....filled with the knowledge of His will....

Wouldn't it be great to have someone pray this prayer over each and every one of us everyday?  I've highlighted the things that stand out to me.


Colossians 1:9-13(NKJV)
⁹For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 
¹⁰that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 
¹¹strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; 
¹²giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. 
¹³He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, 

Wow! 

Don't see any reason why we can't pray that for ourselves and each other!

With thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God

What a great verse!  It is a verse that I try to live by.  As with so many other cases in the Bible, we again see a conditional promise of God.  Have you ever noticed that?  Most of God's promises are conditional.

In other words,  God isn't Santa Claus.  This kind of goes along with Kumbaya Jesus.  There seem to be a lot of people who say since God loves everybody, that means we all get the goodies of God without the obligation. 

 

I don't believe that is true.  God's promise's come with conditions.  He tells us the proper way to do things.  This verse is a great example.  Do you want the peace of God that surpasses all understanding?  Then follow this process.

Philippians 4:6-7(NKJV)

6Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 

7and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

The first step is don't be anxious about stuff.  You might say 'that's not natural" and I'd say that you are probably right.  However I don't see anything in this Scripture, this message from God, saying anything about it having to be natural.

It actually takes discipline.  To recognize it, to take control through prayer and to banish it and replace it with faith.  Now is faith a big deal to God?  You bet it is!  By being anxious you are demonstrating fear instead of faith.  The Bible tells us that fear and faith can't co-exist.

Once we learn to control our fear or anxiety then we are told to bring all of our requests to God.  We are told however to do it in a very specific way.  How do we do it?  By prayer and supplication, WITH THANKSGIVING!  Scripture is very clear that if we follow this pattern we will experience the peace of God.

Why do you think the with thanksgiving part is in there?  I happen to think it is the most important part.  The reason is that I think it further demonstrates our faith to God. 

Think about it.  We wouldn't be anxious unless it was about something that wasn't going exactly right in our lives.  By approaching it in a thankful spirit I think we are saying to God "I trust that you've got this under control just like you have had everything else in my life under control.  You always make it work out in the end.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Now this all starts by having Jesus at the center of your life.  Have you asked Jesus into your life yet?  Why not do it right now?  Just have a talk with Jesus and ask Him to guide your life.  "Dear Jesus…."

Another Great Daily Prayer!

Psalms 19:14(NKJV)

14    Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart      Be acceptable in Your sight,     O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.

If you can't think of anything else to pray about, I don't think you could go wrong starting everyday with this prayer!

Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him,

Psalms 33:18-19(NKJV)

18    Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him,      On those who hope in His mercy,

19    To deliver their soul from death,     And to keep them alive in famine.

Does God look out for and take care of everybody?  Why do I ask you may wonder.  This has to do with the whole Kumbaya Jesus thing.  There are many out there that don't accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior but at the same time think that they should receive all the blessings of God. 

Based on the Scripture above how do you think that is going to work out?  :)

Parents for the children

2 Corinthians 12:14(NKJV)

14Now for the third time I am ready to come to you. And I will not be burdensome to you; for I do not seek yours, but you. For the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children. 

It always amazes me how the wealthy are attacked for saving, providing for their children, and then passing the wealth on to their kids.  Why am I amazed by that?  Because they are being attacked for doing what the Bible tells them to do. 

I think the thing that bugs me the most about this is that those who are attacking for the most part have not done the same for their kids.  In many cases they become a burden to their children in their old age because they didn't do what God's Word suggested.

Maybe if those doing the attacking paid more attention to following God's Word they would do a better job of providing for their own children and they would have a lot less time to be covetous of others. 

Just a thought!

You have turned for me my mourning into dancing

I ran across this Scripture and this story yesterday on the 1st running of the Boston Marathon since the bombing last year. 

So many times in life we see tragedy turned into triumph.  I personally believe that one of the major factors in those stories is faith.  Faith in God. 

God has a miraculous way of making things work out in ways we never could have imagined if we will just let Him.  Please enjoy the Scripture and the story.

Psalms 30:11(NKJV)

11    You have turned for me my mourning into dancing;      You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness,

I think this story exemplifies the verse above.

http://www.newsmax.com/US/boston-marathon-dream-startup/2014/04/21/id/566641/

Wise vs. Unwise

It would seem to me that wise is better than unwise any day of the week.  I ran across these verses in Ephesians today.  Seems pretty simple to me.  Where does wisdom come from?  Read on.

Ephesians 5:15-17(NKJV)

15See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 

16redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

17Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 

It comes from understanding God's will in your life.  How do you do that?  Accept Jesus.  Receive the Holy Spirit.  Pray and be in the Word daily to build your relationship with Good.  Any questions?