Tag: prayer

Habits of Faith: BFF Friendship and Daily Praying with the Holy Spirit. Romans 8:26-28

Romans 8:26-28 English Standard Version

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. 27 And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because[a] the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. 28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good,[b]  for those who are called according to his purpose.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

The Bible teaches us many things about the Holy Spirit as a counselor working alongside and within us, convicting us of sin and guiding us to full life in Christ.

And in our Romans 8 reading today we learn of a specific way in which the Spirit ministers to us being The Holy Spirit helps us to pray, even prays for us.

In Romans 8, the Apostle Paul is seeking to encourage his readers in the face of discouragement.

Paul urges his readers to keep concentrating on the glory that lies before them in Jesus Christ.

Wait and hope, Apostle Paul goes on to say, because the fullness of all that God has promised will come, and that day will be glorious!

As hope helps us to keep going in times of great difficulty, so the Holy Spirit helps us when we pray.

When we pray, we don’t always have the words to express what we think or how we feel.

In fact, some of our deepest needs and desires can’t even be expressed in words.

Paul calls these “wordless groans.”

But the Holy Spirit “intercedes”—or, more literally, goes between—on our behalf.

He intercedes for us before God.

He helps us pray.

Keep hoping and praying.

And while you’re hoping and praying, be assured that when you have longings deep in your heart that you can’t even fully express, the Holy Spirit presents your needs directly to God the Father, who hears and answers all our prayers.

Our Friendship with the Holy Spirit

At salvation you were given the gift of God himself, the Spirit of Christ, dwelling within you. 

Ephesians 1:13-14 says, “In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.” 

And with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, friendship with God has been made available to greater depths than you can imagine.

He longs to spend time with you like a friend.

He longs for you to know how he feels, what he thinks is best and your heavenly Father’s heart for you.

Scripture teaches us a lot about the character of the Spirit. 

Acts 13:2 teaches us that the Spirit speaks: “While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’” 

In Ephesians 4:30 we learn that the Spirit feels emotions like grief: “And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.”

Romans 8:26-27 teaches us that the Spirit is our Helper and prays for us: 

“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. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” 

Friendship with the Spirit is one of God’s greatest gifts to us.

He speaks to us, is emotionally invested in our lives, helps us in our weakness and prays for us when we don’t have the words.

So great is God’s love for you that he sent his Spirit to dwell with you.

So great is his desire for continued relationship with you that, in his grace, he has given you himself as a constant companion.

Another important characteristic of the Spirit, however, is that he will not force relationship on you.

He speaks when you listen, he gives you revelation as you open your mind to receive it, and he leads you as you ask for his guidance.

The Spirit is full of incredible power but also incredible meekness and humility.

He is both powerful and respectful.

If you ask for a deeper friendship with the Holy Spirit, you will find he is the best friend you have ever known.

Take time as you enter into prayer to get to know the Holy Spirit like a friend.

In his book The Pursuit of God A.W. Tozer writes,

“Religion, so far as it is genuine, is in essence the response of created personalities to the creating personality, God.”

The Holy Spirit has a personality.

He has likes and dislikes.

He feels, thinks, enjoys, likes, suffers, and desires. May your time in prayer be filled with new levels of friendship with the Spirit of God dwelling within you.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

1.Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal his nearness to you. 

Take time to acknowledge his presence.

“In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.” Ephesians 1:13-14

2. Give thanks to the Spirit for who he is. 

Thank him for his presence in your life. Thank him for his desire to speak to you, lead you, help you and pray for you.

“While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’” Acts 13:2

“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. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.” Romans 8:26-27

3. Now ask the Spirit how he’s currently feeling. 

Ask him his perspective on anything in your life or the world around you.

Listen and pay attention to any inclination you feel brought to mind.

Perhaps even take the time and make the effort to journal what he says.

Remember, friendship with the Spirit is like any other friendship in that it develops over time.

Like a new friend, you must get to know his character and personality.

Spend time just talking with him, listening to him and allowing him to work in your heart and life. He is an incredible gift given to you.

He is your gateway to experiencing the things of God. Walk in relationship with him, go forth, follow his guidance, make a new best friend in the Holy Spirit.

Holy Spirit, thank you for interceding on our behalf. Give us hope and help us to pray. We trust you, we heartily welcome you into our atmosphere in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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Habits of Faith: Seasons of Suffering, Seasons of Joy, Seasons of Prayer too. James 5:13-16

James 5:13-16 New American Standard Bible 1995

13 Is anyone among you suffering? Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises. 14 Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, [a]anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; 15 and the prayer [b]offered in faith will [c]restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed sins, [d]they will be forgiven him. 16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective [e]prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

Life is filled with highs and lows.

Navigating the terrains of our ups and downs of life can be a OMG challenge.

Thankfully the Bible gives us some insight on how to approach our hardships and our joy.

God doesn’t leave us on our own in either season -in our lives, there is no struggle that He is not present for or celebration He doesn’t know about.

What does God say about the hard times?  

The enemy of our souls continuously wants to speak the lie of aloneness in our ears when things start to feel and act like so much more than we can handle.

We become paralyzed in the belief that no one is there to support us, thoughts of guilt or shame may stop us from being open about our struggles, and the idea that no one can understand what we are going through can keep us stuck alone.

Without the availability and resources and support of others or a strong grasp on God’s love for you in those hard moments, hopelessness can begin to set in like an ugly fast spreading disease, like plaque building in your hearts arteries.

The Bible tells us that “hope deferred makes the heart sick” (Proverbs 13:12).

This is precisely why the Bible instructs us to turn to God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit in prayer when things fall apart and we suffer.

Psalm 13 New American Standard Bible 1995

Prayer for Help in Trouble.

For the choir director. A Psalm of David.

13 How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever?
How long will You hide Your face from me?
2 How long shall I take counsel in my soul,
Having sorrow in my heart all the day?
How long will my enemy be exalted over me?

3 Consider and answer me, O Lord my God;
Enlighten my eyes, or I will sleep the sleep of death,
4 And my enemy will say, “I have overcome him,”
And my adversaries will rejoice when I am shaken.

5 But I have trusted in Your lovingkindness;
My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation.
6 I will sing to the Lord,
Because He has dealt bountifully with me.

When we begin to connect with God through prayer and study of his Word, hope can return to our hearts!

We are reminded that we are loved and never alone.

God gives us the strength we need to share our stories with others that can support us, further breaking the chains of aloneness and hopelessness.

When you are in a season of suffering, bring it all to Jesus… bring all of the frustration, desperation, loneliness, or anger and lay them at the feet of Jesus.

Luke 18:1-8 New American Standard Bible 1995

Parables on Prayer

18 Now He was telling them a parable to show that at all times they ought to pray and not to lose heart, 2 saying, “In a certain city there was a judge who did not fear God and did not respect man. 3 There was a widow in that city, and she kept coming to him, saying, ‘[a]Give me legal protection from my opponent.’ 4  For a while he was unwilling; but afterward he said to himself, ‘Even though I do not fear God nor respect man, 5 yet because this widow bothers me, I will [b] give her legal protection, otherwise by continually coming she will [c]wear me out.’” 6 And the Lord said, “Hear what the unrighteous judge *said; 7 now, will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry to Him day and night, [d]and will He delay long over them? 8 I tell you that He will bring about justice for them quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will He find [e]faith on the earth?”

God is not repelled by honesty.

He already knows the state of our lives and hearts.

You will not offend God with your sin or doubt.

He pleads with us saying please come to me first.

