pastor jeff's neighborhood

October 3
Unexpected Peace

Today’s Scripture Readings: Psalm 108:1-5 | Jeremiah 1:1-2:30 | Philippians 4:1-23 | Proverbs 24:17-20

Today’s Scripture Focus: Philippians 4

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7 NIV)

“The misfortunes hardest to bear are those which never happen.” –James Russell Lowell–

We all have times when we are tempted to worry. Yet, worry is counterproductive. It consumes our attention; it saps our energy and creativity; it takes away our peace, our hope, our joy. Paul suggests an alternative to worry: prayer.

Instead of anxiety and worry, we are encouraged to pray– to bring our concerns to the Lord. In prayer, we open our hearts to God and share our deepest concerns. In petition…

Today’s Scripture Readings:

Psalm 107:33-43 | Isaiah 66:1-24 | Philippians 3:4-21 | Proverbs 24:15-16

Today’s Scripture Focus: Philippians 3

“I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.” Philippians 3:10-11 NIV

When it came to religious heritage, Paul had a lot of things going for him: He was a faithful Jew with good family connections, zealous for the law, a Pharisee who counted himself blameless. Yet, an encounter with Jesus forever altered his whole life and calling. So much so that he considered all his impressive religious credentials as loss for the sake of knowing Christ.

An encounter with Jesus is a powerful thing. Have you come to know him?

Eternal life is found in a relationship with Christ that is entered into…

From Open Up Your Heart by Jeff Syverson

October 1
Watchmen

Today’s Scripture Readings: Psalm 107:23-32 | Isaiah 62:6-65:25 | Philippians 2:19-3:4 | Proverbs 24:13-14

Today’s Scripture Focus: Isaiah 62-65

I’ve posted watchmen on your walls, Jerusalem. Day and night they keep at it, praying, calling out, reminding God to remember. They are to give him no peace until he does what he said, until he makes Jerusalem famous as the City of Praise. (Isaiah 62:6-7 The Message)

Through Isaiah, God has given a glorious vision of what Jerusalem is to become. But as with any God-given vision, it must be prayed into existence. Isaiah had the hard work of praying to receive the vision. The Watchmen had the hard work of praying the vision into reality.

Watchmen are the serious prayer warriors who give God no rest until he fulfills his promises and accomplishes the vision he has given…

From Open Up Your Heart by Jeff Syverson

September 30
Humility

Today’s Scripture Readings: Psalms 107:17-22 | Isaiah 60:1-62:5 | Philippians 1:27-2:18 | Proverbs 24:11-12

Today’s Scripture Focus: Philippians 2

In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death- even death on a cross! (Philippians 2:5-8 NIV)

Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance…

From Open Up Your Heart by Jeff Syverson

September 29
Learning to Pray from Paul

Today’s Scripture Readings: Psalms 107:10-16 | Isaiah 57:14-59:21 | Philippians 1:1-26 | Proverbs 24:9-10

Today’s Scripture Focus: Philippians 1:1-26

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, [10] so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ, [11] filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ–to the glory and praise of God. (Philippians 1:9-11 NIV)

Do you ever pray the prayers of Paul? Let me encourage you to do that. Pray them for yourself, and everyone else on your prayer list. Pray them for your pastor and church. Almost every one of the epistles of Paul has at least one prayer. They are all gems. You can learn…

Quote from Open Up Your Heart by Jeff Syverson

September 28
Joy in the House of Prayer

Today’s Scripture Readings: Psalms 107:1-9 | Isaiah 54:1-57:13 | Ephesians 6:1-24 | Proverbs 24:8

Today’s Scripture Focus: Isaiah 54:1-57:13

“These I will bring to my holy mountain and give them joy in my house of prayer.” (Isaiah 56:7 NIV)

Prayer should be a joyful experience. Whether personal times of prayer, or corporate times of prayer, those times should be characterized by joy.

Yet often, our prayers lives and prayer meetings are sleepy and boring. They lack focus. Our words become mechanical, thoughtless and flippant. We pray in unbelief and accomplish little if anything at all. One of the enemy’s greatest victories is found when a prayer meeting loses life and vitality and becomes a boring, redundant exercise proving the faithfulness of a few.

There is joy in his presence (fullness of joy) and…

September 27
Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs

Today’s Scripture Reading: Psalms 106:40-48 | Isaiah 51:1-53:12 | Ephesians 5:1-33 | Proverbs 24:7

Today’s Scripture Focus: Ephesians 5:1-33

“Be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord.” (Ephesians 5:18b-19 NIV)

One good indicator of a life lived in the fullness of the Spirit is a joyful, singing heart. When the Holy Spirit is really in control, he fills you with joy and he fills your heart with singing. Life lived in the flesh doesn’t produce joyful songs, but life in the Spirit always does.

Life lived with eyes focused on circumstances often drags down our spirit, but life lived with eyes focused on Jesus is likely to lead us to singing.

When we try to remain in control, our lives are filled with anxious worry…

September 26
I Have Not Forgotten You

Today’s Scripture Readings: Psalm 106:32-39 | Isaiah 48:12-50:11 | Ephesians 4:17-32 | Proverbs 24:5-6

Today’s Scripture Focus: Isaiah 49

But Zion said, “The LORD has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me.” (Isaiah 49:14 ESV)

Have you ever wondered if God had forgotten about you? Sometimes our prayers seem to go on unanswered for so long that we think he has forgotten us. Sometimes the circumstances of our lives are difficult and painful and we wonder how God could ever allow us to go through such a thing.

There are times that we wonder. There are times we may even say it: “The LORD has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me.” It may be a statement that is true to our feelings, but it is never really true. God never forgets his people. He never forsakes us.

Isaiah goes on to say:…

September 25
Thank You for Your Support!

Today’s Scripture Readings: Psalm 106:24-31 | Isaiah 45:11-48:11 | Ephesians 4:1-16 | Proverbs 24:3-4

From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. (Ephesians 4:16 NIV)

We each have a vital role to play in the body of Christ. Each of us is gifted for ministry. The leadership gifts (like pastor-teacher) are given in large part to equip the body (all of us) to do the work of the ministry. We don’t sit in a pew and pay the pastor to do the work. The “up-front gifts” are given to equip those with the “behind the scenes gifts” to join those “up-front” in the work of ministry. Listen carefully to Paul: “It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to…

September 24
He Is Doing A New Thing

Today’s Scripture Readings: Psalms 106:13-23 | Isaiah 43:14 – 45:10 | Ephesians 3:1-21 | Proverbs 24:1-2

Today’s Scripture Focus: Isaiah 43-45

“Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” (Isaiah 43:19 NIV)

Your situation is never hopeless with God. He is the God of new things. When there seems to be no hope, he opens a new opportunity.

He is the God who makes a way in the wilderness. In the wilderness you are tried and tested. You may feel alone and desperate. It may seem like you’ll be stuck in the wilderness forever. But God will not leave you there forever. When the time is right, he will make a way.

He is the God who is able to make…