Day 6 - Intense Treatment - Cutting off and springing forth into freedom

 God of Freedom,

We know it does not please you when we play at "fasting" and go through the motions of penance.  You want us to free those who are wrongly imprisoned, lighten the burdens of those who work for you, let the oppressed go free, remove the chains that bind people, share our food with the hungry, give shelter to the homeless, give clothes to those who need them, stop pointing fingers and spreading vicious lies and rumors, and not turn away from our own flesh and blood who need help. Then your salvation will come like dawn and our wounds will quickly heal.  

Your godliness will lead us forward and your glory will be our rear guard.  Then when we call on the Lord you will answer quickly, "I am here."  Your light will shine from the darkness as bright as noon.  You will guide us continually giving water when we are dry and restoring our strength.  We will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring.  Some of us will rebuild the deserted ruins of our cities.  Give us wisdom over how to rectify problems so we can move forward speedily.  Then we will be known as rebuilders of walls and restorers of homes. May your glory set a guard behind us.   

We know there is now no condemnation for us in Christ because the law of the Spirit has set us free.  We do not live according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit and have our minds set on what the Spirit desires.  When we are governed by the Spirit, our minds have life and peace and we live in the realm of the Spirit.  We are led by the Spirit, children of God and not living in fear.  We cry "Abba, Father" because we are co-heirs with Christ.  We, along with Creation, eagerly await when Christ will deliver us from bondage and decay and bring us into freedom and glory.  We wait patiently and hope for what we don't yet have and the Spirit intercedes for us.  

We know that in all things you work for the good of those who love you and are called according to your purpose.  You foreknew us and predestined us to be conformed to the image of Jesus.  We are called, justified, and glorified.  You are interceding for us and we are more than conquerors through Christ who loves us.  Thank you that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord - not death, life, angels, demons, present, past, future, powers, height, depth - NOTHING.  Thank you that your Blood flows through us and restores us, in Jesus's name. Amen!

Is this the kind of fast I have chosen,

    only a day for people to humble themselves?

Is it only for bowing one’s head like a reed

    and for lying in sackcloth and ashes?

Is that what you call a fast,

    a day acceptable to the Lord?

6 

“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:

to loose the chains of injustice

    and untie the cords of the yoke,

to set the oppressed free

    and break every yoke?

7 

Is it not to share your food with the hungry

    and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—

when you see the naked, to clothe them,

    and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?

8 

Then your light will break forth like the dawn,

    and your healing will quickly appear;

then your righteousness[a] will go before you,

    and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.

9 

Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;

    you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.

“If you do away with the yoke of oppression,

    with the pointing finger and malicious talk,

10 

and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry

    and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,

then your light will rise in the darkness,

    and your night will become like the noonday.

11 

The Lord will guide you always;

    he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land

    and will strengthen your frame.

You will be like a well-watered garden,

    like a spring whose waters never fail.

12 

Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins

    and will raise up the age-old foundations;

you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,

    Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.  (Isaiah 58:5-12 NIV)

Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

5 Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6 The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. 7 The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. 8 Those who are in the realm of the flesh cannot please God.

9 You, however, are not in the realm of the flesh but are in the realm of the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ. 10 But if Christ is in you, then even though your body is subject to death because of sin, the Spirit gives life because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.

12 Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. 13 For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.

14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. 15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.

 

18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.

22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.

26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

 

31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long;

    we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  (Romans 8 NIV)

Idea from:  https://www.elijahlist.com/words/display_word_pf.html?ID=25704 

Some notes from:   NIV Study Bible (c) Zondervan, 2011

February 26, 2021 Prayer - Praying for Deliverance, Healing, and Restoration for this State

