NEW CREATION

ISAIAH 65:17 (MSG)
Pay close attention now:
I’m creating new heavens and a new earth.
All the earlier troubles, chaos, and pain
are things of the past, to be forgotten.

REVELATION 21:1 (NLT)
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone.

SUMMARY SENTENCE
God is in the process of recreating everything, ushering in an existence defined by the peace of Christ.

DAILY FODDER
How attached are you to the old ways, the old world, the old pains? Even though the new heaven and the new earth aren't yet fully here, our calling as witnesses of Christ (and what he's up to) is to live now according to the economy of the coming world. So, we are driven by hope, peace, and God's love.

PRAYER
Creator God, I'm grateful that you haven't given up on us and our messed up world. You're ushering in a new creation. I confess that I'm having trouble letting go of the old ways. My ego is too big for the new world and it wants to be in control. Help me to let go and to embrace Christ more fully, so that I can ride with him into the new creation. If anyone is in Christ, that person is part of the new creation. 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 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.

GLORY SHARED

The 13th Sunday after Pentecost

PSALM 8:5 (CEB)
You’ve made them only slightly less than divine,
crowning them with glory and grandeur.

2 PETER 1:3 (NTE)
God has bestowed upon us, through his divine power, everything that we need for life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and virtue.

SUMMARY SENTENCE
When God shares his glory and virtue with us we rise to become God-like.

DAILY FODDER
Athanasius of Alexandria (d 373) wrote, "He was incarnate that we might be made god..."

PRAYER
Eternal God, your promise of life and salvation is beyond what I can believe or imagine. Still, I admit that I remain fascinated by trinkets possessed by others. Cleanse my heart from unworthy desires and help me grow into the lover of others created in your image and likeness, through Christ my Lord, in whose name I pray. 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 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.

PROMISE KEEPER GOD

JEREMIAH 31:33 (MSG)
This is the brand-new covenant that I will make with Israel when the time comes. I will put my law within them—write it on their hearts!—and be their God. And they will be my people.

ROMANS 9:4 (NLT)
They are the people of Israel, chosen to be God’s adopted children. God revealed his glory to them. He made covenants with them and gave them his law. He gave them the privilege of worshiping him and receiving his wonderful promises.

SUMMARY SENTENCE
God doesn't backtrack on his wonderful promises.

DAILY FODDER
What to you is the most important promise in the Bible?

PRAYER
Promise keeper God, you have been faithful throughout the ages—even giving more than promised. Yet, I so quickly forget and start assuming that everything has to revolve around what I say and think. Write your new covenant promises on my heart so that they guide all my decisions and affections. I want to be a promise keeper, 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 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.

TUNED IN TO GOD

ISAIAH 40:27 (MSG)
Why would you ever complain, O Jacob,
or, whine, Israel, saying,
“God has lost track of me.
He doesn’t care what happens to me”?
Don’t you know anything? Haven’t you been listening?

LUKE 24:25-26 (MSG)
Then he said to them, “So thick-headed! So slow-hearted! Why can’t you simply believe all that the prophets said? Don’t you see that these things had to happen, that the Messiah had to suffer and only then enter into his glory?”

SUMMARY SENTENCE
When it comes to tuning into what God is up to, we can be ridiculously dense.

DAILY FODDER
If you were to rate yourself on a scale between 1 and 10, how tuned in are you to what God is up to? (10 being very tuned in and 1 being not at all tuned in)

PRAYER
Comforter of the foolish, thank you for reminding me when my heart is slow to believe all that you have taught. You have shown me the way. You have promised me that I will share your glory. Help me to suffer over others as you have suffered over many things, including me. 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 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.