B2B Concert of Prayer – A Suitable Helper #746

Posted on June 6, 2011 by ron021950

CONCERT OF PRAYER

Pray Week 746

“A Suitable Helper”

Genesis 2:18 (ESV)  Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.”

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In 1970 I saw for the first time a picture of the woman who would become my wife. Immediately I sensed recognition in my spirit that this woman was the part of me that was missing and that I needed to make me whole.  This is what the word ‘fit’ or ‘suitable’ means from our reference Scripture.  It is like looking in a mirror and recognizing the reflected image.

…God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them … But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. – Genesis 2:19

Nothing in God’s creation was found to be a suitable fit to be man’s helper except for the woman God created from the flesh of the man He had created in His own image.

If you are like me there is not a day that goes by in my married life that I have not relied upon the help of my wife.  ‘Honey, where are my socks?’  ‘Have you seen my wallet?’  ‘Where are my keys?’  ‘Where are the Band-Aids?’ (Why does she always seem to know?)  But beyond these little things, God has given our wives a special gift of wisdom, perspective, and insight that provides a synergistic solution when combined with our ideas and approach to solving life’s conundrums.

…husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman …since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered. – 1Peter 3:7

The Greek word translated ‘in an understanding way’ is ‘gnosis’ which carries the meaning of gaining deeper knowledge through a studied, scientific approach.

Our wives tend to be non-linear where we are linear in our thinking and approach.  We can, in our foolish male pride, dismiss their ideas and suggestions or we can seek to understand and gain a deeper knowledge and perhaps discover a better way to accomplish an objective.

“It is not good that the man should be alone.” God knew what He was doing then as He does now.  Men, we must learn to cherish and value our wives as the great gift of God to us that she represents.  This is the meaning of the phrase ‘…showing honor to the woman…’ from 1 Peter 3:7

Note the equality of men and women before God as indicated by the fact that we are joint heirs of the gift of eternal life through Jesus.  Also note the admonition that our prayers would be hindered if we fail to value and honor our wives.

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her… – Eph 5:25

Jesus died for His bride, the church.  We are to love our wives in a like manner.  Our wives should not be the subject of jokes that ridicule them.  Our wives should not live with us in fear of being abused physically or emotionally.  Our wives are not ‘slaves’ in our homes.  They are to be valued partners assisting us in walking the narrow path of life that follows Jesus.

May your marriage be blessed of God.  May the Holy Spirit dwell in your hearts and home.  May the love, peace, and joy of the presence of Almighty God be evident in your marriage.

Close in prayer, thanksgiving & dedication of your work to the glory of God

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B2B Concert of Prayer – Eyes Front # 745

Posted on May 30, 2011 by ron021950

CONCERT OF PRAYER

Pray Week 745

“Eyes Front”

 Proverbs 4:25 (ESV)  Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you.

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Keep your eye on the ball!  Watch where you’re going!  Keep your eyes on the road! Eyes front!  There are constant reminders in life, whether in sports, walking, driving, or marching, to focus ahead.  The truth of God’s Word found in the Bible underscores the eternal wisdom and necessity of ‘fixing our eyes’ in the proper direction.

Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith – Heb 12:2

What is your purpose in life?  What motivates you and drives your day to day decision-making?  Do you have an eternal perspective and outlook or are you consumed with the temporal things of this world?  What are your eyes fixed upon?

So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. – 2 Cor 4:18

It is so easy to become distracted in life.  We are constantly being bombarded with temptations to trip us up and get us to change our focus. Eyes front!

Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil. – Prov 4:27

Soft core pornography has become the norm on billboards, magazine and television ads.  Many times we cannot escape seeing it.  However, we can decide not to dwell on it or take a second or longer look.  Eyes front!

I will not set before my eyes anything that is worthless. – Psa 101:3

We see coworkers, neighbors, church members that drive expensive cars, have nice outfits and luxurious homes and we lust after what they have or gossip maliciously about them. Eyes front!

