Category: Daily Prayer

Our scripture this morning is ‭‭3 John‬ ‭1‬:‭11.

Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God.

John, the beloved disciple, wrote a Gospel, three letters and Revelation that we might better know God’s love and Christ’s sacrifice for us. These lessons help us to understand the blessing we have been offered and the duty we have to share that blessing with the world. Today’s verse reminds us that “anyone who does what is good is from God”.

We know that God is the ultimate source of good. John teaches us “This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all” (‭‭1 John‬ ‭1‬:‭5‬). We are made like Him but we have allowed the darkness to creep into our world and our lives.

We can fight the power of darkness, but only with His help. We can’t do it alone. Let us “not imitate what is evil but what is good”, and tell everyone of His goodness.

Gracious God, we are thankful for all Your many gifts to us. May we use them to bring the Good News to all. Amen.

Our scripture this morning is ‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭13‬:‭4‬-‭7.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Many of you may notice I use the verse of the day and the corresponding image from The Bible App (youversion.com) as the scripture for my posts. Sometimes these seem to repeat, but I have found that we often need to hear things several times before we get it. I have also found that if something is repeated in scripture, it is very important that we learn it.

Paul describes love in many ways to help us understand there are many ways to share God’s love. He lists attributes, actions and responses in the hope we will see just how important love is to our salvation. Without love, we cannot connect to God or each other.

In this letter he teaches about our different spiritual gifts and how they fit together to accomplish God’s purpose in the world. These are the tools of the kingdom, given to us to use as we spread the Good News. As important as these gifts are, without love they are useless. Love is the fuel for our discipleship.

Jesus taught that loving God and one another is the most important thing of all, the Greatest Commandment. He tells us “All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments” (‭‭Matthew‬ ‭22‬:‭40‬). When we learn this and make it part of our lives, we can see things as God intends and use our gifts with love.

Heavenly Father, from Your love we were created. Help us to show Your love to all the world. Amen.

Our scripture this morning is ‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭3‬:‭5‬-‭8.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.

Verse 5 of this passage is my life verse, but the verses that follow expand that truth. I have a problem sometimes thinking I am wiser than I am and working through my own limited understanding when I should be giving it up to the Lord. I’m probably not alone in this.

God wants to be part of everything we go through. He made us to be in relationship with Him and each other. When we try to do it alone, we miss out on the loving support He offers and the strength only He can provide for us.

We can never be truly successful or satisfied without God in our lives. However, we must consciously make that choice. Our Heavenly Father waits for us to choose Him in love as He first chose us.

Loving Lord, we are grateful for Your wisdom and strength to guide and protect us. May we be faithful in sharing the love we have found in You with everyone. Amen.

Our scripture this morning is ‭‭Romans‬ ‭10‬:‭9‬-‭13.

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Paul explains that salvation is promised to us if we are one with Christ. It involves acceptance in our hearts and a changed life that compels us to declare Him to the world. He emphasizes that this is true for both Jews and Gentiles, a grouping that included the whole world at that time.

The scripture he quotes “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” comes from Joel 2:32. This is the same passage used by Peter in his sermon to the crowd on the Day of Pentecost, recorded in Acts 2. It promises that those who seek God in spirit and truth will find Him and receive His mercy.

God is always reaching out to us but we must reach for Him as well. Through Christ’s sacrifice we can be made right when we say not only “Jesus is Lord” but more importantly “Jesus is MY Lord”. We all need a personal relationship with Him in order to be saved.

Gracious God, we are sorry for our disobedience but grateful for Your forgiveness. Bless us to be the bearers of the Good News to all the world. Amen.

Our scripture this morning is ‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭5‬:‭9‬-‭11‬.

Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.

Peter reminds us that believers throughout time have suffered for their faith. While we may live in a “civil” society, there are still those who resist Christ’s message of love and persecute those who share it. We should not be surprised by this, in fact we should be surprised if we are not.

God has promised to “restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast”. We can rely on Him to fortify our spirits for the task He has given us. Paul tells us we are strengthened “so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (‭‭2 Timothy‬ ‭3‬:‭17‬).

God will not send us without the resources required. As long as we “stand firm in the faith” we will be given what is needed for His work. God wants us all to succeed in fulfilling our Great Commission – to make disciples of all nations.

Loving Lord, we are grateful to be included in Your plan of salvation. Bless us to go in Your name to tell the world of Your mercy and love. Amen.

Our scripture this morning is ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭55‬:‭6‬-‭9.

Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

God calls us to find Him, but He is certainly not hiding from us. God is always available, ready to hear our every joy and concern. It is necessary for us to respond to God reaching out to us in love.

Isaiah writes that our thoughts and ways are not God’s, and in order to live in righteousness, we must forsake the thoughts and ways of the flesh. God made the first move long ago. Now He is waiting for us to come to Him in repentance and receive His forgiveness.

Notice there is no instruction to “get our lives right” before we call on Him. God knows everything about us already, and we can never make our lives right on our own. Only His mercy can save us, and through Christ’s loving sacrifice, that salvation waits for us.

Gracious God, we are sorry for our disobedience and the way we treat each other. Bless us to be the people You created us to be. Amen.

Our scripture this morning is ‭‭Deuteronomy‬ ‭6‬:‭4‬-‭7.

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.

God brought the Israelites out of Egypt and gave them laws to live by, which we know as the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17). These were necessary because they had not lived together as a self-governing people for 400 years and He knew they needed guidance. These rules showed them how to live in peace, honoring God and respecting each other.

Approximately 1500 years later Jesus was asked “what is the greatest commandment?” and He replied “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (‭‭Matthew‬ ‭22‬:‭37‬). He also said loving our neighbor as ourselves was essential, again teaching that honoring God and respecting each other was the most important thing.

Fast forward 2000 years and we are still struggling to learn the lesson about loving God and one another. If we just get this right, the world could be what He intends for us. Living in harmony with Him and our brothers and sisters is the ultimate goal, and we pray that His kingdom may come on earth.

Loving Lord, in Your wisdom You gave us instructions for living together. Forgive us for our disobedience and our treatment of each other. Bless us to be the people You created from love, that we may love You and one another. Amen.

Our scripture this morning is ‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭13‬:‭4‬-‭7.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

It sometimes seems strange to me that crusty old Paul the Pharisee could write such beautiful words. Then I remember he encountered the greatest love of all on the road to Damascus when Jesus appeared and his life was completely changed. I also remember that the Holy Spirit was with him and inspired his writing.

Paul is a great example of how our lives can be changed by love. He was devoted to his faith but was going about it the wrong way until Christ intervened. After that encounter, there was no stopping the love in him.

Notice that there is no mention of giving back or being on equal terms in this. Jesus loved even those who condemned and crucified Him, praying “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34). Real love is given because it comes to us first from the loving God who created us. 

Heavenly Father, we are sorry for the times we fail to love as You first loved us. Help us to share Your love with all our brothers and sisters everywhere. Amen.

Our scripture this morning is ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭46‬:‭8‬-‭11.

Come, behold the works of the Lord; see what desolations he has brought on the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow, and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire. “Be still, and know that I am God! I am exalted among the nations, I am exalted in the earth.” The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge.

This psalm reminds us who is really in charge and made everything that exists. We sometimes get wrapped up in our achievements and our technology, the wonderful and terrible things we can do. All of these are nothing compared to the power of God Almighty.

He commands an end to our anger and the chaos we cause. God has given us everything to use wisely. “Be still and know that I am God” is more than a stern order to stop, it is an invitation to see the blessing He holds for us all and the beauty of His creation. 

If we pause from the busyness we have made for ourselves, we can know the love by which we were made in the very image of God. Nothing can take that away from us, but in our foolishness we can fail to accept it. Take the time to be still and feel the love of our Heavenly Father.

Gracious God, we are sorry that we rush through our days, concerned about earthly things. Help us to see the wonder of all You have given us and give thanks to You. Amen.

Our scripture this morning is ‭‭Colossians‬ ‭3‬:‭1‬-‭4‬.

So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.

Jesus came to change our hearts and lives, and this means that our minds are changed as well. Paul speaks of this in Philippians 2:5 saying “Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus”. We must think in a new way if we are to follow Him.

This means training our minds in the same way we exercise to stay fit. While it involves cleansing ourselves of earthly thoughts, it must also lead us to think in terms of what Jesus asks of us. We know this through prayer and searching God’s word. In this, “we have the mind of Christ” (‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭2‬:‭16‬).

Much like conditioning our bodies takes time, our minds must practice refocusing on the things that are above. It won’t happen overnight but we must be persistent in our efforts. Through fellowship, study, prayer and worship we mold our thoughts, words and actions to be more like Christ.

Heavenly Father, we are sorry for our sinful ways and want to change our lives. Help us to see what is important in eternity and to go in Your name to share Your love. Amen.