For a wise and godly choice of the President’s Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, that our environment may be wisely cared for
God saw all that He had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning—the sixth day.
—Genesis 1:31

O creative and glorious God, You have made all things in Your love and extraordinary wisdom. You’ve shown Yourself in the glory of creation by making it vast, diverse colorful and beautiful. And You’ve made us with the capacity to be drawn to beauty of every kind. Thank You, O God for revealing Yourself in the created order. I praise You for this!
Forgive us, O God, for the ways we have knowingly and unknowingly damaged Your creation. As the new president assembles those who will serve on his team, I ask You to raise up the very best person to lead the Environmental Protection Agency—someone who loves You and loves the creation You have made and who will work diligently to safeguard it. I ask this in Your loving name, amen.

Heavenly Father,
I thank You for knowing the beginning and the end. I thank You for having planned in advance a way for us to come to know you and be reconciled back unto You. I thank You for the incredible sacrifice You made by giving Your only Son for my sins and of all others who are willing to believe in Him. I thank You for the plans You have for us, to give us a hope and a future. I thank You for the days so far and for those yet to come. You are an awesome God and I can’t imagine my life without You.

Heavenly Father,
I lift up my needs for wisdom and direction to You. Help me to commit to the things You find most important. Help me to be the leader You have called me to be with love, integrity, and honesty. Help me to speak love, truth, and hope into the lives of all those around me. Help me to lead them into this new level of service You are calling us into. Help me to plan and get ideas from others in order to hear from You and provide all that You have for me. Lord, I don’t want to do it in my power, or else it isn’t from You, but I want it to be even bigger which means it has to be from You. Grant me courage and trust, in Jesus’ name.

Lord, I thank You for this opportunity and give You all the praise, the honor, and the glory, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Today’s Reading from WOW – The Big Picture:
Revelation 19:1-21:8; Psalm 149:1-4; Proverbs 31:10-12

Heavenly Father,
I thank You for this new day and all that You have planned for it. I thank You so much for Your Word which is the Sword of the Spirit and is our offensive weapon in this spiritual battle. God, through Words, we can build people up or tear down strongholds. Lord, we are to speak truth in love. Lord, help us to move to the next level where we don’t try to do things by force, but in alignment with your Word and through what we say. Give us eyes to see the walls, the strongholds, the mountains and Lord, give us the words to speak to tear down the walls holding people back, tear down the strongholds that are imprisoning people from being and accomplishing all that You have for them, and cast the mountains into the sea.

This morning I grab onto Your Word that is TRUTH and COMFORT. In the good times and in the challenging times, I will hold onto Your Word. Your Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. It is a book of promises from the mouth of God for me to trust in. My hope and trust is in You Lord and today As I prepare for the coming year, I look to You with Hope and Anticipation, knowing that if You are for me, who can be against me. I look to You having seen and experienced the past 8 years of living for You, and knowing that my life is changed and will never be the same again.

Help me Lord to speak Words that bring life to those around me.

Help me Lord to speak Words that build up and encourage those around me.

Lord, I pray that You will continue to allow me to share my testimonies for Your Word says that we can help set others free by the blood of the lamb, which You have taken care of and by the WORDS of OUR testimonies.

I give this all up to You today in Jesus’ name and will give You all the praise and all the honor and all the glory, in Jesus’ name. Amen

Let’s try to be more like:

Proverbs: 10:11

• our words are wells of life

Proverbs 10:20-21

• our words are like choice silver and feed many

Proverbs 16:24

• our words are like honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health the bones

Proverbs 12:25

• our words make a person’s heart glad

Proverbs 15:23

• our words bring a man joy in due season

Proverbs 25:11

• our words fitly spoken and are like apples of gold in settings of silver

Proverbs 15:28

• our words were thought through and come from the heart

Proverbs 13:2-3

• may our words be fruitful. may we guard what we say and preserve our lives

Proverbs 15:1-2

• our words turn away wrath and use knowledge rightly

Proverbs 15:21-23

• guard our mouth and tongue in order to keep our soul from troubles

Proverbs 10:19

• restrain our lips for wisdom

Proverbs 17:27-28

• keeping instruction is in the way of life.

Colossians 4:6

• words should always be spoken in grace, seasoned with salt, that we may know how we ought to answer each one.

Ephesians 4:29

• Let no corrupt word proceed out of our mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.

