Daily Prayer_December 9, 2012

The Word of God for wisdom:

Proverbs 29:20 (HCSB)
²⁰ Do you see a man who speaks too soon? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

The Word of God for inspiration:

Psalm 129:3-4 (HCSB)
³ Plowmen plowed over my back; they made their furrows long.
⁴ The LORD is righteous; He has cut the ropes of the wicked.

The Word of God for encouragement:

Revelation 1:1-3 (HCSB)
¹ The revelation of Jesus Christ that God gave Him to show His slaves what must quickly take place. He sent it and signified it through His angel to His slave John,
² who testified to God's word and to the testimony about Jesus Christ, in all he saw.
³ The one who reads [this] is blessed, and those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep what is written in it are blessed, because the time is near!

My observation:

Today I begin reading the last book of the bible. My focus will be reading this book with the purpose of reviewing the past, living obediently and faithful in the present, and looking with hope and anticipation to the future.

My ultimate goal is to discover and apply what I read to becoming more and more like the person that God purposed me to be. Every one of us has a God ordained purpose for being alive. What he did for Jeremiah, he also did for you and me.

Jeremiah 1:5 (HCSB)
⁵ I chose you before I formed you in the womb; I set you apart before you were born. I appointed you a prophet to the nations.

There is a blessing for those who read and heed this book; I want to open my eyes to see, my ears to hear, and my heart to obey all that God says to me in his word, and by his Spirit.

Revelation 1:3 (HCSB)
³ The one who reads [this] is blessed, and those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep what is written in it are blessed, because the time is near!

My prayer:

Our Father in heaven, my dear Father, I am so grateful for all of the blessings I have received from your heart and your hands. Father, I shudder to think about where I would be without the Lord in my life.

Father God, as I read this blessed book, I pray that I will read it with an attitude of gratitude for all that you have done for me in the past; what you are doing in the present, and for what you will do in the future.

Revelation 22:20-21 (HCSB)
²⁰ He who testifies about these things says, "Yes, I am coming quickly." Amen! Come, Lord Jesus!
²¹ The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all the saints. Amen.

--

Psalm 130:5-6 (HCSB)
⁵ I wait for Yahweh; I wait and put my hope in His word.
⁶ I ⌊wait⌋ for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning— more than watchmen for the morning.

 

My blog: Sharing the Word of God Daily:

 http://herbcotton.blogspot.com/

Daily Prayer_December 7, 2012

The Word of God for wisdom:

Proverbs 29:16 (HCSB)
¹⁶ When the wicked increase, rebellion increases, but the righteous will see their downfall.

The Word of God for inspiration:

Psalm 127:1 (HCSB)
¹ Unless the LORD builds a house, its builders labor over it in vain; unless the LORD watches over a city, the watchman stays alert in vain.

The Word of God for encouragement:

Jude 1:1 (HCSB)
¹ Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ and a brother of James: To those who are the called, loved by God the Father and kept by Jesus Christ.

Jude 1:20-21 (HCSB)
²⁰ But you, dear friends, as you build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit,
²¹ keep yourselves in the love of God, expecting the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ for eternal life.
Jude 1:24-25 (HCSB)
²⁴ Now to Him who is able to protect you from stumbling and to make you stand in the presence of His glory, blameless and with great joy,
²⁵ to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time, now and forever. Amen.

My observation:

Today's reading is another brief letter; the author is Jude, the half-brother of Jesus. Notice that he claims to be "a slave of Jesus Christ and a brother of James". He acknowledges that he is a brother of James, but does not mention he is a brother of Jesus.

Jude warns his readers about the danger of false teachers. God's people of every age during these last days should be alert to the warnings contained in this letter.

Jude 1:4 (HCSB)
⁴ For some men, who were designated for this judgment long ago, have come in by stealth; they are ungodly, turning the grace of our God into promiscuity and denying Jesus Christ, our only Master and Lord.

When things get tough some may lose heart, but we who belong to Jesus should never lose hope. Jude writes that we should stay in the word of God, and in your faith in God. Notice Jude 1:20-21. Heed the warnings, and enjoy the blessings.

My prayer:

Father God, I thank you that you have called us, and that you love us with an everlasting love.  Father God, O the peace that floods my soul when I think about all that Jesus has done, and continues to do for his believing people.

Father, I shall forever be grateful to you, and will continually give praise and thanks to your most holy name. In Jesus name, Amen.

--

Psalm 130:5-6 (HCSB)
⁵ I wait for Yahweh; I wait and put my hope in His word.
⁶ I ⌊wait⌋ for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning— more than watchmen for the morning.

 

My blog: Sharing the Word of God Daily:

 http://herbcotton.blogspot.com/

Daily Prayer_December 6, 2012

The Word of God for wisdom:

Proverbs 29:12 (HCSB)
¹² If a ruler listens to lies, all his officials will be wicked.

The Word of God for inspiration:

Psalm 126:5-6 (KJV)
⁵ They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.
⁶ He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.

