Day 21. You're Created for Such A Time As This [S01:E21]
21 Days of Prayer & Meditation (with Anthony Skinner)
Release Date: 01/21/2025
21 Days of Prayer & Meditation (with Anthony Skinner)
PROLOGUE We have spent 21 days in centering prayer, focusing our attentions and affections on God. What a precious time it has been. The nearness of God is surely for our good. The kindness of the Lord truly leads us to repentance. The steadfast love of God and his beautiful presence is transformative. Taking time to behold him really does change us. He is with us always. And His steadfast love endures forever. SCRIPTURE Esther 4:14 “And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?” DEVOTIONAL The scripture in Esther 4:14 is in reference to God...
info_outline21 Days of Prayer & Meditation (with Anthony Skinner)
SCRIPTURE Revelation 7:9-10 “I saw a vast crowd, too great to count, from every nation and tribe and people and language, standing in front of the throne and before the Lamb...And they were shouting with a great roar, ‘Salvation comes from our God who sits on the throne and from the Lamb!’” DEVOTION Imagine this scene: A crowd with people from every nation, every tribe, every people, every language, all standing in front of the throne, joyfully worshipping at the top of their lungs. That scene sounds like the most electrifying, exciting, chaotic, joyful, unified display of life....
info_outline21 Days of Prayer & Meditation (with Anthony Skinner)
SCRIPTURE Acts 4:32 “They shared everything they had.” DEVOTIONAL “And all the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had.” (Acts 4:32) Where could such generosity come from? To hold all things in common and see resources as something to be freely shared and given away? To be in one heart and mind and enjoy every minute of it! Acts 4:32 is fruit from experiencing the presence and belonging of God. His presence and belonging reveal the knowledge of God and who...
info_outline21 Days of Prayer & Meditation (with Anthony Skinner)
SCRIPTURE Isaiah 61:8 “For I, the LORD, love justice; I hate robbery and wrongdoing. DEVOTIONAL We see in Isaiah 61 that God clearly defines what He loves and hates. He loves justice. That means he loves fairness, equality, and balanced scales. And just as much as God loves justice, He hates its’ opposite - robbery and injustice. He hates wrongdoing, inequality, and unbalanced distributions. There have been cases of injustice and robbery throughout history. But there is a foundational story of robbery and injustice that the whole earth is...
info_outline21 Days of Prayer & Meditation (with Anthony Skinner)
SCRIPTURE Luke 19:10 states: For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save (sozo) that which was lost. DEVOTIONAL Jesus came to ransom back what was lost. To rescue his glorious inheritance, which is us! Yes, He came to save all of humankind. But what does the word “save” mean? The word save is “sozo” in Greek and represents more than salvation. It means salvation, healing, and deliverance. It means to make whole again. Our beautiful Jesus did not just come to save a part of us. No, he came to save all of us. We are born...
info_outline21 Days of Prayer & Meditation (with Anthony Skinner)
SCRIPTURE Exodus 33:14 And He said, "My presence shall go with you.” DEVOTIONAL Romans 8:19 says, “All creation is eagerly waiting, yearning to see the unveiling of God’s glorious sons and daughters!” What is creation waiting for? They are waiting for us to bring heaven to earth and take our place as co-heirs with Christ. How do we do such an abstract, overwhelming thing? We simply bring the presence of God with us as we go through our day. We lean into our relationship with God and do what we “see” the Father doing. (John 5:19) We...
info_outline21 Days of Prayer & Meditation (with Anthony Skinner)
SCRIPTURE Acts 17:28 “For in him we live and move and have our being.” DEVOTIONAL From the beginning, God established a precedent by walking in the garden daily with Adam and Eve. We were all made to walk with and experience God’s presence as a natural, everyday part of our lives. God created us to depend upon Him and his presence and even to partner with him in our decision-making processes. Jesus emphasized this importance when he said, “I’m telling you this straight. The Son can’t independently do a thing, only what he sees the Father doing. What the Father...
