Who's in Arms For Your Pastor?

But Moses' hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. Exodus 17:12

Pastor Teddy Parker, Jr. is a name most of the Christian community must now know. He made headlines after he shot himself while his wife, children and congregation waited for him to preach. Once it was known, I'm positive the spirit of gossip was loosed not only in his church but throughout every faith community as well as the unbelieving communities. This was not just a loss to his family or his church. This was a loss for all who are called to walk alongside their brothers and sisters in faith. Rumors were able to sprout up because no one wanted to say, "it's our fault. We should have done better as his brothers and sisters of lifting his arms." Is even said that just a few weeks prior, he helped another man who bent on committing suicide. My belief? That spirit of suicide was transferred unbeknownst to either man. That thought and my weekly prayers for pastors led me to write this challenge for all who attend church and claim a belief in GOD. 

In my prayers today, I prayed for courage and boldness in speaking GOD's in changing word. I also prayed for their call to be genuine, not manufactured and for their wives and children who undoubtedly walk the same path behind their pastor/ husband/ father. It's not only the pastors that endure that group of people who ALWAYS have a chiding word about something the pastor touched in that they wish to remain in the dark or to let him know the tickling of their ear was not as pleasant as other times. I think of Pastor Paul Sheppard who made it pebble level when he said "to have a word in season and out of season" refers to a word that may not be well liked but needed at the time. Or the women, single or not, who trow themselves at them, I think you get my drift. 

My question is, where are the arm lifters? Where are the ones who are supposed to be lifting them when all this is going on? These two men had to have seen Moses at his worst! He was tired, he was worn, he was, I'm sure, about ready to give up and his words made that fact known. We don't know what he said during this time but he was human, just as pastors are today. I don't care how much his faith was! If he had the anger to throw down HISTORIC tablets and proof of GOD's Word down or disobey, he was crying out in agony then. Aaron and Hur not only had to lift his arms, but his spirits as well! They had to encourage him, let him know they had him and he was not alone in this! Where are our "arm bearers" for our pastors today?? Are you called to be a passionate intercessor for your pastor? Trust me, not everyone is. But if you are called, you had better lock arms with him and get him through his rough times so that there will be times of victory as well! 

This pastor who sat alone in his car long enough to hear the spirit of suicide tell him to give up had someone assigned to intercede for him. Not just his wife. But an Aaron or Hur or both! And when he talked the man out of committing suicide, that should have been a time of intercessory for him!! This pastoral battle is not for the weak and fainthearted. But it is not meant to be walked alone either. Blessings....

LORD, thank You for placing on my heart a day to pray for pastors. Forgive me for not being as consistent as I should be but thank You for the grace that covers them when I don't. I pray that You awaken those who are called to be "arm bearers" and charge them to stand by their pastors side in battle as well as for their wives and children. In Jesus name! Amen!!

Transparent Reach

Transparent Reach

He said, "Come." So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, "Lord, save me." Matthew 14:29, 30 ESV

Jesus was walking on water. Why was that do hard to believe for those who had seen Him perform other miracles? He sent them in ahead of them so why did they forget that He was coming once they were further out? Why do our minds work in the natural only? If we for see it or ourselves, we don't tend to believe it. Or is that just the way my mind works? Even Peter AFTER Jesus said "It is I. Do not fear," he still needed proof. It's as if he was saying, "You say it's you but I don't believe you unless I have proof." How many do that (raising hand). And then once Jesus graciously told him to come out, instead of knowing that Jesus, the one who had told him to step out, the one who would never let anything happen to us, would never let him sink more than necessary. But we do that. We worry when we see or hear the winds and storms in our life.

What I notice, what God has showed me is that I cry out to those in the boat because I can SEE the boat and people in it. Because Peter could see Jesus, he called out to Him even though he only had to focus on Him to stay above water. Did you catch that? If only we would focus on Christ, we will stay above water. But of course, we don't and so because of His grace, He knows that and extends His hand to us. But what I realized today is that not only do I cry out I those in the boat but I do it knowing full well that Jesus is right there for me, knowing full well He has me. I also realized that when I start to sink, He's closer than I usually think.

How about you? Do you aim for the boat faster than you do for Jesus when you cry out in a storm? Do you reach for the phone and call or text someone because it seems like they are closer than Jesus is? Do you only seem to wait until you start sinking to call in Him? Or perhaps you still call in those that are visible to the fleshy eye. This week I challenge you to try Him and see if indeed He is closer.

The verse that was just given to me as I wrote that part was "A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother," Proverbs 18:24. I have a brother and when we were young we had no choice but to be close. Our parents didn't do sibling rivalry like parents nowadays. But as we got older, we grew in different ways. We had life happen. We still love each other just the same but we don't see each other nearly as much as I desire. But oh when we do.... it's like no time had passed. I find myself looking at Jesus in that way. When I am in troubled waters, when I step out of the boat like He commanded and then start to sink, He doesn't feel close so I reach out to people in prayer and for relief. But this verse reminds me that He is a friend that sticks CLOSER than a brother. He is there when we need Him, when we have no idea that we need Him and even when we don't think we need Him. He is closer than a brother, He is closer than any family member, He is CLOSER than we think.

