Day 6
With All your Heart
“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth…But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven…For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”
-Matthew 6:19-21

We tend to grow uncomfortable when the church talks about money. Why? Are decisions about how we live and how we use those resources unimportant? Is our faith supposed to be separate from our finances? Are not believing and praying and loving more important? Look at a revealing count of New Testament words: Believe, Believing—275 times; Pray, Praying—371 times; Love, Loves, Loving—714 times; Giving, Give—2,162 times. Jesus knew that our treasures and our hearts are inseparably linked. For Him, talking about treasure was to reach more completely for people’s hearts. Remember the story of Zaccheus in Luke 19? We have no idea what happened between Jesus and Zaccheus other than they had dinner together. But we do know that Jesus reached and dramatically changed that person’s heart. How do we know? Follow the money trail! Look at what happened with Zaccheus’ treasure. Seeing where the treasure went, Jesus exclaims, “Today salvation has come to this house!”

What’s In A Nickname?
“Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means Son of Encouragement), sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet.”
-Acts 4:36-37

The name “Joseph” is such a fine name, especially for a man of Jewish descent. In Hebrew, the name means “God’s added blessing.” This was the name for the cherished son of the patriarch Jacob. So why would the apostles give Joseph a nickname like Barnabas?

This Joseph was such an encourager that a new name was in order. When the early church needed money to underwrite its ministry, he was there to make a generous donation. When Saul of Tarsus needed a friend to welcome him into the Christian church he once persecuted, it was Joseph who was that friend. When the church needed to send someone to encourage believers among the gentiles, they sent Joseph. When young Mark needed someone to believe in him and give him a second chance to serve as a missionary, Joseph encouraged him. Any wonder all of Joseph’s friends call him “Son of Encouragement”?

Day 4
A Partnership Of Parts
“So in Christ, we who are many form one body, and each belongs to all the others.”
-Romans 12:5

The most important piece of a jigsaw puzzle is the piece that’s missing. It only takes one errant piece to ruin the whole effort. Every part is important. Synergy is a word better understood when divided. Ergo is Greek for work, while the prefix syn means together. When merged, it means working together. But, there is more. Synergy is better defined to mean the result accomplished is greater than the individual parts. Sports teams demonstrate the meaning of synergy. Playing together makes them better than playing as individuals. However, one team member failing to do his or her part can make everyone lose. One musician not in concert with the orchestra will ruin the music.

Day 3
Last Word, Lost Word
“The seventy-two returned with joy and said, ‘Lord, even the demons submit to us in Your name…’ He replied, ‘…do not rejoice that the spirit submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.’”
-Luke 10:17, 20

Being, doing, and having is a fairly accurate motto for most people today. For some, having is more important than the other two. They sacrifice who they are through what they do in order to have. Everyone is big on being. Some pierce the parts in order to pound the point, “Look at me, notice that I am here, recognize my being.” The more sophisticated way of doing the same thing is in buying houses that do more than hide us and cars that do more than carry us. It’s another way of saying, “I am somebody! Look at me!” And then there is doing. The first question asked of a new acquaintance is often, “What do you do?”

Day 2
More Than Asking
“And I say to you, ask and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you.”
-Luke 11:19

Most of us are good at the first baby step of prayer. It is easy to ask God to do something! Unfortunately, after the asking, we think we are done, and that we are expected to do nothing. The first step in any journey is critical. We do not need to ask in order to receive. But asking is just the first step. Many more steps will make up a real journey of prayer. Jesus offers His disciples a model for such a prayer journey. Ask—yes, or course—but then seek, and finally, knock on the doors you find!

Day 1
Growing The Church: one prayer at a time
“Epaphras is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, and be mature.”
-Colossians 4:12

Wrestling is ancient sport. During the first century, wrestlers struggled for their lives, not for TV ratings. In the language of the day, the wrestling ring was called the “agone,” and the wrestlers were called antagonists.
Such is the word-image that Paul uses to describe the work of prayer from the spiritual leader of the Colossian church, Epaphras. Paul says that Epaphras prays fervently (he uses the word root agone) for them. What a powerful image—and a Biblical image too—like Jacob wrestling with the angel all night for a blessing (Genesis 32:24-31), and like Jesus praying so fervently in the Garden of Gethsemane that His sweat became like drops of blood (Luke 22:41-44).