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Newspaper covering Franklin County, Illinois
Hillary Clinton recently said that “civility can start” if Democrats “are fortunate enough to win back the House and or the Senate.” In other words, when she and her friends on the left get their way, they’ll play nice.
Here’s a link to the editorial at Fox News.
A Prayer to Know God’s Will for Your Life
Rachel-Claire Cockrell
For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Jeremiah 29:11
Whenever I want something so badly that I can’t trust my own heart, I ask God for a Brick Wall. We tend to seek God’s will in a way that implies we need to take action, but what if it’s inaction that puts us on the path God asks of us? Not all decisions are black or white, good or bad. Sometimes something that appears good can be placed in front of us, but not all good things are part of God’s plan for our lives.
Let me be clear, there is no “magic prayer” that can keep us from making the wrong decision. I would also like to clarify that this is something that helps me when I am faced with a decision and my own desires are preventing me from thinking clearly or even caring if what I want is in God’s plan for me.
God knows what he’s doing. Sometimes I forget, but he has a plan. I struggle with figuring out what that plan is most of the time, but one step I will never leave out is the Brick Wall Prayer. God knows my heart. He knows what I desire. He wouldn’t withhold something out of spite. He has plans to “prosper [me] and not to harm [me], to give [me] a hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11). I challenge you to take this prayer, mold it to fit your own life, and see how it changes your perspective.
The Brick Wall Prayer (A Prayer to Know God’s Will)
God, you know me better than I know myself. You know my fears and my desires. You know how much I want this. You know how much I will be devastated if this doesn’t happen. I know you love me. I know you have a plan for me. Please, Lord, don’t let my desires blind me to your will. If this is not within your plan for me, throw up a Brick Wall. Give me an obstacle I cannot get past. Help me follow your will, Father. Give me peace about whatever is to come. If this falls through, I will know it is your hand.
Thank you for loving me,
Amen.
Editor’s Note: Portions of this devotional were taken from Rachel-Claire Cockrell’s article, A Prayer to Know God’s Will for Your Life. You can read that piece in full here.
By Rick Warren
”For the law was given through Moses, but God’s unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17 NLT).
There isn’t a 23-part answer to the question. You don’t need to go to seminary to discover it.
The Bible gives an easy, three-word answer for how you receive the grace of God: by trusting Christ.
The Bible says in John 1:17, “For the law was given through Moses, but God’s unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ” (NLT).
God’s grace is entirely wrapped up in a person: Jesus. You can’t get it through religion or ritual. You can’t get it by following the rules.
You get it through Jesus.
God’s grace is free. You simply need to accept it.
But let me be very clear: God’s grace is not cheap. It cost Jesus his life. Grace is the most expensive commodity there is. Jesus died on the cross to pay for it.
Jesus’ death on the cross accomplished three things in our lives:
The costly grace God offers will change everything about your life.
You just have to accept it!
In airports, on airplanes, in hotels and in restaurants, I have been approached again and again by people who are glad Republicans stood up for now-Justice Brett Kavanaugh and took on the left. Not a single person has been hostile or negative in five days of travel (and Seattle is hardly lacking in liberals).
Here’s a link to the editorial at Fox News.
Donald Trump may be remembered as the most honest president in modern American history. Don’t get me wrong, Trump lies all the time. He said that he “enacted the biggest tax cuts and reforms in American history” (actually they are the eighth-largest) and that “our economy is the strongest it’s ever been in the history of our country” (which may one day be true, but not yet). In part, it’s a New York thing — everything is the biggest and the best.
Here’s a link to the editorial at the Chicago Tribune.
At some point in life, we all have to decide whether we want to be victims or victors. Do we want to be defined by slights and wrongs, ones that are perceived or real? That we suffer at the hands of others. Two hundred and forty-two years ago, our forefathers made the decision that kind of sitting around bemoaning our fate under British rule wasn’t going to get us anywhere. They decided to do something about it.
Here’s a link to the editorial at Fox News.
By Rick Warren
”Don’t you see that you can’t live however you please, squandering what God paid such a high price for? . . . So let people see God in and through your body” (1 Corinthians 6:20 The Message).
So in light of what Jesus has done for us, how should we respond? We must be grateful. One way we can show our gratitude to God is by making our lives count.
You can’t really understand the grace of God and the price he paid to make it available to you while living how you want to live, ignoring the commands of Jesus, or wasting your life on things that don’t matter. The Bible says it this way: “Don’t you see that you can’t live however you please, squandering what God paid such a high price for? . . . So let people see God in and through your body” (1 Corinthians 6:20 The Message).
After the failed assassination attempt against President Ronald Reagan, I remember him saying, “I have a new sense that I was spared for a purpose and that all my time belonged to God after that.”
We all should have the same sense of purpose. Because of what Jesus did for us on the cross, we were spared for a reason: to make a difference with our lives. Jesus didn’t die on the cross so we could go on living any way we like. He made us for a purpose—and he redeemed us for a purpose, too. He wants us to fulfill that purpose.
The Bible says in 1 Peter 4:10, “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms” (NIV). You were given spiritual gifts, abilities, education, and relationships for a reason—to help other people and tell them about Jesus.
God saved you so he can use you.
Have you trusted Jesus for your salvation?