info_outline21 Days of Prayer & Meditation (with Anthony Skinner)
SCRIPTURE Galatians 4:6 Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God. DEVOTIONAL Belonging is the knowledge of being part of God’s family. It is the spirit of adoption, the spirit of sonship. And it is the opposite of an orphan spirit. Belonging brings safety and security. It allows us to live from love, not for love. Imagine an orphan on the street. They have to look out for themselves. Their goal is to survive. They must stay...
info_outline21 Days of Prayer & Meditation (with Anthony Skinner)
SCRIPTURE Do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance? Rom 2:4 DEVOTIONAL Jesus said, “Repent for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” (Matt 3:2). Repentance is part of preparing and widening the road for the kingdom of God to come. We see in Romans 2:4 that God's kindness leads us to repentance. Through his kindness and grace towards us, we are empowered to reject anything less than what God wants for us, turn, and grab hold of His higher ways. God wants to bring us into...
info_outline21 Days of Prayer & Meditation (with Anthony Skinner)
SCRIPTURE Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:10 (NIV) DEVOTIONAL When teaching the disciples to pray, Jesus said, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”. His language is an invitation to awaken our hearts to a greater awareness of Heaven. His prayer moves us towards cultivating our ability to see beyond what is right in front of our eyes and begs the question, “What is Heaven’s reality?” The more knowledgeable we become to what Heaven looks like... the more accurately we can pray through our desires, our...
info_outlinePROLOGUE
We have spent 21 days in centering prayer, focusing our attentions and affections on God. What a precious time it has been. The nearness of God is surely for our good. The kindness of the Lord truly leads us to repentance. The steadfast love of God and his beautiful presence is transformative. Taking time to behold him really does change us. He is with us always. And His steadfast love endures forever.
SCRIPTURE
Esther 4:14 “And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”
DEVOTIONAL
The scripture in Esther 4:14 is in reference to God positioning Queen Esther (Queen of Persia) in a place of influence so that she could speak up for the Jews who couldn’t speak for themselves. Her obedience to “her” moment in history actually saved her people from being destroyed.
Yesterday, in the United States it was Martin Luther King Day. On this day we celebrate and think upon a life of one who lived and died to work for the Kingdom of God to be established on earth through racial equality.
Dr. King’s life was an example of a life lived “for such a time as this.” He said, “I have a dream.” And he did. That black and white and red and brown and jew and gentile and boy and girl and all God’s children would live together in peace and unity. But the authority of his conviction was on the fact that his dream was originally God’s dream. Dr. King knew what was right. He knew who God was and what God loves and hates. Dr. King knew when he fought for the kingdom of God, he was moving within the will of his loving father and God was with him. He was acting as a prophet, priest, and king, to co-labor with God - to establish “thy kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.” He had confidence to go up against oppression because God hates injustice and robbery.
You are also a prophet, priest, and king. And you were chosen to be alive “for such a time as this.” It is no mistake that you have been brought to this day, to this hour. Your age, your race, your background and lineage, your skill set, your personality, your story - it is all part of this moment. God is wanting to establish and increase his kingdom of peace and love inside of you and establish it on the earth through you.
You may not be called to do something extraordinary in man’s eyes. You may not get the recognition of man. You may never step on a podium or stage. In fact, you may not be called to do it in ways that bring attention to anyone but your loving Father in heaven. Or you may be called to risk reputation, financial stability, the comforts of daily living, and even risk your life. These things are between you and God.
But what is known is this. God is sovereign. God is good. God is with you always. You are secure in God’s love. You are already seen. You are already known. You are already important, and valuable, and irreplaceable to God.
God’s call to us not about comparison. We all belong. We all have a place. We do not need to earn God’s love or man’s praise. There is no need to be bullied by the values of a broken world, by what man sees as valuable or productive. And we all have good works to do that were set out before the foundation of the world.
This is a call to step into your time...each day...saying yes to the love of God for yourself and others...and the purposes of God that he has for you...daily...for such a time as this.
REFLECTION
Where have I said yes to dreaming with God?
Where have I said no to dreaming with God? Why?
Where have I said yes to living a life of “for such a time as this”?
Where have I said no to living a life of “for such a time as this”? Why?
PRAYER
God wake me up to my design. Wake me up to why you have created me for this place and this time in history. Help me to embrace your dreams!