Day Twelve
In light of the fact that this is the beginning of the Memorial Day Weekend, I will keep this short.
Today, I simply want to remind you that as we pray, there are times when the situation takes a turn for the worse, but even in this, God is always answering our prayers.
As a quick illustration of this, take John the Baptist.
Matthew 11: 1After Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in the towns of Galilee.[a]
2When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples 3to ask him, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?"
4Jesus replied, "Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 5The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. 6Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me."
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Here we see John in prison, wondering when he will be released? Jesus had proclaimed he had come to set the prisoners free. So here is John IN PRISON wondering, "Are you the one, or is there someone else?"
What do you suppose the prayers of John the Baptist were? While the Bible does not record any prayers, I will give you one guess what he was praying..."Get me out of here!!"
Jesus sends back an answer..."Tell John what you hear and see." In other words. Go tell John that the Kingdom of God is arriving, people are changing, and I am bringing life to dead people.
In Matthew, chapter 14, we get the story of how Herod has John beheaded as a gift to his daughter. Wow! John's longing for release is never satisfied. But that is not the full story on John the Baptist. Turn back to chapter 11, verse 11. LIsten to Jesus, " I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist..." Woah! That is quite a title that John is given by Jesus.
All this to say, we cannot keep score here on earth. You look at John's life and see that he died in prison, and you might say, "He is a failure." But Jesus says, "He is the greatest."
Let us pray that those that walk the halls of The EDGE Colorado would not listen to the voices of men, but that they would hear the voice of Jesus saying, "Well done, good and faithful servant."
Thanks for Praying,
Mark
P.S. 2 huge answers to prayer today
1) Grant's $1,000 car repair was fixed with a $7 bottle of antifreeze.
2) Last month we had a 4,000 shortfall on our P and L statement. This month we are already $500 over our expected monthly income with one more Sunday to go. That is a $4,500 turn around.
Your prayers are making a difference!
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