PRAYING AND SINGING
Acts 16:25
But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.
Encouraging Words
One of the precious gifts that God promises to give us when we choose to give our lives to Him is joy. We can embrace that joy and let it permeate our lives or we can take it for granted and let the burdens of life overtake us. Paul and Silas are great examples of holding on to the joy that God gave them to the point that they were able to pray and sing hymns to their God from the depths of prison. We too can choose God in our lives. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!
PRAISE GOD
Psalms 63:3 (62:4)
Because Your mercy is better than life,
My lips shall praise You.
Encouraging Words
God's mercy is truly beyond anything that we can comprehend. He is our everything and He covers us with His mercy all the time. Our every breath, beat of our heart, thought of our mind are covered in His mercy and love. So, what should our response be? Praise! Glory be to God!
RUNNING FOR JESUS
Acts 8:30-31
So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him.
Personal Challenge
Have you ever had God ask you to do something for Him? Before you answer, "No!", take some time and look back on your life and I bet you will see many times that the Holy Spirit has tried to nudge you to do something, something for God. Sometimes it is that fleeting thought to perform a simple act of kindness to someone. A thought that was suppressed because of the busyness of life or the discomfort of the action. God does ask us regularly to do His work. We are His hands and feet in this world. We should be like Phillip and run into the task that we are being asked to do. We will see God's hand at work in our lives through us. Glory be to God!
Saint of the Week
St. John Chrysostom
THIRSTING FOR GOD
Psalms 63:1 (62:2)
O God, my God, I rise early to be with You;
My soul thirsts for You.
How often my flesh thirsts for You
In a desolate, impassable, and waterless land.
Personal Challenge
This temporal world is a desolate, impassable, and waterless land compared to the glorious kingdom that awaits us. If we are striving to live our lives for Christ, we will have within us an incredible thirst for Him, a thirst that only He can quench. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!
FULL OF FAITH AND POWER
Acts 6:8
And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people.
Encouraging Words
We are all called, as followers of Jesus Christ, to live our lives full of faith and power. If we do that, then we too can see great wonders and signs happening in our lives. In today's day of enlightenment and scholasticism, we put more stock, and therefore our faith, in the things and workings of the temporal. By doing this hinder ourselves from being full of God's faith and power. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!
HOPE IN HIM
Psalms 62:8 (61:9)
Hope in Him, all you congregation of people;
Pour out your hearts before Him;
God is our helper. (Pause)
Personal Challenge
God is our helper. There is no denying that if we strive to live our lives for our God, loving Him and loving our neighbor, we will see His mighty hand at work in our lives. Unfortunately, it often becomes easy to lose sight of this and to start putting hope in the things of this world. Ourselves. Our jobs, Our wealth. Our politicians. Our priests and pastors. Everything but God. This is always a significant error. Our hope should only be in God, Glory be to God, and God alone.
