The Making of a Prayer Journal - Part Two

I apologize for my absence last week.  I thought I had done the blog ahead of time due to the surgery of my wife, but apparently, I didn't.  So I pick up where I left off by talking about a prayer journal.

Here are two pictures of my prayer journal.  One simply shows the size of it and the other one shows the tabs I will share about here today.

You get the seven tabs for your journal to divdie it up according to the day of the week.  Each day you pray for a different area of your life.  Here is my schedule:

Sunday - your church (leaders, special needs, events) and the worship service today

Monday - your family

Tuesday - fellow believers especially your Sunday School class and your J-Life group

Wednesday - Those in authority (local, state, national)

Thursday - Lost and backslidden

Friday - World vision, missionaries

Saturday - other churches and pastors

The Lord's Day (November 26, 2023) at Rainsville First Baptist Church

How do you feel when you get what you wanted but after getting it, you discover it was not the best option?  That is the path for those who manipulate and deceive in order to gain what they want.  But then the fruit of their actions turns sour and bitter.

I look forward tomorrow to being back in the pulpit as we continue our study through the life of Jacob as we examine this next episode of "As the Saga Continues" with the family of Isaac, Rebekah, Esau, and Jacob in Genesis 27: 41-46.  There is no soap opera ever been written with more sad turns than this story.  If we could only see the story up to now, we would throw this family under the bus, throw up our hands, and declare there is no hope.  But we know the end of the story and one of these good-for-nothing dudes becomes Israel - the Prince of God!!!  WHAT?  

And there is only one reason - God's grace.  But as grace has always been - amazing, a stunner, a show changer.

Tomorrow we will begin our preparation for our annual March to the Manger set for Sunday, December 10 and we will pray over Zeb Ferguson and Keirstan Hiett before their wedding on December 2.  What a day!!!

Did I mention it?  And we will begin to enjoy the most beautiful setting in all of Rainsville (and maybe all of Alabama) - our church building at Christmas.

Implications of When Life Begins - Part Three

So the last two weeks we have learned only God is the source of life and mankind is only stewards of the gift of life. Since life can only come from life, then all life is a gift of God. 

Life begins when a living cell produces another living cell. At conception.

So what are the implications of this sacred truth?

1. There is no such thing as an "unwanted" pregnancy.  Since no pregnancy can happen with God approving it, then all pregnancies are ordained by God, the giver of life.  This gives each person purpose and meaning.  No one is an accident.  

This is what captured Jeremiah's heart in Jeremiah 1: 5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, Before you were born I sanctified you; and I ordained you a prophet to the nations."

God is assuring Jeremiah in his time of distress and doubt that it was for this purpose of being a prophet God permitted Jeremiah to come into this world.  And that is the same for each one of us.  We find our purpose only when we realize it was God who ordained us to be born at this particular time and place.  He makes no mistakes.

There may be "unplanned" pregnancies according to man, but not to God.  Let me remind you, our whole gospel rests on the foundation of an "unplanned" pregnancy.  Mary did not plan to get pregnant and her pregnancy was no normal pregnancy, because it came directly from God.  Joseph had a legal right to put her to death, but only when God intervened through an angel did it stop. 

2.  We must seriously encourage all those who are pregnant to steward the life within them well. 

I want to introduce this generation to a lady I remember from my childhood.  Her name was Ethyl Waters.  She was a frequent soloist with the Billy Graham Crusades.  She was born October 31, 1896 and died September 1, 1977.  What I remember about her life was her mother was raped by a man at the age of 13 which produced Ethyl.  Thank God her mother did not get an abortion. 

Ms. Waters had a multi-flavored life of singing and acting, but she rededicated her life in a Billy Graham Crusade and became a regular.  My favorite song she would sing is this:

One last word...no matter what anyone has ever done with a pregnancy, their life, or another life....our God is a God who is bigger than our sins.  There is only one sin God will not forgive and it is NOT abortion or murder. Romans 5:20 - "But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more."  There is no sin greater than the grace of God.  God's grace is greater than any and all of our sins.  Turn to Him today to find rest for our souls. 

This Lord's Day (November 19, 2023) at Rainsville First Baptist Church

Tomorrow Bro. Max Grizzard will be preaching as we celebrate the goodness of God this Sunday before Thanksgiving.  Also, he has been invited to preach at the Community Thanksgiving Service hosted at Maranatha Baptist Church with the service beginning at 6:00.  Our Praise Team will also be leading the music at that service.

There will be no Wednesday night services next week due to Thanksgiving week.

When Does Life Begin? - Part Two

Last Monday we Scripturally saw only God is the source of life and there is no life without God granting it.  When God gave "life" to the first man in Genesis, he also gave man the command "Be fruitful and multiple; fill the earth...."

God gave man the power to transfer this life.  Where did the first woman come from?  Man.  The first man did not come from a woman, but God, and the first woman came from man.  Man is the steward of the life God gave him.

As I said last week, we are stewards of this life, we are not the originators of this life.  We will answer to God how we viewed, handled, and propagated this gift.  

