HEARTLIGHT — A Year with Jesus

"Paul's Reasons for the Road" — A Year with Jesus for 09/15/2014

Note from Jesus

Dear Beloved Disciple, 

Paul had many reasons to be on the road. He traveled extensively all over the regions bordering the northern and eastern Mediterranean Sea sharing the gospel of the Father's grace with people who had never heard the gospel. He strengthened house churches he had helped plant on previous trips. He matured and appointed leaders in these house churches. He carried communication from one group of disciples to another. He was bringing a special financial gift to Jerusalem to bless the impoverished disciples there — he was hoping to tie together the whole brotherhood through this project. 

As you read the verses below, you will find all of those reasons for Paul's travels through Asia Minor (with key cities of Troas & Ephesus), Macedonia (with key cities of Philippi, Berea, & Thessalonica), and Greece (with key cities of Corinth & Athens) on his way back to Syria and ultimately Jerusalem. After that, Paul was determined to go to Rome, the center of the Empire. Then from Rome, he planned to go to Spain to share My story and the good news of salvation. 

The first set of verses below (from the book of Acts) is a very simple summary of a few years of time when Paul wrote the incredible letter of Romans while in Greece — we will be reading parts of Romans together over the next several days. As you read from some of the beginning and ending verses of Romans today, you will also find information and hints about Paul's travels... and what motivated them. 

Underneath all of these travels during this stage of Paul's life, there were three key influences that predominated:
Paul was Our — Father, Son, and Spirit's — chosen emissary (apostle), especially to the non-Jewish peoples of the world.
For I am not the least bit embarrassed about the gospel. I won't shy away from it, because it is God's power to save every person who believes: first the Jew, and then the non-Jew.
He was passionate about fulfilling this call. He had a special passion to take the good news to people who had never heard it:
I have dreamed of preaching the gospel in places where no one has ever heard of the Anointed so that I do not build on a foundation laid by anyone else.
Paul wanted to bring the brotherhood of Jews and non-Jews together through the offering from the Gentile churches for their brothers and sisters in faith in Jerusalem:
But right now I must make the journey to Jerusalem to serve the saints there. Those in Macedonia and Achaia decided it was a good idea to share their funds to help the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. I must tell you that they were thrilled to be able to help. They realize that they are indebted to the believers in Jerusalem. If the nations share in the Jews' spiritual goods, then it's only right that they minister back to them in material goods.
Since people were seeking to stop, and if necessary, kill Paul, he could and would alter his travel strategies based on their hostility, but he was determined to complete his travels:
He spent three months there [in Greece], and then he planned to set sail once again for Syria. But he learned that a group of Jewish opponents was plotting to kill him, so he decided to travel through Macedonia.
While in Greece, he wrote about possible additional opposition he would face when he returned to Jerusalem:
Pray that I [Paul] will be rescued from those who deny and persecute the faith in Judea and that my service in Jerusalem will meet the approval of all the saints there.
As Paul traveled to share My good news, he wrote the most complete Bible document on grace, faith, baptism, the Holy Spirit, and holy living — the letter of Romans. This is the letter we will share together in the coming days, but first, I want you to get a feeling for the passion that drove Paul along the roads he traveled!
Verses to Live

As you read today's verses, you will find much more depth of emotion than can be highlighted in this short note. So I want you to read through these verses several times listening for the passion of Paul to fulfill his call to share the gospel. As you read, also pray for the Spirit to release this same kind of passion in you and through you in your day!
As soon as the uproar ended [in Ephesus], Paul gathered the disciples together, encouraged them once more, said farewell, and left on foot. He decided to pass through Macedonia, encouraging believers wherever he found them, and came to Greece. He spent three months there, and then he planned to set sail once again for Syria. But he learned that a group of Jewish opponents was plotting to kill him, so he decided to travel through Macedonia. 
( Acts 20:1-3) 

Paul, a servant of Jesus the Anointed called by God to be His emissary and appointed to tell the good news of the things promised long ago by God, spoken by prophets, and recorded in the Holy Scriptures. All of this good news is about His Son: who was (from a human perspective) born of David's royal line and ultimately designated to be the true Son of God with power upon His resurrection from the dead by the Spirit of holiness. I am speaking of Jesus, the Anointed One, our Lord. 

And here's what He's done: He has graced us and sanctioned us as His emissaries whose mission is to spread the one true and obedient faith to all people in the name of Jesus. This includes you: you have been called by Jesus, God's Anointed. 

To all those who are God's beloved saints in Rome: 

May grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus, the Anointed One, surround you. 

First, I thank my God through Jesus the Anointed for all of you because we are joined by faith as family, and your faith is spreading across the world. For I call God as my witness — whom I worship in my spirit and serve in making known the gospel — He alone knows how often I mention you in my prayers. I find myself constantly praying for you and hoping it's in God's will for me to be with you soon. I desperately want to see you so that I can share some gift of the Spirit to strengthen you. Plus I know that when we come together something beautiful will happen as we are encouraged by each other's faith. 

If, my brothers and sisters, you did not already know, my plans were set to meet you in Rome, but time and circumstances have forced every trip to be canceled until now. I have deeply desired to see some good fruit among you just as I have seen with so many non-Jewish believers. You see, I am in tremendous debt to those of various nationalities, from non-Jews to barbarians, from the wisest of the wise to the idle wanderer. So you can imagine how eager I am to join you and to teach the good news in the mighty and diverse city of Rome. 

For I am not the least bit embarrassed about the gospel. I won't shy away from it, because it is God's power to save every person who believes: first the Jew, and then the non-Jew. You see, in the good news, God's restorative justice is revealed. And as we will see, it begins with and ends in faith. As the Scripture declares, "By faith the just will obtain life." 
( Romans 1:1-17 

My brothers and sisters, I am ultimately confident that you are full of goodness, knowledge, and the ability to help and instruct one another. I have written to you with unflinching honesty on many topics because I do not want you to ever lose sight of the tremendous grace God has given me. His grace makes me who I am, a minister of the Anointed One, Jesus, called to serve the nations. 

The good news of God is the focus of my priestly work. In effect, these nations have become an offering to God, totally acceptable, indeed made holy by the work of the Holy Spirit. So in Jesus, the Anointed One, I have reason to celebrate the things I do for God. I don't want to be presumptuous, so I will restrict myself to what the Anointed has accomplished through my words and actions, which has culminated in the obedience of the nations. My words and actions have been rooted in Spirit-empowered signs and miracles. The upshot is this: I have been able to preach the good news of the Anointed One in city after city from Jerusalem all the way around the Mediterranean to Illyricum. I have dreamed of preaching the gospel in places where no one has ever heard of the Anointed so that I do not build on a foundation laid by anyone else. But as the Scriptures say,
They will see Him even though they've never been told about Him; they will understand even though they never heard of Him.
Because of many issues, I have not been able to visit you in the city of Rome. But my time to serve those here is coming to an end, there's no room left for me in this region, and I have longed to come to you for many years. So I plan to visit you on my journey to Spain. I am hoping that I will not only see you face-to-face, but that you will assist me in the journey west after I have enjoyed our time together. But right now I must make the journey to Jerusalem to serve the saints there. Those in Macedonia and Achaia decided it was a good idea to share their funds to help the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. I must tell you that they were thrilled to be able to help. They realize that they are indebted to the believers in Jerusalem. If the nations share in the Jews' spiritual goods, then it's only right that they minister back to them in material goods. When this work is complete and the funds we've collected are delivered, I will make my way to Spain through your grand city of Rome and enjoy some of your hospitality. I'm sure that when I come to you I will come as a blessing and as one fully blessed by the Anointed One. 

My brothers and sisters, I urgently plead with you by the name of our Lord Jesus, the Anointed, and by the love of the Spirit to join together with me in your prayers to God for my success in these next endeavors. Pray that I will be rescued from those who deny and persecute the faith in Judea and that my service in Jerusalem will meet the approval of all the saints there. If that happens, then my journey to you will be filled with joy; and, if God wills, I can rest and be refreshed in your presence. I pray the God of all peace will be with you all. Amen. 
( Romans 15:14-33)
Response in Prayer

O Father, I find Paul's travels amazing — he visited so many places, used different modes of travel, reached out to such diverse people, and took such great risks to share the message of Jesus. Open my eyes, O LORD, to see the opportunities near me to share your grace, and be with me as I seek to share that message with kindness, compassion, courage, and conviction. Open my eyes as well, O LORD, to the opportunities to share your grace with the lost all over the world. Whether it is in going, praying, or sending, O Father, please use me to bless Your world-wide mission. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
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The Thoughts and Prayers for 'A Year with Jesus' are written by Phil Ware. You can email questions or comments to phil@heartlight.org.
Heartlight is proud to promote Compassion International. See children who were sponsored today!

© 1998-2014, Heartlight Inc.

"Grow in this Gracious Gift of Giving" — A Year with Jesus for 09/12/2014

Note from Jesus

Dear Child of the Father, 

You are never more like the Father than when you generously give to bless others, especially others in need. He has graciously poured out His blessings on you in so many ways. My life on earth was an example of the Father's love that was so willing to bless and to graciously give the best of life to you. So I want you to carefully read through the passages below from Paul as he talks to the Corinthians about a gift they had promised to give for the poor brothers and sisters in Jerusalem. Yet after Paul left, they began to procrastinate on bringing this gift to completion. 

Paul had high hopes for this gift from Gentile churches to the needy Jewish church in Jerusalem — the last paragraph of your reading today gives you Paul's words about this. In addition to helping the impoverished and persecuted believers in Jerusalem, Paul had a goal to bless the churches throughout Macedonia, Achaia, and Asia with a connection to the church in Jerusalem through their giving — a connection that would bind Jewish and Gentile Christians together into one loving family. Unfortunately, as the Corinthians grew cold toward Paul and his ministry, they also grew cold toward helping their brothers and sisters in Jerusalem. Paul felt he needed to address this situation in his letter to them in the following ways.
Paul taught, reminded, and challenged the Corinthians to reawaken their hearts toward generosity — you get to read about some of what he taught, reminded, and challenged in the verses below.
Paul told the Corinthians about their Macedonian brothers and sisters who had been through suffering and persecution in addition to being poor:
...in the face of severe anguish and hard times, their elation and poverty have overflowed into a wealth of generosity.
Paul wanted the example of the Macedonian churches to motivate the believers in Corinth into generous action.
Paul told them that he was sending one of his apprentices, Titus, to Corinth to help them complete their gift which was to be a "gracious work of charity."
Paul connected to their sense of pride at being a very gifted church — "being rich in everything" — and then challenged them to "invest richly in this gracious work" giving to the needs of the Jerusalem Christians. He wanted them to be great in this gracious gift of giving, too!
Paul didn't command the Corinthians to participate in this offering for the believers in Jerusalem. Instead, he challenged them to prove that their love for Me and their love for these brothers and sisters in faith were genuine. In response to the costly grace they had received and by following My example, they were to share with their Christian brothers and sisters who were in deep need. Their love would be proved genuine through their loving action or disproved by their inaction.
Paul reminded the Corinthians about a rule of the harvest — "the one who plants little harvests little, and the one who plants plenty harvests plenty." They were not going to receive nearly all the blessings God intended for them to receive through their giving if they were miserly and neglectful! God longed to bless them so that they could bless others even more. They weren't able to outgive God and they would actually be blessed as they blessed others in need.
God is ready to overwhelm you with more blessings than you could ever imagine so that you'll always be taken care of in every way and you'll have more than enough to share. .. You will be made rich in everything so that your generosity will spill over in every direction. Through us your generosity is at work inspiring praise and thanksgiving to God. For this mission will do more than bring food and water to fellow believers in need — it will overflow in a cascade of praises and thanksgivings for our God.
At the end of the first passage below, Paul finished speaking to their hearts about being generous by reminding them of Me — the Father's greatest gift given to redeem them at great cost.
Verses to Live

While this message is very specifically directed to the Corinthian disciples about helping their poor brothers and sisters in Jerusalem, the basic principles behind Paul's teachings are very powerful for you to remember. You need to grow in the grace of generous giving. The more you share, the more the Father will entrust you to share with others. You will always have enough to share if you share generously. Your motivation for giving should never be to get more, but it should be based on your love-response to the generous gifts you've received from the Father, a desire to bless those in need, and a desire to grow in the grace of giving to be like your Father in heaven. 
Now, brothers and sisters, let me tell you about the amazing gift of God's grace that's happening throughout the churches in Macedonia. Even in the face of severe anguish and hard times, their elation and poverty have overflowed into a wealth of generosity. I watched as they willingly gave what they could afford and then went beyond to give even more. They came to us on their own, begging to take part in this work of grace to support the poor saints in Judea. 

We were so overwhelmed — none of us expected their reaction — that they truly turned their lives over to the Lord and then gave themselves to support us in our work as we answer the call of God. That's why we asked Titus to finish what he started among you regarding this gracious work of charity. Just as you are rich in everything — in faith and speech, in knowledge and all sincerity, and in the love we have shown among you — now I ask you to invest richly in this gracious work too. 

I am not going to command you, but I am going to offer you the chance to prove your love genuine in the same way others have done. You know the grace that has come to us through our Lord Jesus the Anointed. He set aside His infinite riches and was born into the lowest circumstance so that you may gain great riches through His humble poverty. 
( 2 Corinthians 8:1-9) 

But I will say this to encourage your generosity: the one who plants little harvests little, and the one who plants plenty harvests plenty. Giving grows out of the heart — otherwise, you've reluctantly grumbled "yes" because you felt you had to [give] or because you couldn't say "no," but this isn't the way God wants it. For we know that "God loves a cheerful giver."

God is ready to overwhelm you with more blessings than you could ever imagine so that you'll always be taken care of in every way and you'll have more than enough to share. Remember what is written about the One who trusts in the Lord:
He scattered abroad; He gave freely to the poor; His righteousness endures throughout the ages.
The same One who has put seed into the hands of the sower and brought bread to fill our stomachs will provide and multiply the resources you invest and produce an abundant harvest from your righteous actions. You will be made rich in everything so that your generosity will spill over in every direction. Through us your generosity is at work inspiring praise and thanksgiving to God. For this mission will do more than bring food and water to fellow believers in need — it will overflow in a cascade of praises and thanksgivings for our God. 

When this mission reaches Jerusalem and meets with the approval of God's people there, they will give glory to God because your confession of the gospel of the Anointed One led to obedient action and your generous sharing with them and with all exhibited your sincere concern. Because of the extraordinary grace of God at work in you, they will pray for you and long for you. Praise God for this incredible, unbelievable, indescribable gift! 
( 2 Corinthians 9:6-15)
Response in Prayer

Almighty and righteous Father, so much in my world pulls at my heart to live for myself and to protect my "assets" — to protect the stuff that is "mine"! Yet I know, dear Father, that all I have is really Yours and that You have entrusted it to me to use to bless others as you would want them blessed. So I ask that the Holy Spirit work on my heart to make it more generous — please have the Spirit minister to my heart while I sleep, have the Spirit open my eyes to what You are trying to teach me in Your Word, and have the Spirit help me to filter out the messages of selfishness and greed that are so prevalent in my world and to see the ways I can effectively help others with my treasure, talent, and time. I ask this in the name of Jesus who gave everything so that I can be Your child. Amen.
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The Thoughts and Prayers for 'A Year with Jesus' are written by Phil Ware. You can email questions or comments to phil@heartlight.org.
Heartlight is proud to promote Compassion International. See children who were sponsored today!

© 1998-2014, Heartlight Inc.

"Beyond the Rock and a Hard Place" — A Year with Jesus for 09/13/2014

Note from Jesus

Dear Disciple, 

Nearly every one of My leaders through the ages has been stuck between a rock and a hard place. I'm talking about being in a situation where they had to defend themselves, or defend the truth they were trying to communicate, against unfair accusations. These leaders were stuck because defending themselves would mean revealing confidential information or speaking about themselves in self-promoting ways that made them feel uncomfortable. Most managed to find effective and ethical ways to address the issues of concern, but that doesn't mean that it was easy for them to do it. 

Paul was stuck between a rock and a hard place when he wrote 2 Corinthians. He was being called less than the "so-called great emissaries" — other translations use the term "super apostles" (2 Corinthians 12:11). Because he was previously reluctant to boast to the Corinthians about his qualifications, speak about his special spiritual experiences, or give a list of his greatest accomplishments, many of the Corinthians quit respecting him. Plus, Paul didn't ask for monetary support, so the Corinthians assumed that he wasn't as worthy a minister as those who demanded support. 

In the letter you call 1 Corinthians, Paul confronted the Corinthian believers for their divisions rooted in their pride about the group to which they belonged and their pride about the spiritual gifts they had been given. So Paul was careful in 1 Corinthians not to boast about anything other than My cross. He was careful not to take money or depend upon their support. Paul didn't trumpet his accomplishments or spiritual qualifications because that would have only fed into the Corinthians own misguided sense of greatness, status, and importance. 

In 2 Corinthians, Paul emphasized that his qualifications that really mattered were the ones that showed My power at work in his weaknesses, hardships, and persecutions. He said:
I am at peace and even take pleasure in any weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and afflictions for the sake of the Anointed because when I am at my weakest, He makes me strong.
As Paul neared the end 2 Corinthians, he had to address his critics directly. He had to confront the Corinthians' concept of the "so-called great emissaries" who trumpeted their own accomplishments and highlighted their spiritual qualifications while taking money from the Corinthians. 

Paul told the Corinthians that he was "out of his mind" (2 Corinthians 11:23) and having to resort to "foolishness" (2 Corinthians 11:1) to defend himself, but the Corinthians had left him no other choice (2 Corinthians 11:16-21). Paul exposed the "so-called great emissaries" for the charlatans and frauds they were (2 Corinthians 11:12-15). 

Even when Paul finally resorted to boasting about his supernatural experience and his powerfully fruitful ministry, he ultimately came back to his weakness, his "nagging nuisance" from Satan, as his sign of integrity. Even though Paul asked the Father three times to remove his "nagging nuisance" — sometimes called his "thorn in the flesh" — the Father did not remove it. Paul emphasized that this "nagging nuisance" was present in his life to keep him from becoming "too high and mighty" and to remind him that the Father's "grace [was] enough to cover and sustain" him because the Father's "power is made perfect in weakness." What mattered to Paul was that people in need be served and that the Father be exalted and praised for sharing His great power with those who are weak. 

Bottom line: Paul wanted the Corinthians to know that My example of being a servant and enduring the cross must be the primary marks of authenticity that they used for a great emissary, apostle, or minister. If the credibility of their leaders was not in living like Me, then their ministry was not really empowered by Me.
Verses to Live

As you read these verses and assess the value and importance of a minister, I want you to keep asking yourself if your standard is like the Corinthians or like Paul's.
Boasting like this [as in the preceding verses] is necessary, but it's unbecoming and probably unavailing. Since you won't hear me any other way, let me tell you about visions and revelations I received of the Lord. 

Fourteen years ago, there was this man I knew — a believer in the Anointed who was caught up to the third heaven. (Whether this was an in- or out-of-body experience I don't know; only God knows.) This man was caught up into paradise (let me say it again, whether this was an in- or out-of-body experience I don't know; only God knows), and he heard inexpressible words — words a mortal man is forbidden to utter. I could brag about such a man; but as for me, I have nothing to brag about outside my own shortcomings. So if I want to boast, I won't do so as a fool because I will be speaking the truth. But I will stop there, since I don't want to be credited with anything except exactly what people see and hear from me. 

To keep me grounded and stop me from becoming too high and mighty due to the extraordinary character of these revelations, I was given a thorn in the flesh — a nagging nuisance of Satan, a messenger to plague me! I begged the Lord three times to liberate me from its anguish; and finally He said to me, "My grace is enough to cover and sustain you. My power is made perfect in weakness." So ask me about my thorn, inquire about my weaknesses, and I will gladly go on and on — I would rather stake my claim in these and have the power of the Anointed One at home within me. I am at peace and even take pleasure in any weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and afflictions for the sake of the Anointed because when I am at my weakest, He makes me strong. 

I have become a fool, but you drove me to it. Why didn't you stick up for me? I may not be much, but you could have shown me the same respect as you did the other so-called great emissaries. I am not inferior to them in the least. Miracles, wonders, and signs were all performed right before your eyes, proving I am who I say, a true emissary of Jesus. With the exception of not asking you to shoulder the burden of my care, I have treated you no differently from any other churches. Forgive me for wronging you by not charging for my services! 
( 2 Corinthians 12:1-13)
Response in Prayer

O Father, please forgive me. I catch myself assigning value to those who serve in Your kingdom based on the earthly standards of success so many others use. Tune my heart to Jesus and His example of ministry, shepherding, and serving. I ask for the Holy Spirit's help to discern what is true and what is false about myself, about my standard of judgment, and about the integrity of those who serve. Most of all, Father, give me patience to trust You, not myself, to judge the value and worth of Your servants. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
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The Thoughts and Prayers for 'A Year with Jesus' are written by Phil Ware. You can email questions or comments to phil@heartlight.org.
Heartlight is proud to promote Compassion International. See children who were sponsored today!
© 1998-2014, Heartlight Inc.

"Closing Words, Closing Grace" — A Year with Jesus for 09/14/2014

Note from Jesus

Dear Committed Follower, 

As Paul came to the end of his very challenging letter to the Corinthians — called 2 Corinthians — he had several things he wanted to imprint on the hearts of these Corinthians disciples. Paul closed his letter with both a blessing and also an encouragement for holy living. He had repeatedly defended his right to be My special emissary (or apostle) against the charges that he wasn't really special, important, or equal to other emissaries. As Paul finished this letter, he emphasized the behaviors and attitudes that the Corinthians needed to have to honor Me. Whether they accepted his ministry or not, Paul wanted them to focus on living in ways that were consistent with My character and compassion. 

Notice the words in bold in the verses below. Use them as a good guide for yourself — these qualities are the good fruit from having a heart that belongs to Me and a commitment to honor Me as Lord. Realize that these character qualities are the fruit of being led by the Spirit as He works to conform your character and compassion to be like My own. They show that you are "being transformed, metamorphosed, into [My] image from one radiance of glory to another, just as the Spirit of the Lord accomplishes it" (2 Corinthians 3:18). 

Here are some behaviors to use as your guide. As Paul said, "Examine yourselves." So I've put this down as an evaluation tool for you to use on yourself. I put this list in the first person so you could ask yourself if these qualities are really yours:
Do I stay away from evil?
Do I try to do what is right?
Do I act honorably... even in difficult situations?
Do I align myself with truth rather than trying to find a way around it?
Do I trust in the Spirit to help me find wholeness and completeness in Jesus?
Do I rejoice in the Father's presence in my life and the many blessings He shares with me?
Am I committed to repair what is broken in my relationships and my own personal life, with the help of the Holy Spirit?
Do I encourage others?
Do I seek to live in unity with my brothers and sisters in Christ by serving others as Jesus did?
As far as possible, do I seek to live in peace with all people — believers and unbelievers?
Remember, these are words to help you examine the fruit in your life to see if it is consistent with My way of life. This is not a "color-by-numbers" list to gain salvation or a list to help you feel superior to others. Nor is this a check-list to discourage and humiliate you for your failures. Paul gave this as a check up list to help the Corinthians refine their focus on the things that matter! 

Are you growing in these qualities? 

Are you committed to this kind of fruit in your life? 

Are you being "transformed" by the Spirit to be more and more like Me in these areas? 

If you are, then great! If not, re-focus on Me and seek to walk with Me each day so that My character permeates your life as the Holy Spirit does His work of transformation.
Verses to Live

This whole last message from My great emissary Paul reveals his heart. While he wanted the Corinthians to love and appreciate him, their spiritual character was much more important to him. Even if the Corinthians rejected him, Paul wanted them to follow Me and to reflect Me in their thoughts, attitudes, and behaviors. So Paul ended this letter with a beautiful blessing. The last words he wanted the Corinthians to hear from him were words of blessing because he wanted them to live a blessed and holy life.
Examine yourselves. Check your faith! Are you really in the faith? Do you still not know that Jesus the Anointed is in you? — unless, of course, you have failed the test. Surely you will realize we have not failed the test, but we pray to God that you will stay away from evil. What's important is not whether we appear to have passed the test, but that you do what is right and act honorably, even if it appears that we have failed. For there's nothing we can do to oppose the truth; all we can do is align ourselves with it. 

You see, we celebrate when we are weak but you are strong. Our prayer is simple: that you may be whole and complete. How I hope I am saving you by writing this to you in advance; this letter will spare me from using the Lord's authority to come down on you when I arrive. His intention in giving me this authority is to build you up, not tear you down. 

Finally, brothers and sisters, keep rejoicing and repair whatever is broken. Encourage each other, think as one, and live at peace; and God, the Author of love and peace, will remain with you. Greet each other with a holy kiss, as brothers and sisters. All the saints here with me send you their greeting. 

