777 URGENT CALL TO PRAYER: DAY FOUR - ( Anne Graham Lotz )

Today is Day 4 of the 7 Day Prayer Challenge organized by Anne Graham Lotz .
Please link to her website - 777 Prayer Challenge

The following is the  Day 4 reading and prayer:  Anne Graham Lotz writes the following:

URGENT CALL TO PRAYER: DAY FOUR

650

Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,
to receive all
STRENGTH

"That power is like the working of His mighty strength, which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age, but also in the one to come.  And God placed all things under His feet… " -- Ephesians 1:19-22

• We worship You, Lord Jesus Christ, on this our nation's birthday, as the All-Mighty - our breathtaking and all-powerful Lord.  You measure the waters in the hollow of Your hand.  You weigh the mountains on scales.  You stretch out the heavens like a curtain.  Your immensity is impossible for us to comprehend.  You make a way when there is no way. You are a prayer-hearing, prayer-answering, miracle-working God!  Our nation's history gives testimony to Your strength to establish, preserve, and prosper us.
• I worship You as ______________
• We repent of our arrogance and pride that have led us to think we are sufficient in ourselves.
• We repent of believing that the prosperity of our nation is because we are great, while refusing to acknowledge that all blessings come from Your hand.
• We repent of looking to the President or to our Pastor or to a Priest or to a government agency for the help we need before we look to You.
• We repent of depending upon our military might and our weapons systems to protect us from harm and danger, while denying, defying and ignoring You.
• We repent of disobeying Your commands, using our weakness as an excuse.
• We repent of living under the burden of our problems instead of rolling them onto Your capable and strong shoulders.
• I repent of___________
• We choose to rely on You and to pray without ceasing.
• I choose now to_________
• We ask that You strengthen Your people with might on the inside; that You make one of us as mighty as a thousand.
• We ask that You give us deep convictions regarding the truth of who You are and what You have said, and the courage to stand up and speak out for them.
• We ask that You give us experiences of Your miraculous enabling as we live in total dependence upon Your strength, so that we boast of our own weaknesses.
• We ask that you give us blessed assurance that greater are You in us, than the evil that’s in the world, so that we stand against it.  Remind us that Your love is stronger than hate, and the Light of Your Truth will never be overcome by the darkness, so that we lovingly and boldly proclaim that victory has been won!  Jesus saves!
• And we ask that You would continue to bless America and return her to the foundation of her faith in You.
• I humbly ask that____________

FOR YOUR GLORY,

AMEN

777 URGENT CALL TO PRAYER: DAY THREE - ( Anne Graham Lotz )

Today is Day 3 of the 7 Day Prayer Challenge organized by Anne Graham Lotz .
Please link to her website - 777 Prayer Challenge

The following is the  Day 3 reading and prayer:  Anne Graham Lotz writes the following:

URGENT CALL TO PRAYER: DAY THREE

821

Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,
to receive all
WISDOM

"Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God."  -- 1 Corinthians 1:24

• We worship You, Lord Jesus Christ, for You are the incarnation of God’s wisdom. Your judgments are unsearchable. Your ways are past finding out. Your thoughts are higher than ours. Your plans never include a mistake. There are no accidents as You carry out Your purpose.  You never have to second-guess what You have done, or what You plan to do.  You are right…all the time, in every way.
• I worship You as___________
• We repent of our attitude of familiarity with You that has caused us to lose our reverential fear of You, and thus we have not even the beginning of wisdom with which to handle the vast knowledge we possess.
• We repent as we acknowledge our foolishness of denying You as the one, true, living God, our Creator to whom we are accountable, living as though our lives are a cosmic accident with no eternal significance, purpose or meaning.
• We repent of leaning on our own understanding, immersing ourselves in politics to change our nation, instead of looking to You.
• We repent, as a church, Your Body, of depending on programs instead of prayer, on activities instead of the Spirit’s life, on orthodoxy instead of obedience.
• We repent of succumbing to conventional wisdom or popular opinion instead of seeking You first, and asking You what we should or should not do.
• I repent of ____________
• We choose to honor You as the source of all life, living with reverential fear and respect for You, and conducting ourselves according to Your stated principles and values as given in Your Word.
• I choose now to ________________
• We ask that our example of looking to You for wisdom would be contagious, as others observe that life lived according to Your wisdom works.
• We ask that You would open our spiritual eyes to see the foolishness of following the crowd, or compromising eternal Truth because it is not politically correct, or succumbing to peer pressure in order to be more accepted, or trying to blend into our culture so as not to invite criticism or ostracism, and so live eternally wasted lives.
• We ask that You expose the lies that deny the Truth, and the spin that distorts the Truth, so that evil has no hiding place.
• We ask that You generously give us and our leaders wisdom from on High.
• We ask that You give us creative wisdom to effectively present the Gospel to our generation.
• I humbly ask that _____________

