-5-

Dear Heavenly Father – It’s unpleasant for us to think about the wickedness that prevails in our government. It’s tempting to walk away. It’s tempting to ask You to destroy it all!

But, we know that You want us to pray for the salvation of those hostile to You and Your ways. Holy Spirit, we ask that You provide us the fortitude and diligence to pray for our governing body.

Father God, we plainly need You. In every capacity. Your children long to see justice prevail. Our hearts cry out for the broken and lost. We witness horrors that shake us to the core. We seek You to end the depravity, the darkness, and the devilry.

How high must the evil deeds reach before it is brought down? Those who love You are hurting tremendously. We are disheartened and impatient, and we need You to provide us strength so that we may endure waiting for Your intervention.

Right now, Father, in the name of Jesus, we ask for radical changes of hearts in those in governmental positions. We ask for You to remove those who are children of the father of lies; and we ask that You place those with fear, reverence, and love for You in leadership positions.

We ask for lies and corruption to be exposed to Your refining Light. We ask for Your peace and prosperity to prevail.

For those leaders who humble themselves before You, we ask for You to grant them Your wisdom, discerning truth from untruth. Help them remember the worth of each individual they work for, keeping their hearts humble and thoughtful.

We pray for our governing bodies to be resilient against temptation to stray and cause harm.

We believe and expect You to move on behalf of those who love You and are calling out to You to intervene. We know that our Creator, the One Who breathed our galaxy into existence, is concerned with every aspect of our lives so You hear us, You see us, You know us, You love us. You are with us.

Thank You for the changes that are about to happen –the heavenly intervention to protect and help Your children. Thank You for establishing Your purposes within the hearts of leadership in our local, state, and federal governing bodies.

We pray to You in the precious name of Jesus.


James 1:5
Psalm 82:3

Hello December!

Hello December!
The 12th and final chapter. The final curtain call.

Here are some things to ponder this month.

As we begin the last month of the year, make this month a season of letting go of things you refuse to bring into the New Year.

Reflect on those things that brought success as well as failures. Both are excellent teachers.

Never forget the hard stuff you went through this year, it was meant to build you, not destroy you.

It’s never too late to start over…even in December.

Always look up, dream, keep hoping, never lose that child like wonder as you press into Jesus this month. And if you live where it snows, don’t forget to examine a single snowflake, it will make you smile as you take in God’s gift of winter.

Found this is my journal. I didn’t write it but I must of thought it was worthy to record it and come back to.

“Raw dependence on God is when you feel under qualified, overwhelmed, uncertain, and trust Him anyway. This is exactly where God wants you because this is where He performs His greatest miracles”

May this month bring you joy, and miracles as we close out this year, celebrating our Savior’s birth.

Blessings,
Paula

““For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”
Isaiah 55:10-11

Testimony Tuesday

If you belong to God and His Spirit resides in you, you are His ambassador. You are automatically enlisted into His army.

Having a relationship with Christ goes far beyond than just getting into heaven.

You are a walking billboard for Christ. As a born again believer we are possessed by the Holy Spirit, and with that we have the ability to encourage and influence others around us to make a difference just by our actions.

The following video is about making a difference in someone’s life.

When I was growing up, our family lived next door to a pastor and his family. It was the wife, Miss Judy that made a difference in my life.

I never heard the gospel until I met her. I was about nine years old then. She took me to Sunday school with her. I joined the Pioneer Girls (a Christian version of Girl Scouts).

I heard songs I’ve never heard before. One in particular that has stuck with me since. It’s an old hymn, but I remember so clearly the melody. The song is “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing” —have you heard of it? There was a sweetness in that song that continues to waft in my memory every now and then to this day. (I’ll post my favorite version of this song below.)

It was because of Judy, that I am a believer today. Although, I wasn’t saved until several years later. God watered those seeds that Miss Judy planted. Years later she passed away. One day I’ll see her again, and tell her how much she made a difference in my life.

Take a look at this video of a young man who discovered a family that made a difference in his own life.

https://youtu.be/b1bSlS6OWTs?

Lyrics to Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above;
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.

Here I raise my Ebenezer:
Here by Thy great help I’ve come;
And I hope, by Thy good pleasure,
Safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger,
Wand’ring from the fold of God;
He, to rescue me from danger,
Interposed His precious blood.

Oh, to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let that grace now, like a fetter,
Bind my yielded heart to Thee.
Let me know Thee in Thy fullness;
Guide me by Thy mighty hand,
Till, transformed, in Thine own image
In Thy presence I shall stand.

The second video kind of ties in with Davi’s video I posted yesterday.

We make plans in life, but how many times have those plans either failed or are delayed? Or, perhaps you just want things to go right for a change, but God has something else in mind.

I love this woman’s testimony because it is a great reminder that we will inevitably encounter detours when it comes to well thought out plans.
That is just the way it is sometimes.

There is purpose in the redirection.

Like Davi said in yesterday’s post…”Be so rooted in God’s plan that even disappointed feels like God’s protection.”

Whether it is for protection or simply an encounter where you will either bless someone’s day or you will be blessed. The delay will be worth it when God’s hands are upon it.

So, try not to be bothered, and embrace the delay or detour and see what God has in store for you. There is always a blessing waiting for us when we trust God’s direction.


““For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.”
Isaiah 55:9

In case you are all wondering what an Ebenezer is, (Mentioned in the lyrics of Come Thou Fount...) here is what I found out.

It is from 1 Samuel 7:12
'Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen, and called its name Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the Lord has helped us.”'

Called its name Ebenezer, saying “Thus far the LORD has helped us”: Samuel knew the nation needed to remember this amazing victory, which came to a humble and repentant Israel. The LORD won this battle, not Israel – so he named the stone Ebenezer, meaning “stone of help.”