Then I saw that all toil and all skill in work come from a man’s envy of his neighbor. This also is vanity and a striving after wind. – Eccl 4:4

And he (Jesus) said to them, “Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” – Luke 12:15

In a recent Olympics competition, as the lead runner approached the finish line, he turned his head to see where his closest competitor was.  This cost him precious fractions of a second and he failed to win the race.  Paul, in his letter to the church in Philippi, uses such a competitive metaphor to illustrate the focus we need to have on living our lives for the one true prize.

…one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. – Phil 3:13b-14

May you hear and obey when the Holy Spirit quickens you with an ‘Eyes front!’ command whenever you are tempted by the distractions of this life.  May you press on with passionate focus on the only prize that matters: an eternal loving relationship with Jesus Christ.

Close in prayer, thanksgiving & dedication of your work to the glory of God

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B2B Concert of Prayer – Marital Investment Plan #744

Posted on May 23, 2011 by ron021950

CONCERT OF PRAYER

Pray Week 744

“Marital Investment Plan”

Ecclesiastes 11:1 (ESV)  Cast your bread upon the waters, for you will find it after many days.

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Ralph Waldo Emerson stated that “…the only way to have a friend is to be a friend.”  Your spouse should be your best friend and friendships always require a nurturing, cultivating and sacrificial investment in order to deepen and remain healthy.  ‘Cast your bread…’ – Invest sacrificially without ulterior or manipulative motives.  Invest out of love for your spouse.  The following are some ‘rules of the road’ for a Marital Investment Plan.

Don’t be a sluggard with respect to your marriage.  Make no mistake about it: A great marriage takes a great deal of work.  You cannot be lazy and ignore your marriage relationship.  Your spouse must not be relegated to the status of furniture.  Offer each other sacrificial expressions of love.  Go out of your way to express your love for your spouse; no matter how tired you are or how difficult your day has been – make the sacrifice to take the time to write a note, get a card, pick a flower – something, anything to express your love to your spouse.  Be imaginative, creative, spontaneous and unpredictable with your expressions of affection for your spouse.

Don’t use your children as the glue that holds your marriage together or as wedges that drive you and your spouse apart.  Invest now in your marriage to plan for a life without children later.  Your children should be a part of what makes your family whole, not what makes your marriage whole.  Your children will grow and go – you two will remain.  Will you know each other?

Don’t allow someone of the opposite sex access to what is the exclusive domain of your spouse:  A shoulder to cry on; a compassionate ear to hear your troubles.  These are seemingly innocent, yet very dangerous to your marriage.  You cannot heap burning coals in your lap without getting burned.  Nor can you engage in an intimate relationship with someone of the opposite sex that is not your spouse without giving Satan access to destroying your marriage.  Note that intimacy does not necessarily equate to a sexual relationship.  Intimacy begins in the mind.  It is a close friendship that usurps the position God intends for your spouse to fill.

Don’t take each other for granted.  Never ignore each other’s interests such that it breeds neglect and distance.  He is always out with the boys.  She is out with the girls.  They are never out with each other.  She does her thing, he does his.  The recipe for marital failure stems from a failure to invest in ‘together time’.

Husbands, love your wife in the same manner that Jesus loves His church and it will be easy for your wife to respect you as God’s Word indicates she should.  It is a cause and effect relationship – spousal respect is earned and not casually given. Husbands, do not rule over your wife as a selfish tyrant.  Jesus is Lord of lords, yet He loves His church sacrificially, protecting her and caring for her – willing to die for her.

Intimacy in marriage grows from a trust basis and makes us vulnerable to each other.  We know what words to say that will hurt our spouse the most.  Never use your words as a strategic weapon against your spouse.  Always use your words to affirm your spouse.  Speak blessings over your spouse while in prayer and you are ‘washing them in the water of the Word of God’.  Build them up and encourage them with your words.

Take the initiative and be the first to ‘Cast your bread…’ Invest in your marriage and you will reap a healthy return on that investment.

Close in prayer, thanksgiving & dedication of your work to the glory of God

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B2B Concert of Prayer – Marital Math 101 #743

Posted on May 16, 2011 by ron021950

CONCERT OF PRAYER  

Pray Week 743

“Marital Math 101”

Matthew 19:3-6 (ESV)  And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female,  and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh’?  So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

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One plus one equals … one.  This is God’s math with respect to marriage.  Far too many of our marriages today, both Christian and unbelievers, use the new math of one plus one equals two.  One plus one equals two parallel or diverging paths of life.  One plus one equals two individuals cohabitating out of convenience or obligation, yet leading two separate lives.  The end result is that they are essentially ‘married singles’.  Such relationships almost always end up in divorce.

