Archive for prayer

Accept God’s Grace… Rodna Epley

Posted in #PaulthePoke, Gospel, Rodna Epley with tags , , , , , , , , , , , on December 14, 2021 by paulthepoke

There is someone out there today whom God, our Father in heaven, wants to know that He can forgive you and He wants to more than anything. He already sees and knows every detail about your life all the way back to when He created you until now, even to the end of your life if you have an end.

He still loves you, immensely, intensely, more than you may ever realize in this life. Please do not give up. He can fix anything literally, no matter how bad, no matter how hurtful, no matter how impossible it seems. What seems unbearable and unforgiveable in this moment can change in an instant. No matter how many sins you have committed, especially the ones you think passed the threshold of God being able to forgive. All can be forgiven. Nothing is too hard for Him.

If you have written yourself off, God has written you back in. He is a good Father who will do anything to bring His son or daughter back home. Your sins which are many and too hurtful to even think about. Or perhaps you have lost feeling over them and that worries you, can be forgiven, all of them instantly. The entire weight of it all, no matter how heavy or ugly, is lifted off you. You will feel it go too. The weight of it gone, just like that.

Your Father loves you more than you can imagine. He is not condemning you. He wants to heal you completely, and He is the Healer. That is why He sent Jesus. That is why the Father walked this earth through His Son Jesus and took man to his worst end so that he can bring man to his best end, forever reconciled to Him.

Though it is a mystery, Jesus gave up His life so that the old nature of sin and the propensity toward sin can be put to death in you. He rose from the dead by the glory of the Father so that His life. The new nature of His own glory can be imparted to you. This is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

But He does not leave you in a state of only hope that can be disappointed. His glory wakes up within you as He fills you with His Spirit and the new nature of His own glory begins to operate in you.

Jesus went to be with the Father, and He showed you the way to the Father, and He sat down at the Father’s right hand on the very throne of glory, so that you can be seated there with Him right now and forever.

Allow yourself to be forgiven. Dare to see just how far God’s grace and glory can reach and transform. What have you got to lose? The very moment I decided to give God a 100% chance show me who He is, is the very moment He showed up. He was always there, but He showed me that He was there. He did not wait to interact with me. He only briefly waited for me to show a genuine attempt to know Him.

If this is for you, know that you are not alone, and that I am praying for you. Your Father in heaven does love you and can fix literally anything. All suffering is meant for His glory. The greater the suffering the more His glory is about to be released. It is at the point of being released. Please give Him that chance. In fact, the more you have sinned, the more you will be able to love God, because the depth of our ability to love corresponds to the depth of His forgiveness toward us.

Luke 7:45-47 Jesus said, “You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. Therefore, I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.”

If this is for you, pray this with me,

“Father in heaven, thank you for giving me this chance to be forgiven. My sins, which are many, I give to you. Thank you for giving your Son Jesus to die for me on the cross and take my place. Thank you for raising Him from the dead by your own glory and raising me from the dead with Him. Thank you for seating Jesus at your right hand on the throne of glory and seating me there with Him. I know I do not deserve that and there is no way I can earn that position in Christ, but I receive it by faith. Your word says that I have access into your presence through the door of Christ and through your promises to me. Thank you that you loved me so much that you died for me even while I was still a sinner. You believed this day would happen when I would come to you and finally surrender my life to you. Without Christ I know that I can do nothing, but with Christ nothing is impossible, and all things are possible. I am trusting that your word is true and that you can make something wonderful of my life. I promise that if you give me all of you then I will give you all of me to the best that I know how. Baptize me in your Spirit and fill me with your glory Father. I believe that Jesus died for my sins and that Christ in me put to death the old nature in me. I believe that Jesus rose from the dead by the glory of the Father and raised me up with Him. I believe that Jesus went to be with the Father and brought me there with Him. I choose You Papa because You first chose me. I love You Father because You first loved me. Thank you for your wisdom. Thank you for your favor. Thank you for giving me your Spirit and making me perfect on the inside in the inner man. Thank you for the daily transformation of my mind that is to come as I make your word my home and you teach me how to be your child and to operate in your glory, which is Christ in me that I am learning to wear on me on the outside. Thank you for eternal life and for all that you will do in me from here on out. Thank you that you are strength in my weakness, that you are filling me with joy and taking away my sorrow, that you are imparting to me your vision for me so that I can know my life has meaning. I give you all of me because you gave me all of you. In Jesus’ mighty name I pray, Amen.”

