Category: Be Inspired

Earlier there were a lot of priests, for they died and had to be replaced. But Jesus’ priesthood is permanent. He’s there from now to eternity to save everyone who comes to God through him, always on the job to speak up for them. So now we have a high priest who perfectly fits our needs: completely holy, uncompromised by sin, with authority extending as high as God’s presence in heaven itself. Unlike the other high priests, he doesn’t have to offer sacrifices for his own sins every day before he can get around to us and our sins. He’s done it, once and for all: offered up himself as the sacrifice. The law appoints as high priests men who are never able to get the job done right. But this intervening command of God, which came later, appoints the Son, who is absolutely, eternally perfect.” (Hebrews 7:23-28 MSG)

“No Excuses” can have a lot of meanings, many of which point to the negative thinking that keeps us from embracing our whole self. Our team can beat their team, no excuses! You promised you would do this, no excuses! There was plenty of time to study for this test and you still failed, no excuses! But what if we redeem this phrase, or rather, we recognize God’s redemption of “no excuses”?

Instead of believing ourselves to be failures when we give excuses, as if we have kept good things from happening because of our excuses, what if we remember Jesus’ perfect success for all humanity? Jesus is our High Priest, and the author of Hebrews reminds us Jesus has “done it, once and for all: offered up himself as the sacrifice” (emphasis added). There is no excuse that can overpower, reverse, break, or destroy what is complete in and through Jesus. Are you tired, stressed, sad, or angry? Jesus has still done it and is still “absolutely, eternally perfect” AND right by your side. You’ve missed church because it didn’t feel right? Jesus has still done it, is still “absolutely, eternally perfect” AND is calling you to participate with him. The bigger your excuse, the stronger you may experience God’s nudge to join him in his work. The moment (however many we need in a day, week, or year) we recognize that our excuse doesn’t stop God and doesn’t have to stop us is the moment we experience Jesus’ triumph over our imperfections and his strength in our weakness. The next time you have an excuse for not doing something, don’t count it as failure, but as an opportunity to rely more fully on God in the midst of your heartache.

Precious Lord, we thank you for the knowledge and reminder that you have done it all! There is nothing we can do to mess up your perfect plan and redemption, which is complete in Jesus Christ. No lie or excuse told to us from the enemy can keep us from participating with you. Strengthen our hearts and minds to more fully give even our excuses into your hands. Amen.

 

By Carrie Osborne, Pastor – Chillicothe, OH

Once, we too were foolish and disobedient. We were misled and became slaves to many lusts and pleasures. Our lives were full of evil and envy, and we hated each other. But—

When God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. He generously poured out the Spirit upon us through Jesus Christ our Savior. Because of his grace he made us right in his sight and gave us confidence that we will inherit eternal life. – Titus 3:3-7, NLT

People often ask why we are the way we are. Why we allow people to do things to us and still forgive them? Are we weak? Are we people pleasers? Are we insecure? No! The contrary is true: we choose to turn resentment into forgiveness, hatred into love, fighting into peace because we have been there, done that and saw that it does not pay. Moreover, when we came to our senses and changed our ways, God graciously forgave us.

We were in every way as sinful and evil as those people are to us, but we were forgiven because of God’s mercy. How dare we withhold that mercy from others? The same kindness and love God showed to us when we were the offenders is what we are to show to those who wrong us.

Dear Lord Jesus, please help us to be a conduit of your love and mercy. Help us to extend what we have received from you to others. Lord, let it be a witness to the world and a sweet-smelling sacrifice to you. Please receive our thanksgiving in Jesus’ name, amen.

 

 

By Margaret Musekwa, Webmaster
Riviera, South Africa

Join us in praising the Father and praying for one another in this season. Click the image below to download and print the October Prayer Guide, as we celebrate how God is working in and among our congregations.

As another year in the Christian worship calendar draws to a close, The Revised Common Lectionary directs us to the book of Hebrews. Though this epistle addresses a situation involving Jewish Christians in the 1^st century, it offers all Christians in all times important Christ-centered instruction, carefully and methodically making the case that Jesus is our “all in all.” Note the book’s introduction:

In the past God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. (Hebrews 1:1-3)

These words get straight to the author’s point: Jesus is God’s ultimate and authoritative revelation—God’s final Word. As God’s Word, Jesus is God, Creator, Priest and King.

