National Day of Prayer

Did you know that President Abraham Lincoln signed a resolution proclaiming a National Day of Prayer and Humiliation in 1863?  Did you know that, in 1952, President Harry Truman signed a bill proclaiming the National Day of Prayer into law?  Did you know that President Ronald Reagan amended this law in 1988 designating the first Thursday of May every year as the National Day of Prayer?  Today, May 7th is that day.  Let's pray for our "one nation under God."  Let’s pray that “in God we trust.”

Did you know that the theme for this year's National Day of Prayer is taken from Solomon's prayer during the dedication of the magnificent temple He built? 1 Kings 8:18 -- "Yet give attention to your servant’s prayer and his plea for mercy, O Lord my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence this day." 

I challenge you to remember God's response to Solomon's prayer during the dedication of this temple in Jerusalem found in 2 Chronicles 7:13-14.  “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, ¹⁴ if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." 
 

I challenge you to pray for our nation, not just today but daily. I challenge you to pray for the nation of Israel.  I challenge you to pray!

Count Your Blessings

At this very moment, in this season of Thanksgiving, what are you most thankful for?  When asked to count your blessings, is your list endless? Most of us simply stop listing or writing at a point.  Have you ever felt consumed by the spirit of thanksgiving ... gratefulness ... appreciation ... gratitude?

Join me in counting your blessings, in naming them one by one -- life, living, long life ... God the Creator... faith … family ... friends ... spouse … gentleness ... children ... love ...jobs ... houses ... homes ... church ... school ... work ... rest and relaxation ... play ... health ... healing ...  co-workers... peace ... savings ... investments ... car(s) ... pensions ... parents ... wellness ... talents ... skills ... abilities ... gifts ... spiritual gifts ...  trouble ... knowledge  ... hard times ... prayer ... Jesus Christ, Lord, and Savior ... safe travel ... weather ... joy ... freedom ... soldiers positioned around the world for our freedom ... salvation ... forgiveness ... soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice ... government ... taxes ... witty inventions ... recreation ... vacation ... understanding ... material possessions ... Holy Spirit ... death ... the cross ... hope ... enough ... more than enough ... broadcast media ... holidays ... wisdom ... education ... kindness … humility …

Count your blessings, name them one by one.  Count your blessings, see what God has done.  Count your blessings, name them one by one.  Count your many blessings, see what God has done (taken from an old hymn, Count Your Blessings).

Dear Christian, How Faithful Are You? part two

"Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful."

1 Corinthians 4:2

Dear Christian,

How faithful are you to study of God's Word? As a Christian, you are a disciple.  A disciple is a student of the Word.  Today, what is your grade as a student of the Word? A, B, C, D, F?  On a scale of 1-10, 10 high, how would you rate yourself as being faithful to study of the Word?  (____)  How would God rate your faithfulness?  Are the two ratings the same? 

The same message that Paul wrote to Timothy, he writes to us today in 1 Timothy 2:15.  "Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth."  Have you chosen to be a student of the Word?  Do you present yourself prepared and ready for study?  When you show up at church for Sunday service or during the week for Bible study, do you show up prepared and ready for study?  Do you have with you your study tools -- i.e., Bible, pen, paper, phone, tablet, laptop? At some point after any church time of study, do you review the message through your personal notes, cd, dvd, blog, online notes, other?  Do you devote daily time to study of the Word?  How much time?

What are you willing to do differently moving forward?  How serious a student are you willing to be?  Remember, if you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten.

Dear Christian, How Faithful Are You?

"Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful."

1 Corinthians 4:2

Dear Christian,

You know whether or not this letter is addressed to you.  Christians are those of us who wear the name of Christ, are called disciples, are known as students of the word, are saved, have accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. 

How faithful are you?  Faithful to what, you may be thinking. Great question.  Today's focus is -- how faithful are you in prayer?  Are you a person of prayer? Test your "selfie".  On a scale of 1-10, 10 high, rate yourself on the question -- how faithful are you in prayer?  (____) Be honest, be very honest.  If God were rating your faithfulness in prayer on that same scale, what would His rating be?

Prayer is talking to God.  Prayer is having a conversation with God -- i.e., talking to God and then listening to Him.  What kinds of things do you say to God?  Prayer may be praise, worship, thanksgiving, fellowship, petitions, making known to God the desires of your heart, reminding God of His promises to you, interceding on behalf of others, and more.  Prayer also involves listening to God, taking the time to be quiet and still so as to hear from Him.  Pray all the time, pray continually, pray on every occasion, pray without ceasing, pray in every season.  Pray using the Word of God.  Pray using God's Word on purpose.

