Raise the Roof!

Greetings, and welcome to mash-up Thursday!

Today's DEVO is a prayer of worship with verses taken from Psalms 16, 147 and 150 (The Message Version). May the Lord bless our souls!

We shout praises to You, our God, and we raise the roof for the Rock Who saved us.  We invite You to take our hand so that our feet and the feet of those we love so much will always be on the right path.

We enter Your presence singing praises because You are the best. Your hands sculpted earth, and with those same powerful hands You take care of us.  You are our God! Hallelujah!

Praising You is the right thing to do.  You rebuild our lives when we need it.  You put us on our feet again. You heal our broken hearts and bandage our wounds.  You are great, with limitless strength, and we depend on Your strength.

Thank You that when we praise You, we get Your attention. You make our city secure, and You bless our children. You put the best bread on our tables. You launch Your promises earthward - how swift and sure they come!

Amen! Amen! Amen!

The Great Amen!

New Year's Blessings in the name of Jesus!

Ever wonder why we say "Amen," at the end of our prayers, or in my case, after every bit of good news I receive as well? Sometimes I actually go into an AMEN frenzy, and I don't care who hears it!
Like earlier this week when I received the blessed news that a child whom I have been praying for received a clean bill of health. You better believe I "Amened" that news a solid 20 times.  My Hershey Pie looked at me like was nuts!

Nevertheless, according to the fine folks at dictionary.com Amen means: it is so; so be it, and it is used after a prayer to express solemn agreement.

The Bible agrees.

2 Corinthians 1:20
"Whatever God has promised gets stamped with the Yes of Jesus. In Him, this is what we preach and pray, the great Amen, God’s Yes and our Yes together, gloriously evident."

Don't you love that? God's willingness to bless us joined with our willingness to receive? That is why we say Amen. We are letting God know that we want and expect to receive everything we have just prayed about. We agree that we need His love and provision to enjoy our lives. It's like a seal of approval. I love it.

Think back over all the prayers we have prayed as a group, and may you find tremendous joy and peace in knowing that each and every one has been heartily sealed with our "So be it," to God's unparalleled willingness to fulfill everyone of His promises.

PRAYER:
Dear Lord, We have prayed so many times for blessings in our lives and the lives of those we love. How wonderful to know that every single promise has been stamped with the Yes of Jesus and with our Yes as well. So be it! May it be so! And it is so! In Jesus name, AMEN!

Hershey Pie~

Three Very Powerful Promises!

With Resurrection Sunday still fresh on our minds, I want to share a story I once heard.  I 

have taken the liberty of putting my name in the story because I identify with it on a very 

personal level.

***
One day Yenisita was complaining to God that the cross she was carrying was too heavy; she felt as though at any moment she would crumble under the heaviness of it.  So many responsibilities. So many people to look out after.  So much grief to deal with.  So much disappointment, sadness, frustration.  Just so much...

All of a sudden, a bright light flooded the room, and Yenisita realized there were hundreds of thousands of crosses all over the place.  Then she heard the voice of the Lord Almighty. "My dear child, I invite you to put your cross down and pick up the one that suits you best!"

"I'll take that deal, Lord!"

Yenisita put that cross down and starting looking around.  You better believe she was looking for the tiniest, smallest, lightest cross she could find.  Finally, way over in the corner, she saw the perfect-sized cross made out of balsa wood -- one of the lightest woods in the world!  She hurried over there with such enthusiasm.  Finally, a cross she could carry.  Made just for her.

Then she heard the voice of the Lord Almighty for the second time, "Yenisita, that is the very cross you came in with!"

***

There's a mighty lesson here, people!  

"No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; He’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; He’ll always be there to help you come through it." (1 Corinthians 10:13 The Message Version)

This verse makes three very powerful promises; let us pray them over our lives.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, Thank You that You will never let me down,  thank you that You will never let me be pushed past my limit, and thank You that You will always be here, right here next to me, to help me through everything I face in this life.  Help me to always remember these powerful truths! I praise You, in Jesus' name, AMEN! 

Are You Wiser Than a Criminal?

Monday greetings,

I spent a lot of time thinking about Psalm 23:6 this weekend.  "Surely Your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life..."

If we take this promise at face value, and we should, this means that every single day we are alive we can be certain that God's goodness and love are in our lives.

But before we go any further, let's clarify something: The promises of God are not for everyone. 

Say what?

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."  

His promises are for those who believe in Him.  For those who allow themselves to be caught by the goodness and the love that steadfastly pursue.  Everyone is pursued, but some folks just run away even harder.

Consider the two criminals on the cross on either side of Christ.  

Luke 23:32-41 Two others, both criminals, were led out to be executed with Christ...They were also crucified - one on His right and one on His left...One of the criminals hanging beside Him scoffed, "You're the Messiah...Prove it...Save Yourself and us...!" The other criminal protested, "Don't you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? We deserve it, but Jesus hasn't done anything wrong."  Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."

Both criminals had the same opportunity, but only one believed.  Only one realized that even though his life of poor choices had led to a sentence of death, Christ was able to save him.  What a wise criminal.  This criminal would die on earth, but it was a stepping stone to an even better life - the best life - eternal life!

Luke 23:41 And Jesus replied, "I assure you, today you will be with Me in paradise."

I always get the goose pimples and jimjams when I read this verse!  As soon as we say yes to Jesus, yes to His love, yes to His goodness, everything immediately gets better!  TODAY YOU WILL BE WITH ME IN PARADISE! Amen!

PRAYER: Dear Lord, We say, "YES!" to You.  We stop running right now and allow ourselves to get caught by Your love and goodness.  Thank You for Your immediate and total forgiveness no matter what we have done.  In Jesus' name, AMEN!