God Both Smiles and Weeps In the Midst of Our Battles

Psalm 139:7

Where shall I go from your Spirit?  Or where shall I flee from your presence?

There is no place that we can go to get away from God.  He chases us no matter where we go because He loves us so much.  He pursues us with an undeniable and unlimited fervor because He has so much invested in us.  He created us.  He gave up His Son on our behalf, so that He could derive value from us not only here on earth but in heaven for all eternity.

When we are at our lowest point and it seems that Satan is winning, God just smiles confidently.  He is there with us.  He gives us the strength for another breath and another step.  He sets an unquenchable fire in us for Him.  He knows that the victory is His and ours through Jesus Christ. 

Yet He weeps at the same time because He sees us falling short of our potential of who we are in Christ.  He weeps because He sees us allowing our flesh to pull us and tug us in the wrong direction.  All along though, He can smile because He knows His steadfast grasp on our lives will soon enough lead to our surrender to Him.  He is ready to build something enormous in us, something within the depths of our souls that will cause us to rise up and say, "I am not going there anymore for I am a new man in Christ." 

Thus through His constant presence and never ending love for us, we will reach a place where we seek Him and Him alone.  The world will become but a distant memory as we settle into our place of eternal comfort in the hands of Our Heavenly Father who has always been there for us.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your relentless pursuit of our affection.  We thank You for loving us first so that we could love You.  We bless the name of Your Son, Jesus, who made it possible for us to live in the comfort of Your presence for all eternity.  We pray, Father, that You set the fire in our souls that sends us running to You in full and immediate surrender.  May every breath we take be used to turn our faces toward You and away from the world.  May the world around us know us by Your presence in our lives.  We ask all these things in the name of Our Omni-Present Lord, Jesus Christ.

It Cost Him So Much, But He Surrendered

Matthew 26:42

Again, for the second time, he went away and prayed, “My Father, if this cannot pass unless I drink it, your will be done.”

Jesus Christ, the only perfect man to ever walk the this earth, fell on His face, cried out to His Father in heaven and asked to be freed of His upcoming duty.  In the same overwhelming moment, Jesus fully surrendered everything to the will of His Father.  In this same moment, we saw the two wills of Christ, the human and the Divine.   Jesus could not turn from the supernatural plan that His Father had for Him, even though He knew how much it was going to cost Him in the flesh.  Jesus knew He was submitting to God's perfect plan for the salvation of all men. 

It is certain that we will find times in our lives when we are nearly overwhelmed by the thought of what is ahead.  Our flesh will be ready to give in to defeat.  It is precisely at these times that we must fall on our faces before Our Heavenly Father and surrender to His will for our lives.  At these times, there is no resource to us greater than our prayer for strength.  It is in these times that we receive the supernatural blessing that we need to obey God's calling on our lives.

Our Father in heaven has given us life.  He sustains our lives everyday.  God, Himself, made the ultimate sacrifice by sending His Son to die for our sins, so that He could grant us eternal life with Him.  Our full surrender to the Father is the only appropriate response that we can offer to His calling on our lives.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for giving us life in flesh, sustaining our every breath and granting us eternal supernatural life through the atoning sacrifice of Your Son, Jesus.  We rejoice in knowing that the obedience of the Son to Your will paid the complete price for our salvation.  We pray that we will find all the strength that we need to completely surrender to Your will.  May we bear the fruit of Your will as we walk in obedience every day of our lives.  We ask all these things in the name of the One without sin, Jesus Christ.

Overcoming Every Hard Thing

Philippians 4:13

I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.

The apostle Paul knew what it was to receive God's grace.  Through his great faith he delighted in his weaknesses, he delighted in the insults that were tossed his way, he delighted in his hardships and he delighted in his persecutions.  Paul knew the secret.  He rested on God's promises to perfect His strength in Paul's weaknesses, in Paul's trials and in Paul's tribulations. 

