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Christian Living, Theme Praying

Tailor-Made Suit

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Confirmation that one is on the right track fits like a tailor-made suit!

You may recall I’ve been praying in themes this week; don’t know how long it will be so. I have a huge propensity to expect GOD to do things the same way on a continual basis and that is appropriate in matters wherein He has told us He does not change.  But I’m off point here. Forgive me.

Theme praying.

Wednesday: that the LORD would COURT my people
Thursday: willing spirits

Today: a dose of honesty to fall

So that was my prayer for us all. And since I have not written a post for today – well, you know here I am sharing with you.  So for this post, I first keyed in honesty at Bible Gateway dot-com, and here’s the result:

1 Timothy 2:1-3 21st Century King James Version (KJ21)

I exhort therefore, first of all, that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men,
2for kings and for all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty.
3For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,
via 1 Timothy 2:1-3 KJ21 – I exhort therefore, first of all, that – Bible Gateway.

And so I received this blessed confirmation that for today, the theme is surely correct. For you see every Friday is specific prayer day for the President, his family; Congress and the House; Governmental Officials all the way down to my City Officials.

And what was today’s theme: a dose of honesty to fall?

And what does the TEXT read?

I welcome you to join in this prayer for a dose of honesty.  For sure I know, every one of us needs on a daily basis to be fully honest with ourselves before GOD and perhaps there are some others in our lives that we need to come clean with – not in anger or maliciousness but with the Love and Honesty of the LORD JESUS CHRIST.

Thank You, Father.  You have heard and I pray now for a healthy dose of honesty to fall upon us all. And again we pray and ask that You heal our sick and raise the spiritually dead to eternal life. Amen and ____________.

We have the God-given Right to do right in this wrong World,

Kathie 

P.S. that closing is one of my favorites that I have used all these years.
I am mindful to be honest as I edit this post from April 2012, here in January of 2023, Friday has not been a day for specific praying for governmental offices for a long while.
During these 11 years, some things have changed for me like the placing of confidence in political leaders.
I don’t do that anymore.
I do desire to see people convinced of sin, of Righteousness, and of judgment to come. I do desire to see people saved, including people holding political office.
I do see America with new eyes; even so, more so, I want all people, including American People, to repent and be delivered from darkness.
Today, I maintain a godly appreciation for the abundant comforts and luxuries here in America, but as GOD’s people, we owe our full allegiance to our Father and King. With all our beings, we must be looking for His Return and allow HIM to prepare us for His Return — we can’t do that fretting politics.

One more thought: praying for a dose of honesty — I am sure Father heard and I am sure He was willing to gift every willing soul with a complete dose of honesty.
Eleven years gives evidence  — The majority of people in America have rejected GOD — particularly those in political offices. Still, we can pray for a dose of honesty to yet be received one by one.

Christian Living, Theme Praying

It Makes Sense To Me

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It is occurring more often now: theme praying. That is my general praying over the day’s list with a blanket request; which, of course, does not circumvent specific requests.  And my general request today was one I know is bigger than I know.  :)  It was for the LORD JESUS to court my people. To court them, pursue them with the passion of the Cross. I take no credit for it. It’s a HOLY SPIRIT thing. I am just grateful He leads our praying. 

So as I sat to write to you about it I googled court and found this:

To attempt to gain; seek
 To behave so as to invite or incur
 To try to gain the love or affections of, especially to seek to marry.
via Court – definition of Court by the Free Online Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia..

Yep! That’s what I was asking. For myself as well as for you and others.  You see some of the folks I pray for are estranged from JESUS. Some of them by their very own ‘testimony’ do not know Him nor do they presently want to know Him. Some profess to know Him but are finding it difficult to walk the Road He walks. And wonderfully others are head over heels in love with Him, yet there is always more depths of love to go with Him. And in all these seasons it is JESUS who must initiate, must court the soul or that soul will never surrender to the marriage, (the GOD covenant relationship) and for those who have come into the marriage with Him, we have a propensity to stray. So I asked for martial courting (Horizontal marriages would do well with some courting too.), wooing us to walk closely with Him.

I figure it this way: who does not want to be courted? Who does not want another to behave toward them in such a way as to invite them into a pleasant, comforting, good relationship? Who does not want someone to love them?  And what better PERSON than JESUS CHRIST?

And with the Passion of the Cross? Think about it! HE loves us so much that He endured THAT and ALL it entailed! That’s what I’m asking for! For any soul gone astray or any flirting with going astray, for the HOLY SPIRIT to ‘hotly’ pursue that one with the Passion of the Cross.

However, I am reminded that HE is not in this alone and these hot pursuits that I am petitioning Him for may require some assistance on my part. Not that HE needs my assistance or yours! Yet, for sure, He chooses to allow US to work with Him. How glorious!!! So again, HOLY SPIRIT, pursue me that I may pursue YOU and others as You direct.

It makes sense to me!

I Corinthians 3: 9 For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building.
via 1 Corinthians 3:8-10 KJV – Now he that planteth and he that – Bible Gateway.

Romans 2:4 New Century Version (NCV)
4 He has been very kind and patient, waiting for you to change, but you think nothing of his kindness. Perhaps you do not understand that God is kind to you so you will change your hearts and lives.
via Romans 2:4 NCV – He has been very kind and patient, – Bible Gateway.

