Intercession

We like praying quiet. Get us in a group and we become mousy and meek, with our whispering prayers. However, intercession is loud. Intercession is prayers prayed with great passion and agony. It is to become broken by the need and present it to God as if it were our own.

Hebrews 5:7 declares, "Jesus offered up prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears". The critical function of an intercessor is to agonize for the souls of man and the needs of those around him. This intercession grabs God's attention.

The blind man that sat by the roadside shouted and screamed aloud in his affliction, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me...Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me". He was loud. He cried out to the Master, the Only One able to make a difference in his life. You and I need to practice true intercession in behalf of the needs of the hour. For our Sovereign God truly desires that we cry out passionately to Him for answers.

A Polished Shaft

Isaiah 49:2, "And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft." It is God alone that forms us by the washing of His holy Word and the power of the Holy Spirit at work in our lives. The more we commit ourselves in total surrender, the more He polishes us. And the more we become like Him. O' to have a heart like Jesus!

Let our prayer today be, "Lord make me like a polished shaft" where others can see their true reflection and understand how desperately they need You to lead their lives." Without Him, you are empty and only full of yourself. But in Him and through Him, you possess of all of Life.

Dry Air

The prophet Hosea shouted, "Sow to yourselves in righteousness, reap in mercy, break up your fallow ground: for it is time to seek the Lord, till He come and rain righteousness upon you." (Hosea 10:12) Sometimes we wake in the morning to simple, dry air. The heat/ac unit has forced out alot of dry air and what we need is to step outdoors to God's fresh air.

Maybe today, you are feeling dry or even spiritually inadequate: it's time to seek the Lord. If you are facing difficulty or dilemma in your decision-making, it's time to seek the Lord. If your two feet hit the floor this morning, it's time to seek the Lord. Seek Him until you experience fresh air and a "RAIN" of His Holy Spirit's power on your life.

Your ground may be hard, dry, and crusted. Every gardner will tell you that you will never experience a crop or a harvest without first breaking up the fallow ground. It is time that you and I get the spiritual roto-tiller out of our spiritual garages and start working on our ground. Our hearts must remain softened and open to the work of God, attentive to His voice and His plan for us. Then, when the seed of His Word takes root, the result will be bountiful and refreshing. And we will no longer feel as if we are sucking in dry air.

Be Courageous

Joshua 1:9, "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." The truth is sometimes reality breaks us into a thousand pieces. Life is full of ups and downs, joys and disappointments. We must be prepared to pull ourselves up by the bootstraps from time to time and press onward. Christian virtue demands strength of character, not a life of ease.

Joshua was a warrior, prepared for battle, who encouraged us with Holy Scripture to "be strong and courageous!" He was a leader who faced tremendous odds against him, but fought righteously to "stand up" when everyone else was backing down. He said, do not be terrified or alarmed by what is going on around you - for it is God who will be with you wherever your feet take you. Joshua was fearless because he stood in a right relationship with God.

Walk with God each day and know your conquests belong to Him. And you will stand courageous regardless of the obstacles that cross your path.

One Dose that Cures

Often, when we are sick we visit the doctor, obtain and fill a prescription, then begin taking the doctor's prescribed "dose" of medicine. We are careful to take the dose several times a day, because we believe that it will bring us healing. Today, I declare and decree that Christ Jesus offers you and I a "dose" that cures. Exodus 15:26 shouts, "I am the Lord that heals you".

God desires to bring complete healing and restoration to your life today. Whatever you face, whether sickness, depression, feeling of inadequacy, abuse, or spiritual decay...God is the Lord who healeth thee. Scripture declares that Jesus is Jehovah-Raphe' (The Lord who heals). And He is compassionate about helping you in your present condition. He offers you deliverance and healing today. So in your moment of weakness and perhaps fear of what tomorrow holds for you, reach out in faith today and accept the healing hand of Jesus Christ."By His stripes, we are healed..." (Isaiah 53:5)

Your Heart

Jesus teaches that sometimes man has issues with his heart, his motivation, and his thought processes. The Word is clear that we should take the time to always examine our heart. By doing so, we will find where we have truly and honestly placed our treasure.

