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Sunday, August 27, 2023

JESUS, the TEACHER (35)



Section Five, 

JESUS

the TEACHER

31. Flying Standby 7/30
32. A Prayer Warrior            8/6
33. Focused on the Father  8/13
34. The One Who Provides 8/20
35. The Treasure Principle  8/27
36. A Marriage Counselor   9/3
37.Can One Become Two? 9/10
38. Love: Can Two Stay One? 9/17
39. The Number One Priority   9/24

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There's actually a book with this title by Randy Alcorn.
Here is a written summary of his 6 key points
and a link to Randy Alcorn's 1st video of 3(?)

However, Randy is writing based on the teaching found in

Matthew 6:19-21

and so are

this & the others in this Week's Scriptures:

Matthew 6:19-24; Mark 10:23-27; Luke 18:18-26; 1 Timothy 6:17-19; Luke 6:38

We find ourselves focusing on these segments/subtitles:

"Final Plans"

"Master or Be Mastered"

"Be Strategic in Where You Put Your Wealth"

"Be Wise in How You Perceive Your Wealth"

"Be Careful How You Position Your Wealth"

Good points on the lesson of our Wealth

"Jesus doesn't want your money. 

It's already His.

Jesus wants your heart.

But since your heart always {*often} follows your money,

He wants you to surrender your money, your wealth, your stuff to Him.

You will never master your money until Jesus is the master of you."
~James Merritt, 52 Weeks with Jesus

"Lord, I confess that all that I have is Yours. Release my grip on all that binds my heart, so that I might be mastered by You alone."

Jesus, You are the treasure I seek and Your principles to guide me!

Thank You for this lesson on wealth & treasures.

<>

In our treasure hunt for much of our life, 

we tend to look for a 'perfect' person,

a 'perfect' place -

Jesus is that person; Heaven is that place.

[this is a rewrite of what Randy Alcorn shares in his introduction, not a direct quote]

but the following is:

"...When you discover the secret Joy of the Treasure Principle,

I guarantee you, you'll never be content with less."
~Randy Alcorn, The Treasure Principle

I pray you encounter the hidden treasure in Jesus Christ!

(and the perfect peace of Jesus)
Isaiah 26:3

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* I think the word here should be 'often' rather than 'always' - hopefully no one always follows their money yet I know there may be some. The word always should not be used that often when it rarely is always. 

Sunday, August 20, 2023

JESUS, the TEACHER (34)



Section Five, 

JESUS

the TEACHER

31. Flying Standby 7/30
32. A Prayer Warrior            8/6
33. Focused on the Father  8/13
34. The One Who Provides 8/20
35. The Treasure Principle  8/27
36. A Marriage Counselor   9/3
37.Can One Become Two? 9/10
38. Love: Can Two Stay One? 9/17
39. The Number One Priority   9/24

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This lesson seems to continue from #32 & #33 with Prayer to:

"The One who Provides"

Jehovah Jireh

{I love the photo image on that link page!!! Be sure to see it.}

As we continue this week also with the following Scriptures:

Matthew 6:11-13; James 1:12-15; Acts 17:22-25; Psalm 66:16-20; Philippians 4:14-19 

{maybe you noticed that we continue in the same passage(s)}

as we lean into listen to Jesus

we read these segments/subtitles on:

... "Learning to Pray"

"Ask God to Provide Your Needs" ***

"What to Ask For?"

"Ask God to Pardon Your Sins"

"Ask God to Protect Your Purity"

*** seems like last week, I was not quite right in this regard ***

" ... We have to go to God, acknowledge our needs, and ask God to meet those needs. (as Jehovah Jireh) When you pray, you let God do the fighting. Prayer is not just for defense. Prayer is for offense."


"Lord, don't allow me to walk into a situation that would cause me to sin (do wrong); deliver me from the devil (run, devil, run) and every trap that he would set for me."


So far, our Teacher Jesus, is letting us know just how important it is to PRAY!

My most favorite book (newest from 2023) is 

PRAYERS OF REST

by Asheritah Ciuciu

and I like even more how I can listen and pray along with her on Spotify 
(there are other options available also to hear her podcast - just follow book link}


I cannot say enough good things about this, more than I highly recommend!!!

It is Excellent! 
💗💗💗💗💗
Great prayer format, too - with
R.E.S.T. 
Recite God’s goodness, Express our neediness, Seek His stillness, and 
Trust His faithfulness.


🙌🙏💝

This past week, I'm so thankful for Jesus, our Teacher that I can lean on for better understanding and trust always, even when you meet with unexpected loss of a loved one,
God is good and His mercies endure forever.

Our Teacher, not only teaches & shows us 
how to pray but
Jesus prays for us when we have no words
through the Holy Spirit.

What a sweet Comforter! What precious Peace!

Thank you for any prayers!

