The Thought of Sin vs. The Thought of Him

I have been saturating in Genesis this morning. One two-verse portion leaves my soul raw with its sad reality:

Genesis 6:5-6 (GWT) -- The LORD saw how evil humans had become on the earth. All day long their deepest thoughts were nothing but evil. The LORD was sorry that he had made humans on the earth, and he was heartbroken.

These two verses explain why I radically hate even "the thought of sin". Sin (evil) breaks the heart of my Loving Holy God.

Today, let us be sure to turn our thoughts totally away from all evil and let us be consumed with "the thought of Him".

Grateful 

Evil Will Not Conquer Us If We Pray Together!

Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil with good.
-- Romans 12:21 (GWT)

Do we really believe that good still overcomes evil? I sure pray that we believe it. There seems to be too much pessimism on the planet these days and sadly too many "Christians" seem to be buying the lies and biting the lures of the evil one hook-line-and-sinker. It's troubling. Let us repent of breaking what Reverend David Ring referred to as "The Eleventh Commandment" -- "Thou shalt not bellyache" or "Thou shalt not complain".

Has wickedness in our world really got so out-of-hand that the Blood of Jesus can no longer redeem it? No way! His Blood goes deeper still. I'll agree, many situations in this present century of ours are "seemingly" hopeless, but the key word is "seemingly". Friends, let's be encouraged because it is not possible for sin to go deeper, wider, or higher than the Love of God has already gone!

On Tuesday mornings, "I get to" meet with our men's dawn patrol prayer team at 6:10 a.m. Yesterday at our daybreak gathering, twenty-one men showed up to partner together in prayer. Take it from me, during that sacred and sweet hour of prayer each week, the atmosphere in the prayer room -- more often than not -- calls out loud and clear: "Our God's goodness still conquers the world's wickedness!"

So, if you think good no longer overrides evil, here's a sacred suggestion: Begin meeting regularly with a group of God-seekers for intercessory prayer for our "seemingly" hopeless world.

In my quiet time yesterday, these words written by Andrew Murray inspired my soul (and inspired my previous suggestion as well): "Meet together with other praying believers with the aim of strengthening each other in the grace of intercession."

Click here: Matt Redman - You Alone Can Rescue - YouTube

Let's not allow evil to conquer us! Let's pray together!
Grateful

Your Life Is Like A Morning Fog...

Hear these sobering words from James 4:14-17 (NLT):

(14) How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog — it’s here a little while, then it’s gone.
(15) What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.”
(16) Otherwise you are boasting about your own plans, and all such boasting is evil.
(17) Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.

Only one life will soon be past,
and only what's done for Christ will last.
-- Message on wall at my Granny and Granddaddy's homeplace

By Faith! In Faith! (Hebrews 11)
Grateful

"Lord, Lord!"

(46) “So why do you keep calling Me ‘Lord, Lord!’ when you don’t do what I say? (47) I will show you what it’s like when someone comes to Me, listens to My teaching, and then follows it. (48) It is like a person building a house who digs deep and lays the foundation on solid rock. When the floodwaters rise and break against that house, it stands firm because it is well built. (49) But anyone who hears and doesn’t obey is like a person who builds a house without a foundation. When the floods sweep down against that house, it will collapse into a heap of ruins.”
-- Jesus' Words in Luke 6:46-50 (NLT)

(21) "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who do what my Father in Heaven wants will enter. (22) "Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord! Lord! Didn't we prophesy in your name? Didn't we drive out demons in your name? Didn't we do many miracles in your name?' (23) Then I will tell them clearly, 'I never knew you. Get away from me, you who do evil!' -- Jesus' Words in Matthew 7:21-23 (NIRV)

Click here: - You Are My King/Amazing Love/-Newsboys

Lord, in all I do. I want to honor You, my Lord, my King! Amen.

Holiness Unto the LORD!
Grateful

This World is Fading Away

(15) Stop loving this evil world and all that it offers you, for when you love the world, you show that you do not have the love of the Father in you. (16) For the world offers only the lust for physical pleasure, the lust for everything we see, and pride in our possessions. These are not from the Father. They are from this evil world. (17) And this world is fading away, along with everything it craves. But if you do the will of God, you will live forever.
-- 1 John 2:15-17 (NLT)

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful

A Love-Hate Relationship

The latest definition for holiness that has quickened my heart is: A Love-Hate Relationship -- A Love God and Hate Sin Relationship.

Psalm 97:10a (NLT) -- You who love the LORD, hate evil!

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful

Right? Wrong! Words from a Wise Man...

My nearly 70-year-old, shrimp-boat-captain Daddy and I were taking a walk near our native, island home last week and let me just say, it was a sacred stroll for his not-too-far-from-50-year-old son. My Daddy is proof to me that Wise Men still seek the Lord. Anyway, just before our walk ended my Daddy made a simple but profound statement. I've been soaking in his wise words for nearly a week now. So, here are a Daddy's loving words to his ears-wide-open, listening son just in case you'd like to eavesdrop:

A man who thinks he's never wrong, is never right. -- Capt. Billy

Proverbs 3:7 (NLT) -- Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear the LORD and turn your back on evil.

ALL... JOY TO YOUR WORLD!
Grateful

Lord, Teach Your Disciples to Pray...

Here's the prayer the Lord taught His disciples to pray. So, it must be called "The Disciple's Prayer?" Let's pray it together to our Father God as fully devoted disciples:

Our Father, Who Art in Heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name.
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses,
As we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil.
For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.

ALL JOY!
Grateful

Offerings Our Almighty God Deserves

Hear these beautiful words of worship from King David preserved in 2 Samuel 24:24 (TLB): I don’t want to offer to the Lord my God burnt offerings that have cost me nothing.

Hear these blunt words of wisdom attributed to King Solomon in Ecclesiasties 5:1 (NLT): As you enter the house of God, keep your ears open and your mouth shut! Don’t be a fool who doesn’t realize that mindless offerings to God are evil.

Hear these personal words of invitation written by the Apostle Paul in Romans 12:1 (MSG): So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering.

Hear these sobering words of instruction that I heard God speaking deep within my heart last night as I crossed Virginia's Afton Mountain in my Ford following a heart-wrenching, pastoral visit at the Trauma Center at University of Virginia Hospital where a precious, young life -- *a 19-year-old -- is in a seemingly fragile state: In the very worst of times we cannot afford to approach God with less than our very best.

Please pray for *Chandler at UVA's Trauma Center and pray for his beloved family, too. Also, please consider with me the kinds of offerings our Almighty God deserves.

ALL JOY!
Grateful

Witnessing the Glory and the Agony of Jesus

Today in my devotional reading I was reminded that the three, inner-circle disciples of Jesus --Peter, James, and John -- witnessed not only the glory of Christ during His Transfiguration, but they also witnessed His agony in Gethsemane.

Surely, because our Lord is present, whether we are surrounded by light or engulfed by darkness, we are blessed. As the Psalmist said in Psalm 23, Yeah though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for You are with me.

ALL JOY!
Grateful

Fear Not!

Do you pray the Holy Scriptures? If not, why not? I invite you to practice the presence of the Lord by echoing His Holy Word back to Him in prayer. These ten powerful words from Psalm 23:4 have been on my heart as a personal prayer to the Lord this week. Let's echo God's Holy Word back to Him in prayer together now:

I will fear no evil, for You are with me!

In the Name of the Lord, my Shepherd. Amen.

ALL JOY!
Grateful