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.

A HYMN OF PRAISE TO OUR GOD

Our King, Creator and Lord of the Universe, all Creation worships You. All who are called by Your Name, most gracious Yahweh, stand in awe of You and one day, every knee shall bow, even those lost to perdition and cry out - Jesus Christ is Lord.

Father, as we come to the final week of what has to be the swiftest month ever, we stand grateful that You delivered us from the dominion of darkness, into the Kingdom of Your marvelous light.

While we were lost in our transgressions and stuck in the filthy miry clay, of rebellion, stubbornness and sin, like even some who call themselves Christians today, You turned to us and heard our cries. 
While we waited patiently, You brought us up from the desolate pit.

While we were sinking in the quicksand of a vortex of sin, You set our feet upon a rock

You put a new song in our mouths. A hymn of praise to our God.

You put a new birth of freedom in our hearts. We rejoice, oh we rejoice.

You put a blanket of shalom over our troubled souls. You are the balm of Gilead

You put our bitterness aside and cause us to run to You. Then Jesus came.

Jesus came, oh Lord, and set us free

Jesus came, oh joy and happy are we

Jesus came, when the dark night threatened hopeless and fear

Jesus came, and fill our hearts with His loving care.

Lord, we are not proud. We are delight in You. We will sing mightily of Your wondrous works. We will tell the world, from the rooftops, even the mountaintops, of the great things You have done for us. 

Your plans will not be thwarted. No man can defeat You. No devil or his demons can place obstacles or bad people in Your Way. 

You are for Your Elect, dear Holy One of Israel. Your Eyes runneth to and fro across the whole earth in search of those few who remain loyal to You. Lord, here we are - send us. We have overcome by the Blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimonials to a lost and dying world of what a good, good Father You are. There is none like You. There is none like You.

So as we come to the end of one and the start of another, help us to remember that Time is in Your Hands. Our Time is in Your Hands.  Eternity draweth nigh. Help us to not play games, to not sin or become narcissists and to not bring shame upon Your Holy Name.

Give us wisdom and direction, day by day, as the times are evil and we never know what one day would bring or the next. May we always trust You completely in everything we do, say, or think and may it all be for the Glory of God, Who sits on the Throne with the Mighty Savior, the Lord Jesus at His Side, in His Name I pray, amen.

HIGHEST PRAISE TO THE MOST HIGH GOD

Dear Great Father in Heaven, we come to You in with humble hearts, bowing them before Your Throne as we seek daily forgiveness, grace and mercy for each new day this week and always.

 

The Bible says, oh Great God of the Universe, that the depths of the earth are in Your Hands and so are the mountain peaks. We know the seas are Yours, and recall how Your Holy Spirit hovered over the surface of the dark and called dry land into being.

You are the real Climate Changer, the Miracle Worker, the Promise Keeper of all promise keepers and the Way the Truth and the Life. We kneel before You, oh Matchless Maker of all mankind.

Nothing was, until You spoke.

No one was saved, I AM became flesh and dwelt amongst us.

No one had hope, until the Resurrection. 

No one could access Your Throne Room, until the Veil was torn – from the TOP down! Hallelujah, You are good.

 

You, oh God are our God. There is no other

You, oh Lord, are our portion in the land of the living.

You, Mighty King, rule the hearts of your people.

You, Sovereign Lord, are Lord of all and one day EVERY knee will bow to You, including those who reject You now, thereby following their father the devil as sons of perdition.

 

Let those of us, who hear Your Voice, immediately turn from our worldly ways, repent and be made right before You.

Let those of us, who are weak and doubting and are not sure of just Who You are, have an real encounter with You, Lord Jesus.

Let those of us, who are pressed down on every side, realized we are not crushed, because You hold us up with Your righteous Right Hand.

Let those of us, who are perplexed and confused by the tribulations of this world, find hope in the Way, the Truth and the Life.

Let those of us, who feel struck down and walked on, realized that no one can really destroy us, because we are Your children, the people who once walked in the darkness but now have seen the great Light!

 

Hallelujah, thank You Jesus.

 

At the start of a new day and week, we sing a new song to You and pray the entire world sings its refrain.

We praise Your Holy Name

We worship You in spirit and in truth and proclaim Your Salvation from day to day, first in our own lives and then in our households.

We declare Your Majesty as there is none like You, oh Mighty King.

Thank You for watching over, protecting, guiding and providing and for Who You are, on Lord of our hearts and my heart and those who love, obey and were transformed by the same Spirit Who raised Jesus from the Dead. We worship and adore You, dear King of Heaven, in  the Mighty and Strong Name of Jesus Christ, the Lord of all, amen and amen. 

POWER PRAISE FOR THE KING!

