Day 102...Champions

Philippians 1:3-6

Sometimes you don't want to know how something is going to turn out. If you're watching a movie for the first time, you don't want someone to yell out how the movie ends. But sometimes, it would be really great to know how something ends. If you're in a fist fight (I've never been in a fist fight!) it would be really great to know if you're going to win. That would give you such a boost of confidence and encouragement!

You could think of our lives like a fist fight. We are in a fight to live by Jesus' values, a fight to put our sinful selves to death, a fight to help those that are suffering. And we can know how this fight is going to end...we WIN!! The Bible tells us that one day Jesus will return to this earth and He's going to defeat every enemy. If you're on His side, you win!

The Bible also tells us that He will never leave us or quit on us. So we are guaranteed that Jesus will never kick us off His team. Our part is to stick by Him. If we persevere (never give up) then we will be right beside Jesus when He is celebrating His victory in the fight. We might be a little beat up, but we'll be on the winning team and our eternal life will be worth the fight to get there.

• Have you committed your life to be Jesus' follower? If not, drop me an email and we can talk. davei@cccomaha.org
• Pray to God and ask Him to continue the work He is doing in you and to help you persevere in your faith.

Pastor Dave

Day 96...Looking Good

Micah 6:8

Many people spend a ton of time and money getting their outward appearance just right. They don't even realize that their inward appearance is worse than a dirty bum who hasn't showered in 4 months.

I'm sure that on some level God cares what our outward appearance looks like (He wants us to take care of our bodies). But the Bible makes it clear that God mostly looks right past all of that to stare into our hearts. He is way more interested in our inward appearance. Micah 6:8 makes it really simple to understand. What does God want to see in our hearts? - do right, be kind, and be humble towards God. When God sees those things in our hearts, it puts a big smile on His face!

• What is one practical way you can do right in your ordinary day?
• Who can you show kindness to in a practical way?
• Pray that God will show you how to be humble towards Him.

Pastor Dave

Day 93...No Brainer

Colossians 3:1-14

Most people are at least a little bit concerned about their appearance. Some people are REALLY concerned about their appearance. I personally try to take care of how I look. I shower every day, I shave and trim my hair, I wear clean clothes, I even go to the gym (occasionally). But just taking care of the outside misses the most important part of us.

God says that we are made in Him image. That truth actually has little (maybe nothing) to do with how we look. It's all about the inner us - our thoughts, feelings, and beliefs - and how we live our lives.

These verses are calling us to put off the "old self" which was twisted by sin and embrace the "new self" we have been given by Jesus. Paul says to tune our minds and hearts to God's frequency in heaven so that the inner us and our actions will look more and more like God.

Here's something to consider: spiritual maturity is not measured by how much you know, but by how much you love.

• How can a person tune their heart and mind to God's frequency?
• Make it your prayer to put away your "old self" and put on your "new self" in Christ.

Pastor Dave

Day 89...Prayer Changes Things

2 Corinthians 12:6-10

One time I prayed for a retired missionary who was in the hospital. It was a pretty safe prayer because the guy was getting better and things looked good. A few days later I heard that the missionary had suddenly gotten a lot worse and then died. That really rocked me - he was doing better and then I prayed and then he died.

What happened? Why didn't God answer my prayers for that man? Maybe when I get to heaven I will know why God allowed that man to die. But for now, I know that that incident had a big impact on me. It really humbled me in my prayers and changed the way I pray. I am not afraid to ask God to do big things, but I definitely don't feel like God has to do what I ask Him to do. I don't think that missionary died just so I could learn that lesson, but I do think that was part of God's plan in that situation.

• Think about something you prayed for that God said "no" to. What can you learn from that?
• As you pray about stuff, how can you show the attitude that Paul had - being content when God doesn't do what you want?

Pastor Dave

Day 86...Prayer Abuse

John 15:7-14

Prayer can be a tricky part of our relationship with God to figure out. Especially figuring out if God is likely to answer our prayers how we want Him to. We may never have an answer-o-meter to tell us if God will say yes or no, but He does give us a few guidelines to help us.

In John 15, Jesus tells us that our requests will be granted as long as we remain in Him. That's a huge promise! But we have to remember the other part...staying connected to Jesus. When our hearts (the things we love) and our minds (the way we think) are tuned in with Jesus' heart and mind, then we'll be asking for the things that He wants too.

The other major thing to remember is that God always does what is best and He has the only perfect perspective on things. We may not understand or even like what He chooses to do, but we can trust that it is somehow the best thing that fits into God's plan in our life.

• Is there some way that you need to connect more to Jesus in your life?
• Ask God to show you what's on His heart and mind so you can begin to pray more for those things.

Pastor Dave

Day 82...Talking to a Star

Psalm 18:25-36

I wonder if God ever feels used by us when we don't take time to talk to Him before unloading our list of requests. Does it make Him feel like our butler or a genie? I know that I have felt like I have treated God that way before. I'm not talking about those crisis moments where all you have time to spit out is "God, please..." I'm thinking of those times that I have plenty of time to talk with God but I dive right into what I want/need from Him.

Some of my favorite prayer times are when I don't ask God for anything. I spend time praising Him for who He is and thanking Him for what He's done and just talking about life. God wants us to bring our needs/wants to Him, but if those things are the biggest parts of your prayer life then you most likely are missing something really great between you and God. Take some time to set those needs/wants aside and spend time with God praising Him and thanking Him.

• Take 5 minutes every morning or night for a week and praise God for who He is and/or what He's done in your life.

Pastor Dave

Day 81...Breathe

1 Thessalonians 5:17

I really appreciated the analogy between prayer and breathing. It made sense to me. Most of us know what it looks like to do the occasional and intense time in prayer. And most of us have done some of the special CPR type prayers for someone in big-time need. But the third kind of payer that God says can be a continual part of our life...that one seems hard to really figure out. How are we supposed to always be praying?

Maybe some of the confusion is not really understanding what prayer looks like. A lot of people think that prayer should sound formal and use really good words. Who has time to do that between classes or just before a test?!

Let's think of prayer as more like a conversation than a speech. And this conversation never ends...it just has pauses in it. You don't need to get God's attention before you speak to Him because you're already in a conversation with Him. You don't even need to start by saying "Dear God," He's smart enough to know when you're talking to Him and He always listens.

• Try it out - say at least one thing to God between every class for a week. I bet you'll find it more natural than it seems at first.

Pastor Dave