November 22, 2024

What Is Your Jericho?

January 23, 2015 by

encouragementbloggraphicromans15

…but the Lord said to Joshua,”I have given you Jericho, it’s king, and all its strong warriors.
You and your fighting men should march around the town once a day for six day.
Seven priests will walk ahead of the Ark, each carrying a ram’s horn.
On the seventh day you are to march around the town seven times,
with the priests blowing the horns.
When you hear the priest give one long blast on the rams’ horns,
have all the people shout as loud as they can.
Then the walls of the town will collapse and the people can charge straight into the town.”

Joshua 6:2-5

I have a “Jericho.”  And I pray circles around this daily (sometimes literally walking in a circle around my beach neighborhood) asking God for this one thing.  In my heart, I know He will answer.  One day, it will come to be.  Do you have a Jericho?

In the Scripture passage above, God was telling Joshua that Jericho was already delivered into his hands…the enemy was already defeated.  I imagine that Joshua had much confidence as he went to battle that day. Knowing that the city was already his and all he had to do was follow every instruction that God gave him…exactly as He told him.  Joshua had to have faith to carry this out, don’t you imagine?

For someone who was not a believer, the instructions might have seemed a little farfetched. But not to Joshua, who loved his God.  God was making it perfectly clear to Joshua that the battle would depend on Him and not the weapons that Israel had or the manpower.  And He wanted to make sure that Joshua really was committed.

God already knows your prayer and your Jericho.  He wants you to name it and ‘circle it’ in prayer, so He knows how committed you are to your desire.  He has given us His Word as a promise so that we need never doubt or question all He can do for us.

And what does He expect from us in return? Really, all He asks is for us to be the best we can and do the best we can with what He has already given us.  Doing His Will has more to do with “being” the right person and success is glorifying Him in the process.

As a parent, I circle each of my precious ones in prayer and I have great desires for us as a family.  He has already delivered us from so much and He has defeated the enemy more than once.  And just like Joshua, God has given us instructions; sometimes He sends us into a battle that looks like it is impossible.  But with prayer and perseverance we will watch walls crumble in front of us, and kings defeated in His name, and the conquering of the city that is ours already. Isn’t our God so amazing?

I encourage you today to turn in your Bible to this story and pray that God will guide you wherever it is that you are supposed to be.  And if you don’t know what your Jericho is right now, pray that He will reveal to you what His desire for you is.

*   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

And if you don’t know Him, I pray that you will join me in this simple prayer asking Him to be your God.  Will you?

Dear God, I know I am a sinner.  I ask for Your forgiveness.  I believe that Jesus is Your Son and He is the Savior of the world.  I believe that He died on the Cross to save me from my sins.  Come into my heart today and be my God.  I want to know more about You.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

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What Is A Peacemaker

January 16, 2015 by

encouragementbloggraphicromans15

Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.
James 3:18 NIV

I am a peacemaker by nature; a conflict resolver at any cost, or at least I used to be.  I don’t think that is the kind of peacemaker James is referring to.  He is actually talking about healthy peacemakers who are personally at peace with God‘s authority and willing to bring a sense of peace wherever they go.  It doesn’t matter who they are with…they just have that gift.

Turn in your Bible to James 3:13-4:1

If you are wise and understand God’s ways, prove it by living an honorable life, doing good works with the humility that comes from wisdom. But if you are bitterly jealous and there is selfish ambition in your heart, don’t cover the truth with boasting and lying. For jealousy and selfishness are not God’s kind of wisdom. Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. For wherever there is jealousy and selfish ambition, there you will find disorder and evil of every kind. But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.  What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? (New Living Translation)

What a hard question he is asking the people!  And what kind of answer do you think you would have given him?  What does cause the fighting among God’s people?  I think the answer comes in the second question that is asked: “Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you?”  That answer is yes.

The fact is: conflict is part of our human condition.  It exists in most households, offices, and churches.  But just because there is conflict, doesn’t mean that there has to be fighting and quarreling.  However, they usually go hand in hand, especially if people are not willing to take responsibility for their own part in an argument.  They find someone or something to blame for their actions instead of just admitting the wrong that they did or the words that they said.

