All Blessings Bestowed in His Name

John 16:23

In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.

Why is it that we do not have enough faith to believe in all the promises that God has given us through His Son, Jesus?  There is certainly an overwhelming amount of evidence to prove that God has power over all things.  Why can't we believe in His simple promises to meet our every need and to work out all things for our eternal good?

The medium of access to the Father is Jesus Christ.  Jesus is the mediator between Almighty God and man.  The sacrifice of the life of Jesus and His righteousness speak loudly in heaven.  The account of His blood pleases the Father, thus His mediation is powerful and guaranteed. In His name, all prayers are heard and all blessings are bestowed.

When we fully surrender our lives to Jesus, we will have all the faith that we need to go boldly to the the throne of Our Creator.  We will ask for things with confidence in the power and the promises of Our Mediator. We may find a number of things we do not fully understand, but we will never find our prayers unanswered.

Let us boldly claim our rights under the power of our mediator, Jesus Christ.  Our Father in heaven granted us these rights through the sacrifice of His beloved Son.  Let us glorify the name of the Father and the Son as we seek with bold assurance what has already been set aside for us. 

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we come before You in the name of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  We thank You for every blessing that we receive in His holy, mighty and precious name.  We pray for the wisdom and the strength to surrender all that we are and all that we have to You in His Name.  We rejoice in knowing that we will serve You for all eternity with never a need again. We ask all these things in the name of the Mediator of the New Covenant, Jesus Christ.

Letting Our Faith Overrule Our Anxiety

Genesis 8:1

But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided.

This passage might seem to suggest that God had let His promises to Moses slip His mind for some period of time before He fulfilled them.  That interpretation would be inconsistent with who God is.  God had not forgotten Noah for He does not and cannot forget His promises to His children.

But it is quite possible that Noah, a man of extraordinary faith, may have been wondering if God had forgotten about him and his family.  Surely Noah had a few anxious thoughts when he and his family spent year upon year working on the ark with no sign of rain except the ridicule that was raining down upon them.  Surely Noah was getting a bit on edge after spending seven months on the waters before the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat.   Can you imagine the anxiety waiting another three months before any other mountain tops appeared above the water?  Surely Noah was beyond frustration when the doves he sent out returned to the ark without having found a landing place.  But God in His faithfulness remembered Noah and the promises that He had made to Noah.  On the twenty-seventh day of the fourteenth month, God told Noah that he and his family could now go out from the ark.  Noah finally took his family and all the animals out to the earth that was perfectly prepared for them.

It seems reasonable to assume that Noah and his family surely wanted off the boat before it was time. But God was not going to let them leave the boat until the earth around them was properly prepared.  As we go through life, our expectations often lead us to question whether God has remembered us.  We are simply placing our desires ahead of God's perfect plan for our lives.  The God of Faithfulness never forgets us or His promises to us.  

Let us have unwavering faith in the promises of Almighty God.  Let us have unflinching trust in His perfect timing.  Let us rejoice in what He has provided for us even before we see it.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your faithfulness to Your promises.  We rejoice in knowing that You will not let a single promise return void. We pray that You will give us the grace we need to build our faith when we are waiting on Your perfect timing for our lives.  May we never doubt You.  We ask all these things in the One who is faithful and true, Jesus Christ.

Living in Constant Awareness of Our Savior

1 Thessalonians 5:17

Pray without ceasing.

When Paul exhorted the Thessalonians to pray without ceasing, most, if not all, were probably thinking that he was asking for the impossible.  Let us consider whether prayer without ceasing is possible.

Prayer may be oral or mental, occasional or constant.  It may be formal or in the form of an outburst. It may be offered in secret or in public.  It may be a personal solicitation or it may be intercessory.

Prayer presupposes a belief in a God who wants to hear from us and wants to extend His perfect control over our lives.  Prayer is offered in reverence with a humble sense of inadequacy and unworthiness as we bow before the holy and righteous God of heaven.  Prayer is offered in thanksgiving for everything we already have been provided and are currently experiencing.  Prayer is rejoicing in every moment as we recognize the presence of Our Savior and the fullness of what He has done for us and is willing to do for us.  Perhaps most importantly, prayer is listening for His response as we commune with Him.

Prayer is recognizing that we have a daily and continuous need for the intervention of Our Savior, Jesus Christ.  As we start each day of our lives, we can be sure that we will encounter new trials and new challenges in our service, whether it be carnal or spiritual.  We would certainly be wise to call on the counsel and power of the Holy Spirit to aid us along the way lest we falter.

