DECLARE COURAGEOUSLY

Have you thanked Him?

Have you praised Him?

Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?

Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?

1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)

The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

Challenging and unexpected situations.

Relapse.

Pesky sin.

Oppressive circumstances.

Are you...

Angry?

Tired?

Frustrated? 

Are you in a battle today?

Don’t be surprised.

In this world, you will have trouble.  – Jesus (John 16:33 NIV)

But is it taking more than just a physical toll on you? Are you finding it difficult to find the words to tell the devil to be gone? Has your recent resistance been reduced to rubbish?

Never forget that while you may be tired, Jesus also said,

take heart! I have overcome the world. – John 16:33 (NIV)

The cold hard truth is spiritual warfare is crippling, real, and troublesome, but Jesus has already won us the victory! And when our energy to resist starts to wane, HIS STRENGTH is more than enough!

I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong. – 2 Corinthians 12:10 (NIV)

But I get the fatigue factor, so let me offer this; a prayer for both of us from Rebecca Barlow Jordan today to embolden and empower us.

Jesus, sometimes I can almost sense the heaviness of pressure mounting and the ominous presence of darkness around me.

I recognize my enemy is at work again. Whether he's trying to discourage me to get sidetracked, to fall into temptation, to give up, or to take my eyes off you, he's always hanging around.

I need your supernatural power, Lord, to stand strong and not surrender. Physical force won't help, because you've said the weapons of our warfare are different from those in this world. As believers, ours are powerful and can demolish strongholds and lies. These supernatural weapons originate from you. By your precious name and blood, Jesus, I'm asking you to confuse Satan and cancel his attempts to shut me and my influence down.

Help me not to become discouraged or to give in when heavy times of testing come.

When I'm tired and weak, you are strong, Lord, and you are my only source of help. I cannot fight without you. Teach me how to pray and to trust you to pull down those strongholds that keep me or others helpless. Guard me from isolation that leaves me exposed and vulnerable. I believe you destroyed the power of my enemy by your death and resurrection. But like a bad penny, my enemy keeps showing up, whispering lies, twisting truth, and attempting to inflate my selfish pride. He never gives up.

I am declaring the devil and his demons liars today, Lord. Through the power of your precious name and blood, I agree with your Word and the truth that you are in me and that you are greater than my enemy who wants to rule the world. You, your Word, and prayer, Lord, are my secret weapons.

I belong to you, and that fills me with a powerful God-confidence. I want to constantly dress in the spiritual armor you give me. Help me use it to defend others from Satan's fiery darts as well.

No one and nothing can snatch me away from your hand.

Strengthen my faith, Lord. Forgive my sins, so that I may be clean in your righteousness.

Make me brave, so I can stand and fight the spiritual battles in my life and in our world. Give me your wisdom and discernment so I won't be caught off guard. Together, Lord, we'll win, because in truth, you already have.

In Jesus's powerful name, Amen!

Have a blessed DAY!

I love you all.

OPPORTUNITIES for HOPE

STAY LINKED

Have you thanked Him?

Have you praised Him?

Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?

Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?

1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)

The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

 Last week I had a rather unexpected “thing” happen.  While sitting with some of our nation’s leaders on substance use in DC one of those leaders at the close of the session asked me to pray for the group.

I will tell you; I was a little taken back.  I will admit I probably looked a little “goofy” to be honest with my dumbfounded look.  But one at the table clearly said, “Pray Pastor”.  So, I prayed.

I don’t think everyone in the room was “ready” for it, but I was honored to do it.  Really honored by the whole thing. 

And what I was stirred to pray was rooted in this passage.

apart from me you can do nothing. – John 15:5 (NIV)

This is the close of the passage where Jesus is describing Himself as the VINE and US as branches and the criticality of never losing our LINK to Him.

But John 15:5 also says that God does intend for us to do much Christ-exalting good, namely BEAR FRUIT: “Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit.” So, as our strong and reliable friend — “I have called you friends” (John 15:15) — he promises to do for us, and through us, what we can’t do for ourselves.

And despite being surrounded last Wednesday by some of the most high-ranking connected people in the country, I felt it important to remind all of us that if we FORGOT GOD in our efforts, they WILL NOT produce the FRUIT we all so desire. 

For there was NO question as to the passion and dedication of my new and old friends in the room.  None.  But on our own steam, 1.8 billion dollars or not, without GOD this task, this job, this crisis intervention IS IMPOSSIBLE.  But WITH HIM?  You know the answer to that. (Matthew 19:26)

My thought and encouragement for today is one that I need as much as anybody.  If I am not careful, I can get pretty self-reliant, pretty self-absorbed, pretty enamored with what is going on with me and around me.  And I must be intentional about stepping back and remembering that without CHRIST, I am NOTHING, I got NOTHING to offer, and all the NEEDLES I desire moved in the right direction will NOT move or will move FAR LESS than they could.

D.L. Moody said it this way using Moses as a PERFECT example of what I am trying to say today. “Moses spent forty years in the king's palace thinking that he was somebody; then he lived forty years in the wilderness finding out that without GOD he was a nobody; finally, he spent forty more years discovering how a nobody with GOD can be a somebody.”

 Today my friends, be reminded of the IMPORTANCE of your connectedness to GOD.  Don’t drift away from Him. Stay linked. Recognize your limitations but RELISH in the truth that despite them, anything is possible. (Philippians 4:13). 

Remember…

Fruit is always the miraculous, the created; it is never the result of willing, but always a growth. The fruit of the Spirit is a gift of God, and only He can produce it. They who bear it know as little about it as the tree knows of its fruit. They know only the power of Him on whom their life depends - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

 I love you all!

Have an AWESOME DAY! (Good to be back today)

Opportunities for Hope