Monthly Archives: May 2011

To pray for God’s will on earth is to embrace His will in my life.  No prayer can be sincere for the whole if it omits or ignores the power of an individual.  “If you think that one person can’t make a difference, try spending the night with a mosquito.”  Part of the illness of this present age [...]

“Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”  “I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of Him who sent me.”  (John :38)  What is life like in heaven?  What are the habits and values of that glorious community?  It is a question that must [...]

“Thy will be done.”  People who pray this prayer often know only one side of it, the resignation.  Jesus in Gethsemane is our template.  He accepts pain.  He submits to loss.  He prays, “not my will but thine be done”.  But the will of God isn’t always  something burdensome to bear.  It is something glorious to [...]

If I call God King, He may say that I have been a rebellious subject and refuse to hear me.   If I call God Creator, He may say that I have fallen short of His purpose and ignore my plea for help.   If I call God Judge, He may say that I have broken [...]

Romans 8 speaks of “the spirit of adoption by which we cry ‘Abba Father’ “.  What is the spirit of adoption?   It is a combination of faith that knows God to be Father, love that loves Him as Father,  joy that relaxes in His love, and confidence that looks to Him for protection and supply.  Martin Luther said [...]

When we become aware of our Father, we become aware of our brothers and sisters.  Jesus does not teach us to pray, “MY father”.  He teaches us to pray, “OUR Father”.  Every prayer, every morning is a consciousness of others who are related to us by a common love for Christ.  Some of God’s children [...]

Today’s inspiring thought is from Charles Spurgeon.  There are no degrees of sonship.  Either we are a children or we are not.  No one is “almost” or “partly” a member of God’s family.  The elder brother was not more related to the father than the prodigal.  “You have children yourselves. One is grown up and out in business, another [...]

If our sonship (through adoption) assures us of God’s love, it also requires love from us.  It is natural and right for a child to love his/her Father.  What do we think of a child who repays a parent’s love with selfishness and ingratitude?  Doesn’t the universe, in similar fashion,  judge us who receive from God without [...]

Yesterday (at FBCSA) we spoke of parents.  We considered the courageous promises that we must make so as to fulfill our duties to God and our children.  Did the Spirit of God speak to you, calling new commitments from your heart?   Today we reverse the image and think of ourselves as a children.   Jesus taught his disciples [...]

“Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”  Other than the encouragement of the Lord, why do Christians pray these words?  Because we are afraid that we will not stand in temptation.  Because we know ourselves to be weak and therefore need His intervention and daily guidance.  It is a logical development of our previous prayers.  What folly [...]