May the grace of the Lord Jesus the Anointed, the love of God the Father, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit remain with you all. Amen. 
( 2 Corinthians 13:5-14)
Response in Prayer

O precious Father, You are the Almighty God Who is holy and merciful, righteous and compassionate. I open my heart to be willingly transformed through the work of the Holy Spirit to be more and more like Jesus. I want my thoughts, words, and behaviors to reflect the presence of Jesus in my life through the qualities Paul describes in the passage above. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. 
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The Thoughts and Prayers for 'A Year with Jesus' are written by Phil Ware. You can email questions or comments to phil@heartlight.org.

"Move Toward Perfect Beauty & Holiness" — A Year with Jesus for 09/11/2014

Note from Jesus

Dear Precious and Holy One, 

When you became My disciple, you were made "holy, blameless, and totally free of imperfection" by My blood that "bled peace into the world" and My flesh that "reconciled you in [My] body" (Colossians 1:19-22). As Paul told My Corinthian disciples in his previous letter:
Don’t you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who comes from God and dwells inside of you? You do not own yourself. You have been purchased at a great price, so use your body to bring glory to God! 
( 1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
I left My place of power, security, and position in heaven to come and live among you and endure the worst of your world to make you precious and holy (Philippians 2:5-11). The cost was high and the process was painful, but worth every drop of blood, every lash upon My body and every puncture wound in My body to make you precious and holy. So please, as Paul urged the Corinthians, don't pollute what is pure, don't make ordinary what is precious, and don't make common what is holy and reserved for honoring Us — Father, Son, and Spirit. 

I know that some people bristle at the thought of behaviors being either good or bad. They don't want anyone to tell them what is righteousness and what is evil. They don't like morality to be defined in black and white, light and darkness. I know righteous-looking behaviors can cloak a bad heart. So I understand the skepticism some people have. That's why I often answered questions about hard issues with questions that made people examine their own hearts — so that My disciples would have to look deeper within themselves rather than My giving them a set of rules that they could manipulate and appear to be holy while having evil in their hearts. 

Many of life's behaviors can fall within what you might call a gray area. However, the gray area is in the behavior, not in the underlying motive or intention of your heart. Either you do what you do because of your love for your Father and your love for your neighbor (Matthew 22:36-40), or you do it for some other questionable or bad motive. The behavior may not be wrong, rebellious, sinful, or unholy in itself. Yet if your heart is trying to get away with as much as possible without technically violating a command, then the behavior is wrong because your heart is wrong. 

Don't intentionally live in the gray areas of life, always trying to stay in the gray as close to what is wrong as possible. This legalistic game reveals the real desires of your heart. It shows that your heart has not been captured by the cost of My love to make you "holy, blameless, and totally free of imperfection"! Your response to My love should be as Paul urged the Corinthians in the verses below — to "scour the filth from [your] flesh and spirit and move toward perfect beauty and holiness."
Verses to Live

The verses below come from both the apostle Paul and the apostle Peter. These words were challenging to My first-century disciples. They should also be challenging words for you... but not impossible words or unimportant words or words of suggestion. These are words based on love that call for a response to the loving gift you have been given!
Don't develop partnerships with those who are not followers of Jesus' teachings. For what real connection can exist between righteousness and rebellion? How can light participate in darkness? What harmony can exist between the Anointed and Satan? Do the faithful and the faithless have anything in common? Can the temple of God find common ground with idols? Don't you see that we house the temple of the living God within us? 

Remember when He said, "I will make My home with them [My holy people] and walk among them. I will be their God, and they will be My people. So then turn away from them [people and practices of unrighteousness], turn away and leave without looking back," says the Lord. "Stay away from anything unclean, anything impure, and I will welcome you. And I will be for you as a father, and you will be for Me as sons and daughters," says the Lord Almighty! 

Because we have these promises, dearly loved ones, out of respect for God we should scour the filth from our flesh and spirit and move toward perfect beauty and holiness. 
( 2 Corinthians 6:14-18; 2 Corinthians 7:1) 

But you are a chosen people, set aside to be a royal order of priests, a holy nation, God's own; so that you may proclaim the wondrous acts of the One who called you out of inky darkness into shimmering light. Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received it. 
( 1 Peter 2:9-10)
Response in Prayer

Father, I know the duplicity that sometimes lives in my heart. Most of the time, I long to be righteous and treat people justly and walk humbly with You. But as You know, dear Father, sometimes I hide and like to keep my "love for playing in the gray" hidden in my heart. So today, I ask You to forgive me — not just for my specific behaviors, but for taking the cost of my holiness lightly and the costly love that Jesus demonstrated for granted. I want my heart to be pure and motivated by my love for You. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
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The Thoughts and Prayers for 'A Year with Jesus' are written by Phil Ware. You can email questions or comments to phil@heartlight.org.
Heartlight is proud to promote Compassion International. See children who were sponsored today!

© 1998-2014, Heartlight Inc.

"Decaying into Glory" — A Year with Jesus for 09/09/2014

Note from Jesus

Dear Disciple,

Paul's words in your verses today are as beautiful as they are powerful. They can help you deal with an inescapable reality of your existence: your body is mortal. Your body is in the process of decay. While you can strengthen it, fortify it, exercise it, and tighten parts of it, you cannot save it. Ultimately you will fail at your most basic human task — keeping your body alive. Yet that task is not your most important purpose and not your ultimate problem. Since the rebellion in the garden (Genesis 3:1-24), death has stalked every single human who has walked the earth (Romans 5:12-14) — even Me when I walked among ! you as one of you (John 19:29-34).

You have to have a purpose more important than keeping your body alive or your purpose in life will end in failure. This is why what Paul says in these verses is so terribly important for you to hear, understand, and make the foundation for your life. Paul speaks the truth very clearly when he describes your human purpose:
Ultimately it does not matter whether we are here or gone [to be with Christ Jesus]; our purpose stays fixed, and that is to please Him [Jesus].
You have no reason for despair about your mortal body or your eternal future. Death cannot ultimately claim anyone who has entrusted her or his future into My hands. In fact, the moaning, groaning, and aching that are sometimes natural for you with your decaying mortal body do not have to be caused by the fear of death. For those who have entrusted their lives to Me, the moaning, groaning, and aching are the yearnings to set aside the mortal body and be clothed with the heavenly one:
Currently, in this tent of a house, we continue to groan and ache with a deep desire to be sheltered in our permanent home because then we will be truly clothed and comfortable, protected by a covering for our current nakedness.
Paul taught the Corinthians in a previous letter that they would receive their glorious resurrection bodies when I returned in glory (1 Corinthians 15:35-58). He told them that their new immortal bodies would be glorious and like My resurrected body and that the bodies they now had were like seeds and the immortal bodies would be like the flowers on the full grown plant that emerged from the seed. Once again, Paul was thinking in the following kinds of terms — mortal vs. immortal, seen vs. unseen, weakness vs. strength, naked vs. clothed, fleeting and fading away vs. eternal, earthly vs. heavenly, and temporary tent vs. permanent dwelling. Just as you have shared in a mortal body like the first human, you will certainly share in the heavenly body like Mine (1 Corinthians 15:49).

In the verses today, Paul elaborates and helps the believers in Corinth understand a new truth: when they die, as My disciple they come to be with Me:
...in the end we prefer to be gone from this body so that we can be at home with the Lord.
Paul will elaborate a little more on this subject when he writes the Philippians from prison and is facing his own death (Philippians 1:19-23). For the Corinthians, this new information was enough to remind them of their purpose — to live to honor Me — and their future — to be clothed in their heavenly dwelling and be with Me and share in eternal glory. This conviction allowed them to live for Me by faith with "daring passion."

Like the Corinthian believers, you have to walk this path by faith without fully seeing the fulfillment of your hopes during your mortal existence. However, every time you sense a stirring of the Holy Spirit enlightening you as you read the Scriptures He inspired, every time you rely on the Spirit's intercession as you pray, every time you sense the comforting and reassuring presence of the Spirit in times of sorrow, and every time you find yourself strengthened by the Spirit in the face of temptation or trial, you can be assured of this: Just as surely as the Spirit is within you and works for you, you can also be sure that the Spirit is your guarantee that all of Paul's promises about your glorious future with Me are true!
Verses to Live

Please read these verses several times and let the promises found here settle into your soul and permeate your being. Use them to speak to your heart in times of grief and share them with those who need a comforting reminder about their future with Me, a future that transcends physical decay and death. Our future together will be glorious! Let Paul's words reassure you of this truth!
So we have no reason to despair. Despite the fact that our outer humanity is falling apart and decaying, our inner humanity is breathing in new life every day. You see, the short-lived pains of this life are creating for us an eternal glory that does not compare to anything we know here. So we do not set our sights on the things we can see with our eyes. All of that is fleeting; it will eventually fade away. Instead, we focus on the things we cannot see, which live on and on.

We know that if our earthly house — a mere tent that can easily be taken down — is destroyed, we will then live in an eternal home in the heavens, a building crafted by divine — not human — hands. Currently, in this tent of a house, we continue to groan and ache with a deep desire to be sheltered in our permanent home because then we will be truly clothed and comfortable, protected by a covering for our current nakedness. The fact is that in this tent we anxiously moan, fearing the naked truth of our reality. What we crave above all is to be clothed so that what is temporary and mortal can be wrapped completely in life. The One who has worked and tailored us for this is God Himself, who has gifted His Spirit to us as a pledge toward our permanent home.

In light of this, we live with a daring passion and know that our time spent in this body is also time we are not present with the Lord. The path we walk is charted by faith, not by what we see with our eyes. There is no doubt that we live with a daring passion, but in the end we prefer to be gone from this body so that we can be at home with the Lord. Ultimately it does not matter whether we are here or gone; our purpose stays fixed, and that is to please Him. In time we will all stand in judgment before the throne of the Anointed [Christ Jesus], the Liberating King, to receive what is just for our conduct (whether it be good or bad) while we lived in this temporary body.
(2 Corinthians 4:16-18; 2 Corinthians 5:1-10)
Response in Prayer

O Father, fill my heart with joy and the knowledge that my future is secure with You because of Jesus and assured by the presence of the blessed Holy Spirit. In Jesus' name I thank you and praise you. Amen.
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The Thoughts and Prayers for 'A Year with Jesus' are written by Phil Ware. You can email questions or comments to phil@heartlight.org.
Heartlight is proud to promote Compassion International. See children who were sponsored today!
© 1998-2014, Heartlight Inc.

"A Whole New Creation" — A Year with Jesus for 09/10/2014

Note from Jesus

Dear Beloved,

What controls you? I don't want you mastered by any substance, secret sin, or destructive habit. You were meant to be free — that's how you were designed by the Father. When you were re-made, you were given the Holy Spirit to liberate you to become all that you were meant be (Romans 8:13-14; 2 Corinthians 3:17-18; Galatians 5:1; Galatians 5:13) .

I want love to be the guiding and controlling force in your life — not fear, not compulsion, and certainly not bondage to addictions. I want to liberate you from those traps that lead to both spiritual and physical bondage. Your love for Us — Father, Son, and Spirit — along with your love for your neighbors can help you freely decide how to live a life that is both blessed and a blessing to others. This has always Our design for our people (Genesis 12:1-3) . This is what both the Torah — the Old Testament books of Law — and the New Testament teach (Matthew 22:36-40) .

I died for your sins and was raised to bring you back into a right relationship with your Father (Romans 4:25) . You shared in My death, burial, and resurrection as you called on My name in baptism because of your faith in Me (Romans 6:3-11; Acts 22:14-16; Romans 10:9-13) . You were made into a new creation — as Paul said it, "a new life has begun"! You are now alive in Me to live for Me through My power at work in you. That means you should no longer view people from a merely human point of view.

This gift of a new life comes from the Father. He didn't sit idly hoping for you to return, but he "pursued" and "brought" you into a "restored... relationship" with Us. Yet My gift of new life is not just for you. I want you to share this new life with others. I want you to help people around you to realize that their broken relationship with Us can be healed. This healing comes through My sacrifice on the cross and my triumph over death when I rose from the dead and left behind an empty tomb. I want you "to proclaim the message that heals... broken relationships with God and each other."

As a new creation, you have been re-created in love and re-made to "embody the very righteousness of God." You are my agent of grace and my missionary of love in your world. I gave you your circle of influence — the people you know and the relationships you share — to be a place of your redemptive work in the broken world that needs My healing. When you see people, I want you to see them through the eyes of the Father's saving love — no longer view people from a merely human point of view. I want you to think about how you can share My grace with them and how you can invite them to find new life in Me.
Verses to Live

What controls your life? With the Father's help, the controlling force and the inexhaustible and enabling power of the Father's love can be yours through the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5) . Use that love to be My agent of reconciliation!
You see, the controlling force in our lives is the love of the Anointed One. And our confession is this: One died for all; therefore, all have died. He died for us so that we will all live, not for ourselves, but for Him who died and rose from the dead. Because of all that God has done, we now have a new perspective. We used to show regard for people based on worldly standards and interests. No longer. We used to think of the Anointed the same way. No longer. Therefore, if anyone is united with the Anointed One, that person is a new creation. The old life is gone — and see — a new life has begun! All of this is a gift from our Creator God, who has pursued us and brought us into a restored and healthy relationship with Him through the Anointed. And He has given us the same mission, the ministry of reconciliation, to bring others back to Him. It is central to our good news that God was in the Anointed making things right between Himself and the world. This means He does not hold their sins against them. But it also means He charges us to proclaim the message that heals and restores our broken relationships with God and each other.

So we are now representatives of the Anointed One, the Liberating King; God has given us a charge to carry through our lives — urging all people on behalf of the Anointed to become reconciled to the Creator God. He orchestrated this: the Anointed One, who had never experienced sin, became sin for us so that in Him we might embody the very righteousness of God.
(2 Corinthians 5:14-21)
Response in Prayer

O Father, thank You for re-creating me and working through me. I invite the Holy Spirit to complete His work of transforming me to be like Jesus. I open my heart to receive the love You pour into it through the Spirit. I release all of myself to the lordship of Jesus without reservation to be used to be Your ambassador and agent of grace and reconciliation. Use me to share Your grace and mercy. I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
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The Thoughts and Prayers for 'A Year with Jesus' are written by Phil Ware. You can email questions or comments to phil@heartlight.org.
Heartlight is proud to promote Compassion International. See children who were sponsored today!

© 1998-2014, Heartlight Inc.

Treasure in Fragile Clay Pots" — A Year with Jesus for 09/08/2014

Note from Jesus

Dear Precious Follower,

In Paul's day, the Greek language had two words for two different types of pots. One was called an amphiphora, which was a beautifully decorated pot that was sometimes fired to have a ceramic glaze — these were works of art, although they might be used as part of a special meal. The other word for a pot was skeuos, which was used for an ordinary clay pot which could be used for just about anything and discarded without much consequence if broken. 

When Paul described himself and his fellow gospel messengers, he didn't use the word amphiphora. Instead, he emphasized the fragile and inconsequential nature of a skeuos pot — a simple vessel made of earth and clay for ordinary and everyday use. In other words, he described himself as a simple "fragile clay pot". His purpose was to carry something significant, not to be fancy, flashy, or consequential in himself. His significance was determined by the "treasure" he carried in his pot of clay.

Paul's ministry was not about himself, but about declaring the good news of the Almighty Father — My coming to earth, My going to the cross to pay for sins, My being buried in a tomb sharing human mortality, and My triumph over death through My resurrection. The Father used Me to begin His work of re-creation just as surely as We — Father, Son, and Spirit — created everything when We spoke, "'Let there be light.' And light flashed into being" (Genesis 1:3). I entrusted this message of good news and of God's power of re-creation to disciples who were ordinary people made extraordinary because of the good news they shared and the Holy Spirit Who empowered them.

These ordinary people faced extraordinary challenges, endured repeated abuses, were often threatened, and sometimes tortured, and some were martyred for sharing this good news. Yet nothing could stop them or the message that they shared about Me and the power of the Holy Spirit Who empowered them to speak it. Their ordinariness — fishermen, tax collectors, those formerly possessed by demons, fathers, mothers, men and women, young and old — made their courage and their impact all the more extraordinary. These ordinary people, these fragile clay pots, brought the treasure of life to those who feared death, the treasure of light to those trapped in Satan's darkness, the treasure of hope to those lost in monotonous mortality, and the treasure of re-creation to those too old or too set in their ways to expect new things.

Yet as Paul insists in today's verses, and will insist again and again in 2 Corinthians, the Father's strength and wisdom are made perfect through human weakness. The "transcendent character" of His power at work within these normal people made clear that the power at work in them was not human power, human wisdom, or human charisma. The good news of the Father's power released through My ministry and the Holy Spirit's presence was available to all people and had the power to transform every human life it touched. And it still does in your day!
Verses to Live

Don't trust the charm, charisma, and persuasiveness of your public Christian personalities. While these can be helpful qualities, the real issue is whether or not they focus on the real treasure or on themselves. The world needs to discover the real treasure, not focus on the person who is the vessel to bring the treasure to the lost world. This lost world needs to see the Father's grace delivered into the world through the womb of Mary, placed in a manger, raised in out-of-the-way Nazareth, baptized in the Jordan, followed by disciples, crucified because of angry religious leaders, raised from the dead, and exalted to pour out the Spirit on ordinary people who changed the world.

You see, My precious follower, that transcendent power is also at work in you... another ordinary and fragile clay pot made extraordinary by the treasure that you carry. Listen carefully as Paul teaches about this treasure that is now alive in you!
We do not preach about ourselves. The subject of all our sermons is Jesus, the Anointed One. He is Lord and Master of all. For Jesus' sake we are here to serve you. The God who spoke light into existence, saying, "Let light shine from the darkness," is the very One who sets our hearts ablaze to shed light on the knowledge of God's glory revealed in the face of Jesus, the Anointed One.

But this beautiful treasure is contained in us — cracked pots made of earth and clay — so that the transcendent character of this power will be clearly seen as coming from God and not from us. We are cracked and chipped from our afflictions on all sides, but we are not crushed by them. We are bewildered at times, but we do not give in to despair. We are persecuted, but we have not been abandoned. We have been knocked down, but we are not destroyed. We always carry around in our bodies the reality of the brutal death and suffering of Jesus. As a result, His resurrection life rises and reveals its wondrous power in our bodies as well. For while we live, we are constantly handed over to death on account of Jesus so that His life may be revealed even in our mortal bodies of flesh. So death is constantly at work in us, but life is working in you.
(2 Corinthians 4:5-12)
Response in Prayer

O Almighty Father, there are times when the devil abuses and batters my sense of significance and I feel too inconsequential to make a difference in Your work. As I read Paul's words, I was reminded that Jesus and the powerful good news about Jesus are the treasure. I am Your vessel. I recognize that my sufficiency and significance are found in You and living for You. So I ask for the Holy Spirit to re-awaken my passion to live for Jesus and share Jesus in word and deed with those around me. Help me do this humbly and compassionately, but courageously. I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.
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The Thoughts and Prayers for 'A Year with Jesus' are written by Phil Ware. You can email questions or comments to phil@heartlight.org.
Heartlight is proud to promote Compassion International. See children who were sponsored today!

© 1998-2014, Heartlight Inc.

"Aroma" — A Year with Jesus for 09/06/2014

Note from Jesus

Dear Disciple,

As Paul gets ready to talk about the new covenant of the Spirit (in 2 Corinthians 3, the next chapter after today's verses), he pauses long enough to make an important point about his authority as My messenger. He uses the image of a conquering warrior or king returning with the spoils of war, including the prisoners that follow along in the procession. For those who are the victors, the smells of the parade — both the sweet smell of incense burned by those who celebrate the homecoming and the awful smells of triumphant warriors, the horses, and at the end, the defeated enemy prisoners who are either dying or on their way to death or to becoming slaves — produce the aroma of victory. For the vanquished, it is the awful stench of the horses defecating in the road way before them, the smell of their own body odor from their fighting, the awful aroma of rotting and dying flesh from the injuries of war — the last smells before their own death, imprisonment, or enslavement.

Paul uses these powerful images to talk about his authority to minister for Me. He says that he has been conquered by Me. He has yielded his heart without reservation to serve Me and follow Me. I am the triumphant King of Kings. He is happy to be part of My victory procession and celebration of life as a vanquished warrior who has gladly given up his old life to live a new one.

For people who do not know Me as their Lord and Savior, Paul's voluntary service to Me seems crazy and wrong-headed — a huge waste of life. These skeptics cannot see how surrendering to Me as Lord brings them any gain. They look on those who have yielded to Me with disdain or pity. They do not, and will not, recognize the truth of what I taught My disciples in My earthly ministry:
Jesus warned his disciples not to tell anyone who he was. "The Son of Man must suffer many terrible things," he said. "He will be rejected by the elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of religious law. He will be killed, but on the third day he will be raised from the dead."

Then he said to the crowd, "If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed? If anyone is ashamed of me and my message, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in his glory and in the glory of the Father and the holy angels."
(Luke 9:21-26 NLT)
Paul believed My promise. Paul surrendered his heart, his life, and his future to Me to do My work. Those who do not believe in Me cannot understand Paul's behavior. However, for those who have come to love Me and call on Me as their Lord, Paul's service in My kingdom has the aroma of life — everlasting life that cannot be defeated or taken away!

Paul's service doesn't place him in bondage but empowers him and liberates him to do My work, the work he was made to do. His surrender to Me as his Lord didn't mean he lost out on life, but that his life was caught up into something bigger and better with a future that is forever glorious. For those who believe, Paul may have entered My triumphal procession as a captive, but he is not marching to death, but to life, purpose, and triumph.
Verses to Live

Paul is open with the Corinthians about his struggles and his doubts and concerns about them. He talks about the challenges he faced in places all over the world where he served My people and served Me at great risk and endured great hardships. Yet despite his challenges, what emerged was life that only I can bring — meaningful life for Paul and new life for all who were impacted by his words and who turned to Me! So as he begins this letter to the Corinthians where he repeatedly focuses on the source of his sufficiency — not himself, but in the power only I can give him (2 Corinthians 2:14-17; 2 Corinthians 3:4-6; 2 Corinthians 4:1-16; 2 Corinthians 9:8; 2 Corinthians 12:6-12). So Paul boasts in his weakness because in his weakness My power is revealed. He wants the Corinthians (and you) to know that this is really the procession that leads to life because I am leading the procession!
When I came to the city of Troas to preach the Good News of Christ, the Lord opened a door of opportunity for me. But I had no peace of mind because my dear brother Titus hadn’t yet arrived with a report from you. So I said good-bye and went on to Macedonia.

But thank God! He has made us his captives and continues to lead us along in Christ’s triumphal procession. Now he uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume. Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing. To those who are perishing, we are a dreadful smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved, we are a life-giving perfume. And who is adequate for such a task as this?

You see, we are not like the many hucksters who preach for personal profit. We preach the word of God with sincerity and with Christ’s authority, knowing that God is watching us.
(2 Corinthians 2:12-17 NLT)
Response in Prayer

O Father, may my glory be the cross of Jesus and the surrender of my heart to follow Him as Lord. I know to some that such surrender seems silly and pitiable. Yet I believe that I find my greatest freedom, joy, and future in living for Jesus as My Lord. Help me keep my focus on Jesus. I ask this prayer in His name. Amen.
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The Thoughts and Prayers for 'A Year with Jesus' are written by Phil Ware. You can email questions or comments to phil@heartlight.org.
Heartlight is proud to promote Compassion International. See children who were sponsored today!
© 1998-2014, Heartlight Inc.

Transformed!" — A Year with Jesus for 09/07/2014

Note from Jesus

Dear Disciple,

How does one of My ministers prove his or her legitimacy, worth, and right to minister?

This is the question that Paul will return to over and over again in 2 Corinthians. His answer in today's verses is important because it is built upon the coming of the Holy Spirit to each Christian as a sign of God's glorious and transforming presence inside each believer.

The Holy Spirit is at work transforming those who are My disciples into something the law of the old covenant could never do. Later, Paul will state this point with these words:
Therefore, now no condemnation awaits those who are living in Jesus the Anointed, the Liberating King, because when you live in the Anointed One, Jesus, a new law takes effect. The law of the Spirit of life breathes into you and liberates you from the law of sin and death. God did something the law could never do. You see, human flesh took its toll on God’s law. In and of itself, the law is not weak; but the flesh weakens it. So to condemn the sin that was ruling in the flesh, God sent His own Son, bearing the likeness of sinful flesh, as a sin offering. Now we are able to live up to the justice demanded by the law. But that ability has not come from living by our fallen human nature; it has come because we walk according to the movement of the Spirit in our lives.
(Romans 8:1-4)
In Paul's day, it was common for a person to carry letters of recommendation to prove that person's trustworthiness and legitimacy. In addition, the reputation of the recommender was extremely important. This practice was in place in early churches so that when a guest arrived, My assembled disciples would know the guest was trustworthy (Romans 16:1-2; 1 Corinthians 1! 6:10-11; 3 John 1:5-8).