But God calls us to be different.  As His children, we pray for the wisdom to do the hard things—like admitting we were wrong and asking for forgiveness.  He calls us to be humble, knowing that we are human and will make mistakes. Read James 3:13 again.  The writer is reminding us that one who is wise and understands God’s ways will show it by deeds done in humility.  Saying we are sorry requires humility and that means admitting to others that we are actually wrong sometimes.  (We don’t like that very much.)  But in order to be the light that Jesus calls us to be and to be the witness that leads others to Him we must right our wrongs.

This is the kind of peacemaker that God calls us to be.  The kind that humbles themselves and shows love to others.  Seeking God’s wisdom delivers us from the need to be right all the time and helps us become the humble servant to those that we come in contact with.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God.
Matthew 5:9

 { You are a child of God….  }

Do you know this God that loves you so much?  He is your Father and He wants so much to be in your life.  Or maybe you know Him but you’ve moved away from Him and need to get back on track.  If so, He is waiting and He will meet you right where you are.

I would love for you to pray this prayer with me today:

Dear God, I know that I am a sinner and I need forgiveness.  I am far from You today and I want to change that.  I believe that Jesus is Your Son and He died for my sins.  I ask that Jesus come into my heart today and be Lord of my life.  Walk with me…gve me more knowledge of You.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

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Jesus Prays For You

January 9, 2015 by

encouragementbloggraphicromans15

Therefore He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him,
because He always lives to intercede for them.

Hebrews 7:25

Those words really resonated with me as I read them over and over.  This week I gave Him all my problems… then took them back.  I played that game for a while.  Isn’t it just like God to lead us right to the words we so need—His words of comfort? And knowing that Jesus intercedes for us and He saves us and delivers us is the Truth; well, I think we all need to hear that.

I encourage you to read Hebrews 7:23-28.  Before Jesus, there were many priests, but they were human and they eventually died. In this passage above, we see that one of Jesus’ favorite things to do is to save us. (The word save translated means “any kind of deliverance.”)  Have you ever wondered what He was doing up there, after He left His disciples and went to prepare a place for us? I know He is hard at work on our behalf… and don’t we give Him plenty of things to work on!  We know that Jesus sits at the right hand of His Father, and He is our High Priest.  He lives to pray for us, to look deep into our lives, and knows what we need before we ask.  He knows God’s Will and fully understands it.  He knows our desires and He knows God’s total plan for our lives.

See, Jesus tore the veil that stood between us and God so that we can go straight to God.  We have total access to our Father and so does Christ.  And He uses that access for our gain.  They both love us so very much that, together, they are working all things together for our good and answering our prayers and petitions in God’s timing. Think about what is occupying your thoughts right now…are you at peace or is there turmoil going on?  When our minds focus too much on the problems and we take our minds off the Solver of those problems, the Holy Spirit nudges us, and Jesus intercedes and helps us to pray, and God answers our prayers.

Here is the main point; We have a High Priest who sat down
in the place of honor beside the throne of the majestic God in Heaven.
Hebrews 8:1

And in verse 6 it says,

But now Jesus, our High Priest, has been given a ministry
that is far superior to the old priesthood,
for He is the One Who mediates for us
a far better covenant with God,
based on better promises.

Promises like this: that you have the gift of salvation by faith, and can trust entirely in Jesus.  Jesus has done it all.  Nothing you can do will improve His work. Nothing you can do to make Him not love you.  Accept these truths today…

  • He came to this earth to live a hard life so that we would know how to do this
  • He died on the Cross so that you can live forever with Him
  • He left us the gift of the Holy Spirit to guide us and help us on this journey

   *   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   * 

Let’s all pray this simple prayer together:

Dear God, I trust in Jesus alone. Please forgive my sins through Him, and give me the eternal life secured by Him. In Your name, amen.

Did you pray this prayer for the first time today? If so, leave us a comment so that we can celebrate your spiritual birthday with you!  God sees you….

