Throne on our behalf.  We pray that You will teach us how to stand before You on the behalf of those that You have placed around us.  May You open our eyes and hearts so that we may see their needs and prayerfully respond to them.  May You strengthen us so that we will not falter in our prayer life.  May our relationship with You become like the relationship that You have with Your Son, Jesus.  We ask all of these things in name of Our Blessed Redeemer and Devine Intercessor, Jesus Christ.

Working Servants as We Wait

Luke 12:40

You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

God's Holy Word inspires us to turn our thoughts toward the day that Jesus will return to the earth.  This will be a great and magnificent day for which all of us should prepare ourselves.  On this day the Lord will separate those who knew Him and served Him from those that did not.  We certainly want to be in the group that inherits His Kingdom. 

But our human nature makes it difficult for us to prepare for an uncertain date and time.  We may even be uncertain about how we should prepare for the King of Kings.  We become eager to pursue all the demanding needs of this world and we lose sight of the right way to prepare for our coming King.  It is important for us to examine whether we are pursuing this world or the kingdom of God.  We must continually remind ourselves that we are not only waiting servants, but that we are also working servants as we wait.

The Lord in His mercy gives us simple ways to prepare.  He teaches us that those who feed Him when He is hungry, give Him drink when He is thirsty, clothe Him when He is in need and visit Him when He is sick or in prison will be the ones that inherit His Kingdom.  He adds that even though we may not see Him in these conditions that when we serve those who are in these conditions we are serving Him.  Let us go out and be working servants as we wait.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You that Your Holy Word prepares us to receive Our King, Jesus Christ.  Open our eyes, Lord, so that we may see the opportunities to serve Our King everyday.  Prepare our hearts, Lord, to freely give of ourselves to others just as we would if we were serving Jesus Himself.  May the presence of the Holy Spirit within us by Our Guiding Light.  We ask all these things in the name of the Servant King, Jesus Christ.

The Fullness of the Life and the Power of Almighty God

Ephesians 3:19

May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

Jesus loves each one of us unconditionally.  He loves us so much that He gave up His position as Son of God to become Son of Man.  He endured the pain and shame of the Cross so that He could become the sacrificial lamb that was necessary to provide the blood to wash away our sins, to make us acceptable to the Father. 

He extended His unconditional love by sending the Holy Spirit to convict us of our sins, so that we would understand His offer of salvation and accept it.  He continues to extend His unconditional love by dwelling within each of us that have accepted Him as Our Savior, so that we may have the strength and the power to overcome the sinful nature that still tries to rule in our lives.

He continuously pours out His perfect love and forgiveness to each of us.  He places no limit on the love that He pours into us because He wants it to overflow our cups.  He wants us to become living vessels of His perfect love and forgiveness so that the world will know Him and know the fullness of His love.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for the perfect love and forgiveness that You have poured out into our lives.  We exalt the name of Jesus who became the Son of Man in order to fulfill our need for a perfect sacrificial lamb.  We thank You, Father, for the blood of Your Son that washes away our sin and makes it possible for us to receive and share Your perfect love.  We ask that we may become instruments of Your good work and vessels of Your perfect love and forgiveness for the world around us.  We pray that we will live in the fullness of the life and power that is offered by You through Your Son.  We ask all these things in the matchless name of the Son of God, the Son of Man, Jesus Christ.

Overcoming Our Weakness

Matthew 26:56

Then all the disciples left him and fled.

Imagine.  The men who had lived with Jesus for three years, sat under His teaching and witnessed all the signs and wonders of His ministry abandoned Him in His time of trial.  How could this happen?

It is the weakness of the flesh that failed the disciples.  They did not yet have the strength of the Holy Spirit to overcome their weaknesses.  What a dramatic difference the Holy Spirit made in their lives.  After their baptism of the Holy Spirit, all of the apostles boldly proclaimed the Good News of Jesus Christ.  All but one, John, died as a martyr while sharing the salvation plan.

We can be sure that in the flesh we are no stronger than the apostles.  If we try to live by the flesh without calling on the Holy Spirit to guide us and strengthen us, we will fail in following Our Savior.  Thankfully, God promises us in His Holy Word that He will perfect His strength in our weakness if we abide in Him.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You that You have provided Your Wonderful Counselor to be with us, to guide us and to strengthen us in our weaknesses.  We proclaim our weakness before You, Lord.  We ask forgiveness for straying from You.  We boldly claim Your promise to perfect Your strength in our weakness as we surrender to Your reign in our lives.  We ask all these things in the name of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Imperfect, Yet Pure Through Jesus Christ

Matthew 5:8

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

The purest of notions have no lasting value if the heart of the man is impure.  The most impressive outward actions are meaningless if the heart of the man is impure.  The Pharisees are outstanding examples of these statements.  The Pharisees were outwardly righteous, but inwardly they were full of impurity in their hearts.

