SEPTEMBER 21

Hey friend,

Welcome back! Thank you for continuing to pray and invest your life into knowing Jesus more. I am praying for you today, that you would encounter His peace and joy in supernatural ways.

Today, we are going to continue our journey of praying through Scripture. If you are looking for a good book of the Bible to read this week, maybe you could try 1 Thessalonians. I know one pastor who called it “An End Times Manual.” Paul reminds us in this book that eventually, Jesus will come back.

While there are so many questions about Jesus’ return, one thing we can hang onto: He will come back!

Paul focuses his instructions on preparation: how to live in light of Jesus’ return. Stacie and I were having a conversation about this recently. What would we change if we knew Jesus were coming back some time over the next couple of years?

To be honest, we wouldn’t change much… maybe just to live with a greater sense of urgency about the gospel!!

Listen to these instructions from Paul…

1 Thessalonians 5:6-8 (NLT)

“So be on your guard, not asleep like the others. Stay alert and be clearheaded. Night is the time when people sleep and drinkers get drunk. But let us who live in the light be clearheaded, protected by the armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the confidence of our salvation.”

I love these verses. They kind of remind me of how I fall asleep during movies. It used to drive Stacie nuts. Now she kind of just puts up with it. I think that is how so many of us live our lives. We are asleep when it counts the most.

Now is a time for us to be alert spiritually! We need our minds to be engaged. We need to be in the Word of God. We need to stand strong in faith and tender in love.

Praying through these verses can help us in this. Go ahead and read the verses 2-3 more times and pray. Ask the Holy Spirit to open your eyes to truth today.

You might pray something like this…

“Father, open my eyes. Give me a clear mind today. Help me be clear-headed. Help me put the right things in my mind. I put on the helmet of salvation. Give me confidence in you and your return.

Please help me live on mission for you today. Please help the people of Echo walk in confidence before you. Help us be a source of hope to the watching world around us. Help us be prepared for the return of Jesus. 

In His name we pray, Amen.”

I am praying that God gives you a clear mind and a soft heart today.

With love,

Pastor Andy  

 


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