The Thankful Road

The road we traverse in our walk with God is largely up to us. We can choose God’s way, or not. That may sound like an oversimplification, because we all know how tremendously complex life can be. But in a way, that is really the point. Although the draw to think about and be wrapped up in the many distractions that are not God is significant, going that way in mind or deed is a choice.

We can choose to commit to thinking about God and acting in a way that He would choose for us. Our God is trying as He always does to constantly remind us of His path. He is trying to tell us of the benefit of allowing Him to be God, watching over us to keep us safe and whole. And He has provided us with means to that end in the form of prayer and praise.

Psalms 100:1 Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.
2 Serve the Lord with gladness: come before his presence with singing.
3 Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.
5 For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting; and his truth endureth to all generations.

One of the first things we can do is be thankful. If we will offer up our praise and thanks, the thankful road appears and we head down a path that leads to God and His ways. If we choose the distractions, the thankful road becomes very hard to see. Today, take time won’t you to say thank you to God and sing Him a little song? If you are like me, it may just be a joyful noise (I am not a great singer), but to God, it is another one of His kids singing and He is a happy Father watching.

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You. We offer You our thanksgiving as a sacrifice to You for Your abundant wisdom. You alone are worthy of all honor and glory. Let Your kingdom come, let it rise up on our prayers and praise to You. Build up Your fortress of truth that we can enter in and be safe. Send us Your abundant provision today. Help us to see Your ways, and then give us the strength to choose to do them. You alone are worthy for us to follow. We choose You and we choose life. Forgive us when we don’t make the right choices. Help us to always find our way back to You. Send us Your miraculous healing – physical, spiritual, and emotional – that we might serve You and that all men might know that You alone are God. Deliver us. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

A Fighting Chance

These days it seems like the world is determined to become a crazier place every day. There are cowards grabbing the lime light by capturing innocent civilians and then attacking and beheading them while they are tied up. There are wars in many places on the globe. And in the cities in America crime continues to rise. As I look at this I try to make sense of it and can only come to one conclusion. Man needs God more than ever. God is our defense against such insanity, as He has always been.

Psalms 101:1 I will sing of mercy and judgment: unto thee, O Lord, will I sing.
2 I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. O when wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.
3 I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes: I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not cleave to me.
4 A froward heart shall depart from me: I will not know a wicked person.
5 Whoso privily slandereth his neighbour, him will I cut off: him that hath an high look and a proud heart will not I suffer.
6 Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me: he that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve me.
7 He that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house: he that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight.
8 I will early destroy all the wicked of the land; that I may cut off all wicked doers from the city of the Lord.

Our God will rise up to cut off the wickedness.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You as the Most High. Let Your kingdom reign Lord. Let Your will be performed in the earth. Send us today Your abundant provision. Deliver us from the ever present evil of cowardly men who do physical and financial violence in the earth. Forgive us when we get things wrong. Send us Your healing and deliverance that all men might know that You alone are the One True God. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

Wanting To Do Good

Growing up I can remember wanting to please my parents. I am not sure how that really got in to me but it seems as if it must have been at an early age because I can remember it always being a driver for me. For us as believers, I believe we all have that same inner drive. We want to do good, we want to please our heavenly Father, we want to follow His ways. As I think about this now what it reminds me of is wanting to be who our Messiah called us to be, to be like Him. For me this is not an easy task. I am older and have had many years to practice getting it wrong. But the calling is the same.

1 Peter 2:1 Wherefore laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings,
2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:
3 If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
4 To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious,
5 Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.

There is a call to become the temple of God. We are collectively the priesthood, called to offer up spiritual sacrifices to Him. As I write this I realize that everything we do is a part of what we are sacrificing to God. When I think of it in this way it helps me to remember to do what I can to emulate the Messiah in all I do so that the sacrifice will have a sweet aroma to God and not be some strange thing that displeases Him. Let us today commit to being that holy priesthood that daily offers up spiritual sacrifices to our Master and Creator.

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You. You alone are worthy of our praise. Give us today Your abundant provision. Let us follow after You in the way that You show us. Let Your kingdom shine forth in this earth. Please send Your healing and deliverance that all may know that You alone are the Creator King. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

We Will Make It

When we experience sickness, we have an opportunity to understand first hand how frail we are as humans. It is possible to go through life not thinking of all that we have to do and to be to get through day to day, to get so caught up in living it that we forget we are humans with weaknesses. God will always allow us to learn life’s lessons, and He will be there to help us through it.

Ephesians 5:15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise,
16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
17 Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.
18 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;
19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;
20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;

Sometimes it takes us a while to realize it is okay to be human. It is our job. We are meant to walk through life learning from God and growing. We grow as a result of what we live.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. Send us today the abundant provision we need. We ask that You send Your kingdom to this earth. We need Your mercy and truth. Please forgive us when we get things wrong. Heal up our minds and hearts. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

Making A Way

This morning as I was thinking about what to write, I thought about some of what we discussed at church. It is interesting how things at church seem to parallel what is happening in other places in our lives at times. In this case we were discussing how God loves judgment. In the past I have had times when I thought judgment was a bad thing, that it meant something terrible would happen. While that can be true, I think judgment is meant to be a good thing. It is God setting things right in the earth.

