LYFE Young Adult September 2022 Devotional

L.Y.F.E. is………

Blessings and greetings L.Y.F.E. family!

Welcome to another edition of “L.Y.F.E. is…”!

We hope and pray that your hearts are encouraged and that you are blessed by this devotional!

Title: Power Up Your Prayer Life!

Scripture: Matthew Chapter 6 (NIV)

In connection with our Prayer Warrior’s Ministry theme this month, “Power Up Your Prayer Life, Praying God’s Word” our devotional this month finds us in Matthew Chapter 6, where we find Jesus teaching His disciples and us how to pray.

Many of us, myself included have been taught the A.C.T.S. method on how to pray. A.C.T.S. stands for Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication. I recently learned that this method was not biblical. In Matthew Chapter 6, Jesus starts His prayer to God with Adoration then for God’s Will to be Done, then Supplication and then Confession.

Prayer is an exchange with God where we lift up God(increase) and we submit to God(decrease). Some additional points about prayer is that: 1). we recognize who God is when we pray; 2). we understand the purpose of prayer-praying God’s will in the earth; and 3). to pray as Jesus taught.

We have the blessed assurance and confidence that we can go to God for anything in prayer. When we pray, we exalt God; we praise God; we thank God; we seek God; we need God’s help. In our prayers, we can ask God to supply all of our needs, ask for forgiveness, and moreover pray for others. For it was Jesus who prayed for others more than Himself.

In sum, prayer is personal and we have the opportunity to go to God in prayer with anything and everything that concerns us. From financial needs to family matters to issues on the job. God hears and answers prayers! God is not necessarily concerned with the prayer closets and altars that we build for God as much as God is concerned about the altars and postures of our hearts!

Let us pray.

Prayer: Dear LORD, we thank YOU in Jesus name for the power of prayer. Thank YOU for not only being the God who hears prayers but a God who answers prayers as well. Now God help us to be like Your Son, Jesus first taught us how to pray and who also prayed for others more than Himself. For His name’s sake we pray. Amen and amen.

GOD bless and love you all

LYFE Young Adult August 2022 Devotional

L.Y.F.E. is………

Blessings and greetings L.Y.F.E. family!

Welcome to another edition of “L.Y.F.E. is…”!

We hope and pray that your hearts are encouraged and that you are blessed by this devotional!

Title: Don’t Worry, God Cares

Scripture: Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Luke 12:22 (NIV)

Our devotional this month is taken from “Short Daily Devotional Prayer” entitled ‘Don’t Worry, God Cares.’^[1]

Even though we live in a world full of disappointment and frustration, Jesus reminded us never to worry about anything. God is ready to take care daily of everything we need. God will help us to survive in the most challenging situations. It is the smallest of the things God can do for us. But, God will indeed supply every one of our needs. The Bible teaches us “and my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:19

You should also know that life is worth more than all those material things; what we should consider and take action first is seeking God’s kingdom. So Matthew 6:33 says, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

Whatever you do today, put your worries aside and put God first. Then you will find that everything you need will be provided for you because the One who promised never to leave you is faithful. “The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it.” 1 Thessalonians 5:24

Let us pray.

Prayer: Dear LORD, in Jesus name, I thank You for today. O God, I thank You for days past that You’ve never left me nor forsaken me. Heavenly Parent, You are so gracious to me and have shown me Your mercy. The fact that I’m alive is not by my power but by Yours, Lord. God, You are not a tempter, so I ask for the power to overcome temptations. Lord, help me trust in You today for the best in everything I do because I know You would not withhold anything good from me. God, You promised to take care of everything, and we should not worry. You care about me. So please, dear Lord, take care of everything today. This is my humble prayer God. In Your Son Jesus name. Amen. God bless you and take care of you!

^[1] https://prayray.com/short-daily-devotional-prayer/. Dated Sunday, October 2, 2022. Found on Google search.

LYFE Young Adult July 2022 Devotional

It perhaps can be a frightening thing to follow God, even after witnessing God manifest God’s power on earth, en-fleshed. From the parting of the red sea to fire and manna raining down from heaven – from the outside looking in, God seemed to be a bit erratic; however, God could present the same argument of humanity through the lived experiences of the Israelites. Bickering and begging to go back to Egypt and to be enslaved and the questioning of Moses’ leadership skills not knowing that this was not a mantle he chose, but a mantle that chose him. Hosea finds himself in the same predicament. Prophesying to a yet stubborn and non-litigious generation of Israelites, God – YHWH – does not seek to respond in wrath but in compassion.

