Inspired Word November 14, 2007

INSPIRED WORD

November 14, 2007

SCRIPTURE

Psalm 84: How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty! My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young – a place near your altar, O Lord Almighty, my King and my God. Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you. Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baca , they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools. They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion . Hear my prayer, O Lord God Almighty; listen to me, O God of Jacob. Look with favor on your anointed one. Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked. For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless. O Lord Almighty, blessed is the man who trusts in you.

SCRIPTURE / PRAYER

Ephesians 4: 1 – 6: “ I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one spirit – just as you were called to one hope when you were called – one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” Father, we thank You that You talk to us about the one body and one spirit, and that in spite of divisions that has come into the Church over the centuries that You still look at us and see one body. You are our one Lord and we praise You and exult You and magnify Your holy Name. Halleluiah!

SCRIPTURE

Daniel 3: …of the three men in the furnace. God came to them and saved them. Then it says, “The three with one voice praised and glorified and blessed God in the furnace. Blessed are You, O God of our ancestors, to be praised and highly exalted forever. Blessed is Your glorious and holy Name to be highly praised and highly exalted forever.” It goes on for several verses, encouraging all of the earth to praise the Lord, the works of the Lord, the heavens, the angels of the Lord, the waters above the heavens, the powers of the Lord, rain and dew, all the winds, fire and heat, ice and falling snow, nights and days, light and darkness, ice and cold exalting the Lord, singing praise to Him and highly exalting Him forever. The last verses say, “Bless the Lord, all people on earth, sing praise to Him and highly exalt Him forever.” We are encouraged to join the praise of the universe. “Bless the Lord, O Israel, sing praise to Him and highly exalt Him forever. Bless the Lord, you priests of the Lord, sing praise to Him and highly exalt Him forever. Bless the Lord, you servants of the Lord, sing praise to Him and highly exalt Him forever. Bless the Lord, spirits and souls of the righteous, sing praise to Him and highly exalt Him forever. Finally, bless the Lord you who are holy and humble in heart, sing praise to Him and highly exalt Him forever.”

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, we praise You!! Holy Savior, we praise You!! King of kings, we praise You!!

SCRIPTURE / PRAYER / EXHORTATION

Luke 18: 35 - 41: “ Jesus, S on of David, have mercy on me!” The crowds scolded the blind man to be quiet, but he shouted even more loudly, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Jesus stopped and asked them, “What do you want Me to do for you? The blind man answered, “Lord, let me see again..” I hear that little baby crying out in this place here, and I wonder about the things in our hearts for which we cry out to Jesus. As Jesus walks by, we cry out to Him, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” For what things do we cry out to the Lord from the depths of our hearts with sincerity? “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Jesus says: “What do you want Me to do for you?” “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Let us call out to Him to the depths of our hearts tonight. He asks us, “What do you want Me to do for you?” We say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” Let your hearts cry out to Him; cry out to Him with sincerity and openness! Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, hear the cries of Your people! Jesus, hear the cries of my heart; Jesus, hear me!

EXHORTATION

While listening to him talk and asking us to ask the Father and the Son to help us to know what it is that He is guiding us towards, I feel that our worship and our prayers this evening aren't just for us. I think we all know that. It goes beyond these walls. There is a very special person, of whom I am thinking of this evening, who needs the Lord's blessing and help. But his heart has been closed for a long time, yet he is baptized, he is a Catholic and he loves God. I ask you, as we talk to Jesus in our hearts, to reach out to this young man who doesn't even know we are praying for him. He is very dear to me and this evening I want him to feel the strength and power of God as he calls out, “Father, O God, help me!” May it not be just his words, but truly an invitation of his heart. Each one of us here can open, some how, some way, his heart and his desire to receive Jesus tonight, even though he is not here physically. But I truly believe that the power of Jesus can go through these walls, through your strength, your faith and your love, to people who are not present here. Please pray that he will open his heart this evening to receive the Lord. I know that he is calling for help and I pray that he will feel the presence of God's power, through your love, and desire to worship the Lord and to always place Him in the center of his life. Praise You, Jesus!!

PRAYER

Lord Jesus, You are walking by and You say, “What would you have Me do for you?” Lord, You heard the cry of our sister and this young man who needs to know You. Jesus, reveal Yourself to him! Hear the prayers of Your people for him tonight! We cry out to You, Jesus, reveal Yourself to him!

SCRIPTURE

Psalm 91: He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence; he will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. You will not fear the terror of the night, or the arrow that flies by day, or the pestilence that stalks in darkness, or the destruction that wastes at noonday. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only look with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked. Because you have made the Lord your refuge, the Most High in your dwelling place, no evil shall befall you, no scourge come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; on their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone. You will tread on the lion and the serpent you will trample under foot. Those who love me, I will deliver; I will protect those who know my name. When they call to me, I will answer them; I will be with them in trouble, I will rescue them and honor them. With long life I will satisfy them, and show them my salvation.

