Tag: Pray

Who’s on First?

Who’s on First?

It’s baseball season and anyone who knows me knows that i love baseball. i am a big LA Dodger fan, having grown up in Southern California. i can remember listening to the Dodger games on the radio while watching them on channel 5, because my dad didn’t like the TV commentators. i recall walking through the halls of my high school and Mr. Flores would have a TV in the quad with the Dodger games on. We would stop by between classes to get the score of the game. It was a big deal. Even now i am keeping an eye on the score of the Dodgers game as they take on our arch nemesis, the SF Giants. (Boo, Hiss).

Life can be like a baseball game. Sometimes we get a hit, sometimes even a home-run. Then there are those times we strike out. You know what i like about baseball that is different then other sports? No clock. The game is untimed. It is controlled simply by the flow of the game. Some innings are short, 1, 2, 3 out innings and others can last what seem to be hours as batter after batter battles at the plate, hits are made and runs scored.

In 1 Corinthians 9:23-25 it says;

23 I do everything to spread the Good News and share in its blessings.

24 Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! 25 All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize.

Again this is true in life, whether it is our day to day struggles or sharing our faith. There will be times when we share our faith that we strike out, other times we hit a home-run. Some times we will get a hit and someone else hits the runner in. Our goal is to be faithful. Sometimes our life struggles will feel like a strike out, other times it may feel like you hit a home-run…in the grind of life; Be faithful. Be patient. Be persistent. Be willing, Be loved.

You are Loved,

cj

Faith, at times is all i feel i have had.

Faith, at times is all i feel i have had.

“Faith, at times is all i feel i have had.” This statement from last week has been on my mind all week. As i have been pondering the word that i believe to be my focus for the year, “Foundation”. Our Faith in Jesus is primary, its essential, it is the foundation. Each time i have faced a mountain in my life, my faith that Jesus would see me through is at times the only hope i had.

Each new battle has always brought me to this passage in Romans:

Romans 5:1-5 (NKJV)
“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”

Tribulations in life, mountains if you will, lead us to perseverance, when our faith is in Jesus. Perseverance, builds godly character, when our faith is in Jesus. Godly character, results in hope and hope does not disappoint when Jesus is the foundation of that Hope for God’s love is poured out on those that put their faith in Him by way of the Holy Spirit.

May your foundation always be Jesus.

You are Loved,

cj

Meditate on God

Meditate on God

Matthew 6:33,34 MSG
“…Steep your life in God-Reality, God-Initiative, God-Provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t don’t get worked up about what may or many not happen…”

To steep, to soak in, to meditate on God and His reality, His plan, and His provision. Society would have you focus on what you don’t have, but can have for the right price. A newer shinier expensive thing that everyone else wants and no one really needs. If you don’t you are missing out! Here is the reality, the God-Realtiy, He is all we ever need and if we steep ourselves in Him, He is all we will ever truly want because He will give us the desires of our heart.

“Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now…..”

You are Loved,

cj

Forgiveness

Forgiveness

We are wrapping up the awesome book of Philippians during Coffee with Jesus. It is such a good book, full of great things. This morning as we met we had a great discussion about life, and forgiveness. The difficulties of forgiving others and the parallel that we can draw from the life of Jesus. The discussion happened prior to our reading of the text. Which in and of itself did not reference forgiveness directly however we definitely were able to draw from it.

Philippians 4:6-7 NLT
“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” 

It is said, that we forgive not for the other person but for ourselves. There is Scripture to back that up but let me say this, scientifically it has been proven beneficial as well. The stress release that comes when we let go of bitterness, anger, hate, malice, strife, jealousy etc. is unmeasurably hhuuuugge. When we pray to forgive someone, or maybe the first step, for the strength or the resolve to do so…we can rest assured that that prayer will be answered.

When we begin to pray a prayer of thanksgiving for all God has done as the passage declares, peace comes. Additionally, that peace will surpass anything we could ever understand. It will also guard our hearts and minds. It is finding the essence of the heart of God. It will set our minds at ease and prepare our hearts for praise. Let me conclude with this from Philippians 4:8-9. NLT

“And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think aboutthings that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me-everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.” 

You are Loved,

cj

Do Justly, Love Mercy, Walked Humbly

Do Justly, Love Mercy, Walked Humbly

There is a line in a song by Mumford & Sons called “The Cave”.

“Cause I need freedom now, and I need to know how, to live my life as it’s meant to be…”

The song as a whole seems to teeter on this message of struggle. Something anyone who is alive can relate to…for the most part. During Coffee with Jesus we have been in the book of Philippians and before that Ephesians, both these books written by Paul. Paul isn’t afraid to share about his life of struggle and difficulty. Yet through it he reminds us that often the struggles we face help bare witness to the hope that we have in Jesus.

His rally cry for us is in Philippians 3:12-14
“It’s not that I have already reached this goal or have already been perfected, but I pursue it, so that I may grab hold of it because Christ grabbed hold of me for just this purpose. Brothers and sisters, I myself don’t think I’ve reached it, but I do this one thing: I forget about the things behind me and reach out for the things ahead of me. The goal I pursue is the prize of God’s upward call in Christ Jesus.”

Let me remind us yet one more time of my life verse, my motto, my heart beat: Micah 6:8
“He has shown you oh man what is good and what does the Lord require of you? To do justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”

The purpose of life isn’t to be chained down by the pursuit of worldly happiness but to be free in Christ to live in the present joy of knowing Him.

