Tag Archives: politics

Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team; J.R. – Long Term Project

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One of the most beautiful buildings in America is the Washington National Cathedral. The building has hosted the funeral of Ronald Reagan, the 9/11 remembrance service and many other important events. But it was the longest-running construction project in Washington, D.C. history. Major Pierre L’Enfant, who designed the city, first proposed it in 1791. The work began in 1907 and wasn’t completed until 1990. At times, there was doubt whether it would ever be done, and no one who started the project was around to see its dedication.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works.

Ephesians 2:10

God is making you into the person He designed you to be, but it’s a process that will continue for a lifetime. The biggest mistake you can make is to believe the fallacy that you’ll be equipped for good works only after you become a finished product. He wants you to serve today, where you are, with whatever resources He’s given you. At the very least, God has given you the power of prayer.

Today, make your heart a cathedral and lift up your nation’s leaders in prayer, asking God to guide them and draw them to the truth of His Holy Word. Finished or not, He has created you for this moment!

Recommended Reading: Jeremiah 1:4-10

Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team; H.L.M. – Discover New Ground

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Sheep are creatures of habit. They will follow the same trails until they become ruts. They will graze the same hills until they turn to desert wastes. They will pollute their own ground until it is corrupt with disease and parasites. However, a good shepherd will regularly move them to different pastures. When the shepherd leads them to a fresh field, even the older ewes will often kick up their heels and leap with excitement!

He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.

Psalm 23:3

Just as sheep will blindly and habitually follow one another along the same little trails until they erode into gigantic gullies, people cling to the same habits that ruin their lives. Yet Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”

As you pray and read God’s Word each day, ask the Good Shepherd of your soul to lovingly guide you onto new ground with Him. The Lord has greater abundance, health and wholeness waiting for you! Pray also for America’s leaders to discover that a relationship with Jesus Christ is the only path toward real, lasting hope and peace.

Recommended Reading: John 10:1-9

 

Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team; G.C. – Rubbish Recycle

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On average, you generate about five pounds of garbage each day. The good news is that an entire industry actually wants your trash. With high heat and a little creativity, they will turn your rubbish into something new and useful. Recyclers are cleaning up the world one blue bin at a time. It’s not just a worthy cause, but the right thing to do for the next generation.

New wine is put into fresh wineskins, and so both are preserved.

Matthew 9:1

The Bible says God wants to do a similar thing for you. If you are willing, God will take your old life, the one full of secrets and hopelessness, and power wash the darkness away through the forgiveness of Jesus Christ. Because of His Son’s work, God will actually give you a fresh new clean heart. Your life can then be full of hope and good work.

People of faith, pray for your president and lawmakers today. Plead earnestly that America’s leaders will personally exchange their brokenness for a fresh and new perspective in Jesus. Pray that America will be preserved, one heart at a time. It’s the right thing to do for the next generation.

Recommended Reading: I Peter 1:21-25

 

 

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Presidential Prayer Team; C.H. – Life Sentence

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In a Texas town in 1986, Michael Morton was accused of murdering his wife. Despite claiming he was at work during the crime, prosecutors convinced the jury Morton was guilty. No one believed him. Their disbelief cost Morton his freedom. Twenty-five years later, new DNA evidence proved Christine Morton’s killer was not her husband, and Morton was released.

Do not disbelieve, but believe.

John 20:27

Belief is important. When the disciples told Thomas Jesus was alive, Thomas did not believe it. In today’s verse, the Son of God appeared to Thomas in person and let him touch the holes in His hands, encouraging Thomas to believe. God asks you to believe today, too. “All things are possible for one who believes.” (Mark 9:23) Disbelief cost Michael Morton life as he knew it. Your disbelief can cost a life, too – yours.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) It’s a different kind of life sentence. Do you truly believe? Ask God to help your belief and that of your fellow Americans. Then pray for the president and vice-president, as well as other national leaders, to truly trust in Jesus Christ.

Recommended Reading: John 3:16-21

 

Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team; J.K. – Something to Share

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Former Chaplain of the United States Senate Dr. Lloyd Ogilvie once wrote: “We’re all accountable to living under authority. And the greater the authority we are given, the more we have to place ourselves unreservedly under Christ’s authority.” It’s so true; you cannot experience joy, peace or strength unless you submit to His rule.

Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work.

