with Carolyn Goff
Greetings from Deanburg! I hope everyone is well and staying safe in this heat. People are having heat strokes, so be careful!
Belated birthdays that I missed getting in last week are Michelle Julian on Aug. 25, Gina Tully on Aug. 27, Addison Rose on Aug. 28, Breanna Landers on Aug. 29, Shane Burkeens on Aug. 30 and Jake Weaver on Aug. 31.
Our birthdays this week are Renee Landers, Beverly Collins and Dakota Roberts on Sept. 6 and Todd Clayton and Carol Mainers on Sept. 7. Have a great day!
Prayers please for these folks: Kristen Carlton Jones, Tim Landers, Brianna Landers, Gary Hyatt, Samantha Mosier, Mark Braly, Joyce Stewart, and Woodie Deming. Please pray for all of the COVID victims.
Our devotion: “Seeking God’s Will” by Dawn R. Sherill-Porter – “‘And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him. For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. Beloved, if our hearts does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God. And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment. Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has give us.’ (1 John 3:19-24, NKJV)
When first reading these verses, it may seem we can earn the right to have our prayers answered by obeying God’s commands. This way of thinking leads down a road toward spiritual confusion and theological quicksand.
We are incapable of doing anything to earn anything from our ultimately holy God. Even our most honorable attempts at obeying His commands fall so short as to be pathetic and useless. While in the flesh, we are unable to rise above the sin nature that contaminates all we think, do, and say.
Holiness and perfection are beyond our grasp in this life, but Jesus has opened wide the very throne room of God where we are welcome at all times. Being prayerfully in God’s presence within this holy place brings our fleshly thoughts and desires into alignment with God’s holy will. We can receive what we ask when our flesh is overwhelmed by God’s magnificent presence that overshadows our desires. It is then that we pray according to the will of our God and, therefore, receive whatever we ask.
Prayer: Father, overshadow my will and help me find Yours. Amen.”
Pray for our community, our county and our country. God bless each one reading this!
