Are you insulted? Good!

"If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you."- 1 Peter 4:14

Ever been insulted because of the name of Christ?  Yeah, me too. 

Fear not though dear friend, because God's Spirit rests upon you and in that there is hope, joy and life eternal.  In the Holy Spirit there is power to overcome the accuser, to rise above the insults and to put on Christ Jesus. 

"The fear of man is a snare, but those who trust in the Lord are safe".- Proverbs 29:25

Care too much about what other people think about you and you'll be caught in a snare, but put your hope and trust in the LORD and find safety and rest there.  The Greek word for safe is sagab which means an in-accessibly high place. Yes, its true if you are insulted for the name of Christ, yet bank your hope upon the LORD, He sets you in a high place, free from harm.  This doesn't guarantee a pain free easy life, don't get me wrong, its often times quite the opposite for the Christian, but it does mean a steadfast peace awaits those who trust in the Lord. 

Fear not what man can do to you, for their words are trivial, but fear God, serve Him, find your identity in Him and watch the power of God lift you up, fill you with peace, and the power to rise above the insults through the Holy Spirit.   

Praise God!

Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down!

 Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. ¹⁸ Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.- James 5:17-18

When you pray, do you pray in earnest?  

God wants to do something new within our midst, but His people are far too busy and distracted to pray.  For if we would, we would see the ground shake with the glory of God, mountains move, the lame healed and the lost get found.  

We might not admit it to our brothers and sisters in Christ, but part of us wants to believe that such miracles were reserved for only those in Jesus' day.  Could you and I really pray as Elijah did?  Could we pray with such faith for God to do what only He could do?  Maybe we could pray that when, at least, when others are around so that we look spiritual, but in our hearts do we truly believe that God can do the impossible. 

Would we be like Joshua, who asked God to make the sun stand still and it did, for 24 hours.  As we know, without God's divine intervention it's impossible for the sun to stand still.  What in your life seems impossible, but fear keeps you from praying with such earnestness and trust for God to do it?

We so often put more faith in doctors, medications, support groups and self help books then we do in the power of God through Jesus Christ.  For within us, if we know Christ, lives the resurrection power, yes, the very same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead lives in you (Romans 8:11).  For this is power beyond measure and sadly, power that is often untapped due to fear and distraction. 

God wants to rend down the heavens (Isaiah 64:1).  To show the display of His glory and might through His people.  Do you want to see such a movement of God that its unexplainable through human understanding?  Then pray, pray that God would manifest Himself in our communities, in our lives, in our families so that relationships would be restored, the lost would be found and the name of Jesus Christ would be proclaimed unto the ends of the earth!  

Do not be afraid to ask God for what seems impossible.  He desire's to display His glory through human impossibilities.  Yes, that's right, through you and me. Do not let your own limitations keep you from believing that God can do more than you can ever ask imagine. 

A Prayer For This Generation

Lord Jesus,  tonight my heart is so very heavy for young people.  My desire is for you to do what only you can do.  Father I am desperate for a movement of your Spirit that will awaken our hearts to true repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.

My prayer for teenagers is that they would submit all of themselves to you.  That they would devote their lives, their hopes and their futures unto your will.  God I pray that they would desire to be bold witnesses for your Kingdom.  Use them in their schools to make a great impact for the gospel.  Grant them courage when they feel weak.  Use their lives in such mighty ways God that their schools would have to take notice.  When they stop and take notice Father then let it be you that they might see.

God silence the enemy that wants to draw students away from your glory.  I ask that you might bring revival in the hearts and minds of young people.  I pray against Satan who desires to destroy them and I ask instead that they would listen only to your voice.

Pour out your Spirit in power on this generation of teenagers.   Use my hands and my feet, Father, to make known the truth of your gospel to them.  Let me not be distracted by the lies of Satan, but let my confidence, assurance and hope rest in you alone.  Do what only you can do for your glory in Jesus name.  Amen!

The Hope of the Gospel

The hope of the gospel is in becoming a new person. It is a work of both the will of God and of man's will.  It is God's will to make you a new creation, but He will not force you, for man must surrender his own will unto the Lord Jesus.

For when one surrenders his own will unto the Lord Jesus Christ He changes them from the inside out.

Christ is preparing you for the day in which He will clothe you in white and present you as pure before His Father.  In becoming that new man, you have an inheritance in Heaven that awaits you.  There is joy in the anticipation of what is to come, but there is also great joy in this life when Jesus Christ reigns as King of Kings and Lord of Lord's in your own heart.

There is a home awaiting those who are forgiven and free in the Lord Jesus.  God is preparing a place for them in Heaven for all of eternity.  It is then that truly, you transform into a brand new person as you stand in front of your maker, made whole, spotless and clean.  

He will not force you to come to Him.  You must surrender your own will to Jesus Christ.  For when you do, then the change begins.  Hold onto your own life and watch it crumble, let go of it and watch the Lord Jesus put it back together.

"If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old is gone and the new has come"- 2 Corinthians 5:17