This is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it. I’m pushing forward on the strength given by the Holy Ghost today because “Glenn” just wants to get back in bed and go to sleep. I’m tired from fighting other peoples spiritual battles for over a week. I’m tired from prayer requests from others but when I step back and think about the times when it was me that was relying on the prayers of others to get back on track, I put my focus on Jesus and not on my feelings and get back in the race. Glory to God!
Today’s Prayer
Father. Today I want to pray for those people who minister to Your children: pastors, teachers, assistants, counselors, child care providers, parents any who look after, cares for, and provide spiritual nourishment and protection to Your People. I pray that You will anoint them with wisdom and knowledge, with a special touch for ministering to Your children. I pray that You will love Your children through them, that lives will be influenced for good and that souls will be brought into Your kingdom through Your disciples ministry. I thank You for people who have tender hearts and loving concern for the future of Your children. I pray for safety for them and for their Families. Thank You in the name of Jesus, Amen.
Remaining Vertical With God
When they hurled their insults at Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats. Instead, He entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly. – 1 Peter 2:23
I going to go out on a limb and make the following statement, there is not one person reading this message that has not been wrongly accused of something in there life time. The first thing that pops into our heads is to get even with the person that made the accusation because what will people think if they believe these things are true? Imagine what Jesus thought as they hurled insults and threats upon Him. The God of the universe had visited planet earth only to be slandered and accused of blasphemy.
Jesus could have done two things in response. He could have used His power to put the people in their place. He could have responded “horizontally” like most of us do in those kinds of situations. He could have fixed the problem right then. However, He chose to respond in a different way. He chose to “entrust Himself to Him who judges justly.” It requires great faith to entrust ourselves to God in the midst of personal assault. However, if we can do this, we will discover a level of grace and wisdom that will be birthed from this experience that we never thought possible. We will discover a freedom in God we never knew before. Whenever we suffer for righteousness without seeking to protect our reputation and rights, we are placing our total faith in the one who can redeem us. This activates God’s grace in our lives and enables us to experience God’s presence like never before.
Though my situation this morning was not as drastic as the situations I spoke about in the body of this message, I could have chosen to just go back to bed and not cultivate my relationship with God but I didn’t. Ask God to give you the grace to stay vertical with Him. Avoid the temptation of responding horizontally each time some event comes into your life that you want to “fix.” Entrust yourself to the one who judges justly. It may be a divine appointment for your growth to another level in grace.
Quote of the Day
Every logical position will eventually lead you into trouble, and heresy, and chaos. Every logical position is consistent, but it is logic which is in the human mind, not God’s logic. The human mind is finite and cannot grasp eternity, and therefore the finite mind sees the infinite as not graspable coherently. If we could grasp it all coherently, without contradiction, we would be God. The person who insists on being logical to the end winds up in a mess. I am not saying that we should not be rational. I am not anti-intellectual. I am saying that the intellect by itself is helpless to arrive at total truth.
Kenneth L. Pike
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REV. ELDER G E STERRETT
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James H. Taylor Sr. – Kankakee City News has published my Daily meal message for a decade.