PrayerBits for Sunday

PrayerBits

A bite sized devotional program
produced by the West Side Presbyterian Church

Sunday

Scripture lesson:        Matthew 25:31-46 Sheep and Goats

Time to reflect: Familiar passage that is preached on a lot, but not a popular story. We don't like thinking about a negative Judgment Day. (This is one of the leading cautions to the old, incorrect, saw that the OT is the testament of law and the NT is the testament of love...) Regardless of our theology of grace,salvation, sanctification, and all the rest, this is at least a graphic command to take care of those in need.

Moving through the day: In what ways have you served each of the groups listed in this passage in the last month?

Scripture:

"When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

 "Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'

 "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'

 "The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'

 "Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.'

 "They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?'

 "He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.'

 "Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life."

PrayerBits for Saturday

PrayerBits

A bite sized devotional program
produced by the West Side Presbyterian Church

Saturday

Scripture lesson: Ephesians 1:15-23 “Far above”

Time to reflect: It is hard to express in human language the gap between human things and divine things. “Far” is such a pale term in this regard. “Far” is also too physical a term. “Far” would be the distance between Earth and the furthest star in the furthest galaxy. But in the context of this passage from Ephesians it is like measuring the distance between Earth and 10000AD or Earth and Eternal Love. The gap is unmeasurable with God being both supremely removed and supremely intimate with us.

Moving through the day: How would you express the difference between humans and God?

Scripture:

For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

PrayerBits for Friday

PrayerBits

A bite sized devotional program
produced by the West Side Presbyterian Church

Friday

Scripture lesson: Psalm 100 “A Psalm of thanksgiving”

Time to reflect: Nothing to explain.

Moving Throughout the day: A couple of times today stop and read/recite/sing this Psalm.

 Scripture:

Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.

 Worship the LORD with gladness;
       come before him with joyful songs.

 Know that the LORD is God.
       It is he who made us, and we are his
       we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

 Enter his gates with thanksgiving
       and his courts with praise;
       give thanks to him and praise his name.

 For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
       his faithfulness continues through all generations.

PrayerBits for Thursday

PrayerBits

A bite sized devotional program
produced by the West Side Presbyterian Church

Thursday

Scripture lesson: Ezekiel 34:11-6, 20-24 Fat Sheep

Time to reflect: The classical prophets were constantly railing against the Israeli/Judean upper classes and government for social injustice: taking care of themselves at the expense of the poor and weak. This passage is one of those diatribes. These are in the Bible because they don't just apply to one people and one time but are critiques that need to be reapplied, if applicable, to any ruling class, including America.

 

Moving through the day: Pray for the nation that it will be aware of the requirement from God to protect and take care of the poor and weak of our society.

 

Scripture:

'For this is what the Sovereign LORD says: I myself will search for my sheep and look after them. As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness. I will bring them out from the nations and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land. I will pasture them on the mountains of Israel, in the ravines and in all the settlements in the land. I will tend them in a good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel will be their grazing land. There they will lie down in good grazing land, and there they will feed in a rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign LORD. I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.

'Therefore this is what the Sovereign LORD says to them: See, I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. Because you shove with flank and shoulder, butting all the weak sheep with your horns until you have driven them away, I will save my flock, and they will no longer be plundered. I will judge between one sheep and another. I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd. I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them. I the LORD have spoken.

PrayerBits for Wednesday

PrayerBits

A bite sized devotional program
produced by the West Side Presbyterian Church

Wednesday

Scripture lesson: Colossians 3:1-4 Where is our focus?

Time to reflect: This passage is encouraging us to focus on heavenly things so that that affects our lives. It is so easy to get so caught up in the world we live in that we lose perspective and it pulls us away from God.

Moving through the day: Take a moment every hour on the hour to step back from your life and think about how God would view what you are doing.

 

Scripture:

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

PrayerBits for Tuesday

PrayerBits

A bite sized devotional program
produced by the West Side Presbyterian Church

Tuesday

Scripture lesson: Luke 8:5-15 The Centurian's Servant

Time to reflect: All good Rabbis in Jesus' time did healings – they were the medical people of that time. Matthew, however, keeps pointing out that Jesus wa more than your average Rabbi. In this story Jesus does a remote control healing., which was unheard of.

Moving through the day: We all tend to reduce Jesus to someone we can understand. What aspect of Jesus do you find extraordinary?

A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. Some fell on rock, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown."
      When he said this, he called out, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

 His disciples asked him what this parable meant. 10He said, "The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to others I speak in parables, so that,
   " 'though seeing, they may not see;
      though hearing, they may not understand.'

 "This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is the word of God. Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes and takes away the word from their hearts, so that they may not believe and be saved. Those on the rock are the ones who receive the word with joy when they hear it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing they fall away. The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life's worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.

PrayerBits for Monday

PrayerBits

A bite sized devotional program
produced by the West Side Presbyterian Church

Monday

Scripture lesson: Matthew 10:39-42 “A cup of water”

Time to reflect: One of Matthews reports of sayings that indicate that we should be helping those who are powerless – the “little ones.”

Moving Through The Day: What powerless, poor, downtrodden do you come into contact with? Do you help them. Are there such people that you don't come into contact with, but should?

Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

 "He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives the one who sent me. Anyone who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and anyone who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man's reward. And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is my disciple, I tell you the truth, he will certainly not lose his reward."