I’ve pondered some words from yesterday’s thoughts—from President George W. Bush, when welcoming Pope Benedict XVI to the White House on April 16, 2008: “Each of us is necessary.”
Each of us. Each of whom? Each person created by God’s hand, which means every person who ever lived, or lives now, or will be living outside the womb in 9 months or less. Even those still swimming in the womb!
God’s plan includes us all. The world would be different without each one. Each is necessary.
Pray to God that a giant majority of world-citizens will come to view this from God’s viewpoint. Pray that centennarian or preborn babe will be seen as not only living beings, but worthy: necessary.
My friend Sandy and I had a great time at lunch yesterday. Sometimes I almost forget she has Down Syndrome. It’s not an issue. We’re just friends. She was one of my star pupils in special education – she’s a good reader, really. And, even though she is legally blind, she gets around
pretty well. But I carefully watch when she approaches a step-down or a curb.
I pray when driving her somewhere. She’s such precious cargo. And that makes me think of another “precious cargo” I drive around: my husband’s mother, age 97. The 33-year-old with a disability, the aged mother in law: Both deserve a real and secure place in society.
As President George W. Bush said, when welcoming Pope Benedict XVI to the White House on April 16, 2008, “In a world where some treat life as something to be debased and discarded, we need your message that all human life is sacred and that ‘each of us is willed, each of us is loved, and each of us is necessary’.”
God, convict us to pray for you to help us get this message out—that Sandys and Moms are beautiful in your eyes and heart and should be the same in the heart of our nation and world.
I’m taking a very Special friend to lunch today. I was her high-school teacher for 4 years, and she and I have remained good friends. I wrote a “book” about her, a thesis. She’s wonderful. I admire her greatly. She’s always working on something to improve herself, at home or at work. She has a full-time job and loves bowling and hanging-out.
I wish I knew more like her. I’m afraid the opportunity for that is dwindling rapidly, because most people like her are never birthed. I called her “Sandy” when I wrote about her and her family. Sandy has Down Syndrome. Please ask God to turn around this abortion issue. Please. We need folks like Sandy. They help us see life from a courageous vantage point. We must treat them as any other person for whom we have respect, preserving their dignity of, and in, LIFE.
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2 Chronicles 7:14
If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
Exodus 14:19, 20 (Pt. 4) Did the Fire Move?
PRAYER NEED RIGHT NOW - FOR U.S. SUPREME COURT DECISION
Exodus 14:19, 20 (Pt. 3) Imagining God In the Cloud
Exodus 14:19, 20 (pt. 2) He Has Our Backs
Exodus 14:19,20 The Cloud and the Darkness—NEVER to Meet.
]]>Not all, but so very many ministries in the pro-life arena are carried out by Christians. In my experience, the spiritual can often be easily seen through programs, but more importantly through the attitudes and ministries of those who serve. Possibly then, if this is missing, are we running not ministries, but merely programs?
Is this to say that anyone who comes through the door at a pregnancy crisis center or home for pregnant teens need have a gospel tract thrust into their hands or slipped secretly into a pocket while receiving a welcoming hug of compassion? Of course not. But, if we keep close to Christ, His love and compassion will be there for all, according to His plan for every client served. Our part, it would seem, is to just ask Him to do this for us in His way and timing. If our attitude is toward His heart, then His heart will show up in our work. And though our clients come from diverse backgrounds and creeds, Christ’s heart can draw them close, leading toward salvation, and informing them of what he has in store for their lives.
Our prayer is that we may remain close to God. That is what He needs to do His work. This is one avenue of showing others the way to know Him.
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We read that, “And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead them along the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, that they might travel by day and by night (Exodus 13:21).”
I wonder, when the pillar of cloud moved to the rear to hold off the Egyptians, when night fell, did the pillar of fire along with the pillar of cloud move to the rear, or did it stay in front while the pillar of cloud moved behind? I can’t see that this is clarified. But it doesn’t really matter. What matters is that God was in both the cloud and the fire, and His intentions stood out boldly in both: He was protecting His children. Believers are his children. God, we claim your protection, both for ourselves as believers, and for protection unto salvation for those who know you not. Especially we claim protection for all dealing with LIFE issues, in the womb or in twilight years. Help us envision the same for our nation—protection, fore and aft.
D-Day has finally arrived. By D-Day I mean “decision day” regarding the public display of the Ten Commandments in America. Although the final decision will come much later, I’m sitting in the US Supreme Court thumb-typing on my Blackberry hand-held waiting to enter the chamber for an historic argument over the display of the Ten Commandments.
I just finished conversing with my good friend and outstanding constitutional lawyer, Jay Sekulow, who will defend a monument of the Ten Commandments in a small public park in tiny Pleasant Grove City, Utah. Jay just told me he feels very confident about his case.
Faith and Action submitted a brief in this case that you may have signed. Thank you for your prayerful support.
You may remember that Pleasant Grove City officials were sued by a group (Summum) that promotes mummification as preparation for the afterlife. (I’m not kidding!) They claim the city violated their rights when it declined to put a monument to their pagan religion next to the Ten Commandments--therefore, the Commandments must be removed.
