Morning Reading: Luke 13:22-30 NLT – it ain’t easy

Reading: Luke 13:22-30 NLT

Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he went, always pressing on toward Jerusalem. Someone asked him, “Lord, will only a few be saved?”

"The Narrow Door" This photo was taken at the first parish church in Plymoth, MA. It is the site of the original "pilgrim's church" which migrated from Leiden, Holland to the new world. — “The Narrow Door”
This photo was taken at the first parish church in Plymoth, MA. It is the site of the original “pilgrim’s church” which migrated from Leiden, Holland to the new world.

He replied, “Work hard to enter the narrow door to God’s Kingdom, for many will try to enter but will fail. When the master of the house has locked the door, it will be too late. You will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Lord, open the door for us!’ But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’ Then you will say, ‘But we ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ And he will reply, ‘I tell you, I don’t know you or where you come from. Get away from me, all you who do evil.’

“There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, for you will see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the Kingdom of God, but you will be thrown out. And people will come from all over the world—from east and west, north and south—to take their places in the Kingdom of God.

“And note this: Some who seem least important now will be the greatest then, and some who are the greatest now will be least important then.”

Prayer: Lord Jesus – Give me the courage and fortitude to do hard things for you. Give me eyes to see, ears to hear and a heart to percieve your Kingdom purposes in the world around me. And make me a doer of your Word and not a hearer only. To you be the glory. Amen.

Hymn: “Take My Life and Let It Be” – Frances R. Havergal (1874)

Morning Reading: Luke 13:18-21 NLT – Kingdom illustrations

Reading: Luke 13:18-21 NLT

Then Jesus said, “What is the Kingdom of God like? How can I illustrate it? It is like a tiny mustard seed that a man planted in a garden; it grows and becomes a tree, and the birds make nests in its branches.”

He also asked, “What else is the Kingdom of God like? It is like the yeast a woman used in making bread. Even though she put only a little yeast in three measures of flour, it permeated every part of the dough.”

Prayer: Lord Jesus – Help me to grow and bear good fruit right here where you’ve planted me. And may your Life and Love and Grace permeate everything that I do and say. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done… in me… as it is in heaven. Amen.

Spiritual Song: “God of This City” – Chris Tomlin

Please pray for Christians in Eritrea – World Watch List #10

Christian Persecution: Please pray for Christians in ERITREA – World Watch List #10

“I am testing and experiencing the love and care of our Lord every day… The moment I entered my cell, one of the prisoners called me and said, ‘Pastor, come over here. Everyone in this cell are (unsaved). You are very much needed here.’ So, on the same day I was put in prison, I carried on my spiritual work”. – Eritrean pastor in prison

Population: 5.6 million (2.5 million Christians – mostly Orthodox)
Main Religion: Islam/Christianity
Source of Persecution: Dictatorial paranoia

OPEN DOORS: All evangelical churches were closed in 2002 following a government ban on religious groups other than Orthodox, Catholic, Lutheran and Islam. The government is very hard on non-traditional Christians, but members of the Orthodox Church also report on evangelical believers, and Muslim extremists are ready to take over where the government leaves off. When believers are discovered they are arrested and held in shipping containers in military camps. At least 105 Christians were arrested in 2012, and 31 Christians were reported to have died in prison.

Christian prisoners in Eritrea (Release International)

Please Pray:

For God’s strength for Christians imprisoned in containers, especially those arrested in 2012
For spouses and families who are forced to live as refugees in different countries
For worldwide awareness of the plight of Eritrean Christians.

Persecution dynamics

Eritrea has three types of Christianity: registered historical churches, Christian-background believers (CBBs), and independent Christians. The country has a violent history with Ethiopia, and shares a long border with its ‘arch-enemy’. A government official once declared in public that there are three enemies that need to be eradicated: HIV/ Aids, the regime in Ethiopia and independent Christians. Continue reading “Please pray for Christians in Eritrea – World Watch List #10” →

Morning Reading: Luke 13.10-17 (NLT) – wonderful things

Reading: Luke 13.10-17 (NLT)

One Sabbath day as Jesus was teaching in a synagogue, he saw a woman who had been crippled by an evil spirit. She had been bent double for eighteen years and was unable to stand up straight. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “Dear woman, you are healed of your sickness!” Then he touched her, and instantly she could stand straight. How she praised God!

But the leader in charge of the synagogue was indignant that Jesus had healed her on the Sabbath day. “There are six days of the week for working,” he said to the crowd. “Come on those days to be healed, not on the Sabbath.”

But the Lord replied, “You hypocrites! Each of you works on the Sabbath day! Don’t you untie your ox or your donkey from its stall on the Sabbath and lead it out for water? This dear woman, a daughter of Abraham, has been held in bondage by Satan for eighteen years. Isn’t it right that she be released, even on the Sabbath?”

This shamed his enemies, but all the people rejoiced at the wonderful things he did.

Prayer: Psalm 103.1-5, 1 (NLT)

Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name. Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me. He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies. He fills my life with good things. My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!

Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name.

Hymn: “To God Be the Glory” – Fanny Crosby (1875)

Another perspective – “Luis Palau: New Pope Francis a Friend of Evangelicals” – reblog

Peanut Gallery: Here’s another perspective on Pope Francis – may God bless him – from The Christian Post.

Luis Palau: New Pope Francis a Friend of Evangelicals

By Anugrah Kumar , Christian Post Contributor – March 16, 2013|11:55 am

Popular evangelist Luis Palau preaches to the crowd at the Yakima Valley CityFest on Saturday, July 17, 2010 in Yakima, Washington.

Evangelist Luis Palau, who knows and has prayed together with Pope Francis on several occasions, called the new leader of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics a friend of evangelicals who is respectful of all sides of Christianity.

“I exploded,” Palau told oregonlive.com, of his reaction after his son, Kevin Palau, president of the Luis Palau Association, shared the news that Jorge Mario Bergoglio, archbishop of Buenos Aires, was elected pope this week. “I just couldn’t believe it. In the last election, he was in the running but he told me he felt led by God to remove himself from the race. I said, ‘Maybe next time,’ and he said, ‘I’ll be too old.'”

The fiery preacher who some have called the “Latin Billy Graham,” said whenever they prayed together, Bergoglio asked him to “lay your hands on me and pray for me, that God will keep me as servant.” The new pope is respectful of all sides of Christianity, Palau said, adding the press referred to him as the “evangelical pope” in 2008.

Bergoglio, 76, was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 1936. His father was an Italian immigrant. He’s the first pope from South America, and also the first Jesuit pope. Palau was also born in Argentina, and moved to Portland, Ore., in his mid-20s to enroll in a graduate program in Biblical studies.

“I’ve met him several times, gone to his place, we’ve talked, we’ve prayed together you know. He builds bridges to other Christian groups, like evangelical Christians, which is a high percentage in Latin America. He’s a friend. He’s a real friend,” Palau, 78, told kgw.com. Continue reading “Another perspective – “Luis Palau: New Pope Francis a Friend of Evangelicals” – reblog” →

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