*~*Prayer Requests for 10/24/09:

[lighthouse]

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"If we cannot believe God when circumstances
seem to be against us, we do not believe Him at
all" (Charles Spurgeon).

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"Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like
a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing
firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the
world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings" (1 Peter 5:8-9 -
NIV).

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Hi friend,

Please keep the following individuals in your prayers:

1) "I am thankful for all the many blessings God has provided me! I
pray that God would continue reminding me of these blessings and
eliminate the worry that Satan places in my mind. Thank you for
praying!" -Mark;

2) N.N. asks for our prayers. He writes: "I have been in this
situation for over 3years now. It used to be I had joy and a peace of
mind in my life. Some how some way,That all stoped. Since then I have
been trying to rid my life of negative energy, but no matter what I
do, I always somehow look to the wrong solutions to solve my trials. I
ask you my friend, if you can Pray to our Lord that I may find my
strength, inner joy, and peace in my life once agian. Please, if you
can, ask Jesus to forgive my ways and help guide my path as a father/
husband and man in his most Holy name. Thank you and God bless.";

3) "God please let me know if this is what you want me to do. I know
you don't ever want a marriage to end, but I don't see things changing
for the better. I have prayed and prayed for change in me and him, but
it always ends up the same way. I love him Lord with all my heart, and
I have apoligized for all I have done but it is not good enough. I
have prayed for us to have a change of heart and to soften our hearts
to hear you and what you want us to do. He doesn't want to hear
anything I have to say Lord. You know my heart and I just don't
understand anymore. I am so tired. Do I let go Lord? I don't know what
else to do. I want our family to stay together. Please give me a sign
as what to do and please help him Lord, he needs you too. He won't
listen to me anymore. Please help us Lord. I have prayed to be who I
should be and prayed for you to give me the words to speak to his
heart. Please God help me to trust him." -Frances;

4) Tamara asks for our prayers. She writes, "Me and my boyfriend
want to get marry and start a family.";

5) "Please watch over MIke and GInny. Mike is having a colonoscopy
and has had some related health issues and Ginny is concerned.
Operation is at 9:30am tomorrow. God Bless, Janet";

6) Mickie asks to be remembered in our prayers. He writes, "Please
Pray for my Nanny who is in surgery at this moment; That the Almighty
Surgeon will take control; and Let her heart be strong enough to get
her through it. Thank you God, and Everyone.";

7) "Please pray for my brother in law Justin --. He is in ICU with
pneumonia Please pray for a miracle." -Ana;

8) Rick writes: "Pray for a financial miracle for Rick.";

9) "I'd like to request prayers for the following: Jackie, Melanie,
Irene, Joni, and Tim." -AN;

10) "Please pray for me that I can overcome this depression and let
go of the way my life has been almost all of my life. I was actually
happy at one time...for a short time, please pray that I can regain
this happiness and keep it with the Lord. Oh please pray that my
children and myself, as well as my mom, can move away from this crime
infested area into a house that is comfprtable for the children
mainly. I want them to know more than just the ghetto. Please pray
that we will get out of financial hardSHIP And break the chain that
goes on in this family. Please pray that God will guide me and let me
know my purpose in life on top of having my children. Please pray that
I will find a husband that is truely good to all of us, especially my
kids, and we can live happily. Please pray that my children wont fall
victim to the negative influences in school and that they will
continue to do good in school by the grace of the Lord. Thanks again."
-Nikia;

11) Gloria asks to be remembered in our prayers. She writes, "Please
pray with me for my great-grandson Gabriel who is only 2 months and
has developed a skini disorder that the DR's say he wil suffer from
forever. It is called Seborrheic wrong spelling I know) but
nonetheless it is a type of disorder that is scally and he is very
uncomfortable. The medicines are beginining to ease the pain a bit,
but, I know that our Lord Jesus Christ can cure him. I have that much
faith. So, if you will see yourselves with a few extra minutes, please
help me. I would pray for your baby. God bless you all. Thank you.";

12) "Please pray that we find a way to ease our financial burden. My
husband worries so and it's so stressful for him. Bless you!!" -CJ;

13) Eleanor asks for our prayers. She writes, "Please pray for me
and my family..and my husband. Both of us suffer from chronic back
pain and also our knees are getting affected from our back. His knee
is worse off than mine, his minuscus are torn and have to have surgery
to fix but I'm the only one working and provide for my 3 kids, my
husband and myself and just barely make enough to cover my bills. I've
been struggling and getting very tired and stressed out. I feel like
I'm a single mom, working, cooking when i go home and cleaning, going
to to go wash my laundry @ the laundry mat, shopping for our food,
paying bills, bathing our 2 young kids. Please pray that I may love my
kids unconditinally, i don't like who i'm becoming..always having back
pain, my responsibilities, taking care of my kids, i've become short
tempered and easily angered, plwase pray that i may pay more attention
to my kids even i have never ending chores to do. I feel overwhelmed
and tired and getting very stressed out. PLease pray that my kids may
get along and love each other even me. thank you daily posts for
coming back to my email, i look forward to reading them and they also
give me inspiration and lifts me up too. Please also pray that i may
have enough money for christmas, i enter my kids names for Christmas
name exchange every year and i do have a big family and live in a
little village.";

