Category: living by faith

Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interest of others.
– Philippians 2:3-4 (NIV)

Do you remember one of the earliest questions in the Bible? “Where is your brother Abel?” To which Cain responded: “Am I my brother’s keeper?” Paul’s answer is a clear and undeniable yes! We must look to the interest of others and not just our own. Yes, we are responsible for helping the homeless, the helpless and the weak.

Father, teach me to love your family as you do. I get so caught up and distracted with my own world and my own problems that I forget to notice those who are hurting around me. Help me to grow more aware and more attuned to those needs so you may minister through me. In the powerful name of Jesus I pray. Amen.

God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.
– 1 Peter 4:10-11 NLT

Why does God get the glory when we do what Peter commands in this passage? Because we do those things by God’s powerful presence, the Holy Spirit living in us. We speak and we serve by the inspiration and power of the Spirit. The gifts that we are given come from the Holy Spirit — that’s what the term “spiritual gifts” means. Jesus poured out the Holy Spirit on us when we came to him (Titus 3:3-7), and the Spirit gives each of us gifts to use in the body of Christ (1 Corinthians 12:4-7) and to help others (Luke 10:25-37; Galatians 6:10). The glory belongs to God — Father, Son, and Spirit — because God is the source and the strength of all of the good that we do.

Almighty God, Father and my Savior, the Son of God, and the indwelling Spirit — bring yourself glory as I seek to use the gifts you have given me to bless others. All glory be to you forever and ever. Amen.

[Jesus said] “By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.”
John 5:30 (NIV)

“So who you trying to please, anyway?” There are only two we must please: First, our Father in heaven, because all praise and honor is due to him, and Second, ourselves, because we want to know that we’ve done the best we could do and been the best we could be. But I guess I’ve learned over the years that I can’t begin to do the second of those very well without seeking the first one. Don’t you hope that someday you reach the place where you can join Jesus in saying with absolute assurance: “I seek not to please myself but him who sent me!” The closer we approach that reality, the more we realize that we can’t do anything of eternal significance on our own. Only when we live to honor God do we find the significance and have the impact that our lives were made to have.

Almighty and Righteous Father, I know that without you I can do nothing that is of lasting significance. I have tried my own way and failed. I have sought my own good and seen my success short-lived. I want to live now, today and the rest of my life to please you. As I do this, I am confident that you will provide what I need and that you will empower me to do what you would have me do. In Jesus’ name I thank you. Amen.

Rise in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your God. I am the LORD.
Leviticus 19:32 (NIV)

In an age where respect is little known and even less practiced, showing honor for those who are older is often overlooked. Yet in this place, by the LORD’s own word, showing respect for the elderly ranks right up there with reverencing God. But then we shouldn’t be surprised, since God made honoring parents the very first commandment (in the Ten Commandments — Exodus 20) directed at our relationship with others — the first four commandments were directed at our relationship with him!

Holy and Eternal God, thank you for my parents in the flesh and in the faith. Please give those who have been my spiritual mentors a special blessing. Without their guidance, I’m not sure where I would have ended up. Help me as I grow older to not only mature, but to also gain the character that will be needed by those whom you have placed before me to influence. May we, young and old alike, restore dignity and respect to our relationships before you in our generation. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

I lift up my eyes to the hills — where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.
– Psalm 121:1-2

In a world of startling beauty and a universe of dazzling diversity, our hearts are to be drawn back to the One who made it and now sustains it. He knows us and will help us if we will but believe what he has tried so many ways to say: “I love you as my child and I deeply care what happens to you and those you love.”

Almighty Creator, Majestic Architect and Eternal Engineer, it absolutely bewilders and delights me to know that you care for me. With all the things of such vast importance, I find your desire to know and love me humbling and assuring. Today I will worship, work, and witness, aware of your presence and care. Thank you, dear Father, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Among those who belong to Christ, everything connected with getting our own way and mindlessly responding to what everyone else calls necessities is killed off for good — crucified. Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives.
– Galatians 5:24-25 MESSAGE

God’s written word is invaluable to us as we mature in Christ and learn more and more of God’s will. As we mature, we will choose “the life of the Spirit” rather than just trying to follow God’s commands written on stone or printed on paper. We will have God’s will written on our hearts and showing in our lives by the transforming work of the Spirit (2 Corinthians 3:17-18). Today’s passage is Paul’s reminder that follows his description of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). Since the Spirit is God’s gift to lead us in our dance of grace, then we must let him take the lead in this dance. We must long for the Spirit to transform our hearts and minds to reflect the righteous character and gracious compassion of our Father in heaven. We must seek the Spirit to order our steps in every area of our lives.

