Prayer

Tapping into the unlimited resources of Jesus Christ

It is amazing how believers like to boast about their heavenly Father—how He is all-knowing, all-powerful, and how He is their provider, their Rock and their hiding place. Yet many of us fail to tap into the unlimited resources of our heavenly Father. We are just like Jesus’ disciples who were willing to turn away the multitude, because they thought they did not have enough food to feed them.

Look yonder believers, and “Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not better than they?”  (Matthew 6:26).

The Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes

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Our heavenly father has an unlimited amount of resources and He wants us to tap in.

Jesus tapped into His Father’s resources and fed over five thousand with 5 loaves and 2 fishes.

“And when it was evening, His[Jesus]  disciples came to Him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals.

But Jesus said unto them, they need not leave; give ye them to eat. And they say unto Him, we have here but five loaves, and two fishes. He said, bring them hither to me.

And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, He blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude.

And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full.  And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children” (Matthew 14:15-21).

As you look around, the needs that you see are often great and overwhelming. Your own resources seem so small, and your own abilities seem so limited to meet such great needs.

if you tried to quench the thirst of others out of your own fountain, no one would be satisfied; if you tried to feed the hungry with your own bread no one would be made full; if you tried to reassure others with your own thoughts, no one would be comforted; if you tried to bring meaning to the lives of others with your own plans, no one would be fulfilled.

Jesus asks you to give all that you have to Him. And as you place your life in His hands, He will break you as bread, multiply you, and use you to meet the needs of others with His unlimited resources.

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Let God fight your battles

English: Manna reigning from heaven on the Isr...

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“The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent” (Exodus 14:14)

How blessed you are to have God fight your battles. When God is your defender, you don’t have to argue back, fight back, yell back, or talk back to others.

You don’t need to plan out your arguments to justify your actions. God does not need to use your tongue as His weapon of warfare. Quietness of heart, mind, spirit, and voice will keep you in a place of great peace,

You do not need to defend yourself or justify any of your actions if you are walking in obedience to what God has asked you to do. If your actions are based upon God’s calling in your life, it is justification enough. If what you do is motivated by love, this is reason enough.

Psalm 59 is David’s prayer to God when he faced imminent death at the hands of Saul, Who had sent men to watch David’s house to kill him:

 1 Deliver me from my enemies, O God;
be my fortress against those who are attacking me.
2 Deliver me from evildoers
and save me from those who are after my blood.

 3 See how they lie in wait for me!
Fierce men conspire against me
for no offense or sin of mine, LORD.
4 I have done no wrong, yet they are ready to attack me.
Arise to help me; look on my plight!
5 You, LORD God Almighty,
you who are the God of Israel,
rouse yourself to punish all the nations;
show no mercy to wicked traitors.[c]

 6 They return at evening,
snarling like dogs,
and prowl about the city.
7 See what they spew from their mouths—
the words from their lips are sharp as swords,
and they think, “Who can hear us?”
8 But you laugh at them, LORD;
you scoff at all those nations.

 9 You are my strength, I watch for you;
you, God, are my fortress,
10 my God on whom I can rely.

   God will go before me
and will let me gloat over those who slander me.
11 But do not kill them, Lord our shield,[d]
or my people will forget.
In your might uproot them
and bring them down.
12 For the sins of their mouths,
for the words of their lips,
let them be caught in their pride.
For the curses and lies they utter,
13 consume them in your wrath,
consume them till they are no more.
Then it will be known to the ends of the earth
that God rules over Jacob.

 14 They return at evening,
snarling like dogs,
and prowl about the city.
15 They wander about for food
and howl if not satisfied.
16 But I will sing of your strength,
in the morning I will sing of your love;
for you are my fortress,
my refuge in times of trouble.

 17 You are my strength, I sing praise to you;
you, God, are my fortress,
my God on whom I can rely.

Walking in the perfect will of God

The Temptation of Christ, 1854

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And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth (John 1:14).

Jesus Christ, the second person of the Trinity, comes in the flesh, bringing the character and nature of God into every aspect of life. Jesus came in a human body and with human needs. He walked in the perfect will of God, even when times were difficult.

When facing persecutions and suffering, Jesus endured them; when facing the temptations of life, Jesus resisted them; when facing the attacks of the devil, Jesus overcame them; when it came to the sins of others, Jesus forgave them.

Jesus is our example. He took on the human nature so that He could teach us how to live the Christian life. He lived a perfect life, despite the trials and tribulation the enemy put Him through.

There is not one thing we Christians face today that Jesus did not face. The enemy tested His morals, His knowledge of the law, His commitment to God, and the devil even tried to entice Him with things but He never yielded to temptation. Instead, He used the Word of God as a weapon.

Jesus used the Word of God to defeat the devil (Matthew 4:1-10)

1Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil.

2And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungered.

3And when the tempter came to him, he said if thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread.

4But he answered and said, it is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeded out of the mouth of God.

5Then the devil takes him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple,

6And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.

7Jesus said unto him,  it is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

8Again, the devil takes him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them;

9And saith unto him, all these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.

10Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

Some people will argue that today’s world is vastly different than that of Jesus’ time, and that Christ never faced the kinds of distraction and temptation today’s Christians faced. But while that argument is true; His nature and characteristics were adamic and the same as ours are today. Hence, there is no excuse for us not to walk in the perfect will of God as Jesus did.

My prayer to walk in God’s ways in 2012

Lord, take control of my heart, that my heart may control my feet; my thoughts, my will and my ways. May my feet bring the word of good news, and the message of comfort to those who are broken and confused. And also to those who have lost hope in our political system, and our society as a whole–and to those who have lost their jobs and are going through tough times.

May my feet walk upon the imprint of your footsteps, May they move at the pace and in the direction that you are moving, Lord, I pray that my eyes will focus upon the things that your eyes are fixed upon. Heavenly father, lift me when I fall, cleanse me when I am soiled, and heal my every wound.

Lord, be the wings that cover me, the hiding place I need for shelter, the shield I need for defense, the sword I need for battle, and the banner I need for victory.

Let me be a light to those who are in darkness. Use me as a billow to those whose fire is cooling, and as a flint to those who need your fire.

Thank you Lord for granting my request.

Seeking What God Purposes Me To Be

English: The Last Supper of Jesus Christ

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“Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold for me” (Philippians 3:12).

It is clear from the Scriptures that God wants us to seek after Him. Sometimes we think that the word seeker applies only to people who do not know the Lord and are seeking the answers to life. A believer in Jesus Christ should never come to a place where he or she stops being a seeker.

Being a seeker means that you know God as a reality in your life, yet you are always hungering after a deeper intimacy with Him; being a seeker means that you know His love in your heart, yet you seek to know the fullness of its depth, its height, its width, and its length; being a seeker means that you have set your heart to lay hold of all the things that He purposes you to be.

How do I know God’s purpose for my life?

You were created by God, in His image, for a purpose. The Bible tells us that Isaiah (Isaiah 49:1), Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:5) and Paul (Galatians 1:15) were set apart from birth for a specific purpose–and you are no different. He has a specific plan for your life.

“For I know the plans I have for you,’ declared the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11).
The Bible says that God’s will is “good, pleasing and perfect” (Romans 12:2).

God’s will, first, is that we have a relationship with Him through His Son, Jesus Christ.

“This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:3-4).

God wants us to be Christ’s disciples.
This means Christians must themselves commit to following God’s will daily, whatever the cost.
“If anyone would come to me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23).

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