Today’s Verse: But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ. – Ephesians 4:15   In Christ all things are true and without Christ, they are not. Pretty simple right? Well, there is more to it than that. We are created in the image of Christ and He is the example for us all. When people came to Jesus asking for healing or wisdom, His disciples often thought that He should look the other way. When some would have stoned the young woman, He showed her compassion. When we are on social media and people say things we disagree with we tend to jump into the trenches and fight it out. In doing so, we contribute to the “hypocrite” argument, creating more distance for those words of healing to traverse. Why not show love and compassion as Jesus would. When we are in the midst of a storm of struggles, we tend to focus only on ourselves. Why not be kind, and work together with those that could bring that storm of struggles into calmer waters. – Commentary by Matthew J. Elliott  Today’s Prayer:  Father, I know that I am always going to have to work through things in life. Show me how to embrace them as you would through love and compassion. Guide my path so that I may bring the daily storms of life into calmer waters. Amen.

Today’s Verse:  You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. – Mark 12:30 What does it mean to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength? It means complete and total surrender. It means you are ready to lay down all areas of your life, giving up the need to control everything and obey His commands. Loving God means putting Him first in every decision you make. You ask, “Will this please God?” And if not, you’ll make a different decision because obeying Him is honoring Him. To love God with your mind is to constantly seek the truth that is in the Bible because that refreshes you and keeps you closer to Him. To love God with your soul means you live your life worshipping Him and acknowledging Him in all your ways. Loving Him with all your strength means giving whatever you’ve got. That includes whatever strength that you have in you, and using the gifts He has given you to share and bless the world. He loves us completely and we are called to do the same.  – Commentary by Theresa Landicho  Today’s Prayer:  Heavenly Father, may I always love You with all I’ve got. May my heart, soul, mind, and strength be always focused on You and for Your glory. Amen.

Today’s Verse:
Both of them were righteous before God, living blamelessly according to all the commandments and regulations of the Lord. But they had no children because Elizabeth was barren, and both were getting on in years. – Luke 1: 6-7

In verses 4 & 5 of this chapter, Luke establishes the characters of Zechariah and Elizabeth as blameless, from an upright family, and well-liked. Something as fellow Christians we would aim for because it is pleasing to God and glorifies Him. But, despite the blameless and upright ways of Zechariah and Elizabeth, we see that they did not have a perfectly wonderful life. Elizabeth was barren, and they were growing old. Has there ever been a time in your life where you accomplished something and expected a certain outcome or blessing from God, but you didn’t get it? We don’t follow God and live an upright and blameless life to receive the blessings we think we deserve. We follow God and live an upright and blameless life to glorify our God. 1 Corinthians 6:20 says, “For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.” God has promised us certain things, and we can rest assured He will follow through. Commentary by: Kristina Taylor

Today’s Prayer:
Father, help us to always remember who You are, what You did, and why we follow and live for you. Christianity is not a feel-good religion. Sometimes it is extremely difficult, so we ask You to help us persevere and keep us focused on You. Amen.

Every bride seeks to appear beautiful in the eyes of her groom. But it’s often an involved process, an expensive and a long process.

In the ancient Hebrew marriage, the bride and groom would stay separated for a year. The groom would prepare a place for the bride. And the bride would prepare herself for the groom. Her mission was to get ready and make herself beautiful.

Now anyone who has witnessed a woman making herself beautiful knows things often get worse before they get better. A woman covered with facial cream is not very beautiful. Sometimes, looking uglier is a necessary part of becoming more beautiful.

If you’re born again, you’re the bride, and now is the time of your preparation. That’s why you and Messiah are separated, because this is the time given you to prepare for marriage, to become beautiful in His eyes. If you’re looking at yourself, your heart, your attitude, your spirituality… it can be pretty ugly… but don’t be discouraged. For it’s in seeing her lack of beauty that the bride becomes beautiful in the Lord. This is the time of your preparation. You have to become beautiful.
Scripture: John 3:29

TODAY’S MISSION – Today, in every situation, look to see it as Heaven’s bridal chamber. Seek to see in everything, the good and the bad, the purposes of God to make you grow into His image.

Sunday, March 7, 2021

Isaiah 53 is one of the most amazingly clear prophecies of Messiah and His death ever given in Hebrew Scripture. One of the verses is particularly powerful. It says, ‘The punishment for our peace fell upon Him.’ In the original Hebrew, it doesn’t say ‘The punishment for our peace.’ It says ‘the punishment for our shalom.’ Why is this important?

Shalom means a lot more than peace. When you have shalom, you don’t just have peace, you have fullness, wholeness, prosperity, and well-being. Messiah didn’t die simply so you would have peace. He died so you would have shalom.

In Hebrew, it doesn’t say ‘our shalom’ but ‘shalomeinu.’ It’s not two words, but one: “our” and “the shalom” can’t be separated. It’s inconceivable that in Messiah, you should ever be separated from shalom. Messiah didn’t die so you would ever be separated from shalom. He died that you and shalom would be together, that it would be inconceivable to ever imagine you without it.

