1. Your thumb is nearest to you. So begin your prayers by praying for those closest to you. They are the easiest to remember. To pray for our loved ones is, as C.S. Lewis once said, a “sweet duty.” 2. The next finger is the pointing finger. Pray for those who teach, instruct and heal. This includes teachers, doctors, and ministers. They need support and wisdom in pointing others in the right direction. Keep them in your prayers. 3. The next finger is the tallest finger. It reminds us of our leaders. Pray for the president, leaders in business and industry, and administrators. These people shape our nation and guide public opinion. They need God’s guidance. 4. The fourth finger is our ring finger. Surprising to many is the fact that this is our weakest ring; as any piano teacher will testify. It should remind us to pray for those who are weak in trouble or in pain. They need your prayers day and night. You cannot pray too much for them. 5. And lastly comes our little finger; the smallest finger of all. Which is where we should place ourselves in relation to God and others. As the Bible says, “The least shall be the greatest among you.” Your pinkie should remind you to pray for yourself. By the time you have prayed for the other four groups, your own needs will be put into proper perspective and you will be able to pray for yourself more effectively. Should you find it hard to get to sleep tonight, just remember the homeless family who has no bed to lie in.
The Lord said, "Where have you come from Satan?" The Lord did not immediately banish Satan from His presence, but actually had a conversation with him. Therefore, we know that in the time of Job, Satan still had access to the presence of God in heaven. 10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say "Now have come the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ. For the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down." (Revelation 12:10 NIV)
The "accuser of our brothers" is Satan. Notice that at this time he is still accusing God's people before God day and night. Revelation 12:11-12. 11 "They overcame him [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. 12"Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury because he know that his time is short."
That passages indicates that Satan still has access to the presence of God, and he uses his access to accuse God's people in the presence of God. Clearly, all the above passages that I have quoted refer to periods long after the original rebellion of Satan. So what is the answer? there is more than one heaven. I believe this is clearly indicated all through Scripture. For instance, in the first verse of the Bible, Genesis 1:1, it says, "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." The Hebrew word for heavens is shamayim, "Im" is the plural ending. The first time heaven is introduced, it is introduced in the plural.
In 2 Chronicles 2:6, we have this utterance of Solomon in his prayer to the Lord at the dedication of the temple: "But who is able to build a temple for him [the Lord], since the heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain him?" (NIV) Where the translation says, "the highest heavens," the Hebrew says, literally 'the heaven of heavens." Either translation clearly indicates there is more than one heaven. The word "heaven" of the phrase 'heaven of heavens" suggest a heaven that is as high above heaven as heaven is above earth. Amen
In Ephesians 6:12 Paul makes it very clear that, as Christians, we are involved in a life and death struggle with a highly-organized kingdom peopled by evil, rebellious spirit-beings and that the headquarters of this kingdom is in the heavenly realm.
The phrase, "the heavenly realm," raises a particular problem in the minds of Christians. If Satan was cast out heaven long ago, how then can he still occupy a place in the heavenly realm?
Let's answer this question by pointing out some passages that describe events that took place long after the initial rebellion and casting down of Satan by God. These passages indicate that Satan still had access to the presence of God in heaven at that time. Job 1:6-7 6 one day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them. 7. The Lord said to Satan, "Where have you came from?" Satan answered the Lord, "From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it."
Almost exactly the same incident is recorded again in Job 2:1-2 1 On another day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them to present himself before him. 2 And the Lord said to Satan, "Where have you come from? Satan answered the Lord, "From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it."
So at that time, which was in the days of Job, we see that Satan still had direct access to the presence of the Lord. When God's angels came to present themselves and report to the Lord Satan was there among them. The passages seems to indicate that the other angels did not identify Satan. I can understand this because in 2 Corinthians 11:14, Paul says that Satan is transformed as "as an angel of light." The passage states that the only one who could identify Satan was the Lord. Apparently, he could appear in the presence of angels and not be detected. We will discuss more in Part 2 of Satan's Headquarters.
by Spiritual Warfare: Derek Prince
Throughout the school year, Mrs. Harrison had held her
tongue every time Mr. Dubois made a sarcastic, cutting remark to other
teachers-including her.More than one
teacher had lost their temper with him, but he simply shrugged off their
complaints by accusing them of not having any semblance of a sense of
humor.What made the situation worse was
that Mr. Dubois was a high-profile Christian in the community, frequently in
the news for spearheading short-term mission trips to Guatemala, recruiting
volunteers to work with him in his church’s soup kitchen, and serving as a lay
chaplain at the local hospital.
