Working with GOD to save the Ratpack

August 25, 2009

VERSE:
Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your
neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win
favor and a good name in the sight of God and man.
– Proverbs 3:3-4
 
THOUGHT:
Character is measured by the love and faithfulness we genuinely
display in our daily lives. These are not simple virtues that we
can fake. Merciful love is displayed when we have power over
another but choose to treat them with kindness and genuine concern.
Faithfulness is being a person of truth — genuine and trustworthy
in word and deed. These virtues need to be a part of our everyday
lives and permeate our very identity. When they do, others will
notice and God will be pleased.

PRAYER:
Holy God — faithful and compassionate, full of mercy and
steadfast love — I praise you for your example of strength and
mercy, holiness and compassion, love and faithfulness. Carve these
character traits on my heart as I submit myself to your will and
open my life to your Spirit’s transformational power. In Jesus’
name I pray. Amen.

A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the
bones.

Proverbs 14:30, New International Version

Many more things go right in a day than go wrong, but you will never notice
if that one trying moment becomes your focus. Lord, help me make a
conscious effort to see the richness of my life and live with gratitude for
all of its wonders.

Choose to be worthy to yourself and never confuse self worth with behavior.
Lord, help me to be less critical of my past and see that this moment right
now is all that I can do anything about.

August 24, 2009

VERSE:
“If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then
you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
– John 8:31-32
 
THOUGHT:
Truth is not something we just know; it is something we live.
Jesus reminds us that we must not only know his teaching, but we
must also obey it. However, obedience is one of the proofs of our
discipleship and a doorway to freedom and truth.

PRAYER:
Father, forgive me for taking obedience to your will so lightly.
Sometimes your way seems restrictive and hard. However, dear
Father, deep in my heart I do genuinely believe that your will is a
blessing and not a hindrance. Use me to help others find joy in
obeying you, too. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have
believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have
believed.”

John 20:29, New International Version

August 23, 2009

VERSE:
Better to be lowly in spirit and among the oppressed than to
share plunder with the proud.
– Proverbs 16:19
 

THOUGHT:
What is your source of significance? This proverb challenges us
to view the world upside down to the rest of culture. Humility and
association with the lowly and oppressed are valued by God. Abusive
power and arrogance are not. God didn’t just give us this proverb;
he sent us his Son to demonstrate it. Now if we can only learn to
live it. Ah! But Jesus does give us the opportunity to demonstrate
it when he says, “Follow me!” (cf. John 13)

PRAYER:
Father, I do recognize my weakness and vulnerability to
temptation, to the lure of my culture’s facades, and to the
pressure to be like the “popular crowd.” Thank you for Jesus, who
had power but displayed humility, who had position but identified
with the abandoned, forgotten, and rejected. Please use me to be a
difference-maker in my world by including those who are left out,
forgotten, and disenfranchised. In Jesus name. Amen.

Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is
still in the darkness.

1 John 2:9, New International Version

August 22, 2009

VERSE:
I am sending him [Tychicus] to you for this very purpose, that
you may know how we are, and that he may encourage you.
– Ephesians 6:22
 
THOUGHT:
As Paul faced the difficulties of imprisonment, he was more
concerned about the people in Ephesus than he was about himself.
Rather than keeping Tychicus close at hand for his own personal
benefit, Paul sent him back to bless the people in Asia Minor. Even
in his time of difficulty and danger, Paul was concerned more to
bless than he was to be blessed. Isn’t that a great example to us
today? We so often get upset about our minor inconveniences and
ruin our attitude toward everyone around us. Paul’s example should
convict us and lead us to be a blessing to others regardless of our
circumstances.

PRAYER:
Father, forgive me for letting my difficulties ruin my attitude.
I want to be a blessing to others no matter my personal
circumstances. Convict me with your Spirit when I begin to focus
too much on myself and my situation. Expand my heart with your
grace so that I can use my inconveniences, problems, struggles, and
challenges to be opportunities to share and to display your grace.
In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

An evil man is trapped by his sinful talk, but a righteous man
escapes trouble.

Proverbs 12:13, New International Version

Make peace with your imperfections and concentrate on your strengths. Lord,
teach me to become more aware of my goodness so that little by little I
will become even better.

Reach out with compassion and a gentle spirit to all that you meet because
they, too, are carrying a heavy cross. Lord, may I remember that all others
have hardships, too, and may I be a source of encouragement for them or at
the very least not add to their troubles.