Friday, October 19, 2018

Thoughts on The LORD’S Prayer

Warner Sallman


“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
    on earth as it is in heaven.
 Give us this day our daily bread,
 and forgive us our debts,
    as we also have forgiven our debtors.
 And lead us not into temptation,
    but deliver us from evil.

 Our Father

God created us all. He desires a special relationship with us. Jesus calls Him Father because that was He was Jesus’ Father. By addressing God as “Our Father”, the Lord includes each of us as God’s children.

 hallowed by your name.

God’s name is to be treated as special. No one else can be called Abba, except the one who created us. We all have one Father. He loans us to earthly parents for them to raise us.

Your kingdom come,

Our Lord Jesus requests that God allow His rule to guide and direct us.

 your will be done

Jesus asks that His Father’s desire for us, His children be accomplished. When God’s will is done, it is done to please Him.

 on earth as it is in heaven.

What would our world be like if everything on earth was done according to God’s will?
●No crime
● No wars
● No debt
                                                    ● No divorce
                       ● No illness
  
Give us this day our daily bread,
Jesus asks God to give us what we NEED each day. Basically, our needs are simple, food, clothing, shelter, and rest.

 and forgive us our trespasses
The church I belong to uses the word, ‘trespasses’, while most use the word ‘debts’. The word trespass means to transgress or enter an area without permission. When we happen to sin, we do just that. We enter an area, by action, speech, attitude, or behavior, where God does not want us.

as we forgive those who trespass against us.
   
Jesus finishes His teaching on prayer with these words, “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive you.”

And lead us not into temptation, and deliver us from evil.

Jesus asks His Father to keep us safe from the paths that will bring us into the difficulties of life and bring us out of those areas should we wander into them.

For yours is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever, Amen


God’s kingdom will last forever. He has all the power in this world and deserves all the praise and glory we can give Him.

Wednesday, October 17, 2018

Obedience and Being in God’s Will

http://angelaambroise.blogspot.com


Now, if anyone has caused you pain, he has not caused it to me, but in some measure—not to put it too severely—to all of you. For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough. So you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he shall be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him. For this is why I wrote, that I might test you and know whether you are obedient in everything.    2 Corinthians 2:5-9 (ESV
Paul writes to the Corinthian church. He tells them that, if someone brings hurt to them, that person causes injury to all of them.

He continues by telling them that the offender deserves forgiveness and comfort lest he becomes saddened. He pleads with them to reaffirm their faith in the one guilty of wrongdoing. Each of us, when we cause hurt to the LORD, can seek forgiveness and receive comfort from Him. When someone brings hurt to us, we are to extend forgiveness to that person. Sometimes we have to ask God to do it for us. But we must forgive because God will not forgive us if we don’t forgive others.

The Apostle Paul then explains the reason for his writing. He took the time to test the believers and to know if they were obedient in everything. Paul speaks of forgiveness and of obedience in this passage. We are to forgive the sinner because of God’s love for us and for them. Paul tells us Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. Colossians 3:13 –(NIV)


Our motive for extending forgiveness to someone who has sinned is that we want to be in God’s will and obey Him. I wonder, have I ever not been completely obedient to God? Due to being human, I probably have not always obeyed Him.

Monday, October 15, 2018

Waiting is a Part of Obedience


 



             Wait on the LORD; be of good courage and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD (KJV) Psalm 27:14

             Wait for the LORD; be strong and let your heart take courage; wait for the LORD. 
                Psalm 27:14(ESV)

WAIT FOR THE LORD;
David advises us to wait for God to guide us. Sometimes we run ahead of Him.

BE OF GOOD COURAGE
               Don’t be afraid. We are not to bury our heads in the sand. 
               Instead, we are to look the issue straight on, no matter how much it may hurt.

HE SHALL STRENGTHEN THINE HEART:
God will give us what we need in our inner being. He will help us withstand whatever we face.

WAIT ON THE LORD.
            Sometimes, we humans get in too much of a hurry, mess things up, making matters worse.




            These are the words of David. As humans, we don’t like to wait. However, we must wait. In our society, we have become impatient as we wait for the microwave oven to end its cycle, stop lights to change to green, the weather to break, and healing. We even have to wait for the hot water to become warm. All these things we have to wait for. There is a great lesson here.

God Alone

  Jesus and the children at our church's prayer walk.          I will both lie down in peace and sleep;  For You alone, O LORD make ...