Let Him Pray - Part 2

James 5:16-20 “The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit. Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.”

 Continuing from yesterday, Pastor Rick asks: Does your faith seem dry and barren, with little or no spiritual growth, then pray for spiritual rain to pour down from heaven upon you and point people to Jesus – the Author and Finisher of our faith, inviting them into God’s family … our family of Believers and community of faith. What really matters in life? Now or forever -which includes now? The lord could take you or I up into heaven right this second to be in paradise, if He wanted to, but He doesn’t because He has place you & I in this time and place in history for a purpose. We are on a rescue mission here. What if we could care less about others and their eternal destination? What are our prayers and actions saying about how much we really care? The perspective that we need to have is God’s perspective.

2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”

Sin is an ugly thing; it leads to death. We are all sinners in need of a Savior. We cannot save ourselves; we are saved by the grace of God – by His unmerited favor – when we accept the gift of God in Jesus Christ. Here is a place of healing, of restoration, and of hope. Come meet our Jesus! We can live without bling, flash and excitement, but we (dead in our sinful flesh) cannot live without Christ. We are a new creation, born again in righteousness, in Christ.

2 Corinthians 5:15-17 “And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!

On the Cross, our sins did not disappear. They were placed firmly on the person of Jesus Christ to pay for them all. You can quit on a person, but you cannot quit on a mission. The Lord does not take salvation lightly, nor neglect the sin that hung Him on that Cross to pay the price for us, so do not be satisfied that anyone goes to Hell for their sins, but like God, desire none to perish and all to come to repentance. Pray for them and reach them. God did not put us here to be comfortable and to make some friends. We were sent here on a mission. Put your trust in Jesus.

In Christ, Pastor Rick