Do you wish you could do something positive to help? Help what?  Anything! Help mend a relationship. Help tone done the anger among people. Help people turn their eyes to the Lord. All of those are big Christian actions and all of them are needed. How might you do them? Follow the promptings of the Holy Spirit. How, where does He prompt? In our hearts. In our minds. But best as I can tell, we have to have alone time with Him to develop our relationship, to learn His voice, to know His ways. I think our heart has to be in the right place. We have to want Him. Or, as He says, “If you seek me..” (Deuteronomy 4:29; Proverbs 8:17; Jeremiah 29:13; Matthew 7:7; Luke 11:9; Acts 17:24-28)  If we haven’t been too close to God in the past, is it too late to get close to Him, to learn His voice and be used by Him. Again, as far as I can tell from studying the Bible, no, it’s not too late. He called Paul even in the midst of his trip to round up Jews who had started following Christ. He spoke to Abraham when he was 99 years old. Genesis 17:1-2 says, “Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, ‘I am God ALMIGHTY; Walk before Me, and be blameless. I will establish My covenant between Me and you, And I will multiply you exceedingly.’” Ninety-nine and God ALMIGHTY says, I’m the “most powerful God who holds sway over all things. Walk blameless.” It’s never too late to open our ears, minds, and hearts to God ALMIGHTY. It’s never too late to say, “Hold sway over my heart.” It’s never too late to be used by God for His purposes. Will we seek Him? Will we ask Him to hold sway over our hearts? Will we learn His voice and obey His prompts? How about we all say, “Yes,” and open our Bibles and study the above passages. Make the move today toward a closer relationship, more intimacy with God.

ALMIGHTY God, forgive us for busying ourselves with things of the world that are meaningless in view of eternity and people’s souls. Forgive us for closing our hearts rather than opening them to Your powerful sway. We ask now, “Hold sway over my heart so I walk blamelessly before You.”

*Excerpt from Pray with Purpose, Live with Passion- a timely read for 2021. 

Is the news freaking you out?  I’m not a worrier and I’m not easily alarmed. But when I heard that the National Guard was sending 20,000 troops to Washington D.C. to defend the Capitol due to threats of violence, I felt a strange sense of fear rising in me. Fear for our nation. Fear that people might do something that would cause the loss of life. I immediately began praying. A sense of urgency swelled in me that each of us must do our part to encourage calmness in the midst or rising emotions. We must do our part to bathe relationships in prayer. We must take the high road that follows Christ’s example of praying for our enemies rather than drawing a sword. We must believe that God’s got this. So, no, I’m not going to live in fear. I’m going to take my cues from a great Biblical example – Daniel. We find his story in Daniel 2. King Nebuchadnezzar had a troubling dream and demanded that it be interpreted or he would kill all the wise men. Daniel’s name was on the list of those to be executed. However when Daniel learned of the situation, he didn’t go into hiding. Rather, he gathered his friends and prayed. Daniel 2:18 states they requested, “compassion from the God of heavens” concerning the interpretation of the King’s dream. That night, God revealed the interpretation to Daniel. In Daniel 2:20, he praises Him. “Let the name of God be blessed forever and ever, For wisdom and power belong to Him.” He continues in verse 23, “To You, O God of my fathers, I give thanks and praise, For You have given me wisdom and power; Even now You have made known to me what we requested of You.”  Do you believe God is powerful and that He can give you wisdom and power to know what to do in these troubling days? He can.

Heavenly Father, thank You for making Yourself available to us. Thank You that Your eyes are on Washington D.C. Thank You that in the midst of evil days, You are holy and exalted and always there for us. We look to You for wisdom and power. Guide our thoughts and steps so we are instruments of peace. 

Peace between people. Is it a dream? Is it a far fetched wish? Is it an impossibility? It seems to be.  Why? Because although we aren’t perfect, we expect – and in some cases – demand that others be perfect. Cross the line of what I expect of you or you expect of me and we’re a lost cause. Now, think about something with me. What if…that’s how Jesus treated us? What if the Father, Son, and Spirit demanded our perfection 24/7? What if…when we didn’t live up to their expectations, we were out the door, banned forever, with no path for reconciliation? I hope and pray that each of us can in at the least the tiniest of ways have an appreciation that God treats us differently than many of us treat one another. In fact, not only does our Lord not hold our sins over our head, it’s important to Him that we live free of condemnation. Remember when the Jews were itching to stone a woman caught in adultery? They had the rocks in their hands. They had their self-righteous arms ready to throw. But when Jesus confronted them, when He invited the one who was sin free to pellet her, the self-righteous slunk away. What did the Lord of Lords then do? If you said, pellet her with rocks because she was guilty and deserving of punishment, you’re right and you’re wrong. You’re correct in saying she was deserving of death according to the Law. You are incorrect, however about Jesus’s response. He told her He didn’t condemn her and for her to go and sin no more. Jesus wants the same for us. He is our Advocate, as 1 John 2:1 explains, “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an ADVOCATE with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” There it is.  The Bible is our guide on how not to sin and hopefully, we’re reading it and praying for God’s help to walk according to it. But if and when we do sin, we have the full assurance that Jesus is our Advocate just as He was for the adulterous woman. Only when we arrive in heaven will we fully appreciate the magnitude of Jesus winning our court case by taking our guilt on Himself.  

Lord Jesus, thank You for being our Advocate. Help us be mindful of Your Word and walk according to it so we “may not sin.” 

