Breaking Bread

Acts 2:46-47.  Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread from home to home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people.  And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.

One of the key features of the early church was they made fellowship with God and each other their primary focus.  By building relationships with one another, they grew spiritually and God blessed them individually and as a whole.  These are people who had given all their earthly possessions to further the mission of the church so they could wholly concentrate on God in their lives.  Their ability to make God their treasure instead of earthly wealth is not only admirable, but really mind-blowing.  As Christians we are called to continually refocus on God and living His will in our lives.  This call is challenging, though, because our human essence gets distracted with the world and feelings of inadequacy.

Today as you meditate on this Scripture, think about what it means to put God first in your life.  Challenge yourself to put God first, and write down how you intend to do that.  Pray for guidance to follow His will for you.  Pray also for God to bless our church and the development of our connection groups.  Praise Him for having a plan and intention far greater than anything we can imagine.  Reaffirm to God your willingness to be used by Him in building this critical ministry in our church.

His Truth

John 8:31-32—Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth and the truth will make you free.”

Freedom in this passage refers to freedom from the oppression of sin.  Sin takes the form of anything in our lives that separates us from God.  Sometimes those things might be obvious—it is clearly a sin to murder or to engage in an affair, for example.  Other times, though, sin is not so obvious.  A person could have great intentions for glorifying God, but along the way get lost or take personal credit for what God has done.  When we study the Bible and Jesus’ teachings, we stay tethered to God and His purpose in our lives.  It is harder to lose sight of God if we pop in for a visit every day.  The only way to overcome the separation that sin creates is to continually return to Scripture so that we reinforce and build upon our relationship with the Lord.

Today as you pray and meditate on His Word, thank God for loving us enough to send His Son to cover us in grace.  Pray for peace and intention as you continue growing in your personal relationship with Him.  Ask Him to reveal Himself to you in special ways so that you are reminded of his constant presence.  Lift up praise that you know His truth.

Banish Ignorance

Acts 3:17-18—“And now, friends, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers.  In this way God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets that his Messiah would suffer.”

In this passage, Peter and John attribute Jesus’ crucifixion to the ignorance of the people.  After performing a miracle, Peter and John call upon the crowd to repent and turn from ignorance into the light.  Have you ever interacted with a person who has just enough information to be dangerous?  We all know the kind of person who already knows it all, is not interested in hearing a different perspective, and jumps to judgment based on fragments of disconnected information.  Even today, our churches remain at risk of ignorance, and it’s critical that each member develop a close and knowing relationship with the Lord.  The Enemy infiltrates through weaknesses, and ignorance is one of the greatest weaknesses humans possess.  As a child, one of the ways I was taught to combat ignorance was through Bible Study.  In the summers, I learned the Pledge to the Bible during Vacation Bible School, and those words remain a reminder of my responsibility to remove any ignorance by studying God’s Word and building relationship with Him.

As you meditate on this Scripture today, consider making this pledge: I pledge allegiance to the Bible, God’s Holy Word.  I will make it a lamp unto my feet, a light unto my path, and hide its words in my heart that I might not sin against God.  Praise God today for giving us His Word as a guide in our daily lives.  Ask Him to provide you the disciplined spirit to grow in your knowledge of His Word and His ways.

Saying Yes to God

Acts 2:42-47—They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.  Awe came upon everyone, because many wonders and signs were being done by the apostles.  All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would sell their possessions and goods and distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.  Day by day, as they spent much time together in the temple, they broke bread at home and ate their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having the goodwill of all the people.  And day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.

When the people of God join together, the miracle of His blessings is beyond anything we can imagine.  The amazing thing about God is that He does not expect us to work miracles for Him.  On the contrary, He asks us to say yes to Him so that He can work miracles through us.  At New Covenant, I believe God has HUGE plans for us, and I believe part of that first step is coming together as a tight-knit church family.  By forming connection groups, we are creating the infrastructure for God to work through us as a church.  We don’t have to see the full vision right now, and we don’t need to be overwhelmed by a God-sized task.  We have already done the most important thing—we said "yes!"  He is in charge of unfolding the rest. 

