Prayers of Remembrance

One of the prayer responsibilities we often overlook is what I call the prayer of remembrance. It seems that when people go through difficult times that we pray for them during those times, and then, they slip from our memories. We stop praying for them--as if they suddently don't need our prayers anymore. Can I give you some recent examples from my own life--and perhaps yours?
When is the last time you lifted up Carolyn and her family--grown "kids" and grandkids? Do you ...really think they've stopped missing Randy?
Or what about the Romanelli's--mom, the kids; one in college, one in high school, one in middle school. Think they stopped missing husband and dad? Think it's suddenly become easy to be a single mom; or to grow up without Dad in your life?
Or when's the last time you prayed for Izzy's family? Think they know longer need God's comfort and presence?
Or my friend and compatriot here at WC? Think Joel, and Amy, and little Judah still need all our prayers as the family makes new adjustments, encounters new needs?
We need to be praying prayers of remembrance--pray prayers faithfully for those we know and love who have been through difficult times, and remember that they still need and covet our prayers for them. Today.
Once, someone asked me how can you pray without ceasing? My first thought was how can you not? I find if I just remember, and listen to the Spirit, there are always more prayers needed then there is time to pray them.
May God throughout each day keep us breathing out prayers--the life of the Spirit. May we walk through each day on our knees. 

Remember.

This Day

This is the day He made for you:


Be strong and very courageous.
View every encounter as an opportunity.
Pray that He will give you the words to say in each encounter....
Embrace the idea that all those you interact with today are more important than you are--be a servant.
Less of you; more of Him.
Do your work well. For Him.
Be content.
Consider the lilies.
Rejoice.

My Obedience

Someone else's disobedience does not excuse me from my call to be obedient. For example, God encourages the wife to submit to her husband, to be the pillar of strength that he needs to become all that God desires him to be. And He encourages the husband to love his wife as unconditionally as God loves so that she can be all that God intends for her to be. If one or the other fails to be obedient to God's directive, that does not mean that the other person does not have to be obedient. Jesus makes it clear: "If you love Me, you will keep my commandments." Period.

Abiding

Jesus described an intimate relationship with Him by using the word "abiding." And He illustrated "abiding" as the life-giving, life-sustaining, dependent connection between a branch and the vine. Such a connection always results in the bearing of fruit--fruit that reflects the nature of the vine. The person who is abiding in Christ reflects Christ's likeness--His love, His joy--a joy that no person or no sorrow can take away, His commitment to doing the Father's will--"I ...do always those things that please Him, and His unity with the Spirit. If I am in Him and He is in me, I will bear much fruit. People will know I have been with Jesus, and that the life I live is His life.
The more intimate my relationship with Him becomes,--the more dependent I am on the Vine--the more three attitudes will dominate my daily choices. And the Christian walk, the abiding, must be a daily, step-by-step, choice-by choice-life. What are those three attitudes? a focus on His presence in my life, an unwavering desire for His will, and a confident trust in His goodness at work in all things. I must not only recognize that I am daily in His presence, but that He is daily in mine. He is not only "watching" all that I do, He is a participant in my choices. The choices I make tell the world that this is what Jesus is like, this is what He would do and say in this circumstance. (And they are watching.) I must also be totally focused on His will being done--not in some vague lifetime commitment, but in each choice that I make all day long, every day. My prayer must be that on this day, in this moment, with this choice, I will do His will--do what pleases Him--not me, not even others, but Christ alone. And I must trust that He is using my obedience to do good. The "visible" consequences of my choices must not undermine my confidence in His wisdom and His love--His goodness. He is The Promise Keeper.
A deepening relationship with Him must be my daily prayer--an abiding walk. Each day can be lived with a sense of His presence, an unwavering dedication to His will, and a confident trust in His goodness. Then, no matter what the day brings, my strength will rest on that joy that no one and no sorrow can destroy.

"Just a closer walk with Thee; grant it Jesus is my plea. Daily walking close to Thee; let it be Dear Lord, let it be."

