Time to get out the arsenal!

Precious Heavenly Father,

Thank you Father for the privilege of your grace. Thank you for your favor. Thank you for adopting us, for honoring our faith. Thank you for hearing our prayers, for mercy and for your son Jesus Christ. For continually teaching us, guiding and directing our lives. Thank you for experiencing your love on the mountain tops and in the valleys. Thank you for your gentleness, your deep understandings, corrections and trainings. Thank you for protecting us and our loved ones. Thank you for where you have spiritually, mentally and physically placed us and also not placed us. Thank you for the food we eat and the water we drink. Thank you for the clothes we wear or do not have and the car we drive or the car we do not have.  Thank you for the love you have given to us through the Body of Christ. We give you all praise for our sisters and brothers in Christ. You have blessed us beyond blessings.  You have taught us, that when we see their love, we have seen your Son Jesus. Thank you Father. 

We ask O Father that your Holy Spirit would continue to bring us through the times of temptation and remind us of the authority we have received; to fight with the sword you have given to us in your Son’s name Jesus. We will stand upon your promises and continue to walk in your son’s love. We will stand upon your mercies and goodness and know they follow us wherever we go. Though we may fall seven times, we will keep getting up! You never give up on us and you always finish what you have started in us! We rebuke all fear that would try to enter into our lives! We may be persecuted, struck down, but not destroyed! We will be rescued from six calamities and no harm will touch us from seven! Though we be afflicted, your word continues to say we will be delivered from them all! We believe this Father! Though we may fall, we will not be overwhelmed; for you are holding our hand! We can rejoice, because you are always holding our hands! You have angels over us! Heavenly Father, your word says you protect us and that you are the God who battles for us. We put all our trust in you O Father. You fight for us and we will have peace. O Father, you said that all those who put their trust in you can rejoice and shout for joy, because you defend us. You are our Defender! We can be joyful because we love your name. Though you have many names, I call you my one and only Father! You bless us with righteousness and surround us with favor like a shield. We can sleep in peace because it is you O Father who gives us safety. You have made us rich in your grace and kindness through your son Jesus. Thank you for your gift of Grace, Father. Your eyes run to and fro throughout the whole earth and you show yourself strong in the behalf of those whose heart is perfect toward you O Father. We have your Son’s Holy Spirit inside of us Father, and have been justified by our faith, the word of our testimony and the blood of the Lamb and we know we are protected from the wrath that is to come upon this land! It is you O Father who drew us to you even before the foundation of the earth. You loved us and drew us to yourself before we even knew you. You chose us and your Holy Spirit marked and sealed us to be adopted into your family. Thank you Father for opening up our eyes. Thank you for your son who is at your right hand continually making intercessory prayers for us. We stand upon these words Lord. We stand upon your promises. We know that nothing will separate us from your Son’s love. No tribulation, not distress or persecution, or famine or nakedness or peril or sword. Although your word keeps saying: we are killed all the day long and are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. These people prove your Son is Lord! They prove your word is true. They prove that in all of these things we go through we are indeed more than conquerors through Him who loved us. Yes we are Father! We have been persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from your love Father, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

Move deeply inside of your people O Father and create inside of us to be good fruit producers that would overwhelm those of the world. We ask that your Spirit of Repentance go from one end of our land and across our whole nation filling hearts with pain, shame, remorse, sorrow and this repentance. We ask that you would turn those from the darkness they have recruited and served into your light. Do what you will Father.  

Right now, the Church takes a stand to repent from any apathy, complacency, lukewarmness in their walk and deliberately chooses to be bold when it is needed but filled with humility and your gentle spirit, filled with discernment and listening closely to your Holy Spirit, always learning when to speak and when not to speak. Season us Father to be the vessels we are called to be and bring many of us into godly intents and visions that are far above what we ourselves are capable. We depend upon your Holy Spirit and ask and declare this in your son’s name Jesus Christ. Amen.   

