Dear Father in Heaven, thank You for another wonderful day, thanks for opening the door for me to pray at a football camp last evening, and Lord, thanks for those who will bring in food for the food drive. Please, Lord, protect Your people from the heat. Lord, I pray again for peace, peace between all Your children, all of us, Lord. Please, Lord, stop the riots or whatever they are called this day. Lord, please teach us all to love one another as Your word tells us. Lord, please help me with the message today and then please dispatch it for me. And Lord, please help me, Lord, to walk daily with You. In Jesus' Name, I pray. Amen.
Pastor Dan's Safety Tip: One way to have your car overheat is by having a "fan" belt beak on the road. Now I know a lot of cars have electric fans now, but that belt still needs checked. To do this, BE SURE THE CAR IS NOT RUNNING. Open the hood, locate the belt or belts, turn them over and look for cracks. Unless you know something about cars, this is a good one for your local mechanics to do for you.
Coming on Friday, Communion! We have not done online communion for awhile. It of course is open to all, so come to the message with your bread (The Body) and your juice (The Blood of Jesus).
Dear brothers and sisters. I had a great time last night at the Red/Cedar Patriots Football camp. I opened the camp with prayer and then we kicked off the food drive. I asked Dr. Cox who heads up the football camp for some dollars from his pocket, he had a five dollar bill and handed it to me. I held it up and told the folks that "Doc" just kicked off the food drive by paying for 10 boxes of mac and cheese. They gave him a good cheer, and we gave the glory to God. Pray that a lot of food comes in. It is always great to get to pray in a big group. And it is also great to see men and women who care enough to bring their children to camp, and it is also good to see parents and kids of different races being together and having fun as they have camp. Let me get to the message about Love.
Tuesday July 16, 2013, Love, Day Two.
Matthew 5:43 - "You have head that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44 But I tell you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in Heaven. He causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? 47 And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (NIV)
Let's start by singing Jesus Loves the Little Children.
"Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. RED AND YELLOW, BLACK AND WHITE, they are precious in His sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world." Yes, do it again.
"Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. RED AND YELLOW, BLACK AND WHITE, they are precious in His sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world." One more time.
"Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. RED AND YELLOW, BLACK AND WHITE, they are precious in His sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world."
Brothers and sisters, I have today's scripture in bold, but I felt it necessary to repeat yesterday's scripture so that this message ties together. I started writing on this, this week as I felt called by God and really prayed about it, to write about "Love" because of what is going on not just in the United States but around the world. If you have been watching the news, you know here in the United States we have a lot of issues going on right now. Protests where people are burning American flags which has nothing to do with the events between races, it seems it is a time to burn our flag again. Only in America can you burn your country's flag, because it is called "free speech" and it is so sad because so many men and women of our military have fought and many have left parts on the battlefields and so many more have given their lives.
Then we have these civil things going on across our land where men and women are protesting because of the trial in Florida, and some are turning ugly. Store fronts are being burned, interstate traffic stopped in one area and cars jumped on. Now I know emotions are high, but help me here, I do not understand all of this, and before I turn to the Bible I just want to put this question in front of all of you. I mentioned above about our men and women of our military fighting so we can have freedom of speech, but freedom of speech does not mean destroying things belonging to others.
But get this, brothers and sisters. Those men and women over the years who fought together for this country were and still are men and women of all colors, yes, we have been in many wars, even since I was born, and arm in arm these men and women, black men and white men, and yes, even those of red and yellow, and the blends of colors have fought together, and women, black women, white women and women of other colors and blends of colors have been together in the military. And now when we even have a president who is referred to as "a black president." President Obama is indeed mixed, he is, folks, from a black father and a white mother. These things just should not be going on. We have just a few pastors who are calling for civil disobedience, and as I see it causing some of the problems, while I am sure there are many, many more, thousands upon thousands of pastors of all races, all colors, calling for peace. I for one, and for those who have never seen me, I am an "old white guy" who looks like Santa, who is calling for peace. This is so wrong what is going on these days. So very wrong. When we pray to our Father through Jesus for total peace, we are asking Jesus to come back. And I asked this again today, how long will God our Father put up with this?
