My mother-in-law often tells my 5-year-old daughter that she "did good." Even at her age, she is learning the value of doing good to others, sometimes far from home.

Bless Others

It must have been hard for God’s people to "do good" when Jeremiah instructed them to pray for the welfare of the cities in which they were living. Years of degrading exile from their homeland to Babylon had brought frustration and turmoil. Yet even in tough times, God instructs us to "Bless those who persecute you. Don't curse them"(Romans 12:14).

In Exile

Did you know that you, as a Christian, are in exile? The world is not our home; we have an eternal one in Heaven! St. Peter wrote to his friends, "I warn you as 'temporary residents and foreigners' to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. Be careful to live properly amongst your unbelieving neighbors [so] they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God" (1 Peter 2:11-12).So when we Christians "do good," our behaviour is a testimony to God's goodness. We are preaching with our actions!

An Envoy from God

Doing good isn't always easy. Even Jesus was persecuted -- and He is God’s most important Ambassador! Instead, Jesus tell us, "If the world hates you, remember that it hated Me first. The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world." (John 15:18-19). Instead, we should continue to tell the Good News -- with words and actions. As the Apostle Paul said, "For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, no longer counting people's sins against them. And He gave us this wonderful Message of reconciliation. So we are Christ's ambassadors; God is making His appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, 'Come back to God!' (2 Corinthians 5:19-20).

Prayer, Care, and Share Jesus

"All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men'd sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconcilliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.(2 Corinthians 5:18-20)

You are an authorized messeger or representative of Jesus Christ! Your mission is the message of reconcilliation. You have already started to do this by praying for people everywhere, everyday.

Being an ambassador is often associated with a country - a place. This week we expand the focus of our daily prayers to include all places or organizations where you might go during the week. This includes:

• Places where you work, play, exercise, or shop;
• Cities, towns, or suburbs you travel to;
• Your or your children’s school or college;
• Anywhere else you might go: doctor’s office, police station, etc.

You are Christ's ambassador and you pray for God's blessing, peace and kingdom - His reconciliation - to come to these places.

We are excited with you to be able to pray for so many people daily. Some of you asked how to expand your prayers beyond praying for peace and blessing. We suggest you pray God's blessing and peace on one or more of the following aspects of people's lives (note the BLESS acronym):

• Body - health, protection, strength
• Labor - work, income, security
• Emotions - joy, peace, hope, love
• Social relationships - marriage, family relationships, friends, neighbors, colleagues
• Spiritual relationship - salvation, faith, grace, mercy, spiritual growth, forgiveness of sin (Neh. 1:6-9)

Tell us how it is going this week. How did you apply this week's prayer teaching? Did you remember to pray for places? Did you apply the BLESS acronym in praying for someone?