Tag Archives: religious leaders

Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team; C.P. – Inside Out

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Everybody loves fairy tales like Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, and The Little Mermaid where the characters are not who they appear on the outside. What truly matters in these stories is who they are on the inside.

Truly, I tell you, this poor widow has put in more than all of them.

Luke 21:3

The religious leaders of Jesus’ day may have only seen the widow’s two copper coins (not much to support the synagogue), but Christ saw her heart. He saw her as a giver, one truly devoted to God despite the size of her offering. When Samuel went to anoint David as king, he first saw David’s seven brothers who seemed more likely to be God’s candidate. God said, “Man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” (I Samuel 16:7) When a Samaritan woman asked about the correct place to worship, Jesus said, “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:24)

Come to the Lord, thankful that He sees your heart. He knows everything about you and still loves and forgives you. He sees your weaknesses, but He also sees your strengths and potential. Pray, too, for your nation’s leaders to realize in their hearts their need to be transformed by God from the inside out.

Recommended Reading: II Corinthians 5:16-21

Max Lucado

Max Lucado – God Chats in the Closet

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Max Lucado

Religious leaders loved to make theater out of their prayers. The show nauseated Jesus. In Matthew 6:6 He said, “When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father who cannot be seen. Your Father can see what is done in secret, and He will reward you.”

The words surely stunned Jesus’ audience. The people were simple farmers and stonemasons. They couldn’t enter the temple. But they could enter their closets. The point? He is low on fancy, high on accessibility. You need not woo him with location! Or wow him with eloquence. It’s the power of a simple prayer.

Join me every day for 4 weeks, to pray 4 minutes, a simple prayer. Sign on at BeforeAmen.com. Then get ready to connect with God like never before!

Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team; J.R. – Scripture Subversives

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It was denounced by politicians and religious leaders as a dangerous instrument that would only spread “subversive” ideas. But after Johannes Gutenberg began printing Bibles on his newly invented press, there was no stopping it. “It was one of the great moments in the history of Western civilization,” wrote historian William Manchester, “and printers throughout Christendom flocked to kindle their torches from it.” Soon, presses all over Europe were churning out Bibles, and the Word of God was available to the masses for the first time.

Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Romans 5:2

“Access” is something we take for granted today. Even a trip to the library has been rendered superfluous by modern technology. But it hasn’t always been that way and, in truth, how few of your neighbors and your nation’s leaders have yet obtained the access that is gained “by faith” to God’s grace. Don’t assume that easy access in any way diminishes your responsibility to share the Gospel with others. They still need to hear, from you, about the love of Christ.

As you pray today, ask God to make you a light unto the world – a spiritual torch from which others will be ignited.

Recommended Reading: Romans 10:14-18

Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread — Looking Good

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Our Daily Bread

Matthew 23:23-31

First cleanse the inside. —Matthew 23:26

Your hair is really healthy,” said my hairdresser after giving me a haircut. “I hope it’s because you use our products.” “No. I’m sorry,” I said. “I just use whatever product is cheap and smells good.” But then I added, “I also try to eat well. I think that makes a big difference.”

When I think about the things we do to make ourselves look good, I’m reminded of some of the things we do to make ourselves look good spiritually. Jesus addressed this issue with the religious leaders in Jerusalem (Matt. 23). They followed an elaborate set of religious rules that went well beyond the ones God had given them. They worked hard to look good to their peers, to prove that they were better than others. But their hard work didn’t impress God. Jesus said to them, “You cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside [you] are full of extortion and self-indulgence” (v.25). What the Pharisees did to make themselves look good to others actually revealed that they were not good at all.

Every culture values different religious behaviors and traditions, but God’s values transcend cultures. And what He values isn’t measured by what others see. God values a clean heart and pure motives. Spiritual health is expressed from the inside out. —Julie Ackerman Link

You know me, Lord, for who I am. My motives

and heart are open before You. Cleanse me

from the inside out. And help me to live as

Jesus did—with pure and true motives.

We might look good on the outside without really being good on the inside.

Bible in a year: 2 Kings 19-21; John 4:1-30

Insight

Matthew 23 uses the phrase “woe to you” eight times when Jesus condemns the hypocrisy of the religious leaders. They displayed outward religiosity and piety, but neglected the truly important matters of justice, mercy, and faith (v.23; Mic. 6:8). They presented themselves as upright and holy, but inside they were utterly corrupt and evil (vv.25-31).