We have murders across this land daily, daily in our cities, we have abortion, the MURDER of babies, and they are all colors and races being killed by abortion doctors, and these children of God stand no chance of life. Babies of all colors being murdered by doctors of all colors, and if I were to bet, and I do not, I would say most of those doctors who murder are of the white race. Let me look at the scripture today, let me bring it forward for you.
Matthew 5:43 - "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44 But I tell you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in Heaven. He causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. 46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? 47 And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (NIV)
Jesus is telling us to Love everyone, even our enemy. Well, I have no enemies that I know of, so I try my best to love everyone, I really do, for that is what we must do if we are going to walk with Jesus. Jesus tells us in verse 46 that loving only those who love us is really easy, and what reward will that earn us? And yes, Jesus is talking rewards in heaven. He talks about the tax collectors loving each other, and back then of course tax collectors were referred to as the "sinners." Of course we all know we are all sinners! If we greet only our brothers, and of course that means sisters also, what are you doing more than others, Jesus is asking. Now let me put this right at you. We are all children of God, each and every one of us, even non-believers, all brothers and sisters, so we should love all people today. I can't understand why people just do not try their best to get along. Let me see, it might even start in families, for even in families people fight and we hear about it all the time, a man shoots his wife or a wife shoots her husband, brothers are killing off brothers, and in the United States of America, and I hate to even bring it up, but our black youth and young adults are killing each other. Why are not the Reverends Sharpton and Jackson protesting that? Bill Cosby is doing it, he is tired of it, he is bringing out the facts. Our Lord Jesus loves us all, but I am sure He hates what is going on, I am sure of it. Let's face it, God was not a "happy camper" back in the days of Noah, and He shut the place down, took it all out and according to the Bible it will happen again. Well, do you think for one minute that God is a "happy camper" right now? Do you think Jesus is proud of us? I mean, we are all sinners and when we come to Christ He forgives us of the sins, but some people who confess God are involved in this stuff going on and again not just in America. Look all over the world, fighting, killing, protesting in the streets. Some are protesting because the governments are not giving out enough money. That is going on here in America. Do you know, and this is a fact, there are not more people receiving benefits from our government than are working to earn them and that is not counting the people who have earned the retirement. To put in my words, "there are more people now in the cart than are pulling and/or pushing it." (My quote, folks.)
Matthew 5:48 - "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."
Now we know we are sinners, but the Bible tells us to be perfect and that is Jesus telling us that. So each day all people should be doing what Jesus asks, but we can see that is not happening. However, we who claim, and I said WE WHO CLAIM to be Christians need to follow Jesus for that is what being a Christian means. So now I ask you this, do you walk in the Light of Jesus? Do you do your bet to walk in His footsteps? Ask yourself that today, go ahead, ask yourself. It is between you and Jesus, talk to Him. Let's pray.
Father, forgive us of our sins and help us this day to walk each day with You. If we have slipped, help us up and put us back on track. Lord Jesus, we need You, and America needs You, in fact the whole world needs You. Come back, Jesus, and bring peace. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.
Now, brothers and sisters, please go and share your blessings and know that I love ya, and yes, pass it on. Pastor Dan. Now let's go out singing ...
He's got the whole world in His hands,
He's got the whole world in His hands,
He's got the whole world in His hands,
He's got the whole world in His hands.
He's got the tiny, tiny baby in His hands,
He's got the tiny, tiny baby in His hands,
He's got the tiny, tiny baby in His hands,
He's got the whole world in His hands.
He's got you and me, sister, in His hands,
He's got you and me, brother, in His hands,
He's got you and me, sister, in His hands,
He's got the whole world in His hands.
He's got the whole world in His hands,
He's got the whole world in His hands,
He's got the whole world in His hands,
He's got the whole world in His hands.
"Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. RED AND YELLOW, BLACK AND WHITE, they are precious in His sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world." Yes, do it again.
"Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. RED AND YELLOW, BLACK AND WHITE, they are precious in His sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world." One more time.
"Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. RED AND YELLOW, BLACK AND WHITE, they are precious in His sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world."
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Monday, July 15, 2013
Monday 7/15/13 Love!!
Dear Father in Heaven, thanks for another night and thanks for waking us another day. Please forgive our sins this day. Again we ask for peace this day, peace across this land, peace between races, peace between everyone. Please intervene, dear Father. Dear Lord, please help me with a message and then please dispatch it for me. In Jesus' Name, we pray. Amen.
