Key Thought

Today's Prayer

O Lord God Almighty, please forgive me for the barriers and the labels that I allow to be erected between me and others who are your precious creations and who so desperately need your grace. Use me to help make your people more open to all peoples so that our earthly reality can mirror the complete racial and social diversity and equality that exist in the glory of heaven. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Today's Verses in Context

Jesus finished saying all these things to the people. Then Jesus went into Capernaum. In Capernaum there was an army officer. The officer had a servant that was very sick; he was near death. The officer loved the servant very much. When the officer heard about Jesus, he sent some older Jewish leaders to him. The officer wanted the men to ask Jesus to come and save the life of his servant. The men went to Jesus. They begged Jesus {to help the officer}. They said, "This officer is worthy to have your help. He loves our people and he built the synagogue for us." So Jesus went with the men. Jesus was coming near the officer's house when the officer sent friends to say, "Lord, you don't need to do anything special for me. I am not good enough for you to come into my house. That is why I did not come to you myself. You only need to give the order and my servant boy will be healed. {I understand your authority.} I am a man under the authority (power) of other men. And I have soldiers under my authority. I tell one soldier, 'Go,' and he goes. And I tell another soldier, 'Come,' and he comes. And I say to my servant, 'Do this,' and my servant obeys me." When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Jesus turned to the people that were following him. Jesus said, "I tell you, this is the most faith I have seen anywhere, even in Israel. " The group that was sent to Jesus went back to the house. There they found that the servant was healed.

Related Scripture Readings

You were all baptized into Christ. So you were all clothed with Christ. This shows that you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. Now, in Christ, there is no difference between Jew and Greek (non-Jew). There is no difference between slaves and free people. There is no difference between male and female. You are all the same in Christ Jesus. You belong to Christ. So you are Abraham's descendants. You get all of God's blessings because of the promise {that God made to Abraham}. I want to tell you this: While the heir is still a child, he is no different from a slave. It doesn't matter that the heir owns everything. Why? Because while he is a child, he must obey the people who are chosen to care for him. But when the child reaches the age his father set, he is free. It is the same for us. We were once like children. We were slaves to the useless rules of this world. But when the right time came, God sent his Son. God's Son was born from a woman. God's Son lived under the law. God did this so that he could buy the freedom of the people who were under the law. God's purpose was to make us his children. You are God's children. That is why God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts. The Spirit cries out, "Abba, Father." So now you are not a slave like before. You are God's child. God will give you the things he promised, because you are his child.

Because of Christ we now have peace. Christ made us both (Jews and non-Jews) one people. The Jews and the non-Jews were separated like there was a wall between them. They hated each other. But Christ broke down that wall of hate by {giving} his own body. The Jewish law had many commands and rules. But Christ ended that law. Christ's purpose was to make the two groups of people (Jews and non-Jews) become one new people in him. By doing this Christ would make peace. Through the cross Christ ended the hate between the two groups. And after the two groups became one body, Christ wanted to bring them both back to God. Christ did this with his death on the cross. Christ came and preached peace to you people (non-Jews) who were far away {from God}. And he preached peace to the people (Jews) who were near {to God}. Yes, through Christ we all have the right to come to the Father in one Spirit.

Then I looked, and there were many, many people. There were so many people that a person could not count them all. They were from every nation, tribe, race of people, and language of the earth. These people were standing before the throne and before the Lamb (Jesus). They all wore white robes and had palm branches in their hands. They shouted with a loud voice, "Victory belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb."