Category Archives: Blessed

All Powerful / King of All, Blessed, Comforter, Loving / Kind, Protector / Deliverer, Provider, Strong in Our Weakness

God Will Strengthen Us and Help us

As we read through Isaiah 41, bring to mind that we, as followers of Yeshua, are grafted into God’s people, Israel (Romans 11). Accept the encouragement that Isaiah is declaring for Israel in this chapter as directly applicable to you in your life today as a believer and follower of Yeshua.

Isaiah 41

Israel Encouraged

1“Coastlands, listen to Me in silence,
And let the peoples gain new strength;
Let them come forward, then let them speak;
Let us come together for judgment.

      2“Who has aroused one from the east
Whom He calls in righteousness to His feet?
He delivers up nations before him
And subdues kings.
He makes them like dust with his sword,
As the wind-driven chaff with his bow.

      3“He pursues them, passing on in safety,
By a way he had not been traversing with his feet.

      4“Who has performed and accomplished it,
Calling forth the generations from the beginning?
‘I, the LORD, am the first, and with the last. I am He.’”

      5The coastlands have seen and are afraid;
The ends of the earth tremble;
They have drawn near and have come.

      6Each one helps his neighbor
And says to his brother, “Be strong!”

      7So the craftsman encourages the smelter,
And he who smooths metal with the hammer encourages him who beats the anvil,
Saying of the soldering, “It is good”;
And he fastens it with nails,
So that it will not totter.

      8“But you, Israel, My servant,
Jacob whom I have chosen,
Descendant of Abraham My friend,

      9You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth,
And called from its remotest parts
And said to you, ‘You are My servant,
I have chosen you and not rejected you.

      10‘Do not fear, for I am with you;
Do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you, surely I will help you,
Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’

      11“Behold, all those who are angered at you will be shamed and dishonored;
Those who contend with you will be as nothing and will perish.

      12“You will seek those who quarrel with you, but will not find them,
Those who war with you will be as nothing and non-existent.

      13“For I am the LORD your God, who upholds your right hand,
Who says to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you.’

      14“Do not fear, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel;
I will help you,” declares the LORD, “and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel.

      15“Behold, I have made you a new, sharp threshing sledge with double edges;
You will thresh the mountains and pulverize them,
And will make the hills like chaff.

      16“You will winnow them, and the wind will carry them away,
And the storm will scatter them;
But you will rejoice in the LORD,
You will glory in the Holy One of Israel.

      17“The afflicted and needy are seeking water, but there is none,
And their tongue is parched with thirst;
I, the LORD, will answer them Myself,
As the God of Israel I will not forsake them.

      18“I will open rivers on the bare heights
And springs in the midst of the valleys;
I will make the wilderness a pool of water
And the dry land fountains of water.

      19“I will put the cedar in the wilderness,
The acacia and the myrtle and the olive tree;
I will place the juniper in the desert
Together with the box tree and the cypress,

      20That they may see and recognize,
And consider and gain insight as well,
That the hand of the LORD has done this,
And the Holy One of Israel has created it.

      21“Present your case,” the LORD says.
“Bring forward your strong arguments,”
The King of Jacob says.

      22Let them bring forth and declare to us what is going to take place;
As for the former events, declare what they were,
That we may consider them and know their outcome.
Or announce to us what is coming;

      23Declare the things that are going to come afterward,
That we may know that you are gods;
Indeed, do good or evil, that we may anxiously look about us and fear together.

      24Behold, you are of no account,
And your work amounts to nothing;
He who chooses you is an abomination.

      25“I have aroused one from the north, and he has come;
From the rising of the sun he will call on My name;
And he will come upon rulers as upon mortar,
Even as the potter treads clay.”

      26Who has declared this from the beginning, that we might know?
Or from former times, that we may say, “He is right!”?
Surely there was no one who declared,
Surely there was no one who proclaimed,
Surely there was no one who heard your words.

      27“Formerly I said to Zion, ‘Behold, here they are.’
And to Jerusalem, ‘I will give a messenger of good news.’

      28“But when I look, there is no one,
And there is no counselor among them
Who, if I ask, can give an answer.

      29“Behold, all of them are false;
Their works are worthless,
Their molten images are wind and emptiness.

Reread verses 10-20 above. Take a few minutes in prayer to thank God that He will do that for each of us. Consider and praise Him for His greatness and kindness.

Shalom. May the grace and peace of our Lord, Yeshua, be with you. Devotion by John in service to Christ

Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

 

Blessed, Faith / Trusting God, Submitted / Servant, Thankfulness, Traditions / Holidays

Appreciating Those Who Serve As We Approach Veteran’s Day

Though we should always first look to the LORD with thanksgiving for our freedom and protection, we can also take time to give thanks to those who serve or have served in the military which protects our nation from foreign threats. Not every person who serves in the military should be stereotyped as some kind of automatic hero, but by and large, they provide a valuable service and do so with honor and at personal risk. Most recognize that they serve something higher than themselves. They serve their country in order to secure freedom for themselves and others. They serve a constitutional republic (we are actually not a democracy and there are good reasons for it) that guarantees certain rights for the people and protections from the government. They serve to protect a way of life provided by our Creator.

Thank you to all who serve actively or have served. I pray you will draw near to our Father and be blessed.

This is also a good time to remember that we should also seek to serve in the LORD’s army. We submit to him. We face difficulty and persecution for him when we live his way. We face rejection. We go where others do not wish to go or do what others do not want to do for a higher purpose beyond ourselves. We celebrate joyfully even when we have difficulty bringing glory to his name.

Thank you to all who serve in the LORD’s army, submitting yourselves to Him and trusting in Him! May you also be blessed and draw near to Him!

Shalom

Devotion by John in service to Christ

—-

Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Blessed, Joy / Happiness / Rejoicing, Praise / Worship / Glorify God, Prophecy, Through Prophets

In Yeshua, We Find Joy!

Isaiah 35 looks ahead to the joy and celebration we find in our Messiah, Yeshua (Hebrew for Jesus). It is cause for celebration and hope! It is cause for joy even today!

Isaiah 35

Zion’s Happy Future

1The wilderness and the desert will be glad,
And the Arabah will rejoice and blossom;
Like the crocus

      2It will blossom profusely
And rejoice with rejoicing and shout of joy.
The glory of Lebanon will be given to it,
The majesty of Carmel and Sharon.
They will see the glory of the LORD,
The majesty of our God.

      3Encourage the exhausted, and strengthen the feeble.

      4Say to those with anxious heart,
“Take courage, fear not.
Behold, your God will come with vengeance;
The recompense of God will come,
But He will save you.”

      5Then the eyes of the blind will be opened
And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped.

      6Then the lame will leap like a deer,
And the tongue of the mute will shout for joy.
For waters will break forth in the wilderness
And streams in the Arabah.

      7The scorched land will become a pool
And the thirsty ground springs of water;
In the haunt of jackals, its resting place,
Grass becomes reeds and rushes.

      8A highway will be there, a roadway,
And it will be called the Highway of Holiness.
The unclean will not travel on it,
But it will be for him who walks that way,
And fools will not wander on it.

      9No lion will be there,
Nor will any vicious beast go up on it;
These will not be found there.
But the redeemed will walk there,

      10And the ransomed of the LORD will return
And come with joyful shouting to Zion,
With everlasting joy upon their heads.
They will find gladness and joy,
And sorrow and sighing will flee away.

It is encouraging to put our hope and focus on Yeshua. Let it transform you. Do not miss it. He has come. The Spirit dwells with us now. Do not miss out on the joy we find in Yeshua, waiting only for the second coming. Yes, there is a joy to be had then, but our eternity with the LORD has already started when we submitted our lives to Him.

Take a few minutes in prayer. Thank God for sending Yeshua. Spend time thanking and praising God for making a way for us to be reconciled to Him through Yeshua. Reflect on the joy and hope you should be experiencing even today. If you are not experiencing that joy, ask God to help you and show you why. Put your full trust in Him.

Shalom. May the grace and peace of our Lord, Yeshua, be with you. Devotion by John in service to Christ

Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Blessed, Curse, Disobeying, Rebelling Against, Ignoring God, Obeying God, Slow to Anger, Worthy of Fear / Reverence

God’s Wrath or God’s Blessing?

Isaiah 34 highlights God’s wrath against nations that choose not to submit to Him and live according to His ways. Those who choose their own ways, the ways of sin, are not pleasing to the LORD. There will be judgment. In fact, we can also remember that sin by itself, even without God’s wrath, separates us from God and transforms our personal lives, marriages, families, communities, or nation from what God desires to a mess.

