Category Archives: spiritual warfare

Inside Israel

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Once again, it’s time to hear from our sister in Jerusalem about what she is witnessing there as a believer in Yeshua. Put your prayer shawls on and pray for Israel and Sister J. Now here she is …

Dearest Sisters and Brothers of like-precious faith, I greet you for His glory and blessing.  May you be blessed and encouraged as we grow together in the knowledge of Him Who Alone is worthy of all praise!

Shalom. Once again I should be headed to bed but so want to share with you from the smelting pot of testing and grace.

The streets and public transportation of Jerusalem afford me a peculiar set of eyeglasses to see this city.  I had a couple of interesting encounters this past week that reminded me of the vantage point that I have and the obligation I feel to share it.

The first event took place on my beloved bus.  Coming home from work I see many of the same faces day after day, even as tired as I am.  We nod, sometimes exchange a few words, but being a crowded public bus, there are always new people on board as well. I groaned with relief as I fell into a seat the other day, next to a woman about my own age.  I had been standing for much of the ride and it felt so good to be sitting.

As I watched others boarding the already packed bus, a rather disheveled, large woman boarded and walked toward the back. The bus driver called her forward and there was some jostling and soon quite a bit of noise. The woman was yelling.  At first I couldn’t make out what was going on, but she was speaking English and it soon became clear.  She hadn’t paid and refused to pay.  She began yelling, cursing the Jews, cursing Israel and all Israelis.  She was neither Jewish nor Arab from her looks.  The entire bus cringed.  She threw the money at the driver.  The woman next to me said, “Oh!  I would have given her money for her ticket.  Some people can’t afford it.  I would give the money…”

All around me men and women cringed in pain and I recognized it.  I wonder if I can describe it.  It is a particular pain that comes when your race is being hated.  We are surely not alone in feeling that.  Arabs feel that…Blacks feel that…Hispanics… Orientals… Caucasians…ALL people have likely felt that.  Some get angry.  Some ignore it.  I have noticed that Jews and Israelis usually cringe with pain.  The whole bus was cringing with pain.

The woman next to me said again, “Poor woman.  She is crazy.  Maybe she doesn’t have any money.  We are not all bad, are we?”

I told her about an old woman at my work that had an even older Mother, nearly one hundred.  The Mother was blind and ill, but every Friday morning she would feel her way down the stairs to the street and give a shekel to a beggar who came at the same time.  When her daughter saw her do this one day, she said, “Mama, why are you doing this?”

Her mother answered, “Ora, even a beggar should be able to have flowers for Shabat.”

That started the ball rolling.  Stories began to pour forth, hidden gifts given anonymously for years, different ways that people could help one another without fanfare.  I kept turning the conversation back to God and my seat mate smiled and said, “You know, I may not LOOK like it (she was wearing pants, so obviously not religious) but I love God and fear Him too.”

I smiled and said, “Oh,  so do I.  And His Word says that He doesn’t look on the outward, but on the heart.”

She asked, “Do you think that God sees this?”

Our ride was right at the end now but I smiled at her, squeezed her hand, and said, “I KNOW that He does.”

We bid each other a very warm “shalom” and parted ways, but I wondered about the bus encounters and the juxtaposition of people and events and the prevalence of hatred.

 

I thought of the cursing bus-woman again today as I had a totally different encounter.  I was in the shuk.  I have described the shuk to you countless times, but will just remind you that amongst all of the food vendors there are also small open-air shops that sell dry goods, clothing, and all manner of merchandise.  I stopped to look at a light-weight bag hanging from the roof of a tiny 3 walled shop.  Spoken English always catches my ear and there was the young Ethiopian-descent shop owner speaking English with an older black woman who had a thick French accent.  As I listened, she explained to him that her daughter had married a Jewish man. They moved here from France.  It was her first time visiting and the language was hard for her.  The young man asked her what she thought of the country.

“I think it is good,” she said. “There is just something here that I can’t explain, that is good.  They are happy too.”

