Scripture Reading - Matthew 6:25-34

"Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?  Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?  So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin;  and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.  But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Matthew 6:25-34 (NKJV)

Only Human - 1 Kings 19:2-4

Then Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, "So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I do not make your life as the life of one of them by tomorrow about this time."  And when he saw that, he arose and ran for his life, and went to Beersheba, which belongs to Judah, and left his servant there.  But he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a broom tree. And he prayed that he might die, and said, "It is enough! Now, Lord, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!"

I am glad that the Bible is full of men of faith who have been used by God to do great things.  I am more thankful that God also shows us the shortcomings of these “great” men of God.  It doesn’t take long if you really dive into God’s word to find God’s chosen people, God’s redeemed, God’s children messing things up.  It is reassuring to know that as I continue to stumble and stagger along trying to serve God and bring Him glory, I am in good company; the boldest and the bravest, faithful men of God were in fact only human.

One of my favorite examples is Elijah.  Now this man was a profound and still respected profit of God.  He really had it going on; he went head to head with the profits of Baal on Mount Carmel.  He taunted, teased and laughed at them when their god could not consume the sacrifice they had prepared for him.  To add insult to injury, Elijah had the sacrifice he had prepared for God be soaked (more like flooded) in water.  Then with a living faith, he called out to God and fire came down out of the sky and completely consumed the sacrifice. What a sight that must have been!  It gives me chills just thinking about the greatness and power of the Almighty God. 

After this great victory he killed the profits of Baal.  Word reached Jezebel and she put out a death threat on his life.  Now I know what you are thinking, “I bet he stood up ready to call out and bring more fire down from the heavens! He probably wasn’t even scared!”.  Wrong.  Elijah did what most of us would do when faced with threat of execution, he tucked tail and ran for his life. He even went as far as asking God to just let him die.  Just days ago he had stood with unshakeable, all consuming faith, and now he was practically shaking in his bones.  Turns out Elijah was only human too!

Take heart in knowing that the great men in the Bible who were used to do great, even miraculous things, were mere humans.  They were faced with the same fears, failures as you and me.  They sinned, and fell short of God’s glory often.  Yet because they believed God, trusted in Him, and turned back to Him after they had fallen flat on their face in failure, He worked mighty works in and through them; He will do the same in you, if you will surrender your life to Him.   Will you mess up? Yes, probably a lot.  Will you ever be good enough? Only by His grace! 

Don’t allow the fact that you are “only human” to hold you back; after all the Bible is full of remarkable men and women who are just like you!

Just Psalm 51

1 To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David when Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your lovingkindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, And cleanse me from my sin. 3 For I acknowledge my transgressions, And my sin is always before me. 4 Against You, You only, have I sinned, And done this evil in Your sight-- That You may be found just when You speak, And blameless when You judge. 5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, And in sin my mother conceived me. 6 Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts, And in the hidden part You will make me to know wisdom. 7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 8 Make me hear joy and gladness, That the bones You have broken may rejoice. 9 Hide Your face from my sins, And blot out all my iniquities. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit. 13 Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners shall be converted to You. 14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, The God of my salvation, And my tongue shall sing aloud of Your righteousness. 15 O Lord, open my lips, And my mouth shall show forth Your praise. 16 For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, A broken and a contrite heart-- These, O God, You will not despise. 18 Do good in Your good pleasure to Zion; Build the walls of Jerusalem. 19 Then You shall be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, With burnt offering and whole burnt offering; Then they shall offer bulls on Your altar. Psalm 51 (NKJV)

Intercessory Prayer – 1 Thessalonians 5:25

Brethren, pray for us. 1 Thessalonians 5:25

Should we pray for others? Yes!  Does praying change things? It most certainly does.  Paul understood the importance and the power of the prayers of the righteous.  Many times in the scripture Paul urges his Christian brothers and sisters to pray for him or others.  Paul assured believers in his letters that he was interceding in prayer for them as well.

Intercessory prayer is so important that even Jesus Christ modeled it in John 17, as He prayed for the apostles, the disciples, and everyone that would ever believe!  If lifting up others directly in prayer to God was important to Jesus (who is God) then it should be important to us as well.  As we journey through this life we will face many ups and downs along the way.  We were not made to face these hardships alone; we are relational beings and it is necessary that we stand together, worship together, rejoice together, hurt together, and lift up one another in prayer to our glorious Father.

Who are you praying for today?  Has God placed someone on your heart?  Have you told someone you would be praying for them?   Be direct and diligent to make intercessory prayer a regular part of your conversations with God.  If you will commit to this practice you will see a change in peoples lives.