God of Restoration, 

Thank you that your steadfast love never ceases and your mercies are new every morning.  You are our portion and we hope in you.  Thank you that even when our circumstances look as dark as night, you do not abandon us.  Even when the Israelites committed idolatry and great blasphemies, in your great mercies you did not forsake them.  You led them, gave your good spirit to instruct them, and gave them the physical food and water they needed.  Today we pray and intercede for the people of this state.  While we know great idolatry and blasphemy has been committed in parts of this state, we also know that you do not forsake your People here.  We pray your Good Spirit, your Living Water, your Bread of Life, and your great Hope would be poured out in this state.  She is afflicted, perplexed, persecuted, and struck down, but you are the God of Hope, Healing, and Restoration.  We pray you would root out and break the power of evil in this state's government, even as you protect the righteous who work in government.  Cause business owners to turn to you and cry out to you for solutions - may they see supernatural things happen in their midst! Pour out wisdom and discernment on every administrator, educator, parent, and others working with the children in this state.  By your Spirit, cause families to be drawn together to each other and to you.  Provide jobs and other resources so people can care for their families well.  May those who have been cooped up physically, emotionally, and spiritually, be released from that bondage into the freedom of abundant life in you.  Give those in law enforcement wisdom and authority over the situations they encounter. Protect and preserve people in homelessness.  Protect and deliver those in bondage to suicide or  addictions.  We pray you would break spirits of despair and fear that were dumped on this state; we bind these spirits in the name of Jesus and, instead, release spirits of Hope, Healing, Restoration, and Victory.  Holy Spirit, cause revival and reformation, renewal and refreshment to well up in each local Body of your Church so that Christians stand firm in faith, serve those around them, organize for greater fruitfulness, and show your Love and Power in all counties in this state.  We ask all of this in the strong name of Christ.  Amen!

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,
    his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
    “therefore I will hope in him.” (Lamentations 3:22-24 NRSV)

"Even when they had cast an image of a calf for themselves and said, ‘This is your God who brought you up out of Egypt,’ and had committed great blasphemies, you in your great mercies did not forsake them in the wilderness; the pillar of cloud that led them in the way did not leave them by day, nor the pillar of fire by night that gave them light on the way by which they should go. You gave your good spirit to instruct them, and did not withhold your manna from their mouths, and gave them water for their thirst." (Nehamiah 9:18-20 NRSV)

"But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. " (2 Corinthians 4:7-10 ESV)

"For the power of the wicked will be broken,
    but the Lord upholds the righteous." (Psalm 37:17 NIV)

"I will give you the keys of heaven’s kingdom realm to forbid on earth that which is forbidden in heaven, and to release on earth that which is released in heaven.” (Matthew 16:19 TPT)

"A thief is only there to steal and kill and destroy. I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of." (John 10:10 MSG)

"For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. " (Galatians 5:1 NRSV)

Family hurts

Tonight I talked with someone whose spouse is very unsupportive, even verbally abusive. There are two preschool children in this marriage who watch and absorb this environment. My heart hurts for this situation.

God, you who created all things and said they were good, we pray for each of these parents to be drawn deeply into conviction and relationship with you. We pray for protection for these children - especially emotional and spiritual protection - that they would see themselves as precious children deeply loved by you and that their self image and emotional tanks would be filled by that Truth. We pray for healing in the hearts, minds, spirits, and marriage that I refer to. Oh, Lord God, you who said it is by your Spirit that the mountains would be moved: move in this family. Turn their hard hearts back to you and give them new hearts for you and for each other. This is a family close to my heart, but your heart sees each and every family and knows all families who are hurting. God, we pray for mercy, grace, healing for them. We pray for salvation for all involved. We pray you would draw men and women, boys and girls, into your arms of love. In the name of the healing Jesus, Amen.

Wisdom & healing

There seem to be two themes in my life right now. First is that of seeking God's wisdom and guidance for decisions to be made. Second is that of needing healing. These themes manefest themselves in different ways - a friend whose mother was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and has "weeks or months" left - wanting God's choice for the new lead pastor at our church - another friend whose husband and two children are ill right now - our family needing to make a major decision based on faith ... wisdom, healing. Healing, wisdom. God. It all ties in together.

Seek the LORD while he may be found; call on him while he is near....My word that goes out from my mouth...will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. (Isa. 55:6, 11 NIV)

God of Wisdom, Mercy, and Peace,
In many corners of this world people are facing decisions, health crisis, and/or death to this life. Pour out the power of your Spirit into those places. Pour out mercy, healing, and peace upon those struggling with health or end-of-life issues. Pour out wisdom, knowledge, guidance, and peace upon those seeking your way. We claim your promise that your word will not return empty but will accomplish your desires and achieve your purposes. May we seek first your Kingdom and call upon you who is always near for your honor and for the futherance of your Church's ministry here on earth. In the powerful name of Christ we pray.
Amen

Prayer for a friend

Dear Friend,

Your husband asked me to write a letter of encouragement to you as you attend a special women's retreat at your church this weekend. I think I will pray over you and let the Word of God work within your heart and mine.



