NCC Daily

Our state of incompleteness drives us outside of ourselves to God as the source of healing and hope. When we are comfortably independent, it is easy to avoid our need for God.

How do we know the broad, long, high, and deep mysteries of God? The love of Christ that surpasses knowledge? We must grab onto and be grounded in love. That is our prayer.

At the end of the day, what we really need is more of God's Spirit. That's my prayer for you today: that you can operate in more of God's Spirit, and that you are pursuing Him, and that you are strengthened by his Spirit.

Today as you come to God with your requests in prayer, picture yourself standing upright, without shame, without fear, without hesitation — all of this is your identity because you are in Christ. You are invited and expected to speak freely in God’s courts, because you are a beloved child, granted full citizenship into the kingdom of heaven.

We’re in a series called Heaven on Earth. It’s all about this heavenly realm becoming our earthly reality. It’s the prayer Jesus prayed — Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. That is our mission. That is our vision. We are aiming at racial unity. That is how we put the manifold wisdom of God on display.

All believers have received spiritual gifts from God, and all are part of spreading the Good News or Gospel or the idea of bringing Heaven to Earth. Have you thought about what spiritual gifts God has given you? Do you know?

You see this idea over and over again in Scripture. “It is not good that man should be alone,” is one of the first statements in Genesis 2:18. The whole rest of Scripture responds to that idea: it's not good for man to be alone. God did not create us to be alone.

Paul was given the opportunity to share this mystery with the Ephesians because he had become like an Ephesian. Paul’s aim wasn’t to glorify himself, it was to glorify God through the decreasing of himself. It’s John the Baptist’s commentary in John 3:30: “He must become greater and greater, I must become less and less.”

Hospitality is all about creating space for others to encounter God. It’s cultivating environments for heaven to invade earth and for God’s message to be on full display. Paul's example of sacrificing all of his freedoms, comforts, and desires on behalf of the Gentiles so that they could encounter God is a beautiful and challenging picture of hospitality.

It’s so easy to forget that God loves the person that you like the least. God doesn’t just call us to love our neighbor. Jesus said, “Love your enemies.” “Pray for those who persecute you.” “Bless those who curse you.”