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Theme for the Month of August:>>>Prayer<<<Devotional for August 12, 2019Deliver Us From EvilMathew 6: 9-15; The Lord’s PrayerMathew 6: 13; And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for Thine is the Kingdom, and the power and the Glory for ever. AmenThere was a movie that came out back in the 60’s, “It’s a Mad, Mad World”. I never saw the movie but, but from the title it sounded like it may have been a spoof or comedy movie. If I’m not mistaken a Comic Book by the name of Mad Magazine also made the scene around this same time. As a teen during the early sixties, I can say there was a madness that began to emerge that born ominous tones for the future. The rise of the hippie generation, the casting aside of the old rules of morality, do your own thing, the drugs, gangs, yes, you could say mayhem was on the rise. I think it could be said, behind every diabolical social ill, exists the promotion of a dark side agenda. With that, have you ever seen where so much mass mayhem and social unrest seems to pervade the planet right now? It’s not safe to even go to the local store, with mass shootings and who knows what all. That opens wide the door for the Lord’s Prayer directive on; deliver us from evil, or the “evil one”, we know who that is. Praying for our safety while out and about is no joke, nor a lesson in futility; it is vital, necessary, and part of God’s plan of Divine Providence. Pray for yourself before doing anything, your family as well. I remember one time some years ago, me and the family stopped at a sit down restaurant, it was around 8 PM. While waiting to be seated, I heard the Lord say; leave this place now! With that I told the Mrs., we have to leave, of which we did, I don’t know what took place, but I am grateful to having heard the word, leave now. Even though my family has grown up and been gone for many years, guess what, I still pray for their safety every day. Some of the accounts they share of things that happen in and around them, tells me to keep on praying, and why not, it’s the Lord’s directive. Blessings to you for a great day, Pastor TomDevotional for August 13, 2019It’s as Good as MineMark 11: 20-24; Faith at workMark 11: 24; Therefore I say unto you, what things so ever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. Have you noticed all the “polls” lately, voter poll, moral polls, exit polls, you name it, there is probably a poll for it. Even Church research groups have polls, do you attend, how often, give, work, still walk in sin, wait; that one may be one of them. Here is another poll I have not seen, what is the percentage of time you get prayer answered? Have you ever given that much thought? Here’s a better thought, are we growing in our prayer life in receiving from the Lord? It’s not all about receiving, but, how does one enhance their possibilities of receiving from the Lord should a need arise? James gives some sage advice; ye ask, and ye receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts (James 4:3). Part of growing in the Lord is recognizing our needs from our wants. Much of life has a learning curve, once we master the skills we are on our way peace and perfection. If we have come to a place in our walk where we have learned what God blesses and what He does not, by way of reception (answered prayer), our confidence builds. Once we figure out what the provisions in the “Will” are, we then have to appropriate that blessing to our point of need. This is where the text verse comes in, can you believe that you have received it before you see it, feel it, or have any sensory perception of obtaining it? I am familiar with a certain person who as a child had been bed ridden for many years with a serious heart condition. The Doctors told his mother he would never survive beyond his teens, he would die. He had resolved this to be true for many years, “until” he came across our text verse in Mark. He read it, he believed it, he would not take no for an answer, with all his strength he could muster, he climbed out of that death bed, and walked from that point to total healing. He would go on to become the head of a world renowned Bible Institute. If you can believe what God’s Word says over and above your circumstances, then you too will receive it. Blessings to you for a great day, Pastor TomDevotional for August 14, 2019I will! Luke 5: 12-16; Leper cleansed Luke 5: 13; And He put forth His hand and touched him, saying; I will; be thou clean, and immediately the leprosy departed from Him. Have you ever noticed, sometimes more is said or revealed than what is revealed or said quite often? I think this is the case in our text verses. What isn’t/wasn’t done to receive from the Lord is quite revealing. Notice the poor guy didn’t beg, no self flagellation. This is huge in that many poor folks seem to think begging for the mercies of God, is key to receiving from God. There were no objects to consult, no idols to rub, no incantation to speak, nor money, cows, or the like to offer. Have people been duped into believing Jesus to be a cruel and intolerant, mad at everyone, God of little to no mercy? One more observation, Jesus was approachable; no one threatened to beat this guy up (body guards), nor