Pastor Dan's Safety Tip: It is summer and it is hot. Please drink lots of water or a sports drink. Sorry, no booze, it does not help in the heat. (I am even cutting back on diet cherry Pepsi to six a day.)
Dear brothers and sisters, again today I ask you to keep praying for peace in this nation, in fact, make it world-wide. Pray for our police and firefighters, for all they do and for our military also. Let me get right to the message.
Love:
Matthew 5:43 - "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44 But I tell you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in Heaven. He causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." (NIV)
Brothers and sisters, we need to take our lead from the Lord, and we need to love everyone, everyone, regardless of their gender, their race, their religion or lack of it. We need to be praying for all people, not babbling as we talked about last week in the Lord's Prayer, but honest, heartfelt prayer. As Christians we should not be "trouble makers" but peaceful people who want to spread peace.
Our Father in Heaven is hated by many people across this world, yet when He supplies air to breathe, believers and non-believers get the same air, same with water, and as the Bible tells us in the scriptures, the sun comes up over all of us, and so does the rain. So, brothers and sisters, if we truly are Christians, or Followers of Jesus, as I along with many others like to refer to those who really walk with Jesus, we need to really follow Him in all things, and NOT PICK AND CHOOSE to just please ourselves. Going to church does not make you a Christian, following Jesus does.
I mentioned the other day, in this court case that just ended, that only one knows the complete truth, and that is God and that is not just in this case. God knows all things, because He sees all things and He hears all things, and He made all things. Tonight, Glenvale Church of God has their Vacation Bible School, not just tonight but all week. Other churches are doing that also. Maybe this is already done, but I would suggest bringing back this old Vacation Bible School song that I learned years ago.
"Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. RED AND YELLOW, BLACK AND WHITE, they are precious in His sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world." Yes, do it again.
"Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. RED AND YELLOW, BLACK AND WHITE, they are precious in His sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world." One more time.
"Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. RED AND YELLOW, BLACK AND WHITE, they are precious in His sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world."
Brothers and sisters, if you are true believers, then you also believe that we are still children of God regardless of our age. But folks, as you pray, pray for cities, cities like Chicago where just this weekend they had ten murders. Pray for cities in your own area. You read the papers, you see the news, we have to pray and pray and pray and have faith in God, for our Lord will take care of things, for GOD IS IN CONTROL, and soon and very soon, we are going to see the King. Be ready, brothers and sisters. Also pray for our president.
And yes, by all means, go forth sharing your blessings, and know that I love ya. Pass it on. Pastor Dan.
P.S. Pray for Red/Cedar Patriots football camp this week. I go tonight to open the camp in prayer and then on Wednesday and Thursday Grant and I will be at the football camp gathering canned and boxed food brought to the camp for Carry The Light Ministries Food Pantry. GOD IS GOOD.
Pastor Dan's Safety Tip: It is summer and it is hot. Please drink lots of water or a sports drink. Sorry, no booze, it does not help in the heat. (I am even cutting back on diet cherry Pepsi to six a day.)
Dear brothers and sisters, again today I ask you to keep praying for peace in this nation, in fact, make it world-wide. Pray for our police and firefighters, for all they do and for our military also. Let me get right to the message.
Love:
Matthew 5:43 - "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' 44 But I tell you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in Heaven. He causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous." (NIV)
Brothers and sisters, we need to take our lead from the Lord, and we need to love everyone, everyone, regardless of their gender, their race, their religion or lack of it. We need to be praying for all people, not babbling as we talked about last week in the Lord's Prayer, but honest, heartfelt prayer. As Christians we should not be "trouble makers" but peaceful people who want to spread peace.
Our Father in Heaven is hated by many people across this world, yet when He supplies air to breathe, believers and non-believers get the same air, same with water, and as the Bible tells us in the scriptures, the sun comes up over all of us, and so does the rain. So, brothers and sisters, if we truly are Christians, or Followers of Jesus, as I along with many others like to refer to those who really walk with Jesus, we need to really follow Him in all things, and NOT PICK AND CHOOSE to just please ourselves. Going to church does not make you a Christian, following Jesus does.