He loves you so much that He died to take away your sin and pain.

In seasons of joy, sing praises to your God!

We can get so caught up in our own pleasures that we take the good for granted and only turn to God in hardship.

God invites us back to be in his presence in both our seasons of joy and seasons of suffering.

When prayers are answered, when a milestone is achieved, or when the sunset takes your breath away, or your kids knock it out of the park, when your spouse does something special like says “I Love You!” take a moment, give God all glory.

It is Overcoming! It’s our ability to see God in the joy-filled seasons that helps prepare us for the times and seasons of suffering and despondency.

If we don’t have the ability to notice God’s grace, provision, and kindness when it is directly in our faces, how will we recognize God at work when life is heavy?

We need that ledger available in our minds of all the ways God has already come through for us to lean on when doubt, worry, or when suffering enters our lives.

Acts 17:24-28 New American Standard Bible 1995

24 The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; 25 nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things; 26 and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their  appointed times and the boundaries of their habitation, 27 that they would seek God, if perhaps they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; 28 for in Him we live and move and [a]exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’

What season are you in now?  

Are you barely keeping it together or are you loving every minute of life?

Either way, God is there, and He wants you to look to Him in each and every season of life brings your way. 

Acts 17:28 says it like this “For in him we live and move and exist. As some of our own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.”

He is our source of life, but even more than that, God wants to do life with you.

Remember to faithfully offer prayer and praise in both your joy and suffering.

Romans 12:9-13 New American Standard Bible 1995

9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good. 10  Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; [a]give preference to one another in honor; 11 not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; 12 rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer,13 contributing to the needs of the [b]saints, [c]practicing hospitality.

Joyful hope and patience in afflic­tion go against the grain of our own natures.

Despair and self-pity come much more easily.

In times like that, it’s important to turn to God in prayer.

We pray for many reasons: to thank God for blessings, to praise God, to confess sins, to seek God’s guidance.

In addition, we pray to ask God for help.

Asking God for help may be the most natural prayer of all. 

Sometimes God answers our requests for help exactly as we ask, sometimes not.

Either way, the Bible calls us to be faithful in prayer.

Prayer—thanking, praising, confessing, asking for help—connects us with God.

Prayer builds relationship.

Prayer strengthens the bond between God and us.

When you have a good connection, a good friendship, good relationship with someone, hopefulness and patience become a bit easier, especially when that invaluable connection someone, is the Creator and Sustainer of the universe.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Psalm 42 New American Standard Bible 1995

BOOK 2

Thirsting for God in Trouble and Exile.

For the choir director. A [a]Maskil of the sons of Korah.

42 As the deer [b]pants for the water brooks,
So my soul [c]pants for You, O God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God;
When shall I come and [d]appear before God?
3 My tears have been my food day and night,
While they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
4 These things I remember and I pour out my soul within me.
For I used to go along with the throng and [e]lead them in procession to the house of God,
With the voice of joy and thanksgiving, a multitude keeping festival.

5 Why are you [f]in despair, O my soul?
And why have you become disturbed within me?
[g]Hope in God, for I shall [h]again praise [i]Him
For the [j]help of His presence.
6 O my God, my soul is [k]in despair within me;
Therefore I remember You from the land of the Jordan
And the [l]peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.
7 Deep calls to deep at the sound of Your waterfalls;
All Your breakers and Your waves have rolled over me.
8 The Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime;
And His song will be with me in the night,
A prayer to the God of my life.

9 I will say to God my rock, “Why have You forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning [m]because of the oppression of the enemy?”
10 As a shattering of my bones, my adversaries revile me,
While they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”
11 Why are you [n]in despair, O my soul?
And why have you become disturbed within me?
[o]Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him,
The [p]help of my countenance and my God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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Habits of Faith: Praying the Prayer of Jabez -“God, Enlarge My Territory!” 1Chronicles 4:9-10

1 Chronicles 4:9-10 New American Standard Bible 1995

9 Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother named him Jabez saying, “Because I bore him with pain.” 10 Now Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that You would bless me indeed and enlarge my border, and that Your hand might be with me, and that You would keep me from harm that it may not pain me!” And God granted him what he requested.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

So 1 Chronicles 4:10 is a verse that has been used in a variety of ways and even abused in a variety of ways, taken out of context and applied in ways that are maybe, at best, questionable.

But the reality is, this is a beautiful verse, a picture of one man, Jabez, calling boldly upon God, asking for God’s blessing in his life.

“Oh God, that you would bless me, that you would enlarge my border.”

Even praying that is an acknowledgement that every good thing we have or could have comes from God and that God is our father in heaven.

And God delights in giving His children good things when they ask.

However, there are some observations we should consider about this prayer.

As we read his prayer, it seems rather selfish at first; it’s all centered on him. 

“Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” 

There’s a great deal of the word “me“ in there.

But if we look closer at this, especially in light of Jabez’s painful background, I believe we can see that this is not a self-centered prayer; it’s an agonizing plea for God’s help because of the deep consciousness of his own deep inadequacy.

“I need help,” he’s saying.

He’s saying, Oh God, amid all this sorry tale of shame and sin and Godlessness that is my background, “Lord, do something for me.”

“Take me out of this, remove me from this situation, help me in it, deliver me.”

It’s obvious that as Jabez prays, there’s an awareness of his need for provision.

Here is a humble young man who has grasped the fact that prosperity comes only from God; that things in themselves are of no value unless God gives them to us; that if we attempt to get them apart from Him, they become a curse to us.

And so Jabez prays, 

“Lord, in everything in my life, enter into it and bless it, and make it not a curse but a blessing to me, and enlarge me, be with me, for thou are the key to life.”

There’s also an awareness of his need for protection.

He says, “Keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” 

He is referring back to that blight on the family character, some hereditary weakness perhaps, that plagued him and threatened him as it threatens his brothers.

He says, “Lord, I recognize my fear in the face of this thing. How can I escape this debilitating power in my life that threatens to degenerate and disintegrate my personality as it did in my father and in my brothers?“

He’s praying for protection against this thing, and believes there could be a greater lesson learned than the fact that the world in which we live is so silken in its subtlety, that we all are exposed in the weakness of our heredity to these disintegrating forces which will certainly seize upon us, unless we rest in the protecting grace of God and here is am ancient young man who discovered that.

God heard Jabez and answered his prayer.

Here is a young lad who from his birth began on the wrong side of the tracks, but over time and prayer he gained wisdom and he found his answer in God.

Life is utterly meaningless if we do not discover that God is the secret to its meaningfulness; that, as I found with my heart surgery, life may be suddenly altered in its course, when its course and direction are suddenly changed.

Psalm 139:23-24 New American Standard Bible 1995

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me and know my anxious thoughts;
24 And see if there be any [a]hurtful way in me,
And lead me in the everlasting way.

We are now committed to following God wherever He leads.

That is the secret to the fulfillment and the enrichment of life, and that is one of the valuable lessons that the Prayer of Jabez has here for us.

1 Chronicles 4:10 also Teaches Us How to Pray

This is exactly what Jesus teaches about prayer.

So it is good to pray that God, our father, would bless us.

“Bless me, enlarge my border,” Jabez prays, “that your hand might be with me.”

What a great prayer to pray.

We should want to pray that all-encompassing prayer every day, that the hand of God might be with us, His hand is the only one leading us and guiding us and the only one which is directing us and the only protecting us and is blessing us.

And we should want to pray this over our life, our family’s, our spouses, and our children, grandchildren, neighbors, the members of the church we are a part of.