If Jesus Christ is the foundation of our lives, prayer is as natural as breathing.  We are always needy.  We benefit considerably by being continually before the Throne of Grace. Indeed, kneeling is not required. We can pray without ceasing just by recognizing the constant presence of the One who longs for our attention.

Let us discover how prayer without ceasing is possible.  Let us live moment to moment in constant awareness of the One who dwells within us. Let us open our senses to constant communication with Him.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we praise You for who You are.  We thank You for all that You have provided and continue to provide.  We submit to Your control over our lives.  We pray that You will teach us how to make prayer to You as normal and as regular as breathing.  May our lives be a continuous flow of our reverent acknowledgement of Your presence and power in our lives.  We ask all these things in the name of Our Refuge in the Storm, Jesus Christ.

Keeping Constant Watch Over Our Relationships

Revelation 3:2

Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God.

The message to the church of Sardis in the book of Revelation was, "You have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead."  The people of Sardis were urged to wakeup and strengthen what remained of their relationship with God or they would see their relationship with God disappear.

Today we are often guilty of sitting back and watching as the enemy tries to destroy not only our relationship with God, but our relationships in our marriages, our homes and our extended families.  We need to wake up and strengthen these relationships through Jesus Christ. These relationships were placed in our lives by Almighty God.  Just as Jesus Christ should be the foundation for our spiritual lives, these family relationships should be foundational elements in our natural lives. 

The enemy knows how important these relationships are to us.  He knows that if he can destroy these relationships that he can weaken our relationships with Our Father in heaven.  The enemy knows this well and does everything possible to "divide and conquer".

Divide and conquer can be very subtle...at least at first.  Divide and conquer appears as meals eaten alone because the family is so busy.  Divide and conquer is going to bed angry with a spouse over a relatively unimportant issue. Divide and conquer is skipping the family reunion because of some prior squabble with one family member.

We cannot be passive. We must wake up and be constantly on guard to protect our relationships.  Our marriages, our homes and our extended families are treasures. When conflicts occur, we need to move swiftly to repair the damages and rebuild what the enemy is trying to destroy. We must be proactive in nurturing activities that keep the relationships alive.  We must build walls of protection that withstand the assaults of the enemy.

Let us seek first to develop an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ.  With Him as our sure foundation, let us be resolute in our efforts to build and protect all the personal relationships that God has given us as treasures on this earth.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for the treasures in life that You have provided through our marriages, our homes and our extended families.  We pray that You will provide us with the armor that we need to fight against the enemy that seeks to take away our treasures.  We pray that the Holy Spirit will guide us to make Jesus Christ the foundation of our lives so that we can build indestructible walls of protection around our treasures.  We ask all these things in the name of Our Sure Foundation, Jesus Christ.

The Promise of His Love, His Joy and His Peace

Revelation 1:18

I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.

When Jesus Christ proclaimed that He is the first and the last, He confirmed His role in our time based world. He brought our world into existence and He will usher it out when He brings in His eternal kingdom. When He proclaimed that He holds the keys to Death and Hades, He confirmed His proper deity and His covenant of grace and salvation for all.

When we have a relationship with Jesus Christ, who created the universe and still controls every minute detail of its existence, how could we lack the confidence that He will overcome any person or evil in the universe that comes to harm us.  It just does not make sense to question His power and sovereign rule.  

Fear not!  He is the head of His own house by Whom and for Whom all things were created.  He will keep His house in perfect order according to His will and perfect plans. 

Let us rest in the hands of the One who promises us His love, His joy and His peace through His victory on the Cross.  Let us trust in the One who closes the portals of hell and opens the gateways of heaven.  Let us bless His name as we rejoice in His power over our lives.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we fall at Your feet in utter awe of who You are.  We proclaim Your Name above all other names.  We praise You and we surrender to Your power in our lives.  We exalt the name of Jesus.  May He lay His hand upon us in love and not in wrath or anger. We pray that You will show us Your power in the struggles that we are currently experiencing.  May we find joy in our circumstances knowing that You have already settled the matters for our good for all eternity.  We ask all these things in the name Our Blessed Hope and Assurance, Jesus Christ.

