"O God, whom I praise, do not remain silent, for wicked and deceitful men have opened their mouths against me; they have spoken against me with lying tongues. With words of hatred they surround me; they attack me without cause."
Good Thursday Morning, my dear brothers and sisters, and yes, I wrote a message yesterday morning but I found it this morning in the out box so I logged out and signed in again and it went. Today, the day we pray for families and schools, and please keep praying for Mayor Linda Thompson and the City of Harrisburg. Please add Pastor Tony and Ruby to your prayer list. Please keep praying for Dolores. We were at the doctors yesterday and they talked about surgery on her neck. When they started to talk about plates and screws she looked at me, and shook her head no. So we move on trusting God. I have screws and rods in my back and they never helped, and once the screws broke and they had to be replaced, in fact one broken screw still is embedded in my spine (ouch).
Onward Christian Soldiers 4: Psalm 109:1 - "O God, whom I praise, do not remain silent, 2 for wicked and deceitful men have opened their mouths against me; they have spoken against me with lying tongues. 3 With words of hatred they surround me; they attack me without cause." 4 In return for my friendship they accused me, but I am a man of prayer. (NIV)
"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me." When I was but a child, and people would be rude and call me names my mother taught me to just say those words. "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me." But brothers and sisters, words and name calling does hurt, and it hurts bad. Yes, sticks and stones hurt as I have been hit by sticks and also been stoned in my day. (Stoned meaning other people threw stones at me. I want to be very clear on that one.) And I think when people use the Lord's name cursing it also hurts Him. And still He forgives, and we must do the same. I would say that most all of us at some time or another have come under a verbal attack, and moreso at some time or another we might have attacked others.
Do you know that once you put things out over your lips you cannot take them back in, and I am talking words, words you use against others, or say in the heat of a moment and might not mean them at all?
As Christians we are always open to verbal attacks, and no better place to see it right now is with Sarah Palin and they even go after her children. Governor Palin loves the Lord and she is being attacked. If you love the Lord and you do as the Lord wants you to do, meaning taking the good news of our Lord on the road and telling others, surely you will come under attack. I have mentioned it before and I will do it again, people will want to cast up your past to you. If you love the Lord, and have asked Him in faith to forgive your past, it is done. While others might bring it up, you need to tell them that was my past life and it is gone. And then you can tell them Jesus will forgive them also and they can get a clean start. But still those attacks hurt and I know I have called out to God and asked Him to forgive me and help to stop the attacks.
As we see in the scripture of today, David would call out with Praises to God, and here we find him asking God to protect him... "Do not remain silent, Lord" How often have we prayed and prayed to think God was just not hearing us? We see in the scripture of today that David said he was a man of prayer. Keep praying, my dear brothers and sisters, and keep praising God. God does hear our prayers and works them according to His will and not ours and that is always the best for us, although we might not understand it now.
Please, brothers and sisters, keep praying, keep your faith, and be sure you are living for Jesus and that others can see that in you. In the Bible we get glimpses of what it will be like in Heaven. A mansion with many rooms, streets of gold, and folks, no more pain, no more suffering, and folks, a new body, a brand new body. I know mine is worn from wear and tear and yes, me not always taking care of it. And the best is we get to see our beloved Jesus face to face. We see our friends from the past, and yes, for those who have had beloved pets, there will be pets in Heaven. And when we all get to heaven, no one will attack us again. So stand tall, my brothers and sisters, keep your faith in the Lord, and when others attack you, buck it up and move on, do not attack them back, just pray for them and tell them you are talking to Jesus about them and wish them well. If they need anything, like food and clothes, help them get it. If they curse you, say praise the Lord. My mamma would tell me to "treat people with kindness regardless of how they treated me."
Stand up, stand up for Jesus, ye soldiers of the cross. Lift high His royal banner; It must not suffer loss. From victory unto victory, His army shall He lead, Till every foe is vanquished and Christ is Lord indeed.
Stand up, stand up for Jesus, Stand in His strength alone. The arm of flesh will fail you, ye dare not trust your own. Put on the gospel armor and watching unto prayer, Where duty calls or danger, Be never wanting there...
Stand up for Jesus, my dear brothers and sisters, and know this... Jesus never ever "flip flops".
Hebrews 13:8 - Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, and today and forever. (NIV)
STAND UP FOR JESUS
Dear Father in Heaven, we want to stand up for You, and we are going to try hard to do that. Help us, O Lord, do not remain silent, let us hear from You. We have faith that You will carry us till the day You come for us. Protect us from attacks and when they come, prepare us to be able to withstand them and get stronger by them... Please, Lord, address our prayer requests according to Your will and not ours. In the name of Jesus, the one who died for me. Amen.
Now go forth, raise high the cross of Jesus and share the blessings He has given you. Please remember the picnic on July 2nd... love ya, Pastor Dan.
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