A Prayer about the Best Heart Transplant

by | Jun 4, 2022 | Daily Prayer, Gospel living

A Prayer about the Best Heart Transplant

And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26.

Lord God,

I’ve always been fascinated with the strange prophecies of Ezekiel. 

I love the part where you tell him to breathe into the dry bones, 

and “there was a sound, and behold, a rattling, 

and the bones came together, bone to its bone.

”Then you tell Ezekiel to breathe some more, 

and all of these skeletons are covered with flesh  (Ezekiel 37:7-10). 

It is vivid picture of the new life you give us in Jesus Christ. 

We were walking skeletons in our sin (Ephesians 2:1), 

but you raised us to new life. 

Not only that, you gave us a heart transplant, 

so that we would be your people, and you would be our God.

Fill our imaginations, Lord. 

Help us to see our new hearts 

learning to pump out the lifeblood of love. 

Send us as your grace-plump, enfleshed people, 

into a hurting world that desperately needs new hearts.

In Jesus’ life-giving name. Amen.

Read Ezekiel 36:22-38; 37:1-14.

A Prayer about Becoming Trustworthy and True

by | Jun 3, 2022 | Daily Prayer, kingdom living, Spiritual Growth

A Prayer about Becoming Trustworthy and True

Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ…Ephesians 4:15

Trustworthy and True Jesus,

Yesterday we prayed about 

your trustworthy, true nature.

Today, we ask that you would, 

by your Spirit, so unite us to yourself, 

that we become like you.

We want to be trustworthy and true people, 

dependable and honest. 

We want to be people who show up 

when we say we’ll be there. 

We want to be people 

who give advice 

infused with prayer and your wisdom. 

We want to be people who allow others

to rest and relax

because they feel safe and comfortable in our presence. 

In this world of uncertainty and unpredictability, 

make us carriers of your trustworthy and true nature. 

In your faithful name. Amen.

Romans 12:1-2; Ephesians 4:22-24. 

A Prayer about the One Who Is Trustworthy and True

by | Jun 2, 2022 | Daily Prayer, Theology

A Prayer about the One Who Is Trustworthy and True

Write this down for these words are trustworthy and true. Revelation 21:5. 

Trustworthy and True Father,

We are distressed to learn 

that many of the leaders and institutions we have put our trust in, 

even spiritual ones, 

are not trustworthy and true. 

In fact, some cultural commentators say

there is an epidemic of mistrust in our world, 

and they may be right. 

How thankful we are 

that throughout Scripture, 

and especially in the wonderful vision of Revelation

about what really will happen one day “soon,” 

you emphasize how trustworthy and true you are. 

You are the God of truth, the God who never lies. 

You have sent your Son as our Savior, 

and he has proven himself 

to be perfectly trustworthy 

and perfectly loving. 

Unlike any of the fallible leaders in the world today, 

Jesus gave his life for us. 

Jesus made good on his promise 

to rise from the dead after three days. 

Jesus delivered on his pledge

to send a greater Helper, the Holy Spirit. 

Jesus ascended to heaven

and sits at your right hand this very minute, 

interceding for us (Romans 8:34).  

Your promise is trustworthy and true. 

Jesus is coming back. 

Jesus is restoring this broken world.

Jesus is making all things new. 

And one day we really will dwell in shalom forever. 

In Jesus’ faithful and true name. Amen.

Read Revelation 21:5; 22:6; 3:14; 19:11.

What Jesus’ Body Means for Us: Relearning How to Enjoy and Glorify God with Our Bodies

by | Mar 16, 2022 | body, Gospel living

What Jesus’ Body Means for Us: Relearning How to Enjoy and Glorify God with Our Bodies

Did Jesus wear diapers? Did Jesus learn to say “Abba”? Did Jesus need to take naps? To all three, if we have a biblical theology of Jesus and the body, we must answer “yes.” Often, we focus on Jesus’ spiritual nature, but we need to reclaim an understanding of Jesus’ body as well. When we pay attention to how Jesus lived in his human body, we better understand how to live in our bodies to enjoy and glorify the Lord.

Our Savior Learned and Grew

The Bible teaches that Jesus learned and grew. Yes, Jesus was sinless, no doubt, but in his humanity, he had to learn; he had to grow. Luke 2:52 tells us, “And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man” (NIV). Jesus didn’t emerge from Mary’s womb potty-trained. Jesus grew from a small baby into an average-sized Hebrew male before he began his earthly ministry. Jesus had to learn how to speak Aramaic and Hebrew, how to read Isaiah, and how to write his alphabet.

Just as God designed Jesus to learn and grow, he designed us to learn and grow as well. We can learn new things, like how to play the piano or how to study Scripture. We grow physically, and even when our bodies are fully grown, we can and should continue to increase in “wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man,” by living in our bodies wisely, eating and drinking and exercising and touching and playing to the glory of God.

Continue reading and discover how you can live in the body God has given you. 

 

To Fast or Not to Fast: How to Prepare for Easter

by | Mar 16, 2022 | Gospel living, Lent

To Fast or Not to Fast: How to Prepare for Easter

It’s the first of March, and here on the Gulf Coast, Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, is being celebrated from Pensacola to Mobile (home of America’s first Mardi Gras) to New Orleans. What do lavish beads tossed from a float and little king babies hidden inside a cream cheese frosted pastry have to do with Easter, anyway? Here’s my little history lesson (as discovered from forty-five minutes of internet searching).

Mardi Gras originated in the early centuries AD, when pagan Romans celebrated a fertility god with debauchery and drunkenness. Early Christians decided to transform the raucous celebration and make it a day for feasting to mark the end of “ordinary time” after Christmas and the beginning of Lent, the season of fasting and repentance before the celebration of Christ’s resurrection. The French first coined the term “Mardi Gras” (Fat Tuesday) as they ate up all of the eggs and milk they would be fasting from during Lent.

What is Lent, and should we observe it?

Lent, short for Lenten, comes to us from the Old English word for “Spring”: lenten, which meant “lengthen.” As the daylight lengthens, life springs into view, buds blooming and bright stalks shoving their way through the earth.

Read the rest of the article and discover good reasons and not-so-good reasons to fast. Click here.

A Prayer about the Temptation to Doubt God’s Love

by | Feb 22, 2022 | Daily Prayer, Gospel living

A Prayer about the Temptation to Doubt God’s Love

Lord Jesus,

Thank you for enduring temptation for us.

You had been led to the wilderness by the Spirit. 

This forty days of fasting was planned. 

But that didn’t mean it was easy. 

You had just heard the voice of your Father saying, 

“You are my beloved Son; 

with you I am well pleased” (Luke 3:22). 

Now the evil one, the accuser, Satan, 

knowing you are starving, 

tries to make you doubt God’s love for you, 

for after all, if you’re really the Son of God, 

why would you be out in the wilderness starving? 

Then he tempts you to use your divine power

to turn stones into bread. 

You resisted. You remembered. 

“It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’ 

The rest of the quotation from Deuteronomy 8:3 says, 

“but by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.” 

Thank you, Lord, for persevering, 

for enduring temptation for us. 

Help us to remember your Word, your assurance: 

because we are united to you, 

we can also resist the devil, 

that he may flee from us (James 4:7).

Read Luke 4:1-4.