I came across this prayer and felt we all could use the words and thoughts of this prayer in our lives.
“Thank You for a new day. Thank You that Your compassion is renewed every morning. Great is Your faithfulness and Your steadfast love, O Lord! I don’t know what all is going to happen today, and how much I’ll get done, but You do. So, I give this day to You. God, this is the day that You have made, I will rejoice and be glad in it. With gratitude, I thank You for preserving my life for one more day. With gratitude, I thank You for your ultimate gift of love for me, in the form of Your Son and the sacrifice of His life on my behalf. Because of this overwhelming gift that I often cannot comprehend, I humbly submit to You. I know Lord, that I am a mere human and cannot instruct You, but You Lord can instruct me. So, teach me Your ways that I may rely on Your faithfulness. Teach us to number our days and to use our time wisely. Throughout this day, may I be keenly aware of Your presence in everything I do – as I commute to work, drop children off at school, keep house and speak with my neighbors. May my life be a living example and may others see Christ in me. There are many that are hurting in this world – may I be a salve to someone today, Lord, in a way that I can’t even imagine. May my words be seasoned with salt and minister grace to all that hear. May my actions be aligned with Your Word. I pray for wisdom that is peaceable, gentle, and approachable, with lots of mercy and fairness. You said an unlimited supply of wisdom is available to me if I simply ask, so I pray for wisdom to know how to deal with the many people and situations that will cross my path. I pray for protection throughout this day; protect from harm and evil; go before me, to the left and right of me, and behind me. Order my steps so that I walk worthy of your calling throughout this day. That I may be attuned to your promptings – whether it shows up as a gentle tug or a strong conviction. I pray for reconciliation in families, in nations, and to You. I pray that all may come to know you and be reconciled back to You. Lord, you know my faults and my flaws – forgive me for being unkind with my words and my thoughts; forgive me for being self-serving; forgive me for holding on to old wounds instead of giving them to you. Forgive me, Lord.” (TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK) Blessings! Lamar Last time we examined the impact of the claim of the world that there is no God. We noted that removing God from His place gives life no meaning at all. The reason for this is because it is eternity which matters most, and if we remove God, all we are left with is a very short life and then like the little dog Rover, we are dead all over. But intelligence tells us this cannot be. We understand the desire of the world to rid itself of a moral all-seeing God, however in doing so they remove the greatest aspect of life which gives it purpose and meaning. Why do I say intelligence tells us this cannot be? I believe this can be effectively addressed with our limited intelligence. If we but consider all that God has created, we see nothing but order and purpose. Each plant, planet, animal and of course humanity, has purpose in its design. So, this begs us to ask the question why would God create anything that does not follow the pattern of ALL he has created? The answer is: it’s not true. Mankind, in his effort to live to the fullness of his sinful nature, needs to remove all semblance of God and therefore has fabricated this position in fear of the impending judgment. It is here where their dilemma becomes their reality. They want all that comes from God; air, health, protection, rain, etc., but they don’t want the God who created these needed things - hence the dilemma.
What they fail to realize is this - living life on their terms is like eating a bland dinner and not sticking around for the desert which just happens to be the best desert in the world. For most of us, we would like to have desert first. It doesn’t take a great deal of contemplation to see what truly miserable existences they live; no wonder the world is in the condition it is. They need to know there is hope in Jesus. We are the messengers. We are the light-bearers. We are the epistles being read by all men. It’s time for us to do our part because nothing else matters. Blessings! Lamar The essence of life is found in the 14th chapter of the book of Job. It says, “Man, that is born of a woman, is of few days, and full of trouble.” This simple statement contains several realities. The first thing is, it distinguishes the difference between the man created by God, from man born of a woman. The man created by God was created perfect and existed in a perfect environment. His life was trouble free, and his only concern was to obey God. However, the life of man born of a woman is totally different. By comparison, our lives are very, very short. At first glance, to consider living beyond 70+ years seems like a long time - until you live it. It is then the vivid words of James 4:14 hold true that our lives are like a vapor. In other words, it has come and gone before we know it. It’s the next part of the statement that gives us woe: “and full of trouble.” That pretty much sums it all up. It feels sometimes either trouble is here, has just left, or is just around the corner.
