P&PA - Feb. 11

The Persecution & Prayer Alert for February 11th

Cumbered With Much Serving

Here is another fantastic reading by Charles Spurgeon:

“Martha was cumbered about much serving.”

– Luke 10:40

Her fault was not that she served: the condition of a servant compliments every Christian. “I serve,” should be the motto of all the princes of the royal family of heaven. Nor was it her fault that she had “much serving.” We cannot do too much. Let us do all that we possibly can; let head, and heart, and hands, be engaged in the Master’s service. It was no fault of hers that she was busy preparing a feast for the Master. Happy Martha, to have an opportunity of entertaining so blessed a guest, and happy, too, to have the spirit to throw her whole soul so heartily into the preparation. Her fault was that she grew “cumbered with much serving,” so that she forgot Him and only remembered the service. She allowed service to override communion, and so presented one duty stained with the blood of another.
We ought to be Martha and Mary in one: we should do much service and have much communion at the same time. For this we need great grace. It is easier to serve than to commune. Joshua never grew weary in fighting with the Amalekites; but Moses, on the mountaintop in prayer, needed two helpers to sustain his hands. The more spiritual the exercise, the sooner we tire in it. The choicest fruits are the hardest to rear: the most heavenly character traits are the most difficult to cultivate. Beloved, while we do not neglect external things, good enough in themselves, we ought also to see to it that we enjoy living, personal fellowship with Jesus. See to it that sitting at the Saviour’s feet is not neglected, even though it be under the specious pretext of doing Him service. The first thing for our soul’s health, the first thing for His glory, and the first thing for our own usefulness, is to keep ourselves in perpetual communion with the Lord Jesus, and to see that the vital spirituality of our religion is maintained over and above everything else in the world.
(C.H. Spurgeon)

Slow Fade

These lyrics are from a song that I really like, called “Slow Fade” by Casting Crowns. I find this song to be a really good reminder/warning about temptation and the affects that compromising and giving in to temptation bring to our lives as it takes the form of sin.

Slow Fade

Be careful little eyes what you see
It's the second glance that ties your hands as darkness pulls the strings
Be careful little feet where you go
For it's the little feet behind you that are sure to follow

It's a slow fade when you give yourself away
It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to grey
Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day
It's a slow fade, it's a slow fade

Be careful little ears what you hear
When flattery leads to compromise, the end is always near
Be careful little lips what you say
For empty words and promises lead broken hearts astray

It's a slow fade when you give yourself away
It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to grey
Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day

The journey from your mind to your hands
Is shorter than you're thinking
Be careful if you think you stand
You just might be sinking

It's a slow fade when you give yourself away
It's a slow fade when black and white have turned to grey
Thoughts invade, choices are made, a price will be paid
When you give yourself away
People never crumble in a day
Daddies never crumble in a day
Families never crumble in a day

Oh be careful little eyes what you see
Oh be careful little eyes what you see
For the Father up above is looking down in love
Oh be careful little eyes what you see

More of Jesus

A dear friend of mine sent me this little poem a long time ago, and I’ve always appreciated it very much… it reads:

More of
His voice in my ears
His tears on my face
His praise on my lips
His death in my life
His dirt on my hands
His hope in my grief
His fruit in my service
His love in my home
His courage in my convictions
His nearness in my loneliness
His answers to my prayers
His glory on my knees
More of

Jesus

The Lord's Prayer

I have been doing a Bible study with some ladies in my church, and we are studying the Gospel of Luke. We recently had a lesson that focused on prayer, and in it we looked a bit closer at the Lord’s Prayer. I appreciated the way the authors of this study looked at the Lord’s Prayer and I wanted to share a brief overview of this prayer that is so well known to us. It’s a simple overview, but it’s always great to be reminded of…

“Father…”
While Jesus was not the first person ever to call God “Father,” He did make this title central to our relationship to God in a new way. Jesus also added “new depth and content” to this way of addressing the Lord of the universe. Contemplate the difference it makes to begin each day by praying to God as your Father.

“Hallowed be your name, your kingdom come…”
In this, both our prayers and our lives become God-centered. We pray that our lives will reveal God’s holiness to everyone around us and that our first concern will be God’s kingdom.

“Give us each day our daily bread…”
This reminds us of our dependence on God.

“Forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who sins against us…”
Praying for forgiveness reminds us that we need to receive and practice forgiveness as much as we need food to live.

“And lead us not into temptation…”
The petition on temptation recalls Jesus’ wilderness time (and our own) and leads us to approach each day with the humility of knowing we need the Holy Spirit to guide our every step.

To pray to God as Father in this way each day is to take regular steps toward the primary goal of our lives – to become Christlike, conformed to the image of Christ. As Christians, we will receive and radiate the saving life from God that Jesus brings. We can enter the mystery of this transforming process by the simple yet profound practice of starting each day by praying the way Jesus teaches us to pray.

