Heartfelt Prayer

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."
~1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

I've been sick the past ten days or so. It started with a sore throat a week before Easter, then became laryngitis that I battled all week because I had a part in the Easter play at church, and there was no one to replace me. Thankfully, I was able to talk that Sunday morning but my voice was squeaky and hoarse. I've been coughing and sneezing since, and cold medicine has done little to relieve the symptoms. As of this writing, I'm not feeling much better, which brings me to the above verse. I don't want to pray today and I'm not feeling very thankful at the moment. I'd rather go back to bed.

Sometimes circumstances make us feel a lot more human than spiritual. Sometimes prayer, thankfulness, praise, or reading the Bible seems burdensome rather than enlightening. And those feelings can bring on a whole other set of problems like feeling guilty, not good enough, or other emotions humans are so adept at beating themselves up with. 

"But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong (2 Corinthians 12:9-10)."

There is nothing about us that isn't already known to the Lord, including our weakest moments. He knew I was going to be sick, weak and tired before it happened. I'm not hurting His feelings because I can't muster a hallelujah. And even though I don't feel like praying, I can say, "Thank you Lord for being here when I'm weak." Our prayers don't always have to be some drawn out liturgy, they can also be a few heartfelt utterances in time of need.

"Don’t you yet understand? Don’t you know by now that the everlasting God, the Creator of the farthest parts of the earth, never grows faint or weary? No one can fathom the depths of his understanding. He gives power to the tired and worn out, and strength to the weak (Isaiah 40:28-29)."

Read Judges 10-13

A year of Blessings by Marie McGaha ©2018

Life Changing

"Yet you have forsaken Me and served other gods. Therefore I will deliver you no more.  “Go and cry out to the gods which you have chosen; let them deliver you in your time of distress.” And the children of Israel said to the Lord, “We have sinned! Do to us whatever seems best to You; only deliver us this day, we pray.” So they put away the foreign gods from among them and served the Lord. And His soul could no longer endure the misery of Israel."

~Judges 10:13-16

I have not always been a Christian and I've done a lot of things I regret. Even after becoming a Christian, I haven't always gotten everything right, which I regret even more. Not being a Christian and messing up might hurt the ones we love, but life goes on. However, when Christians mess up, God is the One we hurt. I don't mean things like losing our temper with our spouse but sins that lead us away from God, church, and prayer. Sins that can put our souls in danger. I've seen it happen many times when people commit to the Lord outwardly, but inwardly, they're really just going through the motions. 

The Israelites had a long history of missing the mark with God. Time after time, God delivered them from the messes they made and forgave them for following people rather than Him. He forgave them for worshipping gods made by the hand of man, yet they couldn't quite hold on to their confessions of faith. As soon as God straightened out their lives and delivered them from slavery or oppression, they went right back to their old way of life. How many of us are like that?

"Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death (2 Corinthians 7:10)."

The word 'repent' means to turn away from our sins and go in a new direction. Repentance leads to salvation, and salvation delivers us from our old way of living. It should be obvious that our old way of living wasn't working or we wouldn't feel the need for change, yet we continue to turn back to that old life. Why? Because the desire to change has to be an inward desire to live according to God's will and not our own. God isn't a get out of jail free card that we can use when life gets out of control. 

Giving lip service to God doesn't work. I know someone who is in and out of church regularly. She complains about her life and declares she's changed every time she comes to church. In the meantime, she's living with someone she's not married to, getting drunk and high on weekends, and then takes to social media to play the "no matter how hard I try, nothing works out, feel sorry for me card." Real repentance causes an inward change that leads to an outward expression of that change. When Jesus forgave the woman accused of adultery, He didn't tell her to go back home and enjoy her life, He told her to "go and sin no more" (John 8).

Like the children of Israel, we aren't always going to get it right, but God isn't looking at us the way we look at others, or even ourselves. When God looks at us, He looks through the blood of Jesus. If we've truly repented and turned from our sins, the blood has completely washed them away. If we've only given lip service with our own agenda, there's nothing covering our sins, and God sees them all. We can fool most of the people most of the time, but we can't fool God any time.

"You will never succeed in life if you try to hide your sins. Confess them and give them up; then God will show mercy to you (Proverbs 28:13)."

Read Judges 7-9

A Year of Blessings by Marie McGaha ©2018

Made To Worship

"Now at Lystra there was a man sitting who could not use his feet. He was crippled from birth and had never walked.  He listened to Paul speaking. And Paul, looking intently at him and seeing that he had faith to be made well, said in a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” And he sprang up and began walking. And when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in Lycaonian, “The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!”
~Acts 14:8-11

People have an innate desire to worship, like it's part of our DNA, built into us. While science may never find the "worship gene," it was created within us when God created mankind. We see it in everyone; in what we desire and pursue. Fame, money, body image, friends, etc. What we pursue is what we worship. 