The young man said, “I have lived in Canada and in Australia but this is the best place in the world.  It is the place that we have to be and it is wonderful.”

Now I REALLY paid attention.

The woman went on, “There is something…well…different about the people here.  They take time to talk to you.  They help you.  They are kind and smile at you. It is not like people in France.”

My mind jumped back to the cursing bus lady earlier in the week.  The young man saw me looking at them and asked me if I needed help.  I answered in Hebrew and said, “Oh no, I am fine but excuse me for intruding, it is just so wonderful hearing this conversation.”

He smiled and I said, “I agree. This is the place that God has called us back to and the place where He said that He would bless us if we turn to Him.”

We kept the line of discussion going and he asked me where I was from.  As I shared I felt as if we were in sort of a bubble separated from the rest of the world.  We were all smiling and there was real warmth being exchanged.

Up until this time I had been speaking in Hebrew and the young man would translate for the woman.  She turned to him and said, “Doesn’t this woman shine?  I mean there is such a Light coming from her from inside.”

I was taken aback.  It has seemed a long time since I heard those words and I wasn’t feeling particularly spiritual.  I said, “If there is any Light in me it is the Light of God in Yeshua.  He Is The Light who called us here.”

I surprised myself, but they didn’t seem to hear me say this. They just kept smiling and the atmosphere was permeated with such a love.

The two encounters made me think again about how MUCH our response to EVERY situation is so important.  David responded to the words of the prophet Nathan pointing out his sin with Bat Sheva by saying: “IT IS ME LORD.  I HAVE SINNED BEFORE YOU.”

Saul responded to the words of the prophet Samuel pointing out his sin of disobedience by saying, “IT IS NOT ME.  I HAVE OBEYED THE LORD”

Two kings and two different responses.

 

I don’t know what caused the cursing woman on the bus to arrive at the state that she was in. But I think of things common to man: rejection, hurt, offense, deep wounds, and sin. These things are danger points in our lives.  We can respond by growing angry, bitter, hurt, but these things turn us AWAY from God.  God HAS a proper response for us to give when awful things happen to us. Simply put, we will either turn to God and embrace His strong medicine, or turn AWAY from God and sink in the mire of our own emotions, the world’s answers or counterfeit solutions.

Here I go again…telling you stuff that you already know when I need to go to bed.  Oh BLESSINGS to you dear sisters and brothers.  May we each press more and more into Him Who really IS the only way, Truth and Light.  Love from your sister in the midst

 

 

 

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Friday’s Prayers for Prisoners (5/23/2014)

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The Apostle Paul referred to himself as a “prisoner of the Lord or a prisoner of Christ Jesus” six different times in his letters to the Ephesians, Timothy, and Philemon. Paul wrote these letters when he was an old man by first-century standards. He was approximately fifty-six years old.

Ten years earlier, Paul wrote:

We wanted very much to come to you, and I, Paul, tried again and again, but Satan prevented us. (1 Thessalonians 2:18 NLT)

Wait a second, right?

In the letters to the Ephesians, Timothy, and Philemon, Paul was in prison or under house arrest in Rome. When he stated that Satan hindered him, Paul was in Corinth planting a church and was a free man.

Was Paul a prisoner of the kingdom of darkness when he wrote the letter to the Thessalonians? No, I don’t believe so.

It is my opinion that Paul’s revelation of Christ grew over the ten years between the writing of Thessalonians and his writing the three letters. He understood that if Satan prevented him from going somewhere or doing something, it was because Christ allowed it. Paul was Christ’s chosen ambassador. Demons could not deter him from running the race set before him.

Today, I prayed:

Lord, I pray for your prisoners of the Lord in America that the Father of glory may give them the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, having the eyes of their hearts enlightened, that they may know what is the hope to which He has called them, what are the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints and what is the immeasurable greatness of His power toward those who believe. (Based on Ephesians 1:17-19)

What do you think and has the Lord spoken to you?

Join with me on Fridays to fast and pray for prisoners, according to Hebrews 13:3.