Isaiah 34

God’s Wrath against Nations

1Draw near, O nations, to hear; and listen, O peoples!
Let the earth and all it contains hear, and the world and all that springs from it.

2For the LORD’S indignation is against all the nations,
And His wrath against all their armies;
He has utterly destroyed them,
He has given them over to slaughter.

3So their slain will be thrown out,
And their corpses will give off their stench,
And the mountains will be drenched with their blood.

4And all the host of heaven will wear away,
And the sky will be rolled up like a scroll;
All their hosts will also wither away
As a leaf withers from the vine,
Or as one withers from the fig tree.

5For My sword is satiated in heaven,
Behold it shall descend for judgment upon Edom
And upon the people whom I have devoted to destruction.

6The sword of the LORD is filled with blood,
It is sated with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats,
With the fat of the kidneys of rams.
For the LORD has a sacrifice in Bozrah
And a great slaughter in the land of Edom.

7Wild oxen will also fall with them
And young bulls with strong ones;
Thus their land will be soaked with blood,
And their dust become greasy with fat.

8For the LORD has a day of vengeance,
A year of recompense for the cause of Zion.

9Its streams will be turned into pitch,
And its loose earth into brimstone,
And its land will become burning pitch.

10It will not be quenched night or day;
Its smoke will go up forever.
From generation to generation it will be desolate;
None will pass through it forever and ever.

11But pelican and hedgehog will possess it,
And owl and raven will dwell in it;
And He will stretch over it the line of desolation
And the plumb line of emptiness.

12Its nobles—there is no one there
Whom they may proclaim king—
And all its princes will be nothing.

13Thorns will come up in its fortified towers,
Nettles and thistles in its fortified cities;
It will also be a haunt of jackals
And an abode of ostriches.

14The desert creatures will meet with the wolves,
The hairy goat also will cry to its kind;
Yes, the night monster will settle there
And will find herself a resting place.

15The tree snake will make its nest and lay eggs there,
And it will hatch and gather them under its protection.
Yes, the hawks will be gathered there,
Every one with its kind.

16Seek from the book of the LORD, and read:
Not one of these will be missing;
None will lack its mate.
For His mouth has commanded,
And His Spirit has gathered them.

17He has cast the lot for them,
And His hand has divided it to them by line.
They shall possess it forever;
From generation to generation they will dwell in it.

Seek to live according to God’s ways. Do not sin. Seek forgiveness. Submit to the LORD. The very nature of living according to His instructions is to live in a way that loves God and loves others. On top of that, we want to seek and receive His blessing for obedience rather than His wrath for disobedience.

For those that want to focus on the forgiveness we get through Yeshua, that is true. We can be very grateful! However, He also tells us to go and sin no more, which is to repent and change our ways to God’s ways.

Take a few minutes to pray. Ask God to show you any areas in your life in which you have not fully submitted to Him. It may be a job or marriage. It could be a hobby or friends that you know are not a good influence. Once He shows you where you are not fully submitted, ask forgiveness and take action to bring that part of your life into submission before Him. No excuses.

Matthew 6:33

 33But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be provided to you.

Shalom. May the grace and peace of our Lord, Yeshua, be with you. Devotion by John in service to Christ

Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

 

Blessed, Learning To Pray Effectively, Loving / Kind, Money / Finances / Wealth, Protector / Deliverer, Thankfulness

How Blessed Are the People Whose God Is The LORD!

I really appreciate the example David sets in his psalms. He prays to the LORD and asks for help, yes, but he first focuses on praising and recognizing YHWH for who he is and what he has done. He does not simply jump into a list of requests or demands. He comes before YHWH with humility and thankfulness and focuses first on the greatness of our God.

Psalms 144

Prayer for Rescue and Prosperity.

A Psalm of David.

1Blessed be the LORD, my rock,
Who trains my hands for war,
And my fingers for battle;

2My lovingkindness and my fortress,
My stronghold and my deliverer,
My shield and He in whom I take refuge,
Who subdues my people under me.

3O LORD, what is man, that You take knowledge of him?
Or the son of man, that You think of him?

4Man is like a mere breath;
His days are like a passing shadow.

5Bow Your heavens, O LORD, and come down;
Touch the mountains, that they may smoke.

6Flash forth lightning and scatter them;
Send out Your arrows and confuse them.

7Stretch forth Your hand from on high;
Rescue me and deliver me out of great waters,
Out of the hand of aliens

8Whose mouths speak deceit,
And whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.

