A Call to Repentance: WEEK TWENTY- SEVEN
July 13, 2008
" In returning and rest will you be saved; In quietness and confidence
will be your strength." (Is 30:15)
| INTRODUCTION TO WEEK TWENTY-SEVEN | |
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INTRODUCTION TO WEEK TWENTY-SEVEN
This week, we continue to press in during WEEK TWENTY-SEVEN of our 40 Weeks of Prayer and Fasting, to offer prayers of repentance for the sin in the church, the sin in the nation, and the blessing of Israel.
We now address these areas:
1. SIN IN THE CHURCH: AHAB AND JEZEBEL
2. SIN IN THE NATION: HOMOSEXUAL ISSUES (Part Two)
3. PRAYERS FOR ISRAEL: THE IRANIAN THREAT
| SIN IN THE CHURCH: AHAB AND JEZEBEL | |
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REPENTANCE FOR SIN IN THE CHURCH:
AHAB AND JEZEBEL CONTRASTED
The spirit of Ahab is:
A spirit of ABDICATION
SELF PLEASING
DESTRUCTIVE (It will destroy you)
Too many men have abdicated the responsibilities that God has given them, thereby accepting the spirit of Ahab into the role of authority in their lives because: It is not a COMFORTABLE place.
There is no SELF-EXALTATION in it
It causes you to make HARD choices
It makes you to stand in UNPOPULAR places
It requires you to DISCERN SPIRITS
It makes you RESPONSIBLE
It requires ABSOLUTE OBEDIENCE TO GOD
The spirit of Jezebel is:
A USURPER
A FALSE anointing
An evil CONTROLLING spirit
Its purpose is:
STOP the word of God
DESTROY word of God
REPLACE GOD'S plan with satan's plan
The Jezebel spirit:
Has NO FEAR
REFUSES to consider consequences of its actions.
Is NOT responsible for its own actions
Does not believe it will REAP WHAT IT HAS SOWN
"For what a man sows and that only shall he reap". (Gal.5:7)
MUST BE STOPPED before it's too late
(Source undocumented)
"Father, we thank You for the revelation that has come through these teachings, and we ask You for the gift of DISCERNMENT that we would be wise to the seductions of Jezebel; and alert to the hidden agenda of Ahab. Help us to serve as guardians of YOUR TRUTH in these last days, that we might set others free to worship You, and You ONLY, in spirit and in truth. We ask this in Jesus' Name, amen."
"And you will know the truth and the truth shall set you free." (John 8:32)
| SINS OF THE NATION: HOMOSEXUAL ISSUES (II) | |
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REPENTANCE FOR THE SINS OF THE NATION:
HOMOSEXUAL ISSUES: WEEK TWO
Focus: Impact on Family and Friends
Editor's note: The topic of homosexuality is at once painful and difficult to address. Issues related to same-sex attraction are complex, convoluted and confounding. We offer praise to the Lord that He has raised up ministries, like Exodus International, to deal with this issue. This week we wish to offer prayers for the families and friends of those who are caught in the web of lies surrounding homosexuality. Let's also lift up the many fine ministries that are working to offer support to family members as they untangle this web for themselves.
The following thoughts are taken from the website of Exodus International at www.exodus-international.org. We encourage you to explore this topic in detail, both at their website and by way of the links they offer to other fine ministries who are reaching out to bring help and hope to those who are in need.]
Many people fight silently and alone with the painful questions surrounding homosexuality. Young men and women struggle with their sexuality, wondering why they're attracted to the same gender, wondering if that's the way it has to be, but too afraid to tell the people they love. Parents watch their children engage in self-destructive lifestyles but aren't sure how to help them without pushing them further away. Children with a gay parent wonder how to love them without condoning their lifestyle.
These are not easy questions-they're truly heart wrenching. But you're not alone in this-whether you're a struggling youth, a parent or family member, or a pastor, there's help here for you. To start, you might want to contact an Exodus ministry to get some immediate help. Exodus Youth (a ministry of Exodus International) believes there are real answers to these questions found in the gospel of Jesus Christ. God wants to show us His plan for our lives. He loves us and wants to walk with us as we pursue healing and freedom in Him. For some, these answers are offensive. For some it is just plain hard. For others it is completely life changing.
A Prayer for those who have been ensnared by homosexuality:
"Father God, we ask You to forgive us for condoning a lifestyle that violates Your laws, and that brings destruction -- and even death -- as a result. We ask You to forgive our nation for wandering from Your laws, so lovingly set down to protect us all. We ask, Lord, for Your redemptive purpose to come forth in the lives of those who have been caught in this web of deception, and for hope and healing to be restored to its victims and to their families and friends. Help us, Lord, to know how to respond to those in need. In Jesus' Name, amen."
"And I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them." (Isaiah 42:16)
"I will go before thee, and make the crooked places straight: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and cut in sunder the bars of iron . . ." (Isaiah 45:2)
(Next week: Focus on the struggles of children of "homosexual parents")
| PRAYERS FOR ISRAEL: THE IRANIAN THREAT | |
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PRAYERS FOR ISRAEL:
THE IRANIAN THREAT
(Source: Intercessors for Israel)
This week, we prayed into the very real Iranian threat.
- Lord, anoint Israel's Defense Minister Barak as he visits the US next week to confer about Iran. May he impress on American leaders the threat Iran poses to them as well as to Israel.