Our God in heaven is ready to do the same for us.  Our Heavenly Father promises to provide all that we need to overcome every hard thing that we face and to provide all that we need to gain victory over the evil that surrounds us.  He does not promise to take us out of the battle.  Just as He used Paul's thorn to keep him mindful of his needs in Christ, He will allow things in our lives to keep us mindful of how needy we are.

We will find victory when we learn to surrender like Paul did.  We will find peace in all circumstances when we recognize God's grace is sufficient.  We will become stronger than we ever imagined when we allow the grace of God to be manifested and magnified in our lives.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for the all-sufficient grace that You promise us.  We bless the name of Jesus who insured our victory on the Cross.  We rejoice in the presence of the Holy Spirit, who guides us, instructs us and strengthens us through our trials.  We pray, Father, that we will learn to have faith in You as Paul had faith in You.  We ask for the courage to surrender to Your Holy Spirit through all the trials that we face.  We pray that world we see and be drawn to the manifestation and magnification of Your grace in our lives.  We ask all these things in the name of the Lord Mighty in Battle, Jesus Christ.

The Importance of Our Prayer Life

Mark 9:29

And he said to them, “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.”

Jesus taught us, "And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength."  He emphasized that this was the greatest commandment.  It is the highest order in the kingdom.  Our number one purpose on earth and in heaven is to love God, to praise Him and to bring glory to His name.  One of the foremost ways that we can meet the requirements of this commandment is through our prayers.

When we are engaged in work that we consider to be the work of the Lord, we can lose sight of the fact that the work is being done out of the loving relationship that we have with Our Lord.  If we let our relationship with God slip, He will withdraw the power that He gives us to do His good work.  He is far more interested in our relationship with Him than He is in the result of our work.  Our relationship with the Father is built and sustained through our prayer life. 

We may be able to manipulate some things in the flesh, but all the things that provide real kingdom value will not endure under the burden of broken fellowship with the Father.  Through regular prayer, we build on our relationship with Our Father and we insure that we are empowered to do the greatest works that He has called us to do, even to cast out evil.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your perfect love in our lives.  We thank You for allowing us the privilege of returning our love, our praise and our worship to You through our prayers.  We bless the name of Jesus, who dwells within us, for making it possible for us to have victory over evil.  Father, we pray that all that we do is born out of the intimacy of our relationship with You.  We humbly ask for the grace to stay in constant fellowship with You through our prayers.  We beseech You to grant us the power over the evil in our lives and the lives of those that surround us.  May it all be for Your glory.  We ask all these things in the name of the One who has has victory over all evil, Jesus Christ.

Can Things Get Any Darker?

Isaiah 60:2

For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the LORD will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you.

This passage in Isaiah is regarded as prophetic in nature, speaking to the end of times.  It predicts the rise of Christianity out of the darkest of times.  The first part of this passage certainly defines our times and our society across the globe.  Oh, how sweet it will be when the Lord raises up the greatest revival known to mankind as He fulfills the latter portion of this prophecy.

Can things getting any darker?  The ignorance, immorality, idolatry, superstition, false doctrine and false worship that we see everyday are surely forms of a very thick darkness.  It seems as if light is unable to penetrate the darkness that continues to escalate and build around us.  The world has been shaken and people are broken.  We have all become victims of Satan's plans of destruction.

But rejoice, even though the evil one is ramping up his lies and deceiving ways, Our Lord has different plans.  He has promised to bring His glory to be seen by the world.  We will be covered by a consuming fire.  He will baptize us in a Holy Fire and everything will be different.  Even though we will be experiencing darkness around us and tribulation in our lives, we will also witness Almighty God's presence in our lives in the midst of it all.  It is His glorious plan for us to overcome everything that comes against us.  It is His glorious plan that His consuming fire will be a purifying fire.  It will be a fire that cannot be quenched.  It will be a fire without end.  It will overcome darkness in ways that we have not seen in our life times.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for the abundant life that You have prepared for us as we surrender to the divine fire of Your Holy Spirit. We lift Your name up above all names as we come before You to seek the consuming fire that You have promised us.  We pray that Your purifying fire will burn the darkness out of our lives.   May our transformed lives bring light to the darkness wherever we go.  We ask all these things in the name of the Living Flame, Jesus Christ.

