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Post by jimpate on Mar 14, 2019 10:05:39 GMT -5
THURSDAY, MARCH 14
John 13:31-33
WHAT GLORY LOOKS LIKE
“Now the Son of Man is glorified and God is glorified in him.”
— John 13:31
Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defines "glory" as great “praise, honor, or distinction.” Christians use the word glory often, especially in worship. In the church where I serve, we sometimes sing these words: “We will glorify the King of kings. We will glorify the Lamb. We will glorify the Lord of lords, who is the great I Am.” Giving glory to God lifts our hearts upward toward the reigning King. We praise him for his greatness, power, and majesty.
But Jesus gives us another angle on glory in our verse today. Remember that Jesus is on the brink of his brutal march to the cross. “Now the Son of Man is glorified,” he said. Jesus’ glory is first of all about the fulfillment of his Father’s purposes. Jesus’ obedience to his Father’s plan would be his glory, even though it meant suffering and death on a cross. Jesus showed us that glory comes through sacrificial love and obedience to God.
How do you and I think about glory? Our world would like us to think glory comes through achievement and status. Sacrificial obedience to someone else’s plan would not seem to be the path to glory. But, truly, that’s what it takes. Our submission and obedience to God’s loving plan for this world is the only achievement worthy of praise, honor, and distinction.
To God be the glory!
PRAYER: God of glory, help me to realize that glory comes through sacrificial obedience to your loving plan for this world. May I obey you each day. Through Jesus I pray. Amen.
--Written by Ruth Boven
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Post by jimpate on Mar 15, 2019 10:56:19 GMT -5
Matthew 12:14
(14) Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him.
Mark 3:6
(6) And the Pharisees went forth, and straightway took counsel with the Herodians against him, how they might destroy him.
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Post by Jim Pate on Mar 16, 2019 10:48:15 GMT -5
SATURDAY, MARCH 16
Matthew 20:20-28
GREAT SERVICE
“Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant…just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve.”
— Matthew 20:26-28
Service is a spiritual discipline that Christians have practiced for thousands of years. This practice is based on the life of Jesus who challenged even our most basic ideas of authority. He washed his disciples’ feet, forgave their doubt, and willingly died for them.
In today’s verses, a proud and loving mother intervenes for her two sons and tries to secure prime position in Jesus’ kingdom for at least one of them. But Jesus’ response is confounding. “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant.” Although Jesus’ answer may have sounded confusing to first-century ears, we now know that this is exactly what Jesus did.
Jesus washed his disciples’ dirty feet, he fed those who were hungry, he healed those who were sick and ultimately he gave his life for us all. Likewise, we can serve in many ways, both great and small. I once witnessed a well-known Christian leader bend down to pick up trash on a retreat. Perhaps you occasionally bring a meal to an elderly neighbor, or willingly watch a friend’s children. It’s also a service to receive gratefully from someone serving you.
As we grow in the grace of serving, we’ll find more opportunities to serve. We can know we’re mastering this discipline when we find ourselves serving without giving it a second thought. Serving will have become second nature. Then, perhaps, our elderly neighbor will ask us why it is that we serve, and we can tell her about Christ Jesus. Sharing this news is truly a great service indeed!
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, you served me by dying for my sins. Help me to serve you by serving my neighbors around me. Make me humble, I pray, as I serve in your name. Amen.
--Written by Norman Brown
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Post by jimpate on Mar 17, 2019 10:25:33 GMT -5
Ecclesiastes 8:2
(2) I counsel thee to keep the king's commandment, and that in regard of the oath of God.
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Post by Jim Pate on Mar 18, 2019 11:38:34 GMT -5
Ephesians 6:1-4
(1) Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. (2) Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise; (3) That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. (4) And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord
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Post by Jim Pate on Mar 20, 2019 9:11:36 GMT -5
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 20
Matthew 26:36-46
PRAYING ACCORDING TO GOD’S WILL
“My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”
— Matthew 26:39
In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus taught his disciples to say, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). In today’s verses Jesus models the process of seeking God’s will. And we can learn from him.
First, Jesus honestly tells his Father that he would like this trouble to pass by him. He really did not want to go through the suffering that he knew was soon coming.
Like Jesus, we should not be ashamed to express our wishes and desires to God. God wants us to know ourselves and to establish an honest conversation with him. But too often we stop there. Our prayers are often only about what we want.
Prayer is a dialogue, and Jesus waits for confirmation of his request. He makes this same request a second time and then a third time. He has confidence that his prayer fits the will of his Father. But eventually he is convinced that his will is not God’s will. So he submits to the fact that the cup of suffering is God’s will for him.
Does this kind of asking and waiting fit how we pray? If our prayer time with God is honest and sincere, it often changes us and moves us in a new direction. We see possibilities that we were blind to before. We receive a deeper capacity to face challenges that once seemed out of reach. Continued prayer assures us of God’s presence and affirms that our destiny is safe in his hands, whatever his will may be.