The Word of God for encouragement:

3 John 1:1-4 (HCSB)
¹ The Elder: To my dear friend Gaius: I love you in the truth.
² Dear friend, I pray that you may prosper in every way and be in good health physically just as you are spiritually.
³ For I was very glad when some brothers came and testified to your [faithfulness] to the truth—how you are walking in the truth.
⁴ I have no greater joy than this: to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
3 John 1:9-12 (HCSB)
⁹ I wrote something to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to have first place among them, does not receive us.
¹⁰ This is why, if I come, I will remind him of the works he is doing, slandering us with malicious words. And he is not satisfied with that! He not only refuses to welcome the brothers himself, but he even stops those who want to do so and expels them from the church.
¹¹ Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God.
¹² Demetrius has a [good] testimony from everyone, and from the truth itself. And we also testify for him, and you know that our testimony is true.

My observation:

John writes this letter to a friend by the name of Gaius. This brother had to deal with some difficult people in the church. This is another letter in which the Apostle emphasizes the topic of truth, and making it a practical and practicing part of our daily life.

As you look around your circumstances you will find people like Diotrephes; these are people who do evil, and tear apart God's people and God's work. On the other hand, you will find people like Demetrius; these are people who have a testimony of doing good, and building up the people of God, and the work of God.

The key thought to take away from this letter is this. Encourage someone who is in a difficult circumstance with this truth.

3 John 1:11 (HCSB)
¹¹ Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God.

My prayer:

Our Father in heaven, my dear Father, I am so grateful for the grace of God that enables and empowers your people to walk in truth. In Jesus name, Amen.

--

Psalm 130:5-6 (HCSB)
⁵ I wait for Yahweh; I wait and put my hope in His word.
⁶ I ⌊wait⌋ for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning— more than watchmen for the morning.

 

My blog: Sharing the Word of God Daily:

 http://herbcotton.blogspot.com/

Daily Prayer_December 5, 2012

The Word of God for wisdom:

Proverbs 29:11 (HCSB)
¹¹ A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man holds it in check.

The Word of God for inspiration:

Psalm 125:1 (HCSB)
¹ Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion. It cannot be shaken; it remains forever.

The Word of God for encouragement:

2 John 1:4-6 (HCSB)
⁴ I was very glad to find some of your children walking in the truth, in keeping with a command we have received from the Father.
⁵ So now I urge you, dear lady—not as if I were writing you a new command, but one we have had from the beginning—that we love one another.
⁶ And this is love: that we walk according to His commands. This is the command as you have heard it from the beginning: you must walk in love.

My observation:

This brief letter is a personal letter. It was to a woman who had extended Christian hospitality to God's people. You could say that she hosted a house church. Her home was a gathering place for worship and fellowship. Some of the most blessed times occur at small gatherings like this in the homes of God's people.

John summarizes his purpose for writing this letter in this verse.

2 John 1:3 (HCSB)
³ Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.

John was elated to discover that some of her children were walking in the truth, and were obeying the commandment to love one another.

Knowing the truth and the commandments are not enough. We must also practice the truth, and obey the commandments of God. God expects us to walk in truth, and to walk in love.

My prayer:

Our Father in heaven, my dear Father, I pray that when you look at my life that you will see that I am walking in truth, and loving others as you have commanded your people to do. Father God, help me to be love to others as, by faith, I love them with the love of the Lord, who lives in me. In Jesus name, Amen.

--

Psalm 130:5-6 (HCSB)
⁵ I wait for Yahweh; I wait and put my hope in His word.
⁶ I ⌊wait⌋ for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning— more than watchmen for the morning.

 

My blog: Sharing the Word of God Daily:

 http://herbcotton.blogspot.com/

Daily Prayer_December 4, 2012

The Word of God for wisdom:

Proverbs 29:6 (HCSB)
⁶ An evil man is caught by sin, but the righteous one sings and rejoices.

The Word of God for inspiration:

Psalm 124:8 (HCSB)
⁸ Our help is in the name of Yahweh, the Maker of heaven and earth.

The Word of God for encouragement:

1 John 5:1 (HCSB)
¹ Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Messiah has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father also loves the one born of Him.

1 John 5:13-15 (HCSB)
¹³ I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.
¹⁴ Now this is the confidence we have before Him: Whenever we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
¹⁵ And if we know that He hears whatever we ask, we know that we have what we have asked Him for.

My observation:

Up to this point in the letter John has been writing primarily about love. However, in chapter five he transitions to writing about faith.

Love is essential, but in order to have love you must be born of God, and to be born of God you must have faith in God. When you are born of God you are born to love; to love God, and to love others.

There are so many benefits of having a faith that saves and a faith that will keep you forever. There is a confidence that comes in knowing that God loves you, and will never let you go back to what you used to be.

John closes the letter with the amazing and astonishing thing that he says about prayer. In your Christian journey from earth to glory you can be sure of this one thing; God hears and answers the prayers of his people.

