In chapter 6 of Exodus we learn two things about God. First, that He keeps His promises and second that He has the power to pull it off. A God who is not faithful is not a good God and a God who is without power is an impotent God. Our God is a God of promises and the One who can keep them because of his amazing power. Above all other powers in this world.

In Chapter 6 of Exodus verse one, the Lord said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh: Because of my mighty hand he will let them go; because of my mighty hand he will drive them out of his country.” That is quite a statement since Pharaoh, the king of Egypt had absolutely no incentive to let his slaves go. They were the backbone of his workforce and free labor at that. He had all the power and they had none. And now God was going to show His power.

But we have to back up a minute because this was all about God keeping his promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob years before. So, God also said to Moses, “I am the Lord. I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the Lord I did not make myself fully known to them. I also established my covenant with them to give them the land of Canaan, where they resided as foreigners. Moreover, I have heard the groaning of the Israelites, whom the Egyptians are enslaving, and I have remembered my covenant.” 

It is not that God woke up that day and remembered his promise. No. In Genesis 15:14-15, God had told Abraham that “your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated for four hundred years. “But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves and afterward they will come out with great possessions.” Now just as He had promised, God was going to fulfill his promise on schedule, on time and decisively.

Could He do that in the face of Pharaoh’s intransigence and power? Yes. He told Moses to say to the Israelites: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as my own people, and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians. And I will bring you to the land I swore, with uplifted hand, to give to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob. I will give it to you as a possession. I am the Lord.’”

Indeed He can. He is the Lord and no circumstance, no individual, nothing will stop God from being faithful to His promises. That is a truth that you can meditate on today as you think about your circumstances and God’s many promises to you in Scripture. 

Father. I thank you that you are a God who keeps every promise and that you have the power to do so. Today I trust you to be faithful to me as you have promised. And let me experience your great power. Amen.

If you are reading with us through Exodus with these devos, read chapters 10 - 12 with us.

You remember that Moses has been arguing with God as to whether he is qualified for the assignment that God is giving him. As is often the case, Moses did not believe he was qualified but God did. Not because Moses had all the abilities to take on this momentous task but because God had the power to ensure that Moses would be successful. In the end, apart from his obedience to follow God, the outcome didn’t depend on Moses but on God. The same is always true with us. If God asks us to do something, if He lays something on our heart, He will empower us to get the job done. We are weak but He is strong.

Which leads me to one of the most intriguing questions that God asks of someone in Scripture. Moses has just given God one more reason that God should choose someone else. Certainly not him. He says to God, “What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you?’” We are in Exodus chapter 4 here.

And here is God’s answer. “What is that in your hand?” “A staff,” he replied. The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.” Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. Then the Lord said to him, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. “This,” said the Lord, “is so that they may believe that the Lord, the God of their fathers - the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob - has appeared to you.”

Now it is no surprise that Moses had a staff in his hand. He was, after all, a shepherd and every shepherd carried a staff. There was nothing extraordinary about a staff. It was a simple object with no great significance except to a shepherd. But what God did with that ordinary object was to empower it to become a snake and then back to a staff again. In other words, God took something ordinary and used it in extraordinary ways. And this had nothing to do with Moses abilities or his staff. It had everything to do with God’s power and His willingness and ability to take ordinary people, ordinary circumstances, or something that we think has no great significance, and use it for His purposes. 

Here is the lesson. God takes ordinary people with ordinary gifts and ordinary abilities and possessions and He uses them in extraordinary ways when we choose to say yes to him and live obediently to His call. Our success doesn't depend on us but on God. It does not depend on our power but His. If you doubt that, take a look at the rag tag team Jesus chose as his disciples. Ordinary people and He used them in extraordinary ways. That is what He did with Moses and that is what He wants to do with you. All you need to do is to say yes and trust him.

Father. Thank you that you choose ordinary people to do your extraordinary work because I count myself among the ordinary. Help me see what is in my hand and use me and my gifts and whatever I have for your Kingdom purposes. Amen. 

If you are reading along through the book of Exodus we have currently read chapters 1-6 and I would encourage you to read chapters 7 - 9. Join us in these Scriptures as we study lessons from the Exodus.