"Hey there! All who are thirsty, come to the water!
Are you penniless? Come anyway—buy and eat!
Come, buy your drinks, buy wine and milk.
Buy without money—everything's free!

Why do you spend your money on junk food,
your hard-earned cash on cotton candy?
Listen to me, listen well: Eat only the best,
fill yourself with only the finest.

Pay attention, come close now,
listen carefully to my life-giving, life-nourishing words.

Seek God while he's here to be found,
pray to him while he's close at hand.
Let the wicked abandon their way of life
and the evil their way of thinking.
Let them come back to God, who is merciful,
come back to our God, who is lavish with forgiveness.

"I don't think the way you think.
The way you work isn't the way I work."
God's Decree.
"For as the sky soars high above earth,
so the way I work surpasses the way you work,
and the way I think is beyond the way you think.

So will the words that come out of my mouth
not come back empty-handed.
They'll do the work I sent them to do,
they'll complete the assignment I gave them.

"So you'll go out in joy,
you'll be led into a whole and complete life. (From Isa. 55 MSG)


Spirit of the Living, Loving God, as my friend enters into this weekend I pray first that she will be at peace with leaving the rest of her world behind for this short period of time. Help her to entrust her family into your care and to fully submit herself to your Spirit and grace.

I pray for her mind this weekend to not be cluttered by the cares of this world, but to be focused on your Voice, your Will, your Way.

I pray for her body this weekend that if she's struggling against any germ or allergy, you would heal her from that and return her to full health. I pray against any contaminates that would come against her and distract her from her focus this weekend.

I pray for her emotions this weekend, that where she needs healing you would be her Balm of Gilead. Where she needs comfort you would be her Comforter and turn her mourning into dancing. Where she needs peace, that you would calm the storm. Where she needs joy, may you fill her so full that her joy is overflowing.

I pray for her spirit this weekend. If there are specific questions she's asking, Lord hear her and answer her. If there are specific things you want to say to her this weekend, give her spiritual ears to know you, hear you, and respond. If there is a time and a way in which she can just relax into your arms of love and crawl up into her Abba Father's lap, Lord meet her there and hold her lovingly. May she go out with joy and be led forward in a whole and complete life.

I pray that your will would be done and your Kingdom come through this weekend. May you be honored and glorified in this time.

Amen.

Decentralization

For the last 15 years or so I've heard people in ministry bemoaning the shrinking of the "mainline Church." This usually comes with the statistics of how many members were lost last year, what the trend has been the last 5 (10, 20, 50) years, and how churches and denominations are starting up programs to combat this decline.

And there are churches that have grown in the last 50 years, just as the "mainlines" have declined. Many independent and/or "non-denominational" churches have seen great growth in ministry. Some of the largest mega-churches have prospered outside the framework of the mainliners. Attending church doesn't guarantee salvation and the numerical growth of a church doesn't guarantee true spiritual growth. But statistics can tell us one thing: church membership in mainlines has declined and church membership in non-denoms has increased.

Does this mean God doesn't like mainlines any more? I don't think that's the point here. God is seeking worshippers (John 4:23-24); God is seeking men and women after His own heart (Jer. 3:15, 1 Sam. 13:14); God is seeking people who will SEEK FIRST the KINGDOM and God's Righteousness (Mt. 6:33). Whether a person seeking God is doing so in a mainline church, a nondenom, or another gathering of God's people, God will honor the genuine heart centered on Christ.

