Protection: Prayers and Poetry

                Protection

                Daily He went before them                

                for forty years

                leading them each day

                from within a pillar of cloud.

                Every night

                Every step, every day

                He continued from

                a pillar of fire. Every year.

                Daily He stays with us too

                within our hearts, our souls,

                never leaving, still watching,

                with us--every moment.

Matthew 5:10: "Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom oh heaven."

                

                

Reflection: And Do Not Lead Us: Prayers and Poetry

 Reflection Questions

    1. What temptations continue to whisper or attack your relationship with the Lord?

    2. What has kept you from seeking His help to resist, or forgiveness to return?

    3. What word, or promise, from Jesus could become your daily hope to shelter you?

Share: What does a firm foundation look like for you?

And Do Not Lead Us: Prayers and Poetry

And Do Not Lead Us

Matthew 6:13: "And lead us not into temptation,"

Temptation

Why would we think that God would lead us into temptation, when Jesus came to save?

Then we remember that even in the perfection of the Garden Adam and Eve chose temptation. And then in the wilderness Satan again tried to turn Jesus from His call of redemption for everyone.

Jesus reminds us here to ask for strength to resist whatever allure or wrong direction is acting as a siren song to turn us away from His truth and His protection.

"No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but to endure it. 1 Corinthians 10:13.

Provision. Protection. Prepared.

Will we remember? Will we ask for help? Will we recognize the lies? Will we stay on the path He calls us to regardless of the cost?

Jesus did not hesitate to turn to God in prayer, for Himself and for others.

Your thoughts,

Seventy: As We Forgive: Prayers and Poetry

                 Seventy    

                Times seven

                Jesus said,

                must forgive from

                your heart.

            No exceptions.

                His grace is for all

                regardless of

                their response

                we are to relinquish.

                All resentment.

 Matthew 5:9, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God."

                

Reflection: As We Forgive: Prayers and Poetry

 Reflection Questions

                1. Read Ephesians 4:30-32

                2. How can we recognize when we grieve the Holy Spirit in our thoughts and        attitude? 

                3. What are some ways we can overcome our bitterness and anger--especially when we are victims of deliberate malice?

                4. What act of kindness have you received as a response to your own anger against  someone?

Share: How have you found a way, or words, to actively forgive as Christ had forgiven us?

As We Forgive: Prayers and Poetry

 Matthew 6:12: "As we forgive them that trespass against us." (or our debts)

Absolve

Every time. Over and over. From our hearts.

Whether debts, of false accusations, or lies, or hatred, or condemnation.

In his study of parables, Herbert Lockyer shares that: "The word forgive actually means 'forth-give,' that is, to dismiss absolutely from thought."

No grudges. No retaliation. No gossip. No revenge.

One of the most detailed and well-known parable from Jesus is in His response to Peter's question as to how we must forgive another. "Up to seven times?" Seventy times seven was the answer.

Then Jesus shared the story of a man who had been forgiven an enormous debt from the king. But when released he in turn sent a fellow slave, who owed him a much smaller amount, into prison. When the king heard he became extremely angry at the man's lack of mercy and wickedness to another, and so removed his decree and sent him to the torturers. Matthew 18:21-35

In Luke 7:1-4, Jesus again reminds His disciples that repentance is ongoing and to be on guard to forgive. No matter how many times.

Lockyer also shares that: "The truth unfolded in the parable, then, is that forgiveness must be, as it is with God, a constant attitude."

Your thoughts,

Mercy: Prayers and Poetry

                 Mercy

                Sin absolved

                within and without

                when we acknowledge

                our faults--our failures

                own the iniquity.

                Love absorbs

                within and without

                whispers hope

                opens new paths

                offered through His grace.

Matthew 5:8: "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God."