The burning bush that Moses encountered in chapter 3 of Exodus is a lesson in who God chooses to use. Remember Moses’s biography. He was raised in the palace court even though he was not an Egyptian. He enjoyed the privileges of royalty even though he knew he didn’t deserve it because he was an Israelite. He committed murder at age 40 when he saw an Egyptian beating a fellow Israelite forcing him to become a fugitive from justice. And when he encountered God at the burning bush he had spent 40 years in self-imposed exile tending the flock of his father-in-law Jethro. He was a has-been who, if they had it back then,  would have been on prozac. He had family issues, personal anger issues, identity issues, and well - he like us - had issues.

And now, he encounters God who tells him “I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.” 

Moses pushed back on God. “Who am I, that I should go to Pharaoh and bring the Israelites out of Egypt?” God says, “I am with you.”

“What do I say to the Israelites when they say who sent me?” God says, “Tell them I AM has sent me to them.” Think about that for a moment. Who is God. He is I AM. He is the sovereign God. He is I AM in our lives as in Moses’ life.

Then Moses says, in Chapter four, “What if the Egyptians don’t believe me or listen to me and say “The Lord did not appear to you?” Then Moses says, “I am not a good public speaker'' and finally he just says, “O Lord, please send someone else to do it.”

I love this conversation because it is like the conversations we have with God in our heads when He is asking us to step out in faith and do something for Him. We think, I’m not qualified, or I’m not trained, I haven’t been to Bible school, or, just like Moses, Lord how about you find someone else.

Here is the cool thing about God. He can take all of our biographies, the good bad and the ugly and use them for his purposes. In fact, think of the ways that Moses’ upbringing and biography were perfect for his assignment. I also love that Moses is eighty years old when he meets God at the burning bush. God doesn’t care about our age. Mostly he cares about our hearts and our willingness to follow his lead. And remember, He is I AM. If He calls us to do something He will be there for us and help us get it done. 

If you are reading through Exodus as I do these devos, consider reading chapters, 4, 5 and 6 today. And remember that I’d love to hear from you at TJ [email protected].

Father, thank you that you choose to use messed up people like us for your Kingdom purposes. Help me to trust you when you ask me to get involved. Thank you that I can trust you as I AM. Amen.

One of the questions that we ask ourselves in times of trouble and suffering is this: Does God know my pain and does God hear my cries for help? That is a good question when we are hurting and the heavens seem to be shut like airtight doors. Where is God in all of this? Does He see my need and my pain? 

This was the question that the Israelites asked as they suffered in slavery in the land of Egypt in Exodus chapter two. In verses 23-25 we get an answer to this question. “During that long period, the King of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them.”

Here is the truth! There is nothing in our lives that escapes the attention of God. He loves us. He cares about us and He always has his eye on our lives. The Scriptures say that He neither slumbers or sleeps. He knows our situations in intimate detail. More than that, our cries reach Him. Our prayers are heard by Him and I love the last line of these verses where it says, “So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them."

By extension that means that He is concerned about you and about me when we face trouble and heartache. That is a way of saying that he is aware and intends to do something about our situation. The heart of God is one of compassion for those made in His image and He is not simply an innocent bystander to the issues we face. In fact, these verses come right before chapter three of Exodus where God meets Moses at the Burning Bush to recruit him to lead the people from their bondage in Egypt to the Promised Land of Israel. 

God had made certain promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to make them into a mighty nation with their own land. And the thing about God is that He never forgets His promises. He didn’t then and He doesn’t today. The Scriptures are full of the promises of God to us and He never forgets. Rather He is always fulfilling His promises to us. He hears us. He sees us and He acts on our behalf.

What the Israelites didn’t know is that God had just the person to lead them out of slavery. He was a man wanted for murder in Egypt, a has-been with all kinds of personal issues from his childhood, a man who had been on the run for forty years because of his killing of an Egyptian guard who was beating one of the Israelites. And a man who never believed that God could use him because of his checkered past. That man was Moses. God always has a plan and His plan is always counterintuitive to what we believe He will do. 

As I unpack lessons from the Exodus I would encourage you to read that book along with me. For tomorrow, read chapters one to three. Explore with me the lessons from this amazing Old Testament book. It will change your life. 

