God

Encouragement and Prayer: Serve Faithfully! (9/27/24)
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Encouragement and Prayer: Serve Faithfully! (9/27/24)

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This is the audio from the September 27, 2024 live social media broadcast of encouragement and prayer by Impact Prayer Ministry’s director, Tom Lemler.

“This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty.  . . . So he said, ‘These are the two who are anointed to serve the Lord of all the earth.’”
Zechariah 4:6 & 14 (NIV)

This week’s prayer emphasis will focus on living with a vision to serve.  God makes it clear in His Word that we serve Him when we serve people.  While the world often defines greatness based on power and who you have serving you, God says that to be great you must become servant of all.  Pray for a spirit of humility to guide you as you serve people wherever you are.  Pray that God’s love would be seen and felt through you as you serve.  Pray that your commitment to serving would be an example for others.  Pray about how God would use your service to teach and train others to join in a lifestyle that serves.  Pray for discernment and wisdom to see beyond and through the divisiveness of this world so that you would love others as God loves both you and them.

“Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms.”
1 Peter 4:10 (NIV)

As you pray this week, ask God to help you to not only see opportunities to serve, but to give you the courage to actually serve.  Pray that you would be faithful in using God’s gifting in your life to serve others.  Pray that your faithfulness in serving would be based on God’s faithfulness to you.  Pray that God would help you to know His grace more fully.

You can find the live video feeds of these encouragement and prayer times on Impact Prayer Ministry’s Facebook page.

In prayer,
Tom

Encouragement and Prayer: Serve Wholeheartedly! (9/26/24)
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Encouragement and Prayer: Serve Wholeheartedly! (9/26/24)

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This is the audio from the September 26, 2024 live social media broadcast of encouragement and prayer by Impact Prayer Ministry’s director, Tom Lemler.

“This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty.  . . . So he said, ‘These are the two who are anointed to serve the Lord of all the earth.’”
Zechariah 4:6 & 14 (NIV)

This week’s prayer emphasis will focus on living with a vision to serve.  God makes it clear in His Word that we serve Him when we serve people.  While the world often defines greatness based on power and who you have serving you, God says that to be great you must become servant of all.  Pray for a spirit of humility to guide you as you serve people wherever you are.  Pray that God’s love would be seen and felt through you as you serve.  Pray that your commitment to serving would be an example for others.  Pray about how God would use your service to teach and train others to join in a lifestyle that serves.  Pray for discernment and wisdom to see beyond and through the divisiveness of this world so that you would love others as God loves both you and them.

“Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not men.”
Ephesians 6:7 (NIV)

As you pray this week, ask God to help you to not only see opportunities to serve, but to give you the courage to actually serve.  Pray that you would serve others with a whole heart, just as you would if it were Jesus being served.  Pray that you would keep your eyes fixed on Jesus as you serve.  Pray that you would know the joy and contentment that comes from serving wholeheartedly.

You can find the live video feeds of these encouragement and prayer times on Impact Prayer Ministry’s Facebook page.

In prayer,
Tom

Encouragement and Prayer: Serve One Another! (9/25/24)
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Encouragement and Prayer: Serve One Another! (9/25/24)

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This is the audio from the September 25, 2024 live social media broadcast of encouragement and prayer by Impact Prayer Ministry’s director, Tom Lemler.

“This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty.  . . . So he said, ‘These are the two who are anointed to serve the Lord of all the earth.’”
Zechariah 4:6 & 14 (NIV)

This week’s prayer emphasis will focus on living with a vision to serve.  God makes it clear in His Word that we serve Him when we serve people.  While the world often defines greatness based on power and who you have serving you, God says that to be great you must become servant of all.  Pray for a spirit of humility to guide you as you serve people wherever you are.  Pray that God’s love would be seen and felt through you as you serve.  Pray that your commitment to serving would be an example for others.  Pray about how God would use your service to teach and train others to join in a lifestyle that serves.  Pray for discernment and wisdom to see beyond and through the divisiveness of this world so that you would love others as God loves both you and them.

“You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.”
Galatians 5:13 (NIV)

As you pray this week, ask God to help you to not only see opportunities to serve, but to give you the courage to actually serve.  Pray that you would look for opportunities to use you freedom to serve others rather than yourself.  Pray for the compassion needed to serve one another even when you think you are free not to.

You can find the live video feeds of these encouragement and prayer times on Impact Prayer Ministry’s Facebook page.

In prayer,
Tom

Encouragement and Prayer: Serve With Power! (9/24/24)
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Encouragement and Prayer: Serve With Power! (9/24/24)

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This is the audio from the September 24, 2024 live social media broadcast of encouragement and prayer by Impact Prayer Ministry’s director, Tom Lemler.

