TGIF! Thank God I'm Forgiven! Yes PTL! That's why God came as a baby and grew to go to the cross--to make a way for new life, eternal life and forgiveness. How thankful are you for these things? Tell God and share your heart with someone .
Good Morning Spirit-Filled and Led, Kingdom-Building Servants of the Most High God! Amen! And help us Lord! Thank God for the gift of new life, the Holy Spirit, Spiritual Gifts and the help to do all He made you to do for such a time as this. You are His activated, equipped servants! PTL! He has great plans for you which also includes His loving refining and molding. Receive that with ! In fact invite that with a willing, repentant heart. We need God and His help to do all we are created to do. We are on a journey to Christlikeness and our fuller potential in Christ. Thank God for His plans for you and working and walking with you. We need Him--always! Thank Him for the Holy Spirit in you as you meditate on The Word for You . Remember, "Not I but Christ in me!" That's His Spirit. Thank Him for that and new life. Think about your new nature. Are you working to step into it and put it on more fully or are you happy with your old, filthy rags of your old nature? Commit to co-operating with His Spirit in you as He works to transform you and use you to encourage, bless and build the Kingdom. The Upper Room reminds us that God is building us into His Body, His Church and the people we are created to be. Amen! As you pray and prepare and team up don't forget the abiding and resting in God and trusting Him to answer prayers, bring miracles alive and send you too. He does have great plans that He is orchestrating for you and us and for now and the future. We are His and He came as a baby to rescue and refine us. PTL! Talk to Him and your teammates about these things and work together to sabbath, reload, pray, prepare and go live and love more and more like Jesus. Remember, Lord willing and with our co-operation, we were one way moving to the next better way in Christ and with His Spirit's help. Amen! Be still then go! I'm praying for you! God is waiting and willing! Seek first His kingdom! Shalom shalom!
TWFYT:
UR: Spiritual Stonework
I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. - Matthew 16:18 (NIV)
Having grown up in an area known for its abundance of stone, I am fascinated by stonework. Traveling throughout the region, one can see houses, churches, walls, and fences made of stone. While these structures age and are often covered with moss, they remain standing. I often think about the stonemasons who build these structures, admiring their craft of selecting imperfect stones, hewing them, and placing them into structures that can stand the test of time.
Like a stonemason selecting, hewing, and placing stones, Jesus did the same with his followers. In ’s scripture reading, Jesus stated that Peter would be the rock on which he would build his church. Why Peter? After all, he would go on to deny Jesus three times on the night of his arrest (see Lk. 22:54-62). However, scripture teaches us how Jesus uses all types of imperfect people to build his church. As he did with Peter, the Lord found a place for Paul, the former persecutor of Christians (see Acts 8:1-3). Although these people were flawed, Jesus still selected, hewed, and placed them in the spiritual stonework that continues to stand the test of time.
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's Prayer
Dear God, thank you for looking past our flaws and fitting us into your kingdom. Amen.
ODB:
Resting in God
The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers. Acts 12:6
My neighbor Sam returned home one night without his car. “It was stolen,” he told his wife, then added, “I’m going to sleep. I’ll sort it out .” His wife was flabbergasted. She couldn’t understand how Sam could be so calm, but he explained, “What else can I do? Panicking won’t make any difference.”
My ever-sensible neighbor could see there was no point worrying. He trusted that the authorities would be able to find his missing car later—which they did.
Did the apostle Peter feel likewise after being thrown into prison (Acts 12:4)? He was likely to face execution, yet the usually impulsive disciple “was sleeping between two soldiers” (v. 6). The angel had to “[strike] Peter on the side” to wake him up (v. 7)—suggesting that he was completely calm and at peace. Was it because he knew his life was in God’s hands? Verses 9 and 11 suggest that it wouldn’t have mattered whether he was rescued or not; perhaps he recalled the assurance of salvation and glory that Jesus had given him (Matthew 19:28), as well as Christ’s call to simply “follow me” and not worry about what would happen to him (John 21:22).
No matter what we’re facing , we can trust that God holds our future—both on earth and in heaven—in His mighty hands. Perhaps then we can sleep in peace more easily.
By Leslie Koh
REFLECT & PRAY
What worries keep you awake at night? How can you learn to surrender them to God and hold on to His promises?
Dear God, I know that my life and future are in Your loving and mighty hands. Please help me to keep trusting You.
Peter “was sleeping” the “night before Herod was to bring him to trial” (Acts 12:6). He’d already been unjustly imprisoned by King Herod for eight days and would’ve been sentenced the following day. And, like James, his fellow apostle, he too would’ve been executed (vv. 2-3). But “the church was earnestly praying to God for him” (v. 5; see vv. 11-12). During his imprisonment, Peter experienced the peace that only Jesus could give (see John 14:27).
In the Old Testament, David also had confident trust in God and experienced His peace: “In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety” (Psalm 4:8; see 3:5). No matter what we’re facing , we can turn our situation over to God, knowing that we can trust Him and experience the peace He alone provides (Philippians 4:6-7).
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