Are you becoming an Eagle? Are you listening to His voice? Can you see the good?

                                                                 Like that of an Eagle

‘’As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings.” 

Deuteronomy 32:11. kjv

We understand this verse is talking about the 40 year wanderings of the children of Israel and yet, this song begins to sing to our own hearts.

In the first part of the verse is a masculine noun, and when the “eagle” stirs up His nest, something big is happening and it is time for the youngsters to “wake up,” there is a big world out there.  This is also an unused root meaning “lacerate.” 

The nest is made of twigs, grass and thorns and are gathered interchangeably, interwoven and interlocking with the grass eventually on top and a hedge of thorns surrounding the outside of the nest to secure against predators and storms. Home sweet home. When the male eagle begins to stir up the nest, the eaglets become uncomfortable and begin to flap their wings. The father or mother eagle pushes the eaglets out of the nest. Frightened, the eaglets jump back into the nest and because the grass has been removed they are no longer comfortable as the thorns begin to lacerate them and they jump back out. 

What is their Father saying to them?  

It is time for change. If you never changed, you would be stunted and not develop or mature. You would not grow or understand the things I have created for you to learn. You would be stagnant and not be trained in wisdom nor be fruitful and have character. Most important, you would not be able to see the meaning of my love. The formation of strong character is achieved only by walking past fear, through the trials. 

Sometimes, we manage to dodge the rain drops from time to time, then; we are challenged to trust and take our Father’s hand as He walks us the rest of the way.  

He says, “Do not fear!”

Like that of the eaglet, we can be full of trepidation and shrink at the vastness of setting out on our own. We like our comfortable nests, without the thorns. Have we become so comfortable, we cannot recognize our Father’s voice or sense the stirring as His wings flutters over us? And, when we take that giant leap into the air, do we really believe He is still with us no matter what happens when we fly? When the baby eagle finally dives into the air or is pushed by his mother, did he realize that his mother would be hovering just above him the whole time? And, should he tire and begin to fall, the father and mother would be there to catch him and bring him a fish when in need?

Watching his father dive gracefully into the air, the youngster had no idea that someday, he would not only look fearlessly at the storms but get excited over them. His whole attitude could be something like that of an enthusiastic young surfer running to his board and shouting, “surfs up!” Thus, he uses the stormy winds to fly up to 10,000 to 15,000 ft high at 65 mph. He rises above the clouds, resting and gliding; watching the drama below. His father taught him that eagles rise above the fray. His eyes will become completely focused with unerring vision and he would perfect his dive at a rapid speed of 200 mph easily lifting a fish within his strong talons, with barely a break in the water.

How many of you want to be eagles today?

Precious Heavenly Father,

We give you all praise this morning from everything inside of us. We love you with all of our heart, our soul, our mind and all of our strength. We put all of our trust in only you. Our desire is to drawn closer to you, to know your character more, understand your reasonings and any useful intellect you have for us. Make us eagles Father. We ask that your Holy Spirit would guide and instruct us this morning. We thank you for teaching us your insight that provides more faith, healings, acceptance, well being and a light to learn more love in deeper ways, thank you for stirring up our nests like that of a mother eagle, to get us out of our comfort zones. You O Father are more real than anything we can see right here on earth! We give you all praise!  Thank you for the way your wings hover over us, always caring, watching, catching us when we falter, guiding us into the good things that enrich our lives. We know this is all from you Father. Thank you for pushing us off of the cliff when we need it. Thank you for making us uncomfortable when we need it. For never giving up on us.  We gladly declare and give you all of the credit, honor and glory. We rejoice that Jesus is Lord and we pray this in His name, amen.  

The bird mentioned can be an eagle or a griffon vulture. Some are convinced it is the vulture.  Vultures eat carcasses, eagles do not. Both the eagle and the vulture have similar characteristics. Surprisingly it is the vultures sense of smell that leads him to his prey. The largest vulture’s wing span is 8 ft and 7 in. The Steller’s sea eagle can be as large as 8 ft and 2 in. The vulture glides perfectly up to 2,200 ft in the air. They connect to the “sweet spots” that are shaped something like a tornado enabling them to be one of the most graceful birds in the air.