So start receiving your ‘shalomeinu,’ your fullness, your wholeness, and your well-being. It’s His gift and it’s your shalomeinu.

TODAY’S MISSION

No matter what your circumstances bring or what’s surrounding you, choose to live in the fullness of His Shalom.

Most believers spend a good deal of time seeking to find out the will of God.

Who should I marry?

What job should I take?

What house should I buy?

And there’s something to all this… But on a deeper level, it misses the point.

The will of God is much deeper than whom you should marry, what job you should take, what home you should live in. What most believers miss, and never get to, is that the will of God is the will of God.

It’s a matter of the heart. You can’t have a will without a heart. To know the will of God is to desire the things that God desires, to be passionate about those things about which God is passionate, and to be broken by those things which break the heart of God.

You can’t know the will of God unless you know the heart of God. To know the heart of God is to have the heart of God.

If you want the will of God in your life; read the Bible. Find out what He wants and make that your desire. And the will of God will follow.
Scripture: 1 Thessalonians 5:18

TODAY’S MISSION – Today, seek to find what the heart and will of God is in every situation, and make it your heart and your will.

Today’s Verse: 
Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is? – Matthew 16:13

Imagine if you lived in the time of Jesus and a very close friend asked you, “Who do you say I Am?” Being close friends, you can easily describe this person.

Now imagine Jesus asking the same question of you right now.

I wonder how we would answer Him. Do we know Him personally? Do we intentionally seek Him in our life? Do we just have a superficial relationship with Him?

Just like knowing a friend, knowing Jesus means spending quality time with Him and including Him in your schedule. You talk to Him through praying and you listen to Him through the Word.

You are vulnerable and honest before Him because He accepts you for who you are. He reaches out to you because He wants you to know Him.

We also need to do our part and respond to His call so if we’re ever asked, “Who do you people say is the Son of Man?” we’ll be able to answer it confidently, knowing who Jesus really is in our life. 

-Commentary by Theresa Landicho

Today’s Prayer:
Jesus, please teach me ways to get to know You better. Please help me to always be committed to growing closer to You. Amen.

Y’hee Or!’ It’s Hebrew for ‘Let there be light!’ It’s what God said in the beginning. This is His very first act of creation and the foundation of all His other works.

It was in the darkness of a Judean tomb circa the year 30 A.D. that God said again, ‘Y’hee Or! Let there be light!’ And there was light, in the resurrection.

So it’s not just that God brings light, but that God brings light specifically out of darkness.

Most believers curse, fear or shun the darkness; or, at best, avoid the darkness.

That may be you.

Chances are, there is some darkness in your life, in your circumstance, or on the horizon that you fear or look upon as a negative thing.

But according to the Scripture, darkness is not something to be cursed, feared, shunned, or avoided.

God doesn’t fear the dark; He brings miracles out of it.

And you need to be the same.

It’s only in the dark that you might have the awesome privilege of performing a miracle by the power of God.

Let’s hear it: “Y’hee Or! Let there be light!” And there will be light.
Scripture: Genesis 1:3

TODAY’S MISSION – Confront an area of darkness in your life. Open it up to the Lord and let the light of His word, the light of truth, and the light of His love break in.

Today’s Verse: They made kings, but not through me; they set up princes, but without my knowledge. With their silver and gold they made idols for their own destruction. – Hosea 8:4   Read that one more time, “they made idols for their own destruction.” An idol is anything placed in higher importance than God. It can be anything, food, alcohol, a spouse, money, or even Netflix. Anything can be made into an idol. They destroy us, and they fill a void in our lives for only a short time. They do not give us the everlasting fulfillment that only God can provide. Idols actually make us useless for the kingdom. Let that sink in; it makes us useless. So I ask, what has you so preoccupied, consuming your thoughts, demanding your attention? What is holding you back from whole-heartedly following God? Why aren’t you taking that next step He is calling you into? – Commentary by Kristina Taylor Today’s Prayer: Father, this is so important to us. We want You, we want to follow You, to please You, to be useful, and to help further Your kingdom. Father, I pray that You would help us identify the idols in our lives, to get free of them, and to put You first. Amen.

Have you heard of the “Koon People?” In Proverbs 12:3, it’s written: “A man will not be established by wickedness but the root of the righteous will not be moved.” The word there for established is the Hebrew word, “Koon”. It also means stable. It’s saying, “A man will not be established by wickedness…” Sin in your life will not establish you and will not make you stable. Righteousness in your life is stability. Righteousness will make you a “Koon Person,” who’s rooted and not moved. Unfortunately, “stability” is a foreign word to many believers. For many believers, life with God is not a “walk”, but a ride on a roller coaster. You’re up, down, in the clouds, in the pits, God loves you, He loves you not. God calls you for better than that. If you are truthful and see a lack of stability in your life, chances are you’re doing things your way and not God’s way. You’ve got some sins to put away and some righteousness to take up. God wants you stable. Turn away from the ups and downs of sin and turn to the root of the righteous – one of the “Koon People.”

TODAY’S MISSION – Spend time today rooting your soul, grounding your emotions, centering your feelings, in the love and peace of God.