Mondays's Musings

You may be a person who either receives prayer requests from various individuals or you are aware of people who are having challenging circumstances in their lives. Either one of these scenarios require a serious and sincere response. I often write about the need of prayer because I am a person who believes in prayer and I am a person who is a product of prayer. I was blessed to have been born into a home that believed in prayer and I grew up in a church family that believed in prayer. I am truly thankful for my spiritual heritage and the emphasis that was placed on prayer. 

But it seems that the interest in prayer is waning in these days. Altar calls seem to be more difficult. Meetings that focus on Prayer are sparsely attended. Food will draw a crowd, Prayer will disburse and scatter the crowd. I will agree that it is possible that my "passion for Prayer" clouds my view BUT I also believe that the times in which we are living are going to require more serious times of prayer and intercession.

We have a Prayer Team where I serve as Pastor. Prayer requests from our congregation as well as outside of our congregation are submitted. I want to share a note with you that I sent to the Prayer Team in response to a request that was submitted to us today. I felt led to remind them of something important and I feel led to share that same inspiration with you today!

Your continued prayers for the challenges that people are facing are desperately needed in this day and time. I truly believe that the Spirit of God is trying to awaken us to the "seriousness" of the times in which we are living. The needs are real but even more importantly THE PEOPLE ARE REAL!! The names brought before us are not television or movie actors. They are our family, our friends and our fellow human beings that are facing situations that are far greater than their abilities to overcome them. They need the divine intervention of Heaven in their lives.

I am aware of the needs of these two individuals who were placed before us today!! Trust me when I say that their challenge is real and that the enemy is truly working against their soul. Let me hasten to add that I am also aware of the power and presence of God who can make a difference in the lives of people. But the effective prayers of the people of God can and will make a difference. 

Blessings! Your prayer support and your commitment to prayer is making a difference!!

Remember that someone is depending on your sincere prayers the next time you pray!!

Thursday's Reflections

This is another wonderful day in which God is calling us to draw closer to Him. I truly believe there are Christians who are failing to seriously and sincerely recognize God's call to them concerning their relationship with Him. It is far easier to grow content with a "form of godliness" than it is to pursue a developing relationship with Christ!! I am speaking to myself as well as to those who will take the time to read this blog post.

I can very easily grow comfortable and content with just going thought the motions of the "religious information" that I deposited in my mind through my life. But isn't it more to our relationship with God than Him just sharing information with us? These words from Dwight Moody challenged my heart this morning. "The Bible was not given for our information but for our transformation." WOW!! Now isn't that a challenging revelation? Satan wants us to live through our knowledge of information and God desires for us to live through the "power of transformation."

Our Bible Study group raised several wonderful thoughts last night as we discussed the need to seriously approach our relationship with God. There is a great battle raging in the spiritual atmosphere that is seeking to interfere in our desire to see our relationship with God reach its full potential. But we must continue to "hunger and thirst" after His righteousness to be deposited in our journey of life.

I will list a few comments that were made during our time of conversation concerning the development our relationship with God.

1) We must continually desire more of God's presence, direction and guidance.

2) We must continue to focus on our need to offer sincere worship and praise to God for all of the blessings that we have received from God.

3) We must be honest and open with God as we come before Him in confession and connection.

4) We must look for the blessings of God. And we must identify those blessings and testify of those blessings to others.

5) We must acquaint ourselves with the Word of God.

This may be a good time to write down or at least think about some actions that you can take that will serve as a means of strengthening your relationship with God. 

I'm Back

I can not imagine that it has been this many days since I shared my thoughts with you. I have tried some other means of communication as well as been very busy in the pursuit of my daily walk with Christ. I am going to share a portion of the communication that I sent to our local church family today. I pray that the words will challenge your heart as much as they challenged me when I was engaged in prayer time on Tuesday.

Good morning on post-Eclipse Wednesday!! 

We were blessed to be able to witness the revelation of the glory of God on Monday. I don't know about you but my faith is even stronger after I was able to witness the greatness of God on display. This should be another reminder to the people of God that this is the time to recognize and pursue the presence of God in our lives. People traveled from various parts of the world to see this event and the effects of the full Eclipse was only noticeable for a little over two minutes. What would happen in each of our lives if we were that passionate for Jesus Christ and the work of His Kingdom in our lives?

On Monday evening President Trump presented his strategy for the war in Afghanistan that has been taking place since November of 2001. He shared several different measures/strategies that the Military Forces of America would take in the near future. I feel led to lay out a strategy with you today for the "spiritual war" that we have been facing since the fall of man in the Garden of Eden. It is a four point plan. It has been tried by previous generations and found to be successful in defeating the forces of evil and darkness. 1) Pray  2) Pray Again  3) Pray More 4) Continue Praying.  Our only hope for our lives, for our families, our communities, our state, our nation as well as our world is found in 2 Chronicles 7:14, “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (NKJV)

The Spirit placed these words in my heart on Tuesday: "It is time for each of us to come off the "sideline" of this spiritual war. It is time for the men and women of the church to step forward and commit to being the example that the children and youth of this nation need to see. It is time to stop just being an observer. God is calling us to participate with Him. It is dangerous to follow Christ at a distance. It is time to draw near in humility, surrender and obedience. The powers of darkness are real but the power of God is even greater!!"

I share these previous words with humility as well as sincerity. I realize that we have heard and read these words before. But it was as if the Spirit asked me this question, "When will my people begin to do what they know they ought to do?" OUCH!!! The challenges that the enemy is presenting to the church is getting most of the headlines but I am more concerned about the challenge that the Spirit and the Word is bringing to the church. HOW WILL I CHOOSE TO RESPOND?

I pray that each of you will take the time to listen to the Voice of God in your life and that each of us will respond appropriately and correctly. 

Tuesday's Thoughts

This past weekend I felt led to remind the New River family of the need to recognize that we are VALUABLE TO GOD. Those words may appear to be arrogant or haughty at first glance but doesn't the death of Jesus Christ on the cross validate the point that I was declaring on Sunday as well as the point that I am declaring today? The Spirit of God was very evident in the service as we celebrated the fact that God truly loves us and that He cares about our daily journey of life. I am still celebrating this particular Biblical Truth this morning!!

I still sense the Spirit at work in my heart today concerning God's awesome and wonderful love for ALL OF HUMANITY!! I was led back to a passage of scripture from the writings of the Apostle Paul. I feel led to share this passage with you. I also feel led to allow the Word of God to speak to you without adding my own commentary. Will you take a few moments and allow this passage to "marinate" in your heart? I believe the TRUTH that is revealed in this passage is destined to make an eternal difference in our lives!! Blessings on you as you "take in" the power, strength and encouragement that comes alive as you read this TRUTH SPOKEN FROM THE HEART OF GOD!!

Ephesians 3:14-21, “When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father,  ¹⁵ the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.  ¹⁶ I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. ¹⁷ Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. ¹⁸ And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. ¹⁹ May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. ²⁰ Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. ²¹ Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.” (NLT)