Today let’s look at being undefiled.  How is it that we can keep ourselves pure toward God?  How do we live lives uncontaminated by ungodly thoughts, actions or pursuits?  How do we keep the world from “rubbing off on us” or “robbing” our joy in service to God?

We all know it’s not easy!  God gave us our wills to choose – and sometimes it seems that choosing the lower highway is so much easier than seeking a higher road.  Too bad that the lower road seems so much more familiar!  Why is it that down seems so much less effort than up?  Well, we don’t huff and puff so much when heading down!  It’s just eaeeeeeeeesier. 

Even when playing the piano, it seems to be very easy to play the slightly bit lower “flats” for any given note than it does the slightly higher “sharps.” I’ll choose a song with 5 or 6 flats over any song with 3 or 4 sharps.

So we agree that some work is involved in moving upward in our spiritual walk.  Lord, we just want to ask you to help us desire that upward call (Phil. 3:14: “I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” KJV).  Lord, send us your ongoing conviction in this direction as we seek to carry out your high calling for LIFE in this world.

Topics:  Pray for clarity in thinking that will lead to clarity in purpose and clarity in a higher walk, seeking the Lord’s will moment by moment.
The Soul of our nation

Perhaps this scripture carries us in two directions.  In a sense, horizontally we see ourselves reaching out to others who are having a tough time dealing with life’s menu.  Secondly, we see ourselves looking and seeking vertically, toward our Lord, to ask Him to help us be pure and unblemished in a world known for impurity and nasty blemishes of person and soul. 

To be undefiled is to be uncontaminated, to be free of desecration.  To be pure is, of course, to be without impurities.  My mother used to purchase Ivory soap.  Its ad presented it as 99.44% pure.  Even that soap apparently had some contaminates!  Maybe that, however, represents most of us Christians.  Just not quite totally pure.  But can we not attempt the challenge?  Even though we may not be totally pure until Heaven, we can still ask our Father to keep us as pure as possible on this earth. 

But we must week Him constantly, or this purity-thing will just be another “thing.” Lord, help us to seek your pure face and to desire to let ourselves be as pure as You will make us.  Lord, help us by doing this, to then be able to serve “horizontally” the best that we can.

Topics:  Help us submit to You, Lord.  We want to as we serve families in crisis.
The President’s Cabinet

To an unexpectedly pregnant woman, it may seem that the greatest affliction of all is the life being carried within.  The thought of dealing with something (no, someone) so unplanned may seem the greatest of devastation.  “How will I cope?  How will I survive?  There is neither time, energy or finances for bring up this child.”

Here is where Christians come in.  Perhaps a type of visiting a person who needs help, such as orphans and widows of Biblical times, can be carried out through advocacy at an abortion center – or even prayer from afar for all mothers going through a difficult situation.  When you visit someone, you go where they are, of course.  To pray at an abortion mill puts you right there at the terra firma where decisions must be made.  And at the same time, prayers for the abortionist and his employees can be offered – a form of hopefully helping someone whose thoughts are afflicted with attitudes that are not godly. 

When we pray for a frustrated mother with a surprise baby, perhaps we are visiting her in some heavenly realm just as real as a visit to her porch and a rap on her door.

Lord, help us to keep in mind these women who face something totally unasked for.  Lord, may we be faithful to pray for clarity in their hearts and minds regarding your will for LIFE.

Topics:  Pray for consistency in holding up in prayer those women with unplanned, but wonderful, pregnancies
The morality of our nation

Pray as you are led directly from God or from postings on prolifeunity.com and the Prayer Pivot for Life.  Choose as led, any or all topics, events, groups, organizations, states, Pro-Life Action Calls, Prayer Action Calls, Peter and Patrizia Shinn and more.  With information about what is going on “out there,” we can pray more knowledgeably and with focus.  God hears from Heaven.  He moves valiantly in Heaven and on Earth. 

Paul tells the Philippian Christians, “I have been taken possession of by Christ Jesus.” Wow!  For some reason this scripture had never yet displayed itself as being so powerful.  Perhaps this is because I had never read it in this Darby translation.  But there it is in an almond shell:  Christ takes us over and owns us.  (I say almond instead of nut shell in general—almond shells are not very big) to give the distillation of meaning:  the pure, compressed truth – Christ not only wants to take us over, but he does. 

How can anything be any more cogent?  It’s what the Christian walk is all about.  “Christ in you the hope of glory.” (Col. 1:27 KJV).  This will lead into another devotional, but suffice it to say that we must allow ourselves to be taken over by Christ.  He’s the one who knows how to live our Christian lives the best.  We must submit to Him and let Him lead us through our hearts, minds and wills.  This arrangement will then lead to more success than we can ever contemplate. 

