Matthew 22:36-40 - "Dream Small"

These words were going through my mind when I woke up this morning...

Dream small
Don't bother like you've gotta do it all
Just let Jesus use you where you are
One day at a time
Live well
Loving God and others as yourself
Find little ways where only you can help
With His great love
A tiny rock can make a giant fall
Dream small

This is the way I strive to live but I know I don't always succeed. If we all at least tried to live in this manner, we would be living in a different world. As we talked about how this world is last night in our group, I was saddened to think about it yet I was encouraged when Doc said we are living out the last days as found in scripture. There is so much for believers to do in these days but the most important thing is to love God more than ourselves. We need to love others more than ourselves. What does that look like?

Keep loving, keep serving
Keep listening, keep learning
Keep praying, keep hoping
Keep seeking, keep searching
Out of these small things and watch them grow bigger
The God who does all things makes oceans... from rivers

Yes! The more we live in this manner, the more others will have the same desire. It is possible to see God take 'rivers' and make them into 'oceans.' I truly believe if more people walked in obedience to His will there would be more miracles seen on this earth. We would see more physical bodies healed but most importantly we would see spiritual bodies healed. We would see addiction taken out of people; blatant sin in people's lives to be gone; physical, mental, and emotional abuse to no longer be; relationships to be restored; etc. Life can be different but it takes change. It takes people who love the Lord to go deeper and allowing Him control of their life. It takes people who love the Lord sharing Him so others will also be in relationship with Him. If "A tiny rock can make a giant fall," then believers need to start believing as David and start knocking down the 'giants' of this world. Is it possible? Of course it is but only when we have faith in the Lord and allow Him to work in and through us. Woo hoo! I am ready to see what 'giants' God will use me to knock down today!

Dear Jesus,
Thank You for Your love that is so instrumental in my life. Thank You for the privileges to love on others to the point change is seen. Thank You for cleansing me this morning so You can fill me with more of You. Thank You for going before me and empowering me to knock down 'giants' today. Father, You know the hurts and the desires of my heart. Would You please continue to guide me through them? Would You be greater than anything that comes my way today? I know You can as I allow You total control of every aspect of my life. I am so blessed by You. Thank You once again for our group last night. Wow, God! I love being a sponge to learn more about where You walked. It brings back such special memories of our trip to Israel. Thank You once again for the way You lead Doc to teach us. Thank You Jesus for being My Giant Slayer. Amen.

Psalm 24 - "I Can Only Imagine"

The Lord took me to Psalm 24 this morning. I love this Psalm. It encourages me to be "clean-handed" and "pure-hearted" (vs 4). It also encourages me to be ready for His return (vs 7). Matthew Henry writes, "We can only be cleansed from our sins, and renewed unto holiness, by the blood of Christ and the washing of the Holy Ghost." There is no other way to spend eternity with Him. It is only by His blood that our slate can be wiped clean. There is no way the things we do will on this earth will get us to heaven. It takes saying 'yes' to Him and walking in obedience to what He asks of us. The only way we will walk through the door of heaven is to be ready in our hearts for Him. I am so ready for the 'junk' of this world to be gone and to be living in peace in heaven. I can only imagine what heaven is like. There is no way to be able to comprehend it from earth. But I do know it will not have the evilness of this place. I also believe there will be many people who have kidded themselves on this earth that will be surprised when He does not accept them into His Kingdom. He offers grace to all but only few accept it. He offers holiness to all but many do not believe it is possible to live such a life. He is the King of Glory. He is the Only One who can give eternal life. He is the One all need to surrender to. Sometimes I sit back and see people pretending to be Christians yet they refuse to be Christ-like. They refuse to let go of the 'power' they have over their lives. They like the money, prestige, etc. too much to allow God in. Money is not a sin but money can sure make people sin. When Jesus comes to our 'door' and knocks, we must be ready to allow Him in. As He goes through our 'house' cleaning out the 'junk,' we must be ready to give Him access to every closet, every nook and cranny. He already knows about every aspect of our life. We may try to kid ourselves in thinking He doesn't but He knows all. There is no hiding from Him. There also should be no putting off the decision to allow Him full access into our lives. We never know when our days on this earth our over. We may go out today and be killed in a car accident. If we are not ready for Him, we may be turned away. I desire to be accepted into heaven with open arms. I don't want any question as to that. It is not always easy to make Christ-like decisions but I know He is always with me as I do. I desire to be "clean-handed" and "pure-hearted" as long as He has me on this earth. I know a part of that is sharing His love with others. I pray I will do that better every day He gives me.

