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Google or God?

James 1:5
If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.
How many times have you asked someone if they knew the answer to something and got the following response.  “I don’t know.  Just google it.”
We are amazed at what we can find and delighted in how the googling process often yields the exact information that we are looking for.  There is absolutely nothing wrong with this process, if used appropriately.  It provides us with knowledge that we do not have…fast.
As amazing and effective as googling can be, there is a much faster source of knowledge that is instantly available to us without the aid of any man-made device.  Our Heavenly Father teaches us that all we have to do is ask and He will give us wisdom.  
Google can provide knowledge, but does not provide wisdom.  Wisdom is far superior to knowledge alone.  Wisdom provides insight into how we should use the knowledge that we have accumulated.  Wisdom from God deepens our insight into how we should apply our skills and our knowledge in ways that are pleasing to Him.
Google will always provide an answer to the question that we asked.  The answers are predetermined by the search engine programming.  God will not always answer the question we asked.  Omnisciently, He will answer the question that we should have asked.  He will uniquely tailor His response to our real needs and to His will and plan for our lives. 
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You that You have inspired and equipped others to provide us with knowledge to help us through our daily activities.  We come to You to seek wisdom, so that we may use our knowledge in ways that are pleasing to You and in ways that are used to bear fruit for Your kingdom and bring honor and glory to Your name.  We pray that the Holy Spirit will inspire us to always turn to You first when we are seeking answers.  May the world know us and be drawn to Your Son through the wisdom that You provide.  We ask these things in the the name of Our Wonderful Counselor, Jesus Christ.

Shall We Flourish or Shall We Perish?

Luke 23:31
For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will happen when it is dry?
As the women were weeping for the suffering of Jesus, He prophesied the terrible judgement that awaits those that do not accept the new life that He offers them.  He emphasized the message of His prophecy by using Himself as the standard against which judgement will be made. 
Jesus compared Himself to a green tree, full of life, flourishing in every aspect of its existence.  Such a tree is not proper to be cut down before its time, nor is it fit to be fuel for the fire.  The metaphor was designed to express the righteousness and innocence of Jesus Christ.
On the other hand, Jesus was comparing the sinner to dry, dead wood.  Such wood is rotten and deserving to be fuel for the fire.  The metaphor was designed to express the depravity and worthlessness of the sinner.
If He, who is pure and perfect in every measure and is the essence of life itself, had to suffer beyond the human capacity for pain and then die for our sins, why then should we, the driest of woods, not expect to die for our sins?  We should not.  The wages of our sins is death.  We can only escape the punishment for our sins and claim our inheritance as children of God by accepting the offer of eternal life through Our Savior. 
May we become vessels of the life of Christ within us.   May we look deep inside and make sure that we are not dry wood, bearing no fruit, showing no sign of allowing the life of Christ within us to be released to the world around us.  Indeed, may we submit and surrender to the abundant life that dwells within us and then seek out the dead wood around us in order to present the offer of eternal life to them.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank You for providing the way, the truth and the life that is found only in Your Son, Jesus.  We praise the name of Jesus for all that He suffered on our behalf.  We rejoice in the inheritance that awaits us.  We pray that You will raise us up to be living testimonies to the new life that we have in Christ so that others may join us in our eternal places in Your kingdom.  We ask all these things in the name of the life giving spirit, Jesus Christ.

Shutting Down the Rule of the Old Man

Romans 6:6
We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.
Our corrupt nature, called the old man, is crucified with Jesus Christ by the grace granted from the Cross.  Accepting the crucified Christ as Our Savior allows us to accept the crucifixion of our old selves.  As Christ submitted totally to the Father, we also submit totally to the Father through the power of the new spirit of Jesus Christ that lives within us.
The power of evil within us was nailed to the Cross by the sacrifice of Our Savior so that the damning power of that evil might be subdued, weakened and put under restraint.  But we must recognize that the old man continues to exist in a weakened and dying state, struggling to stay alive within us.   So it is important that we develop an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ as our ruling King.  In doing so, we will shut down any place for the old man to rule.  We will see the old man completely destroyed, abolished and done away with.  Our bondage to sin will be done away with forever.
Rejoice!!  We shall be victorious against the callings of the old man.  Our union with our crucified Savior insures it.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing the Precious Lamb, Jesus Christ, whose blood was shed for our sins.  We accept our co-crucifixion with Jesus.  We stand before You to ask for the Holy Spirit to strengthen us as our old man tries to pull us back into sin.  We pray that the Holy Spirit will urge us to keep our eyes on the Cross and not on the world.  May it all be for the glory of the Precious Lamb.  We ask all these things in the name of the One who suffered so much for us, Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior.

