Morning Encouragement

Attitudes Shaped by Grace | Day 41 “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” (Ephesians 4:29, NIV) A bright and blessed morning to you. Almost everyone who has spent time in church knows the sound. The sanctuary is quiet, and the congregation is bowed in prayer. Then somewhere in the pews a phone

Attitudes Shaped by Grace | Day 40 “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” (Acts 2:42, NIV) Grace and joy to you this morning. Anyone who has spent time around a farm knows the pasture gate. It hangs between two heavy posts, it sags a little more each year, and it has one job. It keeps the flock in the field where the grass is good and keeps whatever hunts at night on the other side of the fence. No farmer ever hung a gate to keep his own lambs out. Every congregation has a gate too, and this morning we ask what it was built for.

Attitudes Shaped by Grace | Day 39 “My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, ‘Here’s a good seat for you,’ but say to the poor man, ‘You stand there’ or ‘Sit on the floor by my feet,’ have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?” (James 2:1-4, NIV)

Attitudes Shaped by Grace | Day 38 “Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that ‘We all possess knowledge.’ But knowledge puffs up while love builds up.” (1 Corinthians 8:1, NIV) Grace and peace to you as this day begins. Most of us can still name two teachers from our school years. One made us feel small for raising a hand, and before long we stopped raising it. The other made every question feel welcome, and we learned more in that room than we ever expected. Both of them may have known their subject equally well. What set them apart was what they did with what they knew.

Attitudes Shaped by Grace | Day 36 “On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.” (1 Corinthians 12:22-26, NIV)

Attitudes Shaped by Grace | Day 35 “The eye cannot say to the hand, ‘I don’t need you!’ And the head cannot say to the feet, ‘I don’t need you!’” (1 Corinthians 12:21, NIV) Good morning, and welcome to a new day the Lord has made for you. Most kitchens have a jar that will not open. We twist until our palm turns red. We run the lid under hot water, tap it on the edge of the counter, and wrap it in a dish towel for a better grip. Someone across the room says, “Here, let me try,” and we tell them we can handle it. A few minutes later we finally hand it over, and they open it on the first turn.

Attitudes Shaped by Grace | Day 34 “Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping. ‘Couldn’t you men keep watch with me for one hour?’ he asked Peter.” (Matthew 26:40, NIV) Peace to you as this day begins. Most of us know the moment. The service has gone past the hour, the sermon is still going, and our eyes drift to the clock on the back wall or the watch on our wrist. We want to be there. We came because we love the Lord and want to hear his Word.

Attitudes Shaped by Grace | Day 33 “Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:46-47, NIV) Good morning, and may the Lord fill this day with his gladness. In many congregations there is one faithful person who arrives before anyone else.

Attitudes Shaped by Grace | Day 32 “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:24-25, NIV) A warm good morning to every one of you. Many congregations print a photo directory every few years, page after page of families in their Sunday best. Leaf through an old one and familiar faces turn up that we have not seen in worship for a long time. Some moved away. Some have gone home to be with the Lord. And some stopped coming because something happened inside that church that hurt them. This morning is for them, and for all of us who still notice the spaces they left.

Attitudes Shaped by Grace | Day 31 “Jesus answered them, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.’” (Luke 5:31-32, NIV) Come on in, friends, and good morning. Picture the front doors of your church. Somewhere near them is a sign with the service times and perhaps the pastor’s name. No congregation we know of has ever posted a sign that says Healthy People Only.

Attitudes Shaped by Grace | Day 30 “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.” (Philippians 2:3-4, NIV) Good morning, friends. Think about the last time you passed someone in a doorway or a hallway and the whole conversation took two seconds. “How are you?” “Fine, you?” “Good.” Both of you kept walking. Nothing was lied about, exactly, and nothing was said either.

Attitudes Shaped by Grace | Day 29 “To answer before listening— that is folly and shame.” (Proverbs 18:13, NIV) Good morning, dear friends. A text comes in and the screen shows only the first line. Before we open it, we have decided what the rest of the message says, and our thumbs are already moving. Keep that half-read message in mind this morning, because the Lord has a word for us about the stories we finish for other people before they have finished telling them.

Attitudes Shaped by Grace | Day 28 “no weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and this is their vindication from me,” declares the LORD. (Isaiah 54:17, NIV) Good morning, and welcome to a new day. Most of us have delivered a speech in the shower or on the drive to work that no one else will ever hear. It is the reply we wish we had given, the correction we would make if the person who got the story wrong about us would only sit still and listen.

Attitudes Shaped by Grace | Day 27 “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” (Luke 22:42 NIV) Good morning, friend. There is a prayer in Scripture that most of us can say from memory, even if we have never tried to learn it. Jesus prayed it in a garden on the night before he died, with his closest friends asleep a stone’s throw away.

Attitudes Shaped by Grace | Day 26 “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” (2 Corinthians 1:3-4, NIV) Good morning, friends in Christ. Imagine standing beneath a single bright stage light in an otherwise dark room. Everyone can see the person standing in that light, but the person standing there can barely see anyone beyond it. Sorrow can do that to us.

Attitudes Shaped by Grace | Day 25 “Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” (Romans 5:3-5, NIV)

Attitudes Shaped by Grace | Day 24 “So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak.” (Genesis 32:24, NIV) Good morning. Some of us woke up already tired, and not because of what happened yesterday. We are tired from everything we are still trying to hold together: the situation at work that has not resolved, the family member who has not come around, the diagnosis that has not improved, the plan we have run through our minds so many times we could recite it in our sleep. Our jaws were clenched before our feet found the floor. This morning is for us.

Attitudes Shaped by Grace | Day 23 “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7, NIV) Good morning, dear friend! Anyone who has carried a heavy pack on a long walk knows the odd feeling that comes at the end of it. You set the pack down, and for a few moments your shoulders still feel the weight that is no longer there. The body has grown so used to carrying that it takes a while to believe the load is gone. Keep that feeling in mind this morning, because it has something to teach us about our worries.

Attitudes Shaped by Grace | Day 21 “Better a patient person than a warrior, one with self-control than one who takes a city.” (Proverbs 16:32, NIV) Good morning, dear friends. Most of us learned a lesson early that no one ever wrote down for us. The person who raises their voice gets the room. You may have seen it at a dinner table where the loudest one ended the argument, or in a workplace where the manager who slammed the folder got the fastest results, or in a comment thread where the sharpest reply collected the most applause.

Attitudes Shaped by Grace | Day 21 “Better a patient person than a warrior, one with self-control than one who takes a city.” (Proverbs 16:32, NIV) Good morning, dear friends. Most of us learned a lesson early that no one ever wrote down for us. The person who raises their voice gets the room. You may have seen it at a dinner table where the loudest one ended the argument, or in a workplace where the manager who slammed the folder got the fastest results, or in a comment thread where the sharpest reply collected the most applause.