Luke 12:22-32 || “Don’t be afraid” was a common Bible command, and one of the hardest to follow. We tend to worry, whether about cars that wear out, bills we need to pay, small questions like “What’s for lunch?” or big problems like ongoing Covid disruptions. Our minds may know research says (like Jesus in verse 25) that worry doesn’t help. But still we worry. Jesus pointed beyond this world, saying, “Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom.” Our culture says, “Stand on your own two feet.” “Little flock” had a different ring: “The flock can also be an image of vulnerability. Thus we find the disciples called a ‘little flock’ that needs to be commanded to ‘fear not’ (Lk 12:32)….the flock is an apt picture of the combined people of God under his care.” How easy or hard is it for you to trust God’s care for you more than your own efforts? Are you okay with being one of God’s “flock,” not just a free-standing individual? If you apply Jesus’ wisdom (“There is more to life than food and more to the body than clothing”) in your everyday life, what priorities would rise? Which might drop lower? Scholar N. T. Wright said “This wasn’t just good advice on how to live a happy, carefree life. This was a challenge to the very center of [our] world.” Can you really trust that your heavenly Father will love and care for you not just now, but through all eternity? How would it alter your mindset to deeply trust that?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, you called yourself the good Shepherd, willing even to give your life for your flock. I thank you for your tender care for me, both now and in eternity. Amen.

Romans 8:14-25, 31-32 || The apostle Paul tirelessly preached Jesus, even as the Roman Empire (and many Hebrew religious leaders) fought him, imprisoned him at times, and finally executed him. Paul’s foes often seemed impossibly strong. The great apostle felt human emotions, but refused to let fear govern his life or determine what he would do. That was not just human resolve. In his letter to Christians in Rome, he stated his guiding conviction clearly: “If God is for us, who is against us?” Paul, trained as a rabbi (cf. Acts 22:3), drew heavily on his knowledge of the Hebrew Scriptures. He said the Holy Spirit teaches us to call God abba, the Aramaic word little children often used with their fathers (likely drawn from Psalm 68:5-6, and which Jesus used—cf. Mark 14:36). Did you have a warm, trusting bond with your father, or was your experience of a human father more hurtful and fear-filled? How does the invitation to relate to God as abba speak to your heart? Paul also contrasted a fear-filled spirit of slavery with the image that God adopts us as God’s own children, fully included in God’s loving family. What role, if any, has fear played in your spiritual life? Have you ever had times where you sought desperately to please God by “trying harder”? How can it change the way you serve God this year to let Paul’s words soak deeply into your spirit: “If God is for us, who is against us?”

Prayer: Dear God, teach me how to trust your steadfast love more completely. In my relationships with others and with you, guide me to live free from fear because I know that you are “for” me. Amen.

Psalm 46:1-7 Psalm 46:1-7 || A global pandemic, earthquakes, hurricanes or tornados make us painfully aware that what we call “solid ground” for life can, in fact, fall apart. Personal and family “worlds” fall apart every day from health crises, broken relationships, financial losses, and accidents. Psalm 46 pointed God’s people to the life-changing trust we can depend on today and always): “God is our refuge and strength… we won’t be afraid when the world falls apart.” Is anything making you feel as if your world is falling apart? Do those times ever lead you to feel like the start of Psalm 13: “How long will you forget me, Lord? Forever? How long will you hide your face from me?” How can your faith in God’s care give you a stable place to stand even if everything else seems to be crumbling? If you’re not in crisis, what makes it worthwhile to deepen your trust in God before the next time everything seems to fall apart? Psalm 46:4 might sound like a travel tip—but no river flows through the earthly Jerusalem. “God’s city” was not a reference to one limited earthly location, but a poetic image of God’s care for all God’s people at all places and in all times. The river image looked back to creation (Genesis 2:10) and forward to God’s ultimate victory (Revelation 22:1-3). What helps you let God’s river of steadfast love stream strength and comfort into your heart?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, you know firsthand about the joys and sorrows that are part of being human. Teach me how to look to you as my light and strength even at the most frightening times. Amen.