Paul is dealing with criticism from some opponents in the Corinthian house churches. They were saying that he was not much of a minister, especially when compared to the "super apostles" who were making strong demands for support on the Corinthian churches (2 Corinthians 2:17; 2 Corinthians 12:11-13). These critics were wanting Paul to show letters of recommendation proving the validity of his ministry even though he was the one who first planted these house churches in Corinth.

Paul's answer was clear:
You are our letter, every word burned onto our hearts to be read by everyone. You are the living letter of the Anointed One, the Liberating King, nurtured by us and inscribed, not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God — a letter too passionate to be chiseled onto stone tablets, but emblazoned upon the human heart. 

...any competence or value we have comes from God. Now God has equipped us to be capable servants of the new covenant, not by authority of the written law which only brings death, but by the Spirit who brings life.
He doesn't need a letter of recommendation; the Corinthians are his letter written by the Holy Spirit!

Paul then speaks emphatically to the difference between the old covenant and the new covenant based on the work of the Holy Spirit. The old covenant was chiseled into stone tablets at Mount Sinai with Moses (Deuteronomy 5:1-24). The new covenant was written on human hearts by the Spirit and brought to the Corinthians through Paul's ministry. This new covenant is rooted in the promises of the great prophets Ezekiel and Jeremiah, who promised a new covenant with the coming of the Holy Spirit — a time when God's will would be written on human hearts and not stone tablets (Ezekiel 11:19-20; Ezekiel 36:26-27; Jeremiah 31:31-34). Paul's competence comes from his being equipped by God to be a capable servant of the new covenant. That competence is validated by the coming of the Holy Spirit Who brings life to the Corinthians.

While the old covenant given to Moses on Mount Sinai came with great glory, this glory was outshone by the far greater glory of the new covenant. Unlike Moses' face that reflected the glory of God after being in his presence yet dimmed as he was away from God's holy presence, the far greater glory of the second covenant never grows dim. Paul says:
In fact, what seemed to have great glory will appear entirely inglorious in the light of the greater glory of the new covenant. If something that fades away possesses glory, how much more intense is the glory of what remains?
Because Paul's ministry brings the transformational power of the Holy Spirit, he has great confidence to speak and act as a minister of God's new covenant. Unlike Moses, who hid his face as God's glory began to disappear from him, Paul shares a message and ministers through the power of the Holy Spirit Whose glory doesn't diminish or depart, but transforms!
Verses to Live

As you read these verses, please take time to read the bold highlighted sentences at the end of today's verses especially carefully. The new covenant, the covenant of the Holy Spirit, brings life and transformation. As you seek Me, the Spirit transforms you — "metamorphosed" is what Paul literally says!
Are we back to page one? Do we need to gather some recommendations to prove our validity to you? Or do we need to take your letter of commendation to others to gain credibility? You are our letter, every word burned onto our hearts to be read by everyone. You are the living letter of the Anointed One, the Liberating King, nurtured by us and inscribed, not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God — a letter too passionate to be chiseled onto stone tablets, but emblazoned upon the human heart.

This is the kind of confidence we have in and through the Anointed toward our God. Don't be mistaken; in and of ourselves we know we have little to offer, but any competence or value we have comes from God. Now God has equipped us to be capable servants of the new covenant, not by authority of the written law which only brings death, but by the Spirit who brings life.

Now consider this: if the ministry of death, which was chiseled in stone, came with so much glory that the Israelites could not bear to look at Moses' face even as that glory was fading, imagine the kind of greater glory that will accompany the ministry of the Spirit. If glory ushered in the ministry that offers condemnation, how much more glory will attend the ministry that promises to restore and set the world right? In fact, what seemed to have great glory will appear entirely inglorious in the light of the greater glory of the new covenant. If something that fades away possesses glory, how much more intense is the glory of what remains?

In light of this hope that we have, we act with great confidence and speak with great courage. We do not act like Moses who covered his face with a veil so the children of Israel would not stare as the glory of God faded from his face. Their minds became as hard as stones; for up to this day when they read the old covenant, the same veil continues to hide that glory; this veil is lifted only through the Anointed One. Even today a veil covers their hearts when the words of Moses are read; but in the moment when one turns toward the Lord, the veil is removed. By "the Lord" what I mean is the Spirit, and in any heart where the Spirit of the Lord is present, there is liberty. Now all of us, with our faces unveiled, reflect the glory of the Lord as if we are mirrors; and so we are being transformed, metamorphosed, into His same image from one radiance of glory to another, just as the Spirit of the Lord accomplishes it.
(2 Corinthians 3:1-18)
Response in Prayer

O Father, thank You for the gift of the Holy Spirit. Thank You for the new covenant — not laws written on tablets of stone, but written by the Spirit's work of implanting and etching Your will into my heart. I commit to offer myself to Jesus — to seek after Him and obey Him and to become more like Him and joyfully partner with the Spirit in His transforming work. In Jesus' name I offer you my heart to be set free, like a butterfly emerging from its chrysalis, and transformed into the person You created me to be. Amen.
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The Thoughts and Prayers for 'A Year with Jesus' are written by Phil Ware. You can email questions or comments to phil@heartlight.org.
Heartlight is proud to promote Compassion International. See children who were sponsored today!
© 1998-2014, Heartlight Inc.

"Corrective and Restorative!" — A Year with Jesus for 09/05/2014

Note from Jesus

Dear Beloved,

Occasionally in a family, one family member can lose his or her way. That person's behavior can become bizarre, erratic, hurtful, rebellious, sinful, or dangerous. The same is true in My spiritual family. Occasionally one of My disciples will rebel and run after another lifestyle and enmesh himself or herself in sin. Another can stumble and wander away from the truth and into a life of sin and depravity. Still another simply lets his or her heart grow cold to My way of life.

As in any family, discipline must sometimes be exercised to protect other family members who might be easily led astray by a rebellious brother or sister. Discipline can also be useful in preventing shame being brought on the family of believers because a rebellious person is identified as one of My followers, yet is living in hypocrisy with blatant disregard for My way. This discipline is also important as a loving strategy to bring the sinful person back into the family fellowship. With this in mind, I want you to hear two clear messages from the verses today — one is from two passages from Paul about specific situations in the Corinthian churches and the other is from My teaching during My earthly ministry.

First, discipline is for someone who has become entrenched in a lifestyle of sin. Discipline is practiced when that person has refused to change his or her lifestyle even after being privately, lovingly, and carefully approached about his or her sin (Matthew 18:15-17). Church discipline is not to be done carelessly or selfishly, but lovingly and carefully in an effort to bring that person back into full fellowship with Me and My spiritual family. The approach to this person should never be done arrogantly or full of pride, but humbly and full of compassion, recognizing that you could succumb to any number of sins yourself and be dragged away into a lifestyle of destruction (Galatians 6:1-2; James 1:13-15). 

Second, discipline in My spiritual family has two goals: correction and restoration. I want My followers who are living in rebellion to change their behaviors and return to Me. I want each person who has wandered away, for whatever reason, to be brought back into full fellowship with Me. Spiritual discipline is a recognition that someone is far away from Me and needs to turn back to Me and come home. Pray expectantly, waiting for the one who has wandered off and has been captured by the allure of sin to come to his or her senses and return home to Me (Luke 15:11-24). Work to restore the person to your fellowship. Even after discipline, go in search of those who are lost and seek to bring them home to My family (Luke 15:1-10). I don't want you to push people farther away from grace, but to call each person back to grace and restore that person to active fellowship. This is the ultimate purpose of all spiritual discipline!
Verses to Live

As you read Paul's words to the Corinthians about the person they have spiritually disciplined, remember the principles I have shared with you today. Read both of Paul's words to the Corinthians — there are two passages in the verses below — and then read My words from My ministry. Feel the deep emotions of Paul's words and also his deep concern for the person who has been disciplined. Most of all, hear these words that capture the goal in all spiritual discipline:
I encourage you to offer him the grace of forgiveness and the comfort of your acceptance. Otherwise, if he finds no welcome back to the community, I'm afraid he will be overwhelmed with extreme sorrow and lose all hope. So I urge you to demonstrate your love for him once again.
You as a group have great power to forgive sin, so please use this power by demonstrating your love for each and everyone of those who have wandered away from Me and restore these precious children of the Father. Please bring My lost sheep home to Me!
I finally determined that I would not come to you again for yet another agonizing visit. If my visits create such pain and sorrow for you, who can cheer me up except for those I've caused such grief? This is exactly what I was writing to you about earlier so that when we are face-to-face I will not have to wallow in sadness in the presence of friends who should bring me the utmost joy. For I felt sure that my delight would also become your delight. My last letter to you was covered with tears, composed with great difficulty, and frankly, a broken heart. It wasn't my intention to depress you or cause you pain; rather, I had hoped you would see it for what it was — a demonstration of the overwhelming love I have for all of you.

But if anyone has caused harm, he has not so much harmed me as he has — and I don't think I'm exaggerating here — harmed all of you. In my view, the majority of you have punished him well enough. So instead of continuing to ostracize him, I encourage you to offer him the grace of forgiveness and the comfort of your acceptance. Otherwise, if he finds no welcome back to the community, I'm afraid he will be overwhelmed with extreme sorrow and lose all hope. So I urge you to demonstrate your love for him once again. I wrote these things to you with a clear purpose in mind: to test whether you are willing to live and abide by all my counsel. If you forgive anyone, I forgive that one as well. Have no doubt, anything that I have forgiven — when I do forgive — is done ultimately for you in the presence of the Anointed One. It's my duty to make sure that Satan does not win even a small victory over us, for we don't want to be naive and then fall prey to his schemes.
(2 Corinthians 2:1-11)

Because of my deep love for you, I must express my concern about the report brought to me regarding the lewd and immoral behavior exhibited in your community. This scandal has come to my attention because this kind of thing is unheard of even among the outsiders around us: I understand a man is having sexual relations with his father's wife. You have turned into an arrogant lot who refuse to see the tragedy right in front of your eyes and mourn for it. If you would face these hard realities, the one living in this sin would be removed from the community.

Despite the fact that I am not physically present with you, I am there in spirit and already have spoken judgment against the man who has engaged in this conduct. When you gather in the name of the Lord Jesus and I am present with you in spirit, and the infinite power of our Lord Jesus is present also, I direct you to release this man over to Satan so his rebellious nature will be destroyed and his spirit might be rescued in the day the Lord Jesus returns.

Your proud boasting in this matter is terrible. Don't you understand that the tiniest infraction can bring about an unwelcome chain of events? That just a little yeast causes all the dough to rise? Get rid of all the old yeast; then you'll become new dough, just as you are already a people without sin's leavening influence. You see, the Anointed One is our Passover lamb; He has been sacrificed for us. So let the real feast begin. Get rid of all the old yeast, the yeast of hatred and evil. Throw it out so we can feast on the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
(1 Corinthians 5:1-8)

[Jesus taught them,] "If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, what will he do? Won't he leave the ninety-nine others on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he will rejoice over it more than over the ninety-nine that didn't wander away! In the same way, it is not my heavenly Father's will that even one of these little ones should perish.

"If another believer sins against you, go privately and point out the offense. If the other person listens and confesses it, you have won that person back. But if you are unsuccessful, take one or two others with you and go back again, so that everything you say may be confirmed by two or three witnesses. If the person still refuses to listen, take your case to the church. Then if he or she won't accept the church's decision, treat that person as a pagan or a corrupt tax collector.

"I tell you the truth, whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.

"I also tell you this: If two of you agree here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you. For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them."
(Matthew 18:12-20 NLT)
Response in Prayer

O Father, several people are on my heart today as I think about what Jesus and Paul taught about spiritual discipline. Please use me to help bring these precious lost sheep back to You. In Jesus' name I ask for wisdom, compassion, courage, and grace as I seek to be your instrument of restoration. Amen.
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The Thoughts and Prayers for 'A Year with Jesus' are written by Phil Ware. You can email questions or comments to phil@heartlight.org.
Heartlight is proud to promote Compassion International. See children who were sponsored today!
© 1998-2014, Heartlight Inc.

"Spiritual Power" — A Year with Jesus for 09/02/2014

Note from Jesus

Dear Friend,

To understand your verses today from the book of Acts, you need to know two important truths about the city of Ephesus. 

The first truth involves disciples of John the Baptist — my cousin and predecessor. John had gained a huge following before I started the primary part of My earthly ministry. Many people were baptized by John as they turned their lives from sin (repented) to get ready for My coming. Many who never heard the full story of My coming and the full good news about Me were baptized (Mark 1:4-8). Paul met a group of these disciples of John in Ephesus. They had a fundamental gap in their understanding: they knew nothing about the Holy Spirit, the Spirit's connection to spiritual rebirth, the gospel, and baptism (John 3:3-7; Acts 2:36-39; Titus 3:3-7). Paul taught the importance of the Spirit:
But you do not live in the flesh. You live in the Spirit, assuming, of course, that the Spirit of God lives inside of you. The truth is that anyone who does not have the Spirit of the Anointed living within does not belong to God.
(Romans 8:9)
So Paul taught these disciples of John in Ephesus the truth about Me and the Spirit and then baptized them. Paul then laid his hands on them and they received the Spirit in a demonstrable way just as Jews did at Pentecost (Acts 2:14-21; Acts 2:32-39), Samaritans did after Philip's ministry (Acts 8:14-17), and Gentiles had with the conversion of Cornelius and his household (Acts 10:34-48). The Holy Spirit also made clear that John's disciples in Ephesus had become My disciples.

A second issue for faithful discipleship in Ephesus was the challenge of demonic power. Not only was Ephesus one of the world's four largest cities and an important seaport, but this city was also the most important banking center in the Mediterranean world. When you think of banking centers in your world today, you think of financial institutions. However, Ephesus was an important banking center for Asia Minor because of the many temples, the place where money was exchanged, held, and connected to religions. Ephesus was a huge place where eastern cultures, western cultures, and ancient magical spiritual practices collided. Pilgrims came from all over the world to receive healing, to have demons cast out of people they loved, and to connect to spiritual powers of all kinds. In addition to preaching and teaching, Paul did all sorts of miracles showing My power at work through him. The people of Ephesus had to know I was more powerful than the false gods and demons they worshiped. 

If Paul's great miracles were not enough to convince them, the confrontation of demons with the sons of Sceva demonstrated that My power was stronger than the demons and could not be manipulated! This story, both humorous and sad, should serve as a reminder to you of what Paul said to the Ephesians when he wrote to them later:
Finally, brothers and sisters, draw your strength and might from God. Put on the full armor of God to protect yourselves from the devil and his evil schemes. We're not waging war against enemies of flesh and blood alone. No, this fight is against tyrants, against authorities, against supernatural powers and demon princes that slither in the darkness of this world, and against wicked spiritual armies that lurk about in heavenly places.
(Ephesians 6:10-12)
I want you to realize today that when I sent the Holy Spirit to you at your conversion, I sent you Our — Father, Son, and Spirit's — presence and power. My victory over sin, death, and demons in the cross and in the resurrection gives you spiritual power. While you live in a world where sin, death, and demons influence many things, these forces no longer have power over you and can no longer control you if you follow Me (Colossians 1:9-13).
Verses to Live

The challenge for believers in Ephesus revolved around Our spiritual power — My disciples had it and there were impostors aligned with demons who didn't have that ultimate power. My disciples demonstrated through their lives and their actions that I had the power over all demonic forces and that the Holy Spirit gave My disciples confidence to not live in superstition and fear.
While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul's overland journey brought him back to Ephesus. He encountered a group of about a dozen disciples there.

Paul:
Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?
John's Disciples:
We've never heard about the Holy Spirit.
Paul:
Well then, what kind of ceremonial washing through baptism did you receive?
John's Disciples:
We received the ritual cleansing of baptism that John taught.
Paul:
John taught the truth — that people should be baptized with renewed thinking and turn toward God. But he also taught that the people should believe in the One whose way he was preparing, that is, Jesus the Anointed.
As soon as they heard this, they were baptized, this time in the name of our Lord Jesus. When Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them in the same way the original disciples experienced at Pentecost: they spoke in tongues and prophesied.

For three months, Paul continued his standard practice: he went week by week to the synagogue, speaking with great confidence, arguing with great persuasiveness, proclaiming the kingdom of God. Once again, some members of the synagogue refused to believe and insulted the Way publicly before the whole synagogue community. Paul withdrew and took those with him who had become disciples. For the next two years, he used the public lecture hall of Tyrannus, presenting the Word of the Lord every day, debating with all who would come. As a result, everyone in the region, whether Jews or Greeks, heard the message. Meanwhile, God did amazing miracles through Paul. People would take a handkerchief or article of clothing that had touched Paul's skin and bring it to their sick friends or relatives, and the patients would be cured of their diseases or released from the evil spirits that oppressed them.

Some itinerant Jewish exorcists noticed Paul's success in this regard, so they tried to use the name of Jesus, the King, in an exorcism they were performing.

Imagine this: There are seven of them, all sons of a Jewish chief priest named Sceva, gathered around a demonized man in a house.

One of the Jewish Exorcists:
I command you to depart, by the Jesus proclaimed by Paul!
Evil Spirit:
Jesus I know. Paul I know. But who are you?
Then the man leaps up, attacks them all, rips off their clothing, and beats them so badly that they run out of the house stark naked and covered in bruises.

Word of this strange event spread throughout Ephesus among both Jews and Greeks. Everyone was shocked and realized that the name of Jesus was indeed powerful and praiseworthy. As a result, a number of people involved in various occult practices came to faith. They confessed their secret practices and rituals. Some of them had considerable libraries about their magic arts; they piled up their books and burned them publicly. Someone estimated the value of the books to be 50,000 silver coins. Again, word spread, and the message of the Lord overcame resistance and spread powerfully.
(Acts 19:1-20)
Response in Prayer

O Father, please tear down every idol, any demonic influence, and every connection to any false god from my heart. I want to serve You and You alone. I believe that Jesus has given me power over sin and death when I came to Him and called on Him as my Lord and Savior and as I joined with Him in His death, burial, and resurrection in baptism. I believe that Jesus poured the Spirit out on me so that I could have the power to live as Your child in my world. So I ask, dear Father, please strengthen me by the power of the Holy Spirit. Help others see the transformational power of the Spirit at work in my life, I pray, and be drawn to follow Jesus, too. I pray this in His name. Amen.
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The Thoughts and Prayers for 'A Year with Jesus' are written by Phil Ware. You can email questions or comments to phil@heartlight.org.
Heartlight is proud to promote Compassion International. See children who were sponsored today!
© 1998-2014, Heartlight Inc.

"Bedrock Belief" — A Year with Jesus for 08/30/2014

Note from Jesus

Dear Disciple,

All religions, in fact all world views, are built on a belief (sometimes couched as unbelief) in something — an idea, a theory, an ideology, an explanation, a feeling, a skepticism, a method... However, I want you to realize two truths that Paul reveals in the verses that you are to read today:
The basic Christian faith, the good news about Me, is very straightforward and easy to understand — believing that good news might be hard, but understanding what you must believe is clear.
That faith hinges on My resurrection from the dead — an event in history that was easily investigated by skeptical witnesses who confirmed My resurrection and then risked their lives to verify My resurrection to others.
Paul summarizes this bedrock Christian faith with four truths, all centered on My resurrection:
I died for your sins as the Scriptures had promised.
I was buried in a tomb.
On the third day, I was raised from the dead just as the Scriptures had said.
After My resurrection, I appeared to those who knew Me and thought I was still dead. Paul mentions some of these people by name and points out that some of them were still alive as witnesses to My resurrection. I also appeared to Paul, who was one of My fiercest opponents. Those appearances changed all of their lives forever.
Paul made very clear to the Corinthians that this was the bedrock Christian gospel necessary for salvation — notice the words in bold to see how emphatically he makes this point. Paul's summary sentence at the end of these verses adds emphasis to this claim of bedrock belief:
In the end, it doesn't matter whether it was I or the other witnesses who brought you the message. What matters is that we keep preaching and that you have faith in this message.
A few verses latter he also made the unequivocal observation that "if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless..." (1 Corinthians 15:17 NLT). You must build your life of faith on this bedrock truth if you are to be My disciple.
Verses to Live

Some people try to make faith an elaborate and difficult set of truths to understand. Paul reminded the Corinthians and I am reminding you that the bedrock truth of your belief is not difficult to know. The challenge is believing this truth and building your daily life upon that truth.
Let me remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I preached to you when we first met. It's the essential message that you have taken to heart, the central story you now base your life on; and through this gospel, you are liberated [saved] — unless, of course, your faith has come to nothing.

For I passed down to you the crux of it all which I had also received from others, that the Anointed One, the Liberating King, died for our sins and was buried and raised from the dead on the third day. All this happened to fulfill the Scriptures; it was the perfect climax to God's covenant story. Afterward He appeared alive to Cephas (you may know him as Simon Peter), then to the rest of the twelve. If that were not amazing enough, on one occasion, He appeared to more than 500 believers at one time. Many of those brothers and sisters are still around to tell the story, though some have fallen asleep in Jesus. Soon He appeared to James, His brother and the leader of the Jerusalem church, and then to all the rest of the emissaries He Himself commissioned. Last of all, He appeared to me; I was like a child snatched from his mother's womb.

You see, I am the least of all His emissaries, not fit to be called His emissary because I hunted down and persecuted God's church. Today I am who I am because of God's grace, and I have made sure that the grace He offered me has not been wasted. I have worked harder, longer, and smarter than all the rest; but I realize it is not me — it is God's grace with me that has made the difference. In the end, it doesn't matter whether it was I or the other witnesses who brought you the message. What matters is that we keep preaching and that you have faith in this message.
(1 Corinthians 15:1-11)
Response in Prayer

Father, forgive me. Forgive me for getting distracted by a lot of theological tangents that I pursue. Forgive me for becoming distracted from what is important. Forgive me for making essential Christian doctrine so much more complicated than it has to be. Thank You for loving Me enough to have Jesus pay the price for My sins. Thank you that Jesus faced death and the realities of human frailty and mortality so that I can trust Him to help me when I face such difficult times. Thank you for raising Jesus from the dead and verifying with human witnesses who were not expecting His resurrection and who cowered in fear when Jesus died. I am emboldened to believe when I see how their fear was turned into fearlessness because of their experience with the resurrected Jesus, in whose name I pray. Amen.
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The Thoughts and Prayers for 'A Year with Jesus' are written by Phil Ware. You can email questions or comments to phil@heartlight.org.
Heartlight is proud to promote Compassion International. See children who were sponsored today!
© 1998-2014, Heartlight Inc.


"Our Glorious Future" — A Year with Jesus for 08/31/2014

Note from Jesus

Dear Follower,

Resurrection is coming. I will return for those who belong to Me. At My coming, everyone who belongs to Me will be given an immortal body. Just as you have carried the body that has been part of human existence and that is mortal because of Adam's rebellion against the Father, you will be transformed because of My victory over death and have an immortal body far more glorious than you can fully imagine. My resurrection from the dead is the assurance of your resurrection. My glorious body after My resurrection is the assurance of your glorious body after resurrection.

I know you would like all the details about your life after death and you would like to know the details about life after death for those you love. Let it be enough to know that when you are My disciple, the Holy Spirit Who is alive in you ensures that you will never be separated from Me and that your resurrection is assured (Romans 8:32-39). When death claims your physical body, you come to be with Me (Philippians 1:19-24; 2 Corinthians 5:1-8). Then, when the Father says it is time, I will return and change all who belong to Me to have immortal bodies to share in resurrection and reunion — the glory of all that the Father has promised you.

Your existence in this immortal state is impossible for you to fully grasp now, but Paul helps you catch a glimpse of this glorious future by using an example from your earthly existence. A seed that you place in the ground is not particularly beautiful. It is simple and earthy. Yet when it is placed in the ground and dies to its current existence, a transformation happens that is a part of a new life. The seed germinates, grows, and becomes something glorious. The seed is not glorious when compared to the flower of the fully grown plant. Your bodies, though marvelously made, are just a seed compared to the glory of the new bodily existence that you will enjoy with Me, and with all who have believed in Me and served Me, when we share in glory together.

When death intrudes and wounds your heart when someone you love and who is My disciple is separated from you, remember that death is not only My enemy, but I have ultimately defeated death and its power. While death may separate you for a short time from those you love, My resurrection ensures your resurrection and your reunion with all those who are Mine! That means that no matter what your earthly life throws at you — how it disappoints you, wounds you, beats you down or discourages you — I have defeated death. Death will not have the ultimate victory over you. Death will not determine the outcome of your life. You are Mine! Your future glory beyond death is in My hands! Transformation, reunion, victory, and a life in glory are your future!
Verses to Live

The following words come from what many people have called the resurrection chapter of the Bible. Paul wanted the Corinthians to know that because I was raised from the dead, they will be raised from the dead. Please, take time to savor Paul's words. Dwell on them. Let them give you hope. Commit the phrases that mean the most to you to memory for those times when you need them most. Remember, your faith in Me is not wasted and your hope in Me is not in vain!
Now if we have told you about the Anointed One (how He has risen from the dead and appeared to us fully alive), then how can you stand there and say there is no such thing as resurrection from death? Friends, if there is no resurrection of the dead, then even the Anointed hasn't been raised; if that is so, then all our preaching has been for nothing and your faith in the message is worthless. And what's worse, all of us who have been preaching the gospel are now guilty of misrepresenting God because we have been spreading the news that He raised the Anointed One from the dead (which must be a lie if what you are saying about the dead not being raised is the truth).

