O God my Creator, continue to create within me an attitude that resembles Jesus; continue to create within me a life respectful of your gift, Jesus; continue to create within me a faith that can follow Jesus. O God my Creator, when my attitude wavers create within me a spirit of renewal; when my life disrespects your gift
Scripture: John 5:19 Jesus responded to the Jewish leaders, “I assure you that the Son can’t do anything by himself except what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise.” Thought for the Day: If you’re looking to understand who Jesus is and how he approaches his work, here is a pretty good overview. Maybe not the specifics, but a good starting place.
Scripture: Ephesians 6:19-20 Pray also for me, so that when I speak, a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it boldly, as I must speak. Thought for the Day: Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in his book Strength to Love, wrote: The church must
Scripture: Ephesians 4:3 …and make an effort to preserve the unity of the Spirit with the peace that ties you together. Thought for the Day: This is the next verse in the 4th chapter of Ephesians. After Paul has encouraged humility, gentleness and patience, and after he has told the community to accept each other in love, he turns to the importance of the community finding unity and
Scripture: Ephesians 4:2 Conduct yourselves with all humility, gentleness, and patience. Accept each other with love… Thought for the Day: Have you ever wished the AND was an OR? Paul invites his listeners to conduct themselves with all humility, gentleness and patience. Notice that he didn’t say, “…or patience.” The OR would have given us options; it would have given us permission to choose; it would have given
Scripture: Proverbs 4:18 The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day. Thought for the Day: We usually have our ironing board set up in the guest room, but when we have a guest, we move it. This past weekend, my sister was visiting and I put the ironing board in the living room so that I could
Scripture: James 1:19 (the Message) Post this at all the intersections, dear friends: Lead with your ears, follow up with your tongue, and let anger straggle along in the rear. Thought for the Day: A few days ago, I referenced the translation of the Bible called the Message. Once again, I love its take on a phrase. “Lead with your ears…” Those words are better than simply saying,
Scripture: Matthew 5:43-45 You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.
Scripture: Psalm 96:11 Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it; Thought for the Day: I reference Psalm 96 yesterday, but as I continued to read through the entire Psalm, I found these words. It made me wonder what it is that makes the heavens glad and the earth rejoice. The author has spoken about the Lord
Scripture: Psalm 96:1-4 O sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples. For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; he is to be revered above all gods. Thought for the Day: