Friday, August 20, 2021

WHAT DOES ONE'S "CALLING MEAN"?

There is a general misunderstand of what our "vocation" or "calling" is in life. In the old days, pre- Reformation, a vocation was only a religious calling where someone would take a vow of some sort, go join and monastery and live a secluded life until his/her days were up.

The Reformation changed all of that and Martin Luther among others expounded on what the Christian life is and the many attributes of one's calling in life.

Text-(Matthew 25:14-30)

Parable of the Talents

14 “For it is just like a man about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions to them. 15 To one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability; and he went on his journey. 16 The one who had received the five talents immediately went and did business with them, and earned five more talents. 17 In the same way the one who had received the two talents earned two more. 18 But he who received the one talent went away and dug a hole in the ground, and hid his Master’s money.

19 “Now after a long time the master of those slaves *came and *settled accounts with them. 20 The one who had received the five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, ‘Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have earned five more talents.’ 21 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter the joy of your master.’

22 “Also the one who had received the two talents came up and said, ‘Master, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have earned two more talents.’ 23 His master said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave. You were faithful with a few things, I will put you in charge of many things; enter the joy of your master.’

24 “Now the one who had received the one talent also came up and said, ‘Master, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed. 25 And I was afraid, so I went away and hid your talent in the ground. See, you still have what is yours.’

26 “But his master answered and said to him, ‘You worthless, lazy slave! Did you know that I reap where I did not sow, and gather where I did not scatter seed? 27 Then you ought to have put my money in the bank, and on my arrival I would have received my money back with interest. 28 Therefore: take the talent away from him, and give it to the one who has the ten talents.’

29 “For to everyone who has, more shall be given, and he will have an abundance; but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. 30 And throw the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved


Wednesday, August 18, 2021

OH PRAISE THE NAME OF THE LORD OUR GOD

Great God in Heaven, You are the God Who calls sinners unto Yourself for redemption and salvation, so we can be made whole and more like You. On this day, dear Heavenly Father, thank You for Your calling on our lives to grow in You, to live for You, to serve You and love others to You. Thank You dear Heavenly Father, that while we were yet sinners, Jesus Christ died for us.

Because He rose from the dead three days after Calvary, I will rise from the grave. .
Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.
Because He prays for us, we have an Audience before the Throne.
Because His Spirit lives in us, Your true believers, we have the Great Hope.
Because He lives, we can see tomorrow.
All praises are to our God. Every voice of praise is to our God. Every praise, every praise is to our God!
Jesus is the Image of the currently Invisible God.
He is the Firstborn of all Creation
All Creation worships Him. Even the rocks can cry out and groan for that day of Redemption
He delivered us from the domain of darkness, into the Kingdom of His Marvelous Light.
Lord, Your Son Jesus, He reconciles everything unto Himself because Your Fullness dwells in Him.
Thank You, Jesus for Your calling, on those whom You have called. Thank You for making a way, when there was absolutely no other way.
Thank You that You overrule the plans of people and clears a path, an impossible path, that can only be explained by Your divine plans and purposes.
In Your Presence, there is fullness of Joy.
In Your Presence, we have an undefiled inheritance.
In Your Power, and through Your Power, we have an unfading, imperishable and steadfast Hope.
In Your Power, through Faith in Christ, we are sealed until the Day, that Glorious Day, which all the world dreads.
In Your Precious Son, Who is the Word – the Living Word – we find the Truth, by which we live all our days.
In His Mighty Personhood, we rejoice, worship, magnify, sing and shout out loud, that He is OUR LORD! Hallelujah.
We rejoice in You, Father, that You set the course of our lives, before the Foundation of the World. Though Lord, we have not seen You, we know You….and You know us by name. We love You as Your Spirit confirms You, as He guides us into the paths of all Truth. And now, most gracious and heavenly Father, at this time when we see ALL the foundations being destroyed, and as You call the righteous to pray, we ask Almighty God in Heaven, that You grow us exponentially in spirit and in truth.
Strengthen us emotionally, physically and firmly in the inner being. Mature us in Your Word. Grant us discernment in abundance. Protect us from all danger, evil and sin. Search us oh God, and know our hearts and see if there is any dross in us. Refine that dross with Your cleansing fire, that we may be pleasing to You, the One Who calls us by His Grace and grant us the double measure of Your shalom, every day of our lives – day to day, week by week, and forever more and it is in the Precious, Powerful and Mighty Warrior Name of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, we pray, amen and amen.

Tuesday, August 10, 2021

PRAYER: WHAT CAN THE RIGHTEOUS DO?

In Your Word, oh Holy One of Israel, we are called to the truth that "if the Foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?" (Psalm 11:3). However, You have told us, oh Mighty Father, that "the effective and fervent prayer of a righteous man, availeth much" (James 5:16).


So Lord, in these dark days, You have called Your people, we, Your elect, to righteousness and prayer. Therefore, help us oh God, to begin anything - a new day, a new week, a new month, a new plan, a new project, with reverence, review and an introspective look at our former Adamic nature, to ensure certain aspects of it, are not attempting to sully the washed-in-the-Blood saints You have called us to be.

