September 5, 2022

Romans 12:5

5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.

One of the members of Hope Church works in the miracle-producing world of transplants. They take the eyes of donors and are able to give healthy eyes and sight to those in need. Apart from being amazing, this helps us correct an awful problem in the Church. Are you part of the body or are you “doing Christianity” on your own? 

This verse teaches us about our role in the church, also called the body of Christ. You are a part of that body, like an eye or a foot. You have a use, but it’s only a use that really works in conjunction with the rest of the body. Eyes have incredible value, but only in a body as a means of sight; if they don’t get plugged in, they die. Have you connected to the body?

Prayer prompt: Lord, help me overcome excuses, past hurts, and fear so I can be used in Your body for Your glory.

September 2, 2022

John 15:1-2

1 I am the true vine and my Father is the vinedresser.  2 Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch in me that does bear fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.

Summer is full on. Flowers have bloomed and fruit trees are becoming heavy with fruit. Life is dense all around us. Have you thought about the importance of the vines, stems, or trunks of those plants? We appreciate the flowers, fruits, and vegetables, but those can only come from a healthy plant. Our spiritual life functions the same way. Today, are you healthy, are you ready to bear fruit?

True life comes from being connected to Jesus. Our spiritual health and fruit come when we abide in Him. Just as an expert gardener knows to cut off the dead branches and to prune the healthy ones, God equips us to thrive spiritually and then prunes us so that we may bear more spiritual fruit. Today, knit your heart to Jesus by thinking about, praying to, and feeling the love from Him.

Prayer prompt: Lord Jesus, it is impossible to be spiritually healthy apart from knowing and loving You. Help me to love You and to bear fruit for my family, friends, and the growth of Your Kingdom.

September 1, 2022

Jude 2

2 May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.

Dickens painted a compelling scene in Oliver Twist when the orphan asks for a second serving of gruel. “Please, sir, may I have another?” Do you pray like that? Please God, just a little, a crumb more of Your help? 

That’s not how the Kingdom works. God doesn’t give a little, He overwhelms. Jesus doesn’t give just enough food for the multitude, there are baskets left over. Mercy, peace, and love don’t just drip down to us, the bounce around, overflow, and multiply. It seems we get so little only because we ask so infrequently. Pray, today, for that mercy, peace, and love to multiply.

Prayer prompt: Lord, thank you for providing for me in ways that multiply exponentially!

August 31, 2022

1 Kings 19:11-12

11 And he said, “Go out and stand on the mount before the Lord.” And behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind tore the mountains and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 And after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire the sound of a low whisper.

I am desperate for God to win. I want Him to tear up mountains and destroy His enemies with fire and lightening. I want everyone in the world to fall to their knees and embrace the one God who can give them what the need and what they want in unending supply forever. Yet we keep toiling in little whispers, little conversations, little blogs, little sermons heard by such small percentage of our city. 

In the story above, Elijah the prophet and Israel had just seen a triumphant display of God’s power over His enemies in fire that came down from heaven. Elijah was sure God had finally won, but the King and Queen still rejected God. Then God took Elijah and showed him a cyclone, an earthquake, and a monstrous fire, but God was in the whisper. God can work through it all, in it all. The next time your witness, your voice, seems like a whisper, remember God’s working even still.

Prayer prompt: Lord, please remind me of all the work You are doing all the time.

August 30, 2022

Matthew 4:3-4

3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written,

“‘Man shall not live by bread alone,

    but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”

If you’ve ever felt real hunger, take a moment to understand Jesus in this story. The man had not eaten a bite in 40 days. After that length of time, Jesus must have felt a kind of hunger only felt by those about to starve. Yet when tempted He didn’t just tell the enemy, “Obviously not! You’re the devil I’m not going to do what you say.” He said He had something better than food.

When Christians fast, we put ourselves in a position to enjoy God’s grace in a physical way. When you give up food for some amount of time to enjoy God, you make something spiritual more real to you. Like taking the Lord’s Supper or baptizing someone we make a physical experience out of a spiritual reality. Is God’s goodness worth more than life for you? How about lunch?