Heavenly Father,

I thank You for this new day and for all that You have planned. I thank You for Your Word which is always a source of encouragement and direction. On days when I am not sure, I am able to ground myself and put all my trust in You. I thank You for my family and my friends, I thank You for my church and those in leadership over me. I know Lord that You allow those who are in leadership over me to be there. Help me Lord to trust in You and Your Word daily. Help me to grab onto your truths and trust in You each day. Help me to have the time to spend with You for I know that days I start with You in Your Word help me to walk through the rest of my day. Help my children to get the rest they need and to have the sleep pattern that will all of the family to be healthy, rested, and renewed. Renew our spirits Lord as we praise and honor You, in Jesus’ name we pray.

Amen

December 23

Treasures in Darkness

Isaiah 45:3
I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel, who summons you by name.

"I have never been in this place before. It is new ground for me, and I find I am way out of my comfort zone. I am scared to death to trust Him at this level. I had to confess to the Lord I have not been able to accept or believe His love for me in this area." Those were the words I expressed to a friend when I was in a difficult place in my life. That day when I confessed those words, God led me to this passage of Scripture.

What we perceive as dark periods in our lives are designed to be treasures from God. They are actually riches stored in secret places. We cannot see those times in this light because of the often-accompanying pain or fear that prevents us from accepting these times as treasures. They have a particular purpose from God's viewpoint: "...so that you may know that I am the Lord...who summons you by name."

You see, unless we are cast into times in which we are completely at God's mercy for breakthroughs in our lives, we will never experience God's faithfulness in those areas. We will never know how personal He is, or that He can be trusted to meet the deepest needs in our lives. God wants each of us to know that we are "summoned by name." Every hair of our head is numbered. He knows every activity we are involved in. His love for you and me knows no bounds, and He will take every opportunity to demonstrate this to us.

Has God brought you into a place of darkness? Trust Him today to reveal that hidden treasure that can be found in this darkness. Let Him summon you by name.

77 Days of Prayer for our New President

Day Forty-Nine: December 23, 2008
28 days, 16 hours and 43 minutes left until inauguration day.

For God to revive our nation as we look to the future with hope
Then we will not turn away from You; revive us, and we will call on Your name. Restore us, O LORD God Almighty; make Your face shine upon us, that we may be saved.
—Psalm 80:18

O Holy God, only You are worthy of the praise of our lips and the songs of our hearts. Only You are worthy of glory and honor and majesty above all rulers, powers and authority! All hope is found in You and there is no hope apart from You. You are the Lord and master of time and I am so grateful that You look on us with love and compassion.
Today, O God, our nation is in need of a fresh wind from You. We are wearied by sin and disobedience to You and Your ways. We fall short of Your standard, and worse, we sometimes deliberately move away from You and toward sin and evil that will steal, kill and destroy. Revive us today, O Lord, revive us. Bring a spirit of repentance as we seek Your face. In Your kindness, renew our passion for holiness and righteousness today. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Heavenly Father,
I thank You for this new day and pray for Your wisdom and discernment as I go about my day. May You be glorified in all I say and do and may Your light shine through me in Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Heavenly Father,
I thank You for this new day and for the great things You have and are doing in my life. Help me to stand firm on Your Word as I walk through today and help me to plan and focus as I work to accomplish all that You have for me today and into the new year. Lord, today I pray for those in my circle of influence - those who are my spaces friends, those who will visit my spaces site, for those on my messenger lists, and for those I will meet in person at work. Lord, I know that by Your grace and Your salvation, I am in the Your book of the living. I pray that today will consider where they are and consider if they have given their lives over to You, asked for forgiveness and for Jesus to come into their hearts. Giving our lives over to You doesn't make us weak, but actually gives us power through the Holy Spirit who can speak into every situation, who can guide our every word, thought, and action so that we don't end up doing something that we will later regret. God, this is my prayer today and I know that through You all things are possible and so I give this up to You, giving You all the praise and all the honor and all the glory, in Jesus' name. Amen.

