DO YOU PRAY FOR LOCAL, NATIONAL AND WORLD LEADERS?

Today's promise: God is in charge of the world

Do you pray for local, national and world leaders?

Pray this way for kings and all others who are in authority, so that we can live in peace and quietness, in godliness and dignity.

1 Timothy 2:2 NLT

Prayers for kings and authorities

There is a reason Paul commands us to consistently pray for all of these people. The decisions they make have a direct, sometimes lasting, impact on our life. When the leaders of my country make good decisions, my life goes better. When the laws they pass are sound and just, my family sleeps better at night. When my church leaders make godly, spirit-directed decisions, my soul is in better hands. When my boss makes wise choices, the company grows and my job is secure. When my parents handle their affairs well and stay in God's will, I can depend on the counsel they give to be solid and sound. The strength of their character will affect our family for generations to come, so I fervently pray that God will grant them wisdom and godliness in all they say and do.

We pray for those in authority over us because it helps us live in "peace and quietness." And because it develops within us the traits of "godliness and dignity." In many ways these simple qualities sum up the whole of our Christian witness on earth.

We are called to be peaceful people — to be at peace with God, with our salvation, with our situation on earth, and with those around us. And we are to live holy and dignified lives — to put "aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light" (Romans 13:12). It is through consistent and deliberate prayer — for others, as well as ourselves — that these qualities are obtained.

Adapted from Embracing Eternity by Tim LaHaye, Jerry Jenkins and Frank M. Martin,, Tyndale House Publishers (2004), p 37

IS IT NOT REASSURING TO KNOW THAT GOD IS KING OF kings?

Today's promise: God is in charge of the world

Is it not reassuring to know that God is King of kings?

For the Lord is a great God, the great King above all gods.

Psalm 95:3 NLT

When the godly are in authority, the people rejoice. But when the wicked are in power, they groan. A just king gives stability to his nation…

Proverbs 29:2,4 NLT

Come, Thou Almighty King

Come, Thou Almighty King,
Help us Thy name to sing,
Help us to praise;
Father! all-glorious,
O'er all victorious,
Come, and reign over us,
Ancient of Days.
Come, Thou Almighty King (v1), AUTHOR UNKNOWN

Presidents, kings, and other ruling officials should be honored and prayed for. So wrote the apostles Peter and Paul, who lived under the Roman emperors. But we must never forget that the King of kings and Lord of lords deserves our ultimate honor and complete allegiance.

This hymn appeared anonymously in George Whitfield's Hymn Book, published in 1757. It is usually attributed to Charles Wesley, but was probably published anonymously for a good reason. Scholars think Wesley wrote this hymn as an imitation of the English national anthem, "God Save Our Gracious King." The national anthem had just been written, and it had become popular throughout England. This hymn may have been Wesley's way of keeping priorities straight.

Whether the author was trying to remind us that there is an almighty Kind greater than any earthly ruler, or whether he was simply writing it as a special hymn for Trinity Sunday, it is a grand and noble hymn praising our sovereign Lord.

Adapted from The One Year® Book of Hymns by Mark Norton and Robert Brown, Tyndale House Publishers (1995), entry for February 24

DO YOU SENSE GOD WORKING IN HISTORY TODAY?

Today's promise: God is in charge of the world

Do You Sense God Working in History Today?

O God, declare [my enemies] guilty. Let them be caught in their own traps.

Drive them away because of their many sins, for they rebel against you.

Psalm 5:10 NLT

A refuge to rejoice

Things didn't look good for Martin Luther when he was summoned to Augsburg in late October 1518. He was being charged with heresy. Up to this point Frederick the Wise, elector of Saxony, had protected Luther from the church authorities, but now the prince was under pressure to withdraw his protection. It seemed only a matter of time before he would.

In Augsburg, Luther was asked, "If the elector of Saxony abandons you, where will you find shelter?"

The Reformer responded, "Under the shelter of heaven."

In the last part of Psalm 5, we find that David, like Luther, trusted in the Lord to rescue him from his enemies. Did the psalmist escape from the trap? We don't know, but the psalm closes with "joyful praises," because David knew that he was now surrounded by God's protection. Like Martin Luther, he found refuge under the shelter of heaven.

Under his wings, O what precious enjoyment!
There will I hide till life's trials are o'er.
Sheltered, protected, no evil can harm me;
Resting in Jesus I'm safe evermore.
WILLIAM O. CUSHING

adapted from The One Year® Book of Psalms by William J. Petersen and Randy Petersen,, Tyndale House Publishers (1999), entry for January 8

HAVE YOU SEEN LEADERS UNABLE TO OVERCOME "DRAG COEFFICIENT"?