I mentioned the other day, in this court case that just ended, that only one knows the complete truth, and that is God and that is not just in this case. God knows all things, because He sees all things and He hears all things, and He made all things. Tonight, Glenvale Church of God has their Vacation Bible School, not just tonight but all week. Other churches are doing that also. Maybe this is already done, but I would suggest bringing back this old Vacation Bible School song that I learned years ago.
"Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. RED AND YELLOW, BLACK AND WHITE, they are precious in His sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world." Yes, do it again.
"Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. RED AND YELLOW, BLACK AND WHITE, they are precious in His sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world." One more time.
"Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. RED AND YELLOW, BLACK AND WHITE, they are precious in His sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world."
Brothers and sisters, if you are true believers, then you also believe that we are still children of God regardless of our age. But folks, as you pray, pray for cities, cities like Chicago where just this weekend they had ten murders. Pray for cities in your own area. You read the papers, you see the news, we have to pray and pray and pray and have faith in God, for our Lord will take care of things, for GOD IS IN CONTROL, and soon and very soon, we are going to see the King. Be ready, brothers and sisters. Also pray for our president.
And yes, by all means, go forth sharing your blessings, and know that I love ya. Pass it on. Pastor Dan.
P.S. Pray for Red/Cedar Patriots football camp this week. I go tonight to open the camp in prayer and then on Wednesday and Thursday Grant and I will be at the football camp gathering canned and boxed food brought to the camp for Carry The Light Ministries Food Pantry. GOD IS GOOD.
Friday, July 12, 2013
Friday 7/12/13 The Lord's Prayer 5
Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, For Thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.
Dear Father in Heaven, please help me this evening as I round out the series on Your prayer. I love You, Lord, and I ask that You would forgive my sins and all those on the line who ask today. Help me dispatch the message. Thanks for all Yo do, dear Lord, and please help that little kitten find its mamma. In Jesus' Name, I pray. Amen.
Pastor Dan's Safety Tip: Never stop on railroad tracks. Many a time we have seen cars, even trucks, and yes, buses, stop right on the railroad tracks. If traffic is backed up on a road where one needs to cross railroad tracks, be sure there is room for you on the other side of the tracks before you go across. ------------ Two men were out hunting one time and were following the tracks. They were hit by a train. Two women were out bear hunting with their husbands. They came upon a sign that said "Bear Left." Okay, Dan, behave!! Enough is enough!!
Good evening, brothers and sisters. I pray all of you are doing well as we close out another week. Just where does the time go? Someone once said they saw time fly, well, that was me. I took the clock and tossed it across the room. Just wanted to see time fly! Stop it, Dan, get serious. Please pray for this tiny kitten, it was found in our yard today, its eyes are not even open. We put it out of the weather but left it for its mother to find. Okay, let me get to the message. Today we will round out our series on the Lord's Prayer.
The Lord's Prayer, July 12, 2013 (Day Five).
Matthew 6:9 - This, then, is how you should pray: "Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, For Thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen." (KJV)
Let's now take a look at the next part of this wonderful prayer that our Lord Jesus taught us to pray. "And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." Folks, this line, this part of the prayer I want you to really understand what we are praying and what Jesus wanted to get into our brains as He gave us this prayer. First, let's look at the word "debts" which, folks, does not have anything to do with how much money we owe to others. The word "debts" in this case means trespasses and/or sins. I think if we look at it as "sins" it might help us to understand it more.
As we are praying this prayer we are saying to God our Father in Heaven to forgive us of our sins, but we are not asking Him to forgive us of all our sins, or at least not in so many words. What we are asking God to do is forgive us in the same manner or the same amount as we would forgive someone who has sinned against us. So here we go, and I am going to put it at you just as I understand it coming from the Lord. You have someone who did you dirty or caused you a lot of trouble, maybe even put out an untruth about you and got a big old rumor started. And you are really mad at them, but deep down you know and understand that if you want to move on with your life you must forgive them. So you forgive them a little bit, but you are still really upset and you hold some back, deep down in you, well, you just hold onto a grudge. So when you are asking God to forgive you, you are really asking Him to just forgive you some. You are saying, Lord, it is okay for You to hold a grudge against me, for I am holding one against others. We are praying to our Lord Jesus to forgive us, forgive us, Lord, but Lord, we are not willing to forgive all the things others have done to us. So what if we go to the Lord and the Lord would only forgive some of our sins, even if we have cleared the sins of others against us? Fear not, for God will forgive all of your sins, if indeed you have forgiven others. Please, please, take all your prayers seriously, and of course please pray in faith, for it is indeed the faith that will open heaven's doors. As in all our prayers, I believe we should ask God to forgive us before we ask for anything else from Him. In other words, ask for Him to clean you, and then ask to be healed. Okay, let's move on.
