Complete Respect - Tuesday Praise & Pray (for others) May 21, 2024

Since the beginning of time, humans have tried to move beyond their limitations. Adam and Eve tried this, believing the lie that they could have wisdom outside of God and all of humanity lost their access to the Garden of Eden.

People continue down this trajectory seeking the scientific answers that will allow people to become more than just human. What they ignore is that God wants us to be more like Him and has called us to enjoy what He has (2 Peter 1:4). The issue is that He wants us to achieve this through Him and what He has to offer. If we let Him influence our thinking, for instance, we will surely find success. After all, His thoughts and His ways are much higher and therefore better than ours (Isaiah 55:8-9).

More than anyone, God wants us to do things that seem improbable to others. Those who believe in Christ can heal the sick, drink poison, and not die, and drive out demons (Mark 16: 17-18). God knows that in Him and with Him, all things are possible, and as scripture states in Daniel 11:32, "those who know their God will be strong and do great exploits."

Now, consider what we are to take away from 1 Peter 2:18 - You servants must submit yourselves to your masters and show them complete respect, not only to those who are kind and considerate, but also to those who are harsh (GNT).

The scripture teaches Christians to treat those who are kind as well as those who are unkind with complete respect. It seems like an unattainable task but as He has called us to do it, we must trust Him to make us capable. We therefore cannot claim a right to disrespect those who disrespect us. Nor can we opt to be petty to those whom we determine - with our human logic - deserve a dose.

This verse doesn't just speak to how we deal with our fellow humans, but it also highlights how we are to treat God the Father. It is easy to get frustrated with Him when things are not going well. In those situations, we could quickly forget our Jericho Moments and all the good He's done for us in the past, only seeing the storm raging around our boat.

However, 1 Peter 2:18 instructs us to not disregard or disrespect God even when things aren't as we would like. We cannot thus say, "Well, God isn't helping me" or "God isn't doing what I want/need" and so, "I'm done with God!" If we are genuine Christians, people who truly believe in Christ and God the Father, then we have to continue honoring and serving Him even when things are tough.

It is during those rough seasons we need to remember Job who didn't curse God at His lowest moment. We have to focus on David who honored God even while being chased by a murderous king, leaving it to God to avenge him against his enemies. We have to look to Hannah who was mocked as barren while she waited for God to make her the mother of many children. In the fear of the Lord, she never retaliated. We have to hold on, knowing that God has promised to work everything out for our good and that includes the embarrassing and painful events of our lives (Romans 8:28).

We cannot turn away from Him and become those spoken of in 1 John 2:19 - They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us. Christ died so each of us could accept and acknowledge His sacrifice and become bona-fide children of God forever. Children who give Him complete respect at all times and not just when things are going well for us.

This is not to say we will not struggle in our wilderness seasons. Anyone who has been through a period of suffering knows how difficult it can be. Nevertheless, the Lord will help us to go past our mere human capacity by reassuring us and strengthening our faith in those seasons. All while affording Him the respect He deserves even as we lay our fears and worries at His feet. May we never squander the great privilege we have received. May we keep our eyes on God in the good and the bad times, knowing He will never forget us and will never forsake us. May we always give Him the complete respect He deserves, IJMN Amen.

Come back at Noon EST to join the rest of us for today's fellowship. God bless you as you do.

God is not ashamed to be called their God - Friday Praise & Pray (for others) May 17, 2024

Back in the day, children understood that their choices could impact the reputation of their family. They lived in close-knit communities where, if a child got into trouble outside, their parents would already know before they got home. All because everyone was talking about what they'd done. This reality discouraged many from misbehaving too much. They knew that they had a responsibility to not shame their family members or the family name. No matter what.

We don't tend to focus on this concept of bringing shame to others nowadays. This is partly because shame no longer carries the same weight it once did in our society. There are no limits to what people will do anymore and everyone is blatant about the wrongs they carry out. There is no concern that their behavior will potentially put others to shame. Instead, individuals are more self-centered than ever, focused on doing whatever they feel as long as it pleases them, regardless of the consequences to others.

Alas, things are no different for modern Christians. Even in the Body of Christ, people have forgotten that their behavior reflects upon their brothers and sisters in the faith. Many of us don't feel any form of responsibility to the rest of God's family. We are ignorant of the fact that the Bible speaks about us not putting others to shame. Specifically, the concept arises in scripture when it speaks of those whom God was not ashamed to be associated with, because of their good choices. Hebrews 11:16 - Instead, they were longing for a better country - a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.

What sort of people were these and how do we become like them?

These were individuals who put their faith to work and remained heaven-focused. These men and women moved forward with God and did not allow their desires and the things of the world to dictate their decisions. They were not perfect and made mistakes, but they repented and allowed God to get them back on track. Abraham and Sarah serve as an example. They left their homeland for a future they knew little about all because God told them to. They erred in creating an Ishmael but in repentance, they allowed God to steer them toward His promise of an Isaac. And God was proud to call Abraham His friend and share knowledge of the future with Him and His wife.