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The One That Thanked Jesus

November 28, 2014 by

encouragementbloggraphicromans15

And as He went to Jerusalem, it just so happened that He went through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. And as He entered into a certain village, ten lepers met Him, who stood afar off. And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, pity us.” And seeing them, He said to them,”Go show yourselves to the priests.” And it happened, as they went, that they were cleansed. And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back and glorified God with a loud voice. And he fell down on his face at His feet, thanking Him. And he was a Samaritan. And answering, Jesus said. “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? Were none found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” And He said to him,”Rise and go, your faith has cured you.”

Luke 17:11-19

This story is quite simple to understand… As Jesus was passing between Galilee and Samaria, He saw ten leper coming toward Him, begging Him for mercy and healing.  So Jesus told them to go show themselves to the priests (which was a prerequisite to be declared clean and free from leprosy).  And, as the ten of them ran off, they were healed!  But, can you believe out of the ten, only one—a Samaritan—came back and praised Him.

Aren’t we guilty of this?  God blesses us a thousand times and we forget to thank Him and we find something to complain about.  Something He didn’t get quite right and we want a do-over.  Friend, until we begin to thank Him and praise Him, even in the hard times, we will never be fully filled with joy. Praising and thanking Him  and naming each gift reminds us of how much He has blessed us and how much He loves us…and that we serve a good God Who can only give good things.  It may not look good on the outside, but there is good to come of it or from it.  If we let Him in and allow Him to work in those times, He will  make it all worth the ride.

In the story of these lepers, we see that Jesus healed each one physically.  But the one leper that came back actually received far more for his faith; for not only was he cured physically—he was cured spiritually.  His soul was saved and he received a real relationship with God.  Nine lepers received a partial healing.  A temporary blessing for their time on earth.  The grateful Samaritan received an eternal blessing.  All he did was give thanks—he praised Him for the healing.  See, they all had the faith to trust Jesus, come close to Him, be heard by Him, and ask for His mercy. But only one had the humility and the honesty and character to say, “Thank You.”

*  ~  ♥  ~  ✞  ~  ♥  ~  *

Who are you today?  Are you one of the nine…who has just enough faith to ask something of the Father and take it for granted?  Are you one of the nine… who really didn’t care about a real relationship with Jesus, and left right after the blessing?  Or are you the Samaritan…that not only had enough faith to ask for complete healing, but returns time and time again to the One Who wants so much more for us and longs for a real relationship with us.

Friends, I pray that you begin to really thank Him for what He has done for you.  All the small ways that He loves you.  And yes, of course the biggest way—when He sent Jesus to come and go before us.  And then to pay the ultimate sacrifice with His life so that we may live.  He continues to give us grace and mercy even when we fail Him over and over again.

Do you know Him?  Today can be the day that everything changes.  Your life can truly be one of joy and blessings.  All you have to do is ask.  I encourage you to pray this prayer with me.

 ♥  ~  ✞  ~  ♥

 

Dear God, I know I am a sinner. I need You to come into my life and change me.
I believe that Jesus is Your Son and He died on the cross to pay for my sins.
Thank You for this free gift. Help me on this journey to seek You.
In Jesus’ name, amen.

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He Still Has Compassion

November 21, 2014 by

encouragementbloggraphicromans15

When Jesus saw His mother there,
and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby,
He said to His mother,
“Dear woman, here is your son,”
and to the disciple, “Here is your mother.”
John 19:26-27

Can you imagine being there and witnessing this scene—of a mother watching her Son up on the Cross?  He is struggling to even breathe…and His mother is struggling even more.  A friend gets His attention and compassion pours out like rain.  He begs them to love and support each other, as He hangs there dying.  And in His dying He gives them hope.

He has that same compassion for His children of today too.  Just think, His death on that Cross secured salvation for whoever would believe in Him and would call upon His name.  At that moment, the enemy was defeated and no longer had the power to completely destroy believers. He had so much sin on Him that His own Father had to look the other way.  His death was the most defining moment of our lives.

Yes, His mother wept…and yes, His disciples were so distraught…and oh! the tears…but nothing compared to the salvation that came that very day.  Yet His mother and His friend couldn’t see past His death to see the beauty that would come from it.  He told them that it wasn’t forever but still they could only see what was in front of them.