Struck Down, But Not Destroyed

John 17:24

Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

This passage is part of the prayer that Jesus prayed to the Father on behalf of His disciples prior to His eminent death and resurrection.  Jesus was confirming with the Father that His disciples and all of the new believers in the good news of the salvation story who followed Him in discipleship would join Him in glory for all eternity.

Jesus prayed that all that choose to follow Him would see the fullness of His grace and beauty.  He prayed that all His followers would see His standing with the Father on the grandest scale in heaven without the obstructive hindrances of the flesh.  He prayed that His disciples would experience the full capacity and infinite power of His glory.  He prayed that all of His disciples would join Him at the right hand of the Father for all eternity.

Jesus' prayer to the Father in heaven provides us with the strength that we need to endure all that comes against us in life because we know there will be the ultimate victory in the end.  To paraphrase 2 Cor 4:8-9, we may be afflicted in every way, but not crushed; we may be perplexed, but not driven to despair; we may be persecuted, but not forsaken; we may be struck down, but not destroyed because we are one with Jesus Christ. Our place in heaven has been secured.

Let us seek the fullness of Jesus Christ in our lives.  Let us experience being one with the Son so that we may access the power and the victory that He has set aside for us.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we come to You exalt the name of Jesus Christ, Our Lord, Our Master and Our King. We thank You Father that we may be one with Jesus as He is one with You.  We praise You as we receive in faith all of the promises that come with being a disciple of Your Son.  We pray that the Holy Spirit will keep us steadfast in all aspects of our discipleship. We ask all these things in the name of the Son of the Most High God, Jesus Christ.

Entering Into The Eternal Joy of Jesus Christ

Matthew 25:21

His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’

As disciples of Jesus Christ, we are called to join Our Master as He walks along side us in our journey toward sanctification.  We can be certain that we will encounter the following along the way:

• Jesus will set our hearts to burning for Him as He opens the scriptures to us, just as he did for the two disciples when He joined them as they were walking on the road to Emmaus.
• The Holy Spirit will reveal to us who we are without Jesus in our lives.
• The Holy Spirit will convict us of the darkness in our lives and urge us to be obedient in changing our ways and helping others to change their ways.
• Satan will attack us all along the way.  As we grow in Christ, the intensity of the attacks will increase. 

We can be just as certain that the victory is ours if we rely on the One who died for our sins. We will enter into the joy of Our Master for all eternity.  Can you even imagine the joy that Jesus holds?  He is the essence of everything good.  He is the absence of anything evil.  He is perfect in every measure.  This is all ours when we stand before Him one day to take our place as His eternal servants.

Let us enter into the joy of the Master.  As He dwells within us, may His will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we praise You and thank You for loving us so much that You gave us Your Son to redeem us from our sins and that You provided Your Holy Spirit to guide us along our path of preparation for receiving our place in heaven for all eternity. We pray that Your countenance will shine up us.  We pray that Your grace will be with us always.  We pray that You will protect us from harm and evil.  We pray that You will protect us from the evil one and all of His temptations.  We pray that You will raise us up to be instruments of Your good work and vessels of Your perfect love and forgiveness.  May we stand before You one day and hear the words, "Well done, good and faithful servant."  We ask all these things in the name of the Joy of the World, Jesus Christ.

Setting Our Sights on the Kingdom of God

Matthew 6:33

But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

We have been raised in a world where goals, objectives and top line results are everything.  We feel measured by the things that we have and the things that we have accomplished and pressured by the things that we are trying to accomplish.  We have been trained to be independent and self-reliant.  This is absolutely upside down from the kingdom of God.  Our all-sufficient Lord promises that He will meet our every need.

Although Our Lord promises us that He will provide all that we need and all the desires of our hearts, we must realize that these promises are conditional.  We must first seek His kingdom and the righteousness that living in His kingdom requires.  Then all of these things will be given to us.  Food, drink, clothing or whatever other worldly sustenance that we need will be given to us freely and liberally.  We are able to receive these gifts without having to think about how they will come, without having to concern ourselves about the timeliness of their arrival and, most importantly, without due consideration of our own merit or our own capability.

Let our great goals in life be set based on our relationship with Jesus Christ.  Let all of our objectives be directed toward putting our relationship with God first.  Let us set aside our need to worry over our results.  Let us receive the truly abundant life that has been promised to us.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for the abundant life that awaits us when we seek You first.  We bring You all the honor and glory for being Our Provider.  We ask Your forgiveness for seeking the things of the world before You.  Teach us, Lord, how to prioritize our lives according to the principles of Your kingdom.  May the Holy Spirit enlighten us so that we may live in Christ and not in the world.  We ask all these things in the name of Our Promised and Abundant Provision, Jesus Christ.

