The reason why a lot of us are falling into deception and other Satanic attacks is not because we do not know that Satan is real. It’s because we do not truly know the gravity of who Satan actually is! If we falsely believe in the illusion that we can just sit down and relax, then you are joining the wrong fight! Spiritual warfare is very real, and it is not just a horror film. Today, I challenge you to pray to the Lord, and ask the Holy Spirit to help you gain the spiritual vision you need to survive this lifelong battle. The Lord Rebuke thee, Satan, for our weapons are not carnal, but spiritual, fighting for the kingdom of the light!
Category: Prayer
Next generation…?
Whichever one is prominent at the moment, I’ve lost count. Some have been born in the last forty years or the last ten or twenty years but what is their belief system or their moral compass? Have they learned anything from their parents or grandparents about what it means to have a belief in God or any “higher being”? Mostly due to the removal of prayer and the Bible from the public schools of America we have at least two generations who have never read from or heard any Bible verses while in school. Unless you were able to attend a private school the use of God’s Word in education was taken away in the early sixties.
Of course after graduating from a private school and beginning your college years, you get back into the public school area and you are slapped with mostly liberal views and no chance of a Christian viewpoint unless you read and study the Bible on your own. Our country was founded by Christians regardless of the “history” that is taught today. Even the “ivy league” schools in the northeast were founded to be seminaries for religious training in their beginning years.
Why has it changed so much in the two centuries plus forty-five years? Mostly because of science and the liberal bent that our leaders in Washington, DC have pushed in their lawmaking in the past 130 years or so. It has become more socialist than Democratic in the past sixty years or so but still God is being pushed out of any mention on the news or in public office except in derision. It seems that a Christian perspective is looked down upon and ANY other religion is pushed forward to be seen as a better alternative…even no religion at all!
Why should is strike anyone as odd that America or some mention of it is not found in the book of Revelation or during the Tribulation? It is very likely that we are not a country which has enough power to be seen as a nation at that time. God has not taken His hand off of our country yet, but it wouldn’t surprise me if it happened during the next few decades. Be praying for our leaders both in the military and in office, whether you agree with them or not because they truly NEED our prayers and God’s wisdom whether they will acknowledge it or not.
Just my two cents.
Father?
Father? Are you there? (Silly boy, I am always here)
I just need to talk to you. (I am listening)
My day…hasn’t gone very good today. (Why do you think that?)
Well, it just doesn’t feel quite right. It seems that most of the things which I tried to get done today took longer or just didn’t work out like I had wanted them to, you know? (Yes, I have been with you through every minute of your day, but you didn’t ask Me about any of it until things didn’t work like you thought they should)
Yes, I know and I’m sorry about that. I should’ve started my day with You and asked You to help me through the day with all of the things which I needed to do. (I’ve been telling people this for thousands of years and it seems that it takes a few missteps and scrapes before they learn to do it right)
Sometimes, I think I can do it myself, you know? (Yep, I’ve heard that same sentence thousands of times)
Father, help me to remember to include you in my day from the beginning when I wake up and all through the day until I go to sleep again. (I will gladly do that…but you have to listen to my Voice and include Me, I will not force My Presence into your life. You have to invite Me in every day, can you do that?)
I will try, Father. (In the words of another wise teacher, “try not, do or do not, there is no try”)
Father, that was a quote from Yoda in a Star Wars movie. (Well, if it makes sense to you then I use it)
Thank you, Father, for listening and being there when I need you. (I am always here, you just need to live your life like you know it well enough to feel my Presence in your life. Try not to shut Me out because when you do, I let you. That is when you feel alone.)
This is the relationship that I want to have with Jesus and His Father and the reality of it is this: it will be this way when we are there in Heaven. How wonderful will that be?
Prayer for help in time of trouble
How Long, O Lord?
{To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.}
1 How long wilt thou forget me, O LORD? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?
2How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?
3Consider and hear me, O LORD my God: lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death;
4Lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him; and those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved.
5But I have trusted in thy mercy; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation.