How many times do we do this, too?  We feel like what is in front of us or what we are going through will last forever and we can’t see Him because of the mountain in front of us.  There is a purpose in all of it and nothing is wasted.  We may not ever know on this side of Heaven the why’s of some of our sufferings, but we do KNOW there is a greater purpose and a much bigger picture that we cannot even imagine.

What if Jesus had climbed down off the cross because they wanted Him not to die and because they didn’t want to suffer after He was gone? Just imagine that for a minute.  Of course, we don’t want to….  But I want you to know that He has compassion for you just like HE did that day for those who watched Him die.  He doesn’t think we are silly for wasting tears on earthly things knowing there is Heaven on the other side.  No, He is the Man of Sorrows and He understands; and He wants us to share it all with Him.

Jesus knew that everything was now finished and, to fulfill the Scriptures,
He said,”I am thirsty.”
A jar of wine was sitting there, so they soaked a sponge in it,
put it on a hyssop branch and held it up to His lips.
When Jesus had tasted it, He said, “It is finished.”
Then He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.
John 19:28-30

Friends, He wants to know your hurts.  He wants to catch your tears in His nail-scarred hands and He wants to carry you through it all until that glorious day that He comes back to get us! Don’t lose hope in whatever is in front of you, whatever cross you are bearing has a  purpose and, if you could actually see, you wouldn’t change a thing.  Even if we could write our own story, we wouldn’t change any of it.

*   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~   ♥   ~   *

Do you know this Savior that I wrote about? Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to earth and lived as a man and died with your sin on Him so that you would be forgiven.  All you have to do is ask Him.  I would love for you to pray with me today…

Dear God, I know that I am a sinner,and I need forgiveness and I cannot do this life alone.  I believe Jesus Christ is Your Son and that You sent Him to die in my place.  I don’t know all there is to know yet, but I know that I want You to walk with me through the rest of my life.  Thank You for being Lord of my life.  I can’t wait to get to know You better!  In Jesus’ name, amen!

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Hide Them In Your Heart

October 31, 2014 by

encouragementbloggraphicromans15

Jesus answered,”It is written: ‘Man does not live by bread alone,
but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'”
Matthew 4:4

If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you have been (or soon will be) in a confrontation with the enemy.  At times it can seem like the confrontation will never end.  Because you are His—the Lord’s—there is a target on your back and the only way to go into  combat against the enemy is with the Word of God.

In Ephesians 6:17, the Bible is called the “sword of the spirit.”  And since we don’t live in medieval times, we are highly unlikely to have a sword at our disposal.  And though His Word IS our sword, sometimes we don’t have a Bible with us either.  However, if we memorize it…no one can take it from us.

Remember Jesus in the desert alone for forty days and nights…?  He was tired and hungry and vulnerable.  The enemy came at Him on all sides.  Jesus didn’t have a Bible with Him, did He?  Psalms 119:11 says,”I have hidden Your Word in my heart that I might not sin against You.”

After you have memorized Scripture, you must learn how to apply it.  Jesus answered the enemy with specific Scripture—actually He quoted from Deuteronomy 8:3 the verse that we started off with today.  The enemy was tempting Jesus while HE was fasting and praying.  He tried to tempt Him with bread.  Jesus had an answer.  You, too, will have to respond to the enemy. He is the father of lies and he will have many for you.  You will need Scriptures that pertain to whatever he is throwing your way, and you must stand boldly on God’s  Word.  Don’t just let it collect dust on your coffee table or sit your nightstand by your bed.  Open it and read it!  It is one way that He speaks to us.

And if the enemy isn’t backing off, don’t give up!  If he wasn’t afraid of Jesus the first time, he won’t be afraid of you at first.  But if you’re persistent, and you draw your sword, then you can rebuke him in Jesus’ name.  He will flee, I am certain. Remember, there are seasons of spiritual warfare and there is always victory in Jesus.

I remember the story of Corrie Ten Boom, a Christian who hid Jews during the Holocaust.  While she was growing up, she, her sister and her father would learn Scriptures.  When she and her family were taken to the concentration camp, she had His words to lean on and remember.  She would say them out loud some days, just to make it through. She would pray Scripture to God and wait on Him to deliver her, and He did.

