Praying For Those In Authority

As politicians go from bad to worse we must not forget this instruction from the Lord:

1 Tim 2:1I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— 2for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3This is good, and pleases God our Savior, 4who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth

We are to pray for those in authority so that we may live quiet and peaceful lives.  If we are not doing this, then we are partially to blame for some of the nonsense that goes on in the political world.

There are many in this world who tell us it is our duty to vote, and voting is the way to change what goes on in politics.  This writer would say that is faithless.  It is a spiritually bankrupt statement.  How so?

What does the Word say?

1 John 2:6 

Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.

So let me ask you, did Jesus ever vote?  No.  Did Jesus 'get involved' with roman politics to change the world for the better? No.  The answers to these questions are a definitive no, not a "no, but.."  Men who think like this world speak from the viewpoint of this world and tell you to get involved in its politics:

1 John 4:5 

They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them.

Let me ask you a revealing question, who do you think would change the world more for the better:

1.  The man who always voted and never prayed?

or

2.  The man who always prayed and never voted?

No, I don't want to hear this rubbish about praying and voting because Jesus did not vote, period.

In fact to put a nail in this coffin we also look to this:

John 18:36  Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place."

Our kingdom is not of this world.  How much more clear does the Lord have to say it?  We have the Lord's instruction on these matters but as in many other things men want to take things into their own hands.  I can tell you with 100% rock solid certainty that the man (or woman :) who prays will impact the world far and away greater than the person who votes.  It comes down to a question of what we really truly believe our prayers accomplish.  Do we really believe our faith can move mountains?  Do we really believe the Lord still answers prayer?  When the Lord returns will He really find faith on earth?

Luke 18:8 

... Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?

Faith filled prayer moves mountains, that is the clear instruction in the Bible and that is the testimony of this nobody who writes to you today.  What we believe matters.  How much faith we have (or dont have) matters because it impacts the results we get from our prayers.

Matthew 21:22 If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask ...

... Have faith that you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer."

This brother would encourage you to pray today with whatever faith you have in you.  If you lack faith ask the Lord for more.  We are in this world but we are not of it.  We are aliens and strangers here

1 Peter 2:11 Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles ...

... Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul.

So let us pray with faith as strangers in this world who look forward to a kingdom that is not of this world.  Let us pray so we may live quiet and peaceful lives.

grace and peace

What Good Thing Can We Do For The Lord?

Over a period of years and many miracles, the Lord has emphasized one thing above most things to this servant:

1 Peter 2:9But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 10Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

We were built to praise Him.  Our purpose is to praise Him.  As I write this the Spirit impresses my spirit to the point where I want to leap out of my skin to emphasize this very point.  Our primary service is to the Lord, above other men, above our families and above ourselves the Lord comes first.  And what good can we find to do in the service of our Lord?  We can praise Him:

Psalm 119:164 Seven times a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous judgments.

Hebrews 13:15 

Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise--the fruit of lips that openly profess his name

If you want to know what the Spirit is saying today, this is the message this servant hears loud and clear:  praise Him.

He has proven to me beyond a shadow of a doubt that He is God and He is worthy to receive our constant praise and adoration.  Thanks be to God for His great goodness to us, His servants.

Who was a man after God's own heart?  Who in the Bible was loved by the Lord?  Who was the king from which our Lord descended in human lineage?  It was David.  What did David write?  The Psalms.  What are the Psalms?  Declarations of praise and adoration for our Lord and King.

If we want to be a people that walks with God, His praise should continually be on our lips:

Psalm 34:1I will extol the Lord at all times;

his praise will always be on my lips.

grace and peace

What Is The Spirit Saying To The Churches?

For years we have tied current events into what is foretold in the Word of God.  Next month is the first blood moon of the lunar tetrad taking place on the Lord's feast days over 2014-2015 and look at what is happening in the world around us.  We are on the brink of world war with Russia.

And yet, at the beginning of this year the Lord's guidance to this servant was:

1. to be a man who walks with God
2. to rest in Him
3. to do whatever good my hands find to do.

While the world goes into turmoil and chaos the Lord directs His servant into peace.  This message is not only for me.  How simple, and comforting and loving and merciful and truly beautiful is this message to us?

The Lord speaks to this servant in many ways, one of which is making things jump off the pages of the Bible.  My heart leaps and my spirit stirs when I read a certain passage that I may have read a hundred times before.  That is the Spirit of the Lord making it real, right now today.  It is the Lord speaking to the church one member at a time.  What message do we have today?

psalm 104.33 I will sing unto the LORD as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.