FOR YOUR GLORY,

AMEN

777 URGENT CALL TO PRAYER: DAY TWO - ( Anne Graham Lotz )

Today is Day 2 of the 7 Day Prayer Challenge organized by Anne Graham Lotz .
Please link to her website - 777 Prayer Challenge

The following is the  Day 2 reading and prayer:  Anne Graham Lotz writes the following:

URGENT CALL TO PRAYER: DAY TWO

652

Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,
to receive all
WEALTH

"God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed Heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds." 

-- Hebrews 1:1-2

• We worship You, Lord Jesus Christ, as the Father’s only begotten Son, the One to whom the Father has given everything. You are His Heir of all things. You made the world at Creation, You bought it at Calvary, and it’s Your right to own and rule it…and us. You hold the world in the palm of Your hand, yet You are the same One who sees when a sparrow falls.  The same One who clothes the lilies of the field. The same One who fed 5000 hungry men and their families with five loaves and two fish. You have promised to meet all our needs according to the riches of Your glory, because You are Jehovah-Jireh, the Lord Our Provider.
• I worship You as _______________
• We repent of hoarding our own wealth when You have freely given us all things.
• We repent of our greed that has run up trillions of dollars of national debt.
• We repent of closing our eyes and ears to the needs of others around us because we want more for ourselves.
• We repent of allowing the material blessings You have given us to deceive us into thinking we don’t need You.
• We repent of feeling entitled to and demanding what someone else has earned, instead of taking responsibility for ourselves and our families as we trust You.
• We repent of living as though material wealth and prosperity will bring happiness.
• We repent of being consumed with worry over our financial, material needs as though You are not sufficient for all things.
• I repent of___________
• We choose to give You all that we have and all that we own, not just 10%.  We trust You to give us, in return, our next breath and to supply, not everything we want, but everything we need.
• I choose now to__________
• We ask You to reveal to us the debt we owe You so that we can sincerely acknowledge it, then forgive us as we forgive our debtors.
• We ask that You open our eyes to the spiritual as well as the material needs of others, and use us to act on Your behalf to meet those needs.
• We ask that You give us a fresh vision of Your power and wealth, so that we would be encouraged as we look forward to the Home You are preparing for us.
• We ask that You give us courage to see, believe and live in the Light of eternity, so that we resist the attractiveness of temptation, sin, selfishness and evil and abandon ourselves to Your will.
• I humbly ask that________

FOR YOUR GLORY,

AMEN

777 URGENT CALL TO PRAYER: DAY ONE - ( Anne Graham Lotz )

Today is Day 1 of the 7 Day Prayer Challenge organized by Anne Graham Lotz .
Please link to her website - http://www.annegrahamlotz.com/events/urgent-call-to-prayer/urgent-call-prayer-day-one/

The following is the  Day 1 reading and prayer:  Anne Graham Lotz writes:

URGENT CALL TO PRAYER: DAY ONE

2.1K

Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,
to receive all
POWER

"I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True.  With justice He judges and makes war.  His eyes are like blazing fire, and on His head are many crowns…on His robe and on His thigh He has this name written:  King of Kings and Lord of Lords." -- Revelation 19:11-12, 16

 

