A Handy Prayer List

I was reading out of "Family Life" an Anabaptist publication and on the back cover of the current issue was something that struck my heart...
How often do we forget to pray for others... not our loved ones and friends, but 'other's' as well as the loved ones & friends? We are all guilty of it.. we get busy and 'forget' about friend Jane's heartbreak or brother John's sick wife and so on...

I thought I would share an excerpt of this wonderful reminder...

   "A grandmother had been telling a Bible story to her grandchildren.  She explained to them how Daniel had faithfully prayed to God three times a day.  'What do you think he prayed for?' she asked.
   Then she held up her left hand so all of the children could see, 'Look at my thumb and fingers, ' she said. 'They remind me of things I should pray for every day.  My thumb is nearest to me, so I start by praying for my family, the ones who are dearest and nearest to me.  I pray for my friends and neighbords too.  And I thank the Lord that He has blessed me with so many dear ones.  That is a good way to start my prayer.'
   Grandma paused, but she was still holding her hand in the air.  'Next to my thumb is my index finger,' she said.  'Years ago, my teacher used to point that finger at me in school.  Sometimes our preachers shake this finger in church when they are warning us about dangers. So when I think of that finger, I pray for the teachers and preachers and the parents who have a great responsibility to guide those in their care.'
   The grandchildren were listening with interest. 'My middle finger is the longest one,' Grandma continued.  'It stands above the others.  This reminds me to pray for the rulers of our country and for all those in authority.
   The next finger is the weakest one. It makes me think of the poor and the sick and helpless. I ask the Lord to supply their needs and to strengthen them in body and soul.  And I also pray that if there is any way I can be a help to these people. I want to do my part.'
   With that, the grandmother came at last to her little finger.  'This one stands for me,'
 she said.  'So I finish my prayer by praying for myself and all the things I need." 


... thought provoking,
Until next time,
Jean 

More Than a Name

 

It's amazing how the Lord will direct us in our life as we allow... or leave us to wander aimlessly as we try to direct our own...

Have you ever been just so distraught... not knowing what to expect... not knowing which direction to go...

He really does have all the answers... no He doesn't just speak right out loud to us like He did to Moses... today for Christians He talks to us through His Word... the Bible... through others like our ministers, family members, friends... and even through a stranger in the grocery store line...

 

This morning He spoke to me here in my faithful "Morning With Tozer"...

I love to share with all of you His wonderful works in my life... I pray that this will be a testimony to Him... to His ever faithful love for me... even when I stumble and fall... He is always there to pick me up and carry me through...

 

Enjoy His precious promises and love...

 

Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. 2 Timothy 2:19

 

"There have always been professing Christians who argue and insist: "I am all right—I worship in the name of Jesus." They seem to believe that worship of God is based on a formula. They seem to think there is a kind of magic in saying the name of Jesus!

 

Study the Bible carefully with the help of the Holy Spirit and you will find that the name and the nature of Jesus are one. It is not enough to know how to spell Jesus' name!

 

If we have come to be like Him in nature, if we have come to the place of being able to ask in accordance with His will, He will give us the good things we desire and need. (emphasis minie)

 

We worship God as the result of a new birth from above in which God has been pleased to give us more than a name.

 

He has given us a nature transformed, and Peter expresses that truth in this way: "Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust" (2 Peter 1:4)." Tozer

 

Until next time,

Jean

Today's Idolarty

 

Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God. Exodus 20:5

"It has been proven often in history that whoever entertains an unworthy conception of God is throwing his or her being wide open to the sin of idolatry, which is in essence a defamation of the divine character.

It is vitally important that we think soundly about God. Because He is the foundation of all our religious belief, it follows that if we err in our ideas of God, we will go astray in everything else.

We would like to believe that there are no longer false gods in the world, but actually we recognize some of them in our own society. What about the glorified "Chairman of the Board" of the modern businessman? Or the storytelling, backslapping god of some of the service clubs? Think of the dreamy-eyed god of the unregenerate poet—cozy, aesthetic and willing to fellowship with anybody who thinks high thoughts and believes in moral equality. We often encounter the tricky, unscrupulous god of the superstitious; and the list goes on!

Thankfully, we have found that to know and follow Christ is to be saved from all forms of idolatry!" Tozer

"Lord, it is definitely a challenge not to be swept up by the latest media craze or the hot-selling electronic gadget or the most recent fitness or diet program. I pray, Lord, that none of these "things" will ever supplant You as the focus and purpose of my life."  Tozer

... The bold emphasis is my doing...
I thought about this and pondered on what forms of idolatry I may be entertaining...
What do I love more than the Lord... although I dare never truly admit it... maybe gardening...
Whatever pulls me away from my time with the Lord can become a form of idolatry.  In today's society we don't offer sacrifices or have burning alters in the parks... but lets truly look into our homes.

What about sports and Hollywood in todays world... I always tend to think of this as such blatant idolatry. The world even calls them teen 'idols'  and sports 'idols'. 

Wake up Christians and look around you with an honest eye of self inspection...
One day we will all stand before the judgement seat of God and we will give account for all the bowing down to the worlds idols that we have engaged in.

