Daily Devotional Day & Night

HAPPY MONDAY!

I pray all is well with everyone, and you're enjoying the beginning of another workweek. I'm doing well, looking forward to my 3-day weekend already. I had a wonderful weekend, despite the fact that I had to work. I did see two movies, and GI Joe was a great movie, it had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. However, District 9 not so much, it was painful to sit through 2 hours of it. I had a pretty productive weekend, and I cooked a quick meal yesterday, it's been awhile since I've had time to cook, so I'm very excited about that. It's been a very busy Monday in the office, so I'm ready to go home and sleep. I finally joined Fairfax Christian Church yesterday; I had been attending regularly for almost a year, but I wasn't sure if I was a member or not, but I heard the alter call yesterday, and eagerly joined. My church is a Disciples of Christ denomination, and they believe in using your God-given gifts and talents to strengthen the Church, so I'm looking forward to getting involved. I hope you had a wonderful weekend as well, and have a wonderful day!

Today's scriptures are about praying for each other. The second "great commandment" as Jesus tells us in Matthew 22:39, is 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself". After Jesus paid the sin debt in full, when we break one of the Ten Commandments of the Old Testament, we're easily forgiven, and life moves on. For the most part we all know that it's not right to steal, kill, or talk about our neighbors, etc. Most of us were taught morals, so after Christ the greatest commandments are to love God and love each other. Love is something that isn't easily done, because it requires us to give more of ourselves, while leaving the consequences up to God. Love is an action, so how do we love our neighbors as ourselves? As we learn today, we need to pray for them. Help them when they're in need, and bear their burdens to the best of our ability. Jesus didn't say love our family members, and friends, but He said love everyone. As God's children, we have the authority send up a petition to God, on behalf of anyone, through Christ. Then, we must have Faith in knowing that God will answer our prayers. There's a popular gospel song written by Dorothy Norwood entitled, "Somebody Prayed for me", and it starts: Somebody prayed for me, had me on their mind, they took the time and prayed for me. I’m so glad they prayed, I’m so glad they prayed for me... It goes on to say my mother, grandmother, and pastor prayed for me, and I'm so glad they did. I know for a fact that I survived my darkest times, because somebody prayed for me, and I'm so grateful. Prayer is our personal connection to God, and what better way to serve the kingdom then by prayer? When we grow in our Faith walk, we start to become more sensitive to the needs of others, and God's love starts to grow inside of us, so we naturally want to help everyone. However, we know that we aren't God, and we can't do everything for everyone. In most situations all we can do is pray for them. When we're driving down the street and we see someone in pain, handicapped, angry, or a person who's just been in an accident, a prayer could make all the difference for those people. When we know that friend is going through a tough time, we should pray for them. When someone is treating us badly, we must pray for him or her, because evil people has had evil seeds sown in them. In most cases people who intentionally try to hurt, use, or mistreat us, have had the same things done to them in the past, and they need love to help them escape the hurt and pain that they're going through. When we look at it from the eyes of a victor and not a victim, we'll be able to see through the tough guy facade, and see the pain. This is when I personally feel remorse instead of anger, and immediately pray for that person. When Jesus was being tortured and killed, He prayed for the people who did Him harm, saying "Father forgive them for they know not what they do". Most of the time, we go through trials and tribulations because we don't know any better, and the only way we learn how to avoid some of our pitfalls, is by studying the word, learning from our mistakes, and through prayer. When we're lost we often don't know how to pray, so we know that most often than not, it's the prayers of someone else that helps brings us to the love of God. God often uses us in the lives of people who are going through something similar to what we've either gone through, or is going through. At the time you're needed in their life to help them through it, or in most cases you help each other. It's written in James 1:2-6: My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. Praying with confidence in knowing that God will stand on all of His promises is the only way to get the right answers. That's how we heal the sick and help others solve problems, because we ask God with unwavering Faith. We should also pray for the wisdom to help someone in need, or the strength to forgive those who have wronged us. It's the only way we as the body of Christ could survive and grow in strength in numbers. We have to stick together and love one another in order to complete the will set forth for us, so in the future when I ask for you to pray for me, I really need you to pray for me. Please don't think that you're not worthy to pray for someone else, because you're not "Holy" enough, that's another lie the devil has fed you. Just know, as long as you pray with Faith, God will answer all of your prayers. We all have to answer for our own sins in this life, but the prayer of a Righteous man always help us through it. When Paul said, "pray without ceasing", he meant praying for yourself and anyone who else who needs it. My challenge for you today is to pray for at least five people each day. When you start to pray for others your problem seems minimal, and God will continue to bless you, because you're being obedient, by loving your neighbor as you love yourself. If you don't know Jesus as your Savior, then the only prayer God can hear from you is you asking Jesus to come into your life as Lord and Savior. Once you do that, you too will be come righteous, and you can talk to God about anything and anyone you’d like. My favorite verses today are: The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. (James 5:16-17)

ENJOY! http://www.bible.com/scripture-detail.php?juli=2455061&dtype=Scripture
http://www.intouch.org/site/pp.aspx?c=cnKBIPNuEoG&b=4943197
http://www.intouch.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=cnKBIPNuEoG&b=5336537&ct=7301671

I love you!