Please listen. If you say, "the dead are not raised," then what you are telling me is that the Anointed One has not been raised. Friends, if the Anointed has not been raised from the dead, then your faith is worth less than yesterday's garbage, you are all doomed in your sins, and all the dearly departed who trusted in His liberation are left decaying in the ground. If what we have hoped for in the Anointed doesn't take us beyond this life, then we are world-class fools, deserving everyone's pity.

But the Anointed One was raised from death's slumber and is the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep in death.
(1 Corinthians 15:12-20)

Now I know what some of you are thinking: "Just how are the dead going to be raised? What kind of bodies will they have when they come back to life?"

Don't be a fool! The seed you plant doesn't produce life unless it dies. Right? The seed doesn't have the same look, the same body, if you will, of what it will have once it starts to grow. It starts out a single, naked seed — whether wheat or some other grain, it doesn't matter — and God gives to that seed a body just as He has desired. For each of the different kinds of seeds God prepares a unique body.

Or look at it this way: not all flesh is the same. Right? There is skin flesh on humans, furry flesh on animals, feathery flesh on birds, and scaly flesh on fish. Likewise there are bodies made for the heavens and bodies made for the earth. The heavenly bodies have a different kind of glory or luminescence compared to bodies below. Even among the heavenly bodies, there is a different level of brilliance: the sun shines differently than the moon, the moon differently than the stars, and the stars themselves differ in their brightness.

It's like this with the resurrection of those who have died. The body planted in the earth decays. But the body raised from the earth cannot decay. The body is planted in disgrace and weakness. But the body is raised in splendor and power. The body planted in the earth was animated by the physical, material realm. But the body raised from the earth will be animated by the spiritual. Since there is a physical, material body, there will also be a spiritual body.

That's why it was written, "The first man Adam became a living soul"; the last Adam has become a life-giving spirit. Everything has an order. The body is not animated first by the spiritual but the physical; then the spiritual becomes its life-giving source. The first man, Adam, came from the earth and was made from dust; the second man, Jesus, has come from heaven. The earth man shares his earth nature with all those made of earth; likewise the heavenly man shares His heavenly nature with all those made of heaven. Just as we have carried the image of the earth man in our bodies, we will also carry the image of the heavenly man in our new bodies at the resurrection.

Now listen to this: brothers and sisters, this present body is not able to inherit the kingdom of God any more than decay can inherit that which lasts forever. Stay close because I am going to tell you a mystery — something you may have trouble understanding: we will not all fall asleep in death, but we will all be transformed. It will all happen so fast, in a blink, a mere flutter of the eye. The last trumpet will call, and the dead will be raised from their graves with a body that does not, cannot decay. All of us will be changed! We'll step out of our mortal clothes and slide into immortal bodies, replacing everything that is subject to death with eternal life. And, when we are all redressed with bodies that do not, cannot decay, when we put immortality over our mortal frames, then it will be as Scripture says:
Life everlasting has victoriously swallowed death.

Hey, Death! What happened to your big win?

Hey, Death! What happened to your sting?
Sin came into this world, and death's sting followed. Then sin took aim at the law and gained power over those who follow the law. Thank God, then, for our Lord Jesus, the Anointed, the Liberating King, who brought us victory over the grave.

My dear brothers and sisters, stay firmly planted—be unshakable—do many good works in the name of God, and know that all your labor is not for nothing when it is for God.
(1 Corinthians 15:35-58)
Response in Prayer

O Father, please carve these words on my heart so that I can remember them when times of discouragement come because of the death of those I love. Bring these words back to me when I face my own mortality. I cannot help, dear Father, but think of those who are hanging onto these words right now as they are being martyred for their faith at the hands of those who preach hate in the name of religion. Please, dear Father, work in our human history to stop this genocide of our brothers and sisters and their children. And, dear Father, please give those who face death because of their faith in Jesus a sense of His being with them every step of the way until they are blessed by His presence with them and as death is swallowed up in life. I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
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The Thoughts and Prayers for 'A Year with Jesus' are written by Phil Ware. You can email questions or comments to phil@heartlight.org.
Heartlight is proud to promote Compassion International. See children who were sponsored today!

© 1998-2014, Heartlight Inc.

"Caring for the Family of Believers" — A Year with Jesus for 09/01/2014

Note from Jesus

Dear Child of the Father,

You live in an interconnected world more than any human beings in the history of planet earth. You can travel by air, sea, and land quickly. You can speak to people on the other side of your planet by phone or internet. You can rally people for great causes through social networking, special funding tools, and circles of online friends. For you, the world is an interconnected place. So I will share with you a great disappointment that I have: those of you who have much seem so reluctant to share it with your brothers and sisters who have so little. Please remember what My apostle John said so many years ago:
We know what true love looks like because of Jesus. He gave His life for us, and He calls us to give our lives for our brothers and sisters.

If a person owns the kinds of things we need to make it in the world but refuses to share with those in need, is it even possible that God’s love lives in him? My little children, don’t just talk about love as an idea or a theory. Make it your true way of life, and live in the pattern of gracious love.
(1 John 3:16-18)
I do not believe your reluctance to share what you have is because your hearts are hard, but rather you have not put the effort that you should into learning about the needs of others. Also your preachers and elders have not called you to share as diligently as they should. But today, I want you to know that I have called you to share! You have brothers and sisters who are enduring great atrocities — so please help them. You have opportunities to take My message to many places all over the world — so please support My messengers. You can encourage and build up churches in other nations when you vacation or go on mission and service trips — so please connect to these churches and give them encouragement and financial support. You have brothers and sisters who are hungry and who need medical care — so please support programs and people that are ministering to these needs and get involved yourself.

My earliest followers were generous with each other and offered hands-on care to each other. Today the final reading from Paul's letter you call 1 Corinthians is among the passages below. As you read these verses, let them remind you of the generosity of the early Christians. I want you to let the Holy Spirit touch your heart with greater generosity for those in need among your own spiritual family — both those who are geographically near and those who live in places far from you.
Verses to Live

Your verses today come from several places in the New Testament. The first relates to a meeting of Paul with key leaders in Jerusalem. They recognized his ministry to Gentiles, but requested that he help the poor in the Jerusalem church. The remaining passages show Paul doing this and encouraging Gentile churches to participate. The last passage, written in a later letter to the Corinthians, holds up the Macedonian churches as an example to the Corinthian church and to you: be generous, excel in the grace of giving to the needs of your brothers and sisters in Christ. This kind of generosity is offering tangible love to those in need who are part of your spiritual family.
As a result of a revelation, I returned to Jerusalem 14 years later; and this time Barnabas and Titus accompanied me. When I arrived, I shared the exact gospel that I preach to the outsiders. I first shared God's truth privately with those who were people of influence and leadership because I thought if they did not embrace the freedom of my good news, then any work I had done for Jesus here and any in the past would be spoiled. .. When James, Cephas (whom you know as Peter), and John — three men purported to be pillars among the Jewish believers — saw that God's favor was upon me to fulfill this calling, they welcomed and endorsed both Barnabas and me. They agreed that our ministries would work as two hands, theirs advancing the mission of God among the Jews and ours toward the outsider nations, all with the same message of redemption. In parting, they requested we always remember to care for the poor among us, which was something I was eager to do.
(Galatians 2:1-2; Galatians 2:9-10)

Durin! g that year, some prophets came north from Jerusalem to Antioch. A prophet named Agabus stood in a meeting and made a prediction by the Holy Spirit: there would be an expansive, terrible famine in the whole region during the reign of Claudius. In anticipation of the famine, the disciples determined to give an amount proportionate to their financial ability and create a relief fund for all the believers in Judea. They sent Barnabas and Saul to carry this fund to the elders in Jerusalem.
(Acts 11:27-30)

Through all this upheaval, God's message spread to new frontiers and attracted more and more people. Meanwhile, the time Barnabas and Saul spent in Jerusalem came to an end, and they reported back to Antioch, bringing along John, who was also called Mark.
(Acts 12:24-25)

Now I call you, just as I did the churches gathering in Galatia, to collect funds to support God's people in Jerusalem. On Sunday, the first day of the week, I want each of you to set aside an amount, as God has blessed you, so the funds will be collected by the time I come. When I get there, I will send those you recommend by your own letters to carry your generous and gracious donation to Jerusalem. If you think it seems appropriate for me to travel with them, then we'll go together.
(1 Corinthians 16:1-4)

Now, brothers and sisters, let me tell you about the amazing gift of God's grace that's happening throughout the churches in Macedonia. Even in the face of severe anguish and hard times, their elation and poverty have overflowed into a wealth of generosity. I watched as they willingly gave what they could afford and then went beyond to give even more. They came to us on their own, begging to take part in this work of grace to support the poor saints in Judea. We were so overwhelmed— none of us expected their reaction—that they truly turned their lives over to the Lord and then gave themselves to support us in our work as we answer the call of God. That's why we asked Titus to finish what he started among you regarding this gracious work of charity. Just as you are rich in everything—in faith and speech, in knowledge and all sincerity, and in the love we have shown among you —now I ask you to invest richly in this gracious work too. I am not going to command you, but I am going to offer you the chance to prove your love genuine in the same way others have done. You know the grace that has come to us through our Lord Jesus the Anointed. He set aside His infinite riches and was born into the lowest circumstance so that you may gain great riches through His humble poverty. Listen, it's been a year since we called your attention to this opportunity to demonstrate God's grace, so here's my advice: pull together your resources and finish what you started.
(2 Corinthians 8:1-11)
Response in Prayer

Father, open my heart to the needs of my brothers and sisters who need help. Please help me find ways to bless them, ways that will not be wasted or squandered, but actually bring help. Use me to help others know of the needs of our spiritual family both near and far. I ask for the Holy Spirit to partner with me in giving me a generous heart. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
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The Thoughts and Prayers for 'A Year with Jesus' are written by Phil Ware. You can email questions or comments to phil@heartlight.org.
Heartlight is proud to promote Compassion International. See children who were sponsored today!
© 1998-2014, Heartlight Inc.

"A More Excellent Way!" — A Year with Jesus for 08/28/2014

Note from Jesus

Dear Precious One,

Some words are simply more important than others. In the human vocabulary that We — Father, Son, and Spirit — use, one word stands above all others: love. Our nature is love — as John beautifully stated:
...anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love — not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.

Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.
(1 John 4:8-12 NLT)
I came to earth to walk among you and share your mortality because of Our love — We wanted to save you from what is broken in your world and bring you back home to Us (John 3:16-17; 1 John 3:16-18). While I lived among you, I taught you that the whole law can be "summed up" in two love commands: Love God with all that you are and love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:36-40). I demonstrated love with what I did in My life (John 13:1-5) and in My death (Romans 5:6-11; 1 John 3:16). I called on you, again and again, to love each other showing the fruit of the Father's loving grace in your own dealings with each other (John 15:9-13).

Our example of love is the basis of what the apostle Paul told new Christians in Thessalonica:
Now about your love for one another we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. And in fact, you do love all of God's family... Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more...
(1 Thessalonians 4:9-10 NIV)
The verses you read today from the apostle Paul are some of his most famous and celebrated words. Many people call these words the love chapter of the Bible. However, I want you to realize that these words were written into a church context where spiritual gifts were being misused because of pride and rivalry. Notice the words Paul uses to set up his teaching, which he points out is "a more excellent way" and leads to "the greater gifts":
Are all members gifted as emissaries [apostles]? Are all gifted with prophetic utterance? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Or are all gifted in healing arts? Do all speak or interpret unknown languages? Of course not. Pursue the greater gifts, and let me tell you of a more excellent way — love.
(1 Corinthians 12:29-31)
Paul is making clear that no matter how talented, rich, smart, generous, or spiritual you are, without doing what you do in love, your giftedness means nothing. People fuss, fight, and divide My body, the church, over things that are temporary and they end up neglecting the things that really matter — faith, hope, and love — and especially the one thing that matters most: LOVE!
Verses to Live

What Paul says here is not only true, but it also is essential for you as My disciple. You must be loving. Yet also remember that you cannot love others fully and sacrificially on your own power. Loving others must be your commitment, but you can also turn to Us and ask for Our help to live this way of love. We will supply you with the power to love! So I give you this promise, through the words of Paul:
When our characters are refined, we learn what it means to hope and anticipate God's goodness. And hope will never fail to satisfy our deepest need because the Holy Spirit that was given to us has flooded our hearts with God's love.
(Romans 5:4-5)
Now carefully read, consider, and commit to apply this beautiful teaching from the apostle Paul!
What if I speak in the most elegant languages of people or in the exotic languages of the heavenly messengers, but I live without love? Well then, anything I say is like the clanging of brass or a crashing cymbal. What if I have the gift of prophecy, am blessed with knowledge and insight to all the mysteries, or what if my faith is strong enough to scoop a mountain from its bedrock, yet I live without love? If so, I am nothing. I could give all that I have to feed the poor, I could surrender my body to be burned as a martyr, but if I do not live in love, I gain nothing by my selfless acts.

Love is patient; love is kind. Love isn't envious, doesn't boast, brag, or strut about. There's no arrogance in love; it's never rude, crude, or indecent — it's not self-absorbed. Love isn't easily upset. Love doesn't tally wrongs or celebrate injustice; but truth — yes, truth — is love's delight! Love puts up with anything and everything that comes along; it trusts, hopes, and endures no matter what. Love will never become obsolete.

Now as for the prophetic gifts, they will not last; unknown languages will become silent, and the gift of knowledge will no longer be needed. Gifts of knowledge and prophecy are partial at best, at least for now, but when the perfection and fullness of God's kingdom arrive, all the parts will end.

When I was a child, I spoke, thought, and reasoned in childlike ways as we all do. But when I became a man, I left my childish ways behind. For now, we can only see a dim and blurry picture of things, as when we stare into polished metal. I realize that everything I know is only part of the big picture. But one day, when Jesus arrives, we will see clearly, face-to-face. In that day, I will fully know just as I have been wholly known by God. But now faith, hope, and love remain; these three virtues must characterize our lives. The greatest of these is love.
(1 Corinthians 13:1-13)
Response in Prayer

O Father, I invite the Holy Spirit to fill My heart with Your love so that my life overflows to those with whom I live, those whom my life touches, and those whom you place in my path to touch with your grace. May my life be filled with the aroma of Your love in all that I do, think, and say. I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.
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The Thoughts and Prayers for 'A Year with Jesus' are written by Phil Ware. You can email questions or comments to phil@heartlight.org.
Heartlight is proud to promote Compassion International. See children who were sponsored today!
© 1998-2014, Heartlight Inc.

"Wait for Each Other at My Table!" — A Year with Jesus for 08/25/2014

Note from Jesus

Dear Precious Disciple,

Few things have been more important to My disciples through the centuries than My Supper — the Eucharist, the Lord's Supper, Communion, and Holy Communion are all terms that have been used in your time based on things said in the Scriptures. I shared in the seder meal as part of Passover with My disciples before My betrayal, trials, and crucifixion. My disciples have called this the Last Supper over the years. This meal was a precious time with My disciples for many reasons — to show My love, to warn them of coming trials, to plant seeds of hope beyond My crucifixion, and other reasons — and Paul makes clear in the verses below one of the key reasons this meal was so important:
I passed on to you the tradition the Lord gave to me: On the same night the Lord Jesus was betrayed, He took the bread in His hands; and after giving thanks to God, He broke it and said, "This is My body, broken for you. Keep doing this so that you and all who come after will have a vivid reminder of Me."
My Supper with the disciples on that night provides you with a great foundation for your participation in Communion.

Paul points to several truths that he wants the disciples to get out of this time of Communion together — or as he calls it here, "the Lord's Supper." If you compare his points in his letter to the Corinthians with Luke's emphasis on "breaking bread" in the book of Acts and you look back at the passion accounts in each of the four gospels, you can develop a much richer and broader emphasis for your celebration of My Supper. What Paul says here is focused on correcting the awful abuses of the Corinthians — division between rich and poor (the "haves and the have-nots") that included drunkenness on the part of some and being left out on the part of others. This breaking down of fellowship and "sharing" destroyed so much of the original intent and practice of My Supper.

I shared this meal with My disciples before My death in very close fellowship and with honest words, demonstrated love, sharp warnings, and reassuring teachings. This meal was about fellowship. However, in the Corinthians' enthusiasm for a spiritual high, some of them had made My Supper into something they treated as almost magical. From their warped and selfish perspective, the more they ate and drank, the more they honored Me and the better the celebration for them personally. For them, the concept of sharing this meal in close communion with others was forgotten. So Paul warned the Corinthians very clearly: remember Me and the price I paid on the cross with My body and My blood, but also remember that you are part of My body — the church — present today in the world. You must recognize both dimensions of My body to celebrate My Supper correctly. When you forget either understanding, something holy and precious is lost!

In fact, Paul made the point that, because they had lost one of these emphases on My body in My Supper, they were actually drinking damnation upon themselves, causing some in their community to be "sick and weak", and causing some of the spiritual problems they were dealing with in their house churches in Corinth.
Verses to Live

I want you to pay close attention to the things that Paul teaches in these verses. Don't forget Me and the price I paid for you in My body and with My blood. The bread and wine you take should be viewed by you as precious, My body and blood. Yet at the same time, don't forget that as you take the bread together, all who take that bread are then My bodily presence in the world and what happens to one part of My body impacts all the others. So as you remember My death, also show loving care to My ongoing life in My body, the church with whom you share My meal!
When we give thanks and share the cup of blessing, are we not sharing in the blood of the Anointed One? When we give thanks and break bread, are we not sharing in His body? Because there is one bread, we, though many, are also one body since we all share one bread.
(1 Corinthians 10:16-17)

On this next matter, I wish I could applaud you; but I can't because your gatherings have become counterpr! oductive, making things worse for the community rather than better. Let me start with this: I hear that your gatherings are polarizing the community; and to be honest, this doesn't surprise me. I've accepted the fact that factions are sometimes useful and even necessary so that those who are authentic and those who are counterfeit may be recognized. This distinction is obvious when you come together because it is not the Lord's Supper you are eating at all. When it's time to eat, some hastily dig right in; but look — some have more than others: over there someone is hungry, and over here someone is drunk! What is going on? If a self-centered meal is what you want, can't you eat and drink at home? Do you have so little respect for God's people and this community that you shame the poor at the Lord's table? I don't even know what to say to you! Are you looking for my approval? You won't find it.

I passed on to you the tradition the Lord gave to me: On the same night the Lord Jesus was betrayed, He took the bread in His hands; and after giving thanks to God, He broke it and said, "This is My body, broken for you. Keep doing this so that you and all who come after will have a vivid reminder of Me." After they had finished dinner, He took the cup and in the same way said, "This cup is the new covenant, executed in My blood. Keep doing this; and whenever you drink it, you and all who come after will have a vivid reminder of Me." Every time you taste this bread and every time you place the cup to your mouths and drink, you are declaring the Lord's death, which is the ultimate expression of His faithfulness and love, until He comes again.

So if someone takes of this bread and drinks from the Lord's cup improperly — as you are doing — he is guilty of violating the body and blood of our Lord. Examine yourselves first. Then you can properly approach the table to eat the bread and drink from the cup; because otherwise, if you eat and drink without properly discerning the significance of the Lord's body, then you eat and drink a mouthful of judgment upon yourself. Because of this violation, many in your community are now sick and weak; some have even died. But if we took care to judge ourselves, then we wouldn't have to worry about being judged by another. In fact, the Lord's hand of judgment is correcting us so that we don't suffer the same fate as the rest of the rebellious world: condemnation.

From now on, brothers and sisters, this is what I want you to do: when you come together to eat at the Lord's table, wait for each other. If someone is hungry and can't wait, he should go home and eat. In that way, your gatherings won't result in God's judgment. The rest of the instructions I have for you will have to wait until I come.
(1 Corinthians 11:17-33)
Response in Prayer

O Father, thank you for tangible ways for those of us who live many years after Jesus' physical incarnation on earth to be able to experience His presence. Holy Spirit, capture my heart at my Savior's sacrifice, the high price he paid to redeem me. Also, dear Spirit, please open my eyes to see the needs of those who are part of Jesus' body and who take Communion with me. Open my heart to reach out to them and care for them the same way Jesus cared for His disciples on the night He was betrayed. I ask for this experience of a deeper grace at the Lord's Table in Jesus' name. Amen.
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The Thoughts and Prayers for 'A Year with Jesus' are written by Phil Ware. You can email questions or comments to phil@heartlight.org.
Heartlight is proud to promote Compassion International. See children who were sponsored today!

© 1998-2014, Heartlight Inc.

"Gifted by the Spirit" — A Year with Jesus for 08/27/2014

Note from Jesus

Dear Precious Believer,

As a child of the Father, you received the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:9-10) when you turned your heart and life to follow Me, called on Me in faith to be your Savior, confessed Me as your Lord, and shared with Me in My death, burial, and resurrection through baptism (Romans 10:9-13; Acts 2:21; Acts 2:36-41; Acts 16:25-34; Galatians 3:26-29). I poured out the Holy Spirit upon you as you were born into a new life with Me — a life filled and led by the Spirit (Titus 3:3-7). As a beloved child of your Father in heaven, you are gifted! The Holy Spirit is alive in you and We — Father, Son, and Spirit — have given you spiritual gifts to use to bless your group of believers, to touch the lost and needy, and to bring glory to Us. 

A number of passages in your New Testament talk about your having received these gifts. Each has a little bit different emphasis:
Each of you is given gifts to use as part of My body, so use them without arrogance and with gracious commitment (Romans 12:3-8)
Each of you has at least one spiritual gift, but don't use your gift pridefully. Instead, recognize that each gift is important to the function of My body, the church; so use your gift in love to build up the church and to bless others. If your gift is to be used in your worship assemblies, use it in an orderly way to build and bless others (1 Corinthians 12:1-30; 1 Corint! hians 14:1-40).
I gave gifts to help the church function as My bodily presence, so use your gifts — use equipping gifts to help others minister and serving gifts to bring My grace to others. When you each use your gifts appropriately, then My church is matured into My likeness to bring My grace to those around you (Ephesians 4:7-16).
There are speaking gifts and serving gifts. Use your speaking gifts to speak My message and use your serving gifts to bless others as I would bless them using the strength to serve that I supply (1 Peter 4:10-11).

Today, your verses come from 1 Corinthians where Paul talks to the Corinthians about their gifts. So I wanted to share several insights with you about spiritual gifts and what the New Testament teaches you about these gifts.

Doctor Luke, Paul's companion, wrote two books in your New Testament, Luke and Acts. Luke emphasized how the Holy Spirit was at work in My earthly ministry so that you can see the connection between My ministry and your ministry — both are empowered by the Holy Spirit. Before I ascended into clouds and returned to the Father, I made this promise:
...you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere — in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
(Acts 1:8 NLT)
Throughout the book of Acts, Luke emphasized how the Holy Spirit helped My disciples take My good news to all the world, beginning from Jerusalem, going to all Judea, reaching out to Samaria, and then reaching to the ends of the earth.

Not only did the Holy Spirit empower My disciples to share My story, but the Spirit also confirmed that different groups had been accepted into My family and should be inc! luded in the fellowship of My disciples. This happened first with Jews at Pentecost when the Spirit came to the apostles in a very demonstrable way to show that I was alive from the dead and had authorized what occurred that day —that forgiveness and the gift of the Holy Spirit were available to everyone who answered My call (Acts 2:32-41). 

My disciples were a little slow to realize that when I commissioned them to go to all nations (Luke 24:44-48), I meant it. At first, they were taking My message just to Jewish people. So I sent a disciple named Philip to Samaria to go to people that Jews didn't appreciate: Samaritans (Acts 8:4-8). Yet when these precious Samaritans were baptized, they didn't receive the Spirit until a group of apostles came from Jerusalem and laid hands on them. Then, I sent the Holy Spirit in a clearly recognizable way to these Samaritan believers to show My apostles, along with the rest of My Jewish disciples, that Samaritans must be included in My family of grace — that the Jewish disciples must accept them as brothers and sisters (Acts 8:14-17; Acts 8:25).

Still most of the world, especially the non-Jewish world, had not heard My message and had not been included in My family. To help My apostles and the Jewish people in Jerusalem realize that all people should be included in My Family, I sent a vision to the apostle Peter to show him that he should share My grace with Gentiles (Acts 10:1-43). To show Peter that these Gentiles should be included in My family by faith and that he must baptize them, I sent the Holy Spirit to the household of Cornelius in a way that Peter recognized — Cornelius and his household received the Spirit like MY disciples had at Pentecost (Acts 10:44-48). This coming of the Holy Spirit to Cornelius and his whole household became the defining moment for the early church in recognizing that My gospel was for all people (Acts 11:15-18). Just as I had told My apostles before My ascension, the power of the Holy Spirit would come to them and help them take My message to Jerusalem and all Judea (Jews), to Samaria (Samaritans), and to the whole world (Gentiles) (Acts 1:8). And that is exactly what the Spirit did!