Today's Reading: Philippians 4, Ezekiel 24 and Isaiah 52

• Don't worry
• Fear not
• Through prayer ask God for what you need with a thankful heart
• Receive God's peace
• A peace that goes far beyond human understanding
• It will keep your hearts and minds safe in union with Christ Jesus
• Keep your mind filled with things that are good and deserve praise
• Fill your mind with things that are true, noble, pure, lovely, and honorable
• Put into practice what you have learned and received from me and from God's Word- both in words and actions
• God will be with you

• Be satisfied with what you have
• Be content with your situation
• Grab onto Christ so that you may have strength to face all conditions by His power
• Give onto the Lord - as a sweet-smelling offering, a sacrifice which is acceptable and pleasing to Him
• With all His abundant wealth through Christ Jesus, my God will supply all your needs

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

The LORD says, "My servant will succeed in his task; he will be highly honored. Many people were shocked when they saw him; he was so disfigured that he hardly looked human. But now many nations will marvel at him, and kings will be speechless with amazement. They will see and understand something they had never known."

December 17

The Training Ground of God

Psalms 144:1
Praise be to the Lord my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle.

David was a man skilled in war. From his days as a shepherd boy to the days of serving in Saul's army to leading his own army, David learned to be a skillful warrior. How does one become a skillful warrior?

The only way one can become a skillful warrior is to be trained and placed in the middle of the battle. It is only when we are placed in the furnace of battle that we truly learn to fight the real battles. Practice doesn't make you battle ready. War games won't prepare you for facing your real enemy in the battlefield. The stark reality of being in the midst of the battle makes us effective warriors.

Simply reading your Bible will not make you a warrior for the Kingdom. Knowledge without experience is mere folly. Only when you are placed in situations where there is nothing or no one who can save you but God will you learn the lessons of warrior faith. This is the training ground of God, which will make you into a soldier for Christ in the marketplace. Consider it to be suicidal faith-faith that says I want to be dead to anything that keeps me from fulfilling God's purposes for my life. It is when your efforts can do nothing to change your circumstance and you are at the mercy of God. These are the real training grounds of God. Do not shrink back from the battle that God may be leading you to today. It may be a training ground that is necessary for the calling He has on your life.

If you can trust Him in these times, you'll know that you have gained a faith that will move mountains and will sustain you in the most difficult of circumstances. "Praise be to the Lord my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle."

77 Days of Prayer for our New President

Sign up

For a passionate desire to walk in God’s love and light to sweep across our nation, resulting in obedience to His commands
And this is love: that we walk in obedience to His commands. As you have heard from the beginning, His command is that you walk in love.
—II John 1:6

O Lord God, You are light and there is no darkness anywhere in You. You are love and there is no hatred or evil anywhere in You. I praise and thank You for the security and hope this brings me today. You are victorious over every form of darkness, and I praise You for this, in Jesus Christ!
Holy God, You know the great darkness that lurks in our country, and You see how innocents and wise ones alike are fooled into thinking that darkness is light and wrong is right. I ask for Your truth to be shown in our country today, that together we may desire to walk in Your love, spurning evil and dark ways. Do this, because of Your kindness and love I pray, O holy God, amen.

December 16

The Anguish of Faith

Psalms 143:7
Do not hide Your face from me or I will be like those who go down to the pit.

Of all the biblical characters, David gives us a glimpse of a man who walked with God with great emotion in victory and in defeat. David never lost a battle throughout his many years of serving as king of Israel. In many of the Psalms, David often lamented about the difficult places where God had placed him. He talked of his enemies and the need for God to deliver Him. He talked of God's everlasting love for him. How do you suppose David came to this understanding after years of being sought after by King Saul who wanted to take his life? His years of turmoil within his family gave him many reasons to lose all hope in a loving God.

David often began his Psalms in a place of discouragement and loss of hope. But He never ended one Psalm in defeat. He always came to a place of victory in God by the end of the Psalm. David always placed his life in God's hands, knowing He would care for him.

Let the morning bring me word of Your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in You. Show me the way I should go, for to You I lift up my soul. Rescue me from my enemies, O Lord, for I hide myself in You. Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God; may Your good Spirit lead me on level ground (Psalm 143:8-10).

It is okay to feel discouragement. It is part of the process of grieving and working through those times of pain. But God wants each of us to allow Him to walk with us in these places. If you find yourself in one of these places, do what David did. Ask God to show you the way and let Him bring the word of His unfailing love to you.

Today's Reading: Philippians 3, Ezekiel 23 and Isaiah 51

• Worship God in Spirit and in Truth
• Righteousness that comes from God is based on faith
• Keep striving to win the prize for which Christ Jesus has already won we to himself
• Forget what is behind you and do what is best to reach what is ahead
• We are citizens of heaven and we eagerly wait for our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, to come from heaven.
• Pay attention to those who follow the right example that we have set for you
• He will change our weak mortal bodies and make them like his own glorious body, using that power by which he is able to bring all things under his rule.