Today's promise: God is in charge of the world

Have you seen leaders unable to overcome "drag coefficient"?

O God, have mercy on me. The enemy troops press in on me. My foes attack me all day long. My slanderers hound me constantly, and many are boldly attacking me.

Psalm 56:1-2 NLT

Without wise leadership, a nation fails; with many counselors, there is safety.

Proverbs 11:14 NLT

The drag on leadership

Leaders have grand vision, and great visions are reached overnight.… Leadership by nature pushes against a high drag coefficient. Drag is the resistance air gives to the body of airplanes or automobiles as they move through air.… The drag on leadership is so great that it threatens to bring leaders to a grinding halt unless they have an extraordinary level of God-inspired perseverance.

Leadership is more about perseverance than about speed. Psalm 132:1 says, "Lord, remember David and all that he suffered." David was one of the greatest — and most successful — leaders in Israel's history, yet his life was marked by continual, extreme hardship.

For example, after the prophet Samuel anointed David as the next king of Israel, King Saul repeatedly attempted to kill David. David had to wander in the desert and in foreign lands for years as a fugitive with several hundred outcasts. David was the anointed leader of Israel, but he endured a lifetime of hardships as Israel's shepherd.

So don't be surprised by the drag coefficient of leadership. With God's help, you can endure it and overcome.
CRAIG BRIAN LARSON

adapted from Leadership Devotions compiled by the editors of Christianity Today International, Tyndale House Publishers (2001), pp 170-71

DO YOU DEEPLY MOURN YOUR SIN, OR CHOOSE CHEAP GRACE-AND SIN AGAIN?

Today's promise: No temptation is too great

Do you deeply mourn your sin, or choose cheap grace—and sin again?

Immediately the Holy Spirit compelled Jesus to go into the wilderness. He was there for forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was out among the wild animals, and angels took care of him.

Mark 1:12-13 NLT

Mourning our sins

Lord, who throughout these forty days
For us didst fast and pray,
Teach us with Thee to mourn our sins,
And close by Thee to stay.

As Thou with Satan didst contend
And didst the victory win,
O give us strength in Thee to fight
In Thee to conquer sin.
Lenten Hymn (v1,2), CLAUDIA FRANCES HERNAMAN (1838-98)

We don't know a lot about the forty days Jesus spent in the desert before His temptation. We know it was a time of fasting and probably of prayer. When the devil came to Him, the conquering words of Scripture were quick on Jesus' tongue, so it may have been a time of meditation, a time of special communion with his Father.

This song draws the comparison between Jesus' forty days in the desert and the forty days of Lent. Traditionally, the Lenten season is a time of fasting. People "give up" something for Lent. The idea is not to punish ourselves, but to put aside something that may distract us from our communion with God. It is a time for special devotion to God, a time when He may "abide with us" in a special way. Lent is a time to refocus on our relationship with Christ.

adapted from The One Year® Book of Hymns by Mark Norton and Robert Brown, Tyndale House Publishers (1995), entry for February 16

TAMING THE UNTAMABLE

TAMING THE UNTAMABLE

READ:  James 3:1-12

No man can tame the

tongue. -James 3:8

From Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs to Siberian foxes, humans have learned to tame wild animals.  People enjoy teaching monkeys to “act” in commercials or training deer to eat out of their hands.  As the apostle James put it, “Every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by mankind” (3:7).

But there is something we cannot tame.  All of us have trouble getting a little thing called the tongue under control.  “No man can tame the tongue” James tells us (v.8).

Why?  Because while our words may be on the tip of our tongue, they originate from deep within us.  “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthews 12:34).  And thus the tongue an be used for both good and evil (James 3:9).  Or, as scholar Peter Davids put it, “on the one hand [the tongue] is very religious, but, on the other, it can be most profane.”

If If we cannot tame this unruly tongue of ours, is it destined to be a daily problem for us, always prone to speak evil? (v.10).  By God’s grace, no.  We are not left to our own devices.  The Lord will “set a guard” over my mouth; He will “keep watch over the door of my lips” (Psalms 141:3).  He can tame the untamable.  -Dave Branon

Lord, my mouth sometimes speaks words that

don’t honor You.  Thank You that by Your Spirit 

my untamed tongue can be brought under divine

control, please guard my mouth today.

To rule your tongue, let Christ rule in your heart.

INSIGHT

James’s letter is filled with practical wisdom that deals with responding

to trials (ch.1), living out our faith (ch.2), taming the tongue (ch.3), interpersonal conflict (ch.4), and waiting on the Lord (ch.5).  James is sometimes called “the Proverbs of the New Testament.”