I am praying that right now, in just this exact moment, over all of us, that God’s hand might be with us – and that He would keep us from harm – that our God in heaven would expand our territories, expand the reaches of all our sanctuaries.

What a picture of looking to God as our protector.

Jesus taught us to pray like this, to pray to our Father in Heaven who desires to give His ultimate forgiveness to us, for all His grace and His mercy in our lives.

That God would, as Shepherd, lead us not into temptation, deliver us from evil.

Pray Boldly And Humbly

And 1 Chronicles 4:10 says after Jabez prayed this, God granted what he asked.

Why not, be as Jabez, be bold, be forthcoming, be honest, have integrity, in asking before God, obviously fully trusting that He is a lot wiser than we are?

And if we ask for something that would not be good for us, that he will not give it because he is a loving Father.

Hebrews 4:14-16 New American Standard Bible 1995

14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. 16 Therefore let us  draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

But it’s good to boldly come before God and ask Him.

According to his Word, it’s what this whole prayer of Jabez is based on, praying in the Word, asking for what God has said in His Word, and for things that are on our hearts before our loving, generous Heavenly Father.

So how bold are you in your asking in prayer right now in your life?

And please be emboldened, encouraged, inspired, based on 1 Chronicles, 4:10, to be forthcoming, be honest, humbled, needy, before God, our generous Father.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Psalm 16 New American Standard Bible 1995

The Lord the Psalmist’s Portion in Life and Deliverer in Death.

A [a]Mikhtam of David.

16 Preserve me, O God, for I take refuge in You.
2 [b]I said to the Lord, “You are [c]my Lord;
I have no good besides You.”
3 As for the [d]saints who are in the earth,
[e]They are the majestic ones in whom is all my delight.
4 The [f]sorrows of those who have [g]bartered for another god will be multiplied;
I shall not pour out their drink offerings of blood,
Nor will I take their names upon my lips.

5 The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and my cup;
You support my lot.
6 The lines have fallen to me in pleasant places;
Indeed, my heritage is beautiful to me.

7 I will bless the Lord who has counseled me;
Indeed, my [h]mind instructs me in the night.
8 I have set the Lord continually before me;
Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
9 Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices;
My flesh also will dwell securely.
10 For You will not abandon my soul to [i]Sheol;
Nor will You [j]allow Your [k]Holy One to [l]undergo decay.
11 You will make known to me the path of life;
In Your presence is fullness of joy;
In Your right hand there are pleasures forever.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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Habits of Faith: Our Commitment to Prayer! Daniel 6:10

Daniel 6:10 The Message

10 When Daniel learned that the decree had been signed and posted, he continued to pray just as he had always done. His house had windows in the upstairs that opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he knelt there in prayer, thanking and praising his God.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

Habits of Faith

Spiritual disciplines can be an important part of our finding God through the fog of our lives.

That’s what helped sustain Daniel in his faith.

A spiritual discipline is a habit that people develop to deepen their relationship with God.

Personal devotions may combine one or more disciplines into a daily routine: praise, worship, prayer, Bible reading, and perhaps meditation or journaling.

Other spiritual disciplines may include joining together for worship or studying the Bible in a small group.

The discipline of fasting can help us rediscover what really feeds us, and the discipline of tithing our share can help us all recall who really pays our bills.

Spiritual disciplines help us to practice finding God during times when the fog has cleared.

It’s hard to find God in a moment of panic, but it’s much easier if we’ve already developed a daily pattern of centering ourselves in Him.

It’s easier to release our worries to God at the end of a tough day if we have learned to release every other day to him in an evening prayer.

And it’s a lot less difficult to remain steadfast to God’s call when you have been serving Him in a deliberate and intentional way for months or even for years.

When you encounter a sudden fog bank in life, it can be almost impossible to figure out how to find God in the midst of it all.

Spiritual disciplines help us to reorient us so we can find God’s strength and peace, even in the thickest fog.

What Does Daniel 6:10 Teach Us?

What does Daniel 6 10 teach us?

One of the things it teaches us is that Daniel was committed to serve God even if he was going to suffer for it.

For Daniel, a daily habit of his humbling himself, giving thanks to God was not something that was dispensable.

Daniel is committed to give God thanks even if it was going to cost him his life.

He considered it the single greatest commitment, the single greatest discipline to serve His great God.

Habit of Faith: A Commitment to Prayer

Daniel 6:10 Amplified Bible

10 Now when Daniel knew that the document was signed, he went into his house (now in his roof chamber his windows were open toward Jerusalem); he continued to get down on his knees three times a day, praying and giving thanks before his God, as he had been doing previously.

Making that short-termed commitment is not too hard.

It is moving that short termed commitment into that disciplined consistency that comes harder to us—yet it is an essential key to mature spiritual growth.

The often sporadic nature of our commitment is seen in short-lived exercise programs, Bible memorization, reading plans, and New Year’s resolutions.

How many of us start something well, only to later abandon it!

But equally, you and I have probably encountered people who are incredibly consistent and disciplined.

They arrive at work, they walk their dog at the exact same time every day or collect their mail with such precise timing that you could set your watch by it; and when they set themselves to undertake a task or learn a new skill, they do so with a diligence that leaves you in no doubt that they will surely complete it.

“he continued to get down on his knees three times a day, praying and giving thanks before his God, as he had been doing previously.” Daniel was a man who had exhibited such disciplined consistency when it came to his prayer life.

His life was not marked by bursts of enthusiasm followed by chronic inertia.

He clearly prayed whether he felt like it or not.

There were probably times when he got up from his knees feeling really blessed and other times when he left feeling really flat, but in spite of it all, he kept on.

He prayed and he prayed and he prayed, no matter the circumstances.

That’s discipline!

When a crisis hit, it didn’t create Daniel’s disciplined lifestyle; it revealed it.

After King Darius issued an edict that made it illegal to pray to any god or man other than him for thirty days (Daniel 6:7), Daniel could have rationalized his obedience to the king rather than to the Lord.

He could have reasoned that because he’d stored up such phenomenal credit on the strength of all his years of prayer, he could be let off for a month.

Apparently, though, such a thought never even crossed his mind.

Instead, he continued in prayer just “as he had done previously.”

Surely there was a definite and direct and indelible link between Daniel’s life of prayer and the bravery he showed in obeying the God of Israel rather than the “do it now or die” commands of the most powerful king in the known world.

Our Lord told us, too, that we “ought always to pray and not lose heart.”

Luke 18:1 Amplified Bible

Parables on Prayer

18 Now Jesus was telling the disciples a parable to make the point that at all times they ought to pray and not give up and lose heart,

We are not to close prayer down for a while if we don’t feel like it or have little spare time for a season.

If we want to live for Jesus, minister in His name, participate in His Kingdom work even when we are under pressure, our prayer lives must be consistent.

We must come to regard prayer as a fundamental element of our faith, not merely a nice supplement.

The door is wide open for you to demonstrate the same kind of consistent commitment to prayer as Daniel did.

Through regular discipline, prayer can become your natural reaction to every situation in your life.

Be it still resolved, do you still need to set aside a time each day when you will pray and give thanks to your God, come what may?