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Tuesday’s Prayers for America (5/13/2014)

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I hurried down West Broad Street in my Ford pickup truck, carrying Toyota parts to a mechanic who needed them right away. As I drove along, I had a graphic vision.

Do you remember the iron lungs that polio sufferers used during the 1950’s? They looked like large cylindrical metal tubes and encased polio victims, helping them to breathe via a pressurized airflow system. The bulky machines filled entire hospital wards during the height of the polio epidemics.

In my vision, the American church system was terminally ill. As a last ditch effort to save its life, the whole church system lay in a white iron lung, gasping for its every breath. The long power cord, attached to the rear of the unit, meandered itself through other electrical cords to a unique power source: money. The life support system was plugged into bags and bags of money.

I stared at the strange sight and then a thundering voice interrupted my thoughts.

“Pull the plug!” proclaimed the voice.

Carol and I prayed about my vision that night. We felt we needed to leave the traditional church system.

Our decision to not attend churches sounds easy now, but at the time, it seemed like we were the only people in the whole nation walking away from churches. A little research on the Internet revealed hundreds of thousands of Americans had done the same thing over the years.

Still it was not easy to break our church attending habits. We were used to sitting in pews on Sunday mornings, Sunday evenings, Wednesday evenings, and whenever the church doors opened.

A well-meaning pastor once took me aside and gave one of those lectures no one likes to ever hear.

“Larry, you need stability in your life and for your marriage,” he said, shaking his head at our nomadic life. “No one will ever take your prophetic ministry seriously if you don’t settle down. You need to settle in a city and find a good church to park yourself so others will take you more seriously. Please, seek the Lord on this advice.”

This vision blew any thoughts about obeying his words out of the water.

(Excerpt from my memoir, The Hunt for Larry Who, Amazon eBook, 2014)

Today, I prayed:

Lord, I pray that if judgment is going to hit America, let it begin at the household of God. (Based on 1 Peter 4:17)

What do you think and has the Lord spoken to you?

Join with me on Tuesdays to fast and pray for America.

 

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Inside Israel

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Once again, it’s time to hear from our sister in Jerusalem about what she is witnessing there as a believer in Yeshua. Put your prayer shawls on and pray for Israel and Sister J. Now here she is …

Oh dear brothers and sisters, I greet you from a hidden place in The Rock with much love and a longing to let you know how special you are as His body.  May we glorify Him and may He be blessed, and may this letter be an encouragement and blessing to you for His glory.

It is difficult to believe that this three-week period of being on my own is rapidly drawing to an end as my husband is scheduled to return on Monday. He has thoroughly enjoyed his trip.

And did I write, as I had planned?  No.  Did I go to the zoo, as I had planned?  No.  Did I do much of what I had planned to do?  No.  Nor do I feel that the time was wasted but it was a time of being secreted away, often just in His Presence with no words, and often finding myself just doing what I felt He wanted me to do.  I was hoping for intense times of prayer, but even that wasn’t my portion.

Yesterday and the day before I had the great joy of watching His power displayed in the form of a magnificent storm. This was unusual for this time of year because the sheer amount of rain that poured out upon us.  What a blessing.  It began with a full 12 hours of heat lightening. We have had a sha’rav (heat wave) with dry desert winds blowing from the south for a number of days. The grand crashes of thunder sent shivers down sensitive spines.  Then, suddenly, the precious water began falling in sheets and continued for more then a day.

Our southern most city of Eilat alone received 1/3 of its annual rainfall during this period and more then 60 tourists needed to be rescued from flash floods while on a hike through a wadi in the south.  Meanwhile, the temperature plunged from a very hot 33 degrees Celsius (about 91 Fahrenheit) to 11 degrees (about 52 F) in the same amount of time.  I loved it as did most of the people that I saw and so did the dusty trees and flowers.

