The Everyday Prayer

Re: Verse reading–Matthew 5:1-16 (day one)  At Christmas we celebrate “good news of great joy” which the angels sang to the shepherds. (Luke 2)  This week as we read the Sermon on the Mount we listen as the Lord explains the content of this good news.  What is the gospel?  How has God blessed us so that we can rejoice even when life is hard?  By giving us the Kingdom of God–a new, possible, beneficial relationship with God, made possible by the Son, in which we trade our will for His will, our destiny for his destiny.  When we experience this new relationship it changes everything. Not poverty, or loss, or powerlessness, or hunger/thirst now has the power to defeat us.  His Kingdom more than compensates us, transforming even these hardships into blessings.  It is the great good news!  It is the reason we can rejoice in the hardest moments of life. The Kingdom is ours.

Re: Verse reading–Matthew 4 (day seven). Reflecting on the call of Christ to Peter, Andrew, James and John creates a question in my mind.  Why them?  They were uneducated men (in a formal, theological sense).  They lacked influence and wealth (compared to Nicodemus or Joseph of Arimathea).  What did the Lord see in them that qualified them for such privilege and service?  The answer is hidden in the mystery of God’s foreknowledge.  When He “creates” us in Christ, it is in keeping with the “good works that He prepared in advance for us to do”. (Ephesians 2:10)  Somehow, an infinite God knows the purpose intended for everyone and restores us to this original vision through His son!  No guessing.  No favoritism.  What great comfort to know that we all have place, purpose, meaning and value.  Not something we achieve.  It is a gift!  I look forward to seeing you in a few hours.  We have much praise to give to this all-wise God.–Don

Re: Verse reading–Matthew 4 (day six)  Jesus was a preacher. It was one of the things that marked his ministry.  Apart from truth being declared in a way that called for decisions He knew that people could not be saved.  “Repent!”, he said to the people of Galilee.  But Jesus was also a reacher.  Without intensely supportive relationships people can never learn/live the principles of spiritual life.  “Come and follow me” he said to the first disciples, His invitation into deeper friendship.  He preached truth.  He reached people for community.  Our work for Christ requires both ingredients. We must preach the truth in public and private.  “I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation.” (Romans 1:16)  We must also reach people for participation in close-knit families of love and life.  “What we have seen and heard we proclaim to you that you may have fellowship with us.”  (1 John 1:3)  Have others heard the truth from you?  Have they felt your invitation into deeper friendship?

RE Verse reading–Matthew 4 (day five).  “The people living in darkness have seen a great light.”  (vs 16)  We live in a secular age.  It is easy to get discouraged.  Even to speak about Christ is often viewed as an invasion of privacy or an act of disrespect for other faiths.  As in the days of Christ, the human heart under the control of sin is selfish, foolish and cruel. How good to be reminded that darkness is never a match for true light! In this duel, light always wins.  “In Him was LIFE and the LIFE  was the LIGHT of men” ( John 1:4)  I am grateful this morning that the battle does not rest on my skill or strength.  I am not the light!  Only to the extent that Christ lives in me can I shine into this dark world with gracious effect.  May the Lord restore our confidence.  The darkness is NOT greater than He is. This little light of mine. . .

Re: Verse reading–Matthew 4:12-22 (day four)  “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men” (vs 19)  In some ways, what happened on the Sea of Galilee is unique to those men at that time.  There were only 12 original disciples.  None of us are called to their same assignment.  In other ways, our experience is identical.  We are also called “disciples” (cf Matthew 28:18)  We also know and follow Christ through the ministry of the Holy Spirit.  To encounter Christ is, for us, exactly what it was for them, to be called to something higher.  Higher than family (they left their father).  Higher than career (they left their nets).  Paul later describes this as “the UPWARD call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:14)  All of us are material people.  None of us are ONLY material people.   Christ calls us to the higher purpose of reaching people, building an eternal kingdom.  Friend, do you hear His call, His assignment?

