Archives for October 2012

Jeremiah 28

Jeremiah 28:1-4 How easily the people were taken in by the promises of this false prophet Hananaiah whose name means “Jehovah has favoured.” Lord. Train my ears to hear only the truth of Your Word and the sound of Your voice. May I be able to quickly discern what is true and what is false, and then may I tell others, not keeping such good news to myself.

Jeremiah 28:13-14 Lord, I thank You that Your yoke fits perfectly, and the burden You give me is light. (Matthew 11:30). Help me not to be yoked to any lie that will eventually take me into deeper bondage. I want to serve You with a willing heart.

Jeremiah 29

Jeremiah 29:7 It was God’s will for the captives to become a part of the nation where they had to live, adding to the public welfare by praying and working for peace, for it was only by the nations peace that they could have peace. This is God’s will for any people. Christianity demands that every Christian add to the betterment of the society in which he or she lives, so as to make the world a better place. Pray to The Lord for peace in the place where you live.

Jeremiah 29:10 Lord, I thank You for Your ninefold restoration plan you had for Your people Israel.
1. I will visit you. 2. I will perform My good word to you. 3. I will cause you to return to your own land and place. 4. I have good thoughts toward you, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you an expected end.(v11) 5. You will call upon Me and will pray to Me, and I will hear you (v12) 6. You will seek Me, and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart (v13). 7. I will be found by you (v14). 8. I will turn away you captivity, and will gather you from the nations where I have driven you. 9. I will bring you back into the place where I caused you to be carried away.

Jeremiah 29:11 What a comfort this promise is to me, Lord. Thank You for Your plans for me, plans for good and not for disaster, plans that give me a future and a hope. I submit my life and my will to Your plans, Lord.

Jeremiah 29:13 “O God, You are my God; I earnestly search for You. My soul thirst for You” (Psalm 63:1). Show Yourself to me in new ways today.

Psalm 90

Psalm 90:4 For You, Lord, a thousand years are as yesterday! They are like a few hours! Save me from a slavish, stress-filled devotion to my own timetables. Help me instead to see time eternity through Your eyes.

Psalm 90:16 God, please open my eyes so that I see Your miracles all around me. Help me as I teach my children also, so that they will grow up with an acute awareness of how gloriously You work in heir lives and in their world.

2 Peter 3

2 Peter 3:1 Lord, please stimulate wholesome thinking and refresh my memory of the wonderful things I Have been taught about You.
3:9 Thank God for His patient love as He postpones the day of judgement so that everyone will have an opportunity to know Him.

2 Peter 3:10-12 Pray that God will give you a spirit of peace and joy rather than one of fear as you contemplate the day of The Lord.

2 Peter 3:13 Lord of lords, You have made this present universe so beautiful, I can’t imagine what You have in store for us in Your new heavens and new earth where You will live all Your people in peace. Hallelujah!

2 Peter 3:18 Pray that you will grow in the knowledge of your Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and be grounded and secure in your faith.

Jeremiah 24

Jeremiah 24:7 Lord, work in my heart so that I will always recognize You as Lord. Be my God. Lord let me be like the good figs following You with my whole heart all my life.

Jeremiah 27

This chapter shows us that while God never ordains false leaders, He may use wicked leaders, even self-appointed ones to perform His purposes.
What an irony. God warns against false leaders and simultaneously uses an evil king (the Babylonian Nebuchadnezzar) to prune the people He calls His own. This chapter helps us today to see an important truth regarding how God carries out His will in history.

Jeremiah 27:5 Almighty God, by Your great power You made the earth and all its people and every animal. You can do whatever You choose. We are all in your hands, Lord, from the greatest to the smallest. Help us to recognize You for who You are and ourselves for what we are.

Jeremiah 27:14 Lord, help us to put our faith in You and Your promises and not in the words of mere humans.

Jeremiah 27:22 Lord, You promised to bring Your people back to Jerusalem, and You kept that promise, and the whole world cannot deny the fact that Israel is a nation, even if they wont accept it. I thank You because You are faithful to Your Word. Help me to speak simply and truthfully too, and always keep my word. (Matthew 5:37)

2 Peter 2

2 Peter 2:1 Pray that God will give you the desire to know and understand His word so that you can recognize those who are not teaching the truth.

2 Peter 2:4-10 Praise and adore the almighty God of justice, because He will always reward righteousness and punish evil “right to the day of judgment.”

2 Peter 2:19-20 Ask the Lord to reveal to you if there is anything besides the Spirit that has you in its control, such as addiction or recurring sin. Pray that God will disentangle you from any such thing that holds you captive.

