It is part of God’s plan in the world for Christians to pray for those who are in authority over us. I believe this also means that we need to pray for those who aspire to be in authority over us. So today, let’s remember these specific requests:
1. Pray for President Bush as he finishes up his term. Pray for safety for him and his family.
2. Pray that righteousness will prevail among those who are running and that any deceit will be exposed and be purged from the scene.
3. Pray for the safety of all the candidates as they are out among the people and becoming vulnerable to the public.
4. Pray that God’s people will acquire great discernment to know how to respond to the things that are confronted each day.
5. Pray that we, God’s people, will maintain the source of our joy and hope and display that to a world that is caught up in confusion.
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label politics. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Friday, March 14, 2008
It's A Girl
Well, March 5 was the day and we have a new grand daughter! What a joy to see her precious little face and know that more than anyone else in the whole world, God loves her so much that He gave His Son to die for her and we will celebrate that event next week!
As I stated in the last entry, it is my hope that I can help us all live above some of the events that are shaping our political scene today! I am a realist by nature and have a very defined “grid”; so as I look around, I find it very easy to become pessimistic and discouraged with the direction that things are taking! I add to that thoughts of my little grandkids growing up in this world and I could become very apprehensive about it all! But I KNOW that it is not God’s plan for us to live our lives in the state of discouragement or hopelessness, so I am working through some thoughts and practicing some exercises to make sure that I don’t spend time thinking about things that are not “true, just, lovely, of good report, etc.” (Philippians 4:8)
First of all, we need to remind ourselves daily of where our hope lies. I shared in the last entry the Scripture found in Psalm 146. We could all stand to read that Scripture each and every day and remind ourselves of God’s credentials, His abilities and his faithfulness and power!
After we are thoroughly convinced of God’s faithfulness and promises, we need to pray! If there has ever been a time that we need to pray, it is today! Prayer is very hard work and we don’t always understand how it affects our daily lives, but God has asked us to pray (well really, He commanded us to pray – I Thessalonians. 5:17, for example). So let’s get on our knees every day on behalf of our country and the coming election and let’s PRAY! And, let’s be careful not to tell God what to do, but let’s seek His best plan for us and our country.
And finally, we need to be a light of hope and joy and peace in the midst of the chaos going on in the culture. We need to live above the evil, the discouragement, the hopelessness, the pessimism and all the other attitudes that we are experiencing as we see what goes on. And we do not need to be ignorant of the situation in order to accomplish that. On the contrary, we are to be “salt” and “light” in the midst of it all and we are to lift up the name Jesus and give hope to the world. Let them know that there is a better way of life and live your life as an example of that! Let them see the “fruit of the Spirit” manifesting itself in your life! (Galatians 5:22)
I feel compelled to do whatever I can do to help us focus on prayer through this very crucial time in our nation’s history. In order to act upon that burden that I have, I will be using this blog to send out reminders from time to time concerning things that I feel that we need to pray for related to the election. I am convinced that God uses the prayers of His people to accomplish great things for Him, so in obedience, I will be encouraging all of you to pray regularly for the upcoming events in our country. (James 5:16 b.) “The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”
Back to the baby – I am quite sure I will not be here when my grandkids are grandparents. I am VERY committed to having an influence on their lives both now and for the remainder of their lives! I know many of you are grandparents and some of you are parents, but we all have a responsibility to pass the baton on to the next generations. For this reason, we need to cover these things in prayer now as once we are gone we won’t be able to do that. Let’s not only pray for them, but let’s leave them a legacy of praying parents and grandparents and let them know just how important we believe prayer to be! I know that even more than the answers to prayer that we receive will be the memory in the hearts of our children of parents and grandparents on their knees praying for them and for the things that affect them! Let’s make an eternal difference for them!
As I stated in the last entry, it is my hope that I can help us all live above some of the events that are shaping our political scene today! I am a realist by nature and have a very defined “grid”; so as I look around, I find it very easy to become pessimistic and discouraged with the direction that things are taking! I add to that thoughts of my little grandkids growing up in this world and I could become very apprehensive about it all! But I KNOW that it is not God’s plan for us to live our lives in the state of discouragement or hopelessness, so I am working through some thoughts and practicing some exercises to make sure that I don’t spend time thinking about things that are not “true, just, lovely, of good report, etc.” (Philippians 4:8)
First of all, we need to remind ourselves daily of where our hope lies. I shared in the last entry the Scripture found in Psalm 146. We could all stand to read that Scripture each and every day and remind ourselves of God’s credentials, His abilities and his faithfulness and power!
After we are thoroughly convinced of God’s faithfulness and promises, we need to pray! If there has ever been a time that we need to pray, it is today! Prayer is very hard work and we don’t always understand how it affects our daily lives, but God has asked us to pray (well really, He commanded us to pray – I Thessalonians. 5:17, for example). So let’s get on our knees every day on behalf of our country and the coming election and let’s PRAY! And, let’s be careful not to tell God what to do, but let’s seek His best plan for us and our country.