“This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty.  . . . So he said, ‘These are the two who are anointed to serve the Lord of all the earth.’”
Zechariah 4:6 & 14 (NIV)

This week’s prayer emphasis will focus on living with a vision to serve.  God makes it clear in His Word that we serve Him when we serve people.  While the world often defines greatness based on power and who you have serving you, God says that to be great you must become servant of all.  Pray for a spirit of humility to guide you as you serve people wherever you are.  Pray that God’s love would be seen and felt through you as you serve.  Pray that your commitment to serving would be an example for others.  Pray about how God would use your service to teach and train others to join in a lifestyle that serves.  Pray for discernment and wisdom to see beyond and through the divisiveness of this world so that you would love others as God loves both you and them.

“For to be sure, he was crucified in weakness, yet he lives by God’s power. Likewise, we are weak in him, yet by God’s power we will live with him to serve you.”
2 Corinthians 13:4 (NIV)

As you pray this week, ask God to help you to not only see opportunities to serve, but to give you the courage to actually serve.  Pray for the courage to serve in God’s power even when you feel weak.  Pray that your eyes would be opened to how God desires show His power through your weaknesses.

You can find the live video feeds of these encouragement and prayer times on Impact Prayer Ministry’s Facebook page.

In prayer,
Tom

As Each Part Does Its Work

What is your part in the kingdom of God?  What is your part in the local body of Christ He has placed you in?  What are the “good works He created in advance” for you to do?

This is by no means an all-inclusive or detailed list, rather it is a starting point for you to spend time with God asking the question, “Lord, what do you want me to do?”.  If you need help in determining how to best implement God’s answer to that question, talk with one of the elders or ministry staff leaders in your local church.Each Part

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Happy Birth Day!

“Buy the truth and do not sell it;
     get wisdom, discipline and understanding. 
The father of a righteous man has great joy;
     he who has a wise son delights in him. 
May your father and mother be glad;
     may she who gave you birth rejoice!”  (Proverbs 23:23-25)

Another day is gone and this one also marked the completion, or beginning ;), of another year in my life.  God has given me many friends and acquaintances who have kept my Facebook page filled with birthday wishes.

I don’t think I’ve ever had so many people wishing me a happy birthday as I’ve had this year!  I appreciate greatly each thought and sentiment expressed.  For me, birthdays are typically just another day.  I don’t keep track of them so I end up having to do the math just to figure out how old I am whenever someone asks.

God knew how much I needed the many wishes for a happy birthday and He used them to encourage me and to make me think about some interesting questions.  What makes a happy birthday?   How do I recognize one?  Who should be happy because of my birthday?  How widespread is happiness, or joy, because of my life?  Do people bless or curse the day I was born?  Do I bless or curse the day I was born?

As I thought about these and other questions, I thought about people like Job.  His suffering made him wish he had never been born.  Yet within the affliction he endured, and the constant questioning of “why?”, he refused to lash out at God and curse Him for the condition he found himself in.  I think Job eventually realized the truth of what God says through Isaiah, “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:9)

I believe Job discovered that his birth, his life, wasn’t all about him.  When we look at life, and even our birth, as being all about us, our world becomes a very small place.  God calls us to consider His ways and His thoughts which are much higher than our own.  He not only clearly sees our current situation, he sees why we are here and where we are headed just as clearly! 

God’s concern isn’t so much for my happiness as it is for my faithfulness!  The question isn’t, “Am I getting everything I want or desire?” but rather, “Am I investing what God has given me into others so that my life bears much fruit?”!  It was these questions that led me to verses like the ones at the top of this post.  These verses give characteristics that when lived out give others cause to rejoice and be happy at the day of my birth!   Truthfulness, wisdom, discipline, understanding, and righteousness bring joy and delight — not only to the father and mother of such a person, but to the people around you as you grow in these qualities.

Do I, do you, want a happy birthday that is a true reflection of the joy that God has brought to others through us?  Then let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith so that He can fill us with truth, wisdom, discipline, understanding, and His righteousness through the power of His Spirit. 

May this anniversary of the day of my birth truly be happy for me as well as for each of you that God has connected my life with!

Praying that when your day arrives, not only is it a happy birthday but that many others are happy and rejoice that you have a birth day!

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L.O.S.T – Part 4: Teach

It seems like I’ve gotten “lost” over the past couple of months when it comes to writing.  There are a number of reasons for that which I hope to write about soon.  However, I do want to finish up this 4-part series with this final segment called, “Teach”.

