Walking With Jesus

Are You Content?

“Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time He said, ‘My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.’ So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me.” (2 Corinthians 12:8-9 NLT)

Do you realize there’s a sense in which the stronger, more capable you are as a child of God, the less credibility you have. Why is that? Because our tendency is, the greater measure of ability the Lord gives us, the lesser degree of dependence we often have on Him. If there’s a thread of confidence in ourselves, we risk forfeiting dependence upon the Lord.

That’s one of the reasons discipline is so vital in our walk with the Lord. And here’s the irony: the greater the measure of confidence we have in ourselves, the lesser measure of contentment we’ll have in our walk with the Lord. Why is that?

Largely because our relationship is too often built on performance. To the extent we feel we’re performing well for God, the less dependence we have upon His Spirit, thus denying Him the glory which is His due. When we’re so busy magnifying ourselves, we have little left with which to magnify Him. Is this honoring to the Savior? Of course not, and that’s exactly what robs us of contentment in our walk with Him.

We may be very content in our own ability, but therein lies the problem. Our strength and fortress is the Lord’s presence with us. I believe that’s one of the reasons the Lord sent the twelve out with nothing but a walking stick (Mark 6:8). Contentment grows out of a secure relationship that’s based not on our adequacy but His.

Do you remember how fired up the Disciples were when they returned? Their joy flowed out of His adequacy, not theirs; out of His power to heal the sick and cast out demons, not theirs. It’s no different today. We love, serve, grow, lead – whatever we do, out of the overflow of His goodness, kindness, and grace. My contentment, and yours, must grow out of the depth and breadth of our relationship with our Master.

When I was in youth ministry, I set up chairs, tables, anything I could find to create an obstacle course across a large room. Then I asked for a volunteer to navigate the room – in the dark and with a blindfold on. I would be their guide; all they had to do was listen carefully to my voice. The plot thickens because all the other kids would be screaming directions to them at the same time. The volunteer was ultimately able to make it across the room because I stayed close to them and made sure my voice was clear and loud enough for them to follow.

It’s not unlike that in the world in which we now live. The “voices” of the world are loud and distracting for anyone who is seeking to hear the voice of their Lord. We can allow our spirit to be in a constant state of discontent, confusion, and frustration, or, by God’s grace and with His guiding presence to help us, we can navigate the pathways of this earth triumphantly as we learn to discern His clear, calm voice in the midst of the storms of life.

Are you content in this season of your life? My contentment in Jesus is growing the closer I get to Him. Jesus said: “My sheep listen to My voice: I know them and they follow Me.” Intimacy yields clarity to His voice and closeness to His side.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

The Footprints of Jesus

“Another of His disciples said, ‘Lord, first let me return home and bury my father.’ But Jesus told him, ‘Follow Me now. Let the spiritually dead bury their own dead.’” (Matthew 8:21-22 NLT)

Questions often arise when we read these verses. Is Jesus being callous and uncaring? Is He asking us to ignore our love of family? What did that disciple do? These and other troublesome questions can cause us concern, yet, if we simply look a little more closely, we’ll understand what Jesus was saying and why.

As a rule, we are procrastinators and “waiters.” Even if the time and circumstances are perfect, we want to make excuses for what we’re not certain we want to do. Why? Because our number one concern in any situation is ourselves. We are the center of our own universe, and our world revolves around “ME!”We’re always desiring and expecting a better offer, whether that’s for a washing machine, a new house, or a new life.

We’re so skeptical and suspicious of something that sounds “too good to be true,” because we’ve been taught – “it usually is!” But here’s the truth: there’s no way to over-sell the Gospel! It’s better than we can ever explain it; the Lord is more and offers more than we can possibly imagine even at the very beginning of our walk with Him!

To postpone or turn away from an invitation to follow Jesus is to break His heart and deny ourselves the greatest gift ever known to mankind. Eternal life in heaven is no small gift, and neither is the privilege of walking step by step with the Lord of Creation.

I’ve lived long enough to walk through some very dark seasons. The season in which I’m now walking isn’t a pathway I would have ever chosen for myself, but, as the Psalmist said: “I will not be afraid!” Why not? “…for You are close beside me. Your rod and Your staff protect and comfort me. You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies.”

There is nothing to fear when the all-powerful God of Creation is leading the way and walking with you as you take each step. The words of Charles Stanley encourage me when he wrote: “As you walk through the valley of the unknown, you will find the footprints of Jesus both in front of you and beside you.”