Surely we don't get everything we ask for in prayer. But, we get everything we need when we talk to the Father in prayer. This is the greatest benefit of prayer; communion with God.

1 John 5:14 (HCSB)
¹⁴ Now this is the confidence we have before Him: Whenever we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

I can live a lifetime with this assurance; when I pray God hears me. God hears and answers all of my prayers, and he meets all of my needs. It is no wonder that the author of Proverbs wrote this.

Proverbs 29:6 (AMP)
⁶ In the transgression of an evil man there is a snare, but the [uncompromisingly] righteous man sings and rejoices.

My prayer:

Our Father in heaven, my dear Father, I am so thankful for the gift of faith that allows me to walk through the door that leads to eternal life.

Father God, I thank you that Jesus is the door, and that all who comes to him, by faith, will receive the gift of eternal life.

John 10:9 (HCSB)
⁹ I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture.

Father, I thank you that when we are born of God, we have access to you through prayer; that we have the confidence that you hear and answer our prayers. Father, your child is singing your praises, and  rejoicing in the God of my salvation. In Jesus name, Amen.

--

Psalm 130:5-6 (HCSB)
⁵ I wait for Yahweh; I wait and put my hope in His word.
⁶ I ⌊wait⌋ for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning— more than watchmen for the morning.

 

My blog: Sharing the Word of God Daily:

 http://herbcotton.blogspot.com/

Daily Prayer_December 3, 2012

The Word of God for wisdom:

Proverbs 29:4 (ESV)
⁴ By justice a king builds up the land, but he who exacts gifts tears it down.

The Word of God for inspiration:

Psalm 123:1 (ESV)
¹ To you I lift up my eyes, O you who are enthroned in the heavens!

The Word of God for encouragement:

1 John 4:12-14 (ESV)
¹² No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
¹³ By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.
¹⁴ And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.

My observation:

We are most alive when we love others with the love of the Lord. The most effective witness that we can be to others is to show them by our words and deeds that we care about them by loving them with the love of the Lord.

We have the divine gift of love within us; we need to allow it to come out of us with loving deeds done for others in Christ name.

Romans 5:5 (ESV)
⁵ and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.

My prayer:

Our Father in heaven, my dear Father, I thank you for the love of God that lives in the hearts of your people.

Father God, help us, by faith, to pass that love on to others in a loving and caring manner. Father, may your love be perfected in me. In Jesus name, Amen.

--

Psalm 130:5-6 (HCSB)
⁵ I wait for Yahweh; I wait and put my hope in His word.
⁶ I ⌊wait⌋ for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning— more than watchmen for the morning.

 

My blog: Sharing the Word of God Daily:

 http://herbcotton.blogspot.com/

Daily Prayer_December 2, 2012

The Word of God for wisdom:

Proverbs 29:1 (HCSB)
¹ One who becomes stiff-necked, after many reprimands will be shattered instantly— beyond recovery.

The Word of God for inspiration:

Psalm 122:1 (HCSB)
¹ I rejoiced with those who said to me, "Let us go to the house of the LORD."

The Word of God for encouragement:

1 John 3:4-11 (HCSB)
⁴ Everyone who commits sin also breaks the law; sin is the breaking of law.
⁵ You know that He was revealed so that He might take away sins, and there is no sin in Him.
⁶ Everyone who remains in Him does not sin; everyone who sins has not seen Him or known Him.
⁷ Little children, let no one deceive you! The one who does what is right is righteous, just as He is righteous.
⁸ The one who commits sin is of the Devil, for the Devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God was revealed for this purpose: to destroy the Devil's works.
⁹ Everyone who has been born of God does not sin, because His seed remains in him; he is not able to sin, because he has been born of God.
¹⁰ This is how God's children—and the Devil's children—are made evident. Whoever does not do what is right is not of God, especially the one who does not love his brother.
¹¹ For this is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another,

My observation:

The problem with sin in the life of a believer is that it is out of character. A genuine believer has within the divine nature of God. You have a new nature that is Christ in you. That new nature cannot sin. It's the old nature that is the problem.

Galatians 2:20 (KJV)
²⁰ I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

God gives the believer in Jesus a new nature, but he does not remove the old nature. We may sometimes stumble, but we have an advocate with the Father.

1 John 3:6 (ESV)
⁶ No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.

1 John 3:9 (ESV)
⁹ No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God.

My prayer:

Our Father in heaven, my dear Father, I am so grateful that you are a God who has the power to save, and the power to keep those that you save. Father, I am relying upon your power to keep me abiding in you.  In Jesus name, Amen.

Jude 1:24-25 (ESV)
²⁴ Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy,
²⁵ to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

 

--

Psalm 130:5-6 (HCSB)
⁵ I wait for Yahweh; I wait and put my hope in His word.
⁶ I ⌊wait⌋ for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning— more than watchmen for the morning.

 

My blog: Sharing the Word of God Daily:

 http://herbcotton.blogspot.com/