Video Bible Lesson - A Prayer For When You Don’t Feel Like Praising God By Mary Southerland

1/2 Hour of God’s Power with Scott Ralls

6/15/2020

A Prayer for When You Don’t Feel Like Praising God

By Mary Southerland

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. - Philippians 4:7, NIV

Praise does not depend on an understanding of the circumstance or trial. Praise depends on an understanding of who God really is and wants to be in our life, and on our willingness to put our faith in Him.

As humans, we will never fully understand God – this side of heaven. God is holy and without blemish. God is all-powerful and omniscient. He is Creator of the universe and yet lives in you and me at our invitation. He is the only true, living God!

I learned that I couldn’t depend on my own strength or my fickle emotions. God often asked me to praise Him when there didn’t seem to be a whole lot to praise him for. I didn’t feel like praising Him. I began to understand that praise is not a feeling.

Praise is a choice, a step of obedience taken without the assurance of a changed circumstance or the elimination of a trial.

Praise focuses on God, not the circumstance, and fixes its gaze on God’s truth and God’s character instead of on the trial at hand.

Praise begins and ends with faith in the very nature, personality and integrity of God … and that never changes.

No matter what lies ahead, God is faithful. No matter how hot the fiery trial may be, God is with us and will deliver us in it or from it.

So praise God! Thank Him today for every victory tomorrow holds.

Let's Pray

Father, I praise You today for all that You have done in my life. You are faithful even when I am faithless. Your love pursues me even when I am unlovable. Your forgiveness covers my sin and frees me from its penalty. I praise You for your love and faithfulness to me. Your presence in my life changes everything, empowering me to live each moment of every day, content in knowing You are in control. As I face today, Lord, remind me that no matter what happens, I can praise You!

In Jesus' Name,

Amen.

#Jesus, #Christian, #Bible, #Salvation, #Heaven, #God, #HolySpirit

Streams in the Desert

Streams in the Desert

He named the second child Ephraim, saying, “Certainly God has made me fruitful in the land of my suffering. (Gen 41:52)

The summer showers are falling. The poet stands by the window watching them. They are beating and buffeting the earth with their fierce downpour. But the poet sees in his imaginings more than the showers which are falling before his eyes. He sees myriads of lovely flowers which shall be soon breaking forth from the watered earth, filling it with matchless beauty and fragrance. And so he sings:

“It isn’t raining rain for me, it’s raining daffodils; 
In every dimpling drop I see wild flowers upon the hills. 
A cloud of gray engulfs the day, and overwhelms the town; 
It isn’t raining rain for me: it’s raining roses down.”

Perchance some one of God’s chastened children is even now saying, "O God, it is raining hard for me tonight.

“Testings are raining upon me which seem beyond my power to endure. Disappointments are raining fast, to the utter defeat of all my chosen plans. Bereavements are raining into my life which are making my shrinking heart quiver in its intensity of suffering. The rain of affliction is surely beating down upon my soul these days.”

Withal, friend, you are mistaken. It isn’t raining rain for you. It’s raining blessing. For, if you will but believe your Father’s Word, under that beating rain are springing up spiritual flowers of such fragrance and beauty as never before grew in that stormless, unchastened life of yours.

You indeed see the rain. But do you see also the flowers? You are pained by the testings. But God sees the sweet flower of faith which is upspringing in your life under those very trials.

You shrink from the suffering. But God sees the tender compassion for other sufferers which is finding birth in your soul.

Your heart winces under the sore bereavement. But God sees the deepening and enriching which that sorrow has brought to you.

It isn’t raining afflictions for you. It is raining tenderness, love, compassion, patience, and a thousand other flowers and fruits of the blessed Spirit, which are bringing into your life such a spiritual enrichment as all the fullness of worldly prosperity and ease was never able to beget in your innermost soul.
—J. M. McC.

Standing Before God’s Open Door......Dr. Charles Stanley

Standing Before God’s Open Door

Dr. Charles Stanley

1 Corinthians 16:8-9

The apostle Paul had passion and vision to reach the world with the good news about salvation. As he followed the Spirit’s leading, his determination proved effective. There’s no telling how many lives the Lord transformed through this man. And his influence is still impacting people today.

Paul knew that Jesus had instructed His followers to “make disciples of all the nations,” teaching them to observe everything He had commanded (Matt. 28:19). God led and enabled the apostle to do his part in carrying out this divine mission.

But think about life back then—that was a big task for a time when there was no mass communication. Paul could only teach, write, or train others to share the truth. In spite of limited means, however, he obeyed fervently and effectively.

God’s command is still relevant for us today. He has given us the work of telling all nations about redemption through Christ’s blood and resurrection. Compared to Paul, we have an abundance of communication capabilities—including radio, television, Internet, and cell phones—which provide easy access into countries all over the world. We could make more disciples by better utilizing these technologies. But how tragic if we get busy and fail to obey God’s command.

