Join in Prayer Today

Christians Summoned to Day of Repentance: “…gathering the body of Christ together in unity, humbly coming before our Lord, seeking His face and … asking for Him to be placed back in the center of our lives and our nation…”

Join in praying today for repentance & revival in our nation, for our leaders, & that God will begin with each of us, as millions will do at the National Mall in Washington, DC, & other locations around the US & the world. Feel free to pray of your own accord or similarly to what I prayed specifically below. I pray that God will use each of us & that His will be done on earth as it is in Heaven!

Lord, I pray that You will create in me a clean heart, a heart that seeks only after You & Your will. Help me to put You upfront & center in my life above all things, & forgive me for the times I have failed You & failed to put You first. I ask Your mercy on all people, in our nation & elsewhere, & pray for our leaders as well. I pray that we will come to the cross, & seek You through the sacrifice Jesus made for us on the cross, that we will take up our crosses daily, & seek first You & Your Kingdom. In the name of Jesus.

Ripening

Driving around in our city shows me time & again just how intensely hungry the inhabitants are for God. They don’t even know it, but they are so hungry for Him — it’s seen in how they seek after ways to fill the God-shaped hole inside of them, not knowing that only God can bring the wholeness they desire.

As I drove through our city today, I felt the ripeness that is here, all of the people so ripe to know God if they only realize it is He Who can fill them! At any time now I think God will do a restoring work here. This place’s Christ followers will be revived, & the city’s nonbelievers, pagan & New Age followers will discover Who can truly fill them as they search, hunger & thirst for God without realization.

I pray that a true revival will come to our nation & people will seek God alone in it & begin to put Him first as He should always be. I pray that God’s will alone will be done, that people will come to know Jesus Christ as Lord & Savior! I pray that believers will become bold & more able to hear God’s Spirit as He speaks to them, & that they will not only hear but be obedient in following whatever God instructs them to do in accordance to His will.

Make me a vessel for You alone, Lord. Open my spiritual senses so that I may follow You with all that You have made me. Show me & lead me in what You would have me to do. Help me to follow Your guidance in seeking first Your Kingdom & doing Your will whenever, however, & wherever You want me to & to follow hard after You with a boldness that comes only from You.

Is God Calling You To Help?

EDIT: Oscar has finally received a sponsor! Thanks all!

OSCAR IS STILL WAITING FOR A SPONSOR.

I’ve been posting a Compassion blurb for these children in need of your help each Friday, but Oscar still has no sponsor from last week! I’m posting now in hopes that he will receive a sponsor before I post again tomorrow afternoon, in hopes that we can feature yet another child in need of someone like you to sponsor them & celebrate that Oscar has been sponsored.

BUT OSCAR STILL HAS NO SPONSOR! Would you like to sponsor him? For $32/month, he can receive medical care, schooling & other help that he & his family would otherwise be without. It doesn’t take much!

Also, you can write letters to the child you sponsor, showing love to them in this way & reminding them that someone out there cares & is praying for them. They love receiving gifts such as photographs, postcards & stickers from you! & you can also send monetary gifts so that Compassion can provide extras to them — such as new garments, socks & other things that are rare to them, believe it or not for those of us to whom such things are easily attainable!

Think about sponsoring Oscar or other children in need through Compassion - one of the best ways those in poverty are being reached in the mighty name of Jesus!

Morning…

It’s [kinda] sappy & I don’t care!

I want to write for You
I want to sing to You
I want to create,
inspiration from You.

So much I want to do, write, sing, create;
So many I want to know You –
Your love, mercy & grace.

More than anything,
I just want to be with You,
To rest in You, Jesus,
To be quiet before You,

To hear what You’d speak,
To hear what You’d sing,
To see Your face,
& to know Your voice.

Provide grace for the day,
I trust You as best I can.
Rain down — Your love & mercy overflowing,
Flood me, & let the waters fill all.

Jesus, I thank You.
I need You — more than anything.
Jesus, we need You –
more than anything, we need You.

Let the Flowers Grow!

Last night at small group, I feel like God brought a great metaphor to us that I thought was worth sharing here.

We interpreted what it felt like God was impressing upon us as our needing to truly empty ourselves of all things that hinder our relationship with Him to make room for all that He wants to fill us with.

We need to empty the basement or attic inside of us of all burdens of worry, unbelief, sin or other things that hinder us from truly blossoming in our relationship with God. We need to clean ourselves out so that God has an empty vessel ready to be filled. Then, He can turn our figurative basements full of junk into beautiful gardens blooming with flowers of all kinds in every season. He wants to fill us with the fragrant aromas of all He has to pour into us, that will may then blossom in & through Him! In essence, He wants to renew our minds (Romans 12:1-2), filling us with His Word, His Truth to bring us life as His children.