2 Kings 24

2 Kings 24:3-4 The innocent blood of martyrs is precious to God. Pray for the persecuted church on earth. May it reap a rich harvest of souls for the kingdom of God.

Psalm 124

Psalm 124:1, 4-5 If You, Lord, were not on my side, I would long ago have been engulfed by calamity and overwhelmed by terrors. Thank You for preserving me by Your mercy.

2 Peter 1

2 Peter 1:3-4 Thank The Lord for giving you the power you need to say no to evil desires and forces that would keep you from sharing His divine goodness.

2 Peter 1:5-7 Ask God’s help in applying His precious promises to your life so that you grow in moral excellence and in knowing God and in all the qualities that result; self-control, endurance, godliness, and genuine love.

2 Peter 1:19-21 The more I study Your Word, Father, the more I see how it is like a light shinning in a dark place. Your Word is indeed a light for my path (Psalm 119:105).

Today’s bible readings have stirred me to invite you to join me in praying for the suffering church. They need us now to stand with them as the heat of persecution is being turned up more and more.

Here are some points we can really pray for our suffering brothers and sisters.

For their physical protection and deliverance.

Matthew 26:39 “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as Thou wilt.”

Acts 12:5 “So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God.”

Philippians 1:19 “For I know that this shall turn out for my deliverance (from jail) through your prayers.”

Philemon 22 “I hope that through your prayers I shall be given to you (from jail)”

Romans 15:30-31 “Now I urge you, brethren… to strive together with me in your prayers to God for me, that I may be delivered from those who are disobedient in Judea”.

God predicted persecution:

Acts 20:23-24 “the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me. But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, in order that I may finish my course”

And the suffering came:

Acts 21:30-31 “And all the city was aroused, and the people rushed together; and taking hold of Paul, they dragged him out of the temple; and… were seeking to kill him.”

That God would give them the right words and that they would fearlessly make Christ known

Here Paul tells how to pray for him when he was suffering for Christ in jail—notice his prayer was not for release.

Ephesians 6:19-20 “Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should.”

Colossians 4:2-4 “Devote yourselves to prayer… praying at the same time for us as well, that God may open up to us a door for the word, so that we may speak forth the mystery of Christ, for which I have also been imprisoned; in order that I may make it clear in the way I ought to speak.”

That they will see God’s grace as sufficient and God’s power perfected in their weakness

(2 Corinthians 12:9-10)

That they would love Christ’s appearing all the more

2 Timothy 4:5-8 “I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.”

Hebrews 11:35 “…others were tortured, not accepting their release, in order that they might obtain a better resurrection”.

That they will rejoice in sharing the sufferings of Jesus so that they will rejoice even more when Christ is revealed

Hebrews 10:34 “…accepted joyfully the seizure of your property, knowing that you have for yourselves a better possession and an abiding one.”

Matthew 5:12 “Rejoice, and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

I Peter 4:13 “but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing; so that also at the revelation of His glory, you may rejoice with exultation.”

That they will endure

Hebrews 10:36 “For you have need of endurance.”
That they will choose ill-treatment and the reproach of Christ, not pleasures of sin

Hebrews 11:24-26 “Moses… (chose) rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God, than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin; considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt.”

That they will arm themselves with this purpose: to suffer so as to eradicate sin

1 Peter 4:1 “arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in flesh has ceased from sin.”

Hebrews 5:8 “Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered.”

That they will love Christ far more than life itself

Revelation 12:10-11 “they overcame (Satan) because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even to death.”

Philippians 1:21 “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”

Acts 20:24 “I (Paul) do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, in order that I may finish my course.”

That they will love their enemies

Luke 6:27-31 “But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”

That they not enter into temptation—an easy possibility under the stress of persecution

(Luke 22:39-45 – Jesus in the garden)

That they will rejoice that they are considered worthy to suffer for HIS name

Acts 5:41 “So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name.”

That they will remember they were made for such persecution

Acts 14:22 “Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God.”
Philippians 1:29 “For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake.”

That they will live the joy of the Lord before their persecutors

Acts 16:25 “But about midnight Paul and Silas (in jail) were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.”

Philippians 1:28 “…in no way alarmed by your opponents—which is a sign of destruction for them, but of salvation for you, and that too, from God.”

That they will remember their unbelievable future glory

Romans 8:18 “For I consider that the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”
That they would learn to more completely trust in God

2 Corinthians 1:8-9 “For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves in order that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead”

That they would rejoice that they bear in their bodies the “brand marks of Christ”

Galatians 6:17 “From now on let no one cause trouble for me, for I bear on my body the brand-marks of Jesus.”

