“Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.” Acts 17:11 NIV
With Love, Cindy
Click this link to learn more about Jesus: Who Is Jesus?
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I received an urgent prayer request from an orphanage in Africa asking me to pray for 2 young children with Malaria. Their fever was raging.
Although my heart was breaking, I felt like my prayers did little good. If my prayers were working, wouldn’t I feel something?
Not necessarily. Faith has nothing to do with feelings. It’s not an emotion that can be mustered up. Faith is believing God’s promises, believing His Word, and trusting Him.
When we feel like our prayers aren’t making it out of the room, we need to remember what God has said in His Word.
“The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.” Psalm 145:18
“The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” James 5:16 NKJV
Even in prayer, we must depend on His grace to give us the ability to pray with great faith. It is not by our own strength, but His.
“Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16 NIV)
So as we approach our loving God in prayer, may we lean on Him and find grace to help us in our time of need. Let us depend on His power and goodness and not our own ability or power. He has given us the privilege of prayer.
“Our prayers cannot force God to do anything, but He uses them as His own instruments to bring about His will.”
R. C. Sproul
Prayer isn’t something we have to do. It’s something we get to do. As the old hymn says, “What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer.”
ABOUT What A Friend We Have in Jesus : What a Friend We Have in Jesus was written by Joseph M. Scriven. Joseph Scriven’s life was filled with many trials and sorrows. His fiancée died in a drowning accident on the eve of their wedding in 1844. Eventually, he found love again, but his plans for marriage were dashed again when his new bride-to-be died after a short illness in 1855. That same year, he received news from Ireland that his mother was terribly ill. He wrote a poem to comfort her called “Pray Without Ceasing”. It was later set to music and renamed What a Friend We Have in Jesus. Scriven did not have any intentions nor dream that his poem would be published in the newspaper and later become a favorite hymn among the millions of Christians around the world.
Fellowship with God is the heart of prayer. Too often we lose sight of how simple prayer is really supposed to be.”
GotQuestions.org
With Love, Cindy
Do you want to know more about Jesus? Check out my page Who Is Jesus?
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“And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:17-19 NIV Read full chapter
With Love, Cindy
Do you want to know more about Jesus? Check out my page Who Is Jesus?
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“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” James 1:2-4 NIV Read full chapter
Persevere: to persist in anything undertaken; maintain a purpose in spite of difficulty, obstacles, or discouragement (Dictionary.com)
With Love, Cindy
Do you want to know more about Jesus? Check out my page Who Is Jesus?
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Delighting in God’s Word leads us to delight in God, and delight in God drives away fear.”
David Jeremiah
With Love, Cindy
Do you want to know more about Jesus? Check out my page Who Is Jesus?
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“But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.” 2 Chronicles 15:7 NIV Read full chapter
With Love, Cindy
Do you want to know more about Jesus? Check out my page Who Is Jesus?
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Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” John 20:29 NIV
With Love, Cindy
Do you want to know more about Jesus? Check out my page Who Is Jesus?
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“Those who love your instructions have great peace
and do not stumble.” Psalm 119:165 NLT
With Love, Cindy
Do you want to know more about Jesus? Check out my page Who Is Jesus?
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Have you ever wondered what that means?
To be “as pure as the driven snow” refers to the snow that has been blown into a drift where no one has walked through it. It is as clean as it was when it fell from the sky.
King David cried out to the Lord, “Create in me a pure heart, O God.” (Psalm 51:10) And “God testified concerning him, I have found David son of Jesse a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.” Acts 13:22
I find it meaningful that David, a man who committed adultery and murder, would be God’s example of a man with a pure heart. This tells me that no sin, nothing we did in the past that has been forgiven, can keep us from being a person after God’s heart.
“Wash me and I will be whiter than snow.” (Psalm 51:7)
What did God see in David’s heart? Does God see those things in my heart? In your heart?
No matter what we do outwardly that may look good to others, God sees our heart. If we are selfishly motivated, arrogant, or proud, God knows.
God sent the prophet Samuel to Jesse and told him, “I have chosen one of his sons to be king.” 1 Samuel 16:1
Samuel thought for sure that Eliab would be chosen, but the Lord said,
“The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.'” 1 Samuel 16:7
Finally, Jesse brought in David, his youngest son, who was tending the sheep. The Lord told Samuel, “Rise and anoint him; he is the one.” 1 Samuel 16:12
God chose David to be King, instead of King Saul. Saul didn’t obey God’s commands because he “was afraid of the people …and gave in to them.” (1 Samuel 15:24)
He sacrificed offerings to the Lord. But Samuel said to Saul, “To obey is better than sacrifice.” (1 Samuel 15:22) We need to follow God’s commands, not motivated by what people think.
God knew that David was unafraid and would obey His commands. He knew that David believed the Promises. God knew David did not depend on his own strength and ability. He didn’t think too highly of himself, but was humble in heart.
David said, “He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me.” Psalm 18:17
David trusted in God and in His Word. He prayed,
“Show me your way, O Lord, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me.” (Psalm 25:4)
We can get a glimpse into David’s heart when we read the Psalms he wrote. I want God to say that I am a woman after his heart. Don’t you?
In 1 Samuel 17:47 David said to Goliath,
“All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s and he will give all of you into our hands.”
This is what David believed in his heart, but he didn’t become this strong overnight.
“David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” 1 Samuel 17:34-37
My prayer is that, just like David, our faith will grow stronger every time we put our trust in the Lord and depend on Him to win the battle.
“(David served) God’s purpose in his own generation.” (Acts 13:36)
I believe that God is looking for people with a pure heart to accomplish His purpose today. Will he use me? Will he use you?“
With Love, Cindy
Do you want to know more about Jesus? Read my page Who Is Jesus?
All Scriptures are NIV unless otherwise noted.
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“Cast your cares on the Lord
and he will sustain you;
he will never let
the righteous be shaken.” Psalm 55:22 NIV
With Love, Cindy
Do you want to know more about Jesus? Check out my page Who Is Jesus?
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Real Christian Women 