9I will sing a new song to You, O God;
Upon a harp of ten strings I will sing praises to You,

10Who gives salvation to kings,
Who rescues David His servant from the evil sword.

11Rescue me and deliver me out of the hand of aliens,
Whose mouth speaks deceit
And whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.

12Let our sons in their youth be as grown-up plants,
And our daughters as corner pillars fashioned as for a palace;

13Let our garners be full, furnishing every kind of produce,
And our flocks bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our fields;

14Let our cattle bear
Without mishap and without loss,
Let there be no outcry in our streets!

15How blessed are the people who are so situated;
How blessed are the people whose God is the LORD!

Shalom

Devotion by John in service to Christ

—-

Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Blessed, Compassionate, Curse, Doubt / Lacking Faith, Grace / Forgiveness, Repenting from Sin, Slow to Anger, Submitted / Servant, Worthy of Fear / Reverence

It’s Good to Have a Plan, But Make Sure It Is God’s Plan!

It is good that we have a plan for whatever challenges we face. However, we do well to ensure our plan is God’s plan. If we try to do things our way, instead of God’s, it is like adding to our problems instead of resolving them. Consult God and wait for His answer. Test your plans against the word of God.

Isaiah 30

Judah Warned against Egyptian Alliance

1“Woe to the rebellious children,” declares the LORD,
“Who execute a plan, but not Mine,
And make an alliance, but not of My Spirit,
In order to add sin to sin;

      2Who proceed down to Egypt
Without consulting Me,
To take refuge in the safety of Pharaoh
And to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt!

      3“Therefore the safety of Pharaoh will be your shame
And the shelter in the shadow of Egypt, your humiliation.

      4“For their princes are at Zoan
And their ambassadors arrive at Hanes.

      5“Everyone will be ashamed because of a people who cannot profit them,
Who are not for help or profit, but for shame and also for reproach.”

      6The oracle concerning the beasts of the Negev.
Through a land of distress and anguish,
From where come lioness and lion, viper and flying serpent,
They carry their riches on the backs of young donkeys
And their treasures on camels’ humps,
To a people who cannot profit them;

      7Even Egypt, whose help is vain and empty.
Therefore, I have called her
“Rahab who has been exterminated.”

      8Now go, write it on a tablet before them
And inscribe it on a scroll,
That it may serve in the time to come
As a witness forever.

      9For this is a rebellious people, false sons,
Sons who refuse to listen
To the instruction of the LORD;

      10Who say to the seers, “You must not see visions”;
And to the prophets, “You must not prophesy to us what is right,
Speak to us pleasant words,
Prophesy illusions.

      11“Get out of the way, turn aside from the path,
Let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel.”

12Therefore thus says the Holy One of Israel,
“Since you have rejected this word
And have put your trust in oppression and guile, and have relied on them,

      13Therefore this iniquity will be to you
Like a breach about to fall,
A bulge in a high wall,
Whose collapse comes suddenly in an instant,

      14Whose collapse is like the smashing of a potter’s jar,
So ruthlessly shattered
That a sherd will not be found among its pieces
To take fire from a hearth
Or to scoop water from a cistern.”

15For thus the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, has said,
“In repentance and rest you will be saved,
In quietness and trust is your strength.”
But you were not willing,

      16And you said, “No, for we will flee on horses,”
Therefore you shall flee!
“And we will ride on swift horses,”
Therefore those who pursue you shall be swift.

      17One thousand will flee at the threat of one man;
You will flee at the threat of five,
Until you are left as a flag on a mountain top
And as a signal on a hill.

God Is Gracious and Just

18Therefore the LORD longs to be gracious to you,
And therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you.
For the LORD is a God of justice;
How blessed are all those who long for Him.

      19O people in Zion, inhabitant in Jerusalem, you will weep no longer. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when He hears it, He will answer you. 20Although the Lord has given you bread of privation and water of oppression, He, your Teacher will no longer hide Himself, but your eyes will behold your Teacher. 21Your ears will hear a word behind you, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right or to the left. 22And you will defile your graven images overlaid with silver, and your molten images plated with gold. You will scatter them as an impure thing, and say to them, “Be gone!”

