Pray for election 2016

2 Chronicles 7:14 (ESV)

If my people who are called by my name 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.

On the eve of one of the most important elections in the history of the United States here are some thoughts the Lord brought to me through study and prayer.

We as Christians face the responsibility to vote, not only as citizens, but as Christians who seek to honor and follow Christ in all things. But, beyond the vote, we also bear responsibility to pray for our nation.

We should pray that God will bless America with leaders better than we deserve.

We should pray that Americans will be motivated to fulfill the responsibilities of citizenship, yet also that we will be stripped of an unhealthy and idolatrous confidence in the power of government to save us.

We must pray that Americans will vote by conscience, not merely on the basis of celebrity or emotion.

We must pray that Americans will vote to defend the least among us — and especially those who have no vote.

We should pray that God will prick the conscience of the nation on issues of morality, righteousness, and respect for marriage as the central institution of human civilization..

We should pray that God will protect these candidates and their families.

We should pray that the election is conducted with honor, civility, respect, and justice.

We must pray that Americans will be prepared to accept the results of the election with respect and kindness. 

We should pray that this election would lead to even greater opportunities to preach the Gospel, and that the freedom of the church will be respected, honored, and protected.

We must pray for the church, praying that the church of the Lord Jesus Christ would be strengthened in the truth, grounded in the faith, and empowered for witness and ministry.

Dear Lord, You knew before time began whom You would appoint as our 45th president. You ordained that this person might be a tool of Your judgment, holy and merited, or a gift of Your mercy, wholly undeserved.

Like Israel of old, America today, is a life marked by pride, selfishness, murder, idolatry, hypocrisy, greed, lust and every form of moral perversion. 

We as a nation have called evil good and good evil and have turned from Your face to our own treasured wickedness. We repent. We need You now, alone and together, as much as at any time in our fleeting history.

We ask for Your spiritual discernment endeavor to elect our next President, that You might direct our path, and that Your will might be done on this earth, as it is in heaven. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

His "collection"

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (ESV)

19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.

The other day I read about how the prices of some paintings are falling rapidly. As I read the article I wondered just how much paintings actually go for.

The most expensive painting according to Wikipedia was sold for over $300 million dollars. It's called "Interchange" by Willem de Kooning. I thought -- "wow that's a lot of money." Then there was another painting called "Number 17A" by Jackson Pollock that was sold for over $200 million dollars!

As I looked at Pollock's collection the paintings looked like a bunch of house painters' drop cloths that were hung on the wall. To be truthful they just looked like a mess -- yet people have paid millions of dollars for these works!

That got me to thinking -- what is a human life worth? To some uninformed or cynical eyes, human beings are just a mess of "useless eaters" (a phrase used by Henry Kissinger to describe the elderly) ... but we know that every human life is extremely valuable because God was willing to pay the highest price for it. He gave His Son for your life -- declaring its value in His own precious blood!

So while you may feel, or even look like a house painter's drop cloth, in God's economy -- the only one that matters -- you are priceless, of inestimable value!

You are a precious piece in His "collection" His valuation of you is filled with loving, "worth more than many sparrows"; bought and paid for by the King of Kings whose taste is impeccable!

Dear Lord, we thank You that we are precious in Your sight.  Our value is beyond what we can imagine in Your eyes. Help us remember that each of us holds the same value. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

One peg

John 10:10 (ESV)

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

I was reading the other day and came across a powerful parable written by a Haitian pastor illustrating to his congregation the need for total commitment to Christ.

A certain man wanted to sell his house for two thousand dollars. Another man wanted very badly to buy it but couldn't afford the full price the owner was asking. After much bargaining however, he agreed to sell the house to the poor man for half the original price -- along with just one stipulation: He would retain ownership of one small nail protruding from just over the door.

After several years, the original owner wanted the house back, but the new owner was unwilling to sell. So the first owner went out, found the carcass of a dead dog and hung it from the single nail he still owned. Soon the house became unlivable and the family was forced to sell the house to the owner of the nail.

The Haitian pastor concluded that "If we leave the Devil with even one small peg in our life, he will return to hang his rotting garbage on it, making it unfit for Christ's habitation."

