Tag Archives: Jesus

Prayer for Today

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February 13, 2015

Father, allow your glory to fill my heart today. Let your peace prevail in my life. Let your joy overflow in my home and allow your grace and mercy to cover every aspect of my life. I feel that things going on in my life are trying to overtake me, but I will open my heart and mind to your peace, joy, grace and mercy, and I will find rest for my soul.

Everything is not going the way I wanted or expected it to go but I put my trust in you. Even though I don’t understand what you are doing, I know you have my best interest at heart and are working to prefect me in Christ Jesus.

I know you have a purpose and a plan for me. I know you have placed me on this path so I can fulfill your plans. I will trust in your unfailing love for me and will walk on this path until you tell me to do something else. I will trust your peace, joy, grace and mercy to override all outside factors that are vying for my attention. I will keep my eyes stable and fixed on you, trusting you to lead me safely on my journey to fulfilling your plans for me. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Scripture references:

Psalm 13:5 – 6

Psalm 20:7

Psalm 37:3- 9

Nahum 1:7

John 14:1

 

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Prayer for Today

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February 6, 2015

Father God, I know your word says that you have plans for me. Plans to do me good and give me hope and a future. But, if I’m being honest, some days I don’t like how your plans are working.

I look around and see people losing everything. I see murder and mayhem all over the land. I see heartache and hardship and wonder, “Is this really God’s plan?”

I see good people losing homes, money, jobs, etc. while the unrighteous still prosper and look for additional ways to oppress the less fortunate. Forgive me, but is this really a plan for my good? I feel like David when he said ‘“Why, O Lord, do you stand far off? Why do you hide yourself in the time of trouble?”’

In spite of all these things, I will trust in your unfailing love. I know that in the right season, if I don’t give up, you will bless your children with everything that is rightfully ours. Therefore, I will not weaver in my trust in you but I will stand firm and see your deliverance.

Thank you for being the kind of God I can be honest with in the times of my uncertainty, weakness or momentary despair. I will wait for you. I will be of good courage and I will allow your word to strengthen my heart. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.

Scripture references:

Jeremiah 29:11

Psalm 10:1 – 2

Psalm 13:5

Psalm 27:14

 

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Prayer For Today

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January 29, 2015

Father, in the midst of making and fulfilling my plans for 2015, please help me to achieve balance in every phase of my life. Help me to be content, but not complacent, with what you have blessed me with thus far in my journey to live a purposed filled life.

Help me to remain humble while I wait on you. Remind me to cast my cares, burdens, unbelief and lack of trust on you because you care for me.

The world wants me to believe that I have to operate full board every day, all the time. But Father even you rested when your work was complete. You have created me to have peace. Peace of mind, soul and spirit. Help me to find rest in the midst of what can be a maddening pace.

Help me remember I do not have to wear myself out trying to complete my plans. I need to rely on you to be my help. Help me to operate within a balanced lifestyle. In the name of Jesus I pray. Amen.

Scripture references:

Philippians 4:11

I Peter 5:6 – 7

John 16:33

Mark 6:31

Genesis 2:2 – 3

Isaiah 41:13

 

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Prayer for Today

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January 23, 2015

Father God, today I refuse to walk in fear or doubt. I will not lean to my own understanding but I will trust in you. Father, you created me in your image and in your likeness. I am perfected in you. I am able to accomplish everything you’ve planned for me.

I have been made righteous in you. My former ways have passed away and in you I have become a new creation. You have made me an ambassador to the lost, the least and the less than; to bring them to reconciliation to you through Jesus Christ your son.

Lord, sometimes I think I’m not good enough to fulfill your plan for me, so as I embark on my tasks as your ambassador, remind me that I am a part of your royal priest hood.  A part of your holy nation and you are the only one greater than me.

Thank you God for thinking enough of me to call me your child and to make me more than a conquer through your son Jesus Christ. Help me be an obedient and mature child of the Most High God. Help me to walk out the path you’ve carved out for me. In Jesus name. Amen

Scripture references:

Proverbs 3:5 – 6

Genesis 1:26 – 27

Hebrews 10:13 – 14

II Corinthians 5:17 – 20

Ephesians 4:23 – 24

I Peter 2:9

Romans 8:37

I Peter 1:13 – 16Ambassador

 

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F.I.T (Frequency, Intensity and Time)

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“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” I Thessalonians 5:16 – 18 (NIV)

When I hired a personal trainer one of the first things he told me was, “I believe in F.I.T., which stands for frequency, intensity and time. If you really want to better your health and fitness you need to work out frequently, be intense in your workout and give ample time to complete the workout.”

