TRIALS AND TESTS

DEUTERONOMY 13:3 (ABP)
Your GOD is giving you a test so that you can demonstrate your complete and deep love for him.

1 CORINTHIANS 10:13 (MSG)
No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; he’ll always be there to help you come through it.

SUMMARY SENTENCE
God regulates the trials and temptations that come our way so that with his assistance we have the opportunity to shine.

DAILY FODDER
Some of us are anxious about whether we can handle the trials which might be coming our way. Why is such anxiety unhelpful? 

PRAYER
All-understaning God, I am grateful that you faithfully stand with your people through whatever comes our way. I admit that my mind drifts into the worse case scenario and that I worry about my ability to endure. Remind me of your active involvement in my situation and defuse whatever anxieties I'm harboring. I'm confident that whatever is headed my way won't break me because you are standing with 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 would protect us from all forms of evil. Amen! 

ALL-CONSUMING

JEREMIAH 24:7 (ABP)
I will plant deep within them a desire to acknowledge me as GOD through every decision and action in their lives.

COLOSSIANS 4:3 (NLT)
Pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerning Christ.

SUMMARY SENTENCE
Might the mystery of Christ become our all-consuming passion.

DAILY FODDER
What is the difference between an all-consuming passion for the mystery of Christ and a half-hearted effort to know him? How do each look? Where on the continum do you think you are?

PRAYER
God, through the mysterious-to-us actvity of Christ you've establised a new covenant with us. It's a promise that rests in our hearts and minds. We don't always pay attention to what you have planted within us. Help us to tune out the distractions so that we can display and explain what Christ has done and is doing. I want to be a living invitaion passionately drawing people to him and his ways. 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 would protect us from all forms of evil. Amen! 

LIGHT

The 12th Sunday after Pentecost

GENESIS 1:3 (CEV)
God said, “I command light to shine!” And light started shining.

EPHESIANS 5:9 (CEB)
Light produces fruit that consists of every sort of goodness, justice, and truth.

SUMMARY SENTENCE
God is the source of the light that makes the world wonderful. 

DAILY FODDER
Practically speaking, how does the light of Christ in your life improve your life?

PRAYER
Jesus, you are the light of the world and you've called us to be light to the world around us. Forgive us for our failure to recognize the importance of light. We let our neighbors stumble around in the dark and think little of it. Crank up the lumens in our lives so that your light shines through us and follows us wherever we go this week. Might the world around us experience every sort of goodness, justice, and truth because you are shining through us! 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 would protect us from all forms of evil. Amen! 

GOD'S LOVE

JEREMIAH 12:3 (CEB)
Yet you, Lord, you know me.
You see me.
You can tell that I love you.

EPHESIANS 4:15 (CEB)
Instead, by speaking the truth with love, let’s grow in every way into Christ...

SUMMARY SENTENCE
It is love from Christ and for Christ that propels us into spiritual maturity. 

DAILY FODDER
Why is love so central to spiritual growth? (hint: 1 John 4:8)

PRAYER
God, you loved us even before we realized that there was such a thing. Thank you for developing your love in me. Apart from you I'd live a stunted existence. But your love energizes me. Continue to develop it in my life. Replace my over-inflated ego with your love. I want to grow in my love for you and your truth, as well as for my neighbors — even those who are unloveable. You are my only hope in this matter. 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 would protect us from all forms of evil. Amen!