Now for the next part where we ask our Father in heaven this, "And lead us not into temptation." Do you remember how Jesus let the devil lead him up on the mountain and then the devil tempted Jesus about different things? Of course Jesus did not bow down to the temptations, but would we be strong enough to not give in? So we are asking Jesus not to put us into that temptation and why did Jesus put this in the prayer? I think He just wants us to pray to Him about the temptations and He will keep us away if we ask. Now, folks, there are times when we might be led into temptations by our Lord if we are indeed working for Him. We might answer the call to go onto streets and talk to people about Jesus where drugs are sold and that those ladies of the evening might be working. And can we handle it? It depends. If you were one who wants to reach out to others and you have just come clean from drinking and drugs, you sure would not want to be led into that temptation. You might be praying, Lord, please, I want to work for You, but I am not ready to handle the temptation of drinking and drugs, so please do not lead me into a bar to preach Your word. Are you getting the picture? Let's move on.
Let's look at the next part. "But deliver us from evil." This Jesus lined up to be with that last line, as we are really asking Jesus to deliver us from evil, and sticking with the last subject, this line is telling me that if I have a problem like drinking, then Lord, deliver me from it. Help me get rid of my addictions. We are asking that God take us away from anything that is evil or bad or in the best way I can put it, if it does not please God. Folks, if it does not please God, then I think it is evil. Amen. Now let's move on.
The end of the prayer goes into praise, "For thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever." What are we telling God in this great prayer? We are telling Him the Kingdom is His and He has all power, and we will give Him all the glory or we should give Him all the glory.
And brothers and sisters, we do not praise Him nearly enough, nor do we thank Him nearly enough. So let's do a tad of that right now ... Thank You, Jesus, praise You, Jesus, I love You, Jesus ... I do ...
Now let's wrap it out with this closing "Amen." Which means in this case, "so be it." Let's pray.
"Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, For Thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen."
Brothers and sisters, each time I write on this wonderful prayer I find out more about it. The biggest thing I have forced myself to do is pray the prayer and not just be saying it. All so often as we do things over and over we just do it by memory and we are not really thinking about it. Just putting words together so to speak. Now as we go forth sharing our blessing this day and as I tell you that I love ya and say "pass it on," Pastor Dan, I would like to really pray the prayer one more time. Will you do that with me? And let us take our time and think about it.
Our Father which art in heaven,
Hallowed be Thy name.
Thy Kingdom come,
Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors, those who have sinned against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil,
For Thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever.
Amen.
Dear Father in Heaven, please help me this evening as I round out the series on Your prayer. I love You, Lord, and I ask that You would forgive my sins and all those on the line who ask today. Help me dispatch the message. Thanks for all Yo do, dear Lord, and please help that little kitten find its mamma. In Jesus' Name, I pray. Amen.
Pastor Dan's Safety Tip: Never stop on railroad tracks. Many a time we have seen cars, even trucks, and yes, buses, stop right on the railroad tracks. If traffic is backed up on a road where one needs to cross railroad tracks, be sure there is room for you on the other side of the tracks before you go across. ------------ Two men were out hunting one time and were following the tracks. They were hit by a train. Two women were out bear hunting with their husbands. They came upon a sign that said "Bear Left." Okay, Dan, behave!! Enough is enough!!
Good evening, brothers and sisters. I pray all of you are doing well as we close out another week. Just where does the time go? Someone once said they saw time fly, well, that was me. I took the clock and tossed it across the room. Just wanted to see time fly! Stop it, Dan, get serious. Please pray for this tiny kitten, it was found in our yard today, its eyes are not even open. We put it out of the weather but left it for its mother to find. Okay, let me get to the message. Today we will round out our series on the Lord's Prayer.
The Lord's Prayer, July 12, 2013 (Day Five).