Accepting the Cup of Bitterness

Matthew 26:39
And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”
Jesus fully accepted His assignment of death on the Cross.  He knew that His sacrifice was necessary for the salvation of all men.  He knew that His death on the Cross was the reason He was sent to earth.  The thing that overwhelmed Jesus was the impending separation from the Father when He would take on the sins of all men.  Yet Jesus was fully obedient to the will of the Father for the good of all mankind.  And He was received in all His glory by the Father.
According to this example of Christ, we must drink of the most bitter cup which God puts into our hands.  Even though our flesh will seek immediate relief from all trial in our lives, we must recognize and accept the will of Our Father as we go through our trials.  For, as God allowed the unspeakable trial of the Cross for the benefit of all mankind, He allows each of us to go through our trials for our ultimate eternal gain.  Through our faithful obedience, one day we will be standing sinless before Almighty God and we will be received into glory by Him.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You that You allow the trials in our lives that prepare us to be received by You.  May You provide the grace we need for our spiritual maturation so that we are able to take our cup of bitterness and rejoice in our submission to Your will and plan for our lives.  We pray that the Holy Spirit will guide us and strengthen us so that we may overcome the weakness of our flesh.  We surrender to Our Savior and ask that we live in the fullness that He has made available to us through His sacrifice on the Cross.  We ask all these things in the name of the Word made flesh on our eternal behalf, Jesus Christ.

We Will Never Have to Stand Alone

John 16:32
Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me.
The apostles and disciples of Jesus scattered as He began His journey to the Cross.  They returned to their homes and their old jobs.  Their faith was real, but without the Holy Spirit they were not strong enough to stand against those that were persecuting their Master.  They left Jesus to stand alone.  Fortunately for us, Jesus did not stand alone as the Father remained with Him and provided Him with all He needed to accept His place on the Cross.
Jesus calls us from different times and places in our lives, just as the apostles were called.  At some point in time, we will all be called to stand up for our faith.  In today’s anti-Christian environment, this challenge is more real than any of us could have ever imagined that it could be.  Will we scatter to our old lives when the trials of persecution, the trials of trouble or perhaps the trials of political correctness challenge us? Or will we surrender all to Our Savior?
The answer lies in Jesus Christ and has nothing to do with our own strength, capability nor merit.  We must recognize our weakness.  If we think we can stand against the world, especially against the enemy, we will certainly fall.  We must recognize how weak we are and take our brokenness – all our wounds, all our frailties, all our fears – to Our Savior.  We must allow His goodness, His love, His mercy and His kindness to become the essence of our lives.  If we accept His free gift of love and life and surrender to Him, we will never stand alone against what the world tosses our way.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You that we have been called to follow Your Son.  We exalt the name of Jesus who gained victory over all sin and all evil on our behalf.  We praise His precious name as He stands forever by our sides.  We pray, Father, that we may have the wisdom and the strength to recognize and face our brokenness.  We ask that the Holy Spirit guide us in surrendering everything to Jesus.  As we are challenged by the darkness, my we call on the name of Jesus to stand up for our beliefs.  We beseech You, Lord, to complete Your work in us so that we have the courage and the faith to choose Your Kingdom and defend it against the world.  We ask all these things in the name of the One who gives grace to the humble, Jesus Christ.

The Essence of God’s Love in Our Lives

1 John 4:16

So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us.  God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

God is love.  His love is unconditional and without end.  His love for us is expressed explicitly through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus.  His love for us is reinforced daily by the counsel of the Holy Spirit in our lives.