If they could do it, so can we by the grace of God. After all, they also faced the challenges that we Christians experience today. There were pressures to take matters into their own hands instead of waiting on the Lord. Many had to hold onto their faith for years, waiting on promises that either took long to materialize for them or would only be fulfilled long after they were gone. It is these sorts of people - individuals and groups who doggedly held on to their faith and their hope in a heavenly home - that did not put our Lord to shame.

It is easy to listen to the lie that we can't achieve what these people did but we must not believe satan. Praise God that there is grace available at the Father's throne to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 4:16 tells us "Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." Therefore, God is willing to help us become the people He will be proud to say, "I am their God." And this is despite our struggles and sins, all because of Jesus whose sacrifice bought us grace.

Hebrews 2:11 - Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters.

This promise is for those who have received Jesus as their Savior and submitted to His authority. Christ died to ensure that those who believe in Him and obey His instructions are the very ones who will not bring shame to the Father and the family of believers. He, Himself, will help them and He will do it because they have become His brothers and sisters. His family members. This is why we are told in Romans 8:1 - Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Those who remain submitted to Christ, following His lead and thus, the lead of the Father, will not be condemned but shall be renewed and refreshed in their spirit. They will not look back toward the world but look forward toward their heavenly home. And the Lord Almighty shall not be ashamed to be called their God. Indeed, He will say, "These ones are Mine" (Isaiah 43:1).

We are those ones by the grace of God. The people He has reserved for Himself. Those He is not ashamed to be associated with. Hallelujah!

PS: Father, I thank You for bringing Your daughters together on Tuesday to honor You in fellowship. I was unable to participate like normal, but You oh Lord glorified Yourself. You will always preserve a remnant for Yourself and I am grateful! Thank You, God, IJMN, I pray, Amen.

PPS: I want to thank everyone for holding it down on Tuesday. May the Lord bless you all for showing up to worship and intercede with zeal.​

Live As Free People, But ... - Tuesday Praise & Pray (for others) May 14, 2024

When many people give their lives to Christ they often say they feel 'light' afterward. They describe their feeling as something heavy having left them. This is because of the freeing grace that comes from God once a person chooses to be on His team and no longer be the devil's pawn.

God wants every person He created to experience that liberty. That liberty comes from knowing that despite their flaws God loves them and Christ died for their sake. And as they lean into the ways and the word of the Lord, they learn that God will shepherd them even when they mess up because His grace allows for true repentance to bring forgiveness, which then washes sin away.

Some erroneously think that because grace and forgiveness are available, they are free to sin and behave as they like. Their attitude is that they can live as unbelievers and simply repent to get right with God at any time.

However, the word tells us in 1 Peter 2:16 - Live as free people, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil: live as God's slaves. This scripture teaches that as believers in Christ and His Father, we are free from satan and all the things it previously used to keep us bound. With the death of Christ on the cross, we also died to sin and were set free from death. And one of the reasons why God freely grants all believers the gift of the Holy Spirit is to keep them free. 2 Corinthians 3:17 - Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.

​And yet, the scripture also warns us not to allow that liberty to become a cover-up for evil. We can't think that because of grace and its resulting freedom, we can continue to live in sin. Paul confronted this issue in Romans 6:1-2 - What shall we say [to all this]? Should we continue in sin and practice sin as a habit so that [God’s gift of] grace may increase and overflow? Certainly not! How can we, the very ones who died to sin, continue to live in it any longer? (AMP).

Jesus died a painful death to rescue us from sin not to enable us to continue sinning just so we can tap into the grace He paid for with His blood. Instead, we should do as instructed in 1 Peter 2:16 and "live as God's slaves." That means we need to try to be righteous each day. We must aspire to obey God's word and live in accordance with it. We cannot therefore submit to sin and the sin habits that were common in our Before Christ (BC) days.

We have to submit every aspect of ourselves to the Lord as His slaves, knowing that He promises to bring us to an expected and good end. Thus, there will be no disadvantage to letting Him have His way instead of being led by the sinful desires of our flesh.

The Lord is ready and able to help each of us live as His slaves - those fully submitted to Him. We don't have to worry that such submission will result in the abuse and injustice that are trademarks of human slavery. Instead, we should view being God's 'slaves' as a relationship established for our good and to ensure that the devil cannot easily make a mockery of us. And by the grace of Almighty God, we shall serve Him and be richly blessed in the process for that is His promise for all who would submit to Him, IJMN Amen.

PS: Given another commitment the Lord permitted me to attend today, I may not be as responsive as I like to be during today's fellowship. Please forgive me but understand that I will be serving somewhere else at the same time as P&P. I trust the Lord to guide all of us as this is not the first time such has happened and He will enable me to satisfy all my responsibilities well, IJN, Amen.​