PASSIONATELY PATIENT

PROVERBS 16:32 (MSG)
Moderation is better than muscle,
self-control better than political power.

REVELATION 14:12 (MSG)
Meanwhile, the saints stand passionately patient, keeping God’s commands, staying faithful to Jesus.

THE ESSENCE
Jesus' faithful are passionately patient in their obedience, as opposed to pushy and millitant. 

DAILY FODDER
Many Christians believe that if the faith is to survive and thrive in this crazy world, we need to be more aggressive and powerful. This seems totally contrary to Jesus' passionately patient approach. 

PRAYER
God, you hve been patient beyond comprehension. Even when Jesus was suffering on the cross, he refrained from calling down fire from Heaven. Forgive my infatuation with power and quick solutions for every problem. Help me to not only stand faithfully with you, but to do so with confident patience. I want to be faithful to you and your agenda, even in the way that I respond to the evil around me. Amen.

THE LORD’S PRAYER (ABP)
Our Father in Heaven,
     we hold your name in the highest regard.
Please come and establish your reign here on earth
     so that everything that happens here will align
     with what is happening in heaven.

Give us enough food for today.

Forgive us our wrongdoing,
     and we’ll forgive those who have wronged us.
Shield us from the trials and temptations that come our way.
Lastly, we pray that you will protect us from all forms of evil. Amen.

THE GREAT EXCHANGE

NEHEMIAH 13:2 (CEB)
Yet our God turned the curse into a blessing.

GALATIANS 3:13 (CEB)
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law by becoming a curse for us—because it is written, Everyone who is hung on a tree is cursed.

THE ESSENCE
God is in the business of turning what we experience as curses into blessings. 

DAILY FODDER
In Galatians 3, the "curse of the Law" is our inability to live up to God's expectations. But Jesus met and exceeded all divine expectations, even voluntarily becoming "cursed" himself by dying on the cross so that we could experience freedom from the curse of death. That's the great exchange!  

PRAYER
Merciful God, as I read the whole Bible story, I'm amazed at how often you turn negative situations around for the benefit of your undeserving people. Sometimes, though, I feel like a curse is hanging over me, something I need to break. Help me to see how you have already broken all curses through Christ's victorious encounter with death. I want to experience the freedom that you intend for all of us. I want to help others experience it, too. Amen.

THE LORD’S PRAYER (ABP)
Our Father in Heaven,
     we hold your name in the highest regard.
Please come and establish your reign here on earth
     so that everything that happens here will align
     with what is happening in heaven.

Give us enough food for today.

Forgive us our wrongdoing,
     and we’ll forgive those who have wronged us.
Shield us from the trials and temptations that come our way.
Lastly, we pray that you will protect us from all forms of evil. Amen.

LOVE AND GRACE

PSALM 32:10 (MSG)
God-defiers are always in trouble;
God-affirmers find themselves loved
   every time they turn around.

REVELATION 22:21 (NLT)
May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s holy people.

THE ESSENCE
The love and grace of the Lord Jesus carry us through thick and thin.

DAILY FODDER
Why is it that God-affirmers find themselves loved but deniers have a different experience? Is it that God loves the deniers, the troublemakers, less? 

PRAYER
Thank you, Lord, for your unlimited love and grace. I regret that sometimes I fail to experience what you offer because I'm for whatever reason not open to your presence. Might your transforming love and grace so fill my life that everything contrary to your love and grace is squeezed out. I want to overflow with your love and grace. Amen.

THE LORD’S PRAYER (ABP)
Our Father in Heaven,
     we hold your name in the highest regard.
Please come and establish your reign here on earth
     so that everything that happens here will align
     with what is happening in heaven.

Give us enough food for today.

Forgive us our wrongdoing,
     and we’ll forgive those who have wronged us.
Shield us from the trials and temptations that come our way.
Lastly, we pray that you will protect us from all forms of evil. Amen.

UPLIFTING

PSALM 30:1 (CEB)
I exalt you, Lord, because you pulled me up...

MARK 5:41-42 (CEB)
Taking her hand, he said to her, “Talitha koum,” which means, “Young woman, get up.” Suddenly the young woman got up and began to walk around.

THE ESSENCE
Through Jesus, we experience the uplifting hand of God. 

DAILY FODDER
Sometimes when Jesus heals someone he touches them or takes them by the hand. In other situations he heals from a distance. What significance, if any, is there to Jesus using a touch to lift people up? How has Jesus lifted you?  

PRAYER
Lord, you lift me from the muck and mire of my sinful life to set my feet on the solid ground of your love and grace. Thank you for speaking to my heart with the gospel and taking me by the hand. Today, may I lend a healing hand to others in the name of your love. Amen. (Daily Texts, Ground Up Grace edition)

THE LORD’S PRAYER (ABP)
Our Father in Heaven,
     we hold your name in the highest regard.
Please come and establish your reign here on earth
     so that everything that happens here will align
     with what is happening in heaven.

Give us enough food for today.

Forgive us our wrongdoing,
     and we’ll forgive those who have wronged us.
Shield us from the trials and temptations that come our way.
Lastly, we pray that you will protect us from all forms of evil. Amen.