The devil has only come to steal, kill and destroy. He can be very crafty and he would love nothing more than to steal from us our very inhabitance in the Lord. Let's ask the Lord to reveal any pegs we may be leaving for the devil today and take back all that belongs to us in Jesus!

Dear Lord, please show us the peg or pegs that are in our life so that we may get rid of them so the devil has no hold on us. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

Worry

Luke 9:62 (ESV)

Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”

I struggle a lot with worry but we are told in the Bible “not worry for tomorrow because tomorrow holds its own worries. But it occurred to me recently, that just about as often as we worry for tomorrow, we worry for yesterday! How many times do we find ourselves saying, "I wish things could be the way they were, I wish I was younger, I wish I could fit into those jeans again, I wish……you fill in the blank"?

The Lord doesn’t want us looking back at what once was. Our enemy does -- he wants us to feel discouraged and helpless over what we face today and drown in self-pity about how it was in the past. But God wants us to look ahead to new endeavors! He wants us to say "forget the old – there are great things for the future – I’m gonna look ahead!"

Let’s forget the past – it’s long gone already. Let’s move ahead and press toward the new things that the Lord wants to do in our lives.

Dear Lord, help us not worry about the past but instead to look forward to what You have for each of us. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

Cushion of the sea

Isaiah 26:3  (ESV)

You keep him in perfect peace

    whose mind is stayed on you,

    because he trusts in you.

The captain of a submarine was once asked, "How did the terrible storm last night affect you?" The officer looked at him in surprise and exclaimed, "Storm? We didn't even know there was one!"

There is an area beneath the surface of the ocean known to sailors as the "cushion of the sea". In this place, although the ocean may be raging terribly above, the waters here are never stirred.

There is a place, a wonderful place, we can go to find refuge during the frightening storms raging above us -- a place where we don't feel a thing -- no fear, no worry for tomorrow.

Let's get down there today. Let's find that perfect peace the Lord intends for everyone who trusts in Him.

Dear Lord, we thank You that You have for us a place that we can go during the raging storms of life. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

Holes in the fence

Proverbs 18:21 (ESV)

Death and life are in the power of the tongue,

    and those who love it will eat its fruits.

Here is an old and powerful story.

There once was a boy who had a very bad temper. His Father gave him a bag of nails and told him that from now on, each time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into their beautiful white picket fence. The first day the boy drove in thirty-seven nails.

Over the next few weeks, he learned to control his anger -- the number of nails he hammered daily gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to go outside and drive those nails into the fence. When he told his father about this, he suggested that the boy now start pulling out a nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper. Finally, the day came when the young boy was able to tell his father that all the nails were gone.

That evening, he took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said, "Son, you have done well but look at the holes you've made here. Our beautiful fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger to the people you love, they leave deep, ugly holes just like these. It won't matter how many times you say I'm sorry, the wound will still be there".

This is a good reminder for us today. Our tongue is a powerful force! With it, we need to be bringing words of life and encouragement to those around us!

Dear Lord, help us watch the things that we say. We pray that You will give us the power to tame our tongue. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.

God remains in control

Hebrews 11:1 (ESV)

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

A.W. Tozer said: "Faith is seeing the invisible, but not the nonexistent."

We live in a world today that seems out of control -- yet the Word clearly tells us that God remains in control.

When the Israelites were driven to the Red Sea their situation appeared impossible and desperate through human eyes. They failed their first test of faith when they told Moses it would have been better to serve as slaves then to die in the wilderness. Though they had seen His miracles of deliverance from slavery in Egypt, they failed to remember to encourage themselves with this recent history of Divine intervention.

Biblical faith believes and stands upon the invisible reality of God's presence, power, and protection, in difficult, even impossible circumstances. People of faith keep our eyes on Heaven where the Lord's sovereignty over all earthly events inspires trust which is not based on what we see, but remembers how our invisible God has delivered, preserved, and protected us in the past.

Let's not fail the test as the Israelities did! There are times when life places us in "impossible situations" which our Lord allows to test our faith and to reveal Himself and His glory. Whatever impossible situation you may be facing, encourage yourself with memories of God's past faithfulness and blessed providence. Stand firm in what you do not see, and then, see the salvation of the Lord!

Dear Lord, help us in the difficult times to keep our eyes on You. In the Name of Jesus, Amen.