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Written by Rich Villodas, a contemporary pastor and author. This is an excerpt from his book “The Deeply Formed Life.”

Any sense of mission that is faithful to Jesus begins with the presence of God. God’s grace is lovingly present to the world at every moment. That’s not to say that his presence is easy to discern. It’s often difficult to locate the presence of God or believe that he is near, especially in hard moments, but theologically there’s no place where he is not at work…It’s quite comforting to me that God doesn’t take days off. Although we all have limits, God does not. He is with us. Any notion of mission in this world must confess that God moves first. Long before we act, God has already acted. Long before we speak, God has already spoken. Long before we arrive, God has been present.

Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” [John 5:17].

Written by Augustine of Hippo (354-430), an early Christian theologian, philosopher, and bishop of Hippo Regius (modern day Annaba, Algeria).

Give me yourself, O my God, give yourself to me.

Behold, I love you, and if my love is too weak a thing, grant me to love you more strongly. I cannot measure my love to know how much it falls short of being sufficient, but let my soul hasten to your embrace and never be turned away until it is hidden in the secret shelter of your presence.

This only do I know, that it is not good for me when you are not with me, when you are only outside me. I want you  in my very self. All the penty in the world which is not my God is utter want.

The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold. [Psalm 46:7]

Written by Elisabeth Elliot (1926-2015), a Christian author, speaker, and missionary.  She spent the last two years of her life as a missionary to the tribe members who killed her husband.

When terrible things happen…there are two choices and only two: We can trust God or we can defy Him. We believe that God is God, He’s still got the whole world in His hands and knows exactly what He’s doing, or we must believe that He is not God and we are at the awful mercy of mere chance.

The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. [Deuteronomy 33:27]

Written by Melito of Sardis (c100-180), a bishop and martyr of the early church.

Born as a son,

led forth as a lamb,

sacrificed as a sheep,

buried as a man,

he rose from the dead as a God,

for he was by nature God and man.

He is all things:

he judges, and so is Law;

he teaches, and so he is Word;

he saves, and so he is Grace;

he begets, and so he is Father;

he is begotten, and so he is Son;

he suffers, and so he is Sacrifice;

he is buried, and so he is man;

he rises again, and so he is God.

This is Jesus Christ,

to whom belongs glory for all ages.

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth! [Psalm 8:9]

Written by A. W. Tozer (1897-1963), an American pastor, author, editor, and spiritual mentor. This is an excerpt from his book “My Daily Pursuit.”

Perhaps one reason we do not have much confidence in the character of God today is that we do not have a high enough opinion of God. God has been talked down and reduced, modified, edited, changed, and amended until He is not the God that Isaiah saw “high and lifted up.” Because God has been reduced in the minds of people, they do not have that boundless confidence in His character that used to be prominent among Christians. Confidence is necessary to respect. You cannot respect a man in whom you have no confidence. Extend that respect upward to God and if you cannot respect God, you cannot worship Him. You cannot have confidence in Him, because where there is no respect there can be no worship. Worship rises and falls in the church depending upon whether the idea of God is low or high; so we must begin with God where everything begins. God needs no rescuing, but we do, and we must rescue our concepts from their fallen and frightfully inadequate condition so that boundless confidence in Him can reign once again.  

Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; let thy glory be above all the earth. [Psalm 57:5]

Written by Mark D. Roberts, a contemporary author and speaker.

Gracious God, thank you for all of your gifts. Today I thank you, especially for the gift of imagination. Thank you for helping me to see in my mind what I cannot see with my eyes. Thank you for inspiring me to envision your future. Thank you for helping me to see how I might share in your work in the world.

Today, Lord, I ask you to inspire my imagination once again. Give me new vision as I work. Help me to see how I might share in new ways in your redemptive mission. I ask also for the ability to see the people in my life as you see them. May I imagine by your grace who they are becoming, so I can be part of your work in them.

Gracious God, in a day when so much in our world is terribly broken, help me to see through my imagination what you are doing and how I might participate. Give me a fresh vision for your church and how I might be part of a community living out your redemptive mission in the world.

May I always remember, Lord, that you are able to do far more than I could ever imagine by your power at work within me. And may I live each day as if this were really true! Amen.

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. [Ephesians 2:10].

Written by Oswald Chambers (1874-1917), a Scottish evangelist and teacher. This is an excerpt from his book “My Utmost For His Highest.”

If I walk in the light as God is in the light, not in the light of my conscience, but in the light of God — if I walk there, with nothing folded up, then there comes the amazing revelation — the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses me from all sin so that God Almighty can see nothing to censure in me. In my consciousness it works with a keen poignant knowledge of what sin is. The love of God at work in me makes me hate with the hatred of the Holy Ghost all that is not in keeping with God’s holiness. To walk in the light means that everything that is of the darkness drives me closer into the center of the light.

If we walk in the light, as He is in the light,…the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. [1 John 1:7]

Written by Vinita Hampton Wright, a contemporary author and spiritual director.

God of all time,
help us enter the New Year quietly,
thoughtful of who we are to ourselves and to others,
mindful that our steps make an impact
and our words carry power.

May we walk gently.
May we speak only after we have listened well.

Creator of all life,
help us enter the New Year reverently,
aware that you have endowed
every creature and plant, every person and habitat
with beauty and purpose.

May we regard the world with tenderness.
May we honor rather than destroy.

Lover of all souls,
help us enter the New Year joyfully,
willing to laugh and dance and dream,
remembering our many gifts with thanks
and looking forward to blessings yet to come.

May we welcome your lavish love.
May we cast off the small, vindictive god our fears have made.
May the grace and peace of Christ bless us now and in the days ahead.

See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. [Isaiah 43:19]

Written by Joel Sheeres, a contemporary pastor and writer.

Do you remember Ashley Smith? One day in March 2005 she came home to find a fleeing murderer waiting for her. He held her hostage for several hours at gunpoint. During that time she did something extraordinary; she took advantage of the opportunity and witnessed to her captor. She cooked him breakfast, read from Rick Warren’s book The Purpose-Driven Life, and talked about God’s plan for his life and about Christ. Later the man peacefully gave himself up to the police…God often presents us with opportunities to witness, but we often let them slip by because we’re not wise enough to see them for what they are. The apostle Paul says we are “God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Ephesians 2:10). God often places good works before us in the form of opportunities to share our faith with people who are outside the faith. But we need to be wise and willing enough to make the most of those opportunities. As this year draws to a close and we enter a new year, we need to remember that each new day brings opportunities to serve the Lord and express our faith to others, sometimes in strange and different situations.

Be wise in the way you act…; make the most of every opportunity.  [Colossians 4:5]

Written by Rebecca Barlow Jordan, a contemporary Christian author.

In a world where worry, not peace, prevails, stir up that good news again. This Christmas [season], make it real in our hearts. Never have we needed Your joy and peace more than now. Thank You for the gift of Jesus, our Immanuel, the Word made flesh. Forgive us for forgetting—that Your love never changes, never fades, and that You never abandon the purpose for which You came: to save us from our sinful condition, and to give us life eternal, the joy of relationship with a holy God. Your birth—and Your death—sealed Your promise to us forever.

There is no one holy like the Lord; there is no one besides you; there is no Rock like our God.  [1 Samuel 2:2]