How faithful are you in prayer?  Now is the time to become more faithful in prayer.  Go ahead, get started.  Watch God "do exceedingly abundantly above all you can ask or imagine according to His power at work in you" (see Ephesians 3:20).

What Are You Saying?

"Death and life are in the power of the tongue, ..."     Proverbs 18:21

 What are you saying?  Do your words bring life or death?  Are your words true or false?  Are they the truth or a lie?  Are your statements factual or truthful?  Did you know that the mind cannot distinguish between your figurative and your literal language?

 Could you be telling yourself sick? I need this like I need a hole in the head. You will be the death of me.  You make me sick.  That just breaks my heart.  I'm carrying the weight of the world on my shoulders.  I can't bear it anymore.  I am pretty upset.  That was terribly nice.  I'm sorry, I feel so bad.  I feel terrible about that (an apology).  There's a knot in my stomach.  I'm a glutton for punishment.  My feet are killing me.  What you don't know won't hurt you.

 Could it be that it's not what happens that makes you sick, it's what you tell yourself about what happens that dis-eases you. That was a pain in the neck ... gives me a headache ... breaks my heart ... drives me crazy ... will give me a heart attack ... will be the death of me ... sets my teeth on edge ... makes my skin crawl ... is a bitter pill to swallow ... weighs on me ... is nerve wracking.

Are death and life really in the power of the tongue?  What are you saying?  Are your words different from God’s Words? Begin to speak more of God's Word, the truth. Replace your unhealthy thoughts and statements with healthy ones. 

Man's Ways vs God's Ways

"There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death." 

Proverbs 14:12

My pastor often says "kill you so you won't kill you."  Think about it.  Are you willing to die to self? To your ungodly ways? To your unholy thoughts?  To the desires of your heart?  To worldly wisdom?  Do you really want to pay the price and suffer the consequences of following your ways instead of God's ways?

What is she talking about, you may be thinking.  I recently asked a group of women who participate in an early morning bible study "what are some of our ways that are contrary to God's ways"?  Their responses follow -- same sex marriage, not seeking God in all things, more than one wife -- bigotry,  people pleasers, handling anger, not turning the other cheek, living together but not married, parents killing their own children, not tithing, tithing on the net and not the gross, fornication, what we eat, children not respecting parents, parents not respecting children, spouses not respecting spouses, not putting God first ... making spontaneous moves, parents not speaking the things of God over their children, speaking negatively not positively, parents not living their lives before Christ, poverty, starving babies, adultery, idolatry, having other gods, being unequally yoked, double mindedness,  abortion.  Add your ways to the list.

Remember God's message to us that His ways and thoughts are not our ways and thoughts, that His ways and thoughts are higher than are ours (see Isaiah 55:8-9).  Though our ways seem right, they will only lead to death.  Stop killing yourself!  Change from your ways to God's ways!

My Brother's Keeper

I was recently reading an article by the executive director of the Birmingham Jewish Federation in which he wrote "all Jews are responsible for one another, we are taught."  Ummh, I thought how interesting.  My mind quickly took me to the age old question that Cain asked the LORD.  The LORD asked Cain where was his brother Abel.  Cain answered the LORD's question with a question -- "am I my brother's keeper?"

Am I my brother's keeper?  My response is probably not unlike your response.  Who is my brother?  How I answer the first question is dependent upon my response to the second question.  Ummh ... my third question -- so what does keeper mean?  The Hebrew word means to watch, guard, observe. The sense of the root of the word means to exercise great care over.  Ummh, more questions ... am I responsible for my brother ... how responsible ... to what degree am I really responsible for my brother?

Am I my brother's keeper?  Why can't the answer be simple and easy?  Why do I have to be concerned about those outside my house, my family, my circle?  Why do my brothers sometimes have to be so far away, so different from me, so coarse and crude and unkind and unkempt and unworthy and undeserving?  I must look to the Word, to Jesus' teachings, for my answers. Could my brother be a complete stranger like the one the Samaritan helped (see Luke 10:30-37)?  Am I expected to do all of that for a complete stranger?  Is Jesus serious when He says "whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me" (see Matthew 25:45)?  In verse 40, Jesus gives the reverse: "whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me."

What say you?  Are you your brother's keeper?