When I was young, I pursued a lot of different things. I tried on a few different religions, mysticisms, idealisms, and a few other ''isms" I can no longer recall. I pursued friends, rock n roll, drugs, alcohol, and men. I was like a boat on the seas with no rudder, just being tossed around on the waves of life with no destination in sight. I had no horizon by which to guide my journey. The one thing I did have was a praying grandmother I thank God for. Because of her prayers, I finally found direction, guidance, and fulfillment in life. When God called my name, I finally had sails and a rudder in the right direction.

"And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes (Ephesians 4:11-14)."

We see so much manipulation in today's world by politicians, celebrities, the media, social networking, and yes, even by some religious leaders. Our youth have no real direction and are being led "by human cunning." Adults fall for "deceitful schemes" that we see daily. And I believe it all goes back to that innate desire to worship, to have something bigger than we are, someone who can heal our wounds, guide our lives and fill the empty places within us. Unfortunately, we follow after what we see in front of us instead of what is real and enduring. We look to temporary fixes rather than to the eternal.

"For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal (2 Corinthians 4:17-18)."

We are created with a God-shaped hole inside of us. We try to fill it with the things of this world but nothing fits quite right. Some of those things make us happy for moments in time but nothing makes us continually happy and content. Yet we continue shoving things in there, trying to force them to fit, trying to be happy, but always failing. Even the people we love are part of our attempt to find contentment. Being single doesnt make us happy - online dating services are at an all-time high and takes in more than $2B per year in revenue. Marriage doesn't make us happy - the divorce rate is around 53%. Being a parent stresses us out, so we find babysitters or hope grandparents are available. Work doesn't make us happy - 25% of the workforce changes jobs more than 15 times.

We try to be happy by using external means but the things around us only brings temporary contentment and happiness. To be truly content and happy, we must live from the inside out. The only way I have found to do that is in my relationship with Jesus Christ. The only One who can fill the God-shaped hole within us is God Himself, Jesus Christ. There is no substitute. No matter what we seek in this life, no matter what we worship around us, there will be no contentment until we worship the One we were created for. 

“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things, and by Your will they existed and were created (Revelation 4:11).”

Read Judges 5-7

A Year of Blessings by Marie McGaha ©2018

No Difference to God

"'And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, 'That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions,your old men shall dream dreams.'"~Acts 2:17

I got my feelings hurt a few weeks ago. It doesn't happen often at this point in life because I've got a pretty tough skin. However, this particular event kind of ate at me over a period of a couple of weeks before I realized how much it did actually bother me. 

I had applied to a Christian organization that helps place pastors in small, struggling churches around the country. When the man in charge called me, he told me what a wonderful resume I had, what great experience, and my education was outstanding. I would be perfect for placement somewhere... If only I were a man!

Now, if I were a different person, I might have taken to social media to rant over the injustices in life. I might have gotten a lawyer and sued someone for discrimination. I might have contacted some feminist groups, organized a march, and destroyed property along the way. I might've gone on Oprah or Ellen.... After all, that's how it's done these days.

But I'm not a different person, and instead of acting like a loudmouth, classless idiot, I took my problem with what had happened to the Lord. Instead of reacting, I thanked the man for calling, we prayed together, and I asked God to bless him in all that his hands touched.

Judges 4 tells the story of Deborah, who was a judge over Israel. In a time when men ruled, here was a woman who was a prophetess and a wife (v. 4) judging the people. Later on in verse 9,  we see she also went to battle beside Barak. God has a plan and uses those who are willing to obey. He doesn't care if we're male or female, He only cares about our desire to serve Him. It is man who has set rules and regulations about who God wants in leadership. 

"So Peter opened his mouth and said, 'Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who who fears Him and does what is right is acceptable to Him' (Acts 10:34-35)."

Read Judges 3-4

A Year of Blessings by Marie McGaha ©2018

The Only Way

"Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, 'Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed,  let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by Him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.'"
~Acts 4:8-12

I love Christmas because I can celebrate the birth of my Savior, but Easter is my favorite celebration. While Christmas has the tree, lights and decorations that make it pretty, Easter is the reason my heart soars. The birth of Jesus was a miracle but God is in the miracle business, Easter on the other hand, encompasses so much more. It's dirty, gritty, horrific, born out of human depravity, greed, jealousy and resentment. But out of that came a miracle like no other. One that continues to this day.

Jesus suffering Judas' betrayal in the garden, His arrest, interrogation, ridicule, beatings, rejection by the people, and being nailed to the Cross is unimaginable to me. Not that I don't think humans are capable of such dispicable acts but that Jesus would actually put Himself through it all so that I could have everlasting life is unimaginable. John 13:15 tells us there is no greater love than someone laying down their life for a friend. And Jesus has called us "friend."