Corrupt societal norms and laws relative to divorce have been allowed to trump God’s moral law relative to marriage for many Christian believers.  Many have chosen the wide easy path of civil law over the narrow path as defined by God’s Word.

God instituted marriage not to be a temporary civil contract but rather to be a life covenantal commitment that He would place His seal upon.  One plus one equals unity in alignment and attunement of values, faith, purpose, and life direction.  Our marriages are to mirror the unity of the Trinity of the Godhead: Father, Son, and Spirit – three persons in one God.  Our marriages should be the triune unity of the Husband, Wife, and Holy Spirit of God.

But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. – Gal 5:16

Division fractures marital unity when one or both partners choose to not walk by the Spirit and seek to satisfy their own selfish desires.

What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you – James 4:1

Are you and your spouse on parallel or diverging paths?  Like boxers slugging it out after coming to the center of the ring from their opposite corners is there conflict whenever convergence and unity of opinion or direction is needed?  If this is you do not give up.  There is hope. You can begin to repair and restore unity in your marriage through prayer.

Pray for your marriage every day.  Invite the Holy Spirit into your hearts and home.  Obey His leading in purging and purifying the temple of your body as well as that of your home.  Get rid of all that would hinder His presence and power in your life.  Get rid of all that allows the enemy of your soul a stronghold from which to launch an attack on your marriage.

Pray blessing for your spouse.  Pray for the Lord to change your heart and to give you the grace to always respond to your spouse in an unselfish and loving manner.  Pray for God’s protection; that His full armor will be upon you and your spouse.  Do not be naïve and think that marital failure cannot happen to you.  Satan prowls about seeking those who naively think that they are ok and fail to invest in their marital relationship through daily prayer.

May God give you the insight, determination, and motivation to take obedient action to assure one plus one equals one in your marriage.

Close in prayer, thanksgiving & dedication of your work to the glory of God

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B2B Concert of Prayer – Zealous for you #742

Posted on May 9, 2011 by ron021950

CONCERT OF PRAYER

Pray Week 742

 “Zealous for you”

 John 2:13 (ESV)         Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  In the temple he found those who were selling oxen and sheep and pigeons, and the money-changers sitting there. And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father’s house a house of trade.” His disciples remembered that it was written, “Zeal for your house will consume me.”

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Passion is to hot water as zeal is to boiling water.  Passion is to a campfire as zeal is to a raging inferno.  Zeal is passion on steroids and Jesus is zealous for you.  It was prophesied that the Christ would be consumed with zeal for His Father’s temple.  Jesus demonstrated such zeal during the Passover feast where He ‘cleaned house’ of the corruption that was present there.  The Word of God also tells us that we are temples of God and Jesus is as zealous for the integrity of His Father’s house today as He was then.

…do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? … So glorify God in your body. 1 Cor 6:19

In obedience to Father God, Jesus is zealous for your salvation.

All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. … this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. – John 6:37

What defiles your temple?  What do you allow in your heart, mind and soul that you know to be in disobedience to God’s laws and commands?  What is in your temple that a holy God will have to turn away from?

…let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God. – 2 Cor 7:1

There are things in our lifestyle habits, perhaps our language, thought life, or what we choose to be entertained by that hinder our relationship with God.  These are the things that God’s Holy Spirit speaks to our heart about changing in order to purify our temple of God.

Beloved, I urge you … to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. – 1 Peter 2:11

Will you allow Jesus in His zeal for you to whip, overturn, and drive out all that defiles your temple?  Do you love Him more than the stuff you know to be in disobedience to God?

“If you live according to my laws and obey my commands … I will live among you in my sacred tent, and I will never turn away from you. I will be with you; I will be your God, and you will be my people….” – Lev 26:3

May the refining fire of the zeal of our Lord purify your heart so the fullness of God may dwell within.

