After Easter update
Hi!
Hope you had a blessed Easter and cialis ohne rezept spanien were able to spend some time with the Lord, rejoicing in all that He has done.
I will be taking a week (maybe two) off from the blog again. God has given me some prayer direction for the nation, and I want to be able to focus on that for a season and find out if He wants me to share any of it here with you.
I want to encourage you to continue praying for the United States. God is not finished with this nation yet, but is seeking to give each one of us His wisdom about how to pray for the issues concerning America. And if you’re not sure how to pray, then pray in the Spirit! You’ll be praying mysteries (see 1 Corinthians 14:2). I don’t know about you, but a lot of the stuff currently going on in the nation and the world is a huge mystery to me, so praying out mysteries in tongues sounds just about right at this time!
Be encouraged that the truth found in God’s Word about prayer is true all the time, not just when everyone’s prospering and the world is safe. In fact, time and again, the biggest miracles in the Bible (and since!) have been during times of distress, turmoil, and confusion. If that’s so, then what must we be sitting on brink of? Trust God; He is one hundred percent trustworthy. He’ll lead you in your own life and in your prayers for others as well.
And if you want to check out some of my favorite devotionals while I’m away, here they are!
- My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chambers: http://utmost.org/
- Streams in the Desert by Mrs. Charles E. Cowman: http://www.backtothebible.org/index.php/devotions/classics/charles_cowman.html
- God’s Word for Today, Gospel Publishing House (Assemblies of God): http://ag.org/top/devotional/index.cfm
- Eagles’ Wings, published by the Free Presbyterian Church: http://fpcna.org/fpcna_daily.asp
- Jentezen Franklin’s devotional blog: http://www.jentezenfranklin.org/blog/
- Devotional by Smith Wigglesworth: http://annointing.wordpress.com/smith-wigglesworth-devotional/ (This site has listed every page of Wigglesworth’s Devotional. Click the month and then scroll to find the day. Every month is a PDF file.)
- World Challenge, devotions. http://sermons.worldchallenge.org/en/view/devotions This is David Wilkerson’s ministry, now headed up by his son Gary Wilkerson. (If the link takes you to the home page instead of the devotion, then on the menu bar at the top go to “SERMONS” and scroll down to “DEVOTIONS” and link there.)
Of course, if you want, you can also scroll back and levitra in duitse apotheken check the archives right here at www.FirstOfAllPray.com.
Check back here at the website on Monday, April 28. I’ll either give an update or be back to blogging full time. In the meantime, enjoy pressing on in God!
Dorothy
Read MoreThe Apologetic Altar Call
Easter is drawing near. Every year on that morning, millions attend churches throughout the country. For many, this is a biannual event—a Christmas and Easter pilgrimage, of sorts—to the place of worship of the most religious member of the family. Some go kicking and screaming; some go with extra hairspray, an overly expensive new outfit, and pinching shoes that may never be worn again; others go relieved to still have some sort of connection with the Man Upstairs; and still many others go merely out of habit.
However, strip away the chocolate bunnies and the colorfully wrapped eggs (Hey! Here’s my basket—just dump them in there), and take a closer look at the Man who died on the cross and three days later rose from the grave, and you’ve got Easter—or more correctly, the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
My pastor prays extensively the month before Easter for souls to flood into the church—and from there into the kingdom of Heaven as they grasp who Jesus really is and receive Him as their Lord.
This year he has been praying not only for those who will attend our church—not even just for the ones who will attend other life-giving churches, as he calls them—but also for those who will attend churches that have strayed from the central truth of the recognition of sin and the need for a life-changing, saving relationship with Jesus. He has been praying for God to touch all of those churches and prix cialis autriche to supernaturally open the door for invitations and altar calls to be given—and for droves of souls to respond and be saved.
You may scratch your head and think, Pipe dream. Ain’t gonna happen. Well, sit right back and read the tale of the Apologetic Altar Call.
In the early ‘80s, I was working in a rural elementary school just outside of the metropolitan area where I live. I taught with a godly woman named Arlene, who was one of my early mentors. She and I would eat lunch together every day and pray for the students and other staff members.
Connie was the music teacher. She was Bohemian in lifestyle—she embraced a New Age philosophy and was married to a Muslim from Afghanistan. The Methodist church in the town needed an organist, so they asked Connie if she would be available.
Connie loved music; she loved to sing and play the piano, so she accepted the position and became a fixture every Sunday morning at the Methodist church near the school. Her New Age leanings didn’t bother anyone at the church; and their doctrine didn’t challenge her worldview, so they all made music together every Sunday morning in a tolerance-soaked, symbiotic relationship.
