Good day everyone. I can hardly contain myself today. The message is something that is burning in my spirit and it may not sit well with some that will read it, but it has to be put before you. It’s going to cut deep but the healing is in the message also. Get ready as I pray something that is standing front and center in my heart.
Today’s Prayer
Father, I come before You boldly on behalf of my friends. Everyone has a need for friends. I pray for the special friends in my life. My step-mother is a dear friend as well as being a precious mother. So many other friends have a special place in my heart; some are younger, some are older; some are biological family, some are Christian family; all came into my life at different times and different seasons. I thank You for those who stick close in spirit, for those who know my voice, can finish my sentences, read my mind, and are there over the long-haul–even though I may not see them very often. We talk…we’re there in sad times and celebrate happy times. And when we meet, we enjoy each other’s company so much. I thank You for those who I see often; those who serve in the ministry with me, those who know my daily hurts and struggles, who worship You together with me and share a bond of kinship in Christ, who pray for me and encourage me. I pray for Your power to protect, guide, and work in my friends’ lives. I pray for Your blessings upon them. I pray that I will always be a friend they can love, trust, and enjoy. And thank You for Jesus, our friend who “sticks by us closer than a brother” and who laid down His life for us. Hallelujah! In His name I pray, Amen.
Let’s eat.
Waiting on God
Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; He rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for Him! – Isaiah 30:18
Let me start by saying; this is a message of love. It’s a subject that is before us right now, so we need to deal with it and learn from it. Have you ever noticed that God is not in a hurry? The bible has documented proof of this. The bible tells us that it took 40 years for Moses to receive his commission to lead the people out of Egypt. It took 17 years of preparation before Joseph was delivered from slavery and imprisonment. It took 20 years before Jacob was released from Laban’s control. Abraham and Sarah were in their old age when they finally received the son of promise, Isaac. So why isn’t God in a hurry?
God called each of these servants to accomplish a certain task in His Kingdom, yet He was in no hurry to bring their mission into fulfillment. First, He accomplished what He wanted in them. We are often more focused on outcome than the process that He is accomplishing in our lives each and every day. Here we are at this point in time, having touched and agreed that God has given us a task to do, but as soon as a few months go by or anyone starts murmuring and complaining about the amount of time or direction that has been chosen (now remember that this is a direction we have declared that God is taking us), we start second guessing what was placed in our collective spirits. Let me clue you into something right now, GOD does not make mistakes. If he said it will happen, it will take place. If someone wants to question God’s move, that’s on them. I have to keep my focus on Him and the directions He gives.
When we experience His presence daily, one day we wake up and realize that God has done something special in and through our lives. However, the accomplishment is no longer what excites us. Instead, what excites us is knowing Him. Through those times, we become more acquainted with His love, grace, and power in our lives. When this happens, we are no longer focused on the outcome because the outcome is a result of our walk with Him. It is not the goal of our walk, but the by-product. Therefore, when Joseph came to power in Egypt, he probably couldn’t have cared less. He had come to a place of complete surrender so that he was not anxious about tomorrow or his circumstances.
This is the lesson for us. We must wait for God’s timing and embrace wherever we are in the process. When we find contentment in that place, we begin to experience God in ways we never thought possible.
Quote of the Day
Choosing Christ means walking along a single road, not several at the same time. If we wish to follow Christ and ourselves at the same time, are we not running after our own shadows?
Anonymous
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REV. ELDER G E STERRETT
FOUNDER
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James H. Taylor Sr. – Kankakee City News has published my Daily meal message for a decade.