- "Keep not silent, O God: hold not Your peace, and be not still, O God. For, behold, Your enemies make a tumult: they that hate You have lifted up the head. They have taken crafty counsel against Your people . .They have said, Come, let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance. For they have consulted together with one consent: they are confederate against You:" (Psalms 83:1-5)
- Abba, although the world does not see this, yet the Iranian threats are an attack against You and Your word - but trying to destroy Your people. Therefore, arise God and scatter Your enemies. (Psalm 68:1)
- "Arise, O God, judge the earth: for You shall inherit all nations." (Psalms 82:8)
- As You have done in the past, cause Your fear fall on all of Israel's enemies. "[Rahab] said unto the men, 'I know LORD has given you the land. Your terror is fallen upon us, and all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. For we have heard how LORD dried up . . . the Red sea for you, when you came out of Egypt; and what you did unto the kings of the Amorites . . . As soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath." (Joshua 2:9-11)
- Give Israel leaders with godly courage who will be more concerned for defending Israel than with the praise of the world.
- Turn the plans of Israel's enemies on their own heads and cause their defeat to result in Your glory. "Fear not, you worm Jacob, and you men of Israel; I will help you, says LORD, Your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. Behold, I will make you a new sharp threshing instrument having teeth. You shall thresh the mountains, and beat them small, shall make the hills as chaff. You shall fan them, and the wind shall carry them away . . .and you shall rejoice in LORD, and shall glory in the Holy One of Israel." (Isaiah 41:14-16)
Intercessors For Israel
Friday Prayer Alert
11 July 2008
| A Closing Thought . . . | |
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HOW TO KEEP FROM BEING DECEIVED:
by Derek Prince
Four Safeguards - Protection from Deception
This week: MAKE AND KEEP THE CROSS CENTRAL (Part Two)
[We now share the remainder of Dr. Prince's final suggestion to walk free of deception: make and keep the Cross central.]
To view this teaching in its entirety, go here.
Now let us turn again to the first five verses of 1 Corinthians chapter 2. These have always been among my favorite verses because I came to the Lord sovereignly from a background of Greek philosophy. When Paul speaks about wisdom, as he does, he is talking about Greek philosophy, so I think I am particularly able to appreciate the impact of what he says about wisdom.
We need to understand when we read these verses that Paul is speaking about a certain part of his ministry journey. In Acts chapter 17, he was in Athens, which was the intellectual center, the university city, of the ancient world. There he preached a sermon unlike any other that is recorded. It was a somewhat intellectual sermon. He adapted himself to his audience and even quoted from a Greek poet (which I do not think he ever did at any other time). I wonder whether Paul was really led by the Holy Spirit. At any rate, the results were disappointing. Only a few people believed.
So, Paul went on to Corinth. Now, Corinth was a port city, somewhat like the major port cities of our present world - a very wicked city, where every kind of sin flourished. Somewhere between Athens and Corinth, Paul made a decision, which is recorded in these verses:
And, I brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the mystery of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
So, Paul made a revolutionary decision. He would not preach the kind of message in Corinth that he preached in Athens. He said something here which, for a Jew, is remarkable. He said, I determined not to know anything. Basically, the Jews are people who know a lot and often their confidence is in what they know.
What an amazing statement! "I determined not to know anything. I'll forget everything I've ever learned at the feet of Gemaliel, in all my studies - forget it all! I'm only concerned with one thing: Jesus Christ - and not just with Jesus Christ, but with Jesus Christ crucified - that is the center and the focus of my message." And I believe it should be the center and the focus of our message. If we ever get away from the cross as central, we are in danger.
What an amazing statement! "I determined not to know anything. I'll forget everything I've ever learned at the feet of Gemaliel, in all my studies - forget it all! I'm only concerned with one thing: Jesus Christ - and not just with Jesus Christ, but with Jesus Christ crucified - that is the center and the focus of my message." And I believe it should be the center and the focus of our message. If we ever get away from the cross as central, we are in danger.
I notice that Paul expected the demonstration of the Holy Spirit and power. I find today in our contemporary church, if you preach about power, everybody gets excited - and if you appeal for people who want to receive power, many will come forward. Personally, I believe this emphasis on power can be extremely dangerous. I have observed over a good many years that people who focus on power end in trouble. They often end in error.
Power is something that appeals to the natural man. Some psychologists have said that the desire for power is the number one desire of the human personality. Paul said, "I want power, but I want it on a different basis from that which the world understands. I want to forget all my wisdom, all my knowledge, all my theological qualifications and I want to focus on only one thing: Jesus Christ crucified." And then he said, in effect, "When I do that, I can be sure that the Holy Spirit will come in power."
Now I will close with another of my favorite Scriptures, Galatians 6:14:
God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
[Next week: The summary and the conclusion of this wonderful teaching -- so VERY NEEDED in this hour in our nation!]
| Hymn of the Week | |
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LIVING FOR JESUS
[Weigle version] " "Whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's." (Romans 14:8)
Words & Music: Charles F. Weigle, 1903
(Editor's note: In days gone by, so many Christians were so happy to be living for Jesus, that there emerged three hymns by that name: "Living for Jesus."
This week we feature the third and final hymn by that name, written by Charles Weigle. Praise God for those saints of old who "lived for Jesus!")
Living for Jesus-O what peace!
Rivers of pleasure never cease.
Trials may come, yet I'll not fear.
Living for Jesus, He is near.
Refrain
Help me to serve Thee more and more.
Help me to praise Thee o'er and o'er;
Live in Thy presence day by day,
Never to turn from Thee away.
(To hear this song, and view the remaining lyrics, go here.)
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