Ephesians 4:28

Allowing His authority in your life and thriving in a relationship with Him are linked. When you repented and believed in Christ as your Savior, you turned from what you were as a lost soul to one whose joy comes from pleasing God. Jesus goes beyond “you shall not steal,” the commandment given to the children of Israel in the wilderness (Exodus 20:15), to a more inclusive meaning. Commentator Lawrence O. Richards catches the significance: “Idleness, or dependence on others, is not a godly trait for the able-bodied.” Instead, labor honestly so you “have something to share with anyone in need.” (Ephesians 4:28)

Oh, that this concept might extend to this nation’s leaders. Pray that they would make laws that allow workers to labor in the way God has directed…and that the country’s workforce and leadership know the peace and joy that comes with submission to the Lord.

Recommended Reading: Psalm 128

 

Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team; P.G. – Awestruck

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Did you ever go camping on a mountaintop, lay on your back on a cloudless night, and let your eyes roam the stars of Heaven? Perhaps you traced the arc of the Milky Way, shimmering with its uncountable pinpoints of light. If you have, you understand David’s reaction to God’s glory on display. Pastor Erwin Lutzer of Chicago’s Moody Church calls creation “when God went public.”

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

Psalms 19:1

But the constellations you behold are merely a primer in announcing God as creator. Photographs taken by NASA’s 24-year-old Hubble Space Telescope reveal unanticipated galaxies and images of grandeur that leave even the casual observer awestruck. In 2018, an even larger next-generation telescope will be launched as scientists search for the edge of the universe.

As you bask in all the natural wondrous ways that God has shown Himself, draw close knowing that this same Creator loves you more than the measure of the fathomless sky – and the hands that fashioned Heaven’s glories hold you! As you enter that profound thankfulness, intercede for the leaders in America to take the time to discover God in His revelation to the world and, even more, to come to know Him personally.

Recommended Reading: Psalm 19:1-6

Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team; A.W. – No Room For Error

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What is tolerance? It’s defined as respecting beliefs or practices different from your own. In mechanical engineering, it means the permitted variation in a measurement of an object. It is how much error is allowed before the long-term is affected. But even small mistakes can have drastic effects on the future. For example, if Apollo engineers had miscalculated the launch trajectory of the moon rockets by just .0003 of a degree, they would’ve missed the moon by 1.25 miles.

The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience.

I Timothy 1:5

In today’s verse, Paul instructed Timothy to stop false teaching occurring in Ephesus. Although the errors may have seemed small entanglements in myths and spiritual genealogies, Paul knew they would affect the future of believers. Paul reminded Timothy to teach in love, with a pure heart and a good conscious, in order to advance God’s work. There could be no tolerance for error because it would divert believers from the goal of the Christian life.

As you share your faith with others, ask God to keep your heart pure, your conscience clean and your faith sincere. Pray for also for the nation’s leaders to be influenced by Christians like Timothy…so they may know His love.

Recommended Reading: II Timothy 2:15-26

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Presidential Prayer Team; C.P. – Trustworthy

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With over 20 major religions in the world and a wide variety of Christian churches, it’s no wonder people are confused or avoid religion altogether. It gets easier when you know the truth in the form of a person – Jesus. He said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

Speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him.

Ephesians 4:15

Yet can Jesus be trusted? He fulfilled upwards to 300 Bible prophecies. He was born of a virgin, healed the sick, cast out demons, raised the dead and taught with authority. Then He was crucified, rose again, promised to return, and ascended into Heaven. The Bible’s prophetic scriptures are still unfolding with astounding accuracy. Once what seemed unimaginable now appears to be just around the corner. If Jesus can’t be trusted, who can?

The Christian’s job is to become more like Him, lovingly reaching out with the gospel and meeting needs. Reread the teachings of the Word of God and see how your life lines up? Pray, too, that God will open the eyes of the leaders and citizens of the United States to see Christ as the truth – and one worthy of their trust.

Recommended Reading: I Peter 4:1-11 

 

Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team; J.K. – Place of Great Pleasure

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If you like to golf, it doesn’t take much urging from a fellow golfer to get you out on the course. Insert your favorite activity; if there’s an invitation, you’re there. So why does the Psalmist have to ask the Lord to lead him where he delights to go? George Robinson knew the answer as he composed the words to a hymn, “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it / Prone to leave the God I love / Here’s my heart, O, take and seal it / Seal it for Thy courts above.” He knew his own heart.

Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it.

Psalm 119:35

Do you know yours? “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick [wicked].” (Jeremiah 17:9) There is one word that should characterize your life – yield. To yield yourself to God is to have Him lead you in the right path…the path of obedience. There is no place of greater pleasure or joy than to be obedient.

Cease your struggles. Quit trying to run your own life. Yield to the One who can be your guide through every storm. Then intercede for America’s leaders, that they may come to know the God of wisdom and believe.

Recommended Reading: Psalm 119:33-40

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Presidential Prayer Team; J.K. – Plant Your Feet

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Two prayers in the letter to the Ephesians show Paul’s concern and love for these new Christians. Concerned with the spiritual condition of man, the first emphasizes revelation, “having the eyes of your hearts enlightened.” (Ephesians 1:17-18) The second prayer underscores enablement to behave like Christians: “Be strengthened with power through his Spirit…so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith – that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend” the immensity of the love of God in Christ (Ephesians 3:16-18). Spiritual strength from the Holy Spirit will lead to a deeper relationship with God.

You, being rooted and grounded in love.

Ephesians 3:17

When the trials of life test the depth of your trust in God, you will be as secure as the man who built his house upon the rock (Matthew 7:24-27). Just as roots grow deep into the ground for nourishment and stability, planting your feet in God’s Word will give you strength for the moment and transforming power for each day of your Christian life.

Grow in your love for the Lord. Let others see His love in you. Then pray for President Obama and the members of Congress…that they may have revelation to enable them to govern with the eyes of Jesus.

Recommended Reading: Ephesians 3:14-21

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Presidential Prayer Team; J.R. – Nonaggression Deception

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In 1934, the leaders of two nations sat down together and signed a “nonaggression pact.” “The time has come to introduce a new phase in the political relations between Germany and Poland,” the agreement stated, recognizing that “the guarantee of a lasting peace between their countries is an essential pre-condition for the general peace of Europe.” The only problem with the agreement was that one of the parties involved was Adolf Hitler. A few short years later, the German blitzkrieg swept through Poland. When it was over, six million Polish citizens were dead, many of them murdered in concentration camps.

Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good.

Romans 12:9

The world is filled with people feigning friendship or love. The glad-handing politician who wants your vote; the slick salesman who wants what’s in your wallet. Be careful when a man pats you on the back, someone once said, because he might be looking for a soft place to stick the knife.

Is your love for others genuine and Christ-like, or is it encumbered by self-interested motives? As you pray, ask God to help you give of yourself authentically and unselfishly. Americans from the nation’s capital to your own neighborhood need to experience genuine love today. Make sure they receive it from you.

Recommended Reading: II Corinthians 6:1-10

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Presidential Prayer Team; P.G. – Be Absolute

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On an October morning several years ago, Charles Carl Roberts walked into a small school and killed five children, injuring five others. It was easy to feel compassion for those families. Their suffering and sorrow was evident, their heartbreak certain. But when people of that Amish community forgave Roberts and reached out to his family…that was love from a different source!

If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

John 14:15

God loves you, no matter what. He expects you to love others – as He has loved you – no matter what! It takes far more than your own volition to do that. You must find the challenge to obey, not by looking at what it might cost you, but by looking at what it cost God and His Son, Jesus. That love commitment to you was absolute.

Isn’t it time to be absolute in showing your love for others? By extending your love, you reflect what the Lord first gave you…and others will see the difference His love has made in your life. Pray with Godly compassion, too, for America’s leaders to find that redeeming and life-empowering love in their own lives.

Recommended Reading: I John 4:7-16

 

Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team; H.L.M. – Action Required

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There are three primary words for love in the Bible: eros (sensual love); phileo (brotherly love); and agape (unconditional, supernatural love).

Do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel.

Philippians 1:16

Society focuses mainly on eros or phileo. God’s love, agape, is the purest, deepest kind. You are created as the object of God’s love. His heart overflows toward you. Your Heavenly Father proved His love first when He sent Jesus to die on the cross on your behalf. Then He left His Holy Spirit to guide and comfort you. Finally, God has given you His love letter, the Bible, through which you come to understand how much He adores and cherishes you. However, just knowing His love isn’t enough. It requires action.

As you thank Him today for the incredible gift of His love, take a moment to read I Corinthians 13 and let the words sink into your mind and your heart. Insert your name in the place of the word “love” and ask God to develop those qualities in you. Look for opportunities to demonstrate His love to others. Then pray that the nation’s leaders would come to know and act upon true agape love in their lives.

Recommended Reading: I Corinthians 13:1-13

 

 

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Presidential Prayer Team; J.R. – The Extra Mile

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Here is a little phrase you’ve probably heard many times: “It’s not my job.” If that’s part of your vocabulary, it shouldn’t be. It will make your work meaningless and destroy your testimony. That doesn’t mean you can’t set boundaries, nor does it suggest you should recklessly take on tasks you’re ill-equipped to manage. But the nation is filled with people today who have decided they are going to do the bare minimum, and sometimes even less.

Those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works.

Titus 3:8

If others are going to see Christ in you, you must devote yourself to good works, going beyond your job description, surpassing expectations, and seizing every opportunity. Abraham went the extra mile to help three strangers. The Good Samaritan crossed the road. And Jesus died on the cross. Any one of them could have said “It’s not my job,” but they didn’t…thank God they didn’t.

Today, pray for a positive, helpful attitude, and ask God to help America’s leaders set aside pride, pettiness and partisanship to devote themselves to good works.

Recommended Reading: I Thessalonians 5:12-24

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Presidential Prayer Team; P.G. – Essential Benefits

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Popular culture urges you to believe that love is some kind of romance that shows up unexpectedly and magically sweeps you off your feet. A recent article in Psychology Today suggests that kind of love is emotional junk food – cheap and probably not so good for you. True love, they said, is a learned skill, not something that comes from hormones or emotion. German social psychologist Erich Fromm called it “an act of the will” and “other-focused.”

May the Lord make you increase and abound in love for one another.

I Thessalonians 3:12

Increasing in love for one another, Paul says, is part of a growing faith. You cannot grow to maturity in Christ unless you learn how to love other Christians. And that love comes from a supernatural source – God Himself. He alone gives you love for one another. It is the Lord who establishes that love…and it is He who causes it to increase.

Just as oxygen is essential to breathing and benefits your physical health, so love is essential to your emotional life by staving off depression, and to your spiritual life by developing your faith. Prayers for one another express expanding love. Include the nation’s leaders and their spiritual health in your intercessory time today. You’ll both benefit.

Recommended Reading: I Thessalonians 3:4-13

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Presidential Prayer Team; J.R. – Restoration Business

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The Civil War started out badly for Abraham Lincoln. “We are utterly and disgracefully routed, beaten, whipped,” wrote one Northerner after the disastrous loss at the Battle of Bull Run. And newsman Horace Greeley told Lincoln it was best for the country to “make peace with the rebels, and on their own terms.” But the President, historian James McPherson writes, was “filled with grim determination.” He immediately began making plans for the prosecution of the war – and victory.

The great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him.

Nehemiah 1:5

How do you react to bad news? Nehemiah’s example, like Lincoln’s, is instructive. Upon hearing that Jerusalem had been broken down and its gates destroyed, he “wept and mourned for days,” (Nehemiah 1:4)…and then began to praise the God who would save His people. Even in the worst of times, remember that God is “great and awesome” and ready to do wonderful things.

America’s future looked bleak following Bull Run. Jerusalem was written off after being overrun by its enemies. But the Lord restored them and made them great again, against all odds. Today, pray for the nation’s leaders with the belief – and grim determination – that God is still in the business of restoration…and that you will be a part of it!

Recommended Reading: Joel 2:23-27

 

Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team; P.G. – The Bottom Line

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“God, I’m sorry, I wasn’t very loving today.” Well, some days are like that, aren’t they? You don’t accelerate soon enough when the traffic light turns green and a dozen horns honk. The coffee you picked up at the drive-thru was minus the flavored syrup you requested. You get home from the grocery, and the shredded cheese didn’t make it into your bag. And on it goes. You mutter, you complain, your irritations grow. And your evening devotional reminds you to do things in love. Not just some things. Everything!

Let all that you do be done in love.

I Corinthians 16:14

Like the other exhortations in I Corinthians 16, practice and patience come before the bottom-line payoff. When Jesus met with His disciples in the upper room, He reminded them, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” (John 14:15) That is your motivator. Then treat your neighbor as you’d treat yourself – rude motorists are forgiven, mistakes happen, and you have no idea what problem might be on the mind of the grocery bagger. A good start is in praying for each person you meet.

