Thursday March 31, 2022

Today is Thursday, March 31 and this week we are exploring what the Bible says about growth in discipleship.

I begin this day with my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I quiet my mind and still my body. I breathe slowly and deeply as I focus on the presence of the God who loves me.

Pause and Pray

Steadfast and Holy God, I long to hear the message you have for me. I seek you in the quiet of the morning and ask you to help me recognize your voice. Speak to me through the power of your Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus Christ my Lord. Amen.

I praise the Lord God who is my strength and worship him with the words of Psalm 18.

I love you, Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I have been saved from my enemies. Psalm 18:1-3

Pause and Pray

In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul urges his readers to respond faithfully to God’s offer of grace in Jesus Christ. Respond now, at this moment, without delay, this very day. Christ is the one who reconciles me to God and gives me the ministry of reconciliation. Through Jesus, God is reconciling the entire world to himself. Reconciliation means to bring harmony, restore relationships, make compatible, right and consistent. It means an end to hostility and an establishment of peace. Since humanity is prone to hostility because of original sin, it was necessary for a gracious God to take the steps to reconcile human beings to himself through the cross of Jesus. Believers are called ambassadors – official representatives of Jesus bearing his message to the world.

We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. For he says, “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation. 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2

I am invited to be reconciled with God. What an amazing gift God has given the world. Given to me. Jesus, perfectly sinless, took on all my sin upon himself on the cross, the sins of all humanity, and died so that I have the opportunity to be reconciled with God, his image restored in me and our relationship repaired for eternity. I receive God’s amazing grace – I do not receive it in vain and I will not delay. Now is the time of God’s favor for me. Now is the day of salvation for me. I claim the gift of God as my own – I place my trust in Christ alone and surrender all to him. My life has inherent purpose and meaning. God will put me to work doing good. My labor is essential in this lifetime – I am a coworker with the apostles and I am an ambassador for Jesus.

Ask: Have I put off for tomorrow what can be done today – to receive God’s gift on this day of salvation? What are the responsibilities of an ambassador for Christ and how can I live up to this title?

Pause and Pray

Most Merciful God, I long to be reconciled to you. Thank you for the tremendous gift of your son Jesus who was made to be sin for me, so that in him I might become righteous. This news is beyond my comprehension and I do not receive your gracious gift in vain. I come to you today – the time of favor and day of salvation for me. I read the words from Second Corinthians again and listen for the message you have for me.

We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. As God’s co-workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. For he says, “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.” I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation. 2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2

Ask: What image, word or phrase stands out to me when I slowly read this passage? What is God trying to say to me through these words of scripture?

Pause and Pray

God wants to speak to me through these words. As Paul implored the Corinthians, so the Lord implores me to be reconciled with him. Despite my sin and shortcomings, God in all his holiness desires to be in relationship with me, his beloved lost child. He calls me back home to remember the blood of Jesus which covers my sin and cleanses me with righteousness. I repeat the word or phrase that stands out to me. I reflect on the images the passage evokes in my mind. Perhaps God wants to reveal something to me or guide me to an answer. There is a sense of urgency in the text that invites my quick response – now is the day of salvation for me.

Pause and Pray

Blessed Lord and Savior, I call to you for help. I invite you to enter into my circumstances and I lay my life before you for examination. Reveal the places where reconciliation with God and/or others is needed. Instruct me how to find God’s loving favor. Demonstrate what wholeness of salvation means for me – spiritual, physical, emotional, mental, relational, financial, professional healing. Come into my life and save me. Amen.

In the time of my favor I will answer you, and in the day of salvation I will help you; I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people, to restore the land and to reassign its desolate inheritances, to say to the captives, ‘Come out,’ and to those in darkness, ‘Be free!’ Isaiah 49:8-9a

I leave this time of prayer discharged from darkness, reconciled to God, to serve as an ambassador of reconciliation for all people.

Amen