Fast 2012 Devotion – Day 8

Topic: Becoming a Church after God’s own Heart
Author: Alicia Hussey

• Matthew 16:18
• Proverbs 16:1,3,9
• Ephesians 2:11-18

Press in today. At the beginning of this fast, you were encouraged to set goals, to determine what you were hoping to see happen from this time with the Lord. Review those goals today. Take a few minutes to write down what you have learned, what you have struggled with and what you still hope to see accomplished! As we are about to read in Proverbs 16:3, we are encouraged to “commit our actions to the Lord.” The promise that follows this encouragement is that for those who commit their plans to him, “your plans will succeed.” That is your promise today! Take hold of it in every moment. The third day of a fast is never easy so if you are feeling weak, cling with everything you have to the hope that is found in the Word of God and to the reasons you have set out on this journey. Most importantly remember the words that came from Jesus in his time of fasting in Matthew 4:4, “Man does not live by bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” SEEK after God today, find truth in and savor the power of his word, and commit your plans (for this fast) to him and they will succeed!

Matthew 16:18- Now I say to you that you are Peter (which means ‘rock’), and upon this rock I will build my church, and all the powers of hell will not conquer it.

Proverbs 16:1,3,9 1 We can make our own plans, but the Lord gives the right answer. 3 Commit your actions to the Lord, and your plans will succeed. 9 We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps.

Ephesians 2:11-18 11 Don’t forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders. You were called “uncircumcised heathens” by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts. 12 In those days you were living apart from Christ. You were excluded from citizenship among the people of Israel, and you did not know the covenant promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope. 13 But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ.14 For Christ himself has brought peace to us. He united Jews and Gentiles into one people when, in his own body on the cross, he broke down the wall of hostility that separated us. 15 He did this by ending the system of law with its commandments and regulations. He made peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new people from the two groups. 16 Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.17 He brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and peace to the Jews who were near. 18 Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.

To be a church that presses hard after the Heart of God, we need to understand where we have come from, where we are and where we are going. In Matthew 16, we see what must have been quite an intense conversation between Jesus and Peter. Peter and the other disciples are being asked by the man that they hold in very high esteem who they believe he is. Jesus is setting up the scene to establish his church and to begin to set his promises in place over that very church. After Peter’s confession that Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of the living God” in verse 16, Jesus blesses Peter and proclaims that his church will be built on that rock. The rock he refers to is the confession that Peter has just made-the truth that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the Loving God. The truth that Jesus IS the Christ, God’s Son must be the cornerstone of any church that desires to be church after God’s heart!

Take some time to read through the verses highlighted in Proverbs 16. Did you notice that each verse began with human action but ultimately ends with us turning those actions to the LORD for his answer, his prosperity, and his approval? In Matthew, we see that Peter had to make a statement of his faith before he could receive the fullness of what Jesus was preparing to speak to him. Again in Proverbs, we see that God calls us to make plans, to dream, to set out in action but more importantly he wants us to commit our plans to Him, to His will. When we flow in this way, we, as a church and as individuals, begin to experience the ability to move and flow and be in agreement and harmony with God’s will, purpose, and plans. Just as we talked about yesterday, we begin to walk in the fullness of what it means to reconciled to Him! As we pray through these verses today, let us SEEK God’s direction for Kingsway Church! We long to be a church after his heart, let today be a day of action- seeking him in prayer for where he is taking us.

It is vital that as a church, we don’t get so consumed with what is happening inside our walls that we forget to seek God for what he wants us to do within our community. How are we, followers of Christ, called to live among people who desperately need him? God speaks clearly in Ephesians 2 of the plans he had through the work of Christ on the Cross. Speaking specifically in this passage about Jews and Gentiles, we are reminded that God’s “purpose was to create in himself one people (or one new humanity)…” He longed to bring peace between two very divided groups. Later in the passage, we are reminded that the Jews and Gentiles, through the work on the Cross, are “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus as the chief cornerstone.” Can you see that God longed for his creation to be unified together bringing honor and glory to his name not separately but together with the truth of Jesus Christ as their linking point? As a church, we are seeking how God would have us function in our community and surrounding areas. Through these verses, it seems as though we have two commands from God. First, God calls us to be peacemakers just as he desired to create peace between the Jews and the Gentiles through sending his Son to die for us.  We are to share the love, peace, and hope that comes from God where ever we are. Second, we are to do this with one mission- to through the power of the Holy Spirit lead people into relationship with Jesus Christ. Therefore, striving to meet God’s longing that his creation would be unified bringing honor and glory to his name with belief in Jesus as the Christ as our cornerstone! We need to seek God’s direction for how he longs to see this take place through Kingsway Church. How do we make that representation corporately and how do we do it when we are interacting with people throughout our daily lives.

Prayer: Jesus, you have called your church to set the truth of what you have done for us as our cornerstone! I pray today that you would stir up in us a burning passion to lift you up in everything we do as a church corporately and as representatives of your church wherever we go individually.  We long to see people in our community be drawn in by your love. We long to stand in worship with those in our surrounding areas acknowledging YOU as our only way to gain access to the Father.

God as we seek you for specific direction for our church in the coming year, make true the promises set forth in Proverbs 16. As we put our hands to the plow, make plans, and dream big for this year, we commit those actions and plans to you believing that you will answer us, determine our steps and ensure our success in delivering the Salvation message of the cross. Set within our pastors and ministry leaders vision for our church, the ability to hear clearly your voice, and follow hard after what you have shown them.

Let us burn with the message of Christ. To those who come in our doors, those who we encounter through community outreaches like Trunk or Treat, and those we see throughout our daily lives, let us be carriers of the truth of the hope that exists only through relationship with Jesus! As a church we long to be used by you! Help us to lay down our agendas, our thoughts about who you are, and what you would have us do. Overtake our thinking and transforms our hearts and our minds to be vessels of your thoughts, your dreams, and your plans. We give every aspect of Kingsway Church in 2011 over to you! Do your work in us! In Jesus’ Name we pray! Amen!