Jesus is God. Unlike the Hebrew prophets, Jesus is not a mere man—he is God’s Son, the “radiance of God’s glory” (Hebrews 1:3a) – a phrase that would be understood by Jewish-Christian readers as a reference to the Shekinah glory – God’s manifest presence in the tabernacle/temple. This statement is saying that Jesus is to God (the Father) what the rays of the sun are to the sun – inseparable – one in the same, though distinct. Here we have an oblique reference to God’s triune nature – one essence, yet more than one person. Jesus, the divine Son of God, is the “exact representation” –the “exact imprint” – of God. Jesus is the exact representation of the very substance (essence) of God. Only Jesus could honestly say, “He that has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). When we see Jesus, we are seeing the glory of God (John 1:14).

Jesus is Creator. As God, Jesus is the one through whom God “made the universe” (Hebrews 1:2b). Not only were all things created by Christ (God’s Word, John 1:1–5), Christ upholds (sustains) all things (Hebrews 1:3b). Jesus is the God of creation and providence who sustains and guides this universe to its divinely ordained destiny.

Jesus is Priest. Jesus is also God’s priest who, alone, provides purification for sins (Hebrews 1:3b). This priestly aspect of Jesus’ ministry is explained in Hebrews 7–10. Jesus not only creates and sustains the universe; he redeems it so that it may fulfill its created purpose – relationship with God.

Jesus is King. When Jesus ascended to heaven, he “sat down” (Hebrews 1:3b), indicating that his work is complete. His place of sitting is “at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven” –the place of greatest honor. This is a dramatic symbol of equality with God the Father, for no created being could ever sit at God’s right hand.

As Hebrews begins, we learn that Jesus is superior to all other servants of God who have ever appeared. It is no wonder that the Father said, at the hour of Christ’s transfiguration, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (Matthew 17:5).

Prayer:

Father, we thank you for sending us your Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. Thank you, Jesus, for being our God, our Creator, our Priest and our King. You are for us all of these, we need no others, we worship no others. Jesus, you are, indeed, our all-in-all. Lord, may we join you, by the Spirit, in your worship of our Father. As we come to the end of this year of worship, may we continue to fix our eyes on you, sharing in your life and love. Amen.

 

By Ted Johnston, US Southeast Regional Support Team and faculty member – Grace Communion Seminary

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. 1 John 4:10-12

We’ve all made mistakes. Accidentally knocked something off a shelf in a store or gotten in an argument that landed us in hot water in school or work. If you’ve been fortunate in those moments, you’ve had a parent, friend, or supervisor who was willing to stand up for you when you were falling short.

It’s not the easiest thing to look past the heat of the moment when we fall short. Perhaps we’ve had thoughts like, “How could I be so _____?” You fill in the blank. It can be easy for us to let our faults define who we are in our minds. Thankfully, if we’re blessed to have good friends or coworkers, they can remind us (and those who could punish us) that our mistakes are not who we are.

Praise God that he sees beyond our sin and loves us. Let us be reminded that our God is the God who chooses to take upon himself the sin and death we earned and give us his own life.

In this way God gave us an example of what love is.

So how do we apply this to our lives?

We should do the same in loving others even when it’s difficult.

Let us pray.

Great God, thank you for your perfect love and sacrifice that bought my freedom. Help me live into the truth that is your love for me. Guide me as I love those around me in my daily life.

Amen.

 

 

By Andrew Rakestraw
GC Next Leader, Southeast US

 

 

We are at a time now where we pray for God’s blessing to add new life and younger members to the body of Christ, and especially to our fellowship. Several verses in Psalm 85 resonated with me. In verses 4 & 6, we read, “Restore us again, God our Savior…Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?”

As Tim Keller writes in his devotional in The Songs of Jesus: “This psalm is a blueprint for how to respond when your church community declines…. We must also cry out to God in prayer that he ‘show us’ his unfailing love (verse 7). Revivals always involve a fresh ‘seeing’ of the Gospel of grace – grasping it theologically and knowing it experientially. Finally we must wait on him, listening faithfully to his Word” (page 208).

