Read the following if you want A real eye-opener!

Every day I get a couple of devotionals in my email. Many times, they have been like a letter from the Lord deposited in a timely manner. Today was one of those times.

Bible Reading
“There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,   a heart that devises wicked schemes,    feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies, and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.” - Proverbs 6:16-19 NIV

This scripture completely describes the shape our nation is in right now. It’s sad. But more than stopping at just being sad, there is a solution. And it depends on the Body of Christ coming to God, humbling ourselves, and praying for forgiveness.

THEN, God says, “I will hear from Heaven and heal your land.” It doesn’t get any clearer than that. I pray every day another Word with promises. That first, I’m to pray for all those in authority and then for the Peace of Israel. Then I can continue with my prayers for family and friends and myself.

Some mornings, I have to admit that I fail to do this. Usually, within moments after I have started my day already involved with other activities, I get that small nudge from the Holy Spirit that I’ve gone ahead of Him. What a foolish thing to do on my part. When I do this, my day is like being in a choppy sea. Nothing goes right. I know this happens—so why do I neglect to do what I know is right? My human nature is still alive and kicking within me. Just because we become a Christian doesn’t mean that WE are not still in there somewhere wanting to do things our way.

The wonderful part of Christian living is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit who was sent to help us. Every time I think about the fact that the Third Person of the Trinity of God lives right inside of me and is there to help me live my life 24/7 that alone should make me more careful to seek Him first every day.

I’ll ask you a question that I have to answer myself frequently—how many times have you wished that you had stopped and heeded that inner voice of reason instead of plowing ahead with your own will? I have done this too many times to count. But I’m learning to do it less and less. Usually, what has taught me to stop before I run off the rails, is looking back at the consequences that I had to endure and be rescued from. I could have saved myself a whole lot of pain and suffering.

But God is such a loving Father. I can come back and sit before Him knowing that I am forgiven and still loved. He already knows that I am going to mess up and I know that I’ll be welcomed back just as though I never made a mistake.

Being a Christian is the most amazing lifestyle and yet so many people refuse God’s offer of salvation because they either do not think God exists or that they do not need to be forgiven.

Please, dear reader, don’t let the day come when it will be the last time God drew you and you end up wishing that you had listened and responded.

Our country is at that dangerous crossroads right now. I pray every day that we are not soon looking back wishing that we had stopped, prayed, and repented by humbling ourselves.

If you are someone who prays as I do, I will pray that you do not grow weary in well doing. Pray for me too.

I bless you.

 

 

 

 

If hurricanes bring us together—Just Imagine what Christians praying could do!

I pray every morning for all those in authority in our country. Why do I do this? Because it is how the Lord instructs us to begin our prayers. Before I pray for anything else or anyone else, this Word brings into focus what is of most importance. It doesn’t matter what else I’m asking of the Lord, if I don’t live in a Godly Nation, my life will not be the same.

Every day the possibilities of America becoming even further away from the principles and faith that it was established upon is growing. As I prayed this morning, I thought about all those in authority who are Christians. Did they get up this morning and start their day in prayer? Are they asking God to help them take the responsibility they have been given to govern this country seriously? And even more, do they realize that they cannot do it without God’s help? But I couldn’t stop there. This is what God has to say to all of us who are Christians.

2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.

So, this morning I asked myself, what if every Christian no matter where they are or what they are doing this morning, would stop, turn their total attention on God, and come together and pray—what would God do?

He's already told us what He would do. The question is what will we do concerning this instruction in the Word?

We’ve just seen four major hurricanes sweep through our states. And because people come together in times of need to support one another, then what if Christians were to come together to do the most beneficial thing, we as Christians could do for our country?

PRAY—act upon our faith and do what God says to do and see then what He will do. There have been other times when Christians have gathered as one unit and prayed together. Maybe because of the serious state of chaos our country is in right now, we will do it again. I think we are standing at a crucial point in the history of America. 

I close this posting with my first line—Imagine what we could do if we all came together and prayed.

I bless this wonderful Nation we live in.

I bless you.

 

There’s no GOOD hurricane—certainly not Milton.

I have been in North Florida for five months and have been concerned about three hurricanes. Two of them came right through where I live. Milton’s path took its toll on the middle of the state.

Once again, we wake to the devastation wind and waves can do to the landscape. What took years to develop is destroyed in a matter of hours or minutes. The most precious loss is that of lives. There is nothing good about that loss or any loss.

It always leaves me with a deep sadness that I can’t even put into words when I watch the coverage of the possessions of people that they worked to acquire now sitting alongside the road. It’s heartbreaking. I have been through many hurricanes and for some reason, I have been spared what these dear souls are experiencing. The most I have had to endure is the loss of power for several days. Times like these make you look at life in a whole new light.

While still being alive is of the utmost blessing, having to stand and survey at the moment everything you own in this world floating around your feet has to be a close second.

I always utter these same words, “How does anyone survive the loss? Where do you even start?” And then I can’t even imagine what these people are going through.

I’ve said to others while watching these events unfold, that I would hope with all my heart that anyone who woke up to their lives having been spared such tragedy would be grateful! I hate to have lost everything and think that some people who didn’t even have a disruption of anything weren’t being anything but grateful. And yet, today there will be people who will complain about the smallest, most stupid inconvenience. These people who have been affected would give their right arms to have their lives back intact.

I am thankful this morning that my life is intact in every way. I’ll go about today and days moving forward being cautious about uttering a single word of complaint.

My prayers are with those from the two other hurricanes as well, and now Milton who are still trying to piece their lives back together.

As a Christian I take my heart to the Lord and am reminded that the Word doesn’t say that ALL things are good—clearly, they are not. But what it does say is that it gives us the hope that in whatever situation we find ourselves that God will take it and WORK it together for our good.

I’ve had other events in my life that I have found great comfort in in this Word. I hope that the world will be kind and gentle with the feelings of those who have lost everything.

I hope those of us who know the Lord and our lives have been spared will be thankful today and lift those less fortunate up in prayer.

I bless you.