There are friends and family for whom I pray and have prayed every day for years. Each step I take as a believer in the Lord Jesus confirms their ignorance to what they’re missing as they continue to walk alone, in darkness. Like the man in the verse at the top of the page, we use our lost loved ones to hold us back. The man’s father in the scene in that verse hadn’t yet died, but he wanted to hang around until he did.

Was he concerned he’d miss out on his inheritance? Was he just too comfortable to leave “just yet?” Whatever the basis of his excuse, at its core it was no different than the millions today who “postpone” their salvation for a better time.

Friend, if that’s you, stop making excuses and start walking in the footsteps of your Savior. He’s better than anything this world can offer. Knowing you’re loved without measure, accepted without exception, forgiven without limit, freed beyond belief, and reborn into the family of God forever is a gift that cannot be counterfeited and must not be forfeited.

Please, come to Him today! Stop thinking about it and just DO IT!

Blessings, Ed 😊

Our Waiting Is Never Wasted

“May the Lord lead your hearts into a full understanding and expression of the love of God and the patient endurance that comes from Christ.” (2 Thessalonians 3:5 NLT)

Growing takes time. I remember thinking I was never going to turn 16 so I could begin to drive legally. Then I blinked and I was 32, then 48, etc. Time is relative based largely on that for which we’re waiting. What are you waiting for in this season of your life? A job? A spouse? A “break” of some sort? An apology? A healing? What about for “a full understanding and expression of the love of God?”

Realizing Paul took great advantage of the insights the Lord gave Him as He gave expression to His grasp of God’s love in ways that now reverberate in and through our hearts and minds, how do we get there? How do we make those connections in our own walk with the Lord? Here’s the deal – we have the same access to the Savior and to His Father that Paul had. So, the question becomes: “Are WE accessing that vast resource while we’re waiting? Are we tapping the same Holy Spirit resource that Paul used?”

What might that look like? How about rich and rewarding insights into who Jesus is and why He came? He’s the embodiment of love. He voluntarily laid down His life for no other reason than His love for us. How does that awesome reality apply to me and you?

Are we waiting before the Lord? Pondering? Agonizing over our desire to know Him better? Listening to Him more carefully? Walking with Him more closely? Loving Him more intimately? The reality is, the Lord will never be closer to me or you than He is in this moment! He’s as close as we allow Him to be. If we want His Holy presence to be real, alive, meaningful, productive, it will be. We’re the hindrance, not the Lord.

If we long for and desire “the patient endurance that comes from Christ,” it’s ours for the asking. It’s comforting and, on some levels, more than we can comprehend, that the God of creation will sit with us, abide with us, teach, guide, inform, empower, and invest us in His Holy endeavors if/when we’re willing to stop playing “religion” and start kneeling at His holy feet and seeking HIM, not simply seeking information about Him or seeking with all that is within us to get Him to do what we want Him to do for us.

The passion of my heart in this season of my life is to have intimacy and oneness with my Savior. Some days that’s easier than others, but overall He’s drawing me, teaching me, revealing Himself to me, allowing me to catch glimpses of His heart and how His sharing those things with me needs to be translated into action on my part.

As the Lord is giving us a greater measure of “a full understanding and expression of (His love),” let us reveal that through our “patient endurance that comes from Christ.” Patience not only as we await His return, whether for us or for everyone, but patience in our interactions with others throughout our days.

Tolerance for other’s opinions that are so different than ours, patience with those who, like us, are still in progress. None of us has “arrived” and won’t until the Lord comes. Ideally, the closer we get to the Lord, the better understanding we have of who He is and of His limitless love for us, the greater measure of patience we will illustrate in our love, forgiveness, and forbearance of others.

Waiting is never the issue. We ARE waiting, like it or not. It’s what we do IN THAT waiting that can make all the difference.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

First Class or Coach? (Part 2)

“Oh, how great are God’s riches and wisdom and knowledge! How impossible it is for us to understand His decisions and His ways! Who can know the Lord’s thoughts? Who knows enough to give Him advice? And who has given Him so much that He needs to pay it back? For everything comes from Him and exists by His power and is intended for His glory. All glory to Him forever! Amen.” (Romans 11:33-36 NLT)

A scene in Matthew 16 challenges me today as I ponder our need to walk humbly, yet triumphantly as God’s children. Peter has a mountain top experience as Jesus applauds him for recognizing Him as the Messiah. You can read about it in Matthew 16:17-19. Two verses later Jesus tells the Disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, suffer many things, that He would be killed, but on the third day rise from the dead.