Dear Jesus,
Thank You for these words of encouragement this morning. Thank You for reminding me of what it takes to be welcomed into heaven for eternity. Thank You for the opportunities You gave me yesterday to love with Your love yesterday and the opportunities You will give me today. Father, I pray You will cleanse me so I can have a pure heart. I pray You will fill me with more of Your Holy Spirit so Your love will ooze out of me. Lord, there are so many hurting people in this world. I pray if they are not in relationship with You, they will be drawn in today. I pray those in relationship with You yet are not walking in obedience to Your will will come to the end of themselves today. Lord, may more people find the road to heaven today. May more people accept Your grace and their eyes be opened that they can be Christ-like. Thank You Jesus for being My Goal! Amen.

Nehemiah 8:10b - "Holy Is The Lord"

"Holy is the Lord God Almighty...the earth is full of Your glory..." These words were running through my mind this morning. I pray for people to see His glory throughout this day. There is so much hurt and ugliness in this world. It is not from God. It is from sin. Oh how I pray for more people to walk away from sin and into the arms of Jesus. I pray for people to realize the ways of this world are not what they need to walk in. Instead we all need to walk in His glory. We need to see the beauty of His creation. We need to see Him in all situations. Yesterday in our 'activity time' we were talking about why God created some people different than others. Why would God allow someone to be born without legs was one of the questions the boys asked me. I shared that sometimes God allows situations to make us stronger. Of course being boys they thought I meant physically and that didn't make sense to them since we were talking about not having legs. I explained I was talking about spiritually. God sometimes allows things to happen to pull us deeper into our faith with Him. He wants us to trust Him more than we trust ourselves or others. I was thinking it probably wasn't making sense but then Mr. Eli said something that made me realize they truly are listening during our 'activity time.' He said, "Well I will just have to ask Jesus about that when I get to heaven." That statement took us into a discussion about the Trinity when one of them started asking about Jesus and God being different 'people.' It also took us into questions about when death will happen to us. I think I love 'activity time' just as much if not more than they do. Their little minds are soaking up Jesus in a way that makes my heart happy. In this song this morning it continues...

We stand and lift up our hands
For the joy of the Lord is our strength
We bow down and worship Him now
How great, how awesome is He

Yes! He is 'great' and 'awesome'! He puts times like yesterday into my life to encourage me to keep on keepin' on. Doc said in his sermon Sunday about how he felt like throwing in the towel but the Lord told him to use the towel to wipe the sweat off his brow and keep on. Sometimes we all get to the point where we want to throw in the towel with what we are doing. But then the Lord gives us encouragement to keep on doing what He has put before us. "the earth is full of his glory" are words I need reminded of from time to time. I need to remember to look around at the beauty of His creation and see how He is working. I love my little world where I see the beauty of flowers in full bloom in the middle of 'winter.' I love to be able to put my feet in the sand and listen to the waves year-round. I sure need some water therapy. It's been too many weeks of not going to the water. My soul needs the time of refreshing I receive there. I do believe God is calling me to take some time today to make that happen. 

