COOPERATION

The 9th Sunday after Pentecost

GENESIS 45:24 (TCEB)
So Joseph sent his brothers off. As they headed out, he yelled over to them, “Hey, don’t be arguing with each other on your way home!”

MATTHEW 5:9 (MSG)
You’re blessed when you can show people how to cooperate instead of compete or fight. That’s when you discover who you really are, and your place in God’s family.

THE ESSENCE
In God's economy, we're rewarded for fostering cooperation rather than competition.

DAILY FODDER
How do we make the transition from being a competition-based society to being a cooperative society? I suggest that it begins with a few counter-cultural individuals committed to Jesus and living out his peacemaking ideals. Since such people will be going against the social stream, they'll need a great deal of wisdom and patience. Fortunately, when we invite Jesus into our lives, he brings his Holy Spirit to empower us for this seemingly impossible assignment.

PRAYER
Jesus, you truly are the Prince of Peace. And while I think that prioritizing peaceful cooperation is ideal, I worry that it can't always be realistic. Help me to set aside such worries and to focus on the mission, regardless of how impossible it seems. Empower me with your Spirit so I can gently respond with supernatural wisdom to the forces that feed on unhealthy competition. I am committed to being a part of your peacemaking mission. 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.

MERCY

PSALM 68:5-6 (MSG)
Father of orphans,
   champion of widows,
   is God in his holy house.
God makes homes for the homeless,
   leads prisoners to freedom,
   but leaves rebels to rot in hell.

2 CORINTHIANS 1:3 (NLT/1996)
All praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the source of every mercy and the God who comforts us.

THE ESSENCE
God is the source of mercy for all who will accept it.

DAILY FODDER
How has God been merciful to you today?

PRAYER
Merciful God, you are worthy of all recognition and honor. You extend your helping hand to even the most desperate person. Forgive me for smugly assuming that all I have is the fruit of my own efforts. Help me to be so accepting of your mercy and forgiveness that it becomes a part of my own nature to extend it to others. This whole mercy movement that Jesus started is life-changing. 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 RESURRECTION LIFE

JOB 9:10 (GNT)
We cannot understand the great things he does,
and to his miracles there is no end.

2 CORINTHIANS 4:14 (TCEB)
We know God raised our leader, Jesus, from the dead. We know God’s going to do the same for us. One day he’ll bring us all together, and we’ll stand before him.

THE ESSENCE
Even though we can't understand it, we lean into the resurrection promise to shape our lives now.

DAILY FODDER
What difference does the promised resurrection make in the way you daily live your life?

PRAYER
God, the resurrection is one of those great things we can't fully understand. Forgive us for living as though the full meaning and purpose of our lives is contained in our short lifespans. I try to squeeze everything into 70 or 80 years and am impatient when things are imperfect. Increase my perspective and awareness of the unfolding resurrection life. I'm partnered with the resurrected Jesus and expect to live out his resurrection life until I die and then beyond. 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.

BEGGARS

PSALM 88:8-9 (TCEB)
You’ve turned my friends against me.
You made them hate me.
I’m a shut-in now,
And I can’t go out anymore.
The light is going out in my eyes.
I’ve been calling you every day, LORD.
I’ve lifted my hands reaching out to you.

ACTS 3:2 (GNT)
There at the Beautiful Gate, as it was called, was a man who had been lame all his life. Every day he was carried to the gate to beg for money from the people who were going into the Temple.

THE ESSENCE
In God's economy, beggars get noticed. 

DAILY FODDER
In our modern Western society, people are naturally suspicious of beggars. We assume they are somehow scamming the system or that by paying them attention, we’ll further encourage them to live unproductive lives. How do you get past these prejudices to reach out to the desperate? 

PRAYER
Lord God, I call out to you. Sometimes, I feel helpless and handicapped, hapless and hopeless. Sorrow fills me as if there is no escape. Lord, in your mercy, hear my prayer. Take control. Overcome my circumstances. Show the way. Today, empower me to bring others to the "Beautiful gate" where you help and heal. 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.