34My meditation of him shall be sweet: I will be glad in the LORD.

35Let the sinners be consumed out of the earth, and let the wicked be no more. Bless thou the LORD, O my soul. Praise ye the LORD.

What is the purpose of life?  Why are we here?  What is the Lord's plan for me?  It is all wrapped up in this.  Each of us in an eternal relationship with the Creator.  That's it.  All this drama in our lives is a backdrop, a minor chapter in the pages of eternity.  This story is a love story of the Creator and His creation loving Him back.  That's it.  Us and the Lord throughout eternity, in a loving relationship.  Not very complex.

We don't have to figure out what is going on with the world, we have to love Him.  We don't have to predict or worry, or fret, we have to trust Him.  He is our source, our provision, our protection, our everything.  In Him and through Him all our needs and desires will be met.

Glory to God in the Highest!

Psalm 31:19
Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men!

Love Him, trust Him, walk with Him.  Tune the world out.  This is what this servant hears the Spirit saying today.

grace and peace

A Couple More Things

Two rather important things I left off the other day's post.  The Lord also impressed me with these things:

1.  Our primary service is to the Lord.  I was asking the Lord what more I should do for Him.  Many people run here and there doing things for the Lord, but they forget Him.  It seems silly but it happens all the time and it is a problem.  Many are they that are too busy to spend time with the Lord.  They are so busy doing things for Him that they have no time to spend with Him.

The Lord comes first.  If our problem is we have no time then we drop everything and give the time back to Him.  Without the Lord who gets an extra second to live on this earth?  Priorities are important.  He comes first, then find room for everything else.  If we love and serve Him first a natural outflow of that will be to love our fellow man and these two are the greatest commandments:

Matt 22:37
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38This is the first and great commandment. 39And the second [is] like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 40On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

This ^^ is what the Lord re-emphasized to me as I asked Him what was worthwhile for me to do for Him    during the few days we have left on this earth.  Love Him, give Him our attention, praise, worship, thank Him etc.  Be a man who walks with God.  There is nothing complex or difficult to understand about what we have been asked to do.

Less is more, drop the clutter focus on what is most important.

2.  When all hell breaks loose on earth, who knows if we will be here to see it.  World wars have passed by us in history and brothers in Christ lived through them, what if there is another one and this time its worse?

Our faith must be deeply rooted, like pillars driven deep into the ground that will withstand whatever shock is thrown at them.  When bad times come we will stand or fall based on our faith.  If the Lord God could bring 3 million complaining Israelites through a barren desert while feeding them and providing them water and shelter for 40 years, surely He can meet our needs during our temporary trials and tribulations.

A real bad storm may be coming.  Keep your eyes on the solution, the answer Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior who has never once, ever let this brother down.  The Lord does deliver His own, He does provide and He does protect.  We will need Him more than ever in the days ahead.

grace and peace

A Couple Things

1.  The Lord has reminded me repeatedly about this so here it is:

Regarding prayer its like using a weighing scale:

your problem or the thing you are praying
about are on one side and your prayers are deposited on the other side of the scale.  Lets say you had a ten pound problem on one side and your prayers weighed one ounce each.  How many prayer weights would you need to deposit on one side to see any kind of movement on the problem side?

Is this exactly how prayer works?  No, but the Lord gave me a visual of this, this is kind of how it works.  Its also like sprinkling seed on the ground.  Do all seeds germinate?  No, but if you keep scattering seed on the ground as you are moving along one of them eventually is going to sprout.

We were told to pray without ceasing.  We were given the illustrations of the woman and the unjust judge and other examples of why we must continue to pray without giving up.

2.  Sinkholes all over the world

Sinkholes have been cropping up all over the world for years and they are increasing in number.  I have asked the Lord about this and its been some time but I believe I have the answer to why we are seeing them.  I recently watched a documentary on link tv about how the dead sea is drying up.  Part of what is happening is as the sea dries up sinkholes are forming all over the entire region making it very dangerous to even walk around.  The drying up of the water is causing all the sinkholes.

What did the Lord say He would do?

This is the prophesy against Babylon:
Jer 50:38A drought [is] upon her waters; and they shall be dried up: for it [is] the land of graven images, and they are mad upon [their] idols.

All of the chemtrails in the sky and the massive geoengineering efforts are mans attempt to counteract what the Lord said He would do.  They will not succeed.

grace and peace