Category: Status Quo

Lord’s Prayer (modified 2014, from NIV, NLT, CEV and ELLC)

Our Father in heaven,

help us to honor your name.

May your kingdom come soon.

May your will be done on earth,

as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

Forgive us for doing wrong,

as we forgive others.

Keep us from being tempted

and protect us from evil.

For the kingdom, the power

and the glory are yours.

Now and for ever.

Amen.

Let’s pray today according to the Lord’s prayer, communicating with our heavenly Father, asking for help to honor Him, for His kingdom and will to come and be done, for the daily provision we need, whether physical, spiritual, emotional, or otherwise.  Lord, teach us to pray, in the status quo!

Let’s also worship to this song “The Lord Our God” (click here) by Passion.

-BW

Matthew 6:31-34 (NIV) 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

We have a heavenly Father who knows what we need even more than we do, and His provision is abundant and abundantly good!  In light of that reality, we are free to focus our attention and energies into seeking first His kingdom in the present—in the status quo.  And all these things, which includes status and situation, are provided and given to us as well!

“Learned reliance on God’s care for present needs will cause his disciples to develop trust in him for their future needs.”[Michael Wilkins, Matthew, NIV Application Commentary, p.299]

Let’s pray that whatever may or may not happen or change in the future, that we would rely on God’s care in the present by seeking His kingdom with all we have!  Pray for those your ministry/church is outreaching to, on the campus, in the city, that they also would come to know our heavenly Father as He desires!

Let’s also worship to the song “Here and Now” (click here) by Eddie Kirkland.

-BW

1 Corinthians 7:18-20 18 Was a man already circumcised when he was called? He should not become uncircumcised. Was a man uncircumcised when he was called? He should not be circumcised. 19 Circumcision is nothing and uncircumcision is nothing. Keeping God’s commands is what counts. 20 Each person should remain in the situation they were in when God called them.

At times we may feel unhappy, limited or overwhelmed in the status or situation we are currently in, and that once our situation changes then we will be able to live for the Lord as we desire.  The freedom for us who are in Christ is that it isn’t the change of status that is necessary for us to live out our Christian faith.  We are able in the present status or situation to fully love the Lord and live for Him as we desire!

“However one defines ‘the commandments of God,’ keeping them is something that Christians can do in any condition, circumcised or uncircumcised, slave or free, married or celibate.  What is important is not the state that one is in, but how one lives ethically in that state.”[David Garland, 1 Corinthians, Baker Exegetical Commentary, p.306]

Let’s pray for the heightened awareness and importance of following the Lord in our present status or situation.  Pray for our churches to experience and live in this true Christian freedom – unhindered by our current status or situation and able to live for Him!

Let’s also worship the Lord through the song “Yours (Glory and Praise)” (click here) by Elevation Worship.

-BW

1 Corinthians 7:17 (NIV) . Nevertheless, each person should live as a believer in whatever situation the Lord has assigned to them, just as God has called them.

“The concept of call is first of all a way of describing Christian conversion…God’s call to Christ that comes in these various settings renders the settings themselves altogether irrelevant. Because of this, change is not necessary; indeed, a person may live out their Christian life in whatever setting that call took place. On the other hand, precisely because the settings are irrelevant, if change does take place, that too is irrelevant.  What one is not to do is to seek change as though it had religious significance, which it does not.”[Gordon Fee, 1 Corinthians, New International Commentary on the New Testament, p.341]

Our initial salvation in Christ was something that superseded the situation or status that we were in at the time – it didn’t matter if we were married or single, in school or out of school, had young children or older children or no children, God’s rescue and calling to Christ came into our lives and we responded!  Paul’s point is that if one situation or another did not influence our initial calling, neither is change of situation necessary, or even relevant, to living as a believer now.  Let’s live as a believer in whatever situation we are in!

Let’s pray for ourselves but also the ministry or small group that we are part of, that in all the various situations we find ourselves in, we will be caught up in the Lord who saved us and called us!

Let’s also worship to this song “Fullness” (click here) by Elevation Worship.

-BW

Galatians 3:26-29 (NIV) 26 So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

The most amazing status change has happened in our lives already through Jesus Christ!  It wasn’t just that we believed, but something fundamentally changed, we became children of God through faith, part of His people, His family.  There are other major categories to identify and distinguish human beings, and they tend to be quite divisive in the world, whether during Biblical times or modern day.  But as we came to faith in Christ, our primary identification now is referenced not on us or our background, but in Christ Jesus, on his work on the cross – we are now in Christ Jesus and that is now what distinguishes and identifies us.

Let’s pray that we would experience and live in the freedom of this new identity, not only individually but together with one another in Christ Jesus!

Let’s also worship to the song “Who You Say I Am” (click here) by Hillsong.

-BW