Dec. 30 SparkysHeart — REVELATION 17-19

Dec. 30 SparkysHeart — REVELATION 17-19 Sparky's Prayer: Lord God, increase our faith as we look forward to the time when all evil crumbles and to rejoice in Your strength and not in ours. Thank You for the victory over the present evil world and for the hope for a brighter tomorrow. Thank You that One-day evil will be subdued and to remember that the evil one is under His feet and that all salvation, Glory, and power belong to God. Thank God for the wedding supper of the Lamb. In Jesus' mighty saving name, we pray. Amen.
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Colossians 4:12-18 — Working Together PAUL'S PRAYER: Dear Father God: Help us to remember each other earnestly in our prayers. Help us to stand mature and to be fully assured in Your will. Help us encourage one another to carry our assigned works to completion. Help us fulfill whatever ministry we have received in the Lord. Help us to remember those who are in prison, and those who suffer in any way for Your service. Thank You Lord for Your perfect grace [God's Redemption At Christ' Expense] sustaining and keeping all of us. In Jesus' mighty saving name, we pray. Amen.
http://www.heartlight.org/cgi-shl/praying_paul/pwp.pl?364

VERSE: When the priests and Levites had purified themselves ceremonially, they purified the people, the gates and the wall. ~ Nehemiah 12:30 (NIV)
THOUGHT: God has placed each of us in a circle of influence. Before we try to "clean up" those around us, let's first offer ourselves to God to be consecrated and to be made pure by His grace. Then, let us live in a way that shows the impact of that holiness in our lives. Jesus told us to remove the plank from our own eye before we try to clean the speck out of someone else's eye. For leaders at any level, "living holy" is essential before calling others to holiness! God's greatest times of spiritual renewal begin when leaders first consecrate themselves to God and His Work.
PRAYER: O Father in heaven, forgive us for our sins. We want to be pure and holy, cleansed by Your Holy Spirit and forgiven by Your grace. Please bless us as we seek to live a holy life before those we influence. We need Your powerful help to be the example and person of character that You want us to be, and that our friends need us to be. We ask this in the mighty saving name of Jesus. Amen.
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WHAT JESUS DID! — Reason to Worship
Matthew 28:16-17 (NLT) Then the eleven disciples left for Galilee, going to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him — but some of them still doubted!
WJD THOUGHT: Eleven followers. Wow, what a vivid reminder of the failure they had been — it was so bad that even one of them was dead at his own hands. Eleven was so much less than twelve. Twelve was such a special number for God's people. But now there were eleven. Despite Jesus' victory, it was a reminder of the fragility without Him. Next, notice they obeyed. They went to the mountain Jesus had told them to go. They did what Jesus asked them to do. When they saw Jesus, they worshiped Him. But even then, after the resurrection appearances and the testimony of those who had seen Him, there were still some doubters: it was hard to believe it was really Jesus after all they had been through, it was almost too good to be true. The resurrection of Jesus is almost too good to be true. It is definitely outside our experience and expectation. But the turnaround made by this wounded and incomplete group of eleven failures testifies that this encounter with Jesus changed them forever. Jesus' resurrection and command gives them a sense of purpose, certainty, hope, and destiny that they had not enjoyed even before the Cross. And now, now they can trust He will go with them. So the fitting first response to Jesus' triumph over death is to worship Him. As we worship Him, we too can be reawakened to the purpose and hope He gives us, because as we worship Him, He is not only the object of our worship, but He is also the Lord Who is present and will go with us every step of the way.
WJD PRAYER: Almighty and Living Father God, we find our hope in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead! As we worship and praise You for this mighty victory over all the forces that hold us captive, we are filled with wonder and hope that what we do in Jesus' saving name will live forever. That the people touched for His glory will share eternity with us. The family members who share our love for Jesus and trust in His saving death and resurrection will never be parted from Jesus and our relationship with Christ will never be broken. We praise and thank You for giving us this victory at such an awesome cost to You. In Jesus' mighty saving and wonderful name and by the power of the Holy Spirit, we pray. Amen.
http://www.heartlight.org/wjd/matthew/1230-wjd.html