Until next time,
Jean 

Getting God in Focus

 

But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God. Acts 7:55

Today is Thanksgiving and we do have so much to be thankful for...
This was one of my daily devotions today...
The highlighted verse below was what spoke out to me most.  I thought on it and yes we can get so distracted with the things of the world... with the daily cares that are just a part of each of our lives. We need to remember that our Lord Jesus never walks away from us, He never forgets about us and He most certainly never gets distracted away from taking care of me and you.
We are the ones that wander away and get distracted. We are the ones that put Him on the back burner and think we'll get back to 'that' once this job or that responsibility is over with... 
What really happens is we get lazy and lax in our Christian walk.
But Hallelujah He is faithful and is waiting for our return...

If you have wandered away... if you are lonely and weary from the fight...  If you are standing there looking around thinking, "How did I get to this point?", it's not too late, He is there with out stretched arms ready and waiting for you to return...

The Lord loves a broken and contrite heart... reach out... He loves you.

"While many are busy trying to set forth satisfactory definitions of the word faith, we do well to simply consider that believing is directing the heart's attention to Jesus!
It is lifting the mind to "behold the Lamb of God," and never ceasing that beholding for the rest of our lives. At first this may be difficult, but it becomes easier as we look steadily at His wondrous Person, quietly and without strain.
Distractions may hinder, but once the heart is committed to Him, the attention will return again and rest upon Him like a wandering bird coming back to its window.
I would emphasize this one great volitional act which establishes the heart intention to gaze forever upon Jesus. God takes this intention for our choice and makes what allowances He must for the thousand distractions which beset us in this evil world. So, faith is a redirecting of our sight, getting God in our focus, and when we lift our inward eyes upon God, we are sure to meet friendly eyes gazing back at us!" Tozer

"Lord, this morning I pray that the inward eyes of my soul will put You in clear focus throughout this day." Tozer

Today if you will hear His voice harden not your hearts...
Until next time,
Jean

This was my devotion the other morning... It never ceases to amaze me how the Lord works in my life... He is always so quick to give me the tender, as well as chastening words that I need to get me on.  May this bless you as it blessed me...

...a few word's from Charles Spergeon

“The Lord our God hath shewed us his glory.”  Deuteronomy 5:24
"God’s great design in all his works is the manifestation of his own glory. Any aim less than this were unworthy of himself. But how shall the glory of God be manifested to such fallen creatures as we are? Man’s eye is not single, he has ever a side glance towards his own honour, has too high an estimate of his own powers, and so is not qualified to behold the glory of the Lord. It is clear, then, that self must stand out of the way, that there may be room for God to be exalted; and this is the reason why he bringeth his people ofttimes into straits and difficulties, that, being made conscious of their own folly and weakness, they may be fitted to behold the majesty of God when he comes forth to work their deliverance. He whose life is one even and smooth path, will see but little of the glory of the Lord, for he has few occasions of self-emptying, and hence, but little fitness for being filled with the revelation of God. They who navigate little streams and shallow creeks, know but little of the God of tempests; but they who “do business in great waters,” these see his “wonders in the deep.” Among the huge Atlantic-waves of bereavement, poverty, temptation, and reproach, we learn the power of Jehovah, because we feel the littleness of man. Thank God, then, if you have been led by a rough road: it is this which has given you your experience of God’s greatness and lovingkindness. Your troubles have enriched you with a wealth of knowledge to be gained by no other means: your trials have been the cleft of the rock in which Jehovah has set you, as he did his servant Moses, that you might behold his glory as it passed by. Praise God that you have not been left to the darkness and ignorance which continued prosperity might have involved, but that in the great fight of affliction, you have been capacitated for the outshinings of his glory in his wonderful dealings with you."

Until next time,
Jean

God's Saving Grace

Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Genesis 6:8

"Grace is the goodness of God confronting human demerit. So, grace is what God is—unchanging, infinite, eternal!

This throws light on God's dealings with men and women throughout the Old Testament dispensations and history. It is certainly the truth, and a proper concept for us to hold, that no one was ever saved, no one is now saved, and no one will ever be saved except by the grace of God.

Before Moses came with the Law, men were saved only by grace. During the time of Moses, no one was saved except by grace. After Moses, before the cross, and after the cross, and during all of the dispensations, anywhere, anytime, no one was ever saved by anything but the grace of God!

We can say this with assurance because God dealt in grace with mankind looking forward to the Incarnation and the atoning death of Christ.

If God had not always operated in grace, He would have swept the sinning human race away. This, then, is the good news: God is gracious all the time, and when His grace becomes operative through our faith in Jesus Christ, then there is the new birth from above!"  Tozer

"Thank You, Father, that by Your grace—that is, the death and resurrection of Your Son Jesus Christ—we are saved and restored to a right relationship with You."  Tozer

This was one of my morning devotions today... I thought on how God's grace has always been suffienceint for me... when I fail, He is always there to graciously pick me up... carry me throught the storms and trials of life... He is faithful...

Until next time,

Jean