Creating the Cracks in the Living Vessel

John 14:4

but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Once we accept Jesus Christ as Our Savior, the Holy Spirit comes and dwells within us.  The Lord begins using us as vessels that carry the Living Water.

Before the Living Water can flow, we must be free of those things in our lives which would hinder the flow.  We must get into fellowship with Jesus Himself.  Without His fellowship, we are of no use to God as vessels of salvation.

As we submit to the Lord, we can anticipate that there will be trials in our lives.  Jesus Himself told us that it would be so as we followed Him.  These trials that create brokenness in our lives will also create the cracks in the living vessel so that the Living Water can flow through unhindered.  If but one heart can be saved because of our brokenness, let us thank God for allowing our trials to occur.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for using us as Your vessels of Living Water.  We rejoice in knowing that through shed blood of Your Son, Jesus, and through the indwelling of Your Holy Spirit in our lives that You can use us, the sons of inequity, to be instruments of Your good work.  We pray for the aid of the Holy Spirit to build us up in Christ so that we can endure in faith all of our trials.  We ask, Father, that we may become free flowing vessels of Your redemptive work in those around us.  We ask all these things in the name of the Living Fount, Jesus Christ.

Standing Right Beside Us to Carry Us Through

Romans 5:2

Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God's glory.

One of the greatest gifts that we receive through faith is the ability to approach our death beds with peace and joy, not with fear and trembling.  Through our faith, we know that what awaits us in heaven is beyond our imagination.  Through our faith, we know that at our death we will be set free of every pain and challenge that life has brought to us.  Through our faith we know that we will spend eternity in the presence of Almighty God and we will be worthy to be there.

This kind of faith is actually worked out in us on this earth.  This kind of faith by its nature must be tried.  This kind of faith is built up through all of the trials that we face seemingly alone.  This kind of faith is built up when we realize we were never alone.  We know we have this kind of faith when we can approach where we now stand with boldness, courage and confidence knowing that Jesus is always right beside us to carry us through.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for the faith that brought us to receive Your Son, Jesus, as Our Savior.  We thank You for the faith to believe in Your Holy Word and reject all that contradicts it.  We praise the name of Jesus for standing by us as we enjoy all the blessings that You bring us and endure all the trials that life throws at us.  We pray, Father, for the grace and the strength to live every day of our lives in the conscious delight of who we are in Christ.  We ask all these things in the name of our joy triumphant, Jesus Christ.

Believing God is Who He Says He Is

Hebrews 11:6

And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.

Our faith comes into play whenever we encounter pain, conflict or disorder in our lives.  Our natural reaction is to try to fix everything ourselves.  All too often, we do not turn to God until we have exhausted all of our own failed initiatives.

God wants us to turn to Him first.  He wants us to grow into a place where we trust Him for everything, whether it be big or small.  We grow into this place through our relationship with Jesus.  The Psalmist David captured the relationship perfectly in Psalm 18:2

The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety.

Let us believe that God is who He says He is.  Let us trust in His promises to reward those who seek Him.  Let our faith draw us near to Him.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for the endless fount of faith that you make available to us through Your Son, Jesus.  We praise Your name for the comfort that we enjoy because of the faith that we have in Your promises.  Lord, we ask for the wisdom to turn to You first in all things.  May You provide the grace for us to free ourselves from the need to try to fix everything ourselves.  We humbly ask that all of our earthly efforts be in obedience to Your will and plan for our lives.  We pray that through the love of Jesus all that we do will be as worship to You.  We ask all these things in the name of the One who is faithful and true, Jesus Christ.

Worthy to Dwell With the Father

2 Corinthians 5:21

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

By accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, we are able to do away with all that separates us from our eternal inheritance.  The importance of Jesus taking on all sin is that we can become worthy to stand before the Father in a righteous state.  But before we reach our eternal resting place in heaven, we begin to prepare ourselves for heaven by living in a new manner on earth.  As new creatures in Christ, we live each day by new principles, by new rules, with new brothers and sisters and with new ends in mind.  We become the workmanship of Almighty God, changed forever in character and conduct.

Through the marvelous gift of salvation, all of our sins are gone - nonexistent.  They have been taken away by the One who knew no sin.  The have been washed away by His shed blood.  Each one of us new creatures stand before the Father without blemish.  Each one of us in Christ stands before the Father is in the image of His own Son.  Each one of us is now the essence of everything good and the absence of anything evil.  We are worthy to dwell with the Father for all eternity.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for creating us in Your image, heirs to Your kingdom.  We ask forgiveness for all those things in our lives that make us unacceptable to stand before You and unable to accept our eternal blessings.  We praise the name of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who took on all of our sin so that we may become righteous in Your eyes.  We pray, Father, that You will provide the grace for us to live in accordance with the renewed hearts given to us by Jesus.  May we live by new principles, new rules, new ends and in new company.  May our outward reformation be living testimony to Your kingdom.  We pray that those around us will seek the One who knew no sin.  We ask all these things in the name of the Lamb without blemish, Jesus Christ.

Every Person in Heaven Will Be Holy

Romans 5:10

For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.

God is holy, holy, holy.  Sin cannot exist in His presence.  To have any type of sin remaining means eternal separation from the Father in heaven.  Thus, every person in heaven must be without sin.  There cannot be even the slightest stain.  Every person in heaven will be holy.

Jesus gave up His life for the atonement of all sin.  He died to save us from the penalty of our sin.  He died to work a great change in us.  He died so that we might be acceptable in the presence of His Father in heaven.

The Good News of the Gospel is that God provided the way for our complete cleansing through the death of His Son, Jesus, on the Cross.  It is the shed blood of Jesus that washes us clean and allows us to stand before the Father white as snow forever.  Our Heavenly Father required nothing from us except to accept Jesus as Our Savior.  Jesus did all that was required for us to stand before Almighty God.  Everything that was required was finished on the Cross.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for allowing us to have eternal access to Your heavenly kingdom.  We praise You.  We love You.  We bless Your name.  We rejoice in knowing that we will worship You forever.  We pray that the Holy Spirit will reveal to us everything in our lives that is displeasing to You.  We ask for the grace to walk the perfect path of sanctification that You have set aside for us through the sacrifice of Your Son.  May we live in the fullness of the One who gave His life for us.  May we surrender daily to our Blessed Hope and Assurance, Jesus Christ.

Have You Shared What Jesus Means to You?

Matthew 28:19

Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

How many did you win?  How many did you sell?  How much profit did you make?  These are the clamorings of men and women who trying to measure their success against their perceived plans.

Sometimes it pours over into the things we do in service to Our Lord.  How many attended the 11am service?  How much did we collect at the offering?  How many responded to the altar call?  How many were baptized?  Man's desire to satisfy/gratify his own need is insatiable.

Man's desire to convert God's work to his own plan is a common practice.  Our Heavenly Father has a different plan.  Almighty God does not call us to results.  Jesus did not tell His disciples to go out and win souls.   He asked them to go out and teach the people about having a relationship with Him.

Jesus did not give His disciples a quota, nor does He give us one.  He simply asks that we teach the world around us about the relationship that we have with Him.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we rejoice in knowing that it is Your will that no man shall perish.  We thank You for providing the way, the truth and the life that is in Your Son, Jesus.  We pray, Father, that You will use us to teach the world about Your wonderful salvation plan. We ask for the grace to set aside our own personal desires and plans so that we may fully submit to the perfect will and plan that You have for our lives.  Through the presence and power of Jesus in our lives, may we make disciples of others.  We ask all these things in the name of the One who shall have dominion, Jesus Christ.

Off We Go in the Name of Jesus

John 20:21

Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.”

In one brief statement, Jesus gave the disciples the peace that they needed to overcome the fear that had them gathered in a hiding place and the power and authority that they needed to be successful in their calling.  So it is for us.

