JUSTICE

Isaiah 11:4

But with righteousness He will judge the poor, And decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth; And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, And with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked.

Bafaluto, a small village of three hundred in Gambia, was barely surviving. Without access to clean water, the entire population was stuck in a cycle of abject poverty, relentless disease, and hunger— until Brian Harrold and Pamela Morgan, entrepreneurs from Northern Ireland, spent a small fortune digging an 80-meter well for them. When asked what compelled him to do it, Brian responded, “Just to not do any harm in this world [is not] good enough.”

Similarly, the prophet Isaiah saw the world’s disorder, and he portrayed a compelling vision of the world as God intends for it to be. In this new world, God will wipe clean humanity’s vast inequities, giving “justice to the poor” (Isaiah 11:4). In this new world, God will undo every impulse toward violence—so much that even “the cow will graze near the bear” (v.7). While such a vision echoes our hearts’ true longings, it seems fanciful and unrealistic. Are these lines from Scripture theoretical sentimentalities, or do they have concrete touchstones in our world?

God does not live in the abstract—somewhere in the foggy future. He lives in the now. While the culmination of God’s good end for His creation stands in the distance, He has already begun His work toward that conclusion. Following the Eden catastrophe, God immediately put into action His rescue through Jesus—the rescue that would be obediently modeled by God’s people. First Israel, now the church.

Paul’s letters present how we, God’s tribe, are (as one writer puts it), “an anticipatory sign of God’s healing and restorative future for the world.” Even now, our love and works of justice and proclamation of the gospel reflect God’s intention for “the earth [to] be filled with people who know the Lord” (v.9). —Winn Collier, Our Daily Journey 

Intimacy with God

Read Psalm 63-Spiritual thirst is satisfied only by spiritual intimacy with God.

INSIGHT
There is a God-shaped vacuum in every human heart. Man was made for God, and his soul will be restless until it finds its rest in Him. Our longings for love, relationships, belonging, security, meaning, purpose, and identity are ultimately met only in the Lord Jesus Christ. We find temporary fulfillment in the pursuit of people, possessions, and circumstances; but eventually, these will pass away or we will change and they will no longer satisfy. We have been made for God, and we will find our deepest longings met only in Him. Make David´s prayer your own prayer for spiritual fulfillment.

PRAYER
It is amazing to think that the Creator of the universe desires a relationship with us. Praise God for His love:
The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; 
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; 
The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; 
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes (Psalm 19:7-8).

As you seek to keep your life free from sin, pray this confession to God: 
Who can understand his errors? 
Cleanse me from secret faults. 
Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; 
Let them not have dominion over me. 
Then I shall be blameless, 
And I shall be innocent of great transgression (Psalm 19:12-13).

Confess any sins that the Holy Spirit brings to your mind, and pray this affirmation to the Lord:
The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; 
The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. 
More to be desired are they than gold, 
Yea, than much fine gold; 
Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. 
Moreover by them Your servant is warned, 
And in keeping them there is great reward (Psalm 19:9-11).

As you make your requests known to the Lord, include:

• Peace in the midst of difficult circumstances
• The various ministries of your church
• Spiritual growth for family members

Offer this closing prayer to the Lord:
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart 
Be acceptable in Your sight, 
O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer (Psalm 19:14).

Stoking the Passion

Matthew 5 

¹³"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.

 ¹⁴"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. ¹⁵Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. ¹⁶In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

We are going back to school in a week and God is challenging us as Fusion to step it up!  Matthew 5 is the concept for Passion this Wednesday.

In verse 13 it talks about losing saltiness.  If a seasoning has no flavor, it has no value.  If christians make no effort to affect the world around them, they are of little value to God.  Though he sees us as priceless and died for each of us we render ourselves useless if we are too much like the world, and we are forfeiting what he truly created us for.  Christians should not blend in with everyone else.  Instead, we should affect others positively,  just as seasoning brings out the best flavor in food.  He created us to stand out, to be individually unique!  We are all priceless yet we live as we are common.

Today i want you to journal and think about your uniqueness in the world.  Take 5 minutes and write on your paper, " God, how do you see me as unique?"  Write everything that you see and feel.  

Then pray about them and see how you can develop each in your life to be a light for those around!