Daily Prayer 11/6/07

1 John 3:13 "Do not be surprised, brethren, if the world hates you."

Father as we have been going through the book of 1 John verse by verse, I pray that we are able to learn good lessons from Your Word. Tonight in one simple verse I have to wonder, do we even live our lives in a way that even stands out from the world? Why would the world hate us if we blend right in with it? If we belong to Christ and if we are following Christ (which we must do as believers), it is impossible for us to blend in with the world! I don't want to beat us up emotionally here on this point Father, but I just observe a fact we should think about more. What I do think of is this Lord. The world first hated our Savior. So much to be said here....

First we need to remember Lord Jesus that You are fully God. In You the fullness of deity dwells according to Your Word. You also created and hold creation together! Even as a fetus in Mary's womb You were holding all of the universe together by Your power. We also need to remember that You took on the form of man. You were fully man with all the humanity of mankind. Together fully God and fully man in one body! Two natures at once. No one ever has or ever will experience this kind of nature. It is very important for us to remember that all of the deity of God was present along with human emotions and limitations at the same time. Sinless and perfect in Your flesh You would bear the sins of all the world for all time! In Your deity the payment is infinite and able to cover the sins of all of man. You set aside Your glory to become like a man, literally like a slave....to die a slaves death, the crucifixion. Rome saw You as a slave worth nothing, Israel saw You as a cursed One forsaken of God. That is Isaiah 53!

Is 53:1 Who has believed our message? And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
Is 53:2 For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground; He has no {stately} form or majesty That we should look upon Him, Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him.
Is 53:3 He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
Is 53:4 ¶ Surely our griefs He Himself bore, And our sorrows He carried; Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, Smitten of God, and afflicted.
Is 53:5 But He was pierced through for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; The chastening for our well-being {fell} upon Him, And by His scourging we are healed.
Is 53:6 All of us like sheep have gone astray, Each of us has turned to his own way; But the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all To fall on Him.
Is 53:7 ¶ He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He did not open His mouth; Like a lamb that is led to slaughter, And like a sheep that is silent before its shearers, So He did not open His mouth.
Is 53:8 By oppression and judgment He was taken away; And as for His generation, who considered That He was cut off out of the land of the living For the transgression of my people, to whom the stroke {was due?}
Is 53:9 His grave was assigned with wicked men, Yet He was with a rich man in His death, Because He had done no violence, Nor was there any deceit in His mouth.
Is 53:10 ¶ But the LORD was pleased To crush Him, putting {Him} to grief; If He would render Himself {as} a guilt offering, He will see {His} offspring, He will prolong {His} days, And the good pleasure of the LORD will prosper in His hand.
Is 53:11 As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see {it and} be satisfied; By His knowledge the Righteous One, My Servant, will justify the many, As He will bear their iniquities.
Is 53:12 Therefore, I will allot Him a portion with the great, And He will divide the booty with the strong; Because He poured out Himself to death, And was numbered with the transgressors; Yet He Himself bore the sin of many, And interceded for the transgressors.

Lord, Jesus Christ You are our Good God and Creator, You are the great I AM, Yahweh, Jahova God, the beginning and the end of all things. With the Father and the Spirit You are ONE! Yet, this world hated our God and killed Him. Why would it not hate us? Only because we are like this world way too often. May we follow in Your footsteps of righteousness and may we not be surprised when it brings us trouble. You have not been ashamed of me Father, help me to live with no shame of You. You are the One who gives eternal life! Help me to shout it in the streets!

Praise for Aubrey's small gain today, help her more Father (Her name is Aubrey) Purify her blood and restore her kidneys and help get rid of the e-coli bacteria

For Thad we pray for his heart of course, it is in Your hands and we have laid the matter at Your altar. Our trust in in Your goodness.

For Samuel...so much is happening there, spread Your Word and raise up more believers to spread the Gospel of salvation.

Finally, an email today said the Emma poem is one of only 12% of poems submitted that has won and is now up for the annual prize of $10,000 dollars. Lord I pray that through Emma's influence on my life that caused me to pen those words and by Your Gospel that I desired to lift up, the money could be won and used in Your name and also in her name for the Emma school in Guntur, India. America has resources, India has no people with wealth to give....such GREAT sacrifice comes to the people who give joyfully. Even then what little the pastor has he also uses joyfully in Your service. I pray their church could be completed and Emma's school helped. I know how great an influence Your Word is having among such a dense population there. It will come up in January, I will not ask again Lord, but mention it only this one time. I also thank everyone who voted for Emma's poem..... (Maybe more votes would help, I don't know if that has any influence or not).

For Darlene's Mother (a co-worker) we pray for her failing health and also for Darlene's spiritual growth. Also for another co-worker who seems open to talking more about the Gospel, please give us that conversation with him. Amen.

You have been so good to us Lord. Help me to surrender my life to You more each day. Make me more like my Savior.....and do the same for us all.

In Christ's Name, Amen.