Living Joyfully Under All Circumstances

Luke 21:19

By your endurance you will gain your lives.

Jesus warned His apostles of the hard times to come.  He foretold the trials and persecution that they would suffer after He left.  He comforted them with His promise that if they persevered in the ways of God and in the truths that He had given them, they would possess peace and joy in their souls.  He also told them that the world would not be able to take away their joy if they lived in the fullness of His presence.

So it is with us.  We have our own trials to bear in our lives. The Lord teaches us to let nothing disturb or distress us.  He instructs us not to submit to the moodiness that might come upon us due to our circumstances.  We must take on the Spirit of the One who dwells within us.  We must endure, knowing that we have already been given victory over our circumstances.  We must allow Jesus to do His work in us, overcoming the moodiness that our flesh would like to lay on us, so that we can press on and do the work that He calls us to do in the world.  May we learn to patiently bear all afflictions on our bodies, bear all attacks and indignities tossed our way by our critics and bear all difficulties dealt to us by the world.  

Let us be determined to allow nothing to disturb us, distress us or steal our peace.  Let us learn to live joyfully in the presence of Jesus Christ under all circumstances.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for granting us victory through Jesus over everything in the world that tries to take our joy away.  We rejoice in knowing that we can have joy even when happiness eludes us. We pray that You will teach us how to seek the strength we need when our mood turns us toward our problems instead of our solution, Your Son, Jesus.  May the world see our joy in all circumstances so that they may be drawn to the One who provides it.  We ask all these things in the name of Our Stronghold, Jesus Christ.

Our Strength in Tribulation or Triumph

2 Corinthians 12:10

For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

When our family relationships are at the breaking point, when the bill collectors are knocking at our door or when serious afflictions are threatening us, we run to Jesus for a supernatural remedy to our maladies.  When we are weak and near defeat, perhaps even near death, we run to Jesus for His grace to strengthen us and comfort us as we go through our trials. 

He promises to be our strength in every one of our times of weakness or trial.  He promises to lighten our burdens as we surrender to His yoke.  It is during these times that we feel His presence so clearly.  It is during these times of pain that we experience the fullness of His love.  It becomes a blessing to have tribulation in our lives.

Unfortunately without trial, we tend to lean away from God.  We tend to move out of His presence.  We tend to let the joy of life overshadow the true and perfect joy that is available to us through an ongoing, intimate relationship with Our Savior.  

Let us turn to Jesus for our strength in the good times and the bad times.  Let us be mindful of the presence and power of Jesus Christ as we enjoy the blessings that we have been provided in our lives.  Let us experience the peace and power of being yoked to Him in our times of trial.  Let us allow Jesus to be our all-sufficient Lord.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your promise to perfect Your strength in our weakness.  We thank You for the comfort of knowing that You are always there.  We praise You for providing Your Son, Jesus, so that through Him and in Him we can experience the fullness of Your love.  Help us, Father, to find contentment in all things as we seek to live in Your shadow and not under the influence of the world.  We pray, Lord, that Your Holy Spirit will inspire us to develop an ongoing, intimate relationship with Your Son that is not affected by our circumstances.  We ask all these things in the name of Our Rock and Our Redeemer, Jesus Christ.

The Ongoing Expressions of Almighty God

Psalm 19:1

The heavens declare the glory of God and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

It is undeniable.  The heavens proclaim the glory of God.  Every facet of God's existence, power, wisdom and goodness are revealed in the starry canopy above us.  Peering into the vast heavens gives us a sense of our infinite Lord, a sense of His control over all things and a sense of the magnitude of His power to hold it all together.

Our Creator provided the sun, the moon and the stars to provide light in our world.  He provided His Son to be the Light of the World. Just as the Lord declares His glory through the display of His handiwork in the heavens, He also declares His glory through His Son.  And the glory that He receives through His Son is multiplied over and over again through His children.  He reveals His glorious Holy Spirit to the world through every single child that He has created.

The Lord uses powerful men of God to deliver His messages, but He does not use them alone.  He chooses to use everyone of His children - of every age and every time - to declare His perfect love and forgiveness. He certainly does not need any of us to accomplish anything, but He loves to use all of us to reveal Himself to those who are in our everyday lives.  We are the instruments of God's perfect love.

