"This You have seen, O Lord; do not keep silence. O Lord, do not be far from me." (Psalm 35:22)
Today's text was not just a prayer of the psalmist for himself. It is a prayer similar to, "Have mercy on us and on the whole world."
Since I'm "on the road," I'm here at a McDonald's today doing the devotional. I had just sat down in time to here a young teenage girl, with a very up-to-date Iphone, say to her friend, "My dad's girl friend...." I really didn't need to hear any more to realize just how things have changed since I was a teenager. I really wanted to ask the girl what she thought about her dad having a "girl friend." I realized again, however, just how "normal" such scenarios have become.
But no matter how people try to convince me that kids are "fine with that," I cannot agree. I tried to image what it would have been like for me to say to one of my friends, "My Dad's girl friend." Of course, knowing Ken Barnette, that would never have been. But in the forties and fifties it was not just "the righteous" who stayed married; it was the majority of American society. I would have been a basket case if my Dad and Mom would have gotten a divorce. I am so thankful that I never had to say to a friend, nor had a friend say to me, "my dad's girl friend."
I remember the first time one of our children came home from their Christian School with a permission form for some sporting event. One line said, "Name of Father, Name of Mother (if different from Father)." It had taken over in Christendom. They never sent forms home like that in all my 12 years of state school education. It has been said to me, and implied many times, "Get over it. This is the way things are." So that means I should accept it?!?
Our text is a prayer which I find myself praying more and more. Nothing will change the hearts of men and women apart from Jesus hearing and answering the prayer of our text, nor apart from the conviction of the Holy Spirit------------ not the conviction of me. Jesus tells us that the Holy Spirit, "will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment...." Honestly, there have been times in my life when I thought I would do the "convicting." Never worked.
I longed today for that little girl's broken heart to be healed in Jesus' Name. I'm sorry for the "get-over-it" people. I cannot.
Father, in Jesus' Name, have mercy on that young girl. Amen.
Today's text was not just a prayer of the psalmist for himself. It is a prayer similar to, "Have mercy on us and on the whole world."
Since I'm "on the road," I'm here at a McDonald's today doing the devotional. I had just sat down in time to here a young teenage girl, with a very up-to-date Iphone, say to her friend, "My dad's girl friend...." I really didn't need to hear any more to realize just how things have changed since I was a teenager. I really wanted to ask the girl what she thought about her dad having a "girl friend." I realized again, however, just how "normal" such scenarios have become.
But no matter how people try to convince me that kids are "fine with that," I cannot agree. I tried to image what it would have been like for me to say to one of my friends, "My Dad's girl friend." Of course, knowing Ken Barnette, that would never have been. But in the forties and fifties it was not just "the righteous" who stayed married; it was the majority of American society. I would have been a basket case if my Dad and Mom would have gotten a divorce. I am so thankful that I never had to say to a friend, nor had a friend say to me, "my dad's girl friend."
I remember the first time one of our children came home from their Christian School with a permission form for some sporting event. One line said, "Name of Father, Name of Mother (if different from Father)." It had taken over in Christendom. They never sent forms home like that in all my 12 years of state school education. It has been said to me, and implied many times, "Get over it. This is the way things are." So that means I should accept it?!?
Our text is a prayer which I find myself praying more and more. Nothing will change the hearts of men and women apart from Jesus hearing and answering the prayer of our text, nor apart from the conviction of the Holy Spirit------------ not the conviction of me. Jesus tells us that the Holy Spirit, "will convict the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment...." Honestly, there have been times in my life when I thought I would do the "convicting." Never worked.
I longed today for that little girl's broken heart to be healed in Jesus' Name. I'm sorry for the "get-over-it" people. I cannot.
Father, in Jesus' Name, have mercy on that young girl. Amen.
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
Hebrews 12:2
Hebrews 12:2
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Posted By Antipas Prayer Force: to Antipas Prayer Force Devotionals at 6/07/2016 11:55:00 AM