Then the same Peter that hours before had had a revelation from God and was praised by Jesus, blurts out in Matthew 16:22: “’Heaven forbid, Lord,’ he said, ‘This thing will never happen to you!’” So, the Lord says to him, “Get away from Me, Satan!”

Sometimes we’re dragged kicking and screaming from “First Class” to “Coach” because we struggle to discern between God’s Spirit speaking to us and our own desires. We want more than anything to know the Lord and to walk closely with Him, yet the longings of our own desires blind us to what God has for us. The painful trials we must endure, as Peter did, to get a fresh, vibrant, and eternal perspective on the Master’s plans.

In some ways we love “Coach” living. Sure, we don’t have as many options, but neither do we have anyone constantly hovering over us wanting to “serve” us. Living “First Class” has demands. It costs more because it offers so much more.

We love that we can recognize that Jesus is the Messiah, that He comes to forgive, save, and deliver us, but when He starts talking about denying ourselves and picking up our cross, we cringe because He’s beginning to infringe on our “rights.” But here’s the deal – salvation isn’t simply about us, it’s mostly about Him.

Why did He come to die in the first place? For much the same reason He chose Abraham and set aside the people of Israel – that He might have a people unto Himself. People who would walk with Him, submit to His authority, listen to His voice, obey His commands, enjoy His fellowship. Just as the children of Israel enjoyed peace, and tranquility as they walked faithfully with Him, they also suffered and were enslaved by others when they didn’t.

We want to “buy our ticket,” then set it aside and continue living as we have, but that’s not God’s plan. We “buy our ticket,” then commit to walking in His ways and operating under His guidelines. The analogy fails because we don’t “buy” anything in our walk with the Lord. He’s paid the price and offers us the “ticket” at no cost to us except the commitment of our total beings being lived under His rulership.

The “perks” are amazing, but they are not without “cost.” We fail to experience our “First Class” benefits when we fail, like Peter, to see things from God’s perspective. Intimacy with God is a gift that He gives freely to those who will open their hearts and minds to Him without reservation. As long as we continue to have “strings” attached, conditions to our obedience, we will rob ourselves of the privileges He longs to share.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

First Class or Coach?

“Dear brothers and sisters, we can’t help but thank God for you, because your faith is flourishing and your love for one another is growing.” (2 Thessalonians 1:3 NLT)

Though I’ve never purchased a First-Class ticket to fly, because my daughter’s jobs have taken her all over the world, she has accumulated a lot of air miles and has, on occasion, blessed me with First-Class tickets to come to see her.

The first time that happened I was oblivious to what it meant. I thought it just meant I got to board earlier and sit closer to the front. I was used to sitting in my seat, however far back, watching a movie on my iPad or sleeping. I didn’t know about meals, free in-flight options and other amenities that First Class afforded me. Now that I’ve learned about the benefits of flying First Class, I’ll be able to take advantage of them.

It occurred to me that a lot of people who profess a relationship with the Lord live way below their means when it comes to being a child of God. We too often want to treat our walk with God like a ticket to an event or ride on an airplane. “Well, I have my ticket, I’ll just stick it in the drawer and wait until I need it.” Then we go about our life as though nothing of real significance has changed.

But if you think about it, that’s like going through a marriage ceremony, kissing the bride, then saying, “That was fun. Let’s connect again real soon and grab a cup of coffee or something.” Marriage is a life-long commitment that not only requires of us obligations, but it also opens the door for limitless privileges reserved only for the two of us.

Marriage is unique in that it includes only one man, and one woman committed to one another for life. Yes, of course, it has similarities to other marriages, but because it involves two very unique individuals, there are elements of each marriage that are different yet, in some ways, treasured. Whether we discover those treasures is up to us.

It’s like that in our relationship with the Lord. There are treasures to be discovered in our walk with God that so enrich our lives we’re literally never the same; however, these treasures are often hidden and are not obvious to the casual observer.

We tend to treat our commitment to Christ like our commitment to our mortgage lender. We make our monthly “payments” by attending church and giving “our” money, then carry on our lives knowing we have made that commitment, but in the everyday scheme of things it has little or no effect or bearing on how we live. We “fly” coach when we have a First-Class ticket.

The riches of Christ are beyond measure, inexhaustible, yet we rarely ask Him for anything until our measly resources run out, because we believe we’re our own providers. “The Lord has given me resources with which to pay my bills, my health is good, I’m good to go. Thank You Jesus!”

