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Pray

Pray for the Peace …

by TerryLema

The worst violence between Israelis and Hamas militants in seven years is escalating.  The skies are ablaze with rockets. Buildings are crumbling. There is unrest at the borders. People are dying.

As a nation that was founded on Christian principles, the United States has been a longstanding ally to Israel.  The USA has appreciated the word spoken by God to Abraham.

“I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” [Genesis 12:2-4 NKJV]

There are new concerns, however, in that progressives in our government now view our relationship with Israel apart from a Christian foundation. They are seeking to influence the power of the USA in a totally different direction.

I fear for our nation if we turn our backs to Israel. I fear we will move from the blessing part to the cursing part of God’s covenant with Abraham.

But whatever our nation decides to do, as Christians we are to accept and carry out the command of Psalm 122:6: “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.”

This we must do. 

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Rods, Beatings, Stocks … and Songs in the Night

by TerryLema

Have you ever considered what it took for Paul and Silas to sing?

In Acts 16, Paul and Silas on a missionary journey ended up in Philippi, a Roman colony. Through a series of events, including the conversion of Lydia and the exorcism of a fortune-telling slave girl, they were seized and dragged violently before the authorities and accused of bringing a disturbance to the city. That was not something city officials wanted to have happen as a Roman colony.

“Then the mob joined in the attack against them, and the chief magistrates stripped off their clothes and ordered them to be beaten with rods.  After they had inflicted many blows on them, they threw them in jail, ordering the jailer to keep them securely guarded.  Receiving such an order, he put them into the inner prison and secured their feet in the stocks.” [vs 22-24 HCSB]

Paul and Silas were stripped, beaten, thrown in the darkest part of a prison, and then immobilized in stocks. Their backs were probably raw. They would have been covered in bruises and welts. Perhaps bones were even broken. The prison was dark, and damp and cold. So, what did they do? They sang.

“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.” [vs25 HCSB]

They sang hymns to God (probably from the Psalms) and they prayed. The other prisoners around them would have been stunned by that reaction. Even when God miraculously broke their bonds and opened the doors of the jail, they stuck around and continued to sing and pray.

What did it take for Paul and Silas to sing? Not sure I can put it in words, but I pray God grants me what they had to sing songs in the night. Amen.

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Pray & Seek …

by TerryLema

“If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” [2 Chronicles 7:14 NKJV]

Pray and seek His Face. I lost it last Sunday at church. We were singing Chris Tomlin’s “Jesus Loves Me.” (link below). My heart just felt like it was breaking, and the tears began to run. I remembered that for so long I believed the greatest of all lies, that God could not love me because of my sin, my guilt, my shame. I was raised in a church that reinforced those lies constantly – after all it was “because of me” that Jesus was tortured and crucified on that cross.

My family life was rough. My mother loved my brother best, which in her mental condition probably did more harm to him than me. I rebelled, acted out, ran away, came back, forced to confess all my sins. I skipped school, cut classes, ran around with the wrong crowd, started smoking. All the while, reminded by the marred face of Jesus on that cross that He was there “because of me.”

I was saved at 26, but it took a while for me to see the face of Jesus in a different light. It changed when someone changed one word. That one word, “because” was changed to “for.” Jesus died “for me.”  That one word changed guilt and shame to a love that often takes my breath away.

I do understand that it was “because” of my sin that Jesus died, but, the greater truth now is that Jesus died “for” me. He did it for love.  When I seek His face now, I see love shining toward me. My heart sometimes feels like it will explode from His love as it reaches me.

To pray and seek His face – even in repentance, is to remember that “Jesus Loves Me, He is For Me.”

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=jesus+he+loves+me+tomlin+video&&view=detail&mid=3B952958020BDD9DF9493B952958020BDD9DF949&&FORM=VRDGAR&ru=%2Fvideos%2Fsearch%3Fq%3Djesus%2Bhe%2Bloves%2Bme%2Btomlin%2Bvideo%26FORM%3DHDRSC3
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