Day 30 - October 30th

SCRIPTURE:

Then the eleven disciples left for Galilee, going to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him—but some of them doubted!

Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Matthew 28:16-20 (NLT)

KEY VERSE:

Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (v.19-20)

THOUGHTS:

Last words last forever. There are the last words of a parent to a child before leaving for college; the last words of a loved one at the bedside of someone dying; the last words of a friend before they move to a distant place. Last words are chosen with care because the leave a lasting impact. Jesus’ last words to us are directions for our lives. “Go to where the lost are… make disciples… baptize them… and teach them to obey…” These words are not hard to understand. So why don’t we obey them? One day we will give an account of our lives and God will again have the last words – “get out” or “well done.”

PRAYER:
Lord, I love You and I want You to know that I hear Your words loud and clear. I know that there are lost people in the world all around me that need to hear Your words of love, acceptance, and forgiveness. Nudge me out of my safety zone and empower me to share Your love with them and help them come to know You. In the strong and saving name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.

Day 29 - October 29th

SCRIPTURE:

He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near. Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.

So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. Together, we are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. We are carefully joined together in him, becoming a holy temple for the Lord. Through him you Gentiles are also being made part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit.

Ephesians 2:17-22 (NLT)

KEY VERSE:

So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family. (v. 19)

THOUGHTS:

One of the hot button topics in America today is that of strangers and foreigners being among us. There are passionate people on both sides of the question and neither is willing to give in or listen to the other. Those who have been Christians a long time sometimes forget that we once had no claim or right to the world of God’s grace that we now live in. We feel as though we have a right or that we deserve to be here. But we must never forget that to be a part of God’s family is His gift to us through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ. Just as He has accepted us into His world, we must accept others into our lives and our churches – with love.  

PRAYER:

Forever Father, I fall to my knees today and thank You for Your boundless and incredible love. Why You would take “a sinner such as I” and make me a part of Your forever family I will never understand… but I am grateful that You did. Your love and holiness are beyond my comprehension. Just as You have been accepting and compassionate to me, help me to be like You to those “strangers and foreigners” in my world. This I pray in the name of Jesus, the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Amen 

Day 28 - October 28th

SCRIPTURE:

So when the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats and went across to Capernaum to look for him. They found him on the other side of the lake and asked, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”

Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, you want to be with me because I fed you, not because you understood the miraculous signs. But don’t be so concerned about perishable things like food. Spend your energy seeking the eternal life that the Son of Man can give you. For God the Father has given me the seal of his approval.”

They replied, “We want to perform God’s works, too. What should we do?”

Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.”

John 6:24-29 (NLT)

KEY VERSE:

Jesus told them, “This is the only work God wants from you: Believe in the one he has sent.” (v. 29)

THOUGHTS:

After Christ saved and sanctifies us into a new life, we can’t wait to get busy and do His will. We know that if we do, He will honor us and that good things will happen to us and to those that we love. And just like those in our scripture reading today we ask God to just tell us where to start. And He says to us, “It’s really simple; believe in me.” That’s it? That’s all?  That’s right. Because if we will do that one seemingly simple task God will do the rest – through us. Do you truly believe?

PRAYER:

My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine; For Thee all the follies of sin I resign; My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou; If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

I love Thee because Thou hast first loved me, And purchased my pardon on Calvary’s tree; I love Thee for wearing the thorns on Thy brow; If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

I’ll love Thee in life, I will love Thee in death, And praise Thee as long as Thou lendest me breath; And say when the death dew lies cold on my brow, If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now. [My Jesus, I Love Thee, William Featherston, 1864]

Day 27 - October 27th

SCRIPTURE:

Lord, you alone are my inheritance, my cup of blessing.

    You guard all that is mine.

The land you have given me is a pleasant land.

    What a wonderful inheritance!

I will bless the Lord who guides me;

    even at night my heart instructs me.

I know the Lord is always with me.

    I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me.

No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice.

    My body rests in safety.

                                                Psalm 16:5-9 (NLT)

KEY VERSE:

I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me. (v. 8)

THOUGHTS:

When the phone rings in the middle of the night, it is rarely good news. When the blue lights of a police car are flashing in your rear view mirror, it is rarely good news. When the doctor’s office calls and tells you, “We need to talk”, it is rarely good news. But the Good News here is that no matter what happens in our lives God will always be there. When trials come, we will not be shaken because God is with us. And while our world may come tumbling down all around us, He will not let anything steal us away from His love and care. He is, and always will be, “right beside me.”

