More Than Today

Here's an interesting article on forgiveness and dealing with sin that other people know about.

After reading Psalm 51 today, which regards the time when the prophet Nathan came to David after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba, I read a prayer. Both the Psalm and the prayer spoke to me and I share them with you. Psalm 51:1-3 (New Living Translation) "Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin. For I recognize my shameful deeds--they haunt me day and night." "I confess, Lord, with thanksgiving, that you have made me in your image so that I can remember you, think of you, and love you. But that image is so worn and blotted out by faults, and darkened by the smoke of sin, that it cannot do that for which it was made unless you renew and refashion it. Lord, I am not trying to make my way to your height, for my understanding is in no way equal to that, but I do desire to understand a little of your truth, which my he

While at a web site, I read of a church that was all ready to move forward for God when division struck. One staff person is going to lose his job. I responded in this way. Perhaps these words might encourage you also in whatever is happening to you or to someone you know today. "I pray for you that you will know how much God loves you and cares for you. I pray that God's Holy Spirit will reveal to you how you can grow closer through this experience. I pray that the others in the church and community who will walk away will not walk away from God. And I pray that God will grant a special drawing power to another church in your community to help pick up the pieces of those who are left stranded. As Hurricane Isabel is expected to make a direct hit and not a sidewise swipe, so you have taken a direct hit. God will see you through the eye of the storm and as it passes will show you others to help whose lives are split apart. Like too many others, I have been where you

I just checked my e-mail after getting home from church and discovered ads, jokes, ... and a request for prayer. What a summary of life. There are ads all around us to buy this or that, try this or that, go here or there... And jokes spice up our lives to add a smile when we need it and even when we didn't realize we did. I'm thankful for humor in life. And prayer requests? Someone needing prayer not only connects me with a friend in need but also reminds me of God's goodness to me so many times. This past year as I faced surgery twice for my thyroid, and what turned out to be cancer, I was so grateful for prayers on my behalf. God was so good to bring me through with just a "little" cancer and continues to be with me as I go through life. Prayer support was so wonderful. So I continue in my life with ads, jokes, and prayer requests...and more, because of the power of God at work through the Holy Spirit.

Well, here it is again...September 11. But it's two years later and hopefully no planes will crash into buildings. Still, the world has changed for us. As I was reading my Bible this morning, I read Psalm 34:4. "I prayed to the LORD, and he answered me, freeing me from all my fears." The "commentary" and a prayer in The Praise and Worship Study Bible seemed especially relevant on this day so I pass it on to you. People often try to rid themselves of fear by trusting solely in human efforts to keep them safe from harm. Ultimately, however, we humans are limited in our abilities and cannot protect ourselves from every danger. Only God can truly free us from fear, because he is the only one who is all-powerful and able to deal with any threat. The Lord is always watching over us and has already secured our eternal well-being, so we can depend on God and receive true peace. Let us cast all our cares on the Lord and praise him that he frees us from fear

Where was God when…the tough times came? “The seeds that fell on rocky ground stand for those who hear the message and receive it gladly.” Luke 8:13a Maybe that was you when you were younger. Believing in God and Jesus was easy if you grew up in Christian families or among Christian people. But for me I wanted to feel it, to know it for sure. So as a child, I responded to a lot of altar calls. The preacher would preach and then invite anyone who wanted to become a Christian to come forward, kneel at the altar, and pray a prayer to receive Jesus. I responded at church camps and at church. I didn’t quit going up until I knew I had what I was looking for. My Dad says that I responded to so many altar calls that when our family would visit a church he and my mother would sit on each side of me. They didn’t want to stop me from responding but they wanted to slow me down. Finally one night at church when I was about 8 years old I went forward and that night I knew it was re

In Brennan Manning’s book The Ragamuffin Gospel (page 86) he writes, • “The question which the gospel of grace puts to us is simply this: Who shall separate you from the love of Christ? What are you afraid of? • Are you afraid that your weakness could separate you from the love of Christ? It can’t. • Are you afraid that your inadequacies could separate you from the love of Christ? They can’t. • Are you afraid that your inner poverty could separate you from the love of Christ? It can’t. • Difficult marriage, loneliness, anxiety over the children’s future? They can’t. • Negative self-image? It can’t. • Economic hardship, racial hatred, street crime? They can’t. • Rejection by loved ones or the suffering of loved ones? They can’t. • Persecution by authorities, going to jail? They can’t. • Nuclear war? It can’t. • Mistakes, fears, uncertainties? They can’t. • The gospel of grace calls out: Nothing can ever separate you from the love of God made vi

As I was reading the story of Joseph in prison in Genesis 39, I came across this “Prayer for the Fulfillment of God’s Will” written by Phillips Brooks in the 1800’s. Joseph had been obedient to God and was still following God even after being sold into slavery by his brothers. He had been a good worker for his master and yet had been accused of attempting to rape his master’s wife. His master put him in jail where he still remained faithful to God. In all circumstances of life, Joseph stayed true to God. This prayer struck me and I wanted to share it. Read it, pray it, pass it on, or pass it by as you see fit. Perhaps just a few words of it will touch your heart today, some day soon or down the road somewhere. O Lord, by your dealings with us, whether of joy or pain, of light or darkness, let us be brought to you. Let us value no treatment of your grace simply because it makes us happy or because it makes us sad, because it gives us or denies us what we want; but may all