Dear Jesus,
Thank You for the blessing of this song this morning that reminds me to look for Your glory today. It also reminds me Your joy is my strength. Father, I pray You will cleanse me so You can fill me to overflowing with more of You. I pray You will empower me today to walk in Your joy. Father, life can get so overwhelming with 'stuff' yet Your desire is for me to walk in Your fullness instead of allowing things to overwhelm me. May You be greater than the things that overwhelm me. May You be greater than the enemy that tries to trip me up. May You be greater in not only my life but in the lives of others. I continue to pray for the teen and their family who are going through tough days. May You be so very real to them. I also pray for those going through health issues, many going through treatments, and most of all many who are spiritually struggling. Be greater than what people are going through. May Your joy be seen as their strength. Thank You Jesus for being My Joy. Amen.

Jeremiah 29:11-14 - "Word of Life"

These words were in my mind when the Lord woke me at 3:44...

‘Cause You called me out from the grave
So I can live like I've been changed

Yes! God called me to live in His will. A large part of living in His will is being ready to pray at any moment, even when He wakes me in the middle of the night. He has called me to be a prayer warrior. I do not always know the results of my prayers and that's ok. It is not necessary to know the 'end of the story' with my prayers because I know the 'end of the story' with life. I feel the same way about situations in life. There are so many people who want details about everything. In my life, God takes care of the details. I do not have to fret over them. During the night when He woke me it was to pray specifically for protection over a teen going through a tough time. I don't know the details but I don't have to. All I have to do is pray as the Lord directs. He had me pray in many different ways against the enemy having his way in this one's life. God gives us free choice. I fear this one has been lied to by the enemy so much that they are making choices for him not God. I prayed for their family to show God's love without being pushy. I prayed anyone who spoke with them to do so with God's love and not the ways of the world. This song continues...

Spirit of God
Take me to a deeper place
Take me out of what is safe
I will not be afraid
Spirit of God
Fill me with joy again
Springing up from within
It cannot be contained

I pray this will occur in this person's life. I pray for a miracle to take place in healing their mind from all the junk that has been said over them. This young one has a place in this world even though they feel as if they don't. They have a future with the Lord even though it feels like life is too tough to handle. I pray Jeremiah 29:11-14 over them this morning so they will know He is their future. He is there for them when they cry out to Him. He will be their Savior to pull them out of the hold of the enemy.

Dear Jesus,
Thank You for the privilege to pray for this teen and their family. Father, I desire to live out Your will in whatever manner that is. I desire to be You to all who I meet. I know the only way for this to happen is for You to cleanse me so You can fill me. I also know this can only happen when I walk in full obedience to You. Enable me to be seen/heard as You today. Enable people to desire a deeper relationship with You through me today. Father, my heart breaks for this teen and their family. I pray they will be restored by You. I pray they will feel the empowerment of prayer today. May You continue to uplift them through these tough days. I also pray for protection for a pastor and their family who are dealing with a harmful situation. I pray they will take on Your full armor throughout these days every morning before their feet hit the floor. I pray for physical protection over them and for spiritual and emotional needs of the one they need protection from. Lord, may the enemy be knocked out of this situation quickly. Thank You Father for being The One Who Calls Me. Amen.

Matthew 21:22 - "When We Pray"

The Lord woke me once during the night to pray for pastors. He had me pray for one specific group. They were pastors who pour their time and energy into programs. The way He had me pray was for them to "trust Him" to be in charge of their life, including their ministry. He told me there are many who "speak the talk but don't walk the walk." I prayed as He directed and went back to sleep thinking He would wake me again to pray more. The next time He woke me was this morning an hour before the clock was to go off. So I'm up and praying. This time He had me praying specifics for pastors who will be in the pulpit this morning...

• to be filled with the Holy Spirit.
• to allow Him to speak with boldness through their words.
• for them to be aware of their attitude and keep it in line with His.
• to be ready for changes in the service.
• to accept His will.