Wherever God takes us, whatever we do, however His plan unfolds, may our prayers be unceasing.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

God of truth, sometimes I not sure if I’m actually hearing your voice, or if it’s just my own thoughts or even another spirit. Sharpen my spiritual hearing, Lord, so I can recognize your words when you are speaking to me. Help me know it’s really you, with no doubt or second-guessing. When I’m asking for your guidance in important decisions, give me your peace that surpasses understanding with your answer. Help me remember that your words to me will never go against your written word in the Bible. Give me a clear mind and push out all my confusion. God, help us to practice finding you, help us to discipline our life, may our day begin and end with you. Amen.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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Our Question for Today: How DO We Know Our God Is Good? Mark 10:18

Mark 10:17-19 New King James Version

Jesus Counsels the Rich Young Ruler

17 Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?”

18 So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. 19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’ ”

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

Jesus’ reply to the rich man here is full of surprises.

First, in response to being called “Good teacher,” Jesus says, “only God is good.”

Was Jesus saying that he is not God?

No, Jesus answered this way because the rich man saw him as just a man—a good man, but still just a man.

As the rich man stood before Jesus, he was also confronted with the fact that he himself was just a man and not as good as he had thought.

Ultimately, only God is good. (And, of course, Jesus himself is good because he too is God, but he is not drawing attention to himself here.)

In our everyday lives, we use the word good to describe all kinds of things.

We say, “Good morning.” We appreciated a good breakfast. Seeing that the weather is good, we go out to work or to play or meet with our good friends.

The Bible, however, mainly uses the word good to refer to what is pure and holy.

The point Jesus is making is that only the perfect and holy God is truly good.

And yet, as we each find forgiveness through Jesus and we are restored to a right relationship with God, we gain the ability to do good and to be good.

All who are clothed in the righteousness of Christ and act for his glory will one day hear the words “Well done, good and faithful servant!” (see Matthew 25:21, 23).

Question for Today: How We Know That God Is Good?

Mark 10:17-18 Amplified Bible

The Rich Young Ruler

17 As He was leaving on His journey, a man ran up and knelt before Him and asked Him, “Good Teacher [You who are essentially good and morally perfect], what shall I do to inherit eternal life [that is, eternal salvation in the Messiah’s kingdom]?” 18 Jesus said to him, “[a]Why do you call Me good? No one is [essentially] good [by nature] except God alone.

“Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked. “Only God is truly good.” Mark 10:18

God is good in so many ways–the way He provides for us, He guides us, and He watches over us–but it goes even deeper than that.

God’s goodness is who he is, and we are created in his image, so, therefore, we share his goodness.

God’s goodness shows up in our lives every single day.

Although we often think of His goodness when something big happens, His goodness abounds all the time–in every hour, minute, and second of the day, in the smallest of things around us – but how do we recognize this goodness?

Here are five examples of God’s goodness in our everyday lives.

1. Waking Us Up

Psalm 5:1-3 New King James Version

A Prayer for Guidance

To the Chief Musician. With [a]flutes. A Psalm of David.

5 Give ear to my words, O Lord,
Consider my [b]meditation.
2 Give heed to the voice of my cry,
My King and my God,
For to You I will pray.
3 My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord;
In the morning I will direct it to You,
And I will look up.

Every day that God wakes us up is an example of his goodness.

This means we are still working towards the purpose and gifts He has given us.

It shows us that He isn’t finished with us yet and that we still have a mission to fulfill.

We shall not grumble and complain about getting out of bed and going to work.

We should be happy that we are still breathing and living for him.

Many are worse off than us who need to see our light shining in the world every day.

2. Pouring His Favor on Us

Psalm 5:11-12 New King James Version

11 But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You;
Let them ever shout for joy, because You [a]defend them;
Let those also who love Your name
Be joyful in You.
12 For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous;
With favor You will surround him as with a shield.

On the days when we are surrounded by the smallest and most significant of blessings, we know that God is pouring his favor on us.

This can be anything from your coworker bringing you your favorite coffee to your boss calling you in their office to discuss a project or raise or promotion.

We need to pay attention to all the little things in our day, both big and small, that are a blessing to us. A lot of times, it’s the little things that mean so much.

3. Protecting Us

Psalm 121 English Standard Version

My Help Comes from the Lord

A Song of Ascents.

121 I lift up my eyes to the hills.
    From where does my help come?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
    who made heaven and earth.

3 He will not let your foot be moved;
    he who keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, he who keeps Israel
    will neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The Lord is your keeper;
    the Lord is your shade on your right hand.
6 The sun shall not strike you by day,
    nor the moon by night.

7 The Lord will keep you from all evil;
    he will keep your life.
8 The Lord will keep
    your going out and your coming in
    from this time forth and forevermore.

Every continent on earth has mountains.

Some are cold, rugged, and difficult to climb. Others are favorite vacation spots.

Still others are sources of water, timber, and other natural resources.

Those who live within view of a mountain range are reminded daily of God’s greatness and our smallness.

Psalm 121 asks us to consider that same contrast.

Setting out for their trip to Jerusalem for a festival, pilgrims often sang this song to remind each other of the dangers of the journey ahead and of the assurances of God’s protection.

God is greater than any so-called god of the hills or mountains—the Lord God is earth’s Creator.

God is more powerful than any force of the sun or moon—the Lord created them too.

The false gods of other ­nations might have had to take vacations, but not the Lord God Almighty, who never slumbers or sleeps.

When we set off on a journey—whether it is a trip of hundreds of miles or only a few steps—we can remind ourselves, as those pilgrims did, we travel with God.

We need not fear the dangers of the road or threats from others; every step of our way is seen by God, who watches over us.

Our God, the Creator of earth’s highest mountains and deepest valleys—and everything in between—is also the protector of our small lives.

4. Speaking to Us through Prayer

Psalm 66:16-20 English Standard Version

16 Come and hear, all you who fear God,
    and I will tell what he has done for my soul.
17 I cried to him with my mouth,
    and high praise was on[a] my tongue.[b]
18 If I had cherished iniquity in my heart,
    the Lord would not have listened.
19 But truly God has listened;
    he has attended to the voice of my prayer.

20 Blessed be God,
    because he has not rejected my prayer
    or removed his steadfast love from me!

Prayer is our most powerful connection to God.

It is how we express our thanks and gratitude, make our petitions known, and intercede for others.

Sometimes we get an answer of “yes,” sometimes, “no” and sometimes, “wait.”

Sometimes, He gives us specific instructions and, sometimes, He is silent.

Other times, He speaks to us and provides us with an answer in the most surprising of ways.

No matter what, He always answers, and we need to look for those answers every day.

In issues big and small, He will often nudge our hearts and draw our attention in the right direction.

5. Guiding Us

Psalm 31:1-4 English Standard Version

Into Your Hand I Commit My Spirit

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

31 In you, O Lord, do I take refuge;
    let me never be put to shame;
    in your righteousness deliver me!
2 Incline your ear to me;
    rescue me speedily!
Be a rock of refuge for me,
    a strong fortress to save me!

3 For you are my rock and my fortress;
    and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me;
4 you take me out of the net they have hidden for me,
    for you are my refuge.

We make a thousand little decisions a day, everything from deciding whether we will do our tasks well or whether or not to take on a ministry or a mission.

Sometimes, in our decision making we have to slow down, determine whether an opportunity is right or wrong for us and if we should follow a particular path.

In these moments, God is guiding us.

We need to stop, take a breath and pay attention.

How do we feel in our hearts?

How do we feel in our gut?  

We need to be still and listen to that small voice we know so well.

Listen to him whispering to our hearts about what choices are right for us.

Pay attention to the signs He sends us.

This is his way of guiding us and nudging us to our best selves, so that we may live in the gifts and graces we have been given and the purpose He has for us.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Psalm 23 English Standard Version

The Lord Is My Shepherd

A Psalm of David.

