Prayer

I'm finishing up my research paper for my "Christian Doctrine 1" class and it has been a really neat thing for me to research. Can you guess the topic? Yep, it's prayer in view of God's Sovereignty. Here are some things that I bring out:

1. Prayer is primarily for the glory of God and we pray because He commands us to.
2. Prayer brings us into deeper relationship with God and is reflected in an obedient life.
3. By faith and from the Bible we can know that our prayers will be answered.
4. God uses our prayers as a means of accomplishing His will.

Thanks be to God that we can pray and know that He hears us.

Humility before God

"The spirit of our age is essentially that of boasting and glorifying in the flesh. The achievements of man, his development and progress, his greatness and self-sufficiency, are the shrine at which the world worships today. But the truth of God's sovereignty, with all its corollaries, removes every ground for human boasting and instills the spirit of humility in its stead."
-A.W. Pink, The Sovereignty of God

More A.W. Pink

I have to share some more from The Sovereignty of God! I am on the last chapter and I have enjoyed a lot of it. What a great God we serve!

"Another example, equally striking, is seen in the life of Job. As is well known, Job was one that feared God eschewed evil. If ever there was one who might reasonably expect Divine providence to smile upon him-we speak as a man-it was Job. Yet, how fared it with him? For a time, the lines fell unto him in pleasant places. The Lord filled his quiver by giving him seven sons and three daughters. He prospered him in his temporal affairs until he owned great possessions. But of a sudden, the sun of life was hidden behind dark clouds. In a single day Job lost not only his flocks and herds, but his sons and daughters as well. News arrived that his cattle had been carried off by robbers, and his children slain by a cyclone. And how did he receive this intelligence? "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away." He bowed to the sovereign will of Jehovah. He traced his afflictions back to their First cause. He looked behind the Sabeans who had stolen his cattle, and beyond the winds that had destroyed his children, and saw the hand of God. But not only did Job recognise God's sovereignty, he rejoiced in it, too. To the words, "The Lord gave, the Lord hath taken away," he added, "Blessed be the name of the Lord" (Job 1:21). Again we say, sweet submission! Sublime resignation! A recognition of God's sovereignty causes us to hold our every plan in abeyance to God's will. "

Now remember, I'm only giving you bits and pieces. To put these together, you need to read this book for yourself! I hope you will if you haven't already. There are some great things to be found there. God Bless!

Another Birthday!

My "baby" is sixteen years old today! He is 6 ft. 3 in. and wears size 15 shoe! As his oldest brother said one time, "there's never a dull moment with Jeremy around!" I remember God's protection over Jeremy when he was about 3 yrs old and fell into the swimming pool while trying to retrieve a toy, which he had thrown over the fence. He proceeded to climb the fence and leaned too far out and fell in. Of course I was in the kitchen and didn't see this and had no idea what had happened until there was a knock at the kitchen door. When I opened it there stood a sopping wet Jeremy, with a guilty look on his face. To this day I don't remember if I spanked him or hugged him (I scolded myself for not watching this mischievous boy), but I know I was thankful that he didn't drown. When Jeremy was born we knew he was specially marked by God as we observed three cowlicks (I call them swirls) on his head and two webbed toes. Just today he was practicing his speech and looking much older. That's my baby who has turned into a young man!

Happy Birthday Jeremy!