The air smells so fresh and clean but my greatest delight is the way The Lord personally blessed me in it.  You see, when we moved to this new apartment, we brought with us two of our small trees.  One was a fig tree that I had bought for my husband as a gift.  These are now living at the bottom of our 27 steps and around back of the apartment. I was to keep them watered while my husband was gone, but  I couldn’t get the back gate opened to water them.  Twice during the 3 weeks I did succeed in getting back there and they did fine until the sha’rav.  I looked out of the back window and there was my fig tree wilting away badly.  I brought a bottle of water down to it but once again, could NOT unlock the gate.  I prayed, “Oh Lord, please make a way for this little tree to be watered and not die.”

Well, He sure did!  And I felt personally hugged and filled with thanksgiving, as the little tree is full and green today.  Thank You Lord for caring about the little things.

During this time I have been blessed with much marvelous and encouraging fellowship both from out of the country and within.  This too is something I have greatly needed.  He knows our needs.

 The last time that I wrote to you was the day before our Memory day- Yom h’zikeron. I had intended to write again of the vastness and permeating presence of grieving in a nation where nearly every family has lost at least one, if not many, love ones to war and/or terror.  The nation stood silent during the minute long siren at 8 pm last Sunday night, announcing the beginning of the time to remember the fallen together. The nation seemed huddled together as one very tight family.  Regular television and radio was stopped at the time and hearts opened up to share the stories, the memories, and the history.  It was really quite humbling and very dramatic with raw emotion wrapped around it.

In developing the therapies to help people with posttraumatic stress, it was found that retelling the events was very helpful. So the entire nation sat and listened to one another.  Names, dates, photos, montages of precious lives were shown, baby pictures, school photos, that first day in the army, the last photo before that one was ripped away suddenly.  The family openly wept and the nation wept with each one.  The siren sounded again, this time for 2 minutes at 11am on Monday.  Be thankful for the sacrifices made, be thankful for the moments that we can share together in this life, be thankful for the nation born in a day, the promised land restored and the dream that these stood for that so many paid with blood.

The intensity of the day of Memory was almost unbearable.  And it was inconceivable that we should be able to go from such grief to the heights of joy ushered in at 8pm on the same night. A few notes on the horn sounded it’s forlorn command and then suddenly a a major musical note signaled the flag bearers to raise the flag from half mast to fly again above the nation. The command to “Remember” turned upward from the graves to the wonder of those as if in a dream, the hope of 2,000 years, and the written promise. Could it be true?  Such a painful price was paid in blood and is still being paid for the re-birth of the nation that God SAID would be re-born.  The wonderful chapter 37 of the prophet Ezekiel became real before our eyes.

You know the scriptures. First He brings us back from the four corners of the earth where we have been scattered by Him because of our disobedience and THEN He reveals Himself.  Now THAT day will be a wonder to never be surpassed until He rolls it all up as a scroll and says, “IT IS FINISHED!”

Every Yom h’atzmaoot (Independence Day), I watch the amazing ceremony, and I wonder how in the world they are able to pull it off, to make that dramatic and impossible transition from grief to joy, to go from the minor note to the major one, to lift the subdued lights to dancing ones, and to express again the bigness of the realities before our eyes. I think, But of course they can because HE did and HE is and HE will!  AND DIDN’T THE DISCIPLES GO FROM GRIEVING TO JOY WHEN THEY REALIZED THAT HE WAS, INDEED, ALIVE AND NO LONGER DEAD? 

And if HE was able to really call this scattered and broken people from the ends of the earth back to our ancient homeland, if HE could turn the world’s eyes and hearts for one moment to okay the plan that they would later, collectively, curse, if HE could cause the desert to blossom, then HE can also both defend this tiny nation AND even more important, open the corporate eyes of the heart of the nation in one day to “look upon Him Whom we have pierced.”

YES these dry bones can live…and will! 

Each year I try to read a book before Yom h’atzmaoot to remind myself of the impossibility of the events that paved the streets that I walk on and to remind myself that I am looking into eyes that have seen these events.  This year I am re-reading Watchmen on the Walls by Hannah Hurnard, who also wrote Hinds Feet on High Places.  It is a lesser-known book but unique in many ways.  After a brief history, we get to read her diaries from our war of Independence as she was living on ha ne’vi’im street (the street of the prophets) in the center of Jerusalem near to the Old City Walls.  Her view was unique in that she was living right in the center as a believer.