"No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you (John 15:15)."

The importance of the Cross cannot be stressed enough. It is the very foundation for why Christians believe what we believe. It is our hope of salvation here on Earth and our eternal hope of everlasting life. It is not an earthly hope that maybe things will turn out okay, but rather the surity of our place, our standing with Christ every day. Our hope is utter confidence that what God has said is absolute fact. 

"Therefore, preparing your minds for action, and being sober-minded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:13)."

As you gather with family and friends, remember the reason for this season is the resurrected Christ. Remember how He laid down His life just for you. Remember His great sacrifice for your soul. And remember His great, unconditional love for you. He's still calling out to each of us, "Come and follow Me."

"But the angel said to the women, 'Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for He has risen, as He said. Come, see the place where he lay' (Matthew 28:5-6)."

Read Joshua 20-21
1 Chronicles 6:54-81

Weekend reading
Joshua 22-24
Judges 1-3

A Year of Blessings by Marie McGaha ©2018

My Redeemer Lives

“For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will stand upon the earth.” 
~Job 19:25

I feel so blessed every day when I wake up knowing I worship the living Christ. I am blessed because He called me His own. I am blessed because He loved me so much He died for for me, but more than that, He rose again so I would have everlasting life. He loves each one of us so much that even if there was only a single person on Earth in need of redemption, He still would have died on the Cross.

Few, if any of us truly know what it cost Jesus to be our Savior. Even if we can identify with the ridicule and abuse He endured, none of us can know the suffering of dying on the Cross. It was much more than the physical agony because He also had to take on every sin we ever committed.

"For our sake he made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21)."

Jesus had never sinned, yet He became sin. What does that mean? Look around, we see sin in our own lives, we see sin on the news, we see sin everywhere. From little white lies to adultery to murder and everything in between, sin is all around us. Sometimes we pretend we don't see it, or we ignore it in our own lives, or we change the channel so we don't have to watch, but we know it's there. 

 "And when the sixth hour had come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. And at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lema sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34-36)."

Why did Jesus think God had forsaken Him? God is holy and cannot look at sin. Jesus was covered with our sin. But at the moment Jesus took His last breath, some phenomenal events took place. First, there was an earthquake that would have rocked the Richter scale. Second, the ground shook so hard, it opened the tombs of the dead; and third, the resurrection power of God caused the dead to come back to life. The fourth interesting thing recorded in Matthew 27:51-54 is that the sequence of these events brought faith in Christ to the people who were watching (v. 54).

Jesus' death, burial and resurrection are the most important events to ever happen. They not only represent the greatest sacrifice but are the pinnacle of our faith. Our Redeemer lives!

Read Joshua 16-19
1 Chronicles 6:54-81

A Year of Blessings by Marie McGaha ©2018

He's Not There

"On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. They found the stone rolled away from the tomb,  but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus."
~Luke 24:1-3

What would you think if you went to the cemetery to lay flowers on a grave and found a hole in the ground with an empty coffin? I imagine the emotions would be varied and instant. Shock, anger, confusion, panic, to name a few. But would you think the person had just gotten out of the coffin alive and well? Probably not. Jesus did. He come back from the dead and hung around for well over a month continuing to teach. He appeared to His disiples, He performed miracles, and He gave the Great Commission.

"Jesus came and said to them, 'All authority in Heaven and on Earth has been given to Me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age' (Matthew 28:18-20)."

This statement is the basis for preaching the gospel of the Good News. What is that Good News? Jesus Christ left the glory of Heaven to become just like us here on Earth. He came here knowing He had just thirty-three years to live and do everything He had to do. He came knowing the horrible and painful death He would endure. But most of all, He came knowing that His life, death, and resurrection would be the most important events to ever happen. He came so that you and I would have everlasting life. His sacrifice for us cannot be overstated.

"Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in Me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to Myself, that where I am you may be also (John 14:1-3)."

Even though God provided a sacrificial Lamb to be slaughtered so that you and I would not have to endure eternal damnation for our sins, He still left the choice up to us. For me, it wasn't a difficult choice because experience showed me I was adept at making bad choices but not so great with good choices. Even when I determined to do what was right, I still made a lot of messes. Living my life in the fullness of Christ is the only choice for me.

"For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being,  but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin (Romans 7:19-25)."

In these verses, Paul discusses this very thing: doing what is right is an internal conflict but because of Jesus' life, death and resurrection we can rely on Him to help us win the battle. When Christ stepped out of that tomb, He gave us the right to step into eternal life with Him.

"And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent (John 17:3)."

Read Joshua 13-15

A Year of Blessings by Marie McGaha ©2018