Matthew 6:19-21, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

Doing good for the right reasons is more important to God than just our works alone. God is concerned with why we do what we do. If we carry 10 pots of soup to the sick this week only to write in a journal and keep track of our good works, then we have done good for the wrong reason.

Matthew 6 is asking each of us to examine our heart and our priorities. Where do you spend your time? Do you proceed to do the things you know God's Word instructs you to do like give, tithe, treat others with honor and respect? Do you place others before yourself and care about the needs of the hurting and the poor? Or are you selfish and absorbed with only you?

Examine your checkbook and see where your heart is? Do you spend your finances on big screen televisions and manicures, pedicures, and hair salons without any assistance going to those who have no food? Do you dine out and waste money on entertainment and vacations, but fail to give to the house of God that the Word of God may be preached and continue to reach the lost?

When it comes to matters of the heart it is imperative that we ask ourselves, Where is our heart? "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

Protect Your Senses

The Bible is clear that whatever our senses experience will affect our whole body and spirit. So what we experience with our senses actually affect our spirituality, our relation to God. What we see, read, and listen to can either negatively or positively affect how spiritual we are.

Knowing that light and darkness have no common denominator, no reason to share experiences,
Matthew 6:22-24 teaches, "The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore, the light that is in you is in darkness, how great is that darkness! No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon."

Many today try to serve God and still walk in darkness. God said these two have no fellowship with each other, it cannot be done. You have to make a decision to follow hard after God and be careful what your senses see, hear, and experience. Because the "lamp of the body is the eye", therefore what you see lights your path, and leads you in that path. If you choose to look at perversion in movies and internet entertainment then that is what will drive you and the path will not lead to God. If you choose to soak up music that is not uplifting to God, then your spirit will be driven by the world's view. If you read books and magazines that are not godly then those values will push you to darkness, not light.

We must beware and heed the warning of Scripture that says we choose the path we take by what we decide to "see". We direct our own lives, with our choices. Joshua declared, "Choose you this day who you will serve."

God is My Counselor

The Psalmist declares in Psalm 16:5-8, "LORD, you alone are my portion and my cup; you make my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.  I will praise the LORD, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me.  I keep my eyes always on the LORD. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken."

Sometimes, we go to all our friends for advice and counsel. We are curious what they would do, or say, or choose. But God is the only counsel you really need. Fine-tune your spirit to hear His voice and listen to His instruction. Seek out His counsel. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts."  (Isaiah 55:9) God is My Counselor.

Avoid disappointment with family and friends for bad advice, go directly to God who is your counselor and confidante'. You can trust His guidance. When the enemy lays a trap for your feet, He steers you around it. When you are tempted to choose ways against the Word of God, He grips your hand tightly in His. When you feel you have no one to talk to, no one who understands what you are going through - God is your Counselor.

When God's Got Your Back

You can stand strong and courageous when you know God has got your back. God told Joshua before he stepped out into battle that He was in charge of the situation. In Joshua 8:18 God declares, "Stretch out the spear that is in your hand toward Ai, for I will give it into your hand."

When you walk in relationship with Christ each day you can remain secure in faith that God has got you covered. You do not seem to fear what the day will bring forth or how troublesome situations will turn out because deep inside you know that God's got your back. There is great assurance in walking in that type of closeness with God. Nothing compares to it and nothing can replace it.

If you long for this type of assurance today, then ask God to help you to rest in Him and to keep your hand tightly in His. Because when you know that your hand is in the Hand of God, the security is like that of a small child hanging on to 6 ft tall Dad, when they stumble. They know that their Daddy's grip is strong.

Mountain of Worry

There is a mountain called "Worry". We can easily get into a routine of worry and fear when we fail to trust God. Worry is therefore a lack of faith and, "whatsoever is not of faith is sin".  It is a mountain that we circle aimlessly because we take matters into our own hands. But Scripture declares, "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication make your requests known unto God. And the God of peace will keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

It has become a negative habit of ours to worry about everything and pray about nothing. But on the contrary, God's Word teaches us to worry about nothing and pray about everything. We just have it all backwards. His Word is full of precious promises that God will supply our need. God will not forsake you, but if you are faithful to "abide in Him and His Word abide in you, then you can ask what you will and it shall be done." And this leaves no room for worry. We must walk in obedience, let go, and totally trust God.