THE RESURRECTED LIFE: PART 1: RESTORATION, RELATIONSHIP

 TEXT:  HEBREWS 13:20-21

NDP 2021: PRAYER FOR RESTORATION, RECONCILIATION, RELATIONSHIPS

Most gracious God and Creator of the Universe, we lift up the Banner of the Risen Christ Who is seated on the right hand of the Throne, from whence He reigns forever and ever. We shout for Joy over His victory o’er the Grave. We sing new songs and hymns of praise to our God, with choruses of worship which echo back and forth throughout not just every galaxy of the Universe, but every corner of the Throne Room. For this is where the Cherub and Seraph sing and fly, back and forth, from eternity past to eternity future and sing “Holy, Holy, Holy”….for Holy are You, Almighty God, King of the Universe and all that there is.

At the start of a new week, we pray for a new beginning in many lives.

We pray for renewed relationships and restoration of broken ones.

We pray for broken hearts to mend and healing messages to send.

We pray for help to the hurting from the Sanctuary of Heaven.

We pray for those who are weighed down by circumstances that lead to depression and seasonal affective disorders.

We pray that this new season of Spring and the glory of the Risen Lord will light a spark where there may be just a few embers.

We pray that this spark will led to a flame....that this flame will lead to a fire…and raging fire that burns in the hearts of Your people.

We pray that this raging fire will turn into powerful passionate longings for the things of the Lord, for such a time as this.

May this fire burn and spread to our families, our loved ones, our friends and neighbors and through the Elect of Heaven that we can in turn, reach out and love the lost to Jesus – the Soon-coming-King! Hallelujah

Lord, the world takes pride in chariots. They are prideful about their horses. But we boast ONLY in the Name of the Lord, our God.

In due course, the world systems will collapse and be wiped away forever before the Holiness and Majesty of the Commander in Chief of Heaven’s Armies. But, we who are called by His Name will rise.

We shall stand firm and strong. Hallelujah. We shall NOT be moved.

We stand strong on the Word of God.

We stand without compromise on the word of our testimony.

We stand planted in cement under the blood-stained Cross of Christ, from whence our redemption cometh.

Father, if we stay faithful and persevere to the end, we know that You give victory to Your anointed. Let us then be resolved to fasten our seat belts, with the guidance and direction of Your Holy Spirit, Who abideth in us, and may we tighten our belts.

May we put on the helmet of Salvation; pick up the shield of Faith and wield the Word of Truth through all corners of our surroundings, with grace and love, yes but also mainly with Truth.

May we shout out loud and proclaim it from the mountain top, that Jesus Christ is Lord!

May we always live, this week and always knowing that The Lord Lives!

Blessed be my Rock and God of my Salvation to Whom, ALL the praise, ALL the honor, ALL the glory be given, now and forever more, in Jesus' Strong Name,

AMEN!

THE JOYFUL LIFE - THE BLESSINGS OF FORGIVENESS, PART 3

The Holy Spirit is our direct, or “wireless” if you will, connection to Almighty God our Father, and Jesus Christ- our Lord and Savior. Only the redeemed/saved/born-again of the Lord can testify to this Truth. So when sin and guilt reside in one end of this pipeline – the living, breathing Christian, there is a “clog” or glitch in the communication.

This glitch can only be resolved if the steps described in Parts 1 and 2 of this series on Psalm 32, are mirrored into the soul of the believer. Repentance comes before Restoration.

The Lord walked us through this process in His Word (Psalm 32) and now in verses 8 and 9, the Almighty Himself response to His servant David, and anyone who is serious about repentance and restoring the most important relationship we will ever have – the one with Jesus Himself.

Here is what the Lord Himself says:

Psalm 32

8   I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;

I will guide you with My eye.

9   Do not be like the horse or like the mule,

Which have no understanding,

Which must be harnessed with bit and bridle,

Else they will not come near you.

Here is what He literally means in His own original Hebrew language:

“I will instruct you” – The Lord is saying here “I will make you prudent and wise and give the ability to have the proper insight (you and I will need). The original word here is “Sakal”

“I will teach you” -  After God says He will provide insight and the proper view of things, He says here that He will guide and direct. The original word is “Yara”.

“I will counsel you” – Then, our great and Gracious God goes one step further in promising to give advice and provide the right counsel to His people. The original word is “Yaats”.

IT IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED WE READ THOSE THREE STATEMENTS FROM THE LORD OVER AGAIN! Let this sink in for a moment. When we are given the ability to have the proper view (insight) and then God Himself takes a whole of the direction of our lives and we seek His counsel in many things, we could never go wrong!

What we should always hold near, daily, minute by minute even, is this truth – God loves us and only wants the best for us. When we mess up, He wants to give and forgive and then give again. He is the Lord Who welcomes us with open arms. He is more loving than our earthly parents and more forgiving than anyone every born, except the Lord Jesus Himself.

This is why He exhorts in Psalm 32:10 and says “he who trusts in the Lord, lovingkindness (grace and mercy on steroids) will surround him (her). 

This is why we rejoice, as in Verse 11 “Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous; and shout for joy, all you upright in heart!"

This is the true Joy than can only be found in Forgiveness.

