Category: — God is always at work around you

A Prayer About the New Year and the Gospel

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A Prayer about the New Year and the Gospel

Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. (Josh. 24:14–15)

Can you believe the first week of the new year is already over? Wow. Time flies. Well here is a prayer for the new year from the pen of Pastor Scotty Smith:

Everyday prayers

Gracious Father, as I sit here sipping fresh coffee and watching flames dance in the fireplace, it’s early into the first day of a new year. Tons of confetti cover the streets of Manhattan, and gratitude fills my heart.

I’m thankful I’m beginning this year with a little better understanding of the gospel than I had last year and the previous years. I’m already praying that I’ll be able to say the same thing this time next year. For the gospel is not just good news for people getting ready to die—it’s good news for people who are now ready to live.

In the gospel you lavish us with your love, liberate us by your grace, and launch us into your transforming story of redemption. What more could we possibly want or hope for, in life or in death?

Because the gospel is true, I don’t respond to Joshua’s bold charge with a list of New Year’s resolutions—promises of what I’m going to do for you. Rather, I begin this year resolving to abandon myself to everything Jesus has done for us. Jesus is the promise keeper, not us. He’s the one who has promised to make all things new, including me.

Father, that’s why serving you is much more than merely “desirable”; it’s the greatest privilege conceivable and the purest delight imaginable. For Jesus is our Joshua—the one who has saved us, is saving us, and one day will completely save us. Without any embarrassment or fear of cliché, I gladly affirm: Jesus saves! What other savior died for us that we might find life in him? What other god sacrificially serves us that we might gratefully serve him?

Because of the gospel, throwing away my idols feels less like a painful sacrifice and more like a liberating dance. For all my “empty nothings” have ever given me is momentary pleasure and lasting regrets. Remind me of this all year long when I’m tempted to think otherwise.

Father, may this be a year of considering our lives worth nothing to us, if only we may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given us—the task of testifying (by word and deed) to the gospel of your grace (Acts 20:24). In Jesus’ loving name we pray, with great anticipation and much thanksgiving. Amen.

Smith, Scotty (2011-09-01). Everyday Prayers for a Transformed Life: 365 Days to Gospel-Centered Faith (Kindle Locations 222-237). Baker Book Group. Kindle Edition.

A powerful Gospel prayer for this new year. Thanks for joining me as together we celebrate “joy in the journey.”

Running the race with joy,

Bill Welte
President/CEO – America’s Keswick

Daily Bible Reading: Genesis 10-12/Romans 4

Quote of the day:  If we are not heedful and pay no attention to the way the Spirit of God works in us, we will become spiritual hypocrites. We see where other people are failing, and then we take our discernment and turn it into comments of ridicule and criticism, instead of turning it into intercession on their behalf…Be careful that you don’t become a hypocrite by spending all your time trying to get others right with God before you worship Him yourself.  Oswald Chambers

Bible Memory: But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself; so that I may finish the race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. Acts 20:24

God is Always at Work Around You

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God is Always at Work Around You

“Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, ‘This is the way; walk in it.'” (Isaiah 30:21)

It is so easy to have tunnel vision and get our heads buried in the sand. We can choose to live like an ostrich, or soar like and eagle when it comes to seeing God at work all around us.

Today was one of those moments that every speaker, teacher and writer dreads — living what you preach! I hate when that happens.

I alluded yesterday to a very difficult situation I am going through, I had to be stretched out of my comfort zone. Quite honestly, I felt like Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane — “If it be possible, let this cup pass from me!”

I had to be a part of a phone call that was going to be hard and difficult. This morning, God spoke to my heart from his Word and through Streams in the Desert. The verse at the top of today’s blog was my prayer. This was the words He gave me from “Streams” —

When you have doubts or are facing difficulties, when others suggest courses of action that are conflicting, when caution dictates one approach but faith another, we should be still. We should quiet each intruding person, calm ourselves in the stillness of God’s presence, study His Word for guidance, and with true devotion focus our attention on Him. We should life our nature in the pure light radiating from His face, having an eagerness to know only what God will determine for us. Soon He will reveal by His secret counsel a distinct and unmistakable sense of His direction.

You must also have the courage to wait in silent expectation, even when everyone around you is insisting on an immediate decision or action. If you will do these things, the will of God will become clear to you. And you will have a deeper concept of who HE is, having more insight into HIS nature and HIS heart of love.

Part of the poem for that day was this:

“STAND STILL,” my soul, for so your Lord commands:
E’en when your way seems blocked, leave it in HIS hands;
HIS arm is mighty to divide the wave.
“STAND STILL,” my soul, “stand still” and you will see
How God can work the “impossible” for thee,
For with a great deliverance He does save.

I obviously cannot go into the details, but let me tell you this — GOD WAS FAITHFUL TO HIS WORD. It was an “exceedingly-abundantly-above and beyond-all you could ask or think” moment! You see — God was at work ALL around me.

What are you facing? My friend, HE wants you to experience HIM! Stand still! Get into His Word! Pray! Seek His face! And allow Him to reveal to you how HE is at work ALL around you! — Bill Welte is President and CEO of America’s KESWICK

God’s WORD for YOU: Proverbs 21; Esther 3-5; Acts 5:22-42

Great Quote: “He knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.” Think of that when you are tempted to question the gentleness of His leading. He is remembering all the time; and not one step will He make you take beyond what your foot is able to endure. Never mind if you think it will not be able for the step that seems to come next; either He will so strengthen it that it shall be able, or He will call a sudden halt, and you shall not have to take it at all. Frances Ridley Havergal

Experiencing God — God is always at work around you

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Experiencing God — God is always at work around you …

“Look among the nations! Observe! Be astonished! Wonder! Because I am doing some things in your days — you would not believe it if you were told!” Habakkuk 1:5

The first of the seven realities of experiencing God is the fact that God is always at work around you! Sometimes we get bogged down in our circumstances, and as the old saying goes, “we can’t see the forest from the trees.”

I love the story in 2 Kings 6 when Elisha was confronted concerning the army of Syria that was about to attack Israel. The Israelite army was fearful and convinced that they could not defeat this “great army” that had surrounded the city.

Elisha told the kings attendant not to be afraid, “for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” (2 Kings 6:16). Elisha then prays and petitions the God of Israel to open the attendant’s eyes. I love this: “The the Lord opened the servants eyes, and he saw; and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha!” (2 Kings 6: 17

This fearful attendant of the king had the awesome privilege of seeing the curtain of the spiritual world pulled back so that he could gaze upon the army of the Lord that was all around them behind the scenes.

So often we are focused on the problem: finances, sickness, disappointment, hurt — we fail to see with our human eyes that our Sovereign Lord is at work in ways we cannot see.

Like you, I am facing one of those battles were there is a situation out of my control. From a HUMAN perspective, it would be easy to run to the hills. I see the IMMEDIATE and the enemy that is looming around me. BUT GOD is at work all around me, and if I am willing to trust HIM, He will see me THROUGH it in ways that can turn my life upside down.

What are you experiencing right now? My friend, remind yourself of a FACT not a feeling: GOD IS ALWAYS AT WORK AROUND YOU. — Bill Welte is President and CEO of America’s KESWICK

God’s WORD for YOU: Proverbs 20; Esther 1-2; Acts 5:1-21

Great Quote: No one switches on a flashlight in an area flooded by direct sunlight. We put on the light in order to dispel darkness. It is the darkness that makes the light necessary. God from eternity knew that men would choose darkness rather than light, and therefore He had to bring His light in Jesus Christ to shine in the midst of darkness. Anonymous