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God Helps Us Accomplish His Will

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Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Philippians 2:12, 13.

Talk of God’s blessings. Let us … bring all the pleasantness possible into our lives. When others begin to question and criticize, let us be determined, either by silence or by turning the conversation into another channel, to cut off the words which would not be spoken in wisdom. We are to continue to wait upon the Lord by humble prayer and supplication, making every effort to keep the door of our lips, so that we shall not utter one foolish word savoring of unbelief.

We are to talk faith, practicing the very things we have asked the Lord to give us grace to do. Thus we work out our own salvation, trying to help and save those in trouble by faithful words and kind deeds. It is God which worketh in us, both to will and to do of His good pleasure. The finite and the infinite are to unite in accomplishing the work that needs to be done. God has pledged himself to supply us with strength, cheerfulness, pleasantness, and joyfulness in our Saviour. [When we are] abiding in Him, the word that would cast a shadow over others is left unspoken.

Let us remember that everyone has some dark spot in his experience. Let us do all we can to bring cheerfulness and hope into the lives of others. What a blessing this will be to them. In their turn they will speak words of good cheer to others to bring sunshine into their hearts. As we do this work, we shall be in a position to realize that the Lord hears our prayers, because we work in harmony with them, fulfilling all the duty we owe to God and to ourselves. We shall go about our work in a thankful, prayerful frame of mind, but by faith we claim the promise, “Ask, and ye shall receive; seek, and ye shall find.”

Yes, we shall find the answer to our prayers; for God will do exceedingly abundantly above our highest expectation. What precious witness we shall then bear for God. What an honor we shall be to the truth of His word. We shall be able to say, “I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry. He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord. Blessed is that man that maketh the Lord his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies” (Psalm 40:1-4).—Letter 87, June 20, 1900, to Edson and Emma White.
The Upward Look p. 185
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Prayer Requests
—-R is having troubles at work. Please pray. B
—-I could really use some prayer please. I’ve been feeling really sad and lonely and I dont know what to do anymore. Kirby
—-Please pray for me and my critically ill covid patient for healing. Emerson
—-Please pray my son surrenders his life to God! Dan
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Dear Friends,
Listening to stories about the recent pandemic, I was reminded of something that I heard about some years ago. It was an experience that had happened quite a few years before that. A certain nurse who worked in a local hospital had told of this experience to a friend, who, in turn, told it to me. There had been a devastating tornado in the area with lots of casulties. The hospitals were full of the injured. The hospital staff were rushing between them doing all that they could. They really needed more workers, but every available worker was already helping.
Suddenly an older man appeared and said to the lady’s friend, “What do you want me to do?” The friend told him. He quickly did it and returned for more assignments. For hours this man did all the work that the friend gave him to do. Only when things slowed down a little did they have time to talk. The man eyed some equipment curiously and asked what it was. The lady was shocked. He asked, “Don’t you work here?” The man told him that he did not. He said, “I was watching the news and heard that call for help, so I walked over to help you.”
Now the friend was even more surprised. Here was a man who had been working hard all day without a thought of pay. He did it because he was needed. He did it because he had compassion on all those who were suffering. This is how we should be. All around us are the spiritually dead and dying. All around us there is a cry for help. Will we be as that man? Will we respond to the call? Will we work to bring souls to Jesus without the thought of reward? Will we do all that our Master asks us to do? Jesus asks, “Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest. And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.” John 4:35,36 “The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.” Matt 9:37,38
Even though we’ve read these words many times, how often we are at ease and do not want to put forth the effort to save those perishing in sin. How many times we feel uneasy speaking of the One Who gave His life, so that we can live forever. How often we are doing anything except working in the Master’s vineyard. James tells us, “to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.” James 4:17 There will come a time when the harvest is past. There will be a time when Jesus proclaims, “He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still. And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be.” Rev 22:11 How many there will be in that day who exclaim, “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.”Jer 8:20
My we daily ask our Dear Saviour to open our eyes to opportunities to witness. May we ask Him to speak through us, that others may be drawn to our Great Redeemer. May we go forward proclaiming the good news of Salvation in our words and in our actions to those around us is my prayer.
Rose

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/rosesdevotional/~3/5BZFZ4cEdVA/god-helps-us-accomplish-his-will.html

We Are One With the Church in Heaven

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There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. Ephesians 4:4-6.

