There is no Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for your are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise.
—Galatians 3:28-29.
August Prayer - Day 10
August Prayer - Day 9
August Prayer - Day 8
August Prayer - Day 7
August Prayer - Day 6
One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” —Acts 16:14-15
August Prayer - Day 5
August Prayer - Day 4
By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. —1 John 3:16-18
August Prayer - Day 3
August Prayer - Day 2
August Prayer - Day 1
2016 August Prayer Initiative - Day 31
God’s grace transforms our hearts as it flows to us through the means of grace. In the past two days of blog posts we have seen how prayer and the Word of God are channels of God’s grace and power. Now we see from 1 Peter 4:10 that grace flows to us in community. What do we learn from this passage about the community of grace?
2016 August Prayer Initiative - Day 30
In Paul’s farewell words to the Ephesian church in Acts 20, he knew of the demands that would surely press in upon them, to wear down their faith and steal their joy. So he commended them to God, and to the “word of his grace,” which would be able to build them up and strengthen them. The word of grace is one of the means by which God floods our hearts with his favor.
2016 August Prayer Initiative - Day 29
2016 August Prayer Initiative - Day 28
When Jesus says in Revelation 21:5, “Behold I am making all things new,” He’s not talking about the kind of "new" that replaces the old. Bible scholars have pointed out that every time the writer of Revelation, John, uses that word "new", he’s not referring to something fundamentally different, but to the restoration of something that has fallen apart.
2016 August Prayer Initiative - Day 27
So our belief in God’s sovereignty actually invigorates our evangelism as we cling to God’s promises: He has sheep from other pastures and his sheep will know his voice and will follow Him (John 10). God is the giver of Life! He has promised that there will be a great multitude from every tribe and tongue and people (Revelation 7). Trusting in these promises, we, his disciples, can step into seemingly hopeless lands with bold hope and with confidence that our labor is not in vain.
2016 August Prayer Initiative - Day 26
I think Jesus is talking about more than geography in this final charge to his disciples. In the book of Acts we read about Jesus’ followers living as witnesses—not only across geographic boundaries, but across social and cultural boundaries. When you read this verse in that light, it becomes incredibly relevant.
2016 August Prayer Initiative - Day 25
2016 August Prayer Initiative - Day 24
God’s blessing was never meant to be only for a few. In His promise to Abraham in Genesis 12, God said, “all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” God did not intend his message of salvation to be only for Israel or Judea. He intended His salvation to reach the ends of the earth: to Spain, to England, even to the “New World.”
2016 August Prayer Initiative - Day 23
So what will make the nations glad? The scriptures are clear that the nations (all people) will be joyful and fulfilled when we worship the creator. It is for our good that God wants us to delight in the One who can bring us true joy. We were created for his glory, and when we reject the idols around us and embrace him, we will be glad.