MONDAY - October 19

Read. Exodus 20:7 
 Do not use the Lord your God’s name as if it were of no significance; the Lord won’t forgive anyone who uses his name that way.
Luke 6:46-49
“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord’ and don’t do what I say? 47 I’ll show what it’s like when someone comes to me, hears my words, and puts them into practice. 48 It’s like a person building a house by digging deep and laying the foundation on bedrock. When the flood came, the rising water smashed against that house, but the water couldn’t shake the house because it was well built. 49 But those who don’t put into practice what they hear are like a person who built a house without a foundation. The floodwater smashed against it and it collapsed instantly. It was completely destroyed.”

Reflect. Generations of children have grown up learning, at home or in Sunday School, that the third commandment forbids slang phrases that use the names of God or Jesus. Jesus surely didn’t endorse such careless uses of God’s name. He did make it plain, though, that he found it a far more serious sacrilege for a person to claim to follow Jesus while ignoring God’s plain directions for living a God-pleasing life.
• Have you ever been in a community, workplace, school or other setting in which people
who vocally claimed to be “Christians” lied, cheated, willfully hurt others or acted immorally? How did that kind of jarring behavior affect the response of non-religious people to those who claim to be Christ-followers? Since we all struggle to live flawless lives, how can we avoid being like the people Jesus described in Luke 6:46?

• It may be a secondary issue, but popular dramas and comedians certainly model the use of phrases like “Oh, God” or “Jesus H. Christ” as throwaway, funny expressions. Think about the meaning of the commandment that says, “Do not use the Lord your God’s name as if it were of no significance.” Monitor your own speech patterns this week, and seek to use God’s name only in important, reverent ways.
• Pray. Lord God, when I call you “Lord,” I want to mean it seriously, to shape my life based on your lordship. Guide me in all my choices, of words and actions, to truly make you my Lord. Amen.

COMMUNITY PRAYER LIST

Doug Lawson. Collier. Glenn Ethridge. Adam Funderburk.  Mary Reber.  Linda Harmon. Betty Carolyn Ward. Albert Rasanke. Lois Robinson. Ross Henley. Tiny & Donald Creasman. Bill and Barbara Buchanan. Bonnie Brenner. Baker Family. Robert McKenzie Family. Kibler family. Carolyn Harlow. Jeff Green. Earl Graves. Mickey Huff. Huff & Welch families. Helen Leigh. Paul Huffman. Schools, Teachers, Staff, Parents, Students. Church regathering plans. Layman family. Charlene Withrow. Brandon Casteel. Dirk Orr family. Smith family. Crowder family. Lillard family. Family of Floyd Eaton. Family of Eddie Rynes. Robertson Family. Harmon Family. Nancy Ryan & family. Bobby Roberts. Elizabeth May & family. Melvin Rinehart. Susan Rogers. Brandon Haugh. Sonny Bulloch. Bobby and Joyce Reed. Jerry Plaster. Julie.


Acknowledgement:
Our current teaching series, The Power of Words, was adapted from a series developed by our partners at The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection and used with permission. Many of the resources and graphics are provided by our partners. During this series, our Read.Reflect.Pray. guide publishes the daily devotional guide (called Grow, Pray, Study) from our partners with minor adaptation.