2 Corinthians 5:14-21 || The Apostle Paul was a vivid example of a “new creation.” As a young Pharisee (using his Hebrew name Saul—cf. Acts 13:9), he fiercely opposed early Christians. But he wrote today’s passage to Christians in the city of Corinth that he himself won to faith in Jesus. He said Jesus didn’t have to convince an unwilling God to love us—“God was in Christ, reconciling.” And once reconciled, all of us, like Paul, help share God’s call—“we are ambassadors who represent Christ.” You can read about the encounter with Jesus that changed Saul’s life in Acts 9:1-20. He went from “spewing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples” to being the man who wrote, “The love of Christ controls us…. All of these new things are from God…. If anyone is in Christ, that person is part of the new creation.” In what ways is Christ shaping you into part of the “new creation”? Most Roman, Greek and Canaanite religions offered sacrifices to try to reconcile their alienated, angry gods to them. Paul’s picture of God’s new things echoed a prophet’s sheer joy: “Arise! Shine! Your light has come” (Isaiah 60:1- 2). We were the alienated ones. God’s light burst on us as Jesus actively called us back into heaven’s love. Are you reconciled with God? Are you open for God to work through you to reconcile others–sharing the light of freedom in Christ?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, God was reconciling the world (the world that includes me) to himself through you. Shape me into a transparent, winning beacon of the message that God loves us all. Amen.

Revelation 21:1-5 || We value the fresh start each day and every New Year brings. We know each human day and year brings some disappointments and pain, too. But the Bible’s grand story ends with a better promise: “Look! I’m making all things new,” truly new. Revelation 21 drew from Ezekiel 43:7’s vision of a restored temple as God’s “throne” and Isaiah 65:17-19’s announcement that God would make all things new and banish all sadness. The ancient world counted on high city walls and strong gates shut out danger. In that world, Revelation 21:25 said something amazing about God’s eternal city: “On no day will its gates ever be shut.” There are plenty of frightening things going on in our world. What “walls and gates,” which might fail, are you counting on? How can you build your faith in God’s indestructible eternal city? How does Christ’s presence today calm your spirit? No matter what life brings, we, like those first Christians, can trust that THIS is where history is going: “God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” In the end, we trust, our God will reign unchallenged and unrivaled. A pastor wrote, “I don’t know your politics, but if you are a Christian, I know your King.” What is most meaningful for you about giving your allegiance to Jesus as the eternal King who rules your life?

Prayer: Jesus, God with us, you are already making me new. I can hardly wait for you to complete that work, for me and for our world. Fill me with your hope and energy this day and every day. Amen.

Philippians 3:4-14 || The apostle Paul testified that his overarching goal was to grow into all God called him to be. As The Message rendered these verses, he said, “I am not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me…. I have got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward— to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back.” He only reached that point by discarding something many of us may struggle with too: a (duly modest) sense of superiority due to race, education, religious affiliation or any other force that creates division between people. He said he’d found a righteousness “that is not my own.” And God offers that gift to each one of us. In verse 13, Paul shared an essential truth about pursuing God’s goals: “I forget about the things behind me and reach out for the things ahead of me.” The process of growing spiritually focuses on what is to come, not what lies behind. Is anything from your past haunting you, or defining you in the present? If so, ask God to help you let it go. Focus your energy on living with God, not past achievements or failures. Scholar William Barclay said Paul’s word for reaching out “is used of a racer going hard for the tape. It describes him with eyes for nothing but the goal. It describes the man who is going flat out for the finish.” How can you live your life in such a way that you, too, are going flat out for the goal of living the life God calls you to? What choices can you make that will empower you to run God’s race with eyes for nothing but the prize?

Prayer: Lord Jesus, make it more true of me that “the goal I pursue is the prize of God’s upward call” in you. Keep my eyes on the prize of the ultimate goal of life in your kingdom. Amen.

Scripture: 2 Peter 3:1-10 || Download