PRAYER:

Creator, Sustainer, Lord, You are worthy of all of our worship, honor, and praise. You are majestic and Your name is the name that is above all others. There is none like You. As I face this day I invite You to travel with me down the pathway called Life. I accept and believe Your promise that You will never leave me or forsake me. I know that You have already gone ahead of me to prepare the way for my coming. Lead me, Lord, I willingly follow. In the strong name of Jesus, I pray. Amen.

Day 26 - October 26th

SCRIPTURE:

So we have these three witnesses—the Spirit, the water, and the blood—and all three agree. Since we believe human testimony, surely we can believe the greater testimony that comes from God. And God has testified about his Son. All who believe in the Son of God know in their hearts that this testimony is true. Those who don’t believe this are actually calling God a liar because they don’t believe what God has testified about his Son.

And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life.

1 John 5:7-12 (NLT)

KEY VERSE:

Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life. (v. 12)

THOUGHTS:

The older I get the more precious life becomes. So often we take this gift from God for granted but each of us, just like a jug of milk or carton of eggs, has an expiration date. When we reach that date each of us has an appointment with God at His judgment bar. We can give all the testimony we want but it is God that will have the final say. The testimony He wants to hear is whether or not Jesus Christ is the King of all the kingdoms of our life.  As a matter of fact, it is that relationship alone that gives us real life here and eternal life in the world to come.  

PRAYER:

Dear Lord, I come to You today to fully surrender my life to You and You alone. Inhabit every part of me and make me into the person that You planned for me to be before I was ever born. Consume and empower me with Your Holy Spirit so that I can share the Good News of Your love, acceptance, and forgiveness with boldness and respect to those in my world who do not know You.  Help us to help others come to true life in the Son. In the strong name of Jesus, my Redeemer and Friend, I pray. Amen.

Day 25 - October 25th

SCRIPTURE:

For I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed, but that I will continue to be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past. And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die. For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better. But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. So I really don’t know which is better. I’m torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me. But for your sakes, it is better that I continue to live.

Philippians 1:20-24 (NLT)

KEY VERSE:

For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better.

(v. 21)

THOUGHTS:

Those who follow Christ are caught in a struggle. We know that when we finally leave life as we know it know that we will go to spend eternity with our friends, loved ones, and all of those Christians who have died in the faith down through the ages, in God’s big house. And yet, we have been saved in this life to answer His challenge to us all to “Go and make disciples…” [Matthew 28:19]. For now, we must be content to stay here and be His witnesses. The good news is that whenever death does come, it will not take our life away from us but transition us into another new life in the presence of Christ!  

PRAYER:

Loving Lord, thank You for sending Jesus to show me how much You love me. Thank You for allowing Him to die for me to provide for my forgiveness and salvation. Thank You for taking Him back to heaven to be my mediator and for the promise of His soon return to take all of us who are Your children home to heaven. Until then, keep me firmly anchored through the storms of this life in His great strength and protection.  May His undying love be mine as well. In the name of Jesus, the Resurrection and the Life, I pray. Amen.

Day 24 - October 24th

SCRIPTURE:

We will not boast about things done outside our area of authority. We will boast only about what has happened within the boundaries of the work God has given us, which includes our working with you. We are not reaching beyond these boundaries when we claim authority over you, as if we had never visited you. For we were the first to travel all the way to Corinth with the Good News of Christ.

Nor do we boast and claim credit for the work someone else has done. Instead, we hope that your faith will grow so that the boundaries of our work among you will be extended. Then we will be able to go and preach the Good News in other places far beyond you, where no one else is working. Then there will be no question of our boasting about work done in someone else’s territory. As the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord.”

When people commend themselves, it doesn’t count for much. The important thing is for the Lord to commend them.

2 Corinthians 10:13-18 (NLT)

KEY VERSE:

As the Scriptures say, “If you want to boast, boast only about the Lord [Jeremiah 9:24]. When people commend themselves, it doesn’t count for much. The important thing is for the Lord to commend them. (v. 17-18)

THOUGHTS:

Our world is one of skewed values, false promises and fleeting fame. All you have to do to verify that is to listen to a few election campaign commercials for candidates in our upcoming election. For the Christian, our worth is found not in what we do or what we say but in the steadfast love of God, the grace that He gives to us all, the unending supply of His love and blessings, the sweet spirit of God’s wonderful people, His plan for our salvation, the promise of an eternity in heaven, and the list goes on… If we have to boast, let’s take ourselves out of the equation. Who better to brag about than our Great God and His eternal grace?

PRAYER:

God of wonder, majesty, and mercy I come today seeking a fresh anointing from You. Everything good and enduring that I have in my life I have because of You. While my words are simple, they are from my heart. “I love You, Lord, and am grateful for the privilege of being a part of Your forever family. You’re the best! In the strong name of Jesus I give thanks. Amen.