Philippians 18-19

Pay attention to those who follow the right example that we have set for you. I have told you this many times before, and now I repeat it with tears: there are many whose lives make them enemies of Christ's death on the cross. They are going to end up in hell, because their god is their bodily desires. They are proud of what they should be ashamed of, and they think only of things that belong to this world.

God's Judgment on Both Sisters

³⁶The LORD said to me, "Mortal man, are you ready to judge Oholah and Oholibah? Accuse them of the disgusting things they have done. ³⁷They have committed adultery and murder--adultery with idols and murder of the children they bore me. They sacrificed my children to their idols. ³⁸And that is not all they did. They profaned my Temple and broke the Sabbath, which I had established. ³⁹The very day that they killed my children as sacrifices to idols, they came to my Temple and profaned it!
⁴⁰"Again and again they sent messengers to invite men to come from a great distance, and the men came. The two sisters would bathe and put on eye shadow and jewelry. ⁴¹They would sit on a beautiful couch, and in front of them they would have a table covered with good things, including the incense and the olive oil that I had given them. ⁴²The sound of a carefree crowd could be heard, a group of men brought in from the desert. They put bracelets on the women's arms and beautiful crowns on their heads. ⁴³And I said to myself that they were using as a prostitute a woman worn out by adultery. ⁴⁴They went back to these prostitutes again and again. They went back to Oholah and Oholibah, those immoral women. ⁴⁵Righteous men will condemn them on the charge of adultery and murder, because they practice adultery and their hands are stained with blood."
⁴⁶This is what the Sovereign LORD says: "Bring a mob to terrorize them and rob them. ⁴⁷Let the mob stone them and attack them with swords, kill their children, and burn down their houses. ⁴⁸Throughout the land I will put a stop to immorality, as a warning to every woman not to commit adultery as they did. ⁴⁹And you two sisters--I will punish you for your immorality and your sin of worshiping idols. Then you will know that I am the Sovereign LORD."

Words of Comfort to Jerusalem

¹The LORD says,
"Listen to me, you that want to be saved,
you that come to me for help.
Think of the rock from which you came,
the quarry from which you were cut.
²Think of your ancestor, Abraham,
and of Sarah, from whom you are descended.
When I called Abraham, he was childless,
but I blessed him and gave him children;
I made his descendants numerous.
³"I will show compassion to Jerusalem,
to all who live in her ruins.
Though her land is a desert, I will make it a garden,
like the garden I planted in Eden.
Joy and gladness will be there,
and songs of praise and thanks to me.
⁴"Listen to me, my people,
listen to what I say:
I give my teaching to the nations;
my laws will bring them light.
⁵I will come quickly and save them;
the time of my victory is near.
I myself will rule over the nations.
Distant lands wait for me to come;
they wait with hope for me to save them.
⁶Look up at the heavens; look at the earth!
The heavens will disappear like smoke;
the earth will wear out like old clothing,
and all its people will die like flies.
But the deliverance I bring will last forever;
my victory will be final.
⁷"Listen to me, you that know what is right,
who have my teaching fixed in your hearts.
Do not be afraid when people taunt and insult you;
⁸ they will vanish like moth-eaten clothing!
But the deliverance I bring will last forever;
my victory will endure for all time."
⁹Wake up, LORD, and help us!
Use your power and save us;
use it as you did in ancient times.
It was you that cut the sea monster Rahab to pieces.
¹⁰It was you also who dried up the sea
and made a path through the water,
so that those you were saving could cross.
¹¹Those whom you have rescued
will reach Jerusalem with gladness,
singing and shouting for joy.
They will be happy forever,
forever free from sorrow and grief.
¹²The LORD says,
"I am the one who strengthens you.
Why should you fear mortals,
who are no more enduring than grass?
¹³Have you forgotten the LORD who made you,
who stretched out the heavens
and laid the earth's foundations?
Why should you live in constant fear
of the fury of those who oppress you,
of those who are ready to destroy you?
Their fury can no longer touch you.
¹⁴Those who are prisoners will soon be set free;
they will live a long life
and have all the food they need.
¹⁵"I am the LORD your God;
I stir up the sea
and make its waves roar.
My name is the LORD Almighty!
¹⁶I stretched out the heavens
and laid the earth's foundations;
I say to Jerusalem, 'You are my people!
I have given you my teaching,
and I protect you with my hand.'"