Through His love, Almighty God gives us an unfailing hope for our future.  Let us not lose sight of the truth that our hope for our future is so much more than how we feel about our future or what the world tells us about our future.  Our hope rests upon a very special love gift from God.  Our hope is built upon the Good News of God for the world that He loves us so much that He gave us His Son so that we may have eternal life.

Through His love, Almighty God also gives us His Holy Spirit to stand by us, to give us the strength to bear all things that come against us and the spiritual maturity to endure all the tribulations that make up life on this earth.  His grace is poured out on us in this manner so that we may overcome the world.

Most importantly, Almighty God created a spot in our hearts so that we could receive His love and return it to Him.  He gave us the capacity to share His love with the world around us.  He gave us the Holy Spirit so that our love could be an endless spring.  When we are living in accordance with the Holy Spirit within us, we are capable of extraordinary service to those around us.  By returning our love to the Father through our service to those around us, we become living testimonies of His perfect love.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for loving us unconditionally.  We thank You that Your love flows to us endlessly.  Prepare our hearts, Lord, so that we may become vessels of Your perfect love.  Cleanse us, Lord, of anything in our hearts that would restrict the flow of Your love in our lives.  May we bear much fruit for Your kingdom through the spontaneous release of Your love to the world around us.  We pray, Father, that the world will be drawn to Your Son when they see Your love at work in us.  We ask all these things in the name of the One who delights in our steadfast love, Jesus Christ.

The Perfecter of Our Prayers

Romans 8:26
Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.
While intercessory prayer is very rewarding and plays a powerful role in deepening our relationship with Our Heavenly Father, it can sometimes lead us down paths that are challenging, perhaps even frustrating.  The Holy Spirit has been placed along side of us to insure that we are not deterred by our frustrations.  There are several important areas where the Holy Spirit supports us in our weakness.
First, the Holy Spirit is our perfecter in praying for the true needs of others.  We are generally very comfortable seeking the hand of God for protection and provision for ourselves, our families and those close to us.  It is natural and easy for us to pray for those that we love.  At times, however, we may be at a loss to know what the will of God is in the lives of those that we are praying for.  We can be comforted and confident in knowing that our prayers will be perfected before the Father by the Holy Spirit. 
Second, the Holy Spirit opens our eyes and soften our hearts toward all mankind.  It is not our nature to pray for those we do not feel close to or perhaps even dislike because of their behavior toward us or others.  In His ministry, Jesus often argued with the apostles because He wanted to be among those in the most need of His redemptive work, not those that were more socially acceptable.  Jesus wants us to intercede for the world around us, whether we feel drawn or repulsed by the ones that we pray for.  As we mature in Christ, the Holy Spirit will help build up our sensitivity to and our desire to pray for the needs of all mankind.
Finally, the Holy Spirit has been sent to strengthen us when we are personally overpowered by the things that the world has brought against us.  When we are so broken that we do not even know what to pray for, the Holy Spirit is beside us to silence our fears and help us through our discouragements.  Most importantly, the Holy Spirit stands with us to make intercession for us before the Father so that the enemy cannot prevail against us. 
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You that You have provided Your Holy Spirit to help us pray in accordance with Your will for our lives and the lives of others.  We rejoice in knowing that the Holy Spirit will perfect our prayers before You.  We pray, Lord, that Your Holy Spirit will prepare our hearts to be intercessors for all of mankind.  Be they far or near, be they friend or foe, Father, teach us how to pray for their needs. When we are too weak to pray properly, or even pray at all, may Your Holy Spirit strengthen us and intercede for us.  We pray all these things in the name of the mediator between God and men, Jesus Christ.