14) "For the last 10 years, we have worked with -- @ -- College,
especially with "Kids Gift Day" that allows children to come and
choose gifts (new or gently used) to give their parents for Christmas.
The student volunteers help them wrap the presents. My husband and I
provide the children each get a bible, a nativity or ornament
depicting the nativity, and a coloring book about the nativity, and
other small items. There are usually 300 children. Because of the
economy, my husband and I are having a hard time providing those items
for the kids. And the college is esp short of items for the kids to
choose from for their parents. Please pray for God direction in where
and how to get these items for the children. The date of this year's
event is 6th." -Lynda;

15) Albert asks, "that Kay and the kid's receive JESUS, and that HE
would heal our relationship and bring us back together. I lost her
because of my drinking. I ask that GOD would heal me of drinking.";

16) "I am 60 and my husband is 62. He is losing his eyesight due to
diabetes. He has mascular dengeneration. I am required to do most of
the driving, keeping up with appointments, medicine etc. I am asking
for prayer for my mind. I can't remember anything. I argue that he has
not told me soemthing or that I didn't see something and it ends up
that I just can't remember. I worked for 33 years on a missile command
and had to keep up with where thousands of missiles were. Now I can't
remember a conversation I had with my husband. I want to be able to
take care of our business so that we can stay independent. Thank you
for your prayers." -Bernice;

17) TWalsh asks to be remembered in our prayers. She writes, "First
I want to Thank God For who he is and for all he has done for my
husband and I. We own a small business and this past year has been
tough financially. We are now playing catch up with paying our
vendors. Please pray for wisdom and direction as we pay them. We want
to be a blessing to our customers and to our vendors. Please pray for
the customers who owe us a large amounts of money that they will
follow thru on their commitment to pay us.";

18) "Please pray that I am on Mark's heart and that he will not let
me go. Please pray that I am worth it to him." -Beth;

19) Nathan asks for our prayers. He writes, "Hi i have a friend
named baylie. She and i are really close i care for her alot. But she
is with with this guy named keith. He hits her curses her and cheats
on her. I have tried to get her to go to church but every time she
gets up the nurv to leave him he keeps calling her and yells at her
till she comes back. id like you to pray for her. Pray that god will
help her get out and stop hanging with this crowd. get over him and
move on to someone that will take her to church and show her how god
will change her life. I love this person very much the only thing I
can do is pray and ask you to do the same.";

20) "This prayer request is for a coworker of mine who is currently
going through a very rough time. A few months ago his father was found
with many blood clots and has been hopitalized since then. His wife
has been found with what could be breast cancer a few weeks ago. His
mother of 82 years is very ill at this time. My co-workers name is Dan
and he himself has had many health issues this year requiring
surgeries. However, on top of all this going on, his grandson Ryan, 2
years of age, has been hospitalized recently. Just what appears to
have happened overnight, the child developed two tumors behind his
neck and two tumors behind one of his eyes. The diagnostic confirmed
that the child has a form of cancer called Rhabdomyosarcoma. It is in
stage 3 or 4 and his progressing rapidly. You can imagine how hard it
has been to go through daily life for Dan these days and now to have
his only grandson sick with such a horrible diseasse. I ask that we
pray for Ryan his grandson, for Dan and his well being, His wife
Virginia, and all of his family members who are coping with this time
of their lives. Thank you." -Ruben;

21) Please pray for Donnie. His health has been deminishing over the
past year.;

22) "Pray for Richard and me. He is in the hospital getting blood.
Please may he start feeling better. Pray for
Rick,Nancy,Anne,Mary,Greacen,Louise,Louise and Floyd sr.and all others
needing God's help in their time of need." -Susan;

23) Lorna asks for our prayers. She writes, "Please pray that Art
and I will be able get a gym membership at the best possible price.
Please pray that I become serious about losing the weight that I need
to lose(50pounds and also to lower my blood pressure. Lord I want to
give you praise and glory for all that you do for me and all the
blessings you provide.especially today my birthday. I give thanks that
the kids remembered and celebrated it and me with their
thoughtfulness. Continue to bless my family with good health.I pray
especially for my grandchildren that they are well and developing
according to their age groups.Be with Ben and Ryan,heal them of any
illness that they have.Be with Justin and Grace give them both
character and self esteem.Please help Grace learn to read. Ben and
Ryan ages 3 and 2 have not been very well lately,please lay your great
physician hand on them and they will be healed. Please be with Justin
4 and Grace 6 as they go to school. Help them to learn and
adjust,especially Grace help her with her reading and self confidence.
Justin also.. Tthank you Lord for my family and friends.";

24) "Please pray for my puppy Buster. He was hit by a car last
Wednesday night. He has a dislocated hip, a shattered pelvis and some
internal bruising. Please pray for God to bring healing to my sweet
boy and relieve his pain. Thank you very much. Sincerely, Nicki";

25) Kim asks to be remembered in our prayers. She writes, "Please
pray for our finances and me to find job - very scared thanks" -Kim;

26) Please keep Reagan & Anna in your prayers. They are little ones
that have become very ill.; and lastly ...