Today as you meditate on His Word, take a moment to give thanks to God for blessing our church with strong leadership and individuals who repeatedly say “yes” to His call.  Thank God for giving you and the other facilitators the heart, courage, and energy to say “yes” to beginning connection groups.  Pray for God to bless our efforts and for Him to continue revealing His plans for our church.  Open yourself up to His call and reaffirm your willingness to say “yes” to Him.

Grace Covers That

Romans 6:14—For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

Sin is anything that separates us from our relationship with God.  As Christians, we are called to be diligent in building our relationship with God.  It is easy for us to get distracted with life, and anytime we forget to seek God first, we are separating ourselves from Him.  We each have our own obsessions.  Mine happens to be work.  I know beyond doubt that God has called me to the work that I do.  Even so, my work still can become a distraction.  My family waits patiently for me whenever I immerse myself into a project.  They stand by while I give my time to my students.  They celebrate my successes with me.  Even though they are happy and thankful that my work is meaningful and provides for us, they also feel sad that it takes away from my time with them.  Sometimes, my projects fill me up so that I can connect more meaningfully with them.  Other times, I am so drained that I have nothing left to give them.  I think in my relationship with God, this effect gets magnified, and I’m constantly called to reassess, reprioritize, and refocus on Him. 

Today as you meditate on this Scripture, give thanks to God for His great mercy in removing sin from our lives.  Rejoice that we are eternally connected to Him because of what He did—not because of anything we have done.  Make a list of those things in your life that distract you and interfere with your relationship with God.  Ask Him to take control over those areas.  Pray for diligence in building your relationship with Him.  Make a commitment to daily renew your connection to Him by prioritizing Him in all areas of your life.  

Finding contentment in what God has provided

Philippians 4:10-13—I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through Him who gives me strength.

In this passage, Paul is giving thanks to the church at Philippi for sending him an offering.  In his thanks, it is important for him to show gratitude while at the same time reassuring the church that he does not depend on their contributions because God always provides for his needs.  In our lives, we should strive for a similar contentment.  Just yesterday I was able to reunite with a dear friend whom I see only a couple of times a year.  Over the last four years, I have seen her endure significant family struggles involving her role as step-mother to two children whose birth mother suffers from severe mental illness.  There have been times when it seems like she and her family just cannot catch a break.  Last night as she was catching me up on the latest, she shared with me how they had run into some walls with the court system back in May.  During that time she had reached out to her father to complain and vent about how terrible their situation was.  She confessed that she was starting to doubt God because she could not see Him in the midst of their circumstances.  Her dad challenged her to shift her focus to those things that were going the right way instead of concentrating on those things that were not working out.  Last night, my friend listed off countless blessings, opportunities, gifts, and abundance that God had provided even in the midst of saying no to some of her specific requests.  She is in the process of learning contentment, and she feels blessed that her father was able to point her in that direction.

Today I challenge you to shift your focus and find contentment in your life.  Ask God to reveal Himself to you in whatever your circumstance.  Stop concentrating on what you want or what you don't have and begin thanking God for what He has provided.  Ask Him for understanding so that you can rejoice in all that He has provided you. 

Renew Your Mind

Romans 12:2—Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.

We live in quite a flawed world, don’t we?  Right now, wars are raging, our jails our overcrowded, and we have a crisis in many social institutions, including government and education.  In the meantime, we grow increasingly disconnected from other humans because of this high-tech digital age demanding so much of our attention.  The American culture stands out as one of the largest consumer economies on the planet.  If we see it, we want it—the bigger the better.  These are the ways of the world we live in.  As Christians, though, we have a responsibility to be non-conformists.  We are supposed to shine Jesus’ light for the world to see.  We fulfill these obligations by making a commitment to daily renew our minds and live according to God’s will. 

Today as you meditate on His Word, pray for a renewing of your mind.  Ask God to reveal His perfect will for your life.  Identify those areas in your life where you might feel content conforming to the ways of the world.  Pray that you would be transformed in your spirit, and ask for courage to live as a Child of God in this world.  Pray also for our world leaders, today, that they would act wisely and humanely.  Ask God to influence their actions according to His purpose.