So You Are Looking For A Prayer? Read On

"Help, Lord, for no one is faithful anymore; those who are loyal have vanished from the human race.  Everyone lies to their neighbor; they flatter with their lips but harbor deception in their hearts.  May the Lord silence all flattering lips and every boastful tongue-  those who say, 'By our tongues we will prevail; our own lips will defend us-- who is lord over us?'  'Because the poor are plundered and the needy groan, I will now arise,' says the Lord.  'I will protect them from those who malign them.'  And the words of the Lord are flawless, like silver purified in a crucible, like gold refined seven times.  You, Lord, will keep the needy safe and will protect us forever from the wicked, who freely strut about when what is vile is honored by the human race." (Psalm 12, NIV, emphasis mine) 

There are those who say that the Bible is "out of date."  They say the Bible is "not relevant to modern cultures."  Really?  Then we must not be reading the same Bible.

I shared the entire Psalm 12 with you just in case you may still be wondering what is going on in the United States of America, indeed the nations.  Psalm 12 is a prayer and revelation of humanity.  Contained therein is also a great promise from the Lord Jesus Christ, "I WILL NOW ARISE...." 

Each of the first three days of this month have provided plenty of prayer "fodder."  I encourage you to read our text carefully.  There can be no greater declaration and prayer for what we are all facing in these times, in this generation. 

As we pray, it is imperative that we remember the victory of the Church throughout the ages, no matter the cultures, the governments:  "For Christ also died for sins once for all, just for unjust, so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit, in Whom also He went and made proclamation to the spirits in prison...."  Jesus then rose from, "among the dead," and is now on The Throne of the Universe.  This is indeed Gospel.  This reality, "the finished Work of Christ," guarantees our end, our victory, "in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation."  I affirm again the Words of our Lord Jesus, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My Words will not pass away."  I base and build my life on this.

Father, in Jesus' Name, I agree with Your "prayer."  Amen.
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The Truth About the US Justice Department:    jhs58.blogspot.com

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

You Can Access This at: apfdevotionals.blogspot.com

"Behold, the wicked man (woman) conceives evil and is pregnant with mischief and gives birth to lies.  He (she) makes a pit, digging it out, and falls into the hole that he (she) made.  His (her) mischief returns upon his (her) own head, and on his (her) own skull his (her) violence descends.  I will give to the Lord the thanks due to His righteousness, and I will sing praise to the Name of the Lord, the Most High."  (Psalm 7:14-17, ESV)

"....The wicked," can do nothing more or less than this.  He/she, "conceives evil and is pregnant with mischief and gives birth to lies."  They are incapable of any other life style.  I have been praying according to Psalm 7 today for not only the situation in the United States of America, but also for all nations.  I commend such praying to you.

So far there are four of us going on the encirclement of Pittsburgh "tour."  I am getting more and more reports, not only from US news media, but also from international media, that it is not only the US elections which are in crisis mode, but the whole state of international relations.  I have posted a recent article by Carolyn Glick, one of Israel's premiere columnists, to my Face Book page, and included it on our Blog Site.  Our planned "prophetic act" for November 7, 2016, is just one of many attempts by the Church to walk in Isaiah 28:5, 6, "In that day the Lord Almighty will be a glorious crown, and a beautiful wreath for the remnant of His People.  He will be a spirit of justice to the one who sits in judgment, and a source of strength to those who turn back the battle at the gate."

"Jesus Christ is Lord," which is another way of saying, "Jesus Christ is King."  Some people may think that I am a "Kingdom now" person.  Most mean in such a statement some sort of mid or post millennialism.  They miss the point, and the "point" is the "Great Commission"/Command.  The "Great Commission/Command" means that we are to aggressively, "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,...teaching them to OBSERVE ALL THAT I HAVE COMMANDED YOU."  The Bible says of the Living Triune God, "Who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth."  And there is no way that anyone can interpret the "Great Commission" with the intent that, "all...be saved..," and, "teaching them to observe/obey...," any other way than affecting not only church attendance, but also the course of cultures and nations.  This is not some erroneous "works" salvation.  This is not you and I doing what only our Lord Jesus Christ does, but it does get us out of the mentality of, "Well, just let go and let God," or, "He will work it all out."  Church:  Let us, "be about...Father's business."

Father, in Jesus' Name, by Your mercy and grace I determine to do what You command.  Amen.
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Article referred to at:  jhs58.blogspot.com

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

"Neglect" So As To "Escape"

"....how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation...?"  (Hebrews 2)

I dated a girl for a couple of months while at SMU.  One night I went to pick her up and waited in the lounge of her dorm.  There was a piano there with a hymnal.  I was playing "Moment By Moment" when she came down, and I told her, "This is one of my favorite hymns."  Her response was, "O, Woody."  It was not an admirable response.  It was more, "You got to be serious."  It was probably the first time in a one to one situation that I realized rejection because of Jesus.