Brown-Driver-Briggs

נֶשֶׁר noun masculine^{Deuteronomy 32:11} griffon-vulture, eagle (Late Hebrew id.; Assyrian  našru; ᵑ7 נַשְׁרָא; Syriac Arabic vulture (Lane²⁷⁸⁰),

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKhecnxWKxg

Even Eagles Need a Push by David McNally

SciFriday: Tavistock and Social Engineering

Joshua Aaron // Immanuel (Sea of Galilee Lyric Video) עמנואל // ים כנרת

A very timely word

  Proverbs 26:2

(2) Like a flitting sparrow, like a flying swallow,
So a curse without cause shall not alight.

New King James Version   Change your email Bible version

We can understand "curse" in several ways: as the invoking of evil or misfortune upon another, or as the evil or scourge itself. The proverb primarily deals with invoking a curse against another when no justification for doing so exists. Such a curse is akin to the aimless flitting of birds, suggesting that it will have no effect. It will not "hit" its intended target.

We can definitely consider the tragedies of September 11 as a curse. However, God undoubtedly approved of it, or it never would have happened. This curse hit, and it hit hard. Therefore, we must conclude that there was more than ample justification for it falling upon this nation. The death toll was approximately 3,000 people, a horrendous figure to be sure, but it pales when compared to just one other death-toll figure: Every day in the United States over 4,000 human lives are snuffed out of existence by abortion. In the 30 days following September 11, 120,000 lives ceased to exist. Of those 120,000 abortions, 95% of them—114,000—occurred solely for the mother's convenience!

Is it any wonder that God cries out in Ezekiel 7:23, "Make a chain, for the land is filled with crimes of blood, and the city is full of violence." George Mason, whose great influence can be seen in our Declaration of Independence and Constitution, wrote that sin "brings the judgment of heaven upon a country. . . . By an inevitable chain of causes and effects, Providence [God] punishes national sin by national calamities." George Washington declared in his First Inaugural Address, "We ought to be no less persuaded that the propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right, which Heaven itself has ordained."

The apostle Paul states in Romans 9:14. "What shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not!" As a people, we are guilty and fully deserve anything He in His loving wisdom decides to inflict upon us. Most assuredly, we are not innocent victims. Individually, few of us have sinned against any of the people, groups, or nations that may have done this, but as citizens, we are part of this nation, and our well-being rises and falls with it. We have eagerly accepted God's overflowing abundance of material blessings with which He showered this nation. So when He judges that we need to be brought down a peg—or many pegs—we would do well to consider deeply the many ways we may have offended the great God who created us and gives us every breath of air we breathe.

— John W. Ritenbaugh

I welcome you to pray with me.

Morning Prayer

Precious Father,

We give you thanks this morning with everything inside of us, from our heart, our soul, our mind and all of our strength. We honor You with our breath and our deeds. We give honor to you by the grace you have given us in faith. We believe Father. We believe our attitudes should be like that of your son Jesus Christ. Help us Father, that your Holy Spirit will continue to transform our minds into His likeness. He served, we should serve. He humbled himself and we should humble ourselves. Humble us, if we do not humble ourselves. Your son became obedient even unto death and You O Father exalted him to the highest place and gave him a name that is above every name. You said that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of you O Father; you are our God!

We have all our being in you O Father. We trust in you completely as we hear your words, your teachings and training us in love, corrections and you tell us, “do not fear.” 

Thank you for leading us into places of clarity, for sharpening up our discernment, giving us a new sensitivity to your will and confirmations in our heart. We believe Father. We give you all praise Father.

