What Are You For?
Friend of Dial Hope, one of the common mistakes in religion is made by people who try to live on negatives, people who are whiners. They are against that but do not seem to be emphatically for something of their own allegiance. They can tell you with deep emotion what they are against, but if you ask them what they are really for, they have no clear answers. To be a Christian is not to be against things; we must be positive in our faith and action. We must be filled with joy and hope. We must be for Christ and his truth and his way of life. Life is never boring, never ho-hum…it is always TA-DA!
Oliver Wendell Holmes once said, “I find the great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving! To reach the port of heaven we must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it – but we must sail, not drift, nor lie at anchor.”
In the New Testament, Paul wrote in Il Corinthians, Chapter 1:20, “For in Jesus Christ, every one of God’s promises is a YES.”
Let us pray: O God of china-blue skies and dazzling sunrises, we thank you that this day is filled with promise and possibility. Grant us boldness to move beyond security to the risk of faith, the joy of service, the laughter of love. So often we are like Jonah. We hear your call, then resist your Word, running from you as far as we can. We think that you cannot possibly use us. But we forget that where we see no way, you can create one; that when you call someone, you also provide gifts of service. Forgive our resistance and excuses. Enable each of us to see where our call lies, and to serve you with contagious enthusiasm, spontaneous emotion, and unrestrained joy. Reshape our hearts until every fiber within us yearns to do your will. Through the grace of Jesus.
Daily Message Author: Roger Kunkel
(November 24, 1934 – June 29, 2011) Rev. Dr. Roger Kunkel was a native of Parsons, Kansas, graduated from Westminster College, Fulton, Missouri, where he received an award for “Outstanding Student and Citizen”. After graduating from Princeton Theological Seminary, he earned a Doctor of Ministry degree from McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago, Illinois, and went on to serve as Senior Pastor in Duluth, Minnesota, and Riverside, Illinois. He served as Chaplain of Heritage Park Rehab Center in Bradenton, Florida, after retiring from his pastorate at First Presbyterian Church of Sarasota in 1998. Full Bio