Our text invites us into the prophetic wisdom of God as God’s words echoes throughout times and reminds us that “the people will end up following God.” That there will come a time where every knee and every tongue will confess, and when that happens, I believe, it will feel and sound like the very roar of God. The very love of God beckoning us to come home. Love is scary. Love is insane. Love is God and what God wants of his children who are as delicate as birds, precious and rare as doves. Do not be scared to love, even amid all of its frightening ways. God’s Word! God en-fleshed through Jesus Christ allowed Love to roar from that old rugged cross and all of God’s children, though frightened and scared, were giving the opportunity to come back home.

So, if you ever feel like you are one of those Israelites and you have a season of stubbornness or a season of prophesying like Hosea and not knowing what God is doing or trying to do through you. Remember that God’s love beckons all of us to return to love. To love at home, to love in those most intimate spaces regardless of where we may live, move, or have our being because that is who God is and who God has called us to be and to continue becoming. Let me ask you, aren’t you glad you came home?

Prayer: God of love – thank you for allowing your roar of love to bring us out of our hiding spaces. Thank you for looking beyond our faults and seeing our hearts, our needs, and even our shortcomings. Allow the roar of love not to scare us but to give us a Holy fervor to love one another and that if we see someone lost to invite them to come on home. Ase & Amen.

LYFE Young Adult June 2022 Devotional

Text:  He has shown you, O man, what is good, And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. Micah 6:8

The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because God has anointed me to preach good news to the poor, God has sent me to proclaim freedom

for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. Luke 4:18.

Last year our Global Ministries young adults met with Dr. Allan Boesak to discuss liberation theology and to raise questions about its application to their faith journeys. During the discussion with Dr. Boesak, one of the young adults asked him a question about Christian involvement with the Black Lives Matter Movement.

Question: “Dr. Boesak how do we young adults participate in the struggle for social justice and yet remain Christian?”

Dr. Boesak responded: “We would all do well to remember that the world belongs to God. Our calling as Christians is to dare to name and confess God from within our politics, from the heart of our commitment to justice. Naming God in our lives and in our politics is naming the hope that never dies, the future that still exists, that is waiting to be claimed by all of us on behalf of all of us, the love that will not let us go. Naming God means standing where God stands, fighting for whom God fights—the children, the women, and the undefended.”

There is much biblical support for Dr. Boesak’s statement that we, the church, should be committed to justice for the children, the women and all of those who are oppressed and undefended. That support is readily found in the Gospel of Luke. Most of the time in Luke’s gospel, the focus of salvation is on the quality of life that God enables people to have in the present. Many scholars have said that Luke envisions salvation as primarily liberation (4:18). People need to be set free from certain things in order to experience life as God intends. Some people are ill and need to be healed; others are possessed by demons and need to be exorcized. Luke’s Gospel uses the Greek word for salvation “soteria” (deliverance) in describing what Jesus does for these people (e.g., 6:9; 8:36; 48, 50; 17:19; 18:42). This deliverance theme is reinforced throughout the text. For example, when Jesus tells Zacchaeus that salvation has come to his house (19:9), his main point is probably not that Zacchaeus will go to heaven when he dies but rather that Zacchaeus has been set free from slavery to mammon (unrighteousness that is at odds with God, like material wealth) and is now able to experience life as God intends.1

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus is born a savior (2:11), and he saves people throughout his life on earth. Jesus even says the reason he has come is to seek out people needing salvation and save them (19:10)—that is, set them free from whatever is preventing them from experiencing life as God intends.

Biblical support for the belief that the church should be committed to justice can also be found in the scriptural references found in the Belhar Confession of faith by the Dutch Reformed Mission Church. Here are some excerpts from the Belhar Confession:

We believe,

that God has revealed God’s self as the one who wishes to bring about justice and true peace among people (Isaiah 42:1-7);

that God in a world full of injustice and enmity, is in a special way the God of the destitute, the poor and the wronged (Luke 6:20-26);

that God calls the church to follow him in this, for God brings justice to the oppressed and gives bread to the hungry (Luke 4:16-19);

that God frees the prisoner and restores sight to the blind (Luke 22);

that God supports the downtrodden, protects the stranger, helps orphans and widows and blocks the path of the ungodly (Psalm 146);

that for God pure and undefiled religion is to visit the orphans and the widows in their suffering (James 1:27); that God wishes to teach the church to do what is good and seek the right (Micah 6-8);

that the church must therefore stand by people in any form of suffering and need, which implies, among other things, that the church must witness against and strive against any form of injustice, so that justice may roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream (Amos 5:14-15, 23-24);

that the church as the possession of God must stand where the Lord stands, namely against injustice and with the wronged; that in following Christ the church must witness against all the powerful and privileged who selfishly seek their own interests and thus control and harm others (Psalm 82:1-5, Leviticus 19:15).

Therefore, we reject any ideology which would legitimate forms of injustice and any doctrine which is unwilling to resist such an ideology in the name of the gospel.

The Belhar Confession supports the position that followers of Christ should partner with God in creating a more just world. The Confession supports the notion that the quest for salvation is a quest for freedom—a quest for liberation from any form of injustice.

Wrestling with evil, loss, and violence is not simple. The quest for health and wholeness, for salvation, can seem difficult on a daily basis. Micah, the gospel of Luke and much later, the Belhar Confession point to Jesus as the way of salvation, and I believe this path is not only found by following Jesus’ example, but is also found when we participate in a seeking community that “makes a way out of no way.” This community can be found in a dancing circle, a coffee house, a book group, a global exchange, a prayer band, a mission circle, or in a nonprofit.2 What are we doing in our quest for salvation? Are we participating in a community that is seeking to make a way out of no way, a community that acknowledges our ancestors and God? Are we participating in a community that answers God’s call that we partner with God to transform our world?

Prayer:    God I pray that we would daily seek to follow the way of salvation—that we might daily work with our community to wrestle with and combat evil, loss, violence, and oppression. I pray that we remember that we are warriors and liberators and that we remember your call for us to partner with you to name and confess you from within our politics, in all aspects of our lives, from the heart of our commitment to justice.

Amen!

1 Powell, Mark Allan, Introducing the New Testament, (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2009), pages 161-165.

2 Coleman, Monica A., Making a Way Out of No Way, (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2008), page 170.

LYFE Young Adult May 2022 Devotional

L.Y.F.E. is………

Blessings and greetings L.Y.F.E. family!

Welcome to another edition of “L.Y.F.E. is…”!

We hope and pray that your hearts are encouraged and that you are blessed by this devotional!

Title: Why Praise to God is Important!

Scripture: “Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the one Israel praises.” Psalm 22:3 (NIV)

Praise is one of the most powerful spiritual weapons we have today and a gift from God!

The reasons and importance of why we praise God is evident all throughout the Bible.

Praising God means telling and expressing how wonderful, how great, and how awesome we believe God is and how much we love God. It is the act of magnifying and glorifying God simply for being God all by Godself. We praise God when God has done something good on our behalf. This can be done with the expression of words, for example through prayer, singing, or writing. There are other modes of expression such as dance, painting a picture, or simply opening your heart to God in love during a moment of quiet stillness or reflection and meditation.

In our sacred scripture text, we find David in a state of feeling forsaken, abandoned, and in despair when David feels that his cries and prayers for help seem to go unanswered by God. Many of us can relate to David as we sometimes get to a point of unbearable, never seen before challenges and it seems like God has withdrawn God’s help from us and the least we want God to do for us is to hear our cry and plea for help. Yet David, in his state of helplessness, could not but acknowledge the goodness, holiness, and faithfulness of the LORD. God does not inhabit the complaints of God’s people; rather God inhabits the praise of God’s people. Whether life is going well or times get tough; one thing is certain-God is faithful!

So just why is praise to God so important?

The Bible teaches us, in fact commands us to praise God who is good and has done great things. We should make praising God part of our everyday lives. We honor God for God’s goodness, grace, and mercy. We praise God say, “Thank You(LORD)”; we praise God because God is deserving and worthy of our praise; we praise God because praise ushers us into the presence of God and invites God into our situation; and praise helps to develop and build our relationship with God.

