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How to Pray for our Country and Our Lives.

The following verse is frequently used to call people to pray for our country on Patriotic holidays like Independence Day.  It is a good verse for that and it is needful that we do pray for our country.  However if I take that verse very personally and apply it to my daily life as well, I can be doubly blessed.

prayflag1 (9K)
 II 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."

My people - I am not my own - I Cor. 6:20 "For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s."   
called by My name - I belong to God - John 1:12-13 "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God."
humble myself - get rid of pride, do not think myself better than others - Pro.16:18 "Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall." Rom.12:3 "For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith."
and pray - give it ALL to God -Phil.4:6-7 "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."  I Thess.5: 16-18 "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."
and seek His face - establish an intimate relationship with God, fall in love with Him for who He is - Deut.30:20 "...love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days..." Mark 12:30 "And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength."
turn from my wicked ways - recognize any sin in my life, renounce all strongholds, confess and be cleansed and be Holy - Psalm 139:23-24 "Search me, O God, and know my heart;Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting."  I John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."  I Peter 1: 14-16 "as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”
He will hear, forgive, and heal - He has promised to bless me when I obey. - Psalm 145:18-20 "The LORD is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him; He also will hear their cry and save them. The LORD preserves all who love Him,"  Psalm 37:3-5 "Trust in the LORD, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. Delight yourself also in the LORD,  And He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass."

 

Benefits of being Born Again


Rom 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

Rom 8:29  For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Rom 8:30  Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
Rom 8:31  What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?

Today I do not want to discuss predestination in the sense of goats vs sheep, I want to just look at the results and benefits of being a child of God.
In John 3 a Jewish leader called Nicodemus
came to Jesus at night,
John 3:3  Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 
This was a new concept for this religious leader, he had trouble grasping the concept of a new birth. (John 3:4) I remember when Jimmy Carter was campaigning for President, he referred to himself as being a born again Christian.  To some, like Nicodemus, this was a new term they did not understand and to others it was a deciding factor on who to vote for. But what Jesus was talking about was a completely changed life. 
This being born again has benefits, eternal benefits.
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He's still working on me
Shortly after I became a Christian, A friend said, I saw you going awfully fast on the exit ramp yesterday. I guess he was right.
Through these 37+ years I have walked and sometimes stumbled along with Jesus I have noticed I am not perfect. I'm better than I was but I have a long way to go.
Like I try to tell some people salvation comes in 3 tenses.
1- I was saved from the penalty of sin. (when Jesus saved me)
2- I am being saved from the power of sin.(as the Holy Spirit empowers me)
3- I will be saved from the presence of sin.(when He calls me home)
1 John 3:1 Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.
1 John 3:2 Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
1 John 3:3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.




The coming of a Perfect World

I was praying in my prayer closet, and Perhaps I was reminding God on just how bad this world is today, and it dawned on me, He knows it.
Then I started thinking what would the perfect world be like?  Would it be a world with no war, no corruption in government, would it be everyone helping each other without evil motives? Could this ever happen?
I guess through history there have been men that set out to make the world perfect. Their perfect world was a self centered, self benefiting world for themselves through riches, power and glory.
We can see this so strong in our nations leaders, past and present. Many in government will do almost anything for a legacy to be remembered. Sometimes they create a legacy that will almost distroy others by their abuse of power. I remember one President was asked why he did one thing that lead to a scandle, he said "because he could". Now you find oral sex which was consider sin, and still is by the way, as common as kissing was 50 or 60 years ago.
The only way we will ever have that perfect world is if Jesus is the ruling King.
Praise God one day that will happen.

Isaiah 2:1 The word that Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem.
Isaiah 2:2 And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the LORD'S house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.
Isaiah 2:3 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
Isaiah 2:4 And he shall judge among the nations, and shall rebuke many people: and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
Isaiah 2:5 O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the LORD
.

When will this happen?

1 Thessalonians 5:1 But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
1 Thessalonians 5:2 For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night
.

Until that day, we as Christians must live in a world that is not perfect. What can we expect form the devil and his children? Isn't he a liar? Isn't he a deciever? Can we expect any more from the devil's children? We as Christians need to realize that anyone under Satan's control will have a mission to steal, kill, and distroy the Church, God's Word, and our testimonies.
We are in a Spiritual warfare. James tells us.

James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

Notice He says Submit ourselves to God. God is our strength. Don't try fighting without your strength.

Christians have a duty, a mission, a responsibility.

2 Chron.7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

This says my people, if God's people would do this, God can not lie, He will heal our land.

Humble .... Pray .... Seek God's face .... Repent




Where will you be tomorrow?

My wife went to the doctor because she was getting short winded when she bent over or excerpted herself. They did what should have been routine test on her, one of which was an arthrogram. Well her heart just stopped. The doctor told me later of all the times he had done this procedure, this had never happened before. Although they were able to shock her back to life, we have to wonder, what if the paddles on the machine had not restarted her heart? My wife tells me she has no worries on where she would have been the following day had the doctor failed to restart her heart.
May I ask you a question
If your heart stopped today for any reason and did not restart, where would you be tomorrow.
You can know
1 John 5:13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.
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Born on: December 15, 2005

Christian Life Benefits.


Have you checked your benefits lately?
Job Description....Matt.28:18-20
Salary............ Matt.6:33-34
Vacation.......... Matt.11:28
Holidays...........Isa.14:3
Medical............James 5:14-15
Pension ...........Rom.6:23
Work Schedule .....Eccl.3:1-8
Co-Workers ........Matt.18:20
Work Area .........Acts 1:8
Supplies ..........Phil.4:19
Lunch Room ........Mark 14:14
Security...........Prov.1:33
Uniform ...........Eph.6:10-11
ID Badge ..........Rev.2:17

Sweet hour of Prayer

Because He Lives



We Shall Behold Him


The King is Coming


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