Category: Majestic in the mundane

Colossians 3:23-24 NIV – Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.

Our reward is not a promotion, compensation, better grades, or recognition. The kingdom of God is our promised inheritance and reward. Nothing in this earth can compare to this! As we serve Christ alone, our heavenly Father promises that we will receive the kingdom of heaven here and now through the Holy Spirit that is at work in us.

In thanksgiving, let’s worship to the song “More to Come” by Passion (Click here).

Prayer: Thank you that the kingdom of God is my inheritance. Thank you that even today, I can taste the blessing of your kingdom here and now through your Spirit that is at work in my life. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

– DW

Matthew 11:28-30 NIV – “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

“Are we weary and burdened in our work? Our studies? At home? Let us come to him, cast off every other yoke, and take his yoke upon us and learn from him because he is gentle and humble in heart, and unlike every other master that exists. He gives rest – easiness and lightness – to our souls. We come and put down every other burden and bow before him as Lord. We see and feel his yoke of discipleship, of following him coming upon us. And although it may look like any other yoke, as it is placed upon us – we find that it is light and we are actually finally truly free.” (Brenda Rapp)

Let’s worship to the song “Singing Over Us” by Worship Central (Click here).

Prayer: Lord, I lay down all of my burdens before you and bow before you as my Lord. May I experience your yoke that sets me free today. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

– DW

Colossians 3:17 NIV – And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

In thanksgiving, we are acknowledging “the sovereignty of God in everything that we do, because he alone is the source of all goodness, and we are his creatures who are to fulfill his will on earth.” [David Pao, Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, 255]

We are to work diligently and with thankful hearts as part of our life of worship unto God. If somewhere along the way, our work, studies and ministry has become drudgery, it is because we have forgotten that all that we have is a gift from God. But as the Spirit empowers us, we can receive and live afresh in thankful worship, to glorify and serve him.

As we ask for a fresh filling of his Spirit today, let’s worship to “Do It Again” by Elevation Worship (Click here).

Prayer: God, will you fill me with your Spirit so that I can live in thankfulness in all that you have called me to do! In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

– DW

Colossians 3:23-24 NLT – Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ.

“But Christian slaves – or Christian employees today – have the highest of all motives for faithful and conscientious performance of duty; they are above all else servants of Christ, and will work first and foremost so as to please him. Not fear of an earthly master, but reverence for their heavenly Lord, should be the primary motive with them.” [F.F. Bruce, NICNT: The Epistles to the Colossians, to Philemon, and to the Ephesians, 168-169]

The difference between drudgery and delight is that our work is to be done unto the Lord alone. We can be doing the same work, the same deed, but when we do it to please him, delight will replace drudgery. When our work is done for anyone else other than to the Lord, including ourselves, we are robbing God of his glory. In the process of working excellently for the Lord, God receives all of the glory from our lives.

Let’s worship to “Yours” by Elevation Worship (Click here) as we declare that we serve Christ alone and no one else.

Prayer: Lord, may I live to please you and you alone and may you receive all the glory from my life. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

– DW

Acts 1:15  In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty)…
Acts 2:1-4 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. ² Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³ They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. ⁴ All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

There were about 120 who lived immersed in prayer and in God’s word through the Spirit’s leading. They were living in the majestic in their daily lives, and this set the stage for the great outpouring of the Holy Spirit during Pentecost.
Like the 120, may we also commit to growing in our times of prayer, dependence upon God’s word, and living in the Spirit’s power. May we be also counted as the ‘120’ for this generation—whose lives of prayer and the word sets the stage for the Spirit’s move in our midst.

Prayer: Lord, may our lives be such that it sets the stage for an increased activity and work of you Spirit in our churches and cities. We pray for times of fresh empowering and refreshing in our lives. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s worship to the song ‘anointing’ by Jesus Culture

-GK

2 Timothy 3:16-17
16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.

We are shown that the disciples were engaged in God’s word with a new fervor and dependence in Acts 1. They drew their direction, formation, and decisions based upon God’s word. Scripture went from being something they had heard all their lives, to now being the very lifeline they depended upon. This is another clear way that the disciples were engaging the majestic in the mundane of their lives. Where God’s word was now directing and forming the community.