Sometimes the things He has me pray for seem so simple to pray yet so hard. We all have issues with boldness at times. We also have issues with allowing our flesh to take over with things such as our attitude. Those are not just things pastors deal with but everyone does. Unless we are totally surrendered to Him we also will have problems accepting His will. When we are sanctified through and through, His will may not make sense but it will be followed. Sometimes praying doesn't make sense yet as I walk in obedience I do it. Over the last few weeks I have had a great sense of urgency for our church family to pray. I know we all do pray but God has told me multiple times He is wanting us to "pray with more of a unified spirit." I'm not sure what that looks like but I do know He has told me "there will not be great strides with the building until this happens." My heart is burdened for our church body. Many have been here for years waiting for their own building. Church life has, and continues to be, difficult. It seems like every time we take three steps forward, we take four steps back. Are we suppose to have our own building? I believe God would not have provided the purchase of it two years ago if we weren't. What will it take to get into it? I believe praying in the manner He desires. Multiple times over the last week or so the Lord has woke me up with the same song, "When We Pray." These words touch my heart...

But what if we could be a people on our knees
As one before the King
‘Cause we believe

All the world starts changing
When the church starts praying
Strongholds start to break
Oh, when we pray
Prison walls start shaking
At the sound of praising
Nothing stays the same
Oh, when we pray
Oh, when we pray, oh

I truly believe the strongholds attached to this building can be broken if and when we pray as He desires. I also believe people's lives will be changed through such prayer. I am standing on Matthew 21:22 as I pray for our church body...

Dear Jesus,

Thank You for the privilege to pray for pastors during the night and again this morning. Thank You for putting my church family into my prayers this morning. Father, I pray for more of You to show through all of us. I pray for a cleansing in my spirit so You can be seen/heard through my words, actions, and attitude throughout this day. I pray for the people of the Beaufort Church of the Nazarene to have the same desire in their heart. Lord, would You lay this burden to pray for our church in a different manner upon others hearts? Would You reveal to others what You have revealed to me? Father, bless us as we seek Your will. You blessed us in abundance with so many workers who came out yesterday to move the pews from one container to the other. Not only were they workers but they were young, strong workers who got the job done within an hour. Woo hoo! Thank You Jesus! I also pray for a family who is hurting so greatly with so many things happening. Would You wrap Your loving arms around each one of them so they feel Your presence? I pray they all will seek You during these tough days. Father, go before me today and give me boldness as You desire. The day ahead is Your day. My heart hurts for all the things that will happen tonight with domestic abuse, alcohol and drug abuse, and human trafficking with the Super Bowl event. I pray for Your people to be in prayer over these things. I pray for protection over innocent children who will deal with such things over the next twenty-four hours. My heart breaks for the stories that will come from this day. Lord, come soon...come soon. Thank You Jesus for being My Prayer Director. Amen.

I Thessalonians 5 - "When We Pray"

Yesterday my day started off with the song "When We Pray" in my mind and it continued all day long. There were so many things to pray for throughout the day. I thought of Paul's words in I Thessalonians 5 where he tells them to "pray without ceasing" (vs 17). This chapter tells us to be watchful for the the day of the Lord is near. I love verses eight through ten. It reads:

But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation. 9 For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.

Woo hoo! Living with Him for eternity is my goal. These verses clearly tell us to have faith and His love so we can have the hope of being saved with Him. Paul tells us earlier in the chapter to not live in darkness. We need to fight the enemy with every aspect of our being when he comes knocking at our door. We need to stay strong in our faith when it seems like our world is crumbling around us. He tells us in verse two "...that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night" (NKJV). We must be ready at all time for His return. We must not allow the enemy to trip us up but instead stand in the Lord's ways. As we do this, we must follow the ways of verses fourteen and fifteen. "...warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all. See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all." Paul continues with encouraging us to "not quench the Spirit...despise prophecies...test all things; hold fast what is good...abstain from every form of evil" (vs 19-22). These are all things believers need to remember. As we do these things, we will receive His peace.

