Lenten Meditations- Live Like Jesus
Philippians 2:5 "In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus."
Let’s keep on praying for believers, worldwide. We are the Church, the Body, and the Bride. How should we live in these days?
It's not about us speaking our mind, it's about us living, walking, and talking as if our relationship with Jesus is the most precious thing to us- it should be! The Church needs to have the same mindset as Jesus-
"Who made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!" Philippians 2:7-8
What do we need to die to today? What do we need to surrender to the Lord for His purposes and glory? Let's take on the role of God's servants- willingly doing what He calls us to do and finding joy in it.
Today, pray for the global body of believers that in these last days we can live like Jesus and model what it means to follow Him with our lives.
Pray without ceasing
Lenten meditations to prepare our hearts for Resurrection Day
A Prayer for the Church: Let the Peace of Christ Rule
Colossians 3:15 “And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.”
As we anticipate the remembrance of Christ’s death and resurrection, it’s a time many often give something up to remind them of all Christ gave on our behalf. But instead of ‘going without’ why don’t we commit to praying for the Body of Believers, we who daily represent Christ to this world, those with whom we are joined as The Church and The Bride. We should pray, too, for our sons and daughters as they are members of the Body (or if they are not, they would be drawn to know Christ).
Dark days are ahead…in fact they are here and walking faithfully requires us to be intentional. Let’s immerse ourselves in Scripture that reminds us of who we are in Christ and how we are called to live as His church.
Let's commit to pray in the weeks building to Resurrection Day that God would move and work in His Church so that we would stand strong against the enemy and would uphold one another to remain faithful. Will you commit to pray too?
Colossians 3:15 “And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.”
The phrase "Let rule" is the word “brabeuo” in Greek and it means to arbitrate or umpire, to govern.
A question for prayer and meditation:
What are we allowing to rule in our hearts and govern our thoughts and responses?
Our Prayer point:
Pray that the Church would allow the peace of Christ to rule in our hearts individually and collectively and pray the world would see this extraordinary peace and be drawn to Christ.
Pray without ceasing
Dear Children…Don’t Let Anyone Lead You Astray
“Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.”
Have you ever been deceived? It’s an awful realization, isn’t it? When you believe and trust in someone or something, only to realize that what you believed to be true, thought you understood and wholeheartedly supported is not what it seemed. It can throw you for a loop. And watching someone go through it can be equally as difficult…especially when that other person doesn’t recognize the deception.
Deception is a slippery slope that pulls people further and further from the Truth and into false hope, misdirected loyalty, and often, victimization. Deception leads to loss of resources, relationships, and hope. It’s a ploy of the enemy to convince people to believe a lie, isolate them from one another and keep them from following Christ.
But how do you recognize deception? How can you spot a ‘fake’? Those who are trained to spot fake money and art look for certain characteristics and inconsistencies. But in order to do so, they have to have intricate knowledge of the original before they are able to spot a fake. Our sons and daughters need to have strong knowledge of Scripture and a consistent, growing relationship with the Lord in order to protect themselves from deception. Inch-deep knowledge and casual practice of spiritual disciplines leave us vulnerable to being led astray by teachers whose teaching “sounds similar” but whose doctrine weaves in error and deception.
The enemy will try to convince us that what we’re following is “okay” or “not really as bad as we might think”, or even label it as “my truth” so others cannot tell us it’s wrong. If he can do that, then he is accomplishing his goal of deception and disruption. Lord have mercy! Our sons and daughters need to be on guard!!
1 John 3:7-8 says, “Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.”
So, how do we recognize and avoid deception? How do we remain faithful? We need to pray that our sons and daughters will:
Recognize God’s Truth:
Colossians 1:9-14 For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
Be able to identify falsehood
Jude 1:17-19 But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.”
2 John 2:7, 9-11 “I say this because many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take them into your house or welcome them. Anyone who welcomes them shares in their wicked work.
Avoid evil:
Proverbs 16:17 “The highway of the upright avoids evil; those who guard their ways preserve their lives.”
I John 1:6 “If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth.”
Fellowship with other believers who walk in the Truth:
Acts 2:42 “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”
1 John 1:7 “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”
Listen to the Holy Spirit Who lives in us- He will help us recognize those who walk with Christ in genuine fellowship vs. those who are ‘posers’.
