– Scripture:

              Healing Strength

Because of this decision, we don’t evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don’t look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, and is created new. The old life is gone; a new life emerges! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We’re Christ’s representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God’s work of making things right between them. We’re speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he’s already a friend with you.

                          2 Corinthians 5:16-20 MSG

– Reflection:

Not to be one of those parents who think everything revolves around their children, but when one of them is hurting or needs more attention than normal, that is when I kick into gear because something is very wrong at that point. Our third son, Noah, was playing in a basketball game for school when he fell; he couldn’t get up, trying to crawl with his arms off the floor. His mom texted me, telling me she thinks he twisted his foot or something. She goes to the bench to check, and he says his knee is hurting badly. Fast forward to today. This morning, he was sitting in the waiting room of a surgery center to get his knee fixed. He has been in great spirits up to this point but will need a lot of encouragement from us to get him going again. It has been a tough couple of weeks leading up to this point, but we are on the home stretch now. The road to recovery, just like Jesus created in us to be a new thing. Those doctors and nurses are helping my son with a new knee. He will need to learn to use it again just as we learn to live in Christ as he lives in us, too. Thanks for all of the love that we get to feel from everyone who replies back. Amen in the mornings when sending the Community Message out.

Where do we go from here?

We allow that new thing that has been created in us to grow and believe that we are new and move through the world doing the work that has been placed on our hearts after we have received Jesus as the King and head of our lives. Keep him first, and everything else will fall into its natural place. Don’t force life let it happen as it was meant to, when we force things they end up misshapen or deformed because of the unnatural pressure used to cause it to happen. Allow life to happen just as it is and where it is, and be fine with the outcome that you get.

Our Prayer for Today

Father, Thank you for family and friends who can help to lift up someone in need and bring the issue to bear with you in mind. Keep all of us safe in our travels this week, and for those having surgeries and procedures or are just sick themselves, please keep your hand on them and those performing the work you meant for them to do. It is in your power to create change in all of us at any moment of your choosing. We ask that you do that for all of as we need the strength you provide. It is in Jesus’ name that we can say. Amen.