You have a story, too!  A story of hope and redemption and grace.  What does it look like?  I encourage you to journal today.  Write about the things you have gone through…and what or Who got you through.  And find some verses that you can rely on the next time you feel the attack of the enemy!

Find rest, O my soul, in God alone;
my hope comes from Him.
Psalm 62:5

Let us pray: Dear Lord, You are all-powerful and all-knowing. Your love is unshakable and Your patience is never ending. You know our every thought and You know what we are going to do next. You save us from ourselves. We thank You for all that You do in our lives. You go before us and make our paths straight. Thank You for giving us Your Word. It is sharper than a two-edged sword and it never comes back void.  Lord, help us to desire to learn Scripture and to read it daily so that we know what You have said to us. We are so blessed by Your words.  And for the times that You speak to us alone. And when the time may come that we don’t have the luxury of having the Bible with us, we will have Your Word memorized and hidden in our hearts. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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He Still Speaks to Us

October 24, 2014 by

encouragementbloggraphicromans15

Then Moses said to Him, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up there.”
Exodus 33:15

In one translation (TLB), the verse actually says, “For Moses had said, “If you aren’t going with us, don’t let us move a step from this place.”  Moses had a great relationship with God. In fact, the Bible says that He would speak to Moses ‘face to face’.  Moses did not actually see God’s face, but He and Moses were extremely intimate.  They spent a lot of time with each other, like real good friends.  Exodus 33:11, “The Lord would speak to Moses…as a man speaks with His friend.”

I am sure that Moses had the utmost respect for God.  I’m sure that Moses didn’t talk to God like we talk to each other.  Yet it says that God was speaking like a friend.

Do you know that He still does that today? And let me ask you this: Are you so in love with Him that you don’t want to take a step without God?  {I am.}  Every morning I ask God to go  before me.  To go to the store before Me and guide my every move.  I need His Presence. For in His Presence there is peace and hope and love and joy!  And the list goes on….

God still makes promises to us today, just as He did to Moses. God also sent mighty angels to go before Moses and the Israelites and show them the way to the place that God had promised them—the Promised Land.  God promised Moses that He would succeed.  Moses wanted more of God.  See, Moses didn’t just want the victories that God was giving Him.  He wanted God more than anything.  To me, this is a challenge for all of us today.

See, sometimes, we focus on what God can do for us instead of what we can do for Him and how much we love Him.  Instead, we should want more of Him and His closeness.  Would you give up those victories for communion with Him?  Think about that for a minute….  I would trade it all for the relationship and the talks we have and the closeness I feel with Him.  He is our Creator and He is our everything.

Do you know Him?  Or perhaps have you moved away from Him and are having a hard time finding your way back?  Let me guide you today in a prayer that will change your life forever.

*   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~   ♥   ~   *

Dear Heavenly Father, I know I am a sinner.  I know that I need forgiveness. Thank You for sending Your Son to die for me and for taking my sins away.  I know that I will live in eternity with You.  Help me to open my ears and eyes to more of You.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

If you prayed that prayer with us today, will you let us know in the comment section?  We would be honored to pray with you and for you; and answer any questions you may have!

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Look For The Lord

October 17, 2014 by

encouragementbloggraphicromans15

“O storm-battered city, troubled and desolate.
I will rebuild you on a firm foundation of sapphires
and make the walls of your houses from precious jewels.
I will make your towers of sparkling rubies
and your gates and walls of shining gems.”
Isaiah 54:11,12

I remember the first time I really read this verse…I was sitting in my “school room,” where I homeschooled my youngest two at the time.  A room I had so much pride in.  I had washed the walls, and put together shelves, and organized a bin with books and file folders and teachers’ planners, and all things education.  I had worked for the past 9 months in this home, cleaning out and making it a warm and inviting place where we as a family were beginning to heal from a hard season.  A place where we gathered in the den and watched ‘Dancing with the Stars” and had dinner picnics.