So life does not come from the woman, but is given to the woman through the man.  She, like the man, is a steward of the gift granted to her by the man as an instrument of God. She is to care deeply, and reverence supernaturally the gift of life inside of her.  She, like the man, will give an account to God for how she stewards this unique gift.

So when does life begin?  Since living cells can only come from living cells, then the moment the single cell of life comes into the womb of the woman and fertilizes, there is life!!!  Even before she knows she is pregnant, she is pregnant with life.  For life begets life.

Yes, life begins at conception.  That's the only answer.  

Thus, it is both the man's and the woman's responsibility and privilege to steward the gift of life given and carried.  The woman could not have become pregnant without the gift, and the man did not give the gift as if he is a superman and creator of life.  Both received the gift of life from God.  

The seed of life does not belong to either the man or the woman.  This settles the argument that "its my body and I can do with it what I want." 

That seed planted by the man and united with the egg of the woman is now a separate living being - unique with his/her own blood type, DNA.

Jeremiah 1:5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you;"

One last word...only God determines when conception happens and when it does not.

Several times in Scripture a couple was barren and they would pray asking God to "open her womb" and He would.  God is the one who permits conception.  He is actively and personally involved saying "yes" or "no."

So when to add one other word to the answer to the question of when life begins...when God says so. 

Psalm 139: 13 "For You have formed my inward parts; You have covered me in my mother's womb."

The Lord's Day (November 12, 2023) at Rainsville First Baptist Church

Westerners (everyone west of the Atlantic Ocean, not just the Mississippi River) do not understand the power and privilege of the blessing of a father.  In Jewish tradition (and most all Eastern family structures), the blessing of the father meant position, authority, purpose, and establishing one's future. To not receive the blessing was devasting and demoralizing.

Isaac thinks he's about to die and it is time to bless his elder son with this unique blessing when the scheming and manipulating Jacob (with the help of his mother) tricks his blind, aged Dad into giving him the blessing.

What a scene of this soap opera family.  So are the plans of God derailed now?  

Tomorrow we will look at this story in Genesis 27 and discover for us Westerners the power of the blessing of the father.  And we will discover we are in direct line of receiving the blessing of our Heavenly Father through His Son, Jesus.  Oh, what power, privilege, authority, position, and establishing our future.

Also this Sunday we will honor our Veterans who have served our country giving thanks to God and them for their sacrificial service.  We will also pray for those who are currently serving and especially in these troublesome days.

We will also bring in our Operation Christmas Child boxes and pray over them.

What a great day!!!

The Making of a Prayer Journal - Part One

As I began last Wednesday talking about discipleship, this will be an explanation over the next few weeks on how we view discipleship and our J-Life ministry at Rainsville First Baptist.

We call it J-Life because we ask what would the life of Jesus look like being lived through me.

I want to begin with "How to Make a Prayer Journal."

Exodus 16:33 records how Israel was instructed to save two quarts of manna as a reminder of God's care for them in the wilderness.  I'm sure when generations would see the quarts of manna, questions would be asked and a reminder would be given of God's faithfulness to provide for the needs of His children.

It was a reminder....Oh how we need to be reminded of God's faithfulness in our lives.  He has been faithful and His acts in our life needs to be a constant source of faith that He will continue to be faithful.

This journal will also serve as a legacy to pass to your children and grandchildren.  They will read of your notes and prayer points showing them the faithfulness of God in your life.  Oh, what a blessing such journals would be to the next generation.

I love Southern Gospel music and there is no one greater of a writer and singer than Dottie Rambo.  She wrote, "Roll back the curtain of memory now and then. Show me where you brought me from and where I could have been.  Just remember I'm human, and humans forget. So remind me, remind me dear Lord."

We do forget what He's done and we need to be reminded.  One of the greatest ways to remember is through a journal.  So how do we begin?

I suggest two different types of journals or notebooks.  One to record our daily walk with God, sermon notes, and notes from other sources we want to "capture."  We will talk about this in later weeks.

Then the second notebook is a prayer journal. A 5 1/2 by 8 1/2 size is the best but anything can work.  There are many journals now being made and that is fine to use.  However, a prayer journal will change and you need flexibility to add sheets and remove sheets.  These journals produced are great to journal your time with God and sermon notes, but for an actual prayer journal, a loose-leaf notebook would be best.  But anything is better than nothing.

Get seven dividers and index tabs where you can create a section in your notebook for each day of the week.  Each section will be for prayer needs for which you regularly pray.  These are not just immediate needs (such as the prayer requests from your Sunday School class or a friend), but requests for which we should pray through on a regular basis.  

Here is a picture of my prayer journal just to give you an idea.

I will write next week about the seven tabs.

When Does Life Begin? - Part One

In our current American culture, when you ask the question about life, people think you want to begin a conversation about politics.  It is sad we have so politicized the "life" question that one cannot even talk about it without someone else taking the other side.