      23Then He will give you rain for the seed which you will sow in the ground, and bread from the yield of the ground, and it will be rich and plenteous; on that day your livestock will graze in a roomy pasture. 24Also the oxen and the donkeys which work the ground will eat salted fodder, which has been winnowed with shovel and fork. 25On every lofty mountain and on every high hill there will be streams running with water on the day of the great slaughter, when the towers fall. 26The light of the moon will be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be seven times brighter, like the light of seven days, on the day the LORD binds up the fracture of His people and heals the bruise He has inflicted.

      27Behold, the name of the LORD comes from a remote place;
Burning is His anger and dense is His smoke;
His lips are filled with indignation
And His tongue is like a consuming fire;

      28His breath is like an overflowing torrent,
Which reaches to the neck,
To shake the nations back and forth in a sieve,
And to put in the jaws of the peoples the bridle which leads to ruin.

      29You will have songs as in the night when you keep the festival,
And gladness of heart as when one marches to the sound of the flute,
To go to the mountain of the LORD, to the Rock of Israel.

      30And the LORD will cause His voice of authority to be heard,
And the descending of His arm to be seen in fierce anger,
And in the flame of a consuming fire
In cloudburst, downpour and hailstones.

      31For at the voice of the LORD Assyria will be terrified,
When He strikes with the rod.

      32And every blow of the rod of punishment,
Which the LORD will lay on him,
Will be with the music of tambourines and lyres;
And in battles, brandishing weapons, He will fight them.

      33For Topheth has long been ready,
Indeed, it has been prepared for the king.
He has made it deep and large,
A pyre of fire with plenty of wood;
The breath of the LORD, like a torrent of brimstone, sets it afire.

Listen to God’s word. Seek out and listen to God Himself for your situation. If you have gone off making your own plans, stop now and consult Him. If appropriate, repent. Find your rest in the LORD. Trust in Him. He is waiting to be gracious and show compassion to you.  Do not trust in those who tell you what you want to hear, but rather trust in God who has the power to redeem and deliver you!

He is ready and waiting for you to make the next move.

Take a few minutes to pray. Ask the LORD to show you any areas in your life in which your plans do not line up with His plans. Wait for Him to answer. If it does not come right away, keep paying attention over the next few days as He may answer you in a different way. Let Him show you what you need to change and surrender to Him. Praise God for His compassion and grace.

Shalom. May the grace and peace of our Lord, Yeshua, be with you. Devotion by John in service to Christ

Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Blessed, Consequences of Sin, Discipline / Guidance From God, Eternal, Faith / Trusting God, Justice / Judgment, Peace / Rest, Protector / Deliverer, Seeking God, Wickedness / Evil

Trust in God’s Protection

As you read Isaiah 26, remember that the people of Israel had gone through tough times. Other nations had ruled them. They had drifted far from the LORD. There was a remnant that held tight to God. Think about the joy and praise emotionally that they were feeling when He rescued them from that and restored them! Whatever you are experiencing, you can put your faith in God and trust Him.

Rejoice in the LORD! Trust in Him for protection and sing songs to glorify Him. Praise Him.

Isaiah 26

Song of Trust in God’s Protection

      1In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:
“We have a strong city;
He sets up walls and ramparts for security.

      2“Open the gates, that the righteous nation may enter,
The one that remains faithful.

      3“The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace,
Because he trusts in You.

      4“Trust in the LORD forever,
For in GOD the LORD, we have an everlasting Rock.

      5“For He has brought low those who dwell on high, the unassailable city;
He lays it low, He lays it low to the ground, He casts it to the dust.

      6“The foot will trample it,
The feet of the afflicted, the steps of the helpless.”

      7The way of the righteous is smooth;
O Upright One, make the path of the righteous level.

      8Indeed, while following the way of Your judgments, O LORD,
We have waited for You eagerly;
Your name, even Your memory, is the desire of our souls.

      9At night my soul longs for You,
Indeed, my spirit within me seeks You diligently;
For when the earth experiences Your judgments
The inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.

      10Though the wicked is shown favor,
He does not learn righteousness;
He deals unjustly in the land of uprightness,
And does not perceive the majesty of the LORD.

      11O LORD, Your hand is lifted up yet they do not see it.
They see Your zeal for the people and are put to shame;
Indeed, fire will devour Your enemies.

      12LORD, You will establish peace for us,
Since You have also performed for us all our works.

      13O LORD our God, other masters besides You have ruled us;
But through You alone we confess Your name.

      14The dead will not live, the departed spirits will not rise;
Therefore You have punished and destroyed them,
And You have wiped out all remembrance of them.