Lord, help us to allow you to direct every thought, prayer, and action as we serve those threatened by anti-life thoughtlessness.  Yes, Lord, help us.

Topics:  Pray for those who have not yet realized the tragedy of abortion and euthanasia, that they might come to God’s perspective.
The conscience of our nation

The Darby Translation here uses the phrase “stretch out” instead of “press on” to indicate advancement toward a goal.  So, would we rather “press” or stretch?  Pressing toward something indicates not letting up, keeping the pressure on, utilizing some force.  When we stretch, we may feel discomfort within our muscles as they are pulled on a bit (or a lot). 

When we stretch to reach something on that top shelf in the kitchen, we perhaps feel a bit uncomfortable.  Why?  Because this temporary position is not what we are used to; our bodies rebel just a bit for being moved beyond a comfort zone.  We human beings often do not want to “go there” in both our physical lives and our spiritual ones.  Just let me gel in my recliner!

So many of us who work for LIFE issues are either pressing or being stretched.  We can’t do the work from our recliner.  We’re up and out using our lives as pressure for the cause or as stretched-out extensions for God, reaching to grasp that one specific goal:  end abortion.  Lord, may we never allow ourselves to tire from either pressing or reaching toward your victory of LIFE.  We ask you to help us do this.

Topics:  Fervor to press and stretch and reach toward the goal, for every person in a pro-life ministry.
States considering pro-abortion legislation

Pressing on, pressing on.  This is what we are to do.  To press is to push on, to put some weight against, in some regards.  We press the elevator button; we press clothing with little pushes down.  God tells us to do the same in our Christian walk.

I may push different buttons than you.  You may press up against large obstacles seemingly immovable.  But we are to press on.  We’re not to give up.

Lord, help all of us who press on for the lives of babies and elders to never cease pushing.  We want to be steadfast and unfailing in our energetic efforts, no matter what granite peaks may rise in our path.

Topics: That Christians, pro-lifers, be given extra energy to continually press on.
State Senators, whether in states or in Washington, D.C.

I saw a shirt somewhere that had printed on it something to the effect that we were once embryos.  Yes, you and I were once one of those small, developing babies called embryos – the stage of human development in which all of the basic tissues and organs are being CREATED, until 8 weeks of gestation.  If we were aware and could remember our own development, what would it be like I wonder.  But that wasn’t the plan for us human beings – God develops us all on his own, without our awareness!

Jesus also was an embryo, developed by his Father.  That is so amazing.  Do we think on this enough?  Do think of it.  He left the glories of Heaven to come into the womb of a virgin, giving up all his heavenly power and glory and going through the same process you and I went through to become a living, breathing human being.  His conception was, of course, uniquely, totally and miraculously different.  But once begun, we must assume that He was brought into the world in the same way we were, after developing according to plan in his mother Mary’s womb. 

This is not news.  We’ve known about this on our planet ever since God began communicating with individual people such as Adam and Eve, for starters.  Christ’s coming as (first as an embryo) is spoken of all through the Old Testament, leading up to the New when he made his human appearance.  But perhaps in thinking upon how our Lord and Saviour was developed in the same manner as we were, we can draw a little closer to Him because we share this parallel history.  We share the miracle of God’s plan for birth with Him.  How grateful we should be. 

Lord, help us to ponder, although we really can’t totally understand, this reality of your coming into our world, and help us to tell others, especially those most vulnerable, about it all.  About You!

Topics:  Pray that the wonder of birth will be pondered and that this will bring new appreciation for created life and for God.
State representatives in states and in Washington, D.C. 

Out of everything God created, think of the significance of His choosing a baby to become the way to salvation.  And a baby born to poor parents at that.  Of course, we don’t know exactly how much Joseph earned for his family, but they certainly did not know anyone in “high places” in Bethlehem, thus bringing God’s son into the world in a stable. 

But, a baby.  A baby.  How incredulously beautiful it is:  a baby.  When we think of newborns, we see them as totally helpless unless taken care of—unable to walk, feed themselves, clothe themselves or communicate in any way but the most effective one:  crying!  I guess we’ll have to modify that helpless-categorization:  We see that they are not entirely helpless in that regard – loud screeching crying can produce immediate results from adults nearby! 

Instead of a swashbuckling knight, the wisest of philosophers, the most accomplished musician, God sent a baby.  What more of a model do we need to pursue the pro-life cause?  None.  Baby Jesus is the model of the universe; life through a baby.  (That’s the way life is perpetuated on our planet.  Through babies.)

