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Day 28 - April 5

Intention:

Pray that those standing in peaceful vigil will extend mercy and grace to others as they remember that Christ did not treat us as our sins deserve.

Scripture:

You have heard it was said, 'you shall love your neighbor, and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you.

-- Matthew 5: 43-44

Reflection:

Perhaps it is obvious by now that not everyone thinks this campaign is a great idea! In fact, those on the front lines standing in peaceful vigil are perhaps being cursed and hated for what God has called you to do. Because we are all fallen creatures, our natural response may not be as Christ-like as we would hope it would be.

So, how do we keep our natural response in check, while allowing the Holy Spirit to empower us to love, bless, do good, and pray for those who hate us or would do us harm?

Consider first the Holiness of God. It seems that sin has clouded our ability to think clearly about God's nature. We simply don't have a clue of how outraged God is by our sin, what an insult sin is to His person, or how sin fires the flames of His wrath. Praise God that He didn't leave us in our depravity destined for His divine wrath!

Ephesians 2:4-5 says, "But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in sin, made us alive together with Christ; by grace you have been saved."

Because of God's mercy and grace towards us, we who receive Him receive eternal Hope. Those who curse you, hate you, spitefully mistreat you and persecute you need that same Hope. That is the only way we can ever expect them to behave differently. Ask the Holy Spirit to love them -- through you -- so they are drawn to the Hope that is in you, that is Christ Jesus.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, may we reflect your character of grace and kindness to those who hate us and curse us. Guard our hearts and our tongues as we respond in love to words and actions meant to rile us or cause us harm. Let others see the Hope that is Christ in all we say and do. In His precious name we pray, amen.

Carmen Pate
Co-host, "Point of View" Talk Show

Today’s email from Shawn Carney:

In many communities, abortion is “out of sight, out of
mind.” People just DON’T KNOW what’s going on in their
own towns, in their own neighborhoods.

Do people in YOUR TOWN know? Here are a couple of
examples of campaigns that are getting the word out.

OAKVILLE, ONTARIO

The 40 Days for Life vigil in front of Oakville-
Trafalgar Memorial Hospital is the first for this
Canadian community.

“Many people didn’t think that abortions occur at this
hospital,” said Louise, the local coordinator. But that
fact “has been confirmed by many people who have had an
abortion (or multiple abortions) at this hospital.”

Louise says the campaign has been very rewarding.

“Several women have told us that they regret their
abortion and others have expressed their gratitude
that they did not have an abortion because they have
a beautiful child today.”

The Oakville campaign has been featured twice in the
local newspaper. “Both coverages reflected positively
on us,” she said.

For a link to one of the news articles about 40 Days
for Life in Oakville, please go to:

http://40daysforlife.com/blog/?p=1928

ANCHORAGE, ALASKA

Community outreach is an important part of the 40 Days
for Life effort in Anchorage.

“We had several teams canvassing the neighborhoods and
commercial buildings near the abortion facilities,” said
Haylee, the local coordinator in Anchorage.

“We would love to be able to spread out our efforts
and be able to make more people aware of the 40 Days
for Life campaign going on right now,” she added.

Haylee was interviewed by the local CBS affiliate. It
was not in their plan, she said, but it worked out.

In typical fashion, Planned Parenthood complained that
its clients were being harassed by protesters. While
Planned Parenthood was allowed its say in the interview,
the TV news report simply shows a quiet prayer vigil
and no evidence of any “harassment” whatsoever.

For a link to the video from KTVA in Anchorage (plus a
bonus photo of a dedicated volunteer praying in a snow
storm!), please go to:

http://40daysforlife.com/blog/?p=1928

Haylee asked for prayer for the Planned Parenthood
executive who appears in that news video. “She has an
office across the street and may be able to see us out
of her window. We need to be there for her.”

FROM THE 40 DAYS FOR LIFE BLOG

Another one of the blessings of this campaign is that
people simply going out to pray at their local abortion
center — whether it’s “officially” part of 40 Days for
Life or not.

Here’s one such story from the 40 Days for Life blog.

Five people went to pray outside an abortion facility —
and were permitted to see a miracle.

A young woman had arrived for an abortion appointment.
She was pretty angry when she arrived. Her boyfriend
wanted to keep the baby, but she had three children
already and said that was enough.

As she walked in, she was starting to have second
thoughts. She would look at an ultrasound, and then
make up her mind. As is often the case, one look was
all it took.

“I was going to do it,” she said, “but decided not to.”

“God is so good,” said one of the prayer volunteers.

Yes, He is!

And you know we’re going to do this again in September,
right? If you’re in one of these cities where people are
starting to pray at the abortion centers more often ...
who knows? Maybe the Lord is calling YOU to help bring
40 Days for Life to your city!