Jesus prays for my success

FOCUS

Luke 22:31-34
31 And the Lord said,[c] “Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.”
33 But he said to Him, “Lord, I am ready to go with You, both to prison and to death.”34 Then He said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster shall not crow this day before you will deny three times that you know Me.”

THINK

Jesus prays for us. He prays specifically that our faith does not fail us. He knows we will be tempted and will be lead astray. Yet Jesus tells us that He has a plan for us. He instructs us to strengthen the brethren or the followers of Christ. Jesus knows what we will face. He prays for us to return to the faith and to do what we are purposed to do.

ACT

I need to have faith that Jesus will be with me every step of the way. I need to depend upon the Holy Spirit to guide me. Yet it us up to me to make the choices that affect my life. Jesus is pulling for me to be righteous, holy, faithful, good, self controled, have perseverance, godly, show kindness and love. Jesus wants me to do what I am put on earth to do.

PRAY

Lord, thank you for Jesus praying for me. Thank you that you want me to succeed. Thank you for the Holy Spirit guiding me. Thank you that you created me for a purpose and want me to accomplish that purpose. Lord, I pray that you direct me to that purpose. Give me the words to say and the actions to do. Protect me. I ask for your wisdom, discernment, knowledge, love, and power. Help my unbelief.

Confess Jesus to Man

Tim Tebow kneeling before a crowd of people.

FOCUS

Luke 12:8-9
I say to you, whoever confesses Me before men, him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God. 9 But he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God.

THINK

The person who professes to be a Christian and lives his life according to the commandments of God will be acknowledged before the angels of God. Imagine approaching the throne of God and He begins to tell the angels all about you. In the scripture you see the word confess which also means acknowledge. Acknowledge means to admit to be real or true and to show or express recognition or realization of. Just think God is going to admit what is real or true in your life and express that realization to His angels. How magnificent is that! Your praises will be sung to the angels.
On the other hand the person who denies knowing God before men will not be acknowledged before God's angels. It will be like God never knew you. Is that what you want to be denied before God. Not even to be acknowledged or recognized. How sad! The angels will never know you. That can all be taken care if you choose to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, develop a relationship with Him and acknowledge to people what God has done for you. Your reward will be in heaven. You can have a little bit of heaven here on earth. God can be your father.

ACT

I must tell others about God and what he has done for me. I must open up and reveal that I make mistakes, have problems, and need to rely on God more. I am weak, but God is strong. Are you?

PRAY

Lord, help me to be genuine, loving, kind and considerate. Help me to make the right choices and let your light shine through you. Use me. My heart is willing, but I cannot do anything without you. You are my all in all. Thank you for the opportunity to speak to others about YOU. Give me the words to speak and the actions to do. Amen.

Ask, Seek, Knock

FOCUS

Luke 11:9-10
9 “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

THINK

Keep on keeping on seems to be a phrase that can be associated with these verses. This is not just a one time experience. We need to continue to ask, seek, and knock. We need to keep growing. If we don't grow we become stagnant. God will answer. He said he would give to you what you ask. He said he would help you find if you only seek. He said he would open the door if only you knock. In order to receive, we must put our faith into action and do something such as ask, seek, and knock. Then we have to let God do His part. Let Him answer. The answer may not be what we are looking for, but it is an answer nevertheless.

ACT

Continually, ask, seek, and knock. That is what I can do. It is up to God to do the rest. Let God be God and do what God does best. He is all knowing, just, unchageable, holy, merciful, lonsuffering, impartial, and perfect.

PRAY

Lord, I ask, seek, and knock to know you better. Thank you that I can leave the rest to YOU. I need to abide in YOU and not of my own devises, for You are a God who answers prayer. Thank you. Amen.

OTHER NOTES

" Don't put people down, unless it's on your prayer list "

Renew the Soul

FOCUS

Luke 5: 15-16
15 However, the report went around concerning Him all the more; and great multitudes came together to hear, and to be healed by Him of their infirmities. 16 So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.

THINK

In the prior verses, Jesus has healed a man of leprocy. Because of that healing, more people came to Jesus to listen to him preach and to be healed. He preached and he healed. More people came to him. Jesus was exhausted and needed to renew himself so he left the crowds and withdrew to the wilderness and prayed.

ACT

When life gets too demanding, we need to renew ourselves. We need to retreat away from the cares and concerns of the day. This gives us an opportunity to reflect, pray, ask for answers, and feast on the presence of God. Our soul needs to be renewed so that we can glorify God in a manner pleasing to Him.