1 John 4:6 “We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.”
Strive to maintain a testimony that gives evidence of Christ in us- our life should speak truth and give evidence of Christ to others
3 John 1:3 “ It gave me great joy when some believers came and testified about your faithfulness to the truth, telling how you continue to walk in it.”
Today, let’s pray these scriptures over our sons and daughters. But let’s also pray for the Body of Believers. Satan is strong, yes, but the God that lives in us is stronger and He holds the victory!! Let’s pray He will surround us with His mighty protection and keep us walking faithfully.
Pray without ceasing.
Nearsighted? Farsighted? Or 20/20 Prayer?
Ephesians 6:18 “praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints-.”
Prayer is an amazing conversation between us and the Lord. It’s a direct line to His ear, His heart and His mighty power. If we really think about it, our minds can be overwhelmed with the mystery and power of prayer. It’s a privilege God extends to us, His children! Just as we get excited for a call from our kids, God is delighted when we sit down to talk to Him and He has so much to tell and show us.
When our children were little, it’s likely we taught them to pray, first with simply prayers made of rhyming words but carrying the truth of Scripture. “God is great, God is good, and we thank Him for our food…”
From there, we morphed into prompting them to pray for family members and loved ones “God bless Mommy and Daddy…Grandma and Grandpa, and God bless Buster and Scooter”…yes the pets often received that honorable mention as well. We highlighted the personal nature of talking to the Lord and the unquestionable truth that He’s always listening and ready to help. We wanted our sons and daughters to know how to talk to the Lord. But our focus was often on those we knew and had relationships with already.
But here’s the thing, God calls us to pray for one another as the Body of Christ, as His saints and as brothers and sisters in the Lord. That covers those we know…but it also includes those we do not. It includes believers in closed, hostile countries like North Korea where being a believer means certain conviction to a labor camp…or worse. It includes brothers and sisters in China where speaking the name of Jesus can mean pushback and abuse from the government, loss of social credit or imprisonment. It includes brothers and sisters in African nations, trekking over dirt roads to share the gospel with others who need freedom in Christ or those in pushing deep into the jungle areas to those yet unreached with the gospel . Prayer needs to include tribes, nations and languages. Our prayers need to recognize that we are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses…and one day, we will be counted among them (Hebrews 12:1).
It’s true, we get lulled into the comfort of our daily lives, our to-do list, the things that pull and weigh on us and yes, even our stress. If we’re going to have 20/20 prayer vision, we need to be intentional to look around and beyond ourselves and our sphere of influence and experience. We need to transcend borders, boundaries and time zones and put Ephesians 6:18 into practice, because, friends, there is a battle going on all around us…and that battle is not a physical one. Ephesians 6:12 “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rules, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Do we think what is happening in Ukraine is just a turf war? Think again. There is spiritual significance to what we see and we’re foolish to think it’s just political. And it’s not just there…it’s happening all over…yet we’re oblivious to it many times.
Have we grown in our prayer life enough that we’re moved by the struggles and injustice we see, even if it’s not something we’re personally enduring? And have our sons and daughters grown in their prayer lives as well? Or are they using ‘drive through’ prayers- placing their order and then waiting impatiently to pick up the answer, the provision, the deliverance?
Friends, because we’re human and limited, we run the risk of being myopic as we pray. Oh, it’s not intentional, but we pray for what we see, right? But, as believers, we wrestle with the unseen, the principalities and powers that battle against the Lord…and against us, His saints. So it’s important…no, it’s vital that we pray for our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world. Ephesians 6:18 “praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints-”
Today and this week, let’s be intentional to pray for our brothers and sisters around the world, in each country, in each crisis, in each dangerous place. God is there, we can be confident of that. But as the Body of Christ, as the Church, we need to come alongside them in prayer. Imagine what we’ll encounter in Heaven when we meet other believers and Jesus tells us “This one!! This is who your prayers affected, protected and sustained!” Oh, beloved, let’s pray with power this week and encourage our sons and daughters to do the same.
Rather than a written prayer here, write out your own, revisit it through the week, add to it as you follow the news and believe that God is using each one of us in ways we may never see here…but our prayers are effective and powerful because we’re talking to the God of all creation whose child we are.
Pray without ceasing.