Word Can Warm The Heart

Christians are to continue loving one another as brothers and sisters.

This love is to be practical and reach out even to strangers.

Our love is to extend to those who are in prison for their faith, even to the point of assuming we are in there with them.

Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering. (Hebrews 13:3)

Some kind word and earnest prayer for our brethren can really warm the heart!

The New Beginning

For we do not have a High Priest
who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses,
but was in all points tempted as we are,
yet without sin. — Hebrews 4:15

Jesus came and experienced life among us.

Our Savior lived a perfect life.

But Jesus also knew the pains of a broken world.

He endured sorrow; He suffered agony.

And He stands ready to encourage us when the dark moments of life force us to embrace a new beginning.

The Evil Men Do

Proverbs 31:8

Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves,
for the rights of all who are destitute.

Christian persecution rarely happens suddenly or in isolation.

It is most often a process that includes
opposition, disinformation, discrimination,
injustice, mistreatment and persecution.

We must learn to speak out for the rights of those who have no voice to speak for themselves.

Help me, Lord,
to be aware of the forces of evil
that conspire against Your Kingdom.

Seasoned with Salt

Colossians 4:6
Let your conversation be always full of grace,
seasoned with salt,
so that you may know how to answer everyone.

At the end of His Beatitudes, Jesus stated that His followers were to be salt and light in the world.

Salt was highly valued for 4 special qualities:

• Its purity - Christians must hold aloft the standard for purity of speech, conduct and thought. Words cannot be effective unless backed up by pure living.
• It was inexpensive but precious - Christians may seem few, insignificant and of no consequence to society. But they are called to exercise godly influence over the whole of society.
• As a preservative to keep meat from going bad - Christians whose lives exhibit blessedness will have a preserving impact upon a society that, if left to itself, will rot and deteriorate.
• To season food - Christians are to bring the flavor of Christ to an unbelieving world.
  

Let us check our conversation and be sure we season it with the salt of purity.

Oh Lord, forgive me
when I grieve Your Holy Spirit
by what I do
and what I say
and how I say it.

Oh God, I Will Forgive

Colossians 3:13

Bear with each other and
forgive whatever grievances
you may have against one another.
Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

• Forgiveness is not forgetting.
• Forgiveness is not reconciliation.
• Forgiveness is not condoning.
• Forgiveness is not dismissing.
• Forgiveness is not a vague notion of ‘tolerance’.
• Forgiveness is not pardoning.

Forgiveness is an act of faith.

By forgiving another:

• We are trusting that God is a better justice-maker than we are.
• We release our own right to get even and leave all issues of fairness for God to work out.
• We leave in God’s hands the scales that must balance justice and mercy.

We simply forgive others and leave them to God.

Let us leave fairness and justice in God’s hands.
Let us obediently forgive others just as the Lord forgave us.

Oh Lord,
grant me the faith to trust You with
the offenses committed against me.

Oh God, I will forgive.

Christian Suffering

Romans 15:13

May the God of hope fill you
with all joy and peace as you trust in him,
so that you may overflow with hope
by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Christians who have undergone hardship, difficulty and affliction for the sake of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ are often overflowing with peace, courage and hope.

They believe that all good things will come out of them all, though they cannot fully understand them now.

Instead of taking vengeance, they leave their cases with God. They believe God will give them proper justice in His time.

May our lives be so filled with God’s joy and peace
that it may overflow to others too.

Let us pray for ongoing strength and courage
for brethren who have to suffer for their faith.