Let us take time to consider how awesome our God is.  Let us take time to marvel at all of His creation.  Let us recognize we are intricate pieces in His divine handiwork. Let us insure that our lives reflect His glory.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You and praise You for the magnificent universe that You have created. We proclaim Your glory in all that we see before us.  Father, we pray that You will use us as instruments of Your good work.  May the world see the magnificence of who You are through our living testimony.  May we be daily expressions of Your perfect love and forgiveness.  We ask all these things in the name of Your Everlasting Light, Jesus Christ.

Holding a Place for Us in Heaven

Luke 24:51

While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven.

In the old testament, each person needed a priest to represent him or her before the throne of God. Through their high priest and the accompanying sacrifices, each person's sins were atoned for.  Without the intercession of the high priest, the individual person had no hope for salvation nor for their prayers to be answered.

Jesus changed it all when He ascended into heaven after His death on the Cross.  He was welcomed by His Father, by all the glorified saints and holy angels.  He was seated at the Father's right hand.  He remains there forever as Our Mediator in restitution for all of our sins.

He rules eternally from His seat next to the Father so that our fears may be silenced, our sorrows may be sweetened and our hopes may be kept up.  He holds open the doors of heaven so that we can go directly to the throne of God with our praise, our worship, our prayers and our solicitations. More importantly, He holds a place for us because we are His redeemed lambs.

Let us go to the throne of grace.  Let us call on the promises of Our Risen King.  Let us set our affections on the high things above.  Let us expect Our Savior to complete His good work in us.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You that you allowed Your Son to ascend into heaven to sit at Your right side and stand in intercession for all of us that call Him Lord. We thank You that You allowed Your Son to return to earth after His resurrection to confirm to the world the victory over sin and death that we, who have received Him as Our Savior, partake in.  We ask that we will receive the fullness of His blessings as Our High Priest.  We pray that we may share those blessings with those people who You place around us.  We ask all these things in the name of our Risen Savior and King, Jesus Christ.

Escaping the Frailties of Our Own Flesh

2 Peter 1:4

Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

The great God of heaven and earth, the creator and ruler over all things, has made His divine nature available to us through His Son, Jesus.  He confirms this endless gift of grace through His promises, His power and His faithfulness.  Whether our faith be weak or strong right now, we can find hope in claiming what has already been granted to us.

Yes, the struggles can be overbearing, but we can be certain that God promises us that the tough times will end.  Do we not know that the divine nature and power of Jesus Christ is sufficient to provide victory for us in all things?  Once we have accepted Jesus as Our Savior, the victory is ours.  All that we need has been provided to us free, without conditions and unchangeable.  All of it is provided to serve the great ends and purposes of Almighty God.  All of it is provided to proclaim His glory as He showers us with His everlasting good.

Through this divine intervention, we are able to escape the frailties of our own flesh and the corruption of the world.  With the precious promises graciously bestowed and powerfully applied, we are able to live under the divine influence of Our Savior and avoid the ungodliness of our carnal nature.

Let us claim total victory over all the evil pleasures that our corrupt world offers us.  Let us boldly claim what has been promised to us through the divine nature of Christ Jesus.  

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing Our Blessed Hope and Assurance, Jesus Christ.  We praise You, worship You and exalt Your Name for all that You have set aside for us.  We pray that You teach us how to submit to Our Lord, Our Master and Our King, Jesus so that we may be fully prepared to receive our eternal inheritance. May Your majesty, Your grace and Your power be manifested in us here on earth as it is in heaven.  May it all be for Your glory and the gain of the kingdom as we reject the evil offerings of this corrupt world.  We ask all these things in the name of Our Divine Mediator, Jesus Christ.

Natural and Supernatural Transfer of Light

2 Corinthians 4:6

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

One of the greatest beauties in all of nature is the full moon.  Yet the moon does nothing by itself to generate light.  It is an unproductive body of dirt on its own.  It only reflects the light of the sun as it moves into its proper position in concert with the earth.

We share similarities with the moon.  We are worthless collections of dirt without the light of the Son in our lives.  There is absolutely nothing that we could do through our own efforts independent of God that would evoke a light of awareness in the hearts of others.  Yet if we keep ourselves in proper position with the Son of God, the light of the Son will shine through us for the world to see.