NEW LIFE - A MONTH OF VERSES: JANUARY 10, 2017

VERSE: “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.” (Galatians 5:1)

EQUATION: JESUS + THE CROSS = LIBERATION

ACTION: We instinctively know, from the Power of the Holy Spirit testifying in and through us, that the same God Who called us onto Himself for salvation and sanctification, will complete and finish what He started. He will do this until the day of Redemption. This fact alone is liberating for the Christian. His salvation freed us from living CAPTIVE to the bondage of sin and its evil by-products of death and destruction. Satan has absolutely, positively NO hold on us! He is defeated because Jesus is more than just the Savior of the World, He is the Great Emancipator! So, let's live as we are supposed to be - free from bondage, free from Satan's hold on us...and free at last, free at last, great God Almighty, Jesus made us FREE at last!

PRAYER: In The Mighty Name of Jesus, the King of Kings and the Lord of all things, we thank You, oh Great God of Heaven for Your Eternal plan of Redemption, Restoration and Reconciliation. We thank You that You looked down on the sad story state of ALL Mankind and decided to rescue us by Your Son's sacrificial atonement on the Cross which freed us from Satan, the Adamic Nature and ultimately saved us from ourselves!! You saved ME from myself, oh God! There is nothing greater to any of Your disciples and followers than to realize just how liberating the Gospel, the True Truth, the Word of God in each of our lives. Help us to not just completely grasp this but to embed it in our souls that we may not fall short daily, before You. Father, to You be all the Power and Glory and Honor, now and forever more, in Jesus' Strong Name amen.

(Clipart Credit Here)

PRAYERS OF THE BIBLE SERIES: THE BOOK OF GENESIS #8

"FROM FOLLY TO FORGIVENESS"

9 Then Jacob said, “O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, the Lord who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your family, and I will deal well with you’: 10 I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which You have shown Your servant; for I crossed over this Jordan with my staff, and now I have become two companies. 11 Deliver me, I pray, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau; for I fear him, lest he come and attack me and the mother with the children. 12 For You said, ‘I will surely treat you well, and make your descendants as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.’” (Genesis 32:9-12)
This first recorded prayer of Jacob (Israel) is unique in that it is primarily an example for those of us who are interested in outreach and evangelism. In fact, it is perfect for this time in that Jacob, while a firm believer and follower of God, had so far led a life of deception and  fathering children with four different women. He was on the run again from somebody else besides his brother Esau, who got deceived by Jacob out of his blessing, and for the first time was genuinely scared enough to consider praying!

Jacob came to his first recorded prayer of the Bible after angels from God met him at a place he called Mahanaim (Genesis 32:1-2).  He had gone through his own wilderness time with his father-in-law Laban and back in Genesis 28:21 we see him for the first time approaching anything about his own personal faith. He said “…so that I come back to my father’s house in peace, then the Lord shall be my God”. Jacob, the great patriarch of Israel, was at the time, typical of most who grow up in Christian homes, talk about their parents’ faith, yet never come to their own personal relationship with God until some encounter, tragedy or trying time…..if ever. In this case, Jacob was called by the Lord Who gave him visions of angels ascending and descending on what we call “Jacob’s Ladder” (Genesis 28:12). After the “ladder” vision, God revealed the same promise to Jacob that He had made to Abraham, confirming His covenant to make a great people from Abraham and Isaac and now through Jacob.

Things are now about to turn serious for Jacob as he is commanded by God to return to Abraham’s territory from Syria, to leave the pagan gods of his in-laws behind. However to reach there, he must go through the lands of Edom controlled by the fearsome Esau – the brother he robbed!  He hears Esau is coming to meet him with 400 men, so naturally, Jacob thinks this is not going to end well for him. In his fear, he prays the prayer we read in Genesis 32:9-12. What is immediately striking about this prayer is the stunning application to our own condition. As we examine the phrases of this brief prayer, it should lay out for us not just how much God can love and give grace to us, but how we can share this love and Truth with anyone, who was in the same place as Jacob or anyone of us, before Christ rescued us.

Jacob prayed:
Verse 9, in part: "“O God of my father Abraham and God of my father Isaac, the Lord who said to me, ‘Return to your country and to your family, and I will deal well with you’. 
Jacob remembered the Faith of his father Isaac and grandfather Abraham. The entire region knew of the great Abraham. Jacob was now coming into his own as a man of Faith, knew the promise and therefore, was coming to agreement with God, that this promise stands. When we pray before Abba Father, we stand in His Word. Father God gave father Abraham His Word. It first came to fruition when miracle baby Isaac was born to a 100 year old man and his 90 year old wife. When God makes a promise to you and I, He stands by it. What He says in His Word, the Bible, He means. You can count on it, receive it, believe it and then declare it.

Verse 10, in part: "I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies and of all the truth which You have shown Your servant".
The next step after standing on the Promises of God your King, is to come to a complete realization that we are not deserving of one single mercy or compassion or a single blessing because we are more deserving of condemnation. This is the true meaning of Grace and with this Grace, comes the knowledge of the Truth, as he prayed here....unmerited favor from God which opens our eyes. If there is anything better for any human being, then or now....well, we do not know what it could be. Jacob is already calling himself a servant which means repentance and humility and fully grasps, for the very first time, Grace, Faith and Mercy can only come from God. This is a lesson for those of us who grew up in church that we MUST come to this point in life where the eyes of our hearts are opened to the Truth or we remain lost in our deception. God has no grandchildren. Each true believer has to come to terms with his/her lost estate in order to find the path to eternal life - Jesus Christ.