Matthew 6:9 - This, then, is how you should pray: "Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, For Thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen." (KJV)
Let's now take a look at the next part of this wonderful prayer that our Lord Jesus taught us to pray. "And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." Folks, this line, this part of the prayer I want you to really understand what we are praying and what Jesus wanted to get into our brains as He gave us this prayer. First, let's look at the word "debts" which, folks, does not have anything to do with how much money we owe to others. The word "debts" in this case means trespasses and/or sins. I think if we look at it as "sins" it might help us to understand it more.
As we are praying this prayer we are saying to God our Father in Heaven to forgive us of our sins, but we are not asking Him to forgive us of all our sins, or at least not in so many words. What we are asking God to do is forgive us in the same manner or the same amount as we would forgive someone who has sinned against us. So here we go, and I am going to put it at you just as I understand it coming from the Lord. You have someone who did you dirty or caused you a lot of trouble, maybe even put out an untruth about you and got a big old rumor started. And you are really mad at them, but deep down you know and understand that if you want to move on with your life you must forgive them. So you forgive them a little bit, but you are still really upset and you hold some back, deep down in you, well, you just hold onto a grudge. So when you are asking God to forgive you, you are really asking Him to just forgive you some. You are saying, Lord, it is okay for You to hold a grudge against me, for I am holding one against others. We are praying to our Lord Jesus to forgive us, forgive us, Lord, but Lord, we are not willing to forgive all the things others have done to us. So what if we go to the Lord and the Lord would only forgive some of our sins, even if we have cleared the sins of others against us? Fear not, for God will forgive all of your sins, if indeed you have forgiven others. Please, please, take all your prayers seriously, and of course please pray in faith, for it is indeed the faith that will open heaven's doors. As in all our prayers, I believe we should ask God to forgive us before we ask for anything else from Him. In other words, ask for Him to clean you, and then ask to be healed. Okay, let's move on.
Now for the next part where we ask our Father in heaven this, "And lead us not into temptation." Do you remember how Jesus let the devil lead him up on the mountain and then the devil tempted Jesus about different things? Of course Jesus did not bow down to the temptations, but would we be strong enough to not give in? So we are asking Jesus not to put us into that temptation and why did Jesus put this in the prayer? I think He just wants us to pray to Him about the temptations and He will keep us away if we ask. Now, folks, there are times when we might be led into temptations by our Lord if we are indeed working for Him. We might answer the call to go onto streets and talk to people about Jesus where drugs are sold and that those ladies of the evening might be working. And can we handle it? It depends. If you were one who wants to reach out to others and you have just come clean from drinking and drugs, you sure would not want to be led into that temptation. You might be praying, Lord, please, I want to work for You, but I am not ready to handle the temptation of drinking and drugs, so please do not lead me into a bar to preach Your word. Are you getting the picture? Let's move on.
Let's look at the next part. "But deliver us from evil." This Jesus lined up to be with that last line, as we are really asking Jesus to deliver us from evil, and sticking with the last subject, this line is telling me that if I have a problem like drinking, then Lord, deliver me from it. Help me get rid of my addictions. We are asking that God take us away from anything that is evil or bad or in the best way I can put it, if it does not please God. Folks, if it does not please God, then I think it is evil. Amen. Now let's move on.
The end of the prayer goes into praise, "For thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever." What are we telling God in this great prayer? We are telling Him the Kingdom is His and He has all power, and we will give Him all the glory or we should give Him all the glory.
And brothers and sisters, we do not praise Him nearly enough, nor do we thank Him nearly enough. So let's do a tad of that right now ... Thank You, Jesus, praise You, Jesus, I love You, Jesus ... I do ...
Now let's wrap it out with this closing "Amen." Which means in this case, "so be it." Let's pray.
"Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, For Thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen."
Brothers and sisters, each time I write on this wonderful prayer I find out more about it. The biggest thing I have forced myself to do is pray the prayer and not just be saying it. All so often as we do things over and over we just do it by memory and we are not really thinking about it. Just putting words together so to speak. Now as we go forth sharing our blessing this day and as I tell you that I love ya and say "pass it on," Pastor Dan, I would like to really pray the prayer one more time. Will you do that with me? And let us take our time and think about it.
Our Father which art in heaven,
Hallowed be Thy name.
Thy Kingdom come,
Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors, those who have sinned against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil,
For Thine is the kingdom and the power, and the glory, forever.
Amen.
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