John Howell

Passon For Prayer

The average American owes $2300 in credit card debt. That is taking all of the credit card debt and dividing it by the number of people. In reality, most people owe a lot more than that because not everyone has a credit card. I know a lot of you don’t live in the United States, but it is an excellent example of how much debt a person can have. The Apostle encourages us not the owe anyone anything except the debt of love.

One day I fell down. Hard. Flat on my face. Ouch. Right onto the hard pavement. Ugh. Not literally. Sinfully. That’s right. I fell right back into old sin. I shouldn’t have been surprised. In fact, I wasn’t surprised. I should have seen it coming. The Lord had warned me. Over and again.

In the farming industry, plants that don’t produce are cut down and replaced by one that does. To a farmer, a non-producing plant costs him profit. They don’t have the time to nurture it back to health because the costs of water and fertilizer are too high. As Christians, we are to produce fruit in our lives as well. Don’t waste your life on trivial pursuits.

Where I live has been inundated with rain. That hasn’t been the case for the last decade as we suffered through a severe drought. As I type this, I am looking at a creek that is overflowing with swift flowing water. The last time I was here, it was completely dry. Our Christian life seems to be a series of droughts and floods. We go long periods of feeling distant to God and then short periods of being flooded with grace. Did you know God wants you to be overflowing with hope?

Have you ever watched one of those doomsday shows? They are usually about people who are preparing for Armageddon to happen and they are storing up all of the supplies and building shelters. They even have a name; “Preppers.” As a Christian, we don’t need to go to this extreme, but we do need to train ourselves to be ready for the end times. Are you ready?

What gets you out of bed in the morning? Is it your job? Maybe, it’s an obligation like getting the kids ready for school? Have you ever asked yourself what you are living for? If we call ourselves a Christian, the Apostle Paul tells us that whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.

Much is written about King David and his mighty men’s exploits. David conquered Goliath, other ones took on a thousand men by themselves and defeated them, others took on a bear. We look up to these men but did you know that they didn’t start that way. These men came to David broken and down on their luck and became unlikely heroes. If you are feeling down today be encouraged by what God did in this group.

There are very few things that are more disconcerting than a child that acts out in public. Whether they are throwing a tantrum to get what they want or trying to embarrass their parents to get them to do something, it makes everyone uncomfortable. As a Christian, we must correct our children when they do this. Discipline should never be seen as punishment, but instead as correction and guidance. Those parents who don’t discipline their children will reap a harvest of disgrace, those who do will reap a harvest of peace and delight.

‭Are you a person that is easily distracted? Do you feel a little lost when it comes to the direction of your life? Most of us have struggled with those. When we look for help in those areas, people will tell us we need to focus and have a plan, which leaves us in the same place, just more confused. Jesus tells us the keep the main thing the main thing. Love Jesus with everything you have.

Have you heard the saying “Cheaters never prosper?” You parents may have told you that when you were a child because one of the kids on your block wasn’t playing fair. There is some truth to that wisdom. Sinners don’t prosper if they continue to conceal what they have done. God doesn’t bless sinfulness, and soon it will take a toil. Instead, he gives us mercy when we come clean. When we do, we are cascaded with mercy.

The single life for Christ is not for everyone. But for those of us it is for, the Lord will give us the strength we need, the love we desire, absolutely everything we need to walk day by day through this life without a human romantic companion, knowing there is no companion anyway that even comes close to the one who is forever. Than to Jesus. Than to Christ. Than to the Lord! AMEN!

Ever done something for someone you really, really, really love not because you wanted to do it, but because you really, really, really loved that person? In fact, something you really, really, rehttps://app.storychief.io/apostolic-marketer/stories/43460/edit#/channelsally didn’t want to do, but you just couldn’t help yourself? You so very much loved that person that you went ahead and did it anyway? Because it was totally worth the sacrifice when it came right down to it because that person meant so incredibly much to you?