But here’s the beauty of Job’s statement put into perspective. If this was all there was to life: live, full of trouble, and then die - life would lack meaning, purpose and value. What the world has missed in its assessment of the existence of God is, the true meaning of life has nothing at all to do with the measurement man uses to determine a successful life. There is no accounting for what happens at the end of life. What they miss is it doesn’t matter what you accomplish in your time on the planet, because you leave every bit of it behind at death. So, what’s the point. The real point is the “what’s next.” The “what’s next” is what happens to us from the grave moving forward. For the Christian, this is where life finds its fulfillment in eternity. For the world, there is only final judgment and eternal damnation. It’s up to us to help them understand the rest of the story. If not us, who will? More on this next week. Blessings! Lamar Last week we looked at a story of an incident that happened to a little 9 year old girl in school. If you recall, she was chastised because she led a prayer at lunch for herself and two of her friends. As a result, she was taken to the principal’s office, her parents were contacted and informed if she did this again, she would be suspended from the school system. As I ended this story, I commented as Christianity has been attacked in the past; it still continues, to this day. At the conclusion, following a thought, I asked three questions. Here is an excerpt from last week:
What matters is how we choose to respond. Do we respond with evil hearts? Absolutely not! Are we to defend God regardless the cost? I say no. Are we to seek peace if peace is possible? To that, a resounding yes (Romans 12:18). I want to clarify the point of the second question, ”Are we to defend God regardless of the cost?” As I answered no, my point was not a question of defending God. It was directed at our attitude and disposition as we do so. In all moments, as his ambassadors, we are to remember that we represent God. Therefore, even in the face of evil, God does not give us permission to sink to a level lower than that of his children in our response. We are to honor God in ALL our actions because it is love that draws the world to the cross, and not our arguments. So as the body of Christ moves forward in our effort to reach the lost, we must remember to lead with love first, then we will discover, our message will be heard. Blessings! Lamar Last week we looked at a situation concerning Joe Kennedy, the coach whose praying on the field after his teams’ football games made it all the way to the Supreme Court. This week I want to introduce you to a story I recall from a few years ago. This happened to a little 9 year old girl in school. She and two of her friends had sat down to eat their lunches, when the little girl suggested they should pray first. Having led her friends in prayer, later that day she was called to the principal's office where she was chastised for praying in school. Also, her parents were called, and informed that if their daughter did such again, she would be removed from the school system. When I read this story a number of years ago, I was confused as to why they would treat saying a simple prayer as though she had participated in some horrible crime. Now, time has allowed me to see clearer. I now realize that was the beginning of much of what we see happening today. Christianity has in the past, and will continue in the future, to come under attack from those in the world who oppose God. What matters is how we choose to respond. Do we respond with evil hearts? Absolutely not! Are we to defend God regardless the cost? I say no. Are we to seek peace if peace is possible? To that, a resounding yes. However, in situations where our rights are being threatened, appealing to legal sources may be the correct response, as long as we can do it in the spirit and love of Jesus Christ. I believe that is the answer the world is really seeking. They are looking for him and waiting to see him in us. Let your light shine!!
Blessings! Lamar We have noticed in our study of the book of Mark that every time Jesus was confronted by an evil spirit, the spirit succumbed to the will of Jesus. Mark uses these moments to reinforce the fact that Jesus is in control of all things at all times. Mark also did this to encourage believers to continue to trust in Christ regardless of their circumstances - even death at the hands of the evil emperor Nero.