Unable to go to the gym during the pandemic, I began working out at home. Although I’d worked out with weights before, I wanted refresher tips so googled recommendations for the number of repetitions. Soon, I became engrossed with exercise tips and found myself thinking more and more about them. Then, one morning as I knelt to pray, I noticed my weights a few inches from my Bible. God quickened me to the fact my newfound interest had been a distraction from my time with Him. Is working out with weights wrong? No. It’s great. The believer’s body is God’s temple and we’re to take care of it. But God is to have first place in everything. Has anything become a preoccupation with you and taken away from your time with God? If so, return to giving Him first place. Get your copy of Prayers of My Heart Journal to help rekindle your intimacy with God.

Horn blasting, I turned to look at the car that pulled beside me at the curbside pickup just in time to see a woman shooting a vulgar gesture at me and angrily yelling.  Supposing her outburst was misdirected, I returned her gesture with the love sign. That didn’t go well or as I intended. She repeated the gesture which led me to realize she might not know that my hand gesture was the sign for love. Rolling down my window, I offered, “This is the sign for love,” hoping she would also see she had the wrong person. Seeming to be more inflamed, her outburst continued. “You filthy _ _ _ _. You _ _ _ _ ” I had never been called those words and wasn’t completely sure I knew what one of them meant. Bewildered and wondering if she had a gun in the car, I offered, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I have no idea who the lady was. All I know is that I didn’t see a child in her car for which I was thankful. Driving home, I was also hoping that perhaps she had gotten her anger out on me rather than whoever she would be around next. Not only was the encounter disturbing, it was enlightening as I thought about the anger swelling in our land, about how a peaceful gathering could result in people dying.

Wrong Perceptions Wrong Accusations

Between the cursing and hand gestures, the woman had yelled, “You cut off that old man!” So, she was angry not because of anything I had done to her. Her rage was over what she thought I had done to someone else. We could almost say she was “righteously” angry. Angry for a good cause. However, that’s not the case. She wrongly perceived a situation. Apparently, she had been in the car behind me and seen me turn into the pick up lane. What she hadn’t seen was the man motioning for me to turn ahead of him because he was waiting for a spot where someone was pulling out. The woman had absolutely no reason to be angry with me. She didn’t know me. She didn’t know the “old man.” She didn’t know what he had communicated to me. But she took it upon herself to assume she knew, berate me, curse at me, and shoot me her hand gestures. I’m glad she didn’t have anything else she could shoot.

Anger Rising

I mentioned that although I was disturbed by the situation, it was also enlightening. Why? I couldn’t stop thinking about it. The look on her face. The flow of angry words. Her physical gestures. It was like she was about to erupt. Well, I guess she did erupt. But where did her volcanic anger originate? Obviously, it was already in her, whether on the surface because of perhaps something recent that had happened. Or, was her anger deep seated? I’m not a psychologist so I won’t pretend to know. But I do know that there seems to be a lot of that kind of anger in our land right now.  Anger that results in regret.

Angry Mob Mentality or Prayer Mentality

No doubt, you have been disturbed by the anger that is rising in our land. Anger rising in good people, godly people.  Anger rising often for good reason.  The Bible doesn’t say that all anger is wrong but that in our anger to not sin.  (Ephesians 4:26) There is a righteous anger, evidenced by Jesus driving money changers out of the temple and calling them out. (Matthew 21:11-12)

Being a God-fearing person doesn’t mean not speaking truth. Jesus said there was no greater person that John the Baptist, and no doubt Jesus was aware than his cousin called out the Pharisees calling them a “brood of vipers.” (John 11:11, Matthew 3:4-7)

Being a Christian doesn’t mean that we are to stand aside when the father of lies speaks. Rather, Jesus models Ephesians 6:10-18 and how to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.

Yes, we are to show the world we are Christians by our love. Yes, as citizens of heaven, our first allegiance is and must always be to Christ the King, our Lord. But, He has placed us here as ambassadors. We are to shine forth His light. Rivers of living water are to flow from our innermost being. We cannot fulfill our God given calling if the reservoirs of our heart are filled with hate rather than love.

It is a time for mob prayer, Christian. Not a time for mob hate. Not a time for horn blasting perceived accusations, but rather a time for us to address factual wrongs. Address them in prayer to our Heavenly Father. Address them in civil conversation with friends. Address them in positions of influence as God gives us opportunities. Commit to prayer rather than angry mob mentality.

Heavenly Father, it is a difficult time in our nation and world, as You well know far better than us for You are Lord of the war raging between principalities. We call on You to embrace, comfort, and protect Your godly ones, for You to give great wisdom and discernment for how to move forward. Stop the evil. Turn our broken, sin ravaged nation to You. Use us to lead the way to salvation through Christ Jesus our Lord. Our eyes are on You. We pray not only for the sake of our nation, but for Your name and glory. 

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Recently, there seems to be an increase in power plays among people.  It has been disturbing regardless of what person, political party, or company you support.  I suppose that’s why I find such joy meditating on Jesus. He is the only one who is pure and He is the ultimate one to whom we can look. And, it never hurts to remember that He is above all. Yes, Ephesians 1:20-21 clearly states that Jesus is seated at God’s “right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.’”  Think on that. Meditate on it. Jesus is above every rule and authority and power and dominion. ABOVE all.  Above ALL.  Do we get it? Christ is ABOVE ALL.  And, this is especially good news. He is our friend. He urges us to tell Him our needs. He offers to help when we call on Him. What a wonderful Savior!

Lord Jesus, You who are far ABOVE ALL rule and authority and power and dominions, we love and worship You. Thank You for the reminder.