23 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
2     He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.[a]
3     He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness[b]
    for his name’s sake.

4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,[c]
    I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
    your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me.

5 You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.
6 Surely[d] goodness and mercy[e] shall follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell[f] in the house of the Lord
    forever.[g]

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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First, Foremost, Utmost, Uppermost: The King of All Creation. Genesis 1:1

Genesis 1:1-2 New King James Version

The History of Creation

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was without form, and void; and darkness [a]was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

In the Beginning When Everything Was New …

Today marks the beginning of a new year – 2024.

The turn of the year is a time for new things: hopes, dreams, and resolutions about how we’ll live differently now that we’ve turned the page on the calendar.

Once upon a time, the whole world was new.

Out of nothing, God created the heavens and the earth.

In the first two verses of Genesis the Bible describes the process of creation: God spoke, the world came into being.

And what God made was good.

It shone with delightful diversity, reflecting the richness of God’s character.

We do not always see the goodness and brilliance of God’s creation because sin, brokenness obscures our vision and brings decay to what was once brand-new.

Our awareness, our treasured delights in the newness of God’s work wears off.

Resolved: we each need our attention called back to the character of the Creator.

These opening words of Genesis tells us that God can bring goodness out of chaos, and in this way God assures us that the world is firmly in His control.

In the coming new year, these opening words of Scripture will fade to the back of our minds, we will face times when the newness of our January goals wears off, when the brokenness of our lives keeps us from receiving each day as a gift.

When that happens, let’s be resolved to remember that God made all things good, let’s trust that He has the power to make all things new and good again.

First, Foremost, Utmost, Uppermost: King of Creation

Genesis 1:1-2 Amplified Bible

The Creation

1 In the beginning God ([a]Elohim) [b]created [by forming from nothing] the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was [c]formless and void or a waste and emptiness, and darkness was upon the face of the deep [primeval ocean that covered the unformed earth]. The Spirit of God was moving (hovering, brooding) over the face of the waters.

There was never a time when God did not exist.

Before there was time, before there was anything, there was God.

And since His nature is unchanging, so He has also always existed in the Trinity—God the Father, and God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

When reading the Bible, we discover that each member of the Holy Trinity was indelibly involved in creation: God the Father took the initiative, God the Spirit is described as “hovering over” the proceedings, and God the Son was the agent of creation in all that was made (Genesis 1:2-3; John 1:3).

The eloquent hymn “All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small”[1] should leave us in awe; they were all fashioned by God’s command.

1 Cecil F. Alexander, “All Things Bright and Beautiful” (1848).

And He is not only the Creator of all; He is also the Lord of all He has created.

All of nature is in His hands, under His control.

As we see waves crashing against the shoreline, it’s wonderfully encouraging to know each and every one of them is there as a result of God’s sovereign rule.

God entered in and He has not stepped away from His creation, nor will He ever.

It’s so indelibly important for us all to remember that God is also transcendent.

He is on His throne, above, beyond, and distinct from all that He has made.

This is what distinguishes Christianity from pantheism, the idea the natural world is a manifestation of God, therefore everything is somehow a part of Him.

With this belief, we dare not kill a fly or step on an ant because those insects are divine.

Similarly, we should not chop down a tree or eat meat, because these too are “parts of God.”

Teachings like these are mistaken and misguided and tend to lead to idolatry.

Scripture makes it so abundantly clear that time and time again that people will first choose to worship “the creature rather than the Creator” (Romans 1:25).

Romans 1:24-25 The Message

24-25 So God said, in effect, “If that’s what you want, that’s what you get.” It wasn’t long before they were living in a pigpen, smeared with filth, filthy inside and out. And all this because they traded the true God for a fake god, and worshiped the god they made instead of the God who made them—the God we bless, the God who blesses us. Oh, yes!

When we see a great painting, we rightly admire and enjoy the painting, and then we praise the painter. All of creation is God’s canvas, and all of it speaks of “his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature” (v 20).

Romans 1:20-23 The Message

Ignoring God Leads to a Downward Spiral

18-23 But God’s angry displeasure erupts as acts of human mistrust and wrongdoing and lying accumulate, as people try to put a shroud over truth. But the basic reality of God is plain enough. Open your eyes and there it is! By taking a long and thoughtful look at what God has created, people have always been able to see what their eyes as such can’t see: eternal power, for instance, and the mystery of his divine being. So nobody has a good excuse. What happened was this: People knew God perfectly well, but when they didn’t treat him like God, refusing to worship him, they trivialized themselves into silliness and confusion so that there was neither sense nor direction left in their lives. They pretended to know it all, but were illiterate regarding life. They traded the glory of God who holds the whole world in his hands for cheap figurines you can buy at any roadside stand.

Only God is to be worshiped, for creation exists by His power and for His glory.

His existence, Kingship, knows no beginning or end, and He will reign forever.

He is the King of all Creation.

Be it resolved today to praise, honor, worship, exalt Him as He alone deserves.

Go for an extended walk, go for an extended drive, look out of the window open our hearts wide, praise Him as we see His beauty displayed in ALL He has made.

First, foremost, utmost and uppermost, Praise Him, Thank Him as He ALONE continues to rule over His creation, holding you and me in His sovereign hand.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Psalm 150 New King James Version

Let All Things Praise the Lord

150 Praise[a] the Lord!

Praise God in His sanctuary;
Praise Him in His mighty [b]firmament!

2 Praise Him for His mighty acts;
Praise Him according to His excellent greatness!

3 Praise Him with the sound of the [c]trumpet;
Praise Him with the lute and harp!
4 Praise Him with the timbrel and dance;
Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes!
5 Praise Him with loud cymbals;
Praise Him with clashing cymbals!

6 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

[d]Praise the Lord!

Thank you, Creator God, for your good creation. Open our eyes to see the brilliance and beauty of everything you have made, and to rest securely in the knowledge of your sovereign care for the world you created. In your great name we pray. Amen.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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But Would We Dare To Consider Ditching New Years Resolutions? Micah 7:7

Micah 7:7 English Standard Version

7 But as for me, I will look to the Lord;
    I will wait for the God of my salvation;
    my God will hear me.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

For as long as I can remember, the days between Christmas and New Year’s were spent assessing, evaluating the previous year and planning all the ways I would promise myself I would do better, would improve in the following year.

I crafted a detailed mindset with goals, timelines, and rewards if I hit the target.

Rarely did I just focus on one resolution.

Instead, I filled every line on my mental calendar with a new achievement. 

Then every year around the first of February, exhausted, overwhelmed, and utterly irritated, I threw my resolution in the trash and immediately penned another, this time, a more reasonable, obtainable list–except it was just as expensive, irrational, ridiculous and unrealistic to maintain as the first one. 

But with all that has happened to me medically over the last year, I decided to ditch those resolutions for good and focus on a word or Scripture for the year.

Setting goals, working towards improving oneself is definitely not a bad thing.

But, we mustn’t let our identity be rooted in what we achieved ( or didn’t).

This year I decided to focus on three words, Scripture, and prayer and action.

My hope is to spend a few minutes each day to meditate and abide in Christ, using these words to prompt my quiet time – to then motivate me to action. 

Feel free to use the below phrases to encourage you this year, and remember, it’s not about what we did in 2023, will do in 2024 but Whose glory we do it for.