The End of Jerusalem's Suffering

¹⁷Jerusalem, wake up!
Rouse yourself and get up!
You have drunk the cup of punishment
that the LORD in his anger gave you to drink;
you drank it down, and it made you stagger.
¹⁸There is no one to lead you,
no one among your people
to take you by the hand.
¹⁹A double disaster has fallen on you:
your land has been devastated by war,
and your people have starved.
There is no one to show you sympathy.
²⁰At the corner of every street
your people collapse from weakness;
they are like deer caught in a hunter's net.
They have felt the force of God's anger.
²¹You suffering people of Jerusalem,
you that stagger as though you were drunk,
²²the LORD your God defends you and says,
"I am taking away the cup
that I gave you in my anger.
You will no longer have to drink
the wine that makes you stagger.
²³I will give it to those who oppressed you,
to those who made you lie down in the streets
and trampled on you as if you were dirt."

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.  - Colossians 3:23-24

God sees our work as worship.

We are all called into missions

The place is what is different:

• Foreign Lands
• Marketplace
• Your Neighborhood
• Your City
• Your State or Province
• Your Country

Today's Devotional from Today God Is First: The Fallacy of Full-Time Christian Work

Today's Reading from the Word of God: Philippians 2.12-30, Ezekiel 21-22 and Isaiah 50

• Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may be innocent and pure as God's perfect children, who live in a world of corrupt and sinful people
• Shine among them like stars lighting up the sky, as you offer them a message of life.

Ezekiel 22

³⁰I looked for someone who could build a wall, who could stand in the places where the walls have crumbled and defend the land when my anger is about to destroy it, but I could find no one. ³¹So I will turn my anger loose on them, and like a fire I will destroy them for what they have done." The Sovereign LORD has spoken.

Lord,
I pray for the leaders over me that they will stand in agreement with You and will follow after You and Your will. The the president and vice-president, the cabinet and other they bring into authority will look to You for their wisdom and direction, their hope and courage.

Lord,
Be glorified today. Be honored by what I say and do. May I be a reflection of You so that others will look up to You. And I will give You all the praise and all the glory and all the honor, in Jesus' name. Amen.

The Obedience of the LORD's Servant

Isaiah 50

⁴The Sovereign LORD has taught me what to say,
so that I can strengthen the weary.
Every morning he makes me eager
to hear what he is going to teach me.
⁵The LORD has given me understanding,
and I have not rebelled
or turned away from him.
⁶I bared my back to those who beat me.
I did not stop them when they insulted me,
when they pulled out the hairs of my beard
and spit in my face.
⁷But their insults cannot hurt me
because the Sovereign LORD gives me help.
I brace myself to endure them.
I know that I will not be disgraced,
⁸ for God is near,
and he will prove me innocent.
Does anyone dare bring charges against me?
Let us go to court together!
Let him bring his accusation!
⁹The Sovereign LORD himself defends me--
who, then, can prove me guilty?
All my accusers will disappear;
they will vanish like moth-eaten cloth.
¹⁰All of you that honor the LORD
and obey the words of his servant,
the path you walk may be dark indeed,
but trust in the LORD, rely on your God.
¹¹All of you that plot to destroy others
will be destroyed by your own plots.
The LORD himself will make this happen;
you will suffer a miserable fate.

• to never fail in your duties?
• to be full of courage, so that with your whole being you will bring honor to Christ, whether you live or die?
• to add to other's progress and joy in faith?
• to stand firm with one common purpose?
• to fight together for the faith of the gospel?
• to never fear your enemies and always be courageous?
• to prove to others that they will lose and that you will win, because it is God who gives your the victory?
• to serve Christ, not only by believing in Him, but also by suffering for Him?

