Prayer

"He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when He hears it, He will answer you." Isaiah 30:19b (Amplified)

On the two occassions I went to war, I saw first hand the power of prayer. It was absolutley essential that I kept my communication line with God in tact because I needed Him to be my everything in that circumstance. On both occassions when I got home I could have chosen to take it easy and throttle back on the prayer and the relationship I had established in those difficult times but I did not.

 

 

The reason I did not was that I saw how interested God was in what you do before the situation, during the situation, and after the situation. Before the situation comes to you your prayer should be focused on getting you prepared for when it should come to you, during the situation your prayer should focus on continually leaning on God to help you through the situation, and finally your prayer after the situation should be in gratitude for helping you make it through your situation.

 

 

In essence, you always have an opportunity to raise your cry to heaven. God loves to move on your behalf and work with you. Many people will only pray during the situation and that is a critical error, because it hasn't taken time to establish God as the source before the situation. I cannot emphasize enough the power of Prayer and How God uses it to be glorified in us. We should learn from His word how He values prayer and let it become the most active part of our Christian life.

Protection

Keep me safe, O God, I’ve run for dear life to you. I say to God, “Be my Lord!” Without you, nothing makes sense. Psalm 16:1-2 (The Message)

    Life can get really messy sometimes, and it seems like the more we try to solve our own problems the worse things get for us. I know this seems like the same song and dance for many of us (certainly me) but what we often fail to realize is that striving is not our job. Our job is to run for dear life… Into the arms of the ultimate problem solver.

     Psalm 3 sums up our toil best. “Lord, How they are increased who trouble me! Many are they who rise up against me. Many are saying of me, There is no help for him in God.” (v.1-2) Sounds familiar doesn’t it? Bills stacked up to the ceiling, family and friends doing their best to try our patience, the medics seem to give a diagnosis that is making your world crash. But wait! There is the eye of the storm v.3 “But You, O Lord, are a shield for me, my glory and the lifter of my head.” What amazing peace and comfort God will bring if only you ran for dear life to Him. Seek Him for I assure you that He will be found by you.

My Significant Life

"He will lift me up and make my life significant." James 4:10

     God is a creator. If you read Genesis 1 you see how it all began; how from nothing God created everything. It fascinates me to see how God is into the business of creating things or perfecting things that have a tendency to erode... I thought about my life.

     Before I was exposed to the truth of salvation, I was in a very figurative sense empty, because of the sin in my life I was separated from God. However, once I came to Christ and accepted the gift that God gives (John 3:16) immediately God created something new.

      The best part of reading John 1 is that in the end after God surveyed all he had made he saw it was very good (Genesis 1:31). God marvels at his creation! He marvels at you and at me, and that is the reason why everything He makes IS significant. Which means you, and me.

Debt of Love

“[Love, for the Day is Near] Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law.”- Romans 13:8 (NIV)

I've seen plenty of news stories chronicling the sudden deaths of young people. They say sudden because they reason that the person who died at 22 or 18 should really not have died at that age. Each time I hear about those stories I think about that person's account in heaven. Was it settled? Or did they wait to settle it for another time?

This very moment is the best shot we will ever have at settling our debt of love to one another. To give grace in ALL circumstances at all time for this is the will of God. I guess I'm concerned about those who will wait till tomorrow, next month, or next year to forgive that person who did them wrong. I'm concerned because the question is very simple. What if tomorrow never comes? Just because you've received a clean bill of health from the doctor does not mean that God will not require your soul tomorrow or even this very moment.

I say this with a sense of urgency because those who die not continuing their debt of love to one another have rejected Christ and the love He gave to us. I definitely don't want any of us to fall in this trap. Fulfill the work while it is day, for the day shall come where no work can be done, and you will be judged by the grace and love you gave others. I pray you made those attributes a priority.

Yeah But...

"Teacher,” they said, “we know that you speak and teach what is right and are not influenced by what others think. You teach the way of God truthfully. Now tell us—is it right for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” Luke 20:21 (NLT)

      Jesus is in the middle of a discourse with the Pharisees. These guys (The Pharisees) have come to grips that Jesus is solid on the truth, so they try to undercut him with a secular argument as a way to bring controversy to his teaching.

      This story made me think about how we sometimes approach the truth. I mean we see Jesus' message as the way the truth and the life, but there's still one thing that holds us back from believing it wholly and completely. Like the Pharisees we like to hold on to our old ways and beleifs so badly that we can't seem to fully invest in the whole truth because it will cost us something, but in all truth, following Christ will cost us something, it should cost us everything, because that's the price He paid for us. I don't know, I guess its just something to think about.

I keep rising!

"For a righteous man falls seven times and rises again..." Provebs 24:16a (AMP)

      
       I remember when my daughter was younger and starting to walk, she kept trying to figure out this new thing but couldn't quite get her footing right so she'd fall down. Undeterred, she continuesd to rise re-establishing her footing underneath her and preparing to make movements she was wholly unfamiliar with.

       In my moment of nostalgia, I thought about our lives. I thought about how we go through life and make mistakes when we venture into new territory, but unlike the child we often grow fearful of rising back up. We think too much because it's too new, or it's too much of the same the problem and we can't seem to figure out a way to rise again.

       Next time you fall think about a child and how they don't even think about the next obstacle, the just rise up to the challenge because new territory is fun to overcome. Oh and by the way, you have a Father in heaven who will help you up each time!

Live on Purpose

"This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24 (NIV)


     As simple a phrase you'll ever find. This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice. Another passage in the bible says, "Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice." (Philippians 4:4) These two passages emphasize the importance of attitude. The importance of choosing happiness and contentment over worry and anxiety.


     I keep wondering what's holding people back from living on purpose, and I keep finding that they are afraid to let go. They are too concerned about holding on to their problems in order to figure them out on their own. If we trust God's perfect design is good enough for us then we have more than enough cause to rejoice in the finished product of the day (regardless of the circumstances surrounding us). If we CHOOSE to be happy and CHOOSE to be content because we TRUST that God's got it under control, then life will be easier to live with purpose!