Archive for March, 2018

WHY MEN DON’T PRAY

Tuesday, March 20th, 2018

Then, fast forward to the night of the final Passover with Jesus at the helm, on the way to willingly give His life on the Cross.  He ( Jesus) asks them to pray and stay with Him awhile…..and they promptly fall asleep. Let us read Matthew 26:40-42 a “And He *came to the disciples and *found them sleeping, and *said to Peter, “So, you men could not keep watch with Me for one hour? Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. He went away again a second time and prayed.”
This is a perfect picture of men, as far back as we can remember, who not just do not pray, but do not see the value and absolute necessity of prayer…..except when they fall sick or need divine intervention on some family matter.  But it is indeed worse than it appears. We (men) will take the great mountaintop experiences with Jesus, like an exciting conference or seminar, but would drop the ball once we get back to the valleys and fields, where the actual real work of the Christian life is lived.
I have seen places, in sound bible-teaching churches, where prayer is limited to the pastoral 3-minute prayer at the beginning and the prayer requests in some of the Sunday school classes where the teacher is more tuned into the Holy Spirit. The official policies of too many churches are more program than prayer-oriented, regardless of the small groups that actually exist in most bible-teaching churches who pray to keep the spiritual fires burning. So, this trend with non-praying men is not happening in a vacuum. During the first year, when after I was born-again (1988-89),  the passion to know the Lord Who saved me by His Grace so dramatically, so overwhelmed me that I would sit for hours by a freezing lake in the fall and winter and pray for hours.

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BLESSED AND HIGHLY FAVORED

Tuesday, March 20th, 2018

He shall receive a blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation…Psalm 24:5
THOUGHT:
Being born-again and accepting the Truth of Jesus Christ, as one’s Lord and Savior, is the only way to be an authentic Christian. God has no grandchildren and we cannot piggyback on the Faith of our parents or relatives. Each human being will rise or fall, before God, on the basis of this belief. While it may seem simple, it is really an incredible supernatural process. When the God of our Salvation (as in part B of the verse above) finally sees we are at the point of knowing the Gospel and making the most crucial decision towards our eternal home (heaven or hell) – He saves us from the latter.

Being born-again happens in an instant and we are immediately pulled from the future flames and set upon the rock, by the Rock of Ages. How this Truth works will be clearer in the Eternal Kingdom. However, God is revealing to us in this verse from Psalm 24:5the following two very clear divine truths:
1.  We receive a blessing from the Lord. That is, God is so generous, kind, loving and compassion towards us that He has basically given us a present. It is a present which must and will be opened, as we are now sons and daughters of Jesus our Lord.  This is also the meaning of the original Hebrew word for “blessing” from  Psalm 24:5, which is “barak”.
2.  The Blessing spoken of is the result of one thing….and one major thing alone- SALVATION. Righteousness from the God of his salvation is indicative of person – you and I – being made right (or justified) or “in right standing” before God….because of Christ…….

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