I’d love to hear from you at [email protected].

Father, I thank you that you always see my situation, hear my prayers and are working on my behalf. Help me to trust you with the situations I face. Today and tomorrow and the next day. Amen.

How much does God care about one human being who does not know Him? Think about one person you know who does not yet know Christ. Keep that special individual in mind as you consider the words of Jesus in The Parable of the Lost Sheep, Luke 15:1-7:

“Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” Then Jesus told them this parable: “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it?  And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.”

As usual, Jesus was drawing a crowd, and those most interested in His message were tax collectors (a despised bunch) and so-called sinners. The religious leaders, Pharisees, and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” Here is the truth: Jesus was never shy of spending time with the riff raff of society, those that others would not dare to be seen with. And unlike the religious leaders who despised these people, Jesus always welcomed them and spent time with them. He didn’t judge but showed His gracious grace. Who doesn’t want to be around someone like that?

Unfortunately, it is possible for us to do the same thing as the religious leaders and teachers of the law. We can send subtle messages to those whose lives are a mess that they need to clean themselves up before we accept them. Many churches are not safe for those whose lives are messy because they feel judged and unaccepted. If someone told their messy story in your church would they get looks with raised eyebrows, or hugs for showing up?

But here is the point of the parable. If a shepherd loses a sheep, he leaves the 99 and goes out on a rescue mission to find and save it. He moves toward the injured and lost, rather than moving away from them as so many Christians are tempted to do. This was Jesus. He didn’t wait until the messed up came to Him, he went to them and showed them His grace. He accepted them and then shared the Good News with them. Without judgement. Without approbation. Just grace. Pure grace.

Why? Because God does not want any to spend their life and eternity without Him. And like the shepherd who finds the lost sheep and calls his friends and neighbors together and says, “Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep,” so in the same way there is a party in heaven when one sinner repents! That is God.

What is our heart for those who are without God? What is our willingness to go out of our way to spend time with them and find ways to share the hope that we have? Are we ashamed to hang out with people who have messy lives and even bad reputations like the tax collectors of Jesus’ day? Seeing people have a chance to say yes to Jesus is our God given ministry. Will we say yes to Jesus so that others can say yes to Him? 

Father, I pray today for the individual that came to mind earlier who does not know You. Give me Your heart so that I will be intentional in spending time with them and sharing the hope I have with them. I pray that they will be in heaven with me one day. I want to be there when they throw a party. Amen.

SCRIPTURE - Matthew 6:9-10 (NIV)

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” 

Without a doubt, our world is a mess: Covid 19; demonstrations; high unemployment; personal struggles and almost continuous bad news in the 24 news cycle. Personally I find it better to limit the amount of time I listen to the news because it is so depressing. 

It is against this backdrop that the beginning of the Lord’s prayer catches us by surprise - if we think about the implications of what it means. We are to pray that God’s kingdom would come and that His will would be done on earth as it is in heaven. Take all the bad news of our world and, into the middle of that mess, we are to pray this seemingly crazy prayer. Yet it is what Jesus tells us to do.

How can that actually happen? First, think about this. God sends His followers into every corner of our communities and as they go to the courthouse, schoolhouse, police station, hospital, auto  repair shop, or wherever He has us we are His representatives, His church, His people in that place. We gather as a church once a week but we scatter as a church six days a week, and as the scattered church, we bring the righteousness of God into an often unrighteous place.

You see, God’s will is done on earth as it is in heaven when we bring the character and values of God to the corner of the world where He has placed us. When I treat people with dignity and fairness, when I live with integrity and don’t cut ethical corners, when I encourage and uplift others rather than ignore or discourage them; when I share the reason for my own hope in Jesus - as we do all these things and more, we bring little bits of heaven to the place where God has put us for His purposes. When we bring the fruit of the Holy Spirit to the places we inhabit - love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control - we are bringing God’s Kingdom to earth in a very real way.

And don’t forget the power of God to break into impossible looking situations and change them for His glory. This is why we are to pray this prayer. We are part of the equation as we represent Him and His way in the places where we find ourselves, but He has the power to change what looks to us as an impossible situation. If He can change the very course of history, He can break into the places we live and work and change those things that we bring to Him in prayer. He wants to break in and see His will done in our community as it is in heaven. 