6I will sing unto the LORD, because he hath dealt bountifully with me.
When David was being chased by Saul and having to hide in caves and in the desert, he asked God “How long, O Lord?” Sometimes, when we are going through troubles and hardships it is the same feeling. How long, Lord? How much longer will I have to go through this?
It seems at times that God isn’t listening, but He is. He is just trying to teach you something or show you how strong you are as long as you and I depend upon Him in our weakness. If we try to do things on our own or make it through the tough times without leaning on Him, those tough times may last longer than they would have otherwise.
God’s not angry with us exactly. He doesn’t like the way that we are treating each other and ignoring Him. God loves us. Yet, we don’t care about His Son’s sacrifice nor does much of the world even acknowledge that He is God. He watches over our world and keeps everything going the way it should regarding our life-giving planet.
Satan is the prince of the air here on Earth because Adam gave it to him by disobeying God. Much of the destruction and hatred that we experience is because of Satan and his minions causing havoc all over the world. Not because it is fun but because they are trying to keep as many people from becoming Christians as they possibly can, in order to cause God pain.
Lean on Jesus in your hard times and don’t turn away from Him. Life is too short to be on the wrong side at the end, don’t you think?
Prayer…does it work?
Does prayer work? Yes, it absolutely does work! Praying for healing or comfort and just a better day or week than you had last week all work and God answers them IF you have faith that He will answer your prayers. Faith and belief go together, you can’t have one without the other and when your belief and faith are strongest is when your Christian life is usually better and more productive.
Jesus prayed every day. Many days He prayed more than once, whether it was for a healing or for strength or even for lunch, He always prayed to God for these things. Thanking Him for His gracious mercy and love and asking for something specific, not just a general blessing. If you read the gospels, Jesus never prayed in a general way. He always asked for something specific, such as multiplying the fish and the five loaves or for a blind man to receive his sight.
We tend to ask God to bless us, but we don’t ask for a specific blessing such as health or prosperity. Most of us just ask for His blessing on our life and then wonder why we didn’t get what we wanted or needed at the time. God knows what you need but He wants you to ask Him for it. Also, God bases His answers on needs more than wants, necessary things rather than luxury items.
He gives us our air and water and the ability to earn a living wage so all of this is part of the blessing which we already have from Him. Prayer is our link to the Creator for our comfort and our blessing in ways that those who don’t know Him can’t understand. It is the most reliable wireless service available to us and yet many people don’t make use of it.
We muddle our way through life, thinking that we can make it without God or His help. But, when life or some other circumstance throws a curve ball in our direction then we cry out to God. Sometimes we do it the first time this happens, sometimes we wait until there is no human alternative and we have to seek Him for our help. If you are wondering what the point of this missive is, it is this: God listens to your soul, if you belong to Him but He would like to hear from you too.
Just as human parents know what their children need, we would like to hear their dreams and their ambitions, their aspirations for a life away from home but we would like to stay connected to them too. That is the kind of relationship which God desires from us. Not a once per week visit for an hour or so. Not a once every year visit on the day that the resurrection of His Son is celebrated. God desires to be in your life, in your day and your nights, in your family, in your business and in your work!
It is a daily walk with Him that is most fulfilling, not just a weekly or yearly visit. I mean, how would you feel if that is all your wife or husband was around you or if that was the only time your children came to visit? It would not be much of a relationship at all, would it?
Seek His Kingdom and His presence daily because that is the best way to live a life of love and compassion toward others and with your Creator too.
Kneeling in prayer
There are many places in the Word of God, where a man or a Savior, bends their knees and gets down to the business of faithful prayer. It is something that many in the Church seem to have forgotten about. We stand and pray, we sit and pray, some of us bow our heads with eyes closed, some don’t close their eyes during prayer.
Prayer..is talking with our Savior and our Creator, if you don’t revere Him enough to close your eyes and bow your head then I am sorry for you. God loves you more than you realize, but He expects some respect and reverence from His Creation.