      15You have increased the nation, O LORD,
You have increased the nation, You are glorified;
You have extended all the borders of the land.

      16O LORD, they sought You in distress;
They could only whisper a prayer,
Your chastening was upon them.

      17As the pregnant woman approaches the time to give birth,
She writhes and cries out in her labor pains,
Thus were we before You, O LORD.

      18We were pregnant, we writhed in labor,
We gave birth, as it seems, only to wind.
We could not accomplish deliverance for the earth,
Nor were inhabitants of the world born.

      19Your dead will live;
Their corpses will rise.
You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy,
For your dew is as the dew of the dawn,
And the earth will give birth to the departed spirits.

      20Come, my people, enter into your rooms
And close your doors behind you;
Hide for a little while
Until indignation runs its course.

      21For behold, the LORD is about to come out from His place
To punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity;
And the earth will reveal her bloodshed
And will no longer cover her slain.

Be encouraged! The LORD is our protector and our savior. There is nothing and nobody that is too big or too challenging for Him to handle.

I invite you to take a few minutes to pray.

Reflect on all that God has done for you. Give Him thanks and praise in a personal and specific manner. Then share with Him whatever challenges you still face and ask for His help. Put your faith in Him.

Shalom. May the grace and peace of our Lord, Yeshua, be with you. Devotion by John in service to Christ

Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Blessed, Holy / Set Apart, Interceding for Others, Joy / Happiness / Rejoicing, Learning To Pray Effectively, Satan, Seeking God, Spiritual Warfare

Yeshua’s Prayer for His Disciples… Important Insight on How to Pray

I found Yeshua’s prayer in John 17 for His disciples very moving. I encourage each of us to read it and apply the key points He highlights to our own prayer life for ourselves, our loved ones, and other followers of Christ.

Yeshua came to the Father in prayer for His disciples as He prepared to leave. We can learn much by reviewing and considering His words.

John 17:13-21

The Disciples in the World

     13“But now I come to You; and these things I speak in the world so that they may have My joy made full in themselves. 14“I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 15“I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one.16“They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 17“Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. 18“As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. 19“For their sakes, I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth.

      20“I do not ask on behalf of these alone, but for those also who believe in Me through their word; 21that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.

  • Yeshua wanted His disciples to have His joy made full in themselves
  • He gave us the instructions of YHWH to make our joy full. We can rightly conclude He intended for us to obey them, not just be aware of them.
  • Those who follow Yeshua, like Yeshua, are not “of the world”. The world will hate and reject us, usually more so as we stand and live more boldly for Christ. This does not mean every person will hate us, but one need only look around at newspapers for national and world events to see that followers of Christ are persecuted in varying degrees depending on where they are in the world. (I do not mean people who claim Christ and live like the world… the devil and the world love these folks.)
  • We need the Father’s help to protect us from Satan. Yes, he is a real adversary.
  • Sanctify means to be set apart as holy. Yeshua asks YHWH to make us holy through truth, or the word. Again, we can reasonably conclude He intends for us to live according to the word rather than the same way the world lives.
  • Here, Yeshua specifically calls out that He is praying not just for this specific group of men, but for all who believe in Him.
  • His desire is for us as His followers to be united. We can see this is not the case throughout the world. This can seem difficult at times because we are not called to accept false teaching, but we are called to unity. Many disagree on the true application of scripture creating division. We should allow room for debate where scripture permits, but some teachings are heretical and dangerous and need to be rejected. (e.g. The teaching that everyone who claims Yeshua in name pleases the Lord and goes to heaven even if they are without repentance and do not change their lives to match His instruction.)

I encourage you to pray and reflect on these verses as well as incorporate them into your own prayer life. Ask the Father to enlighten you on their full meaning and application for your life. Pray this prayer for your children or loved ones as well as other brothers and sisters in Christ.

Shalom

Devotion by John in service to Christ

—-

Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Blessed, Interceding for Others, Learning To Pray Effectively, Loving / Kind

May His Face Radiate with Joy Because of You

What a beautiful blessing we find in Numbers 6, intended for the audience of Aaron and his sons. I pray this now for myself, those close to me, and also for pastors and leaders who follow Christ with a genuine heart. I pray it for those reading through the scriptures with me daily… and I sure appreciate if / when you pray for me as well.

