Tag: unity

Together We Pray to God Who Is on the Throne

Because the LORD is Omnipotent in wisdom and power, I invite you to speak aloud His Word back to Him:

I will give you thanks, for you answered me;
    you have become my salvation.

 The stone the builders rejected
    has become the cornerstone;
 the Lord has done this,
    and it is marvelous in our eyes.
 The Lord has done it this very day;
    let us rejoice today and be glad Psalm 118: 21-24.

Together we pray to the LORD, Creator of heaven and earth His Word:

Listen to (our) my prayer, O God,
    do not ignore (our) my plea;
     hear (us) me and answer (us) me . . . Psalm 55:1.

Lord, confuse the wicked, confound their words,
    for I see violence and strife in the city.
Day and night they prowl about on its walls;
    malice and abuse are within it.
 Destructive forces are at work in the city;
    threats and lies never leave its streets Psalm 55:9-11.

 As for me, I call to God,
    and the Lord saves me.
Evening, morning and noon
    I cry out in distress,
    and he hears my voice . . . Psalm 55:16,17.

 My companion attacks his friends;
    he violates his covenant.
His talk is smooth as butter,
    yet war is in his heart;
his words are more soothing than oil,
    yet they are drawn swords Psalm 55:20,21.

God, who is enthroned from of old,
    who does not change—
he will hear them and humble them,
    because they have no fear of God Psalm 55:19.

We unite in prayer and pour out our complaints to a Living God, Sovereign over all the affairs on the earth:

Your words were found, and (we) I ate them,
And Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart;
For I am called by Your name,
O Lord God of hosts.

 I did not sit in the assembly of the mockers,
Nor did I rejoice;
I sat alone because of Your hand,
For You have filled me with indignation. Jeremiah 15: 16,17.

The LORD spoke in regards to Jeremiah’s cry. What is the LORD saying to me? To you? To US? Let’s speak the Word of God aloud that we might have ears to hear and hearts as soft clay in the potter’s hand, that He might work in us,

 Therefore thus says the Lord:

“If you return,
Then I will bring you back;
You shall stand before Me;
If you take out the precious from the vile,
You shall be as My mouth . . .

 And I will make you to this people a fortified bronze wall;
And they will fight against you,
But they shall not prevail against you;

For I am with you to save you
And deliver you,” says the Lord.
 “I will deliver you from the hand of the wicked,
And I will redeem you from the grip of the terrible” Jeremiah 15: 19-21.

Can we hear the cry of the LORD, “Will you come back to Me?”

Can we hear His voice over the noise, “You’ll be able to extract the precious from the vile.” “Come back to Me. I am able to make all grace abound. I make all things work together for good to those who are the call according to My purpose.”

Together, evening, morning, and at noon we will:

22 Cast (y)our cares on the Lord,

we recite together His faithful Word. We will seek His face forevermore:

. . . He will sustain you;
he will never let
    the righteous be shaken.
But you, God, will bring down the wicked
    into the pit of decay;
the bloodthirsty and deceitful
    will not live out half their days

But as for me, I trust in you Psalm 55: 22,23.

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, (Eph. 3: 20).

In Jesus’ name, we pray, Amen.

The Final Answer

Can we be angry and humble at the same time? Can justice be found without anger? Where is the love we all long for? Can forgiveness be complete?

Today, our eyes witness evil. That is an absolute we can agree on.

“Justice,” is the people’s cry in the streets. This is a two way street that is an absolute .

Love is planted deep in the heart of every human. Family is a place to often see it grow.

Forgiveness is an absolute necessity and a great need.

“Where in the world do evil, justice, love and forgiveness converge at one point in history?” Ravi Zacharias concluded his talk at a United Nations Prayer Breakfast.

We know evil exists. We seek justice. We’re hungry for love. Forgiveness is needed. “Can I take you to a hill on Calvary and show you the person of Jesus Christ.”

Ravi, who has recently gone home to be with the Lord after a short but painful battle with a rare bone cancer stated, “Deep in my heart, I believe there are no other answers apart from the person of Jesus Christ.”