Today, be the one who brings the character, values and hope of Jesus to each place you go. To the cashier at the grocery store, the customers you encounter, the neighbors you interact with or your own staff. As you do, you will bring little bits of heaven to places and people that desperately need them. And pray that God would do something extraordinary through His power.

Father, I pray today that Your will would be done on earth - in the places I go and with the people I meet today - as it is in heaven. Use me in Your power to join You in this mission. Help me to represent Your kingdom values well. Amen.

“We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up. For even Christ did not please himself but, as it is written: ‘The insults of those who insult you have fallen on me.’ For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope… .Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.”- Romans 15:1-7

Humans have an amazing ability to judge one another. We judge people for what they do that we think they shouldn’t do. We judge people for what they don’t do, and what we think they should do. We judge people for doing too little, too much, too different, too conservative or too liberal.

When you think about it, we have an unlimited ability to judge the actions of others. When I lived in the south, I learned quickly that when someone said “God bless their heart,” that something negative was coming. Maybe the equivalent elsewhere is, “Please be in prayer for William because he has done thus and so.” 

In this passage, Paul talks about two kinds of judgement. First, of those who are weak in their faith and who may not live up to our expectations.. With these, Paul says, “We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Each of us should please his neighbor for his good, to build him up.” Think about this: We often feel that we need to play the role of the Holy Spirit in the lives of those who are new in their  faith. Not so! The Holy Spirit is fully capable (He is, after all, God and we are not) of working in the lives of a new believer in His time and His unique way. Our role? To encourage them and build them up. 

Don’t forget how patient God has been with you. He patiently encourages us and bears with us and that is exactly what we are to do with the failings of the weak. 

Paul goes on to make a general statement: “Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.” Think about this. Every time we criticize fellow believers, we violate this command. Every time we gossip, we do the same. People know whether or not we truly accept them - it is evident in the way we interact, the graciousness with which we accept their failings - and we all have them - and the interest we take in others. I particularly remember one of my uncles who always made you feel special and fully accepted in his presence regardless of who you were. And that is how God treats us as well.

There is a graciousness and acceptance that Jesus gives to us that we are to give to others. To accept one another is to be like Jesus. To be patient with those who are weak in their faith is how Jesus treats us. It is this kind of grace and acceptance that makes Jesus look good and His church a place of safety where every person counts and every story matters.

Father, I thank You today for how You accept me and for Your patience and love. Help me to pass that same attitude on to members of Your family. Help me encourage rather than discourage and give hope rather than criticism. Work in my heart on these things. Help me give the gift of acceptance. Amen.

“As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, ‘Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me?’ ‘Martha, Martha, the lord answered, ‘You are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed.’ Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.’” - Luke 10:38-42

I am one of those who loves to do, so I completely understand Martha and her frustration with Mary. After all, there is so much to get done. Work, ministry, family and relationships. They are all important, and for years I lived with very little margin. I was distracted by all the activities and too often neglected the necessity of just being rather than always doing.

Those who are driven by action often forget the importance of just being. Being still so one can think. Being still with God so that we can hear His voice when He wants to communicate. Doing what the Lord  says through the prophets when they write, “Be still and know that I am God.” In fact, many of us don’t even know how to do that. We are so action oriented and want to accomplish something.

But listen to what Jesus said to Martha. “‘Martha, Martha,’ the Lord says kindly. ‘You are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.’” 

Here is what Jesus was saying to Martha: “Being” comes before doing. Relationship with Jesus is more important than anything we could do for Him. He desires us to “be with Him” before we do things “for” Him.

Why does Jesus say, “Mary has chosen what is better?” Mary wanted to know Jesus and understand Him. Martha wanted to do things for Him. When we are with Him and get to know Him, our hearts start to look like His heart and our priorities start to reflect His priorities. In fact, the very question Martha asked Jesus indicated that she didn’t get the magic of being in His presence - or the value that it brought to her life. 

I don’t fault Martha one bit. It is how many of us view our relationship with Jesus. We want to do something for Him. But it is when we spend time with Him in His word and in prayer or meditation that we catch a real glimpse of His heart, and therefore what our hearts should be like.

