WHAT PLEASES CHRIST

2 CHRONICLES 19:7 (ABP)
Honor GOD by acting with integrity and justice. For he will not tolerate corruption, preferential treatment, or payola.

EPHESIANS 5:10 (MSG)
Figure out what will please Christ, and then do it.

THE ESSENCE
Act according to the way of Christ.

DAILY FODDER
Which is more of a challenge for you, figuring out what pleases Christ or doing what pleases Christ? Why so?

PRAYER 
Gracious God, I'm thankful for the responsibilities you have entrusted to me. I confess that sometimes I use what you've given to me to advance myself—my status, my comfort. Forgive my malfeasanse and renew my energy to function according to and for the glory of Christ. I'm going to be a doer rather than just a hearer of your word. 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.

BUMPER CROPS

GENESIS 3:19 (GNT)
You will have to work hard and sweat to make the soil produce anything, until you go back to the soil from which you were formed. You were made from soil, and you will become soil again.

GALATIANS 6:7-8 (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
Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit we can reap bumper crops of eternal significance. 

DAILY FODDER
What does God want you to plant today? 

PRAYER 
Thank you, Holy Spirit, for your ongoing presence and guidance in my life. Forgive me for planting things that are contrary to that guidance and of little or no eternal signifance. I want everything I grow in my life to be in perfect accord with your direction. Help me in my gardening. I want to be one of your eternal success stories. 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.

LONGTERM INVESTING

PSALM 62:9 (GNT)
Human beings are all like a puff of breath;
great and small alike are worthless.
Put them on the scales, and they weigh nothing;
they are lighter than a mere breath.

MATTHEW 6:20-21 (MSG)
Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it’s safe from moth and rust and burglars. It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.

THE ESSENCE
Our hearts follow what we treasure so it behoves us to treasure eternal currency.

DAILY FODDER
What is eternal currency? How does someone get it? 

PRAYER 
Glorious God, you are the richest being; for all of creation belongs to you—forever. No one can take it from you and its under your eternal care. Forgive us for overvaluing treasure which only has value in a temporal economy. Show me how to become rich in eternal treasure. Since I expect to spend the rest of eternity with you I want to be prepared for the heavenly lifestyle. 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.

ETERNAL

ISAIAH 51:6 (CEB)

The heavens will disappear like smoke,

the earth will wear out like clothing,

and its inhabitants will die like gnats.

But my salvation will endure forever,

and my righteousness will be unbroken.

1 CORINTHIANS 13:10 (ABP)
The day defined by perfection will get here. And when that happens every imperfect thing will be obsolete.

THE ESSENCE
The only things that endure forever are related to the eternal God — for example, his salvation and all who are saved, his righteousness and all attitudes and actions that flow from it. 

DAILY FODDER
If the only things that endure forever are related to the eternal God, how should we respond? What difference does it make here and now? How saved are you? 

PRAYER 
Eternal God, thank you for saving me to be with you forever. Forgive me for focusing so much on all that is temporal that I lose sight of the eternal. Show me how to live according to your eternal directives even during the temporal. I want to live in sync with the perfection that came to use through Christ Jesus. 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.