Oh God, our Father Who art in Heaven, Your mercy extends to the Heavens. Your Faithfulness to the skies. Your Righteousness is like the mountain of God and Your judgments are like the greatest depths of the sea. 

You, oh Most Gracious Heavenly Father, preserve both mankind and nature in Your lovingkindness and compassion.  How precious You are dear merciful Abba, our loving Father Who sees all, knows all but still loves us all.

When the hounds of hell nip at our hells, we run to the Cross.

When the trials of the times trip us up, we fall at the foot of the Cross.

When burdens and battles wear us down, we find refuge with King Jesus at the Cross.

At the Cross, we first saw the Light.

At the Cross, He beckoned us to come make it right.

At the Cross, He restored our sight and turned the darkness of night into peels of tremendous joy.

You, oh God, are from everlasting to everlasting. 

You stand at the door and knock.

You run to the prodigal. 

You comfort the broken-hearted.

You bind up the wounded.

You fill empty hearts. 

We stand in perfect awe of You. We who take refuge in the shadow of Your Wings, drink in the abundance of Your Favor. With You, oh God, there is the Fountain of Life, filled with Living Water!

We pray that this hour, this day, this week, this month, this year that Your Righteousness be installed and firmly embedded in the hearts of the faithful.

May Your Holy Righteousness remove all pride, sin and shame and replace them with hope, love, peace, joy and contentment.

May we always be contented to be called Kingdom Children - Your children - saints of the Most High, in Whom we delight and may we always be grateful for that Glorious Day, when You first called us to Yourself, saved us and put a new robe on us, Your new creation. 

We thank You and glory in Your Presence. We magnify, adore and praise You, oh Lord, in the Mighty and strong Name of King Jesus, amen and amen.

FOR A POWERFUL PRAYER, PART 2

In Part 2 of our study of the amazing prayer life of the great prophet Daniel, we go deeper and study his relationship with the One True God - Yahweh. His love, respect, devotion to Yahweh was so authentic and deep, that God sent an angel to tell Daniel the following:
"He said to me, "O Daniel, man of high esteem, understand the words that I am about to tell you and stand upright, for I have now been sent to you." And when he had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling.(Daniel 10:11)

While we study various passages from Daniel Chapters 6 and 7, we camp on Daniel 9 for most of this message on developing a prayer life like Daniel, himself. We all have the ability and capacity to accomplish this, with dedication and self-discipline.



Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved

EIGHT KEYS TO REVIVAL

TEXT:  2 Chronicles 34-35 (KJV) - PUBLIC DOMAIN

34 Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned in Jerusalem one and thirty years.

2 And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways of David his father, and declined neither to the right hand, nor to the left.

3 For in the eighth year of his reign, while he was yet young, he began to seek after the God of David his father: and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images.

4 And they brake down the altars of Baalim in his presence; and the images, that were on high above them, he cut down; and the groves, and the carved images, and the molten images, he brake in pieces, and made dust of them, and strowed it upon the graves of them that had sacrificed unto them.

5 And he burnt the bones of the priests upon their altars, and cleansed Judah and Jerusalem.

6 And so did he in the cities of Manasseh, and Ephraim, and Simeon, even unto Naphtali, with their mattocks round about.

7 And when he had broken down the altars and the groves, and had beaten the graven images into powder, and cut down all the idols throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem.

8 Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had purged the land, and the house, he sent Shaphan the son of Azaliah, and Maaseiah the governor of the city, and Joah the son of Joahaz the recorder, to repair the house of the Lord his God.

9 And when they came to Hilkiah the high priest, they delivered the money that was brought into the house of God, which the Levites that kept the doors had gathered of the hand of Manasseh and Ephraim, and of all the remnant of Israel, and of all Judah and Benjamin; and they returned to Jerusalem.

10 And they put it in the hand of the workmen that had the oversight of the house of the Lord, and they gave it to the workmen that wrought in the house of the Lord, to repair and amend the house:

11 Even to the artificers and builders gave they it, to buy hewn stone, and timber for couplings, and to floor the houses which the kings of Judah had destroyed.

12 And the men did the work faithfully: and the overseers of them were Jahath and Obadiah, the Levites, of the sons of Merari; and Zechariah and Meshullam, of the sons of the Kohathites, to set it forward; and other of the Levites, all that could skill of instruments of musick.

13 Also they were over the bearers of burdens, and were overseers of all that wrought the work in any manner of service: and of the Levites there were scribes, and officers, and porters.

14 And when they brought out the money that was brought into the house of the Lord, Hilkiah the priest found a book of the law of the Lord given by Moses.

15 And Hilkiah answered and said to Shaphan the scribe, I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord. And Hilkiah delivered the book to Shaphan.

16 And Shaphan carried the book to the king, and brought the king word back again, saying, All that was committed to thy servants, they do it.