Be it Resolved: Steadfast Meditation Upon God

Psalm 51:7-15 The Message

7-15 Soak me in your laundry and I’ll come out clean,
    scrub me and I’ll have a snow-white life.
Tune me in to foot-tapping songs,
    set these once-broken bones to dancing.
Don’t look too close for blemishes,
    give me a clean bill of health.
God, make a fresh start in me,
    shape a Genesis week from the chaos of my life.
Don’t throw me out with the trash,
    or fail to breathe holiness in me.
Bring me back from gray exile,
    put a fresh wind in my sails!
Give me a job teaching rebels your ways
    so the lost can find their way home.
Commute my death sentence, God, my salvation God,
    and I’ll sing anthems to your life-giving ways.
Unbutton my lips, dear God;
    I’ll let loose with your praise.

Every day I am bombarded with decisions that beg for my highest attention.

For the sake of my surgically repaired heart and my wife, what will I eat?

Will I be able to do daily the exercising my Cardiologist and Primary Care want?

Do I have the money to get my basement checked, my electric, or my gutters?

Considering all of the events of the past year, all of the appointments I know I will have to make and then keep, my wife’s appointments and all of her needs, will there be any real time for the both of us to schedule our husband wife time?

As I go about creating and then slaying my to-do list, I often forget to address the most critical decision of my day: will I be able to choose to live a godly life?

A part of managing the high demands of my life, my living a truly godly life is my seeking daily redemption and my daily morning renewal of my heart and mind so that I can be able to somehow spend my day, be steadfast in the Lord.

I thank God that God graciously gives His Children a heart that longs for, yearns to spend every waking moment loving Him and a spirit of steadfast obedience.

Before I go about my day, l take time to call on the name of the Lord and ask for a clean heart that flees from evil and a right spirit that glorifies God in all I do.

Lord, I pray that you will renew my heart every day, give me a steadfast spirit that aches to choose to live for you faithfully. Amen.

Be it Resolved: Pleasing God and in return, displeasing Culture

Romans 12:1-2 The Message

Place Your Life Before God

12 1-2 So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

Growing up, one of my favorite restaurants had the slogan, “we aim to please.”

Yeah, I know, it’s the service industry; should not they always aim to please?

But pondering that now, I believe I have always somehow missed the point.

The restaurant was not desiring a one-and-done transaction, but providing a series of pleasurable experiences that would lead into a lasting relationship.

How often do I treat my relationship with God like a one and done transaction to be completed before moving on to the next thing?

God finds great pleasure in the continuous relationships with His Children.

I can worship and honor the Lord by simply making a habit of abiding in Him. 

Lord, renew me that may I daily live in a way that is holy and pleasing to you. Amen.

Be it Resolved:  Fighting against My Powerful Weaknesses and God’s Power

Ephesians 6:10-12 The Message

A Fight to the Finish

10-12 And that about wraps it up. God is strong, and he wants you strong. So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way. This is no weekend war that we’ll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels.

During these last months of realizing I am only as strong as my heart permits me to be, if it is not strong then neither really am I, since my surgery, all my doctors, my exercise people and my wife and my friends and my Pastors have encouraged me to prepare both physically and spiritually for the rest of my life.

I am beginning to tailor my workouts at rehab and at home to focus on the muscles that helped deliver on that very well meaning, thought out advice.

However, mentally, I was anxious. I confessed to my wife, “there is just too much going on all at once and I just simply don’t have the power to do this.” 

And by myself, I didn’t have the strength.  

But, as a child of God, I had the power of Christ living inside of me.

My strength comes from an all healing, all loving, all-powerful Father, and He graciously gives to those who call on His name acute awareness of His presence.

Lord, as I get stronger, help me be strong in you, to rest in your mighty power. Amen  

Intersecting Faith and Life: 

Micah 7:7 The Message

7 But me, I’m not giving up.
    I’m sticking around to see what God will do.
I’m waiting for God to make things right.
    I’m counting on God to listen to me.

Please take a few minutes today and read through your favorite Bible verses.

Is there a Word of God that speaks to you, where you are in this exact moment?

Resolve to meditate and ponder on that place, moment and ask the Holy Spirit to reveal more pieces of Scripture, phrase, prayers as you embark on a new year.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Psalm 121 The Message

121 1-2 I look up to the mountains;
    does my strength come from mountains?
No, my strength comes from God,
    who made heaven, and earth, and mountains.

3-4 He won’t let you stumble,
    your Guardian God won’t fall asleep.
Not on your life! Israel’s
    Guardian will never doze or sleep.

5-6 God’s your Guardian,
    right at your side to protect you—
Shielding you from sunstroke,
    sheltering you from moonstroke.

7-8 God guards you from every evil,
    he guards your very life.
He guards you when you leave and when you return,
    he guards you now, he guards you always.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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Advent Reflection: The Wonder of All Wonders, Miracle of All Miracles, the One True Mystery of All Mysteries! ! Luke 1:29-35

Luke 1:29-35 Revised Standard Version

29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.

32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High;
and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David,
33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever;
and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

34 And Mary said to the angel, “How shall this be, since I have no husband?” 35 And the angel said to her,

“The Holy Spirit will come upon you,
and the power of the Most High will overshadow you;
therefore the child to be born[a] will be called holy,
the Son of God.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

Opinions? It is not Jesus’ birth which is so remarkable but His conception.

When the angel appeared before her, announced that although she was a virgin, Mary would have a baby who would rule the entire universe, she simply asked the most sensible question possible: “How?”

And with that single question of “How?” asked in the loneliness of the moment, the miracle, mystery moment, we arrive at the very heart of the Christian story.

How was this child to be conceived?

How was God’s own created and ordered human physiology going to be set aside – where a man and a women come together and have sexual intercourse and by God’s own mystery and miracle moment, one sperm enters one egg and conception happens, life begins and God goes to work to weave together a baby.

Psalm 139:13-18 Revised Standard Version

13 For thou didst form my inward parts,
    thou didst knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise thee, for thou art fearful and wonderful.[a]
    Wonderful are thy works!
Thou knowest me right well;
15     my frame was not hidden from thee,
when I was being made in secret,
    intricately wrought in the depths of the earth.
16 Thy eyes beheld my unformed substance;
    in thy book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
    when as yet there was none of them.
17 How precious to me are thy thoughts, O God!
    How vast is the sum of them!
18 If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
    When I awake, I am still with thee.[b]

God was going to make it happen.

By some unknowable miracle, by some unknowable mystery, He would do it.

The language of being “overshadowed” reminds us of God’s divine presence being symbolized to the Israelites by a great cloud pillar (Exodus 40:34-38).

The conception, in other words, would be miraculous, would be mysterious and would be undeniably supernatural too, able to be accomplished by God alone.

As Apostle Paul contemplated, pondered, worked through the theology of the incarnation, he wrote, “When the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:4-5).

He emphasized that the Redeemer had to be human so that He would be of the same nature as those whom He came to save: a man dying for mankind.

But it was equally imperative that the true Redeemer should be perfectly holy, perfectly righteous because no sinful person could effect atonement for the sins of others – He had to be Immanuel—God with(in) us—and He had to be man.

The early Christians hammered out the incarnation’s implications and came up with ways to describe the one who was conceived by the Spirit in Mary’s womb, coming to the true convictions that have passed down to us in the early creeds.

Our spiritual forefathers identified the wonderful mystery of the incarnation, bowed before the mystery and miracle of it, and affirmed through the holy scriptures that indeed Jesus was, is, and remains, very God and very man.

The idea that God would supernaturally invade this world shouldn’t surprise or discomfort us.