WHAT JESUS DID! — Bewildered and Frightened!
Mark 16:8 (NLT) The women fled from the tomb, trembling and bewildered, saying nothing to anyone because they were too frightened to talk. Then they reported all these instructions briefly to Peter and his companions.
WJD THOUGHT: Much debate has been waged about the proper ending for the Gospel of Mark. Clearly, Mark wanted us to know two crucial things about Jesus.
First, Jesus was mighty and powerful, something even the demons recognized and feared.
Second, despite all of His power, He submitted Himself to the will of God and went to the Cross-to ransom us from sin and death. Mark knows Jesus was raised from the dead. But He reminds us with the women and their bewildered fear — not because they doubted, but because they believed. Jesus changed everything in their understanding of the Messiah, the Son of God. (Mark 1:1) He was willing to go to the Cross even though He clearly had the power to prevent it. His dying did not fit and they could not understand how this could be so. All their hopes are dashed with His crucifixion and their lives are ruined with His death. On this morning, however, they find out He is raised from the dead and they were told this good news by an angel at Jesus' empty tomb. How could they not be bewildered and fearful? Their worlds were forever changed. If Jesus could rise from the dead, then what would happen next? If they followed Jesus, what could the resurrected Jesus do through them? And if Jesus could use them to "turn the world upside down" with His message and His follower's courage, what can He do with us? So let's join these faithful women at the empty tomb, bewildered and frightened, but full of expectation at the thought of what lies ahead for us!
WJD PRAYER: O Father God, release the resurrection power of Jesus in our day and in our lives. Empower us to live for You and impact our world in a similar way to how these first followers of Jesus impacted their world. In Jesus' mighty saving name, we pray. Amen.
http://www.heartlight.org/wjd/mark/1230-wjd.html

WHAT JESUS DID! — No Ghost!
Luke 24:36-43 (NLT) And just as they were telling about it, Jesus Himself was suddenly standing there among them. He said, "Peace be with you." But the whole group was terribly frightened, thinking they were seeing a ghost! "Why are you frightened?" He asked. "Why do you doubt Who I am? Look at My hands. Look at My feet. You can see that it is really Me. Touch Me and make sure that I AM not a ghost, because ghosts do not have bodies, as you see that I do!" He spoke, He held out His hands for them to see, and He showed them His feet. Still they stood there doubting, filled with joy and wonder. Then He asked them, "Do you have anything here to eat?" They gave Him a piece of broiled fish, and He ate it as they watched.
WJD THOUGHT: Sometimes things are just too good to be true. In fact, we are told that one way to sniff out a scam is by the principle "If it seems too good to be true, then it probably is!" In this case, however, it is true. They had trouble believing in Jesus' resurrection, because it just seemed too good to be true. So Jesus goes to great lengths to help them understand that He is not a ghost or a figment of their imaginations. He had them touch Him and see His scars. He ate fish in their presence. Jesus' resurrection is too good to be true, ... but it is true and because of this, everything is possible for His disciples!
WJD PRAYER: Father God, give us the eyes to see and the ears to hear the great news You have given us in Jesus' life, death, and resurrection. We know it is too good to be true, but we believe that it is true and want to live out our lives based on that faith. Strengthen that faith through Your Holy Spirit. In Jesus' mighty saving name, we pray. Amen.
http://www.heartlight.org/wjd/luke/1230-wjd.html

WHAT JESUS DID! ~ What About ...?
John 21:20-22 (NLT) Peter turned around and saw the disciple Jesus loved following them -- the one who had leaned over to Jesus during supper and asked, "Lord, who among us will betray You?" Peter asked Jesus, "What about him, Lord?" Jesus replied, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You follow Me."
WJD THOUGHT: It is so hard not to compare! We want to compare our lot with others. We want to compare our future with others. We want to compare our faith, our church, our efforts ... Christianity is not about comparing. God does not grade on the curve. He calls us to follow Him whole-heartedly through the course of our uniquely important and distinctive life. Comparing ourselves to others is the cause of envy, jealousy, strife, covetousness, resentment, and a host of other sins. Instead, we are to follow and serve and help encourage others to do the same!
WJD PRAYER: O, the Almighty and gracious Father God, thank You for judging us with grace, [God‘s Redemption At Christ’ Expense] empowering us with Your Holy Spirit, and calling us to a wonderfully unique life in Your service. Forgive us for the times we have been envious of other believers. Forgive us for comparing our faith with others, whose hearts we could not know. Focus us on Your Will and lead us to You so that the glory that others see in us will attributed to Your grace and presence in our lives. In Jesus' wonderful and mighty saving name and by the power of the Holy Spirit, we pray. Amen.
http://www.heartlight.org/wjd/john/1230-wjd.html

