Do you remember the Amish schoolhouse shooting of 2006?  It was a tragic scene.  A gunman entered an “old order Amish” one room schoolhouse, eventually shooting ten girls, five of them died.  The shooter then killed himself.  It was a vivid commentary on a depraved and sin sick world.  The episode reminded us of the long reach of sin in our society.  If there was any group of people we would consider insulated from sin, it would have been the pre-teen children in that schoolhouse, right?  When something so horrible affects even the most isolated group of Christians we can know, without a doubt, evil is real.  The amazing result of all this is not the reminder of evil in this world, but the presence of forgiveness!  What an appropriate context to consider the next phrase in the Model Prayer, “And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” Matthew 6: 12.  The Amish of Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania did not merely give lip service to the concept of forgiveness, they put their faith into action.  Among the 75 mourners attending the funeral of the deranged gunman, the majority were Amish.  What forgiveness!  The national media was shocked by the selfless forgiveness demonstrated by the Amish families.  We should not be shocked.  The prayer Jesus taught us reveals the reason behind this astonishing forgiveness.  Jesus answers the question the media was asking:  “How could they forgive like that?”  The answer is; they forgive because they have been forgiven.
          In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus taught us that we can only forgive others when we have truly experienced the awe inspiring forgiveness of the cross of Christ.  The truth of the matter is that I don’t deserve forgiveness any more than that gunman.  When I realize that I am as deserving of death as that killer, then I have a whole new perspective on forgiveness.  If I am unwilling to forgive those who hurt me or the ones I love, how can I expect God to forgive me?  The pain I have caused God through my own sin is infinitely greater than the pain that anyone has or ever will cause me.  If God by his grace can forgive me, should I not forgive those who hurt me?  Has someone hurt you?  Would you be willing to forgive them today?  Would you be willing to let the gospel shine through your life today?  Call that person, talk about your hurt and FORGIVE them.  Don’t forgive them so you can be good; forgive them because God is good.  To God be the supreme glory in all things!
 
In Christ,
Blain Craig

“Give us this day our daily bread” Matthew 6:11.  With many of our refrigerators filled with enough food to take us through today, and next week or maybe even next month, the temptation of many Christians might be to pray this more as a cliché than as a sincere petition.  I certainly hope we have not come to the point in our “food rich” culture of thinking that the food we have is anything less than God’s grace.  Paul reminds us, “For who regards you as superior?  What do you have that you did not receive?  And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?” 1 Corinthians 4:7.  Just because we no longer live in an agrarian society where a day’s wage bought a day’s food, does not mean God is still not the graceful provider of all that we have. 

In teaching us to pray for God’s daily provision, Jesus is teaching us to not only recognize God’s glory, but also God’s grace.  Food is one of the most basic needs for survival.  Only God can sustain life, not our hard work.  Contrary to popular belief, we are not in control of our food supply.  Just as God provided manna in the wilderness, he provides us with all the food that we take for granted every day.  So often I catch myself thanking God for food before a meal merely out of habit or some ritualistic obligation.  That should never be the case.  Every meal is truly a gift from a loving God.  Every meal is an opportunity to praise him and thank him for his goodness and blessing.  What a great and gracious God we serve! 

The petition for daily food should also remind us that food alone is not sufficient for a full life.  Jesus recognized this truth well when he answered the temptation of the devil, quoting, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” Matthew 4:4.  My sincere desire for all of us is that when we open God’s Word, whether on a Sunday morning or in our private devotional times, that it will truly be a spiritual feast.  We need the nourishing milk of the Word along with the substantial meat of the Word.  Oak Crest family, let us be very careful to remember:  if our tummys are fat with good food, but our minds and hearts are empty of God’s word, we are malnourished indeed. 
 
In Christ,
Blain Craig