@FirstChurchofJerusalem
Today's Early Church Wisdom
“I shall not hesitate also to put into ordered form for you, along with the interpretations, everything I learned carefully in the past from the elders and noted down carefully, for the truth of which I vouch. For unlike most people, I took no pleasure in those who told many different stories, but only in those who taught the truth. Nor did I take pleasure in those who reported their memory of someone else’s commandments, but only in those who reported their memory of the commandments given by the Lord to the faith and proceeding from the Truth itself. And if by chance anyone who had been in attendance on the elders arrived, I made enquiries about the words of the elders—what Andrew or Peter had said, or Philip or Thomas or James or John or Matthew or any other of the Lord’s disciples, and whatever Aristion and John the Elder, the Lord’s disciples, were saying. For I did not think that information from the books would profit me as much as information from a living and surviving voice.
~ Papias of Hierapolis (c. 60–130 AD) From the Preface to his lost ‘Expositions of the Sayings of the Lord’
This week's Psalm is Psalm 31 'My Rock, My Shield, My Song'

Prosperity & Peace

A dynamic relationship

We know that people often pray for peace and prosperity, but do they know that by pursuing peace, prosperity will naturally follow? Jesus said, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God" (Matthew 5:9). Jesus did not say “Blessed are the peacekeepers” but” Blessed are the peacemakers” - eirēnopoioi (εἰρηνοποιοί). He was describing people who actively seek to reconcile, to heal, to restore. The world is full of conflict, division, and hatred. But when we live as agents of God’s peace, we reflect His nature. Jesus made peace through the cross, reconciling us to God. When we pursue peace, we’re not only doing good, but we’re also showing the world what God is like. You know that you are spiritually prosperous when you seek peace. 