May you be pure and blameless for the day of Christ filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ… – Philippians 1:10

Close in prayer, thanksgiving & dedication of your work to the glory of God

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B2B Concert of Prayer – Hot and Cold #741

Posted on May 1, 2011 by ron021950

CONCERT OF PRAYER

 Pray Week 741

 “Hot and Cold”

 Luke 12:34 (ESV)        For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

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 Did you ever play a game where blindfolded and guided only by ‘Hot!’, ‘Cold!’, ‘Hotter!’ and ‘Colder!’ commands you attempt to find a ‘treasure’? As you moved toward the treasure you became hotter and when you moved away you became colder.

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rustdestroy 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.” – Matthew 6:19

The Bible tells us about two sources of treasure.  One is the world’s treasures, all of its toys, gadgets, and pleasures.  The other is a treasure stored up for us in Heaven.  It accumulates as we live and serve Jesus Christ from a heart of love and worship of Him. The question for us today is ‘Are we moving toward or away from our treasure?  Are we getting hotter or colder in our relationship with Jesus Christ?

No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” – Luke 16:13

Jesus equates our heart’s treasure to that of a ‘master’.  Money, possessions, the things of this world collectively called ‘mammon’ in some translations can master us as we become unhealthily preoccupied with them or the debt burden they present to us.

…the borrower is the slave of the lender. – Proverbs 22:7

 Are you unable to carve out time in your day to worship and pray?  Yet there seems to always be time to work, shop, eat out, and watch TV.  Do you struggle to remain ‘present and accounted for’ in mind, heart, and spirit while attending church services as your mind wanders to what you will do later that day or during the upcoming week?  If this is true of you as it is for so many of us then your heart is being torn between two masters or treasures.

If our treasure is in this world then from the moment of our birth we began to move away from it for in truth we will die and leave it all behind.  If our treasure is in heaven, then throughout our life span we are moving closer and closer to it.

Our relationship with God is not an agenda item or an appointment on a schedule calendar at some future date before we pass from this life into eternity.  Things can change suddenly as has been evidenced by the recent devastation and loss of life from the tornadoes that ripped across Alabama and other southern states recently.

 …I will say to my soul, Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’- Luke 12:19

 Are you moving toward or away from your heart’s treasure?  Listen carefully and change direction if the Holy Spirit speaks to your heart: ‘colder’, ‘you’re getting colder’.  Seek His kingdom and His righteousness first.  May your treasure be your personal relationship with Jesus Christ and may you feel the growing warmth of His presence, love, and peace as you get closer to Him.

Close in prayer, thanksgiving & dedication of your work to the glory of God

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B2B Concert of Prayer – Four Steps from the Bottom #740

Posted on April 24, 2011 by ron021950

CONCERT OF PRAYER  

Pray Week 740

“Four Steps from the Bottom”

Luke 22:39-62 (NKJV)  …When He came to the place, He said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” …

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Are you heading toward the pinnacle or the pit?  Are your trials making you stronger or weaker?  Are you growing closer to Jesus or becoming distanced from Him?  In which direction are your lifestyle decisions leading you?  In today’s Scripture reference let us examine the four steps that lead in the opposite direction from that which God has intended for our lives.

When He rose up from prayer, and had come to His disciples, He found them sleeping from sorrow… -Luke 22:45

The first step is to withdraw from prayer.  The disciples were depressed and sorrowful.  Our natural tendency when suffering from depression is to curl up and sleep.  We want to give up.  Perhaps you have believed and trusted in the truth of God’s Word and now it seems that your hopes are being dashed to pieces.  The cure is found in Jesus’ exhortation to “…Rise and pray, lest you enter into temptation.”  Prayer and the sacrifice of praise bring us into God’s holy presence.  In the light of His presence darkness is dispelled.  Prayer strengthens our relationship with God and builds our faith and trust in His love and perfect will for us.  Prayer helps us to keep our eyes on the Lord and not on our present circumstances. Prayer builds hope.

