James 3:17-18 (wisdom, weakness)

* Welcome God every morning before work by taking ~5 min to read this Living In Faith Exchange (LIFE) Group devotion (life-devotions.blogspot.com), which has snippets from Living Faith (livingfaith.com).

The wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peaceable, gentle, compliant, full of mercy and good fruits, without inconstancy or insincerity. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace for those who cultivate peace. James 8:17-18

Living Faith snippets: “I found God calling me to advocate on behalf of others who felt voiceless [i.e. the unborn!]. I do not thrive on conflict. I’ve spent much of my life avoiding it. Why, I wondered, would God call me to such contentious work? As I prayed about it, God seemed to be saying that those qualities that I thought disqualified me were precisely the ones he was looking for.” by Mark Mossa

* Weakness: Last Wed, I shared this snippet…”Einstein dismissed the idea of God as the product of human weakness and the Bible as “pretty childish.”” While praying about this on a run, it occurred to me that Einstein’s conclusion unintentionally pointed to wisdom from above. God makes it clear that we must approach Him in our weakness and as His children (trusting and obedient)…allowing us to see God (God sightings). “At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children” (Matt 11:25). “Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these” (Matt 19:14). God is able to help us in our weakness. “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cor 12:9-10).

* Our Great Commission goal: “He said to them [us], “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation” (Mark 16:15). Please consider making a commitment each week to invite at least one friend or family member to join the LIFE Devotions group, providing routine spiritual connection and strength.

ProLife: Last Thurs, the national campaign director of 40 Days for Life, Dave Bereit, gave a talk in Washington, D.C. entitled: “Pro-Life 2.0: Exciting New Developments to Help End Abortion in America.” In the one hour talk, he explored the major trends that leveraged the growth and impact of 40 Days for Life, and how we can use these trends for our ProLife work. He started with a ~15 min summary on the impact of 40 Days for Life (impressive!) and then discussed the trends: Return to God, Bottom Up Empowerment, Collaborative Multiplication, Decentralization of the Media, Shift in Organizational Model, Change of Attitude (expect victory). Hear talk at www.40daysforlife.com/blog/audio/prolife2.mp3.

Our Prayers: Abortion, our enemies, our troops, China earthquake, Myanmar cyclone, depression/despair, Kay Castle (crimes against children), Vicki Miller (cancer treatment), Pam McGushin (Cindy’s cancer treatment), Tom Tenpenny (Anna’s cancer treatment), Dale Sundermann (strength for his Mom), Jenny Senour (ProLife job interview)
* New: Please pray for my niece Shantelle (severely misguided by the world).

Faith Quote: “Show that Christians aren’t necessarily pharisees (only praying in public for show) but rather two-fisted Christ warriors who pray on one hand and DO on the other.” by Teresa Perdue (LIFE Devotions group member)
* If you have an inspiring faith quote, please send it to me for sharing in the devotion.

Through Christ for ProLife,
Pat
Phil 4:13
life-devotions.blogspot.com

* Today’s Bible readings at www.usccb.org/nab/today.shtml.
* Prayer: If you have a prayer request, simply send it to our distribution list at life-group-distro@googlegroups.com. Prayer connects us with God’s will & His miracles, thereby changing us & helping others. Wayne Watson, “When God’s people pray, there is hope reborn, there is sin forgiven, and miracles you can’t explain await!” “If you pray that God will move a mountain and He doesn’t, assume Christ wants you to climb it instead & see Him.”
* Defend the unborn: ProLife websites at life-devotions.blogspot.com. ‘Rescue those who are unjustly sentenced to death; don’t stand back and let them die’ (Prov 24:11). ‘Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you’ (Jer 1:5). ‘It is a great poverty that a child must die that you might live as you wish’ Blessed Mother Teresa. Click for Prayer to End Abortion.
* Share the Good News: Let’s joyfully live out the Good News and gladly tell others about it (Mark 16:15)! Let’s make room to share with non-believers (be a friend, make a friend, lead your friend to Christ)…and work on perpetual re-evangelization of ourselves and those close to us (Western culture), drawing closer to God’s will by way of daily prayer (relationship) and following Christ’s example of selfless love, mercy, and service…