“Acknowledging Him as Guide”
In early February of this year, Tressa and I were in Galveston attending the Gideon’s Texas State Convention. While there a gentleman handed me a new book as a gift. It’s basically thirteen short chapters by which we acknowledge thirteen different aspects Christ’s Person. The last chapter is about His name, by which the title apparently was derived. The book is by SanDee Stone and entitled “Don’t Say That Name.” Chapter 10 is titled “Acknowledging Him as Guide” and speaks of God’s guidance.
She writes in chapter 10, p.159 “As I gradually learned to eliminate some of the noisy distractions from my life, many times I could hear that still, small voice of the Lord when He spoke. He doesn’t shout to be heard, I found. He just waits for me to get quiet and listen. Getting quiet meant focusing on His Word more than on my human intellect or reasoning. It meant filling my mind with the things I was told to think about in Philippians 4:8; things that are true, pure, lovely, virtuous, and praiseworthy. In Proverbs 4:23, I read, “Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life.” To truly “be in the world, but not of it” became the deepest longing of my heart. I wanted to hear His voice and be led by His Spirit. The more I obeyed Him, the clearer His voice has become over the years.”
We are in need of God’s guidance. I believe God has called His children to the front lines of prayer in this pandemic. As believers, we have a unique access to the throne of God. I believe this pandemic has put us in a unique ministerial spirit of prayer and outreach. We are praying God heals and helps those that are sick. Prayers for medical field, governmental leaders, those not able to work and scientist that are using their God given talent to find cures. But we also must pray for revival, that we would as a nation recognize our need for God. I believe the Lord is awakening millions of hearts right now to think on Him. The fields are white for harvest. The list is endless. We need to pray for parents that they will prioritize God in their families. There is no greater time than now to bring back a spirit of worship and prayer in the home. Pray with and for your kids and spouse within the hearing of your kids. They need your faith and joy in Christ to help them adjust to these crazy times.
Also, pray for the great work of Samaritans Purse. Franklin Graham is building a makeshift field hospital in Central Park. I copied from the news the article below:
“The evangelical Christian charitable organization announced Sunday that the hospital located in the East Meadow in the park would have 68-bed respiratory care units for patients who fall severely ill after catching the virus.
Samaritan’s Purse said that medical staff, including doctors and nurses, “will soon be on the ground,” and the facility is expected to start functioning Tuesday.
The makeshift hospital has been launched in partnership with Mount Sinai Health System and will be taking patients from its hospitals, with priority being given to Brooklyn and Queens branches.”
God gives us His Spirit and the bible to guide us through rough waters. I want to share with you some bible verses that have helped me. You might already be using some of these as you pray, too. Praying scripture and meditating on scripture is powerful. Especially at night when our minds tend to wonder and worry. Scripture shows us that King David meditated on God’s word oftentimes in the night. For me personally, when praying at night, I usually use my Gideon App of the bible on my cell phone. It has a nighttime mode so it doesn’t put out much light, which won’t wake up Tressa. It’s super easy to navigate to anywhere in the bible. Scripture properly guides our thinking. This virus and every crisis the world will ever know was already in the mind of God when He inspired the sacred scriptures. It is not a surprise to God. God can and will heal our land if we do what II Chronicles 7:14. I love what Christ told James and John in Luke 9:56, “For the Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives but to save them.”
Some verses to help:
Psalms 91:9-11
“Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place,
No evil shall befall you,
Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;
For He shall give His angels charge over you,
To keep you in all your ways.”
Job 1:8-10
“Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?”
So Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for nothing? Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.”
Philippians 2:27
“For indeed he was sick almost unto death; but God had mercy on him, and not only on him but on me also, lest I should have sorrow upon sorrow.”
Psalms 56:3
“Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You.”
II 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 I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
John 8:29
“And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.”
Acts 17:26-27
“And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;
Hope these verses help.
Bro. Bruce Rudd