Becoming Rescuers Through Jesus Christ

Acts 9:17
So Ananias departed and entered the house.  And laying hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”
And in an instant, Paul not only received his physical sight, he also received the filling of the Holy Spirit.  Thus, he received wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge of God and a holy reverence for God.  All of these gifts came on him at once. His vision of who He was in Christ, along with all of its associated power, served to allow him to replace the evil man that he had become with the new, righteous man that he was to become.
From this passage, we learn that for those of us who have received Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior that we become new men and women in Christ just as the sinner and prosecutor of the early church, Saul, became the new man Paul.  The teaching of the Holy Spirit reveals to us the faulty mindset that the world provides, allowing us to escape our ignorance and our pride.  The power of the Holy Spirit within us allows us to become new creatures who proclaim the Good News and serve as conduits of God’s love. 
But do not miss the second message of this passage.  There would have been no conversion for Paul without the obedience of Ananias to got out and deliver the message of God, even though He questioned the righteousness of the one that he was called to minister to.  We must be careful not to withhold the message of hope from anyone because we feel they are not worthy.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the anointing that we receive as disciples of Jesus Christ.  We pray that You will open our eyes to the things of the world that are creating ignorance and pride in our lives so that we may turn away from them.  We ask that You release the gifts of the Holy Spirit into our lives so that we may see the vision that You have for our lives and be empowered to go out as messengers of hope in the world that surrounds us.  We pray that our hearts are prepared to view every person as worthy to receive the Good News that we possess.  We ask all these things in the name of the One who rescues those whose spirits are crushed, Jesus Christ.

When the Spirit of the Lord Rests Upon Us

Isaiah 11:2
And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
In this passage, Isaiah was prophesying of the nature of our coming Savior.  The scripture foretold that Jesus would be given extraordinary endowments through the agency of the Holy Spirit.  Because we are indwelled by Jesus Christ when we accept Him as Our Savior, we inherit these same wondrous endowments for ourselves.  The inheritance that we receive is not temporary or occasional.  It is a permanent and enduring influence on our lives.
With our inheritance, we receive three pairs of spiritual influences to assist us in being holy, pure and wise.  Each pairing is made up of a spiritual gift and the resulting impact of that gift in our lives:
1) We are provided wisdom from which comes the understanding to perceive moral and intellectual truths.
2) We are provided counsel from which comes the might that gives us the direction and the power that we need to carry out the plans that emerge from our spiritual insight.
3) We are provided knowledge from which comes the fear of the Lord which establishes the foundation of our relationship with the one true God, Our Father in heaven.

This passage is usually taught as the “7 gifts of the Holy Spirit.”  The Holy Spirit resting upon us as we receive Jesus Christ as our Savior is the first and most important of the seven gifts.  It is only through the Holy Spirit that we receive the other six endowments. 
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the wondrous nature that You have given us in Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  We pray that the fullness of the Holy Spirit will rest upon us.  We seek Your wisdom so that we may have understanding in all matters.  We seek your counsel that we may become mighty warriors for Your kingdom.  We ask, Lord, that You inspire us to take the knowledge that we have of You and turn it into a reverent awe that changes how we live every moment of our lives.  We ask all these things in the name of the One who gives power to the faint and might to those without strength, Jesus Christ.

Standing for Others – A Divine Service

Isaiah 59:16
He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no one to intercede; then his own arm brought him salvation, and his righteousness upheld him.
Jesus was sent to earth to be the perfect intercessor for all mankind.  He took the mantle that no one else could take.  The Son of God came as Son of Man to be Our Redeemer.  His Holy Spirit followed Him to be Our Sanctifier and Our Comforter.  He stands forever before the Father in righteousness on behalf of all men.  No human champion could ever meet the perfect intercessory requirements of the Father.
Though there is not one of us good enough to be true intercessors, Almighty God allows us the privilege to stand in intercessory prayer for others.  Our privileges are not earned.  They are granted through our relationship with Jesus Christ. 
Intercessory prayer is the perfect service for each of us to enter.  We communicate with God on behalf of others.  We go before the Father in worship and solicitation for His divine assistance.  We seek His will for those that we pray for.   Through the process, the needs of many or met and our relationship with the Father grows to be like the relationship that the Father has with The Son.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You that You have provided Your Son to stand before Your Throne on our behalf.  We pray that You will teach us how to stand before You on the behalf of those that You have placed around us.  May You open our eyes and hearts so that we may see their needs and prayerfully respond to them.  May You strengthen us so that we will not falter in our prayer life.  May our relationship with You become like the relationship that You have with Your Son, Jesus.  We ask all of these things in name of the Divine Intercessor, Jesus Christ.