You are Loved,

cj

He’s a Regifter!

He’s a Regifter!

Jesus is that one person who took a narrative of religiosity and reformed it into a relationship…He then regifted that gift given to Adam and Eve in the garden. That gift of personal relationship. As we eagerly unwrap Jesus in new ways, discovering new ideas in old truths let us also be eager to share it…to regift Him the greatest gift of all time, Jesus.

You are Loved,

cj

The Lord’s Prayer #7

The Lord’s Prayer #7

temptation and rescue…

a final look at, “Our Father in Heaven…Matt 6:9-13

Our Father in heaven,
may your name be kept holy.
10 May your Kingdom come soon.
May your will be done on earth,
as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today the food we need,
12 and forgive us our sins,
as we have forgiven those who sin against us.
13 And don’t let us yield to temptation,
but rescue us from the evil one.

Temptation is all around us. It is nearly constant as we live in an age of hyper communication. Tweets, Facebook notifications, Instagram, and countless other social networks keep us connected, informed and tempted. There are images shared by friends that appear in my feed that are inappropriate and if i am not careful i can find myself entertaining the temptation it presents. But, its not just social media, its web surfing, watching TV, listening to music, even conversations with friends. Temptation, is the mode of operation used by the devil himself.

That is why it is critical that we seek the strength of the Holy Spirit within us so that we do not yield to temptation. In fact, Yahoshua, fully aware of the tempter and his ways, doesn’t just stop with praying for strength over temptation but “rescue” from the evil one.

How is your prayer life when it comes to praying for strength against temptation and rescue from the evil one? i fear it is easy to over look this in our daily prayer life. It goes to weakness and no one likes to be weak. No one likes to admit struggle but that is exactly what this prayer leads us to do. We need His strength to be victorious over temptation and to receive rescue from the grip of the devil.

Father, help us to not yield to temptation, rescuing us from the evil one, may we live for You wholly. In Yahoshua’s Name…amen.

You are Loved,
cj

The Lord’s Prayer #6

The Lord’s Prayer #6

forgive us our sins…as we…

Continuing with, “Our Father in Heaven…Matt 6:9-13

Our Father in heaven,
may your name be kept holy.
10 May your Kingdom come soon.
May your will be done on earth,
as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today the food we need,
12 and forgive us our sins,
as we have forgiven those who sin against us.
13 And don’t let us yield to temptation,
but rescue us from the evil one.

“Forgive us our sins,” isn’t it simply amazing that we can come to the creator of everything with such a request, and He is more than willing to do so?! Its awesome really. Even now as i write it, i think of how insane that prospect really is…forgiveness of all our sins. Wow, i mean wow!

It’s good enough to stop right there right? i mean what else could there be to get hung up on. Yahoshua, came to earth, lived, died, and yet lives victoriously so that we can come to Him for the forgiveness of our sins.

Yet, there is more. In fact there is a lot more. Yahoshua doesn’t stop there and we must not stop there either. “As we have forgiven those who sin against us.” Suddenly it doesn’t seem so easy does it? It is easy to receive forgiveness, far more easier than offering forgiveness to others. There is story after story in Scripture that reveals the dire need for us to forgive. We must be willing to lay down our pride, (as that is what it boils down to)  and forgive. It may not be easy but it is essential. Talk it out with someone if you need to first…but find away to forgive.

“…and forgive [me] my sins, as [I] have forgiven those who sin against me.”

You are loved,
cj

The Lord’s Prayer #5

The Lord’s Prayer #5

Give us today…

Continuing with, “Our Father in Heaven…Matt 6:9-13

Our Father in heaven,
may your name be kept holy.
10 May your Kingdom come soon.
May your will be done on earth,
as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today the food we need,
12 and forgive us our sins,
as we have forgiven those who sin against us.
13 And don’t let us yield to temptation,
but rescue us from the evil one.

“Give us today, the food we need,” It’s easier, i find, to ask for things for tomorrow. Things for the future, needs or not, in fact i find it real easy to ask for wants more than needs. No one wants to feel needy, no one wants to feel like they cannot provide the basics for life. Pride roots itself in there, it whispers in our ears, don’t let Him or anyone know your needs! You will look weak, unable, unintelligent! Yahoshua’s knowledge of our nature leads Him to instruct us to pray for today’s need.

Don’t get wrapped up in tomorrow. Focus on today. It doesn’t mean that we don’t concern ourselves ever with tomorrow, only that we embrace this day, today. We live in it, we seek His provision for it and we honor Him because of it.

You are loved,
cj

The Lords Prayer #4

The Lords Prayer #4

Your Will BE Done…

Continuing with, “Our Father in Heaven…Matt 6:9-13

Our Father in heaven,
may your name be kept holy.
10 May your Kingdom come soon.
May your will be done on earth,
as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today the food we need,
12 and forgive us our sins,
as we have forgiven those who sin against us.
13 And don’t let us yield to temptation,
but rescue us from the evil one.

“May Your Will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.” Have you ever really considered these word of Yahoshua? What they really mean and do we really mean them when we repeat them? Do you repeat them?

What is happening in heaven that Yahoshua teaches us to pray about on earth? The list really isn’t that long.

Praise.
Worship.
Adoration.
Obedience.

You are loved,

cj