My Prayer For You!

I Pray That You Have:

Joy: A strong feeling of great delight, unspeakable and full of Glory

John 15:11 - These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full

Peace: A state of harmony that surpasses all understanding

2 Thessalonians 3:16 - Now the Lord of peace himself give you peace always by all means. The Lord be with you all.

Success: Achievement, in each facet of your life

Joshua 1:8 - This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.

Friend: Supporter, that sent from God

John 15:13 - Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

Love: Thats everlasting

John 15:12 - This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

Knowledge: That ye may not perish

Psalms 119:66 - Teach me good judgment and knowledge: for I have believed thy commandments.

Special Memories: Of all the Lord has done

Proverbs 10:7 - The memory of the just is blessed: but the name of the wicked shall rot.

A Rejoiceful Day: That the Lord has made

1 Chronicles 16:10 - Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord.

A Path: That leads to the blessing of God

Psalms 119:35 - Make me to go in the path of thy commandments; for therein do I delight.

Dreams: That become realities for you

Genesis 28:12 - And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.

And Appreciation: For all that God has made you and for all He has done for you!

Psalms 97:12 - Rejoice in the Lord, ye righteous; and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.

Send this to everyone you're praying for and anyone whose day you desire to brighten.


With all that said.. let the church say amen... and AMEN!

Favor

Favor: Grace, delight, as act of kindness.

I thank the Lord for favor and His wonderful acts of kindness.... some say favor ain't fair, that’s because they don’t see what we are doing in private - they don’t see our prayer time, our worship, and our thanksgiving to the Lord for who He is and what He is to us. Instead, what they are responding to is what they see outwardly - us being blessed.

It's imperative that we delight in Him, and that we spend time in His presence. Of course, our mind set should not be that we are giving time simply to get what we want. Our mind set should always be that we do the things we do because of the love we have for Him; and because of what He’s done for us. When the Lord sees us delighting in Him, He’s faithful to do as His Word says.

Romans 13:8 tell us to "Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law." He’s too merciful; too holy; too awesome; to allow us to do all the giving.  I thank the Lord today, because He didn't have to wake me up this morning. He didn't have to give me another opportunity to praise His name - but He did! It was an act of kindness, which is favor. He wants to treat us with generosity and goodwill far beyond what our little minds can ever comprehend!

Take me for example - Several years back, I wanted an Cadillac Escalade. My family laughed at me and wouldn't even go to the car lot with me to look at one. You see, at the time, I was working a job making $15.00 an hour, so they didn't believe that I could afford to pay for one. Later, I started working for a lady that owned an Escalade and about six years ago she became ill. Would you believe that once she lost the desire to drive, she gave that Escalade to me... even though she has three sons of her own?? Now that's favor!

My friend needed a financial blessing - specifically she needed $1000. Instead of stressing herself out, she laid out before the Lord in prayer. She needed the money that same day. After praying and praising she went back upstairs, and when she walked by her husband, he told her, "I’m going to put a $1000 in your account today." She never asked him for the money (some of you ladies out there might know why). Now that's favor!

His acts of kindness, His grace, and His delight doesn’t just stop with us. Deuteronomy 5:29 says, "O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever!" You realize that means that The Lord will show our children favor as well! Try and tell me that He's not an awesome God!

Many years ago, my son ran off the road and hit a steel pole head on - on the driver's side. Needless to say, the car was completely totaled...but my son walked away without a scratch! I know they say that Volvos are the safest cars on the market... but we all know that it wasn't that Volvo that kept him safe. Now that's favor!

With that said, let the church say amen... and AMEN!

Choices Have Consquences!

Choices: Power to chose
Consequence: The natural result from a preceding condition

The Lord is a perfect gentleman - He doesn’t force Himself on us. He doesn’t twist our arm to make us choose right (Him).  He allows us to make choices wanting us to willing choose Him.  He demonstrates His love and mercy toward us by being a shelter from the rain, a very present help in the time of trouble, our El Shaddai (The Almighty God) - the strengthener and satisfier of His people.

1 Chronicles 21:1 and 21:3 gives us an example of a bad choices: "And Satan stood up against Israel, and provoked David to number Israel... And Joab answered, the Lord make His people an hundred times so many more as they be: but, my lord the king, are they not all my lord’s servant? Why then doth my lord require this thing? Why will he be a cause of trespass to Israel?" David had a choice, he could have stop the count right then, but he chose to go ahead with it.  David was trusting in the numbers, rather than trusting in God. That choice had devastating consequence, as noted in 1 Chronicles 21:14  - "So the Lord sent pestilence upon Israel: and there fell of Israel seventy thousand men."