He shows us evil, taken on himself. He was the just and justifier who loved us so greatly that He prayed, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do.”

What’s truth? Where’s God in all this suffering and pain?

Ravi Zacharias shared thoughts by James Stewart of Scotland:

“It is a glorious phrase of the New Testament, that ‘he led captivity captive.’ 

The very triumphs of His foes, it means, he used for their defeat.

He compelled their dark achievements to subserve his end, not theirs.

They nailed him to the tree, not knowing that by that very act they were bringing the world to his feet.

They gave him a cross, not guessing that he would make it a throne.

They flung him outside the gates to die, not knowing that in that very moment they were lifting up all the gates of the universe, to let the King of Glory come in.

They thought to root out his doctrines, not understanding that they were implanting imperishably in the hearts of men the very name they intended to destroy.

They thought they had defeated God with His back the wall, pinned and helpless and defeated: they did not know that it was God Himself who had tracked them down.

He did not conquer in spite of the dark mystery of evil. He conquered through it.”(James Stewart, October 17, 2012).

We seek peace in the midst of evil. We pray for justice. We desperately need love and forgiveness . . .

There are many questions.

Jesus Christ laid down His life us. He paid our debt in full on the cross at Calvary. He rose from the dead. And He lives today. Does He live in our heart, today?

The final answer? The Gospel:

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whosoever believes in him, should not perish but have eternal life” John 3:16.

The Hard Stuff: Love your enemies? “Christ in us, our hope of glory”

An empty glove can’t move. But with a hand in it, the glove is fluid to move in marvelous ways.

What’s natural in human nature, “Love your neighbor and hate your enemy” (Matthew 5:43), is evident all around.

But “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you?” this is hard stuff in Matthew 5:44.

What if Jesus could sit with us this morning and have our ear and our whole heart for a bit:  “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,  

that you may be children of your Father in heaven.

He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous Matthew 43-45.

Is there evidence of God in Christ Jesus in us? Are we “children of our Father in heaven,” (Matthew 5:45).

Do we love those who love us? Naturally, yes. This is easy. The Bible tells us that even tax collectors do that. 

But God calls us to impossible standards: “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect” Matthew 5:48.

 There’s no way, nada. Especially if we’ve been deeply hurt, there is often no willingness. 

We can’t naturally love our enemy. We’re much like the glove with no hand.

Jesus said multiple times, “With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible” Matthew 19:26.

“If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believes” Mark 9:23.

“With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.” Mark 10:27. 

Who’s ready to believe big with me? Unity is what Jesus desires. Oneness of the Body of Christ, and salvation to the lost souls of the world. 

Time is short. Jesus is coming back again.

“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 
that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.
May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 
 
 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 
 
 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 
 
 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the worldJohn 17:21-24.
 

I want to believe God to work miracles of unity that “the world will know” that God sent His Son, and see that God loves everyone. His desire is that all should know Him and receive Salvation and grace in His name.

I want to believe in a revival of love and forgiveness one person at a time. 

This is big, but not too hard for God.

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace Ephesians 1:7

If I don’t have a heart willing to forgive, God sees and He understands the struggle. He’s been hurt more than any human being through all of time, as He laid His life down at the cross.

Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing” Luke 23:34.

How can we get to such a place? 

“Christ in us is our hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).

He rose from the dead. Jesus is alive. 

Christ in me. . .  my only hope to love in a “perfect” way. 

The Potter adds the water of the Spirit and repairs dried-up clay to create a vessel fit for the Master’s use.

What’s impossible in ourselves, is possible in Him.

Let’s go to God for our “impossibles.” His hand in our empty gloves = possibility of amazing grace and His love spread in all dark places.

“So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

“Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?

 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” Luke 11:9-13.

“We pray dear Lord, ‘let there be peace and love on this earth, and let it begin with me. You are our only hope. Christ in us, our hope of glory.’ In Jesus Name, Amen.”

 

A Repeated Song of Thanks and Love, from mom

A giver of gifts, not my specialty.

Empty wallet, distant feet, words that struggle to leave my heart to speak.

