Thursday, March 10, 2011

Last night for youth group I had the students create masks because masks are what we use to hide our true selves.  We hide our sin.  We hide our shortcoming.  Basically, we hide anything that we do not want others to see.  That takes care of the inside, but what about the outside?  That is where our masks really come in handy.  With our masks on, we can pick and choose exactly what we want others to see.  This led to the following instructions for the students; on the outside they put words representing how others see them.  On the inside they put their fears, doubts and shortcomings.  When they finished, they put their masks aside and we discussed Jesus’ forty days in the wilderness using a video from your tube based on “40” by Si Smith with the song “How He Loves” by John Mark McMillan.

Today’s New Testament prayer mentions how we are still “sometimes paralyzed in fear.”  That is when we put the masks on.  We want to hide our pain from everyone, even God, but God does not want that for us.  He wants us to be honest with ourselves and with Him.  God wants us to share those fears, shortcomings and doubts.

God know we struggle and face temptations.  Jesus struggled and faced temptations in the desert when the devil tempted Him.  Jesus showed us that we can get past those struggles and temptations by relying on God.  We ended youth group by turning off the lights, the room lit by a single candle.  In silent prayer each student came forward and placed their masks with all the fears, doubts and shortcomings at the foot of the Cross.  They placed it in God’s hands.  Won’t you?

Father, I pray that we can truly “rise up” and “follow You fearlessly.”  Go not let us fall prey to ways of the world, but instead help us to get up and not be afraid.

Amen.

Terry Van Wyk

Thursday, March 18 – Day 30

Seeking His Righteousness in Our Communities
Seek God for freedom from terror

Bombings, breach of airline security, earthquakes, flooding, and kidnappings-these are just some of the terrors we face in today’s world. If we dwell on the threats of today, we wouldn’t have a moment’s peace. We would just sit around waiting to see what awful thing would happen next.

I was raised on Isaiah 41:10 “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you: I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” What a promise to us. We do not need to be fearful or concerned about what may come next. He is our God and He’s with us to strengthen and help us.

We can be free from terror because He will protect us. Praise God that He has us in His loving arms, assuring us that we do not have to be afraid.

LD
Cedar Hills Community

Thursday, March 18 – Day 30

Seeking His Righteousness in Our Communities
Seeking God….for freedom from terror

Fear is probably the most powerful weapon that the enemy uses against the Body of Christ. If there is any one thing that draws us to Jesus, and there are many, it would have to be the reality of a man who never walked in fear. The Body of Christ needs a fresh daily reminder, that as followers of Jesus, we are not followers of fear.

Jesus’ encouragement to His followers throughout the Gospels is to ‘fear not’, and ‘be not afraid, He then reminds us that, ‘He is with us’, the One who never walks in fear.

Fear disguises itself in so many ways, its goal is to paralyze, and its plan is to keep us from accomplishing The Father’s will. When that happens we become a people who are more consumed with defending the Gospel than we are sharing the Gospel. That is an indication that we are not operating out of righteousness, but rather self-righteousness.

Isaiah’s prophecy in Isaiah 54:14 was speaking of being established in our position of righteousness, and not in the condition of what goes on around us. Even though oppression, fear, and terror may be close to us naturally, it can be far removed from our heart, our mind, and even our emotions.

John said that, ‘perfect love casts out fear’. Every time that we pull back from loving the people that we don’t want to love, it affects how we love the people that we do want to love. Fear then remains a factor in both relationships.

Jesus didn’t come to change us, He came to love us, and as a result of that love we desire to change. Those changes then continue the process of establishing us in the position righteousness that we already have in Christ. Our position is greater than our condition.

Daniel Winn
Pastor, Cedar Rapids Family Church

Wednesday, March 10 – Day 22

Seeking His Glory in Evangelizing All Peoples
Seek God….to be recognized and honored by leaders.

As we pray for our leaders, our president, our representatives, our judges and mayors and governor, we can easily reduce them to their office, and forget about them as people, persons like us. They carry the same fears and doubts, the same weakness, the same tendency to sin. They need Jesus as much, but not more, than we do.

So our prayers for our leaders begin with our prayers for their hearts and souls. Our prayers begin with the most important request, that Jesus Christ will be their Savior, that He will be Lord of their lives, that they will experience the freedom of forgiveness, the hope of heaven, and the strength of a life lived under the care of our Shepherd. We understand that we can’t expect Christian behavior from people who aren’t Christians. We can’t expect them to follow Jesus if they don’t acknowledge Jesus as their Lord. So, we pray for Jesus to become their Lord and Savior.

And our prayers are lifted for those who have been saved, our brothers and sisters who try so hard to serve our Master, while surrounded by temptations of power and pride. Recognizing how hard it is for us to be faithful, we empathize with our Christian leaders who fail like we fail, but who are forgiven like we are forgiven. We pray that our leaders will have the courage, regardless of the consequences, to clearly communicate that Jesus is their king, that while we live in a democracy, this democracy is part of a monarchy, ruled by the King of senators and representatives and judges and presidents.

And we pray for “we the people”, who find it quite easy to blame the leaders of our country when we ourselves are the government of the people, by the people and for the people. We pray that our King will rule us as we vote and participate in this democracy.

And we pray our gratitude, that regardless of the actions of our leaders, that Jesus reigns, that Jesus must reign until all of His enemies are placed under His feet. We pray in the assurance that our King reigns very well. We pray, knowing that we are citizens of another country, a country that faces no real threat, a holy nation that is strong and stable, and we’re going there soon. Thank You, King Jesus, for being the leader of our leaders, for continuing to reign as Your kingdom comes on earth as it is in heaven.

Gary Brouwers

Peace Church