Verse 11, in part: "Deliver me, I pray...."
First, remember the Promise AND remind God of it, thereby acknowledging Him.
Second, realize our worthlessness even while receiving His Grace and Mercy.
Third, press in and upward with the plea and prayer request. In fear, Jacob knows he has to come face to face with his past. The deception and evil committed against Esau now have come full circle and like all of us, we must face just who we are and what we have done. There is no sin so great that God cannot forgive and while Jacob knows now he has the favor of God with him, he needs to reconcile this deeds with the object of those deeds - Esau. There are some Christians who have done grievous emotional, spiritual and worse to other people - believers and non-believers. There has to be an attempt at making things right, whenever possible. The best road to restoration is face to face reconciliation. If the harmed person is far away, send a letter or an email. If the person is in your congregation - request a meeting. Do this, under the mercy and covering of God, and watch Him take the burden off you.

Verse 12, in part: "For You said, ‘I will surely treat you well".
This says it all. God not only has a plan for our life which we can either follow or blow for good. But for goodness sake, even when we take a severely problematic detour, there is hope and forgiveness if we remember, repent and seek to restore our relationship with both our Heavenly Father, and those we may have harmed in our off-road antics. Look at what God will say to our near-prodigal misconduct...."I will surely treat you well". Is there any comparable promise anywhere? Not in this universe!

All Scriptures from Bible Gateway

Photo Credit Here 

THIRTY ONE DAYS OF BIBLE TRUTHS - DAY 22 (RESTORED)

BIBLE VERSE: “Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and uphold me by Your generous Spirit” (Psalm 51:12) 

TRUTH:  The next step for a person who has been reconciled with God is Restoration.  Reconciling is the action, Restoration is the state of being in that reconciliation. We have all been to classic car shows

and seen vintage autos from as far back as 1903 brought back to life. What an amazing thing to see a living piece of history running down the street with the authentic sights and sounds associated with such an item! We have also seen rusted out old Model A Fords and ’56 Chevys in barns which, after multiple thousands of dollars, hard work and skill are restored to better than new beauty and functionality. This is what happens to the sinner, of which we are foremost, when God takes us out of the tar pit. He then proceeds to cleanse us from our sin and by the Blood of Jesus we are made as white as snow. 

For the unsaved who is being converted, He creates in us a new man whereby we are made anew, i.e. born-again. If it is a saint being restored like King David in Psalm 51, he restores our footing in the Kingdom, from whence one had slipped. The latter is what this Truth in Psalm 51:12 is all about. We already know there is unspeakable joy when we are saved and have become joint-heirs with Christ, inheriting eternal life from eternity past into infinity. But there is a powerful and unspeakable joy which a saint who sometimes sinned has when, like David here, he has been forgiven, accepted that forgiveness and resumes living in the Victory which God, through Christ has given us. It is sort of like the happy feeling of seeing a 100 year old Model T Ford chugging down the road, knowing the work it took to get it from an abandoned rust bucket to the historic masterpiece we now see. 

(Image #1 Credit Here 

(Image 2 Credit Here)

KEYS TO REVIVAL

KEY #3 - PRAYER

The value of prayer in revival cannot be overstated.  Every major revival in America and other countries began with prayer. The Second Great Awakening began in New York City when a burdened man named Jeremiah Lanphier read the times, which were not much different than today!  The financial picture of New York City (and thus most of the industrial sector of the North) was desperate and there was no move of God in America for decades.  The last revival had taken place when the controversial Charles Finney was on fire throughout the north eastern United States preaching the Gospel and leading hundreds of thousands to Christ.

Jeremiah Lanphier printed out and passed out flyers all over America’s largest city inviting men to a prayer meeting at the Fulton Street church he attended. The meeting was set for September 23, 1857 at noon. Even though thousands of flyers were handed out, not one person showed up for lunch time prayer until about 30 minutes in. Finally 6 men got together to pray for their city, businesses, community and family, where factories closing, unemployment and worse had destroyed many a family.  

One week later, 40 prayer warriors showed up at Fulton Street to pray at Lanphier’s noon time weekly prayer meeting.  From that day, it was changed to a daily noontime prayer meeting instead of weekly and within SIX MONTHS,  ten thousand (as in 10,000) New York businessmen started meeting DAILY for prayer - IN NEW YORK CITY! Today, one would be hard-pressed to find ten (10) men in one small town who would even meet weekly to pray for their families, neighborhoods or anything! What resulted out of all of this praying and seeking the Face of the Lord was that over 1 million were saved across America as the fires of revival caught the head wind and spread like, well, wild fires on the prairie. The renewal and awakening which began in New York City with one man, then six, then forty was a result of prayer, not just prayer for the natural but fervent prayer which brought repentance and sorrow of the sad human condition of the day.

Every move of God began with personal repentance and prayer, and none genuine was a result of a church or group of people sitting comfortable in their pews chanting "Lord bring revival". Every turn around in the spiritual atmosphere came out of an environment of idolatry, crime (against God and man) and general despair. It happened with the Welch Revival where bars shut down and the cops had no work to do, so they formed barbershop quartets and it happened in the Old Testament. Back then, godless men had destroyed much of the Word of the Lord, much like they are attempting to these days, and pagan "worship" abounded. Still God's word never goes away and a copy of the Word was found during the reign of King Josiah who had it read out loud.

Scripture says "Moreover, Shaphan the scribe told the king saying, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” And Shaphan read it in the presence of the king. When the king heard the words of the book of the law, he tore his clothes...(2 Kings 22:10-11)." Are we rendering our spiritual hearts today as the Word of the Lord convicts us? What happened when the pure milk of the Word of God convicted the king to lead him to tear his clothes, was an acknowledgement of his and the people's sins. It cut him to the quick.