What brought that response was the first few words of the first stanza of the hymn, "Dying with Jesus a death reckoned mine...."  Even back then I could understand the response.  If one has never encountered, "met," Jesus, very little of the relationship would make any sense.  I got a similar response once when another unbeliever saw my Bible opened at Hebrews 10:19, "Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the Blood of Jesus...."  Have you ever attempted to, "neglect," so as to, "escape"?  I'm sure over the years that you have encountered similar "rejection responses" because of your identity in Jesus Christ.  But I am also sure that you have found, as with me, that nothing or no one is worth abandoning Jesus.  As another favorite hymn says, "O how could I this Friend deny, when He's so true to me?"!?!?

There is a very real sense in which all of us desire to "escape," i.e., get out of trouble, make life as convenient, trouble-free as possible, even the "workaholics," working to "get ahead," working for "a better life," maybe a fight against boredom, could we even say, "lay up for yourselves treasures on earth"?  Regardless, please don't be offended; saving ourselves is a constant nemesis.  Our text, however, warns us that no matter what the driving force of our lives, there is no, "escape," apart from Jesus.  In Jesus, we find that we, "escape," condemnation, the coming judgment, hopelessness, despair, guilt, well, the list could go on and on.  Our salvation in Jesus is, "....so great a salvation...."  Nothing is worth it's, "neglect."

Father, in Jesus' Name, I confess that there have been times in my life when I did "neglect."  I am so thankful that You did not neglect me in my neglect.  I stand today not only in "awe," but in fear.  Amen.

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I am planning some sort of "prophetic act" for next Monday.

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

Some Thoughts After The Berlin Mission

"Therefore watch yourselves carefully.  Do not meddle with them, for I will not give you any of their land, no, not so much as one footstep...," or, "not even enough to put your foot on."  (Deuteronomy 2--from today's Pentateuch reading)

Why is it that too many of us do, "meddle with them..."?  Could it be that too many want, "of their land, of their, "footstep"?!?  Wanting what the world system wants has been and is the downfall of too many.  The admonition from the "God-Breathed" Word for you and me today is, "....Watch yourselves carefully....Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God."  There is a principle of life for the Followers of Jesus that we are in this world but not of it.  Our Lord Jesus prayed for you and me, "I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.  I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one." (John 17)

I awoke to this today: "India: Prayer for the believers whose church leader was murdered for being a believer."  This is from the Open Doors With Brother Andrew Prayer Force Alert.  This Brother was, "not a friend of the world," and paid with his life.  Now some people would say, "O, well, what do you expect from 'those' countries."  I could respond by saying that you can expect from third or "second world" countries what exactly was not expected from a "first world" country like Germany, yet, nonetheless, burst upon the world.  I hope you do not grow tired of my repeating the quote of William Shirer, author of The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, but his words continue to be very sobering to me.  "How did it happen that an ancient and cultured people, steeped in Christianity, cultivating the arts and sciences, preeminent in modern technology, who gave us Luther and Kant, Bach and Beethoven, Goethe and Einstein, collapse into savage barbarism in the mid Twentieth Century?"  I agree with Shirer when he added, "These questions haunt us still."  Beware even the thought, "This could never happen here."

Someone with whom I spoke in Berlin has the attitude that suffering is a part of "the Christian Faith," QED, we should not concern ourselves with such mundane things as governmental elections.  I have often taken note of those who can talk of "suffering" and persecution so glibly.  Yes, of course, we are promised that, "all who live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution."  Our Lord Jesus tells us, "If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me, before it hated you."  Yet maybe there is, however, a consideration here.  Maybe if we can do something to oppose evil, if, as in the United States of America, we have the constitutional purpose (and I believe a God-given commission) to "form a more perfect government," then resisting the forces of evil, which are intent to give us totally humanistic government, is an imperative.  We should be about the great Command, "Go...and make disciples of all nations,... teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you...."  This is not the great option.  This is the great command of King Jesus.  This is a command against passivity.  Indeed, this is THE Command. 

I say and stand on, "The Word of God, " King Jesus, and His Words.  I don't, "meddle with them," but I do resist "them."  While life and society around us are crumbling, you and I are of those our Lord Jesus describes, "And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock," or, "it was well built."  The great Biblical principle is that though we, "will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of Me," we have the great universal principle for those who obey Jesus, "But thanks be to God Who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."

Father, in Jesus' Name, I thank you that You have given me, "the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."  Amen.
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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