27) Keep Scott in your prayers. He recently had two back
operations. At present, he is healing and recooperating.


**God bless you for caring enough to pray!!!**

........................................

A real friend is always and under all circumstances a friend (Proverbs
17:17a).

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*~*Spotlight Site*~*

http://www.ccmsc.org

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*** Prayer request from one of our prayer partners:


"Dear Beloved Brother in Christ Mark Seay,

Warm greetings to you in the most precious name of our lord and
saviour Jesus Christ. Thank you so much for your continuously prayers
about us. Since 4days we did our floods relief work various villages
near by us these four days we hired a pay auto those areas and have
seen their miserable condition. Hundreds of villages were drawn and
houses also are filled water. Flood was affected mainly in three
districts. 1. Kurnool2. Guntur (not in our place Bapatla) other part
of our district. 3. Krishna (Vijayawada. So we went to our district
Guntur Repalle area. Repalle mandalam zone consists many islands and
so many villages. So we went to some villages and small Islands. As I
shared with you in my previous mail about it, I could raise some money
and bought 8 bags of rice and biscuit packets, some medicine and we
went villages called Epuru lanka near by Kullur, Repalle. All the
roads were covered with water so there is no transportation to go to
that village. From last ten days those villagers are not able to come
out side due to continues rains, floods and struggling food materials
and drinking water packets. Also there is no power supply from that
day so they are living darkness in the nights.

Few of our church members and we took those rice bags on our shoulders
and other things with us. We walker around 5 kilo meters by walk
carrying those things on our shoulders. After walking 5 kilo meters a
boat came to take us to that island, so we kept all those things in
side the boat and reached that village Epuru Lanka. All our people
were tired with heavy luggage. Finally we reached that village, when
we reached there many people were waiting people who can help them,
give them some thing to eat & drink. But we have little their need is
very big, so we went there and prayed for those villagers and told
them our situation. We gave them what ever we brought for them. They
were so happy by seeing our love and hospitality. I told them we are
doing these things because of love of Jesus.

I have taken some pictures I am sending to you by through this
attachment So that you can see them and pray for those victims. Flood
effected not only one place and one village. Three districts of Andhra
Pradesh were effected by flood. So need is very much. Still people
need cloths, blankets, and food materials and medicines financial
support to rebuild their houses. So please pray and share yours
friends, family and church members and ask them to pray for these
flood victims. Our orphan children and our widows and we all are
continuously praying for you and for your blessed family. Especially
our orphan children are gladly sending their lots of love and their
lovely hugs to you and to your blessed family. Closing here for now.
Waiting for your prayerful reply. Thanking you. Your’s in his
service. President. K.Syam Sundar. Voice-President. John Mani, New
Beginning Missions / Workers for Christ, India"

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"If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but
has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children,
let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth" (1
John 3:17-18 - NIV).

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What God Looks Like
LighthousePrayerLine.org


A kindergarten teacher was observing her classroom of children while
they drew. She would occasionally walk around to see each child's
artwork. As she came to one little girl who was working diligently,
she asked what the drawing was.

The girl replied, "I'm drawing God."

The teacher paused and said, "But no one knows what God looks like."

Without missing a beat, or looking up from her drawing the girl
replied,. . . . "They will in a minute."

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I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order
that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of
His glorious inheritance in the saints, and His incomparably great
power for us who believe. That power is like the working of His mighty
strength, which He exerted in Christ when He raised him from the dead
and seated him at His right hand in the heavenly realms," (Ephesians
1:18-20 - NIV).

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(Part 1of 2)

HAGAR AND SLAVERY vs. SARAH AND FREEDOM
(Galatians 4:21-31)
By John Piper

Tell me, you who desire to be under law, do you not hear the law? For
it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave and one by a
free woman. But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh,
the son of the free woman through promise. Now this is an allegory:
these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, bearing
children for slavery; she is Hagar. 'Now Hagar is Mount Sinai in
Arabia; she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in
slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is
our mother. For it is written,

"Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear;
break forth and shout, you who are not in travail;
for the children of the desolate one are many more
than the children of her that is married."

Now we, brethren, like Isaac, are children of promise. But as at that
time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was
born according to the Spirit, so it is now. But what does the
scripture say? 'Cast out the slave and her son; for the son of the
slave shall not inherit with the son of the free woman." So, brethren,
we are not children of the slave but of the free woman.

The allegory of Hagar and Sarah is written to persuade us (along with
the Galatians) not to follow the Judaizers into slavery with Hagar and
Ishmael but to follow Sarah and Isaac into freedom. So I want to begin
with a definition of freedom that I think is implied here. Then we
will look at the allegory and learn from it how to have freedom.