But on this day, I was looking to God’s Word for hope as Kyle and I faced the hard decision to let this house go.  This is the first verse that I turned to.  On this day, God was my Restorer.

See, He speaks to us in the manner that we need—at the exact time we need Him.  He will be what you need Him to be.

As I looked up verse after verse, I was overwhelmed by just how much God loves me and you. I know that on that particular day, God knew that I needed His amazing promises of restoration and redemption more than I needed words of conviction.  He is our Father, and our Creator.  He knows it all before any of it happens.  His grace goes before us and softens the hard things.  In that season, I saw so many little bread crumbs of manna.  A lot of times I wondered why did any of this really have to happen and did it really have a purpose.  And then I would go to His Word and read something like this:

And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace,
Who called you to His eternal glory in Christ,
will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.
1 Peter 5:10

After you have gone through _________, Jesus will restore you and God will strengthen you!  In other words, it will all be worth it and God will get all the glory.

Through the hard season, I was given a strength and endurance that I never had before.  And God knew that I would need that strength later on in life and He conditioned me for it.  So I learned to rejoice in this.  As Romans 12:12 says,

Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

All trials and struggles keep us on our knees before God.  We learn to rely on Him and not ourselves.  Sometimes there is nothing we can do except rely on Him.  And really, those are the most beautiful times.  We have to trust Him and His goodness.

The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.
Exodus 14:14

You only need to wait on Him.  He knows what you need.  He will come through.

And last, I want to remind you that you can make it through this.  Whatever you filled that blank in with, you can do this.  His power is enough and His strength is made perfect in our weakness.  And rejoice, knowing that He loves you and He has already conquered and defeated this for you.

But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you,
for My power is made perfect in weakness.”
Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weakness,
so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
2 Corinthians 12:9

  *  ~  ♥  ~  ✞  ~  ♥  ~  *

Let us pray:  Dearest Lord, You are amazing and awesome and so worthy of our praise.  You know our coming and going and You are in control of everything. Your Word is full of hope and Your Holy Spirit guides us to exactly what we need.  Thank You for hope in the horrible, and for giving us treasures in the trials.  You have been there with us…through everything…holding us and loving us.  You are enough and You are always for us.  And for those still unsure, please give them the reassurance that they need to lean wholly on You for everything.  In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.

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Drawing Circles

October 10, 2014 by

encouragementbloggraphicromans15

And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.
Matthew 21:22 ESV

I remember looking in my cabinets and truly wondering how was I going to feed them today.  ‘Empty‘ not only described the pantry and refrigerator…but it also described me.  “How could God just allow this?  I have been His for so long.  I pray and I read my devotions. What else can I do?” I thought.

My prayer life had always been important to me.  I remember when I was growing up, I would talk to Him all day long.  As I got older, married with kids, my prayers were more like “God is great, God is good” and “Now I lay me down to sleep.”  Not that those are  wrong prayers, they just weren’t enough to move the mountains that were before me.

I decided to do a prayer walk.  I made a route in the shape of a big circle and visualized my problems being in the center.  I made a prayer circle.  Every day I walked that circle and talked with Him and prayed to Him and asked Him to do the impossible—to miraculously provide.  And He did!  It didn’t happen overnight but, little by little, He creatively gave us our daily bread and manna.  Then it hit me: God knew what I needed…He wanted to make sure I knew what I wanted!  He wanted specific prayers, asking for specific things.  He didn’t want just the superficial.  He wanted me to ask Him for the impossible!  Anything less, really, is insulting to Him.  Why?  Because those prayers really don’t require divine intervention.  Our God likes to part Red Seas and make suns stand still and drop manna from Heaven.  That is what He loves to do for us.  (Isn’t He amazing?)

God loves keeping His promises to us and He loves doing impossible things for us.  And the bigger the miracle, the better because God gets more recognition and glory.

What promise are you needing today?  I encourage you to get a piece of paper or a prayer journal and draw a big circle.  Write the big impossible thing that you need in your life right now in the middle of the circle.  Then pray every day for a whole month about this circle and see what God can do.  It may take more than a month because He is not on a time limit.  God does things in His time.  But be patient!  He will answer!  God is for you! He wants the greatest things for your life.  And He wants all the glory so that all those around you will see His hand in your life and want what You have!

