PrayerBits for Wednesday

PrayerBits

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

Wednesday

Scripture lesson: Matthew 6:1-6,16-21 No earthly reward

Time to reflect: This passage hits humans hard. We want public recognition when we do something right. Our modern society is especially driven by runaway self-esteem – we expect praise for everything we do. Well, Jesus says here that when we do something for public recognition and get it, we've received all the reward we're going to get. If we want heavenly praise and recognition we need to do things without going for the human praise. (Ugh!)

Moving through the day:Pray about the change of attitude needed to go for heaven recognition rather than human recognition.

 Scripture: "Be careful not to do your 'acts of righteousness' before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

 "So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Prayer

 "And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

 "When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show men they are fasting. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to men that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

Treasures in Heaven

 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

PrayerBits for Tuesday

PrayerBits

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

Tuesday

Scripture lesson: Colossians 1:15-20 Christ is...

Time to reflect: Paul, here is trying to express the inexpressible. Human words tend to be limiting or else vague. Paul is trying to say that Jesus is beyond all limitations, and IS God, not just A god nor a subordinate creature. So he uses a series of images and theological expressions. Rather than taking this passage apart and looking at each statement, let us step back and feel the overall effect of it, perhaps taking the opening statement as a summary: “[Christ] is the [visible] image of the invisible God...”

Moving through the day: What ways would you express the idea that Christ was God and not just another person? What does that mean to you?

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

PrayerBits for Monday

PrayerBits

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

Monday

Scripture lesson: Exodus 34:29-35 The Shekinah

Time to reflect: The Biblical people felt that God's “Glory” (a stan­dard English translation of Shekinah) was physical and that if you came into God's “Glory” if you lived at all would be physically changed by it – as in this story. God's “Glory” would destroy, automatically, any imperfection and sin in anything it came into contact with. This is a powerful concept. As is often the case, the English translation is weaker than the original.

Moving Through The Day: Picture what it would be like to come into God's presence. Even if you don't think in terms of a physical Shekinah or “glory” it sure can't just be a casual, everyday kind of meeting.

When Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD. When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, his face was radiant, and they were afraid to come near him. But Moses called to them; so Aaron and all the leaders of the community came back to him, and he spoke to them. Afterward all the Israelites came near him, and he gave them all the commands the LORD had given him on Mount Sinai.

  When Moses finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. But whenever he entered the LORD's presence to speak with him, he removed the veil until he came out. And when he came out and told the Israelites what he had been commanded, they saw that his face was radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he went in to speak with the LORD.