Dear Jesus,
Thank You for the many opportunities to pray yesterday for people going through difficult situations. Some of them are in relationship with while others are not. First, and foremost, I pray for their souls. I pray someone will say or do something to them that will open their eyes to You. Secondly, I pray for those who are in relationship with You to depend upon Your strength. I pray their faith will go deeper and their trust will become greater. Father, I also pray for a cleansing in my soul so You can take me deeper in my relationship with You. I pray for more of You and less of me. I pray for Your strength to be my strength. Father, go before me today and open my eyes up to opportunities You have for me. Bless me in abundance with Your love so You will ooze out of me in a mighty way. May You also bless my unspoken request today. Thank You Father for being My Hope. Amen.

Matthew 21:22 - "When We Pray"

All the world starts changing
When the church starts praying
Strongholds start to break
Oh, when we pray
Prison walls start shaking
At the sound of praising
Nothing stays the same
Oh, when we pray

Wow! What a word picture this song gives as to the power of prayer. Sometimes people will ask 'why' we pray when God already knows the outcome. I have a couple different theories on the answer to that question. One is we pray because of the desire to walk in obedience. When the Lord wakes us up in the middle of the night with someone on our heart, we have a choice. Do we pray or do we go back to sleep? Or if we are in the middle of something and don't want to be bothered and He brings someone to our mind to pray for, do we pray or do we continue on in what we are doing? Sometimes He will give us people or things to pray for to see if we are willing to sacrifice our sleep or time for Him. Another theory is He wants to see if our faith is strong enough to pray instead of allowing the enemy to have his way in our situation. I truly believe God knows the end result of all situations but I also believe we are given free will and the end result may not always be what He desires for us. If all believers were to be living in His will, we would be living in a different world. We would not be living in a world overtaken by sin. What if all believers were to praise God throughout the day instead of giving into crabbiness? What if all believers were to walk in obedience to pray for people when God asked them? What if all believers were willing to sacrifice their time, talents, and treasures for what He asked of them? These are some pretty 'what ifs' of life. They are some hard questions that many desire to not answer. Instead they are happy in walking in the flesh instead of the Spirit. This saddens my heart. I can't imagine how the Lord feels. It saddens my heart to hear people say they don't have time to pray. It saddens my heart to hear children say they don't have prayer in their homes or they only pray at mealtime or bedtime at home. It saddens my heart to know there are people in our schools who are teaching our children who are not walking in relationship with the Lord. It saddens my heart to know of couples who do not have a time of daily prayer together. Once again, I can't imagine how saddened the Lord is with these situations. There is a saying that 'prayer changes things.' Prayer changes us. It may not change the circumstance we are dealing with but it will change the way we see it or how we handle it. We may feel like He is not answering our prayers but He is in His time and in His way. We may not like that but when we embrace His time and His way we will be at peace. I will admit I get tired of praying for some things over and over again. But I won't give up praying for His time and His will. I don't know what that is but I don't have to know. All I have to do is trust Him and believe He will answer my prayers.

Dear Jesus,
Today is a new day. It is a day full of opportunities to share Your love with others. I pray You will enable me to keep my eyes open to what You have in store for me. You know what I need. You know where I hurt and the things on my heart. I pray You will cleanse me and fill me so I can have Your eyes and ears. Go before me and speak through me. May You be my words, actions, and attitude throughout this day in a new, different way. Father, I have so much to praise You for. I praise You for Ross being released from the hospital; my visit with Grammy yesterday; and the strength You gave me yesterday. I continue to pray for Shirlin as she recuperates from her fall; Peggy as she continues to deal with the brain tumor; John as he has started chemo again; Mary as she has surgery; my Momma for strength; and many others who are dealing with issues in their physical bodies. Most of all I pray for those with issues in their spiritual bodies. I pray people will get on their knees and seek You. I pray they will walk in obedience to Your will. Father, may I walk in obedience more to Your will. May my faith be strengthened throughout this day. Thank You Jesus for being My Prayer Partner. Amen.