As I looked at in the previous three articles, there is a progression that we move through as we break free from being “lost”.  We begin by learning to listen.  We hear a lot of things, but we are not particularly good at listening — especially when it comes to listening to God.

As an outgrowth of listening, we begin to observe.  We take notice of what God is doing in, through, and around us.  Our observations lead us to see a different path, or direction, we ought to be taking so that we’re no longer in a lost condition.

The hardest part for most people is often the third stage where we must surrender.  All of the listening and observing does little good if we are unwilling to surrender to what God has called us to be.  Surrendering is an admission that we are lost and in need of direction that only God can give.

That brings us to this final stage — one that is often overlooked because we think that completing the stage of surrender brings us out of our lost condition and completes our “quest”.  But there is much more to it.  We don’t become “un-lost” strictly for our own benefit.  We must teach that which we’ve learned on our journey.  Jesus states in Matthew that we are not simply to make disciples through a process of bringing them to full surrender, we must also be busy about “teaching them to obey all that [He] commanded.”

I’ve been taught, and believe, that you cannot teach what you do not know.  I would go a step further and say that you cannot effectively teach what you do not practice.  We teach by what we say, but we often teach much more by what we do.  In order to effectively teach what Jesus commanded, we must be doing what Jesus commanded.  As we live a surrendered life, we must be busy teaching that same surrendered lifestyle to others.  Listening is not natural for most people, so when we use the tool of listening we gain a valuable practice that we ought to be teaching to others.  As we observe the working of God, we ought to teach others to take notice of what God is doing in and around them as well. 

I pray that as you take note of these L.O.S.T. principles, that you would apply them in your life and live them out in a way that teaches others that you have found direction through a relationship with Jesus Christ.

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L.O.S.T. – Part 3: Surrender

Okay, it would seem since it has been quite some time since I began this series that I must have gotten lost somewhere in the writing process. 

Maybe part of the delay is that part three is the hardest part for me to actually do.  I can handle the listening and the observing because I’m still involved in seeking out the solution.  Part three in dealing with being lost is that we must surrender.  There, I’ve said the word:  Surrender!  Being lost causes us to surrender our will and desires to one who knows where we are and how to get to where we need to be — that is if we want to be “un-lost”. 

I generally have a good sense of direction and usually can find my way around new places rather easily.  Even when I am out traveling and end up in unfamiliar territory, I often just keep driving, figuring eventually something will look familiar or I will see a needed road sign or somehow discover where I am at so that I can begin to make my way back to where I want to be.  At times I am so confident of my ability to figure out where I am at that I end up in unknown territory, way out of the way, lost, before I finally surrender and pull out a map to help me discover where I’m at and how to get to where I am going. 

While that is hard enough for me to do, the more difficult times are when the map isn’t available, or doesn’t help, and I am forced to completely surrender and tell someone that I have no idea where I am at and need their help to get to where I am going.  You would think that after enough practice having to do that, it would be easier — especially when it becomes apparent how much time and energy could be saved simply by surrendering and asking directions much earlier.

Many times, people remain in their lost state in relationship with God because they refuse to surrender.  There is no way to make it to a vibrant and growing relationship with God except to surrender to the lordship of His Son, Jesus.  He put it this way in Matthew 16:24-25:

“If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.  For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses (surrenders) his life for me will find it.”

Then in John 14, Jesus comforts His followers with the news that He is leaving to prepare a place for them and that He will return for them.  He assures them that He will be back to take them to the place that He is going to and that they know how to get there.  Thomas is not so sure and responds, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”  The answer from Jesus in John 14:6-7 is classic and points out that the disciples did know the way to where Jesus was going — that way is Jesus Himself!

“I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.  If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well.  From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

Wow!  When I am lost, I must surrender to the only way out.  This cuts straight across the grain of modern thinking — particularly modern religious thinking.  Rather than surrender to God when lost, people have a tendency to “drive around”, thinking that somehow they will find another way to get to where they want to be.  Recent surveys show that many “religious leaders” profess that there may be multiple ways to get to heaven and varied paths to God.  It makes me wonder what they do with the Bible, especially the words of Jesus above from John 14:6.  Jesus could have said, “I am a way” or “I am the primary way” or even “I know the way” but instead He said, “I am the way”!  Just in case we miss the exclusive nature of His statement, He emphasizes it with the next sentence, “No one comes to the Father except through me.” 

When a person is in a lost condition, separated from God, surrender is absolutely necessary.  There is only one way to go from lost to relationship with God and only Jesus can get us there.  It is time for each of us to really examine our life and commit it to being a life surrendered fully to Jesus.