We ask that your Holy Spirit would continue to build your people into that strong body, spiritually, mental soundness, physically able and to buff our tongues from any selfish, worthless and fruitless words. We ask when we speak words, they would be seasoned by your grace and salted by your wisdom. We ask that you would remind us to judge our hearts, not other people. Remind us to judge our thoughts, our actions and not be entrapped in anyway by fearing man.  We willingly lodge and speak your truth and words of life this morning. 

Your Son told us to “have faith in God” Jesus answered. "I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, Go throw yourself into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins..” Mark 11:22-25

We believe Father.

We lift up our sons and daughters to You and ask that you would draw them closer to you, awaken their hearts and spirits to your truth and give them the godly understanding they need to believe and receive Your love. Allow them to see your Son’s scars he received upon the cross. Give them the understanding they need to realize He took their place so they can have forgiveness for their sins and be set free. Work in their lives O Father, send them Your messengers to guide and direct  them throughout their daily tasks. We believe Father and we thank you ahead of time.

We forgive those who have wounded our hearts, for the abuse we received when we were young, for those who have offended us at work or at home. We forgive those who have hurt our chldren, We forgive those who have lied to us and cheated, We forgive those who have betrayed us. We forgive our parents for the way we were raised. We forgive our neighbors. We forgive our teachers. We forgive the bullies, We forgive all those who despise us, who speak lies against us! We choose to forgive all these people Father. We forgive! Forgive us for holding any un-forgiveness in our hearts. Take it all away Father.

Heal our pasts. Heal our hearts. Take our sins away. Name them: ___.

We lift up those who are heavy in their hearts, towards those who need a healing. Your word says, “Make your request be made known.  And it also says “without faith it is impossible to please you.”  We ask that your Holy Spirit would breathe upon the root cause of those who are sick and begin to deal with these infirmities one by one. We also ask that you would also breathe upon their hearts and minds and give them a new life in you. Bring them to the place where they can be born from above.  We ask that many of us will see these transforming souls by your grace. In Jesus we ask. Amen

We lift up all those in our churches who strive to be in your will. We ask that your Holy Spirit would take complete control over these workers, in a bold love, in a bold loving tongue and that many would be used to continue to bring in the harvest. Bring them up into a place full of your strength, joy and mighty faith! Keep them healthy, safe and full of your Holy Spirit. We believe Father. We ask this in your Son’s exalted name of Jesus Christ. We thank you and give you all the praise and glory.  Amen.  

Loneliness does not stand alone.

Loneliness

Not everyone is singing carols this year.

We have:

Singles, widows, divorcees and those living in an onslaught of miscommunications and misunderstandings. Abusive situations, some are in mourning, sons and daughters who are on tour in the military, miscarriages, abortions, loss of a job and those who have lost a pet [yes we love our pets]. Unless we’ve walked in their shoes, we cannot grasp such sorrow.

Overspending gives into the lure of department stores. Oh oh, bills and more bills. Oh no! Medical bills, now what! And, whats the drip drip drip in the basement and now, we need a new roof! 

We did not expect all this!

What did you say it would cost? 

You have got to be kidding me! 

Of all things, grandma doesn’t think we love her because she hasn’t heard from us in awhile, but she doesn’t know what has been going on in our house. “The youngest one has the measles, Tom brought home failing grades and Susan is running around with the wrong crowd! Why won’t they listen to me? Who can I talk to? Help!

What made grandma begin to think that way? My Pastor calls them “triggers.” I love that expression because of the simplicity of the definition! Grandma may have started to get angry because she started to feel left out, lonely and that no one cared. She started to think [trigger] in the wrong direction of self-pity instead of what her kids could be going through. One phone call would have given her the peace and understanding she needed.

Was grandma listening to a friends chatter about her daughter phoning her with holiday plans? Was this the trigger thought that set off envy, sparking anger, bringing in heaviness that finally rested into self-pity?  Grandma should have been happy for her friend. Instead she followed the “me” steps into believing a lie. She became miserable.    