Full freedom Is what you have when no lack of opportunity, no lack of
ability and no lack of desire prevents you from doing what will make
you happiest In a thousand years. In order to be free in the fullest
sense you have to have opportunity, ability and desire to do what will
make you happy in a thousand years. Another way to say it would be
that there are four kinds of freedom, or better, four stages of
freedom on the way to the full freedom all of us long for: the freedom
of opportunity to do what we can, the freedom of ability to do what we
desire and the freedom of desire to do what will bring us unending
joy.

Let's take skydiving, for example. Suppose you are on your way to the
airport to go up for your first real jump, but your car hits a pothole
on Hiawatha, you have a blowout and run into a telephone pole. You are
no longer free to jump whether you have the ability or not because the
opportunity passes while you wait for the tow truck. You lack the
freedom of opportunity.

Or suppose you do make it to the airport but you have no ability at
all -- you have never studied skydiving and never learned the first
thing about how a parachute works. The opportunity is there, but you
don't have the freedom of ability -- you are in bondage to your own
lack of know-how.

But suppose that you make it to the airport, you've been to school and
been trained and have all the abilities needed. and you take off for
your first jump. But as soon as you look down all your desire vanishes
and in its place comes a tremendous fear. The opportunity is there,
the ability and know-how are there, but you don't have the freedom of
desire. The interesting thing about the freedom of desire is that you
might be able to go ahead and jump without it, but it won't be a free
act. For example, you might feel so humiliated in front of your
instructor (or girlfriend) that the desire not to be humiliated
overcomes the desire not to jump. So you jump. But the emotional
experience is not what we call freedom. You are acting under very
uncomfortable external constraints. You are like Herod when his step-
daughter asked for the head of John the Baptist. He didn't want to
kill John but he wanted even less to be shamed before his guests. So
he acted, but not with the freedom of desire. You have the freedom of
desire when you do what you love to do.

That's the way a lot of professing Christians try to keep the
commandments of Christ. They don't really delight to do them but they
feel some uncomfortable constraints like social pressures or fear of
hell or desire to impress someone. So they go through outward motions
of obedience but the desire of their hearts is fixed somewhere else.
They do not enjoy the freedom of desire which Christ gives when he is
being formed in the heart (Gal. 4:19).

But there is one last requirement for full freedom. Suppose you get to
the airport with no obstacle; you have all the know-how necessary; you
look out the door at the tiny clusters of silos and barns and
farmhouses and just can't wait to jump. You have freedom of
opportunity, freedom of ability and freedom of desire. So you jump.
And as you free fall unbeknown to you, your parachute malfunctions and
will not open. Are you free? In three senses, yes. But in that
critical fourth sense, no. What you are doing so happily, so freely,
is going to kill you. Whether you know it or not, you are in bondage
to destruction. It would be a mockery to exult in the freedom of an
exhilarating free fall if you knew it was leading to destruction. In
order to be fully free it is not enough to have opportunity, ability
and desire to act. The acts you desire and perform have to lead to
life indeed, eternal life not destruction.

This is why it is naive for a Christian young person to envy the so-
called freedom of those who pitch themselves out the window of sin and
exult for a season in the exhilaration of free fall sex or free fall
greed, or free fall drugs or free fall luxury. They will pass away
like a vapor but those who do the will of the Lord will abide for ever
(1 John 2:17). True freedom is not just the opportunity and ability to
do what you desire to do. It is the opportunity, ability and desire to
do what will make you happy in a thousand years.

Therefore, true Christians are the freest people in the world. And
Paul is fighting with all his might in Galatians to expose the
teaching of the Judaizers for what it really is: slavery. For Paul,
the experience of freedom is not icing on the cake of Christianity.
Freedom in Christ is Christianity. It is a matter of eternity. That's
the first point of the allegory. So let's see if we can understand it
and strengthen our stand in freedom.

In verse 21 Paul simply says that those who are turning back to the
law of Moses as a job description for how to earn the wages of
blessing from God, should listen to what the law says. Note this well,
lest anything I or Paul have said sounds anti-Semitic. Paul only wants
to teach things that are implied in the Jewish Bible. His problem with
the Judaizers is not that they are Jewish but that they aren't Jewish
enough. Paul himself was a Jew and never surrendered his allegiance to
the law. What does it teach about freedom?

Verses 22 and 23, "It is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a
slave woman and one by a free woman. But the son of the slave was born
according to the flesh, the son of the free woman through promise."
Let's go back to Genesis 15 and remind ourselves of what happened to
Abraham and Sarah. In Genesis 15:1-6 Abraham is downcast because he
and Sarah have no children, no heir to fulfill the promises of
becoming a great nation (12:2). There is only Eliezer the slave. But
God says in verse 4, "This man shall not be your heir; your own son
shall be your heir." God's intention was to give Abraham a son and an
heir when it looked humanly impossible so that Abraham would have to
rely solely on God.

