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.”

When you were a kid, did you ask one of parents why you had to do something, and he/she replied, “Because I said so.”?

Well, here Jesus doesn’t even have to tell his disciples what to do. He has so much confidence in them that he simply states it as fact. Maybe it has something to do with the Holy Spirit coming to them.

With the Holy Spirit in your life you can’t help but witness. If you aren’t a witness of the love and power of Jesus does that mean the Holy Spirit hasn’t cracked your resistance? What do you think?

Pray for an openness to the Holy Spirit.

John 17:21-23
that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

Christians are not called to think exactly alike. The Gospels are a great witness to this. Each of these four accounts of Jesus has a different emphasis by a different author for a different immediate audience. When someone uses the Gospels as an example of “discrepancies” in scripture, you know they haven’t actually thought about them for one minute or perhaps haven’t even read them.

Jesus comes in a specific culture and time and at the same time says all cultures in all times will have an opportunity to understand and trust. However, careful listening is required.

Pray for a local church you don’t attend.

John 15:5
Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.

Did you ever have a little brother or sister who had to follow you wherever you went? People would call him/ her your “little shadow.”

Jesus is more than a shadow. He invites us to remain in him- his presence, his teaching, his love- and he will reciprocate. “I in them.” Jesus calls himself, “God,” several times using the sacred name of God, “I Am.” We see one such example here. “I am the vine.”

Jesus also brings his divine power to the rest of us as we are open to remaining in him. “I in them.” I would follow that big brother, who also happens to be God, wherever he leads. Where else would you want to go?

Pray for brothers and sisters, your own or someone else’s.

John 6:56
Anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in him.

What are we, a bunch of zombies or vampires? It’s passages like these from the Bible that must shock those who don’t know the story of Jesus. What a wonderful teachable moment about the Eucharist; Holy Communion.

Jesus comes to us in the bread and wine of Communion and declares that he is there in a way he is not in the rest of his creation, “for you.” He is present within this sacred act to bring the message of “forgiveness of sin, new life, and salvation.”

This is way better than Dracula or “Night of the Living Dead.”

Pray for those who will receive their first communion soon.

John 1:4
In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men.

Jesus offers his life to all people. This is not an anonymous or hidden inner light that is in all people just waiting to be discovered as some philosophies or religions teach. You may believe this but it doesn’t appear Jesus did. In him the light of the world is revealed in a very specific and clear way. “In the flesh,” as verse 14 will state later in this chapter.

Secret knowledge or light within that has to be discovered is exactly the kind of thinking Jesus came to correct. There is nothing secret, mysterious, or rare to being a follower of Jesus. It is just being open to live in Christ, who says, “If you have seen me, you have seen the Father.”

Pray for the basic, simple clarity of the good news of Jesus to reach those who are seeking.

Luke 24:49
I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

Pastor Tim Keller says ‘As the city goes, so goes the culture. We need churches wherever there are people, but we can have our greatest influence for good in our society if we have a strong presence in the urban centers.‘

The early church went to the cities first. Christians established centers for hope, healing, and good news in the urban arenas of the Middle East, Asia, Minor, and Europe. Only later did the faith spread to the countryside. What are the implications for this today?

Pray for the blessing of the largest city near you.

Luke 18:16-17
But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

Anyone who thinks little children are precious and completely pure has never raised or met a two year old who finally discovers he/she is not the center of the universe. As one pastor said in a sermon I heard recently, “They would kill you in a minute if you weren’t so big.”

Precious? Of course. Pure? At times. Yet, Jesus isn’t talking about the exemplary behavior of children; he is talking about their confident trust. If you say something, children expect it to be true. If they are in trouble, you will save them. If they are sad, you will comfort them. It is this trust Jesus is lifting up as a model for us all.

Pray for the children in your life.