Father, thank you for not only the sacrifice of Your Son's death but His life that You have for us. Jesus, thank You for the life You led to show us how to overcome our storms and that we can reach out to you, without condemnation, when we struggle to stay on the troubled waters of life. You truly are closer than anyone else, I pray that we would remember that and look to you. In Jesus name. Amen.

Just Ask

Just Ask

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.  But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.  For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. James 1:5-8 ESV

My daughter goes to a Christian school in our town called Omaha Christian Academy. She has been there for two and a half years now and my son went there for his last two years of high school due to bullying and bad influences. I am on the prayer team there with two other ladies and we get together weekly to pray for the school, direction, staff, families and kids. A big prayer of faith we have had recently started out as asking God to work in the heart of a potential donor. You see we need a bus for our kids to go on trips, scholastic and sports wise as well as other clubs. We started out saying that we needed to pray for the money to get the bus but then God reminded me of my own prayer holding to the promise that I will have a vehicle of my own and that He would supply it. So I told them this story and said why can God not so this for our school? He is a God of the impossible! HE can supply our needs and He can do without the help or reliance of others!

So anyway, I read devotion the other morning from Joseph Prince and although his devo was about something else, the last sentence in this first paragraph spoke something else to me:

"One of my heroes from the 1800s is a man of faith called George Muller. With faith in God, he built five large orphanages and housed some 2,000 orphans annually. He never asked a soul for money, but brought every need before the Lord. He literally prayed in millions of dollars throughout his life to keep those orphanages going." -Get God's Medicine Into You Joseph Prince courtesy of bible.com

Here is an email with a prayer I felt led to pray that I sent when I forwarded this to my two prayer partners and another friend God introduced me to!

"YES!!!! Chew on the first part of this, especially about George Muller!!! The first paragraph, last sentence!!!! AMEN! AMEN! AMEN!!! PRAISE GOD WHO HEARS AND ANSWERS!!!! We don't need to pray for new donors per se as much as we do donations!!! And then open our hands and expect to receive!!! James 1:6-8 comes to mind to remember when we pray!! Not to pray and cross our fingers but to pray, with thanksgiving, in expectation of what He already has for us!! The picture I get is of a parent who has something a child is looking at in a store and the child, instead of asking the parent, stares and wonders and even doubts that if he/ she asks that the parent would say yes. But when they finally do look to their parent ask, IT IS GIVEN!!!! Oh I am so excited for what's in store and how He will blow our minds view!!!

ABBA Father, thank You for this revelation!! Thank You for being so patient and kind while we figure this out and ask others or wonder and doubt!! Would You, Lord, increase our faith TODAY!! Would You prepare signs and wonders for our eyes to see and blow doubt out of the water as we step out of this constricting, limiting boat called comfort and on to the unknown waters You have called us to! Would we not look at our circumstances as our needs and cry out in anguish but look to You, Jesus, and cry out praises instead!? Fill us Lord with your strength to endure! ABBA, remember us with the favor that You bestow upon Your people! Conceive in us new fervor, new strength, new boldness and as our speaker said last November, new COURAGE to step out into the unknown because we know You!! You are a God of the impossible!!! Exceed our requests and expectations today Lord! In Jesus name! AMEN!!!!"

I don't know what else needs to be said other than we believe we shall see the goodness of The Lord in the land of the living! Not only when He comes to take us Home but now!! I am believing for this bus to be donated just like I am believing for El, our Provider to give me the good and perfect vehicle He has for me!! Whether He uses this donor, Woodhouse, who give freely as the Word says, or He Himself hands it to us, I know that it is on the way!! I do NOT lack wisdom or waver in my prayers for this bus!! I thank Him for what we do not see and pray GOD HELP OUR UNBELIEF!! 

What are you believing Him for? What has promise has He made to you? Can I remind you that his Word will NOT return to Him void?! Stop looking for resources or relying on your own and trust in the Source who gave you those resources!! His bank is everlasting! He Bank is never closed, never goes bankrupt and always gives freely to those who believe along with some gifts of grace and mercy! Believe in His goodness and mercy, declare His promises for your life and watch Him deliver!! FEDEX can't beat His timing!! 

Lord, I just want to thank You for Your goodness and mercy! Thank You for the lessons and trials You take us through to strengthen our faith! Thank You for never giving up on us and for blessing us in spite of ourselves! Thank You for OCA's courage and faithfulness and how they care for Your children! Pour into us this week Lord as a school, and as a family! As we all get together to pray for this need, I pray that You would meet the needs of others through us and in us! Thank You for continuing to entrust these families to us and even bringing about more! Increase our faith as You increase our children and as needs arise like more teachers, a gym of our own and bigger space! Make Your Face to shine on us and make us a bright Light to this neighborhood, this city, this state and this nation! Thank You for Your perfect blessing of a bus and Lord, thank You for my perfect vehicle!! In Jesus name! Amen!