STAY FOCUSED ON THE MESSAGE

DEUTERONOMY 4:2 (NLT)
Do not add to or subtract from these commands I am giving you. Just obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you.

ROMANS 15:18 (NLT)
Yet I dare not boast about anything except what Christ has done through me, bringing the Gentiles to God by my message and by the way I worked among them.

THE ESSENCE
Stay focused on what God has done and said.

DAILY FODDER
Deuteronomy 4:2 instructs the Hebrew people to focus on God's commands and to avoid adding to them. What might an "addition" to God's word look like? 

PRAYER
Thank you, God, for calling us to declare the message of new life through what Christ has done for us and how all who receive his embrace participate in his resurrection life. I confess that it's easy to for me to elevate my interpretation of what all that means to an authoritative level. Help me to unite around essentials while giving freedom in areas you don't make as clear. Above all, let all I say and do be marked by your love. 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.

GO WITH GOD!

Palm Sunday

EXODUS 33:15 (NLT)
Then Moses said, "If you don’t personally go with us, don’t make us leave this place."

JOHN 12:13 (MSG)
They broke off palm branches and went out to meet him. And they cheered:

Hosanna!

Blessed is he who comes in God’s name!

Yes! The King of Israel!

THE ESSENCE
Move with God, who is on the go.

DAILY FODDER
God was sending the Hebrews deeper into the wilderness because they weren't willing to go into the Promised Land. In Exodus 33 Moses is attempting to negotiate with God, saying they shouldn't leave their current camp without God's presence. But in vs 14, God had already promised to go with them. Sometimes we just need to hear it again.

PRAYER
Long live King Jesus! Forgive me for the times I undercut your kingdom efforts, even while I’m shouting "Hosanna" on your behalf. I need to know that you are present with your fickle followers. I have no desire to move forward without you and in my best moments I recognize that I can't move apart from your energizing presence. 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.

RESTORATION

PSALM 80:18 (NLT)
Revive us so we can call on your name once more.

LUKE 17:15 (NLT)
One of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back to Jesus, shouting, “Praise God!”

THE ESSENCE
Restoration should lead to praise.

DAILY FODDER
Restoration should lead to praise. But only one of the ten who were healed returned to Jesus with praise. So often we ask God for help, with promises to serve him in one way or another. How often do people keep such promises? The amazing thing is that God responds to our requests, knowing full well that he usually won't get so much as a "thank you." His faithfulness is impressive.

PRAYER
 I praise and thank you, God, for the truth that, "underneath are your everlasting arms." Jesus has revealed that your grace and life surround me on every side. Forgive me for my doubts and fears. Set me free to praise you with a loud voice that all around me may hear. 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.

THE CHOICE

PROVERBS 11:19 (ABP)
Right-living people are on the road to life, but those who chase evil are on the freeway to death.

GALATIANS 6:8 (MSG)
What a person plants, he will harvest. The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs of others—ignoring God!—harvests a crop of weeds. All he’ll have to show for his life is weeds! But the one who plants in response to God, letting God’s Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life.

THE ESSENCE
You can plant seeds that produce toxic deadly plants or you can sow seeds that produce life-giving plants.  

DAILY FODDER
Whether the metaphor involves roads or plants, the choice is clear. You have to choose the things of life or the things of death. Death is not so much a penalty but a consequence of choosing an existence apart from God and his ways. God graciously gives us a choice.

PRAYER
Thank you, Lord, for giving us a choice. I can choose to embrace you and your ways or I can choose to make my own way, embracing deadly characters and characteristics as I stumble along. I regret that I weave back and forth across lanes of traffic. I'm such a flake. Help me to completely embrace you and your ways. I'm trusting you to set me on the right path and to guide me. I can't make it on my own but you are life-giving. 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.