Let me be clear... life is not a political question, it is a Biblical question.  It is not owned by Democrats or Republicans.  It is not up for vote in the next election and no politician can use it as "his" battering ram.  The "life" question does not belong to us, it belongs to God and we are but stewards of this most sacred gift.

So when does life begin?  To answer, we must ask where does life come from?  

John 1:4 "In Him was life, and the life was the light of men."

John 14:6 Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life."  

John 11: 25 Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life."

Acts 17:25 "...since He gives to all life, breath, and all things."

Job 33:4 "The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life."

Nehemiah 9:6 "You give life to everything, ..." (NIV)

I Timothy 6: 13 "I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things...."

Jeremiah 38: 16 "As the Lord lives, who has given us breath..." (NIV)

Deuteronomy 32: 39 "There is no God besides Me; It is I who put to death and give life..." (NASB)

This one says it all....Psalm 36:9 "For with You is the fountain of life;..."

God is life and He is the source (fountain) of life.  There is no life without God.

Living cells must begin from living cells.  Life does not evolve, it is a gift.

So go to the first life on this planet. The first mention of something living is Genesis 1: 20 and it is the creatures of this earth. Then the crown of creation was man (Genesis 1: 26-27) for God made him in His image, unlike all the other creatures.  And Genesis 2:7 is the detail of what happened in Genesis 1: 27 and "The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being."

God is the only source of life in existence. So when creatures and most importantly, man, came to life it was because God gave them life.  Life belongs to God.  He has the copyright to it and those who have life have it as a steward from God.

Next Monday, I will continue these thoughts...

Blessings;

David

This Lord's Day (November 5, 2023) at Rainsville First Baptist Church

This Sunday (November 5) I will be back in the pulpit after a week of vacation.  My appreciation to Dr. Keith Wrenn and Bro. Theo Enns for preaching while I was away.

We will be looking at Genesis 26.  Even though this series is on the life of Jacob, we are committed to preaching through the book of Genesis so we will look at chapter 26.  This chapter is not about Jacob, but about his father Isaac.

It seems every insurance company is using unusual means to communicate their insurance plans.  Or to keep their unique insurance company in your mind.  Can you name the insurance company advertising talking about "a young homeowner turning into their parents?" If you said, "Progressive, " you would have made their market division very happy.

There is a part in all of us not wanting to become like our parents.  But, we do.  This Sunday we will look at the good, the bad, and the ugly of how Isaac is like his dad, Abraham.

Also this Sunday we will observe our annual "Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church." We will join millions around the world as we pray for the persecuted church.

More than 360 million Christians worldwide suffer high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith.  That's staggering. 1 in every 7 believers. According to the ministry Open Doors, which raises awareness and support for the worldwide persecuted church, the number of countries where Christians suffer high and extreme levels of persecution has almost doubled in the last 30 years.

Learn more about the persecuted church in one of these three online sites:

Open Doors

Voice of the Martyrs

See the Southern Baptist Convention site about persecution

I would highly encourage every believer to regularly read about the persecuted church.  It will move your heart to prayer and sensitivity like no other.  As I discovered a few years ago, there are one of two elements present in the places where God is moving in the world:  either poverty or persecution. 

s worldwide suffer high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith. That’s a stagg

The simple meaning of Discipleship: Follow Jesus

Here is the logo for our church.  The first one in the upper left is our goal as a church to be followers of Jesus Christ.  This is simple, but we make it so complex.  

Everyone is following someone.  There is no such person who doesn't follow someone or something.  A person may be following the culture of this world for what it means to be a person, successful, and happy.  They may not be conscious all the time that they are making decisions based on this meter, but they are.  Will this make me happy?  Will this make me more successful?  Will this be acceptable to those around me?  

This is always masqueraded as actually following yourself.  You are your own god and you make the decisions based on you, your feelings, and how you perceive this will be best for you.  You "lean to your own understanding...."

Some are following religious traditions and they argue the decision is already made for them and thus, without knowing it, are willingly not accepting responsibility for their own decisions.  They decide to do something or not do something because their religious tradition says to do it that way.  This is how I was taught.  This is what my church believes.  This is what my pastor preaches.

But to follow Jesus is not to follow any of these other ways.  Over 20 times in the Gospels, Jesus invites persons to simply "Follow Me." This is about following a person...imitating him with not only the decisions you make but even the way he walks and talks.  

This was the pattern of rabbis and their students during the days of Jesus in Jewish life.  The student (disciple) was to follow so closely behind the teacher (rabbi) that it was said they had his "dust on their sandals."

We are called to follow Jesus, plain and simple, first and foremost.  Not a denomination.  Not a culture of religious tradition.  But to follow Jesus.

To say we have this as a sole commitment as a church would be prideful and foolish.  I only wish I followed Jesus more closely and fully, let alone our church. But if you don't have a goal, then you will never know what you are aiming for.  And I can say this is a major goal to implement ways for persons at Rainsville First Family to be followers of Jesus.

In the next few weeks, I will use this Wednesday blog to take a deep dive into our understanding of discipleship.  Join us...