21 Days of Prayer - January 10, 2022 Day 2 Faith for Salvation

Day 2  January 10, 2022

Hebrews 11:1, 6 (NLT) Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see.  6 And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.

Over the next 3 weeks our prayer focus will be on Faith:

Week 1:  Faith in God

Week 2: Faith in Our Lives

Week 3: Faith in Our world

Therme today:Faith For Salvation

Ephesians 2:8-9 (NIV) 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.

It’s the cross of Jesus Christ that makes it all happen. We are not saved by the greatness of our faith but by the object of our faith - JESUS!

I like to go to the cross and thank Jesus for His finished work.

Luke 10:17-20 (NIV) 17 The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” 18 He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. 19 I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. 20 However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

I like to remind myself that in heaven my name is written in a book.

So for your prayer .. start at the cross.

Psalm 103:1-5 (NIV) Praise the Lord, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.

2 Praise the Lord, my soul,  and forget not all his benefits—3 who forgives all your sins

    and heals all your diseases, 4 who redeems your life from the pit     and crowns you with love and compassion, 5 who satisfies your desires with good things  so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

The process of the cross can be realized.. Healed, redeemed, transformed, and blessed.

Healed – taking the broken places, the messed up places and healing me.  Thank you for putting me back together.

Redeemed - You pulled me out of the mire and set my feet on a rock. 

Transformed me - I was once a kid going the wrong way and overcome by bad decisions but you transformed me and I’ve been a pastor serving you and others for 30 years.

Blessed:  You satisfy my desire and bless me so I can give this away.

The great thing to know is that I can come boldly to God’s throne with CONFIDENCE!

(Hebrews 4:16) 16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

"AFTER THIS" God's Protection and Provision

S. Genesis 15:1 “After this, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision. Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward.”

O. Abram had just experienced victory and given praise to God. Yet he must have had some fear and doubt. God comes to him to tell him he doesn’t need to fear. God reminds Abram that He will protect him (He is Abram’s shield) and that He will greatly bless Abram (God is his very great reward).

Even after tremendous victories, the enemy will creep in and stir up doubt. Yet God reminds us that He will protect us and bless us greatly.

A. I have seen ( and continue to see) God do great and amazing things - yet at times I weake up with fearful thoughts. Tod God’s first words to me were in this verse “AFTER THIS” (referring to the ways God has provided me victory in life) followed by “DO NOT BE AFRAID” - I am your shield, your very great reward. God is reminding me that as I walk in faith with Him, He will protect and provide for me.

P. Thank you Father for this word today. Thank you Jesus for a complete salvation. Holy Spirit fill me and guide me to walk in faith, knowing that God will continue to protect and provide - IN Jesus’ name!

Ready to Preach the Gospel of Christ Jesus At All Times

S. 2 Timothy 4:2 “Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage - with great patience and careful instruction.”

O. Paul instructs Timothy (a young pastor) to be ready at all times in preaching God’s Word. There are times when Timothy will have to give correction (discipline, exposing to be wrong), rebuke (reprove, charging one with wrong), and encouragement (comfort from closely walking with). That being said, Paul is teaching Timothy that no matter what it is he needs to do, he needs to do it with great patience and instruction.

No matter the pushback from preaching and serving Christ, Timothy is to show great patience and carefully teach. That’s what preparedness is. Timothy is an example to other pastors / Christian leaders to carefully teach and show great patience to others who may be the ones pushing back on the Gospel of Christ Jesus.

A. As a believer of Jesus Christ and a pastor, I may not enjoy some of the pushback that people might have when I share the Gospel of Jesus Christ, my “preparedness” is finding ways to continue to share that show patience and carefuleness. There may be times I need to be firm and defend the Gospel, I can do this with a care and patience that will not detract from the character of Christ Jesus (humility, grace, non judgmentalism and love).

In my “preparedness” I should not be surprised that not all will respond well to the preaching of God’s Word and thereby have given thought to how I can positively stand firm for God’s word. May any rebuke i might need to give, be done so with love, grace and seeks to gently instruct so as to bring those to a closer relationship with Jesus (Eph. 4:15, Colossians 4:6)

P. Thank you Father for your word today. Holy Spirit fill me and guide me to faithfully proclaim your word. Grant me wisdom in being ready to patienty and carefully correct, rebuke and encourage. In Jesus’ name!