PRAY

Lord, thank you for that reminder that we all need to get away from the cares of life, reflect, pray, commune with You and let Your presence wash over us to strengthen and renew us. Amen.

Quotes

" Many people call themselves Christian, but without 'Christ' they are merely known as 'Ian'. "

Faith in Action

SCRIPTURE:  Mark 2:1-5
1And again He (Jesus) entered Capernaum after some days, and it was heard that He was in the house. 2 Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer room to receive them, not even near the door. And He preached the word to them. 3 Then they came to Him, bringing a paralytic who was carried by four men. 4 And when they could not come near Him because of the crowd, they uncovered the roof where He was. So when they had broken through, they let down the bed on which the paralytic was lying.  5 When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven you.”

THINK

In this passage from Mark we read that Jesus in preaching in a house in Capernaum. He is being pursued by the crowd who want to hear him preach. There are so many people in the house that there is not even room in the house to stand. Jesus preaches and the crowd hangs onto his every word. No one leaves the house.

Then we see that four men bring their paralytic friend to Jesus to be healed. They can't get into the house because of the crowd. They have carried their friend to the house where Jesus is preaching hoping and praying that Jesus can heal their paralysed friend. But they can't get near Jesus. They can't turn back, their hope was in the Jesus healing their friend. Imagine the diappointment if they couldn't succeed in their venture. The paralytic probably felt that he was doomed to never walk. The four men probably thought they had gotten their paralysed friend's hopes up only to have them dashed. How could they turn back now!

They looked around and became resourceful. One of the men may have spotted the outside stairs leading to the roof. Another man may have directed the others to take the roof apart. Another may have found something to use as a lever to pry apart the roof. Another man may have comforted the paralytic. It took a team working together to lower the paralyzed man through the roof to get close to Jesus.

When Jesus observed the scene taking place, He knew the paralytic was there through extraordinary means of his friends. They had faith that their friend would be made whole if they could get their friend close enough to Jesus to be healed. Because of that faith, Jesus told the paralytic that his sins were forgiven. Later on in the passage we learn that Jesus tells the paralytic to "Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.”

ACT

We find in this passage that faith was seen in action when the four friends brought the paralytic to Jesus. When they could not get in to see Jesus, they didn't stop there. They went forward with their action. The climbed the steps, took apart the roof and lowered the man into the crowd around Jesus. When Jesus saw their faith in action, he turned his attention to the need of the paralytic. The need Jesus saw was the need for forgiveness then the need for healing of the body. This could not have taken place without the action of the four friends. Their faith was the catalyst for miracle to happen.

PRAY

Lord, help me to be that friend who helps those who need a touch from the Master's hand. Show me how I can put my faith into action. Let me be the hands and feet of those in need. Thank you for forgiveness and for healing the broken body. Amen.

OTHER NOTES

It takes action to put your faith in motion.

Will you be a fisher of men?

17 Then Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men.”
18 They immediately left their nets and followed Him.                  Mark 1:17-18

THINK

Jesus calls you into service for God wherever you happen to be. He called Simon and Andrew, his brother, to follow him and he would make them fishers of men. Remember when Jesus saw Simon and Andrew they were casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. Now he is going to use that occupation as a metaphor for what they are going to do in the future. They will no longer catch fish, they will catch men. The fish would have been used for physical food. The men would be used to offer others spiritual food. This was a way to spread the gospel. When one man testifies to the goodness of God and the life changing events in his life, then another catches the fire to also have a relationship with God. Essentially that man becomes an instruement of spiritual food to nourish the souls of others.

ACT

Are you being asked to change direction in your life? Instead of casting into the sea for fish, you are being asked to cast your nets for people to hear the gospel. Are you willing to immediately put your nets down and follow Jesus? Can you let the Holy Spirit guide you in the changes that will take place. It took faith on the part of Simon and Andrew to put those nets down. That was their livelihood for them as well as their families. They had much to loose in the physical world but much to gain in the spiritual world. The answer seems to stem back to faith. Simon and Andrew had to have faith that this move in their occupation would be benefical to them and to their families.

PRAY

Lord, I don't know what plans you have in store for me. I know that I must have faith before anything spiritually can happen. I must put aside my fears and anxieties and do as Simon and Andrew did. Lay down my nets and follow the Savior. Help me to hear YOUR voice, O Lord, so that I may develop my faith in YOU and lay down my nets to follow YOU. Amen.

OTHER NOTES

It is easy to say this doesn't happen in this time and era, but we must have our ears open to God and listen to His voice. We must obey and then we will be put on the path that God had in mind for us all along. Don't you want to follow God's plan? Think of all the adventures you may be missing if you don't exercise your faith.