Just as Almighty God created the moon to be an instrument to transfer light of the sun on the earth into the darkness of the evening, we were created to be instruments to transfer the light of the Son into the darkness of the hearts of those who do not know Jesus Christ as their Savior.   May our light shine out in the darkness. 

Let us become humble vessels of the Light of the World, Jesus Christ. Let us bring glory to God in much the same manner as the brilliance of a full moon on a clear evening.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing light at the beginning of creation so that we could see Your glory in the world that surrounds us.  We thank You for providing the Light of the World, Your Son Jesus, so that we could see and accept the way to our eternal glory with You.  We pray, Father God, that You will shield us from the enemy who tries to take the Light out of our lives.  We ask, Lord, that You cleanse us and purify us so that we may be lampposts of Christ for all to see.  We ask all these things in the name of the True Light, Jesus Christ.

Who Is At the Door?

2 Samuel 7:22

Therefore you are great, O LORD God. For there is none like you, and there is no God besides you, according to all that we have heard with our ears.

What if a man appeared at your door, a man of immense power and wealth, a man who everyone around the world recognized and praised, how would you greet him?   Would you welcome him in?  What if he said, "I know you.  I have been watching you.  I have a plan for you.  I want to make you the inheritor of all the riches of my estate."  How would you respond?

This man has knocked on all of our doors.  His name is Jesus.  He exceeds beyond our imagination any man that walks on this earth.  There is no one like Him.  He is the way, the truth and the life.  There is no other way to the riches of our eternal inheritance except through Him.

He is the Lord, Our God. His name, His nature, His purposes, His promises and His works are all the essence of everything good.  He is the one true God, the creator of all things.  There is no one like Him.  There is no one that even approaches His name. How could anyone not answer when He knocks?

Let us welcome this humble, loving King that knocks on the door to our hearts.  Let us receive in faith all that He has prepared for us. Let us be beacons of light to the world around us as we host our Heavenly King in our hearts.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we praise You and exalt You.  We thank You for providing Your Son as Our Redeemer.  We humbly receive the riches that He has set aside for us through His sacrifice.  May we fully submit to Jesus as Our Savior and Lord over our lives as He knocks on our doors and asks us to follow Him.  May we become living testimony to His presence in our lives so that others may know Him when He knocks on their doors.  We ask all these things in the name of the Lord over all the earth, Jesus Christ.

Standing on the Word

Acts 24:16

So I always take pains to have a clear conscience toward both God and man.

Paul spoke these words when he was giving an account of himself to his followers.  He was under attack from his enemies at the time.  He wanted his followers to know that he was under attack because he was leading a life that conflicted with how his attackers wanted to live their lives.  Paul may have been the first to warn us about living our lives according to political correctness and not according to the teachings of Jesus Christ.

How many of us take the comfortable silent path of "tolerance" in order to avoid being accused of being a fervent believer and devoted servant of Jesus Christ? Unfortunately, this is exactly where the world wants us.  Much of what we see, hear and read that comes from the world is designed to desensitize us to evil and to move us away from the holy life style to which Jesus Christ calls us.  When we give in to what the world wants to hear, we give in to Satan.  We diminish our testimony that goes out to those who need to hear the truth.

It has become all too common to hear of the slaughter of Christians around the world.  In most of these heinous cases, the martyrs are asked to deny Christ.  Those who proclaim their loyalty to their Savior are subsequently beheaded or otherwise mercilessly killed.  What is remarkable is how many continue to proclaim their faith in the face of the slaughter.  Be certain that the faith of the first victim works to strengthen all the way to the last victim.  One after another they lift and strengthen each other.

We will be held accountable for our testimony.  What we stand for does make a difference.  

Let us stand on the infallible Word of Almighty God.  Let us strengthen one another through the bold expression of our faith.

  

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing the Holy Spirit to keep us mindful of the truths that You have revealed to us through the life of Your Son, Jesus, and through the writings in Your Holy Word.  We pray that You enlighten us so that we may avoid the tricks of the wicked designed to get us to accept the self-serving ways of the flesh.  As we live by your Word, Lord, we ask that You strengthen us to stand up to the ridicule and hatred of the world.  Teach us, Lord, to rely on the Holy Spirit to help us to become bold ambassadors for Our Savior.  May those around us be strengthened by our faith.  We ask all these things in the name of the way, the truth and the life, Jesus Christ.

Let Us Marvel at God's Provision

Psalm 34:10

The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.

