Wednesday, April 19, 2023

When I call for help, all the enemies will turn back!

              

   

Please click this link for the video version:



Nicky Gumbel's Bible in one year today:


Silence

1.   Put on your “brakes” and stop for a moment of silence
2.   Wait for God. Breathe deep for God's peace and feel His presence. Exhale your worries.

Praise and Thanksgiving

1.   Think through your day, all the times that made you smile
2.   Thank God for all those moments, and for all those people
3.   Sing a song to praise God (you are welcome to use "Father, I adore you" which I have been singing every morning for the past 20 years or your own choice to praise God)

          Father, I adore You, lay my life before You, how I love You.
          Jesus, I adore You, lay my life before You, how I love You.
          Spirit, I adore You, lay my life before You, how I love You.
      

Confession and Repentance (Subjective Shifting Devotion Method) 

1.  Pray for the Holy Spirit to shine on you that you are able to discover your sins and be willing to repent:


     “Dear Holy Spirit, shine your light into the places of darkness in my life. Show me my sins, everything that blocks me from encountering God and having Jesus as my Lord. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”



2.  Through the Holy Spirit, examine yourself for a short silence and then pray:

     "Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for dying on the cross for our sins and being victorious over death and sin. I confess my sins to you(pause, to tell Jesus what the Holy Spirit has shown you). Forgive my sins by your blood and help me follow you. Holy Spirit, fill me that I may be able to receive your gifts to love God and His people. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen."

3.  John Stott's daily prayer of Christlikeness (Christopher J.H. Wright, Cultivating the fruit of the Spirit. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2017, 13)

(Please click this link to see how God used John Stott to change my life:https://bishopsilas.blogspot.com/2009/07/

           "Heavenly Father, I pray that this day I may live in your presence and please you more and more.

             Lord Jesus, I pray that this day I may take up my cross and follow you.

             Holy Spirit, I pray that this day you will fill me with yourself and cause your fruit to ripen in my life: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control."


The Word, Time with Abba (Psalm 56:9-13, Joshua 19:1-20:9; Luke 19:28-48; Proverbs 13:12-14)

    Today's key passages: 

    
      Then my enemies will turn back
    when I call for help.
    By this I will know that God is for me.
10 In God, whose word I praise,
    in the Lord, whose word I praise—
11 in God I trust and am not afraid.
    What can man do to me?
12 I am under vows to you, my God;
    I will present my thank offerings to you.
13 For you have delivered me from death
    and my feet from stumbling,
that I may walk before God
    in the light of life.
Psalm 56:9-13

41 As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it 42 and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. 43 The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. 44 They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming to you.”
45 When Jesus entered the temple courts, he began to drive out those who were selling. 46 “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be a house of prayer’; but you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’”

Luke 19:41-46


Let's have a time to be still and give the Holy Spirit space to speak through the passages we have just read. Offer this time to Jesus as you listen to Him. 
   
     My Listening
    The topic I received today from Jesus is When I call for help, all the enemies will turn back!

    Yes, surely it will happen! 

    When David called to God for help in his most dangerous time and to present his thank offerings even he had limited resources, God acted and he was sure that all his enemies would turn back! 

    When he prayed like that, he was still surrounded by his enemies, but because he trusted God, knowing that God will help him, even he was in the darkest valley of death, seems to be in darkness, but because God was with him and he could walk in the light of life! Wow!

    But, today's passage from Luke tells us that because the Jews rejected Jesus as the Messiah, the Christ, the Saviour, Son of God because they deserted God and the Holy Temple in Jerusalem had become a place to do business and not a house of prayer. They did not call on God for help, 35 years after Jesus said that, King Nero of Rome destroyed the whole Jerusalem and the Holy Temple. Not one stone on another was left! How sad!

    Now, the whole world is being encircled and we seems being trapped on every side by all kinds of enemies!

    What is your choice? To call on God for help or to suffer the consequence of what today's Luke describes? 

     Dear Lord Jesus,  
     Help us to be willing to cry out to you for help and offer our thank offerings to you in the midst of the whole world being besieged by all kinds of enemies. Lead us to worship you as our Lord and King so that all those enemies of darkness will turn back. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.
      
     
      Reflect on these questions:
     1. What inspiration have you received from today's catch and what have you heard from Jesus now?
      
      2.  What is your next step to be more closer to Jesus?
    
      Family Corner:
     Find an opportunity to share with your family the importance of today's message. 
     

     To know, learn and practice the method of Time with Abba, please click this link: https://www.pastoralcareschool.org

    

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