Luke 6:12-13 In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God. And when day came, he called his disciples and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles:
In these days, we have to pray for wisdom! In the letter of James, the Lord’s brother, he writes, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God who gives to all liberally…” [James 1:5] The context for this request is trials! Since this is a time of almost constant trials, God knows we need His wisdom, more than ever.
As a minister and watchman, I’m often asked what I expect to happen, and what is my advice for it. I can say one thing for sure; the world situation is extremely volatile, with shifting paradigms, and we absolutely must get God’s individual and personal wisdom to navigate these last days.
Yeshua (Jesus) Himself spent a lot of time in prayer. You might think He didn’t need to do that since He was in constant fellowship with his Father, anyway. But it’s clear He needed to get away to concentrate on that relationship and to listen carefully and intently. If the very Son of God needed that time in prayer, how much more do we?
Luke reports that the Lord spent all night in prayer before He chose His disciples. Apparently this was a prerequisite for one of the most important decisions He had to make. Take it to heart; important decisions should NEVER be made without committing yourself to God in prayer, and the more significant the decision, the more concentrated time you should spend hearing God’s mind on the issue.
Make sure you are seeking the Lord for wisdom in these days, to be led of His Spirit, especially when decisions are before you. Rely on His promise to grant you wisdom generously, as He will to all that ask. Perhaps, in the past we’ve made bad decisions because we neglected to seek Him in prayer. We didn’t ask, and thus failed to receive His wisdom. This time, and every time, from now on, follow the Lord’s example…
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]Last night, Jewish people around the world will mourn Tisha B’Av, the ninth day of the fifth month of the Hebrew calendar year. Some of you may know that a lot of bad things have happened to the Jewish people on this date, the first of which was when the spies returned with an evil report of Canaan, the Promised Land, recounted in Numbers 13 and 14. Both the first and the second Temple were destroyed on this exact date, hundreds of years apart. The Crusades began on this day in 1095. The Jews were expelled out of England on this day in 1290, and again were expelled from Spain and Portugal on Tisha B’Av in 1492. And there are many more examples of this infamous day in Jewish history!
An ancient legend tells of a king who walked into his garden one day to find almost everything withered and dying. After speaking to an oak near the gate, the king learned that he was troubled because he was not tall and beautiful like the pine. The pine overheard their conversation and added that she, too, was upset, for she could not bear delicious fruit like the pear tree. The pear tree heard his name and began to complain that he did not have the lovely odor of the spruce. And so it went throughout the entire garden.
In the midst of a serious heat wave, wildfires are spreading across Europe causing thousands to evacuate. This reminded me of a story I once read.
I can’t begin to tell you. So many people I’ve shared the Gospel with have answered, “Well — I don’t need that, I’m a good person.” No, we’re not. We have a tendency to compare ourselves with our neighbor, thinking how nice or how giving we are compared to him or her. But none of us are good by God’s standards. Our good works are like filthy rags, according to Isaiah.
If you look at the ant you will find that they dwell in colonies. Each colony consists of approximately 60,000 – 90,000 ants — they really can’t prosper on their own. They need each other. How does a colony of that many ants to work together? The only reason it works is that they operate in unity. Each ant shares the same purpose, the same goal, and the same aim.
The third great awakening took place during the late 1850s into the beginning of the 1900s. It was during this era that the wave of revivals sweeping America began spreading throughout the world. The era saw the abolition of slavery, women’s right to vote, and the end of child labor in factories.
In Israel, cell phones are all the rage. You wouldn’t believe it but parents even buy cell phones for their kids and send them to school with them in their schoolbags. I’m talking about six and seven-year-old kids! While it is true that part of the reason for this cell phone craze stems from the fact that violence goes on here daily and people want to be able to contact one another in the event of an emergency, I would still say that it’s somewhat excessive.