It is so easy to be overwhelmed by all that the world throws at us.  It is so easy to become discouraged, even fearful of the outcome ahead of us.  It is so easy to withdraw to a hiding place where doing nothing seems comfortable.  Yet the words of Jesus, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you,” are just as relevant today as they were 2000 years ago.

Are we giving back to the Lord as He has given to us?  He has given us the peace, the power and the authority to do what He has called us to do.  Much has been given to us.  Are we doing all we can do with what we have been given?  Surely we will not leave on the table the feast that He has set before us.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing all that we need to be good and faithful servants.  We rejoice in knowing that there is nothing in the world that can stop us from bringing to harvest the seeds that You have given us to plant.  Father, we pray that You give us the wisdom to see the bounty that You have planned for us.  We ask for the grace and the strength that we need to thrive under the power and authority that we have through our relationship with Your Son, Jesus Christ.  We ask all these things in the precious, holy and mighty name of Our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Walking the Walk

1 Corinthians 9:22

To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.

Paul shared with the Corinthians his passion to carry out the good work of delivering the message of salvation to all men.  He emphasized that this required him to be a servant to all men, regardless of their stature or their spiritual state.  In doing so, he was also teaching them that carrying the gospel to all men was their calling also.

God calls people to all walks of life to insure that His gospel message is spread to the world.  He calls some to full time ministry, but most are not.  Most of us are called to traditional occupations and lifestyles where the Lord wants us to let Christ be revealed by the way we live and by the way we treat others.

God wishes for our messages of love, compassion and forgiveness to be the same whether we are in a boardroom or in a maintenance shop, whether we are in a health club or in a hospital, whether we are at a church function or in the visiting room of a prison.  He wants our messaging system to be on non-stop.

All we have to do is surrender our lives to Our Savior and submit to the gentle urgings of the Holy Spirit.  The Lord will draw spiritual production from us within the structure of our natural lives.  He will direct our lives toward paths of fruitfulness.  And the glory will go to Him.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for the perfect love, compassion and forgiveness that You pour out onto each of us.  We praise the name of Jesus who made it possible for us to become vessels of Your grace.  We pray that the Holy Spirit will enlighten us and invigorate us to carry the salvation message with us as we walk through our daily lives.  May we bear fruit for Your kingdom wherever our paths on earth lead us.  We ask all these things in the name of the Tower of Salvation, Jesus Christ.

Come Up Smelling Like Roses

2 Corinthians 2:14

But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.

As believers and followers of Jesus Christ, all of our triumphs are in Him.  All of our success, especially our success in leading others to the Lord, are reasons for each of us to rejoice.  In our joy, we must go forward in life, not covered in pride, but covered in the sweet aroma of His presence.

While it is a wonderful thing for us to proclaim to the world how Our Savior atoned for our sins and made us worthy to be heirs of the kingdom of Almighty God, our living testimony should be much more.  The world should be able to see the presence of Jesus in every single action we take and in every single word that we speak.  The world should be able to savor the experience of being near Jesus Christ just by being near us.  This should be especially true when we gain victory during times of trial and tumult.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for making us conquerors over all things in this world.  We rejoice in the victories that we claim through Your Son, Jesus.  We ask that we be given the grace to overcome the arrogance and the pride that naturally come with victory.  We pray that in every victory that all praise, honor and glory will go to You Father, to Your Son and to the Holy Spirit.  May the aroma of the One who brought the victory be spread around the world as we become living testimonies to His presence in our lives.  We ask these things in the name of the Rose of Sharon, Jesus Christ.

Extending Mercy is Supernatural

Luke 6:28

Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you.

Whoa...the political season sure does stir up everyone's emotions.  Strike back!  Respond in defense!  Prove that I am right!  All of these are natural human responses to conflict.

As disciples of Jesus Christ, we are called to follow a different standard.  "Love thy neighbor as thyself" requires a supernatural response when we run into personal conflict.  We are called to express the love of Christ in each instance.  This may require having to forgive the person in the heat of the conflict.  Only our strength through Jesus Christ allows us to meet this standard.