I read accounts of those here, but there were precious few believers then.  As I sat to write this letter I read some lines that she wrote and it so well tied this letter together. This is what she wrote about as the great attacks of the war and the siege of Jerusalem eased a bit and she had the gift of several weeks alone in the quiet, where she planned to write about what had happened:

            “I had high hopes of filling in the lonely weeks happily and profitably, but at first nothing happened as planned.  I found that mentally I was very tired.  My mind almost refused to concentrate on the work, and the interruptions were endless… Although the first week after their departure was comparatively quiet, everything happened with a rush afterwards, and we had two of the most sensational weeks of the summer.”

I had to laugh.  Yes, Lord!  These three weeks alone did NOT go as I had planned.  I have NOT written as I hoped nor answered personal mail.  I am not in a war, and certainly NOT in the siege of Jerusalem, but I found my mind and body tired. I have been drinking from His well and believing that He is sorting many things out.

What a GOD we serve.  He is Good and full of mercy.  To know Him and follow Him is the whole of it, isn’t it?  And if He can do this for one of us, surely He is able to open the eyes of this nation in a day, as He said that He will.

I end this letter with so much love.  May our Faithful God BLESS you in The powerful, loving Name of Yeshua h’Meshiach, Jesus Christ, Lord of glory.

Lovingly,

your sis J

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Friday’s Prayers for Prisoners (5/9/2004)

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Jesus was walking along with His disciples when they saw a man blind from birth. The disciples asked, “Lord, who sinned? This man or his parents?”

The disciples’ questions were based on the Jewish theology that all suffering in a person’s life came either from sin committed by the person or by his parents, as stated in Exodus 20:5, Numbers 14:18, and so forth.

A man blind from birth offered a unique problem for this theology because the man would have had to commit sin in his mother’s womb if it was his sin that caused his own suffering. As silly as that sounds, there were Jewish teachers who actually taught that fetuses could sin.

Jesus sidestepped the whole theological debate and saw an opportunity to prove He was the light of the world. He healed the man.

The man ended up being tossed under the bus by his parents, by the Temple’s leaders, and then tossed out of the Temple because he would not deny the power of his miracle. How could he?

The chapter ends with a great revelation for the man:

“Lord, I believe,” and he worshipped Jesus. (John 9:38)

We Christians of today have the same problems with AIDS and the gay community.

Today, I prayed:

Lord, I pray that Your kingdom comes forth in America not in words but in power. (Based on 1 Corinthians 4:20)

What do you think and has the Lord spoken to you?

Join with me on Fridays to fast and pray for prisoners, according to Hebrews 13:3.

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Tuesday’s Prayers for America (5/6/2014)

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Because of man’s fallen and sinful nature, believers were not able to have intimate relationships with God in the Old Testament. Thus, a high priest ordained by God went into the Temple’s Holy of Holies every year on the Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur,  with the blood of bulls and goats to atone for himself and Israel before God and His mercy seat. A thick veil separated the Temple’s Holy of Holies from the Holy Place, keeping all of mankind away from the presence of God.

The same moment that Jesus died on the cross, the veil was torn in two. The sacrifice of Jesus and His blood provided all of us access to God. No longer do we need a high priest to be our mediator or go-between person.

Today, I prayed:

Lord, help us American believers to accept the finished work of the cross and remove every go-between person, standing between You and us, so that only one mediator remains, the man Christ Jesus. (Based on 1 Timothy 2:5)

What do you think and has the Lord spoken to you?

Join with me on Tuesdays to fast and pray for America.

 

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Inside Israel

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Once again, it’s time to hear from our sister in Jerusalem about what she is witnessing there as a believer in Yeshua. Put your prayer shawls on and pray for Israel and Sister J. Now here she is …

I greet you again brothers and sisters.  Blessings to you and may the Lord be blessed and receive all the glory.

