Lenten Devotion - Friday February 19

Matthew 11:20-24, “Then he began to reproach the cities in which most of his deeds of power had been done, because they did not repent. “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, on the day of judgment it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? No, you will be brought down to Hades. For if the deeds of power done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I tell you that on the day of judgment it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom than for you.”

Jesus speaks to nations, cities, and communities regarding their faithlessness and sinfulness. It wasn’t a phenomenon of Jesus rather God had been speaking in this same manner through His prophets and He continues through His Son. Each nation, city and community is comprised of individuals who have a duty to relate to God through Jesus Christ and with one another. When nations, cities and communities fail to be obedient that failure begins with the individual who refuses to be obedient to God through Christ. The only way for a nation, city or community to return to favor with God through Christ is for each individual to confess, seek God’s forgiveness and repent. It is here that we begin.

Prayer: Father thank You for today and the promise of eternal life through Jesus Christ. Help us fall to our knees in humility. Let us once again see Your Divine will for our lives. Forgive us we pray in Jesus’ Name. AMEN.

Lenten Devotion - Thursday February 18

Jonah 3:4-9, “Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s walk. And he cried out, “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth. When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. Then he had a proclamation made in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: No human being or animal, no herd or flock, shall taste anything. They shall not feed, nor shall they drink water. Human beings and animals shall be covered with sackcloth, and they shall cry mightily to God. All shall turn from their evil ways and from the violence that is in their hands. Who knows? God may relent and change his mind; he may turn from his fierce anger, so that we do not perish.”

What an amazing and wonderful thing to witness that the prophetic message that sent Jonah to Nineveh to deliver was heard and being heeded not just by its inhabitants but by its leaders as well. Wouldn’t it be a miraculous act of God that the leaders of our Nation and the world suddenly turned her or his heart to God through Jesus, confessed their sins, asked God to forgive them and repented – sinning no more? Would you believe it if it happened one day? God has that kind of power and that kind of influence. We must be carriers of God’s truth as Jonah was and be willing to go into ‘Nineveh’ where danger certainly awaited him to deliver the message of God’s real hope of eternal life. We must never stop seeking out ways to share the great good news of repentance and eternal life.

Prayer: Father forgive our weakness and lack of faith. You have been amazing in Your anticipation of our faith. Strengthen us in faith, help us confess our failures, lead us in Your Holy Way. In Jesus’ Name we pray. AMEN.

Ash Wednesday

Daniel 9:3-6, “Then I turned to the Lord God, to seek an answer by prayer and supplication with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to the LORD my God and made confession, saying, “Ah, Lord, great and awesome God, keeping covenant and steadfast love with those who love you and keep your commandments, we have sinned and done wrong, acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and ordinances. We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our ancestors, and to all the people of the land.”

Daniel knew that he needed to devote himself completely to God - so he began his prayer time with God by fasting, wearing sack cloth (burlap cloth) and his exposed flesh covered with ashes. All these are signs of humility, submission and obedience to God. As we begin this Lenten time we too come forward with fasting and ashes as a reminder that we must clear our hearts and minds of the distractions of daily life that cause us to turn away from God slightly or completely. When we are distracted from God we lose focus on what it is that God would have us do. Daniel teaches us again how we must approach our renewal by preparing our hearts to confess, receive forgiveness and repent – starting and our relationship with God and one another.

Prayer: Father I confess that I have not You and one another with my whole heart; I have not been faithful to Your church; I have not kept my covenant with You and with my neighbor another. Forgive me I pray in the Name of Jesus who saves me. AMEN.

A Christian Nation

Leviticus 19:1-4, “The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them: You shall be holy, for I the LORD your God am holy. You shall each revere your mother and father, and you shall keep my Sabbaths: I am the LORD your God. Do not turn to idols or make cast images for yourselves: I am the LORD your God.”

As early as the Mayflower Compact the United States was founded upon its faith in God through Christ. Those who would seek to destroy or limit religious speech or public practices of faith fail to remember that basic truth of our existence and founding. It is time that we recognize whereupon we have begun our journey.

Prayer: Father, deliver us from our failed practices of faith. Strengthen us in Your Holy service. Help us remember that You set our Nation on a course of Christian belief and Christian hope. May those who seek to destroy our Nation hear Your powerful Word Jesus Christ. In Jesus’ Name we pray. AMEN

Alinsky's Rules are in play again by Bolshevik Obama

From Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals:

RULE 5: "Ridicule is man's most potent weapon;"

RULE 12: Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it;" CINCO (comrade-in-chief Obama), went on the attack again.

