Pray for President Bush

Holy God. Maker of Heaven and Earth. Savior. Deliverer. King. We come to You today and praise You for Your goodness and kindness towards us. You have never failed us and You have never left our side - though if we were in the same place, we would have left long ago. You are longsuffering towards us and true - and we praise You for this and so much more.

Father, we lift up our petitions to You today; first, for our country. She is in trouble Lord, and only You can save. Revive her, Father. Redeemer her. Keep her from destruction and turn her heart back to You.

I pray for President Bush. I pray that You would keep him and Laura safe as they travel and guide their steps. May he speak as You would have him to speak on this journey and may his thoughts and actions be pleasing to You.

I pray for Israel. May Your peace rest upon her and may she return to You.

I pray for our Military that they will be kept safe from harm and that their mission will be accomplished quickly so that they can come home with the job complete, as I know they would wish to do.

And, I pray for these elections. Troublesome times are all around us and it seems like our country is no longer capable of producing leaders that will be good for us. And so, we focus our trust on You to see us through - which is where it should have been all along. And, we pray that You will protect us from bad decisions and make good that which is lacking.

Go with us the rest of today. Be with our services tonight. For it is in Jesus' precious name that I pray these things. Amen.

February 17, 2008

Join The Choir

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READ: Psalm 89:1-8

I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever; with my mouth will I make known Your faithfulness to all generations. —Psalm 89:1

I’ll never forget the first time I saw the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir in concert. Nearly 200 people who had been redeemed out of the bowels of Brooklyn—former crack addicts and prostitutes included—sang their hearts out to God. Their faces glistened with tears running down their cheeks as they sang about God’s work of redemption and forgiveness in their lives.

As I watched them, I felt somewhat shortchanged. Since I was saved when I was 6, I didn’t feel the same depth of gratefulness that they displayed as they sang about the dramatic rescue God had provided for them. I was saved from things like biting my sister—not exactly a significant testimony!

Then the Spirit reminded me that if He had not rescued me when I was young, who knows where my life would be today? What destructive paths would I have stumbled down if He had not been teaching me qualities like servanthood and self-control?

It became clear that I too am a great debtor to His grace. It’s not only what we are saved “out of” but what we have been saved “from” that makes our hearts worthy of a spot in the chorus of the redeemed. Anyone who receives Jesus as Savior is welcome to join in the choir of praise: “I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever” (Ps. 89:1). —

He’s been faithful, faithful to me;
Looking back, His love and mercy I see.
Though in my heart I’ve questioned, even failed to believe,
He’s been faithful, faithful to me. —Cymbala

Praise flows freely from the choir of the redeemed.

Bible in One Year: Psalms 18–20

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Isaiah 43:25-46 I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins. Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified.

Isaiah 43:25-46
I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins. Put me in remembrance: let us plead together: declare thou, that thou mayest be justified.