We stand at a critical moment in history for the church. The door of opportunity is wide open for us to share.

Embracing the Grit That Leads to Beauty

Embracing the Grit That Leads to Beauty
MEREDITH HOUSTON CARR

Lee en español

“… we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame …” Romans 5:3b-5 (ESV)

Do you like getting your hands dirty?

My middle child certainly does. A naturalist at heart, she digs up and collects all manner of grimy stones and pebbles, or “special jewels” as she calls them.

So, when last Christmas approached, my husband and I thought a rock-polishing kit would make the perfect gift for her. With youthful enthusiasm, she tore into the box and pulled out each part. Her joy warmed our hearts — until we began to read the instructions.

A quick scan brought the painful truth to light: This was going to be a process.

Our daughter held the rough rocks in her hands while we pulled out the dark metal container that would house them for weeks on end. Carefully following the directions, we tossed the rocks into the container, added some water, and shook in a packet of gritty, black sand.

Then, we waited.

Hour after hour, day after day, these rocks spun and clunked around in that container. For weeks, they tumbled in the dark, surrounded by cold, muddy water. Every time I went to the basement, I could hear them grating around — quite honestly, the sound grated on my nerves!

And yet … when the spinning came to an end, and we’d washed the sullied water away, out came sparkling, beautiful jewels. Our daughter squealed with delight!

I rolled those jewels around in my hand, and deep emotion rumbled in my soul. I’ve spent more than a few seasons feeling like one of those rocks, endlessly tumbling in the dark and the grit. I wonder if you have too.

The weeks and months roll by and still the marriage grates at you.
The difficult job — or lack thereof — sands down your nerves.
Your child’s illness cuts places in your heart that feel like they’ll never heal.
The bitter grittiness of sheer loss tears at every inch of your soul.

And you wish for all the world that the pain would go away. When we’re tumbling in the dark, covered in grit and mud, it feels impossible to see any glimmer of purpose and hope.

But oh, dear one, God is up to something so purposeful in the midst of hard places! The pain that feels useless? It is anything but in His Kingdom. In Romans 5, Paul encourages us with the truth of what all that suffering is accomplishing in our lives:

“… we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame …” (Romans 5:3-5).

Not a single ounce of your suffering is wasted in God’s economy. Our enemy works to grind us down with gritty circumstances, but God uses the same circumstances to forge endurance and character in us if we’re willing. Like those rocks, the grittiness doesn’t remove beauty in us — it reveals it.

And when it does, a stunning, steadfast hope bursts forth. This hope stands secure and will never fail or leave us hanging. What an incredible promise!

You may feel stuck in an endless cycle of grittiness, but take heart: God is polishing you. In the dark, He is fashioning you into a beautiful jewel, ready to reflect His image and walk into your future with hope.

Oh, that we would not despise the grit, mud and darkness, for these are the divine tools our Father uses to create in us a beauty that never fades. May we keep the faith, knowing that when all the muck is washed away, it will have achieved for us a “glory beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:17, ESV).

Heavenly Father, thank You for using the painful grit in our lives to create beauty. Help us to trust You with our hearts as we struggle through the process of refinement. Create in us a hope that cannot be shaken! In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

TRUTH FOR TODAY:
2 Corinthians 4:17, “For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” (NIV)

1 Peter 4:12-13, “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.” (ESV)

How to Be a Better Father

How to Be a Better Father
By Terence Chatmon

Ephesians 6:4, "Fathers,[b] do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord."

Since I recognized my own shortcomings as a father about 15-20 years ago, I’ve been doing a lot of research and study of the fatherhood crisis in America.  One thing I’ve discovered is that, more than anything else, and no matter the kind of father you are, there is never a time in a child’s life when he or she doesn’t crave a father’s love.

You may not be able to spend much time with your child because of a broken marriage or business travel, or whatever it may be, but I think the number one way to be a better father is to make sure that in every single interaction you have with your child, you are assuring him or her of your love. Maybe it’s just an email or text once a day if you’re not able to see them in person, but they need to lay their head on the pillow every night assured and confident in their father’s love.

After assurances of their father’s love, the next thing children need to hear is their father’s belief in them. No matter what their friends or their teachers or even their mom says to them about what a capable and special person they are, it never carries the weight that it does coming from Dad. If you express your belief in your child, regularly and specifically, it serves as a great deterrent to the doubts that can creep in and rob them of their self-confidence and positive outlook about themselves.

This is vitally important in the older elementary and middle school years, where we are seeing so many tragic instances of bullying and social media shaming.  No matter what the world says about them, if a child knows inside “my father believes in me and sees value in me, no matter what anyone else says,” they are more able to filter out and put less stock in those external negative opinions.

Finally, while we need to reassure our children of our love for and belief in them, we also need to be clear that while we love them, sometimes we cannot condone their behavior. Our children need to know their boundaries, and that because their father loves and wants to protect them, there will be consequences for going beyond those boundaries.