I don’t want to let this day pass without telling you what I have been reflecting upon as I walked through today − another Holocaust Memorial Day or yom h’shoar.

With World War 2 fading into the past, so are its people, both victims and heroes.  This is the way of time, isn’t it?  More aging Holocaust survivors end their life’s walk on this earth daily, although we have still a surprising number well into their 90s.  The focus of attention turned this year more and more to those who were children at the time, the VERY innocent.

I have had the privilege of hearing from those who were ripped from their Mother’s arms and still survived.  I heard many say, “I had never been away from my family before and never out of sight of my Mother, and they took me and I was alone and so scared.”

Okay. Yes.  I’m a mother and a Grandmother so perhaps that makes me more sentimental toward children. We all have that God-borne instinct to protect the little ones that can’t protect themselves.  The stories are as varied as the names and faces, and so are the results.

This morning I listened to the testimony of a now elderly child-survivor who was hidden away. Even as I write this, my heart EMBRACES our dear, dear Dutch friends whose families hid Jews during the war.  We KNOW about Corrie tenBoom and others, but there are so many dear believers who were YESHUA in the midst of such hatred. Only Yeshua knows about their love and heroism.

Most of the displaced children came to (then) Palestine on a youth aliyah.  Now youth aliyah is an amazing story in itself and totally unique.  Instead of orphanages, Kibbutzim rose up composed of mostly children with perhaps a nurse, a doctor, and a teacher. The older children cared for the younger.  It would make a fascinating study on-line if you are interested.

Well, the man I listened to this morning, a young child then and now an old man, described himself as resilient and a success story.  I hadn’t thought of the word resilient in connection with the survivors. For me, that word contains so much life and I think of the broken skeleton survivors. Resilient?  Hmm!

He was raised in a children’s kibbutz and later pioneered pediatric neurology both here in Israel and worldwide.  He is blessed with both successful children and grandchildren. As he reflected about his past, he spoke of those who were not so resilient. There were those who committed suicide or ended up mentally unstable. He said that he speaks to strengthen others.

The siren wailed for two minutes at 10 am. All came to attention, stepping out of their cars and buses.  But the wind was speaking and so were the birds as I stood outside the doctor’s office where I work, praying for the children of Israel today.  Open their eyes TODAY Lord.  Isn’t the time now?

I also have childhood memories’ concerning the shoar.  I was born right after the war ended, but being in NYC the ships began arriving.  Our family would go to the shipyards and wait and watch. I don’t know why, but two memories stand out above all others.

I was very small and my Father went over to check the list that was posted on a wall. The names of those arriving on the immigrant ships.  I saw huddled masses, so sad and bedraggled, sitting with bundles. I was scared and pulled near to my Mother.

Another time, my mother pulled me close to her as a stranger came up to me and ran her fingers through my dark curly hair and said, “I once had a little girl like you. Yes, I once had a little girl like you…” A shiver ran down my spine. I felt such a deep and frightening emotions.  I was so small, but I still remember holding on to my Mother’s knee.

It’s days like this when we remember that Life and death walk so close to each other. But I am startled back to reality as I remember that I reflect on the issues of life and death from a perspective of LIFE for YESHUA LIVES IN ME.  My brothers and sisters after the flesh simply open up the grave and peer in and sigh and wonder.         

On the way home I prayed for the harvest and that The Lord of the harvest would raise up His workers. And I thought, Huh…THIS harvest is different. And so the harvesters need different tools and different methods, as every farmer knows, no two crops are harvested alike.  What will it take?  I constantly ask Him to show me.  I don’t know yet, but I’ll keep asking.

And now I run off to some errands and again send my love.

Your sister in Jerusalem,

J

 

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Friday’s Prayers for Prisoners (5/2/2014)

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Jesus ate dinner in a Pharisee’s home. As He reclined, an immoral woman, most likely a prostitute, washed His feet with an expensive ointment, dried them with her hair, and kissed his feet. The Pharisee wondered if Jesus were really a prophet since Jesus did not seem to discern the woman’s sinful nature.

