Category: Daily Prayer

OUR LORD, OUR GOD! “But now in Christ Jesus…” –Ephesians 2:13 Almost everyone reading One Bread, One Body is a Gentile, that is, not Jewish. In the Bible, we Gentiles were described as: having “no part in Christ” (Eph 2:12), “excluded from the community of Israel” (Eph 2:12), “strangers to the covenant and its promise” (Eph 2:12), and “without hope and without God in the world” (Eph 2:12). “But now in Christ Jesus” (Eph 2:13), we Gentiles: “have been brought near through the blood of Christ” (Eph 2:13), have been reconciled to God “in one body through His cross” (Eph...

“There was a rich man.” –Luke 12:16 The man of today’s Gospel reading was a fool because he grew “rich for himself instead of growing rich in the sight of God” (Lk 12:21). God our Father is rich in mercy (Eph 2:4). He also possesses the great and unfathomable wealth of His grace (Eph 2:7; 3:8). As God the Father’s children, we inherit even now “the wealth of His glorious heritage to be distributed among the members of the Church” (Eph 1:18). God’s children are the richest people in the world, but not necessarily rich by worldly standards. We grow...

“The Lord was pleased to crush Him in infirmity.” –Isaiah 53:10 Isaiah prophesied that Jesus would be “pierced for our offenses, crushed for our sins” (Is 53:5). Jesus was crushed because “the Lord laid upon Him the guilt of us all” (Is 53:6). One person’s guilt can cause him or her to collapse (see Hos 14:2) or even be crushed. Imagine (if you can) all the weight of all the guilt of all sins of every person who has lived or will ever live. Imagine this weight pressing upon one person at one time. Then you can understand why “so...

“Whoever blasphemes the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven.” –Luke 12:10 To blaspheme the Holy Spirit is to refuse to acknowledge Jesus publicly before man (Lk 12:8-9). However, the Lord does not expect us to speak up and stand up for Him by our own power. The Holy Spirit gives us His power to witness for Jesus (see Acts 1:8; Jn 15:26-27). Therefore, if we do not share our faith and our love for Jesus, we are refusing the help of the Holy Spirit. This is to blaspheme the Holy Spirit. “Do not worry about how to defend yourselves or...

“What you have whispered in locked rooms will be proclaimed from the rooftops.” –Luke 12:3 “From heaven the Lord looks down” (Ps 33:13). Does He look down as a cosmic Big Brother, waiting for the chance to shout our sins and failures from the rooftops (Lk 12:3)? Jesus took our shame upon Himself. He was shamed as He was crucified naked in public, dying the shameful death of a criminal. The Lord loves us so intimately that He is interested in everything about us. Because He is present within us (see Jn 6:56; 17:23), He loves us completely and even...