when you have no power

We all want some kind of power. We all want the power to change our lives or the power to leave things alone. We all want the power to deal with adversity or the power to wait for others to make it go away. Power runs in two directions. Power can be used to get us out of the circumstances we are in or keep us in the circumstances we are in. We can use power to help ourselves, help others, or we can refuse help when it is offered. We can use power to hurt others; to inflate our egos. We can use power in selfish and inappropriate ways. When we have no power we must confront one of the great truths of life.

That great truth of life is that-life sometimes takes us on a journey we do not want. Eventually, life takes us on a journey to death. Life is often an illusion. What we see is not what we get. What we do not see is there. We cannot see God yet He is the power source of our life. When we think we have no power, we really do. Faith is the needed ingredient and vital for life because faith lets us tap into the power of God. Faith enables us to have power when we think we have none. The truth is that we are never without power if we are in the will of God. The truth is we are never without power if we have surrendered the power we think we have to the lord. Mathew 5:3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (NIV)

the storms of life

If you are not familiar with the story in Mark 4 of Jesus calming the sea, you should check it out! There the disciples were being flung from one side of the boat to the other, scared for their lives, the winds and seas are tossing their boat, and they are on the verge of death. real stuff. These brothers weren't afraid of a little storm--they were fishermen. They knew when to press on and when to fear for their lives. This was one of those "fear for your life" kind of moments. What was Jesus doing? Sleeping?! How can that be? Because Jesus knew who was really in control. Do you? Stress attacks us daily. It haunts us in the morning, afternoon and evening. But our Lord Jesus has the control to say, "Peace, be still." Do you trust him to know when to do that? Trust him. He can calm your storms.

A Prayer for Peace

Oh God, from whom proceeds all holy desires, right council and just works; grant to Your servants that peace which the world cannot give. That when our hearts have been disposed to obey your commandments and the fear of the enemy has been removed, peace may be restored to the world under Your holy protection, through Christ Our Lord. Amen

PRAYER TIME AND THE LORD'S PRAYER

Loving God - indeed this is a wonderful world, a world in which share with us the riches of fertile land, the resources of mountains and streams, the abundance of oceans and sky. We thank you for all the gifts you have given us on this planet we call Earth - for all the gifts you have called us to treasure, to husband, and to share. Grant O God that we may show respect to you and to the gifts you give by using them aright and by remembering from whence they have come and what purpose you have assigned to them..... Lord hear our prayer...

Generous God you have poured out riches of the Spirit as well as riches of earth, sea, and sky. We thank you for the power that sustains this universe and which is to be found in every human heart. We praise you for the love that creates beauty and for the care which creates tenderness and mercy and for the truth that creates justice and honor and glory. Grant, O God, that we may respond always to the urging of your Spirit and use the riches it provides to uphold truth and to show love and care for all people and for the creation itself.... Lord hear our prayer....

Giving God - there is much in our lives for which we are readily thankful - but there is also much in our lives that we have difficulty thanking you for - either because we do not see or acknowledge you in it - or because those things come to us as afflictions - as trials and tribulations. Help us, we pray, to see you in the ordinary things of life - that we may have the trust that we need to overcome in those things that test us our faith..... Lord hear our prayer.

Finally O God, you who are the mother and father of us all - hear the silent prayers of thanksgiving and of intercession that we make before you in our hearts as even now I name those names and those things that have been lifted up this day by these your people.... (BIDDING PRAYER)... Lord, hear our prayer...

We pray to you O God, in the name of Christ Jesus, the one who taught us to come to as one family, as your children, saying: "OUR FATHER

about future glory

Glory, power, victory, grace, love, abundance, and peace...these are words which describe our future. "Glory" is the best word in this group but even the word "glory" can not describe the whole future for us. We often lose sight of our real future. When we think of the future, we think about tomorrow, next week, or next year. As the apostle Paul reminds us in this verse, present pain and suffering cannot compare to our future glory. With our eyes on this future glory, we gain a new vision of our present life. The worst circumstance for any person is to be in suffering and not have a vision and hope for the future. When we have a vision and a hope for the future, no darkness can overtake us, and no suffering can keep us down. Each of us has a glorious future in Christ Jesus.

devotional

Psalms 4:1 Answer me when I call to you, O my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress; be merciful to me and hear my prayer. (NIV)We all want answers. We want answers about all manner of things. Many of the answers we want come about because we believe we are helpless to act upon a circumstance in our life.

• In every circumstance of our life, God has answers.


• In every circumstance, God has more answers than we have questions.

• In our innermost being, at the very center and core of our heart, God gives us constant access to His love, wisdom, and answers.
  

Our access to His wisdom gives us the answers we need. In God's infinite wisdom and love, He readily shows us we are not helpless. In God's infinite love, He readily shows us we are not hopeless.

• Within our hearts, God speaks to us and gives us all the answers we want.

• Within our hearts, we find His truth that helps us over the mountains of life and through the valleys of each day.

In His love, we have the Lord's help and do not need any answers. In His love, we are rendered silent for we have no questions. As we think, meditate, and pray to God each day about what we think are our questions, we find we have had His answers within us all along. When we are honest, we know He is constantly answering us and helping us. In His love, we know He will always be answering us and He will never leave us.

Heal Help and Uplift

Heal, Help and Uplift


Psalm 91:15 He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. 16 With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation." (NIV)We have so many hurts in life it is a wonder we survive them all. We survive our hurts and can even prosper from our hurts because Christ is always with us if we want Him. In life, we want answers about why there is hurt and suffering. We sometimes want to know why we or others must hurt and suffer.

• We want God to speak boldly and forcefully to us.

• We want God to give us a reason to keep on keeping on when the times of hurt and suffering come.

If we tune our heart in to His love, He is at this moment giving us answers that help us heal from the wounds inflicted upon us. As we seek out answers from others, from books, from literature, and from all kinds of sources of wisdom, it is the gentle touch of Christ that heals us. More than the wisdom of the ages, it is Christ who heals our broken lives. It is in His suffering and death that we see the defeat of evil in the world. Because Christ suffered, died, and rose again, we see that in Christ we can conquer the evil in this life. The pain of life comes as surely as we are born and as we die, but in Christ's eyes we see His love that carries us over the hurt. In His eyes, we find an eternal healing that overcomes the faulty body, the broken heart, and the hurting mind of this life.

• In Jesus, we find answers that do not just make us feel better.

• In Jesus, we find answers that give us new life in this life and new life in eternity.

about the power to trust God in making decisions

You can trust God with your life because He was willing to give up the life of His Son just for you. You can trust God to help you make decisions because when you make decisions and your heart is open to God's pouring out of His love, then the decisions you make will be grounded in His love. Your decisions may not turn out as you want. You may make what seems to be a poor decision. Your may make what seems to be a wrong decision and a mistake. However, for God and for what God wants from you in your life, your decision may be of little consequence as long as you trust God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your might.

The decisions you make may seem immensely important to you, but to God, these important decisions may mean very little. When you make a decision of some kind, it is more important you make the decision because you trust God to be with you forever. It is more important for you to trust God than it is for God to arrange a circumstance or deliver to you what you think you want or what you think you need.