17 And they have gathered together the money that was found in the house of the Lord, and have delivered it into the hand of the overseers, and to the hand of the workmen.

18 Then Shaphan the scribe told the king, saying, Hilkiah the priest hath given me a book. And Shaphan read it before the king.

19 And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the law, that he rent his clothes.

20 And the king commanded Hilkiah, and Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and Abdon the son of Micah, and Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king's, saying,

21 Go, enquire of the Lord for me, and for them that are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found: for great is the wrath of the Lord that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the Lord, to do after all that is written in this book.

22 And Hilkiah, and they that the king had appointed, went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvath, the son of Hasrah, keeper of the wardrobe; (now she dwelt in Jerusalem in the college:) and they spake to her to that effect.

23 And she answered them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Tell ye the man that sent you to me,

24 Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the curses that are written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah:

25 Because they have forsaken me, and have burned incense unto other gods, that they might provoke me to anger with all the works of their hands; therefore my wrath shall be poured out upon this place, and shall not be quenched.

26 And as for the king of Judah, who sent you to enquire of the Lord, so shall ye say unto him, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel concerning the words which thou hast heard;

27 Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbledst thyself before me, and didst rend thy clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard thee also, saith the Lord.

28 Behold, I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered to thy grave in peace, neither shall thine eyes see all the evil that I will bring upon this place, and upon the inhabitants of the same. So they brought the king word again.

29 Then the king sent and gathered together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem.

30 And the king went up into the house of the Lord, and all the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests, and the Levites, and all the people, great and small: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant that was found in the house of the Lord.

31 And the king stood in his place, and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his statutes, with all his heart, and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant which are written in this book.

32 And he caused all that were present in Jerusalem and Benjamin to stand to it. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of God, the God of their fathers.

33 And Josiah took away all the abominations out of all the countries that pertained to the children of Israel, and made all that were present in Israel to serve, even to serve the Lord their God. And all his days they departed not from following the Lord, the God of their fathers.

RISE AND SHINE - TWO DISCIPLINES TO START YOUR DAY RIGHT

When is the best time to set your mind on a peacefully, happy and productive day? Of course, it is either before we physically get out of bed or the first act, thereof. Ideally, the first words of out our mouths should be words of gratitude to the Lord, that we made it another day. Each day many do not have that privilege and blessing, and of course, one day, it will be our turn to transition into eternity.

But for now, the best discipline after rising is not heading for the coffee pot but towards prayer. Prayer to the Lord Most High, Maker of Heaven and earth, Who regardless of what non-believers say, made the earth six literal days - yet He has existed from Eternity Past. His goings are from long ago, the Bible says. He is the Ancient of Days, the Alpha and the Omega, beginning and the End Who sees the end from the beginning.

As we progress in physical age, we do need to stretch when standing downright upright and push-ups, backstretches and more are the way to go. The best stretching, however, is the one we do in order to benefit our very souls. Here are just a couple easy yet sometimes difficult to maintain, steps to begin this process more productively. These are actually a better use of time to engage the Bible with your prayer life and not lose interest or the zeal to continue.

Most Christians who follow these disciplines will sit down and start reading a chapter in the Bible, or pick out something at random. Very few, but enough actually follow a Bible reading plan. Picking a book or passage of the Bible at random to read through and then pray sometimes only lasts THAT long for the average person.

The best way to do this is:

    -   Step 1: FIRST - RIGHT OFF THE BAT - read a Psalm in the Bible and/or start reading through the entire New Testament, one chapter at a time. The Books of the New Testament are not just shorter than those of the Old Testament, but their chapters are shorter and to the point of the Life, Ministry and Expectations of Christ. If you decide to read a Psalm, read only ONE Psalm per day, or 8 or so verses of another long one, and then, close the Bible, thereby getting ready to proceed to Step 2.

     -  Step 2: In this daily morning time, we continue in  our chair or quiet living room or study, and proceed to prayer time. What the reading of the Bible BEFORE praying does is to remove the tendency for our minds to stray off into la-la land and be easily distracted. The discipline (and it is a learned habit or discipline) engaged in here, focuses our minds and spirits right away on "The LORD says" in His Word, and no attack from the prince of darkness, who rules the air temporarily, can distract from this Truth! The other way, if you pray first and have a long list of requests for others and yourself, by the time you get to the Bible, the flesh and the mind are not in full alignment and the goal is to get this over with as soon as possible. If this is the case and a hard habit to break, it is better to continue with the Bible reading in the middle of the day at work, or during the lunch hour. This way, the Word of God is never disengaged from us, and we fulfill Psalm 1:2 where Scripture exhorts to meditate on the Word "day and night".

These two steps, when activated on a daily (preferable) or as much as possible, will not only enhance our Spiritual Maturity and Growth in Christ, but will, in very short time, become second nature. The key to enabling, activating and executing these two simple steps is Time. Each Christian can spare 5-10 minutes per morning to spend with the Lord in Bible reading and Prayer. He or she can most definitely spend that and more, during a busy day, if you and I prioritize, even if the kiddos are screaming for breakfast at 6:30 am and you are unable to find even two minutes to pray. 

Make time for the Lord, when you can. It is the best investment in your day, you can ever make. The stock market is not even a close second. Rise and shine, and give God the Glory - and watch Him grant you and I, His peace, grace, love and mercy. Amen.

PSALM 103: VERSES 9 AND 10: "THE GOD OF PEACE"

He will not always strive with us, nor will He keep His anger forever. He has not dealt with us according to our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. (Psalm 103:9-10)

Striving has the connotation of contention. Contention is almost like an agitated action – mostly verbal – which brings unpleasantness and lack of positive results to a situation.  So many people try to beat themselves up when the slightest thing goes wrong and then end up blaming God. If things are not immediately self-corrected. This is The opposite of how God operates.

It is actually not surprising that the natural human reaction is antithetical to the magnificent attribute of God, Who is already bent towards love and forgiveness.  We kick and fuss and cuss and even worse -blame God, when God is saying “chill out! I am here, what are you going on about?”.  Psalm 46:10 says “Cease striving and know that I am God”.

The striving God is talking about here is the same as “come on, man, relax. I am God and there is no other”.  There is no better example than the Book of Job chapter 38 through chapter 41. For most of the Book of Job, Job rambled and rambled and said all sorts of incorrect things about God. If there is one big mistake any believer can make is to either appropriate God unto your own natural self-created paradigm and say: “God told me to do this” or to start putting your own words in God’s Mouth. God responded with rapid-fire, almost machine-gun like questioning of Job about his knowledge of the ways of God.

God did not contend with Job. He let Job and his friends go on and on and on for what had to be almost two years, in error, before finally put a stop to it. God did not strive or contend with all this foolishness. If you read the Book of Job from chapters 2 through 37, it would amaze you that God did not put a stop to it. But He did not strive with Job and his friends. The Lord does not strive or contend with us either.

For this we need to be absolutely grateful.  We live in the continuing Age of Grace. This is a preset period of time, maybe 2100 years or so where God has appointed His Son’s sacrifice on the Cross of Himself, as the ONLY way to reconciliation with Him.  We know, from reading all through the bible that He desires none to perish and go to hell. However, most do not take Him up on His free offer of salvation through grace and faith in Christ. This does not deter The Trinity of Heaven. There will not be a Return of Christ until the Gospel is preached to every corner of the earth.

He will not keep His Anger forever and it will be forever gone in the Eternal Kingdom. This is after the 1000 year reign of Christ in Jerusalem and after the final Judgment at the Great White Throne of God. In the meantime, let us keep pointing many to Christ, while there is still time….while we are still in the Age of Grace.  This Age of Grace literally means what we see in Psalm 103:10 - God has not dealt with us according to our sins!

We would not be able to stand ANYWHERE, far less stand before God, if we were judged daily for not just our sins but some really bad stuff Christians do!  We violate God’s law almost all the time. We do not do so daily, but far too regularly and if God were to give us what we deserved for the lust of the eyes, ears, flesh or for disobedience. We would be done for on this earth. But He loves us so much and knows our weaknesses, yet all He requires is we study His Word, become cleansed by it and therefore, become more like His Son, Jesus. These sins we commit, whether it is momentary lust of the senses to full-blown sin before God like extra-marital affairs or cheating on taxes (iniquities – the worse kinds of sins); are forgiven and wiped away if there is true genuine Repentance and an end to the flouting of God’s laws and precepts.

The key is staying and walking close to the Lord; living a repentant lifestyle and not allowing ourselves to be drawn away from Him by the tempting shiny objects and people of this world. He is the God of Peace - Shalom. This Peace is more than an assurance of our Salvation. It is the absence of conflict with our Creator as He makes us more Christ-like, if we are willing.

THE LORD'S PRAYER: THE MODEL EXPLAINED: PART 7

For Yours is the Kingdom, and the Power and the Glory

So what is the Kingdom.  By all means, it means – the Kingdom of Heaven.  But Kingdom living actually begins at the point of conversion, where we are changed transferred in an instant, supernaturally, from the domain of death and darkness to the Kingdom of Light. We read in 2 Corinthians 5:17 that “if any man be in Christ Jesus, he is a new creation”.  The original word “creation” here is “kitsis”. This is the same word which is used in Genesis 1:1 where the earth was darkness and a void and God CREATED the world out of nothing! Please let that sink in for a moment. We are new creations living in a faulty creation, yearning for its creator! Wow!

The Creation of the earth and mankind was supposed to be an joyful thing for eternity. We all know what happened in Genesis 3 when sin entered the world. The Kingdom on earth which Jesus set up in the Garden of Eden was disrupted by Eve, Adam and the serpent (Satan). But there was an expiration date on this flawed state.  This expiration date is up when the Revelation chapter 19 white horse of Christ signals the permanent return to His planet of the Risen Messiah – Jesus Christ. He will then proceed to set His 1000 year (or Millennial ) Kingdom up in Jerusalem until the Final Judgment, which then leads to the Lake of Fire.

This is the “Kingdom come” we are praying for…on “earth as it is in Heaven”. The Kingdom of Christ is on this planet, believe it or not.  This will occur at the end of the Seven Years of Tribulation. But before all of this, we have today – now, the present time. These are the times God, our Heavenly Father, has chosen for us in which to live. This should be considered a privilege when we pray to Him, according to the model prayer He specifically taught us. 

What I have described above is a summary on the macro or larger picture of the Kingdom.  But to bring it to our own personal walk with God, in Christ, we have to know our own Identity in Christ (IIC). Going back to the original premise, at the point of conversion, the Righteousness of Christ, is imputed and embedded into our own spirit as the blessed Holy Spirit then comes immediately from Heaven to seal us until we come into His Presence – either through death in this life, or the coming Rapture. At that point, we also become heirs to Christ and therefore, are inheritors/participants of the Kingdom from Eternity past way into Eternity future!

What this means is we are living RIGHT NOW, as Kingdom people. The True Christian, born-again, converted and being sanctified in this life, IS a Kingdom man, woman and child in Christ! THIS is our IIC – our Identity in Christ. This is what gives us the right to even pray “Thy Kingdom come” to the King because (John 1:12).

Hence, we are Kingdom people, praying with authority, to the King to come and set up His 1000 year reign.  The discussion of the 1000  year Reign  of Christ with Him actually sitting in the Temple as King of Kings in Jerusalem, is going to happen on this blog, but in an appropriate time. But suffice it to say, that this is the kingdom we are praying for as all the saints will return to reign with Christ, until the second and final Judgment.  

Christians SHOULD be praying “Your Kingdom come on earth, as it is in Heaven…..because Yours is the Kingdom”. This will mean the complete end to ALL trials and tribulations, persecutions and the end of Satan’s reign on earth. There will be NO non-Christian in this Kingdom (and this means NONE)! This is our portion in the Land of the Living. This is what we lived our entire Christian lives for – because HIS is the Kingdom: Our Christ Who died on a Cross for us almost 2000 years ago!

The Power and Glory which will be revealed at the end of the Tribulation which Christians will never see. Jesus will cut through the clouds to destroy the pagans, the one world  government and all who have rejected Him, alive then in all the other fake religions. Read the Book of Revelation to see how scary that moment will be. The same Power with which Jesus defeated the grave....the same Power with which He caused His Spirit to live in all His people for all time...the same Power which gave us the Word became Flesh and which was also written down for us – that Power is coming in ALL His Glory! And the Glory of the Lord will be revealed with all His glorious power is shown to the perishing world one last time. For us, the Christian, we will return to dwell in this millennial kingdom which He asked us to preach about in 

Father in the Name of the Crucified, the One Eternal God, the Ancient of Days Who gave up His Throne in heaven, and became poor that we may become rich, thank You for this privilege not just belonging to Your Eternal family, but for granting mere mortals the right, authority and incredible amazing privilege of praying for the Return of the King! Lord, we long for That Day...that day, when we see Him face to Face, in glory and then fall at His feet, just like Your Apostle John in Revelation chapter 1! Lord Jesus, Yours is the Kingdom - the coming Kingdom which we speak off to Your people. Yours is the Power - You, oh Mighty King are all knowing, ever present and owner of everything. You, oh King of Kings are the true Commander of the Universe! 

You speak and the earth shakes. You speak and the seas roar. You whisper and all creation comes into being. The Heavens declare and reflect Your brilliant countenance. The oceans calls to the deep, the depth of Your Love for us. The winds blow a song of worship of the ever present Holy Spirit Who searches the hearts of men and women and children for those who are loyal to You. Yours is the Glory, the Glory which was Yours before the Foundation of the Earth. 

There is none more glorious. There is none more marvelous. There is none more magnificent. There is no adjective and there are not enough words in all the languages of the earth to describe You, oh Yahweh, Alpha and Omega, Beginning and the End! You, Who sees the End from the Beginning, birth in us a new birth of freedom to yearn for the pure milk of Truth - Truth of Who You are. Truth of the Glory of the soon coming ruler of the Kingdom. Your Glory precedes You, as we live in the eternal now, as co-inheritors, which You have made us, oh Ancient of Days. We love You. We adore You. We magnify and bless Your glorious and Holy Name above all Names, in Thy Name - the Name of Jesus, we pray! AMEN!! 