What will it take for us to realize there’s more to life in Christ than living our lives, loving our families, and paying our bills. Forgive me, but millions of people do that every day without Him. We don’t need Jesus to survive, we need Jesus to thrive – not simply as a human being, but as a child of God!

There’s more here. Let’s look at this more closely in tomorrow’s post.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Marriage and Ministry

“Husbands, love your wives and never treat them harshly.” (Colossians 3:15 NLT)

It catches my attention to realize the same author to whom the Lord gave insight to write the words of Colossians 1:15ff about the grandeur and majesty of Jesus, also inspired the words of the verse above.

It occurs to me that had I understood when I was first married what I understand today about ministry and marriage, I believe I would never have been divorced. Either that or I would never have been married. Paul understood the tension between the two, thus the reason he chose to stay single and encouraged others to stay single as well.

Does that mean I don’t love my wife and love being married to her? Of course I do, but it has cost me and her, and it will cost you. There’s a delicate balance between Christian ministry and marriage and most of us don’t count the cost before rushing into ministry or marriage.

Dan Reiland gives us insight when he wrote: “Marriage relationships should always take priority over church careers.” That wasn’t explained to me when I began my ministry. I learned from what I saw other Pastors doing – loving their families second or third, behind the church and “God’s people.”

The Treasurer of the first church I pastored gave me some sound advice. She said we don’t give “weeks off,” we give “Sundays off.” She further instructed: “Leave for vacation on Monday morning and don’t return until the following Saturday night. That way you get almost two weeks off for every Sunday off.” Sound advice that I followed (when I could afford it😊).

That sounded good in theory, but I rarely had enough time or money to pull it off. But I appreciated her thoughtfulness. Neither did I have the courage to risk asking if the rest of the Board members felt the same way. 😊

The point is, not many people who attend small churches, or any churches for that matter, help their pastors to understand that their families are their top priority. Remember, I have Alzheimer’s, but I don’t ever remember any of my parishioners telling me: “If I need you and you’re busy with your family, just let me know when you’re free.”

Among the low points of my “ministry” was a fringe attender who called me on my birthday and asked me to take him to a doctor’s appointment. At that point I didn’t understand things like I do now and felt it was my duty as a Pastor to put the needs of my “people” ahead of my own and my family. So, though I was just sitting down to a wonderful dinner my wife prepared especially for me, and much to my chagrin, I took him to the appointment, and I’ve never forgiven myself for that.

Was that the final “nail” in the coffin of my marriage? I don’t know, but what I do know is it seemed after that my wife let me know much more often how much she hated being a Pastor’s wife. I felt her pain and often wasn’t very happy myself being a Pastor.

Why am I dumping this on you? For two reasons. First, if you are in ministry, please understand your family IS your ministry! And, secondly, if you attend, especially a small church, help your Pastor know their family needs to be first, not the church. The Pastor’s ministry to the church will only be as good as he feels about his role as husband and father or wife and mother for the women who have been called to that role.

And yes, of course, ministry has changed a lot, and younger pastors are a lot smarter than I was, but they still feel the pressure to “perform well for the brethren.”

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Christ’s Worth

“Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through Him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see – such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through Him and for Him. He existed before anything else, and He holds all creation together. Christ is also the head of the church, which is His body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So He is first in everything. For God in all His fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through Him God reconciled everything to Himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross. This includes you who were once far away from God.” (Colossians 1:15-21a NLT)

As you rest quietly and allow those powerful words to wash over you, how does it make you feel? On the one hand it makes me feel like a grain of sand on the beaches of the world: insignificant, lost in the masses. But on the other hand it causes me to raise my head and puff my chest with pride that the God of the universe and everything in it is MY SAVIOR and LORD!

Did you catch that last sentence? “This includes you who were once far away from God.” Do you understand we are nothing in comparison with Christ? And I can “hear” some saying: “You don’t know who I am! I’ve got billions of dollars and I’m worth more than anyone else in the world!”

And I would say to that person: “One day you’ll stand before the great God described above and if money and material things is all you have, you’ll be nothing and have nothing! You’ll be a broken, desperate slave to sin and be sentenced to the same eternal torment as every other person who counted Him as nothing.”

It boggles my mind that the Apostle Paul knew Jesus so well Jesus was willing to share those things about Himself. What’s He sharing with you these days? He’s sharing with me that He is preeminent in everything, And I can either bow before Him in worship and serve Him as my King, or I can think more highly of myself than I should and spend eternity in regret for my shortsightedness.

