Discerning What To Do Next

What feels right to you? A former pastor once gave me some advice about discerning for myself what I need to be doing spiritually, even in my devotions. If you go to pray, and you're not really feeling it, then switch to reading your Bible. If you're not really getting any inspiration from reading your Bible, then you might want to read what someone else has already explained in a Daily Devotional, or some other book. If that doesn't work, and it's Football Season, I've always found that to be motivational, especially if my Patriots are playing. Finally, if all else fails, go to sleep... "old men shall dream dreams", and that's definitely spiritual!

“For God speaks once, yea twice, yet man perceives it not. In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls upon men, in slumbering upon the bed; Then he opens the ears of men, and seals their instruction, That he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man. He keeps back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword”. - Job 33: 14-18

Interceding For Our Country

Are you praying for our country? Not just those things you want to see happen for your own benefit, but for those things that need to be changed and removed, that you most often never think about. Time to roll up your sleeves and get your hands dirty!

The scripture also says to "Watch unto prayer", which means to monitor the affects of your own prayers to judge the need for any modification in thought and fervency, as well as do any practical thing revealed to facilitate the results. You are not only the intercessor; you might just be a part of the answer.

Faith

Pending

Change

Day of Rest

Now

Praying For The Country

All Men In Authority

The Spirit Brooded...

Still Waiting

The Lord Gives Us Sleep

Contemporary society pushes us harder and harder, faster and faster into feeling, as the adage goes, "If you snooze: you loose!" None of us want to be seen as not being "diligent in business", which is also one of the requirements for being a pastor; but there is a scriptural balance. "Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain that build it. Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman awakens but in vain." There are so many scriptures speaking to the fact of our dependency on Christ for all things, as expressed in the direct simplicity of his words, "Without me you can do nothing."

"It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows, for so the Lord gives his beloved sleep." So why are you pursuing the vanity of worrying at all?

Recently, I heard a wonderful secular euphemism, delivered by actor Mark Harmon's character on NCIS, the venerable Special Agent Jethro Gibbs. "Anticipation doesn't get you the win. It's how you react to the situation." So it's more about doing your homework and then being rested up to meet the moment head on at your very best.

There is one thing I have learned to say every night; after my prayers, so I can even let go of those prayers to gt to sleep: "I will both lay me down in peace and sleep, for you Lord only make me to dwell in safety". But I change the word "peace" back to the original word "Shalom", because of all it fully means to us. After awhile I would begin to yawn even before I got all the words out, and fall right off to sleep. When I don't, I simply repeat the one word "Shalom", over and over, to remind myself and God of His promise. "Shalom, shalom, shalom... zzzzzzzzzzz..."

T.D. Jakes

Preemptory Challenge

Waiting By The Brook Of Cherith

One of the most amazing personally comparative experiences in my life is the biblical story of Elijah waiting upon further instruction from God by the Brook of Cherith. While there, he was also fed meat everyday by ravens that were appointed by God to meet that need. The scripture doesn't say very much more about the process, which makes it a rather unremarkable little blip on the radar. That's exactly the reason I finally recognize it. When everything else around you becomes increasingly unrecognizable and mundane, so you begin to resign yourself to your circumstances, but with one eye always open to finding something more... Blip, there it is! I'm waiting here because I'm waiting here in obedience to God, because it is the place of his provision. I'm not in the wrong place. I'm not being lazy and idle. I'm just here abiding where God put me. I've been here before, so it takes less time to recognize it, even though I never really expect it, until... Blip!

Prayer Walk

Busyness

Meditation

Petition

When Nehemiah knew he was called by God to restore Jerusalem, the first thing he had to do was get permission from the King to go and check out the situation there. But after he knew what was needed, Nehemiah still had to petition the King for the resources to accomplish the goal. Too often, we stop at catching the vision, but never get down to the nitty gritty work of gathering what we need t make it happen. Learn to petition God for every big and little thing you need, whether people or other resources!

Day Of Rest

Later Tonite

Gratitude Attitude

Stepping Up

Waiting

Whatever Cannot Go Through The Fire

Monday Morning Quarterbacking

Okay! The Big Game is over, and now everyone is talking about it, and what they would have done differently, if they had been the Quarterback. The real question is what would you have done differently before the game. Would you have run more practice plays of your own in scrimmages, paid more attention to the other teams game films to figure out what are the most successful plays they like to run against other teams, or just got to bed earlier the night before. There are a great many more things involved in winning a football game than most of us understand, or can take into consideration on a moment's notice; just like our own lives.

Super Bowl Sunday

It's a good thing Football is not my Religion, because the Seahawks ahead of the Broncos by 29 points to zip, espcially just scoring that last touchdown 7 seconds into the 2nd Half might result in apostay. Although I can always go back to watching Tennis, since the scripture says, even "Moses served in the courts of Pharoah". Only I think there was a Pyramid Scheme involved?

Anointed To What, Where, When, And How?

“And there was delivered unto Jesus the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” – Luke 4:17-19


Jesus was anointed to do all those things listed above. The scripture further says, "It pleased god that all the fullness of the Godhead should dwell in Him bodily". But what about you? When Jesus returned to the Father, He sent the Holy Spirit to distribute those gifts among us as the Spirit sees fit; so we are all basically under evaluation for being given assignments. We all got really excited when we first saw the list of those compassionate things that Christ came to do for us. Only now what are we really concerned about doing for others? It's not a one way proposition. "The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man avails a great deal." The best way to understand "effectual fervent prayer" is as being "sufficiently passionate" about that for which you are praying. When the scripture says "desire spiritual gifts", it uses a Greek word that means to "lust after". Therefore, if you want to have spiritual gifts in your life, then you need to become "sufficiently passionate to the point of lusting" after them. So what, where, when, and how does God want to anoint you?