What is Your Passion?

Elijah prayed, "Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again" (1 Kings 18:37).

What's your passion? Is it that the people of this world may know that the Lord is God? Our prayers reveal our passion. Elijah was not calling on God so that the people would know who he (Elijah) was. He was calling on God so that the people would know who God was!

There's a world out there full of people who are going to hell. They need to know the one and only true God and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. They need to know that Jesus suffered and died for their sins, paid their debt in full, and rose again. We don't need to call on God for a miracle. We just need to tell people the good news that Christ died for our sins, paid our debt in full, and rose again. This is the power of God unto salvation.

This week, a lady and her husband called to thank me for telling them the good news over 40 years ago. They got saved then and have served the Lord ever since. THAT is my passion! Before they got saved, these people had been attending a church that did not tell them the good news, but told them to do the best they could and they would go to heaven.

O, dear people, make it your passion to help others know God. Ask for your prayers to be answered so that others will know that the Lord is God and so that their hearts will be turned toward Him. Doesn't that make sense?

Prayer: Father, give us a passion to tell others about You. People need to know the truth that Jesus died for them. We want them to go to heaven instead of hell. Help us demonstrate to them that You are God. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Quote for the Day: "Our passions are the winds that propel our vessel." —Author Unknown

What would you wish for?

God said to Solomon, "Ask what you wish me to give you" (1 Kings 3:5).

If God gave you this opportunity, what would you ask for? Most of us have thought about what we would wish for if we were to rub a magic lamp and a genie were to pop out and say, "You have three wishes!" Imagine how Solomon must have felt when God asked him, "What shall I give you?"

Solomon replied, "Now, O Lord my God, You have made Your servant king in place of my father David, yet I am but a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. Your servant is in the midst of Your people which You have chosen, a great people who are too many to be numbered or counted. So give Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?" (1 Kings 3:7–9).

Notice several things here. First, "Solomon loved the Lord" (1 Kings 3:3). He was walking in the statutes of David his father, and he was obeying God. Next, we see that Solomon was humble. He said, "I am but a little child" (1 Kings 3:7). He knew his influence, his impact on God's people, and his responsibility. Knowing all of that, he asked for wisdom rather than for riches or fame.

Why? Because Solomon understood that "Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who gains understanding, for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold. She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her" (Prov. 3:13–15). Solomon asked for wisdom, and look at all that came with it! Amazing.

James wrote, "If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him" (1:5). Do you need wisdom? You and I surely do. Do you ask for wisdom every day? Doesn't it make sense for you to do that? Sincerely ask for wisdom daily, and it will startle you what God will give you.

Prayer: Father, we need wisdom. We are but little children, and we don't know what to do.  We ask You for wisdom so that we may invest our time wisely and reap eternal results and rewards. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Quote for the Day: "Trouble brings experience, and experience brings wisdom." —Author Unknown

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I know for my self I can alway use more wisdom in my walk through daily life and the struggles that are presented .  Therefore we all need to pray for wisdom from God and that we may walk according to His will daily.

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God is Calling

The prophet Isaiah wrote, "Seek the Lord while He may be found; Call upon Him while He is near" (Isa. 55:6). We're supposed to seek the Lord, yet Paul wrote that "There is none who seeks after God" (Rom. 3:11). We are able to seek God only because He first chose to love and pursue us. "For it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure" (Phil. 2:13).

If you have even the tiniest urge to read the Bible, to pray, or to witness, you must realize that Almighty God gave you that desire and without hesitation, you need to respond. You see, if God had not taken the initiative to pursue you and me with His love, not one of us would seek the Lord.

Proverbs chapter one gives an awesome example and warning about this:

"Turn to my reproof,

Behold, I will pour out my spirit on you;

I will make my words known to you…

I called and you refused,

I stretched out my hand and no one paid attention…

Then they will call on me, but I will not answer;

They will seek me diligently but they will not find me,

Because they… did not choose the fear of the Lord…

But he who listens to me shall live securely

And will be at ease from the dread of evil." (Prov. 1:23–24, 28–29, 33)

O, dear people, GOD MADE ME WRITE THIS. "Call upon Him while He is near." Don't shut Him out; don't put Him off. Respond to Him. He is God. If He cared enough to put a spiritual hunger in your heart, don't you think that you should run, not walk, to do what He wants you to do? Doesn't that make sense? He surely does love you and me.

Prayer: Father, thank you for seeking us. Teach us to respond and to call upon You while You may be found. Help us to do what You desire. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Quote for the Day: "There are only three types of people; those who have found God and serve him; those who have not found God and seek him, and those who live not seeking or finding him." —Blaise Pascal