Your 100 Day Prayer: Day 36 – Worth the Wait
I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. -Psalm 40:1-2 I like the imagery in these verses. I can just imagine sloshing all around in the mud and mire of daily living, praying for help to stand up before I drown, and then, when God is ready,
Your 100 Day Prayer: Day 35 – Always Reliable
by TJ Bates via Theology Mix I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsake or their children begging bread. -Psalm 37:25 I can relate to what King David says, for I was young and now I am old and I, too, have never seen God forsake those who trusted him. "Farther along in the psalm, David reiterates that 'the salvation [rescue] of the righteous comes from the Lord; he is their stronghold in time of trouble'
Your 100 Day Prayer: Day 34 – All of Creation
The creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. -Romans 8:21 Isaiah talked about the new heaven and new earth. Paul describes it as the liberation—the freeing from bondage—of all creation. "Think about it this way: God has fixed a day on his calendar when he will speak the word of creation once again and recall into existence every person who loves his kingdom, and everything he ever created,
Your 100 Day Prayer: Day 33 – The Hiding Place
by TJ Bates You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance. -Psalm 32:7 I have been quoting only a portion of Pastor John's comments each day. Today, I am going to quote everything he says about this particular passage. I feel it is too important to leave out any portion of it: It was Corrie ten Boom who titled her amazing biography after this phrase in Psalm 32. In The Hiding Place, she
The Promised Messiah
The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples. -Genesis 49:10 Jacob’s astounding prophecy regarding his son Judah in the above verses, long before Jesus’ birth, has been regarded as a prediction that the Messiah will descend from the tribe of Judah. At the time, there was no tribe of Judah. There was only Judah, his son. So how did Jacob know that,
Your 100 Day Prayer: Day 32 – Not Guilty!
by TJ Bates via Theology Mix Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. -Romans 8:1 Do your believe this? Do you feel truly forgiven, or do you, like many of us, let those old guilt feelings creep back in which make us feel once again condemn for past sins? Pastor John tells us how to keep that from happening and to remember God's promise of forgiveness: "This truth of God's forgiveness is something we need to bring to the forefront
Your 100 Day Prayer: Day 31 – Love
A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. -John 13:34 I just love LOVE! Don't you? Don't you LOVE that dress or LOVE that movie or LOVE what I'm saying? In the present day, "love" is a word that is overused and often has no meaning. However, Jesus is not using the word love carelessly as we do. He wants us to truly love one another—to be a conduit of
Your 100 Day Prayer: Day 30 – As Far As the East Is from the West
Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, "I will confess my transgressions to the Lord"—and you forgave the guilt of my sin. -Psalm 32:5 It's not easy to acknowledge our sins and discuss our faults and weaknesses with God. So why must we do it? "Why is it so necessary to our spiritual health?" His answer is simple: "It's because without confession there is no forgiveness—and God's grace and forgiveness are the foundation of
Your 100 Day Prayer: Day 29 – Freedom
by TJ Bates The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor. -Luke 4:18-19 I was brought up in a church that stressed all the sinful things we shouldn't do. In fact, during my high school years when someone would suggest doing something,
Your 100 Day Prayer: Day 28 – In the Morning
"Weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning… You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy." -Psalm 30:5, 11 Remember your mother telling you, after a bad day, that "everything will be better in the morning"? David is saying the same thing in this Psalm: “Through King David's words, we are assured that suffering (whether it comes as a result of our own fault or someone else's) is purely temporary. It's not permanent;
