Along Bible Paths:. Henry E. Neufeld
Читать онлайн книгу.
must know that when they go through the door or down an alley, the one next to them or behind them will be well- trained and willing to give all they have to protect them.
Going through life with Jesus is like that. I need a bond with Him. I have learned that going through a crisis situation with the assurance that He is with me is so much better than going through a crisis looking for some assurance.
I am sure you can think of many who seem to walk with such trust in God. But most of them did not start at trust. They had to work their way up to trust!
Esther – Most known for her heroic saving of her people by being obedient to be used “for a time such as this”. (Esther 4:14) Esther was snatched into captivity and was counseled and encouraged by her uncle, Mordecai, to respond with such boldness to the king, her husband, who had the power to kill her.
Joshua – Joshua is told over and over by God to “be strong and courageous” and to move on after the death of Moses. He listened to the Lord for himself and learned to hear God’s voice and be obedient to His voice. Then the walls of Jericho fell down!
Peter – After denying Jesus three times and running away with the rest of the disciples, Peter, the little-educated fisherman, stands up in front of thousands of Jews and gives the first New Testament altar call! He became the Rock that Jesus saw! He trusted God.
Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we trust the name of Yahweh our God.
Psalms 20:7 (WEB)
Are you willing to take another step closer to God and another step deeper in trust of God today? Is there something or someone in your life (even yourself !) that you just do not know what to do? Have you been reading self-help books and advice columns, talked to your friends and asked their advice and still are unsure what to do? How is that option working for you? Give God your trust. He will not let you down! There is no magic formula. It is just letting go “of the way you’ve always done it” and letting God do the rest!
Come, Lord Jesus, come! Guide and direct me where You will! I trust you for all things and will not forget to thank and praise you when it is over.
July 6
My Choice
...My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.
Psalm:84:2 (WEB)
My week started out thinking about ’flesh’ and how it’s a battle to direct my flesh in the right path!
God blessed me by reminding me of the step of faith that I took over 10 years ago and how that faith has grown. I also reflected this week on the roots of faith that my mother sewed as she taught me as a young child to pray.
I wept several times this week as I looked at the hope that I have ...that I’ve been given in Jesus Christ! Yes, I am unworthy! YES, I don’t deserve it! But God, my Father, gave His Son so that He could spend eternity with me! WOW!
I went to sleep last night thinking back how Jesus has been growing my trust in Him. He has stayed with me through some rocky paths. He has waited patiently even when I turned away in despair and frustration and, when I turned back around, He was there with open arms. That hug was great!!!
Flesh is about making choices. God offers me so much to fill my mind and heart and spirit. He gives me gifts that multiply fruit, lots and lots of fruit!!! The more I accept and use the gifts – the more the fruit increases!
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, and self-control.
Galatians 5:22-23 (WEB)
Finally, brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are honorable, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report; if there is any virtue, and if there is any praise, think about these things.
Philippians 4:8 (WEB)
Enough said! However, this is what I have learned this week: Whenever I allow my flesh to drag me down and focus on the world and its sorrows and ‘no answers’ or ‘poor answers’, if I will then pick my head up and look at Jesus, I have taken a step forward! Pull out God’s Word and stop to tune in to God’s voice, the voice of truth! Choose God! My next thought, my next step then comes along side of God. Then I stay on God’s true path. That is where I want to be!
Let us thank our Lord today for this great country He has blessed and continues to bless. May we turn more to Him as a nation. May we glorify Him as we reach out to others and come together in unity! Let us lift up our men and women in uniform both in the armed forces here and overseas and those who protect us across our country as police officers and fire fighters. God bless them every one! In Jesus’ name I pray...Amen.
July 7
Intercessory Prayer
“I pray for them. I don’t pray for the world, but for those whom you have given me, for they are yours.”
John 17:9 (WEB)
I have had two conversations recently that have given me some new perspective to intercessory prayer.
Bringing someone to the Lord in prayer is intercessory prayer. To be honest, I always thought that intercessory prayer was about me pointing out something that God had overlooked in someone and then attempt to talk Him into my idea! Crazy, huh?
Reading through John 17 I am struck by the love and compassion of Jesus. That is intercessory prayer! It is allowing God to give me His vision for that person. It is allowing God to change my heart for His heart and pray for the person in Jesus’ love. Bringing someone into God’s presence changes my attitude toward them. It will affect my relationship with them. I am changed into seeing that person as God sees them. I also learn how God sees me. I see the unique gifts and unique flaws that ultimately create the tapestry that is in God’s image.
There are principles of God that I know to be true as I pray. I know that God desires a living, growing, intimate relationship with each of His children. I know that He wants His children to be spiritually strong to resist temptation and not be lead into evil. God wants His children to reach out to others and serve them.
Praying for others also gives me a glimpse into how God must feel as He looks at us and wants so much ’good’ for us and yet does not impose His will into our lives. Our God who could, chooses instead to honor our freedom to choose. And as I pray I see changes that may need to happen. But as most parents realize their limitations in coercing a child into a path, so in prayer I learn to pray and let go, trusting the Holy Spirit to lead the person in God’s perfect path.
Every intercessory prayer begins with God who was there in the situation before I even knew there was a situation! Every intercessory prayer ends with God who never tires or grows weary (Isaiah 40:28-31) and will see the person and/or situation until the end. As my husband, Henry, says:
“God answers our prayers better than we pray them!”
God will answer in His time and in His perfect way. It is a joy to pray no matter what the circumstances when I pray in the assurance of God’s love and mercy.
“I am the first, and I am the last; and besides me there is no God. Who is like me? Who will call, and will declare it, and set it in order for me, since I established the ancient people? Let them declare the things that are coming, and that will happen.
Don’t fear, neither be afraid.
Haven’t I declared it to you long ago, and shown