That they would rejoice in filling up that which is lacking in Christ’s sufferings

Colossians 1:24 “Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I do my share on behalf of His body (which is the church) in filling up that which is lacking in Christ’s afflictions.”

Jeremiah 13

Jeremiah 13:1-11 God instructed Jeremiah to wear a linen sash for a while, then bury it. What happened? The once useful sash became useless. Through this sash, God provides a teaching analogy for His people. The ruined piece of clothing represented the people of Israel who once served and worshiped God, but then became useless through their disobedience.
Lord help me to consider the parallels between the sash and my life.
I will remain useful when I am stretched, because we must be stretched and challenged. I will remain useful when I am secure, so I must draw my identity from God. I will remain useful when I am solid, I must possess stable values.
Lord I become useless when I am soiled because I cannot live with sin and apathy. I become useless when I am separated, we cannot live as mavericks. The sash became useless when it shrunk. I know I am not useful when I think small.
So I thank You, Father, for making me one of Your people, Your pride, Your glory, an honour to Your name. Help me to cling to You always.

Jeremiah 13:19 Join me in prayer today for refugees throughout the world, those who have left their homes and jobs and security because of war or famine or disaster.

1 Peter 4

1 Peter 4:2-3 Father, it’s so hard to change our bad habits and sinful ways of thinking, but we want to please You and do Your will. Through the Word and the power of Your Holy Spirit give us the strength, day by day, to break the cycle of sin and guilt, in Jesus name the Son of the Living God.

1 Peter 4:8-9 Ask God for a heart that is open and ready to deeply love others and a home that expresses love in generous hospitality.

1 Peter 4:16-17 Lord, keep me away from fear of what people think or say. Caused me to be reminded that it is no shame to suffer for being Christian, knowing that the glorious Spirit of God will come upon me. Lord, keep me focused! “Judgment must first begin at the house of God.”

Jeremiah 48

Jeremiah 48:7 Father just as Moab and it’s national god Chemosh was taken captive because the people put their trust in wealth and skills. Please help us not to put our trust in wealth and skills but only in You and your love for us.

Jeremiah 48:10 Lord, let me never refuse to do the work You give me, or to do it half –heartedly or cowardly even when it seems strange or puzzling to me. I see those who were called to be God’s instruments of chastening upon Moab were to be blessed in their work if they did it honestly and boldly; but if they did it half-heartedly and cowardly they would be cursed.

Jeremiah 48:27 Father, take away any attitude that we may have of looking down on others. When we in anyway mock those that are weaker than we are, burn our conscience with the knowledge that ridiculing others is a prideful act. Save us from such pride.

Jeremiah 48:33 Ask God to revive joy and gladness in churches in our nation, that have lost the joy of His salvation (Psalm 51:12)

Jeremiah 48:42 Forgive me, Lord, when I boast about anything but what You have done.

Jeremiah 49

Jeremiah 49:6 Pray that God will restore those who have been rebuked and have repented of their sins.

Jeremiah 49:7 God, in this difficult world in which we live, we desperately need wisdom. surround us with wise counsellors, Lord, people who have gotten their wisdom not just from books but from You.

Jeremiah 49:15 Lord, cut down to size all those who boast of their intelligence and abilities, including me.

Jeremiah 49:19 Father God, I praise You because there is none like You; no one can challenge You or oppose Your will.

Jeremiah 49:31 Lord, help me to be responsible in all I do but save me from a prideful sense of self-sufficiency.

Jeremiah 49:36 Lord, I praise You because nations come and go, but You are eternal. What confidence and comfort that gives me in this transient world.

Psalm 34:11-22

Psalm 34:13-14 Help me to watch my tongue, Lord. Keep my lips from telling lies. Help me turn away from evil, do good, and work hard at living peacefully with others.

Psalm 34:18 Lord, life today so easily breaks people’s hearts and crushes their spirits. Please be with the broken hearted and discouraged in our community, church and family.

1 Peter 3

1 Peter 3:1-5 Submit your self-image to God’s scrutiny and control. Let Him revise your need for approval from others. Ask Him to give you a quiet and gentle spirit as your most outstanding characteristic.

1 Peter 3:8-9 Confess your tendency to hold on to a proud and self-protective attitude. Ask God to make you tenderhearted and sympathetic, giving back blessings when others treat you badly.

1 Peter 3:13-17 Lord, I cannot live a good life except through belonging to you and being obedient to your Holy Spirit. Teach me what to say when others ask me about the hope I have in You.