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The Most Important Gift Catalog in the World:

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"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to
prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen
to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your
heart" (Jeremiah 29:11-13 - NIV).

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Faithful With Much
LighthousePrayerLine.org


At a Wednesday evening church meeting a very wealthy man rose to give
his testimony. "I'm a millionaire," he said, "and I attribute it all
to the rich blessings of God in my life. I can still remember the
turning point in my faith, like it was yesterday:

I had just earned my first dollar and I went to a church meeting that
night. The speaker was a missionary who told about his work. I knew
that I only had a dollar bill and had to either give it all to God's
work or nothing at all.

So at that moment I decided to give my whole dollar to God. I believe
that God blessed that decision, and that is why I am a rich man
today."

As he finished it was clear that everyone had been moved by this man's
story.
But, as he took his seat, a little old lady sitting in the same pew
leaned over and said: "Wonderful story! I dare you to do it again!"

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Daily Devotional
By Bill Keller
LighthousePrayerLine.org


For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew
6:21

A test for where your heart is. In today's world of modern medicine,
there are numerous tests to check the condition of your heart.
However, today I have a very different test for your heart. Jesus said
many profound things during His years of ministry. One of those
profound sayings is our anchor verse today that binds together your
treasure and your heart. What you spend your money on is a great
indicator of where your heart really is. I want to challenge you to
let God speak to you through these words today. This is like one of
those pop quizzes you used to get in school. How you score on this
test will give you a great indication if you are on the right track or
if you need some work in this area. Please know that I will be praying
for you.

Every day we have many choices to make. One of the choices we make
each day is how we will spend the money God gives to us. Never forget,
all that we have is from God, it is simply on loan to us. We have been
given stewardship over the resources God gives us during our life. How
we manage and utilize those resources becomes a test of not only our
ability to be a good stewards of what God entrusts into our care, but
where our heart is. As Jesus stated in today's passage of Scripture,
you can get a great measure of your heart for God based on how you
spend the money God blesses you with.

Ok, here is your test. Get a piece of paper and something to write
with. You don't need to be an accountant and detail every penny, but
in round numbers, figure out how much money you have made in the past
year. You need to include all of your sources of income. What you made
working, what you may have made selling something, any money people
gave you, include everything that you have had come into your hands
over the past year. Now, roughly figure out what you spent. In this
part, break it down into two columns. Column one is basic living
expenses and column two is everything else.

Basic living expenses include what it costs you to live each month,
where you live, utilities, food, insurance, transportation, medical,
clothing, all the basic necessities of daily life. Everything else is
all the money you spend outside of your basic living expenses. This is
the key element of the test, so it is important to do your best to
include EVERYTHING you spend money on, no matter how trivial it may
seem. Most people are actually shocked as they fill out this column
regarding how much of their money they spend on so many different
things. A very small percentage of people have ever done this before,
actually sitting down and listing all of the things
they buy and how much they spent. I assure you it will be an eye
opening experience for you.

After you have finished putting everything down on paper, it is time
to take a look at where your heart is. Listen, the purpose of this
exercise is not to make you feel bad or upset you. It is a great
exercise to see exactly where your heart is, since what you spend your
money on gives you a great indication of where your priorities are,
what is really important to you. Zero in on the everything else
column. Look carefully over what you are spending your money on and
how much you are spending on different things. Out of that total
dollar amount, what percentage is going to support the Lord's work
through your church or some ministry you have been led to give to? Is
it 5%? Is it 10%? Is it 25%? Is it 50% or more?

I can't sit here and tell you how much you should be giving to the
Lord's work. That is an amount you and God have to work out. All I
want to do today is help you see in black and white what you are
spending your money on, how much you are spending on different things,
and what percentage is actually going to God. Now it is time to get
alone with the Lord and pray. Ask Him to show you through these
figures if your heart is where it needs to be. I know most will be
amazed at the things they buy, at how much money they spend on things
that seem so trivial, and how much more they could be doing to support
the work of God. Those in bondage to smoking and/or alcohol will
quickly see a huge amount of money that is acutally being spent to
kill yourself slowly. No doubt you will see other areas that you are
spending a great deal of your resources on and it will force you to
ask yourself how much of your heart is really God's.

I love you and care about you so much. I will be praying for you
today. I will be praying for the Lord to use this test to really show
you where your heart is. God's Word teaches us to be good stewards of
what He entrusts into our care during this life. After our basic
living expenses are taken care of, we need to be wise to invest some
of our resources for the future. How we spend whatever is left gives
us a good insight into where our heart is really at. I challenge you
today that if your heart is God's, you will find that a good portion
of your treasure is being invested in the work of the Lord since it
was Jesus who told us, "For where your treasure is, there your heart
will be also."

