Continuing the Battle for Christ - Week 8

How should we respond to persecution?

          “On the contrary: ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.  In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:20, 21 NIV84).

          Sometimes our response to someone who hurts us is to “heap burning coals on his head,” but we ignore the rest of these verses.  We view the burning coals as a way of getting revenge, but God sees it as a way to show the individual a better path.  A person who does evil to another can’t help but be confused when the injured party responds with good.  That moment of “confusion” may lead to a conversation about the love of Christ.  Use what Satan meant for evil to pour out the love of Christ!      

How should we pray for the lost?

          “He told them, ‘The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.  Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field’” (Luke 10:2 NIV84).

          There are over 7,000 unreached people groups in the world. Each unreached group represents hundreds or even thousands of people who have never heard the name of Jesus, so the harvest is plentiful.  Christ has given us the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19, 20) to take the Gospel to the whole world, a task that could easily be completed in our lifetime if we had all the workers that are needed.  Pray that God will raise up more Missionaries, Ministers, Teachers, and neighbors who will share the Good News.

Leadership Prayer Focus This Week: State Representatives

“Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established.  The authorities that exist have been established by God” (Romans 13:1 NIV84).

Our State Representatives govern the House side of the State Legislature, and as such, they enact laws that affect individual lives throughout the State.

Pray that:      They will turn away from political expediency and instead determine what is best for all their constituents.

                    That they will be fiscally responsible.

                    That they will serve with honesty and integrity.

 

For all our leaders, pray that if they do not already know Christ, they will accept Him as Lord.  For those who do know Christ, pray that they will stand firm on His Truth and His Word, never compromising it or minimizing it.

 

“Pray continuously” (I Thessalonians 5:17 NIV84)

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hi, I'm the Sun Porch Lady

  Hi, I’m the Sun Porch Lady. I recently retired and while most of the world thinks that is a wonderful thing, I've found it to be anything but wonderful. I've been going to school and/or working since I was six years old so finding myself with nothing, but free time is a whole new experience.   I have no structure, no daily schedule, and seemingly no purpose in my life.   While that may sound like heaven, I believe that Christians never retire.   God just repurposes them. As I struggled to find new purpose and bring some structure back to my life, I turned to writing.   Over the years, I have often written devotional thoughts or put various ideas to paper.   I can’t say that I’ve ever been very good at journaling but from time to time, I have written about events in my life that taught me values or made me more aware of God working in my life.   So, to keep busy and hopefully spark an interest in others I've decided to create this blog. I’m callin...
Read more

My Dad

                 Yesterday would have been my father’s 98 th birthday.   He’s been gone for 13 years, and I still miss him.   He wasn’t perfect, but he loved his family.   His letters home while he was in the service reflect his love for my Mom—Mandy, as he called her.   They were married for almost 65 years, and his love for her was never more evident than when she became sick in 2007.               As Mom underwent several surgeries due to an infection that ravaged her body, he was always by her side.   He became her primary caregiver as well as the cook, house cleaner, and laundry person, but you never heard him complain.   When she went to the hospital with another round of pneumonia, he was right there, remaining by her bedside until just a few hours before he died.             His lov...
Read more

Jesus Prays to His Father

                 A few weeks ago, I wrote about the need to “abide” in Christ.   I think every Christian desires to develop that deep, intimate relationship with our Savior.   That is the definition of “abide.”   The question is always, “How do we do that?”             This week my Bible study group looked closely at John 17, which I believe allows us to examine the deep, intimate relationship between the Father and the Son.   As Jesus prays, not a prayer of teaching as is found in Matthew 6, but a prayer of love and devotion to His Father and the “Mission”, we get a glimpse of what it means to “abide” in God or Christ.             He begins the prayer with humility, seeking glory for Himself only so that the Father might be glorified.   His mission of bringing salvation to the world was done.   ...
Read more