Category: Prayers

“It was of her that Jesus Who is called the Messiah was born.” —Matthew 1:16 We are Christians. We love Jesus. We love everything about Jesus. We love what He loves and treasure what He treasures. We love His mother Mary, His foster-father Joseph, His grandparents, and all His ancestors (Mt 1:1ff). We love all Jesus’ adopted brothers and sisters, because Jesus loves them. Because we are Christians, we are born again, “begotten from above” (Jn 3:3). We received a new birth through the waters of baptism (Ti 3:5). We are “born of the Spirit” (see Jn 3:8). We’ve been...

“If your brother should sin against you, go and point out his sin.” –Matthew 18:15, our translation Jesus prays that His Church would be one as He and His Father are one (Jn 17:21). Jesus has exceptionally high standards for unity in His Church so that the world would believe that the Father sent Jesus (Jn 17:21). This may come as a surprise to us, for our experience in our local churches may be that of denominational and factional disunity. Yet Jesus never changes His standards. He insists on His Church reflecting the unity of the Trinity. To prevent disunity,...

“We have become the world’s refuse, the scum of all; that is the present state of affairs.” –1 Corinthians 4:13 When Jesus was presented in the Temple, Simeon prophesied that Jesus would be a “sign of contradiction” (Lk 2:34, our transl). This was shockingly exhibited by the fact that Jesus was crucified. Jesus’ followers are also signs of contradiction. We will be persecuted (see Mt 5:11), and some will be martyred. In this way, the world tries to manipulate us into compromising the truth of the Gospel. Therefore, we must be willing to suffer any degree of rejection, insult, or...

“When the days come that the Groom is removed from their midst, they will surely fast in those days.” –Luke 5:35 Jesus said that after His Ascension into heaven, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and the birth of His Church, then His disciples would fast. After His disciples were baptized into Him and became new creations, they could fast in a radically new dimension. Then the early Church tried to discover what Jesus’ new kind of fasting was. When the Lord blinded Saul, He put him on a three-day fast from food and drink prior to his...