PRAYER

…..than anything else because it is the life-giving water that carries us through the world, through our lives, through the difficulties and the joys. Lord, speak to our hearts! When we ask to hear Your voice, speak so that we can listen. Out of that experience of hearing You speak to us, change us, make us holy and help us to choose to be holy, manifest Yourself in us so that we can truly shine for the world to see, to be the light on the hill and the lamp with no shade. Lord, as we go into the Thanksgiving week, many will travel to be with family and You know how difficult that can be sometimes. Sometimes the hardest place to be holy and to manifest You is with those we love and know the most. Lord, we ask for a special grace of Thanksgiving that we wouldn't be focused on the food, the party, the meal and the travel, but that we would be focused on gratitude and gratefulness for every gift we have been given. We ask You to use every trial and irritation during this time to make us holy, smooth and to always shine. Help us to see it for what it is, Lord; a trial that has potential to bring glory. Lord, for those who don't have family that can be a trial too. Help us to create family, the family of God with the friends that we have. Help us to reach out to those who have no friends and build the family of God. We are never without a father and we are never without brothers and sisters in the Lord. There is never a time when we are not a child of God, nor is there ever a time when we are not a brother or sister to someone else in the Lord. Lord, we also offer up our work places, help us to truly glorify You with integrity; to live a life that speaks volumes of our faith, even if we never say a word about Your Name in that place. Help us to be different, to be so obvious that we are Christians that they will know we are Christians by our love. Lord, when we are in school, let it be the same, when we are in our neighborhoods, let it be the same, when we are in our cars, let them know we are Christians by our love for each other, for the stranger, for the one who cuts you off in traffic, give us patience. Lord, as we move into this time of Advent that follows Thanksgiving, in preparation for the time of Your birth and Christmas, help us to set aside materialism. The stores were filled with Christmas things before Halloween; they skipped Thanksgiving. We are Thanksgiving people and it is our job to make Thanksgiving real in this world, and not let Christmas start before Advent, nor let it start before Thanksgiving and the holy days. Lets live the rhythm of our faith, counter-culture to a world that says it is all about the gift; it is all about the decoration; let our lives be the decoration, the decoration of Christ. Give us more of Your glory, Lord, more of Your power and more of Your Spirit in us. Speak to our hearts, Lord, change our lives, and manifest Yourself in us! Amen.

SCRIPTURE / PRAYER

John 4:9 – 10: … the woman answered, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan, so how can you ask me for a drink?” Jesus answered, “If you only knew what God gives and who it is that is asking you for a drink, you would ask him and he would give you life-giving water.” O Jesus, have mercy on us! O Jesus, give us that life-giving water! O Jesus, let Your love and healing flow through us! O Jesus, let Your strength be made manifest! Lord, let us cry out to You now for those who are in need, for our own families, for our own circumstances, for those friends and relatives who need a touch of Your might, Your power and Your love. Lord, we are going to bring them to you. O Jesus, we are going to ask You to give us and them what we all need. We cry out to You, Jesus! The Lord's heart of love beckons to us. In the few minutes that we have left here tonight, lets pray together as a community.

SHARING

…sometimes I have structure prayer, sometimes I just pray in the Spirit and ask the Lord to lead me to the prayer that He wants me to speak, and to the Scriptures that He wants me to read. This morning I was praying in the Spirit and saying, “Lord, guide me in Your Word, guide me in Your light, and guide me in Your love.” So I opened up the Bible and started reading the Word which He had shown me and the Word for me today was love. First, He led me into the greatest of the commandments – to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind and strength; and to love your neighbor as yourself. I then went to the Book of John and read more about His love for us, how He is the Master and we are to be servants and help each other. He led me on further into Corinthians, about love is patient, love is kind, love is all things, then ending with faith, hope, and love and of these three, the greatest is love.

CONFIRMATION

As a confirmation as to what the Lord has said and what Chris has said, Doris just handed me her Bible and asked to read this Psalm because she wasn't quite ready to do that yet.

Psalm 138: I thank you, Lord, with all my heart; I sing praise to you before the gods; I face your holy temple, bow down and praise your name for your constant love and faithfulness; for you have exalted your name and your word above everything. You answered me when I called to you; you increased my strength of soul. All the kings in the world will praise you, Lord, for they have heard the words of your mouth. They will sing about what you have done and about your great glory, even though you are so high above, you care for the lowly; the proud cannot hide from you. When I am surrounded by troubles, you keep me safe, you oppose my angry enemies, and save me by your power. You will do everything you have promised. Lord, your love is eternal; complete the work that you have begun.

CONFIRMATION

I believe that I too have a confirmation in Scripture. This is part of the Psalm of thanksgiving from David. Psalm 18: “O Lord, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer, my God, my rock of refuge, my shield, the horn of my salvation, my stronghold, my refuge, my savior, from violence you keep me safe. Praise be the Lord, I exclaimed, and I am safe from my enemies. The breakers of death surge round about me, the floods of perdition overwhelm me, the cords of the netherworld embellish me, the snares of death overtook me, in my distress I called upon the Lord and cried out to my God, from his temple he heard my voice and my cry reached his ears. He reached out from on high and grasped me, he drew me out of the deep waters, he rescued me from my mighty enemies and from my foes who were too powerful for me. They attacked me on my day of calamity, but the Lord came to my support. He set me free in the open and rescued me because he loves me.” That is only part of David's Psalm of Thanksgiving. Tonight we heard about the glory of God; we came here to worship God, and God surrounded us with His glory. In the midst of all that, He brought us back to the words of love, how much He loves us and that He is always there to protect us. He is always there to care for us. I think He has reminded us of that tonight because if we keep in our minds and in our hearts how much He loves us, then we can bring the true spirit of thanksgiving, not only to our families, to our friends and community, but we can begin to live it. Then we can praise like David praised when he said that the Lord reached out from on high and grasped me. Think about that! In the midst of all of our troubles, He reaches out and grasps us; He draws us out of the deep waters; He rescues us from our mighty enemies, from our foes who attack us on our day of calamity, but the Lord came to our support. No one else came to his support. Even if no one came to our support, David is telling us that the Lord came to his support. He set me free in the open and rescued me, why? Because He loves me! Why don't we bring that to our families and our friends this Thanksgiving? We praise this God because He loves us and He is our God! He cares so much about us that no matter where we are, or what we go through, He grasps us and draws us out of the deep waters. He doesn't only do that for David, but He does that for everyone whom He has created.

PRAYER

O Lord, we give You praise! O Lord, we give You thanks! O Lord, we love You!

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