One afternoon, the perfect opportunity arose to talk to him
about the way he treated other people and the poor reflection his behavior was
on Christ.She and Mr. Dubois were the
only two teachers in faculty lounge at the time, and she knew she had to speak
up.Phrasing her comments as tactfully
and graciously as she knew how, she emphasized that she knew he was just
kidding around, suggesting that perhaps he did not realize how his remarks came
across to others.Mr. Dubois looked at
her intently and thoughtfully the whole time she spoke, nodding in agreement.When she finished, he opened his mouth as if
to speak-and burst into laughter.“You’ve
got to be kidding me!You’re telling me
how to act? I don’t think so,” he said.At that moment, another teacher entered the room, and Mr. Dubois began
recounting-as dramatically as possible-what Mrs. Harrison ha just said to
him.Humiliated, she left the room, part
of her feeling hurt but most of her feeling vengeful.
What she did not know was that Miss Scott, the teacher who
had to listen to Mr. Dubois’s tirade, fully supported Mrs. Harrison and her
rightfulness in confronting him about his sarcasm. He had hurt and angered a lot of people, she
said, and many teachers were avoiding the faculty lounge for that very
reason.It was time he knew, and she was
glad her colleague had spoken up.
When classes resumed after spring break several weeks later,
Mr. Dubois found Mrs. Harrison alone in her classroom.Clearly repentant, he acknowledged his ongoing
inappropriate behavior as well as his rudeness and unkind treatment of her when
she had tried to reason with him.“There
was so much talk about forgiveness at over Easter that I couldn’t help but hear
what God was saying to me, “he said.“I
was wrong and I’ve been wrong for a long time. Will you forgive me?”
Mrs. Harrison hesitated.She momentarily wondered if this was another one of his ruses.Would he burst out laughing in ridicule if
she extended forgiveness?But she knew
what she had to do: Regardless of his response, her responsibility as a
follower of Christ was to make the decision to forgive him and extend that
forgiveness out loud.“I forgive you,” she
said, Mr. Dubois thanked her-and asked her to hold him accountable for his
words.“Don’t wait till I’ve crossed the
line,” he said. “I want you to tell me right away, even if I’ve moved just an
inch closer to the line” with that, he left the room, resolved to close out the
school year on a more positive note.
Forgiveness, both seeking it and extending it, is a powerful
force in transforming a person’s life.The greatest transformation, of course, comes when you ask God’s
forgiveness, accept it, and begin to live out your life as a new creation. (2Corinthians 5:17, Matthew 18:21-35).It’s
also transforming when you realize you have wronged another person and seek his
forgiveness.He or she may forgive your
or he or she may not.The only aspect of
that interaction that you have any control over is your own, and you’ve done
what you could by asking forgiveness (and making restitution, if
appropriate).If he or she refuses to
forgive you, you need to move on and not dwell on his or her response.
The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand. He that believeth on the son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him. John 3:35-36
Because God loved Jesus, He gave us to Him, and He gave Him to us. In that act, we became inextricably bound to the love of the Godhead. We can't fathom how God did it or why. Why us and not others? If we're honest, we know we didn't have anything that made us so special that we deserved eternity. So why did God choose you and maybe not he coworker next to you? He alone knows. Be glad that He loves you. But don't let it end there. Share the love of Jesus with others around you. Maybe you're not good at preaching, but you can show what God is like by being honest. You can show His caring by lending an ear to a coworker who's going through a personal crisis. You can offer your condo-dwelling coworker some tomatoes from your garden when you have a bumper crop. You may never hear that person pray to receive Him, but your coworker may just have felt the first touch of Jesus' love.
Use me, Lord, wherever You want to. Show me how to share Your love today.
1. God has always wanted to be close to us but because we are as filthy rags and our sins have separated us from being close to God. Through Jesus Christ dying on the cross for our sins and transgressions He allowed us to get closer to God through Jesus Christ.
2. To glorify God in thanks for God's greatest gift Jesus Christ "I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son" (John 14:13)
3. For comfort in a time of need when Jesus was in His greatest time of need He turned to prayer.
4. To feel God's presences to know God directly through our lives as Christians.
5. To experience God's forgiveness that God might know our willingness to do better. 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 I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14)
