TGIF=Thank God I'm Forgiven! Yes rejoice, worship and lift many thanksgivings! We've been doing this awhile on Fridays. How has your gratitude list grown? What are you thankful about concerning your salvation and God's transforming, mind-renewing, love? Tell Him! Share it with some others. And keep building those gratitude lists. There will be times you will need to rely on them to shift your focus towards God and help you to carry on in faith! YES TGIF!
Good Morning Basking in God's Glory, Faithful Followers of THE Way! Amen! Meditate on this salutation. What's God saying to you? Is the Holy Spirit pinching or affirming? Pause, reflect and correct and keep at it, very loved, forgiven child of God! Out of gratitude and changed lives we want to be still and know, seek, learn and go in Christ for God's glory. What will you get to do , this weekend and the days ahead? Will you gladly choose to do that with a willing heart of worship? Ask for help and seek some teammates to travel this life with in the way of Jesus. He is with you always and working all things together for good. Meditate on Sarah Young' Jesus Calling devo for as a good starting point. Then engage with the other devos and spend some time releasing God's power as you pray through the connection blogs. (all below)
When God repeats something it's important and requires our attention and action ASAP. I thought I knew what the blog was to be about. BUT GOD! He caught my attention with both Our Daily Bread and The Upper Room devos based off of Lamentations 3:19-26. Read that. Meditate upon it. It is important and God speaking to you, me and us. Pray though it. Discuss it with your team. Then do what God reveals ASAP! That is worship and our obedience glorifies God. Plus it will be part of God's plan for us that helps us to grow in Him. Amen! How often do you struggle waiting for God and trusting His perfect timing? For me, it used to be a lot as I thought I knew what had to happen when. BUT GOD! He has been at work transforming me in response to my humbling myself, seeking Him and His plans and timing, and learning to trust and obey. He has such great love for us. His compassions never fail and are new daily. PTL. We are called to die to self, take up cross and follow Jesus and created for such a time as this and called to move with God to those perfect plans. Trust and obey . We get to choose trust, obedience and moving with God! PTL! Ask for help to do so! Then watch what God does and will do as we wait with hearts committed to move with Him! PTL! He loves us and has awesome plans ahead that will lead us to our future and hope and heavenly responsibilities! Yes rejoice and abide as you prepare to follow well. Die to self, take up cross daily and prepare to follow Jesus and keep praying for His kingdom to come and will be done and for insight to your part and His timing. I'm praying for you to know and follow His peace and provisions. Amen!
When a country erupted in civil war, authorities conscripted a man into military service. However, he objected: “I don’t want any part in destroying [my country].” So he left it. Because he didn’t have proper visas, however, he eventually found himself stuck in another country’s airport. For months, airport employees gave the man food and thousands followed his tweets as he roamed terminals, knitted scarves, and clung to hope. Hearing of his perpetual plight, a community in Canada raised money and found him a job and a house.
The book of Lamentations presents the cry of Jeremiah, who waited for God and the end of His discipline for the sins of his people. The prophet remained confident in an everlasting God who he knew could be trusted. “The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him” (3:25). God’s people can experience hope even when troubles overwhelm and relief seems impossible. Though they might need to humbly accept God’s discipline, they can cling to the reality that “there may yet be hope” (v. 29). Those who know God can experience a hope that flows from Him. “It is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord” (v. 26).
Without answers or any clear way of escape, we wait for the God who’s proven Himself faithful over and over again to help us.
By Winn Collier
REFLECT & PRAY
What situation comes to mind when you think about waiting on God? Why is this difficult, and how is God meeting you there?
Dear God, please help me patiently wait for You to act out Your will in my life.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
The prophet Jeremiah wrote with heavy sorrow regarding Jerusalem’s destruction by Babylon (586 BC) and the captivity of his people: “How deserted lies the city, once so full of people! . . . After affliction and harsh labor, Judah has gone into exile” (Lamentations 1:1, 3). His call to be a prophet to Judah began during the righteous reign of King Josiah (Jeremiah 1:1-3). Josiah’s reforms didn’t last, and the people quickly returned to their idolatry. Jeremiah prophesied the Israelites’ seventy-year captivity and their return from exile. Despite all he suffered personally and in his role as prophet, however, he expresses hope and trust in God and stands firm in his faith: “Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23). We also can share in this great hope as we patiently wait on God and trust Him to work in our lives.
