Staying Close to Christ

Blessings to you this day! I hope and pray that this week has gotten off the "right" foot for each of you. God indeed is good...all the time!

Today I'd like to share the closing prayer of my daily devotional:

"My Lord, I come to this moment knowing altogether too well that my feet are prone to wander and my heart prone to coldness. Go with me, my Lord. Keep my feet to your path and my heart aflame with your Spirit. Amen."

I don't think that I need to ask how challenging it is to keep our "feet on the path" of Christ and to keep our "hearts aflame" with God's Spirit. Everyday there are so many preoccupations that make us prone to "wander" from God's path of devotion, service, justice, and worship. It's not easy to accept but, our focus tends to wander away easier from God (and the things of God) than it does, say, from sports, favorite TV show, shopping, working, "chatting", text messaging, etc. As I've said before, not that any of these is evil, but when we realize our tendency to wander and accept the challenge, it may become easier for us to become more intentional in re-focusing our attention and priority to sensitize our spirits to God.

Some time ago someone circulated an email (you may have read it somewhere) that raised some questions along these lines: Why does an hour and a half in a church service seem so long to us and yet we're willing to sit and watch a program(s) for 2, 3, or 4 hours on TV? Why does $20 seem like too much during offering time in worship service yet when it comes to shopping it may not be nearly enough? And so on and so forth - the idea of course is that our tendency is to lose focus on the priorities that God has for us.

We are prone to wander - our priorities, focus, devotion, and "feet" are prone to wander. With God's help, we can keep our feet on the path. Let's make this our closing prayer as well:

"My Lord, I come to this moment knowing altogether too well that my feet are prone to wander and my heart prone to coldness. Go with me, my Lord. Keep my feet to your path and my heart aflame with your Spirit. Amen."

Solo por gracia,
Pastor David

Jesus Prays

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ!

I hope and pray that you will have a great weekend, especially as you worship on Sunday!

Today's text is from John 17:20-26 where John tells of Jesus' prayer for his disciples just prior to his betrayal and subsequent death and resurrection. Jesus interceded for his disciples who were about to go through the most difficult time of their lives. They would lose their leader and their hearts would be filled with uncertainty. They would lose self-confidence and in a very real way, they would lose their sense of direction.

The point I'd like to share today is that Jesus prayed for them - and I believe that Jesus continues to pray and intercede on our behalf before God the Father. As much as their hearts were filled with uncertainty due to Jesus' betrayal and death, I'm also certain that in some perhaps mysterious yet powerful way their hearts were affirmed and assured through Jesus' prayer. Looking at the bigger picture, we can see just how powerful and effective Jesus' prayer was as the disciples eventually went on to wait for the promise of the Holy Spirit after which they "turned the world upside down" with their ministry to Jesus Christ (Acts 17:6 NRSV).

Do you sense or face uncertainty in your life, family, job, church, relationships, etc., today? If so, be assured that Jesus is interceding for us and that he will affirm our faith.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for your presence, and thank you praying for me. Grant me your assuring power in the midst of my uncertainty. In your holy name I pray. Amen.

By grace alone,
Pastor David