God said to the king ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel, “Regarding the words which you have heard, because your heart was tender and you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants that they should become a desolation and a curse, and you have torn your clothes and wept before Me, I truly have heard you”. (2 Kings 22:18b-19)

Revival can come and the Lord can hear us, and will react according to His own Sovereign Will. Even in the Great Awakenings from Whitefield to Lanphier and D.L. Moody to Duncan Campbell and Life Action Ministries, God did NOT move across an entire people. He only moved upon those whose hearts were set upon Him and then brought many into glory as a result of that faithfulness. The majority still rejected Him, and were and will be judged in His Wrath. Still, there is no magic to revival. King Josiah's repentance and leadership in actively getting rid of the evil junk in the lives of his people, of removing all symbols of the evil idols and allowing the Word of God to be read and taught constantly resulted in something really powerful for a time. It was that specific season for the people of Jerusalem which led to their spiritual revival at that time. It WAS the reading and preaching of the Word. Read this account right here.

To that end, finally, the Apostle Paul prayed and ask for the same in 2 Thessalonians 3: 1-5 "Finally, brethren, pray for us that the word of the Lord will spread rapidly and be glorified, just as it did also with you; 2 and that we will be rescued from perverse and evil men; for not all have faith. 3 But the Lord is faithful, and He will strengthen and protect you from the evil one. 4 We have confidence in the Lord concerning you, that you are doing and will continue to do what we command. 5 May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ."

The rapid spreading of the Word of the Lord, which convicts and leads many to repentance and salvation, is how we should pray. We have the example of King Josiah's HEARING the Word and the subsequent turning of all Jerusalem to the Lord and then Paul's prayer here that the Word will led to rescue, strength, protection and then confidence and the turning of hearts unto the love of God, standing strong in the Knowledge and Faith of Jesus Christ. This is our true prayer of revival. May we never depart from it but press on daily, as we seek a strong move of the Savior across a dry and spiritually barren land.

BOOK REVIEW: PERFECTLY BROKEN by AMBER MAUDLIN

A Memoir of Rape and Redemption...

"He may have killed my innocence that day, but he awoke something more powerful - a woman of Faith...." PERFECTLY BROKEN (Amber Maudlin, Westbow 2014)

This book is an inspiring honest account of a brave young woman's journey from a brutalized 16 year old almost two decades ago to the point where she can now share her personal restoration, with the lost and hurting. Amber Harville (Maudlin) was violently attacked, physically and otherwise by a criminal, after being kidnapped on the way to a Subway sandwich shop in Virginia. What follows in this extremely well written book (Westbow Press, December 2014, 214 pages), is a page-turner which is so horrifying and intensely sad that reading it will, at first, tremendously infuriate the reader!

Amber, for a first time author, did an amazingly gripping and mature job in describing her memories of that time almost two decades ago when this awful assault occurred. She expertly wove her personal physical and spiritual trauma as both a high school student (after the assault) with her relationship with her mother, brother and step-father so well, that the reader ends up on the same roller-coaster of emotion. As horrifying  as the foundation of the story is,  Perfectly Broken is full of good innocent humor and life as the abused teen, a Christian young lady at the time, sought to work through this personal crisis with the Great God of Heaven. You can almost see her trying to live the semblance of a "normal" teenager outwardly, all the while, doubting and debating on the inside.

For me, this is the most powerful part of this book. Like most folks who have gone through unfair and ungodly attacks, the most asked question is "Where is (was) God?"...and all the different variations of this question. Like most under duress, it seems as though God has gone silent. Remember, even the Lord Jesus Himself, God in Heaven from eternity past with the Father, cried out in agony on the Cross "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?"  This is a difficult thing for any Christian, whether in crisis or not. It has happened to anyone who has walked close to God throughout life and even the best of us. The rape and violent attacks on this teenage girl would be enough, in post-Christian, spiritually weak America, to turn anyone else away from our Heavenly Father.

To her credit, Amber never gave in to those thoughts but kept asking God and the Savior Jesus Christ for help in comprehending the matter.  She eventually was led to her youth minister Jason, who did something which not even senior pastors in America could do- get a teenager to read and digest all 42 Chapters of the Book of Job! Not just that, Amber read the entire book of Job in the King James Version! That alone is impressive. In my opinion, this is both the turning point in Amber's ability to successfully process her personal tragedy while finding the true peace and comfort of our Loving God, which she had sought and fought so hard for.


Here is where "Perfectly Broken" is now becoming, and IS, a true resource for ANYONE who has been a victim of any type of crime or otherwise. It was the Scriptures, inspired by God, and the Holy Spirit Who abides in this truly born-again young woman, which brought about Restoration! The restoration was so powerful, once Amber got the true message of the Book of Job that she wrote in her book "He (the attacker) may have killed my innocence that day, but he awoke something more powerful - a woman of Faith. No matter what the verdict is, I've already won. I see that now?" She said those words close to the trial where she was the key witness against the serial rapist, who was later put away for life.

How did this happen, that one goes from questioning God to speaking like she did in the above quote? The answer lies in the entire long narrative of the Book of Job - the actual first book of the Bible.  Apart from the impressive fact that a sixteen year old would read in one sitting, the long tedious (and mostly false) speeches of Job's friends and Job and still get the key point of Job, is in itself, a good reason to read "Perfectly Broken". When the dark night of the soul finally broke, after reading this classic book of the Bible, which serves as an example for all peoples of all times, God reveals the reason why trouble came to Amber and how He wanted her to deal with it. It came in her own words, where she offered up the answer that this life is not really about her, but her experiences, with Christ on her side, to help someone else. Just reading how God revealed Himself and His call, purpose and design for a persecuted Christian, is worth obtaining and purchasing this first time offering by Amber Maudlin.

CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE A COPY OF "PERFECTLY BROKEN"

WHY PRAY? Part 3 - BE ACCOUNTABLE!

Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed... (James 5:16a)

Does this verse teach that we should open a confessional and have a man of the cloth listen to us confess, so he could tell us to go do some penance for it? No- what the Lord is teaching through James, the half-brother of Jesus the Christ, is accountability. We are a fallen people whose tendency to 'miss the mark' increases in frequency and intensity, the further we move from those who are appointed to watch out for us.

For the most part, accountability is not primarily the function of the pastoral, but the call of the Godly and moral. The word confess here means to not just repent before God, but to agree out and out that one has fallen short, did something wrong or untoward, and having acknowledged that sin or trespass on turf where one should not be, one has the privilege and opportunity to be allowed to give praise. Now this is not the convoluted thinking of the world and pop psychology!

Secular psychology will tell you that this 'confession of sins' simply means you have "issues or problems"....and thus, "set up another therapy session" and a temporal answer from man's thinking will evoke responses totally against the Word of God. What we are searching here for is Godly responses and reactions to minor and/or major sin, which is still viewed as sin before God. What Abba Father, our loving Father Who wants the best for us is saying here- "you sure messed up here on this one, son/daughter...but after you ask Me for forgiveness, go to Susie or Jack over there and apologize, make it right or pay for that window you broke when the rock flew off your lawn mower last week and you kept quiet about it."

In the case of small groups, women are better about discussing their shortcomings with other women and seeking answers, biblical or otherwise, if they are walking with the Lord. But for some reason, men's mouths are shut tighter than the vault door at Fort Knox as to their transgressions. The answer is to have a mentor, an accountability brother or band of brothers with whom a man studies the Word of God with on a regular basis. The vast majority of men are not in such a fellowship and are therefore, sitting ducks for the enemy, when they slip up and fall short. Those who are not walking with the Lord have their drinking buddies, golf buddies, baseball buddies or even their former military buddies....and some of them would even share their troubles with each other. In fact, some of these lost men (and women) are better about supporting their fellow brother or sister than most Christians, who come of as self-righteous hypocrites to just about every body else.

So, how do we get around and over these obstacles - hypocritical and otherwise? We are strongly encouraged to pray here for those of us, who have sinned against someone else in particular, and against God in general, because it really affects our spiritual lives. To be free of this burden of sin, we must realize that the Power in the Blood requires the following two-step: take it to Calvary's Cross and then pray before taking it to the person you and I have crossed!

The portion of verse 16 we look at here is the Scriptural version of this aforementioned two-step. We are not supposed to be like the world and dance around sin, tripping the light fantastic with the devil and his music. Our music flows sweeter when the admission of our shortcomings are prayed up to God and then 'fessed up to each other, that reconciliation and restoration can take place. 

There is no healing without prayer. There is no revealing of sweet fellowship with God and man without removing barriers through prayer. There is no relationship, vertical or horizontal, without kneeling before the Throne - in prayer. Selah...Prayer is the key that opens the door to loving relationships between you and I and the rest of the Children of God.

WHY PRAY? Part 2 - WE TRUST!

Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer offered in faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him (James 5:14-15)

The Lord promised that "in this world you will have tribulation (or trouble), but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world" (John 16:33b). How does someone do that when the enemies of God are systematically destroying His people....when many are losing hope....when the numbers of "nones" (those who believe in nothing) grow exponentially....etc. etc..

These are the Biblical end times which are in view, primarily, to those who are saved and called by Christ into the Kingdom. We are seeing a plethora of incurable diseases, deadly viruses and inexplicable things all around us. Cancer is on the rise due to the many different things - lifestyle, quality of food and environment etc. In fact, if you act even the dearest Christian, there seems to be a sense of resignation and defeat.

This is both understandable and wrong at the same time. We see an exhortation from James here which is hardly called upon, in times of need, even by those who call themselves strong believers.....and that includes pastors. On average, you hear pastoral prayers about "Lord heal so and so, touch brother X, remember sister Y....etc.." But is there the strong biblical prayer system for healing, whether Body, Soul or Mind, which lines up with James 5:14, 15? Not really!  This sort of healing and restoration requires Faith and Trust in the Promise AND persistence in prayer.

Too many modern seminaries, and thus, the pastors they put out, have removed the spirit of this Scripture which says that such faith for healing, anointing with oil and restoration "is only for Bible times" and not now! I have heard that so many times, I don't even listen to it anymore. Because the Living Word who abides in the Christian testifies that the entire Word of God - all 66 books - are for now and for you and I. Therefore, even if the elders don't pray for the church and the sick as they should - YOU DO IT!

To drive home that point, the Lord gave us the account of the man of God - Elijah - who was sent to a place of famine and a poor woman in Zarephath. 

Read the full account here from the flowing narrative of God's Word Translation:
8 Then the Lord spoke his word to Elijah: 9 “Get up, go to Zarephath (which belongs to Sidon), and stay there. I’ve commanded a widow there to feed you.”
10 He got up and went to Zarephath. As he came to the town’s entrance, a widow was gathering wood. He called to her, “Please bring me a drink of water.” 11 As she was going to get it, he called to her again, “Please bring me a piece of bread too.”  12 She said, “I solemnly swear, as the Lord your God lives, I didn’t bake any bread. I have one handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I’m gathering wood. I’m going to prepare something for myself and my son so that we can eat it and then die.”