• We worship You, Lord Jesus Christ, as the Lamb who was slain, but who is now enthroned at the center of the Universe as the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, soon to return in power and glory.  You are Jesus, who calmed the stormy seas with just a word.  You turned water into wine.  You created sight in a man born blind. You raised the dead. You are the same One who set the boundaries for the oceans. The same One who hung the stars in space and calls them all by name. The same One who strides the winds of the earth so that the clouds are the dust of Your feet.
• I worship You as ___________
• We repent of complaining as we wring our hands in despair, thinking our nation and our world are falling apart when they are really falling into place—right at Your feet.
• We repent of striving to control our own destiny, or our church’s ministry, or our nation’s priorities so that they conform to our standards and agenda.
• We repent of caring more about what our neighbor says, than what You say; of being more afraid of what our employer or government official thinks, than what You think; of grasping earthly position to gain earthly power.
• We repent of being so intimidated by the opinions of others that we are silent and do not boldly proclaim who You are.
• I repent of ___________
• We choose to surrender our lives to Your power and authority, in utter moment-by-moment dependence on your moment-by-moment control.
• I choose now to ____________
• We ask that You would manifest Your power in such a way that we, Your people, would stop pointing our finger at others, and instead fall on our faces in repentance of our own sin; that the church would wake up in its relationship with You and wake up to the urgency of the times in which we live; and that our nation’s attention would once again be so fixed on You that it would return to the faith of our founding fathers.
• We ask that Your power would permeate our lives, our churches and our nation; that in the light of Your presence, evil spirits would flee; that Your strong arm would protect us from the encroaching evil and deliver us.
• I humbly ask that _____________

FOR YOUR GLORY,

AMEN

Sounding The Alarm ...777... A Call to Pray!! ( from Anne Graham Lotz )

I want to invite each person who visits my blog to join in with Anne Graham Lotz this first week of July for this time of prayer. You can visit her website link here A Call To Prayer - Anne Graham Lotz  Please join our group and sign up today!!

The following is written by Anne Graham Lotz: Please read and then visit her website and get in contact with her. Thank you.
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Sounding the Alarm

Jun 18, 2014

378

Blow the trumpet…sound the alarm…for the day of the Lord is coming.  It is close at hand-- Rend your heart and not your garments.  Return to the Lord your God…   Joel 2:1, 13

While at home caring for my husband, I have had time to be quiet and listen more to the whispers of the Spirit. He has revealed things to me in the stillness that I’m not sure I would have heard in my former busyness. One of the things He has impressed on me is that we are living at the end of human history as we know it.  In light of this, He has given me some practical assignments.  One was to be the Honorary Chair for the National Day of Prayer 2014 this past May.  He gave me the message I was to deliver, which was from Joel 1…the Day of the Lord is at hand. It was a message warning of judgment that is coming.

                    

Just recently, He has given me another assignment, which is to call His people in our nation to prayer.

This assignment came indirectly from a Syrian pastor through a National Day of Prayer attendee. In obedience, I am blowing the trumpet…sounding the alarm…issuing a national prayer initiative entitled 7 7 7:  An Urgent Call to Prayer.  The Call is for God’s people to pray for each of the first seven days in the seventh month—July 1-7.  Then on the 7th day, July 7, we are to pray and fast for 7 hours.

The purpose is three-fold:

·     For God the Father to restrain, protect, and deliver His people from the evil that has come into our world.

·     For God the Son to be exalted, magnified, and glorified in His church, in our nation, and in our lives.

·     For God the Holy Spirit to fall on us in a fresh way, compelling the church to repent of sin and our nation to return to faith in the living God, resulting in a great national spiritual awakening.

For those who sign up, I will provide a prayer for each of the 7 days to help unite us in one spirit and one voice as we cry out to God.  You can sign up for the daily email prayers on annegrahamlotz.com that will help give focus to our worship, repentance, and intercession.

I’m urging you to participate, as well as send out word to everyone on your email list, or who follows you on Facebook or Twitter.  I will be sending out an eBlast on Friday, June 20, and again next Friday, June 27. Please help pass the word. 

God’s people need to pray before it’s too late, and judgment falls on our nation.

Sincerely…and Urgently,

The Return Of Jesus Draws Near....

Anne Graham Lotz  ( youtube.com )

I would  encourage everyone to take the time to watch these youtube videos from Anne Graham Lotz. She is convinced that the coming of our Lord Jesus is very close at hand. I feel these are "must see" video clips. Please also invite your friends to see this important message.