Prayer prompt: Lord, teach me to remember the way you saved me so I will trust that you still love me.

August 29, 2022

1 Corinthians 15:10a

10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain.

Do you ever wish you were someone else in God’s Kingdom? I think every one does almost all the time. If you have a position of honor, you also have a mountain of responsibilities and uncertainty. If you have a position that people don’t necessarily line up for it’s easy to feel forgotten or hard done by.

Paul wasn’t one of the 12 and wasn’t as eloquent as Apollo, but was God’s work in him and through him in vain? It’s hard to imagine a Christian that has been more useful to the Kingdom, and yet Paul had the same kind of jealousies to fight. By the grace of God, we are who we are and His grace is never in vain.

Prayer prompt: Lord, I am glad to be what You have made me. I trust Your work will never be in vain.

August 26, 2022

Romans 12:3 

3 For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.

When I was a kid, my grandparents kept a peacock and I can tell you, peacocks are jerks. It’s fun to pick up some of the feathers they drop, long and interesting looking. But don’t get close or you’ll be sorry. Have you ever heard the phrase “Proud as a Peacock”? Ostentatious and down right mean, peacocks are a great symbol for pride.

When we regard ourselves more highly than we ought, we step outside God’s definition of who we are and try to create something better. By grace, God has called us His adopted children. He plans to bless us with every blessing, not even withholding His own Son. Why would we ever think we could beat that? 

Prayer prompt: Lord, teach me to be forever satisfied with who You say I am.

August 25, 2022

Philippians 1:9-10

9 And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment, 10 so that you may approve what is excellent, and so be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,

There is a silly kind of love that doesn’t have much knowledge. Pop stars have millions of fans who love them, but it’s a shallow love because they’ve never even met. There is a cold kind of approval that knows what is good, but doesn’t do much. Looking down from an ivory tower, some people know what is good, but there isn’t a fire-in-the-belly conviction that stirs that person to action.

The gospel gives us both knowledge and passion. We aren’t drones who follow a preset path without any understanding. God wants us to see why things are good or evil, to discern one from the other. Yet, we have a love that bounces around and grows, filling us up, spilling over. We aren’t content to have knowledge without passion. Today, take your own temperature. Do you feel that love?

Prayer prompt: Lord, help me to love You with a deep love that knows You.

August 24, 2022

Acts 17:6

6 And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also,

Jesus came to bring about an upside down kingdom. In His new order the greatest has to be the servant of everyone, tax collectors and prostitutes are valued members and the religious leaders are bad guys. In His kingdom the mourners, meek, and even persecuted are blessed. In our world, His Kingdom is upside down.

When that Kingdom logic spread around with the new Christians’ lives and teaching, it didn’t just die out as upside down and weird. It turned the world upside down, or better said, right side up. When you get quiet because your Christian beliefs seem so strange in our world remember, that has happened before. And when it happened it wasn’t Christianity that changed, but the world. 

Prayer prompt: Lord, thank you for making me part of turning the world around.

August 23, 2022

Galatians 4:9

9 But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?

Imagine a prisoner. He is filthy, in a cramped, lightless place with stale air and awful smells. Hopeless and chained, he only gets the miserable company of the bugs that live on him. Then the sound of the lid being pulled away, light blinds, and gentle hands pull him up to clean, feed and free him. What is the one place on the planet that guy is never voluntarily returning to? He will probably avoid closets and small bathrooms the rest of his life. 

In the same way, you and I are freed by God from the way we use to live. And it was every bit as bleak because it was enslaving, destructive, and ultimately deadly. Can you honestly admit that? If you can, even when it seems so tempting, you can walk away. It will be as easy as doing what you want to do. Employ your imagination so that you can color worldly principles the way that God sees them. Remember the bliss of being known by God. 

Prayer prompt: Lord, please keep me from returning to what will hurt me, even when it is hard.