Unspoken Responses… Christine McDonald

Posted in #PaulthePoke, Christine "Clarity" McDonald with tags , , , , , on August 31, 2021 by paulthepoke

Your unspoken responses—your body language, eye contact, and positioning—speak a thousand words to those you are trying to engage with. Hurting individuals are no stranger to stigmas and judgment. While they are used to physical touch being distorted and misused, they are equally used to being held at arm’s length.

One time, I met an individual who was walking around praying for Kansas City’s homeless. I had two black eyes and was sick. I weighed about 90 pounds and hadn’t changed clothes in days. I even had blood on my shirt. She asked if she could pray for me. I said, “Sure.” She asked if there was anything she could pray for me about that I needed at that moment. I said, “Food and a shower and clean clothes.” The entire time she prayed for those things for me, she was staring at the blood that covered my shirt.

The blood was from a beating I had taken from a buyer of sex. He had locked the doors of his car, and each time he’d stop and say, “Get out,” he’d lock the door again. He banged my head against the window, calling me a stupid, filthy ho. He’d drive, then stop, and repeat, until he at last let me out. I had a bloody nose, and I believe that is why he let me out. He cursed and punched me because I got blood on his car door.

The woman praying for me didn’t make eye contact with me. She just stared at the blood on my shirt, never connecting with me as an individual human being. I remember thinking, If she is one of those “Christians,” and I am asking her to pray for food because I’m hungry, how come she doesn’t have a sandwich or offer me some food? Was God, through prayer, going to magically put a sack lunch at my feet? As she spoke to my bloody shirt, she inadvertently confirmed the stigma and judgment I was so used to. She never once looked me in the eye.

A response like this carries a tremendous message to the hurting. It was as if she stood in shock at the sight of the bloody shirt, not truly hearing my words or seeing the person wearing the shirt. As far as I could tell, she was disregarding the pain that was right in front of her. She never asked, “What happened to you?” She just gawked. Her unspoken words and body language spoke thousands of words to me. I didn’t feel compassion from a woman who prayed for me. I felt inferior, isolated, and pushed away.

We can’t have these kinds of responses when engaging with hurting individuals. We have to hold ourselves together. Responses like these make them feel more shame, more hurt, and more brokenness. It is vital, no matter what is shared with us or what the person’s appearance is, that we never react in ways that dismiss their story or demean their humanity. Instead, we must always honor their hurt, their pain, and their journey.

Contact Information:
Christine C. McDonald
636-487-8986
Christine.CryPurple@gmail.com

“Love your neighbor, all of ’em.” -Christine Clarity McDonald

Through The Eyes of Grace – Christine C McDonald 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEj5RbFpuzjx_CuksAqgyXA/featured

https://crypurplemovie.com/

God’s Will, Not Ours… Paul Beverly

Posted in #PaulthePoke, Paul Beverly with tags , , , on March 17, 2021 by paulthepoke
Library of fork in the road clip art library stock high res speed skater  png files ▻▻▻ Clipart Art 2019

Too often I see others lose patience with God, believing He must be against them & not hearing their prayers. I also once thought this way. He hears every prayer, but our prayers may not be a part of His plan. I believe He wants us to stop trying to follow our own plan & seek Him & His plan.

2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient towards you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

Have a blessed week my friends!!!

Faith & Prayer… Paul Beverly

Posted in #PaulthePoke, Paul Beverly with tags , , , , , , on August 17, 2020 by paulthepoke
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

With faith & prayer, everything always works out. Not always the way you think it will, but the way it’s supposed to be. Worrying & being anxious won’t change anything & only holds you back. The stress you cause yourself from being anxious is not healthy. Put your trust in God.

Proverbs 12:25. Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs him down, but a good word makes him glad.

Matthew 6:27. And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to your life span?

Have a worry free week my friends!!!

Daniel’s Answered Prayers

Posted in #PaulthePoke, Angels, Prophecy with tags , , , , , , , , on August 16, 2020 by paulthepoke

Daniel 9:22 He made me understand, speaking with me and saying, “O Daniel, I have now come out to give you insight and understanding.

God has heard Daniel’s prayers. The Lord has sent Gabriel. Daniel gives all the credit to Gabriel. The angel is the source of information and consideration. Gabriel is bringing truth from God.

Daniel 9:23 At the beginning of your pleas for mercy a word went out, and I have come to tell it to you, for you are greatly loved. Therefore consider the word and understand the vision.

…a word went out… God was listening to Daniel’s petition and He responded. Notice God did not waste any time. He responded to Daniel “At the beginning“. A word or dabar in the Hebrew went out. Dabar is translated as a word or speech. God was giving Daniel an answer to his prayers. Yahweh sent the angel Gabriel to deliver the message.

