Intentional Faith

Free your minds, then, of encumbrances; control them, and put your trust in nothing but the grace that will be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. Do not behave in the way that you liked to before you learned the truth, but make a habit of obedience.                The Apostle Peter

Listen to our prayers, God our salvation: make us hold fast to the light and work for the truth.  Just as you have made us children of light, so make us worthy to bear witness to you before all the world.  In Jesus Name. Amen.

During a violent thunderstorm a mother was tucking her small boy into bed. She was about to turn off the light when he asked with a tremor in his voice, “Mommy, will you sleep with me tonight?”

The mother gave him a smile and a reassuring hug. “I can’t, dear,” she said. “I have to sleep with your daddy.”

A long silence was broken at last by his shaky little voice: “The big sissy.”

A blessing on the man who puts his trust in the Lord, with the Lord for his hope. He is like a tree by the waterside that thrusts its roots to the stream: when the heat comes it feels no alarm, its foliage stays green; it has no worries in a year of drought, and never ceases to bear fruit.           Jeremiah

Christians are strangers living in enemy territory. Our enemies are those who do not love Jesus Christ, His Church or His Word. What shall we do about our enemies, who also are God’s enemies? Follow the example of the psalmist and turn them over to the Lord. "For behold, Your enemies make a tumult; and those who hate You have lifted up their head" (v. 2). He refers to Israel’s enemies–the Edomites, the Ishmaelites, the Moabites and other heathen nations around her. Through the centuries Israel has had many enemies, and God has defeated them. But He has blessed those nations that have blessed Israel.

What is God going to do about our enemies? The psalmist says He will judge them, though we don’t know where or when. He paints some vivid pictures. "O my God, make them like the whirling dust" (v. 13). One translation says "like a wheel of whirling dust." When a wheel goes down a dusty road, it stirs up dust. The enemies are nothing but dirt, like whirling dust that blows away, "like the chaff before the wind! As the fire burns the woods, and as the flame sets the mountains on fire" (vv. 13,14). One day God’s fire of judgment is going to sweep through them, and they will be destroyed. Verse 15 compares this to a storm: "So pursue them with Your tempest, and frighten them with Your storm."

Why does God judge His enemies? "That men may know that You, whose name alone is the Lord, are the Most High over all the earth" (v. 18). God is the King. Turn your enemies over to Him. He knows how to take care of them.

Lord, look with favour on our morning prayers.

  Brighten the inmost places of our hearts with your love so that no dark desires can hide there:

  heal us with the light of your heavenly grace.

Avoid getting into debt, except the debt of mutual love. If you love your fellow men you have carried out your obligations. Love is the one thing that cannot hurt your neighbor; that is why it is the answer to every one of the commandments.  Romans 13:8,10

It is one of the hardest things is life to do.  To accept that you cannot control another and to live your life accordingly.  We only complicate relationships when we may demands on them to ease our anxieties or fulfill our purposes.  I must deal with myself first.  I must make certain that my goals and desires before God are pure and then I am better able to do my part in the relationship.  Then I am more likely to do the loving thing and not my thing. 

Lord of Life,

Forgive me for wanting my way in the lives of others.  Aid me to love and help others find your way.  I confess that I am weak in controlling my own life.  I admit I have no right to control another.  Guide my heart and my decisions.  Help me do the loving thing.  Amen.

1 Peter 2:11 (MSG)
¹¹ Friends, this world is not your home, so don’t make yourselves cozy in it. Don’t indulge your ego at the expense of your soul.

There are times when our Lord must long for us to look beyond the heaviness of the moment and catch a glimpse of the splendor and glory to come.  Eternity lies ahead…really just a few steps down the path.

It is not the glorious battlements, the painted windows, the crouching gargoyles that support a building, but the stones that lie unseen in or upon the earth. It is often those who are despised and trampled on that bear up the weight of a whole nation.

Lord, be with me today that I may see but a few steps down the path and realize that my humble service is the foundation of your work among men.  Thank you.  Amen.

Lord, give us true knowledge of our salvation,  so that freed from the hands of our enemy we may serve you without fear all the days of our lives.  In Jesus Name.  Amen.

His commandments are these: that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and that we love one another as he told us to. Whoever keeps his commandments lives in God and God lives in him. We know that he lives in us by the Spirit that he has given us.

Nothing takes the place of your presence. Letters are nice. Phone calls are special, but being there in the flesh sends a message.