As we begin all these things first of all with complete Gratitude for who we are and for Whose we are.  We did not save ourselves, and no one can. But You did. You rescued us from the pit, the furnace, the deep, the dungeon and the grips of the evil one, when we could do nothing for ourselves. For that we are eternally grateful.

You provide the roof over our heads, our food, our clothing, our health care, our modes of transport....in fact EVERYTHING which is just too numerous to mention. All are constantly provided by Your Mighty, Generous and Magnificent Hand!

There is nothing in this world, which we have or participate in, which did not come from You. We of all people are duty-bound to acknowledge this truth.

So Lord, teach us more of Your Ways that we may grow in the righteousness which You demand of those Who walk as disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Search our hearts oh God, and see if there is any wicked way in us, and remove it ...root it out...reject it and release us from the stronghold and grip, that anything has over Your end time saints.
Scorch us with Your Refining Fire, until every tiny portion of dross is removed completely from us, floats to the top and is removed by the cleansing scoop from the Master's Hand.
Saturate our minds, via the Power of the Holy Spirit, that the more we learn about You in this lifetime, even if it is 5% of Who You are, the more we will wish to marinate and soak in the Presence and Knowledge of the Holy.
Sing a new song over us, as we break free from the chains that held us back from living Free and Holy, as You wish ALL Your children to live, so that as we see the day getting more evil by the hour, we can be steadfast in faith, abounding in Grace and overflowing with love, power and a sound mind.

Great Father in Heaven, the Foundations are being destroyed. The spirit of antiChrist is evident not just in communist China, the Middle East, Europe and the Far East, but in this country and throughout the West. But Lord,while sinful men and women have brought unthinkable disasters and evil into everything from family life and church, to schools and businesses at every level of society, You did not and will not give up Your plan, Your purpose and Your protection, until the job is done.

While the Foundations of Family, Faith and Fellowship have been systematically dismantled, today we join with other brothers and sisters in Christ who by our lifestyles, seek after the righteousness and uplifting moral guidance daily, which comes from Christ and His Holy Spirit Who lives in us. Lord hear our prayer. Seal Your Powerful Word in us! Hallelujah.

May we, by our actions, fueled accurately by the Spirit and the Leading of the Lord, grounded in truth and walking right before You, become that effective man, that effective woman of God, of whom it can be said, He has been with Jesus (or she has been with Jesus). Lord, today, right now, we ask and come to You with this powerful pleading and petition, in the Mighty and strong Name of Jesus. Amen.

Monday, August 2, 2021

PRAYER FOR A NEW MONTH, HOPE, HEALING

Holy God in Heaven, Master and Ruler of all things, we come before You at the start of a new month, seeking more of Your powerful, yet kind and gracious Hand, in everything we see, say and do. Father, and most Glorious God, we also seek Your intervention in certain places, countries and continents where sickness and worse have followed in the wake of the worse human pandemic in modern history.

We pray for discernment, wise decisions and rational choices to be made by people who are in charge of all medical decisions and that medicine, along with health professionals will be the main decision-makers in treating this virus, even months after the world thought it was defeated.

 

We pray for our young people, in the month of August, Holy God, who may or may not be going back to K-12 schools, who suffered so much emotional and spiritual harm during more than a year of lockdowns so much so that we are now in a mental health crisis. Lord, many of these children are now over a year behind where they should be in their education. We pray for their parents who tried their level best for their kids and even the education establishment which sometimes put obstacles in their way. We know the Lord Jesus said “suffer little children to come unto me, for such is the Kingdom of Heaven”.

 

Lord, intervene on behalf of Your children, for the sake of the soon-coming Kingdom.

 

We pray for those who are preparing to go on to college or return to their classes, that education and not indoctrination will be the main thing.

We pray for all campus ministries both in Colleges like Cru and others and in High Schools – the Fellowship of Christian Athletes.  Father, so many of our young people – those called Generation Z, have expressed hopelessness and no Faith, as we, Your servants, have sometimes failed in our mission to bring them up in the way that they should go….and those who have absolutely no Faith, are increasing daily. Father, we pray that not just those great traditional campus ministries, but that these young people will divine appointments with many in the working outside world who are Yours: whether it be a waitress at the diner, the cashier at the gas station or the custodian at school who prays daily for these kinds.


Make all kinds of divine appointments for these young people oh God. Bring many in their paths who know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior and are not ashamed of the gospel but have a burning and urgent desire to see the trend flip for our young people, insomuch as they will go from Hopeless to Hopeful.

 

Father, as we pray for all these things, let us never falter, fall back, fall out or fall down in our daily walk with You. Stir our hearts, minds and spirits that we may thirst and hunger for you.  As a deer pants for the water. May our soul long for You, O God. Help us to pour out our hearts before You, that we may remain a transparent book whose pages ring out for the Glory of God in all that we do, hallelujah!

 

Help us to consider those who are less fortunate than we are, no matter how little or much we have. We know You save and rescue such a one, in the day of adversity.  Keep and preserve us. Help us to persevere and stay on the straight and narrow. Keep us from stumbling. Guard our hearts. Protect our minds. Fill us daily with Your Joy, regardless of circumstances and then, may we reflect the love, hope, peace, joy and contentment, which can only be found in the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ, and it is in His Name we pray, amen.