PRAYER PRACTICE
Breath Prayer –
Take 2-3 minutes today to pray a simple breath prayer. Get somewhere quiet and
relaxing. Breathe in deeply, and then breathe out fully. As you breathe in, ask
God to fill you with His presence, grace, love, peace, etc. Consider using the
list of spiritual fruit in Galatians 5:22-23. As you breathe out, offer to God
the things you need Him to take from you – sin, doubt, shame, anxiety, fear,
etc. Pray this way for just a few minutes, trusting God to work, and then begin
reading today’s Scripture.
DAILY READING
DEVOTION / REFLECTION
Prepare to Serve
by Jennifer Jerrome
Each time I’m assigned a passage, I read it through once
and then go back and highlight the words or phrases that stand out. I give it a day or two and read it again, building
on the notes I’ve jotted down.
For this devotion I was struck by the words prepare/preparations
from verses 8-13 and serves from verses 26-27. Not to be too simplistic, but for me God’s
message is “prepare to serve.” Jesus instructed
Peter and John to prepare for the Passover, but what he was really asking was
for them to prepare for a life of service after his passing. During his life, Jesus was “the one who
serves” and after his death he wanted his disciples to continue his work. “And
I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me” (v. 29).
We are also called to serve the kingdom. What does that look like? It’s different for each of us, but at the
heart it’s about loving our neighbors. Some of us do this by preparing food, some of us by preparing lessons
and others by simply preparing to listen. Whatever way you prepare, you are doing it in the loving service of
Jesus.
Consider: He is the one we look to for inspiration and insight when
we’re not sure what to do. We can drop
to our knees like He did and ask God for His will to be done. Thank you Father for preparing us to
serve. Look with favor on us and grant
us peace.
2 comments:
Jennifer:
Thank you for today's blog. Today, for the first time I discovered that Luke does not mention Jesus saying His blood of the New Covenant is shed "for many for the forgiveness of sins" as stated in Matthew.
To your point of serving, we see His pending death on the cross as the ultimate sacrifice of serving mankind by offering atonement for sin. The "suffering servant" put real flesh on the meaning of "I have come to serve and give my life as a ransom for many".
Thank you for your simple, direct encouragement for us to respond to God by serving those in need.
Have a blessed day.
Robin Lorms
Thank you Robin. I love sharing insights among neighbors. This is yet another way we can serve each other. Have a wonderful weekend!
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