We’ve also experienced much transformation, direction, and leading through God’s word. For it is through God’s word that we are taught how to view one another—in love and through the gospel; how to view the world—in compassion; how to view our past mistakes, our future hopes, and how to make decisions of life. All within the biblical framework, and not based upon our old fears, prejudices, thoughts, but through the gospel. God’s word brings the majestic into the mundane.

Today pray through 2 Timothy 3:16-17 and ask for deep healing, correction, and transformation through the word over the mundane areas of your life.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we thank you that your word teaches us, rebukes us, corrects us, and trains us in righteousness. As we engage your word, breathe afresh your truth in our lives. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s worship with the song ‘Everything‘ by Tim Hughes.

-GK

Acts 1:8
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

The word witness is not only about being someone who gives a verbal testimony. The word witness is also about someone who shares in the very life/being of the other—which is giving testimony by their very lives. So the disciples were to be more than just testimony bearers of what Jesus has done through speech, but also those who also reflect, live, share in Christ’s very life. To be the image-bearers is to flesh out the reality of being in Christ as Christ is in us. All this is made possible through the empowering of the Holy Spirit.

Today, consider the mundane areas where you need to bear witness—to be the image-bearers who share in the divine life of God. Today pray over your work, your family, your studies, your daily routines, and ask that you will become Christ’s witness through the empowering of the Spirit.

Prayer: Lord Jesus, we ask for the Holy Spirit’s empowering so we can be your witnesses in the mundane areas of our lives. May we be Christ image bearers at home, at work, at school, and to the world. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Worship with the song “Hymn of surrender” by Matt Redman.

-GK

Acts 1:13-14 (NIV) When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
(LEB) 14 All these were busily engaged with one mind in prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus and with his brothers.

To live out the gospel is to have the majestic of who Christ is affecting the mundane of our lives. For the disciples, this occurred primarily in the way they lived as God’s people who were locked-in in prayer. As they now belonged to God, they also belonged to one another. What they did together, determined what they did at home. Their main activity was to be locked-in in prayer, where they were praying Jesus’ instructions into reality.

This week, may our lives be filled with both corporate and also personal times of prayer of being locked-in. During these times, let’s ask the Lord to affect the mundane of our lives—for the healing of wounds and sicknesses, transforming our minds and hearts, turning situations around, and for his blessing to be evident.

Prayer: Lord, we pray for your presence and power to affect and transform the mundane of our lives. We also pray for your empowering presence in all the small groups this week. May your gospel rescue our lives. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s worship with the song “By the grace of God” by Bethel.

-GK

Acts 1:3
After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. 

The kingdom is first and foremost a statement about God. God is king, and he is coming as king to set right what our sins made wrong. The phrase “kingdom of God” could just as easily be translated “reign of God” or “kingship of God.” The message of the kingdom is about God’s royal power directed by his self-giving love. (Treat, Jeremy. Seek First)

The kingdom of God is about the gospel affecting and transforming and conquering lives all over the world, where lives are to be marked by the Holy Spirit’s presence and power—forming and transforming individuals who are now called to form communities whose identities and purposes are formed by the gospel.

For our devotional response, let’s declare this confession from the Capetown Commitment:
As disciples of Jesus, we are gospel people. The core of our identity is our passion for the biblical good news of the saving work of God through Jesus Christ. We are united by our experience of the grace of God in the gospel and by our motivation to make that gospel of grace known to the ends of the earth by every possible means.

Prayer: Lord, we thank you that we are the gospel people. May your gospel conquer every area of our lives, and also of those to whom we are currently ministering. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Let’s worship with the song ‘Who you say I am’ by Hillsong.

-GK