13 Then Elijah told her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home, and do as you’ve said. But first make a small loaf and bring it to me. Then prepare something for yourself and your son. 14 This is what the Lord God of Israel says: Until the Lord sends rain on the land, the jar of flour will never be empty and the jug will always contain oil.” 15 She did what Elijah had told her. So she, Elijah, and her family had food for a long time. 16 The jar of flour never became empty, and the jug always contained olive oil, as the Lord had promised through Elijah....1 Kings 17:7-16 (GNT)

Notice the parallel to a life of belief, faith and therefore, TRUST:
The RED HIGHLIGHT from verses 10-11  “Please bring me a drink of water.” 11 As she was going to get it, he called to her again, “Please bring me a piece of bread too.”  
Elijah was repeating the Word of the Lord to the widow of Zarephath, just as James is telling us that if we are sick, go to the elders. God gave the widow the following commands: 
- Bring me a drink....even though I know you're thirsty and there is famine and drought in the land (Sacrificial prayer.....what are YOU willing to surrender to Christ to be in the center of His Perfect Will through obedience?)
- Bring me a piece of bread too....even though I know you have nothing and are about to die because of this famine, caused by the disobedience of others. Noteworthy here is the condition of the saint. We are not exempt sometimes when the Lord judges a place, as He judged Israel then and the even harsher judgment coming to America for its rebellion against God. This is what Jesus meant by tribulation. This walk with Christ through life is not meant to be easy and woe to those who deceive with the health, wealth and prosperity gospel!

This is proven by the BLUE HIGHLIGHT and the words of the poor widow “I solemnly swear, as the Lord your God lives, I didn’t bake any bread. I have one handful of flour in a jar and a little oil in a jug. I’m gathering wood. I’m going to prepare something for myself and my son so that we can eat it and then die.” (Verse 12).
The prayer application for us here is this - simply go to the Lord, explain your case and do it over and over (persistent prayer). You say, "well, God knows what I need....why should I have to pray?" God does know what we need and we pray because He desires fellowship with His Elect. We all come from families, whether large or small. How can we live in our homes in peace, joy and contentment if we do not speak to our moms, wives, dads, brothers sisters and cousins?! It is the same thing with the Lord, our Heavenly Father! He is called Abba which in English is the equivalent of "Daddy"! We present our case to Him in humility, fear, trembling but we also present to Him in anticipation and the STRONG belief that He hears and will heal, reveal and not conceal!

The great result of this tremendous, dynamic and ever growing faith is found here in the GREEN HIGHLIGHT: “Don’t be afraid. Go home, and do as you’ve said. But first make a small loaf and bring it to me. Then prepare something for yourself and your son. 14 This is what the Lord God of Israel says: Until the Lord sends rain on the land, the jar of flour will never be empty and the jug will always contain oil.”
Look at what the man of God (and therefore GOD) says:
-DO NOT BE AFRAID! Do not be afraid to ask and believe and trust in Him to do what He says, even in the darkest hour!
- GO HOME! What? You mean, leave my burdens and cares and some Cross I can't see and under some "Blood" that I only read about being shed for me? Yes, doubting Thomas - Go home! Go and rest and abide in the fact that you can have peace, joy, contentment, hope and victory from the One Who already won it at the same Cross you doubt it and because ye doubt, ye have not the answer ye seek! Go home simply means - DO YOU BELIEVE ME, JESUS...DO YOU BELIEVE I CAN DO IT? YES I CAN...NOW GO YOUR WAY - YOU ARE HEALED! Such amazing faith in His Amazing Grace is such a sweet sweet sound, to a wretch like me that I don't deserve what verse 14 says: Until the Lord sends rain on the land, the jar of flour will never be empty and the jug will always contain oil. 

That simply means - until the Lord Jesus returns for us, calls us home or either one or the other, I will live in that promise, my cup runneth over, surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever....to the praise and glory of His Name. Saint, be of good cheer, because we pray....because we TRUST! Amen!

GOD BELONGS IN MY CITY - SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS THIS SATURDAY

OFFICIAL PRAYER POINTS FOR THE TWO MILE WALK (see below)

TIMELINE: GATHER AT 10 AM (REGISTRATION FOR FUTURE EVENTS)
PRAYER WALK LEAVES COMER COX PARK, 18th and Capitol Avenue for two miles to 2nd and Capitol - the Illinois State Capitol East Steps.

THE FOLLOWING ARE THE PRAYER LEADERS:
Dave Smith- Director, Illinois Family Institute
Roy Newman- Pastor, Fresh Visions Com. Church
Eric Hansen- Pastor,  iWorship Center
Roger Ross- Pastor, First United Methodist
Fr House- Catholic Diocese
Billie Landers- New Generations Ministries, Auburn

HERE ARE THE PRAYER POINTS FOR THE TWO MILE WALK TO THE 11:15 am PRAYER & WORSHIP SERVICE AT THE STATE CAPITOL STEPS (BASED ON PSALM 51 -New American Standard Bible):

Prayer Focus 1: PRAYERS OF REPENTANCE (Personal repentance – Psalm 51 Verse 2 “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin…verse 4 “Against You and You only I have sinned and done what is evil in Your sight”…Verse 9 “Hide Your Face from my sins and blot out my iniquities.)
Corporate Repentance: for the sins of the Body of Christ against God and our fellow man. Since of division, despair, destructive speech and conduct and the racism.

Prayer Focus 2: PRAYERS OF REDEMPTION:  After this prayers of Repentance, sees forgiveness “Psalm 51 Verse:7 “ Purify me with hyssop and I shall be clean; wash me and I shall be as white as snow…..Verse 10 “ Create in me a clean heart, O God and renew a steadfast spirit within me”. Corporate Redemption – Pray for our city/town/state leaders to come to repentance and follow the will of God that it may be well with us.