I poured out this same Holy Spirit on you when you became My follower and were born "of water and Spirit" (Titus 3:3-7; John 3:3-7 NLT). The Holy Spirit came to live inside you as the Father's child, making your body a temple of the Holy Spirit, a place where We live (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). The Spirit gives you at least one spiritual gift that enables you to bless the body, reach the lost, and glorify Me. Paul taught this to new Christians, but sometimes they acted selfishly and distorted the reason they were given their spiritual gifts and became filled with pride — and this was a key problem among the Corinthian believers.

Today's verses are from Paul's letter to the Corinthians. The Corinthians were focused on the more spectacular and demonstrable gifts of the Spirit, saying everyone must have these gifts or they weren't truly spiritual. However, Paul makes clear that gifts of the Spirit are...
Given to each Christian (1 Corinthians 12:7).
Given by Our — Father, Son, and Spirit's — sovereign choice. We decide who gets which gifts (1 Corinthians 12:4-6; 1 Corinthians 12:11).
Given to each believer to bless the whole body, not to! exalt the individual believer because he or she has some unique gift (1 Corinthians 12:7).
Given to each believer, but no one has all the gifts and there is not one spiritual gift that all must have to be considered My disciple (1 Corinthians 12:27-31).
Given to each believer, so rather than desiring and focusing on the more extravagant appearing gifts — like speaking in tongues, which is the one the Corinthians were focused upon — they were to use the gifts We had given them to build up the body (1 Corinthians 14:12-25).
Given to each believer, but much more important than the gifts you have received — which don't last for eternity — is this truth: your gift must be ! used in love or it means nothing — because love does last for eternity (1 Corinthians 13:1-13).
Verses to Live

Please remember that you are a gifted child of God. Use your gifts to bless others in love, not to feel important or exalt yourself over others. When the gifts We have given you are used selfishly, the results are what happened at Corinth: chaos, conflict, and confusion. As Paul will remind you in the Scripture tomorrow, everything must be done in love!
Each believer has received a gift that manifests the Spirit's power and presence. That gift is given for the good of the whole community. The Spirit gives one person a word of wisdom, but to the next person the same Spirit gives a word of knowledge. Another will receive the gift of faith by the same Spirit, and still another gifts of healing—all from the one Spirit. One person is enabled by the Spirit to perform miracles, another to prophesy, while another is enabled to distinguish those prophetic spirits. The next one speaks in various kinds of unknown languages, while another is able to interpret those languages. One Spirit works all these things in each of them individually as He sees fit.
(1 Corinthians 12:7-11)

God has appointed gifts in the assembly: first emissaries, second prophets, third teachers, then miracle workers, healers, helpers, administrators, and then those who speak with various unknown languages. Are all members gifted as emissaries? Are all gifted with prophetic utterance? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Or are all gifted in healing arts? Do all speak or interpret unknown languages? Of course not. Pursue the greater gifts, and let me tell you of a more excellent way — love.
(1 Corinthians 12:28-31)
Response in Prayer

O Father, thank You for the knowledge that I am Your gifted child. Help me know the gifts You have given me, not so that I can feel important, but so that I can use them in love to bless Your church, to build up the group of believers with whom I share my life, and to bless others. I want You to be exalted, O God — My Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Empower me to share Your grace with those who have not experienced it. I ask this by the authority of Jesus in whose name I pray. Amen.
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The Thoughts and Prayers for 'A Year with Jesus' are written by Phil Ware. You can email questions or comments to phil@heartlight.org.
Heartlight is proud to promote Compassion International. See children who were sponsored today!
© 1998-2014, Heartlight Inc.

"Wait for Each Other at My Table!" — A Year with Jesus for 08/25/2014

Note from Jesus

Dear Precious Disciple,

Few things have been more important to My disciples through the centuries than My Supper — the Eucharist, the Lord's Supper, Communion, and Holy Communion are all terms that have been used in your time based on things said in the Scriptures. I shared in the seder meal as part of Passover with My disciples before My betrayal, trials, and crucifixion. My disciples have called this the Last Supper over the years. This meal was a precious time with My disciples for many reasons — to show My love, to warn them of coming trials, to plant seeds of hope beyond My crucifixion, and other reasons — and Paul makes clear in the verses below one of the key reasons this meal was so important:
I passed on to you the tradition the Lord gave to me: On the same night the Lord Jesus was betrayed, He took the bread in His hands; and after giving thanks to God, He broke it and said, "This is My body, broken for you. Keep doing this so that you and all who come after will have a vivid reminder of Me."
My Supper with the disciples on that night provides you with a great foundation for your participation in Communion.

Paul points to several truths that he wants the disciples to get out of this time of Communion together — or as he calls it here, "the Lord's Supper." If you compare his points in his letter to the Corinthians with Luke's emphasis on "breaking bread" in the book of Acts and you look back at the passion accounts in each of the four gospels, you can develop a much richer and broader emphasis for your celebration of My Supper. What Paul says here is focused on correcting the awful abuses of the Corinthians — division between rich and poor (the "haves and the have-nots") that included drunkenness on the part of some and being left out on the part of others. This breaking down of fellowship and "sharing" destroyed so much of the original intent and practice of My Supper.

I shared this meal with My disciples before My death in very close fellowship and with honest words, demonstrated love, sharp warnings, and reassuring teachings. This meal was about fellowship. However, in the Corinthians' enthusiasm for a spiritual high, some of them had made My Supper into something they treated as almost magical. From their warped and selfish perspective, the more they ate and drank, the more they honored Me and the better the celebration for them personally. For them, the concept of sharing this meal in close communion with others was forgotten. So Paul warned the Corinthians very clearly: remember Me and the price I paid on the cross with My body and My blood, but also remember that you are part of My body — the church — present today in the world. You must recognize both dimensions of My body to celebrate My Supper correctly. When you forget either understanding, something holy and precious is lost!

In fact, Paul made the point that, because they had lost one of these emphases on My body in My Supper, they were actually drinking damnation upon themselves, causing some in their community to be "sick and weak", and causing some of the spiritual problems they were dealing with in their house churches in Corinth.
Verses to Live

I want you to pay close attention to the things that Paul teaches in these verses. Don't forget Me and the price I paid for you in My body and with My blood. The bread and wine you take should be viewed by you as precious, My body and blood. Yet at the same time, don't forget that as you take the bread together, all who take that bread are then My bodily presence in the world and what happens to one part of My body impacts all the others. So as you remember My death, also show loving care to My ongoing life in My body, the church with whom you share My meal!
When we give thanks and share the cup of blessing, are we not sharing in the blood of the Anointed One? When we give thanks and break bread, are we not sharing in His body? Because there is one bread, we, though many, are also one body since we all share one bread.
(1 Corinthians 10:16-17)

On this next matter, I wish I could applaud you; but I can't because your gatherings have become counterpr! oductive, making things worse for the community rather than better. Let me start with this: I hear that your gatherings are polarizing the community; and to be honest, this doesn't surprise me. I've accepted the fact that factions are sometimes useful and even necessary so that those who are authentic and those who are counterfeit may be recognized. This distinction is obvious when you come together because it is not the Lord's Supper you are eating at all. When it's time to eat, some hastily dig right in; but look — some have more than others: over there someone is hungry, and over here someone is drunk! What is going on? If a self-centered meal is what you want, can't you eat and drink at home? Do you have so little respect for God's people and this community that you shame the poor at the Lord's table? I don't even know what to say to you! Are you looking for my approval? You won't find it.

I passed on to you the tradition the Lord gave to me: On the same night the Lord Jesus was betrayed, He took the bread in His hands; and after giving thanks to God, He broke it and said, "This is My body, broken for you. Keep doing this so that you and all who come after will have a vivid reminder of Me." After they had finished dinner, He took the cup and in the same way said, "This cup is the new covenant, executed in My blood. Keep doing this; and whenever you drink it, you and all who come after will have a vivid reminder of Me." Every time you taste this bread and every time you place the cup to your mouths and drink, you are declaring the Lord's death, which is the ultimate expression of His faithfulness and love, until He comes again.

So if someone takes of this bread and drinks from the Lord's cup improperly — as you are doing — he is guilty of violating the body and blood of our Lord. Examine yourselves first. Then you can properly approach the table to eat the bread and drink from the cup; because otherwise, if you eat and drink without properly discerning the significance of the Lord's body, then you eat and drink a mouthful of judgment upon yourself. Because of this violation, many in your community are now sick and weak; some have even died. But if we took care to judge ourselves, then we wouldn't have to worry about being judged by another. In fact, the Lord's hand of judgment is correcting us so that we don't suffer the same fate as the rest of the rebellious world: condemnation.

From now on, brothers and sisters, this is what I want you to do: when you come together to eat at the Lord's table, wait for each other. If someone is hungry and can't wait, he should go home and eat. In that way, your gatherings won't result in God's judgment. The rest of the instructions I have for you will have to wait until I come.
(1 Corinthians 11:17-33)
Response in Prayer

O Father, thank you for tangible ways for those of us who live many years after Jesus' physical incarnation on earth to be able to experience His presence. Holy Spirit, capture my heart at my Savior's sacrifice, the high price he paid to redeem me. Also, dear Spirit, please open my eyes to see the needs of those who are part of Jesus' body and who take Communion with me. Open my heart to reach out to them and care for them the same way Jesus cared for His disciples on the night He was betrayed. I ask for this experience of a deeper grace at the Lord's Table in Jesus' name. Amen.
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The Thoughts and Prayers for 'A Year with Jesus' are written by Phil Ware. You can email questions or comments to phil@heartlight.org.
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"Beyond Magic: Supernatural!" — A Year with Jesus for 08/24/2014

Note from Jesus

Dear Beloved,

On the night I was betrayed, I shared in what you call "The Last Supper" with My closest disciples. This became a centerpiece of early Christian gatherings on the first day of the week (Acts 20:7). This special meal is known to you by several names — The Supper, The Lord's Supper, Communion, Holy Communion, The Eucharist, and The Feast — all of which have their origins in the early practice of Christians mentioned in the New Testament.

Yet from the beginning, the celebration of The Supper by My followers had a tendency to drift from My original intentions: sharing together in loving unity, proclaiming My story, examining your own heart, remembering My death, celebrating My resurrection, giving thanks for the gift I gave you, and anticipating My return. Some have almost looked at taking the bread and wine as magical and powerful even when detached from the core purposes of communion. Some felt if they could just eat the bread and drink the wine in this special feast, then some supernatural power was at work in them to make them holy regardless of how they took The Supper and how they lived day after day.

I warned about this when I taught the crowds after I had fed the 5,000 and walked on the water to My disciples (see the second set of verses below). More than just eating My body and drinking My blood metaphorically in communion, they needed to eat Me — My "flesh" — and take My teaching, lifestyle, and love for others into their lives and let Me sustain them. I wanted My early disciples, and you today as My disciple, to realize that The Supper is not magical, but transformational: I am present in The Supper to give you life, My life, but you must commit to take Me in and let Me reign over all your heart as your example, teacher, and Lord.

Paul (in the first set of verses) warns the Corinthians that there was nothing magical in communion. Rather the meaning and significance of communion come from disciples' faith to receive Me and their commitment to follow Me. After all, the Israelites shared in spiritual food and drink in the wilderness, but that supernatural food did not keep them from sinning or from being judged:
They [the Israelites] were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them; their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.
(1 Corinthians 10:2-5 NIV)
The goal of My Supper is not to see who can eat the most and drink the most magical food and drink! Yet for those who come to My Table committed to live for Me, there is supernatural sustenance in this holy meal. So Paul warns the Corinthians to not think of The Supper as magical, but as the supernatural meal that sustains those who seek to avoid idolatry, who care for each other in My church, and who recognize My Supper as a recommitment to live for Me and not only to give thanks for the Father's grace in sending Me, but also to share that grace with others.
Verses to Live

My resurrection from the dead has great power, yet simply taking the Lord's Supper won't do things for you. You must live by My wisdom and truth.
I wouldn't want you to be ignorant of our history, brothers and sisters. Our ancestors were once safeguarded under a miraculous cloud in the wilderness and brought safely through the sea. Enveloped in water by cloud and by sea, they were, you might say, ritually cleansed into Moses through baptism. Together they were sustained supernaturally: they all ate the same spiritual food, manna; and they all drank the same spiritual water, flowing from a spiritual rock that was always with them, for the rock was the Anointed One, our Liberating King. Despite all of this, they were punished in the wilderness because God was unhappy with most of them.

Look at what happened to them as an example; it's right there in the Scriptures so that we won't make the same mistakes and hunger after evil as they did. So here's my advice: don't degrade yourselves by worshiping anything less than the living God as some of them did. Remember it is written, "The people sat down to eat and drink and then rose up in dance and play." We must be careful not to engage in sexual sins as some of them did. In one day, 23,000 died because of sin. None of us must test the limits of the Lord's patience. Some of the Israelites did, and serpents bit them and killed them. You need to stop your groaning and whining. Remember the story. Some of them complained, and the messenger of death came for them and destroyed them. All these things happened for a reason: to sound a warning. They were written down and passed down to us to teach us. They were meant especially for us because the beginning of the end is happening in our time. So let even the most confident believers remember their examples and be very careful not to fall as some of them did.

Any temptation you face will be nothing new. But God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can handle. But He always provides a way of escape so that you will be able to endure and keep moving forward. So then, my beloved friends, run from idolatry in any form. As wise as I know you are, understand clearly what I am saying and determine the right course of action. When we give thanks and share the cup of blessing, are we not sharing in the blood of the Anointed One? When we give thanks and break bread, are we not sharing in His body? Because there is one bread, we, though many, are also one body since we all share one bread. Look no further than Israel and the temple practices, and you'll see what I mean. Isn't it true that those who eat sacrificial foods are communing at the altar, sharing its benefits? So what does all this mean? I'm not suggesting that idol food itself has any special qualities or that an idol itself possesses any special powers, but I am saying that the outsiders' sacrifices are actually offered to demons, not to God. So if you feast upon this food, you are feasting with demons —I don't want you involved with demons! You can't hold the holy cup of the Lord in one hand and the cup of demons in the other. You can't share in the Lord's table while picking off the altar of demons. Are we trying to provoke the Lord Jesus? Do we think it's a good idea to stir up His jealousy? Do we have ridiculous delusions about matching or even surpassing His power?
(1 Corinthians 10:1-22)

Some of the Jews began to grumble quietly against Him because He said, "I am the bread that came down from heaven."

Crowd:
Isn't Jesus the son of Joseph? We know His parents! We know where He came from, so how can He claim to have "come down from heaven"?
Jesus:
Stop grumbling under your breaths. If the Father who sent Me does not draw you, then there's no way you can come to Me. But I will resurrect everyone who does come on the last day. Among the prophets, it's written, "Everyone will be taught of God." So everyone who has heard and learned from the Father finds Me. No one has seen the Father, except the One sent from God. He has seen the Father. I am telling you the truth: the one who accepts these things has eternal life. I am the bread that gives life. Your fathers ate manna in the wilderness, and they died as you know. But there is another bread that comes from heaven; if you eat this bread, you will not die. I am the living bread that has come down from heaven to rescue those who eat it. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever. The bread that I will give breathes life into the cosmos. This bread is My flesh.
The low whispers of some of Jesus' detractors turned into an out-and-out debate.

Crowd:
What is He talking about? How is He able to give us His flesh to eat?
Jesus:
I tell you the truth; unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you will not know life. If you eat My flesh and drink My blood, then you will have eternal life and I will raise you up at the end of time. My flesh and blood provide true nourishment. If you eat My flesh and drink My blood, you will abide in Me and I will abide in you. The Father of life who sent Me has given life to Me; and as you eat My flesh, I will give life to you. This is bread that came down from heaven; I am not like the manna that your fathers ate and then died! If you eat this bread, your life will never end.
He spoke these words in the synagogue as part of His teaching mission in Capernaum. Many disciples heard what He said, and they had questions of their own.

Disciples:
How are we supposed to understand all of this? It is a hard teaching.
Jesus was aware that even His disciples were murmuring about this.

Jesus:
Has My teaching offended you? What if you were to see the Son of Man ascend to return to where He came from? The Spirit brings life. The flesh has nothing to offer. The words I have been teaching you are spirit and life, but some of you do not believe.
From the first day Jesus began to call disciples, He knew those who did not have genuine faith. He knew, too, who would betray Him.

Jesus:
This is why I have been telling you that no one comes to Me without the Father's blessing and guidance.
After hearing these teachings, many of His disciples walked away and no longer followed Jesus.

Jesus (to the twelve):
Do you want to walk away too?
Simon Peter:
Lord, if we were to go, whom would we follow? You speak the words that give everlasting life. We believe and recognize that You are the Holy One sent by God.
(John 6:41-69)
Response in Prayer

Father in heaven, Holy Communion is precious to me. Yet after reading what Paul wrote the Corinthians and what Jesus said in today's verses, I am convicted that I have sometimes approached The Supper as something mandatory and magical, not as a commitment to live for Jesus and not as a way to love my brothers and sisters as Jesus did. I pray for the Holy Spirit to transform me to be like Jesus. Father, please give me the clarity of mind as I seek to live the righteous character and gracious compassion of Jesus with my brothers and sisters. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
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The Thoughts and Prayers for 'A Year with Jesus' are written by Phil Ware. You can email questions or comments to phil@heartlight.org.

"Supporting Those Who Serve" — A Year with Jesus for 08/22/2014

Note from Jesus

Dear Friend,

The support of those who work for Me as their calling and vocation has always been a touchy issue among My people. Paul ran into one of the most unusual of these controversies about his financial support: he didn't take financial support from the Corinthians and they felt his ministry was not as important because he didn't. In fact, some were offended that he didn't ask for support.

In reality, Paul had the right to ask the Corinthians to help him financially — that's what today's verses are really discussing. However, he recognized early in his ministry with them that it would be better if he supported himself. He was wise to make this decision. With the Corinthian believers' rivalries and arrogance, those who supported him could have used their support as a claim of superiority or favor. Instead of creating another excuse for division, Paul supported himself and his missionary team with his own trade of leatherwork and tent-making. But, as he says below:
Is it too much to ask that we would be compensated materially for planting life- and world-changing spiritual realities? ... So it shouldn't be a stretch that the Lord has arranged for preachers of the gospel to make a living by those who have embraced and been liberated by the gospel.
Paul did allow some people to help support his ministry financially (Philippians 1:5; Philippians 1:7; Philippians 4:14-16), but he was always careful not to be a burden or to cause division or false impressions by taking financial support (1 Thessalonians 2:6-12; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-10).

The bottom line of all this is a responsibility I want you to fulfill: make sure you honor, affirm, support, encourage, and bless those who work hard with you and for you in kingdom matters. Yes, just like there was a Judas in My original 12 apostles, you are also going to find some leaders in My Church who are unscrupulous, lazy, and even greedy. But remember, there are far more — many without remuneration or even thanks — who are sacrificial servants who give of themselves unselfishly than there are who are selfish, irresponsible, or lazy. So whether the way you honor them is by paying them for their work, or showing honor with your words and actions, or simply being obedient to their leadership, please honor these leaders who do what they do for you and to honor Me. Here are some scriptures I hope you will read in conjunction with the verses below. These scriptures emphasize what I want you both to know and to do:
1 Thessalonians 5:12-15
1 Timothy 5:17-18
Hebrews 13:7-8
Hebrews 13:17
1 Peter 5:5-6
Verses to Live

Many of My greatest servants, people who have given themselves to serve Me and My kingdom sacrificially, will never have their names honored or their work noticed unless you affirm and thank them. So please, honor those who lead you and honor Me!
Am I not truly free? Am I not an emissary of the Liberating King? Have I not personally encountered Jesus our Lord? Are you not my work, my mission in the Lord? Even if others don't recognize that I am His emissary, at least you do because you are the seal, the living proof that the Lord commissioned me to be His representative.

Let me speak in my own defense against those keeping themselves busy picking me apart. Have we lost the right to eat and drink? Have we lost the right to bring along our wives, our sisters in Jesus? Other emissaries travel with their wives, and so do the brothers of our Lord, not to mention Cephas. Is it just Barnabas and I who have lost the right to earn a living? Is a soldier in combat required to pay his own salary? Who would plant a vineyard and not enjoy one grape from it? Who would care for and nurture a flock but never taste the fresh milk?

These ideas aren't based on merely human notions; the law says these same things. In Moses' law, it is written: "Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out your grain." Is God's concern here limited to oxen, or does He speak here ultimately for our benefit? These things were written for us, so as the plowman plows and the worker gathers, they can labor with the hopeful expectation that they, too, will share in the good harvest. The same principle applies here: Is it too much to ask that we would be compensated materially for planting life- and world-changing spiritual realities? If you have rightfully supported others, shouldn't we deserve your support even more?

But we have never insisted on this right; instead, we would rather put up with anything than to put some obstacle in the way that prevents even one person from experiencing the good news of the Anointed One. Perhaps it has escaped your notice that leaders and priests of the temple make their livings off the temple and that those who tend the altar eat their dinners from part of the sacrifices. So it shouldn't be a stretch that the Lord has arranged for preachers of the gospel to make a living by those who have embraced and been liberated by the gospel.
(1 Corinthians 9:1-14)
Response in Prayer

Father, I thank You for those who have given their lives to serve as ministers, pastors, missionaries, and special servants in Your work. I thank You for the things they have taught me. I thank You for the sacrifices they have made to serve You. I thank You that they have been present to bless others, and me, in emergencies and other times of need. Please bless them and give me a willing heart to follow, affirm, and support their work. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
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The Thoughts and Prayers for 'A Year with Jesus' are written by Phil Ware. You can email questions or comments to phil@heartlight.org.
Heartlight is proud to support and promote Compassion International.

© 1998-2014, Heartlight Inc.
To Win Some" — A Year with Jesus for 08/23/2014

Note from Jesus

Dear Disciple,

Disciple-makers live to do one thing: they live to make other disciples! I gave the Great Commission to My original disciples and I also told them to teach all they reached to obey the same commission. My primary command in this commission was to "make disciples of all the nations." They were to do it by going to people of all nations, baptizing them in Our name, and teaching these new believers to obey what I had commanded My original disciples to obey.

Few have done the going-to-all-nations part of My Great Commission as passionately as Paul. He even realized the importance and urgency of this call:
This urgency, this necessity has been laid on me. .. God chose me and entrusted me with this mission.
Paul's passion didn't involve just going to other places, people, and cultures; it also included giving up his rights as he entered another culture, shared in that culture, and spoke to people out of the context of that culture. He made himself a slave to the people of the culture he was trying to reach. This is how he expressed this truth:
And, even though no one (except Jesus) owns me, I have become a slave by my own free will to everyone in hopes that I would gather more believers. .. I'm flexible, adaptable, and able to do and be whatever is needed for all kinds of people so that in the end I can use every means at my disposal to offer them salvation.
What Paul did could be called incarnational ministry — entering into the world and culture of the people you are trying to reach, living authentically in that cultural world, and learning to speak My truth in the language and lifestyle of that cultural world. This is what I did when I came to earth (John 1:9-14).

This entering into the cultural world of others is what I am calling you to do as well. Love people enough to live with them and know their world — understand their hopes, their dreams, their fears, and their brokenness. As one who has entered their world, you then have the opportunity to speak My truth, share My love, and invite them to know My grace. This is a costly process, but as Paul makes clear, it is more than worth the effort:
I do it all for the gospel and for the hope that I may participate with everyone who is blessed by the proclamation of the good news.
Verses to Live

Far from trying to force someone to accept your culture as you proclaim My good news, please learn from My example — and learn from the words Paul shares in the second set of verses below. All authentic ministry is incarnational and costly, yet worth every sacrifice! As I promised immediately after the Great Commission, I will be with you always.
Then the eleven disciples left for Galilee, going to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him — but some of them doubted!

Jesus came and told his disciples, "I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age."
(Matthew 28:16-20 NLT)

Despite what I've said here, I have never staked a claim for such things [that is, financial support from the Corinthian church], and I have no intention to start now; that's not why I'm writing. I would rather die than have anyone (including me) invalidate my right to boast. You see, if I preach the good news, it's nothing to brag about. This urgency, this necessity has been laid on me. In fact, if I were to stop sharing this good news, I'd be in big trouble. You see, my story is different. I didn't volunteer for this. Had I volunteered to preach the good news, then I would deserve a wage, a reward, or something. But I didn't choose this. God chose me and entrusted me with this mission.