Although it is difficult to comprehend, a lower court agreed with Summum and ruled Pleasant Grove must either place the Summum monument next to the Ten Commandments or remove the Ten Commandments altogether. The city appealed to the Supreme Court.
This is a complicated case, but God has His man in Jay Sekulow. This will be his 14th appearance before the High Court. You may recall he won our own case, Schenck v. Pro-Choice, in 1997 which reclaimed the rights of Christians to distribute Bibles and other literature on public sidewalks.
Well, I have to get upstairs to the Court chamber now. Before I do, I’ll say a prayer for Jay and for the preservation of our great Judeo-Christian heritage in this country. Please join me in praying for the legal team and all involved in this historic case!
I’ll be back with a full report.
Rob Schenck
Who is following America from behind? Who comes between our nation, however morally flawed but supported by those who love God’s moral universe, and portents of evil? Who comes between America and those in chase, to pound from the rear?
Our Rear Guard. We don’t know what the pillar of cloud looked like. But, I can enjoy imagining. I’m picturing invisible eyes around and through every essence of this cloud. Why do I imagine multiple eyes? We are told this later (Ex. 14:24) “And in the morning watch the LORD in the pillar of fire and of cloud looked down on the Egyptian forces and threw the Egyptian forces into a panic . . . “ We are clearly to understand that God was in the pillar of cloud (and in the pillar of fire that led them through darkness). We know that God is all-seeing, so surely he was looking to the front, the back, and on both sides. He protected the Israelites in front of him, and he staved off the enemy from the rear.
God, our prayer is that, as you look in all directions with our nation in mind, that you will show in a mighty way, very soon, that You are in control from all angles, that You are the one charged with forward-and-backward looking. We ask you to show your might and protection in a mighty and protective way. Amen.
]]>Angels from God’s side obey His perfect orders; am I glad I can count on that! First the Angel of God went before the Children of Israel, and then upon orders, moved to the rear to separate the Israelites from the ferocious Egyptians. There was complete obedience from that angel, following orders, wherever.
How wonderful to know this. Our nation and all its peoples are created by and beloved of God. But true believers must lead the way, believing in the protection of our God, believing that obedient angels guide and direct with perfection. Let us beseech God to give us the confidence of his all-around coverage (he has our backs) as our nation moves forward into many new days. Lord, help us sense your constancy. Do not let discouragement overcome. Then we shall walk forward, knowing that God protects his own where needed the most. This can bring great comfort and the confidence to step out strong in our hearts.
Why had I not really noticed this so that it stuck with me? God’s provision of protection of the children of Israel went WHERE NEEDED MOST. The cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night had guided and protected from the front. Now, God knowingly moves these unique creations to the rear. Why? Because the people of Israel were ready to move out, forward on the pathway God had cleared for them. The major enemy at the moment (Egyptians in strong chariots) was at their backs. So God’s protection moved there: “The cloud and the darkness”—never the twain shall meet.
I read a report today of babies saved at the local abortion horror-chamber. Parents had gone in, but came out choosing LIFE. Perhaps God’s presence followed them in, and that Presence brought them out. Claim this as so, and in prayer, hold up any individual or couple contemplating the entering of the gates of such atrocious places. Pray that God, sometimes known as the hound of heaven, hounds these precious souls from behind, protecting them from forces perhaps beyond their control that sent them there. Claim safety. Claim that He brings them out. And Amen.
2 Chronicles 7:14
If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
It’s on the news: Folks around the world are rejoicing in the selection of our President-elect and ultimately his administration. Many Americans are unable to do so. Things and people are too different from hoped-for outcomes. But wait. The word Rejoice: It’s in the Bible a lot. Rather unbelievably at this time, God’s Word even has the audacity to say to Rejoice at all times!
“But, God, from my viewpoint there is little about which to rejoice today when it comes to moral law and . . . well . . . babies . . . and centennarians (we want more and more of them).” But I know the Lord is nudging me; It’s about my finite eyesight. Finite eyesight has to read the little letters on the optometrists’s screen like this: T-R-U-S-T. He has Final Vision, and it’s moral, and he loves us and also those rejoicing for what we find un-rejoicable. Not only will I rejoice: I will keep on rejoicing, but not in presidents: In Him, the President of the Universe. Lord, the prayer today is for you to help me do this. .
(Written Wednesday, Nov. 5, 2008) Yes, this is the day after a disappointing, heart-wrenching Presidential election. The gist of day-afters: replaying, regrouping, reconnoitering. At Bible study tonight, we ladies were sharing our thoughts about America, plus and minus. We agreed as one that God does indeed reign, and He has not forgotten his children who love him and who share his griefs over the human condition.
Several places today I have seen reference to the “day after;” I concluded that this is also a “day before.” Assuming that Earth has a future in days, then any day can be at once a day-after and a day-before. Lord God, please help us seize this Day as we seek your will and thoughts in ourselves. Help us to intently focus on regrouping, quickly erasing all replays. Just work your will in us as we seek your plan for Earth. We know you have one.