And finally, we need to be a light of hope and joy and peace in the midst of the chaos going on in the culture. We need to live above the evil, the discouragement, the hopelessness, the pessimism and all the other attitudes that we are experiencing as we see what goes on. And we do not need to be ignorant of the situation in order to accomplish that. On the contrary, we are to be “salt” and “light” in the midst of it all and we are to lift up the name Jesus and give hope to the world. Let them know that there is a better way of life and live your life as an example of that! Let them see the “fruit of the Spirit” manifesting itself in your life! (Galatians 5:22)
I feel compelled to do whatever I can do to help us focus on prayer through this very crucial time in our nation’s history. In order to act upon that burden that I have, I will be using this blog to send out reminders from time to time concerning things that I feel that we need to pray for related to the election. I am convinced that God uses the prayers of His people to accomplish great things for Him, so in obedience, I will be encouraging all of you to pray regularly for the upcoming events in our country. (James 5:16 b.) “The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”
Back to the baby – I am quite sure I will not be here when my grandkids are grandparents. I am VERY committed to having an influence on their lives both now and for the remainder of their lives! I know many of you are grandparents and some of you are parents, but we all have a responsibility to pass the baton on to the next generations. For this reason, we need to cover these things in prayer now as once we are gone we won’t be able to do that. Let’s not only pray for them, but let’s leave them a legacy of praying parents and grandparents and let them know just how important we believe prayer to be! I know that even more than the answers to prayer that we receive will be the memory in the hearts of our children of parents and grandparents on their knees praying for them and for the things that affect them! Let’s make an eternal difference for them!
Saturday, March 1, 2008
A New Baby
Today as I sit here at home and wait for a call that I need to go to the hospital to welcome a new grandbaby, I am reflecting on the culture we live in and the world in which that precious little baby will grow up! We do not know if this baby is a boy or a girl, but no matter the gender, the intelligence or any other characteristic of this little baby, he/she will face many challenges that his parents, his grandparents, his extended family and every Christian he knows will need to help him through!
I haven’t written for a while for various reasons, but I have become very burdened by what is going on in our political climate and wondering how I can help young parents face the challenges that are rampant today! I am going to try over the next few weeks to react and to respond to some of the things that I am hearing and hope that it may be of help to you.
One of the words that is often being used today is the word “hope”. As I listen, (and I am quite interested in the political scene) I hear that word just batted around as if just the ability to have “hope” is all that matters. I haven’t heard anyone yet tell us what reason we have for having “hope”! I am here to tell you that “hope” in “hope” will get you nothing! “Hope” in some intangible idea or thing will also accomplish nothing. We need to have our “hope” IN something.
My challenge to you moms and parents is to give your children something IN which to hope. And the best thing that I know of to be the object of that “hope” is God. God, in His Word, not only tells us to have “hope”, He tells us where to place our hope and why. In Psalm 146:5-10 a.) (NKJV) it says: “Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for His help, whose ‘hope’ is in the Lord his God, Who made Heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them; Who keeps truth forever, Who executes justice for the oppressed, Who gives food to the hungry. The Lord gives freedom to the prisoners. The Lord opens the eyes of the blind; the Lord raises those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the strangers; He relieves the fatherless and the widow; but the way of the wicked He turns upside down. The Lord shall reign forever--”
That list not only covers many of the needs that we face in America today, but God has great credentials, don’t you think?! And talk about experience…! I pray that as we all face the coming days and months and all that is transpiring in our great country, we will remember that, as the song says, “Our ‘hope’ is in the Lord” and not in anything that any of the politicians tell us about what they are going to do! Our job is to pray and seek God’s will and best plan for us and for our families. This is the reason that I can be excited and thrilled as I wait for the new life that God is placing in our family today or some day soon! On my own and with the things I see and hear with my own eyes and ears, I would be very apprehensive and pessimistic, but when I read Psalm 146, I see GREAT HOPE in the God Who created the Heaven and the earth and will reign forever! With that “hope”, I can hold that precious new grandbaby and know that with God’s help, I can make a difference for him and for all the other grandchildren God has and will bless me with!
With that in mind, may I keep my eyes on God and keep focused on my mission so that I can be that help and support that all who are living in this world are looking for. Praise the Lord for the ‘hope’ we have in Him!!!
I haven’t written for a while for various reasons, but I have become very burdened by what is going on in our political climate and wondering how I can help young parents face the challenges that are rampant today! I am going to try over the next few weeks to react and to respond to some of the things that I am hearing and hope that it may be of help to you.
One of the words that is often being used today is the word “hope”. As I listen, (and I am quite interested in the political scene) I hear that word just batted around as if just the ability to have “hope” is all that matters. I haven’t heard anyone yet tell us what reason we have for having “hope”! I am here to tell you that “hope” in “hope” will get you nothing! “Hope” in some intangible idea or thing will also accomplish nothing. We need to have our “hope” IN something.
My challenge to you moms and parents is to give your children something IN which to hope. And the best thing that I know of to be the object of that “hope” is God. God, in His Word, not only tells us to have “hope”, He tells us where to place our hope and why. In Psalm 146:5-10 a.) (NKJV) it says: “Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for His help, whose ‘hope’ is in the Lord his God, Who made Heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them; Who keeps truth forever, Who executes justice for the oppressed, Who gives food to the hungry. The Lord gives freedom to the prisoners. The Lord opens the eyes of the blind; the Lord raises those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the strangers; He relieves the fatherless and the widow; but the way of the wicked He turns upside down. The Lord shall reign forever--”
That list not only covers many of the needs that we face in America today, but God has great credentials, don’t you think?! And talk about experience…! I pray that as we all face the coming days and months and all that is transpiring in our great country, we will remember that, as the song says, “Our ‘hope’ is in the Lord” and not in anything that any of the politicians tell us about what they are going to do! Our job is to pray and seek God’s will and best plan for us and for our families. This is the reason that I can be excited and thrilled as I wait for the new life that God is placing in our family today or some day soon! On my own and with the things I see and hear with my own eyes and ears, I would be very apprehensive and pessimistic, but when I read Psalm 146, I see GREAT HOPE in the God Who created the Heaven and the earth and will reign forever! With that “hope”, I can hold that precious new grandbaby and know that with God’s help, I can make a difference for him and for all the other grandchildren God has and will bless me with!
With that in mind, may I keep my eyes on God and keep focused on my mission so that I can be that help and support that all who are living in this world are looking for. Praise the Lord for the ‘hope’ we have in Him!!!
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