The philosophy of F.I.T has stuck with me through the years. I found it to be true in every facet of life, including my spiritual life. If I want to save money, I have to monitor my spending frequently, by intense about self-control and make routine assessments (time) about where I am with my financial goal. The same thing is true for my spiritual life.

In the King James Version of the I Thessalonians scripture mentioned above says, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing”. In this scripture the Bible sums up our F.I.T for prayer. It speaks to how often we should pray, how intense our prayers should be and how much time we should spend in prayer.

Some people think that intensity means flat out all the time. That’s not the case. Intensity means the correct amount of effort to achieve your desired results. Everyday I workout I’m not a sweaty mess. Some days I’m  lifting weights which doesn’t require as much intensity from me as floor exercises or cardio. What I am trying to achieve determines the amount of intensity I use.

Sometimes you may be praying, crying and laying prostrate on the floor. Other times, you may be praying while you’re driving, while you’re working or during an event. Your intensity will be different because your amount of effort is different.

Daniel is a wonderful example of praying continually. He prayed three times a day whether he was under attack or not. David and Paul are also good examples of F.I.T. prayer. But the best example is Jesus. When he was about to be delivered into the hands of the Roman soldiers he prayed until he cried blood. But when he prayed to raise Jairus’ daughter from the dead, the prayer wasn’t nearly as intense as the one he prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane.

So, how F.I.T. is your prayer life? Plug into the power of prayer

It’s a Virus and It Spreads – Part II

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From the book: It’s Still Relative (The Word of God for Today’s World)

I John 3:4 – 10 “Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.  But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.  Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.  No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.”

The virus on my computer started turning my computer off when it wanted to and making decisions about which programs would function, when and for how long. It was as if my computer had a mind of its own and even though it belonged to me, it was doing what it wanted to do without my permission. There is not a computer system in the world that is designed to have virus running AND have a fully functional operating system.

It is the same with Christians and sin. God did not call us out of the darkness of the world into the light of His son Jesus, so that we could still operate independent of Him. We are no longer our own. We have been bought with a price (I Corinthians 6:19). Operating with sin in our lives is just like my computer trying to operate with a virus.

How do we know if the activity/behavior we’re engaged in is a sin? We should ask yourselves the following questions:

1. Did I pray about this activity/behavior and then WAIT until I received an answer from God?

2. Does the activity/behavior convey God’s character?

3. Does the activity/behavior glorify God?

If we answer “No” to any of these questions we are operating in sin.

When we operate outside and independent of God, we are operating by the pride of life, the lust of the eye and the boasting of what we have or what we’ve done. This type of behavior doesn’t come from God. It comes from Satan, who is the prince of this world (John 12:31). Satan already stands condemned, (John 16:11) and he wants to ruin the lives and testimonies of as many Christians as he can so our ministry to the world is tainted by our own behaviors and our own actions. Why does Satan want this? So we become ineffective in winning the lost to Christ!

Remember, we are in the world, but not of the world. Once we come to God through Christ, we are no longer of the world (John 17:14). We should strive to reflect the character of God in everything we do. Showing the love of God through our lives is what gives God glory and it is what draws the spiritually lost to us so we can tell them about Christ. (Ephesians 5:1 – 2)

Just like I had to get the virus off my computer before it would run correctly, Christians have to get sin out of our lives so we can run for God correctly.

It’s a Virus and It Spreads – Part I

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From the book: It’s Still Relative (The Word of God for Today’s World)

I John 3:4 – 10 “Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.  But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.  Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.  No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.”

I have several electronic devises at my disposal on a daily basis. My home computers, table and my iPhone. Not to mention the electronic devises I have for work. All of my systems have different types of software installed but all systems, except my iPhone, are Window based systems. So all the electronic devises I use operate pretty much the same way.

One day I was working on my system at home when I received an email from an old friend. When I opened the email I realized it was a chain letter, so I deleted it and continued my work. But, my system stopped responding to my keystrokes and function keys. The computer just wasn’t acting right.

At first, it was small things that I chalked up to computer glitches. Then my sound system started fading and my computer started freezing. Then, some of my programs stopped working all together. I checked my configurations and made sure all my apparatuses were hooked up correctly but no matter what I did, my computer was acting as if it had a mind of it’s own. It was running a muck! The email I opened from my old friend had a virus and it was destroying my operating system.

Sin in the life of a Christian is just like the virus that infected my computer. It will destroy the renewal of your mind, corrupt your morals and ethics and, ruin your relationship with God the Father.

One “small” sin left unchecked will cause your walk with Christ to fall into a position of not being fully functional, which means your spiritual well being has been jeopardized. Sin left to grow and flourish will cause you to lose connection with the Holy Spirit because sin runs interference and doesn’t want you to remedy the problem. Our sinful man likes the sin but our spirit man is grieved when we sin.