Considering how hardcore sin is, it takes a supernatural invasion of God into individuals’ lives, after all, to bring them to living faith, just as God sovereignly wonderfully worked a miracle in Mary’s womb in order to bring us – Redeemer.

Jesus told Nicodemus that unless someone is born from above—a birth brought about by God through His Spirit—they would not see God’s kingdom (John 3:3).

If we have been brought to salvation, it is only because God alone has done it.

You did no more to save yourself than Mary did to become pregnant with your Savior – the “How?” of salvation is forever answered only by – “God did it.”

What is God calling me to do as I go about my day today?

How is God calling me to think differently?

How is God calling me to be wonderfully, mysteriously, different?

How is God miraculously reordering my heart’s affections — what I love?

Ephesians 2:8-10 Revised Standard Version

8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God— 9 not because of works, lest any man should boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

So, kneel today before the wonder, miracle and mystery of God taking on flesh.

And bow today before the wonder and mystery of God redeeming you – for that, no less than the virgin birth of the Son of God, is the supernatural work of God.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Psalm 139:1-18 Revised Standard Version

The Inescapable God

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.

139 O Lord, thou hast searched me and known me!
2 Thou knowest when I sit down and when I rise up;
    thou discernest my thoughts from afar.
3 Thou searchest out my path and my lying down,
    and art acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue,
    lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether.
5 Thou dost beset me behind and before,
    and layest thy hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
    it is high, I cannot attain it.

7 Whither shall I go from thy Spirit?
    Or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
8 If I ascend to heaven, thou art there!
    If I make my bed in Sheol, thou art there!
9 If I take the wings of the morning
    and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 even there thy hand shall lead me,
    and thy right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, “Let only darkness cover me,
    and the light about me be night,”
12 even the darkness is not dark to thee,
    the night is bright as the day;
    for darkness is as light with thee.

13 For thou didst form my inward parts,
    thou didst knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise thee, for thou art fearful and wonderful.[a]
    Wonderful are thy works!
Thou knowest me right well;
15     my frame was not hidden from thee,
when I was being made in secret,
    intricately wrought in the depths of the earth.
16 Thy eyes beheld my unformed substance;
    in thy book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
    when as yet there was none of them.
17 How precious to me are thy thoughts, O God!
    How vast is the sum of them!
18 If I would count them, they are more than the sand.
    When I awake, I am still with thee.[b]

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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Advent Testimony: The Wonder and the Mystery of One Single Birthday. Luke 1:29-35

Luke 1:29-35 New International Version

29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called[a] the Son of God.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

There was a long time in my life where I severely doubted God’s existence.

I refused to understand or try to 1% understand how people would accept the existence of an all powerful divine being controlling everything in existence.

For thirty years – Sheer nonsense!

For thirty years – Utterly impossible!

Then one day I found myself in a place where I could not mouth one thing to one person, including myself, what exactly I believed about anything at all.

I was a completely blank slate – my soul was empty, my heart was emptier yet.

One day, I went to a church – not to a bar, not to a restaurant, not to a movie.

I ended up entering that church – sitting down in its rear most pew so I would not be noticed and could make a quick escape in case someone called out to me.

Over the next several months, I found myself moving closer and closer to the front of the church – to the front most pews – closer to their tall wooden cross.

I joined that church and enjoined myself to a “Friendly Men’s Bible Class” and began a time in my life when serious Bible Study, prayer became my #1 passion.

Now, twenty plus years later, all those negative thoughts of God > I could never understand how people could doubt the existence of God and of Jesus Himself.

2 Timothy 2:14-15 English Standard Version

A Worker Approved by God

14 Remind them of these things, and charge them before God[a] not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. 15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved,[b] a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

Over those years it was many many hours of personal study of the Word of God.

I did not go to seminary or to any bible school or college - much too expensive.

Instead I devoted myself to study bibles, concordances, dictionaries, and long hours sitting in a Friendly Men’s Bible Class listening to experienced teachers.

Then all of that expanded when I became attached to online sites like blue letter bible https://www.blueletterbible.org/ – I could dig deeper into the languages.

Then the greater wonder of the Word of God was revealed and I looked into the deeper meanings gaining deeper understandings of what the original authors intended for all those generations of ancient and early readers and listeners.

Then the great bewilderment of asking how could God possible exist became even greater wonderment at how people could not possible believe in Jesus!

The Word of God reveals very clearly that thousands of years before the birth of the Messiah, the prophets wrote about this event – this first birthday of Jesus.

Isaiah 7:14: “Well then, the Lord himself will give you a sign: a young woman who is pregnant will have a son and will name him ‘Immanuel’.” GNB [Immanuel means ‘God with us’]

Jeremiah 23:5-6: “The LORD says, “The time is coming when I will choose as king a righteous descendant of David. That king will rule wisely and do what is right and just throughout the land. When he is king, the people of Judah will be safe, and the people of Israel will live in peace. He will be called ‘The LORD Our Salvation’.” GNB

Micah 5:2: “The LORD says, “Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are one of the smallest towns in Judah, but out of you I will bring a ruler for Israel, whose family line goes back to ancient times.” GNB

The words of the prophets, the prophecy was clear about the virgin birth, the place it would happen and about Jesus being special, someone who will change quite literally everything for Israel and for all of those who hear his teachings.

Even today, more than two thousand years after He walked the earth, people still adhere to diligently fellowshipping, to reading and to studying His Word.

It must all come together somewhere, for some much greater reason, to mean something more, don’t you agree, that His legacy survived for such a long time?

Why is it then that we still doubt? Have we become so consumed by greed and ego that we stopped looking to the One who created us and gave us a Savior?

John 5:44: “You like to receive praise from one another, but you do not try to win praise from the one who alone is God; how, then, can you believe me?” GNB

During this festive season, why don’t we try to remember the truth, the reason why we celebrate?

I know the actual birth date may be all wrong, but that is not the point here.

The point is finding wonderment in one day in the year when we can become still in front of God and thank Him for the wonderment of this one great gift.

This is the time to NOT DOUBT, but to wonder, believe in this Child’s greatness.

Forget about looking for that one perfect gift for that one single perfect person.

Forget about buying expensive presents.

Forget about impressing others with your grand trees and extravagant feasts.

Remember Christmas begins with CHRIST, and is indeed about a wonderful gift.

The ONE GIFT that has the wonder, power, to save us from eternal damnation.

Read the ancient passages of the Word of God to your family, to your friends on Christmas day – before you sit down to Christmas dinner and opening the gifts.

Read the ancient prophecies, study the ancient prophecies, pray the prophecies.

Read the Gospel Narratives of His birth being the fulfillment of God’s promises!

Study those Narratives of His birth being 100% fulfillment of God’s prophecies!

Pray to the Holy Spirit to make the wonderment of them all become 100% alive!

Accept them today, do not wait, do not doubt their truth, cease to wonder, just 100% enter into the light He provides and you will never be in darkness again.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Psalm 16 Revised Standard Version

Song of Trust and Security in God

A Miktam of David.

16 Preserve me, O God, for in thee I take refuge.
2     I say to the Lord, “Thou art my Lord;
    I have no good apart from thee.”[a]

3 As for the saints in the land, they are the noble,
    in whom is all my delight.

4 Those who choose another god multiply their sorrows;[b]
    their libations of blood I will not pour out
    or take their names upon my lips.

5 The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup;
    thou holdest my lot.
6 The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
    yea, I have a goodly heritage.

