The Bible says, “God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things – and the things that are not – to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him” (1 Corinthians 1:27-29, NIV).
Many times in our churches we hear the call to prayer for this or that person or problem. We learn about the importance of prayer in our lives and in our development in Christ. We learn more about conversing with God on retreats, through one another, in books on the subject, but mainly through the practice of prayer. We have likely heard the good counsel that we should be praying not only for, but with our spouses, family members, friends and co-workers.
There is no one who can even begin to compare with our Lord Jesus Christ, Creator of the Universe, the One who holds everything together with the word of His command, and who died on the cross for our sins. Three days later He was raised from the dead and now lives in the hearts of all believers.
There is no doubt that prayer literally influences men and nations in accordance with God’s promises and purposes. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you a similar burden and leading for our country or another nation or group of people. Maybe it will be China, South Asia, Africa, Europe, South America, or whatever. When He does, obediently step out in faith with it, pray, fast, ask and keep on asking, and believe God’s promises.
Goal setting involves aiming. You have to have a target at which to aim. The opposite of aiming is aimlessness. Paul said, “Aim for perfection” (2 Corinthians 13:11, NIV). Let us aim for perfection in all that we do for the Lord and He will take care of the results.
There is only one Person in the universe worthy of our praise, and that is our wonderful Creator and Savior. “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!”
God desires our persistence, no doubt because it demonstrates our seriousness and sincerity. In Matthew’s gospel where our Lord Jesus says, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you” (KJV), scholars explain that the Greek words really mean to “keep on asking, keep on seeking, and keep on knocking.” It does not mean a one-time, half-hearted request.
18 year old Ben Breedlove from Austin cheated death 3 times as he struggled with a dangerous and life threatening illness his whole life. It didn’t kept Ben from smiling and focusing on God. In this touching and heartbreaking final video, Ben shares the visions he experienced a couple weeks earlier when he came close to death. Ben went to be with Jesus on Christmas Day, just one week after posting this final video.
