Then his mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd. And he was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see you.” But he answered them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.”
Prayer: Lord Jesus – Thank you for including me among your family members. Help me to “hear and do” what you want for me… today and forever. Amen.
Hymn:“We Are God’s People” – Bryan Jeffery Leech (1976)
“No one lights a lamp and then covers it with a bowl or hides it under a bed. A lamp is placed on a stand, where its light can be seen by all who enter the house. For all that is secret will eventually be brought into the open, and everything that is concealed will be brought to light and made known to all.
“So pay attention to how you hear. To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given. But for those who are not listening, even what they think they understand will be taken away from them.”
Payer:Heavenly Father – All creation reveals Your power and nature. Lord Jesus – You have revealed the person and love of God. Holy Spirit – Help me pay attention to what I see, or hear, or read today – anything that makes me more like you and increases my understanding of what You would have me be, or do. I ask it in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Christians in Iraq are on the verge of extinction. Large numbers have fled abroad or to the (until recently) safer Kurdish region, where they face unemployment and inadequate schooling, medical care and housing. The church faces many challenges – members being killed or abducted, and a lack of capable leaders. In central and southern Iraq, traditional Christians suffer as much as Muslim-background believers, as a result of their visibility. In May 2012, 20 Christian families in Mosul received threats, and the house of another Christian was set on fire.
Prayer Request:
For the many Christians displaced from their homes by threats of murder or abduction
Ask God to raise up godly, wise leaders to shepherd the church
For Open Doors trauma counsellors working with children and families affected by persecution.
Sargon’s Story: Sargon* and his wife Leja* once lived in Baghdad, where Sargon worked as a mechanic. Now, they live in northern Iraq in a small, sparsely furnished apartment.
Iraqi Christians Flee North While still in Baghdad, the fallout from a bomb claimed three of the lives of Sargon’s fellow mechanics. To this day, though he survived, Sargon carries shrapnel in his shoulder that cannot be removed and continues to cause him pain.
The effects of that day have also resulted in emotional shrapnel in Sargon’s heart, aggravated by increased terrorist attacks in the couple’s neighborhood in Baghdad.
One day Leja found a letter in their mailbox, “You had better get away quickly, or you may die.”
As other Christian in Baghdad had to do, the traumatized couple had to take the letter very seriously. They gathered as much of their possessions together as possible and took off that same night in their old car, heading for northern Iraq.
Sargon found work at a small local garage in their new city. He earned little; hardly enough to pay their rent. So after a while he and his wife began making serious plans to return to Baghdad, despite the dangers.
When Open Doors learned of their situation we provided the couple with a micro loan, which enabled Sargon to start up his own garage.
Although the small micro-loan helped Sargon and Leja make a new start, they still wrestle with serious issues: Tenants moved into their Baghdad home, with the help of the government, and the couple will not be able to get it back without costly legal assistance.
There is no “happy ending” to Sargon and Leja’s story yet, and unfortunately their story is also the story of many Christian refugees in northern Iraq.
Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance….
When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.
Three things will last forever — faith, hope, and love — and the greatest of these is love.
Prayer:Heavenly Father – Sometimes my life is confusing… I think I know what I know, and then I’m not so sure. The world of my childhood no longer exists and my values and life principles are being challenged on every front. Thank you for your steady hand guiding this world to its ultimate end – when “every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.” Lord Jesus – Thank you for showing me what love truly is by laying down your life for me even though I was far away from you. Holy Spirit – Help me live a life of love… putting others first, letting go of wrongs, upholding truth, optimistic and faithful. I ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
The disciples of John the Baptist told John about everything Jesus was doing. So John called for two of his disciples, and he sent them to the Lord to ask him, “Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?”
John’s two disciples found Jesus and said to him, “John the Baptist sent us to ask, ‘Are you the Messiah we’ve been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?’”
At that very time, Jesus cured many people of their diseases, illnesses, and evil spirits, and he restored sight to many who were blind. Then he told John’s disciples, “Go back to John and tell him what you have seen and heard—the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor. And tell him, ‘God blesses those who do not turn away because of me.’”
Prayer: “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.” Move among us, Lord Jesus, with mercy and healing graces today. Amen.
Then his mother and his brothers came to him, but they could not reach him because of the crowd. And he was told, “Your mother and your brothers are standing outside, desiring to see you.” But he answered them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.”
The Peanut Gallery 