Choices have significant impact on our lives - both positive or negative. David's choice had a negative impact. Of course, when we make good choices the consequences are awesome, let’s take Joseph for an example.

Joseph was hated and rejected by his brethren; cast into a pit; sold into Egypt; AND cast into prison... but despite all of that, Joseph still managed to make good choices.  And as a result, "the Lord was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man" (Genesis 39:2). Pharaoh made him an overseer over his house, and all that he had. When he refused his master's wife, Joseph was cast into prison and yet he continued to make good choices. Genesis 39:21 says that the Lord shewed him mercy and gave him favor by way of the keeper of the prison committing to Joseph’s hand all of the prisoners that were in the prison. When there was famine in the land, those same brothers who hated and rejected Joseph had to go to him to buy their food. Joseph could have chosen to be angry, but instead he gave God the glory, for he knew who was behind the master plan. And because of the positive impact of making a right choice, Joseph became the governor over all the land of Egypt and over all Pharaoh house.

Time does not allow me to tell you of Ruth, Daniel, Joshua, Samuel, and many others that were truly blessed - all because they were willing choosing the Lord... won't you please choose Him too?

With all that's said, let the Church say amen...and Amen!
                                                                                                           

                                                                                                                  

Coming Under Authority

Authority: The power to determine, or command

The top brass from the Army, Navy and Marine Corps were arguing about who had the bravest troops.
They decided to settle the dispute using an enlisted man from each branch.
The army general called a private over and ordered him to climb to the top of the base flagpole, then let go with both hands and salute. The private quickly complied.
Next, the admiral ordered a sailor to climb the pole, polish the brass knob at the top, salute smartly and jump off. The sailor did as he was told and landed on the concrete below.
Finally, the marine was told to do exactly the same as the army and navy men but in full battle gear, pack filled with brick and loaded weapon carried high. He took one look at the major general and said: "You're out of your mind, sir."
The marine commander turned to the others and said: "Now that's guts!"

The thing about authority is that it exists to keep us in line as well as to keep law and order. For example, when we come to a stop sign, the mission of that stop sign is to save our life, but if no one stops, it would be total chaos. However, if everyone stops appropriately and looks both ways before going forward, then we would avoid accidents and the mission of that stop sign gets accomplish. Authority is here to help us. Unfortunately, we don’t always like coming under certain types of authority. Even Jesus humbles himself and came under authority, so why don't we think that we should have to??

Hebrew 13:17 tells us, "Obey them that have rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you." We will never be in authority if we can’t come under authority.

Let’s take a look at the words of encouragement to Joshua; the Lord said, be strong and of a good courage. Verse 5 in Chapter 1 of that book reads; "There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee." Joshua became a great leader, simply because he learned how to come under authority. And you know what? Joshua made it into the promise land!

The Lord wants us to come under the authority of our leader as that leader must come under the authority of the Lord. We too will be blessed and the Lord will be with us as He was with Joshua.

With all that said, let the church say amen and amen.

Independence Day

Independence: Free from the control of others

First, I want to thank God for allowing America  to be free.  And that we were born into a country, that’s free to worship,  that have freedom of speech, freedom from dictatorship, and freedom from one world order.  We should thank God daily for the freedom to worship without being afraid, without going underground,  without being afraid to carry our bibles in public.  John 8:36 tell us, “If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.”

For example, in the days of Daniel all the presidents of the kingdom said “…whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for 30 days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions”   (Daniel 6:7). Even though Daniel knew that the king had signed the decree, the Bible tells us that “he went into his house… kneeled upon his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime. You guys know the story – when the king found out that Daniel had defied his decree, he was casted in the den of lions. How blessed are we that in our day, here in America, that we can freely serve our Lord and Savior whenever, however, and as often as we please without any fear!

The Declaration of Independence signed on July 4, 1776 allowed us to become a free country. These days, we celebrate this day with parades, lots of good food, and a lot of shared time with friends and family. Quite often, there’s a family reunion or two, as we celebrate with fireworks and honor our flag and freedom. But in the midst of all the celebrations, let us not forget our troops, those men and women who have sacrificed so much to protect our country and keep it free. Let us remember to pray for their safety and well being, as well as for their families.

And most importantly, let us not forget our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in all of our celebrating, for He is the one that made this day and every day possible. Let’s give Him our highest honor and praise.

God bless America!