Every church member needs to feel the converting power of God upon heart and mind; then spiritual development will be experienced. Christ has for every true believer grace sufficient to make him a son of God. Angels are working in behalf of God’s people, that Satan may not gain the victory over them….

He who comes to the Lord in simple trust will learn how to uplift the Saviour before men. Practical Christianity is the revealing in word and action of the will of God….

At this period of time, a special work is to be done for the individual members of the church. With the Bible in your hands, you are to search the Scriptures with an earnest determination to know the words of Christ. “Search the scriptures,” the Saviour said, “for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me” (John 5:39)….

The professing follower of Christ is to overcome every selfish trait of character. By well-doing he is to form a correct pattern, and testify in his life to the character of Christ, and to God’s unselfish love for the human race. In works of mercy and love and sympathy, by showing kindness on the right hand and on the left, he is to repeat the works of Christ. Christ came to the earth to give to men the pattern of the perfect character that all must obtain who would be welcomed to the future heavenly world. He found His pleasure in unwearied works for the good of men. His object in coming to our world was to leave an example of what the human character must become in order to be fitted for the society of heaven.

The Holy Spirit leaves no member of the church to develop a character that is without comeliness. He claims for every man and woman the privilege of becoming a child of light, an influence for righteousness, an example of a Christlike life. This is God’s way of helping the church. Satan is working in every way to thwart the purpose of God, and God desires that His professing people shall make no mistakes, but that every move may be a right move. The Head of the church on earth requires the members of the church to surrender their will to the will of God in willing obedience. God has united the agencies of the church on earth with the church in heaven.—Manuscript 141, June 19, 1907, “Words to Church Members.”
The Upward Look p. 184
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Prayer Requests
—-PRAYERS URGENT FOR KAY SHE’S TAKEN TO THE HOSPITAL WITH A HEART ATTACK PLEASE PRAY. Gwendolyn
—-Please pray for my friend Kasey. She is fighting cancer. Robin
—-Pray God to heal this land of COVID-19. Jose
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Dear Friends,
When my mother was a little girl, her grandmother had given her several books that she treasured. When I was a pre-schooler, she would sometimes read from those books she had saved from her childhood. One books was a fanciful story entitled “Honey Bear.” The others were two books entitled “Flower Children.” I especially liked them, as they had drawings of children dressed as flowers. Under each drawing was a poem that told a little about the flower. When I was old enough to be careful with them, I would sit for hours looking at those books noticing each blossom and leaf until I can still see some of the pictures in my mind’s eye.
When I was older, my mother gave those books to me. Throughout the years I kept them with the intent of someday giving them to my children. As I moved from place to place, I lost or misplaced many items but not those books. They were very dear to me. Not only did I enjoy them, but they were doubly precious because my great-grandmother had given them to my mother when she was a small child. Those books, in turn, had been very precious to her because she loved her grandmother.
Sadly, Eileen was the only one who saw those books. When Ronnie Jay was two months old, we had a fire that destroyed everything we possessed—-my piano, my collection of piano music (some of which had been my great-grandfather’s), my accordian, my guitar, all my photographs, all our books—those books…… All we had left were the clothes we were wearing, yet I was thankful that we were unhurt.
How quickly the things of this world can pass away. “For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever.” 1 Peter 1:24, 25 Our Loving Saviour advised us, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Matt 6:19-21
How important it is that we keep the things of this world in proper perspective. In Hebrews 11, Paul gives us a list of patriarchs and prophets who did. “By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh. By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God. . . . By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. . . . These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. . . . By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, Of whom it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called: Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure. By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. By faith Jacob, when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph; and worshipped, leaning upon the top of his staff. By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones. . . .By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter; Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; Esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward. By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible. Through faith he kept the passover, and the sprinkling of blood, lest he that destroyed the firstborn should touch them. By faith they passed through the Red sea as by dry land: which the Egyptians assaying to do were drowned. By faith the walls of Jericho fell down, after they were compassed about seven days. By faith the harlot Rahab perished not with them that believed not, when she had received the spies with peace. And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect. Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Heb 11:4-12:2
May we always keep our eyes on our Heavenly goal. May we look away from the things of this world that can perish in a moment and keep our focus on on Jesus Who gave Himself for us that we may dwell with Him forevermore.
Rose

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/rosesdevotional/~3/9nVekWkLmmk/we-are-one-with-the-church-in-heaven.html

Human Wisdom Is Foolishness

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Lord, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him! or the son of man, that thou makest account of him! Psalm 144:3.