One Sunday morning as Connie sat behind the organ, the minister of that little Methodist church got up sheepishly behind the pulpit, cleared his throat, and apologized to the congregation for what he was about to do.
He said, “I am so sorry—I feel very uncomfortable right now—but I can’t shake this feeling that’s gripping me. I know we don’t do this here—I don’t like to make folks uncomfortable—but I’ve got to ask something very unusual for this church.”
Connie had stopped playing the organ, and you could have heard a pin drop.
He continued, “Well, here goes. If anyone wants to come to the front to get a closer relationship with Jesus—please step out and come forward.”
Crickets.
And then, after a long, horribly awkward, tension-wrapped silence, Connie, gripped with conviction of her need for Christ, got up from behind the organ and came to the front and knelt. She was the only one that morning who heeded the call, but as she bowed before the altar, the apologetic Methodist minister prayed for her, and she was gloriously saved.
And who do you think she told? You’ve got that right—Arlene and me, who had been praying for her all along!
So is my pastor dreaming when he prays for churches that don’t even preach the saving gospel to offer invitations to receive Jesus Christ in their services?
Just ask Connie.
May the kingdom of Heaven swell to overflowing this season with new souls—from every corner and walk of life!
Dorothy
Read MoreOvercoming the Connection-Challengers, Part 2
And the disciples came to the other side of the sea, but they had forgotten to bring any bread. And Jesus said to them, “Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” Matthew 16:5-6
Jesus had just fed four thousand men along with at least as many women and children, using only seven loaves and a few small fish (see Matthew 15:34). The leftovers from that meal filled seven large baskets.
After this mind-boggling miracle, both Jesus and His disciples were accosted by vicious challenges to their secure connection with God.
One challenge targeted Jesus Himself. The Pharisees and Sadducees contested the Lord’s authority with a brazenly snide challenge to the miraculous power of God which was flowing from Him. The other challenge zeroed in on the disciples. This one was a devilishly subtle twisting of the words of Jesus in their minds that filled them with shame and a sense of not measuring up.
The disciples vs. the Connection-Challengers
Jesus definitely had the edge over any connection-challengers that came His way. He had this going for Him: “…He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man” (see John 2:25). His disciples, however, were not so perceptive. When their connection was challenged, they often didn’t see through the attacks, and they needed help not to succumb to lies meant to undermine their confidence in the Lord.
Jesus had just silenced His self-righteous taunters with the example of Jonah (see Matthew 16:4 and my previous entry, http://www.firstofallpray.com/?p=4391). He took advantage of the “teachable moment” and told His disciples, “Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
What happened next was completely unexpected; out of left field condemnation and a deep sense of shame overtook the disciples because of what Jesus said. As out of kilter as it sounds, this is a common tactic of the devil. Day in and day out, the enemy of our soul busily seeks to twist and weaponize the Word of God against us to bind us up in condemnation, confusion, and shame.
Jesus had just warned His disciples, “Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” The leaven of which He spoke was hypocrisy—looking spiritually “together” on the outside, while inwardly, pride and rebellion raged against true connection with the Lord.
Jesus was actually saying to His disciples,”Boys, you’re doing great. You’re following Me; just keep your connection with the Father genuine, simple, and tight like it is right now. It’s when folks get all gummed up in looking good and keeping up with the religious ‘Joneses’ that they start losing their grip on what’s really important.”
But His disciples didn’t hear that. When Jesus said, “Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees,” they heard, “You Bozos! You forgot the bread AGAIN?!”
The Book of Matthew expresses their thinking a little more politely. It says, “They began to discuss this among themselves, saying, ‘He said that because we did not bring any bread’” (Matthew 16:7).
Let’s think about this. Jesus was using a teachable moment to train His men to discern religious agendas. The leaven He was exposing was an imposed conformity to looking holy as opposed to simply and freely connecting to the Holy One Himself. This type of leaven was all about how things looked on the surface.
While Jesus was warning them to avoid getting caught up in appearances, the disciples were worried about how stupid they must look because they forgot the bread. We’re idiots! they were probably thinking. We look so inept! We’ll never measure up! Jesus must be disgusted with us—He’s talking about leaven because we forgot the bread! Their minds were spinning out of control and condemnation was having a heyday.
The disciples were yielding to the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees by buying into the agenda of “you have to look right to others to be right”. They yielded to the leaven of hypocrisy by assuming that their relationship with Jesus hinged—not upon the genuineness of humble connection—but upon whether they had performed with perfection.
