Pastor Stephen Dedman

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America Needs A Revival

Faith

‘Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. And I prayed to the Lord my God, and made confession, and said, “O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments, we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments. ‘
Daniel 9:3-5

We serve a merciful and forgiving God. God is love but He is holy as well. Because God is Holy, He must judge and separate those who do not keep His commandments.

God wants to forgive and God wants to show mercy, but are we praying for it?

In this context, God’s people were taken into Babylonian captivity. They were exiled and caused to serve another nation and their leaders. They were made to bow and worship false gods and serve the gods of the pagans.

But Daniel didn’t do it. Daniel was a man committed to Jehovah God. Daniel never compromised in his relationship with God.

We need to pray for our nation. As a nation we are facing extreme spiritual division and rebellion. Prayer will make a difference.

Daniel knew that the only thing that could make a difference was to pray to God. He humbled himself and set his face toward the Lord and began to beg God for mercy and forgiveness.

Can you be like Daniel today and pray for God to show mercy and forgiveness upon our nation? Can you have confidence that God will hear your prayers?

America needs a revival but it will not happen until the people of God turn to Him with humble hearts. America needs our churches and Christians to turn the world around. It will only take a few to pray with intensity and confidence. Can you be that person today?

Pray

Lord, our nation has turned away from You and fallen into the captivity of the evil one. We need You to show mercy and forgive us of our sins. Hear us Lord and hold back Your judgments upon us.

Share The Love Of Jesus

Encouragement, Faith

‘What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice, ‘
Philippians 1:18

Is sharing Jesus with others a priority for you? When was the last time you shared with someone the grace and goodness of God?

The most important thing to Paul was that Christ needed to be proclaimed and exalted. Even when he was in prison, Paul was thinking of ways he could preach. The only thing that brought him joy was proclaiming the grace of God.

Paul’s message was not always received in agreement. Many times he was stoned, beaten or rebuked for preaching the name of Jesus. But nothing stopped him from preaching Christ. He loved Jesus.

What’s keeping you from spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ today? We have so many resources at our fingertips yet we sometimes remain silent. Even in some churches, Christ is not preached! This ought not to be so.

Paul was motivated by God’s grace. He was living proof of what God can do with a person who desires to be used by God. We should be just as eager as Paul to share the Good News of Jesus.

Paul could have lost heart being imprisoned in Rome yet he rejoiced in his circumstances. He recognized that God was ordaining every situation of his life. Despite all of the negative circumstances, he kept rejoicing and proclaiming the saving name of Jesus.

Are you motivated by the love of Christ?

Pray

Lord, thank You for what You have called me to do. Help me to keep rejoicing and speaking Your great name. I pray that wherever You guide me today, I will tell others about You.

Live Like Jesus

Faith, Trust

“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”
‭‭Philippians‬ ‭1:6‬

Have you ever considered why we try so hard to be holy and righteous? It’s so hard to live a perfect life like Jesus commanded us to.

In fact sometimes we get discouraged when we’re trying so hard to be what God has called us to be as Christians and we see people who don’t go to church, don’t tithe, nor do they produce fruit and they seem to be doing just fine. The problem is we are trying too hard. We are working too hard trying to be holy and righteous when Jesus has already finished the work.

Jesus confronted this issue and used the Pharisees as an example in His sermon on the mount. In Matthew 5-7, Jesus raised the bar to a level that even the Pharisees realized they could never attain. The Pharisees were taught to hate their enemies; we’re told to love ours. They were told to judge; we’re told to recognize the fruit but not judge.

Here is the point. Their concept of righteousness didn’t glorify God, it glorified themselves. They sought a confidence before God based on their achievements instead of His works.

God knows we are going to struggle with sin and righteousness. That is why we need to work harder on increasing our faith in Jesus instead of trying harder to please God with self-made achievements. Until we come to the realization that we need to lean on Him instead of doing it all on our own we will never be satisfied.

Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.‭‭” (Matthew‬ ‭5:3‬) We need to come to a point of brokenness so we can lean on Him for everything.

Pray

Lord, help me to know that I can’t do anything without You. You are my strength and my shield. Help me to overcome my self-righteousness and pride.