The Bible says we can only get to heaven by trusting in God through his Son, Jesus Christ. And we don’t have to earn God’s love or work our way into heaven. The Bible says, “It is by grace you have been saved, through faith — and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God — not by works, so that no one can boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9 NIV).
If you haven’t trusted in Jesus and committed to following him, why wait any longer? If you’re ready to step across that line and make a decision to believe in Jesus Christ and follow him, pray this prayer:
“Dear Jesus, you have promised that if I believe in you, everything I’ve ever done wrong will be forgiven, I will learn the purpose of my life, and you will accept me into your eternal home in heaven one day.
“I confess my sin, and I believe that you are my Savior. You have promised that if I confess my sin and trust you, I will be saved. I trust you when you say that salvation comes by grace, through faith, and not by anything I do. I receive you into my life as my Lord. Today I’m turning over every part of my life to your management. You have the right to call the shots in my life.
“Jesus, I want to relax in your love. Thank you that I don’t have to earn it or work for it. I want to use the rest of my life to serve you instead of serving myself. I humbly commit my life to you and ask you to save me and accept me into your family. In your name I pray. Amen.”
If you just prayed to accept Jesus, please email me at Rick@PastorRick.com and let me know about it. I’d like to send you some free materials to help you start your journey with Jesus.
A Prayer for When You Grieve a Loved One in Heaven
By Lisa Appelo
He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” – Revelation 21:4
I stooped to give my 7-year-old a goodnight hug and pray with him. He’d made a pallet on the carpet in my bedroom, something he often did after Dan died.
By day, he played like all the other little boys in neighborhood. You’d never know he was carrying a heavy blanket of grief.
On this night, I listened as Matt prayed. He thanked God for the good day and prayed for kids all over the world that needed help. And then he closed with this:
Tell my dad I said hello.
A thousand knives went through my heart.
Those words held pain but they also held connection.
Dan on that side of heaven, us on this side. Him in the presence of God, us still walking it out in faith. Him face to face with God, us still veiled from full glory.
Heaven had always seemed far off in time and space. It was a sure thing but a someday thing, so distant from the busy days of our life raising kids and paying bills.
And then it wasn’t.
Death had brought pain but it also brought connection. I wish I could say I felt that connection to heaven before, but Dan’s death made it immediate and palpable. Like we had a deposit, waiting for us just after we met Jesus.
Because when you love someone in heaven, you carry part of heaven in your heart.
It was in church that I could most easily picture Dan in heaven. Caught up with the words and music of worship, I imagined him just the other side of eternity.
Us in our pew, him in the true tabernacle. All eyes on Christ. All of us worshiping. All of us part of one body.
The body of Christ is more than my congregation. It’s more than the believers in the next city over and next continent over. The body of Christ includes believers right now in the presence of God.
As we worship God here, we’re joining the chorus of believers worshiping in heaven.
As we serve God here, we’re joining the band of believers serving in heaven.
As we praise God here, we’re joining the multitude of believers praising in heaven.
The seen and the unseen. The groaning and the freed. Those whose life is Christ and those whose death is gain.
Yes, Lord Jesus. Tell him we said hello.
A Prayer for When You Grieve a Loved One in Heaven
Lord, my heart is feels like a thousand knives are running through it. I am weary, spent, and just so sad. Please, help me! Hear my prayers. Hold me and my family up. Give us strength. Be present. Be persistent in your love. Carry us through this heartache. Sustain us. Bring us joy and hope. In Your Name I pray, Amen.
In the beginning, it was safe to ignore Kanye West and his growing bromance with President Trump. After all, West is a performer, which makes it easy to discount his political talk, and he is married to a Kardashian, which, well, enough said.
Here’s a link to the editorial at Fox News.
A Prayer for Righteousness
By Pete Briscoe
In the way of righteousness there is life; along that path is immortality – Proverbs 12:20
Elementary school was a difficult time for me; I was picked on quite a bit. One afternoon as I waited for the bus, a classmate ridiculed me relentlessly. My anger was building slowly; but when he said something about my mother, I walked over and kicked his kneecap. And he crumpled to the ground.
I boarded my bus feeling ashamed. All the way home my conscience told me, That was wrong. I got off the bus at home and waited for the school to call my parents, but the phone didn’t ring.
While it appeared I’d gotten away with injuring that kid, condemnation ran through my thoughts: Not only was that wrong, but you are wrong. Even at such a young age, I resisted turning to God because of my self-condemnation. Surely He wanted nothing to do with such a naughty kid.
Isn’t it heartbreaking how our conscience – something hardwired within all of humanity by our Creator – can be twisted in such as way as to distance us from Him?
Some of you are still struggling with your little judge. He’s reminding you of what you did in college. He tells you how you messed up your first marriage. The Evil One – our accuser – has hijacked your conscience, and you’re desperate to know if he can be silenced.
Yes, there is a way to clear our conscience before God – but there is only one way.
I know what you might be thinking: Jesus came to forgive our sins. This is enough. We can live with the guilt if we are forgiven.
But there is so much more to our life in Christ than this, friends!
“How much more, then, will the blood of Christ… cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death…” (Hebrews 9:14)
He wants you to be free – free from not only the acts of death, but also the guilt that results. I don’t know what guilt you live with, but I do know Jesus can silence it. All you have to do is ask Him.
Jesus, knowing You forgive all my sins was enough. But there is more? Praises to You! Yes, I want to be free from guilt and shame! Yes, I long for this abundant life! Amen.