Sunday, August 13, 2023

JESUS, the TEACHER (33)



Section Five, 

JESUS

the TEACHER

31. Flying Standby 7/30
32. A Prayer Warrior            8/6
33. Focused on the Father  8/13
34. The One Who Provides 8/20
35. The Treasure Principle  8/27
36. A Marriage Counselor   9/3
37.Can One Become Two? 9/10
38. Love: Can Two Stay One? 9/17
39. The Number One Priority   9/24

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Since last week, we focused on being "A Prayer Warrior" -

it makes sense that the lesson for this week with

Jesus, the Teacher

is

"Focused on the Father"

with Jesus teaching us how to pray and where we begin is by where we focus

FIRST

with

OUR FATHER

in these

Scriptures for the Week:

Matthew 6:9-10; Ephesians 5:15-20; James 4:13-17; Romans 15:8-15; Hebrews 10:32-39

with these segments/subtitles giving us the lesson plan

... "How You Should Pray"

"Focus on the Father's Worship"

"Focus on the Father's Will"

"The Best Prayer You Can Pray"

"Prayer Changes Things"

so that

the change begins in the one praying

even as we pray

"Lord, quiet the voices in my heart that are all about me. Tip me face toward Yours so that I might greet You with worship, acknowledging who You are."

If I (or you) are truthful, about our prayers (as the one above points out),

we come to the Father for what we need or want or those of others in need.

Even when most of us know the PRAY format of A.C.T.S.

we hardly ever spend the time in

Adoration

or

Confession

some of us have gotten more in to the habit of 

Thankfulness to God

but most of us

skip directly to the final part of

Supplication

for ourselves and others

asking God to Supply our many needs

Of course, God wants to just spend the special time with us and He does care for us

and all of our needs: spiritual, physical, emotional ...

however He does desire our hearts to worship

and come to Him from a penitent place

to focus truly on Who He is

and finding His will.

To seek God first

with all of our

heart

mind

soul

as we

surrender

our will and wants

to

HIS

🙏


To God, the Father

be the glory

now & forever


Sunday, August 6, 2023

JESUS, the TEACHER (32)



In Section Five, 

JESUS

the TEACHER

we will be continuing with lessons through these:

31. Flying Standby 7/30
32. A Prayer Warrior          8/6
33. Focused on the Father  8/13
34. The One Who Provides 8/20
35. The Treasure Principle  8/27
36. A Marriage Counselor   9/3
37.Can One Become Two? 9/10
38. Love: Can Two Stay One? 9/17
39. The Number One Priority   9/24

Since last week, JESUS dazzled our minds with the "Flying Standby", 

His teaching this week jumps right into a very necessary lesson 

to be

"A PRAYER WARRIOR"

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JESUS

is the best teacher on

Prayer

and

clearly knows much on being a "warrior"

He constantly is fighting for you and me!

He is our Advocate before the Father.

So "simply put, a Prayer Warrior is an advocate, who feels themselves called to the ministry of reconciliation between God and man. The Prayer Warrior's heart is one after God's own heart: selfless, with an ability to look at situations from a place beyond them and truly seek after God's will in them." 4 Prayer Warriors to Emulate... : David, Hannah, Daniel, Jesus - the One who taught us how to pray to the Father ... (Matthew 6) 

Being a Prayer Warrior is one lesson that I keep on learning about and developing in my personal spiritual life & will continue to grow in, I pray for the rest of my life. Being a prayer warrior, one "senses the spiritual battle and intercedes in prayer at the prompting of the Holy Spirit."["How to Know if You are a Prayer Warrior"] and another article "10 Powerful Characteristics of a Prayer Warrior" I found helpful (but there are many available in a simple search of "prayer warrior", I just chose these two. Prayer warriors are needed, especially for our families. In the day in which we live, we need people committed to praying. So we need to pray scriptures, cry out for our nation - our world, and learn how to commit to praying unceasingly. Now is the time. We need to cry out for revival and hearts turned toward God like never before. I'm looking forward to this devotional lesson from Jesus, the Teacher - truly a lesson worth learning!

Scriptures for this week:

Matthew 6:5-8; Romans 8:26-30; James 5:13-18;
Psalm 141:1-2; Psalm 4:1-5

as we read the devotional divided into these segments/subtitles:

"Hear Me Now?"
"Lesson Worth Learning"
"Pray Secretly"
"Pray Sincerely"
"Pray Specifically"

"... prayer is not primarily about getting things from God; it's about spending time with God."

"Lord, ignite my passion to grow in intimacy with You.💖 This week I bring You my heart. I bring You my love. I bring You my undivided attention."


"Jesus makes the point that

it is not how much You say to God that causes Him to hear your prayer:

but it is how you say what you say that gets His attention."


While I was preparing this blog post, I received an email I signed up to get the ebook download from Proverbs 31 Ministries "50 Biblical Prayers for Hard Moments" [I hope that this link works so if you want, you too can sign up and receive. If not, try their Resource Library.] This is not connected to my 52 Weeks but an additional resource I find helpful to pray for others (and myself). 


[and there are many other YV Prayer plans]