Time and Place to Pray

 Daniel 6:10
 He (Daniel) kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did before.

We often find ourselves praying in desperation when things suddenly turn bad. We double up on our prayer time, we reach out to others to help us pray for an urgent situation. This is a normal response to a believer to cry out to Jesus, “Lord help us in our time of need.” God delights in our petitions and will come to us in a time of need. This was not the case with Daniel. Daniel had a consistent prayer life. Going to prayer was not motivated by an emergency situation, or by a last attempt to be recused. Daniel prayed because it is how he lived his life. He prayed without ceasing and making special time when he shut out the world around him and focused on Jehovah God. We also know that Jesus would often get away to find a place to pray to His Father. I don’t doubt that Daniel went into his chamber with this decree from Darius on his mind. He no doubt took this to God and submitted himself to God’s will. His life was not his own, it belonged to God. We find Daniel opening up his windows in defiance of the king's order and obeying God rather than man. His consistent prayer and communion with God assured him that his life was in the hands of God. Historically, men and women of God have practiced taking time out of the day to get alone and have communion with God in prayer. It is a good habit to establish in one’s life. Prayer is our lifeline to spiritual victory and a weapon against spiritual darkness. Prayer is also a state of mind that we practise through the day, in season and out of season. We are not confined to a specific time of the day for God to answer prayer on our behalf, but taking time out of our day with God is a lifestyle that pleases God and honors His name. 

True Fellowship with God

 1 John 1:6

 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:

I call myself a Christian because I asked Jesus to forgive me for my sins and come into my heart. Believers were first called Christians in Antioch. They were given the name because they were followers of Jesus Christ. A man who claimed to be God, a man who gave His life on the cross, shed His blood that the world may be saved. Through Christ, I now have fellowship with God. Christ bridged the gap, and I now can enter into the presence of a holy God through Christ who reconciled me back to my Creator. John says that if you have this kind of fellowship with God, then the way we live our life matters. Living a life of sin, and knowingly doing things that are contrary to what is right, is to walk in darkness. The Bible says that we once lived in darkness, but we are now the light of Jesus, and we need to walk in His light. Continuing to say that we have fellowship with God, and know Christ to be our savior, but refusing to walk in light is to deceive ourselves, and we are living a lie. The word religion has become the catchphrase for anyone who chooses to rest their salvation by keeping rules and rituals. It is true that a religion without a relationship or fellowship with Christ is empty. Yet, if one professes to have a relationship with God, then he or she will be a religious person, and, by God’s help and grace, walk in the light of God’s word. The devil has set spiritual traps along this path we walk. That is why we must walk in the light of God’s word and seek to do what is good and right. Love mercy, do justly, and stay humble before God and others. This is done when we walk a path that is full of light.

Lamp to Light the Path

 Psalm 119:105
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

The book of Hebrews describes God’s word as a two-edged sword. Piercing the heart, revealing the thoughts and intents of the heart. But David in this Psalm likens God’s word to a lamp. A lamp is light that will pierce the darkness. No doubt, God’s word will reveal the sinfulness of the heart as it sheds its light showing us our sin and need for salvation. It is also a light for believers as we walk the path and journey through life. The path is not always clear, and there are times that Satan will attempt to deceive us into taking a path that leads to destruction. When the path is uncertain, we go to the Word, examine its truths and follow its precepts. God’s word will illuminate what is true and what is false. A decision that is contrary to the teaching of God’s word is to ignore the light that is shed on our path, and to walk away from the path that God desires for us. We need not stumble through life not knowing how to live and what to believe is the truth. His word is given to us to show us the way, direct us in times of confusion, and to keep us on the path to heaven. 

My Shepherd

 Psalm 23:1
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.

The familiar Psalm is a favorite for many. It is a Psalm of comfort and reassurance. Jesus is the good Shepherd that will give us peace during troubled times. In this life there will be trials and tribulations. Trouble times will come, and storms are inevitable. Sorrow and suffering come to all who live, the just and unjust. But those who have put their trust in the Shepherd have been given the promise of peace. Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled, you believe in God, believe also in me.” When we find ourselves going through the valley of despair, He is there to lead us and walk beside us. We are prone to fear and fret about tomorrow because it is our human makeup to stress and worry about “What if.” But the Holy Spirit gives us the strength and power to lean on Jesus and let Him direct our paths. I find comfort in the song written by Bill Gaither, “Gentle Shepherd.” For there is no other we can turn to show us the way and give us peace and comfort. 