… But Peter followed at a distance… Luke 22:54

The second step is to follow Christ at a distance.  Do you find yourself attending church less often?  When you do attend do you try to hide in the back and remain unnoticed?  Do you jump from church to church seeking comfort through an arms-length religious relationship rather than a personal, accountable relationship with Jesus? Your downhill slide is accelerating and you are becoming spiritually weak and vulnerable to the attack of the enemy. “… your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.” – 1 Peter 5:8

Now when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them. …Luke 22:55

The third step is to warm yourself at the enemy’s fire.  When we back away from fellowship with God in prayer and the fellowship of the believers we back into the welcoming arms of the enemy.  When we have grown spiritually cold, Satan presents us with counterfeit comfort sources to warm us.  We are easily deceived and seek to fill our empty soul with the lusts of our flesh that do not satisfy and leave us even more empty, hungry and cold.

…But he denied Him … Luke 22:57

The fourth and final step is denying Christ when under trial.  We have hit bottom when we no longer have hope beyond what this world has to offer.  In the company of the lost we act, talk, and behave like the lost.  There is no differentiation between us and the lost which is tantamount to denying knowing Christ in order to fit in and belong.

Look up from the bottom and see Jesus looking directly at you.  Can you make eye to eye contact with Him?  Can you meet His gaze?  Do you remember the Word of the Lord spoken to you in times past?  It is not too late.  The pit can never be so deep that the Lord cannot reach you and lift you up and restore you to Him.  Rise and pray.

Close in prayer, thanksgiving & dedication of your work to the glory of God

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B2B Concert of Prayer – Thrive #739

Posted on April 18, 2011 by ron021950

CONCERT OF PRAYER 

Pray Week 739

 “Thrive”

 Psalm 52:8 (NLT)      But I am like an olive tree, thriving in the house of God.

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Are you a survivor?  In a time of catastrophe would you be the ‘last man standing’ – the only one not ‘voted off of the island’?  Survival is good.  Being an overcomer is better. A survivor just gets by.  They make it through alive where others perish.  In contrast an overcomer goes beyond survival and thrives in the midst of the difficult circumstances.  An overcomer flourishes and bears fruit that nourishes others as well.

The Bible tells of Daniel and Joseph who were both displaced from their homes and taken to foreign lands as slaves.  Daniel refused to compromise on his relationship with God and he thrived.

Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian. – Daniel 6:28

Similarly we see Joseph tenaciously holding onto his relationship with God as he rose from a pit through slavery and imprisonment to ultimately ruling Egypt second only to Pharaoh.  He later tells his brothers:

“…you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.” – Gen 50:20

Daniel and Joseph were more than survivors, they were overcomers.  They thrived despite their circumstances.  They grew where they were planted and bore fruit to the benefit of others.  Paul writes about learning the secret of thriving in his letter to the Philippians.

I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.  I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need.  I can do all things through him who strengthens me. – Philippians 4:11

The ‘secret’ Paul writes about he learned on the road to Damascus when Jesus told him that it was hard for him to ‘kick against the goads’.  Goads are a spiked stick used to drive cattle in the direction you want them to go.  Paul had been persecuting the followers of Jesus and fighting against the direction God wanted him to go.

You may be in the middle of difficult times.  Perhaps as a result of the poor economy you have been displaced from where you want to be.  You may have experienced pay and benefit cuts.  You may be unemployed or underemployed and not able to live the lifestyle you had in the past. No matter how adverse your present circumstances are, know that God has not abandoned you.  Plants thrive in the harshest of environments by sending their roots deep in search of water.  Likewise, we need to go deeper in our relationship with Jesus to draw upon His living water which we need to thrive and be a source of nourishment to others as well.

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. – Psalm 1:1

May you be an overcomer and thrive by His indwelling, abiding presence, power, peace and joy.

Close in prayer, thanksgiving & dedication of your work to the glory of God

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B2B Concert of Prayer – Give Courage #738

Posted on April 11, 2011 by ron021950

CONCERT OF PRAYER

Pray Week 738

 

“Give Courage”

 

2 Sam 19:7 (NIV) Now go out and encourage your men. I swear by the LORD that if you don’t go out, not a man will be left with you by nightfall. This will be worse for you than all the calamities that have come upon you from your youth till now.”