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(Part 2 of 2)

HAGAR AND SLAVERY vs. SARAH AND FREEDOM
(Galatians 4:21-31)
By John Piper

But in Genesis 16 Abraham and Sarah weaken in their faith for a time
and devise a plan by which they will use their own resources to help
God fulfill his promise. Sarah gives Hagar, her handmaid, to Abraham
so she can bear him a son (16:2). And in Genesis 16:15 it says, "Hagar
bore Abram a son, and Abram called the name of his son whom Hagar bore
to him Ishmael." So when Paul says in Galatians 4:23 that Ishmael was
born "according to the flesh" it means that he was the product of self-
reliance. Abraham ceased to rely on God's power to fulfill his word
and instead relied on his own power and ingenuity to get a son.

Then, fourteen years later, in Genesis 17:16 God says to Abraham that
his wife, Sarah, will have a son. God intends to fulfill his promise
in a way that removes all ground for boasting. In verses 17-19 it
says, "Abraham fell on his face and laughed and said to himself,
'Shall a child be born to a man who is a hundred years old? Shall
Sarah who is 90 years old bear a child?' And Abraham said to God, 'O,
that Ishmael might live in thy sight!' God said, 'No, but Sarah your
wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac. I will
establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant for his
descendants after him."' God rejects what Abraham was able to produce
on his own and promises again that in spite of Abraham's age, he will
have a son by his own wife. So in Genesis 21:1 it says, 'The Lord
visited Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did to Sarah as he had
promised." Isaac was not born according to the flesh because his birth
was the result of God's supernatural intervention in fulfillment of
his own promise. Abraham had learned his lesson: the only acceptable
response to God's merciful promise is trust in that promise, not works
of the flesh that try, to bring down God's blessing with our efforts.
So Galatians 4:23 sums up the story: "The son of the slave was born
according to the flesh, the son of the free woman through promise."

Verse 24 says that Paul sees an allegory in these events, that is, he
sees them as apt representations of something more than their literal
meaning. I don't think Paul would say that the original meaning of
Genesis had reference to Mt. Sinai or to Jerusalem. I think he would
say that the truth implied in the stories about Hagar and Sarah is the
same truth that we can now see in what happened at Mt. Sinai and
continues to happen in the present Jerusalem. So it is fully
legitimate to use those stories from Genesis to symbolize and
illustrate the later events.

According to verse 24, Hagar and Sarah represent two covenants. First,
he focuses on Hagar and says, "One (covenant) is from Mt. Sinai,
bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. Now Hagar is Mt. Sinai in
Arabia; she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in
slavery with her children." The key question here is: how is Hagar and
her affair with Abraham and their son Ishmael like the covenant of Mt.
Sinai - the giving of the law through Moses? There are two
similarities at least. Hagar's giving birth to Ishmael is done
"according to the flesh" (v. 23); Abraham and Hagar tried to get God's
promised blessing by their own strength without relying on God's
supernatural enablement. That is just what happened when the law was
given at Mt. Sinai. Instead of humbling themselves and trusting God
for help to obey his commands Israel says confidently, "All the words
which the Lord has spoken we will do" (Ex. 24:3; Deut. 5:27). But they
did not have hearts inclined to trust in God (Heb. 4:2) or truly
depend on him (Deut. 5:29). And so like Hagar and Abraham they
depended on their own resources. And just as Ishmael was born
according to the flesh, so the law offered was not received because
(as Romans 8:3 says) the law was "weakened by the flesh." All that
Abraham and Hagar produced on their own was a son who would not be the
heir. All that Israel produced when they tried to keep the law on
their own was a legalism which would inherit nothing.

Which leads to the second similarity between Hagar and Mt. Sinai --
both of them bear children for slavery. Verse 24 says that the
covenant Hagar represents is from Mt. Sinai "bearing children for
slavery." Since Ishmael was not accepted as an heir he was no better
than his mother, a slave. And when the Israelites take the law upon
themselves without trusting God for gracious enablement, they become
slaves because they have no freedom to do the law from the heart and
because their unbelief locks them into disobedience and excludes them
from the inheritance.

Then to bring the allegory up to date at the end of verse 25 Paul
says, "She corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery
with her children." This is a direct attack on the Judaizers who have
come from Jerusalem (cf. 2:12). They are the children of Jerusalem and
they are slaves to the law and to the demonic forces of the world
(4:3,8). So you can see Paul's point: don't follow these false
teachers -- they may show you how to become sons of Abraham, but
beware! With them you will be an Ishmael, not an Isaac. A slave, not
an heir.

Then in verse 26 Paul turns his attention to the other half of the
allegory -- Sarah and her child, Isaac. But he skips over any mention
of the (Abrahamic) covenant and gets right up to date: "But the
Jerusalem above is free. and she is our mother." He contrasts the
present Jerusalem in verse 25 with the "Jerusalem above" in verse 26.
What he means by the Jerusalem above can be seen in Colossians 3:1-3,
"If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are
above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds
on things that are above, not on things that are on the earth. For you
have died and your life is hid with Christ in God." The Jerusalem
above represents the dwelling place of God. Our life and our freedom
flow down from him and our lives are already secure on the citizen
books of that city. Sarah represents that city because she gave birth
to Isaac not by reliance on herself but by an act of God from above in
fulfillment of his promise. Therefore, spiritually speaking, she is
the mother of all Christians -- of people whose lives are not merely
the product of human resources but of God's supernatural work in their
heart. So Paul says in verse 28, "Now we brethren, like Isaac, are
children of promise." Our real life is not, like Ishmael's, simply
owing to the work of man. Our real life is owing to the work of God in
us fulfilling his promise to make for himself a people (Gen. 12:1-3)
and to put his Spirit within them (Ezek. 36:27) and write his law on
their hearts (Jer. 31:33).