…you are greatly loved… Gabriel provides confirmation to Daniel regarding his position in God. Daniel is told he is “greatly loved” or chamad. The term is also translated as desired. God takes pleasure in Daniel. Definitions provided by Strong’s Concordance.

Daniel’s plea and prayers were answered and then some. Little did Daniel know, he was about to receive the outline of history for at least the next 2,500 years. The information revealed would include the first and second coming of the Messiah Jesus, the construction of two temples, the demolition of one temple, the destruction of Jerusalem, the forecast of the antichrist, the outline for the end times scenario, and the ushering of an everlasting and eternal peace… restoration as God intended.

Daniel’s position in God is no different than our position today. God has blessed us with favor and grace.

2 Corinthians 5:18-19 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to Himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

God desires for humanity to be restored as He created us. He loves us all yet He gives us the choice to choose Him.

1 Timothy 2:3-6 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, Who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is One mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.

Time is running short. The choice is yours…

Psalm 91… Rodna Epley

Posted in #PaulthePoke, Rodna Epley with tags , , , , on July 16, 2020 by paulthepoke

Hi everyone! Here is Psalm 91 in prayer form for anyone feeling fear over this pandemic. Know that our Father in heaven (your Creator) loves you more than you can imagine… 💕. He promises to rescue and protect you. You will see His glory transform this condition. Pray this out loud and give thanks to Him that He has already provided us the victory in Christ Jesus who is sitting at the Father’s right hand of glory and power. We too are seated right now in Christ where He is completely victorious over every form of darkness. Just knowing this raises you up above all enemies, which includes weapons (viruses) of the enemy. Anything under Christ’s feet is also under your feet if you have put your faith in Jesus. Blessings to you and have no fear. Trust Him and declare this…

“My home is in the secret place of the Most High so I live under the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him I will trust.”

Surely He shall deliver me from the trap of the hunter and from the perilous pandemic (or epidemic).

He shall cover me with His feathers, and under His wings I shall take shelter; His truth shall be my shield and protector.

I shall not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flies by day, nor of the deadly (viral) pandemic that walks in darkness, nor of the destruction that destroys at noonday.

…it shall not come near me (or those I love and pray for, or those who live in the realm in which God has assigned me to operate in and live in).

Only with my eyes shall I look and see the reward of the wicked.

Because I have made the LORD, who is my shelter, even the Most High, the place where I live, no evil shall happen to me, nor shall any plague come near my home;

For He shall give His angels charge over me, to keep me in all my ways. In their hands they shall hold me up, so that I don’t strike my foot against a stone.

I shall tread upon the lion and the cobra; the young lion and the serpent I shall trample underfoot.

My Father said about me, “Because he (she) has set his (her) love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name.

He shall 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 I will satisfy him, and show him My salvation.”

Photo by Luis Quintero on Pexels.com

Zechariah the Priest & Prayer

Posted in #PaulthePoke, Angels with tags , , , , , , , , on March 15, 2020 by paulthepoke

Luke 1:5a In the days of Herod, king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah, of the division of Abijah…

Luke 1:8 Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty…

This is the introduction of Zechariah the priest, father of John the Baptist.

But first, let’s look at the name Zechariah. His name means “Yah has remembered”. It would appear, Zechariah is the first person to talk to the angel (Gabriel) in the New Testament. We know that he has prayed for a child.

Luke 1:13a But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard…

A man whose name means “Yah remembers” has prayed to Yahweh. Yah has heard, remembered, and grants “Yah remembers” his wish. Then “Yah remembers” does not believe Yah remembered him and discounts the promise of a child.

Luke 1:18 “How can I be sure of this?” Zechariah asked the angel. “I am an old man, and my wife is well along in years.”

~

Luke 1:11 Just then, an angel of the Lord appeared to Zechariah, standing at the right side of the altar of the incense.

The angel was located at the right side. Symbolically, the right of God is known as a position of presence, power, and authority. Christ has ascended into Heaven and is located at the right hand of the Father.

golden_altar_of_incense

The directions for the construction and purpose of the altar of incense are located in Exodus 30. The priests are instructed to burn incense continually. This is a request for all generations. The burning of incense is perpetual.

Exodus 30:7-8 And Aaron shall burn fragrant incense on it. Every morning when he dresses the lamps he shall burn it, and when Aaron sets up the lamps at twilight, he shall burn it, a regular incense offering before the LORD throughout your generations.

The incense is fragrant and pleasing to smell. God only wants incense from this altar.

Exodus 30:9 You shall not offer unauthorized incense on it, or a burnt offering, or a grain offering, and you shall not pour a drink offering on it.

