5 of 7 Prayers for My Wife's Upcoming Year

Day 5 Gift: Bible Quiz Buzzer

If a church friend asks me a question, how ready am I to respond with a spirit-lead answer? JBQ buzzer slapping ready! What about outside the context of my spiritual sphere, say at the store or at the park? I'd like to say my words are spirit-lead all the time, but too often they aren't. Let's be prepared like victory is on the line in all circumstances!

Today's Verse: ‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭3:15-16‬
“Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it. But do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ.”

Today's Prayer: Let every thing that I am represent You. Let my thoughts immediately turn to glorifying you regardless of people, places, or position I am in. Let me breathe the fire of the Holy Spirit as a witness to every person I meet.

Song: My Story, Big Daddy Weave

Day 356

[Text from image: If you suffer for Christ, you are finished with sin.]

Day 355

[Text from image: Trials and purification melt away impurities while our pure faith remains.]

Home again home again jiggity jig (1 Peter 3:18)

From the tract '10 Reasons Jesus Came to Die' by John Piper
#2) To bring us to God

When I'm trying to get an idea of what to draw for a verse, one of the first things I do is check out all the different Bible translations. Most of them are near identical with a few predictable variations, but every once in a while you get something that stands out like this one from the New Living Translation: “[Jesus] died for sinners to bring you safely home to God.” How much does the word "home" change this verse for you?

I'm a part of a rare circumstance of the modern lifestyle. My parents have lived in the same house since before I first punched in on this planet. For a shade over 82% of my life, if you asked about my “home” it was as easy as a street address. But something changes when you permanently move out. Now when I pull into my old neighborhood I get this weird feeling. The only way I can think to describe it is if you imagine your adult self as a student back in your elementary school class. Everything looks the same, but you can't really fit into the tiny seat at your desk anymore. It's familiar and awkward all at once. The concept of a physical home on earth is fleeting. The standard of the Western world seems to be that at best you get two shots at it. The home that you're born into and the one you build for yourself when you grow up. In both scenarios, the 13-18 demographic is doing their best to get out of that “dreamland” as fast as possible.

The difference in house and home happens when I walk inside. Sure it's strange to see my old bedroom as a guest room/library/storage facility, but the real “home” is found in the joy of my parents when they see me walk in the front door. The essence of the true home is not the building but the environment of safety and love. And as good as that is, it's only a fraction of what you'll get at God's house. That's your true home and Jesus died so he could take you back there forever.

If your old bedroom was turned into a giant ball pit:

I wanna rock! (1 Peter 2:5)

This verse references the less than famous metaphor of Jesus as a stone. (Peter, apparently aware of the unrenowned comparison, conveniently provides references in his following three verses.) As a follower of Christ we're supposed to be like living stones. When you cram us all together we form a church. The thing that is lost on so many people is the idea that the church is a building were you go on Sunday to freshen up your Jesus Points. The real church is built of living stones and by living stones. That's us. Christians are the church. That building we meet in may have stole our name, but without us it's just a conference center. It's up to us with the help of Jesus to build a spiritual house that is pleasing to God. 

This verse caught my attention when I recently found out that it is something of a “life verse” for my church. And with that I have successfully divided everyone reading this into 2 categories: those people ready to shout out their own life verse and those people who have no idea why the other guys are yelling scripture at them. For the latter, a life verse is a single passage from the Bible you've selected based on its personal significance, be it comforting or inspiring or whatever. It can be a very powerful tool, but it sometimes comes off as a sort of secret handshake between super-Christians. (Pssst. What's your life verse? Philippians 4:13. A'ight. We cool.) So don't let those Life Versers, pressure you into picking one all willy nilly. Take your time and the verse will find you. It's kinda like in the movie Avatar where the guy connected to that weird bird thing with his magic ponytail. Except your verse shouldn't try to bite your head off.

If you knew I meant tsaheylu with an ikran:

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