Christian Economics

Christian Economics:


Work.
Take care of the needs of your family; including your extended family--widows, for example.
If a family can't meet the needs of the widows, they're the church's responsibility....
Give to the needs of the orphans.
Lay down your life for your fellow Christians by meeting their physcial needs. Paul tells us that we don't work so that we can spend the "extra" on our wants, but so we can meet the needs of others in the body.
Give as the Lord is prospering you. God doesn't ask that we give what we don't have, but there is no "cap" at ten percent. Paul says that "equality" is the goal--not that everyone has the same, but that everyone has their needs met.
Give cheerfully--eagerly waiting for the taking of the offering.
"Richer" churches should take offerings to help "poorer" churches.
Give sacrificially.

The Daily Walk

The Steps of the Daily Christian Walk:


1. Obedience
2. Donning the armor.
3. Focusing: Lord, may the agenda for my day, be Your agenda and not mine....
4. Enriching myself in the Word so that I can be filled with the Spirit; allowing Him to live through me.
5. Spontaneously responding to every need
6. Pouring out myself for others
7. Demonstrating loyalty--God calls it demonstrating lovingkindness.
8. Submitting to others--allowing God to use me to provide the strength others need to be more like Him today.
9. Casting all my care on Him
10. Considering the lily of the field--and the sparrows.
11. Being a tender-hearted, kind forgiver--just as God through Christ forgave me.
12. Weeping with those who weep; rejoicing with those who rejoice.
13. In the storm, eagerly anticipating the rainbow
14. Planting seeds
15. Praying without ceasing
16. In everything giving thanks.

Reflections from December 2017

Reflections from December 2017


A Prayer: May every student who graduates from Worthington Christian--scholar to struggler, athlete, artist, musician, or none of the above, angel or "devil"--when asked about their experience next year or ten years from now, respond--and may it be their first response--they really loved and cared about me day by day. I "met" Jesus there every day--no matter what I did.
____________


The greatest disrespect I can show to others, to myself, and yes, to Him is to not do good work.
_____________


Someone has said that the two wisest old sayings are:


"Don't count your chickens before they hatch.
"Don't put all your eggs in one basket."
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Paul tells us that someone who is filled with the Spirit has a singing heart.  Jesus must have been singing all day long!
______________


I think, perhaps, that how deeply you love someone is measured by how impossible it is to put your love for them into words.
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"And the lived happily ever after" is not the Christian walk.  "And they lived joyfully ever after no matter the circumstances, challenges, and trials"--that's the Christian walk.  Day by day with Christ my Savior.
______________


A nation that mocks God, God will turn into a mockery.
______________


The first people God always humbles and purifies are His people.
_____________


"God knew the worst about us before he chose to love us, and therefore no discovery now can disillusion him about us in the way that we are so often disillusioned about ourselves, and quench his determination to bless us." (Packer)

Evidence

The depth of our love for Him is measured by the depth of our dedication to obedience in all things.


We prove to the world that Jesus is who He said He was--God's love gift to humanity--the Savior--by our love for our fellow Christians.


We prove to the world that "God is not willing that any should perish" by loving our neighbors as He loves us.

The Obvious

I love how Jesus approached people who had an obvious need. He went up to the blind man who had been calling to Him and asked, "What can I do for you?" And He went up to the man lying by the pool and asked, "Would you like to be healed?" I tend to think the answer to both those questions would be rather obvious.

"I'd like to see!"

"YES!"
...

Why did our Saviour ask such questions with obvious answers? Simple, I think. It required faith on their part to answer--faith that said, "I believe You can do it--even though it seems impossible. I believe!" Do you have someone or something you would love to see Him do something about? Then, why aren't you asking Him? No faith. You don't really believe He can do something about it. If you're not asking--or you've quit asking--you've lost your faith in Him--in who He is--in what He has promised: "Ask, and you shall receive." So, if you really believe and trust Him--ask.

And, yes, always pray, "Your will be done." That's not a prayer of doubt or resignation--that's a prayer of humility, love, and confidence in His goodness.


So, have you seen an answer yet? Then, keep asking. Faith demands it--faith requires it. To not ask--to quit asking--is a loss of faith. We call that "unbelief."