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A Prayer about Being Persecuted as a Christian

A Prayer about Being Persecuted as a Christian

‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you…. John 15:20

Precious Jesus,

We admit, we really like to be liked. 

Reading that we will be hated and persecuted 

“because [we] are not of this world” 

unnerves us.* 

Strengthen us to bear persecution, 

for indeed, 

it will come to your followers.** 

Help us to remember that it is not personal, 

especially when family and friends 

mock or abandon us 

because we follow you. 

Help us to endure persecution 

through looking to you, 

the “author and perfecter of our faith,” 

“who for the joy set before him 

endured the cross, 

despising the shame, 

and is seated at the right hand of God” (Hebrews 12:2). 

And most of all, help us to remember 

that we are not alone 

as we face persecution, 

for we have the Helper, 

the Holy Spirit, 

whom you sent to us. 

The Spirit will give us the words 

and the courage we need; 

the Spirit will comfort us 

and bandage our wounds. 

Thank you for giving us all we need 

to endure 

until the day 

of no more mourning, 

no more pain, 

no more shame. 

Amen.

*Today is the international day of prayer for the persecuted church. We will pray about persecution today and tomorrow (and on an ongoing basis.)

**This prayer based on a sermon by our pastor, Joel Treick. You can listen here (Find October 23 sermon): https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/pinewoods-church/id1550803637.



What Jesus Did on Monday and Tuesday

It’s Holy Week. As I thought about this blog, I realized I know a lot about “Palm Sunday,”  “Maundy Thursday,” “Good Friday,” “Silent Saturday” (or “Easter Eve”), and “Resurrection Sunday.” These are the biggies, (they even have names), and preachers, teachers, and bloggers tend to focus on them.

But what about Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday — what happened on those days? I often forget. So I did a bit of research. I considered what Jesus did, and I thought about what we learn about the gospel, the story of God’s grace, through them. Here are four happenings from Monday and Tuesday. I’ll follow up with Wednesday tomorrow. Here is a short list of some of the events of those days:

Fig Monday (yes, apparently it has been so named:-)!

1. The curse of the tree: Matthew 21:18-22; Mark 11:12-14: Jesus curses the fig tree for not bearing fruit. His disciples were confused. What did the fig tree do to deserve this?

  • Gospel implication: In Jeremiah 8:13, a fig tree represented Israel, God’s chosen people. In this final week, God is unveiling the truth — his very own people deserve judgment, death, for their sins. And Jesus will be dying in their place.

2. More moneychanger trouble: Mark 11:15-19: We don’t often see Jesus apparently lose his cool (he doesn’t really lose it), but here, filled with righteous indignation at the religious leaders and moneychangers, he starts turning over tables.

  • Gospel implication: The religious folk are requiring payment for temple entry. Jesus is about to die for the sins of the world. Jesus teaches us that the only way to gain access into God’s presence is by trusting in him as Savior. Not taxes, not sacrificial animals, not good deeds.

Teaching Tuesday(?) or Trap Tuesday(?) (Okay, I made these up:-)!

1. Jesus teaches the disciples: Mark 11: 20-25Passing the cursed fig tree on their way back to Jerusalem, the disciples notice it is now withered. Jesus gives a brief but significant lesson on faith, prayer, and forgiveness.

  • Gospel implication: The disciples will soon face a task that will seem far more impossible than praying a mountain into the sea. Jesus’ dark-houred death will demand faith that hope will rise again. And they will come to know that indeed, Jesus’ death and resurrection profoundly changes their story — they are forgiven, freed of sin, guilt, and death, and they are empowered to forgive others.

2. Jesus teaches the religious authorities trying to trap him: Mark 11:28-12:40, Matthew 23:39The religious leaders question Jesus’ authority — who authorized him to take the actions in the temple?

And in the sections that follow, Jesus pulls out all of his teaching stops — questions, parables, illustrations, and finally, the provocative “woes” of Matthew 23:1-37 (WHOA!). We might say Jesus had a “come to Jesus” meeting with them.

  • Gospel implication: Jesus, knowing his teaching will further enrage them, persists in pointing them (and us) to their/our desperate need for a Savior. The only cure for their hardness of heart, self-righteous attitude, and stubbornly blind eyes is God’s grace.

Well, whoops! As I got into this, there was obviously more story to tell than room to tell it, so I’ll continue with “Spy Wednesday” tomorrow (you’re dying to know, aren’t you:-)!