After Albert Einstein’s wife died, his sister, Maja, moved in to assist with the household affairs. For fourteen years she cared for him, allowing his valuable research to continue. In 1950 she suffered a stroke and lapsed into a coma. Thereafter, Einstein spent two hours every afternoon reading aloud to her from Plato. She gave no sign of understanding his words, but he read anyway. If she understood anything by his gesture, she understood this—he believed that she was worth his time.

Do you believe in your kids? Then show up. Show up at their games. Show up at their plays…Do you believe in your friends? Show up at their graduations and weddings. Spend time with them. You want to bring out in the best in someone? Then show up.

Have a wonderful day in the Lord! Michael

A South African woman stood in an emotionally charged courtroom listening to white police officers acknowledge the atrocities they had perpetrated in the name of apartheid. Officer van de Broek acknowledged his responsibility in the death of her son. Along with others, he had shot her eighteen-year-old son at point-blank range. He and the others partied while they burned his body, turning it over on the fire until it was ashes.

Eight years later, van de Broek and others arrived to seize her husband. Hours later, van de Broek came to fetch the woman. He took her to a woodpile where her husband lay bound. She was forced to watch as they poured gasoline over his body and ignited the flames that consumed his body. The last words her husband said were “Forgive them.”

Now van de Broek stood awaiting judgment. South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission asked the woman what she wanted. “Three things,” she said. “I want Mr. van de Broek to take me to the place where they burned my husband’s body. I would like to gather up the dust and give him a decent burial.

“Second, Mr. van de Broek took all my family away from me, and I still have a lot of love to give. Twice a month, I would like for him to come to the ghetto and spend a day with me so I can be a mother to him.

“Third, I would like Mr. van de Broek to know that he is forgiven by God and that I forgive him, too. I would like someone to lead me to where he is seated so I can embrace him and he can know my forgiveness is real.”

As the elderly woman was led across the courtroom, van de Broek fainted. Someone began singing “Amazing Grace.” Gradually everyone joined in.

It is amazing that a poor human creature is able to speak with God’s high Majesty in heaven and not be afraid.  When we pray, the heart and the conscience must not pull away from God because of our sins and failures or stand in fear.  When we pray we must hold fast and believe that God desires to hear our humble prayers.  It was for this reason the ancients defined prayer as an Ascensus mentis ad Deum, “a climbing of the heart unto God.”

Almighty God,

Thank you that I can come to you this afternoon with my trivial issues and you bend you will to hear what I have to say.  Awesome.  Amen.

Harrison Ford’s career embodies success. His movies have earned more than $6 billion (US). But in a recent interview, Ford made this profound, albeit ungrammatical comment: “You only want what you ain’t got.” The interviewer asked him what it was he wanted. Ford gave a one-word reply: “Peace.”

Lord, increase our faith in you,  so that the praise we give to you may constantly yield its fruit from heaven.

If a man who was rich enough in this world’s goods saw that one of his brothers was in need, but closed his heart to him, how could the love of God be living in him? My children, our love is not to be just words or mere talk, but something real and active.

Leviticus 20:26 (NLT)
²⁶ You must be holy because I, the Lord, am holy. I have set you apart from all other people to be my very own.

Vacations are nice.  A good time to visit with distant family and be apart from one’s regular schedule.  The time away helps to refresh your outlook on your daily work.  Sometimes we can become so engaged in our work that we do not see how special it is until we step away. 

We can also become so accustomed to working in the world around us that we fail to realize how unique we are as Christians.  How different and set apart from the rest of the world.   Now and then we need to step back and see refresh the view of our Christian life.

Take a moment to step back today and see your Christian life for the role it plays in your world, vocation and family.  Your fresh look may refresh their view of you as well.

We have the same spirit of faith that is mentioned in scripture – I believed, and therefore I spoke – we too believe and therefore we too speak, knowing that he who raised the Lord Jesus to life will raise us with Jesus in our turn, and put us by his side and you with us.
                                                                                      The Apostle Paul
The grace you had yesterday will not be sufficient for today. Grace is the overflowing favor of God, and you can always count on it being available to draw upon as needed. ". . . in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses"— that is where our patience is tested ( 2 Corinthians 6:4 ). Are you failing to rely on the grace of God there? Are you saying to yourself, "Oh well, I won’t count this time"?
It is not a question of praying and asking God to help you— it is taking the grace of God now. We tend to make prayer the preparation for our service, yet it is never that in the Bible. Prayer is the practice of drawing on the grace of God. Don’t say, "I will endure this until I can get away and pray." Pray now — draw on the grace of God in your moment of need. Prayer is the most normal and useful thing; it is not simply a reflex action of your devotion to God. We are very slow to learn to draw on God’s grace through prayer.