Do you ever find yourself watching a reality show on TV or a video on the internet, showing people swearing at each other, arguing, gossiping, and treating other people disrespectfully? Does the thought cross your mind that you really shouldn’t be watching this? Don’t we get attracted to the news story about the corrupt politician, having an affair, or the gruesome crime, and want to know all the details? How about the “funny” morning radio show making fun of everyone and full of vulgar jokes? If you feel like this is probably not right, Your apprehension is likely your conscience.

The apostle Paul says in his letter to the Philippians 4:8-9 “Fix your thoughts on what is true and good and right. Think about things that are pure and lovely, and dwell on the fine, good things in others. Think about all you can praise God for and be glad about. Keep putting into practice all you learned from me and saw me doing, and the God of peace will be with you.”

We need to stop and think about what we are putting in our minds when we watch TV, listen to the radio, or read for entertainment. Is it true, honorable, just pure, lovely, gracious, excellent, and worthy of praise? If not, why are we giving it our attention?

Dear Lord, remind us to focus on the the beauty and greatness you created and not get drawn into the negative and vulgar that break down our Christian character and give energy to the wrong things in the world. In Jesus Name. Amen

If you have listened to many motivational speakers you have probably heard the illustration of the commander of a conquesting army, who tells his troops to “burn the boats” when they arrive at the shores of the new land; As a result, they are committed and there is no turning back. They must succeed or die trying.

In a similar way, we need to look at our faith in God as a “burn the boats” faith. We put our faith and trust in God, and burn our doubts and half hearted belief on the shore. Like the song says “I am trusting thee Lord Jesus, trusting only thee.”

Jesus says in Mark 11:22-24, “Have faith in God. Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” NIV

Dear Lord, How often the limits of our belief are what prevent You from answering our prayers. Help us truly put our trust in Your power, without doubt. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen

You may be familiar with the illustration Jesus gives his disciples in Luke 11; Where he tells this story; you have visitors late one night, and you don’t have any food to provide them, so you go to your neighbor’s house to ask to borrow some food. The neighbor tells you to go away because he and his family are already in bed. You keep on knocking until finally your neighbor gives in and gives you some food, not because he is your friend, but because you are so persistent; the NIV versions says “..because of your shameless audacity, he will get up and give you what you need”

What I had not realized until recently, is that this illustration is immediately before this familiar passage in Luke 11:9 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you” NIV

The Living Bible writes it this way. “…And so it is with prayer—keep on asking and you will keep on getting; keep on looking and you will keep on finding..”

It is pretty clear that Jesus was saying, “pray with persistence,” even “audacity” which the dictionary defines as, “bold or arrogant disregard of normal restraints.” This is probably a little uncomfortable for some, including me; being pushy and persistent with God, but that is how He told his disciples to be when they prayed.

Dear Lord, help us remember to come to you boldly asking you for the things we need, and want to help us live our lives to glorify you. Help us also pray boldly for you to help our churches, and those in need of your healing, peace, protection, and joy. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

As we grow in our faith it becomes easy to start building our pride in what a good person we are. Beware! The devil uses this good thing, our good deeds, and tempts us to turn it into pride in our selves or judgment of those not “as good as we are.”

Paul says in Romans 3:20 “therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works” verse 23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” So no matter how “good” we are, it doesn’t make us any better to God. Faith in Jesus, who saved us, is the only thing that makes a difference.

I like to look at it as a sequence of 1) apologize (repent) for ourselves 2) accept the forgiveness and Salvation from Jesus 3) Do good as a response to the love from God.

Our righteousness doesn’t come from being good, it comes from being forgiven.

Dear Lord, we are sorry for doing wrong. We know that without your forgiveness we are doomed. Thank you for seeing us as righteous because of Jesus our Savior. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Sustaining anything requires maintenance. To stay alive we need to eat and drink; to stay fit we need to exercise; to stay effective at our jobs we need to maintain our skills. In the same way, to sustain our faith we need to spend time with other believers, grow our knowledge of God’s word, and show praise and gratitude for what God has done for us. We do this by attending Church services.

In the Old Testament, the Jewish laws dictated when to go to the temple, and all the rituals needed to please God. Jesus Christ removed the burden of these rituals and Old Testament rules; so going to church is no longer about doing good deeds to win favor from God, it’s about engaging with other Christians to worship God, learn, sustain and support each other.

Acts 2:42 says about the early Christians, “They joined with the other believers in regular attendance at the apostles’ teaching sessions and at the Communion services and prayer meetings.” TLB

Your church is the place we do this. We all need a church that is comfortable for us so it can be a core part of our lives.

Dear Lord, help us each find a church home, and attend regularly to sustain our faith in You. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen