WORDS OF PEACE....

At my first defense no one supported me, but all deserted me; may it not be counted against them.  (17) But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that through me the proclamation might be fully accomplished, and that all the Gentiles might hear; and I was rescued out of the lion’s mouth.  (18)The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen. (2 Timothy 4:16-18)

Sometimes even the best of us, the ones whom people think have it all put together, can feel beat down, press upon, disrespected and just plain mistreated. You saw it back in the 1970's when members of the United States Armed Forces returned from a pointless war started by politicians and were spat upon. You see it now with the people of God persecuted in subtle ways in North America and Europe and in typical barbaric ways in the Middle East and Asia. 

Here (in the passage above) we have the great Apostle Paul himself. He is the only man ever personally taught by the Risen Christ Himself in the deserts of Arabia, and yet, there were Christians in Rome and elsewhere just laying into him. They weren't there when he lay in the filthy Roman dungeons for the sake of Christ or even at the end of his life here in 2 Timothy 4, he sat chained to a Roman guard 24 hours a day!. No wonder he said in 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 "afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed".

Back then, it was the persecutors of the church doing that to him but at the end of his life, we see many (so-called followers of Christ) deserting him in his final days. But guess who stood with him. 
Guess who had his back. 
Guess who will always be for you and I. 
Guess who will never leave nor forsake us. 

When you're done and troubled and feel like alone in a crowded room and everyone is against you, look to 2 Timothy 4:17a:
- The Lord will stand with you. The original meaning of "the Lord stood with me" is more powerful than any English translation. God will be present, stand closer than a brother and will make His Holy Presence known to you, if you will just let Him.
- The Lord will strengthen you. This word "strengthen" has proactive connotations and follow the Truth that He is present right alongside and in your spirit as well. This is important because God can only empower His own - those who are born-again into the family of Christ. This empowering is beyond description, as you and I will be able to persevere through the most horrid evil and emerge victorious - in His Strength.

The next step in the process of being oppressed, spiritually, emotionally and even physically can be found in verse 2 Timothy 4:17b and 18 above:
- He RESCUES us! The original meaning is "He snatches us out of the jaws of the enemy and draws us unto Himself"! Can you dig that! Yeah though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of death....the shadow of the evil one and his agents here on earth mean nothing to the King! He sits in the heavens and scoffs, He laughs at them! He Who hung the earth on footings we cannot see and giveth life and breath which we cannot create in a laboratory, He is faithful and true to deliver us from all evil....and He says so in verse 18.
- He rescues us from every "evil deed". Today, with the sons of desert in their evil persecuting God's people, it does not appear that way, does it. But it is. Even with the acts of the follows of a false religion, God is drawing His true saints to Him and while we may not see it now, the fallen of the Faith's rewards will be a lot greater in Heaven, than any over-paid preacher in America, who sat in his comfortable mansion and said not a word, when the saints were persecuted for the Name of Jesus Christ. 

The thing is nothing can come near us, unless we are being refined by fire for a greater purpose. These times of spiritual battle and woe will fortify us in the inner man if we just have the right perspective, if we just know the Scriptures and if we continue living surrendered lives under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. 

THIRTY ONE DAYS OF PRAYER AND THE WORD:JANUARY 1-31, 2015 THEME: "ABIDE"

DAY TWENTY FIVE:
VERSES:

"Search me, O God, and know my heart;

Try me, and know my anxieties;

And see if there is any wicked way in me,  

And lead me in the way everlasting."....Psalm 139:23-24

PRAYER:(Against Anxiety, Day 7)

Most Holy and awesome God in Heaven, as Your servants David and Jeremiah both proclaimed heavenly truth that You knew us before You formed us in the womb, it comes down to this, Lord - my entire being is Yours, sinful man since Adam have corrupted it, we need redemption and relief from sinful fears - and only You can have the Will, the Power and the Inclination to rescue Your creation.

Lord, we are made in the Image and Likeness of You and under such an amazing configuration we operate in a reality which should be other worldly, but always gets bogged down and oppressed by sin, fear and the wrong kind of trembling. So Lord, You know where all that we have hidden from You reside. Send Your fine-toothed comb through our spirits, body and soul and have an intimate knowledge of what we think, say and do. We know You have complete access and since You are a Gentleman of the First Degree, You will not come in unless invited. So Father, we invite, implore, beg, plead and petition You to come fully into every part of our lives and take over. This is the only way You can "know my heart" as the Scripture above says.

And Father, since being saints who sometimes sin and stuck under the old curse of the first Adam who sinned, we do have wickedness embedded in us which needs to be cleansed, removed and taken out for good.  The anxieties and fears which reside inside us are indeed close to wickedness and even divination, as its root lies close to the tree of rebellion. 

May Your Holy Spirit, the Spirit Who lives inside us as believers, locate every single one of those hidden hurts, heresies, doubts, profanities, pornographic, covetous and immature thoughts and simply pull them out by the roots, then burn them and fling their remains across Your Sea of Forgetfulness...to remember them no more.  Lord we know You can and will do this, if we so request in submission and genuine repentance. By Your purging of these wicked compartmentalized zones of our lives, we are then freed up from all anxious (and therefore sinful) moments to walk in a manner worthy of being in Your presence or as the Scripture above says "way everlasting".  By Your stripes, we WERE healed, by Your searching and prompting, we shall follow when You lead, in Jesus' Strong and Holy Name, amen.

THIRTY ONE DAYS OF PRAYER AND THE WORD:JANUARY 1-31, 2015 THEME: "ABIDE"

DAY SIXTEEN:
VERSES:
The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want (Psalm 23:1)

PRAYER

O most Merciful, Compassionate and Holy God, Your Name is Wonderful. Your Name is too Wonderful and being in Your Presence is too awe-inspiring to behold. I thank you for this new day of mercies, compassion and love because of Your Great Faithfulness, they never cease as You give rest and renewal to Your beloved in our sleep.

Oh Good Shepherd, we are in so grateful that You lead us, care for us, rescue us, nourish, guide and direct us. Your supernatural instincts is that none should perish, that none should be lost, that none should fall into a trap set by the foxes of this world. But Your pre-determined plan was, is and will always be for us to follow You, to stay out of the thicket of sin and to dwell in the green pastures You have ordained for Your elect, Your people.

We live in times where every one does what is right in their own eyes. We are surrounded by the false doctrine of the gods and the lost of this world who say that all religions, all systems no matter how vile, violent or void of any sort of human decency, love and mercy, those people, from the top of most so-called religious to the rulers of this world, say these things lead to You. And they are correct, these systems dreamed up by man do lead to You. They have an appointment before the Holy High Priest of Heaven and His Great White Throne when all the books are open and Judgment begins. 

But yea, though Your people are persecuted, have their churches and villages burned and their children beheaded or sold into slavery, yea, do they and too many oppressed in their spirit - those who are captives all over to world, to sin, self and satan...yea though they walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, may they fear no evil. Because by the hook of Your Shepherd's rod, we know You doth pull us out of the pit. We know that Thy Rod and Thy Staff comfort the broken-hearted; keeps the temporarily blind and disobedient from falling into a trap and keeps us moving in the direction we should go.

Thank You, heavenly Father, for Your Amazing Plan to send the Good Shepherd Jesus, for His Work, while finished on the Cross for the Salvation of the World, continues even now as He intercedes and advocates our case minute by minute before Thy Throne, since we are His flock. Father, thank You with all our hearts, that the Great Lamb of God, sacrificed and sent to us, is now the Great Shepherd of His little lambs. I would rather be one of His Sheep, following my Master, resting in the Truth of His leadership of my life, than a king or a rich man in this dirty dying world of sinful death. The Lord, He is my Shepherd, and I will never want any other, or any other thing. In that promise, I abide in my leader, and am thus, able to need nothing else, but Jesus and it is in His Name I pray, amen. Oh thank You, most Gracious God, thank You. Amen.

TODAY ON THE RIGHT ANGLE - FEAR NOT!