withheld him in any way, shape or form. What can we glean from this is, Jesus is God, all powerful, capable and willing, a friend of the sinner. Here’s a great word for receiving from the poor leper’s example; if thou wilts, thou can make me clean. I ask you, how much more sincere can a request be? To which Jesus says; I will, be thou clean. The leper knew the Lord could do it, and that is where many a child of God runs amuck, we too know the Lord can do it, (He’s God), “But” will He do it for me? The record shows, Jesus healed many sinners, logic dictates He would be at least just as willing to heal and cleanse me/us, one of His children would He not? Our prayer confidence builds when we see Jesus as a willing participant in our well being. Do you have a need you want to share with Jesus, He already sent His word; what did He say? I Will. Blessings to you for a great day, Pastor TomDevotional for August 15, 2019I’m AwakeLuke 9: 27-36; Jesus is Transfigured Luke 9: 32; But Peter and they that were with him were heavy with sleep; and when they were awake, they saw His glory, and two men that stood with Him. This account of the Transfiguration of Jesus has many unique truths imbedded within it. Have you ever been invited to an all night prayer meeting? I have attended all night prayer vigils on New Year’s Eve, and have had many times where prayer went long into the night on other occasions. Just about anyone will tell you, unless there is some lively activities going on, the eyes get heavy. In the case of our tired Disciples something very big was going on, however; if we like them may not know or realize the importance of the event until the end of the event, we may miss the great event altogether, but thankfully the Disciples didn’t miss it all. Spiritual lethargy isn’t relegated to mountain top experiences only, as we all know. This malady attacks the child of God relentlessly, every day. It’s just one of those things in our life we have to safeguard against. Quite some years ago there was a term that was often used in Church; it was called; “praying through”. In times past, when folks were vexed, down cast, or trodden down, the Alter was where could go to “Get Right”. I’m afraid to say we live in a day and time of quick everything, maybe even prayer. Sometimes there is no quick prayer, we can’t just pray for some soul in a 30 second prayer, and expect all to be fixed immediately, (although God can and do such a work). The pouring out one’s life in prayer is part of the process, it is where spiritual cleansing, deliverance and revelation take place. I found out a long time ago, God is in Heaven, not in my box (life’s constraining device). In our rush to get done praying, I believe many miss their opportunity for blessing, God was just fixing to speak, but we got done praying too soon. Remember the old saying; if you snooze you lose, one can only wonder where that word originated. Blessings to you for a great day, Pastor TomDevotional for August 15, 2019Luke18: 9-14; The prayer of the humility;Luke 18: 14; I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other, for everyone that exalts himself, shall be abased, and he that humbles himself shall be exalted. Do you believe we live in a convoluted world, where the things we see and perceive may actually be up-side down? It would seem so based upon God’s all knowing perspective, so the answer is yes. In the working world there was/is an old statement that talks about; a dog eat dog world. What a strange way of looking at things one would think, that would be until you got to experience firsthand how people lie and cheat or say and do, sales tactics, get promoted, plus just about anything in many cases. In the; me first world of thinking, much of it has to do with competition, kind of like sports in a way, the;”first mentality” at work. Much of the world heard a comment by a NFL quarterback some years ago after the Super Bowl Game, of which “his team” came in 2nd. He said; you show me a good loser and I’ll show you a loser. It is no secret people have worth, great value, our children are priceless, we want to instill in them their worth, to build self esteem; that seems healthy. The spiritually unhealthy part is thinking you’re better than someone else, or possessing an attitude of self exaltation. If we look at the prayer of the Pharisee we see something in his speech that identifies his heart. He uses the word “I” in reference to himself five (5) times in his prayer (KJV). We could call this a person that is into himself, self justification, self righteous, self contained. You may recall the devil got kicked out of Heaven with the five (5) “I wills” (Isaiah 14). Conversely, the sinner never mentioned “I” even once. Lesson learned, in prayer, if anyone is to be lifted up, it’s not to be us, but Christ, He alone is worthy. So in the end, he that exalts himself shall be abased, but he that humbles himself shall be exalted. Jesus said this humble sinner went down to his house justified, (just as if he never sinned). I don’t know about you, but I’m going to make sure I keep my “I’s” to a minimum and my “Him” (Christ) to a maximum. Blessings to you for a great day, Pastor Tom ................
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