August 22, 2022

Psalm 1:1-2

1 Blessed is the man

 who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,

nor stands in the way of sinners,

 nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

2 but his delight is in the law of the Lord,

 and on his law he meditates day and night.

You can do whatever you want. But are you free to want what you want? Think about the advertising that we have shoved down our eyes and ears almost all day long. There are very few commands in those ads. Usually, they just show you how much fun, happiness, health, friends, and skinny-ness you would have if you only had that cool whatever it is. The way our lives work, we are being lead around by the desires. 

The opening of the whole Psalter, all 150 of them, is this clear either/or: if you delight in God’s ways rather than in the ways of the world, you will be blessed but if you walk, stand, and sit with those who don’t delight in God’s ways, you won’t be blessed. It’s that simple, and that difficult. What have you allowed your heart to long for? It’s a difficult question to answer, so zoom in a different way. Do you delight in God’s ways?

Prayer prompt: Lord, Your ways lead to life, pleasure and joy. Help convince my heart to delight in what is lovely.

August 19, 2022

Acts 2:2-3

2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.

What does it mean to say God is with you? If you’re a Christian, and God promised not to leave you or forsake you, where is He now? It is so hard to be faithful to God in a real struggle when He’s just absent. The promises of the Psalms about Him being a shield about you seem hollow when you look around. The disciples had Jesus, where is God with us?

You and I need these verses. When Jesus left to go back to heaven, He said the Comforter would come. Then we get this description of what it looks like to have the Holy Spirit. A mighty rushing wind came and filled each of them with fire. God’s real presence, His voice-from-the-whirlwind, fire-on-Sinai presence is in you. If God is with us, who can stand against us? 

Prayer prompt: Lord, teach me to remember the way you saved me so I will trust that you still love me.

August 18, 2022

Romans 12:10

10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.

What does being part of the church look like? It can get really bad. There’s a version of church that looks way more like a contest to see who can seem the most put together. It’s not about who can be most godly, but surface-level stuff like how good your kids act for 65 minutes, how snappy your outfit is, and how broad your smile can be. It becomes a battle between one proud dude who bumps chests with pristine exterior of the next more-put-together-than-you dude. Who wants that?

Paul is describing a church where the opposite takes place. A family that has true affection for each other, where each member delights to see the other lifted up. Imagine a place where people were ecstatic to see you do well, to jump on your success and celebrate them with true joy and to sit by you in your failures with genuine care and affection. That’s what God’s love does in a place. Find that church and plug in.

Prayer prompt: Lord, help me to be so aware of Your love that I can show honor to others without all the competition.

August 17, 2022

Philippians 3:20

20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,

A great phrase for understanding the bible, and our place in the bible’s promises is “Already but not yet”. Jesus came to bring us salvation, true forgiveness from sin and death, to really bring us back to God. And yet, I’m not able to see Him. I already have forgiveness, God’s love, the Holy Spirit’s presence, but I’m not home.

That’s when verses like this put steel in our backbones. You can just imagine how often Paul thought about this and it kept him going. This world is terrible, but it’s not my home. Jesus came to save me, and I love Him, but I haven’t touched Him like Thomas. But I will. He’s coming. And when He comes, as Tolkein said, “All the sad things will come untrue”. Await Him with Hope!

Prayer prompt: Lord, I know the blessings I now feel are just a beginning. Help me to see what will be and rejoice in hope!

August 16, 2022

Romans 12:1

1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

There’s an old preacher saying about this verse that goes, “The problem with a living sacrifice is that it can crawl off the altar.” Paul appeals for us to present ourselves to God, putting everything we have at His disposal, in view of the mercies He’s shown us. What are those mercies? The Romans word is Justification. He made us Just even though we are very not Just. He allows us to come into His holy presence and be His forever.

And what do we do? We crawl away. The appeal Paul makes is for us to think about and remember the mercies. That will draw us to the Father, which is the only place for us to find happiness, real security, and the love we were made for. Why crawl away?

Prayer prompt: Lord, show me Your mercies everyday, so I will run to You rather than crawl away.

