How you doin? We went to the Abundant Life prayer/worship meeting last night. It was great. Though there were several Spirit filled prayers prayed out loud, one really stood out to me. It was a prayer for men to wake up. A prayer for men to be freed from shame, embarrassment, and division. A prayer to step up as spiritual sons and fathers. A prayer for men to step into their identity and destiny. This is a prayer that I've been praying for a while now. I would extend that prayer and pray for men to partner with their wives in ministry, devotions, and spiritual parenting. Adam had God and still needed a helper. I can picture God walking and talking through the garden with Adam and Him saying, "Dude you need a helper. You need a wife". There was also some good prayers for unity in the body of Christ. I myself heard, "Compelled by love. Filled with love to over flowing. Rend our hearts and pour in". I believe that loving each other should come naturally as a result of God's love flowing through us. I believe that loving each other and unity in the body of Christ shouldn't be such a conscious effort. Love shouldn't be masked by a conscious effort to be optimistic or friendly. There's my sermon for the day. More then that, it's my prayer. It was a great meeting last night none the less. 2 Thessalonians 3 today.
Verse 5, "May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ." That's a good prayer. As said above, I believe God's love should flow through me in a way that's unconscious. The NIV read's like this, "May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance." I'm not sure what the difference is between "steadfastness" and "perseverance". Either way I pray that the Lord directs my heart into it. I'm down with anything that that Lord directs me into.
Verse 13, "But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary of doing good." That's a good word.
Verse 16, "Now may the Lord of peace Himself continually grant you peace in every [r]circumstance. The Lord be with you all!" I left the footnote because another word for circumstance is "way". So it could read "grant you peace in every way". I notice a pattern in this book of Paul praying or speaking about the "Lord Himself" teaching, comforting, and directing the Thessalonians. I believe that this is why they were so strong and valued. I can't help but to think that if we seek direction, teaching, and comfort from the Lord Himself, it would take some pressure and tension out of the fellowship. I believe it would aid in the unification of the body. By getting closer to Jesus and becoming more Christ like as individuals, we could function in Christ's unity as a body. COME ON!!!!!!! I can't say this any better then Paul did, "May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ."... today.
PS I had a thought of summary on what the Holy Ghost revealed to me this morning. Unity doesn't come from conformity, it comes from transformation. Meaning, unity in the body isn't everyone agreeing with me or conforming to the way I think. If we all think, act, and have a Christ like attitude, we will be in unity consequently.
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