Frequent Recharging Needed

I have one of those new fangled iPhones. Yea, I love it.

My iPhone is my office, my day-timer, my typewriter, it plays my music, and get this, it makes phone calls too. Pretty nifty.

My iPhone has a LOT of technical "do-hickeys" and is only limited by my lack of technical know-how on to make it work.

My iPhone has one "glitch" -- the battery runs down pretty quickly.

Check it out -- this is the ONLY blog in the whole world that has used the words "fangled", "nifty", "know-how", "glitch", and "do-hickeys" on purpose. You are truly blessed.

Back to the iPhone adventure.

I have a recharging cord in my pickup for any and every opportunity to plug the iPhone in for a drink of juice. I am currently Googling a solar recharging unit -- in the off chance that we have a couple days of sunshine in our far distant future.

Thanks to Google, I located some subsystems that operate all the time and suck extra juice out of the battery -- even when it is off line.

But my point is, every change I get, I either plug it in to a recharging source or risk running out of power.

Guess where I am going with this????

Tonight I am going to have mercy on you and quote one of the shortest verses in the whole Bible. 1 Thessalonians 5:16, "Always be joyful".... sorry, not that one -- that one is very difficult so lets look at the next one, "1 Thessalonians 5:17, "Never stop praying". Hummmm that sounds tough too -- so lets read the next one, 1 Thessalonians 5:18, "Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus". CRUD, that sounds unreasonable so lets go back to verse 17, "Never stop praying".

This adds a whole new element to the dangers of driving a motor vehicle. While driving, close your eyes, bow your head and say, "Our Father which art in Heaven..... " Is that what the Apostle Paul means in this verse?

"Never stop praying"
You are NEVER more than a breath away from being in the presence of God Almighty.
He wants to "restore your soul" Psalms 23:3

"Never stop praying"
You are NEVER more than a breath away from speaking to the Creator of the Universe.
He wants to "carry your worries" 1 Peter 5:7

"Never stop praying"
The King of Kings and Lord of Lords desires to spend time with you.
He wants you to take all your cares, worries, complaints, concerns, heartaches, doubts, to Him. Matthew 11:28-30

"Never stop praying", HOW does this work?

The Lord says, “I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my ways" Ezekiel 36:26-27

“Do you not know your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit. The temple of God is holy, and that temple is what you are" 1 Corinthians 3:16-17

"And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you." John 14:16-17

 "But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world." 1 John 4:4

So your spiritual take-away for today is: "Speak, He is listening".

The Good Lord Wakes Me Up

I've been taking acoustic guitar lessons (as finances permit) for 3 years. I love it. My obsession is "fingerpicking". I love the clean tones and melody resonating from my $90 guitar. I believe if I can develop my skill set enough to make that ol 6 string sing, then when I get my hands on a fine instrument, it will be illuminating.

My passion is the Psalms. You know the Psalms were written to be sang (or played on instruments) in worship. And that my friends, is my dream. To express my heart song on the guitar, using the Psalms.

I love it when the good Lord nudges me awake in the middle of the night. I like to think He wants some company. I trudge out and wood the fire, let the dogs out, and reach for my ol 6 string. That is the moment, I would love to open my Bible and pluck a melody set to a chapter in Psalms. And I have found that I can transition from the Psalms (of which many are prayers) to my own prayerful worship.

Never know. Some night when the good Lord nudges me awake, it may be to pray for you. As I pluck at the strings in prayer, the good Lord may be impressing your name on my heart. How cool is that?

"By day the LORD directs His love, at night His song is with me--a prayer to the God of my life.". Psalm 42:8

God's Best For Our Nation

"For when David had served God's purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep............" Acts 13:36

How often do you hear people bemoan the passing of our nations "former glory" and express a desire to return back to our nations glory days?

Tell me that doesn't run you a little nuts. I never gave it a lot of thought until God nudged me toward Acts 13:36.

David served God's purpose in his generation but that generation is past. God's best for our generation is different than His best for past generations. That can be intimidating because God's best for our generation has yet to be seen, which means we have to go after it by faith.

Taking a leap of faith requires you to trust that God is going to be there to catch you.

My point is this, I don't want our nation to return to its "former glory". I believe God has a future for our nation that far exceeds anything past generations has seen.

So how do we take this leap of faith that will move our nation toward God and His best?

"if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land" 2 Chronicles 7:14

#1. God's best starts with God's people.

Yup, that is you and me. Notice God does not put the hope of the nation in the hands of politicians? Notice that God does not put the hope of the nation in the hands of the wealthy? Notice that God does not put the hope of the nation in the hands of entertainers? Nope, God puts the hope of the nation in the hands of honest, humble Christian people. The future of the United States of America rests in the hands of God's Saints. I keep trying to say that different ways in an effort to get you to warm up to the idea.

#2. God's people must be humble

"He gives us even more grace to stand against such evil desires. As the Scriptures say, "God opposes the proud but favors the humble" James 4:6

Some people define humility as the absence of pride.  That is backwards, because humility is the positive and pride is the negative.  Pride is the absence of humility.

Humility is the simplicity of seeing things as they are: that you are absolutely dependent on Jesus Christ. Understanding that every thing in your life is a gift from God.

Humility is a heart attitude, not merely an outward attitude. You may put on an outward show of humility but still have a heart full of pride and arrogance.

#3. God's people must pray

"I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth" 1 Timothy 2:1-4

"But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.." Matthew 5:44

#4. God's people must "seek God's face"

"without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him" Hebrews 11:6

#5. God's people must not tolerate evil

"Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good" Romans 12:9

THEN and only then will America be visited by the healing hand of God.

The question is, "Are YOU willing to pay to pay the price?"

"Are You willing to be one of God's people that is willing to make a commitment to obey what God demands?

"What are you going to do?"