You're looking for the catch. I know you're wondering, "What reward is he talking about?" My reward, besides being with you and knowing you, is sharing the good news of the Anointed One with you free and clear. That means I don't insist on all my rights for support in the good news; that also means that I am free of obligations to all people. And, even though no one (except Jesus) owns me, I have become a slave by my own free will to everyone in hopes that I would gather more believers. When around Jews, I emphasize my Jewishness in order to win them over. When around those who live strictly under the law, I live by its regulations — even though I have a different perspective on the law now — in order to win them over. In the same way, I've made a life outside the law to gather those who live outside the law (although I personally abide by and live under the Anointed One's law). I've been broken, lost, depressed, oppressed, and weak that I might find favor and gain the weak. I'm flexible, adaptable, and able to do and be whatever is needed for all kinds of people so that in the end I can use every means at my disposal to offer them salvation. I do it all for the gospel and for the hope that I may participate with everyone who is blessed by the proclamation of the good news.
(1 Corinthians 9:15-23)
Response in Prayer

Father, free me from any and all ethnocentric, nationalistic, and racial prejudices and pride. Help me as I seek to better understand those I am trying to reach with the gospel. Holy Spirit, I ask for Your help and Your power to have wisdom to best reach people with the good news of Jesus and to have the strength to offer myself in service to them. I want all people to know Jesus and the life He offers us. Help me, O LORD, I pray. In Jesus' name. Amen.
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The Thoughts and Prayers for 'A Year with Jesus' are written by Phil Ware. You can email questions or comments to phil@heartlight.org.
Heartlight is proud to promote Compassion International. See children who were sponsored today!
© 1998-2014, Heartlight Inc.

"What about Sexual Intimacy and Marriage?" — A Year with Jesus for 08/20/2014

Note from Jesus

Dear Beloved,

Today's set of verses is long. Paul speaks about the issue of sexual intimacy and marriage, applying what I taught in My ministry to a variety of life circumstances being faced by the Corinthians. I am not going to comment on all that Paul says in these verses. I want you to read the entire passage. Pray about what you've read. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you apply Paul's teaching to your life's circumstances. However, I do want to speak about a few specific truths Paul teaches in the verses below.

The Corinthian Christians tended to take things to extremes. This was true in their practice and avoidance of sexual intimacy. Some said that since it is important to be holy sexually by not participating in sexual immorality (yesterday's verses), then it would be even more holy to not have sex at all... even in marriage. Paul spoke plainly to this issue when he said, "I disagree." His rationale for disagreement is very important. He uses significant and detailed teaching about appropriate sexual intimacy from a number of important angles and circumstances. Please take what Paul says here seriously. Especially notice the following truths that he taught the Corinthians.

First, Paul emphasized that if a believer can remain single and stay pure, then he or she should do so, especially in view of the difficulties that the Corinthians would be facing. Remaining single allows this believer to serve Us — Father, Son, and Spirit — without distraction. Most people are not gifted to live this way — single and chaste. Some of Our most dedicated servants through the ages have been holy and single — for example, I was single as were John the Baptist and the apostle Paul. Do not look down on singles as being less complete, but appreciate their whole-hearted devotion to Me and to the kingdom. However, this single and celibate lifestyle is not for most people; it is only for those to whom the gift of fulfilled singleness is given (Matthew 19:10-11). So notice the teaching Paul gives to different groups about this issue — see the underlined words in the verses below to help you recognize these different groups.

Second, you can glorify Us with your sexuality. When sexual intimacy is shared appropriately, with the right person in marriage, it is a good and glorious gift given to you by Us. Your sexual life in marriage is not something dirty or anything negative. It is a holy way to honor and glorify Us in your body as you fulfill and bless your spouse in your marriage (1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Romans 12:1-2; Ephesians 5:21).

Third, when We created humanity, We made people male and female. Both men and women are created in Our image. We blessed a man and a woman to enjoy the one-flesh union of sexual intimacy and We declared this to be "very good" (Genesis 1:27-31; Genesis 2:24-25; Matthew 19:4-6). The principles of love, care, faithfulness, pleasure, fulfillment, and blessing need to be applied equally both to the husband and to the wife. In most cultures in Paul's day, the wife was viewed as little more than property. Notice the care Paul takes in all of his instructions to apply the truths he teaches equally to both husband and wife. Paul's teaching was not only against the cultural standards of his day, but against most religious teaching in his time. Yet Paul's teaching is what We had intended from creation. Both husband and wife are created in Our image. Each, and the pleasure and joy and fulfillment of each, are important to Us. As you read the verses below, notice the words in bold that will help you see how Paul took such great care to emphasize this principle We built into creation.

Fourth, procreating responsibly as good stewards of creation is one purpose of sexual intimacy (Genesis 1:28), but it is far from the only reason. Sexual intimacy can help you relieve your sense of being alone and needing a partner in the world (Genesis 2:18-25). Sexual intimacy is a gift We gave you as a way to enjoy, serve, and fulfill each other (Proverbs 5:15-19). Finding joy in pleasing, blessing, and fulfilling your spouse sexually is a great way to guard against the pull and lust of sexual immorality. Notice what Paul says:
Because of our tendency to embrace immoralities, each man should feel free to join together in sexual intimacy with his own wife, and each woman should join with her own husband.
Pleasing, blessing, and fulfilling your spouse is a responsibility you have to your spouse. Again, notice what Paul says:
Each husband has the responsibility to meet his wife's sexual desires, and each wife should do the same for her husband. In marriage neither the husband nor the wife should act as if his or her body is private property — your bodies now belong to one another, and together they are whole. So do not withhold sex from one another, unless both of you have agreed to devote a certain period of time to prayer. When the agreed time is over, come together again so that Satan will not tempt you when you are short on self-control.
Paul wants the Corinthians to understand that sexual intimacy is a very important part of honoring and glorifying Us with their bodies (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
Verses to Live

Sexual intimacy is a precious gift We gave you. Please recognize it as such. Learn to glorify Us while bringing pleasure and fulfillment to each other in marriage. Paul helps you understand this in the following verses:
Now to the topics you raised in your last letter. Some have said, "It is better for a man to abstain from having sex with his wife." Well, I disagree. Because of our tendency to embrace immoralities, each man should feel free to join together in sexual intimacy with his own wife, and each woman should join with her own husband. Husbands and wives have reciprocal duties. Each husband has the responsibility to meet his wife's sexual desires, and each wife should do the same for her husband. In marriage neither the husband nor the wife should act as if his or her body is private property — your bodies now belong to one another, and together they are whole. So do not withhold sex from one another, unless both of you have agreed to devote a certain period of time to prayer. When the agreed time is over, come together again so that Satan will not tempt you when you are short on self-control. I am trying to encourage you and give you some wise counsel, so don't take this advice as a command. I wish that all of you could live as I do, unmarried. But the truth is all people are different, each gifted by God in various and dissimilar ways.

To those who are unmarried or widowed, here's my advice: it is a good thing to stay single as I do. If they do not have self-control, they should go ahead and get married. It is much better to marry than to be obsessed by sexual urges.

To those who are married, here's my command (to be clear, this isn't merely my opinion; it comes from the teaching of the Lord Jesus): it is not right for a wife to leave her husband. If she does, she must either remain single or reconcile with her husband, but she should not marry someone else. Likewise, the husband should not divorce his wife.

To everyone else, here's my counsel (this is not a direct command from the Lord; it is my opinion): if a brother has a wife who does not believe Jesus' teachings and the truth of His resurrection, he is to stay with her as long as she is willing to live with him. The same is true for any sister; you should not leave your husband even if he has no allegiance to Jesus. Here's the reason: An unbelieving husband is consecrated by that union — touched by the grace of God through his believing wife — and the same is true when the husband is a man of faith and he's wed to an unbelieving wife. His wife is consecrated through their union. If this weren't so, your children wouldn't be pure; but as it is when faith enters in, God sets apart these children to be used uniquely for His purposes. If the unbelieving spouse decides the marriage is over, then let him or her go; the believing partner is freed from the marital vows because God has called you to peace. Remember that anything is possible, so the life you lead and the love you show under this strain may be what finally liberates your partner.

So here is my instruction to all the churches: each must live with the gifts the Lord Jesus grants you and with the call God offers you. When you heard the voice of Jesus, what were your circumstances? Were you living as a circumcised Jew? If so, then don't try to undo your circumcision. Were you living as if you were an uncircumcised outsider? If so, you don't need to become a Jew. You see, whether you are circumcised or not — these outward signs aren't the issue — the way you live out the commands of God is what really matters. It is important for all people to live out faith in the circumstances they know.

Did you hear God's voice while you were a slave? Don't be concerned. (But if the opportunity comes to gain your freedom, then take it.) For the slave who hears the Lord's call is set free to belong to the Lord. In the same way, the so-called free person is called to become a slave of the Anointed One. A high price has been paid for your freedom, so don't devalue God's investment by becoming a slave to people. My brothers and sisters, each of you should remain in whatever external circumstances you were in when God called you.

Now when it comes to unmarried young women, I do not have a command from our Lord. The best I can do is to give you my advice as a trustworthy brother who knows the Lord's mercy well. Because of the challenging times we live in, I think the best plan is to stay as you are. If you are married, don't divorce. If you are single, there is no need to get married. But if you decide to get married, this is not a sin; there is nothing wrong with a young woman taking a husband, but know that marriage is not easy and those who marry will face hard times. I am only trying to protect you. But hear what I say, brothers and sisters: the time is short and growing shorter. So for the time remaining, even if you have wives, live with the undivided focus of those who do not have them. Those who cry should live as those who have no tears. Those who rejoice should live as those who have no pleasure. Those who buy things should live as those who do not possess anything. If you make use of this rebellious and broken world, live as if you have no use for it — because the form of this world is fading away.

My primary desire is for you to be free from the worries that plague humanity. A single man can focus on the things of the Lord and how to please the Lord, but a married man has to worry about the details of the here and now and how to please his wife. A married man will always have divided loyalties. The same idea is true for a young unmarried woman. She concerns herself only with the work of the Lord and how to dedicate herself entirely, body and spirit, to her Lord. On the other hand, a married woman has vast responsibilities for her family and a desire to please her husband. I am not trying to give you more rules and regulations. I only want to give you advice that is fitting and helpful. I want to help you live lives of faithful devotion to the Lord without any distraction.

But I have this advice for every single man: If anyone thinks he is behaving badly toward his fiancée, if his desires prove to be too much for him, and if he feels they ought to marry, then he should do what he wants; it is not wrong to marry her. It is better that we let men and women in this situation do as they wish and get married. If a man has no compulsion and chooses not to marry his fiancée, but commits himself to live a celibate life for the sake of following God and has the strength to live out his conviction, then he is doing a good thing. So those who marry do a good thing, and they will share in a holy blessing; those who do not marry do an even better thing because they are part of an even greater blessing in the service of God.

A wife should stay by her husband's side all of his life. But if he dies, she is free to marry any man she wishes as long as it is in the Lord. You can likely guess that in my opinion this woman would be better off to remain single, and I think that I have this insight from God's Spirit
(1 Corinthians 7:1-40)
Response in Prayer

Father in heaven, thank you for the gift of sexual intimacy. Please help me to live my sexuality in ways that honor You and are appropriate for the season of life in which I now find myself. I want my body to honor You and the incredible price Jesus paid to redeem me from my sin. I ask that the Holy Spirit empower me to put to death the misdeeds of my flesh as I seek to bring my mind, heart, and body into conformity to Your holy will. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
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The Thoughts and Prayers for 'A Year with Jesus' are written by Phil Ware. You can email questions or comments to phil@heartlight.org.
Heartlight is proud to support and promote Compassion International.

© 1998-2014, Heartlight Inc.
"Not Causing to Stumble" — A Year with Jesus for 08/21/2014

Note from Jesus

Dear Disciple,

Some issues are simply hard to understand. What to do with food sacrificed to idols was one of those issues for the new Christians in Corinth. They didn't want to be polluted by things associated with idols. Paul taught them to stay away from any kind of immorality. So the same type of principle would indicate that they should have nothing to do with meat or any other thing associated with idols.

Yet there were some other truths about their faith that confused them.
Weren't they free from law-keeping as the way to be justified?
Didn't their freedom allow them to eat this meat as long as they didn't participate in the worship of idols?
Weren't idols just inanimate objects and not gods at all?
Aren't all things permitted for believers if the object or activity is offered to God to glorify Him?
So Paul establishes several clear principles to help them navigate these difficult problems.
Is the activity or behavior helping you love your brothers and sisters or is it a source of personal pride and a sense of importance?
Eating food or avoiding food doesn't move you closer or farther away from God; so is it worth making what you eat a significant issue in the life of another belie! ver, especially if that believer is a new Christian?
Why would you eat, drink, or do anything that would cause brothers or sisters to fall away from God and into their old lives of sin?
Does participating or not participating build up and encourage your brothers and sisters?
Are you doing or refusing to do something based on glorifying God, or is there another reason?
Does doing this activity or eating this food or drinking this drink offend an ethnic or social group within the body of Christ?
Remember, you not only are in relationship with Me as your Lord and Savior, but you are also connected to every other believer in your fellowship. You should not be living to please yourself, but Me. You should not be living to bless yourself, but others whom you influence. Follow Paul's example and take time to learn the needs, the vulnerabilities, and the struggles of your Christian brothers and sisters, then adjust your use of your freedom as My disciple to best bless and build up these other believers.
Verses to Live

While this discussion appears to be from long ago and far away for you because of the whole issue of idolatry, think of other situations where you can apply these principles and ask those six core questions above to help you examine your own motives and your brothers' and sisters' needs.
As to the concern of eating food dedicated to idols: we know that all of us have knowledge, but knowledge can be risky. Knowledge promotes overconfidence and worse arrogance, but charity of the heart (love, that is) looks to build up others. Just because a person presumes to have some bit of knowledge, that person doesn't necessarily have the right kind of knowledge. But if someone loves God, it is certain that God has already known that one.

So to address your concerns about eating food offered to idols, let me start with what we know. An idol is essentially nothing, as there is no other God but the One. And even if the majority believes there are many so-called gods in heaven and on earth (certainly many worship such "gods" and "lords"), this is not our view. For us, there is one God, the Father who is the ultimate source of all things and the goal of our lives. And there is one Lord — Jesus the Anointed, the Liberating King; through Him all things were created, and by Him we are redeemed.

But this knowledge is not in everyone. Up until now, some have been so familiar with idols and what goes on in the temples that when they eat meat that has been offered first to some idol, their weak consciences are polluted. This is the issue. Again, here's what we know: what we eat will not bring us closer to God — we gain nothing in feasting and lose nothing by fasting. Now let me warn you: don't let your newfound liberty cause those who don't know this to fall face-first. Let's say a person (someone who knows of Jesus) sees you eating in the temple of an idol; and because the person with a weaker conscience is still unsure of things, he becomes confident, follows your lead, and eats idol food. Now, because of your knowledge on display in your conduct, the weaker brother or sister—for whom the Anointed One died — is destroyed! Ruined! What's more, by living according to your knowledge, you have sinned against these brothers and sisters and wounded their weak consciences — and because you sinned against them, you have sinned against the Anointed One, the Liberating King.

So if any type of food is an issue that causes my brothers and sisters to fall away from God, then God forbid I should ever eat it again so that I would never be the crack, the rise, or the rock on the road that causes them to stumble.
(1 Corinthians 8:1-13)

So what does all this mean?! I'm not suggesting that idol food itself has any special qualities or that an idol itself possesses any special powers, but I am saying that the outsiders' sacrifices are actually offered to demons, not to God. So if you feast upon this food, you are feasting with demons — I don't want you involved with demons! You can't hold the holy cup of the Lord in one hand and the cup of demons in the other. You can't share in the Lord's table while picking off the altar of demons. Are we trying to provoke the Lord Jesus? Do we think it's a good idea to stir up His jealousy? Do we have ridiculous delusions about matching or even surpassing His power?

There's a slogan often quoted on matters like this: "All things are permitted." Yes, but not all things are beneficial. "All things are permitted," they say. Yes, but not all things build up and strengthen others in the body. We should stop looking out for our own interests and instead focus on the people living and breathing around us. Feel free to eat any meat sold in the market without your conscience raising questions about scruples because "the earth and all that's upon it belong to the Lord."

So if some unbelievers invite you to dinner and you want to go, feel free to eat whatever they offer you without raising questions about conscience. But if someone says, "This is meat from the temple altar, a sacrifice to god so-and-so," then do not eat it. Not so much because of your own conscience because the earth and everything on it belongs to the Lord, but out of consideration for the conscience of the other fellow who told you about it. So you ask, "Why should I give up my freedom to accommodate the scruples of another?" or, "If I am eating with gratitude to God, why am I insulted for eating food that I have properly given thanks for?" These are good questions.

Whatever you do — whether you eat or drink or not — do it all to the glory of God! Do not offend Jews or Greeks or any part of the church of God for that matter. Consider my example: I strive to please all people in all my actions and words — but don't think I am in this for myself — their rescued souls are the only profit.
(1 Corinthians 10:19-33)
Response in Prayer

O Father, help me recognize those areas where my pride and hard-headedness get the better of me and can lead me to do certain things that can cause others to stumble. On the one hand, dear Father, I don't want to try to justify myself because I feel superior to others because I practice a rigid form of self-made righteousness. On the other hand, I don't want to be a stumbling block just so I can exercise a freedom that doesn't really bring me closer to You or build up my brothers and sisters. Give me wisdom, O LORD, I pray in Jesus' name. Amen.
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The Thoughts and Prayers for 'A Year with Jesus' are written by Phil Ware. You can email questions or comments to phil@heartlight.org.
Heartlight is proud to support and promote Compassion International.
© 1998-2014, Heartlight Inc.

Were!" — A Year with Jesus for 08/19/2014

Note from Jesus

Dear Holy One,

When you confessed Me as your Lord and called on My name as your Savior (Romans 10:9-13) and you were joined with Me in My death, burial, and resurrection through baptism (Romans 6:3-8), you were cleansed and made perfectly holy through the work of the Holy Spirit (Colossians 1:21-22). As Paul tells the Corinthians in the following verse:
...you have been washed clean, set apart, restored, and set on the right path in the name of the Lord Jesus, the Anointed, by the Spirit of our living God.
There are things you once WERE because of your evil and sinful behavior, but you are not those things any longer. Those things should not be part of your life now. Even if you were raised in a Christian family and have tried to live for Me all of your life, you know that there was and is sin in your life. In your conversion and cleansing, you were united with Me — we became one and My righteousness was given to you. You are now part of Me and a vital part of My body, the church. So what you do with your body and in your body impacts and involves Me.

Sexual immorality — any sexual relationship except between a husband and wife in marriage (Matthew 19:4-6) — involves you becoming one flesh with the other person. Sexual intimacy is more than just a physical activity: it is an act of knowing, serving, and being united with another person. Keeping yourself sexually pure shows your appreciation for the price by which you were redeemed from your past life of sin. So please, recognize the importance of being holy in your relationship with others — not just to honor Me, but also to guard your own heart and body.

As Paul writes below, he emphasizes the importance of your heart and your body:
Run from immoral behavior. All other sins are disconnected from the body, but sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. Don't you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who comes from God and dwells inside of you? You do not own yourself. You have been purchased at a great price, so use your body to bring glory to God!
Like the Corinthians, you live in a time when holiness in regard to your intimate relationships is not understood or is disregarded or ignored. This breaks My heart for you because I know the confusion, heartache, and abuse that this has unleashed into your world as a result. Something made to bring you joy, love, and security has become common and a source of hurt. My call to you for holiness and purity is for your protection and blessing, not for your limitation. Paul said it well:
The body is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord; the Lord is over all, and He cares about your body.
So please take these words from Paul very seriously as My call to your heart for your good as My disciple. Don't let the things you once WERE creep in and pull you away from the person you ARE now!
Verses to Live

Notice that Paul twice refers to the fact that some of the Corinthians were justifying their sinful sexual activities by saying "For me, all things are permitted." There are people in your time who use the same incorrect reasoning. Don't allow yourself to be one of those people. My teaching is clear: Sex outside of marriage is sinful. Paul points out that you are to be holy and pure because "your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit". If that is not enough motivation for you, notice that he also says "A lot of people stand to inherit nothing of God's coming kingdom, including those whose lives are defined by sexual immorality..."
Do you need reminding that the unjust have no share in the blessings of the kingdom of God? Do not be misled. A lot of people stand to inherit nothing of God's coming kingdom, including those whose lives are defined by sexual immorality, idolatry, adultery, sexual deviancy, theft, greed, drunkenness, slander, and swindling. Some of you used to live in these ways, but you are different now; you have been washed clean, set apart, restored, and set on the right path in the name of the Lord Jesus, the Anointed, by the Spirit of our living God.

I can hear some of you saying, "For me, all things are permitted." But face the facts: all things are not beneficial.

So you say, "For me, all things are permitted." Here's my response: I will not allow anything to control me.

Another chimes in: "Food is for the stomach, and the stomach is for food." I suppose so, but a day will come when God will dispense with both food and the stomach.

The body is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord; the Lord is over all, and He cares about your body. God has raised the Lord Jesus from death, but He won't stop there. His dynamic power will raise us up from the grips of death as well.

Don't you realize that your bodies are members of the Anointed One? So should I take the members of the Anointed One and unite them to a prostitute? This illicit union should never take place! Don't you understand that when your body is joined with a prostitute, the two of you have become one body? For as it says, "The two come together as one flesh." But when you are joined with the Lord, you become one spirit with Him.

Run from immoral behavior. All other sins are disconnected from the body, but sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. Don't you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who comes from God and dwells inside of you? You do not own yourself. You have been purchased at a great price, so use your body to bring glory to God!
(1 Corinthians 6:9-20)
Response in Prayer

O Father, may my life, my thoughts, my actions, and the use of my body be a holy praise unto You. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
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The Thoughts and Prayers for 'A Year with Jesus' are written by Phil Ware. You can email questions or comments to phil@heartlight.org.
Heartlight is proud to support and promote Compassion International.

© 1998-2014, Heartlight Inc

Were!" — A Year with Jesus for 08/19/2014

Note from Jesus

Dear Holy One,

When you confessed Me as your Lord and called on My name as your Savior (Romans 10:9-13) and you were joined with Me in My death, burial, and resurrection through baptism (Romans 6:3-8), you were cleansed and made perfectly holy through the work of the Holy Spirit (Colossians 1:21-22). As Paul tells the Corinthians in the following verse:
...you have been washed clean, set apart, restored, and set on the right path in the name of the Lord Jesus, the Anointed, by the Spirit of our living God.
There are things you once WERE because of your evil and sinful behavior, but you are not those things any longer. Those things should not be part of your life now. Even if you were raised in a Christian family and have tried to live for Me all of your life, you know that there was and is sin in your life. In your conversion and cleansing, you were united with Me — we became one and My righteousness was given to you. You are now part of Me and a vital part of My body, the church. So what you do with your body and in your body impacts and involves Me.

Sexual immorality — any sexual relationship except between a husband and wife in marriage (Matthew 19:4-6) — involves you becoming one flesh with the other person. Sexual intimacy is more than just a physical activity: it is an act of knowing, serving, and being united with another person. Keeping yourself sexually pure shows your appreciation for the price by which you were redeemed from your past life of sin. So please, recognize the importance of being holy in your relationship with others — not just to honor Me, but also to guard your own heart and body.

As Paul writes below, he emphasizes the importance of your heart and your body:
Run from immoral behavior. All other sins are disconnected from the body, but sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. Don't you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who comes from God and dwells inside of you? You do not own yourself. You have been purchased at a great price, so use your body to bring glory to God!
Like the Corinthians, you live in a time when holiness in regard to your intimate relationships is not understood or is disregarded or ignored. This breaks My heart for you because I know the confusion, heartache, and abuse that this has unleashed into your world as a result. Something made to bring you joy, love, and security has become common and a source of hurt. My call to you for holiness and purity is for your protection and blessing, not for your limitation. Paul said it well:
The body is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord; the Lord is over all, and He cares about your body.
So please take these words from Paul very seriously as My call to your heart for your good as My disciple. Don't let the things you once WERE creep in and pull you away from the person you ARE now!
Verses to Live

Notice that Paul twice refers to the fact that some of the Corinthians were justifying their sinful sexual activities by saying "For me, all things are permitted." There are people in your time who use the same incorrect reasoning. Don't allow yourself to be one of those people. My teaching is clear: Sex outside of marriage is sinful. Paul points out that you are to be holy and pure because "your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit". If that is not enough motivation for you, notice that he also says "A lot of people stand to inherit nothing of God's coming kingdom, including those whose lives are defined by sexual immorality..."
Do you need reminding that the unjust have no share in the blessings of the kingdom of God? Do not be misled. A lot of people stand to inherit nothing of God's coming kingdom, including those whose lives are defined by sexual immorality, idolatry, adultery, sexual deviancy, theft, greed, drunkenness, slander, and swindling. Some of you used to live in these ways, but you are different now; you have been washed clean, set apart, restored, and set on the right path in the name of the Lord Jesus, the Anointed, by the Spirit of our living God.

I can hear some of you saying, "For me, all things are permitted." But face the facts: all things are not beneficial.