The Lord has a place for every man and every woman, whether young, middle-aged, or old. When men and women find their place, there will be a work done for the Lord that has not yet been done. Great weakness has come upon the people of God because … [some] have left the Lord Jesus, because they have lost out of their lives His Spirit, His love, His rich grace. They have lifted up their souls unto vanity, and have planned in human wisdom, supposing human talent to be their strength. Thus they bring upon themselves weakness and perplexity. In their dependence on humanity, they forget that men and women are finite, erring, naturally selfish, and that their planning is sure to be mingled with dross.

The most gifted of human beings, men and women of the broadest minds and deepest comprehension, those most highly cultured and most highly educated, those who stand in the world as rulers, are infants in comparison with God in their understanding of the things of eternity. And because they have so limited knowledge of Him, because they know so little of His ways, His mind, His character, they are in danger of making themselves gods….

Those who are not conscious of God’s greatness, His omnipotence, will intrude themselves as great and wise, but they are mere nothingness. In God’s sight they are as little children, that cannot walk alone, yet they feel fully competent to handle the greatest problems. They suppose that if they can unite and consolidate their talents, they will make a grand success. But the greater the number united, the greater will be the failure unless they seek to know and understand God. It is not numbers combined in unions that brings man into harmony with heaven.

There are many, very many, who, inexperienced and unreasoning, suppose themselves wise enough to do anything they may wish to do. With God, their wisdom is foolishness. They need to remember that they are only children in wisdom, and that before they can know themselves, they must learn of God.

God is our Father, and He will teach all who come to Him, realizing that their human wisdom is foolishness. As they take hold of His strength, and make peace with Him, living by His Word, He will unite His strength with their weakness, His knowledge with their ignorance, making them strong in Him. He will give them the care adapted to their necessities. Those who trust in Him as their Teacher will not stumble or fall.—Manuscript 88, June 18, 1902, “A Worldwide Work.”
The Upward Look p. 183
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Prayer Requests
—-Please pray for the Hope Awakens meetings that are currently going on. Pray for all of those who have signed up to help with the interests. Rose
—-Please pray for my husband to be saved. It is so hard to be criticized constantly because I have belief in Jesus. Martha
—-Please pray for my son Andrew. He might have been exposed to Covid-19 while performing his duties as a Deputy. Georgina
—-I have lung cancer please pray for my healing. Tammy
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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/rosesdevotional/~3/_HpAq4UbzAk/human-wisdom-is-foolishness.html

Are You a Fruitful Branch?

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I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. John 15:5.

“I am the true vine,” Christ declared. He used the figure of the vine that as we look upon it, we may call to remembrance His precious lessons. Rightly interpreted, nature is the mirror of divinity.

Christ pointed to the vine and its branches: I give you this lesson that you may understand My relationship to you and your relationship to Me. There was not the least excuse for His hearers to misunderstand His words. The figure He used was as a mirror held up before them, that they might understand His connection with them.

This lesson will be repeated to the ends of the earth. All who receive Christ by faith become one with Him. The branches are not tied to the vine by any mechanical process or artificial fastening. They are united to the vine and have become part of it. They are nourished by the roots of the vine. So those who receive Christ by faith become one with Him in principle and action. They are united to Him, and the life they live is the life of the Son of God. They derive their life from Him who is life….

The heart must be united with Christ’s heart, the will must be submerged in His will, the mind must become one with His mind, the thoughts must be brought into captivity to Him. A man may be baptized, and his name placed on the church rolls, yet the heart may be unchanged. Hereditary and cultivated tendencies may still work evil in the character.