George Whitefield wrote: “Christ is worth all, or he is worth nothing.” What is He worth to you? We’re too often like the small child who when offered the choice between a penny or a dollar bill will choose the penny because if fits better in their small hand and they can roll it and play with it. We’re just as blind when we push ourselves to earn dollars and cents and ignore the value of the King of kings and Lord of lords.

We want to believe we’ll have time for “that” when we retire. We’ll burn out chasing a dream and ignore the dream our Savior has for us. We have a “vision” of what we want to become and miss the vision He has for us. That’s what I missed when I was young. I wanted to go into “ministry” when I was first saved because I thought that was the best way to invest my life. But I wasn’t seeing the big picture.

Some of my best “ministry” was done in the secular work I did earning money to support my “ministry.” Some of the most powerful “ministers” I know have never preached a sermon or been paid a cent by the church. They’re people who found their worth in Christ and illustrated His worth in and through their lives.

I hope you and I can be people like that in this season of our lives.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Who’s Holding Your Rope?

“Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.” (Hebrews 11:1 NLT)

A small boy in England was asked by a scientist to be lowered down on a rope over the side of a cliff to recover some important specimens. “We will pay you greatly,“ he said. Without hesitation the boy said very sternly, “No!” The scientist tried to persuade the boy by explaining the durability and strength of the device they would use to lower him. Still the boy refused. It was only after his father agreed to hold the rope that the boy would be lowered down to retrieve the specimen.

Ney Bailey in her book Faith Is Not a Feeling defined faith as “believing God’s Word is more true than anything you think, see or feel.” I believe that’s what the writer of the Hebrew letter meant in the verse above. Our faith is only as strong as the One in whom our faith rests. To believe the whims of emotion or the chants of society is to believe in a system that will surely fail.

I’m convinced the reason a lot of people struggle with their faith is they have the wrong person holding their “rope.” The only One strong enough to hold our faith and to keep us from falling is Jesus. To trust ourselves in any way, shape, or form is to assure ourselves of failure. To believe we can be good enough, serve long enough, persevere trials in our own strength is to fail to see the God of the Bible for who He really is.

Faith in Christ doesn’t call us to performance, it calls us to obedience. To “follow” Christ without submitting to His authority and rulership in and over us is to miss that to which Christ calls us. In the words of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “He bids us come and die!” Jesus said in Luke 9:23-24: “If any of you wants to be My follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross daily, and follow Me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for My sake, you will save it.”

Just to be clear, what is the purpose of a cross? You don’t take up your cross like you take up your swimsuit and head to the beach. A cross was an instrument of death. The ONLY reason anyone got nailed to a cross was to die. What does that mean in practical terms?

It means, as Jesus said, “you must turn from your selfish ways.” How does that translate? It means doing what pleases Jesus rather than what pleases us; it means turning from sinful folly and turning to the fulfillment of God’s will for our lives. How so? By living out the fruit of the Spirit in our relationships: “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”

A Spirit-filled believer, which is the ONLY kind there is, is controlled by the Holy Spirit, not by his/her selfish desires. Does that mean we never have an evil thought or desire? Of course not! But we don’t yield to them, we overcome them by the power of the Spirit and, if necessary, the help of a spouse or close friend.

Following Jesus isn’t a solo act. One of the most valuable ways to support your success as a believer is to surround yourself with like minded friends who will hold you accountable for how you’re walking out your faith. These are your 2 a.m. friends that you can call day or night, and you know they have your back. These are the people in your life the Lord has given you to hold the “rope” of your faith; people you can trust with your life; people who won’t tuck tail and run when you’re losing it and life gets scary; people who will help you stay your faith course.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Focus

“No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.” (Philippians 3:13-14 NLT)

When Kathy, my wife, and I first started dating I couldn’t stop shaking. I mean this went on for weeks. Every time we were together it was like I was freezing, though I wasn’t cold, just nervous that I would say or do something to mess things up. She was all I could think about in every waking second.

That’s how I feel about the Lord in this season of my life. And, yes, of course, Kathy is still a major occupant of my thoughts as she continues to be the Queen of my heart, but Jesus is King and He rules and reigns in every dimension of my being – or so I long for Him to.

Remember how you felt when you first met Jesus. For me that Sunday evening experience at the church altar was very emotional. It was as if the weight of the world had been lifted from my shoulders. I felt relieved, alive in ways I’d never felt before. Then came Monday morning! It was strange. While the emotion was mostly gone, there was a peace, a contentment, almost a deep sense of responsibility that now filled me and was motivating me. My sense was that I’d made a decision to live for Jesus, so, I’d better seek with all that was within me to learn what that meant and live accordingly.