We can find great comfort in the Psalms as we discover David’s prayers that he used to silence his fears.  Through his faith David often looked to the Lord in prayer.  He was wonderfully revived and comforted time after time.

Be assured that God owns everything.  If we seek Him, we can expect the fullness of His provisions in our lives.  He does expect a little from us.  He expects us to put Him first in our finances, first in our interests, first in our relationships, first in our schedule and even first in our troubles.  If we do these things, we will lack no good thing.

Let us follow the good model shown to us by David.  Let us not turn to the world where we will find that we will be left at a loss in times of trouble.  Let us not trust in ourselves, thinking that our own efforts will be sufficient.  

Let us seek God’s provision in all things.  Let us look at His promises instead of focusing on our problems.  Let us be persistent in our prayers until we receive what we cannot see now but hope for with the same faith as David.

Let us be positive and let God develop our potential.  Let us rejoice in seeing Him provide more than we can imagine.  Let us marvel as He surrounds us with people who are filled with His precious love.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing us with every good thing that we need.  We praise the name of Jesus who has provided us with our greatest need – to be washed clean by His shed blood.  We pray, Lord, that Your Holy Spirit will teach us how to taste and see Your goodness as we learn to put our total trust in You.  May Your grace be sufficient to transform us from living lives in the flesh to living lives in the spirit.  We ask all these things in the name of the One who brings salvation to all people, Jesus Christ.

The Power of What We Say

Proverbs 15:4

The soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit.

God spoke the world into existence.  Jesus cast out demons and healed the sick with His spoken words. There is great power in our words as well. Words cast out from our mouths have the power to build up and the power to crush.  We must be conscious of the power of every word that we speak.

Destructive comments like, "You will never amount to anything," can have long term, negative impact on the life of a child.  Life giving comments like, "God has a special plan for your life," can have long term, positive impact on the life of a child.  We must be careful in choosing the words that we speak to our loved ones and to all the people that we encounter in life.  We truly have the power to plant life or death into those around us.

Satan will stay in our ears all day long, feeding us with destructive words to be spoken against those that we care for.  We must keep our armor up against the urgings to hurt others with our words.  We must continually ask the Holy Spirit to help us to be mindful of our words so that we comfort and build up those around us instead of crushing their spirits.

Let us speak healing words to the wounded.  Let us speak atoning words to those without Christ.  Let us speak peace, encouragement and building up in the lives of all those that surround us.  Let us silence any destructive words that the enemy tries to solicit from us. 

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for the gift of speaking.  We rejoice in praising You with our words and our songs.  We take comfort in coming to You with our words of solicitation.  We pray, Father, that You will fill our hearts with words that speak life into those around us.  We pray that You will shield us from the urgings of the enemy to speak words of conflict and destruction.  Build us up, Lord, so that we may build up others in Your Precious Name. We ask all these things in the name of the Living Word, Jesus Christ.

Possessing What God Has Prepared for Us

Deuteronomy 11:11-12

But the land that you are going over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water by the rain from heaven, a land that the LORD your God cares for. The eyes of the LORD your God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.

The Lord is our provider. He provides everything.  He gave us life.  He sustains us.  He grants us eternal life through His Son, Jesus.  He endows us with the riches of His Kingdom for all eternity.

All we have to do is receive His Son as Our Savior and through our faith in His promises step out of the land in which we are living and into the land that God has set aside for us.  It will mean that we will look past those things that we think are unsurmountable. We will seek the promise and not get overwhelmed by the problem.  We will rely on God and not ourselves to be the source of our needs.

Once we turn our lives over to God and surrender to the reign of His Son in our lives, all of our needs will be met.  Provision may come from our own hands as God favors us with productive ideas and capabilities.   Provision may come from the hands of others or may even come from our enemies, if so directed by the Lord.  But rest assured, provision will come directly from the hand of God and it will be according to His perfect timing for our lives.

Let us rest on the promises of Our Savior.  Let us confidently await all that we need from this world and eagerly look for more than we can imagine from the hand of Our Lord.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for the countless blessings that You shower us with each day.  From breath to breath, You sustain us.  We praise You and bless You for Your eyes never leave us.  You are our constant comfort and provision.  We pray that Your Holy Spirit will teach us, Lord, to rest in Your promises. We ask that Your Holy Spirit strengthen us, Lord, so that we may step out of the world of the flesh into kingdom living.  We ask all these things in the name of Our Omniscient King, Jesus Christ.