Prayer Resolutions

My Prayer Resolutions for 2015

1. In all things Christ.
2. May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Thy sight my rock and my Redeemer.
3. May each of my students feel secure and loved in room 109 every day the rest of the year.
4. May those I love commit themselves to the service of my Savior with all their hearts.
5. May the Lord give me another gloriously beautiful year at The Acres.
6. May the Class of 2015 commit themselves to the way of excellence in all things.
7. May I touch at least one life each day with a sense of His love.
8. May I be filled with boldness, unashamed of the Gospel.
9. May I with patient confidence wait on the Lord.
10. May I be constantly reminded that life is sacred--for the Spirit lives within me.
11. May the sorrows of life reflect the depth of His joy.
12. May I find the balance between my earnest expectation to see His face and the earnest desire to complete the ministry He has called me to fulfill.
13. May I rely fully on His grace and His strength.
14. Even so. come Lord Jesus.

Abiding

To abide in Christ--to live a life that radiates His presence in your life--one must accept--embrace--the "pruning" that replaces more and more of you with more and more of Him. No matter how severe the heartache that comes with the "cutting away," the richness of a sense of His abiding presence in your life will overwhelm the sorrow with His incomprehensible joy. Can there be a greater testimony than the one given His disciples by the enemies of the cross? "They have been with Jesus."

Hearing

The Christian must live a life that reflects his or her allegiance to Christ--a life that reflects "Christ in you, the hope of glory." And the Christian must be "ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account of the hope that is in you." Faith comes by hearing. Hearing comes by the Word of God. May the Spirit constantly remind us that everyone we meet every day of our lives will live somewhere forever. And may we, like Paul pleaded, intercede for each other that we be given the necessary boldness to speak. If Paul needed such intercession, how can we not embrace such a need? Or doubt the efficacy of such prayer?

Confident Faith

And the angel said to her, "for nothing will be impossible with God."

And Mary said, "Behold, the bondslave of the Lord: be it done to me according to your word."

May that be my daily prayer of confident faith.

Grace

A Reminder
Tamar: Probably a Canaanite. Seduced her father-in-law because he wouldn't have one of his sons marry her and provide her with a child. One of her illegitimate sons is in the lineage of Jesus. Grace.

Rahab: A Canaanite. A prostitute. Citizen of Jericho. "Scheduled" to die when the walls came down. By her testimony everyone was terrified of the God of Israel. But only one said, "I know that the Lord has given you the land . . . The Lord your God, He is God in heaven and above and on the earth beneath." They all feared Him; one reverenced Him. One by her courage said, "I am on the Lord's side." She and her entire family were saved--when the walls came down. And she is in the lineage of our Savior. Grandma Rahab. Grace.

Ruth: A child of Moab. Moab--a child of incest. Moab a descendant of Lot--Abraham's nephew who chose to leave Ur of the Chaldees to follow the Lord with Uncle Abraham. Ruth married a man who obviously was raised by a righteous, God-fearing mother. Her name was Rahab. Yes, that Rahab. Her son, Boaz. Ruth--great-grandmother of David--is in the lineage of our Savior. (Now you know as well why David kept fleeing into Moab when Saul was chasing him. Kinfolk.) Grace.

Bathsheba: Jewish? Probably. But she married a Hittite. Adulterous. The son of adultery died. The second son--Solomon. Bathsheba is in the lineage of our Savior. Grace.

And read through the list of those kings found in Matthew. Far, far from flawless. Manasseh is called the wickedness king Judah ever had. He sacrificed some of his sons to the gods, practiced witchcraft, put an idol in the temple. Related to Jesus. All--each--of those kings were a part of God's plan of redemption. Grace.

I think we should all be incredibly grateful that our family tree is not written down for everyone to see. Doubtless, we have some monsters on those limbs.

We are indeed saved by a grace that is greater than all our sin. We are indeed all saved by a grace that can transform evil into eternal good. We are all saved because before the cross we have admitted how desperately we as the chiefest of sinners can only be redeemed by such marvelous grace. Grace--the gift of God's love.

Reverence Him with your life--be unafraid of collapsing walls. Praise Him with your lips. Rejoice in your Boaz. Not a Boaz? There's more than enough grace and an eternally gracious Lord eagerly desiring to lavish you with eternal grace. His heart's desire is to include you in the lineage of His Son on the other side of the "Tree." The "born again" adopted side of the "family." It's not "full" yet. Humble yourself before the mighty--yet gracious--hand of the Lord. Repentance is the path to grace. The only path.

And family members of the sovereign God of grace. Remember--always--grace is triumphant! Our suffering Savior is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.

And our loving Father.

Grace.

A Christmas Verse

A Christmas verse: John 3:16
"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him, should not perish but have everlasting life."

Dwight Moody put it this way:

"For God--the greatest Lover
so loved--the greatest degree
the world--the greatest number
that He gave--the greatest act
His only begotten Son--the greatest gift
that whosoever--the greatest invitation
believes--the greatest simplicity
in Him--the greatest person
should not perish--the greatest deliverance
but--the greatest difference
have--the greatest certainty
everlasting life--the greatest possession"

So great salvation!

The sinners confession: "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the greatest."

The sinners testimony: "If God can save me, He can save anyone."

"If you will confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved!"

The God of infinite love, infinite grace, infinite mercy--the God who cannot life--swears by Himself that that is infinitely true.

Wait

Sometimes God makes us wait because we are so spiritually exhausted from chasing after what we want that He has to stop us so that He can renew our strength.
Sometimes God makes us wait because we've forgotten how deceptive walking by sight can be.
Sometimes God makes us wait so that we'll remember who is in control--and how much we need Him to be in control.
Sometimes God makes us wait because there's so much more we need to learn--experientially--in order to soar on faith's wings when the next storm arrives,
Sometimes God makes us wait because we don't have the faintest idea what we really need, and we're too spiritually arrogant to accept that truth--let alone admit it.
Sometimes God makes us wait because we would be in deep trouble if we actually "caught up" with what we were chasing. Too often we pursue fool;s gold. How devastating would it be if we found out that what we think would make our life rich would actually spiritually impoverish us?
Sometimes God makes us wait so that we will learn that Father knows best.
Sometimes God makes us wait so He can thrill us once again with His perfect timing--and thus remind us of His wisdom and love.
Sometimes God makes us wait because in our selfishness we fail to look around at those He has put into our life that need us where we are.
Sometimes God makes us wait so He can immerse us in His perfect peace.

Always God makes us wait so that we can get in step with the Master and in agreement with His perfect plan for us--and thus find ourselves trusting in His perfect plan for those we love.

Wait on the Lord.