Lay all burdens & other hindrances to your being closer to God at His feet, & refuse take them back up again (as we often try to do)! Then let God renew your mind through His Truth, letting yourself blossom as He grows a garden of His love, truth, grace & peace in your heart & renews your mind with His Word! He wants to take every burden you have (1 Peter 5:7) & have you just rest in Him (Psalm 46:10), growing you closer to Him & living in His Truth. Let the garden of your heart blossom! Let the flowers grow!

More encouragement from God’s Word:

• Romans 12:1-2
• 1 Peter 5:7
• Psalm 46:10
• 2 Timothy 1:7
• 1 John 4:18
• John 7:38
• Deuteronomy 30:6
• Acts 2:42-47

Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy & peace in believing, that you may abound in hope, in the power of the Holy Spirit. - Romans 15:13

Compassion Friday

EDIT: Oscar has finally received a sponsor! Thanks all!

Well, I’m a little sad on this Compassion Friday. Oscar has still not received a sponsor, & has been waiting, as stated last Friday, for OVER SIX MONTHS for a sponsor. It costs less than a tank of gas to sponsor a child per month (only $32!) so if you feel God is calling you to make this small commitment to change a child’s life in such an amazing way, I encourage you not to hesitate! Again, here is nine year old Oscar from Honduras:

Oscar lives with his father and his mother. He is responsible for carrying water and running errands. His father is sometimes employed as a laborer and his mother is sometimes employed as a laborer. There are 4 children in the family.

As part of Compassion’s ministry, Oscar participates in church activities and Bible class. He is also in primary school where his performance is below average. Soccer, playing with cars and playing with marbles are his favorite activities.

Because of your sponsorship, Oscar will have new opportunities to learn and grow physically, mentally, and spiritually. Thank you for your concern and prayers. (from Compassion.com)

Click here to sponsor Oscar! Or click here to see other children in need of your sponsorship through Compassion!

Note: Be careful not to click “Select This Child” unless you definitely want to sponsor Oscar. If you do so without sponsoring, his page will be unavailable for an hour or more, & may keep someone else from being able to sponsor him.

Not Quiet, Loud

I read an interesting blog post the other day about how quiet time shouldn’t necessarily be “quiet.” In fact, he states that quiet time should probably be called “noisy time.” One particular quote that stood out to me:

…the standard practice for both public and private prayer is to speak so as to be heard by the Person with whom you are talking. Prayer is verbal because it is relational. I’ve known many people whose relationship with God was significantly transformed as they started to speak up with their Father.

I am personally too hard on myself about spending ample quiet time with God, & I often berate myself for not meeting my own standards at times. Then again, my standards have recently shown to be a little wacky! Quiet time isn’t only time spent deeply focused in God’s Word (which is what makes it meet my now changing standards)! That is definitely important, but isn’t the essence of time spent with God. Renewing our minds in God’s Word is absolutely essential, but there are also other “God time” things that are necessary to a truly intimate, two-way relationship with God.

Though essential, it can’t just be reading or Bible study. It’s about daily communication with God. It isn’t called relationship just to have a special word for it. It’s a relationship — just like one’s relationship with their spouse, parents, children & friends. Is every moment we spend with other human beings quiet? Do we talk to them about what’s going on in our lives, & also listen to what they have to say or show in response? That definitely isn’t 100% quiet. We have to speak up!

Often the focus when talking about “God time” is spent on our need to listen more, & this is so incredibly true. But I have a feeling there are others out there who don’t see God as someone we can be intimately upfront & honest with no matter what.

Our God wants to hear from us. He wants to know when we’re hurting, rejoicing, or just plain bored. He wants to know our dreams so that He can exceed our imaginations in making them come true. He wants us to call on Him when we’re confused so that He can shed new light on His truth. He wants to respond to our prayers by birthing in us feelings of greater faith, hope & encouragement. Our God wants us most of all to come to Him. He wants to show us the way to Himself. Whether we know it or not, we’re indescribably hungry & thirsty for Him, & He wants to fill us like no one or nothing else can!

Compassion Friday

EDIT: Oscar has been sponsored!

I’ve decided that I’m going to post each week about a child who has been waiting for more than six months for a sponsor through Compassion. I was so excited that someone sponsored Amando within a few days of the last post. For today’s Compassion Friday, meet Oscar, a nine year old boy from Honduras!

Oscar lives with his father and his mother. He is responsible for carrying water and running errands. His father is sometimes employed as a laborer and his mother is sometimes employed as a laborer. There are 4 children in the family.

As part of Compassion’s ministry, Oscar participates in church activities and Bible class. He is also in primary school where his performance is below average. Soccer, playing with cars and playing with marbles are his favorite activities.

Because of your sponsorship, Oscar will have new opportunities to learn and grow physically, mentally, and spiritually. Thank you for your concern and prayers. (from Compassion.com)

Click here to sponsor Oscar! If he already has a sponsor, click here to see other children in need of your sponsorship through Compassion!

Note: DO NOT click the “select this child” button UNLESS you are sure that you want to sponsor Oscar! If you do, that will make his page unavailable for an hour or more, & might make someone else who wants to sponsor him think he has been sponsored when he has not been.