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There was a bright flash followed almost immediately by a thunderous boom as we conversed over a SKYPE video call with my son and his family.  We watched the terror stricken faces of our grandchildren immediately look off screen and then run in that direction.  The video camera panned to reveal our grandchildren huddled tight to their mother seeking encouragement, safety and security in her arms.

To ‘encourage’ means to give courage to others; to strengthen them.  As little children, we found courage and strength during a severe thunderstorm when we were close to our Mom or Dad.  Their calmness and assurance encouraged us.  In later years, we were able to overcome the butterflies in our stomach and perform on stage or compete in sports because of the strength we derived from the encouragement of our parents or coach.

In our reference Scripture King David had suffered personal family problems and he let it show.  His men had just won a great victory yet they were depressed because their king was depressed.  These men would not fight so valiantly and tirelessly again if all they had to look forward to was more depression.  This is why David, as leader, had to buck up and pull himself together.

As adults, we have not outgrown our need for encouragement.   We all key off of our leaders.  In the military, panic would set in among the troops should the commanding officers panic.  Supervisors or managers in the workplace who are always negative, down in the dumps and worrisome soon have an organization that is depressed and downtrodden.

Whether your position is Pastor or Parent, Executive or Supervisor, you have an obligation to give courage to those who are under your leadership.  We all suffer from negative situations, but we do not have to spread negativism to others, especially to those who look to us for leadership.

The problem is that we cannot give what we do not have.  In our human frailty we cannot be the source of courage on our own.  All of us need the strength that comes from a close relationship with Jesus Christ.  He is the endless, eternal source of encouragement and hope.  No matter what comes our way, no matter what we are faced with, we need to respond as the Psalmist wrote:

But as for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more. – Psa 71:14

Pray that your daily walk will be so close to Jesus that you can be a source of His strength to continually encourage those around you.

 

May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word. – 2 Th 2:16

 

Close in prayer, thanksgiving & dedication of your work to the glory of God

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B2B Concert of Prayer – Retaliation #737

Posted on April 3, 2011 by ron021950

 

Romans 12:19 (ESV)   …never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

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A pizza delivery man once threw a rock through an upper window of my home. He was angry about not receiving a tip after delivering my order cold, and over an hour late because he had difficulty finding my house.

Have you ever felt the desire to retaliate against others that you perceive to have wronged you?  If you work in a customer-facing job such as retail, restaurant, or other professional services environment you have most likely encountered customers and co-workers that are, shall we say, difficult at best.  Our flesh desires revenge.  We really, really want to get even.  As born-again believers and followers of Jesus Christ we are empowered by His indwelling presence to act as He would act in these situations.  Remember that Jesus washed His disciples’ feet, even the feet of Judas Iscariot.

…let the greatest among you become as the youngest, and the leader as one who serves. For … I am among you as the one who serves. – Luke 22:25

When faced with conflict with co-workers or customers we have a choice to give full vent to our flesh response or to allow the Lord’s presence to emerge.  Some steps to follow are:

Silently say a prayer for His peace, love and wisdom.

See the opposing person through His eyes of love for them.

Listen intently to their issue and point of view before speaking.

Acknowledge that you understand what they are saying before presenting another viewpoint.

Don’t add fuel to their fire by reflecting their anger and responding in like manner.

Remain calm.  Let the Lord’s peace put out their fire.

The key to overcoming our natural flesh response is the indwelling presence of God’s Holy Spirit.

God’s presence is not an ‘on-demand’ switch that is flipped when needed.  It only comes through maintaining a personal one-on-one relationship with Jesus.  Our Christian faith is much more than a religion or religious rituals.  Power for living in this difficult world comes through a personal relationship with God.

…do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? – 1 Corinthians 6:19

Begin each day and continue throughout the day in worship and prayer.  This is called our Christian walk.  It is a 24/7 lifestyle relationship vs. a weekend religious ritual.  Rushing out to work without time in His presence is like skipping meals or neglecting to recharge your car or other batteries.  You will run out of ‘power for living’ if you neglect your relationship with God.

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. – 1 Thessalonians 5:16

 

May you walk continually in His abiding presence and enjoy an overcoming life through His peace, power, and strength.

Close in prayer, thanksgiving & dedication of your work to the glory of God

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