WOMEN OF FAITH: FROM PHARAOH'S DAUGHTER TO CHILD OF GOD

BITHIA:

THE CHILD SHE RESCUED, RESCUED HER

17 The sons of Ezrah were Jether, Mered, Epher, and Jalon. And Mered’s wife bore Miriam, Shammai, and Ishbah the father of Eshtemoa. 18 (His wife Jehudijah bore Jered the father of Gedor, Heber the father of Sochoh, and Jekuthiel the father of Zanoah.) And these were the sons of Bithiah the daughter of Pharaoh, whom Mered took (1 Chronicles 4:17-18)
Some of the greatest women in history came out of Bible history had phenomenal impact, yet they were the unlikeliest heroines of all time! We have looked at some of the main ones in the recent past – Rahab, Ruth, Hannah, Anna and Mary. (Click on names to read the articles).  One such heroine of the Bible is Pharaoh’s daughter! All through 3500 years of history, she is always a footnote. She is well thought of, but always sidelined in the light of the greater story of one of the greatest men who ever lived – Moses!

Still, it was this young woman – Pharaoh’s daughter (Merri, according to tradition) who actually called the baby Moses. Merri called him Moses, derived from the words “Mo” (meaning Son) and “Sheh” (meaning ‘to draw out’). Pharaoh’s daughter adopted and called him Moses (Moshe in Hebrew) because she draw him out of the water, in the  wicker basket. He became her son,  and was most likely childless since her bath in the river Nile was a ritual to the pagan Egyptian god of fertility. As a princess, she already had her own private quarters and exquisite private rooms to be attended to, for matters of hygiene. Also, as a sidebar, the River Nile ran red with blood during the Ten Plagues as a punishment from God for that same pagan idolatry. Each one of the plagues was a specific punishment against that specific pagan idol, which the Egyptians worshiped.

Merri, most likely in her late teens or early 20’s when she “found”, named and raised Moses as her own, obviously fulfilled a role selected for her by the Mighty Hand of God. After Moses was banished to the Midian wilderness when he was 40 years old, Merri would have been around 60 years old at the time. So when Moses returned at age 80, after being sent by God to tell Merri’s father to “Let My people go”, she would have been close to or at 100 years of age!

Here is the reason God kept her alive – to reward her! Merri was constantly in the presence of Moses’ birth mother. A Hebrew woman, Yochabed nursed her own son and cared for him in favor and safety, in the very house of the ruler of the greatest country on earth at the time!  Merri undoubtedly heard about and witnessed first-hand, what a true and amazing God, the God of the Jews was! Scripture never tells us how or when, but Pharaoh’s daughter Merri later became known as Bithia, according to the ancient Rabbis! Bithia is the Hebrew word for “daughter of Yahweh”! At some point,  she ceased being the daughter of the Egyptian ruler, and became a Child of the Living God!

Then comes the surprise overlooked Scripture which almost nobody reads, outside of a seminary. 1 Chronicles 4:17-18 (see above) records some of the most incredible turn of events ever. Here is what it says:
- Bithiah (Pharaoh’s Daughter who rescued Moses) married Mered, a Hebrew man.
- Bithiah had three children: Miriam (named after Moses’ sister); Shammai  and Ishbah.
- Bithiah left her Egypt behind and all its pagan ungodliness and crossed into deliverance across the Red Sea, with the people of God!

This incredible revelation that Pharaoh’s Daughter left Egypt during the Exodus with the Israelites is instructive to us in the 21st century, for the following reasons:
1. The circumstances of your birth means nothing to the Plans, Purposes and Power of God. We have no choice where we were born, who our parents were or the environment in which we grew up. We do have a choice whether to obey God and reach out in human kindness and decency. By so doing, we could be altering the course of history, as Bithiah did!
2. Not only is our lifestyle of Faith observed, but the more authentic we are in following and serving God, people notice. This can lead to many things, namely either a rejection of our straight and narrow morality or an embrace of True Truth/True Faith by the unsaved because they know us by our love.
3. Lifestyle evangelism is important as it demonstrates WHO and WHOSE we are, but we must share the Truth of God, so others can know WHO HE IS! This is really the crux of the matter. If we do not share the Gospel and the road to Salvation, by explaining as best as we can, what God has done for us through Christ, then all we will be is nice and harmless Christians. In this case, the devil has nothing to fear from us, and has us right where he wants us. 
4. Following the God of heaven brings untold blessings.  When she was the Egyptian princess Merri, she dipped into the pagan ritual bath of the River Nile to “enhance fertility”, but it was only when she became Bithiah – the daughter of Yahweh, and married a Hebrew man (Mered) that God gave her three children. This is reminiscent of Abraham’s barren wife Sarah, who erred in forcing Hagar on her husband, while God had a huge blessing for her to bear Isaac at age 90. We cannot know the Ways of the Lord but we can surely worship because of the Wonder of our Great God.
5. Do not neglect humble beginnings. Self-pity is never an admirable attribute at any time. But God has chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the wise. Wisdom comes from an acknowledgement of the awesome Power and Sovereignty of God and His rule over the affairs of mankind. Once we, as mere mortals, come to an awakening of this Truth, the sky is the limit as to the potential in our lives. In times of trials and tribulations, circumstances dictate certain responses, but we do not have to stay there. The greatest men and women of Faith were delivered from UNDER the circumstances and their own personal Egypts, but the God Who sees the end from the beginning. Where there is life, there is hope to those who submit to the direction and Lordship of the Master, the Creator, the Lord of all things - Jesus Christ.