I see a very similar situation taking place today because Satan is still at work. Often when Christians exercise their right to pray, someone (Satan’s tool) gets threatened and the end result is the courts getting involved. This happened recently to a football coach who prays at the conclusion of every game. Spectators didn’t like this and complained to the school. The coach was told he must refrain from praying, because someone might assume the school endorses prayer. The coach refused and was fired. His appeal made it all the way to the Supreme Court which sided with the coach who concluded this matter should have never been an issue. I mentioned this issue because Christians are under attack, and now we have gotten to a place where no longer are we judged by what a person does or says; but now can be judged by what is perceived to be true. However, the world supports every group regardless of their immoral stance, but when it comes to prayer or anything Godly, they attempt to strip us of our right to personally exercise our faith. What are we to do? Find out next week. Blessings! Lamar As we slowly move into August, a new evangelistic project is well underway. You may have heard the buzz or have been asked to help (which we hope you will). This year we have added Family Fun Day to our repertoire of evangelistic programs. We are going all out as never before to invite over 2,000 families to visit our FFD on August 27th. There will be food, games for the kids, and entertainment for the whole family. Also, we will be praying with, and interacting with many of these families in hopes they are seeking Jesus for their family. We have a lot to offer these families, therefore we are praying this effort touches many families. We ask that you also join us in prayer and inquire what you can do to make this a resounding success. We are always seeking new ways of reaching others. If you have an idea which we haven’t considered, just let Lamar know - perhaps it could be just what we are looking for!
Blessings! Lamar I read an article in World Magazine about a Chinese church whose pastor is in prison. His wife and son are not allowed to see him, only call. The police also monitor the calls, and if anyone mentions the name of God, the connection is immediately cut. You know what his congregation is doing right now? Training small group leaders and church planters!
When one of their small groups tried to meet in an apartment building, the police broke in and detained three of the leaders. That same group reconvened later that same day at a tea house to take the Lord’s Supper! While our persecuted Chinese brothers see their church buildings demolished by their government, and while their pastors are in prison and their phones are being tracked, the church there is growing! Before we complain that church is boring, before we get upset that worship starts too early and Sunday is our only day to sleep in, before we decide to skip church and stay home for some “family time,” we should first listen to the Christians in Muslim and Communist countries tell us why they risk so much to keep tenaciously meeting somehow, somewhere. I think they have something to teach us about why Sundays matter and what we are missing. Blessings! Lamar As our society continues to spiral out of control, there is one entity that is suffering greatly - the church. Why, you ask? The answer is simple. We are instructed by the word of God to save the lost. As we seek to do this, we are attacked, God is attacked, Jesus is attacked, and as one person (whom I will allow to remain nameless) put it, “Christianity is the downfall of our society. Everything wrong in our world is because of Christians.”
Let’s begin with the obvious, that statement is wholly false. In fact, what good there is in our society is hopefully practiced by those who have sacrificed their life to Christ. I say “hopefully” because everyone who declares themselves to a Christian is not one according to the word of God. As the world grows more and more bizarre, we as Christians are finding it increasingly difficult to know exactly what is expected of us. Where do we stand? This is a common problem and a popular conversation within the Christian community such as, “How am I to react to my 10yr-old bringing her transgendered or gay friend home to do their homework? Should I allow my child to befriend someone who goes against everything our child has been taught? What if their influence rubs off on my child? These are real issues. And there is one real answer. Love them as God does. We struggle mainly because of our personal likes and dislikes, more than how God tells us to handle things. However, we must always remember, the wisdom of God is superior to ours, therefore we need to listen and obey him. So, the next time you are confronted by a form of evil, just love as Jesus did to those of his day Blessings! Lamar The great debate in modern society is the existence of God. This debate goes back almost as far as does man. However, despite the best arguments against the existence of God, there are moments which happen in our world that only point in one direction - God. Try as they may to rid society of him, the Creator is neither leaving nor changing; so daily he goes about HIS business totally ignoring the folly of man. It really comes down to one of those “missing the forest for the trees” things. Many get so technical in their attempts to remove God that they miss the very acts of God, which are visible virtually everywhere you look. God is busy at work seeking the attention of man, and man is busy at work seeking to ignore God - what a paradox. For those who look for God, we see His work everywhere. In the little child who emerged without a scratch from the airplane crash that killed everyone else on board. As story after story is told, if you listen hard and with your eyes open you will always see God working reminding man that He is here, and that He loves him and wants to save him. There are no coincidences; these are actually God moments.
Father, I pray we all will open our eyes so that we will see You. Blessings! Lamar |
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