God and Father, Savior and Son of God, and Holy Spirit come and make your home in me. Work your will in every aspect of my life as I seek to honor you and live out your will in every aspect of my life. Amen.

Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Hebrews 11:6 (NIV)

Our relationship with God is built on the atoning sacrifice of Jesus and our acceptance of that sacrifice through obedient faith. That faith trusts that God not only exists, but that he also personally cares about us and our desire to know him. He eagerly longs to bless those who seek him. What we find when we seek him, however, is that all other blessings pale in comparison to knowing, and being known by the eternal, immortal, and only true God!

Holy God, I do seek to know you better. Please make your presence known more powerfully in my life and in the life of your Church. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Do not turn to mediums or seek out spiritists, for you will be defiled by them. I am the LORD your God.
Leviticus 19:31 (NIV)

Our world has a re-emerging fascination with the occult and the world of demons and witchcraft. It’s easy for us to react in one of two dangerous ways: to downplay the reality of these things or to dabble in them as matters of entertainment or amusement. God wants us to know that these fascinations are dangerous because the evil entities behind them are real and when we involve ourselves in them, they defile us. God alone is God and is to be worshiped without rival by his people.

Holy and magnificent God, thank you for breaking the power and hold of evil powers through Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection. Please deliver those whom I know and love that are entrapped in one way or another with a fascination with false gods and deceiving and destructive spirits. Empower your Church with your Spirit; please cleanse us and make us a holy people, undefiled and ready for your service. In the name of the Lord Jesus I pray. Amen.

Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
Psalm 90:12 (NIV)

When we lose our sense of urgency to live for God, we end up wasting our time! God has a plan for us, for our world, and for his church. Without God’s gift of “spiritual arithmetic” (numbering our days aright), we will never gain a heart of wisdom. So how do we get such a gift? Ask for it without doubting (James 1:5-7)! Trusting the Lord for wisdom has a huge effect on us and the way we conduct our lives. Rather than losing heart, God gives us a heart of wisdom!

Holy and Almighty God, King of the Ages, you alone live in complete wisdom, justice, and grace. Please help me to know what time it is in my life and the role you want me to play at this stage of my journey. I want my life to be lived glorifying you. In Jesus’ precious name I pray. Amen.

“But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day,” says the LORD. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.  And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the LORD.’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already,” says the LORD. “And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.” – Jeremiah 31:33-34 NLT

Jeremiah is God’s voice, speaking about the promise of the LORD’s new covenant that he will make with his people. Of course, knowledge of God’s “instructions” started with the prophets and others who spoke for God in Biblical times and starts with the Bible and people who speak for God now. However, knowledge is not nearly enough. We need to be empowered and transformed by the Holy Spirit of the living God who will place God’s instructions on our hearts and make them a part of us. As important as the scriptures are, the Spirit who inspired them is also the one who is essential for us to understand and live the intent of scripture. The Holy Spirit will inform, transform, and conform God’s people to be like Jesus (2 Corinthians 3:17-18). This promise of a new covenant also runs throughout the New Testament, but the work of the Spirit in this covenant is especially emphasized in John chapters 14-16 as Jesus promises the Comforter or Counselor or Advocate or Helper or Friend (depending on your translation). It is also emphasized powerfully in 2 Corinthians 3, which is probably a spiritual reflection about the fulfillment of God’s promise recorded by Jeremiah. Read 2 Corinthians 3 after reading today’s verses from Jeremiah. Rejoice that we have this promised time of grace and divine presence available to us in the Holy Spirit!

Almighty God, I rejoice in the sacrifice of Jesus and the work of your Holy Spirit to bring your promise of a new covenant alive in our day. I ask that the Spirit’s power, his force, his grace, be at work in me. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.