PrayerBits for Wednesday

PrayerBits

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

Wednesday: Jeremiah 7:1-7 Practices verses faithfulness

Scripture lesson: The Jerusalemites trusted that God would not let their Temple be destroyed, no matter what. Jeremiah was conveying the message from God that it would not be destroyed only IF they were faithful to God and obeyed God's commandments to social justice and rejection of idolatry.

Time to reflect: How well are we living up to the commands in verses 5-6.

False Religion Worthless

 1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD : 2 "Stand at the gate of the LORD's house and there proclaim this message:
      " 'Hear the word of the LORD, all you people of Judah who come through these gates to worship the LORD. 3 This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place. 4 Do not trust in deceptive words and say, "This is the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD!" 5 If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, 6 if you do not oppress the alien, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, 7 then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your forefathers for ever and ever.

PrayerBits for Tuesday

PrayerBits

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

Tuesday

Scripture lesson: Matthew 28:16-20 The Great Commission

Time to reflect: Pretty straightforward.

Moving through the day: What have you done recently to fulfill this command?

The Great Commission

 16Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. 17When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."

PrayerBits for Monday

PrayerBits

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

Monday

Scripture lesson: Micah 6:6-8 What does the Lord require of you?

Scripture lesson: We must never let our worship practices ever be a substitute for justice, kindness and walking with God.

Time to reflect: Today think of one specific act or time when you do each of these three expressions of commitment to God.

Micah 6:6-8

 6 With what shall I come before the LORD
       and bow down before the exalted God?
       Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
       with calves a year old?

 7 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams,
       with ten thousand rivers of oil?
       Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression,
       the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

 8 He has showed you, O man, what is good.
       And what does the LORD require of you?
       To act justly and to love mercy
       and to walk humbly with your God.

PrayerBits for Sunday

PrayerBits

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

Sunday

Scripture lesson: John 20:19-31 The Holy Spirit

Time to Reflect: [By the way, the John of the Gospel of John is a different John from John of Patmos, the writer of Revelation. John was a very popular Jewish name – they were everywhere.] Acts has the Holy Spirit coming on the Apostles at Pentecost, John in an private meeting between the resurrected Jesus and the Apostles. There is no reconciling the two stories. What is important is that they did receive the Holy Spirit. The underlying Hebrew and Greek terms translated as “Spirit” also translate as “wind” or “breath.” Note that Acts plays on the “wind” meaning of the term and John on the “breath” meaning. Ultimately, “Spirit” in all of its meanings is life giving. Theologically, receiving the Holy Spirit means the apostles and their successors have God's “breath” within them.

Moving through the day: Consciously breathing in and out, picture God entering your body and strengthening you.

 Scripture:

John 20:19-3

Jesus Appears to His Disciples

 19On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" 20After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.

 21Again Jesus said, "Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you." 22And with that he breathed on them and said, "Receive the Holy Spirit. 23If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven."

Jesus Appears to Thomas

 24Now Thomas (called Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord!"
      But he said to them, "Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe it."

 26A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, "Peace be with you!" 27Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe."

 28Thomas said to him, "My Lord and my God!"

 29Then Jesus told him, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."

 30Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31But these are written that you may[a] believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

PrayerBits for Saturday

PrayerBits

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

Saturday

Scripture lesson: Revelation 1:4-8 “the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come.”

Time to reflect: This phrase is unique to the writer of Revelation and is an odd construction in the original Greek is very striking in the Greek and is a wonderful expression of God's eternal nature. At every moment in time we can look back on the God who was always there and forward to the God that will always be here.

Moving through the day: What does having an eternal God mean to you?

 4John,
      To the seven churches in the province of Asia:

   Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits[a] before his throne, 5and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

   To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 6and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.
 7Look, he is coming with the clouds,
      and every eye will see him,
   even those who pierced him;
      and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen.

 8"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty."

PrayerBits for Friday

PrayerBits

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

Friday

Scripture Lesson: Psalm 118:14-29 “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it”

Time to reflect: Many Psalms seem to skip and round or take sudden shifts. There are probably several reasons for these, including the other parts of a dialog with the prophet being one of these. Also, the psalmists often have extreme confidence in God in spite of their being in dire straits.

Moving Throughout the day: All day today remind yourself of the phrase: “This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it”

14 The LORD is my strength and my song;
       he has become my salvation.

 15 Shouts of joy and victory
       resound in the tents of the righteous:
       "The LORD's right hand has done mighty things!

 16 The LORD's right hand is lifted high;
       the LORD's right hand has done mighty things!"

 17 I will not die but live,
       and will proclaim what the LORD has done.

 18 The LORD has chastened me severely,
       but he has not given me over to death.

 19 Open for me the gates of righteousness;
       I will enter and give thanks to the LORD.

 20 This is the gate of the LORD
       through which the righteous may enter.

 21 I will give you thanks, for you answered me;
       you have become my salvation.

 22 The stone the builders rejected
       has become the capstone;

 23 the LORD has done this,
       and it is marvelous in our eyes.

 24 This is the day the LORD has made;
       let us rejoice and be glad in it.

 25 O LORD, save us;
       O LORD, grant us success.

 26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD.
       From the house of the LORD we bless you. [a]

 27 The LORD is God,
       and he has made his light shine upon us.
       With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession
       up [b] to the horns of the altar.

 28 You are my God, and I will give you thanks;
       you are my God, and I will exalt you.

 29 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good;
       his love endures forever.

PrayerBits for Thursday

PrayerBits

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

Thursday

Scripture lesson: Acts 5:27-32 Who is our boss

Time to Reflect: As with Peter, we should answer to God before any human.

Moving Through the Day: Think of a time or times when you knew what God's response would be. Did you follow God or the humans?

Scripture:  

 27Having brought the apostles, they made them appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest. 28"We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name," he said. "Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man's blood."

 29Peter and the other apostles replied: "We must obey God rather than men! 30The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead—whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. 31God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. 32We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him."