Children can understand, even if they can’t verbalize it, that you can love and accept them without loving and accepting all of their behaviors.  They can even recognize it is love that wants to protect them from the harm that comes from disobedience. If they are not given boundaries and discipline, they realize there is something lacking in the love they receive. True love loves unconditionally, but comes with accountability. Children need to know they are loved, and loved enough to want what’s best for them, which means the occasional course correction. Fathers who are absent may be afraid to punish, believing it will drive their children from them, but that could not be further from the truth, as long as the children know the discipline comes out of love.

Intersecting Faith & Life: So, this coming Father’s Day, let’s all resolve to step-up our fatherhood game, by making sure our children know of our unconditional love for and belief in them, and by not being afraid to hold them accountable, as they will recognize this as part and parcel of a great father’s love. Love Well.

God’s Sovereign Plan

God’s Sovereign Plan
By: Amanda Idleman

The Lord of hosts has sworn: “As I have planned, so shall it be, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand.” – Isaiah 14:24

As you read through Isaiah, you are clued into the nature and character of God through the prophetic gift given to Isaiah. Isaiah’s mouth is filled with words that paint a picture of what God has planned for the future. He clearly articulates God’s many emotions when it comes to His people. All of the prophecies from Isaiah became verifiable, historical fact.

Through the miraculous fulfillment of prophecy, we can see the absolute dependability of God’s plan. We can rest assured that no matter our present situation, we can stand on the promises of God who articulated them in His Word. In our most hopeless moments, we can draw encouragement from the sovereignty of our Lord.

God has a plan. He is not distant and uninvolved in the happenings of our world. We may look at world events and see random occurrences. We may become overwhelmed by your own powerlessness to change the tide of our society. But God does not see randomness, and He has the power to change things that feel impossible to us.

In Isaiah, God warns Israel from relying on the surrounding nations for security. God’s plan went against what seemed like a logical solution to the Israelites. He warned that the two major powers in the region, Assyria and Babylon, would fall despite appearing to be unbeatable forces in the region. These prophecies were fulfilled when the Assyrian Empire was crushed by Babylon. Later, as prophesied by Jeremiah, Babylon fell too.

The Israelites who heard these prophecies for the first time probably were skeptical and doubted God’s power over the forces that appear to rule our world. Yet, God’s Word has proven to be reliable over the course of history. When we see what feels like confusing and unbeatable challenges, rest assured in God’s sovereign plan for our world.

Just as God’s plan for the nations are fulfilled, so are God’s plans for our lives. Jeremiah 29:11 gives us this personal encouragement, “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.” This is a promise you can stand on. God’s plan is a good one. Even when evil attempts to steal from us: God is present, He is working, He is faithful, and He is good.

Isaiah 43:1 tells us even more about God’s reliability. He makes a beautiful promise and offers us words of encouragement for our moments of difficulty and doubt. God says, “Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine.” The Creator, Sovereign God of all knows it’s easy to be afraid. That’s why He so clearly offers us words of comfort and assurance. Our Big God identifies us as His. He is close, He is personal, and He is for you. Rest in the knowledge that we serve a sovereign God.

A Prayer for Times of Crisis

A Prayer for Times of Crisis
By Abby Perry

I sat in my favorite corner of our couch, knees pulled up to my chest. A few close friends were scattered around the room, eyes soft, questions gentle. We had been at an event together earlier that evening where words were spoken that caused a part of my heart to fracture. When I left the event as soon as possible, these women called and offered to come, to sit and listen or let silence linger. We did some of both.

Mostly, I rambled, at least that’s how I remember it. I remember tears and closing my eyes as I spoke sentences that embarrassed me, words that made me feel faithless and weak. But most of all, I remember the tenderness of the women gathered in that room, their compassionate strength that bore the weight of my sadness and anger.

When I was in crisis, the physical presence, help, and listening ear of others was critical. Never have I been so aware of the beauty of the body of Christ as I have been when I was dependent upon others to care for me, to support my family, and to pray and believe for me when I was losing my grip on the ability to do so for myself.

When crisis comes, many of us determine to buckle down, to believe that grit and fortitude will be enough to weather the storm. But what this often can mean is that we want to be strong, though Scripture tells us that God’s grace is made perfect in our weakness. Try as we might to avoid them, crises will come for us in this life. We are not alone because of the presence of God, and we are not alone because of the brothers and sisters He has given us. May we draw near to the One Who is our shelter in the storm by drawing near to those He loves.

Lord, I am overwhelmed by my situation. I can hardly find words, but I know you understand what I am going through. Oh Father – help! I know you promise to never leave me or forsake me. Be with me now- help me know you are with me. I know you will never let your children slip and fall – hold me up! Lord, give me the strength I need today to make it through this trial. Give me hope that can only come from you. In your name I pray, Amen.