Notice how Paul was seeking to keep his focus on Jesus. First, by forgetting the past. Yes, of course, Paul was a persecutor of Christians and that must have haunted him, but he was also an exemplary Jew, with very impressive credentials (Philippians 3:5-7). In our pursuit of Christ, we sometimes want to focus on the times in our lives when we were much more effective for Him or seemed a lot closer to Him than we are now, but we have to set that aside lest we get stuck, and lose our forward focus.

Another temptation, as it was for Paul, is to focus on how bad we were, how far we strayed, or how deeply we were involved, and may still be, in our sin of choice. Notice while he doesn’t specifically address it, he shouted through his behavior, that he was finished with the old life. For him that meant no more persecution of believers, no more bad-mouthing Jesus.

He was a new creation in Christ and his every intention was to illustrate that through the way he conducted his life. How about you, my friend? Where’s your focus? Have you put the old life behind you where it belongs or is there a part of you that still longs to hang on to a part of that life that you enjoyed?

I will assure you based on the authority of God’s Word and my own experience; you want to be done with the past. There’s nothing there for you but heartache and shame. By God’s grace confess to the Lord and to someone you trust that with which you continue to struggle. Then, with the Spirit’s help and the person with whom you shared, walk in transparency as you formulate new, godly habits to replace the one(s) you leave behind.

Having walked with the Lord for more than 60 years and having wrestled with lust, not only for women, but material things, selfishness, greed, covetousness and a long list of other sins with which I’ve wrestled over the years, Jesus is the ONLY liberator. He WILL deliver you, but you have to be willing to be delivered. He will motivate and empower you, but you have to be willing to take the needed steps to be free.

Trust Him with your whole being. Keep your focus on Him and seek His closeness with every breath.

Food for thought.

Blessings, Ed 😊

Prayer For The Restoration Of A Nation

“Your name, O Lord, endures forever; Your fame, O Lord, is known to every generation. For the Lord will give justice to His people and have compassion on His servants.” (Psalm 135:13-14 NLT)

*In light of yesterday’s inauguration of our new President, I thought it fitting to share this timely prayer by Debbie Wuthnow (President of iVoterGuide) – Blessings, Ed 😊

Heavenly Father, we thank you for not dealing with us according to our sins, nor rewarding us according to our iniquities, having extended your grace once again.

We bring before you President Trump and Vice President Vance, asking you to instill in them a fear of you, opening their hearts to your wisdom in their decisions for America. Bring them to a place of humility before you and others, listening to godly counsel, and move their hearts like channels of water into your will.

Contend, O Lord, with those who devise evil, and restore honor, respect, and competency to the presidency.

We bring before you the Cabinet members, appointees, and all administrative staff, and ask that you would cleanse the corruption of lawlessness, lack of justice, selfish ambition, and personal gain.

May you restore our founding principles of truthfulness and put down deceit and falsehoods.

Please restore the rule of law throughout our nation at every level. May your justice prevail, and may our laws be applied without giving one group advantage over another or punishing or favoring particular individuals or groups. Raise up judges who will adjudicate by justifying the righteous and condemning the wicked.

“The future and success of America is not in this Constitution, but in the laws of God upon which this Constitution is founded.” ~ James Madison

We ask you, Father, creator of the family unit, to protect that sacred creation from governmental or educational attack and interference. It is father and mother whom you have ordained to raise your children. May you use those in authority to re-establish that sacredness without harassment.

For those you have placed to oversee and manage our nation’s financial, earthly, and human resources, give them a sense of stewardship in their responsibilities, and may you impart to them the wisdom and knowledge they need to carry out their responsibility so that it brings good to the people and glorifies you.

“The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains…the world is the Lord’s, and those who dwell in it.” Psalm 24:1

Lastly Lord, as Jehovah-Shalom, we pray you will restore domestic and international peace through those you have placed in those positions. May your wisdom guide them in defending our sovereignty and promoting good will while opening their eyes to those who say “peace” but then work to bring harm and destruction to your people and those who love you. Use those leaders you have given us to promote peace, harmony, and unity among all Americans, and cast down any attempts to set segments of Americans against one another.

In the powerful Name of Jesus we ask, Amen.

Thank you for joining us in these prayers. I encourage you to revisit them as God leads over the next four years.

For our future,

Debbie Wuthnow (President, iVoterGuide)