Prayer Focus 3: PRAYERS OF RESTORATION:  Restoration of relationships – personal and between those in the church. 
Restoration of relationships across the community and unity in the Body of Christ, around the Person and saving power of Jesus Christ", regardless of race or class. 
Restoration of the relationship upon which all of the above is based – our relationship with the One True God of Heaven and His Son Jesus Christ…..Verse 12 “Restore to me the Joy of Your Salvation and sustain in me a willing spirit…..verse 15 “O Lord, open my lips that my mouth may declare Your Praise!”

Additional Scripture verses to meditate upon:

1.  Humble ourselves before God.
2 Chronicles 7:14 "If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and heal their land."

2.  Love God and love each other.
Luke 10:27 "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all you strength and with all your mind, and 'Love your neighbor as yourself'."

3.  Courageous in difficult times.
John 16:33 "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

4. Pray for our leaders.
1 Timothy 2:1,2 "I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone - for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.

CLICK HERE TO READ ABOUT LAST YEAR'S INAUGURAL GBIMC PRAYER WALK. 

777 - SEVEN DAYS OF PRAYER (JULY 1-7, 2014)

DAY 7 - RESTORATION

Come, and let us return to the Lord;
For He has torn, but He will heal us;
He has stricken, but He will bind us up.
2 After two days He will revive us;
On the third day He will raise us up,
That we may live in His sight.
3 Let us know,
Let us pursue the knowledge of the Lord.
His going forth is established as the morning;
He will come to us like the rain,Like the latter and former rain to the earth....(Hosea 6:1-3)

Our rebellion against God is breathtaking. As a people we are more broken, more corrupt and more in desperation than anyone can imagine. The people meet in high places and bow down to strange gods. They dance around every green tree and burn incense to foreign gods, then come before the Holy One of Israel and think He will be there for them. We take His changing the weather patterns, because He can, and call it "climate change" or "global warming", when all we are doing is what Lucifer did when he tried to mount a mutiny with 1/3 of the angels in heaven and got tossed out - as recorded in Isaiah 14.

Decades and decades of turning away from the God of the Bible is now coming home to roost.  America and the world are facing a future and a judgment of horror while they - we - bury our heads in our respective sand castles. We pretend this is not happening and it will all go away. We pretend God is okay with all our sin. We are people broken by sin and torn apart at the seams. But there is hope!

God showed His Prophet Hosea how he should pray as an example for us, on a day of fasting and prayer, how we should go about doing what 2 Chronicles 7:14 says "if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land".

So Come Let us return to the Lord - Father God, most Holy One in Heaven, we repent in the middle of our sin for all we have done to cause You pain. We cry out as individuals and a people and plea that as we repent, You will accept our confession and bring us back from the precipice of hell as a people. Though we in the remnant may be personally saved, too many of our brethren and our entire country are being led off the cliff by those who should know better. So we pray that as we cry out, many will hear this call and want to turn back to you at this very hour in Jesus Holy Name, amen

He has torn us, but He will heal us - Father God, I believe that with all my heart as we approach you in the spirit of Brokenness. Break us now, bend us now that we may be remade, remolded and restored in Your Image, for Your Glory, forever and ever, amen.

He has stricken, but He will bind us up - Lord we are a people under the Judgment of Heaven and are too blind to see it. Open the eyes of our heart Lord, that we may see You the One True God of the Universe, and surrender to YOUR Will for our Lives, in Jesus Holy Name.

On the third day He will raise us up, That we may live in His sight - Holy Father, just as You raised the King from the grave, three days after He was crucified,  You will revive, resurrect and restore if we seek you NOW...if we see Your Restoration NOW and as we do that Lord, may You accept our sacrifice of praise and let us live in Your Sight once more. We beg and beseech You, oh Most Glorious God in Heaven to the Praise and Glory of Your Name, oh God Who revives and restores, amen and amen.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH TO ANNE GRAHAM LOTZ FOR HER LEADERSHIP IN THIS POWERFUL AND INSPIRATION PRAYER MOVEMENT ACROSS THE FRUITED PLAIN!

MAKING IT RIGHT, PART 3

 

We have all gone to these amazing Classic Car shows each summer or Fall to marvel at these ancient, beat up or rusted out old wrecks restored to seemingly better than original condition. To the aficionados and collectors, this is not just a hobby but a passion...even an obsession which most times exceeds these people's passion for God Himself.

Job was not a modern day Classic car collector but he WAS a man for whom God Himself had a tremendous amount of esteem. We see the growth and maturity of a man who yes, had definitely more faith in God, than those around him, including his wife. But when the time came for testing, he did what a lot of us would do today - rationalize and question. 

As we examined in the previous two segments of this short series on Job,  The Lord Himself took the occasion of Job and his friends' insidious reasoning to, basically, explain God to them and ALL mankind specifically. THEN the Lord anointed Job with a new mission - Prayer Warrior! Yes, He did! 

Read from Chapter 42: "7 And so it was, after the Lord had spoken these words to Job, that the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is aroused against you and your two friends, for you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has. 8 Now therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, go to My servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and My servant Job shall pray for you. For I will accept him, lest I deal with you according to your folly; because you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.”

Three times God used the words "My servant Job". When God called His top generals all through Scripture, He did so twice (Moses, Moses....Samuel, Samuel....). When He says something three times, He is deadly serious and one had better pay attention!