Thank You, HOLY SPIRIT, Thank You, ABBA, Thank You, JESUS, for giving Yourself to us. To pursue us, to draw us to Yourself. Thank You for the will to come to You. Thank You for Your Word. Thank You for the gift of prayer. And so again I pray that You court us all in just the way we need in each of our individual stations today. Heal our sick, mend our hearts, restore our hearts and families for Your glory. Amen and . . .  . 

We have the God-given Right to do right in this wrong World,
Praying (PFT)!

Christian Living, KWT Paraphrasing

Dish for Dish

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In the quiet of this morning doing morning blessings I heard Chuck Swindoll. He was speaking of kindness. Random acts of kindness. And with that, Scripture came to mind. I did not recall it verbatim nor even its Bible Address, but I got the message.

Here’s where I started.

What do ye more than they?

It’s the LORD speaking to the people reasoning with them that loving those who love you is no fine accomplishment. Loving those who hate you is the standard. And so when we dish back what is dished to us the question is WHAT DO YE MORE THAN THEY?

How different are we from the ones who railed upon us when we render railing back to them?

It’s a good question – JESUS asked it? How will I answer it? How will you answer it?

Matthew 5:

43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.’
44 But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
45 so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
46 For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?
47 If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same?
48 Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.
via Matthew 5 NASB – The Sermon on the Mount; The Beatitudes – Bible Gateway.

The Apostle Paul took his cues from JESUS and got in on the instructions too. We are only wise when we heed.

Romans 12:17 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

17 Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men.
via Rom 12:17 NASB – Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. – Bible Gateway.

Random acts of kindness, deliberate acts of kindness in response to deliberate acts of meanness, oh ABBA, what a huge and perfect standard. None of us are capable of doing it, but YOU LORD JESUS enable us. Thank You. What an honor and a privilege and a joy it is to rise above the normal and embrace Your enable-ment to do right in the midst of wrong. That is what I want. It is for that I pray for myself and for each who come here to read and pray. And in our coming to You this morning we bring our needs and the needs of others. Take a reading, LORD, on our hearts. See all the needs, see all the ills and disease and weaknesses, hidden and plain, and work miracles in us and through us. Heal our sick and raise the spiritually dead we pray. Amen and . . . .   .

We have the God-given Right to do right in this wrong World,
Praying (PFT)!

Christian Living, Guests

Fire Ants

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We were a bit off kilter this weekend and on Saturday my beloved omitted the reading of Our Daily Bread at breakfast. So he had some additional reading this morning.

The writer of Saturday’s ODB was David McCasaland and it was entitled Stick Together.  He talked about fire ants. You know those pesky creatures that hurt like the mischief when they sting you? This is what Mr. McCasaland reported about them:

“For years, scientists have wondered how fire ants, whose bodies are denser than water, can survive floods that should destroy them. How do entire colonies form themselves into life rafts that can float for weeks? A Los Angeles Times article explained that engineers from the Georgia Institute of Technology discovered that tiny hairs on the ants’ bodies trap air bubbles. This enables thousands of the insects, “which flounder and struggle in the water as individuals,” to ride out the flood when they cling together.”

And if you will click HERE and read the devotion you will see a spiritual correlation of ‘sticking together’ in the Body of CHRIST for the good of us all. And I believe Scripture bears that out.

However, what I was reminded of this morning as my beloved read was this:

Psalm 19:1-3 The Message (MSG)

1-2 God’s glory is on tour in the skies, God-craft on exhibit across the horizon. Madame Day holds classes every morning, Professor Night lectures each evening.
3-4 Their words aren’t heard, their voices aren’t recorded, But their silence fills the earth: unspoken truth is spoken everywhere.
via Psalm 19:1-3 MSG – A David Psalm – God’s glory is on tour – Bible Gateway.

And from there, here:

Romans 1:20 New Living Translation (NLT)

20 For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.
via Rom 1:20 NLT – For ever since the world was created, – Bible Gateway.

And how about this translation:

Romans 1:20 New Century Version (NCV)

20 There are things about him that people cannot see—his eternal power and all the things that make him God. But since the beginning of the world those things have been easy to understand by what God has made. So people have no excuse for the bad things they do.
via Romans 1:20 NCV – There are things about him that people – Bible Gateway.

And from there, here:

Psalm 14:1 King James Version (KJV)
1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.   . . .  

via Psalm 14:1 KJV – The fool hath said in his heart, There – Bible Gateway.

There are a few of ABBA’s creatures that I am not wild about but I can learn something about HIM from each of them and when those creatures I am not wild about invade my space I learn something about me!

HE IS AWESOME! ALL WISE and ALL KNOWING. We act like fools when we don’t trust Him. Would you agree?

ABBA, thank You for this morning’s thoughts; I pray we will all ponder them until they have a niche in our hearts that will control how we think, what we say and how we respond to Your Creation, those we like and those we don’t. I know You understand. Thank You for the smile.  Thank You for the privilege of communication and thank You for each one who comes here to read and pray and for them and for myself I pray we will have ears to hear and eyes to see the things You desire to individually show us today. I pray for peace and safety in each life and for each burden and care that they bring here, shared with this ministry and not shared, I ask for strength to trust You and for You to heal our sick and wounded and comfort those grieving. I pray for wisdom and practical helps for families and for prodigal sons and daughters to soon find themselves in their respective pig pens and come home to You and to their families. No person in my ‘world’, ABBA, is without conflicts; thank You that You are more than sufficient for all our troubles; help us lean on You, rest our whole selves upon You in JESUS name and for His sake. Amen and . . . .    .

We have the God-given Right to do right in this wrong World,
Praying (PFT)!