In Revelation, in the throne room of Heaven, the incense is equated with prayers.

Revelation 8:3 And another angel came and stood at the altar with a golden censer, and he was given much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne…

Despite being a priest and serving God in the Temple, Zechariah did not believe God’s message. He was still granted his prayer request. But with his unbelief, there was a consequence. Silence!

Luke 1:20 And now you will be silent and unable to speak until the day this comes to pass, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled at their proper time. -Gabriel

Do not underestimate the power of our prayers. Gabriel was located at a position of authority near the symbol for prayers.

Prayer should be part of our lives. God wants us to communicate with Him. He desires to hear from us. Our prayers are a sweet aroma to Him. He does listen and He always remembers.

1 Thessalonians 5:17-19 pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit.

Jewish Prayer on the Temple Mount, December 2019

Posted in #PaulthePoke, Prophecy, Temple, Trend Update with tags , , on December 15, 2019 by paulthepoke

Matthew 24:15 “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand) …” -Jesus

Jesus is quoting the prophet Daniel. There will be a temple during the end times scenario and tribulation. Yes, Jesus knew the sacrificial system would no longer be necessary because of His future death, burial, and resurrection for sin.

1 Corinthians 3:16-17 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him. For God’s temple is holy, and you are that temple.

All that said, the idea of a third temple is still prophetic per Christ Himself.

photo: Jerusalem Post

Temple Mount, December 2019: Jews are returning to the Temple Mount to pray. And prayers are being done in front of policing authorities. In the recent past, Jewish worshipers would be removed if observed praying on the Mount.

Muslim and Jewish authorities both indicate there has been no official change in status regarding prayer.

Rabbi Eliyahu Weber and 10 others sang, “Let us go up to the Temple” and repeated prayers. This was a shortened version of the morning prayer service. The proceedings were completed under no pressure from authorities. The worshiping Jews were not asked to leave the Temple Mount.

Rabbi Weber states he ascends the Temple Mount almost every day. Weber also had the following comments.

“Our ascent to the Temple Mount makes known God’s name in the World.”

“The essence of our presence on the Temple Mount shows that this place belongs to the Jewish people. If we don’t come, (it appears) that it doesn’t interest us. The Temple Mount is ours, and we need to know the importance of being there.”

“The ultimate goal is to be able to offer sacrifices in the Temple. We are not really dealing with that right now because there are many stages to this.”

Weber appears to be realistic about the prospects of the return of the Temple.

“We are dealing more with restoring prayer to the site in an orderly fashion. I would love for it to be tomorrow, but offering sacrifices sounds to be a bit more distant.”

Click on the link below for video of the prayer service.

https://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Jewish-prayer-has-returned-to-the-Temple-Mount-exclusive-610781

An increasing number of Jews are visiting the Temple Mount. In 2019, it is estimated 29,000 have ascended.

Our Daily Bread…Featuring Paul Beverly

Posted in Paul Beverly with tags , , , , , , , on December 17, 2017 by paulthepoke

prayerI’ve always believed in God, but for a long period in my life I hardly ever prayed. I may go to our Father in Heaven when I wanted something, but that was about it. Now I pray every day, sometimes several times a day. I go to God to give thanks. I go to Him to pray for others. I go to Him seeking continued happiness. I go to Him for pretty much everything. I believe He wants that kind of relationship with all of us. You don’t have to be eloquent with words to have a conversation with God. Talk to Him like you do with anyone. He wants to hear what’s in your heart. Give it all to Him & have faith that He is listening. He will give you exactly what you need.

Philippians 4:6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer & supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be known to God.

Matthew 11:24 Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe you have received it, and it will be yours.

1 Thessalonians 5:17 Pray without ceasing.

Have a praying week my friends!!!

Our Daily Bread…Featuring Paul Beverly

Posted in Paul Beverly with tags , , , , , , , on September 24, 2017 by paulthepoke

pb bread

Your attitude & what’s in your heart will play a huge part in how you’ll be rewarded in your life. Always be thankful & have a happy & cheerful heart. Good things happen to good people.

Keeping our thoughts on the good things in life makes for happy & healthy living. If you want the negative out of your life, stop giving it space in your head. Where your mind goes is what you’ll focus on. Stay focused on the good.

Be careful what you believe in your own mind. Satan plants seeds there to keep you from what is good for you. Always pray about everything. Prayer brings wisdom.

Proverbs 15:15 All the days of the afflicted are evil, but the cheerful of heart has a continual feast.

Proverbs 28:26 Whoever trusts in his own mind is a fool, but he who walks in wisdom will be delivered.

Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers & sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things.

 

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