Bithiah, Pharaoh's daughter, married a man from the Tribe of Judah - the same tribe from whence cometh the Lion of Judah - the Lord Jesus!
"For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD, THAT HE WILL INSTRUCT HIM (from Isaiah 40:13)? But we have the mind of Christ..." (1 Corinthians 2:16)

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PRAYERS OF THE BIBLE SERIES: THE BOOK OF NUMBERS #6

PRECUSOR TO THE CROSS

6 The Lord sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. 7 So the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, because we have spoken against the Lord and you; intercede with the Lord, that He may remove the serpents from us.” And Moses interceded for the people. 8 Then the Lord said to Moses, “[j]Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he will live.” 9 And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived. (Numbers 21:6-9)
This passage is no small matter. We are never told what Moses prayed when he interceded for the people one more time. Before this last episode recorded above in Numbers 21-6-9 , we are told that the Israelites rejected God ten (10)times! This time, God ran through the latest rebels like a knife through butter. He unleashed poisonous serpents which bit countless Israelites who paid the ultimate price for their sin.  Realizing their sin, the people came and begged Moses to intercede on their behalf with Almighty God. Moses was then given instructions to fashion a snake and put it on a pole, high and lifted up. God then ordained that whosever look upon that snake, was healed. And they were healed.

The significance of this can be found in the greatest passage in Bible history – John chapter 3, where Jesus Himself recalled the instructions He gave Moses then, during His nighttime meeting with Nicodemus.  Jesus said "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but[a] have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:14-16).

The serpent in Scripture is synonymous with sin, Satan and self. It was the serpent in the Garden of Eden who introduces sin into the world and brought the downfall of mankind, leading to death, destruction accompanied with all the pain and suffering we see today.  The reason Christ recalls this incident with Moses in John 3 is its dynamic parallel to the Cross. The equation is as follows: just like Adam and Eve in the garden, the Israelites sinned immensely against Holy God and died. They deserved to die, just as we do. However, Yahweh (Jesus in the Old Testament) had Moses place a snake on a wooden pole and lifted it up high. Then, when those same Israelites in the desert looked up to that pole with sin wrapped around it, they lived, in spite of their deadly snake-bitten bodies full of sin.

Jesus was predicting His own Sacrifice to Nicodemus when He said to the teacher of Israel that just as Moses lifted up that bronze serpent on pole in the desert, so must He (the Christ) be lifted up. Later on, at Golgotha, Nicodemus would realize what that meant when he and Joseph of Arimathea took the deceased body of Jesus off the Cross – the same Jesus Who became sin, lifted high on a piece of wood. This ultimate sacrifice of the Ancient of Days on behalf of sinful man was done in order that we may look up to the payment on the Cross, believe in His finished work and confess with our mouths that Jesus is Lord. 

Yes, this is much more than an instance when Moses once again prayed for God to spare a rebellious and evil generation. This is the foreshadow of our coming salvation.

PRAYERS OF THE BIBLE SERIES: THE BOOK OF EXODUS #3

STANDING ON THE PROMISES....IN THE GAP

"11 Then Moses pleaded with the Lord his God, and said: “Lord, why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians speak, and say, ‘He brought them out to harm them, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your fierce wrath, and relent from this harm to Your people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You swore by Your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven; and all this land that I have spoken of I give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’” 14 So the Lord relented from the harm which He said He would do to His people. (Exodus 32:11-14)

If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? This is more than a Scripture verse from the Book of Psalms (Psalm 11:3).  It is the question of our time, where true believers and even nominal ones, see the social and moral order crumble right before our eyes. Mankind has always rebelled against God, since the Fall in the Garden (Genesis 3) all the way to present time. Mankind as always ignored the lessons of history, thereby dooming itself to results of those historical lessons.