August 15, 2022

Psalm 46:4-5

4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,

    the holy habitation of the Most High.

5 God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;

    God will help her when morning dawns.

In these verses, we have a reference to something you and I probably don’t think about much. It’s the idea that your town is much harder to besiege if it has a river running through it. They may stop food from getting in, but if you have a river, you have water. It was a sign of a well tended, almost invincible city.  

The City of God is one of those cities. These verses, beautifully and poetically describe God’s city as impenetrable, a place of totally security, where all your needs are met. The Christian hope is a place where all of your fear is forgotten. In pandemic times, in violent aftershock times, find joy in remembering your true citizenship in your true city.

Prayer prompt: Lord, remind me of my true citizenship so I will move through this world, doing Your will, without fear.

August 12, 2022

Luke 10:21

21 In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will.

Jesus says these words in prayer and celebration after a group of 72 of His followers return from preaching about the Kingdom. They were jazzed, as we would be, because they could cast out demons. And Jesus says, “That’s nothing, I saw Satan fall from Heaven like lightening. Rejoice instead that your names are written in Heaven.” Then He sings, He rejoices over these little ones who have the Kingdom. 

There’s two options in life. You can either be the King, or bow to the King. Pride or humility. Jesus’ followers got a taste of power and started flexing, but Jesus quickly checks them. “You may be effective in ministry, but it’s only by using my name, I saw Satan fall from Heaven. Rejoice instead that you have Me.” How great is God that He would make the real joy of the Universe available to everyone? How dangerous is pride that it can keep you from it?

Prayer prompt: Lord, please protect me from pride and focus my eyes on You.

August 11, 2022

Isaiah 55:11

11 so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth;

    it shall not return to me empty,

but it shall accomplish that which I purpose,

    and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.

It can seem so empty to tell yourself or others Bible verses when things are hard. In the moment of temptation, verses can sound trite or even patronizing. In the moment of deep pain, verses can sound like a platitude and insincere. In the moment of contesting for the faith, verses can seem like a weak argument. 

But remember who spoke those words, and what they’ve done so far. God, the Holy Creator and Lord of all, made everything by speaking. He upholds the Universe by the word of His power. And John started his gospel by referring to Jesus as the Word of God, the perfect expression of God given to us. To read His word, and to apply it to your life, is to touch something unspeakably powerful, something that always accomplishes what the One who spoke it purposed.

Prayer prompt: Lord, please help me remember and pray Your powerful, powerful word.

August 10, 2022

Luke 8:25

25 He said to them, “Where is your faith?” And they were afraid, and they marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that he commands even winds and water, and they obey him?”

What do we do with faith? It seems like a muscle we should flex. If we do it right, then miracles happen. But that’s not what this story points too. The disciples were in a boat that almost capsized in a storm. It seems really appropriate to panic. Yet, Jesus makes it clear that a little faith would have lead to entirely different reactions.

If Jesus was a man, then yes, panic. But if He’s God, why would anything make them fear? If He holds the universe together with the word of His power, doesn’t it seem silly to think He wouldn’t be aware of the weather situation and able to knock it out? If they had had faith, they could have ridden out that storm with all the joy of a kid on a roller-coaster. Marvel at God’s greatness and then watch your fears shrink away.

Prayer prompt: Lord, teach me to live like what is true is true.

August 9, 2022

Romans 14:17

17 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Inside or outside? We don’t stop asking that question at Hope Church. Does the way you act make you a Christian or does becoming a Christian effect the way you act? Is being part of the Kingdom about keeping Kosher or the way you dress? Does the gate to heaven swing wide for people without righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit as long as they avoid bacon?

The Kingdom of God is only for the holy and the perfect, and that’s not us. If we want in, we go in through Jesus. The question now is do we have Him? Has His love and has the Holy Spirit begun to change us? If it has and He has then we start to see righteousness, peace, and joy invade our lives. That’s what we are working toward in the Kingdom of God.

Prayer prompt: Lord, please work through me and allow me to see your work from the Inside Out.