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Day 33: Offering Christ to a Hurting World

Posted: May 26, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: 40 Day Walk With God, Bishop's Blog | Tags: , , , , |3 Comments
I Peter 5:10Day 33
After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, the one who called you into his eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will himself restore, empower, strengthen, and establish you.

How long is “a little while?” When you are healthy, waiting “a little while” can be mildly uncomfortable. When you are suffering, enduring “a little while” can be excruciatingly painful.

Think for a moment about how the woman in Luke 8, with the issue of blood must have felt after suffering for a year, and then another, and then another ten years on top of that. Can you imagine the sense of hopelessness and desperation she must have been experiencing?

How about the woman in Luke 13, who suffered for eighteen years with back issues?

And what about the man in Luke 5, crippled for thirty-eight years? Yet, into each of their lives stepped the transforming presence of Jesus Christ.

Each had not suffered so long that they were beyond the limits of Hope. That is Good News both for our lives and our churches. The God of all grace can heal a twelve year illness, untangle eighteen years of dysfunction, and even break thirty-eight years of addiction.

Today, pray with thanksgiving, inviting the God of all grace to bring his transforming presence into areas of long suffering in our lives.

Prayer: Thank you, God of all grace, for restoring, supporting, strengthening, and establishing each of us and our churches. Amen.

Jonathan Dow
Executive Director, Aldersgate Renewal Ministries

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REFLECTIONS FOR THE DAY | Use a program on your computer, a traditional journal, or feel free to use the comment section of this blog post to record your reflections as a conversation with others…

READ – What spoke to me as I read today’s meditation?
REPENT – Where is God showing me that I have failed to be obedient to the call to discipleship today?
RECEIVE – What words of redemption and grace is God offering to me?
REMEMBER – Who and what is God calling me to remember in prayer related to today’s reading?
RESPOND – How is God calling me to respond today?

RESOURCES:
> DOWNLOADS – 40 Day Walk prayer guide (.PDF), 40 Days of Doodles kids journal (.PDF)
> CLICK HERE for sermon starters/suggestions

3 Comments on “Day 33: Offering Christ to a Hurting World”

  1. sammiewalker says:
    May 29, 2013 at 6:04 pm

    Bless you Daryll

  2. Daryl Byford says:
    May 28, 2013 at 6:09 pm

    Oh boy! Does this hit home?! I am so tired of typing with 2 fingers, wearing braces on my legs, wearing ugly shoes, dropping my fork while I eat, etc. I cannot think this way! My “little while has been 5 years. I see no end to this chronic disease. I am thankful to God for ALL of His gifts. I am thankful for the love of my immediate and extended family, thankful for the love of my church family, thakful for the love of friends, and strangers. I am thankful for my God-created world. May we all look beyond our handicaps and praise God for our life.

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