Abba's Girl

Christians offer up many prayers to our Heavenly Father. I believe all prayers are answered but not necessarily in the timing we want or the way we intended for God to act on our behalf or for others. We look at matters with a finite mind, we do not see the big picture as God's plan unfolds. My friend Norma went to her heavenly home almost 2 1/2 years ago, but in my mind, I can hear her say, "God answers yes, no, or wait." Wait - that can be a problem with our western mindset - we want answers now, faster than the blink of an eye in this TV on Demand world. Sometimes we lift a person or issue up to God for years, we are like the persistent widow, we keep praying in faith. We stand in the gap, we are watchmen on the wall. My friend's mother prayed for over 25 years for her husband to come into the Kingdom, he had no idea she prayed for his Salvation. When I was 19 or so, he woke up one day, confessed Christ as his Savior, called the church and scheduled his baptism...

Listening to a few friends I love, talk about world events, I would never know by the conversation they are members of a faith which calls for forgiveness, love, dying to self and mercy. Instead of contemplating prayer and dare I mention it fasting, they want to call thunder down on people with a differing opinion. We all say sinful things and think sinful thoughts at one time or another. We all need to repent and confess our sins. We all need a Savior. Legalism and self-righteousness will never lead people to Christ. We do not need modern day Pharisees is the church. Sadly, it can be easy to cross the line and become a self-righteous, legalistic member and president of the local chapter of Pharisees R Us. Ask the Lord to show you if you are perilously close to the line or have crossed it. We don't want to be like Saul, we want to be like Paul and bring Christ to the hurting and lost. We must not put God in a box and make Him be all-American and patriotic. Yes, we are fortunat...

WOW! 2017 is moving right along, it is time for memory verse 3. I've chosen Isa 53:4-5 in the ESV: Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. With the turmoil, the cruelty, poverty, sickness, the perversion of truth, and violence in the world it can be easy to forget every bit of this was settled on the Cross. None of this is a surprise to God, as we say in Texas, He has not dropped us in the grease yet and He's not going to. Jesus died for you, for me, for everyone that has ever lived and ever will live. We must remember the Lord God Almighty is sovereign. Nothing can shake Him. Our foundation is sure in Him. Turn off the TV News, limit your screen time with Facebook and Twitter, no need to go tit for tat to praise Trump, dis Trump...