As we start a new year, let’s examine our spiritual operating system. Do we have any sin that is causing a disconnect between us and God? If so, let’s deal with it for the truth that it is and get rid of it!

Maturing into You

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Story is excerpt from my book: It’s Still Relative, The Word of God for Today’s World

I was talking to a friend of mine the other day. We’ll call her Maggie. She was saying that her grown daughter sometimes act less mature than her six-year-old. It seems that no matter how much Maggie or her husband request their older daughter ACT like an adult, she just isn’t willing to take on the responsibilities of being a grown up.

My friend lamented, “‘I don’t think she will ever grow up. I don’t thing she will ever be a responsible adult. I don’t know what we did wrong, but obviously we didn’t raise her right or something. So, we’re just going to have to cut her off and see how she does. At some point, she’s going to have to stand on her own.”‘

As Maggie and I were talking a though struck me deep in my spirit. How many times has God said, “I wonder if she or he will ever spiritually grow up? I wonder when they will learn their lessons and start acting like the Christians I have raised them to be? I wonder if they will ever stop through temper tantrums when they don’t get their way or things don’t seem to be working out they way they want them to. I wonder if they will ever learn to trust me.”

Maturing is Christ as Christians is about trusting God; His word and the finished work of Christ Jesus. Without that trust, we can’t mature into the people God has called, anointed and appointed us to be for and in the Kingdom of God.

Maturing in our Christian walk is not easy but it is necessary and there’s no way around it. (Deut. 6:17 – 18). This blog is a part of my maturity. The daily prayers I send out are a part of my maturity. Starting a non-profit is a part of my maturity. These are things I never wanted to do, never thought anyone would read and under normal circumstances I would NEVER have the courage to do them but, God is maturing me.

So, over the next several days I’m going to use this blog to explore our spiritual maturity. You are welcome to join me!

GPS Too

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I have the worst sense of direction. You could put me in a room, blindfold my eyes, spin me around, take off the blindfold and I couldn’t get out of the room! Okay, that’s a mild exaggeration, but you get the picture. Global Positioning Systems (GPS) were made for people like me. People who need to move around, get places but need some guidance.

I love GPS because it guides me to where I want to go. It is fast, efficient and rarely makes a mistake. I always travel with a GPS, especially when I’m going someplace I’ve never been before. It knows where I am, it will show me the route I’m going to take, how long to my destination and if I want to take the scenic route, that’s an option. My GPS will even tell me if the stop light I’m approaching has a speed camera system. How great is that?!

As much as I use my GPS, I find that I don’t use my GPST (God’s Positioning System Too) as often as I should. I do not always inquire of the Lord before I make a decision. Not just big decisions but all decisions. I have found that if I make a “small” decision without my GPST, I can end up getting lost and causing myself big problems. But still, I don’t always use my GPST.

My GPST is with me all the time. I never leave home without it and still, I fail to use it as often as I should, which is everyday. What is my GPST? It’s the Holy Spirit. He is always with me to lead and guide me into all truth. He never guides me wrong, He is fast and effective, and will never lead me wrong.Do you make decisions without using your GPST? If so, it’s time for us to start using the person Jesus left for us to use as our guide. Maybe, we wouldn’t get so lost and so far off track and save ourselves some heartache and headaches.

“But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.” John 16:13

Housework is Never Done

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When I was a little girl my siblings and I had to do chores on Saturdays. We couldn’t do anything fun until our chores were done and our work passed our mother’s inspection. We cleaned on a routine basis, so when my mother said, “we’re having company”, we didn’t have to clean up, we just had to straighten up.

What’s the difference between cleaning up and straighten up? Well, when we cleaned up we had to move furniture, wipe down walls, do the windows and baseboard, vacuum the carpets and sweep the hardwoods, do the stairs and dust everything. When we were done the house smelled like Pine-sol, Spic and Span and bleach.

Straightening up was simply putting surface things back in order. No need for cleaning materials. All we were doing were putting away toys, putting books and magazines back in their proper places and making sure there was nothing on the floors.

When was the last time you had your spiritual house cleaned? Many people want to look like they follow God through Christ, but they are not willing to put in the time and effort to allow the Master Cleaner to go through their hearts and minds with His cleaning materials and clean their houses versus just straightening them up themselves so they look like a Christian.

God uses His word, fasting, prayer and meditation as His cleaning tools. In its current state, would your heart pass God’s inspection? Are you ready to be cleaned or, do you only want to be straightened up?

Romans 12:1 – 2 “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Just my view of things.