When he had thus spoken, he knelt down, and prayed with them all. And they all wept sore, and fell on Paul’s neck, and kissed him, sorrowing most of all for the words which he spake, that they should see his face no more.
And they accompanied him unto the ship. [Acts 20:36-38]
They took him down to Caesarea and by journey to Jerusalem—his last visit to that city in which he was arrested, imprisoned, and taken to Rome in trial for his life. But the word that describes this last meeting with the people in Ephesus is most poignant and meaningful. “And when he had thus spoken, he knelt down and prayed with them all.”
What does this say about Paul? He desired that they would continue in the faith that he had taught them before his arrest. Paul knew that his time there was over. He knew that he may not see Jerusalem again, so he knelt down and prayed with them all. What did he say? We likely won’t know until we can ask him face to face in Glory! The point is that, as Christians and ministers of Jesus Christ we should pray for our families and our country. We should pray for our friends and our students and those who need God’s healing touch.
Prayer can bring about many things, good and bad. It just depends upon who is doing the praying and what they are praying for. In a parched, drought-stricken land, they may pray for rain, in a world on the brink of war they might pray for peace, even if it would take a miracle for that peace to come. Once there was a man who believed in prayer in our country and you may have heard of him. His name was George Washington. Here is a small picture of something that he did early in our history whenever it was called for.
There was a visitor to the Continental Congress of the American Republic from Great Britain. And as he stood in the chamber of that august assembly, he turned to the man standing next to him and said, “Which one is General George Washington?” And the man standing next to the visitor turned to him and said, “When Congress goes to prayer, the one who kneels will be General George Washington.” Kneeling in prayer.
It happened that this was the way that Congress used to begin each meeting and some say that they still do this…but are they truly sincere about what they are saying and to Whom they are praying? In our society today I doubt it.
Daniel knelt and prayed for God to show him the meaning of his dream and although it took three weeks for the angel to come and give him the meaning, Daniel still prayed. In the eighteenth chapter of 1 Kings, Elijah said unto King Ahab, “Get thee up…for there is the sound of abundance of rain.” So Ahab went up. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; and he cast himself down upon the earth, and put his face between his knees, and he said to his servant, “Go, look toward the sea.” And he went up and looked and said: “There is nothing” [1 Kings 18:41-43]. And Elijah said, “Go the second time, the third, the fifth, the sixth, the seventh.” And it came to pass, after Elijah had prayed, down on his knees for the seventh time, that the servant said, “Look, there is a little cloud out of the sea, like a man’s hand.” And Elijah said unto Ahab, “Prepare thy chariot, and get thee down, that the rain stop thee not.” And it came to pass… that the heaven was black with clouds and wind, and there was a great rain [1 Kings 18:44, 45].
Elijah was the prophet who had prayed for the drought and he prayed that it would abate as well and his faith was rewarded to the glory of God.
There are many other times in Mark and Luke where we read that “And he withdrew himself into the wilderness, and prayed.” (Luke 5:16, Mark 1:35)
Why do I bring this up at this time? Because we are at the doorway of a time that has not been in history before. We are at the very threshold of the prophecies of the book of Revelation! This is the time that we should be on our knees in prayer every day! Not just for our country or for the person who may be elected to be the next President, but for the entire world and its collective salvation.
I pray that all of us will be in prayer for our world and those in it, especially those who have sickness or may be dealing with treatments for cancer or surgery or the recovery from either. There are also many who are living in areas where there is very little to eat and no clean water to drink, so be in prayer that someone can bring them food and clean water soon. Life outside of America is hard but there are also people here who live in poverty and wonder where their next meal will come from. If you can help them, even in a small way, I am sure it would be appreciated.
God loves all of His children even if they don’t love Him or show His love to others, but that doesn’t mean that He will not hold them accountable for any suffering or pain that they may cause to others.