Still, even given the total depravity of humankind, there have always been a remnant whom God calls His own. Today this is known as the true church – the Body of Christ. Moses was such a man to the rebellious Israelites who were wandering in the deserts for 40 years, due to their rebellion.  Their blasphemy; idol worship; constant grumbling against the God Who freed them and more, compounded their sin as worse than a foul order in front of Holy God. He was prepared to wipe them out.  But Moses, he stepped up and then stepped in.

This would not be the first time Moses had to stand in the gap for over two million people whom the Lord wanted to judge and take out right there and there.  This prayer is one of those times where his heart for God and the Name of the Lord showed in a personally powerful way. Oh, that you and I would have such a closely guarded relationship with Almighty God that we can speak freely with Him (in prayer) and He answers.

Now, just as in the case of America and the world today, God had more and ample justification to destroy any and everything at any time. The same people of Israel whom He had freed from 400 years of bondage in Egypt were conducting pagan orgies and "worship" in front of a massive golden calf, made by Moses' brother himself - Aaron! God had done all the miracles - the Ten Plagues; Passover; the Red Sea Crossing....and more....and here were these people blaspheming Him in the absolute worse sense. He was more than justified.

Moses, on the other hand, what that would mean - the mission would fail and Egypt would have the last laugh. Word of the miraculous escape from Egypt had already spread throughout the region before and after the Red Sea. The Egyptians lost all their top chariot warriors when the waters returned to normal and word of 3-4 million people wandering in the desert heading for Canaan had to have not just alerted the pagan peoples from the Sinai to the Canaan valley and beyond, but put fear into them. There were some wars coming to this region very soon.  Moses was an all in for the struggle, and as disgusted as he was by the pagan display below, he had the heart and will to see the mission through. Most of all, Moses cared deeply about Yahweh - the Great I am.
LESSON#1:
This is confirmed in Hebrews 11:26 where Moses knew to Whom He had been speaking - Jesus Christ! There is a significant lesson to take away from what Moses prayed, and it is the essence of our Christian walk. We must do NOTHING in this world to bring dishonor to God, NOTHING. When we trip, stumble and fall and cause others to defame Christianity (and thus Christ). At all costs, we have to guard the Name of the Lord, more than we do our own names.

In essence, this is what Moses prayed in verses 11 and 12 (Exodus 32): 11 Then Moses pleaded with the Lord his God, and said: “Lord, why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians speak, and say, ‘He brought them out to harm them, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your fierce wrath, and relent from this harm to Your people. 

His prayer here was more than just a request for God to spare the people for God's Reputation to be spared from ridicule by the surrounding heathen peoples. Actually, had God destroyed the majority of the millions who sold out (instead of the selected ring leaders who actually paid the price), His Name would have been feared even more throughout the Middle East! Moses also prayed for God to "relent"! He wanted God to more than just change His Mind about killing the perps of this outrage. Moses wanted Him to have compassion once He had gotten over His righteous anger.
LESSON #2:
This is the other lesson for us as intercessors for the nation - let us pray, even though the foundations of society have been removed by evil men and women - let us pray for God to have mercy on our communities and country, that our people may live in peace. National prayer means a nation of prayer warriors on our knees pleading for God's mercy, grace and compassion even as He suffers through the indignity of it all. He will get justice, as we know, when the roll is called up yonder. So this current paradigm is for life as we know it on this planet, as we co-exist with others.
ACTION POINT: BELIEVE THE PROMISES
The next part of this particular prayer is an important one for those who have been saved by Christ and thus have the ability to have our prayers heard by Him. The Lord made many promises to us all through Scripture. The most significant one is when Jesus said "I will never leave nor forsake you". God Himself told His generals like Joshua to be strong and courageous. He never abandons His own. He gives provision, protection and affirmation of our eternally secure position in Him. So when we are especially burdened enough to stand in the gap for a person or our nation, or even our own circumstances, Moses gave us the example here in Exodus 32:13 of how to stand, occupy and live completely submitted to the Power and Promises of God.

He prays thus: "13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You swore by Your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven; and all this land that I have spoken of I give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’”  He claimed the Promises of God because he BELIEVED those Promises.  He had absolute Faith in the absolute Authority and Ability of God to do what He said He will do. 
THE RESULT:
Do we have this strong measure of Faith? Moses spoke regularly with God and thus his faith was the strongest among all of the people of the world at that time. We have the ability to have such amazing faith, all we have to do is draw close to Him; pray, believe and study His Word and surrender all. When we do this and believe in His Word and His promises, look at what happens. Moses believed the Word of God and Exodus 32:14a tells us "So the Lord relented"!!

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