Father, Thank you again for this time, and for your timeless love and unchanging nature. As Your child grows within, changing from day to day, growing abundantly, may we remember that you are always steadfast; always strong; always there; always forgiving; always welcoming; always holy; always perfect; always loving; always the same. Thank you for having patience with us Lord, even when we don't deserve it. Even when we fail miserably, You always welcome us when we come to the foot of the cross. May we lay down our burdens right now, place them before You, surrender control over what has been controlling us, and just quiet ourselves before You and know that you are all powerful, all knowing, all loving, all consuming, and worthy of all our praise. Lord may we not lift our souls to anything or anyone else but You. May we never seek glory for ourselves or for others as we are prone to do, but may we look around us and see You in everything that is beautiful. Fill us with Your Holy Spirit, break any chains of bondage keeping us prisoners right now, may we return to a right relationship with you, God. May we realize Your awesome and enormous power and strength, may we stand in awe at the beautiful and marvelous works of Your hands, may we humble ourselves right now and acknowledge that You alone are our King. That You are the creator of the universe and You are responsible for the life within us. You oversee each and every change in the metamorphosis of this child, that You placed him there, that You have given us permission to take custody of Your child and raise them up in Your ways. Strengthen us now with Your love, that we might be the parents that You have called us to be. Lord, unite us as a nation of Christians that spans around the world, as one family that binds our hearts to you and to each other. May we all stand together in Your name, and may we proclaim the work of the cross that brings forgiveness to a broken world. May we shine your light in this dark time, and may we bring Your message of love and hope to a dying world. Lord, we know You choose to redeem Your people, let that redemption start in our home, starting this morning. Lord take control of this day, may we honor You by giving love to our family. May we reach out to others today, and bless them so that we might be blessing You. May we walk up in boldness to a hurting soul and share the good news in a way that reaches their heart. May we not be religious or draw attention to ourselves, but may we always be sharing Your love in humility and servanthood. Rabbi, teach us to be a people who represent Your true nature, that of forgiveness, grace, mercy, healing, and most of all, a spirit of glorifying You, our Father. May we bow down now, and be still before You. May we relinquish our own self-centeredness, and place You at the center of our very soul. Be with us this day, oh awesome King of Heaven and Earth, surround us with Your glory and bathe us in the Light of Your Son, Jesus Christ. May we all be at peace in Your love, we pray, in Jesus' name, Amen. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 9 Do not be carried about with various and strange doctrines. For it is good that the heart be established by grace, not with foods which have not profited those who have been occupied with them....Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate. 13 Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach. 14 For here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come. 15 Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name. 16 But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. Hebrews 13:8-9 & 12-16 This has been the theme of the week, gang. To be separate from worldly things around you and to be sanctified and set apart for your God, keeping your eyes on Him and off of yourself. There is a famous acronym that you probably know: J - Jesus first O - Then others Y - Then yourself This passage of scripture, especially in verse 13, encourages us to go to Him, and to sing praises to His name. We, by proclaiming Him, are sure to also bear His reproach, but we do that with joy. We should not be ashamed of the gospel, we ought not to hide our light under a bowl. We can let our light shine forth for others to see, as we make Christ first in our lives. This, of course, brings a worldly reproach, but in God's eyes it is a delight. Choose to please God and not man. Choose to find Jesus in everything you do. Choose to seek first the Kingdom, and choose be be righteous, to seek His righteousness in your life. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Matthew 6:33 This is the first step towards joy. Seek first the Lord, make Him first in your life. When you have perfected this, go on to instructions in verse 16 of Hebrews 13 which says: But do not forget to do good and to share, for with such sacrifices God is well pleased. Yes, we ought to first be focused on the grace we have been given by our Lord and His sacrifice, to be focused on His very nature and His unchanging love, on His glory and awesome power, to not be looking within us but to be looking up instead. And then, when we have a firm grasp on the nature of grace and love, we can then reach out to others. Not out of duty, but because if we have the love of Christ truly within us, then the natural manifestation of that is to then become like Christ and to reach out to others. Helping others is the second aspect of this acronym of joy, and also the second component in the idea Paul has communicated to the Hebrews in this passage. Pregnancy is a perfect time to put this faith into action. Make your decisions based on what is best for your little child within you. See the last video of todays worship set and watch the joy of this baby Cade as he worships with his Grammy. How precious is the nature of the young child, and how dependent they are on us. They will depend on us to make choices based on love, and will later mimick our behavior. Let our behavior then be that of the self-sacrificing nature of Christ towards our little child. Today, rather than post the questions at the end of the chapter, I am going to post the quiet moment on page 34, since today's worship focus was on quieting ourselves before the Lord.
Lord, thank you for this time. Go before us and strengthen our family today. Bind us with Your heavenly keys, and loosen any unrighteousness within us. Lord, we ask that your will would be done on earth today as it is in Heaven. Give us today the things that we need, forgive our wrongs and help us to forgive those who have hurt us, hold us fast that we might not stumble, place a hedge of protection around us from evil. You truly are King, all powerful and all knowing, glorious and always the same! May we choose to praise you today for that, Lord! In Jesus' name, Amen! |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Cascade Christian Childbirth Association
| Chapter Two |
-- Start of StatCounter Code -->