We have experienced a spiritual revival in GCI, and we rejoice in Jesus our Saviour. There has been a “fresh seeing of the Gospel of grace.” We have been waiting on God and listening faithfully to his Word. Despite the enormous problems associated with this pandemic, we haven’t seen a major turning to God by our populations yet.

This prayer is certainly needed at this time. Restore us again, revive us again! Despite all the problems that we see around us, God is still on his throne, and no evil is beyond his capacity to work out to his purpose and glory in the long term. We wait patiently on him.

Paul’s prayer in Eph. 3:14-21 is one that can be a regular part of our prayer life as well:

“For this reason I kneel before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. ¹⁶ I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸ may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”

This is the way to true revival and restoration: relying on God and his Spirit to fill us with his love, so that we stand strong in the faith, and that we live worthy of the high calling he has given to each of us. Our heartful prayers are heard on high, and God will answer in his time and way.

Prayer: Our Father, we thank you for your grace and love, and leading us to Jesus. May your Spirit restore us again, renew our hearts, and revive us each day, to your honour and glory. Amen.

 

By Bob Regazzoli, Pastor
Carina, Australia

Recently my lovely wife Alberta passed. We were married for 25 years, 46 days. God’s answer to numerous prayers for her healing was “no” and instead he graciously delivered her into eternity, where she is now experiencing no pain. Yet, her passing has often left me very sad and weak. The apostle Paul shared an important God-breathed practical mindset regarding weakness with us in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10.

“…My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I [Paul] will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Since many of us are members in Grace Communion International, grace is a part of our name and DNA. Sometimes we have been challenged over the years with weaknesses in the midst of personal challenges or denominational change. Maybe even pain!

Such was the case recently: to honor my wife’s wishes, I needed to travel by plane and auto to do a graveside service with family in another state. God graciously supplied not only the strength to do this, but also an out-of-town brother, retired pastor Glen Weber, who drove about twenty hours over three days to accommodate this. I am functioning with one eye and could not have done this on my own.

I was in pain and God supplied both strength to me and a brother (and others) to lighten the pain which God has guided me to also do for others over the years. We are in this together, so I gently leave all of us with this question: whose weakness is God directing you and me to, to strengthen and lift up today with his strength?

Prayer: Almighty wonderful Triune God, thank you for all the heroes you have put into my life before and after the passing of Alberta. Alberta was certainly my hero and a favor from you (Proverbs 18:22). Thank you for the Body of Christ and your called-out ones who participate with you and lift up those who are weak. May each of us be your arms, hands and legs passing along your love, hope and faith to those in need. Thank you for always being our strength. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

By Tom Ecker, Retired GCI Pastor

“Prayer is awe, intimacy, struggle—yet the way to reality. There is nothing more important, or harder, or richer, or more life-altering. There is absolutely nothing so great as prayer.” ― Timothy Keller

Join us in prayer as we come together this month asking for hope and strength and thanking Christ for the purpose we find in him. Click the link below to download and print the August Prayer Guide, as we celebrate how God weaves us together into a beautiful tapestry.

My wife and I enjoy feeding birds in our backyard. One of their favorite foods is black sunflower seeds. They attract numerous different birds, who sometimes seem to spill as much as they eat. What they spill or drop out of the various feeders, the squirrels and chipmunks get on the ground. The various creatures are thorough in devouring the seeds, so we were surprised when one seed sprouted and we had a sunflower growing. I told Cheryl we’d let it grow and then see if the birds would eat the seeds once the flower had matured.

I was disappointed one morning to see that the sunflower stem had been knocked or blown over. There went my plans as at that time, there was only a small bud, and no flower. Imagine my surprise to see the flower emerge from the bud and begin to grow.

I thought of Paul’s statement to the church in Corinth.

We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. (2 Corinthians 4:8-10)

The bent stem didn’t stop the growth process of the sunflower. There was enough stem left to give the flower the nourishment it needed to survive.

