Prayer for you

I shared with my students on Monday about the life of Ulrich Zwingli, one of the Reformers of the sixteenth century. Like most of his contemporaries, Zwingli was a man of courage, faith and zeal. He paid the highest price for his Christian ideals. Here is a moving prayer of his:

"Almighty, eternal and merciful God, whose Word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path, open and illuminate our minds, that we may purely and perfectly understand thy Word and that our lives may be conformed to what we have rightly understood, that in nothing we may be displeasing unto thy majesty, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen."

Now, that's a prayer worth praying often.

Living in Grace
D3LM3

Love all people

So often our religious beliefs can make us unloving towards other people. Perhaps the most common animosity in our modern world is between Christians and Muslims. We can so easily slip into a judgemental spirit, without remembering that God has a heart for all people and that we are called to love everyone.

I learnt a valuable lesson this morning. I was driving the kids to school when a Muslim family (in the car next door) waved to get my attention. I looked across to see what they wanted, and they pointed to my left hand tyre - it was half flat and I hadn't noticed. I was grateful to them for their thoughtfulness and I immediately pulled into a garage and had it seen too.

As Christians, we need to help our fellow believers, but we also need to reach out to all people. Love should be something we share with everyone.

Any thoughts?

Living in Grace
D3LM3

Celebrating with you

In our men's accountability group this morning we were challenged to celebrate the achievements of others. Often we struggle to recognise the good in others and before we can genuinely say "well done" to someone else, we go through mixed emotions. Part of us struggles with a little jealousy or even a little insecurity - perhaps if I celebrate your victory, I may not be noticed anymore...

Our inspiration for celebrating with others should be Christ's attitude of humility:

Philippians 2:3-5
"Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had."

Celebrate with someone today.

Living in Grace
D3LM3

Interrupted by God

“Judging others makes us blind, whereas love is illuminating. By judging others we blind ourselves to our own evil and to the grace which others are just as entitled to as we are.” - Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship

“We must be ready to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God.” -  Dietrich Bonhoeffer

 

May God interrupt us with his love and grace today.

 

Living in Grace

D3LM3

Do all you can

If you want a challenge for this week, then take a look at these words from John Wesley. Think of how different our lives would be if we could put this into practise.
 
“Do all the good you can, 
by all the means you can, 
in all the ways you can,
in all the places you can, 
at all the times you can, 
to all people you can, 
as long as ever you can.” - John Wesley

Try it - I dare you.

Living in Grace
D3LM3

Running in the train

Dietrich Bonhoeffer is one of my "heroes" in the faith (I know I not supposed to have Christian heroes, but I find his work inspiring). He once wrote:

"If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction. " - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

How simple, yet profound is that?! 
Many people have "boarded" the wrong train in life and think that if they run faster along the corridor they will get somewhere. How wrong can we be? We will still end up at the wrong destination.

Which train have you boarded? Is it going in the right direction?

Living in Grace
D3LM3 

Reminders

We all need reminding at times. We set reminders on our phones, in our diaries, on the fridge or even by trying a piece of string to the front-door (in days before cell-phones:)

So here is a reminder for you.

1 John 3:1 - See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are!

If you had forgotten this promise then please write it on your forehead!

If you have joined us on the Challenge this year, remember that we choose a day to Pray and Fast, as well as setting the goal of reading through the Bible. Hope it is all going well.

Grace and Peace.
D3LM3