Numbers 6:22-27

      22Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 23“Speak to Aaron and to his sons, saying, ‘Thus you shall bless the sons of Israel. You shall say to them:

      24The LORD bless you, and keep you;

      25The LORD make His face shine on you,
And be gracious to you;

      26The LORD lift up His countenance on you,
And give you peace.’

27“So they shall invoke My name on the sons of Israel, and I then will bless them.”

Another translation captures verse 24-26 slightly differently… “may the Lord’s face radiate with joy because of you”. I certainly want to have that relationship with Him and please Him in that way. I want other brothers and sisters in Christ to do so as well.

Numbers 6:24-26 Living Bible (TLB)

24-26 ‘May the Lord bless and protect you; may the Lord’s face radiate with joy because of you; may he be gracious to you, show you his favor, and give you his peace.’

Take some time this morning and pray for yourself, your family, brothers and sisters in Christ, and for whomever else you feel led to pray for today.

May the grace and peace of our Lord, Jesus Christ, be with you.

—-

Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? Are you living today filled with the peace and joy of truly knowing and following Jesus Christ? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Blessed, Curse, Disobeying, Rebelling Against, Ignoring God, Grace / Forgiveness, Interceding for Others, Obeying God, Repenting from Sin, Seeking God

Pray for the USA to Turn Back to God and Become Again a Light to the Nations

The United States of America was founded based on Christian ideals and beliefs and a population by and large that accepted Christ as God. Unfortunately, over the past few hundred years we, as a nation, have largely turned their back on God and now embrace worship of self, worship of money, and many other sins. The word of God is tossed aside in favor of the wicked desires of men. God’s word shows us that when the people turn away from God, He removes His blessing. That does not mean He gives up on His people there, but rather that the country will suffer. There are consequences. The USA has great potential to serve God across the world if even those who already profess Yeshua with their lips would genuinely turn toward Him and change their behaviors and change what they accept from government policy. If the people demanded it from their politicians and leaders, our nation could once again be a light to the nation and the world. It starts with the people, not the politicians. It starts with you and me.

2 Chronicles 7:12-22

     12Then the LORD appeared to Solomon at night and said to him, “I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. 13“If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among My people, 14and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 15“Now My eyes will be open and My ears attentive to the prayer offered in this place. 16“For now I have chosen and consecrated this house that My name may be there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually. 17“As for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, even to do according to all that I have commanded you, and will keep My statutes and My ordinances, 18then I will establish your royal throne as I covenanted with your father David, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man to be ruler in Israel.’

      19“But if you turn away and forsake My statutes and My commandments which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, 20then I will uproot you from My land which I have given you, and this house which I have consecrated for My name I will cast out of My sight and I will make it a proverb and a byword among all peoples. 21“As for this house, which was exalted, everyone who passes by it will be astonished and say, ‘Why has the LORD done thus to this land and to this house?’ 22“And they will say, ‘Because they forsook the LORD, the God of their fathers who brought them from the land of Egypt, and they adopted other gods and worshiped them and served them; therefore He has brought all this adversity on them.’”

Please take some time to pray for repentance and mercy for the USA as leader of the free world but also for other nations globally in which there still remains a remnant of true disciples seeking to follow the Lord’s will.

Psalm 85

Prayer for God’s Mercy upon the Nation.

For the choir director. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.

     1O LORD, You showed favor to Your land;
You restored the captivity of Jacob.

      2You forgave the iniquity of Your people;
You covered all their sin.

Selah.

      3You withdrew all Your fury;
You turned away from Your burning anger.

      4Restore us, O God of our salvation,
And cause Your indignation toward us to cease.

      5Will You be angry with us forever?
Will You prolong Your anger to all generations?

      6Will You not Yourself revive us again,
That Your people may rejoice in You?

      7Show us Your lovingkindness, O LORD,
And grant us Your salvation.

      8I will hear what God the LORD will say;
For He will speak peace to His people, to His godly ones;
But let them not turn back to folly.

      9Surely His salvation is near to those who fear Him,
That glory may dwell in our land.

      10Lovingkindness and truth have met together;
Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.

      11Truth springs from the earth,
And righteousness looks down from heaven.

      12Indeed, the LORD will give what is good,
And our land will yield its produce.

      13Righteousness will go before Him
And will make His footsteps into a way.

Grace and peace of Yeshua be with you.
For more Biblical examples of prayer, and for personal prayer requests, please visit our Prayer Requests page.
Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.