Lord God, help us never relent in our efforts to save babies.  Our Saviour was once one.

Topics:  Pray for the thoughts of a child to pierce hearts hardened toward LIFE.  Pray for those thoughts to convict against abortion.

All state governors, that their thoughts will be toward LIFE, regardless of party or the work they promote

God loves the world, Planet Earth.  But how does knowing this, affect us human beings?  If God loves our planet (and, indeed, the universe and forever), does this lofty love of God have anything at all to do with our managing our lives, either in general or microscopically?

It has everything to do with all of us.  We are to look at the world and love the world as God does.  We are to have his view of the world!  As Christians, we believe in a moral Almighty Creator who actively involves himself in the workings of everything.  He tells us that not even a tiny bird’s demise escapes Him and that He totally takes care of what we call the natural world. 

As for human beings, He loved the world enough to send His Son to die for all of us.  We cannot really estimate that love-extent, but we can pattern after that love by loving everything God creates, whether in the natural world, or in the peopled world.  By loving, we care about, and care for.  We look out for—stand up for, whether it’s the redwoods in California or gorillas losing habitat.  We love and stand up for persons, from conception to natural death. 

Lord, let this view of our world and our lives bring honor and glory to our You, God, who does love the world!  Thank you, Lord. 

Topics: That more and more people will join the ranks of those of us who have God’s view of the world, that of love – especially toward our most vulnerable citizens.
Abortion providers in all states

Today we might say, “What can I give God because he’s given me so much?” Yes, what can we render unto God?  The psalmist answers, “ . .  take up the ‘cup of salvation’— which might mean different things to different people.  Perhaps it could mean being willing to do what God has for us to do.  This could make sense because the next phrase from the psalmist deals with calling upon the name of the LORD.  If we’re going to do what he has for us to do, it’s going to take some serious calls upward and inward.  Our eyes often glance up to the sky (with heaven in mind) when we think of God or want to address him.  Our eyes also should look inward, toward our hearts as we search Him deeply out.

Lord, this day we ask that we who seek LIFE on this globe will be willing to render back to you something meaningful for all your mercy toward us.  Help us to take up the cup of salvation in service.  Help us to look upward and inward as we seek your assistance as we look outward for ways to serve.  Lord, help us to then see the callings you have for us as we give back to you, as we desire.

Topics:  Pray for a heart-of-giving toward our benefactor God and the works he has for us among the peoples of Earth.
State boards of education

We must be “brought low” by the Lord, before Him.  From my personal experience, a best time for learning the things of God are when we can only look up because He has convicted us so thoroughly from our places on our backs on the floor.  When we are spread out before Him face down on our beds – it’s there we are available to our gracious and righteous Lord.

When considering the ramifications of abortion or euthanasia, we must be prone in prayer, at least in our minds, to let God convict us the most of what we are to do in the fight.  Being brought low can mean being, finally, open to Him because we have nothing left before Him in status, accomplishments, or prideful worth.  We’re low; and we’re His alone.

Lord, help us to be brought before you as the lowest of the lowest in order to be the most available of the available.  Help us to desire You, only You, and therefore to seek You alone and your guidance.  Help us to save many from this humbling position.

Topics:  Pray for emptiness before our Lord, that we may be open to Him and know His will for our personal battles for LIFE.
Unborn Cry for Justice

OK, here.  Besides dance, we have trumpet, psaltery (like a zither or an autoharp), harp, timbrel (tambourine), stringed instruments, organs, and cymbals – loud and high-sounding ones! 

There’s a lot of percussion here in cymbals and tambourine – and even stringed instruments can be considered as percussion—wherein strings vibrate as in a piano where little hammers hit them.  Perhaps plucked violin strings may be considered percussion also.

So we’re instructed to bang around a bit in making music-praise to our God in his sanctuary and in his heavens (firmament).  Inside and out.  Strikingly loud – or striking as in instruments, and loud.  Just think of if every person in the world did this at the same time in praise for the life of a newborn baby.  Perhaps the air-global would reverberate with plucked, pounding joy!  Maybe someone shaking a tambourine in Spain would move air around the globe in Maine.  Maybe a kid in Swaziland banging a drum would move air in Maryland!  Maybe . . . well, this could go on and on.

The point is, we are to be exuberant in our love of God – in noisy intentional praise.  There is nothing more praise-worthy, other than God Himself, of course, than the birth of a child made in God’s image.  Lord, we claim your victories in the birth of babies intended to be destroyed before birth.  We want to make the air move everywhere out of joy to you!

Topics:  Pray for every abortionist to see the beauty of birth and to want to praise God greatly for it. 
Stand True