To read more about some of the specifics that occurred on these two days, check out the wonderful Holy Week series by Justin Taylor and Andreas Kostenberger, also now compiled in book form.

Get the entire Holy Week series: Sign up for blog posts now! 

Praying Story: To the Promise-Fulfiller, Hope-Restorer

When we know God’s story — the story of the gospel; the Story of Faith and Hope the Bible tells, it changes our prayers. No longer dry, dull, and distant, prayer becomes interaction with the story God has told and is telling. That is why an essential feature of each Living Story Bible study is called “Praying Story.” Here is one I wrote for the end of Chapter 6: The Hero’s Story, in Living God’s Story of Grace. Try praying this story aloud, or write your own prayer to the God who fulfills promises and restores hope in His way, in His time:

Dear God, Fulfiller of Faith, Restorer of Hope,

We come to you humbly, confessing that we so often want your promises to be fulfilled in our time and in our way. We thank you that you are God and we are not, that you refuse to bow down to our demands, but instead draw us to kneel before your majesty, to declare your wonder, to marvel at your beauty. Help us to walk as heroes of faith, fixing our eyes on your heavenly city from afar, remembering your “already” redemption, and knowing with deep assurance that you are redeeming and transforming now. You will never stop until the day Christ returns to fulfill your greatest promise — eternal life with you in the new heavens and the new earth. In hope assured by you and faith founded in you, we pray. Amen.

 

How I Quit Competing for the Mother-of-the-Year Award

It seems to hit seasonally.  Usually around May or June, which would be difficult enough with kids’ stressing over exams and piano recitals and final push choir rehearsals for tour, not to mention the years one of ours is graduating from something, which, with four spaced two years apart, happens fairly frequently.  But then you add what I call the ‘birthday’ season, when each of my children turns another year older – May 10, June 1, June 10, and August 10.  And what happens is the ever-elusive-mother-of-the-year award, which I had really thought lay within my grasp, slips away.

You should understand that this is not a local, national, nor global award.  It exists simply in my mind and is for me alone, to gain or to lose, based on my motherhood performance.  There is a point system – I get so many points for helping a child through a major crisis without losing my temper or showing my fear.  More points for not yelling when all four plus their friends have managed to empty all of the cabinets of the dishes and leave them on the counter, dirtied, mere inches from the dishwasher which strikes me as their appropriate destination.  Even more when we make it through a major life event with something resembling family shalom, everyone present and accounted for and actually happy for the person whose moment it is to shine.

But then.  In the midst of these busy months, something happens.  Choir and bell rehearsals crash my fantasy family vacation by lasting from 6 – 11 p.m. every night.  We arrive at the DMV missing one of the 99 forms you now have to produce to get your learner’s license.  And, the one that always puts me over – one of my children brings me an item of clothing that needs to be hemmed for the performance – 15 minutes before departure time.  And the points slide away faster than warm chocolate brownies placed on our island after dinner.

As you can see, it’s a tough way to live, and I imagine none of you knows what it feels like to set up a system of judging yourself that always leaves you holding the bag designated to be placed over your head so no one can see what a messed-up mom you are!  Thankfully, I found a way to win.  Well, I should say, a way to win was shown to me.  It turns out there is a Judge who has already judged me, and He declares me delightful – yes, even as a mom.  He molds me and shapes me, sure, and works even all that worry and wasted effort to His glory.  When I screw it up – by setting up a point system for motherhood in the first place, He so kindly, so gently, draws me to Himself and says, “Elizabeth, come rest in me.  Try out my way of doing things – it’s really easy.”  Because not only is there now no condemnation in Christ Jesus, there is greater love and delight from the One who knows our harried hearts and has already declared us more-than-a-mother-of-the-year.

14Sing, O Daughter of Zion;

shout aloud, O Israel!

Be glad and rejoice with all your heart,

O Daughter of Jerusalem!

15The Lord has taken away your punishment,

he has turned back your enemy.

The Lord, the King of Israel, is with you;

never again will you fear any harm.

16On that day they will say to Jerusalem,

“Do not fear, O Zion;

do not let your hands hang limp.

17The Lord your God is with you,

he is mighty to save.

He will take great delight in you,

he will quiet you with his love,

he will rejoice over you with singing.”

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