End Times message from Anne Graham Lotz Part 1 ....link here  End Times Part 1

End Times message from Anne Graham Lotz Part 2 .... link here End Times Part 2

Happy Father's Day ( Husband )

Happy Father's Day to my husband! 

photo from aodone.com

You are a pretty lucky man to be the Dad to our four amazing children plus one already up in heaven with the Lord. You have taught them so much throughout the years and we have all been blessed because of you.
Thank-you for the way you provide for the family and for your love for each one. God bless you!

Phillipians 4:19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

photo from mychristianresource.com

A Study in the Book of Job ( Part 2 )

1 Corinthians 2:9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him

Our church is studying through the Bible in a year - doing a very general over view. I like to take notes as I listen to the preacher present his sermon. I want to share the notes I took on Part 2 of the Book of Job here today. After this sermon review I think I will take a break from posting a sermon review after each Sunday and I will only post when I feel it is an important message to pass on to you. So here is Part 2 on the Book of Job - the notes I took as my pastor preached:

Job has lost everything - his family, his wealth, prosperity and his health.
Job's three friends have come to comfort him. They sit with him and discuss his situation, blaming Job for wrongdoing.
The three friends believe:
Do bad and you will suffer - Do good and you will be blessed.
This formula does not work in Job's situation.
Job's suffering is not a consequence of his sin.

Finally at the end of the book God does show up.
God does not answer Job's questions. Job is asking "why?" but God does not answer this question for him.

Job 38:1-3  Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said,

Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?

 Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me.

This does not mean that we should not ask questions. Many Scriptures invite us to ask our questions. In the book of Psalms many questions are asked and answered.

Psalm 10:1 Why standest thou afar off, O Lord? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble?

Psalm 13:1-2 How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord? for ever? how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?

 How long shall I take counsel in my soul, having sorrow in my heart daily? how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?

Psalm 22:1-2  My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring?

 O my God, I cry in the day time, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.

Keep The Big Picture in Mind - 

The main point of the book of Job is not to answer the question " Why do bad things happen to good people?"

The main point is to teach us to not limit God - to not reduce what he can or will do to a formula.

The three friends did limit God to the formula - do bad and you will suffer, do good and you will be blessed.

God tells about creation and His greatness in creating it, His wisdom, majesty and power. 

How have we limited God in our lives?

a) by our likes and dislikes. We imagine that  God likes what we like and dislikes what we personally dislike. An example of this is style of music.

b) We reduce God in our situations - we act like our situation is hopeless.

We do not really believe that God can or will act to change our situation and bring hope again.

God takes Job on a tour of creation. Job cannot understand these wonderful things but God can, He is the creator of the entire universe. God is beyond anything we can imagine or fathom.

God is perfect in love: Imagine perfect love - God is much more than your imaginations. 

God is perfect in love, perfect in righteousness, perfect in holiness, in justice, in righteousness, and in compassion.

We are in awe of who God is.

We are limited as humans. We cannot fully understand how God works in the physical world nor in the spiritual world.

We are limited in our understanding in our understanding and knowledge of creation.

We don't have it all together.

We grow and learn in our understanding and knowledge but we will never learn all there is to know.

We strive to learn and to know God better and more intimately.

The book of Job invites us on a journey to get to know God. To be led into places of awe and to know Him more fully. 

God is greater than the limits we have placed on Him!

pinterest.com

“What God has planned
    for people who love him
is more than eyes have seen
    or ears have heard.
It has never even
    entered our minds!”

Job and his three friends ( Job Part 1 )

This is a sermon review from last Sunday's service at the church I attend. We are studying through the Bible and so now we are in the book of Job. I like to takes notes as I listen to my pastor preach and I am posting them here below. Perhaps it will enlighten your understanding of the book of Job.


Job 9:21 Though I were perfect, yet would I not know my soul: I would despise my life.


Job lived around the same time in history as Abraham and Jacob.
God makes a statement declaring that Job is blameless and upright in Job 1:8 where it reads:

And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?

Satan agrees with the Lord but insists that this is due to the Lord having put a hedge of protection around Job. The Lord gives permission and satan sets out to destroy Job's life.  Job loses his family, his wealth, his health etc. Yet Job did not sin.