I've been reading online a lot in the last year about politics, economics, and sort of a "how the US got where we are" with regard to our economy and society. In that reading I've come across people who believe the US as a nation is on the downhill slide, just like Rome or Greece centuries ago. For a variety of reasons, there may come a time when the US as we know it doesn't exist. Aside from catastrophic events destroying it like nuclear war (or wonderful things like The Rapture!), there could be a time when the US government finally defaults on its debt, devalues the US$ so poorly, or does some other economically insane move (or moves). Or there may be a time when we find our federal government's power finally returned to the states and local governments. Or we may find our current US broken up into nation-states, much like that of Yugoslavia or the former USSR. No matter which of these scenarios might happen, the upheaval and societal chaos is nothing like most of us have ever considered, much less thought we'd live through.

Decentralization. The church of Jesus Christ is stronger (in my opinion) by being "decentralized" from the mainline domination of the 1950's. What if the federal government was seriously reduced and the power returned to the people and state & local governments? Could the governing structures within the US be stronger - and, more importantly, the people be stronger - if the power of federal government was "decentralized?" I believe so. (For reasons of brevity, I won't explain all my reasons here.)

As, perhaps, a side bar, what if our current societal/political trajectory continues? It is likely that American Christians would then see ourselves not only as marginalized in the public debate but persecuted. In the history of our nation we've never ever had to fight to be legitimate; this nation was founded on Christian principles and by (mostly) Christian thinkers. For them, as for Christians now, it would be unthinkable to not be a nation hospitable to Christians. But, what if that happened? Would we, the Church, be ready?

I'm not advocating violent revolution. Instead I'm trying to see what God is up to. God seems to have allowed the Church to be pruned for greater fruitfulness. Maybe God has done that work as a preparatory step to something we're going to have to face in the future. If the government takes away our rights to free speech (in the name of "political correctness" or "fairness") or to raise our children as we like (in the name of the "greater good") or to gather together (in the name of "hate speech"), then the Church would have to become a very different entity. No more mainliners or non-denoms; we would probably look much more like the persecuted house churches of countries like Vietnam or China.

Then again, Jesus said:

Remember the words I spoke to you: 'No servant is greater than his master.' If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. (John 15:20 NIV)

He told us that believing in him was not without cost.

and

"Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." (Mt. 8:20 NIV)

If we are a follower of the Christ we, too, may find ourselves without our "home base" and our "normal."

Jesus told us that:

¹"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. ²He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. ³You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. ⁴Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

⁵"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. ⁷If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. ⁸This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. (John 15 NIV)

Maybe the decentralization of the church has been because God is pruning his (universal) Church for greater fruitfulness. Unencumbered by the pharasitical issues of our day, God's pruned-for-great-fruitfulness Church is making disciples and teaching them to love God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and spirits -- and to Love our neighbors as ourselves. (Mark 12:30, Mt. 28:19) Jesus needed no central authority to live out his message of love and healing and grace. His marching orders came from directly from God. Do ours?

Are we personally pruned for great fruitfulness? Is our local church body (of whatever structure/denomination it may be) pruned for great fruitfulness? Do we allow God to prune us, even when it's painful and goes against the "norm"? Are we seeking God first, trusting in God to provide our "holes and nests" as we follow where our Shepherd calls us? Are each of us loving God, ourself, and our neighbor in such a way the world sees a beautiful difference and we are able to eventually make a disciple? Are we so deeply connected to the vine our fruit of the Spirit is evident? (Gal. 5)

Anyway, some food for thought.

God of Amazing Wonders,

Thank you for challenging us to always be seeking your Kingdom, your ways, your righteousness, your Heart as we walk through this life. When we get caught up in the concerns of this world, whether it be church attendance statistics or federal government issues, remind us that YOU are the Maker of the World, the Beginning and the End, and you are the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.

Remind us you have the whole world in your hands and you are more than able to take care of everything. Help us be willing to allow you to prune our lives for greater fruitfulness. Help us surrender our bodies, our minds, our emotions, our relationships, our finances, our families -- all that we are -- to your capable care. Help us hear, confess, and repent when you point out our sin. Help us allow you to heal our wounds and our brokenness. Help us trust you to prune not only our individual lives but that of our churches. Help us to remain in you and to be deeply embedded in you, our Vine. Challenge us to become better at love.

Out of your glorious riches, strengthen us with power through your Spirit in our inner being, so that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith. May we, being rooted and established in love, have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that we may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.*

(*from Eph. 3)