Daily Guide to Miracles from Oral Roberts Ministries
Listening for God To Speak — by Oral Roberts
If we could see into the spiritual realm, I believe we would see an invisible line that connects us directly with God. It is through this invisible line that we are able to communicate with God, worship Him, and tell Him what we have need of.
From His end of this line of communication, God sees us and our needs with absolute clarity. He knows what we have need of, and He can tell us, with just as much clarity, what we need to do in order to get our needs met.
In John 10:27 (NLT), Jesus said, "My sheep recognize My voice." In the natural, babies learn very quickly to recognize the voices of their parents; it is vital for their very existence.
When we accept Christ and are born again spiritually, it is even more important that we learn to hear our heavenly Father's voice. How do we do that? By studying God's Word and spending time with Him in prayer. Prayer involves not only talking to God, but also listening to what He wants to say to us.
God says in Jeremiah 33:3 (AMP), Call to Me and I will answer you and show you great and mighty things, fenced in and hidden, which you do not know (do not distinguish and recognize, have knowledge of and understand). I believe God loves nothing better than to spend time talking to His children. But it is up to us to be listening for Him to speak.
My Declaration of Faith for Today: I study God's Word and spend time with Him in prayer, listening for Him to speak to me.
Remember, "Something GOOD is going to happen to you!"
prayer@orm.cc
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Pace Yourself
We are all at the starting line of 2010, ready to begin a new year. How will we pace ourselves for what we will encounter?
Hebrews 12:1 — Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. (NIV)
One winter, when I was in high school, I became a member of the cross-country team. It was much harder than I anticipated. I usually practiced long distance races on the level playing fields at the school and easily outran my peers. For some reason, I could last longer running around the track about fifteen or twenty times.
My coach had taught me how to pace myself by breathing well and maintaining a regular rhythmic pace around the track. So long as I worked on those two things, I kept winning the long distance races at our school.
But cross-country running was entirely different. I had high expectations for myself, and when I joined other runners from Glasgow in a country park for a three-mile race, I thought I would easily finish in the top ten. As soon as the starter fired the gun, I set off at my usual pace, and then, I encountered something that upset my breathing and rhythm: hills and valleys, all across the park.
I was so used to running on a level track that it never crossed my mind to prepare for a different kind of track. Going downhill, my legs went faster than expected and broke my rhythm. I struggled to pound up the hills and it affected my breathing. About halfway around the course, I was totally winded and had to stop. Some of my school teammates, whom I had consistently beaten on the level track, galloped past me. By the time the race was over, I had come in 125th! So much for my own high expectations.
We all stand at the starting line of a new year, anxiously waiting to see how it will turn out. We all have high expectations and make many resolutions to ensure that we will accomplish our goals and fulfill our ambitions. We expect a level track, but there will be hills and valleys, crests and troughs, highs and lows along the way. That is when our perseverance, faith, and hope in the Lord will be crucial to our successes and failures.
This year, let us take and make time to put Christ at the centre of our lives, and to give God the glory for all that we achieve. Let us not take our blessings for granted. Rather, let us accept them humbly and apply them meaningfully in ways that will both honour and please the Lord.
We come in agreement with John's Prayer: Lord God in Jesus’ name, we know that You are our Saviour and Teacher. We ask that You become our Leader and Guide throughout 2010. No matter what we face or encounter, keep us safe in Your hands, and enable us to accomplish much in our homes, at our work, and through our churches, to the glory of God. In Jesus’ holy and mighty saving name, we pray. Amen.
John Stuart —traqair@aol.com
Knoxville, Tennessee, USA
http://daily.presbycan.ca/

WHAT JESUS DID! — They have shut tight their eyes
Acts 28:27-28 For the heart (the understanding, the soul) of this people has grown dull (stupid, hardened, and calloused), and their ears are heavy and hard of hearing and they have shut tight their eyes, so that they may not perceive and have knowledge and become acquainted with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their souls and turn [to Me and be converted], that I may heal them. [28] So let it be understood by you then that [this message of] the salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will listen [to it]!
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