Now the record does not go into any detail or mention of Job actually praying. However, we know, in the Spirit, that he did! God does not call a man "My servant" three times and then predict that His "servant" WILL do something in order for Him to forgive those three bloviating friends who escaped punishment because of God Himself granting Grace....if He did not mean it!

Two things here - Job obviously threw himself headlong into maturing his new-found relationship with the Almighty, Whom he understood fully for the first time and secondly, the mercy of God extends to us even when we deserve nothing but death. That mercy is Grace powered and only available by prayer and the sacrifice of self. The sacrifice of self is a repentant heart and a love for the Lord above all else.

Hence the result of all of this is - RESTORATION. The end of the actual first book of the Bible (in Chronological time) says (from Job Chapter 42): "12 Now the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; for he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys. 13 He also had seven sons and three daughters. 

14 And he called the name of the first Jemimah, the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third Keren-Happuch. 15 In all the land were found no women so beautiful as the daughters of Job; and their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers.16 After this Job lived one hundred and forty years, and saw his children and grandchildren for four generations. 17 So Job died, old and full of days".

Are you in need of  Restoration? Is your internal spiritual GPS as completed wrong in its coordinates as those three friends of Job, who thought they spoke for the God Who disciplined their folly? Or, are you like Job, with some Faith, who sought Truth and found a calling? If the answer is both - a category into which most of all fell into, at some point in our lives - then there is so much Hope. All we need to do is go to Job 42:1-6 and acknowledge our error and make it right, with the Great God of Heaven.

The key thing to remember in "making it right" - as Job set out to do in this entire process, is that God is still in the Restoration business. He can take our entire broken down wills, spirits, souls and bodies and make something new and beautiful that can shine just like those exquisite priceless classic cars, which are becoming just as rare now, just as true followers of Christ are.
"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come....2 Corinthians 5:17 

A FORTNIGHT OF PRAYER

        DAY 2 -TREMBLE IN HIS PRESENCE/REPENT

I have chosen the prayerful man of God - Old Testament Prophet Ezra - as our example and template for the kind of Prayer which the Lord listens to...for such an evil time as this. Just like America in 2012, the people of God had sided with the culture and pagan world around them. They had chosen to turn their backs on the specific Word and INTENT of the Lord while paying Lip Service to Him on Temple days (eg.Sundays @ church). They had intermarried with non-believers and had one foot on a banana peel and another in the grave.


Just like America in 2012, because of the disobedience to the Word and Call of God, religious freedom was curtailed severely. During the exile in Babylon, which preceded this book of Ezra, the Jews were told they could not worship the One True God. In America, due to the political ill-winds, military chaplains cannot pray in the Name of the Messiah - Jesus...and more. In Babylon, the Jews were being made to eat food sacrificed to disgusting pagan gods. In America, the church let those who walk/vote/support and participate in idolatry six days of the week, eat communion with the Lord on Sunday, in open rebellion against God.


It was against this cultural and religious corruption, which perverted the Church, that Ezra - the new Spiritual Leader of the Remnant returning to Jerusalem cried out as the example for us "For they have taken some of their daughters to be wives for themselves and for their sons, so that the holy race has mixed itself with the peoples of the lands. And in this faithlessness the hand of the officials and chief men has been foremost.” As soon as I heard this, I tore my garment and my cloak and pulled hair from my head and beard and sat appalled. Then all who trembled at the words of the God of Israel, because of the faithlessness of the returned exiles, gathered around me while I sat appalled until the evening sacrifice."(Ezra 9:2-4 ESV)


As we pray and fast and turn our hearts towards the Throne room of the REAL King of the Universe, not some mortal man, we need to catch three things in our meditation and supplication before the Lord this day:
1. Remember our Faithlessness before the Lord.
2. Tremble at the mention of His Name and the Holy Scriptures.
3. Render (rip open) our hearts and be completely open before Him.


Therefore, for as long as it takes, let us now draw our hands towards heaven and pray with Ezra "And at the evening sacrifice I rose from my fasting, with my garment and my cloak torn, and fell upon my knees and spread out my hands to the LORD my God, saying: “O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift my face to you, my God, for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has mounted up to the heavens. From the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great guilt. And for our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests have been given into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plundering, and to utter shame, as it is today. (Ezra 9:5-7 ESV)


Father God, in Jesus' Mighty Name, I confess all my sins before You right now - for sins of commission, I repent of them. For sins of omission - I repent of them. For sins of the flesh - I repent of them. For sins of the mind - I repent of them....and more. Lord, I realize that I have been unfaithful to Your Words and Your Precepts as laid out in bold simplicity before me. Therefore, by my disobedience and the corporate disobedience of Your church across the Land, with many others like me, we have allowed the majesty and power of Your Holy Church to be corrupted and now dictated to, by the whims and decrees of men and women who do not have Your heart or the furtherance of Your Kingdom in mind.
Forgive us, oh Lord. We are truly ashamed as our brother Ezra here, prayed over 2500 years ago. Our sins here in America have risen before You like a foul odor in the Presence of a Holy God and our churches and ministries are being rendered powerless with no fruit for the Kingdom of Christ.
Forgive us, oh Lord. We are so guilty, we cannot raise our faces up to You to view on Your Marvelous Face, because our kingdom authority is being held captive to our own sin and complacency. Release us from this bondage this day, Oh God. Yes, oh God. Look down upon us this day, as we press into our destiny to pray for the restoration of Your people these next two weeks...and beyond, in Jesus' Holy Name, amen.

(image courtesy google)