by Tim Cameron | Jun 29, 2015 | Francis Frangipane, Intercession
God has provided a divine antidote for every ill in the human condition; that need or wound in the soul of our communities; we must apply Christ as the cure.
The stronghold that God provides to us as individuals has a divinely inspired, built in limitation: The Spirit of Christ, which shelters us from the enemy, also makes us vulnerable to the needs of others. As it is written, “If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it” (1 Cor. 12:26). Thus, to perfect love, God unites us to other people; to empower prayer, He allows us to be vicariously identified with the sufferings of those for whom we care. If we cease to love, we will fail to pray. Are you weary of vacillating in your prayer life? Remember the love God first gave you, whether it was for your family church, city, or nation.
Love will identify you with those you love; it will revive your prayer, and prayer will revive your loved ones. God’s plan for you is intercession
by Francis Frangipane
by Tim Cameron | Jun 27, 2015 | Intercession
Embrace Intercession as Your Calling
“And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing” (Genesis 12:2-3, NASB).
Why was Abraham blessed? So that he could be a blessing to many. Every one of us is blessed in such a way, just as much as Abraham. Blessed to be a blessing.
Let’s pray together that God’s people will live for the interests of His kingdom more than their own interests. If this were the case, the advancement of His kingdom would take place. We would have an army of intercessors.
Accept for yourself what you are asking for others. “And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as He did upon us at the beginning” (Acts 11:15, NASB). Yield yourself to God anew in faith believing that the Holy Spirit will entire possession of your soul.
by Tim Cameron | Jun 25, 2015 | Disappointment
Disappointment may be the most serious problem we face as Christians, apart from sin. Through afflictions, hardships, personal failures, accidents, betrayal, unmet expectations and many other apparent negative experiences, we can lose sight of God’s purposes and plan. When we don’t see how the Lord weaves all of our experiences into His purpose in our life, we respond in disappointment. Disappointment leads to self-pity, disillusionment, depression, or even withdrawal from fellowship.
What is the Lord’s purpose in our lives through all of these disappointments? His purpose is to reproduce His character in us, for us to empty ourselves of our spirit and take in His spirit, fully. The word affliction in the Greek means to apply pressure, to rub together or “hem someone in.” In other words, to be so confined that we have no other options but Jesus. “For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal” (2 Cor. 4:17-18, NAS).
His plan is pressure. The dictionary definition of affliction is anything that causes pain or distress. All of these forms of afflictions, hardships, loss, illness, accidents and others, put great pressure on us. They thrust us into Jesus or we can choose to respond with disappointment. David said, “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word” (Psalms 119:67, NIV).
The Lord gave thanks in all things. He gave thanks when there was not enough. He knew the character and spirit of God; that His Father was always at work. That is our destination, to come to a place where we can give thanks in everything because we trust our Lord. Whether it is illness, hardship, or any distress, we know our Lord will weave it into His purpose for our life. “For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen” (Romans 11:36, NIV).
by Tim Cameron | Jun 25, 2015 | prayer
Is It Sin Not to Pray?
Pray without ceasing. “As for me, I will certainly not sin against the Lord by ending my prayers for you” (1 Samuel 12:23).
We must pray for the power of the Holy Spirit in our fellowship.
It is a sin against the Lord to not pray for our fellowship, pastors, and missionaries. Every one of us needs to see how indispensable our intersession is. It is every bit just as much a duty as loving our Lord. I know we don’t respond well to duty and don’t want to do things out of duty.
However, look at duty in this sense: Duty is a term that conveys a sense of commitment. It is not a matter of passive feeling or mere recognition. When someone commits himself or herself to the fulfillment of a duty, they do it without consideration to their own self-interest. It requires the sacrifice of immediate self-interest.
Ask today for grace to fill the role of intercessor with joy and give your life to bring down the blessings of heaven on our fellowship, pastors, and missionaries.
by Tim Cameron | Jun 24, 2015 | Sin
Provoking Thoughts On Our Life in Christ
Sin
We approach our spiritual life in a rational way. We believe that if a man exercises self-control and is disciplined, and can educate himself spiritually, he can produce a life that will eventually become Christlike. But we forget to take into account one thing, sin. Sin has taken all rationality out of life and made it totally wild!
Sin is not a defect in character. Sin is all out mutiny against everything God stands for. One of two things has to die in us. Either the life of God or sin. The Christian life is not a twelve step self-help program for cleaning up the flesh. God has only one outlook on the sin in our lives. It must die.
If sin rules my life, God’s life in me will wither up and die. If God, through Christ, rules my life, sin will die. And yes, screaming, snotting, whining all the way.
Sin’s final climax was the death of Christ. What was true in history will be true in you and me unless we allow Jesus Christ to rule in our lives. We must deal ruthlessly with sin in our lives.