People in government have problems, too. It can be difficult when your viewpoints are so opposite from theirs, but pray for them in love. That’s God’s bottom line!

Recommended Reading: John 14:21-27

 

 

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Presidential Prayer Team; J.K. – Far Greater

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God had brought them “on eagles wings” out of Egypt. If they obeyed His voice and kept His covenant, they would be His treasured possession – a holy nation (Exodus 19:4-6). But the people of Israel instead worshipped a golden calf. God would have destroyed them, but Moses interceded (Exodus 32).

God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love.

Exodus 34:6

Even so, God almost withdrew His presence from them, but again Moses made a personal request and asked the Lord to show him His ways and show him His glory. It was then that the Lord passed before him declaring His own deity and His own nature: “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth.” (Exodus 34:6 KJV) With that, Moses bowed his head and worshipped Him.

So should you. God’s rules are to keep you safe and give you freedom from sin. His love for you is far greater than anything you can ever know. Love Him. Live and love His commands for your life that you might experience the good He has for you. Then plead for the leaders of this country who live by their own law, and govern the same, that they may come to the knowledge of God’s truth.

Recommended Reading: Psalm 121

 

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Before And After

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Our Daily Bread

Psalm 55:1-8,16-17

Give ear to my prayer, O God . . . . My heart is severely pained within me, and the terrors of death have fallen upon me. —Psalm 55:1,4

What changes take place in a life of faith after severe testing? I thought of this as I read the tragic story of a Jamaican dad who accidentally shot and killed his 18-year-old daughter while trying to protect his family from intruders.

News reports said he went to church (as was his habit) the next day—distraught but still seeking God’s help. Faith in God guided him before, and he knew God could sustain him after.

I thought about this in regard to my own life—having also lost a teenage daughter. To review how I viewed life and faith before Melissa’s death, I dug into my computer archives to read the last article I had written before we lost her in June 2002. How would what I said then correspond to what I know now? Had severe testing changed my view of faith in God? In May of that year, I had written this: “David was not afraid to go boldly to God and tell Him what was on his heart. . . . We don’t have to be afraid to tell God what is on our heart.”

Before I went through tough times, I went to God and He listened to me. After, I discovered that He still listens and comforts and sustains. So I continue to pray in faith. Our faith remains intact and is strengthened because He is the God of the before the after. —Dave Branon

God is still on the throne,

He never forsaketh His own;

His promise is true, He will not forget you,

God is still on the throne. Suffield

What we know of God encourages us to trust Him in all we do not know.

Bible in a year: Exodus 39-40; Matthew 23:23-39

Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Children of God

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“But to all who received Him, He gave the right to become children of God. All they needed to do was to trust Him to save them” (John 1:12).

My wife, Vonette, had been active in the church since she was a little girl, and I assumed that she was a Christian. However, after my proposal and during our engagement, I realized she had never received Christ, though she was a very moral, religious person.

Because of the emotional involvement, I hesitated to press her to receive Christ because I was afraid she would go through the motions of receiving Him to please me, which certainly would not be pleasing to our Lord. So I asked the Lord to send someone who could introduce her to Christ. He clearly led me to call upon a dear friend, the late Dr. Henrietta Mears, who had played such a vital role in my own spiritual growth.

One day at Forest Home, a Christian conference center in California, Dr. Mears took time to talk with Vonette. “Receiving Christ,” she explained, “is simply a matter of turning your life – your will, your emotions, your intellect – completely over to Him.” With that, the great transaction took place and Vonette became a new creature in Christ.

Similarly, in India, a convert from Hinduism could neither read nor write, so he asked others to read the Bible to him. His favorite verse was John 1:12.

“I have received Him,” he said, “so I have become a son of God.”

Radiantly happy, he returned to his village.

“I have become a son of God,”he proclaimed. And his life was so transformed and his simple witness so effective that the other villagers all wanted to become “sons of God,” too.

That radiant convert led the whole village to Christ – and hundreds of others besides. A poor, illiterate, former Hindu, he realized that he had indeed become a son of God and he longed for others to become sons as well.

Bible Reading: John 1:6-11

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: I will make certain first of all that I have truly received Jesus Christ as my Savior and Lord by faith – with the intellect, the emotions, the will. Then I will seek to be God’s instrument in helping to introduce others to Him as well.