4/4/2022
From a small room
For six years we prayed
Joining heart and soul
God has answered each
And has changed the world
People are alive even now
Some have been saved
The weary given strength
And hope has been received
The glory of God on display
Shining from a small room
Across the world lives touched
Some whom we never knew
Heaven invaded darkest earth
And evil forced to flee
As God's power flowed out
God's desire came to be
4/3/2022
Daddy's Lap
Today I come tired and sad
So much seems slipping away
Daddy can I sit in Your lap awhile
And maybe the pain will flee?
You reach and pull me up
I snuggle in Your lap
You gently touch my brow
And so much falls away
You smile with Your embrace
I long to see Your face
You heal with Your loving touch
My heart breaks and heals
I do not know when I came
But I do not want to leave
"My child return to the fray
I will hold you through today."
I slide into this broken world
Healed to serve once more
But when I weary once again
I will seek Your lap once more.
4/2/2022
Prayer is my breathing You in my Heart and then You breathing out.
Prayer is a friend enjoying time with a Friend.
Prayer is God finishing your sentence and beginning the next one.
Prayer is unloading my guilt, fear and sin onto He who already bore it.
Prayer is "bringing the pains of earth to heaven’s door."
Prayer is at its best when you run out of words.
Prayer is when You hug me and I can make You smile.
Prayer let's God peel the scales of self from my eyes to see others and their pain.
Prayer opens me to see the glory of God rather than the power of evil.
Prayer let's me touch people around the world with the power of God.
Prayer makes me homesick for heaven, a place I long to be.
Prayer is telling God before anyone else.
Prayer is releasing Gods' holy power into a fallen and broken world.
Prayer is the source of power, grace, love, faith and hope in Jesus Christ.
Prayer is humbly admitting I can't and that I need God.
Prayer is God's way of helping us to love our enemies. It is hard to hate someone you are really praying for.
Prayer is God's attempt to remind me everything He did was so He could walk with me again.
Prayer is despair seeking hope and joy expressed to He who is the source.
Prayer is revealing your heart to He who knows it best.
Prayer is how God makes you more like Him.
Prayer is how you touch the glory of God!
Prayer is sitting in your Daddy's lap!
Prayer in not something a Christian can do but something we must!
Prayer is more than what you do, it is who you are!
Prayer is freedom for the prisoners, healing for the sick, love for the lonely, and life for the dying.
Prayer is our introduction to God and who we really are.
Prayer is how we discover who God wants us to be.
Prayer is my attempt to reach God who already reached out to me.
Prayer is when the Trinity is experienced as I pray to the Father, by the Holy Spirit in the Name and authority of Jesus Christ!
Prayer unites me with those I pray with in an intimate way.
3/31/2022
Psalm of the Good Shepherd Part 13
“1 ¶ And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. 2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. 3 Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, I give each of you this warning: Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us. 4 Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, 5 so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other. 6 In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. 7 If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. 8 If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly. 9 Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good.” (Romans 12:1-9 NLT)
How do you respond to such love? You can sit back and just receive God’s love and blessing but there is a warning throughout the Bible that if we get complacent we can lose our appreciation of God’s love and maybe even God!
From the scripture above what can you do to respond to God’s love for you?
What do you think is God’s will for your life? If you don’t know how can you find out?
What are your gifts and how best can you use them?
Thank you so much for finishing this study. I pray God will use it to bless your life and help you understand the passion God has for you!
Putin’s war against Ukraine continues as one of the most armed nations is being stymied by one of the least armed nations. Other nations are supporting Ukraine with weapons and pressure on Russia. Some Russians are leaving the war and are even supporting Ukraine. People around the world are praying for the people of Ukraine and Russia and Putin. Even in the midst of this terrible war we see God’s hope and grace alive and growing!
3/30/2022
Psalm of the Good Shepherd Part 12
“1 ¶ “I tell you the truth, anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief and a robber! 2 But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. 5 They won’t follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don’t know his voice.” 6 Those who heard Jesus use this illustration didn’t understand what he meant, 7 so he explained it to them: “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All who came before me were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them. 9 Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures. 10 The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life. 11“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep. 12 A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He will abandon the sheep because they don’t belong to him and he isn’t their shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock. 13 The hired hand runs away because he’s working only for the money and doesn’t really care about the sheep. 14 “I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, 15 just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep, too, that are not in this sheepfold. I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock with one shepherd. 17 “The Father loves me because I sacrifice my life so I may take it back again. 18 No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded.”” (John 10:1-18 NLT)
List the characteristics of the Good Shepherd.
Compare the Good Shepherd to the hired man or thief.
What to you do verses 17 and 18 mean?