The regenerated man has a vital union with Christ. As the branch derives its sustenance from the parent stock, and because of this bears much fruit, so the true believer is united with Christ, and reveals in his life the fruits of the Spirit. The branch becomes one with the vine. Storm cannot carry it away. Frosts cannot destroy its vital properties. Nothing is able to separate it from the vine. It is a living branch, and it bears the fruit of the vine. So with the believer. By good words and good actions, he reveals the character of Christ. As the branch derives its nourishment from the vine, so all who are truly converted draw spiritual vitality from Christ. “Verily, verily, I say unto you,” He declared, “Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him” (John 6:53, 56).—Manuscript 78, copied June 17, 1898, “I Am the True Vine.”
The Upward Look p. 182
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Prayer Requests
—-Please pray for a family of 5 who’ve tested positive and 1 single grandma who is in her way to the hospital now. Patti
—-I live with chronic pain. It’s getting worse. I take all sorts of meds that are non narcotic, a lot. I eat no sugar and my carbs are so low but I still get pain badly. I’m walking. I’m drinking water. I’m working with a dr. Still I cry from the pain. Please pray for me. I dont want to take a narcotic but I’m suffering. Staci
—-Please pray for me. I have a fever…cough….sore throat….shortness of breath and my husband refuses to go out and start the generator so I can use my nebulizer to help me breathe. He is so cold hearted. We live off grid and I am not strong enough to start it myself. Connie
—My mom Marilyn has covid 19 . she also has heart disease diabetes and copd. Please pray for her. Karen
—-My niece Karen has asked if we would pray for her dad. (she is an only child) He is in the hospital since Friday and they don’t know what is wrong. He had trouble walking and legs were weird. He then fell and injured his arm. He is 78. And no one can go see him and they are not letting family know what is going on at this time. His name is Tony. Mike

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Dear Friends,
Often emails circulate that are obviously fictitious. They are easy to spot. As we read them, we shake our heads and wonder why people write such falsehoods. There are others, however, that appear to be true. Sometimes these believable ones have pictures that appear to be real. Sometimes the pictures are real but they are something entirely different from what the email says it is.
So it is in the spiritual life. False doctrines abound. Where can we find the truth? How can we know what to believe? Jesus declares, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:32 Jesus prayed, “Sanctify them through Thy truth: Thy word is truth.” John 17:17 God’s Holy Word is “a lamp unto (our) feet and a light unto (our) path.” Ps 119:105 Only through the study of God’s Holy Word can we find the truth. “Thy word is true from the beginning: and every one of thy righteous judgments endureth for ever.” “The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward. . . cleanse thou me from secret faults. Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.” Ps 119:160; 19:7-14
Peter also assures us that the Scriptures are to believed more than even that which we have encountered. He tells of his experience on the mount of transfiguration and then he makes the point that more important than what we see, more sure than what we hear, is the Word of God. “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.” 2 Peter 1:19-21 Isaiah was moved to write, “To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.” Isa 8:20 Here is the key. Everything we hear, everything we see must be tested by a “Thus saith the Lord.” Our very future depends upon it.
May we “study to show [ourselves] approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth.” 2 Tim 2:15 May we compare all that we read, all that we hear with the Holy Scriptures “for precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little.” Isa 28:10 May we shun the false and stand firmly for the truth is my prayer.
Rose

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/rosesdevotional/~3/mS2UkE18ekY/are-you-a-fruitful-branch.html

Look to Jesus Christ

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I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst. John 6:35.

I am instructed to say that we must not look to any human being for power or experience, depending on them for strength and guidance. Christ says, “Look unto Me. I am the Light of the world. He that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the Light of life.” I speak to those who claim to be children of God. Is it not time that we know the Source of our strength and the Source of our power? Shall we not, from this time forward, make a record more pleasing to the Lord?

Scenes are presented to me that I can find no language to describe. Trials will come that will humble all hearts that are lifted up. Let no one feel that he is safe in following his own way, or in making man his trust. The Lord calls for men of experience, men who will carry responsibilities in His name and in His strength, men who will receive His grace with a realization of their accountability to impart it to others….

The Word of the living God is to be our guide. Each one is to realize his dependence upon Him, whose he is by creation and by redemption. Read and study the statements made in the sixth chapter of John. Pray for an understanding of these truths. I am alarmed as I see the spiritual weakness of those who have had such great light. Had they walked in this light, they would have been strong in the Lord. But they have not, and those who come into the truth through their efforts look to human beings for wisdom, instead of looking to Jesus Christ, “the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world” (John 1:9). When those who claim to believe in Christ receive Him by faith, He will be to them their sanctification, their righteousness, and their exceeding great reward….