Christians are sometimes guilty of using the words “If it is God’s will” rather flippantly. But praying that God’s will be done is no easy matter. Our prayers must yield to God’s will, since that is the safest place to be.
PRAYER: Father, help me to truly seek your will as I pray. May your perfect will be accomplished in my life. In Christ, Amen.
— Written by Dean Deppe
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Post by Jim Pate on Mar 21, 2019 8:44:06 GMT -5
THURSDAY, MARCH 21
Mark 14:32-42
THE SPIRIT IS WILLING
“Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
— Mark 14:38
Rarely does an hour pass by when we are not tempted. Sometimes the temptations are small: should we eat that cookie or not? But sometimes what is seemingly small can have much greater significance.
We rarely see the flaws in our character until we are tested. Jesus asked his disciples to watch and pray with him, but they dozed off (Matthew 26:36-46). By surrendering to a small temptation, they lacked the spiritual strength to fight off a much greater one. The disciples gave in to the weakness of the flesh, and as a result they were not prepared to support Jesus during his trial and crucifixion.
Our flesh is our own weak-willed human nature without the power of God. Our natural capabilities fail in the midst of temptation, so we need a divine infusion of persistence and endurance from the Holy Spirit. With the Spirit, we have the ability to defeat any temptation (1 Corinthians 10:13).
Throughout the Bible we learn that the Holy Spirit equips us for many tasks. The Spirit empowers the believer in many ways.
In Mark 13, Jesus speaks of a time after he is gone and encourages his disciples that the Spirit of God will lead them into and through many struggles and much adversity. He even goes so far as to say that the Holy Spirit will give the disciples words to speak when they need them (Mark 13:11). We too can receive strength even when we are in trying circumstances.
We live in the age of the Spirit today. We can call upon the Holy Spirit to strengthen our spirits to resist any temptation. What a gift from God, who never stops giving of himself for us! Remember, all we need to do is ask, seek, and knock: call on the Lord!
PRAYER: Lord, I am so often weak in fighting temptations. May your Holy Spirit enlighten my spirit to the divine power at my disposal. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
— Written by Dean Deppe
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Post by Jim Pate on Mar 22, 2019 8:36:06 GMT -5
1 Thessalonians 5:22
(22) Abstain from all appearance of evil.
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Post by Jim Pate on Mar 22, 2019 8:36:23 GMT -5
Psalm 27:4
4 One thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and to seek him in his temple.
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Post by Jim Pate on Mar 22, 2019 8:38:34 GMT -5
FRIDAY, MARCH 22 Psalm 22RESCUE!"He has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help." — Psalm 22:24 As Jesus hung on the cross, he uttered a few sayings that have become very familiar to many of us. When he cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46), he was echoing the words of Psalm 22:1 in an excruciating cry of pain to God his Father. This psalm, though it begins with a cry of pain, turns into an expression of faith and thanksgiving in the end. The first half of the psalm foreshadows much of what Jesus experienced on the cross: mocking, insults, thirst, the piercing of his hands and feet, even the casting of lots for his clothing. But further into the psalm, as our verse for today says, God “has not despised or scorned the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help.” While it seemed Christ had been forever abandoned, God wasn’t through with him. Jesus’ body would be placed in a grave, but he would be raised from the dead, the Lord of life! He would be crowned with the name that is above every name (see Philippians 2:9-11). Hebrews 5:7 says that while Jesus lived on earth, “he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.” He was heard! It seemed for a time that he was not, but God did hear, and Jesus was assured that he could rest in his Father’s hands (see Luke 23:46). And on the third day he rose from the grave! We too can be assured that God hears our every prayer. So take heart that you can share your thoughts, concerns and even your most excruciating cries of pain with an ever-hearing God! PRAYER: Gracious God, you heard Jesus even in those darkest moments. Thank you that I can trust that you will never abandon me. Thank you, Father! Amen. — Written by Shawn Brix |
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Post by Jim Pate on Mar 23, 2019 10:10:14 GMT -5
2 Thessalonians 3:10-12
(10) For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat. (11) For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies. (12) Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread.
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Post by Jim Pate on Mar 23, 2019 10:10:54 GMT -5
Hosea 6:1-2
1 “Come, let us return to the LORD. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds. 2 After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence.
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Post by Jim Pate on Mar 24, 2019 10:28:09 GMT -5
1 John 1:3
(3) That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.
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Post by Jim Pate on Mar 24, 2019 10:29:47 GMT -5
Joel 2:12-13
12 “Even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.” 13 Rend your heart and not your garments. Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love, and he relents from sending calamity.
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Post by Jim Pate on Mar 25, 2019 5:00:49 GMT -5
1 John 2:1-2
(1) My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: (2) And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for our's only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
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