Did You Know God Urges Us?

When I read these verses, I realized that God was giving us instructions as well as urging us. Exhort means urging, strongly encouraging. Now, let us see what God was urging us to do?

He said, “First of all.” Now, stop here for a minute. His words “first of all” should show us that what He is about to ask us to do is important. We are to do it first.

Well, what are we to do first? To make supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks for all men.

Supplication means we are making a request and bringing a petition to God; earnestly and humbly for all men, for kings, those in authority (yes, even those we do not like and those in different political camps).

Prayer means entreat, implore, request. To me, it is talking to God and asking God to have mercy upon all men, kings, and those in authority. Request God to help them make wise decisions for their land and its people.

Intercession means intervening on behalf of another. We can intercede for others by praying for their needs to be met, both physical, emotional, and financial.

Giving thanks means thanking God. Once we have prayed for all men, kings, and those in authority, we need to thank God for answering our prayers for them. They need God too. By thanking God, we let Him know we expect Him to answer our prayers, and we are grateful that He does.

Why does He tell us to do this?  It is for our own good. God truly wants us to live a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. That is what He wants for all of us.

Therefore, instead of bashing the political leaders, kings, and all men we do not care for, we need to obey God and pray for them. Remember God is the one who can change things . . .through prayer. This will be pleasing to God. He wants all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of truth.

We need to ask ourselves this question: had we rather spend our time doing what God said so we can have peaceable lives, or would we rather spend our time spewing anger, hate, and criticizing others? Where will this get us? There is no peace in this.

I happened to listen to two late-night talk show hosts about three years ago (I have not watched a late-night show since. I do not find bashing anybody funny, nor find humor at the expense of another human being funny.) I was startled that the entire commentary was spent bashing the President of the United States. When I heard them, I at once thought of 1 Timothy 2:1-4. 

Prayer: Lord, help each of us to come to you in prayer and thanksgiving each day and intercede for all men, kings, and men in authority everywhere regardless of whether we like and agree with them or not. We pray for them to come to know you, to come into the knowledge of truth, and to have wisdom to lead so that we can have a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. Help us to realize our responsibility as a child of God to pray and intercede for others, not just the ones we love and like, but also for those we do not like. In Jesus name. Amen

 

 

Prayer For These Days We Are In

 Psalm 91 is a wonderful scripture for us to read and pray during these times we are in. 

May God bless each of you and help you. Cling to Him during these times.

Blessings!

Rumors of Wars?

"To be prepared for war is one of the most effective means of preserving peace." George Washington

We all know who George Washington was. I think this quote of his is most profound and ever so true.

Let us pray for peace.

Blessings!

He Will Meet Us Where We Are

" God will meet you where you are in order to take you where He wants you to go." Tony Evans

Anthony Tyrone "Tony" Evans Sr. is an American Christian pastor, speaker, author, and widely syndicated radio and television broadcaster in the United States. Evans serves as senior pastor to the over-9,500-member Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, Texas.

Many times I ask God to keep me on His path and direct my steps. But being human, there are times I get off the path. But, God is faithful, and steers me back on to the path He wants me to walk.

We all need the Lord to direct our steps, especially, to be close to us and help steer us back on the right path when we miss it.

Life would be much easier if we could stay on the path He chooses for us. Let us pray each morning for His direction and guidance so that we will be pleasing to Him.

Blessings

Do You Want a Crumb or the Whole Loaf?

God's purposes are greater than ours! We have heard these words many times. But somehow, we forget they are greater because we are immersed in our own thinking, and what we are wanting. This increases the size of our wants and decreases the size of God.

That is why so often in the Bible, it tells us to seek Him first. Find out what His will is. Then, talk to Him about what He says He wants for us. If we have the wrong desire, ask Him to change it. To put His desires in our hearts. Then and only then will we recognize His purposes are greater than ours.

His thoughts are greater than ours. He is the Almighty God. Creator of heaven and earth. There is nothing He cannot do for us. I sometimes relate this to a child asking the parent for a crumb of bread, and the parent who wants to give the child the whole loaf. Which would you rather have?

When we ask Him for something, I feel it is wise for us to talk to Him first. He may have something better in mind for us. I do not want to miss that. Do You?

What Happens When We Speak God's Word Out Loud?

 

God said faith comes by hearing. When we speak God’s word out loud what does that do? We hear in our own voice what His word says. This helps get His word into our hearts (in our spirit). In Isaiah 55:11 (AMP) God says: “So shall My Word be which goes out of My mouth; it will not return to me void (useless, without result) without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it”. When we speak God's Word into a situation then that same power goes with it!

When we are dealing with situations we need God's word and power to help us deal with them. We can freely ask the Holy Spirit to lead us to scriptures covering those situations.

When I find those scriptures I write them down and personalized it by inserting my name if it is for me, or if it is for a member of my family or friends I insert their names. I keep those with me and throughout the day I confess those scriptures out loud. Not only does this help but it is a blessing for me.


One of my favorite scriptures, I have many, is "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Philippians 4:13


God bless you!

Are Your Burdens Heavy?

 

You may wonder what a burden is. Well, it is a load, normally a heavy one. Picture getting up in the morning full of brightness and cheer, but as you go through the day, every place you go, something to worry about is being thrown into a bag you carry over your shoulder. By nightfall, it has totally weighed you down and all your strength is gone. You try to get into bed, but that bag of burdens is still on your back, and you cannot get it off to get a good night’s sleep. So, you toss and turn all through the night.

Sound enticing? No. But many of us go through each day with our heavy burdens. We pray and ask God to take them, and we quickly instruct him how we want him to fix each one.

And we wonder why they do not change.

Casting your burdens on Him (cares, concerns, troubles, problems) means we release them into His hands. That means letting go. To let go, we will have to believe that He loves us. He cares about us. We are important to Him. He gave His son to die on the cross for us.

God is our all-powerful creator cares and love us. He does not want us burdened down. He wants us to lean on Him.

Until we get to the point that we trust Him with all we are and all we have and believe He wants us to have His best, we will have problems letting go. But we can start today. He wants us to lean on Him for and in everything. When we trust Him, He will hold us up and not let us be shaken. He will defend us, and He will be with us and see us through. He will fight our battles.

Start by putting your focus on God by taking your focus off the problems. You cannot fix them. He can, but He cannot until you let go.

Praise Be to God for His love and devotion to us.

Prayer: Lord, I surrender my cares and concerns to you tonight. I love you. I trust you. I believe Your Word. Thank you for working all these things out for your glory and for my good and for the good of the people I am praying for. In Jesus name, Amen

Are We Interested In It? Afraid Of It? Or Ignore It?

 "But God commanded His Love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us." Romans 5:8

Even while we were sinners, Christ died for us. That is how much God loved us. Think of all the things we do or have done as humans that we are not supposed to do. Things that are sinful. Even so, He still loves us. He loved us enough to send His only Son to take our place, mine, and yours, on that cross to suffer and die in our place.

That is how much God loves us. He wanted to save us. He wants a relationship with us. He wanted to make sure we had forgiveness for our sins so we could spend eternity with Him. But that was not all. He also wanted us to have a good life, one with joy, peace, and blessings while we are on earth. He wants us to become all He created us to be.

It is hard for our minds to grasp just how much He loves us. We love our families, and we may love them enough to die for them. But would we die for someone who we did not know? That had mistreated us, beat us, spit on us? I will confess I probably could not do that. Oh, I wish I could. I wish I could be more Christ like. It is hard for us humans to understand that much love, unconditional love.

Christ died for us, so we could live. Today, I will be more grateful for what He did. I will also ask Him to help me live for him today and be more Christ like.