Let us not forget that without Christ we are no better off than the Pharisees.  Our hearts are naturally unclean and we have no power to make them pure.  The only way that we can be pure in heart is to have the blood of Jesus cleanse us from our sins.

By the grace of God, we can submit our lives to the One that was 100% pure. We can make the desire of our hearts to be pure through Him.  We can have hearts that are as pure as Christ, the angels in heaven and the glorified saints.  Even though we may fail from time to time, we  can turn our minds over to Him to be constantly renewed.  Yet imperfect, we can have hearts that are entirely pure through the righteousness of Jesus Christ.  And thus, we know that we will see God at the time that He has set aside for us and our hearts will be pure.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for sending Jesus to this earth as our model of purity.  We ask that You mold our hearts so that we may submit to Your Son to rule and reign in our lives.  May the power of the Holy Spirit constantly renew our minds.   May You provide the armor of protection that we need to shield us from the impurities that the world so freely throws at us.  May the world around us be drawn to Your Son, Jesus, because of the purity that they see in us.  We ask these things in the name of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.  

The Sweetest of All Invitations

John 3:29

It is the bridegroom who marries the bride, and the best man is simply glad to stand with him and hear his vows. Therefore, I am filled with joy at his success.

John the Baptist was absolutely secure in his role as the best man to introduce the Bridegroom.  He was quick to let everyone know that it was the Bridegroom that was worthy of all the praise, honor and glory.

The promises/vows of Jesus Christ are the foundation upon which we stand as Christians.  Our responsibility is to go forth and share His vows with the world.  We are not to take one iota away from His message in order to make ourselves the center of attention or perhaps to shape the message in a way that is more appealing to the masses.  We are simply to allow the joy that we have received as a result of His vows to be poured out from us on to the world around us.

As it was for John, we should find great pleasure in being ministers of the Gospel.  To be able to carry the message of salvation within us and allow it to flow out to the world around us should be the perfection of our joy.  It should be the greatest desire of our hearts just as it was for John.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You that You have provided the Bridegroom to come to get us to be His bride at the wedding feast of the Lamb.  We rejoice in knowing that we have the privilege of extending invitations to the eternal event.  Prepare us, O Lord, to humbly extend Jesus Christ's invitations to those around us.  We pray, Father, that none shall reject the sweetest of all invitations.  May all praise, honor and glory go to Our Coming Bridegroom, Jesus Christ.  We ask all these things in His mighty name.

As Our Beloved Increases

John 3:30

He must increase, but I must decrease.

John the Baptist had the perfect understanding of His relationship with Jesus Christ.  He knew that he was a sinful man who was created, prepared and sent to show the way to the One from Above who was coming to save the world.  He understood that he had no power.  All the power belonged to Jesus.

From John the Baptist we learn a great model for bringing others to salvation.  It is our job to bring others to Christ.  It is not our job to save them.  The saving work of the Cross will be done by Jesus through the power of the Holy Spirit.

We also learn from the words of John the Baptist the model for our spiritual maturation.  We must increase our life in Christ as we allow our life in the flesh to decrease.  We must allow our new man to rise and our old man to die.  We do not lay down what we are called to do in the flesh, but instead come in complete harmony with the beloved One who dwells within us.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your Holy Word which lays out the models for our lives through the lives of Your servants.  Help us, Lord, to understand the depth of the teachings that come from each of Your precious servants.  Open our eyes, Lord, so that we may surrender our lives completely to Your Son, Jesus.  Help us, Lord, to live our lives in such a way that others are drawn to Your Son.  As we give up our lives for a lives in Christ, may the kingdoms of the world become the kingdoms of the King of kings, Jesus Christ.  We ask all of these things in the name of Our Divine Lord,  Jesus.

Let Us Exalt His Name

Psalm 34:3

Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together! 

Throughout the Psalms, we read David's prayers of praise.  He praised God to help overcome his fears and to call on his all-sufficient Lord.  David recognized God's faithfulness in meeting his needs and he also recognized that God was bigger than any problem or fear that he had.

We will spend all eternity praising Our Heavenly Father.  Why not practice our imperfect praise here on earth in preparation for the unspeakable joy we will receive from our perfect praise forever? 