The Lord’s agencies, the men of His appointment, are individually to receive wisdom from Him. They greatly dishonor Him when they trust in human devising as assurance. They are to see Him distinctly as their sufficiency, their strength.

Are you representing Christ? Have you broken away from the spirit and influence of worldly policy plans and from human devising? Are you eating daily of the bread of Life? …

Let the prayer come from unfeigned lips, “Make me to understand the way of thy precepts: so shall I talk of thy wondrous works” (Psalm 119:27). “Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee” (verse 11).—Manuscript 78, June 16, 1902, “The Health Food Question.”
The Upward Look p. 181
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Prayer Requests
—-Please pray for me. I am going through some terrible things. Connie
—-Please keep my great-granddaughter Harmony and also my granddaughter Destiny and her family in your prayers. …Pray for strength for her and her husband. ….From Destiny: “So yesterday was a long day and night. We rushed my 2 year old to the ER for being EXTREMELY lethargic, vommiting, spacing out etc. Turns out her blood sugar was 1,300 which is extremely deadly if not treated. Especially for her size. Normal sugar is between 80-110. Basically she had diabetic ketoasidosis. It was confirmed she has type 1 diabetes. There was nothing different I could have done with her. Her pancreas just stopped producing insulin on its own. Please just pray for our family. This is a huge change in our life to get the hang of. We’re still at the children’s hospital, hoping to go home tomorrow. If we wouldn’t have brought her in last night, she would have most likely been dead by this morning.” Claire
—-Authorities say a 4-year-old Tennessee boy has died after a tornado ripped through his home on Easter.
His father is still fighting for his life, and the community is asking for your prayers.
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Dear Friends,
Our grandchildren enjoy the Amazing Adventures meeting that Amazing Facts has done. They often watch it. Pastor Doug, as part of one of his presentations, showed a doll that someone had given to his wife a few years ago. It was called the perfect man doll. Whenever its stomach was pressed, the doll would say things that a wife would want to hear such as “You shouldn’t be cleaning that, let’s hire a maid” or “I can watch football any time, let’s go shopping.” It was so funny! At first his wife laughed at it. After a few days, however, it was no longer as funny. As she would play with that doll, she knew exactly what it would say. Soon, she was playing with the doll any longer. She put it in a drawer and forgot all about it.
As I was watching the program, I realized how much like that doll we can become when we pray. We tend to pray for the same things in the same way. It’s not that what we pray for is not good or that we are not sincere, but how often by praying the same phrases in the same order, our prayer become a routine and almost unthinking as if we were that doll.
Jesus spoke of this very principle. “But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them.” Matt 6:7, 8 On the way to work every morning, I pass by a Buddhist temple. At certain times there are hundreds of prayer flags waving in the wind. Are our prayers like those heathen flags because of our repeating the same things day in and day out?
Paul bids us to “pray without ceasing.” 1 Thes 5:17 How can we pray without ceasing and not be repetitious? We must believe with all of our heart that God will answer. “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord.” James 1:5-7 “Without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” Heb 11:6
We must abide in Christ. Jesus promises, “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples.” John 15:7 Think of it! If we ask, we will receive. (Matt 7:7) Sometimes, we must press our heartfelt petitions many times before that Father’s throne. “Which of you shall have a friend, and shall go unto him at midnight, and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves; For a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him? And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee. I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him, because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity he will rise and give him as many as he needeth. And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” Luke 11:5-13
Our prayers must not be selfish, self-centered prayers. James explains, “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.” James 4:3
Sometimes, we do not receive exactly what we ask for, yet God answers with a “no” or wait awhile” or “here is something better” because only He can see the end from the beginning.
May we keep asking, seeking, and knocking for the right things until we see and understand God’s answer to our prayers. May we believe that we receive them because He is is faithful Who has promised. May we claim His precious promises that are found in His Holy Word.
Rose

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/rosesdevotional/~3/PWutPa9bUcs/look-to-jesus-christ.html

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