We need supernatural strength to respond in crisis.  Our human nature and our pride are generally not going to be sufficient.  When it comes to facing the day-to-day conflicts in our lives, the supernatural grace of God is required.  It is through His grace and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that we are able to consistently respond in a manner that reflects the discipline of a follower of Jesus Christ.

On the Cross, Jesus prayed that His murderers might be forgiven.  Stephen, the martyred disciple of Jesus, in his dying moments also showed us the standard to which we are called.  Let us be merciful just as Our Heavenly Father is merciful to us.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You loving us first so that we may love You and love those around us.  We thank You for the mercy that You extended to us through the redemptive blood of Your Son, Jesus, so that we may extend mercy to those who we come in conflict with us.  We thank You for forgiving us of our sins so that we may be able to forgive those who sin against us.  We pray, Father, for the grace and the strength to release to the world the overflow of the lovingkindness that You poured out on us. We ask all these things in the name of the Slain Lamb, Jesus Christ.

Our Intimacy with Christ Determines Our Position in Heaven

1 Corinthians 6:11

And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

Once we receive Jesus Christ as Our Savior, we are washed clean of our sins and made acceptable to take our place before the Father in heaven.  We receive what we did not earn and certainly do not deserve.  It is granted to us through the atoning work of Our Savior.  None is the result of our holiness.

Our holiness is the result of us allowing the life of Jesus to be manifested in our flesh.  Are we willing to let God do in us all that has been made possible by Our Savior?  Or are we resting content in the salvation that we have been granted without pressing into a relationship with the One who gave His life so that our salvation could be assured?

Both our place in heaven and our position in heaven are gifts from God.  Our salvation guarantees our place in heaven.  The measure that we put into our relationship with Our Savior determines our position in heaven.  How can we not strive to develop the most intimate relationship with Our Savior King?

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for the eternal resting place that You have prepared for us.  We ask that we may receive the grace to fully recognize the perfect gift that we have been given and the unimaginable sacrifice that was required for us to be able to receive it.  We pray, Father, that the Holy Spirit will inspire us to choose to accept the fullness that is ours through Your Son, Jesus.  We pray that we will never be satisfied with our salvation alone, but that we will seek the highest level of all things that You have set aside for us.  We ask all these things in the name of our Most High, Most Holy and Most Righteous Lord, Jesus Christ.

Producing Kingdom Results

John 18:36

Jesus answered, “My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would have been fighting, that I might not be delivered over to the Jews. But my kingdom is not from the world.”

Ok, where is that "To Do" list?  It's time to get on to today's tasks.  I have to dive into the challenges of this day.  Does this sound or feel familiar? 

The world is all about results.  Everything we are taught by the world directs us toward endless expenditures of our energy and our activities in an effort to produce something deemed valuable by the world itself.  We are constantly in motion taking on the demands of the world.  We are focusing on the wrong kingdom.

Jesus' royal power and authority have no origin in this world.  His standing with the Father is in no way furnished by earthly force, fleshly ordinances, physical energies, material wealth or imperial armies.  The dominion of Christ the King springs directly from the throne of Almighty God.  Every good thing that comes to us and flows through us is a result of our relationship with One who sits at the right hand of the Father.

The Lord is all about process, not results.  As disciples of Jesus Christ, we are called to a process of building an intimacy with Our Savior.  From the depths of the relationship that we develop with Jesus, we will produce every good thing that we engage in under His dominion.  It is time to move on to producing for His kingdom while here on earth.  It is time for us to become true disciples of Jesus Christ.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for this day.  We thank You for every day that You have given us.  We rejoice in knowing that we will serve You here on earth and in heaven for all eternity.  We bless the name of Jesus who makes it possible for us to bear fruit that has value in Your kingdom.  We pray that through our relationship with Your Son that our every activity will give You the praise and glory that is Yours alone.  We ask all these things in the name of the King of Kings, Jesus Christ.