 Job 2:10 says: But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.

Now Job's 3 friends come to see Job in hope of comforting him and giving him insights into why these things have happened in his life. Obviously the friends do not actually know why these things have happened to Job. They do not know what is going on, but they assume they know.
The topic of discussion becomes "why do bad things happen?" and "what is the reason that are you suffering like this?"

Job's friends believe the Biblical truth that if you do bad, you will suffer, if you do good, you will be blessed. This is a truth that is taught throughout the Bible as we see in Galatians 6:7. The Biblical law of the harvest - 
Galatians 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.

( for an indepth study on the Biblical Law of the Harvest see my blog post - link here   Biblical Law of the Harvest


Our choices matter, our decisions do matter. 

What Job's friends do not see is that there is more going on than they can see. There is a spiritual battle going on here.  The friends do not know that satan has challenged the Lord on his protection of Job and satan suggested that Job only lives for the Lord because of the blessings and protection of the Lord in his life. 

The friends are not speaking the whole truth. They are accusing Job of wrong doing yet God says Job is upright and blameless. God knows the heart, we cannot argue with God.

 Job keeps arguing the fact that he is righteous, that he has done nothing wrong to be deserving of these tragic events that have occurred in his life.  The three friends argue that he has sin in his life and therefore these terrible tragedies have come upon him. Job's friends agree that Job has evil in his life, that he is not innocent as he claims he is, and they judge and condemn Job in their lengthy speeches.

Often times we too judge and condemn people around us. We see a person, perhaps dressed oddly or in raggedy clothes and we assume we know their story - why they look and act as they do, when in fact we do not know what is going on in their lives.
There is more to the story. We should not be so quick to imagine we know their story. We need to be careful not to define others - it is not our place to judge them.
To judge and define a person on a story we have heard of them is wrong ( whether the story is true or not. )

Job's friend accuse him of many things in Job 22:6-10. The friends are not accurate in their judgement of him. Here is what the friends say about Job in

 Job 22:6-10: For thou hast taken a pledge from thy brother for nought, and stripped the naked of their clothing. Thou hast not given water to the weary to drink, and thou hast withholden bread from the hungry. But as for the mighty man, he had the earth; and the honourable man dwelt in it. Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless have been broken.Therefore snares are round about thee, and sudden fear troubleth thee;

We must not judge others based on a story we have heard of them - God sees the big picture. 

We need to remember that:

1) all human beings are created in God's image.

As you interact with others, you will see God reflected in them.

2) All human beings are loved by God and He longs for all to be saved.

God loves each of us so intensely that Jesus died for each one of us, does not matter who we are or what we have done in our past - Jesus died for you!

God has compassion on each one of us! Come to Jesus today!!

Loving like God loves....

On Sunday, May 4th, we had a guest speaker in our church. His name is Tim Sawatsky. The following are my notes that I took during the service as I listened to him speak.

photo from smileyme.com

1 John 4 :7-11

Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.

 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.

 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.

What does it mean to be loved by God?

What you believe in your life is how you will behave - you will live accordingly.

Why does God care about you and me? 

According to 1 John 4:10, it is because He loves you and me.

When you truly love someone - you will care about them and for them.

Love is more than words.

God showed His great love for us by going to the cross - Jesus died on the cross in our place for the forgiveness of our sin.

Every day is a choice to love.

To love is a commandment from God - not a suggestion.

John 13:34-35 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

Love as Jesus has loved us.

The world is watching - are you loving your neighbor as yourself?

The world doesn't care how much you know - but rather how much you care.

What would it look like if we loved one another? A good definition of love is "you before me" - that is I must put my needs and desires aside and look for the good of others, help those in need, be a good listener, pray for others, help the hurting, give up your time for others etc.

The God of the universe cares for me!!

Everyday is an amazing gift from God! Every breath you take is an amazing gift from God.

Love requires action!!

The cross brings unity -  rich and poor, male and female, color of skin, tall or short, old or young - all are equal in God's eyes.

Jesus paid the same price for all - We are level, equal.

We are one in Christ.

Ephesians 3:14-20

 For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

 Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,

 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man;

 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,

 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;

And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

 Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,