Jesus gave a short parable about a moneylender having two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii and the other owed fifty denarii. When the two debtors could not pay, the moneylender forgave both of their debts.

Jesus asked the Pharisee, “Which of the two debtors would love the moneylender more?

“I suppose the one who owed the larger debt,” replied the Pharisee.

Jesus contrasted the behavior of the Pharisee with that of the sinful woman. Then Jesus said:

“I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.” (Luke 7:47 NLT)

Today, I prayed for gang members in America:

Lord, I pray that the Holy Spirit will fall upon Latino and black gang members and convict them of sin, righteousness, and judgment. And then that the Holy Spirit will guide these gang members into all of the truth. (Based on John 16:8, 13)

What do you think and has the Lord spoken to you?

Join with me on Fridays to fast and pray for prisoners, according to Hebrews 13:3.

 

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Lord, Help me Love Democrats (Part 14)

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“What is your problem?” Carol said in a recent cell phone call. “You can’t ignore how bad our government is right now and then allow America to slide down the drain. What about our children and grandchildren? Doesn’t it make you angry? It does me.”

“Honey, what are you planning on doing to help change things in America?” I said.

“Well, I’m going to read and listen, then I’ll write to politicians and newspapers. I’ll make my voice heard.”

“Good luck. The trail up that mountain is filled with the bones of people who tried to win one for the Gipper.”

“Okay, Mister Smarty Pants, what are you planning on doing?”

“Wait on God. Then, when He speaks, I’ll help build His kingdom.”

A loud sigh came through my phone.

“Lord, I’m married to a man with his head in the sand.” She paused to add emphasis to her next point. “So, why build God’s kingdom now when nobody seems to care about God?”

“Ah, this is the perfect time. People have their guards down and their hearts are exposed. Many are angry about one issue or another. Many are losing hope. We just need some groups like the early Salvation Army and leaders like William Booth to come forth right now. The gospel will then invade cities. It will be a great time for all of us.”

“Yeah, right! How can you and I be so different, and still get along?

“I’m praying God will change you.”

“Funny that you say that because I’m praying the same prayer for you,” she said. “But still and all, I love you.”

“Honey, I love you.” (The Hunt for Larry Who, a memoir,  © by Larry Nevenhoven, Amazon eBook)

In 1980, I voted as a Democrat for President Jimmy Carter when he ran against Ronald Reagan.

I voted as a Republican for Senator John McCain when he ran against President Barack Obama in 2008.

I now consider myself a political dropout who has not voted in an election since 2008. I plan on remaining as a political dropout until I die. Period.

Why?

(Continued in Part 15)

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Tuesday’s Prayers for America (4/29/2014)

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If you are a sports fan, then you have probably heard about the brouhaha involving Donald Sterling, the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers NBA Basketball team. Eighty-year old Sterling voiced some racist remarks to his girlfriend that were recorded and eventually aired on a gossip website. The recording went viral across the internet.

Athletes, politicians, sports writers, President Obama, Oprah, Spike Lee, NAACP, and so forth have weighed in on Sterling with rants and raves about his offensive remarks. The NBA will probably end up punishing Sterling.

His remarks were stupid, ignorant, and offensive, okay?

Here’s my question: how many of us have prayed for Donald Sterling?

Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses. (Proverbs 10:12)

My guess is that Sterling is not a born-again believer, but instead is a sinner heading to Hell. I certainly know that road well because I traveled on it until Jesus saved me on the same day I was going to commit suicide. The reason Jesus intervened in my life was that a Christian named Lillian Meiners interceded for me.

Today I prayed:

Lord, I pray we American believers are earnest and disciplined in our prayers so that we show deep love for others and that our love covers a multitude of sins. (Based on 1 Peter 4:7-8)

What do you think and has the Lord spoken to you?

Join with me on Tuesdays to fast and pray for America.

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