This is confirmed by the contrast in verse 29. It says, "But as at
that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who
was born according to the Spirit, so it is now." Recall how in verse
23 the contrast was between one born according to the flesh and one
born through promise. But notice here in verse 29 that the same
contrast is between one born according to the flesh and one born
according to the Spirit. "Born according to the Spirit" is
interchangeable with "born through promise." This confirms that
"children of promise" in verse 28 refers to people whose inner life is
the work of God's Spirit in fulfillment of his promise. The difference
between Ishmael-types and Isaac-types is a supernatural work of the
Spirit of God.

Then verse 30 assures us that not the Ishmael-types -- not the
Judaizers -- but the Isaac-types will inherit the blessing of Abraham,
even though they may be persecuted. Finally, Paul concludes in verse
31 that we -- that is, we who live by faith in the Son of God and
don't rely on what we can achieve on our own -- are not in the slave
category but in the category of the free.

Which brings us back to our definition of freedom. Freedom is what you
have when there is opportunity. ability and desire to do what will
make you happy in a thousand years. Surely everyone here wants this
full freedom -- to have occasion and ability to do what you love to do
with the result that you live in perfect joy forever. If that's what
you want, then this text is crucial for you, because Paul says the
Ishmael-types don't have this freedom but the Isaac-types do.

Why aren't the Ishmael-types free? They are not free because they lack
the desire to rest in God's promises. They lack the desire to show
their own resourcefulness. It's not that they desire to reject God.
They simply want him on their own terms. Abraham and Hagar wanted
God's blessing but not on his terms.

The Judaizers want God's blessing but not on his terms. Ishmael-types
in every age rely on human resources and don't desire to feel like
children in need of a father, or like a patient in need of a doctor.
Ishmael-types think you can outgrow:

Jesus loves me, this I know
For the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to him belong,
We are weak but he is strong.

Therefore, when it comes to saving faith, Ishmael-types do not have
the freedom of desire. They do not want it. Therefore they also lack
the freedom of eternal life, because no one who prefers to live in his
own strength rather than trusting God will be saved and go to heaven.
And what's more, the hardness of heart that spurns childlike
dependence on God will also darken the understanding. Every one of us
knows that the most common use of the mind is to justify our desires.
Therefore, deeply wrong desires will deeply mislead the mind until it
is not able to understand what is right. So Ishmael-types are not free
because they lack the freedom of desire to rest in God's sovereign
grace; and therefore they lack the freedom of ability to understand
God's will, and finally, they lack the freedom of eternal joy, because
the life they have chosen leads to destruction.

But we, brothers and sisters, like Isaac, are children of promise
(Gal. 4:28). We have been born of the Holy Spirit. The essence of
Christianity is the miracle of new birth. The hallmark of the Isaac-
types is that we have been converted, changed, transformed at the
center of our lives so that we desire to rest in God's sovereign
grace. We desire to become as little children and receive the power
and wisdom and holiness from our all-sufficient Father. We hate the
remaining tendencies in us to be proud and to trust in ourselves or
other people instead of God. Our delight is in the law of the Lord and
our choicest food is to do his will in reliance on his power. This is
what it means to be born according to the Spirit. This is what it
means to say I no longer live but Christ lives in me (Gal. 2:20). His
passion becomes our passion.

Therefore, Isaac-types have the freedom of desire. We don't labor
slavishly under the burden of having to do what we don't want to do.
We are free to do what we love to do and to do it forever in perfect
joy. For God has caused us to be born again by the Spirit of his Son,
and is shaping our desires according to his will.

"For freedom Christ has set us free! Stand fast, therefore, and do not
submit again to a yoke of slavery."

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**Safe List Buddy**

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"Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares
about you" (1 Peter 5:7 – NLT).

Be sure to send in your prayer request for the next
mailing.

You are in my thoughts and prayers! May the Lord
continue to bless you with knowledge of Himself.

Let's keep our light shining and our prayers lifted!

Mark Seay

Lighthouse Prayer Line
105 Quincy Drive
Greer, SC 29650
LighthousePrayerLine.org

"In his heart a man plans his course, but the
LORD determines his steps (Proverbs 16:9 - NIV).

((¯`»¦«´¯))((¯`»¦«´¯))((¯`»¦«´¯))((¯`»¦«´¯))((¯`»¦«´¯))

"God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in
our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His
megaphone to rouse a deaf world" (C.S. Lewis).