Covid has knocked a lot of people down. Like many others, I have struggled with feelings of depression and despair as I’ve been prevented from visiting pastors and churches. I’m fortunate that I have family near, but many haven’t hugged kids, parents, grandchildren and grandparents for months. Those who are high risk have barely ventured outside their homes. Many of us have lost family and friends to Covid. It’s easy to feel abandoned and struck down. Jesus understands this. That’s one of the reasons he inspired Paul to write these words. Because we do carry around in our body the death of Jesus (he died and we died), we also carry the life of Jesus. He is our hope, he is our strength.

It is because of Jesus that we can be pressed, but not crushed. We can be perplexed as to why things happen, but because we know Jesus is never surprised, he is never caught off guard, he never loses control, we have hope in despair. We can be persecuted, but he promises we are never abandoned. We can be struck down, but he assures us we cannot be destroyed because he achieved victory over the destroyer.

We are sometimes knocked down, like my sunflower. Jesus allows that. We might wish he wouldn’t, but then we’d miss out on so many learning opportunities, so many chances to be encouraged by Jesus and by others, so many chances to encourage others by our faith. I like what theologian Cherith Fee Nordling, recently said about Jesus. “I’m not always running in to make it all better,” Jesus tells us, “sometimes I’m just present.” How have you felt his presence during the season of Covid? How are you feeling his presence today?

Prayer: Father, Son and Spirit, make your presence known to me. Help me to see your hand in my life. Help me to be comforted by your presence. Help me to share your presence with others, so they, too, may be encouraged. In your powerful name, Amen.”

 

By Rick Shallenberger
Regional Director US, North Central

 

 

I waited patiently for the LORD to help me, and he turned to me and heard my cry. Psalm 40:1 NLT

The bougainvillea plant was removed from a large pot and replanted near the trellis over our new patio. It was in shock. One of its thick roots had snapped when it was violently pulled out. I wondered whether it would survive the radical loss of its leaves as they yellowed and fell silently to the ground. I held on to the hope that its branches would one day cover the trellis with bright red and green leaves.

I looked for tiny green buds along its branches, for signs of new life, and I waited. I dug around the trunk and gave it nourishment and water regularly. I waited, continuing to hope that hidden deep within her there was still life. I waited wondering whether it was putting all its energy into new roots.

Just as we cannot see the repairs and restoration happening in a transplanted vine, we cannot always see what God is doing in us as we wait in liminal space. Disruptive changes and losses happen regularly in life: a worldwide pandemic, divorce, the loss of a job, broken relationships, and illnesses. These troubles have the potential to leave us in shock, grieving and wondering if life will ever be the same again. Waiting in liminal space can seem interminable. It can be disorienting, and confusing.

Two of Jesus’ prayers tell me he knew the pain of loss and waiting in liminal space. In the Garden of Gethsemane, he prayed to the Father, “if it is possible let this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.” His ability to pray under the enormous sorrow and anxiety of what he would face, speaks to his habitual way of praying. And so, he taught his disciples to pray: “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” In Jesus we have someone who doesn’t just know about our sorrow; he feels it with us and sees us through it.

When I remember how dead this vine seemed and yet how beautiful, vibrant, and productive it is today, I am encouraged to have hope in God’s power to redeem. Nothing happens to us outside of God’s good purpose for us. While we wait, we can give God access to the deep places within by praying honestly about our feelings and asking him for the patience and trust to wait.

His redemptive power can be seen in the treasures we discover in the waiting: a new revelation of who God is, a course correction, strength to endure or a gift of compassion, all graces given for our healing and for the sake of a hurting world.

Prayer:

“I surrender ________________ to you.” I cast all my fear and anxiety and insecurity upon you, trusting that you will do your part, trusting that you will show me what my part is (if any), and trusting that all things will work together for good–because I love you, and because I am called according to your purpose.

Please give me the wisdom to know your will for me, the willingness to accept it, and the courage and strength to wait patiently. I need your help in each of these ways, for I cannot do any of them on my own.[1]

 

 

By Carmen Fleming

 

 

 

[1] Adapted from the “Daily Prayer of Surrender” Author unknown