Ezekiel 18 The LORD spoke to me ²and said, "What is this proverb people keep repeating in the land of Israel?
'The parents ate the sour grapes,
But the children got the sour taste.'
³"As surely as I am the living God," says the Sovereign LORD, "you will not repeat this proverb in Israel any more. ⁴The life of every person belongs to me, the life of the parent as well as that of the child. The person who sins is the one who will die.
⁵"Suppose there is a truly good man, righteous and honest. ⁶He doesn't worship the idols of the Israelites or eat the sacrifices offered at forbidden shrines. He doesn't seduce another man's wife or have intercourse with a woman during her period. ⁷He doesn't cheat or rob anyone. He returns what a borrower gives him as security; he feeds the hungry and gives clothing to the naked. ⁸He doesn't lend money for profit. He refuses to do evil and gives an honest decision in any dispute. ⁹Such a man obeys my commands and carefully keeps my laws. He is righteous, and he will live," says the Sovereign LORD.
¹⁰"Then suppose this man has a son who robs and kills, who does any of these things ¹¹that the father never did. He eats sacrifices offered at forbidden shrines and seduces other men's wives. ¹²He cheats the poor, he robs, he keeps what a borrower gives him as security. He goes to pagan shrines, worships disgusting idols, ¹³and lends money for profit. Will he live? No, he will not. He has done all these disgusting things, and so he will die. He will be to blame for his own death.
¹⁴"Now suppose this second man has a son. He sees all the sins his father practiced, but does not follow his example. ¹⁵He doesn't worship the idols of the Israelites or eat the sacrifices offered at forbidden shrines. He doesn't seduce another man's wife ¹⁶or oppress anyone or rob anyone. He returns what a borrower gives him as security. He feeds the hungry and gives clothing to the naked. ¹⁷He refuses to do evil and doesn't lend money for profit. He keeps my laws and obeys my commands. He will not die because of his father's sins, but he will certainly live. ¹⁸His father, on the other hand, cheated and robbed and always did evil to everyone. And so he died because of the sins he himself had committed.
¹⁹"But you ask, 'Why shouldn't the son suffer because of his father's sins?' The answer is that the son did what was right and good. He kept my laws and followed them carefully, and so he will certainly live. ²⁰It is the one who sins who will die. A son is not to suffer because of his father's sins, nor a father because of the sins of his son. Good people will be rewarded for doing good, and evil people will suffer for the evil they do.
²¹"If someone evil stops sinning and keeps my laws, if he does what is right and good, he will not die; he will certainly live. ²²All his sins will be forgiven, and he will live, because he did what is right. ²³Do you think I enjoy seeing evil people die?" asks the Sovereign LORD. "No, I would rather see them repent and live.
²⁴"But if a righteous person stops doing good and starts doing all the evil, disgusting things that evil people do, will he go on living? No! None of the good he did will be remembered. He will die because of his unfaithfulness and his sins.
²⁵"But you say, 'What the Lord does isn't right.' Listen to me, you Israelites. Do you think my way of doing things isn't right? It is your way that isn't right. ²⁶When a righteous person stops doing good and starts doing evil and then dies, he dies because of the evil he has done. ²⁷When someone evil stops sinning and does what is right and good, he saves his life. ²⁸He realizes what he is doing and stops sinning, so he will certainly not die, but go on living. ²⁹And you Israelites say, 'What the Lord does isn't right.' You think my way isn't right, do you? It is your way that isn't right.
³⁰"Now I, the Sovereign LORD, am telling you Israelites that I will judge each of you by what you have done. Turn away from all the evil you are doing, and don't let your sin destroy you. ³¹Give up all the evil you have been doing, and get yourselves new minds and hearts. Why do you Israelites want to die? ³²I do not want anyone to die," says the Sovereign LORD. "Turn away from your sins and live."

Trying to raise the vision in your own strength will fail

• remember how Moses tried to fulfill the vision of freeing the Hebrews by killing the Egyptian

Wait upon the Lord to fulfill the vision.

• God gave Moses signs and wonders to convince Pharaoh to free the people and bring them out of Egypt and into the Promised Land

Today's Reading:
Philippians 1.1-11, Ezekiel 18 and Isaiah 47
from www.dailybible.com

So you will be FREE
from all impurity and blame
on the Day of Christ.

The Whole Armor of God

¹⁰Finally, build up your strength in union with the Lord and by means of his mighty power. ¹¹Put on all the armor that God gives you, so that you will be able to stand up against the Devil's evil tricks. ¹²For we are not fighting against human beings but against the wicked spiritual forces in the heavenly world, the rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers of this dark age. ¹³So put on God's armor now! Then when the evil day comes, you will be able to resist the enemy's attacks; and after fighting to the end, you will still hold your ground.
¹⁴So stand ready, with truth as a belt tight around your waist, with righteousness as your breastplate, ¹⁵and as your shoes the readiness to announce the Good News of peace. ¹⁶At all times carry faith as a shield; for with it you will be able to put out all the burning arrows shot by the Evil One. ¹⁷And accept salvation as a helmet, and the word of God as the sword which the Spirit gives you. ¹⁸Do all this in prayer, asking for God's help. Pray on every occasion, as the Spirit leads. For this reason keep alert and never give up; pray always for all God's people. ¹⁹And pray also for me, that God will give me a message when I am ready to speak, so that I may speak boldly and make known the gospel's secret. ²⁰For the sake of this gospel I am an ambassador, though now I am in prison. Pray that I may be bold in speaking about the gospel as I should.