For each of my children, if you could take an imaginary ride through my veins, you would witness my mind reciting thankful strains,

a heart bulging with inexpressible love,

and through each vessel, your name resounding in your mama’s blood.

My child, you are knit to me.

With lack, and loss, and struggles, and pains, I seek to think on an abundant theme:

God the Father, Jesus, His Son, and the Holy Spirit—God is love.

He’s the Beginning, He’s the End. He saved me, remade me, fills me new, time and time again.

He’s my “same old” song on my one-stringed guitar. He’s my note that hammers and slides, with added harmonics.

The bread, His body, broken for me, the blood that was shed on Calvary, He bid me to come to His Table one day, that I might leave with Him every guilt and every stain.

The Table is where I gave Him my all.

He faithfully re-created me. He told me, “I will not let you fall.”

Following His grace notes, He’s added more strings.

God is blessed with family. The struggle for unity, harmony,  and joy each one knows.

I give you Jesus. He’s the wine never ending, the Bread, the beauty a Rose.

The invitation comes from the King of all Kings. His word is true, He’s hope. He’s life. He’s deliverance. He’s rest.

“Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God–” (1)

Jesus is the name above every name. He never changes, never leaves, He forgives, He believes, . . .

in you.

Always.

He is faithful. Of Him only, this is true.

He’s your keeper, your healer. He breaks down every wall. He’s present. He’s patient.  He’s  power, and  peace.

He was spat on, beat, abused. He was hated.  He knows your every thought, good, bad, and weighted. He accepts you. He’s perfect,

so the best gift I could ever give to you my daughters and sons, (apart from the first birth, many years ago), I can offer you Jesus, for a new birth, right now, right here,

that daily we can share His world together with new eyes and new ears, and we grow in His grace and His knowledge for all eternity’s years.

Talk to Him now, read His word daily. Love floods in like a symphony’s song . . .

I love you forever, my sons and daughters, oh, but He loves you most, more than any other,

for now and forever,

I am a thankful mom.

(1) John 1:12

 

 

United sound brings a sweet fragrance/ Amazing Grace

Common knowledge learned, in the reach to smell a rose is, “Every rose has its thorns.”
“Ouch!”
How this world with vast beauty and joy, is also sharp and prickly. It punctures and so often, brings about so much more than a “whine”.
Yet,”For God so loves the world.”
How can it be? There are days I can’t “love” anything.
I feel so far from smelling the roses. The “thorns” seem to be, like weeds, surrr-rrrou-nnn-ding.
The darkness of nursery rhymes come to the surface, “Ring around the rosie, a pocket full of posies. Ashes, ashes, we all fall down.”
“Whoever wrote these rhymes anyway? Though the origins are argued, we must believe, it was a day of “thorns” in a struggle to smell the rose.
Common knowledge. Community. Comforts and joy in the reciting. Children gather, hand in hand. Going around and ’round, making familiar sounds. “Ashes, ashes, we all fall down.”
Amidst dark clouds, and thoughts of ashes – being together, gathering around, common words chimed – heaviness dashes.
“Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I’m found. Was blind but now I see.”
The song is sung and we all join along, even if the tone is completely wrong. The melody flows from all lips with a smile. In full agreement, hearts receive the gracious love God freely gives.
There’s no strife when hearts unify. There’s no disagreement in the “wretch” that we each be. The thirst seems quenched. The heart instantly warmed.
The smell of roses comes vibrantly alive, when we put sound on our voice and in a common hymn sing! This is where God abides. This is where He dwells. We can all agree. Yes, we agree and somehow our blindness is made to flee:
“‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear
And grace my fears relieved.
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed.”
As if time stops. Glory invites. “For God,” gave His Son, that we might overcome. The song, is sung. And we agree together, and sing along:
“Through many dangers, toils and snares,
I have already come;
’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.”
Jesus can turn water to wine. Jesus can heal. Jesus can restore. The fragrance of joy is smelled. Let us put sound on our voice. And join together and sing.
Let us unify. Let us give thanks. Let us worship our King.
“Praise God. Praise God. Praise God. Praise God!”
 

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