HONOR

JUDGES 5:31 (CEB)
LORD, may your allies be like the sun, rising in its strength.

JOHN 17:22 (CEV)
I have honored my followers in the same way that you honored me...

SUMMARY SENTENCE
Those who align themselves with the LORD are those who will be honored with him and through him.

PRAYER
Glorious God, I'm grateful that you have chosen me to be on your team. Forgive me for the times that I pursue honor on my own. Strengthen my faith so that it grows with the intensity of a rising sun on a summer day. I'm going to burn hot for you. Amen.

IN PURSUIT

 The 5th Sunday after Epiphany

ISAIAH 65:1 (NLT)

The LORD says,

"I was ready to respond, but no one asked for help.
I was ready to be found, but no one was looking for me.
I said, ‘Here I am, here I am!’
to a nation that did not call on my name."

LUKE 14:23 (CEB)
The master said to the servant, ‘Go to the highways and back alleys and urge people to come in so that my house will be filled.

SUMMARY SENTENCE
God is actively pursuing people -- even those who are ignoring him.

PRAYER
Thank you, God, for pursuing us. Even when we're uninterested, you stay at it. Forgive me for my daily indifference to you and your agenda. I'm lost in my own world, unable to escape. Find me. Rescue me. I'm going to find what I need in you, Savior, Christ Jesus. Amen.

PERSISTENT

JOB 42:5-6 (NLT)
Job said to God, "I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes. I take back everything I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance."

ACTS 9:3-5 (CEB)
During the journey, as he approached Damascus, suddenly a light from heaven encircled him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice asking him, “Saul, Saul, why are you harassing me?”

Saul asked, “Who are you, Lord?”

“I am Jesus, whom you are harassing,” came the reply.

SUMMARY SENTENCE
In spite of our resistance, God persists in lovingly pursuing us.

PRAYER
Lord, your presence empties us. All our illusions are crushed when you show us the truth of who we are. Thank you for pursuing us even when we are blind and cannot see. Open our eyes to know who you are and whose we are. May we rest in the grace of your shining face. Amen (Daily Texts, Ground Up Grace edition)

RESCUER

PSALM 56:13 (MSG)
You pulled me from the brink of death,
my feet from the cliff-edge of doom.
Now I stroll at leisure with God
in the sunlit fields of life.

ACTS 12:7 (MSG)
Suddenly there was an angel at his side and light flooding the room. The angel shook Peter and got him up: “Hurry!” The handcuffs fell off his wrists.

SUMMARY SENTENCE
We look to God as our rescuer.

PRAYER
Thank you, Lord, that again today you pour your wonderous light into me through the promises in your word. May your word saturate me deeply with your peace. Release me from my chains of personal preferences, people pleasing, or perfection. May the light in your word be my only guide for my passions, my perspectives, and my prayers. Amen. (Daily Texts, Ground Up Grace edition)