James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
8 Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.
9 Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness.
10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.
11 Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.

It would seem that James was encouraging us to be judges of ourselves and not others. But God is the ultimate Judge. As Creator He made things right originally and will always return things to their right state.

Isaiah 61:8 For I the Lord love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them.

God brings judgment to the earth to protect His people and to make certain they are provided for as He planned. God will bring us correction as well, but His correction is good for us. In the end, we have a better place with God, one that has His peace and blessing.

Prayer
Father, we praise and exalt You. You alone are God. You alone are the One we seek. Please send today Your abundant provision. We need to have Your kingdom in the earth. Please bring Your kingdom in our lives today. Please forgive us when we fail You. Send Your healing and Your deliverance. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

Knowing Our Way

God makes it possible for us to know our way. He finds us when we are in need, lifts us up, and carries us through life’s journey. If we struggle along the way, we can know that He will guide and teach us His ways. From this we can find a path to true peace where we are at one with God. What that means exactly I am not sure, but I know Jesus spoke of this in an attempt to get us to understand who He is and who we are meant to be.

John 17:20 Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

God is going about bringing us all together for that great day when He returns to rule and reign in the earth. This Sabbath day, as we reflect on what God is saying to us, we can know that He alone will bring us to the perfect ending.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. We ask that You send us today abundant provision. Let Your kingdom become the kingdom here on earth. Dislodge the pettiness of men. Send us Your healing and deliverance. Let all men know that You alone are God. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

Please Pray

For those of you that come here daily to read, my apologies. When I woke up this morning I was very sick. I just got up to type this. Please pray for me and those you know that are ill.

Thank you.

-Mark

Always And Forever

As I was thinking last night and this morning about how Gad works and who He is, I became very thankful that He is my God. It is easy for me to be a worrier. My earthly father was. It is what I learned. But as I read scripture I see a different picture. I see one where we should and we can trust the living God of Abraham, Issac and Jacob. Paul made this point clearly for us.

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
2 For by it the elders obtained a good report.
3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
4 By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.
5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he had this testimony, that he pleased God.
6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

If we can only trust our God to good and not evil for us, then we can be assured that He will keep us. We may not always be comfortable, but God will always provide for us.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. Thank You for being our God, the Creator of the universe. Please send us today Your abundant provision. Please send today Your kingdom in this earth. Let You majesty reign today in our lives and in the earth. We thank You for Your healing. We thank You for Your deliverance. We thank You for Your love. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

When We Reach Out

We are all given the charge to get the word out about the good news. Just like us at one time, those that we know or come into contact with that have not heard about or given their life to Jesus need to hear about Him. They need to know that Jesus dies for them before they were even born. They need to know He did this so they could have life.

John 10:10 The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

This is the truth that will set them free. Jesus died to be their Messiah too.

John 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;
32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

So this then is what they should not only hear from us, but see in our lives. When they see our lives, they should see abundant life. They should want the lives we have. When we pray and ask God to help us in our lives we are not only battling for our own abundant life, we are battling for those that will see us and want the life we have.

Psalms 86:17 Shew me a token for good; that they which hate me may see it, and be ashamed: because thou, Lord, hast holpen me, and comforted me.

We must always remember, Jesus died to set all men free.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You as the Most High. We thank You for the life You have given unto us through the death of Jesus, Your Son, on the cross. Please send us today Your abundant provision. This earth belongs to You for You are its Creator. Let Your kingdom reign in this earth Father. Dispel the darkness we see around us. Destroy every work of the enemy. Take away the abuses that people do to themselves and each other. Turn the hearts of our loved ones and neighbors that do not know You. Draw them to You through us and our lives. Let us be a token for good, that others may know You alone are God. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.

When We Are Searching

God often provides for us opportunity to seek Him. For me this often shows up when I am searching for an answer to something. It might be about how to do a task around the house that I have never done before, it might be about where to get work, where to live, etc. Some of these are bigger moments in life and some are just routine day to day events. In any case they provide us with the opportunity to pause and ask God for wisdom in the moment. Scriptures say God will give us that wisdom.

James 1:3 Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
4 But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.
5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

Our God wants to help us at all times in all things. We need not be concerned that He will not see our needs or not respond to them. Jesus told us that.

Matthew 6:5 And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.
6 But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly.
7 But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.
8 Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

If we will seek God in those moments when we are searching for answers and ask of Him wisdom, He will respond. He loves us and is our Father.

Prayer
Father, we exalt You. You alone are worthy of our praise. We ask that You send us provision today for all our needs. We ask that You watch over us and keep us safe. Please send Your kingdom into the earth. We have many questions in our lives that we have no answers for yet. Please help us to know what to do each day and each moment. Let us be Your light. In Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) name. Amen.