“The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desire of all who fear him; he also hears their cry, and saves them” (Psalm 145:18-19).

“If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you” (John 15:7).

“The wonderful thing about praying is that you leave a world of not being able to do something, and enter God’s realm where everything is possible. He specializes in the impossible. Nothing is too great for his almighty power. Nothing is too small for his love.”
– Corrie ten Boom

Global pandemic, fires, hurricanes, earthquakes, political unrest, racial unrest, economic uncertainty…

Gee. Thanks a lot 2020.

It’s easy to feel powerless and insignificant. I mean, really, what can I do? What can I do to alleviate suffering on a global scale?

This is exactly what the devil would love for us to believe.

Look at the promises of the scriptures. What can you do?

Pray!!! You can pray in the name of Jesus. You can pray for peace. You can pray for others. You can pray that the church of Jesus Christ be all over the business of establishing God’s kingdom here on earth.

It’s not just prayer. Prayer is huge. You can pray. You can pray God’s will.

But I want you to notice that this isn’t just praying what you want. This is praying the truth (Psalms 145:18), and praying in a way that demonstrates our abiding in Christ’s word (John 15:7). When we pray Christ’s will, when we pray God’s promises in scripture, God promises to do that very thing. So pray the promises of the scriptures for our world.

Our world sure needs it. Let’s get praying.

“Like newborn infants, long for the pure, spiritual milk, so that you may grow into salvation” (1 Peter 2:2).

It is essential that Christ-followers spend daily time in God’s word. God’s word remind us of who God is and all of God’s promises, and who we are and what God calls us to be. We need this daily reminder because it is so easy to forget who God is and who we are as his children.

This verse tells us the attitude and the aim we are to have relating to God’s word.

Attitude – “Like newborn infants, long for pure spiritual milk…”

• Like newborn infants
  • I sometimes joke that babies were born to suck. From the moment of their birth, babies have an innate longing for milk. They are born to suck. No one has to teach them to seek mom’s milk. They are just born with that innate desire.
  • So too for Christians, when we receive Jesus as Lord and Savior, when we start loving God, we long to know more about who God is and all that God has promised us.
  • Like newborn infants, Christians long for God’s pure spiritual milk
• When’s the last time you felt that way about God’s word? If it’s been a while, perhaps it’s time for you to remember your first love. Take a moment to thank God for all that God has done for you, starting with the gift of eternal life.

Aim – “So that you may grow into salvation”

• Babies can’t grow without milk. Christians cannot grow without God’s word. You show me a person who is far from God’s word, you’ve shown me a person who is stuck and regressing in their relationship with God.
• Babies don’t work at growing. They just drink milk and growth happens. Christians don’t grow themselves. We get God’s word, God’s promises, God’s truths in us and God’s word changes us.
• I am so glad that you take a few minutes out of your day to start here. Growing Christians grow because God’s word is growing in them.

What is our attitude toward God’s word? Like newborn infants, long for pure spiritual milk

What is our aim regarding God’s word? So that by it we may grow in our salvation.

“Follow me, and I will make you fish for people” (Matthew 4:19).

“Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who is at work in you, enabling you both to will and to work for his good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12-13).

I will make you…

Work out your own salvation…

Interesting.

Jesus tells us that when we follow him, he will make us into fishers of men and women. That means, right now, in the midst of this smoke filled, corona virus global pandemic that God is at work in you to make you into fishers of men and women. God is making us the type of people that God will use to draw people into God’s eternity.

How is he doing that? What does that look like?

It is when we work out our salvation with fear and trembling that God is at work in us to enable to will and to work for his good pleasure. The phrase work out your salvation doesn’t refer to justification. Only the work of Christ on the cross can make us right with God. This phrase is referring to sanctification – the process of becoming more like Christ. Sanctification is the ongoing process after being made right with God where the Holy Spirit begins changing us. This change occurs in us as we participate with the Spirit of God to change our old ways by taking on new ways as the Holy Spirit leads.

What’s amazing about this is that God is telling us that these smoke filled pandemic days are the very mechanism by which God is shaping us to be fishers of men and women.

Do you realize what that means? You are in training right now! This is God at work. You don’t have to look any further. Every day you wake up, with every challenge you face, God is at work to make you more able to fish for men and women. God is at work to make you to be the instruments of grace and blessing to the people around you.

That’s great news! You’re in training.

Train hard! Give your best! Let’s do this thing!!!