So you say, "For me, all things are permitted." Here's my response: I will not allow anything to control me.

Another chimes in: "Food is for the stomach, and the stomach is for food." I suppose so, but a day will come when God will dispense with both food and the stomach.

The body is not meant for sexual immorality but for the Lord; the Lord is over all, and He cares about your body. God has raised the Lord Jesus from death, but He won't stop there. His dynamic power will raise us up from the grips of death as well.

Don't you realize that your bodies are members of the Anointed One? So should I take the members of the Anointed One and unite them to a prostitute? This illicit union should never take place! Don't you understand that when your body is joined with a prostitute, the two of you have become one body? For as it says, "The two come together as one flesh." But when you are joined with the Lord, you become one spirit with Him.

Run from immoral behavior. All other sins are disconnected from the body, but sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. Don't you know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who comes from God and dwells inside of you? You do not own yourself. You have been purchased at a great price, so use your body to bring glory to God!
(1 Corinthians 6:9-20)
Response in Prayer

O Father, may my life, my thoughts, my actions, and the use of my body be a holy praise unto You. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
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The Thoughts and Prayers for 'A Year with Jesus' are written by Phil Ware. You can email questions or comments to phil@heartlight.org.
Heartlight is proud to support and promote Compassion International.

© 1998-2014, Heartlight Inc

Wouldn't It Be Better?" — A Year with Jesus for 08/18/2014

Note from Jesus

Dear Disciple,

Today's verses are from 1 Corinthians. Paul had begun to address the sin and division damaging the holiness and fellowship in the house churches in Corinth. In yesterday's verses, he wrote about dealing with a problem of illicit sexual relations and the Christians' boasting about their open-mindedness at allowing it to go on in their fellowship. In today's verses he speaks to lawsuits between one believer and another and the embarrassment that such lawsuits were bringing to the reputation of the Christians there.

Paul makes some important points about why there shouldn't be lawsuits between Christians and why they should prefer to be "ripped off or defrauded" by a fellow believer rather than go to court before unbelievers:
Any disagreement believers cannot settle between each other should be decided by using wise believers in the church family to resolve the issue since Christians should have more wisdom and better values on which to make such a decision — after all, the Father will have Christians judge angels at the end of time.
Going to unbelievers to decide a legal matter is an embarrassment to the church and places Christians under the authority of those "who have no allegiance to" Me or to My standards of morality and integrity.
The ultimate question you fac! e in these matters is really pretty simple. Are you seeking My Kingdom and My righteousness (Matthew 6:33) or are you trying to store up treasures on earth (Matthew 6:19-21). When a person's heart is more concerned about keeping what he or she has than it is about the good of My Kingdom, then that person is living in darkness and My following words of warning are relevant:
The eye is the lamp of the body. You draw light into your body through your eyes, and light shines out to the world through your eyes. So if your eye is well and shows you what is true, then your whole body will be filled with light. But if your eye is clouded or evil, then your body will be filled with evil and dark clouds. And the darkness that takes over the body of a child of God who has gone astray — that is the deepest, darkest darkness there is.
(Matthew 6:22-23)
So I want to encourage you, as Paul does, to find a way to solve your differences and not go to court (Luke 12:57-59). Paul said it well:
The truth is that these public lawsuits cause all of you to lose and lose big. Wouldn't it be better to be ripped off or defrauded?
If you cannot work out a disagreement between yourselves, seek the help of wise brothers and sisters in Christ to help you come to a fair understanding (Matthew 18:16). Remember that there are more important things than you getting what you believe is your fair share in such matters. One of those is the reputation of the Christian community among unbelievers and another is not placing yourself under the authority of someone who does not live by My values of truth, honesty, and integrity.
Verses to Live

There are times when brothers and sisters in Christ disagree, disappoint each other, or even sin against each other. Seek the wisdom of wise believers rather than going to court with each other and embarrassing the church!
Here's another troubling issue. If you have a grievance against another follower of Jesus, do you have the audacity to bring that brother or sister into the civil courts rather than submitting yourselves to the authority of God's people? Don't you know that His people are destined to judge the world? If you have the authority to judge the world, can't you handle these small matters and render a better judgment than the civil courts? Further, don't you know that we are destined to judge the heavenly messengers? So if we are to exercise authority in the heavenly realms, can't we take care of the conflicts that arise in this life? To put it another way, if you are asking the courts to adjudicate your mundane conflicts, aren't you placing your problems under the authority of judges who have no standing within the church? My words should embarrass you. Is it possible that you have no one among you with the wisdom to mediate between two siblings? So one brother sues another brother in public and drags the dispute before outsiders who have no allegiance to Jesus?

The truth is that these public lawsuits cause all of you to lose and lose big. Wouldn't it be better to be ripped off or defrauded? In fact, you are guilty of ripping off and defrauding your own brothers and sisters, not the other way around.
(1 Corinthians 6:1-8)
Response in Prayer

Father, help me as I work on my heart to love You, Your people, and the reputation of Your people in the eyes of the world more than I love myself and my stuff. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
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The Thoughts and Prayers for 'A Year with Jesus' are written by Phil Ware. You can email questions or comments to phil@heartlight.org.
Heartlight is proud to support and promote Compassion International.

© 1998-2014, Heartlight Inc.

"Family Discipline, Family Rescue" — A Year with Jesus for 08/17/2014

Note from Jesus

Dear Beloved,

In My family, there are times when direct discipline is necessary in the lives of the Father's children (1 Corinthians 11:32; Hebrews 12:5-1! 1). Throughout your New Testament, you can find different forms of discipline, correction, and rescue that My followers were instructed to use to reclaim those who have gone astray (Matthew 18:12-20; Romans 16:17-18; Galatians 6:1-2; 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15; James 5:19-20; Jude 1:20-25).

Today's verses contain Paul's strong words about the serious need for discipline. These new believers were allowing immorality within their group — a type of immorality recognized as evil even among most non-believers, namely sexual relations between a man and his father's wife. The Corinthians not only allowed this blatant sin to continue, but they were also boasting about being open-minded enough to accept and fellowship those participating in this ongoing sin. The apostle Paul called such sin a "tragedy" and told the Corinthians that rather than being arrogant, they should "mourn" about such a "terrible" sin in their community and that the sinner should "be removed from the community." 

I know that Your culture frowns on the discipline Paul advocates in these verses. However, Paul appropriately reminds the Corinthian Christians that his words about discipline arise out of his "deep love" for them. There are certain moral standards in the Father's family of grace. His children must demonstrate both His righteous character and His gracious compassion — not one to the exclusion of the other. The Father's standards of morality are not arbitrary. Immorality damages the fabric of relationships and the basis of trust in a community and also damages and hardens the heart of the person involved in it. 

Expelling those who were participating in this sin was necessary for the Corinthian fellowship, but must be done with two things in mind:
So the sinners can be "rescued" from their bondage to their sinful nature — in other words, so they can turn their lives around and return to Me before My return.
So My community can be freed from its involvement in supporting this kind of immorality — if allowed unchecked, such immorality would eventually permeate and destroy the fellowship and character of My disciples.
You cannot free yourself from a world of immorality and corruption. In fact, I don't intend for you to take yourself out of the world or to isolate yourselves from the world (John 17:14-19). Instead, I call you through the power and guidance of the Holy Spirit to be light to the darkness of your world and salt to preserve the world from decay (Matthew 6:13-16). For this to happen, you must be people of righteous character. Your lives and morals must be in tune with the character of your Father in heaven.

Paul's previous letter (see yesterday's note for more on this) had taught the Corinthian Christians to be separate from worldliness and immorality. He makes clear in the verses today what he means. Paul is not suggesting that they withdraw from the society around them, but that they not live by the world's standards as part of My body, the church. There are moral standards for fellowship among My disciples and they need to help each other live up to those standards. But rather than withdrawing from the sinful world, the Corinthian's call was to live in the world to redeem the world. That is also My call to you today. Be a people of righteous character and gracious compassion both inside the fellowship of My people and also in your relationships with those who do not yet call on Me as their Lord.
Verses to Live

There will always be sinners in My church. However, the goal is that these sinners — people like you whose hearts long to honor Me, but who sometimes stumble and sin — be transformed to become more and more like Me (Romans 12:1-2; 2 Corinthians 3:17-18). So don't let each other settle down into sin and simply accept that sin. Love each other enough to work on rescuing each other from sin. I love what Jude wrote about this in his short little letter:
But you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith, pray in the power of the Holy Spirit, and await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will bring you eternal life. In this way, you will keep yourselves safe in God’s love.

And you must show mercy to those whose faith is wavering. Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. Show mercy to still others, but do so with great caution, hating the sins that contaminate their lives.

Now all glory to God, who is able to keep you from falling away and will bring you with great joy into his glorious presence without a single fault. All glory to him who alone is God, our Savior through Jesus Christ our Lord. All glory, majesty, power, and authority are his before all time, and in the present, and beyond all time! Amen.
(Jude 1:20-25 NLT)
Now for Paul's words to the Corinthians:
Because of my deep love for you, I must express my concern about the report brought to me regarding the lewd and immoral behavior exhibited in your community. This scandal has come to my attention because this kind of thing is unheard of even among the outsiders around us: I understand a man is having sexual relations with his father's wife. You have turned into an arrogant lot who refuse to see the tragedy right in front of your eyes and mourn for it. If you would face these hard realities, the one living in this sin would be removed from the community.

Despite the fact that I am not physically present with you, I am there in spirit and already have spoken judgment against the man who has engaged in this conduct. When you gather in the name of the Lord Jesus and I am present with you in spirit, and the infinite power of our Lord Jesus is present also, I direct you to release this man over to Satan so his rebellious nature will be destroyed and his spirit might be rescued in the day the Lord Jesus returns.

Your proud boasting in this matter is terrible. Don't you understand that the tiniest infraction can bring about an unwelcome chain of events? That just a little yeast causes all the dough to rise? Get rid of all the old yeast; then you'll become new dough, just as you are already a people without sin's leavening influence. You see, the Anointed One is our Passover lamb; He has been sacrificed for us. So let the real feast begin. Get rid of all the old yeast, the yeast of hatred and evil. Throw it out so we can feast on the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.

In the letter I wrote to you previously, I made it clear that you are not to band together with those who have embraced immoral lives. Don't misunderstand; I'm not telling you to hole up and hunker down from the rest of the world. That's impossible. The world is filled with immoral people consumed by their desire for more; they steal from one another without hesitation and will worship man-made idols with no shame at all. If you attempted to avoid these people, you would have to leave the world itself. What I was saying is that you should not associate with someone who calls himself a brother or sister but lives contrary to all we stand for: committing immoral sexual acts, consumed with desire for more, worshiping tangible lifeless things, using profanity, drinking into oblivion, swindling and cheating others. Do not even sit at the table with a person like this. Why would I ever attempt to judge those outside the church? Aren't we called to judge those within the church? God judges the outsiders. Your job is this: "Expel the wicked from your own community."
(1 Corinthians 5:1-13)
Response in Prayer

Father, I will confess to you that I am not always focused in my discipleship and not as passionate as I should be about reaching out to those who are wandering away and who are trapped in sin that is destroying relationship with You and possibly even destroying their lives. I ask for tender boldness to empathize with them, but also the strength to call them home to You and to the life you want them to lead. Give me wisdom and a heart of love as I do this. I don't want to be self-righteous or arrogant, but full of compassion. At the same time, I know how deeply you want your "lost sheep" to be found and brought safely home. I ask for Your help in doing this, O LORD. In Jesus' name I ask this. Amen.
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The Thoughts and Prayers for 'A Year with Jesus' are written by Phil Ware. You can email questions or comments to phil@heartlight.org.

"Out of Phase" — A Year with Jesus for 08/15/2014

Note from Jesus

Dear Servant of the LORD,

Yes, I have called you My sibling, My beloved, and My friend. I have even called you a child of the King of Glory and a child of your Father in heaven. Today, however, I call you servant of the LORD (YHWH — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, our covenant name in Hebrew). I could use the term bond-servant or even slave rather than servant when referring to you. These terms are tough ones and speak of hard service. Yet I want you committed to being a servant even when hardships are involved — remember I demonstrated being a servant when I washed My disciples' feet in the upper room (John 13:1-17).

None of My earliest servants ministered and sacrificed because they were forced to do so. I called them to follow Me. By grace, I invited them into the Father's family. Their role as servants was voluntary. They saw the life I lived on earth and chose to follow Me. And My example that they saw and followed was service to others.

I came to this world as a servant, giving up heaven's glory for mortality, giving up safety for vulnerability, and giving up a throne for a cross to serve the lost — the Corinthians and also you (Philippians 2:5-11). Those who led My followers after My ascension were also servants, completely changing their lives and many giving up their lives because they followed Me and did My work in the world. Their lives were molded into the character and compassion of My life. Each of My apostles, except for the one who was lost (John 17:12), followed My example and was a sacrificial servant.

As Paul wrote to the Corinthians, he had to defeat their false sense of self-importance. He had to confront their pride in believing that they had fully arrived spiritually. He had to help them understand that they had missed My greatness and had sunk into worldliness and worldly ambition. So after spending what now comprises three chapters in your Bibles trying to teach them that they had missed the mark on greatness, Paul then turned to personal examples — his own example, the example of My original apostles, and the example of his closest disciple and son in the faith, Timothy. All of these lived for Me and for others, not for themselves!

All of these people had one thing in common: they were servants. Their lives were much more like My life than they were like the lives of these so-called "super spirituals" in Corinth. The things these "super spirituals" boasted about in themselves were exactly opposite to the things they saw in Paul's life, in Timothy's life, in the apostles' lives, and in My life. Since I AM the prime example of spirituality, it wasn't Paul who was out of phase, but the prideful Corinthians!

As the Corinthians' "father in the faith," Paul wanted them to awaken from their arrogant stupor of pride and return to following My example and the example of My emissaries, and not to follow their own egos. Greatness is not found in status, wealth, a certain spiritual gift, high position, lofty titles, worldly prestige, or any earthly achievement. Greatness, as I repeatedly said in My earthly ministry, is found in those who serve and are willing to pay the price of a servant... and who do it for Me and for My family!
Verses to Live

Since greatness is not found in human accolades, status, position, or achievement, then where is greatness found? What are the qualities of greatness in My kingdom? What does it really mean to be a servant? Look at the list of things that were true of My emissaries (apostles) in the verses below. They faced these hardships out of love for Me and in an effort to share the Father's grace and the gift of the Holy Spirit with those who were lost. This is true greatness!
Rather than power brokers, think of us as servants of the Anointed One, the Liberating King, caretakers of the mysteries of God. Because we are in this particular role, it is especially important that we are people of fidelity and integrity. It makes little difference to me how you or any human court passes judgment on me. I even resist the temptation to compare myself to the ever-changing human standard. Although I am not aware of any flaw that might exclude me from this divine service, that's not the reason I stand acquitted — the only supreme judge, our Lord, will examine me in the proper time.

So resist the temptation to act as judges before all the evidence is in. When the Lord comes, He will draw our buried motives, thoughts, and deeds (even things we don't know or admit to ourselves) out of the dark shadows of our hearts into His light. When this happens, the voice of God will speak to each of us the only praise that will ever matter.

Right now, brothers and sisters, the best thing I can do for you is to apply these principles to the situation with Apollos and me. Maybe we can show you the meaning of the saying, "not beyond the things written." If you learn that, perhaps none of you will swell with pride because you fall into the seductive trap of pitting one against the other. Is there any reason to consider yourselves better than others? What do you have that you didn't receive? If you received it as a gift, why do you boast like it is something you achieved on your own.

Now let's see if I have it straight. You suppose that you already have all you need. You already are rich and prosperous. And without us you've already begun to reign like kings. To be honest, I wish you did reign so that we could reign with you because it seems to me that God has put His emissaries [apostles] at the end of the line, like convicts in their final walk to certain death. We have become a spectacle to the rest of the world — to all people and heaven's messengers. We are nothing but fools for the cause of the Anointed One while you are wise in Him. Am I right?

We are feeble and tired while you are mighty and full of life. You are well respected by others while we're treated as contemptuous creatures by pretty much everyone everywhere. Up to this very minute, we are famished, we are thirsty, and our clothes are shabby, practically rotted to pieces. We are homeless, hapless wanderers. But still we labor, working with our hands to meet our needs because, despite all of this, when a fist is raised against us, we respond with a blessing; when we face violence and persecution, we stay on mission; and when others choose taunts and slander against us, we speak words of encouragement and reconciliation. We're treated as the scum of the earth — and I am not talking in the past tense; I mean today! We're the scraps of society, nothing more than the foulest human rubbish.

I am not telling you all this so that you'll feel guilty or be ashamed of how you have acted. I am only trying to warn you, just as a father would warn his children. You may have 10,000 instructors in the faith of the Anointed One, but you have only one father. In Jesus the Anointed I have become your father through my efforts in spreading the good news.

So as your father in the faith, I want to encourage you to live as I have lived. Imitate my life. This is one of the reasons I sent Timothy to be with you. He is my dearly loved and faithful child in the Lord. His mission is to remind you of the way I experience life in the Anointed. In all the churches everywhere I go, I teach the same lessons the same way, and I live out those lessons.

But the reality is, some of you have put yourselves on pedestals and live like you are high above the rest — it's as if you assumed I would not return to confront your misguided pride. But I am coming. Lord willing, I will be with you soon. Then I will know what power is backing those arrogant folks and their words. The kingdom of God is not a realm of grandiose talk; it is a realm of power. So tell me what you want. Should I visit you, rod in hand ready to discipline a crew of self-important people; or should I embrace you, love you, and gently teach you as we celebrate the blessings of God together.
(1 Corinthians 4:1-21)
Response in Prayer

O Father in heaven, forgive me for wanting to be recognized and not entrusting my value to You. Forgive me for running after the same vain sense of importance as everyone else in the world. I see how hollow their achievements ultimately prove to be at fulfilling them. Holy Spirit, convict me and help me value those who serve the Lord Jesus with all that they are and do and say. I want to be a willing servant, following in the footsteps of the apostles, Paul, Timothy, and, of course, Jesus himself. Lord Jesus, make me a servant; make me like You! Amen.


Today and over the last several weeks, our brothers and sisters in Iraq and many other places in the Middle East and Africa have had to make the ultimate sacrifice for their faith. They have been servants to the end. Some have been crucified. Some have seen their children beheaded before they themselves were martyred. Many others have had their earthly lives destroyed. Please take time to go to Voice of the Martyrs and learn more about their plight and pray about ways you can help. Thank you!

Phil Ware & the Heartlight.org, VerseoftheDay.com, and aYearwithJesus.com team.
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The Thoughts and Prayers for 'A Year with Jesus' are written by Phil Ware. You can email questions or comments to phil@heartlight.org.
Heartlight is proud to support and promote Compassion International.
© 1998-2014, Heartlight Inc.

"Scour Away the Filth" — A Year with Jesus for 08/16/2014

Note from Jesus

Dear Faithful Follower,

Even when Paul first worked with the Corinthians, he sought to help them turn from the unbridled immorality that was a part of their city's culture, as he did for other Christians also. (See, for example, 1 Thessalonians 4:1-11). The grip of their immoral past was hard to discard. Many activities in Corinth were tied to the worship of idols and the pervasive paganism of the city — cultic prostitution at their pagan temples, buying meat sacrificed first to the idols before being available for sale in the market, pagan celebrations connected to feasts, the unrestrained drunkenness and sexual immorality that were part of the trade guild parties, along with the pagan celebrations and sacrifices that went with athletic contests and theater productions.

Paul tried to teach these new Christians that their lives were to be holy — to be lived in total dedication to honor Us — Father, Son, and Spirit. This sense of holy purpose meant their bodies were sacred and should be used to glorify Us (1 Corinthians 6:18-20). Paul had repeatedly taught them — whether present physically or through letters — about their need to practice holiness in all things. This meant getting away and staying far away from immorality, idolatry, and paganism.

In Paul's letter that is 1 Corinthians in your Bible, he referred to a previous letter to the Corinthian Christians and his earlier teaching about avoiding immorality (1 Corinthians 5:9). That previous teaching was very similar to what you find in a passage from 2 Corinthians included in the verses below. As you read these verses, try to think through the implications of Paul's teachings for you in your culture and how to apply these teachings!

How are you going to live as My holy person in your immoral culture and still influence that culture for good?

How are you going to influence your culture while not letting the bad parts of your culture influence you?

As you live and serve Me in the pagan culture around you, what are the limits of Christian fellowship?

These are hard questions. Rather than answer those questions for you, I am asking you to wrestle with these questions as you follow Me. I want your heart to belong to Me, so you are going to have to work through these questions with your heart dedicated to honoring Me. Think through what Paul wrote and see how his teachings apply to you. When you read his teachings this way, you will have more empathy for the Corinthians. You will get a clearer understanding of the challenges they faced in their day if they obeyed Paul's teaching on how to live for Me. You will also face the challenges of how to obey Paul's teaching in your day.
Verses to Live

How are you going to impact your culture with My character and compassion without getting entangled and soiled with its immorality? In the verses below, you find three readings. The first refers back to a previous letter that Paul wrote the Christians in Corinth. The second section addresses the same matters as the first letter. The final short section is Paul's exhortation to the people based on what he had written in the previous section. This part is at the heart of what I want you to find a way to incorporate into your daily lives.
In the letter I wrote to you previously, I made it clear that you are not to band together with those who have embraced immoral lives.
(1 Corinthians 5:9)

Don't develop partnerships with those who are not followers of Jesus' teachings. For what real connection can exist between righteousness and rebellion? How can light participate in darkness? What harmony can exist between the Anointed and Satan? Do the faithful and the faithless have anything in common? Can the temple of God find common ground with idols? Don't you see that we house the temple of the living God within us? Remember when He said,
"I will make My home with them and walk among them.
I will be their God,
and they will be My people.

"So then turn away from them,
turn away and leave without looking back," says the Lord.

"Stay away from anything unclean, anything impure,
and I will welcome you.

And I will be for you as a father,
and you will be for Me as sons and daughters,"
Says the Lord Almighty!
(2 Corinthians 6:14-18)

Because we have these promises, dearly loved ones, out of respect for God we should scour the filth from our flesh and spirit and move toward perfect beauty and holiness.
(2 Corinthians 7:1)
Response in Prayer

Father, make me Yours completely. Set me apart from those who do not know You so that I display Your grace to others and live Your holiness before them. May my whole spirit, soul, and body be kept free from any sort of sin as I await the glorious coming of My Lord and Savior Jesus, the Anointed. You, O God, are faithful. I know that You can be trusted to make this happen in me, to Your glory. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

This prayer is adapted from Paul's prayer for the Thessalonians in 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24.
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The Thoughts and Prayers for 'A Year with Jesus' are written by Phil Ware. You can email questions or comments to phil@heartlight.org.

My Precious Temple!" — A Year with Jesus for 08/14/2014

Note from Jesus

Dear Beloved,

As Paul begins to address the rivalries and divisions among My followers in Corinth, he points to four truths that I want you to remember. You find these four truths in the verses for today. The fourth truth is most sobering and important. Please take it — and take all of them — to heart. Here are the four truths for today.

First, division and rivalries in a group of My disciples show My people are living by their worldly instincts rather than being led by the Holy Spirit. No matter how mature My followers claim to be, division shows that they are seeking their importance from the same things as the worldly people who "live by the standards of this rebellious and broken world."

Second, claiming to be part of an important group in My movement doesn't make a person any more important than other believers. Those groups whose leaders are well known are not more important than groups whose leaders are not known. The greatest in My Kingdom will always be a servant, whether you know that person or not. Don't judge your value as My follower by your leaders, your founders, or your group's reputation.

Third, the Father will judge everyone's work when the time is right — My disciples should refrain from trying to do the Father's job! If someone bases his or her ministry on Me and the truth about Me, then you should value that person as My servant. Furthermore, you shouldn't try to put a value on one of My servants by comparing that servant to another one of My servants.

Fourth, when people gather together into a church family, they are not only My bodily presence in the world, but they are also a holy temple where we — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — dwell. Everyone who is a part of a congregation was bought at the price of My life. Each is precious to Us. Together, even with their flaws, they are a sacred place where We dwell. So anyone who destroys the unity of Our precious people and their spiritual family will face destruction for what they have done. My church, My bodily presence in the world, is that precious to Me.
Verses to Live

Paul's words below are his plea for the Corinthians to not allow division to continue and destroy the temple of God. These are strong, but needed, words.
My brothers and sisters, I cannot address you as people who walk by the Spirit; I have to speak to you as people who tend to think in merely human terms, as spiritual infants in the Anointed One. I nursed you with milk, as a mother would feed her baby, because you were not, and still are not, developed enough to digest complex spiritual food. And here's why: you are still living in the flesh, not in the Spirit. How do I know? Are you fighting with one another? Are you comparing yourselves to others and becoming consumed with jealousy? Then it sounds like you are living in the flesh, no different from the rest who live by the standards of this rebellious and broken world. If one of you is saying, "I am with Paul," and the other says, "I am with Apollos," aren't you like everybody else? So who is Apollos really? Or Paul for that matter? We are only servants, agents who led you to faith, and the Lord commissioned each of us to do a particular job.

