May His Presence Fill Our Lives

Psalm 150:6
Let everything that has breath praise the LORD! Praise the LORD!

Our Lord, Jesus, is the fullness of joy that we have been so graciously provided once we receive Him as Our Savior.  Our lives are never the same once He dwells within us.  We come to realize a joy through His presence that surpasses anything that we can receive on earth.  As we count our blessings and share our good fortune with the world, let us not forget to mention the greatest blessing of all, Jesus Christ.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we lift our voices up in high praise for Your precious Lamb, Jesus.  We proclaim His holiness and His righteousness.  We give thanks for His presence in our lives.  We pray Father that You open our eyes so that we may see His presence in the tiny things in life as well as the large things.  May our every breath praise Him as we come know just how dear He is to us.

In Reverent Awe of the Father

Psalm 25:12
Who is the man who fears the LORD? Him will he instruct in the way that he should choose.

Fear of God can be compared to fear of one’s earthly father.  While we fear punishment from our earthly father, it is the fear of offending the one we hold dearest that is so powerful.  It is the fear of disappointing the one that we want to please the most.  It is the fear of not living up to the expectations of the one that we hold in the highest place in our lives.  It is the fear of losing closeness with the one we desire to be closest to.  It is this fear that holds us in line when the world is trying to pull us out of line.

As good sons and daughters, we live in awe of the highest authority figures in our lives – Our Heavenly Father and our earthly father .  We are shaped through our entire lives by these relationships.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we exalt Your name as the name that holds the highest place in our lives.  There is no name greater than Yours.  We thank You that we can live in the shadow of Your love, Your protection and Your provision.  We seek to deepen our relationship with You.  We pray that the Holy Spirit will help us to understand who You are so that we may live our lives in reverent awe of You.

Living by Grace

John 2:24-25 
But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men, and because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man.

Simply put, man cannot be trusted.  The evil within the heart of each man is a snare that cannot be overcome without the grace of Our Savior.

We must put our trust in Jesus Christ.  If we put our trust in Him, we will find it easy to love Him above all things, to love our neighbors as ourselves, to tell others about Him and to give Him all the glory.  If we put our trust in Jesus, we will live according to the plans that He has set aside for us.

If we doubt the Lord in any area and put our trust in man instead,  we will fall short of God’s plans for our lives.  For the fullness of life, we must trust the grace of God in all things.

Prayer,
Heavenly Father, we praise You and thank You for providing Your Son, Jesus, to be the foundation of our trust in You and Your promises to us.  May we live each day in complete faith that Your Word is the foundation upon which our lives are built and sustained.  May we face each day knowing that Your Son is the source of everything we need.  May we never seek anything from man, but seek everything from Your grace.

Blessed Hope and Assurance

Romans 8:32
He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

Is it hope that we need today?  Are we seeking hope to relieve the pain that we are suffering, or hope to relieve the concern over the financial woes that are hounding us or perhaps hope to ease the torment of conflict in a relationship that we are feeling?  

In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.  There is nothing in all of creation that can separate us from the love of God.  He sent the fallen angels from His kingdom forever because of their sins.  He flooded the earth because of the violence and evil of all mankind.  He destroyed all the people of Sodom and Gomorrah because of their wickedness.  Yet He spared us from our sins by giving us His Son.  Through His Son, He provides us with all our temporal needs and all of our spiritual blessings.  It is all given freely according to His good will and pleasure.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing us with all of our needs, both temporal and spiritual.  We exalt the name of Jesus for providing us with that which we do not deserve and could never earn except through His death for our sins.  We praise You for the blessed hope and assurance of Our Savior.  He is all that we need.   We pray that You will help us find peace and strength in Him through all circumstances.

  




Ready to Be Instruments of His Love

Luke 9:61
Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.”

In the final passage in Luke 9, there are a number of verses which point out the costs of following Jesus.  In essence, each cost mentioned really applies to the type of excuses we will come up with to delay following what the Lord is calling us to do.

One of the most common excuses for many of us is “I am not capable or I am not ready to take on such a task.”  There is a faith gap that prevents us from believing that we can do what the Lord is asking of us.  We question the calling because it goes against our natural instincts. 

When we finally move forward with what God has asked us to do, we find out it never was about our ability.  It was about our faith in God.  When God calls us to do anything, large or small, we should leap into action with confidence in the One who called us.  It is through Him that the good work is done.  We are only instruments of His love.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for choosing us to be instruments of Your good work.  We rejoice in knowing that we can share Your love with the world around us in so many different and powerful ways.  We pray that You open our eyes and prepare our hearts so that we do not delay any good work that You have set aside for us.

Take Heart

John 16:33
I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.  

Jesus spoke directly to the apostles before He left the earth.  He wanted the apostles to know that even though He would be leaving them in the flesh that He would still be with them in spirit.  He wanted them to understand that He would be with them always as He is with the Father always.  He wanted them go forward in peace, without fear, having faith that the victory was theirs through Him.   He wanted them to be empowered by knowing that He had already overcome all the tribulation that the world and Satan himself had to offer. Through His indwelling with them, they would have the power that they needed to endure all things.

