Ken Crawford

 

Therefore, there is now no condemnation
for those who are in Christ Jesus,
because through Christ Jesus
the law of the Spirit of life
set me free from the law
of sin and death.
Romans 8:1-2 (NIV)

We are set free in Jesus from the most important bondage of all, our fear of God’s judgment. We are liberated from law, which convicts and leads to death. We are set free by the Spirit to not only fulfill what the Law intended, but also to be delivered from the penalty of death that the Law required. In Jesus, and by the power of his Spirit, we are set free to be God’s children… for forever! God loved the world so much he sent his son and for the love of God, Jesus died for our sins.

Compassion is the strongest of human emotions and “compassion will cure more sins than condemnation.” (Henry Ward Beecher) Are there rules and regulations that are robbing your joy in the Lord? Let God set you free…today!

Father God,
thank you for your deliverance.
I know you paid a
very high price to give it to me.
Forgive me for not letting that deliverance
make my heart soar with confident joy.
Lead me by the power of your Spirit
so that I can experience
the freedom and joy of your salvation
not just at the end of my days,
but in the moments of today.
In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

“Grace isn’t a little prayer you chant
before receiving a meal.
It’s a way to live.”
– Jackie Windspear

Learn to do right!
Seek justice,
encourage the oppressed.
Isaiah 1:17 (NIV)

We are fragile creatures that can easily be crushed by rejection and defamation of character. This can trigger both defensive and offensive actions to protect our name. We seem to have even more courage however, to be incensed when wrong is done to a friend. We are ready to fight injustice when someone we love has been wronged. However, God reminds us that our worship means little if we do not also protect those who are weak, marginalized, oppressed, and forgotten. It’s not just our friends who need our help; it’s also those who have no friends who need us. “To do right” doesn’t just mean being a good person and avoiding evil in our sanctified little enclaves; it also means to care, comfort, and encourage those no one else wants to notice. Our circle of caring and comfort is often far too small… it is time to change!

Forgive me please, dear Father,
for being selfish
with your love and grace.
I confess that I often find it
easy to stay near
those who are like me —
who look like me,
think like me,
and dress like me.
I know that there are so many
in the world around me
that do not have a friend,
much less a defender.
Open my eyes, dear LORD,
to see those in my world
that you would have me protect,
encourage, and bless.
In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

“The good neighbor looks beyond
the external accidents and discerns
those inner qualities that
make all men human and,
therefore, brothers.”
– Martin Luther King, Jr.

You will receive power when
the Holy Spirit comes upon you
and you will be my witnesses,
telling people about me everywhere.
Acts 1:8 NLT

When we open the book of Acts, we hear Jesus promise to send the Holy Spirit to empower the early disciples as they go to all nations to share the good news of Jesus. In addition, we see the Holy Spirit at work to break down every barrier — geographical, cultural, racial, economic, political, and social — to make the people who come to Jesus into one new people.

Make every effort
to keep yourselves united
in the Spirit,
binding yourselves
together with peace.
Ephesians 4:3 NLT

As Paul reflects on the great grace of God he has talked about in Ephesians chapters 1-3, he now challenges Jesus’ followers to make every effort to keep what the Holy Spirit and the grace of God had worked to create: a people united by the Holy Spirit and held together with the bond of peace. He wanted them to “wage peace”! He wanted them to be peace-makers, and not just “peace-wanters.” This can happen only when we allow the Spirit to control our hearts and we earnestly and diligently strive to be united through the Spirit as God’s children.

Father,
The prayer for peace must
begin with each individual heart.
Please forgive me.
I’ve been selfish, impatient, and harsh
to some of your children.
I haven’t been committed to “waging peace”
with the same passion as I have sought to
get my own way and protect my own position.
Please help me as I try to mend relationships
and re-establish fellowship with others
that I’ve alienated. Please help me
as I seek to have your Spirit take
control of my heart and exert more effort
to live in peace with your children.
In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Humble yourselves, therefore,
under God’s mighty hand,
that he may lift you up
in due time.
Cast all your anxiety on him
because he cares for you.
1 Peter 5:6-7 (NIV)

In a universe so incomparably vast, in a world so marvelously diverse, we can be paralyzed by our insignificance and impotence in the face of such staggering enormity. But in moments of simple faith, we can be calmed by our reverence and dependence upon the Creator and Sustainer of such wonders and find great comfort that our lives are in his hands. Christians and the church must engage in the business of sharing Christ so souls can be rescued. As long as we are silent and passive, the ways of the world prevail. Some are timid because evangelism seems so dangerous… belonging to Christ has always been so.

“The people of the world
will hate you because
you belong to me,
for they don’t know God
who sent me.”
John 15:21 NLT

Almighty and wondrous God, thank you for knowing me even though I can’t begin to comprehend your glory. I need your love, care, protection, blessing, grace, forgiveness, and presence. Without you, I have nothing of lasting significance. Help me to share his message of faith with someone today. Please be near. In Jesus’ name I humbly ask.  Amen.