I don’t know your circumstances today.  Maybe you have been praying specifically for something and it feels like it is never going to happen.  I encourage you to fast.  Some things only come through prayer and fasting.  Look up all the different fasts that you can do and choose one that works for you. And always remember to thank Him—even before the miracle—showing that you have  faith that He is going to come through.

He loves you!  He wants so much for your life. He wants your biggest requests! Your life will be so full of Him. And remember, who you become is determined by how you pray.

When I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days.
And I was fasting and praying before the God in Heaven.
Nehemiah 1:4

Let us pray:  Dear God, You are awesome. You are kind, just, and faithful.  And You love us so much.  You have the power to move mountains.  Thank You for loving us and for hearing us when we pray.  Help us to be specific, and not to be afraid to ask You for those big things that we need right now.  Nothing is too much for You.  Help us to be faithful and to persevere even when it seems like You don’t hear us. We love You. We believe You can…and will…part the Red Seas in our lives.  And when You do, we will give You all the credit and all the glory for, without You, we are nothing.  And for those who are not quite all believing, I pray that You give them the courage to give it all to You.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

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When You Need Grace

October 3, 2014 by

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Do you ever wonder where God is during all your comings and goings? Do you think that He is so into what He has planned for the world that He’s forgotten your daily life? You know that He wants to be with you more than anything else. He wants a relationship with you and to be included in your thoughts and plans, even the ones you think aren’t worth mentioning. I’m not saying that He doesn’t already know, He just loves to hear your voice when you talk with Him.

All relationships are give and take…and the one you have with God is no different. He gives and He takes. “What does He take?” you ask.  He takes and bears all of your burdens. Psalm 68:19 says that He intends to take our burdens. He wants you to lay them all at His feet because He is able to carry it all, yours and mine. He may not take it all away but He will definitely carry you all the way through.

Praise be to God our Savior, Who daily bears our burdens.
Psalm 68:19

Casting all your care upon Him, for He careth for you.
1 Peter 5:7 KJV

He takes our cares and worries and daily bears our burdens for us.  So what does the Lord give?  Mercy!  We can trade our hard times and burdens for His mercies.  He gives us compassion.  He gives us love.  He gives us patience and understanding.  He gives us His hand to hold onto, as a stronghold in place of our fleshly holds.  He gives us a new day, a new morning to start again, and He does it every single day!

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning, great is Your faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:22-23 NIV

So, it goes like this: We carry a backpack full of hard, difficult burdens. We add to it day in and day out. We fill it until one day we break and spill and we have lost all hope. We are in a dark place and we feel like God is not helping. Then He, in the form of the Holy Spirit, nudges us to let all of it go and trust Him with it. We, in turn, trade our burdens for His mercy.

I know that for far too long I went my own way. I let my strongholds completely control my life and I lost all of my ability to make choices. My flesh chose for me. I almost lost it all. But God! He was always there. Oh it didn’t happen overnight. It took me a long time to get to that hopeless place and it took a awhile to see the full hope. Slowly, the more that I relied on God and the more that I walked closely with Him, and the more I read His Word, I began to change and I laid it all at God’s feet and He gave me mercy and grace.

I got my “new mercies.”  I got to start over.  All because Jesus died to save us all from ourselves and God takes all our hard and bears it.  And you know what?  You can too!

*   ~   ♥   ~   ✞   ~  ♥   ~   *

Let’s pray: Dear God, You are the Almighty God and You are awesome.  Your love bears all things and You give us so much.  You are able to do all things that we ask of You and so much more.  Great is Thy faithfulness!  Lord, we have all sinned and we have all carried our burdens for too long.  Today, we lay them at Your feet.  We ask that You take them from us.  We cannot do this alone anymore.  Give us Your mercy and grace, oh Lord.  Give us a heart to serve You.  And to love all Your children.  You are our Refuge and we are so grateful.  And, Lord, if there is anyone reading this today that needs Your grace today, help them to let their hurts go and to trust You today. Let them know there is hope in You.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

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