Friday Morning Prayer:)… Always thankful in Christ! November 22, 2018

November 22, 2018 - 7 minutes read

O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There’s light for a look at the Savior,
And life more abundant and free.

 

 Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
  In the light of His glory and grace.[1]

 

 “Unless the LORD had given me help, I would have soon dwelt in the silence of death.”[2]

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There is so much to be thankful for through the highs and lows of this life.  In the highs, we rejoice and overflow, thankful for the excitement, confidence, and sense of God’s presence and empowering love.  In the lows, I need a renewed heart.  You know those days when circumstances are just overwhelming with burdens and anxieties that bring uncertainty.  My life, yours too is in the hand of our sovereign God.  In the highs, we rejoice easily!  In the lows, we are called to give thanks in all circumstances, be joyful always, and pray continually.[3]  God in Christ through the Spirit is orchestrating as he determines in my life and yours too.  “Help Lord” is the continual cry of the regenerate heart needing renewal to effectively overcome our lows and genuinely rejoice always with thanksgiving because of our gracious God.

 

We are thankful that God is our peace who sanctifies us through and through and ensures that we will be blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus. “The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.”[4]  “When I said, ‘My foot is slipping,’ your love, O LORD supported me.  When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul.”[5]  Beloved, we are in Christ; hence we dwell in the shelter of the Most High and rest in the shadow of the Almighty.[6]  Indeed, “…He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”[7]

 

We are thankful for the gift of salvation.  God had mercy on my heart, soul, and mind.  He sanctified me through and through! A new heart designed to praise him.  He fills me with his Spirit, and you too, so we are empowered to love him, express our joy to him, and enjoy him as we depend on him to help us through every circumstance given in this life.  Our faithful Redeemer, especially toward all whose faith clings to God and will not let him go because of his saving grace.  “Because he loves me,” says the LORD, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.  He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.  With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation.”

  

We are thankful that we can pursue an intimate knowledge of God and have a confident assurance of deliverance.  Our prayers for help do not go unheeded; God’s presence carries us through troubled waters and lifts us out of danger.  “It is impossible that any ill should happen to the man [woman] who is beloved of the Lord…. Ill to him is no ill, but only good in a mysterious form.  Losses enrich him, sickness is his medicine, reproach his honour, death is his gain.”[8]

 

 “Safe shall be my going,

Secretly armed against all death’s endeavor;

Safe where all safety’s lost; safe where men fall;

And if these poor limbs die, safest of all.”[9]

 

Thanksgiving is a joy for many; a time of family, love, and encouragement.  For others, these days and holiday season are full of broken dreams, disappointments, and heartache.  May God use us to point broken hearts to the Great Physician.  I ask for help to be sensitive and full of compassion as God brings folks into my sphere of influence.  Help me Lord to share the gospel with confidence as you call many unto salvation through the old rugged cross.   We, the many in Christ ask for help and many will give thanks for gracious favor granted in answer to the prayers of many.[10]   Thank you for your unceasing prayers.

 

 Through death into life everlasting
He passed, and we follow Him there;
O’er us sin no more hath dominion
For more than conqu’rors we are!

 

His Word shall not fail you, He promised;
Believe Him and all will be well;
Then go to a world that is dying,
His perfect salvation to tell!

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 Gals are not meeting this Friday.   I am thankful for our sisters in Christ.  Enjoy family and feast with much thankfulness to our gracious God.

 

Brothers are meeting Friday morning.  Bethel Assembly.  1929 Arnold Way.  Alpine. 0730

 

Join us for a sweet hour of prayer and encouragement among the brethren.  Faithful brothers humble before the throne of grace praying for the body of Christ.  As the Spirit leads our desire is to follow and glorify God with our lives.  If you can’t make it, pray with us as the Spirit leads you this Friday morning.  We gain supernatural help through the prayers of many.