Monday
How To Fix America
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Matthew 22:37, 39 NLT).
America needs a great awakening. America needs to return to God.
But, how do we change the continually drifting culture? How do we stop the anti-God movement? How do we return to God when we have a culture that ignores Him?
First, pray. We can't do anything until we pray first. Many in the media and in leadership are saying "prayers are good, but they aren't enough." I beg to differ, we can do nothing good without prayer first.
Christians, we must stand strong with love and show the lost world that we have a God that loves us so much that He will come to us in our time of need. We must come to Him and ask for His help, He will answer. We must bring our lost friends to the understanding that they need a relationship with God. Through our efforts to show them His truth and love, these lost souls might begin to "love the Lord our God with all their hearts and with all their souls and with all their minds" and by doing this, learn to love their neighbors as themselves.
We desperately need revival in our nation. Prayer is and should be our first and most important response to tragedy. After all, prayer should precede our every function in life.
John Wesley said, "God does nothing but by prayer and everything with it."
Father, we ask for peace. We ask for help in healing the division in our country. We ask that You will come to our aid and drive out the evil that has seemingly taken over the hearts and minds of our people. Father, you said through Your Son that we must love you with all our hearts, souls and minds. Father help us do that. Help us, Lord, to bring revival and a great awakening to our nation and our people. Lead us today, Lord, so that we might love our neighbor as ourselves. I pray and give your praise through Your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.
TUESDAY
True Wisdom Only Comes From God
I will teach you wisdom’s ways and lead you in straight paths (Proverbs 4:11 NLT).
People can be an instrument of godly wisdom but can never be a source of it.
Dear Father God, Thank You for using Your children to share Your wisdom. I pray that people will be able to discern Your wisdom from man's conceived notions. I pray for clarity that people will understand that what You said, Lord, is what You meant. Your truth doesn't change. I ask and pray in the mighty and matchless name of Jesus. Amen.
WEDNESDAY
Serving God, Not Satan
“Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say, ‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve only him' (Matthew 4:10 NLT).
Satan does his best to destroy and separate us from our Lord. It's his goal to fill us full of lies and deceit. We are created by God, in the image of God, not Satan. We are created to serve God and not Satan.
As Jesus did, in today's Scripture, we must rebuke Satan, verbally and forcefully in the mighty name of Jesus. Tell him to get out of our lives and the lives of our friends and family members. Rebuke Satan in Jesus' name and by the power of His blood. Satan has no hold on us if we are standing on the Rock of Jesus Christ.
Stand strong and stand firm, not in our power but in the mighty power of our risen King, our Savior, the Righteous One, Jesus Christ. Worship only God and put Satan under your feet. Thanks be to God!
Father God, I praise You and thank you for giving us the power of Christ to rebuke Satan and his demons from our lives. Only by the power of the mighty name of Jesus would that be possible. Today, I'm praising You for Your Son. Amen.
THURSDAY
It All Turns To Rust Or Dust
I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ (Philippians 3:7, 8 NLT).
I still have many friends who are chasing the desires of this world. They are trying to outdo the "Jones" next door with the nicest house, car, dog, etc. They have not discovered what real life is. Folks, real life is having Jesus as your Savior. That is real, very real.
Father God, I pray that many people will see that their worldly "idols" are just that; of this world and merely worldly idolatry. Dear Lord, lead us and direct us into Your desires and not ours. In Jesus' name, Amen.
FRIDAY
Hope
“Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying” (Romans 12:12 NLT).
Our hope is not in this world but in God. We will have trouble and trials as we walk on this earth, but God provides our strength to endure. Stay strong and pray.
Dear Lord, thank You for your unfailing love. In Jesus' name, Amen.
SATURDAY
Comfort in Times of Tragedy
All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us (2 Corinthians 1:3-4 NLT).
We should be continually reminded of how blessed we are to have a God who loves us and will hold us up during our times of loss, trouble, and tragedy. He is there for us. He never leaves us. He will never abandon us. He is our Comforter. He is our Savior. Jesus Christ is our Lord and King. Trust in Him and let Him have control, get out of His way and let God be God.
After the loss of a dear, lifelong friend, I'm reminded of how much God loved him and loves his family. I saw that love, in the presence of my buddy's friends, at the hospital. I saw first hand how Christ administers His comfort, through us. I'm reminded of how God uses us, to comfort others, in times of need. We should also reflect on how God has comforted us, in our times of need.
We are the hands and feet of Jesus. We must never forget to, go and comfort someone who needs a hug, a kind word or just being there and standing with them in their struggle. Thanks be to God for using us as His comforters.
Lord God, go with us, go before us and prepare the way that we might comfort others in their struggles. Help us to be Your hands and feet. Lord, be with those that are experiencing tragedy, trouble, and loss. Hold them close and bring us along alongside to hold them up. I ask and pray in the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.
SUNDAY
We Are All A Work-In-Progress
Teach the older men to exercise self-control, to be worthy of respect, and to live wisely. They must have sound faith and be filled with love and patience (Titus 2:2 NLT).
Hmm, self-control, respectful, full of faith, love and patience...I have some work to do, on myself. How about you?
Dear Father, let us be raw steel ready to be shaped into Your likeness. Father God, hone us into what you want us to be. Lord, put us into the fire to harden us and strengthen us. Put us to Your grinder stone and shape us to what You desire. Finally, put us to the final sharpening stone, the smooth stone that brings forth a flawless edge and razor sharpness, gently guide us over this stone so we might be made perfect, in Your image. All of this is for Your glory, not ours. Then Father, use us for Your purpose. We lay our lives at the foot of the Cross, we are Yours, Father. Amen.