One in Essence,Three in Person
This is a question that has been on my mind for a few days, because I was asked about it by a very sweet lady who happens to be a Pentecostal by way of her association. Our Creator is One in essence, yet three in Person. It isn’t a hard thing to understand unless you want to deny God being God! He is God, He is the Holy Spirit of God and He is the Living Word, the Son of God!
I don’t mean that God exists as three gods, He is God in Three Persons, yet all of them…each one is as much God as the other! It is a difficult doctrine to understand unless you have some help from Him!
“And now the Sovereign LORD (the Father) has sent me (the Son), with his Spirit (the Holy Spirit).” Isaiah 48:16
Even at the time that Isaiah was a prophet in Israel, God revealed to Him that He was and is three persons in One. Not three gods, but One God with three persons Who in each are also God. Each person of the Trinity is God, but each has a different function. Just as I am a husband, a father and at one time I was a son before my parents passed into eternity. Three functions in One Person is the most apt description of God as a triune godhead.
Just as all things in the universe have a three-fold nature, so does God. Matter has substance (mass) plus energy and motion; time is made up of past, present and future; space is made up of length, width, and depth or height. Their nature doesn’t make them any less than what they are, but take away even one of their parts and you don’t have matter, space or time anymore.
If you take this to a logical conclusion which many skeptics seem to be willing to overlook, the Son of God is also God the Son! The Holy Spirit is the third Person of the trinity and He is fully God, but His influence in our lives is more of a teacher and leader in spiritual things. It is He that resides in your heart and mine, if we have given our lives to Jesus and asked for Him to come into our lives and our hearts.
The Spirit of God was the Person of the Trinity hovering over the waters before creation. What were the waters? I don’t know, you will have to save that question for God Himself. In either case each part of the Trinity is just as much God as the Other. They perform different functions and do different things in this world and in the spiritual realm, but each of them is still God.
When God told Moses that “No man could see His face and live”, He meant that. Which is why when He hid Moses in the cleft of the rock and allowed him to see His back. Later, when Scripture mentions the Angel of the Lord with a capital “A”, this is the pre-incarnate Christ, not an angel. The Spirit or Holy Spirit is the person of the Trinity which carries out miraculous healings and resurrections and other signs like being understood by someone who doesn’t speak your language. He also prays for us in our time of anguish and doubt when we are so burdened until we can’t say what is necessary.
In reality, it took the intervention of all three to save each person who is a Christian. Think of it this way: God sent His Son to be the atonement for our sins, Jesus died as a human with the nature of God in order to pay the price for humanity’s sins, and the Holy Spirit convicted you of your need for salvation and brought you to the cross to meet Jesus. If it is too hard to understand, ask a little child. The only time that we will know the answers will be when we are standing in His Presence, and even then we may still not understand it.
Pray, America, Pray!
Our country needs REVIVAL to break out and break down the walls of hate and bitterness in our nation! We can’t wait for Washington, DC. to fix this, because they don’t know how! God does!!
Life is hard enough without having to worry about being shot going to get gas in your car, or being carjacked at the grocery store, our nation needs God back in people’s minds and hearts! Like it was the first few days after Katrina and 9/11! People turned to the One Who could help and did help. Sometimes His help came a little slow, but it came. God doesn’t give up on us until we give up on Him!!!!
Movies can inspire us, heroes inspire us, sometimes even politicians inspire us, but God is the One with the REAL answers! Inspiration lasts only for a little while, on your knees prayer to the Creator and Finisher of your faith is what gets the job done, no matter what that job is! Whether it is fixing your marriage or your finances or a child with a deadly injury or disease, God is bigger than all of them and He can FIX them all, when we come to Him with our problems and leave them in His hands and get out of His way so that He can work!
Don’t try to do His job for Him after you have prayed to Him! If you couldn’t fix it before the prayer, what makes you think you can after you have prayed? Let Him do His work on whatever the problem is, keep praying and believing that He will and He will! Too often we are the ones that short-circuit our prayers, because we pray and hand it over to God and then tomorrow morning we take it back and try to fix it ourselves. How could your car get fixed like that? It wouldn’t.