Alyson Kieda
UR: God's Timing
The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord. - Lamentations 3:25-26 (NIV)
Our oldest grandson, Amadeo, was on his way home from a visit with friends in another state. Anticipating his brother’s return, Alex, our 14-year-old grandson, began sending group texts to the whole family with his newly acquired cell phone: “Are you here yet, Amadeo? How about now? Now? Now?” All of our phones began pinging.
While Alex was having fun with his new phone, the rest of us were rolling our eyes at the constant messages.
Sometimes my prayers are a lot like Alex’s texts, but the questions are more serious. I ask God, “When are you going to fix things and bring evil to justice and give us peace? How about now? Now? Now?”
In ’s scripture from Lamentations, the prophet Jeremiah shares what God had taught him after the destruction of Jerusalem. There had been no miraculous rescue for God’s people. Many soldiers had been killed, people had starved from famine, and thousands had been marched off as slaves. (See Jer. 52.) And yet, God showed Jeremiah that God’s faithful love had not ended and “God’s compassion isn’t through.”
When it comes to prayer, we may have certain expectations about how God should respond and when. But God’s goodness and salvation have no time limits. No matter what, we can trust that God’s timing is better than ours.
's Prayer
Father God, in all circumstances teach us to trust as we wait for you. Amen.
Connection Blogs
- His Will Be Done
See that no one repays another with evil for evil, but always seek after that which is good for one another and for all people. Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will concerning you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit; do no despise prophetic utterances. But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil. (1 Thessalonians 5:15-23, NASB)
The way the material is shaped, all of the above commands are modified by the phrase “for this is God’s will concerning you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). This gives us clear direction for praying “Your will be done.” It is always God’s will to pray for these kingdom initiatives to succeed in your life, in the lives of others, and in your local church. To pray for the kingdom to come and the will to be done then includes at least the following:
It is always God’s will to pray for a gracious nature that doesn’t return evil for evil.
It is always God’s will to seek after good for another and for everyone (especially when you have been slighted or done an injustice).
It is always God’s will to pray for and to practice joy.
It is always God’s will to deepen your prayer life.
It is always God’s will to give thanks.
It is always God’s will to test out when someone claims to speak for God (you do not have to immediately accept every word spoken, but you do need to listen and to test him by Word, Witness, Workers, Worship, and the Will of the believer).
It is always God’s will to cling to the things that Scripture makes clear are right and true.
It is always God’s will to avoid or turn away from evil (and in this text to reject false prophecy/spirituality).
Father, I confess that I often struggle to know what Your good, pleasing and perfect will is. Yet, if I simply obey Your Word, I know that so much of my life will fall into place as You intend for it to be. Help me not to conform to the pattern of this world, but instead to be transformed by the renewing of my mind so that Your will can become clearer to me each day. (See Romans 12:2)
--Adapted from Power Praying (Hearing Jesus’ Spirit by Praying Jesus’ Prayer) by David Chotka.
Prayer Points
Praise God that you are his temple (1 Cor. 3:16).
Thank God for the work he’s given you to build up Christ’s body, the church (Eph. 4:16).
Confess those times you do not honor God with your body, as he has purchased you with the price of his blood (1 Cor. 6:19-20).
Commit yourself to Jesus’ cleansing of your total being (Jn. 13:8-10).
Ask God to reveal to you daily the mystery of his glorious riches (Col. 1:26-27).
Pray that your family and friends will not dwell on outward beauty but on the unfading beauty of the inner self, a gentle and quiet spirit (1 Pet. 3:3-4).
Prayer Pointer
“Prayer enlarges the heart until it is capable of containing God’s gift of himself. Ask and seek, and your heart will grow big enough to receive him and keep him as your own.” —Mother Teresa
Prayer Points taken from Patterns for Prayer by Alvin VanderGriend. This book is available at prayerleader.com. Use the code CONPSP3 at checkout to receive an additional 10% discount.
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