 

In his heart a man plans his course,
but the LORD determines his steps.
Proverbs 16:9 (NIV)

What is the proper response to violence? In an increasingly violent culture, this is a question we must all ask ourselves. It isn’t just a question of what “works” to reduce violent crime; it’s also a question of how God has called his people to live and witness in a troubled world.

Genuine loves means that we hate what is evil. Think about it… We detest it creeping into our hearts and ruining our relationships. We abhor its effects on those we love. We are repelled by the eternal destruction it causes in those whose lives are tender, or weak, or wavering. So we strive to do the very best thing we can do for those we love by clinging to what is good and staying far away from evil and wickedness.

Christians still have the ministry of comfort and care to help alleviate the aftermath of evil in this world. We are called to minister to the weak, helpless, abused, and ravaged victims of evil. We are also called to hate the horrible actions and not the perpetrator of evil deeds. It is not easy being a follower of Jesus, in fact it can be heart-wrenching, but that is our calling. We must allow God to work through us even when we cannot comprehend the circumstances.

Love must be sincere.
Hate what is evil;
cling to what is good.
Romans 12:9 (NIV)

Loving Father,
May my life be a source of goodness and joy
in my family and with my friends.
Please give me wisdom to see what is good
and the courage to pursue it with passion.
Please protect me from the evil one and
forgive me when I have followed his temptations.
Please protect those I love from the fallout
of my own selfish and evil decisions.
Please purify and cleanse me so that my life
may be lived holy, and wholly, to you.
Help me to offer grace and forgiveness
even when I cannot do so with ease.
Comfort the afflicted and redeem the lost.
In the name of your Holy Son, Jesus. Amen.

 

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 4:11 NLT

We tend to busy ourselves and over-book our calendars in an attempt to justify our relevance. We can become frustrated and discouraged when our lofty goals are not achieved. There is the urge is to do more and more until we become exhausted. Failure to achieve success can be deflating and this misdirection takes us down a path of self-pity and perceived failure. This may be God’s way of keeping us humble. When we get to the end of a day, sometimes there is nothing left for us to do except thank and praise God!

Now all glory to God,
who is able,
through his mighty power
at work within us,
to accomplish infinitely more
than we might ask or think.
Glory to him in the church
and in Christ Jesus
through all generations
forever and ever! Amen.
Ephesians 3:20-21 NLT

While we may often dream of doing great things for God and his Kingdom, the dreams aren’t as big as God’s plans. While we may be richly talented, influential, powerful, or rich, these are merely tools in God’s hands, not symbols of our sufficiency. “God is able” has to be one of the best and most accurate phrases in the Bible. But this time, it’s said about his work in you in me. He is able of much more than we imagine to work through and in us. What can we say to that?  Just say, “Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!”

Loving Father,
please help me to know
and live your will in my life.
I want to be your vessel of ministry,
healing, blessing, and hope
to those around me
at work and play.
Please use me to your glory today,
and always. In Jesus’ name I pray.
Amen.

A new command I give you:
Love one another. As I have loved you,
so you must love one another.
By this all men will know
that you are my disciples,
if you love one another.
John 13:34-35 NIV

 

How do you recognize Jesus’ followers? How do you find Christians? Jesus said they love each other just as he loved the disciples. In the immediate context this means he is willing to give sacrificially and extravagantly by dying for them at the cross, and he is also willing to love selflessly and practically by washing their feet. His ministry reveals he will do almost anything in between extravagant and practical. Imagine if we all read the Gospels and committed to love each other in the same way Jesus showed his love to his disciples!

 

Father of Compassion and God of all grace,
I thank you for teaching me to love
through the example of Jesus.
May my words and actions
reflect his love toward your people today,
tomorrow, and until you bring us all home to you.
In the name of Christ, my Great Example, I pray.
Amen.

 

“All you need is love.
But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.”
– Charlie Brown (Charles M. Schulz)

Therefore, anyone who refuses
to live by these rules
is not disobeying human teaching
but is rejecting God,
who gives his Holy Spirit to you.
But we don’t need to write to you
about the importance of loving each other,
for God himself has
taught you to love one another. 
1 Thessalonians 4:8-9 NLT

God keeps on giving us the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. One of the great blessings about this presence is that God pours love into our hearts through the Spirit (Rom. 5:5). Along with the great example of God’s love in sending Jesus (John 3:16-17), the Father uses the Spirit to teach us to know how to love each other. This is part of the Spirit’s fruit (Gal. 5:22-23) as well as the work of the Spirit that brings us into fellowship (2 Cor. 13:14), that holds us together in the bond of peace (Eph. 4:3-4), and that fills us as we submit to one another (Eph. 5:17-21). Loving each other is not only a command; it is also part of God’s continuing work in us through the Holy Spirit. The reward for this obedience is kind of like good chocolates… heavenly!

Dear God, I confess
that I do not always love others as I should.
I ask you to make me more like Jesus
in my love for others.
I am thankful for the presence
of the Holy Spirit
to help me see those
whom I need to show your love
and to empower me to love them
when it is difficult.
In Jesus’ name I pray for this grace.
Amen.