We are to always praise God, in good times and in bad times. God is always with us and God always hears us. God is omniscient and God is omnipresent. God promised to never leave us nor forsake us. We should praise God in the storm and in the sunshine.

We praise God for loving us so much that God gave God’s only begotten Son, Jesus Christ as a sacrifice for our sins. God is our Creator; our Provider; our Sustainer; our Healer; and our Savior.

Psalm 22 reminds us that our praise should not be directed to ourselves or those around us nor our accomplishments nor what we’ve done nor even our material possessions. But all the praise and glory belongs to God!

Praise the LORD!

Memory Scripture: “Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD!” Psalm 150:6 (NIV)

GOD bless and love you all!

Learn More About Allen Temple’s Membership in and the History of the Progressive National Baptist Convention Inc.

Power Up Your Prayer Life: Fall 2022 Virtual Prayer Seminar Worksheets

Download PDF

LYFE Young Adult April 2022 Devotional

L.Y.F.E. is………

Blessings and greetings L.Y.F.E. family!

Welcome to another edition of “L.Y.F.E. is…”!

We hope and pray that your hearts are encouraged and that you are blessed by this devotional!

Title: Jesus Christ, The Perfect Sacrifice

Scripture: Psalm 40:5-10; Hebrews 10:4-10

Our Lenten Devotional this week leads us to Psalm 40:5-10 where we find David expressing his deep gratitude and appreciation for all that God has done. David has fully dedicated himself to the LORD and has wholeheartedly committed to doing God’s will. However, our scripture text is more than just an expression of David’s thanksgiving; it is a prophecy foretold relating to Jesus Christ, The Perfect Sacrifice.

David’s devotion to God’s will and God’s Word pictures Jesus’ relationship to God and God’s Word. Psalm 40 is connected to the verses cited in Hebrews 10:4-10 which applies this passage to Jesus. The Hebrews reference (10:4-10) teaches us that God’s ultimate intent for our salvation involved a physical body, manifested and fulfilled in that of the life, ministry, death, burial, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ(Psalm 40:6-8).

God sent Jesus to be the perfect sacrifice for the world’s sins. Jesus was marked for crucifixion. The Bible teaches us in Hebrews 10:12(NLT) that, “But our High Priest (Jesus) offered himself to God as a single sacrifice for sins, good for all time. Then he sat down in the place of honor at God’s right hand.” The repeated sacrifices of animals, burnt and sin offerings, and the blood of bulls and goats were not enough to vindicate humankind from its sins. Only Christ’s sacrifice was superior to satisfy God’s will and plan for salvation.

Jesus, God in the flesh was not only the perfect sacrifice for the reconciliation of humanity back to God; but Christ made the perfect sacrifice by giving up His life for the sake and salvation of the world. Furthermore, Jesus was obedient to God not just at death but since the moment of His coming into existence. Hebrews 10:7 (NIV) Jesus Christ is God’s Perfect Sacrifice! And marked for crucifixion.

The Lenten Season is a time of reflection, meditation, repentance, and forgiveness in which some people typically “give up” something for the 40 days as a sign of self-sacrifice. Some people might even “take up” something as a symbol of self-discipline to represent Jesus Christ’s sacrifice when He went to the desert to pray and fast for the 40 days on His journey to the Cross. But no form of human self-sacrifice nor form of human self-discipline is greater than Christ’s great sacrifice. God’s offering of Jesus as a sacrifice for the world’s sins was a “once-and-for all” sacrifice. It is superior to all forms of offering or sacrifice.

The point of the matter is that God desires our faithful obedience and commitment to do God’s will and God’s Word. Our response should be to set aside our own selfish needs and temptations and serve God by helping others during this time of pandemic, global wars/rumors of war, and rising inflation.

Both texts should prompt us to ask ourselves, “What shall I render to the LORD for the great and ultimate sacrifice Jesus has made for me?” We offer thanks and praise! Jesus paid it all! Hallelujah!

Let us pray.

Lenten Prayer: O LORD our God, how great thou art! We thank You for the grace that has been bestowed upon us and the love You’ve shown us, while we were yet sinners. We rejoice over the ultimate sacrifice that was made for us. Now may we live our lives by the power of the Resurrection. To the God of our salvation through our LORD and Saviour Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.

GOD bless and love you all!