July 22

Read 1 Peter 5

^6-7So be content with who you are, and don't put on airs. God's strong hand is on you; he'll promote you at the right time. Live carefree before God; he is most careful with you. (The Message)

One of the great difficulties of reading the Bible these days is when you read phrases like the one above. Out of context it begins to sound like just more of the same self-help stuff, that is so easy to say but so empty in reality, that seems to pervade our society. It begins to sound like the things that well meaning people say to others when they don't know what else to say and only end up driving people away from God rather than closer to God. So there are times that we might be tempted to simply hold on to these nuggets of truth rather than share them with someone else. When we do this not only do other people lose out but God loses out as well.
I believe that there is a right way and a wrong way to share scripture. The wrong way includes things like writing it on the bathroom wall of a public place, sharing an "inspirational track" as a tip for a server, or throwing it an acquaintance so as to avoid the hard work of listening and standing with them in times of suffering. At a conference several years ago I heard Wayne Cordeiro as he was talking about the preaching experience for pastors say something along the lines of "first you must take the scripture into your heart before you let it come out of your mouth." I think these are wise words for all those who believe in Jesus to keep in front of us.

Some thoughts to ponder and share with others:

• Have you ever had scripture "thrown at you?" How did it make you feel? How did  you respond?
• When you consider the scripture that you find encouraging why do you think you keep coming back to it? What scripture is it?
• If you read the above scripture from different Bible editions would it have a different meaning to you?
• What might you do to incorporate scripture more into your heart? Can you do this best by yourself or with others?

Prayer Focus:

• Pray for a friend, neighbor, or family member that does not have a church home that you might invite to join you at New Ground.
• Pray for the people who God might lead to New ground who have a passion for leading God's people in worship.