Father, I am grateful for Your love and forgiveness, for Your mercy and grace. And those words and the reality of those words are not just concepts to be tossed about. I have experienced them and continue to experience them. I surely don’t deserve it but You day after day lavishly bless me with these things and so much more. Praise Your Holy Name! Amen!
2 Peter 2:1-3 (<<click here)
Lord, another reason that we must be diligent in reading Your word and speaking with – and listening to – You is to assure that we are not led astray. Most definitely those who proclaim Your word are not infallible, we have our struggles, we make mistakes. Because of this, Your people must be discerning. We should pray for and lift up Your servants.
But another reason we should pray for discernment is that for millennia there have been charlatans who have not been driven by desires to further Your Kingdom but instead are all about fulfilling their own agendas of power or prosperity – some, at their core, have as their goal to undermine Your Kingdom. They are all about discrediting Your Church and Your name.
I’m sure some started with their hearts in the right place but those first tastes of power and control moved things from their hearts to their heads. They were in charge. They deserved their portion of the “profits.” They, little by little, came to see themselves living above the Law.
Lord, first of all, may we all be diligent in keeping ourselves true to You – striving to immerse ourselves in the Bible and spending quality time in Your presence. Then may we fervently pray for those who lead us. May we pray for their purity of heart. May we not hesitate to come to them if realignment is necessary for their lives. May we do so in Your love but may we not shy from the responsibility. And Lord, if they will not change may we not hesitate to remove ourselves from their influence of our lives.
Help us to seek Your face and to live pure and holy lives in Your power and strength. Amen.
Mar 17th, Fri, 6:33 am