Who do you identify with in this account? Mary or Martha? If it is Mary, you understand the value of spending time with Jesus. If it is Martha, you probably struggle with that concept. I think that most men do. As I did. I had to learn how to just be still with God and be OK with that. It has changed me. I am still a person of action, but now my action comes out of my relationship with Him.

Father, thank You for these real life examples of Martha and Mary. In my desire to please You, help me not to neglect just being with You. Teach me that this is the better thing. Amen.

The parable of the prodigal son is one of the most well known stories in the Bible. Rembrandt painted a masterpiece of this Biblical story that can be found in the Hermitage Museum in Saint Petersburg. I actually visited St. Petersburg because I wanted to see that painting with my own eyes. It was massive, measuring some eight feet by six and one half feet. The prodigal is kneeling before his father, who has both hands on his son’s shoulders. But there is one figure that is often lost in the literal shadows of the painting and in the telling of the story. It is the older son.

Here is part of that story:

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.”

But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fatted calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.

Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard the music and dancing. So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’

The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’

‘My son, the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’” - Luke 15: 20 - 32 (NIV)

The contrast here, of course, is between the father, who welcomed the prodigal back home, and the older brother, who would not even attend the party. The sad thing is that it is possible for us to be more like the older brother than the father. There are many prodigal stories in our world. People who have wandered from God and eventually returned and of course, all of us were prodigals at one time from God before we came home.

The father has a heart like Jesus who literally throws a party when the prodigal returns. He embraces the lost who was found, in spite of the prodigal’s actions in squandering the inheritance the father had provided him. In truth, the prodigal didn’t deserve anything, and he knew it. But the father, like God, chose to welcome Him home with a party and a great celebration. You see, that is what happens in heaven when a prodigal returns.

The older son would not have any of it. He was not about to extend grace to one who didn’t deserve it. This is like some Christians who never welcome a prodigal home or make them prove their sincerity and look at them with disdain as someone beneath them. Or, they never let the prodigal forget his or her sins and want them to live in shame. But not God! Who is rich in love and mercy and forgives and extends His blessing to those who come or return to Him.

Which do you want to be: Like the father or like the older son?

Father, forgive me for those times when my heart has not been glad like Yours when a prodigal came home. Forgive me for looking down on them when You bless them. Forgive me for withholding my love until they prove themselves and for shaming them. I desire to be like the father. Help me to have his heart. Amen.

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” - Colossians 3:12-17 (NIV)

All of us know the challenges of being a member of a family. There can be times of joy and laughter, and then times when family dysfunction seems to take over with siblings who don’t get along or lack of forgiveness that causes distance and friction. Keeping family ties healthy is an ongoing job that never ends. 

I know, because I grew up with ten siblings. That is a lot of relationships to negotiate. For the most part, we did pretty well - but not always. I learned a lot about family systems in my own family. Even today with parents gone, the “sibs” need to pay regular attention to relationships. 

As followers of Jesus, we are in a larger family with Jesus as the head. We are not immune to the common dysfunctions of families. This family is far more diverse than our personal families, which makes it all the more important to be intentional in our relationships. The good news is, that when God’s people live out His principles and counsel for His family, our relationships can be a beautiful thing.

Paul tells us to clothe ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience with one another. Just like we dress ourselves daily, we are to metaphorically put these clothes on daily. When you examine these characteristics, you can see how living them out would make for special and peaceful relationships with one another. At the center of this is forgiveness and love, which bind all the rest together in perfect unity.

The proof that we are living out these values with one another is that there is peace among us. As Paul says, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace.” When there is not peace among God’s people, it is an indication that we are not living out His values. 

The anchor for all of this is Paul’s call for us to be Jesus centered in our relationships and interactions. “And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.” Jesus centered relationships keep us focused on the One we worship and His desires for our relationships. 

Think of your relationships with God’s people today. Are you living out His values for His family? Where can you press in and apply these values in a healthier way? Paul’s final words on this sum it all up: “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”

Father, thank You for this wonderful picture of God’s people living with intentionality toward one another. Help me to exhibit these values in my life. Where I have failed, I ask for Your forgiveness. Moving forward, I ask for Your presence and help. Amen.