Unfortunately, this thinking plagues believers in our time as well. Whether you seek to perform to obtain approval from God or man—like the disciples—or like the Pharisees, you seek to appear more spiritual to gain advantage over others, Jesus is speaking loud and clear: “Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”
In closing, here are the notes that I wrote that snowy morning to sum up everything that I had received from the Lord that day about connection:
“PERFORMANCE and APPEARANCE VS. HEARTFELT CONNECTION
“Trusting in my performance and adjusting my appearance to avoid disapproval leads to disconnect before God. But when I prioritize connection with the Lord, performance and appearance will take a back seat to God’s will for me. Interestingly enough, however, as I merely obey what He reveals about connecting with Him, appearance and performance will take care of themselves and be conformed to His will naturally.”
Bless you as you connect tightly with the Lord.
Dorothy
Read MoreOvercoming the Connection-Challengers, Part 1
And they all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, seven large baskets full. And those who ate were four thousand men, besides women and children. And sending away the crowds, Jesus got into the boat and came to the region of Magadan. Matthew 15:37-39
And immediately thereafter…
The Pharisees and Sadducees came up, and testing Jesus, they asked Him to show them a sign from heaven. Matthew 16:1
Jesus had just fed four thousand men along with at least as many women and children, using only seven loaves and a few small fish (see Matthew 15:34). The leftovers from that meal filled seven large baskets.
After this mind-boggling miracle, both Jesus and His disciples were accosted by vicious challenges to their secure connection with God.
One challenge targeted Jesus Himself. The other challenge zeroed in on the disciples. And it all came via the demands of “prove-yourself” religion, complete with a heavy dose of “appearances-R-us”.
Jesus vs. the Connection-Challengers
Instead of scrambling to whip up a miracle to impress the religious heavyweights before Him, Jesus replied back to them with a challenge of His own:
“When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ And in the morning, ‘There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times?” (Matthew 16:2b-3).
He stated the obvious: they knew how to accurately predict the weather by looking at the appearance of the sky; but even though they heard and saw the miraculous works of Jesus, they refused to acknowledge the reality of what they were witnessing. In their arrogant rejection of the Truth standing before them, they attempted to dismiss the Lord by downgrading the display of God’s mighty power to the status of carnival tricks (Show us a sign, they mocked, like teenagers at a magic show hosted by a second-rate magician).
Jesus could read their intentions like an open book. Bottom line: they wanted to stop the manifestation of God in His life—or at least control it. And they were attempting to do so by intimidating Him with scorn, hoping to push His buttons. If they could coerce Jesus to try to “prove” Himself to them, they would be in control, having gained the upper hand.
But Jesus would have none of it. Instead, He declared, “‘An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign; and a sign will not be given it, except the sign of Jonah.’ And He left them and went away” (Matthew 16:4).
The web had been woven; the spiders were eagerly awaiting their prey; but this One refused to be caught and instead, snared the predators with their own web.
Here’s my paraphrase of the words Jesus used to confront them:
You seek after a sign, you say, but we all know the truth. You don’t intend to give God the glory for any sign He displays in your midst. That’s because you are an evil, adulterous bunch—you’ve strayed from the One to whom you were betrothed.
But the Lord gave them a sign, nonetheless—the sign of Jonah. And then He walked away.
Of all the Old Testament signs Jesus could have cited, He chose Jonah.
Yes, Jonah was swallowed alive by a big fish and was trapped within its belly for three days and nights before being vomited onto dry ground. In this way, Jesus was foreshadowing His death, burial, and resurrection.
But there was another pointed reason that Jesus chose the sign of Jonah, in my opinion. Jonah, the prophet of God and the man with the message, was all about—at least throughout most of the book bearing his name—Jonah. And the Pharisees and Sadducees knew it.
Jonah fled in disobedience from the Lord when God wanted him to preach to Ninevah. The Pharisees and Sadducees knew this.
A storm overtook the ship upon which Jonah was sailing and catastrophe was about to befall everyone onboard on account of Jonah. And the Pharisees and Sadducees knew it.
The storm ceased when the crew threw Jonah overboard. And the Pharisees and Sadducees knew this.
A giant fish swallowed Jonah alive. And the Pharisees and Sadducees knew it.
Jonah was forced to acknowledge his rebellion and sin while sloshing around inside the fish’s stomach contents. And the Pharisees and Sadducees knew this.