My job was to plant the seed, and Apollos was called to water it. Any growth comes from God, so the ones who water and plant have nothing to brag about. God, who causes the growth, is the only One who matters. The one who plants is no greater than the one who waters; both will be rewarded based on their work. We are gardeners and field workers laboring with God. You are the vineyard, the garden, the house where God dwells. Like a skilled architect and master builder, I laid a foundation based upon God's grace given to me. Now others will come along to build on the foundation. Each serves in a different way and is to build upon it with great care. There is, in fact, only one foundation, and no one can lay any foundation other than Jesus the Anointed. As others build on the foundation (whether with gold, silver, gemstones, wood, hay, or straw), the quality of each person's work will be revealed in time as it is tested by fire. If a man's work stands the test of fire, he will be rewarded. If a man's work is consumed by the fire, his reward will be lost but he will be spared, rescued from the fire. Don't you understand that together you form a temple to the living God and His Spirit lives among you? If someone comes along to corrupt, vandalize, and destroy the temple of God, you can be sure that God will see to it that he meets destruction because the temple of God is sacred. You, together, are His temple.
(1 Corinthians 3:1-17)
Response in Prayer

O Father, I remember Jesus' prayers on the night He was betrayed. He prayed, "Abba Father, ... I want Your will to be done, not Mine." He also prayed this prayer for us: "I pray that they will all be one ... so that the world will believe You sent Me." What His prayers tell me, dear Father, is that I must seek Your will above my own will and that I must seek to maintain unity in the spiritual family of my Lord. So I ask, dear Father, for strength to do both — to do your will no matter the cost and to help our church become a place where You delight to dwell. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Note: The scripture quotations in the prayer are from Mark 14:36 and John 17:21 in the NLT.
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The Thoughts and Prayers for 'A Year with Jesus' are written by Phil Ware. You can email questions or comments to phil@heartlight.org.
Heartlight is proud to support and promote Compassion International.
© 1998-2014, Heartlight Inc.

"God's Faithfulness, Not Disciples' Failures" — A Year with Jesus for 08/12/2014

Note from Jesus

Dear Beloved of the Father,

While Paul was in Ephesus, he wrote a follow-up letter to the Corinthians. (You don't have a copy of Paul's first letter; your book of 1 Corinthians is actually his second letter to them. See 1 Corinthians 5:9.) These new believers lived in a seaport city on a narrow strip of land surrounded by water on two sides and on a major highway that ran through their city. This gives you a powerful image to remember the importance of My disciples and their influence in this place: they were surrounded by immorality and were in a strategic place to impact the world of commerce, travel, and religion with the truth of the gospel.

Becoming My disciple in such a place was far easier than living as a disciple. There were strong pulls upon the church from all sorts of directions and distractions — things like unrestrained immorality of every kind, materialism that was a major factor in the city, corrupted religious practices, religious enthusiasm, rivalry over social status, passionate individualism, battles over gender superiority, racial diversity tinged with prejudice, and genuine poverty. You don't have to dig very far into Paul's letter to discover that My collection of disciples in Corinth struggled with each of these challenges.

One of the qualities about 1 and 2 Corinthians that makes these letters so important for you today is that My disciples in Corinth had many problems that are typical of your time. If you sit down and read Paul's letter known as 1 Corinthians, you are likely to wonder how in the world this church could survive. There were rivalries over which group was most acceptable and important. There were conflicts and disrespect between men and women. There was incest in at least one family, and other forms of sexual immorality were present among My followers. There were lawsuits between members. There was disregard of the poor by the rich during the love feast and what was supposed to be Holy Communion — some were getting drunk and gorging on food while others were being totally left out of the fellowship. Their petty rivalries over spiritual gifts caused arguments over who was most spiritual. There were even some who had lost faith in My resurrection. This city had several house churches with believers that had little in common with each other except that they called on My name and called themselves My followers.

Today, however, I want to make a couple of very important points to you based on the way the apostle Paul began this letter. Notice particularly the highlighted parts of the scripture below. First, I want you to remember that every person born of water and spirit (John 3:3-7; Titus 3:3-7; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11) is precious. In a world — both in the first century and in your time — so torn by division, so corrupted by immorality, and so lost in darkness because of a loss of hope, everyone who is My follower needs to be regarded as precious... even if that person has strayed from the truth or has never fully understood the truth!

In Corinth with a cluster of house churches so messed up and divided, Paul knew their problems. They had created great anguish and concern in his heart for them. He had invested over two years of his life in them. He knew how fragile their fellowship was and how far their discipleship was from the high calling that I had for them. Yet — and please hear this beloved — each of My disciples, no matter how flawed, was still precious to Paul and to Me. There were still reasons to rejoice in them. There were still great reasons to give thanks for them and to continue to pray for them.

Second, here's the secret: Paul's faith that something good could come out of the messes they had made of their lives and their fellowship was not rooted in their current failures or their future accomplishments, but in Our — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit's — faithfulness. Let these words, found in the center of the verses below, remind you of the truth that must never be forgotten:
He [God the Father] will preserve you; and on that day, He will consider you faultless. Count on this: God is faithful and in His faithfulness called you out into an intimate relationship with His Son, our Lord Jesus the Anointed.
Verses to Live

Paul was not blind to the problems that existed among My people in Corinth. Yet he did not let his disappointment because of their flaws and failures distract him from My disciples' importance to Me and from the power at work within them to make all things new. Paul acknowledged their divisions shortly after affirming how precious they were and declaring his confidence in Our ability to be faithful and to bring them to be with Us. So you don't forget to rejoice over those who have come to Me. Don't forget Paul's example of working with the Corinthians!
Paul, called out by God's will to be an emissary for Jesus the Anointed, along with brother Sosthenes, to God's church gathering in the city of Corinth. As people who are united with Jesus, the Anointed One, you have been set apart for service. You are all called into community to live as saints with all who invoke the name of our Lord Jesus, the Anointed.

I pray that God our Father and the Lord Jesus, the Anointed One, will shower you with grace and peace.

I am continuously thanking my God for you when I think about the grace God has offered you in Jesus the Anointed. In this grace, God is enriching every aspect of your lives by gifting you with the right words to say and everything you need to know. In this way, your life story confirms the life story of the Anointed One, so you are not ill-equipped or slighted on any necessary gifts as you patiently anticipate the day when our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One, is revealed. Until that final day, He will preserve you; and on that day, He will consider you faultless. Count on this: God is faithful and in His faithfulness called you out into an intimate relationship with His Son, our Lord Jesus the Anointed.

My brothers and sisters, I urge you by the name of our Lord Jesus, the Anointed, to come together in agreement. Do not allow anything or anyone to create division among you. Instead, be restored, completely fastened together with one mind and shared judgment. I have heard troubling reports from Chloe's people that you, my siblings, are consumed by fighting and petty disagreements. What I have heard is that each of you is taking sides, saying, "I am with Paul," or "I am with Apollos," or "I am with Cephas," or "I am with the Anointed One." Has the Anointed One been split up into many small pieces? Do you think Paul was crucified for you? Were you ceremonially washed through baptism into the name of Paul? Absolutely not!

Now I am thankful that I baptized only Crispus and Gaius, so none of you can falsely declare you were baptized in my name. Now wait, as I think about it, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; if there are others in your community whom I baptized, I cannot recall at this moment. The mission given to me by the Anointed One is not about baptism, but about preaching good news. The point is not to impress others by spinning an eloquent, intellectual argument; that type of rhetorical showboating would only nullify the cross of the Anointed.
(1 Corinthians 1:1-17)
Response in Prayer

O Father in heaven, I confess that there are times when I grow discouraged with the division, rivalry, and immorality among Your followers. These failures make sharing the truth more difficult. They open Your people up to the charge of being hypocrites. So please give me patience as well as determination to be transformed into the person the Holy Spirit is working to help me become, and please dear Father, help me have that same patience and determination with others. In Jesus' precious and glorious name I pray. Amen.
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The Thoughts and Prayers for 'A Year with Jesus' are written by Phil Ware. You can email questions or comments to phil@heartlight.org.
Heartlight is proud to support and promote Compassion International.
© 1998-2014, Heartlight Inc.

"Bragging Rights?" — A Year with Jesus for 08/13/2014

Note from Jesus

Dear Child of the Father,

The Corinthian disciples had forgotten what made them special. They were arguing over their group of believers being more important than another group of believers. Some were celebrating their status during communion while others were being overlooked. They were bragging about their spiritual gifts and were using them to impress others. Some were even claiming to follow different people rather than Me. Everywhere you look in the early Corinthian church, there were fractures, rivalries, differences, and arguments over who or what was most important. Even worse, they boasted in these differences!

Paul spoke directly to the Corinthians about their sin. He reminded them that few came from families of position or status:
By human standards, not many of you are deemed to be wise. Not many are considered powerful. Not many of you come from royalty, right?
By earthly measures, they had little or no status.

So why in the world would they fuss and fight over status — something so earthly, temporal and trivial? Why would they divide My body over egos and pettiness? The answer is just as it is in every generation: when people feel insignificant and unsure of their status, they look to false standards to make them feel important. People like that boast in what is really superficial, temporary, and unimportant.

The Corinthian disciples Paul is writing to had forgotten Who I was when I came to the earth and what I had done to make them children of the Father of glory. They ignored the lofty status that I put aside when I was born into the world and lived on earth to redeem them (Philippians 2:5-11). They forgot that I taught that the greatest in the Father's Kingdom, in My family, is actually the person willing to serve while those who exalted themselves above others will be humbled (Matthew 23:11-12). They dismissed that I came to serve and to give My life to ransom them from sin and called them to give and serve others (Mark 10:42-45; John 13:12-17).

Paul wanted them — I w! ant you — to know that real greatness is found in being "united with Jesus the Anointed" — united with Me. You are My disciples. You are to follow My example. You are to trust your glory to My grace. You are to serve each other just as I served and gave Myself for you. I AM the source of your life, significance, identity, and status. I AM your "wisdom." Your "righteousness and holiness and redemption" are found in Me. Don't boast in what you have accomplished or where you have come from or even what you can do that others can't do. Realize that your life, your future, and the glory in which you will share all come from being identified with Me and being a part of My family. You cannot disregard someone else in My family, you cannot elevate yourself above someone else in My family, without disregarding Me.
Verses to Live

As My disciple, think of what you have — think of all the blessings and privileges that are yours because of My sacrifice. You received all of these by grace. You received none of these by birthright or rank in social circles. So let your boasting be in My grace and sacrifice, not in what you can do or from where you came. Boasting causes division. Boasting creates rivalries. Boasting causes messes like the Corinthians had made. Read the verses below and take them to heart, because they are true not just for the Corinthian disciples; they are also true for you!
Look carefully at your call, brothers and sisters. By human standards, not many of you are deemed to be wise. Not many are considered powerful. Not many of you come from royalty, right? But celebrate this: God selected the world's foolish to bring shame upon those who think they are wise; likewise, He selected the world's weak to bring disgrace upon those who think they are strong. God selected the common and the castoff, whatever lacks status, so He could invalidate the claims of those who think those things are significant. So it makes no sense for any person to boast in God's presence. Instead, credit God with your new situation: you are united with Jesus the Anointed. He is God's wisdom for us and more. He is our righteousness and holiness and redemption. As the Scripture says: "If someone wants to boast, he should boast in the Lord."
(1 Corinthians 1:26-31)

Don’t let anyone deceive himself. If any one of you thinks he is wise in matters pertaining to this world, he is going to be really disappointed. In fact, one must be deemed a fool by worldly standards in order to become truly wise because the wisdom of this rebellious and broken world looks like foolishness when put next to God. So it stands in Scripture, "He catches the wise in their deceitful plotting." And the Scriptures add, "The Lord knows the highest thoughts of the wise, and they are worthless." So there is no reason for anyone to boast in human leaders. You already have it all. So whether it is Paul, Apollos, Cephas, the world, life or death, the present or the future — it all belongs to you. You belong to the Anointed One, and the Anointed One belongs to God.
(1 Corinthians 3:18-23)
Response in Prayer

Father in heaven, I know that my insecurities can lead me to chase the wrong things as the source of my significance. I recognize that in Jesus, I am your child — a child of the King of glory. Forgive me for my lack of trust in Your acceptance and approval. Forgive me for seeking my own glory and not resting in Your grace. Use me, O LORD, to help others find their significance in You and to accept others whom the world might disregard. In the name of Jesus, my Lord and my Example, I pray. Amen.
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The Thoughts and Prayers for 'A Year with Jesus' are written by Phil Ware. You can email questions or comments to phil@heartlight.org.
Heartlight is proud to support and promote Compassion International.
© 1998-2014, Heartlight Inc.

"God's Faithfulness, Not Disciples' Failures" — A Year with Jesus for 08/12/2014

Note from Jesus

Dear Beloved of the Father,

While Paul was in Ephesus, he wrote a follow-up letter to the Corinthians. (You don't have a copy of Paul's first letter; your book of 1 Corinthians is actually his second letter to them. See 1 Corinthians 5:9.) These new believers lived in a seaport city on a narrow strip of land surrounded by water on two sides and on a major highway that ran through their city. This gives you a powerful image to remember the importance of My disciples and their influence in this place: they were surrounded by immorality and were in a strategic place to impact the world of commerce, travel, and religion with the truth of the gospel.

Becoming My disciple in such a place was far easier than living as a disciple. There were strong pulls upon the church from all sorts of directions and distractions — things like unrestrained immorality of every kind, materialism that was a major factor in the city, corrupted religious practices, religious enthusiasm, rivalry over social status, passionate individualism, battles over gender superiority, racial diversity tinged with prejudice, and genuine poverty. You don't have to dig very far into Paul's letter to discover that My collection of disciples in Corinth struggled with each of these challenges.

One of the qualities about 1 and 2 Corinthians that makes these letters so important for you today is that My disciples in Corinth had many problems that are typical of your time. If you sit down and read Paul's letter known as 1 Corinthians, you are likely to wonder how in the world this church could survive. There were rivalries over which group was most acceptable and important. There were conflicts and disrespect between men and women. There was incest in at least one family, and other forms of sexual immorality were present among My followers. There were lawsuits between members. There was disregard of the poor by the rich during the love feast and what was supposed to be Holy Communion — some were getting drunk and gorging on food while others were being totally left out of the fellowship. Their petty rivalries over spiritual gifts caused arguments over who was most spiritual. There were even some who had lost faith in My resurrection. This city had several house churches with believers that had little in common with each other except that they called on My name and called themselves My followers.

Today, however, I want to make a couple of very important points to you based on the way the apostle Paul began this letter. Notice particularly the highlighted parts of the scripture below. First, I want you to remember that every person born of water and spirit (John 3:3-7; Titus 3:3-7; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11) is precious. In a world — both in the first century and in your time — so torn by division, so corrupted by immorality, and so lost in darkness because of a loss of hope, everyone who is My follower needs to be regarded as precious... even if that person has strayed from the truth or has never fully understood the truth!

In Corinth with a cluster of house churches so messed up and divided, Paul knew their problems. They had created great anguish and concern in his heart for them. He had invested over two years of his life in them. He knew how fragile their fellowship was and how far their discipleship was from the high calling that I had for them. Yet — and please hear this beloved — each of My disciples, no matter how flawed, was still precious to Paul and to Me. There were still reasons to rejoice in them. There were still great reasons to give thanks for them and to continue to pray for them.

Second, here's the secret: Paul's faith that something good could come out of the messes they had made of their lives and their fellowship was not rooted in their current failures or their future accomplishments, but in Our — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit's — faithfulness. Let these words, found in the center of the verses below, remind you of the truth that must never be forgotten:
He [God the Father] will preserve you; and on that day, He will consider you faultless. Count on this: God is faithful and in His faithfulness called you out into an intimate relationship with His Son, our Lord Jesus the Anointed.
Verses to Live

Paul was not blind to the problems that existed among My people in Corinth. Yet he did not let his disappointment because of their flaws and failures distract him from My disciples' importance to Me and from the power at work within them to make all things new. Paul acknowledged their divisions shortly after affirming how precious they were and declaring his confidence in Our ability to be faithful and to bring them to be with Us. So you don't forget to rejoice over those who have come to Me. Don't forget Paul's example of working with the Corinthians!
Paul, called out by God's will to be an emissary for Jesus the Anointed, along with brother Sosthenes, to God's church gathering in the city of Corinth. As people who are united with Jesus, the Anointed One, you have been set apart for service. You are all called into community to live as saints with all who invoke the name of our Lord Jesus, the Anointed.

I pray that God our Father and the Lord Jesus, the Anointed One, will shower you with grace and peace.

I am continuously thanking my God for you when I think about the grace God has offered you in Jesus the Anointed. In this grace, God is enriching every aspect of your lives by gifting you with the right words to say and everything you need to know. In this way, your life story confirms the life story of the Anointed One, so you are not ill-equipped or slighted on any necessary gifts as you patiently anticipate the day when our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One, is revealed. Until that final day, He will preserve you; and on that day, He will consider you faultless. Count on this: God is faithful and in His faithfulness called you out into an intimate relationship with His Son, our Lord Jesus the Anointed.

My brothers and sisters, I urge you by the name of our Lord Jesus, the Anointed, to come together in agreement. Do not allow anything or anyone to create division among you. Instead, be restored, completely fastened together with one mind and shared judgment. I have heard troubling reports from Chloe's people that you, my siblings, are consumed by fighting and petty disagreements. What I have heard is that each of you is taking sides, saying, "I am with Paul," or "I am with Apollos," or "I am with Cephas," or "I am with the Anointed One." Has the Anointed One been split up into many small pieces? Do you think Paul was crucified for you? Were you ceremonially washed through baptism into the name of Paul? Absolutely not!

Now I am thankful that I baptized only Crispus and Gaius, so none of you can falsely declare you were baptized in my name. Now wait, as I think about it, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; if there are others in your community whom I baptized, I cannot recall at this moment. The mission given to me by the Anointed One is not about baptism, but about preaching good news. The point is not to impress others by spinning an eloquent, intellectual argument; that type of rhetorical showboating would only nullify the cross of the Anointed.
(1 Corinthians 1:1-17)
Response in Prayer

O Father in heaven, I confess that there are times when I grow discouraged with the division, rivalry, and immorality among Your followers. These failures make sharing the truth more difficult. They open Your people up to the charge of being hypocrites. So please give me patience as well as determination to be transformed into the person the Holy Spirit is working to help me become, and please dear Father, help me have that same patience and determination with others. In Jesus' precious and glorious name I pray. Amen.
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The Thoughts and Prayers for 'A Year with Jesus' are written by Phil Ware. You can email questions or comments to phil@heartlight.org.
Heartlight is proud to support and promote Compassion International.
© 1998-2014, Heartlight Inc.

"Ephesus!" — A Year with Jesus for 08/11/2014

Note from Jesus

Dear Beloved,

In today's reading, you will find Paul arriving in Ephesus, a truly important city, but one that needed My power and My grace. I know it may be hard for you to appreciate how important Ephesus was in the ancient world. Then, it was one of the four largest cities: Rome, Ephesus, Antioch of Syria, and Alexandria in Egypt. Along with Jerusalem (the center of Judaism), Luke emphasized the first three of these cities as he wrote the book of Acts in your New Testament. Ephesus was a large, multi-cultural, busy city, a major banking center, a seaport town on major trade routes, and a city full of crime. It was rampant with sexual perversion, and deeply impacted with all sorts of superstitions, demonic religions, and black magic mystery cults. You can probably imagine similar cities in your day.

Ephesus was a place of financial power with interest in spiritual power. What you see in Luke's account is reflected in Paul's words to these same believers several years later:
Finally, brothers and sisters, draw your strength and might from God. Put on the full armor of God to protect yourselves from the devil and his evil schemes. We're not waging war against enemies of flesh and blood alone. No, this fight is against tyrants, against authorities, against supernatural powers and demon princes that slither in the darkness of this world, and against wicked spiritual armies that lurk about in heavenly places.
(Ephesians 6:10-12)
Luke carefully frames Paul's visit to Ephesus with an emphasis on the Holy Spirit. At the beginning:
"Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?"
At the end:
The Holy Spirit confirmed that he should first travel through Macedonia and Achaia and then return to Jerusalem.
Luke's account makes clear what Paul emphasized while he was in Ephesus. While there are many demonic powers and religions that touch your world, there is only one true and living God — YHWH in Hebrew — Father, Son, and Spirit. YHWH is above all spiritual powers and is directly involved in the lives of all those who belong to Him and He lives in them through the presence of the Holy Spirit Who is in them and guides them. I revealed YHWH through My time on earth and you can find life in YHWH through Me. No one can control the power of YHWH.

In the middle of this account, Luke showed us the world of the occult and demonic spirits as they confronted My power in My servants. I love the way Luke described the situation and finished with this summary statement:
Everyone was shocked and realized that the name of Jesus was indeed powerful and praiseworthy. .. Again, word spread, and the message of the Lord overcame resistance and spread powerfully.
Paul will have more interaction with the people and the powers of Ephesus in a return trip to Ephesus and also run into problems caused by people from Ephesus in a later trip to Jerusalem. For now, you just need to realize that a spiritual battle for the eternal destinies of the people of Ephesus and Asia Minor had begun in earnest. The gospel and My messengers were not afraid to speak the truth of the Father's grace, My power, and the Holy Spirit's guiding care in the place that desperately needed it — a place that would oppose Me with evil spiritual power and evil determination.
Verses to Live

All who belong to the Father and who are My true disciples are filled, empowered, and led by the Holy Spirit. You will need this power as you face the times in which you now live. But remember, "...the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world" (1 John 4:4). John wrote this years later to Christians in Asia Minor where Ephesus was located! Paul would say it this way in his letter to the Ephesians:
All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ.
(Ephesians 1:3 NLT)
So as you read, recognize you are entering the world of spiritual warfare, but don't be afraid! I have overcome!
While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul's overland journey brought him back to Ephesus. He encountered a group of about a dozen disciples there.

Paul:
Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?
John's Disciples:
We've never heard about the Holy Spirit.
Paul:
Well then, what kind of ceremonial washing through baptism did you receive?
John's Disciples:
We received the ritual cleansing of baptism that John taught.
Paul:
John taught the truth — that people should be baptized with renewed thinking and turn toward God. But he also taught that the people should believe in the One whose way he was preparing, that is, Jesus the Anointed.
As soon as they heard this, they were baptized, this time in the name of our Lord Jesus. When Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them in the same way the original disciples experienced at Pentecost: they spoke in tongues and prophesied.

For three months, Paul continued his standard practice: he went week by week to the synagogue, speaking with great confidence, arguing with great persuasiveness, proclaiming the kingdom of God. Once again, some members of the synagogue refused to believe and insulted the Way publicly before the whole synagogue community. Paul withdrew and took those with him who had become disciples. For the next two years, he used the public lecture hall of Tyrannus, presenting the Word of the Lord every day, debating with all who would come. As a result, everyone in the region, whether Jews or Greeks, heard the message. Meanwhile, God did amazing miracles through Paul. People would take a handkerchief or article of clothing that had touched Paul's skin and bring it to their sick friends or relatives, and the patients would be cured of their diseases or released from the evil spirits that oppressed them.

Some itinerant Jewish exorcists noticed Paul's success in this regard, so they tried to use the name of Jesus, the King, in an exorcism they were performing.

Imagine this: There are seven of them, all sons of a Jewish chief priest named Sceva, gathered around a demonized man in a house.

One of the Jewish Exorcists:
I command you to depart, by the Jesus proclaimed by Paul!
Evil Spirit:
Jesus I know. Paul I know. But who are you?
Then the man leaps up, attacks them all, rips off their clothing, and beats them so badly that they run out of the house stark naked and covered in bruises.

Word of this strange event spread throughout Ephesus among both Jews and Greeks. Everyone was shocked and realized that the name of Jesus was indeed powerful and praiseworthy. As a result, a number of people involved in various occult practices came to faith. They confessed their secret practices and rituals. Some of them had considerable libraries about their magic arts; they piled up their books and burned them publicly. Someone estimated the value of the books to be 50,000 silver coins. Again, word spread, and the message of the Lord overcame resistance and spread powerfully.

Eventually Paul felt he should move on again. The Holy Spirit confirmed that he should first travel through Macedonia and Achaia and then return to Jerusalem.
(Acts 19:1-21)
Response in Prayer

O Father, give me strength to trust that Your power, released through calling on the name of the Lord Jesus and through the blessing of the Holy Spirit, will empower, guide, sustain, convict, motivate, and enable me to live for You in a world growing more and more hostile to Jesus and His people. I pray this in Jesus' powerful name. Amen.
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The Thoughts and Prayers for 'A Year with Jesus' are written by Phil Ware. You can email questions or comments to phil@heartlight.org.
Heartlight is proud to support and promote Compassion International.

© 1998-2014, Heartlight Inc.