And so it is with us.  When we accept Jesus as Our Savior, His Spirit indwells with us.  We become one with Him as He is one with the Father.  We receive all that the apostles were promised.  When we surrender to Jesus, we have all that we need to overcome the temptations of Satan, the infirmities of our own flesh and the carnal offerings of the world.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we humbly come before You in thanksgiving for the power that You have granted us through Your Son, Jesus.  We pray that You teach us how to develop and enjoy our relationship with Jesus.  May we find our strength in Jesus, just as Jesus found His strength in You when He was in the flesh.  May our victories over our tribulations bring honor and glory to You, to Your Son and to the Holy Spirit.

In the Name of Jesus

John 16:23
In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.

Why is it that we do not have enough faith to believe in all the promises that God has given us through His Son, Jesus.  There is certainly an overwhelming amount of evidence to prove that God has power over all things.  Why can’t we believe in His simple promises to meet our every need and to work out all things for our eternal good?

When we fully surrender our lives to Jesus, we will no longer be of weak faith.  Although we may find a number of things we do not fully understand, we will not have anything in our heart that comes between us and Our Heavenly Father.  Fully surrendered to Jesus, we will be one with Him and one with the Father.

Fully surrendered to Jesus, our prayers to the Father in the name of His Son cannot be refused.  Jesus Christ is the medium of access to the Father.  He is our mediator.  The account of His blood, righteousness and sacrifice speaks loudly in heaven.  In His name, all prayers are heard and all blessings are bestowed.

Prayer,
Heavenly Father, we come before You in the name of Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  We thank You for every blessing that we receive in His holy, mighty and precious name.  We ask you for the wisdom and the strength to surrender all that we are and all that we have to You in His Name.  We rejoice in knowing that we will serve You for all eternity with never a need again.  

When God "Remembers" Us

Genesis 8:1
But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark. And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided.

Genesis 8:1 might seem to suggest that God had let His promises to Moses slip His mind for some period of time before He fulfilled them.  That interpretation would be inconsistent with who God is.  God had not forgotten Noah for He does not and cannot forget His promises to His children.  

But it is quite possible that Noah, a man of extraordinary faith, may have been wondering if God had forgotten about him and his family.  Surely Noah became a bit anxious when the doves he sent out returned to the ark without having found a landing place.  But God remembered Noah (as interpreted by Noah) and the promises that He had made to Noah, Noah’s family, and all the living creatures in the ark were fulfilled.

Noah and his family surely wanted off the boat before it was time.  God was not going to let them leave the boat until the earth around them was properly prepared.  As we go through life, our expectations often lead us to question whether God has remembered us.  We are simply placing our desires ahead of God’s perfect plan for our lives.  The God of Faithfulness never forgets us or His promises to us.  We must have faith in His perfect timing.

Prayer  
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your faithfulness to Your promises.  We rejoice in knowing that You will not let a single promise return void.  We pray that You will give us the grace we need to build our faith when we are waiting on Your perfect timing for our lives.  May we never doubt You.

A Life of Prayer

1Thessalonians 5:16-17
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

Paul exhorted the Thessalonians to pray without ceasing.  Is this possible?  Let us consider what prayer is.

Prayer may be oral or mental, occasional or constant.  It may be formal or in the form of an outburst. It may be offered in secret or in public.  It may be a personal solicitation or it may be intercessory.

Prayer presupposes a belief in a God who wants to hear from us and wants to extend His perfect control over our lives.  Prayer is offered in reverence with a humble sense of inadequacy and unworthiness as we bow before the holy and righteous God of heaven.  Prayer is offered in thanksgiving for everything we already have been provided and are currently experiencing.  Prayer is rejoicing in every moment as we recognize the presence of Our Savior and the fullness of what He has done for us. 

If Jesus Christ is the foundation of our lives, prayer is as natural as breathing.  Indeed, we can pray without ceasing.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we praise You for who You are.  We thank You for all that You have provided and continue to provide.  We submit to Your control over our lives.  We pray that You will teach us how to make prayer to You as normal and as regular as breathing.  May our lives be a continuous flow of our reverent acknowledgement of Your presence and power in our lives.  

Wake Up

Revelation 3:2
Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God.

The message to the church of Sardis in the book of Revelation was, “You have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.”  They were urged to wakeup and strengthen what remains or they would see their relationship with God disappear.

Today we are often guilty of sitting back and watching as the enemy tries to destroy our marriages, our homes and our extended families.  These institutions were created by Almighty God.  These institutions should be the bedrock of our lives.  The enemy knows this well and does everything possible to “divide and conquer”.  

Divide and conquer can be very subtle…at least at first.  Divide and conquer appears as meals eaten alone because the family is so busy.  Divide and conquer is going to bed angry with a spouse.  Divide and conquer is skipping the family reunion because of some prior squabble.

We cannot be passive.  We must wake up and be constantly on guard to protect our relationships.  Our marriages, our homes and our extended families are treasures.  When conflicts occur, we need to move swiftly to repair the damages and rebuild what the enemy is trying to destroy.  We must be proactive in nurturing activities that keep the relationships alive.

Prayer,
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the treasures in life that You have provided through our marriages, our homes and our extended families.  We pray that You will provide us with the armor that we need to fight against the enemy that seeks to take away our treasures.  We pray that the Holy Spirit will guide us to make Jesus Christ the foundation of our lives so that we can build indestructible walls of protection around our treasures.