Pray and keep praying and leave the problem in His hands, then pray some more! Remember this acronym: Pray Until Something Happens (PUSH)!
Drama and life
It seems that today with the Internet and all of the social media outlets that we have, there is more drama than ever about things which are happening all of the time. I know, years ago this was all gossip on the phones. The problem with today’s version is that this stuff never really goes away! Births and deaths, accidents and graduations, heart attacks and strokes, family reunions and funerals, they will ALL be there until the Internet and Facebook are gone! Even then, some trace of this will be available to future generations to read and wonder about.
Dramatic situations and life seem to go hand in hand today, but they really shouldn’t. Yes, life goes on no matter what is happening around us and we can make it dramatic or dramatizing if we want it that way. But…why? I know that tragedy strikes and yes, that can be dramatic and traumatic at the same time but God will see you through it! If you haven’t given your life to Him, then you really should. If you need to know why you should do so, then you haven’t gotten there yet.
God doesn’t want us to go through life alone without Him, yet we merrily do so thinking that we can do it all on our own with no help at all. Many times, we are right…as long as everything is going smoothly. Get one of those phone calls from the doctor or a pink slip from your job, and things could change in a hurry! If you have a teen in the house and you get a call from the hospital or the police or sheriff and your life may change forever.
God is there with you through these times, and all that you need to do is call on Him. His Strength is available to you through the Holy Spirit and His Grace is always available, just ask Him for it! There is no shame or disgrace in admitting that you need Him because we all do!
Granted, He doesn’t shower us with gold or silver when we ask for it but that is because He knows what is best for us at any given time. His Grace and mercy and His Peace is always available through His Word, the Bible. We don’t have to pay much for it, we don’t need psychologists or self-help books to find the wisdom for life’s problems because it is all found within the pages of the Bible.
Seek Him first for your needs, your peace, your health, your life and He will provide all of those and more because He loves you! Any who have lost children or spouses to an illness or death, seek Him out and pray for His peace and comfort and He will gladly provide it. Though it won’t rid you of your grief and the pain that you feel, it will make it more bearable because He loves you!
Think about it.
Reflection on Mothers Day
For me, celebrating Mother’s Day is a time of reflection which brings some lonely feelings into my life, but it also brings back good memories as well. My own mother died about seven months after Mother’s Day in ’95, so this year marks the twentieth year that I can’t say or do anything for her. All that I have are my memories, and that’s OK.
Mother’s Day is a celebration of our mothers and their life and sacrifice for each of us to be here. Many of our mothers and fathers have sacrificed much so that we could go to school and have things that helped us to get through life. Why did they do these things? Because of love. Love makes a difference in every life, whether you realize it or not.
The love of our parents and grandparents helped us to become the people that we are today. Our love of our children today will help them to be the person that they are meant to be. The difference between us and those who would destroy our culture and our way of life is that they don’t have love in their life. Love makes a difference in all ways and in all situations and the best place to find real love is to look for it from the Author and Creator of it, God Himself.
He loves us, each of us, so much that He sent His Son to Bethlehem as a baby to be raised as a human, to live and die as a human, but since He had God’s nature in Him He was able to live a sinless life. A life of complete obedience to God’s laws and to His commands.
This love is what prods each of us to seek out something that we know is missing, yet we don’t know what it is. We try to fill that spot with drugs, or sex or money but none of that satisfies because none of them fit. The Holy Spirit of God is the only One that fits in that space, that empty part of you that all of us have. Even if you don’t want to believe in God, you feel that empty feeling. You know that there is something missing, but you don’t want to believe that it is God Who can fill that spot in your life, Who is the One that is supposed to fill that empty space.
Mothers are the best reflection of a loving God on Earth, at least the ones that actually love their children. Seek God out so that He can show you the love that He has for you through His forgiveness and the eternal life that you will have in Him. If that is something which you don’t want to do or can’t understand why to do it, I understand. I will be praying for all who visit here anyway.
Thanks for stopping by.
The Living Message of Christ 