It is time for us to magnify God in our lives.  He is much bigger than we allow Him to be.  We need to downsize our problems, upsize our view of who God is and rightsize our relationship with Him.  We can gain much by joining Paul in exalting the name of Our Lord.  Let us proclaim the glorious perfection of Our Father in heaven.  May we all join together in bringing glory to the Most High God.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for the privilege of exalting Your name here on earth and in heaven for all eternity.  We lift You up above all others.  There is not a single name that approaches the majesty and power of who You are.  Teach us, Lord, to have the faith of the Virgin Mary who said, "My soul magnifies the Lord," as she prepared to receive something that she did not believe to be possible.  May Your grace cover us, Lord, so that we may live in reverent awe of who You are.  May our hearts pour out praise to You each day.  We ask all these things in the name of Our Lord and King, Jesus Christ.

The Fire That is the Living Word

Luke 24:32

They said to each other, “Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?”

Two men walking on the road to Emmaus were met by Jesus, who accompanied them on the journey and joined them in their discussions about the recent events surrounding the death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. They did not recognize Him, but marveled in His knowledge of the events.  Later Jesus revealed Himself to the men, resulting in their realization of how stirring that His words had been earlier.

The Scriptures can be a sealed book.  The very identity of Jesus Christ and His salvation message can be hidden from us.  The power and the truth are unveiled only through Jesus Christ.  With Christ as Our Savior, we receive the words in Scripture as if Christ Himself is speaking them to us.

To aid us in our study of the Bible, we are joined in each reading by the Holy Spirit who directs us to focus on Jesus.  The Holy Spirit whispers gentle urgings into our hearts as He reveals the truths and promises given to us through Jesus Christ.  The Holy Spirit directs us to abide in Christ so that we may follow the path of salvation and sanctification that the Word of God provides us.  If we are obedient in following the urgings of the Holy Spirit our hearts will burn with a fervent love for Our Savior and we will live in the fullness of His presence.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for sending us the Living Word, Your Son, Jesus Christ.  We thank You for inspiring the writers of the Bible who made the Living Word readily available to us for reading and study.  We rejoice in knowing that the Holy Spirit joins us as we seek to make Your Word the fire that fuels our love for Your Son.  May our fire be so strong and so bright that others will be drawn to surrender their lives to Our Lord, Our Master and Our King, Jesus Christ.  We ask all these things in His precious and holy name.

His Endless and Unconditional Love

Galatians 2:20

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

May we rejoice today in the endless, unconditional love that Jesus Christ has for us.  May we celebrate the proof of His love that He gave His life for us to have a new life free from death and sin.

When we accept Jesus Christ as Our Savior, we go beyond the knowledge of Jesus and all of His teachings.  We go beyond adhering to the commandments that He gave us.  We give up our rights to our old life in exchange for a renewed life lived in faith through the Son of God.

Our faith is no longer our own faith.  Our faith is the faith that the Son of God has in the Father.  Whatever faith we had before in the flesh was destined to die at some point.  It was burdened by the death sentence associated with all sin.  With the acceptance of our salvation, it died on the Cross with Jesus Christ.  It was replaced by Christ's living spirit within us.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for the lives that You have given us.  We embrace each day and live it for Your honor and Your glory.  We thank You for providing Your Son so that we may be freed from the death sentence assigned to our flesh.  We bless the name of Your Son, Jesus, as we rejoice in our new eternal life in Him.  May we live each day in the fullness of His Spirit within us.  May we live in obedience to You just as Your Son lives in obedience to You.  We ask all these things in the precious name of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Seeking Him in Our Prayers

Philippians 4:6

Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

One of the things that we cling to is our privilege to be able to go to the Throne Room of God with our prayers.  We learn quickly to seek His hand of provision and protection.  If only we would use these occasions to seek His face as well.

God gave us prayer that we might communicate with Him without ceasing.  It was not His intention that we merely run to Him for our needs.  In fact, He teaches us that He knows our needs and has a plan for providing them without us asking.  So why do we put so much energy in our solicitations and not so much in our ongoing communication with Our Heavenly Father.  Our own earthly fathers likely grew weary of the "I wants" when they were not mixed with the "I thank yous" and "I love yous."  It is the same with God.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your unconditional love and Your forgiveness through Your Son, Jesus.  We ask forgiveness for coming to You so often with our needs alone accompanied by a stark absence of our professed love for You and our expression of our sincere thanks for all that You provide.  Teach us, Lord, how to seek Your presence in our lives.  Teach us how to seek You throughout each and every day.  Teach us how to use our prayer life to build our relationship with You.  We ask all these things in the name of Our Holy Redeemer, Jesus Christ.