Re: Verse reading–Matthew 4:12-22 (day three). “When Jesus heard that John was cast into prison He departed for Galilee.” (vs 13)  There are some who believe that Christ’s departure to Galilee was a cautious move to avoid John’s fate.  I am not convinced.  Jesus was probably safer from Herod Antipas in Jerusalem than Capernaum.  (Tiberius is close by)  A more probable motive was courage, a willingness to “pick up the torch” once John’s ministry was complete.  I am realizing how connected we are with those who have gone before us and those who will come after us.  Serving God is a relay race, all of us running while we have the opportunity, pressing the baton forward, building on what others have done, counting on others to complete the race for us.  If dangers and disappointments come (and they will) so be it.  Sooner or later, all of us have to decide what is worth our life and run our part of the race with courage and without complaint.

Re: Verse reading–Matthew 4:12-22 (day two)  “As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. . .’come, follow me’, Jesus said, ‘and I will make you fishers of men.’ “(vs 18-19)  Knowing that He was building a “forever foundation”, Jesus was careful/deliberate in the selection of the people who would help Him.  These men met Christ months earlier.  (John 1)  Having followed “casually” for some time, they are now called to do so “full time” (ie to leave their jobs and families for kingdom service).  Notice the time involved, the complete absence of haste.  No decision is more important to a church or ministry than the people who are enlisted for leadership/service.  Has the Lord done the same with you?  Gradually allowing you to know Him, has He called you deeper and deeper into service by calling you to specific assignments?  When the Lord is building, He starts smart. He calls specific people for specific tasks.

Re: Verse reading–Matthew 4:12-22 (day one).  “When Jesus heard that John had been put in prison, he returned to Galilee.” (vs 12)  “From that time he began to preach.” (vs 17) It must have seemed like a strange choice.  To begin ministry in Galilee, the most secular part of the Jewish nation, the people most impacted by the Assyrian conquest generations earlier, the area furthest removed from Jewish orthodoxy and influence, was not what anyone would have recommended. “Galilee of the Gentiles” was what “proper” Jews called it.  They thought Galileans were worthless and disinterested prodigals. But light always shines in the darkness.  This will not be the only time that Christ reaches into the darkness to rescue people for whom others have lost hope.  Jesus does not see with unbelieving eyes.  Not places, not people.  He sees potential.  He sees the infinite possibilities of God.  May He give us eyes to see and courage to shine, even to people who look like unlikely candidates for the grace of God.

RE Verse reading–Matthew 3 (day seven)  I am reading Laura Hillenbrand’s book Unbroken.  It is a moving story of the courage of the American pilots in the Pacific theater of WWII.  It reminds me of John the Baptist who was not a man to value comfort above duty.  From uncomfortable clothes to unappetizing diet, his path was not chosen with an eye for pleasure.  His only focus was on truth, and if “truth hurts” then so be it.  This same selflessness allowed him to face his opponents without surrender.  Their disapproval did not frighten him.  Neither did Herod’s which eventually cost him his life.  What an absolutely courageous man!  Pray that God makes us a generation like John.  Our nation, church and families would be radically changed if people served God with stubborn resistance against the softening desires of the flesh,  with the knowledge that the approval of Christ demands both physical and spiritual courage.  Have we grown soft, friends?  Pray not!  I will look for you in worship in a few hours.

RE Verse reading–Matthew 3 (day six)  When John the Baptist identifies himself as “a voice calling in the wilderness”(vs 3) he was quoting Isaiah 40 which begins with these words, ” ‘Comfort, oh comfort my people’, says your God” (vs 1)  Strange because in some ways John was anything but a comfort to the people and institutions of Israel. He called them to confess sin!  He was more convicting than comfortable.  It is a reminder that part of God’s comfort is to convict of sin, to face painful realities about ourselves which may be short-term painful but long-term beneficial.  A holy God can NEVER bless an unrighteousness.  He must challenge sin!  When God disturbs/upsets us it is often a precursor to His help.  “All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards if yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness” (Hebrews 12:11) May we welcome His conviction as an indication of His love!