7 I bless the Lord who gives me counsel;
    in the night also my heart instructs me.
8 I keep the Lord always before me;
    because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices;
    my body also dwells secure.
10 For thou dost not give me up to Sheol,
    or let thy godly one see the Pit.

11 Thou dost show me the path of life;
    in thy presence there is fulness of joy,
    in thy right hand are pleasures for evermore.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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Advent Reflection: While We Wait For Him, Do We Know How To Say Why It’s Important To Draw Near To Him? James 4:7-10

James 4:8-10 Holman Christian Standard Bible

8 Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, sinners, and purify your hearts, double-minded people! 9 Be miserable and mourn and weep. Your laughter must change to mourning and your joy to sorrow. 10  Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

The Advent and Christmas seasons are a powerful and unique time of year to remember that Jesus came from eternity to make a way for us to be near God.

In his life, death, and resurrection, Jesus built a bridge between us and God allowing us to have continual, unhindered communion with our Creator.

But God can’t force us into nearness with him.

Even as believers filled with the Holy Spirit, we can choose to live as if God is still far off.

So this Advent, Christmas season, may we choose to open our hearts to the living God that we might experience fullness of joy in his loving presence.

Except, what do we do when we cannot find God?

The Christian author C. S. Lewis searched for God during the illness of his wife without finding him.

In his book A Grief Observed, Lewis wrote, “Meanwhile, where is God? … Go to him when your need is desperate … and what do you find? A door slammed in your face, and a sound of bolting and double-bolting on the inside. After that, silence. You may as well turn away.”

Both believers and non believers, sceptics and agnostics and atheist’s have searched for God without being able to find him.

David, who wrote of the wonderful comfort of God in Psalm 23, also cried out in Psalm 22:1, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Jesus said those self same words on the cross (Matthew 27:46).

If for some reason you can’t seem to find God, or identify with the voice of God calling them as Eli and Samuel, let God know you can’t find Him—then listen.

Listen longer, Listen harder, Listen hardcore, Listen continually, continuously, Listen repeatedly, Listen as if your very eternity (because it is) is at highest risk.

Psalm 139:23-24 Holman Christian Standard Bible

23 Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my concerns.
24 See if there is any offensive[a] way in me;
lead me in the everlasting way.

God is right where He always is.

The writer C.S. Lewis found that perhaps the volume of his own cries deafened him “to the [still small] voice [he] hoped to hear.”

He wrote later, “I have gradually been coming to feel that the door is no longer shut and bolted. Was it my own frantic need that slammed it in my face?”

Accept God’s invitation: “Come near to God and God will come near to you.”

Come as you are, empty handed, and with a simple prayer.

God is where we are.

Says Jesus in John 6:37, “Whoever comes to me I will never drive away.”

It’s a sure promise.

Try Identifying The Importance of Our Drawing Near

James 4:7-10 Easy-to-Read Version

7 So give yourselves to God. Stand against the devil, and he will run away from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. You are sinners, so clean sin out of your lives.[a] You are trying to follow God and the world at the same time. Make your thinking pure. 9 Be sad, be sorry, and cry! Change your laughter into crying. Change your joy into sadness. 10 Be humble before the Lord, and he will make you great.

James 4:8 contains a profound promise of God.

Scripture says, “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.” 

For a while I thought this verse seemed backwards.

Does not God do the drawing?

Is not God the one who’s constantly pursuing us?

After diving deeper into the meaning of James 4:8 I discovered an important truth that’s foundational to living in communion with God: the door of God’s heart is always open to us, His love is always for us, presence always available.

At Calvary, The Father turned away from Jesus as ours sins rested squarely on His Son’s shoulders ensuring He would never ever have to turn away from us.

To draw near to God is to simply open our hearts to what was always available.

It’s not that God ever withholds his presence from us.

It’s that He never forces us to abide in Him.

If all us sheep want to go our own way, He willingly and patiently waits for us.

And the moment that we turn our hearts back to him, He is there to fill us with a grand celebration, revelation, of His loving nearness and unwavering devotion.

Luke 15:17-24 GOD’S WORD Translation

17 “Finally, he came to his senses. He said, ‘How many of my father’s hired men have more food than they can eat, while I’m starving to death here? 18 I’ll go at once to my father, and I’ll say to him, “Father, I’ve sinned against heaven and you. 19 I don’t deserve to be called your son anymore. Make me one of your hired men.” ’

20 “So he went at once to his father. While he was still at a distance, his father saw him and felt sorry for him. He ran to his son, put his arms around him, and kissed him. 21 Then his son said to him, ‘Father, I’ve sinned against heaven and you. I don’t deserve to be called your son anymore.’ [a]

22 “The father said to his servants, ‘Hurry! Bring out the best robe, and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let’s celebrate with a feast. 24 My son was dead and has come back to life. He was lost but has been found.’ Then they began to celebrate.

In his book, The Pursuit of God, A. W. Tozer describes two veils.

The first veil was the veil between the Holy of Holies and the world was torn at the death of Jesus, signifying the availability of God’s manifest presence to all.

The second veil is the veil of our own hearts, our decision to tear by God’s grace.

Whether it’s the effects of sin and shame or a lack of understanding what’s available to us in Christ, all of us have the ability to veil places in our hearts.

Like the Prodigal son while wildly spending our inheritance, all of us can shield our beliefs about our identity, our possessions, or all our relationships from the abiding presence of Jesus and live to live far apart from communion with Him.

We all have the ability at any given moment to go our own way and miss out on abundant life.

Isaiah 53:6 GOD’S WORD Translation

6 We have all strayed like sheep.
Each one of us has turned to go his own way,
and the Lord has laid all our sins on him.

But the truth is that the Christian life is not about our ability to abide in God perfectly, but about God’s grace to draw near to us in response to repentance.

Reading Scripture, God has no expectation that we would live this life perfectly.

He remembers our frame and knows we are dust (Psalm 103:14).

What God desires from us is to allow the Holy Spirit to illuminate any parts of our lives that are not His that we would be quick to repent, return to our right minds, renewing our worship, and enjoy his grace-filled presence once again.

God is not angry with us for veiling your heart.

He knows better than we do the reasons we are not letting him fully in.

His heart is filled with the fullness of compassion for us that we might all live to experience the fullness of His grace rather than strive, condemn ourselves for all of our bodily and sinful, spiritual failures and unchangeable imperfections.

While we wait for His Advent, our Christmas gifts, why not take some brief time today to rend apart the veil of your own heart, draw near to God, and experience the abundance of His glory, the nearness of His breath, His manifest presence.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Guided Prayer:

1. Meditate on God’s promise to draw near to you if you will draw near to him. Allow the truth of God’s word to fill you with faith to encounter God.

“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you.” James 4:8

“You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13

2. What parts of your heart seem veiled today? 

Where are you going your own way?

Where in your life are you not experiencing abundant life in God synonymous with communion with him?

3. Rend the veil over your own heart today and allow God to flood those places with his forgiveness and grace.  

Take time to allow him to fill you with a revelation of his love.

Psalm 139:23-24 The Message

23-24 Investigate my life, O God,
    find out everything about me;
Cross-examine and test me,
    get a clear picture of what I’m about;
See for yourself whether I’ve done anything wrong—
    then guide me on the road to eternal life.

“We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” Hebrews 6:19-20

May Hebrews 10:19-22 provide joy and hope to your heart as you seek to draw near to your heavenly Father:

Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Lord our God, show us your presence in our lives. Help us to trust that you will never let go of us. As you have promised, you will never forsake us. In Jesus name, Amen.

Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.

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