The Everyday Prayer

Re:Verse Passage – Matthew 25:31-46 (day five) 

We read about this promise throughout scripture. God would send a Messiah and King to save the world. The problem was, that what God had in mind for a King and what many people expected were completely different. The King God sent would be humble, meek, and vulnerable. God’s plan was prophesied over and over in the Old Testament. Yet, many missed it. The religious leaders were looking for royalty, arrogance, and a leader who would overthrow political and social structures and systems.

What Jesus describes in Matthew 25 is something completely different. Knowing and loving Jesus changes the human heart. Believers do understand the majesty, kindness, and power of Christ. They also begin to see the needs of others and serve them. Does our relationship with Christ cause us to see Him and others in ways that bring honor and glory to Him (The King)?

Re:Verse Passage – Matthew 25:31-46 (day four)

Scripture told us it would happen.  Jesus will return in all of His glory.  He was despised and rejected by men, but He will return as King and Judge.  Those that receive His favor are those that have served others.  Notice that they did not even know when they had done it.  Serving was a natural outgrowth of their love.  They served, as a matter of course, those who were in need.  The selfish group, the unrighteous, had been so self-consumed, they did not even see the needy.

We often get so busy and so self-absorbed, that we fail to see those around us in need.  Ask God to open the eyes of your heart to see and act in compassion.  When you are in a love relationship with the Lord, you will not only see the needy, you will serve them.  Draw near to Him…the Lord’s pleasure is on those who serve.  (P.S. – Is there anything else in Scripture that you have not paid attention to?)

Re:Verse Passage – Matthew 25:31-46 (day three)

“Lord, when did we see you hungry?”  Are you sure you want to know?  It’s not uncommon for us to attempt to exonerate ourselves from the charges by claiming we’re misunderstood.  From “out came this calf” to “mistakes were made” to “wide stance” to “no one told me”, these ridiculous excuses for indefensible behavior will never hold up.  We’ve all tried to claim that we’re just doing the best we can when really we’ve just been doing the best imitation we can.  If only God had been clearer, if only he’d spoken our language, we would have jumped at the chance to serve.  It’s too bad God didn’t see that we were just waiting for direction.  Is it our fault that God missed the opportunity of a lifetime: a chance to work with us?

Re:Verse reading–Matthew 25:31-46 (day two).  The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’  vs. 40

Last week 31 students and adults traveled to Kansas City, Missouri for the Chapel Singer Mission Choir Tour. In addition to our concerts we served three different non-profit groups whose focus was on the homeless and poor. I became convicted when I read this scripture this morning as I considered what Jesus meant when he said ‘least.’ In some way I have always thought that mean ‘less.’ I have come to understand, however, that this is not what Jesus intended at all. Having the least shelter, having the least clothing, having the least health – these deal with needs not character, and certainly not the heart. I am grateful for the reminder this week that our care for each other is of utmost concern to Jesus.

Re:Verse reading–Matthew 25:31-46 (day one). 

It is a day that Jesus talked about often.  We, His followers, are well served to think about that day with similar frequency.  No official name.  Jesus just described it as the moment, “When the Son of Man comes in glory, and all the angels with Him.”–v 1.

At His first coming, He was clothed with humility.  At His next coming, He will shine with undeniable glory.  At His first coming, angels sang.  At His next coming, angels will stand with Him in military strength.

Is your life calibrated against this great coming event?  Does the promise of this coming day give urgency to your service?  Do you think of it when you pray, ‘For thine is the Kingdom and the power and the GLORY?”

“”Behold, He is coming in the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn.”–Revelation 1:7

 

Re:Verse Passage – John 15:9-17 (day seven)

It is a familiar idea.  Unique “Jesus-way-to-think”.  A revolutionary pattern for moral choice.  Humans are to do “just as” God does.

Like playing “follow the leader”.  Like dancing with a partner (letting Him lead).  An earlier generation called it being “godly”.  We are to imitate God in thought and action.  Intentionally.  Carefully.  We do what we see Him doing.

“Just as” the Father loved Christ, Christ loved the disciples.   v 9.  “Just as” Jesus kept the Father’s commands and thus lived in His love, so the disciples were to mimic this toward the commands of Christ.  v 10.  “Just as” Jesus loved us, we are to love each other. v 12.

Seeing a pattern?  Moral choice is not made in a vacuum. We are not lost in a elastic universe vainly searching for certainty, satisfaction or safety.  The pattern for life is already established.  God is the model.  We are to be “just as” He is.

Re:Verse Passage – John 15:9-17 (day five)

“These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full”. In Isaiah Jesus is described as a “man of sorrows and acquainted with grief”.  In these last moments with the disciples, Jesus wants to talk about joy.  His joy.  Our joy.  Where does it come from?  It comes from the Word of God (I have spoken to you).  We find joy as we study, learn, and apply the Word of God.  It comes from a close walk with Christ. Christ’s joy is placed within us as we abide with Him (My joy may be in you).  His joy/our joy remains in the midst of trials, grief, hardships, and pain.  Joy marked the life of Christ and should be a distinguishing characteristic in the heart and life of a believer.

Re:Verse Passage – John 15:9-17 (day four)

Have you ever said, “I just don’t know what God wants me to do?”  Maybe you have felt that you have not heard from God in a while.  I have good news for you.  We have a direct command from Jesus!  This passage should answer that need.  We are to love…we are to serve…we are to bear fruit.  To love, to serve, to share Christ…they are all the same.  If we love God, we will serve others as a fruit of our relationship with Him.  The first and foremost service to another is to share the love of God with them.  There is a wonderful benefit to being obedient to this command also…”whatever you ask of the Father in Jesus’ name, He will give you.”  Love, joy, answered prayer…what more could a person want?  If we start with the commands that Jesus has already given us in Scripture, He may open more to us.  He looks for our faithfulness to the basics first before giving the big assignments!

Re:Verse reading–John 15:9-17 (day three)

“Love one another.”  Love is the only divine reality that will preserve our lives.  God’s justice, his anger, even his very holiness would destroy us.  But from love comes God’s grace, God’s mercy, the Incarnation, Christ’s substitutionary suffering and death, and our access to God.  Everything else destroys, only love sustains.  This is true in God’s regard of human beings, and it is therefore true in men’s regard of each other.  Of all the ways we can treat each other, only love gives us a future.  Love for one another won’t just make the world more pleasant.  Love for one another will keep each other alive.