Loneliness pretends, and can be briefly covered up by an occasional smile. And in todays modern trendy terminology; happens to be “gender friendly.” [Jesus never talked about something being “gender friendly.”] Too much self focus [triggers] opens the door for depression and when we allow this to happen; sometimes hope begins to dwindle because we have chosen to believe a lie, instead of truth. 

Don’t have anymore hair? Well, maybe you needed more character and happen to be more unique without it!

Gained a little too much weight? There’s your challenge to reach for an apple instead of a donut. 

Stage fright? It is only a spirit of fear. Walk boldly through it and it leaves!

Fighting jealousy? Train your mind to begin to magnify and admire the good things in that person.

Feeling unloved? Love! Love all those around you with everything you have inside of you! Everything you sow will be returned in mega amounts.

We will be happier if we stop taking ourselves so seriously. I was talking to my Pastor yesterday about a problem. He has what I call, clear periwinkle blue eyes that twinkle. A good transparent sign! When I got back into my car and looked into the mirror and saw two raccoon eyes looking back at me. My eyeliner had smudged all over my eyes because I usually close my eyes when I pray. How embarrassing. Then, on second thought; “well he sees a lot more than two black eyes when he talks to people and it made me laugh.” I chose to let it go.   

You may be alone, but that doesn’t mean you have to be lonely. Sometimes it can be because, you have chosen to move from the presence of God into your own fleshly thoughts and feelings.   

You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore. Psalm 16:11

Exactly what kind of fruit are we producing when we experience our flesh demanding our soul to overspend for those we love? In times past, we have called this love. For whom? Why have we put a worldly price tag upon love? Why do we play this game of consumerism, every single year! And, where is our priorities?

The best thing you can give is yourself. Jesus taught us this very thing. 

Many years ago, one of my best friends went against the tide and always baked cookies and sent them to her family. Why stretch your budget and stress about it afterwards? There are other ways to give besides going into debt every year. 

This also means to stop comparing yourself with others and be the person who God has created you to be. Just be yourself. The Creator did not make a mistake. There is only one you on this whole planet and this means you are special. 

Admit that you aren’t thinking right and it is your faulty thinking processes that have isolated you in the first place. Whenever something happens, I am always aware there are many others who have gone through the same thing or worse. The difference is always in the attitude of our response.

Need friends?  The solution: Be friendly. 

“A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: 

and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.”

Proverbs 18:24 | KJV

Don’t like the tinsel in the stores? Don’t go there, bake cookies or make fudge instead.   Dare to be different! Teach your children/grandchildren the true value of living is giving themselves. 

“Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.” Colossians 3:2

Develop a new habit and pray in thankfulness before the beginning of everyday. Learn to pray the word. Such as:

“You are my God, and I will praise you! You are my God, and I will exalt you! Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.” Psalm 118:28-29, NLT

Joy will come, because you have entered into the presence of God and put Him back in his rightful place in your life. 

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

1 Thessalonians 5:18, NIV

“Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe”... Hebrews 12:28, NIV

“For all of this, Your Excellency, we are very grateful to you”. Acts 24:3, NLT

Put yourself on a shelf. This holiday, reach out to others and sow love to those around you. 

Let’s pray:

Heavenly Father,

We are so thankful for your goodness in our lives. We put our trust in you and give you all of our problems. We know you are always here working upon our behalf. We know, you hear our prayers. Thank you Father. Help us to continually think of the solutions in your word, give us the answers we need to make godly decisions to benefit those around us. Remind us to always put your ways before flesh gets in the way and we ask you put a wall up to prevent us from getting involved in any worldly ideas that would hinder our walk with you. We cherish your character and desire to draw closer to you in every way in our lives. We give you honor, glory, and all of our love. We give you this day and rejoice over every breath you have given to us. We ask that you would continue to guide and direct us to give good words, do good things, think good things to give you pleasure. Thank you Father and we pray in your son’s name Jesus. Amen.