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“Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth”. (Proverbs 27:1)
A highly successful country songwriter by the name of Marijohn Wilkin drifted away from her faith after finding success. At a time of crisis and personal desperation, as the story goes, she stopped at a church for some counselling and prayer. The young Minister who was on duty had apparently asked her during the conversation, whether she had ever considered being thankful to God for her problems. As she went home and pondered over that statement, she began to play her piano and the words of a song came to her. Needing some help to complete the lyrics that she had written down, she approached Kris Kristofferson (of Why Me Lord fame) who helped her with some of the remaining words. The completed song goes like this.
“You are a shield around me, O Lord; You bestow glory on me and lift up my head”. (Psalm 3:3)
Too often at social meetings, worship meetings and at hospitals, I see people with their heads hanging low, bowed down by the burdens they are carrying. Some of them may have no one to talk to, while others show no hope in their eyes. They are desperately looking for answers. Many more have resigned themselves to the challenges they are battling with.
What about you? Is your head bowed down today because of a burden you are carrying? Are you desperate for God to come through? For Him to ‘lift up your head’?
“I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10 NKJV)
As Christians we are recipients of Divine life that is both eternal and abundant. Isn’t it strange therefore as to how often we speak about death in our vocabulary?
For instance, when our job or boss is giving us a tough time, we may say, “my job is killing me’ or ’my boss is killing me’. When our feet are tired, we say, ’my feet are killing me’. If we are desperate to share a story with someone, we may say, ’ My, I was dying to tell you this’ or ’I was dying to meet you’! When someone says something that is right to the point, we say,’you are dead right’. On the contrary, when someone says something inaccurate, we say, ’you’re dead wrong’, and if someone is a constant failure, we may call him ’a dead loss’!! When we say or do something that is embarrassing, we say, ’I could have died then and there’, or when someone shares a story that is difficult to believe, we ask, ’are you dead sure’? Many times I have heard people who are angry or upset say, ’not over my dead body’!!
Praise be to our God!
2 days ago, on 1st September, we completed our first Anniversary of the online ministry of ‘The Preaching Platform’. I well remember the day this ministry was launched 1 year ago at the Peoples Church (Assembly of God).
As we look back over 1 year of God’s faithfulness, we thank Him for the way He has blessed our efforts and for the lives He has touched through this ministry. The sermons and devotionals on the blog have had 10391 page views in 142 countries over the past year, besides the views on Facebook and Twitter.
Photo Credit – Gary Patton – Courtesy of flickr
So far in this series, we have discussed the following prayer strategies of Nehemiah.
- He prayed fervently
- He focused on the greatness of the One he was praying to
- He prayed for favor
- He prayed the promises of God
- He prayed against resistance
- He prayed for strength
- He personalized his prayers
Many years ago, the music band Starship recorded a hit song called ‘We built this city on rock ‘n roll’. However, Nehemiah built the walls of Jerusalem on prayer, and through the guidance, wisdom and courage he received as a result of his prayers.
Since last week, the eyes of the sports world have been firmly fixed on the Rio Olympics. As expected, new records have been set, new talented athletes haven been discovered and some of the more seasoned campaigners have also proved that they are still at their best!
Personal Sports Memories-
I have always been a fan of sports and my favorites have been cricket, football and tennis, in that order. As a schoolboy, I remember waking up very early to listen to cricket commentaries on short-wave radio from Australia, staying up late when they were being transmitted from England, and staying up even later to listen to commentaries from the Caribbean. All the listening was done through a small radio we owned.
Another sports memory that will always be entrenched in my mind is tuning in at around 3 in the morning to listen to the 1970 Football World Cup final between Brazil and Italy, being played in Mexico. I still remember the thrill I felt when the legend Pele scored the 1st goal and very specially, the final goal scored by the Brazilian captain, Carlos Alberto, later to be described as one of the most memorable goals in World Cup history! The commentary team from BBC Radio made you feel like you were actually watching the game!
CONTINUE READING
Photo credit – Bethany Krueger – courtesy of flickr
Hi Friends, in our last post we shared 4 prayer pointers from the life of Nehemiah. They were,
- He prayed fervently
- His focus was on the greatness of the One he was praying to
- He prayed for favor
- His prayer included the promises of God
Today, we will look at 3 more prayer thoughts from Nehemiah. They are,
Welcome to my Sermon/Devotional blog The Preaching Platform. My name is Palitha Jayasooriya and I am a Pastor from Sri Lanka.More About Me
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