Heavenly Father,
How are we (You and I) supposed to spend our time today?

Heavenly Father,
I pray today that I may move closer to You and be even more in Your will. Help me Lord to be centered in the things You have for me today. Life is so busy and I understand that there are things that You desire and that daily You help me with my calendar by removing things that don't need to be there and add in extra things that are more important and in alignment with Your plans for the day. I appreciate having You be the administrator of my day and I pray for clarity and vision as I look towards the future and what You would have planned for me. I remember the be President or be nothing talk. I remember hearing references of being visionary. Lord, without You, I am nothing. Lord, with You all things are possible. As I look to work and I look to church, I see both calling me to leadership, leadership beyond my current positions or roles. Help me I pray to know how high You have called me to go. Help me I pray to know what things to take on which I am to leave for someone else to receive Your blessings. I know that You have put me where I am and have put me where I was, for such a day and such a time as this. So as You look to this coming year, 2010, help me to prioritize my life around Your goals, Your plans, Your purposes, and Your vision, in Jesus' name I pray. And Lord, I will give You all the praise and all the glory and all the honor, in Jesus' name. Amen.

Today's Devotional comes from Today God Is First:
Following Only the Father's Commands  http://www.crosswalk.com/devotionals/marketplace/ 

Today's Reading comes from DailyBible.com:
Ephesians 6, Ezekiel 17 and Isaiah 46

Let's morn over the lack of respect for human life - leading to the killing of innocent babies

Let's morn over our sins

Let's morn the things being done that shouldn't be

Let's morn the things that aren't being done that should be

Let's morn things that are our of alignment from the will of God - in marriages, in families, in friendships, in work, in politics...

Let's morn over people not putting God first and worshipping Him

Let's mourn those who are focusing more on stuff than on God

Let's mourn those who aren't honoring their parents

Let's mourn murder and everyone who is impacted by this

Let's mourn adultery and the impact it has on so many lives

Let's mourn stealing and how impacts so many

Let's mourn lies

Let's mourn covetness

Is there anything that you are grieving or mourning that I can come along side you and pray with you?
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I will come along side and pray and mourn with You and try to bring the encouragement of God to you.

Today's Devotional: The First Requirement of Ministry

Today's Reading: Ephesians 5.21-33, Ezekiel 16 and Isaiah 45

Ephesians 5 ²¹Submit yourselves to one another because of your reverence for Christ.
²²Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands as to the Lord. ²³For a husband has authority over his wife just as Christ has authority over the church; and Christ is himself the Savior of the church, his body. ²⁴And so wives must submit themselves completely to their husbands just as the church submits itself to Christ.
²⁵Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave his life for it. ²⁶He did this to dedicate the church to God by his word, after making it clean by washing it in water, ²⁷in order to present the church to himself in all its beauty--pure and faultless, without spot or wrinkle or any other imperfection. ²⁸Men ought to love their wives just as they love their own bodies. A man who loves his wife loves himself. ( ²⁹None of us ever hate our own bodies. Instead, we feed them, and take care of them, just as Christ does the church; ³⁰for we are members of his body.) ³¹As the scripture says, "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and unite with his wife, and the two will become one." ³²There is a deep secret truth revealed in this scripture, which I understand as applying to Christ and the church. ³³But it also applies to you: every husband must love his wife as himself, and every wife must respect her husband.

Acts 8:26
Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Go south to the road-the desert road-that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza."

Let my life be controlled by love.

Help me to focus on thanking God for all that He has done for and given to me.

May I live a life that is in the light and shines reflects the goodness and greatness of Jesus Christ so that I may share in the harvest of every kind of goodness, righteousness, and truth.

Let what I say and what I do please You my Lord - and help me to do and speak things that please You

Help me to make good use of every opportunity You bring to me today.

Let my words be words that build up people or tear down strongholds.

Today's Reading: Ephesians 5.1-20, Ezekiel 14-15 and Isaiah 44

Today's Devotional: http://www.crosswalk.com/devotionals/marketplace/