Saturday Vespers

Heavenly Father, we come before You today with hearts full of gratitude and concern. We thank You for Your love, mercy, and guidance. We pray for peace to reign throughout the world, that nations may live in harmony and understanding.
Guide the leaders of our nations. Fill them with wisdom, compassion, and a true desire to serve their people. May they seek Your will in all they do and govern with justice and equity.
Inspire us to be agents of peace in our communities. Grant us the courage to stand up for what is right and the compassion to help those in need. May we be beacons of hope, spreading love and kindness wherever we go.
Lord, we pray for an end to suffering and injustice. May Your healing touch bring comfort to the afflicted, and may Your justice prevail.
We Pray for a senior in India to get your comfort and healing from her hip and back pain. Anon says -
Please pray for my husband because he is struggling with mental illness. Pray for a hedge of protection around him and my children. Pray that his is healed and seeks help. Pray that God sends the right people into our lives and that he binds any evil spirits that may be causing this illness. I pray that we see God's mighty hand working quickly.
We pray for a Pastor in India who's wife is suffering from stage 4 cancer. We pray for a miracle for her healing and relief from the pain, as per your will.

We Thank you Lord for showing us the way and providing us with resources to travel your path. 

As Far as I Can See

Someone recently shared this - 

"I recently had the opportunity to visit a friend, one evening, who lives on the 28th floor of an apartment building. Standing on the balcony I could see the city with a completely new perspective. I was amazed at the expanse of the city, the beauty of the lights and the business of life as cars drive around. I never realized the vast network of roads my city had, nor the greenery nor the number of buildings and looking at the city lights, i wondered at the amount of electricity we consumed in keeping the city alive. Looking at the skyline changed my perspective of the government who provided us all these facilities, the ingenuity of people and of the city itself". 

"And then I thought how limited my vision and understanding were when I was on the ground level. 

It struck me then why it is better to trust in God. He can see much further than I ever can, has a perfect understanding of the world because He created it and can give perfect directions because He can see and understand everything. Like the city God never sleeps. Unlike the city, He sees everything". 

"Standing on that balcony that evening I realized the truth of Proverbs 3 verse 5- 

(Proverbs 3:5) Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding."

Because our understanding of things, on the ground floor of this universe, is limited by our vision. Because of this, we not only need to surrender desires but also relinquish control of our decision making to the one who can see all. 

As far as we can see is only the next home. The rest is our imagination, we erroneously call "vision". 

Peace and Justice for All

A wise judge once said, "it is not only necessary for justice to be done, but as importantly, it needs to be seen to be done."

Drawing from these wise words, as Christians, it is not only important to follow Christ in letter and spirit, but also to be seen as followers of Christ, in our behavior and our attitudes to fellow men. We ourselves are the biggest witnesses to Christ and we are also our own enemy. We may preach the best of sermons, be most devout in our day-to-day devotions or know the Bible verbatim, but if our language, behavior and attitude does not reflect Christ, it is all in vain.

Christ Himself spoke at length about the way we are to behave toward others; friends and enemies. More than that, however, the life He lived, accentuated by His love and compassion for the lost, provides the consummate example of what Christian behavior should look like, enabled by the Holy Spirit.

The best barometer is how one reacts or behaves when facing extreme pressure of a threat or a loss. Do we remain calm trusting in God or do we react with screaming, shouting, threatening and possibly worse?

If the Holy Spirit is living within us, the natural outpouring of behaviors will be “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). This will spread love, respect, peace and a spirit of justice towards all, bring glory to Gods name and most importantly give the world a glimpse of Gods character, building a bridge for others to know God as well.

Preach to Yourself!

In management, there is a concept of self-talk. There is nothing crazy about talking to oneself. Self-talk is the internal dialogue that people have with themselves, and it can have a big impact on how a person feels and acts. Positive self-talk can help people feel better about themselves, and can have many benefits, including goal attainment and building an overall positive attitude.

Drawing a cue from this concept, when we do our daily devotions and or read the Bible, instead of a mechanical tick in the box, if we relate what is being read to our own lives, each phase or period, we will be able to spot where we went wrong and what we did right. This knowledge will help to correct ourselves for future, aligning our life to Christ and Gods ways and will.

That is exactly how computers also work. They analyze the past to predict the future.

What does it mean to "preach to ourselves"?

"Preaching to ourselves is essentially the biblical call to "meditate" on Scripture - hearing and reflecting on both the Word and how God is speaking through it. It is personally applying the Word of God to our hearts and lives with the aim of glorifying and enjoying God" - Pastor Joe Thorn

This self-preaching, if done regularly, will turn itself into a meaningful meditation, the outcome of which is transformation of the person.

Paul Tripp says that no one is more influential in your life than you are, and that you should preach the gospel to yourself daily.

King David too, learned to preach to himself when he was threatened by fear. Psalm 56 includes some of David's preaching, such as "When you get afraid, don't be afraid!" and "I am trusting in God. I'm not going to live in fear".