The fish vomited Jonah onto dry land—quite an ignoble deliverance for such an important man. And the Pharisees and Sadducees knew it.
Jonah preached to Ninevah, and the Ninevites repented before God with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes—signs of truly humble, repentant hearts. And the Pharisees and Sadducees knew this.
God did not judge Ninevah, and because of this, Jonah was furious. And the Pharisees and Sadducees knew it.
There was more. Jonah rested under a plant appointed by God which gave him shade and comfort…and then it was attacked by a worm and died. And Jonah pouted, whined, fretted, and wished to die. The prophet—the religious heavyweight—threw a tantrum. And the Pharisees and Sadducees knew it.
And the sign of Jonah, given to the Pharisees and Sadducees—men of great religious import—was a fore shadow of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ.
But that day—in the arena with men who presumed to know God and to be judges on His behalf—Jonah was also held up by Jesus as a mirror. And as the stunned Pharisees and Sadducees watched Jesus walk away, they could only gaze into the mirror of Jonah—in all of his rebellion and self-absorption—and they saw themselves. And they knew it.
Dorothy
Read MoreBuild consistently upon the Rock
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits… Psalm 103:2
In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:6
When I taught younger grades, I encouraged my students to frequently quiz themselves on their math facts. That way, they would be able to recall sums and differences, products and quotients at the speed of thought—not at the speed of tapping fingers or after finding a calculator. And with practice, even the more math-phobic ones among them could hold their own.
Youngsters need to review their math facts repeatedly until those answers are as retrievable as their birthday or the name of their favorite pet. In my opinion, such “drill and kill” preparations don’t create math-phobia (especially if conducted in a positive environment where stickers or Jolly Ranchers are involved); such practice actually frees students from one more reason to be math-phobic—I can’t remember anything; I’m just stupid in math!
Jesus spoke of the man who heard the Word and acted upon it, likening him to a wise builder who chose to construct his house on solid rock. He emphasized building on bedrock before the storms arose; and despite the time and effort needed to do so, the alternative—an express-house built on the sand—just wouldn’t be able to withstand the tempest.
Jesus placed great importance upon hearing His word and acting upon it in a consistent, life-building way. If you have accepted the challenge from Jesus to live with determined, intentional hearing and acting—like that child who regularly repeats her math facts—then when the rains fall, the floods come, and the winds blow and slam against your life, you will be able to withstand it all. You will pass the test.
One way to help yourself be consistent with building on the Rock of your salvation is to forget none of His benefits. Remind yourself again and again of the wonderful benefits of your connection with the Lord. Psalm 103 lists them. He:
- pardons all your sins
- heals all your diseases
- redeems your life from the pit
- crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion
- satisfies your years with good things
- renews your youth like the eagle
Like that child learning her multiplication tables, it wouldn’t hurt to build this six-point list into your spiritual memory so that it instantly comes to mind the second you need it.
Another way to consistently build upon the solid foundation of Jesus is to remind yourself frequently of the wonderful things He has done in your life. When I feel attacked and defeated, I will often use my prayer time to review aloud before God all of the sweet, miraculous, remarkable, and kind things He has done for me personally. I’ve learned that as long as my eyes are on my problems and how bad I feel, I won’t ever truly see God as my help in times of trouble, and therefore, it’s impossible to go before Him in faith. But when I start reminding Him of what He has done for me in the past, it isn’t long before joy and praise, confidence and faith arise within me, abolishing despair and defeat. And now I’m in faith, and although I still have no clue how He’ll get me out of this one, I know He will!
A third way to build on that sturdy foundation of the Lord is to acknowledge Him in all your ways. How do you do this? When I was a young believer, I practiced talking to Him about whatever I was doing; I even asked His opinion once about whether I should get Coke or Dr Pepper on a road trip (I was pretty sure He suggested DP).
As silly as my soda inquiry sounds, an important aspect of building on the Rock of your salvation is to keep the lines of communication open. And that means acknowledging Him in all of your ways.
I also remember realizing after I had forgotten for several weeks to keep a running conversation going with the Lord, that I was shocked at the difference in the way life felt when I consistently talked to God versus when I didn’t. My conclusion in those early days? Life felt better when I kept up a conversation with God. And you know something? Nearly forty years later, it still does!
Let’s review. Three ways to build on the Rock and to keep your connection with Jesus tight are:
- Forget none of His benefits.
- Regularly review aloud all the good things that God has done for you.
- In all your ways, acknowledge Him.
May you find great joy and security as you build your life on the Rock!
Dorothy
This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope.The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:21-23
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