The Great God

The following is another prayer from The Valley of Vision:

The Great God

O Fountain of all Good,
Destroy in me every lofty thought,
Break pride to pieces and scatter it to the winds,
Annihilate each clinging shred of self-righteousness,
Implant in me true lowliness of spirit,
Abase me to self-loathing and self-abhorrence,
Open in me a fount of penitential tears,
Break me, then bind me up;
Thus will my heart be a prepared dwelling for my God;
Then can the Father take up his abode in me,
Then can the blessed Jesus come with healing in his touch,
Then can the Holy Spirit descend in sanctifying grace;
O Holy Trinity, three Persons and one God,
inhabit me, a temple consecrated to thy glory.
When thou art present, evil cannot abide;
In thy fellowship is fullness of joy,
Beneath thy smile is peace of conscience,
By thy side no fears disturb,
no apprehensions banish rest of mind.
With thee my heart shall bloom with fragrance;
Make me meet, through repentance,
for thine indwelling.
Nothing exceeds thy power,
Nothing is too great for thee to do,
Nothing too good for thee to give.
Infinite is thy might, boundless thy love,
limitless thy grace, glorious thy saving name.
Let angels sing for
sinners repenting,
prodigals restored,
backsliders reclaimed,
Satan’s captives released,
blind eyes opened,
broken hearts bound up,
the despondent cheered,
the self-righteous stripped,
the formalist driven from a refuge of lies,
the ignorant enlightened,
and saints built up in their holy faith.
I ask great things of a great God.

Make My Life A Prayer To You

Keith Green has always been one of my favourite musicians because so many of his songs have such beautiful lyrics. This song is an absolute favourite of mine:

Make My Life A Prayer To You
By: Keith Green

Make my life a prayer to You
I wanna do what You want me to
No empty words and no white lies
No token prayers no compromise

I wanna shine the light You gave
Through Your Son You sent to save us
From ourselves and our despair
It comforts me to know You're really there

Well I wanna thank You now
For being patient with me
Oh it's so hard to see
When my eyes are on me

I guess I'll have to trust
And just believe what You say
You're coming again
Coming to take me away

I wanna die and let You give
Your life to me so I might live
And share the hope You gave me
The love that set me free

I wanna tell the world out there
You're not some fable or fairy tale
That I've made up inside my head
You're God the Son and You've risen from the dead

The Snare of the Fowler

“Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler.”

– Psalm 91:3

God delivers His people from the snare of the fowler in two senses. From, and out of. First, He delivers them from the snare or does not let them enter it; second, if they should be caught therein, He delivers them out of it. The first promise is the most precious to some; the second is the best to others.
“He shall deliver thee from the snare.” How? Trouble is often the means whereby God delivers us. God knows that our backsliding will soon end in our destruction, and in mercy He sends the rod. We ask, “Lord, why is this?” not knowing that our trouble has been the means of delivering us from far greater evil. In this way many have been saved from ruin by their sorrows and their crosses; these have frightened the birds from the net. At other times, God keeps His people from the snare of the fowler by giving them great spiritual strength, so that when they are tempted to do evil they say, “How can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?”
But what a blessed thing it is that if the believer comes into the net in an evil hour, yet God will bring him out of it! O backslider, be cast down, but do not despair. Though you have been a wanderer, hear what your Redeemer says: “Return, O backsliding children, I will have mercy upon you.” But you say you cannot return, for you are a captive. Then listen to the promise: “Surely He shall deliver thee out of the snare of the fowler.” You will yet be brought out of all evil into which you have fallen, and though you will never be able to cease repenting of your ways, yet He who has loved you will not cast you away. He will receive you, and give you joy and gladness, so that the bones He has broken may rejoice. No bird of paradise shall die in the fowler’s net.
(C.H. Spurgeon)

Money

Money holds terrible power when it is loved. It can blind us, shackle us, fill us with anxiety and fear, torment our days and nights with misery, wear us out with chasing it. The Macedonian Christians, possessing little of it, accepted their lot with faith and trust. Their eyes were opened to see past their own misery. They saw what mattered far more than a bank account, and, out of "magnificent concern," contributed to the needs of their brothers. If through losing what this world prizes we are enabled to gain what it despises -- treasure in heaven, invisible and incorruptible -- isn't it worth any kind of suffering? What is it worth to us to learn a little bit more of what the Cross means -- life out of death, the transformation of earth's losses and heartbreaks and tragedies?God has allowed in the lives of each of us some sort of loss, the withdrawal of something we valued, in order that we may learn to offer ourselves a little more willingly, to allow the touch of death on one more thing we have clutched so tightly, and thus know fullness and freedom and joy that much sooner. We're not naturally inclined to love God and seek His Kingdom. Trouble may help to incline us -- that is, it may tip us over, put some pressure on us, lean us in the right direction.
(Elisabeth Elliot)

Nothing Less

“We were made for the love of God,

and nothing less will ever satisfy us.”

– Brennan Manning

~*~

“God wants us to know Him, love Him, and draw pleasure from our experiences with Him. It is then and only then that He can trust us and give us the other desires of our heart, knowing that we won’t run off and forget about Him the minute we get what we’ve been longing for. Love Him enough to be completely obedient simply because you love Him… Compelled by love, you actually consider how God would feel about the things you choose to do and passionately choose not to do anything that would grieve His heart.”
– Michelle McKinney Hammond