Yesterday CINCO (comrade-in-chief Obama), at the invitation of the Republicans, went to Maryland to talk (fight) with the House and Senate Republicans to prove to them and the world with cameras rolling that he is right and the Republicans are wrong. He continued his antagonistic rant against Republicans so virulently that he proved the points that have been made that he simply will not listen to anything a Republican has to say. He came to office as a ‘uniter’ by his own definition and what that really means is that he wants to unite his Bolsheviks under one banner instead of working for America. He said in the Spectacle of the Union speech that ‘we all love America.’ He lied. If he loved America he wouldn’t have made a world apology tour and he would have saluted the men and women who were murdered at Ft. Hood instead of holding his crotch. CINCO is a liar and a divider. He said to the Republicans that he heard their concerns about tort reform, defensive medicine and trade barriers among states regarding health insurance purchases and those things are in the bill. Which bill CINCO? Where is it that those elements have been included? You lie!

When you hear Demokrat strategists speak about this action by CINCO they applaud him -  they have no desire to get along with Republicans or any conservative. They are in full attack mode with CINCO at the lead. Soros and Alinsky are flying the hammer and sickle.

What does he do today?  He begins a brand new tactic and that is espousing the pilfered plank of too much spending.  He stole a plank from Scott Brown's win and now he's riding in with the hammer and sickle flying to save us reckless spenders especially since none of us is smart enough to figure out what to do since we have already shown that we cannot be trusted to interpret a healthcare bill from behind a locked door.

A Nineveh Moment

Jonah 3, “The word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time, saying, “Get up, go to Nineveh, that great city, and proclaim to it the message that I tell you.” So Jonah set out and went to Nineveh, according to the word of the LORD. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly large city, a three days’ walk across. Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s walk. And he cried out, “Forty days more, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” And the people of Nineveh believed God; they proclaimed a fast, and everyone, great and small, put on sackcloth. When the news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. Then he had a proclamation made in Nineveh: “By the decree of the king and his nobles: No human being or animal, no herd or flock, shall taste anything. They shall not feed, nor shall they drink water. Human beings and animals shall be covered with sackcloth, and they shall cry mightily to God. All shall turn from their evil ways and from the violence that is in their hands. Who knows? God may relent and change his mind; he may turn from his fierce anger, so that we do not perish.” When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil ways, God changed his mind about the calamity that he had said he would bring upon them; and he did not do it.

Jonah didn’t want to go to Nineveh. He ran. And God still found him. Resigned to his ministry he went to Nineveh and proclaimed God’s powerful message for repentance. Jonah’s fear of being destroyed in that great warring city came to be unfounded. The Ninevites and their king repented and dressed themselves in sack cloth and ashes as a sign that they believed God and were truly sorry for what they had done. Simply put, they believed.

Prayer: Eternal and loving God. Help us to confess, seek Your forgiveness and repent believing forever that Your Words and actions are true and in love for Your Creation. Help us Father return to Your Holy Way. In Jesus Name we pray. AMEN

Stand Up and Fight for our Nation!

Since Wednesday night we’ve been swarmed by pundits and their take on the Spectacle of the Union that CINCO (comrade-in-chief Obama) trotted out; his lies, his constant haranguing rhetoric about who’s to blame and his belief in his own messianic anointing. The American people deserve better than this empty suit. I did note however, that the American electorate so desperately wanted someone with silvery words and a willingness to step into the breach that they elected a shaped image that better reflects that of a hologram than a real leader. CINCO stood in front of Americans and denigrated us for not ‘understanding the healthcare legislation when not one senator or representative could admit that she or he had read the bills and understood them. In fact CICNO had not read the bills and when he challenged Republicans or anyone to come to his office and he would go over them line by line he didn’t keep his promise as Republicans lined up for that moment. CINCO’s behavior toward the Supreme Court was nothing less than despicable. He expects respect for his office but is unwilling to give the same respect to the Supreme Court.

Brothers and sisters of America the current president of the United States is a pretender, a liar and a communist who wants to destroy this nation. The time is growing short for action. Every member of Congress and the Senate who sees what he is attempting and are either helping in the overthrow or simply are looking out for her or his own political interests need to be voted out of office. It’s time for those who haven’t been involved in politics to rise up and take charge of this citizens' revolt against the destruction of America. Find a candidate or any issue and began swamping your senators or representative with the news that this is over. Stand up America and get involved – this is our future!