Gentle shepherd come and lead us.
 For we need you to help us find our way
Gentle shepherd come and feed us
For we need your strength from day to day
There's no other we can turn to
Who can help us face another day
Gentle shepherd come and lead us
For we need You to help us find our way

Chief in the Kingdom

 Matt 20:26,27

...But whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister. And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:
Most people don’t like to be around bossy people. We respect leaders who are willing to lead by example. As I went through leadership training to become a school principal, this was one of the key principles that we were taught. There are times when a leader has to step up and make difficult decisions that are not popular, but they are done with the intention to better the school and community. Unfortunately, those who reach the top of the ladder are often tempted to allow the power of authority to take control of their personal aspirations and selfish desires. Seeking to be the “Chief” or the one who commands authority, must be done with humility of spirit, and recognition that they are there to lead and serve, and not to command or serve their own selfish interest. Aspiring to be at the top in the work of the kingdom, one must have a servant's heart. Jesus, our great example, washed the feet of the disciples, and laid down His life a ransom to save the world. Having a servant’s heart applies to all who are followers of Jesus, not just those who are gifted at leading. Being willing to clean the church, take food to a family in need, go visit someone who needs encouragement, help the elderly who are no longer able to help themselves, the list goes on. Your service may never be seen by others or may never be recognized, but Jesus sees your act of love and service. When the time comes to stand before God, He will say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: you have been faithful over a few things. I will make you ruler over many things: enter into the joy of thy Lord” (Matthew 25:21)

He Gives Life

 Act 17:28,25
For in Him we live, and move, and have our being;..seeing He giveth to all life, and breath, and all things..

He is all in all. With our whole being we make Him Lord of our Life. We live because He lives and provides us with all that is needed to survive on earth, and life beyond the grave. No one holds their own destiny. We make choices that determine our destiny, but our life is ultimately in the hands of God. The breath we take daily is given to us by our Creator, who determines when we will take our last. We live each day thinking there will always be a tomorrow, but out of nowhere, like vapor, it is gone. A tragic accident, a heart attack, or cancer makes its way into our life, and we are now counting the days. We don’t hold the number of days, we can only hold on to Christ who is our life, even in death He is our substance and our being. 
As my wife and I walked around the cemetery on the mountain side of Morrison to start making arrangements for our burial place, I was made aware of the certainty of death and the unpredictability of life. Gravestone markers of people of all ages. I wondered how many knew Jesus. Did they have eternal life that only Jesus can give?
 There are many teachings out in the world that give false hope. Paul faced this in Athens, where images of false gods were erected throughout the land. He acknowledged that they had been blinded to the truth, but He preached Jesus, and admonished them to repent. We still live in a day of many false gods. We who are born of God, and have life in Christ, have the answer to the truth. Jesus is the way, the truth, and life, and He alone can take that which is dead and give it life and life everlasting.  

Getting Old

 Titus 2:2
That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience.

If God allows us to live beyond 3 scores and 10 years, we no doubt will feel the effects of getting old. The body starts to slow down, our balance is not as sure, and our mind is not as sharp as it once was. We do all we can to maintain our youthfulness, but our bodies are not made to last forever. With aging, comes the inability to do the work effectively that we once were able to do. But growing old does mean we lay down our armor and cease from labor. There is no magic year when we wake up and we become aged men or women. But we come to realize as we work that there are some things we are no longer able to do. As we start to feel the effects of aging, we need to start to refocus on things we can do. Titus admonishes those who are getting older to stay alert, keep the faith, keep loving people, and to be patient with others. Teach the younger generation to stay true to the word by teaching sound doctrine. No doubt, to keep true to the teaching of Jesus. In a culture and time when women were expected to be keepers of the home, they were admonished to focus their attention on the children, show the younger women how to love their children and love their husbands. The principles of God’s word still hold today, regardless of the reshaping of our culture. It is God’s desire that we make choices that will keep the structure of the family in harmony with God’s word. What that will look like should be approached with much prayer and understanding of God’s will to keep that structure in place. The point given to us by Titus is to keep doing what is good and reaching out to others who need help, no matter how old we get. We can always pray for others and show kindness by our words of wisdom. Getting old is part of God’s plan, and that plan is to keep on loving and doing good things.