Lord,
Encourage me. Our nation is so far from you. Our leaders
have no fear of you, and the public calls what is holy profane and what is
profane glorious, and how can you be anything but sickened? And the refusal of
so many in the church to take a stand because they do not want to offend so
they declare “everyone has the right to be happy”even if it means You have no
right to expect us to be holy…oh, God, I am overwhelmed by how far from you we
have fallen. Encourage my faith because, Lord, I don’t know how to even begin
to pray.
And even as I search
for words, I hear your words in my mind, “Am I not mighty to save? Am I not the
ALL mighty God? Is America too difficult for me?”
No, Lord, not even
America is too difficult for you. There is nothing too difficult for you. So I
lay America at your feet and ask you to be all mighty in this nation. I ask you
to do what has to be done to turn the hearts of this nation to you. I do not
ask for superficial blessings but blessings of your presence, of your holiness,
of hearts turning to you.
Lord, do above all I
think or imagine. We are in desperate need. America is blind and grasping for
straws when what we need is a Savior, not of human mind or wisdom but of
heavenly decent. We don’t need a human leader. We need heaven’s Lamb. Lord, we
have embraced sinful lifestyles and called it love. We have forgotten that you
love us too much to leave us in sin. But then, maybe we’ve never repented of
our own sin, so how can we see anything wrong with anyone else’s?
Lord, destroy anything
in your body that is not of you. Convict us where we have accepted false
philosophies or called “redeemed” that which is wholly unrighteous. Oh, God, we
don’t know. We just don’t know. Have mercy on us and tear back the blankets we
lie under and show us the ways we prostitute ourselves to all other gods but
you. Show us our idols whether they be things or traditions or comfort zones or
the latest answer.
Lord, you are the only
answer. You are the only answer.
Hear my cry, Lord.
Hear my cry.
Amen.
BIBLE READING
Genesis 28—Generation number three, and
the promise is still being fulfilled. By the way, did you notice what God said?
“I will not leave you until I have done what I have
promised you.” Translation: Haven’t seen the promise fulfilled yet? Then
I’m still here. Still working on it. Still being faithful.
Genesis 29—Every time I read this I
feel such compassion for Leah. She was part of the promise, and from her came
the Lion of the tribe of Judah, but my lands, what a hard part to play.
Genesis 30—And the baby mama drama
continues, but there is more than that. Did you notice that Jacob did his work
with excellence, and even though he was in a foreign country, the excellence of
his work blessed him and increased him?
MEMORIZATION
As I mentioned in an earlier post today, my brain is fuzzy, but I’m still plodding on. One of the
great things about having verses already memorized is when your brain is fuzzy,
the Word isn’t. I lay in my bed today feeling too nauseous to sit up and let
the verses roll through my mind. Even in my sickness, His promises are solid.
THAT is something we can’t afford to forget.
The truth is if we truly believe the promise, we know the promise takes us to places we could never go on our own. The promise alone will stretch us to the point of breaking because it is only in our weakest point that His great strength can show. We have to be broken to be blessed.
If we can make things happen, if things come easily, if life
is a comfort zone, we’ll never realize the sacrifice of Christ leaving His
comfort zone to invade our death march. Until we die with Him, we will never understand
the power of His death. We will never understand the love that gives us life
until we understand what it means to love Him enough to die.