((¯`»¦«´¯))((¯`»¦«´¯))((¯`»¦«´¯))((¯`»¦«´¯))((¯`»¦«´¯))
We hope you have found today's newsletter encouraging to your
walk with Jesus Christ. Please send all prayer requests and
praise reports to us by using the "comments" hyperlink, which
can be found at the end of each blog/article. God is Good!!!

A Candle Loses Nothing by Lighting Another Candle. Please Keep This
Candle Going!

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trying to tell everybody
that there is somebody
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We can use your help!

Aside from the fact that ALL of your donation will
be used to purchase Bibles, Gospel Tracts & Bible
Studies, you will be serving as an active witness in
someone's life. Your donation will directly touch the
lives of many who are being introduced to Jesus as
their Lord & Savior for the very first time!

Friend, we have the unique opportunity of being able
to offer purple & gold, 100%-siliconized wristbands.
These attractive bands have been debossed right here
in the good 'ole USA with "Need Prayer?" etched on
one side; and with "LighthousePrayerLine.org" on the
other.

So many wonderful causes will be helped through
this drive, such as countless numbers of inmates
through our prison ministry, South Indian missions
and many USA workers.

We are waiving the postage fees. FREE Shipping!!

Would you be willing to help "the least of these"?

1 band ... $ 5
2 bands ... $ 9
3 bands ... $12
5 bands ... $15

We appreciate your support and witness to a fallen world!

Send your gift in the form of cash, check or money order to:

Mark Seay
105 Quincy Drive
Greer, SC 29650

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[Francois Putter]

Shalom to all Prayer Warriors in the Holy Name of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.
Before I bring up my request, some background on my relation to Jesus.
I was a Satanist during my teen years, and on seventeen years of age, I gave
my life to Jesus. Since then, I was not really serious about my Christian
life, and lived a low-profile Christian life. Everything I tried to do, was
not working according to plan, and my life was not according to what I was
suspecting. Everything I tried to do, failed.
Then, one day during 1995, I asked the Lord why this is happening. Every
evening before I go to bed, I was praying towards God to show me why this is
happening to me, since I can do nothing right according to His plan.
Then, one day while I was passing a church, the Lord brought me to a
stand-still. Then, he told me to enter the Church. I argued and told that I
was not dressed for the occation (I got only a T-Shirt and short denim pants
on). Then, the Lord told me that I must go, no matter how I look like.
Clothes does not matter. If I want to do what He want me to do, then I must
enter the church meeting now.
Without arguing any further, I went to the church. When I got to the door,
the person at the door told me to go and dress properly and come back again.
Then I told him that the Lord told me to attend the Church meeting as I am,
and I want to follow His command. He called the Pastor, and I told him the
same story, and the Pastor them took me to one of the seats in front of the
church. When the Church service started, the Pastor looked at me, and told
the congregation the following words: "This is a special occation. The Lord
told me in a vision that someone is coming to visit the congregation with a
special purpose,and I must not act on his looks,but allow him to enter." He
asked me to stand, and he said:"This man is called by God for a special
purpose" and asked me my name. The moment when I told him my name, he told
me that I may sit down.
During the service, I committed myself to the Lord, and gave myself to Him
as a full-time worker. Three months later, I was baptised, and the Lord
spoke to me through one of the prophits and said:"You must allow me to work
through you." During September 1995 I was baprised with the Spirit.

The Lord showed me that I must start an Online Ministry. Until October last
year, I could not do this as I got no access to the Internet at all. October
2008, I visited my brother, and he gave me a computer, and I started a
website. When I came home, I applied for Internet Access - waiting about 3
months for the computer to be connected - so the website was not updated
until the connection wasfinalised.
My problem now lies with Finances. As a full-time Online Evangelist, I have
no real income to cover the expences of the site. I am on dial-up at the
moment, and pay for every second I am online. I want to get a better
connection, but need R1 500 (about $220) which I do not have. At the moment,
my brother is giving me R500 per month to spend on the net. Because of the
high cost of my connection, it is not possible to save money to get a better
connection. If I got ADSL, I can get a 24/7 online connection for about R150
(about $25) per month, whichmeans that I will be able to have a faster
connection at a fraction of the costs I pay at this moment.
I do not want to be dependent of someone else's charity. I want the Website
to be independent, and function in such a way that the income generated on
the site will pay for the expences, with still enough money left to spend on
myself.
I know it is His will that I am a website Administrator, but I still have no
clue on what His purpose is with the site. Please pray to the Lord to give
me a vision on exactly what He is planning with the site. I know if I am
working according to His plans, the Website will be independent and it will
be successful.
Francois Putter - President, BLOEMFONTEIN FOR JESUS Online Ministries.

[Francois Putter]

[lighthouse]

Hi Francois,

I will be praying for you and your ministry. Would you consider or
do you know of someone that may be interested in taking over
the administration of my site, www.LighthousePrayerLine.org ?

The Lord has been calling me to step away for a greater purpose.

In His vineyard,

Mark Seay
Lighthouse...@gmail.com