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| Voice of Prayer |
What relationships are we willing to protect?
I have some relationships that are distant. They, the other parties lives in various states, but we all once were a part of a church body within a certain city in the northwest. Although these have moved away, or I did, yet somehow by the grace of God they continue. One is a young man musically inclined with a gift that is truly of God. Another, well she is petite and sassy and lives far north of here, but even today though I do not see her I am reminded of her determination to live for God that brings Him glory. And the other, well she just is what God knew I needed when I needed her at a low point in my life.
Today I still have opportunity to minister to them through prayer. Although so far away, yet there is no distance in the spiritual realm.
I hold a respect for these people! They love God and it shows by their actions to help family and people they do not know. They act accordingly to seeking prayer for an individual who is not their circle of friends, but they know that those are the ones God holds in His circle.
Was thinking on this today and wondered on the power of God and His abilities that can bring such unlikely people into my life, yet I am so in awe I can find no words to really write or speak on the subject of His great love to bring so many different peoples together, all with different walks, but be held by that thread of red: yes, by the blood of the Lamb!
In each of these cases, I was remembering how they each had touched my life and how they loved God by their always complete determined heart to get to the designated place and do what needed to be done to bring the Lord glory due His name.
I am captured today, yes by the grand plan of a great God and in awe He chose each of us from different paths, different age groups, and still see the beauty of the Lord in each person's focus on the horizon, to always be moving forward, to keep hearing His voice and watch out for their neighbor, come together, and be knitted in our hearts forever!
Each is not concerned for their welfare, only the welfare of others and that which pleases their Father. It comes from that relationship where respect comes into view!
Was looking up some of the meanings listed for respect, and I came across this one that captured my thinking!
It stated:respect that is genuine, healthy, and a quality that dignifies the carrier.
When we place our love and trust on and in God, we spend that quality time to really know Him. It is not the popularity of being known by many, but by being known by ONE and that is God! When we truly set our hearts to know Him, spend time and then we will see Him, not only in our prayer time, but in the music when a young musician sets down to create it and then release it to others. For the dear lady who lives far north, we are far apart but not in heart. That is how it is with God, though we do not see Him even now, yet we should know Him.
1 Peter 1:3-8
Amplified Bible
3 Praised (honored, blessed), be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah)! By His boundless mercy we have been born again to an ever-living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. 4 [Born anew] into an inheritance which is beyond the reach of change and decay [imperishable], unsullied and unfading, reserved in heaven for you. 5 Who are being guarded (garrisoned) by God's power through [your] faith [till you fully inherit that final] salvation that is ready to be revealed [for you] in the last time.
6 [You should] be exceedingly glad on this account, though now for a little while you may be distressed by trials and suffer temptations. 7 So that [the genuineness] of your faith may be tested, [your faith] which is infinitely more precious than the perishable gold which is tested and purified by fine. [This proving of your faith is intended] to redound to [your] praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One) is revealed.
8 Without having seen Him, you love Him; though you do not [even] see Him, you believed in Him and exult and thrill with inexpressible and glorious triumphant, heavenly joy.
1 John 4:19-21
Amplified Bible
19 We love Him, because He first loved us. 20 If anyone says, I love God, and hates (detests, abominates ) his brother [in Christ], he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, Whom he has not seen. 21 And this command (charge, order, injunction) we have from Him; that he who loves God shall love his brother [believer] also.
Yes, that quality of respect is that we love other believers. But out of that trust is a RESPECT!
Our confidence is in God or should be. And in expressing that confidence you and I will see God's power at work in us and through us. According to Ephesians 4:1-6, we are told that (4:1) As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit- just as you were called to one hope when you were called- 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.
People may come and go out of our lives, but those who remain, especially near to our hearts are those who we know as those who are the prisoner's of the Lord. They live a life worthy of the calling they have received. There is just "that something" about them that sets them apart from others. They are the "gentle, the loving, and the empowered" in their faith walk that God is going to see over them no matter the difficulties, the world's economy and that the Lord God will have His way for His purpose in and through them.
I will not list their names, but maybe if they read this, they will know of who I write. They are those who carry a quality of respect that pronounces the authority of God in their lives. They keep His word and declare it determined that God will do everything He said He would do in His word.
It commands on them respect that comes from God to them......and those who know God will know those who God looks upon with such love and pleasure.
This quality will guard the unity of the spirit ! Ephesians 4:1-6 Amplified Bible: Therefore , the prisoner of the Lord, appeal to and beg you to walk (lead a life) worthy of the [divine] calling to which you have been called [with behavior that is a credit to the summons to God's service.
2 Living as becomes you] with complete lowliness of mind (humility) and meekness (unselfishness, gentleness, mildness), with patience, bearing with one another and making allowances because you love one another. 3 Be eager and strive earnestly to guard and keep the harmony and oneness of [and produced by] the Spirit in the binding power of peace.. 4 There is one body and one Spirit---just as there is also one hope [that belongs] to the calling you received-----5 [There is ]one Lord, one faith, one baptism. 6 One God, and Father of [us] all, Who is above all [Sovereign over all],pervading all and [living] in [us] all.
Jesus carried this, so did Paul, Peter, and John. Might we consider of having that quality of relationship with God that shows others what love really looks like?
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