The Assassination Attempt

"Trump is aware of the supernatural protection he experienced. In a statement on Truth Social, he thanked people for their prayers and said, “It was God alone who prevented the unthinkable from happening.” Trump displayed his warrior heart as he stood up from the stage floor with a bloody face, shaking his fist and shouting, “Fight!” He reinforced it in the Truth Social post, stating, “We will FEAR NOT, but instead remain resilient in our faith and defiant in the face of wickedness.” He also voiced his love and prayers for those who were wounded and condolences regarding the man who was killed. If Trump ever questioned God’s hand and destiny on him, he should now be fully assured of it!"

Will Someone Help Me Cross?

God's Word for Friday, 8/24/18

I love the Lord, because he hath heard my voice and my supplications. Because he hath inclined his ear unto me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live.

Psalm 116:1-2 KJV

I love God because he listened to me, listened as I begged for mercy. He listened so intently as I laid out my case before him. Death stared me in the face, hell was hard on my heels. Up against it, I didn’t know which way to turn; then I called out to God for help: “Please, God!” I cried out. “Save my life!” God is gracious—it is he who makes things right, our most compassionate God. God takes the side of the helpless; when I was at the end of my rope, he saved me.

Psalm 116:1-2 MSG

God's Word for Tuesday, 1/23/18

And if anyone longs to be wise, ask God for wisdom and he will give it! He won’t see your lack of wisdom as an opportunity to scold you over your failures but he will overwhelm your failures with his generous grace.

James 1:5 TPT

How To Hear From God

How to Hear From the Lord

In the years before he died, my father and I occasionally discussed why my faith-walk was so different from his. He was a staunchly denominational Southern Baptist, of the branch of that church with no charismatic leanings.

Dad expressed his curiosity about how, given the same passage of Scripture, he & I could have radically differing interpretations. His reading was informed by various commentaries, all expressing man’s ideas about what the passage meant. Those authors, no matter how devout or sincere, were simply scholarly interpretations of the words, followed by anecdotal examples.

But my time had not been spent gathering commentaries. As led by the Holy Spirit, those passages were interpreted by the Spirit, as He gave me understanding … enlightenment, if you will … of those verses.

The Lord, you see, as the Divine Author of the Word, will “cut to the chase” more quickly and more accurately than any theologian.

For example, let’s look at Matthew 9:13:

“But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (King James translation)

What does it mean? Let’s look at the circumstances in which this passage came up. During one morning’s Bible reading, I saw this passage and inquired of the Lord for its actual meaning.

He instructed me to research it. So I looked at the Greek-English Interlinear Bible and a well-known commentary, and began to write down what I’d found.

The Greek language, in which much of the New Testament was originally written, had various layers of meanings, depending on the context. So I pulled out my Strong’s Concordance and wrote out an expanded, amplified interpretation of the verse. When it had reached a half-page of single-spaced handwriting, I finally did the smart thing: I asked the Lord to tell me.

He said, “Acts of mercy and compassion do more to attract sinners than rituals which don’t appear to help anyone. And I want you, My children, to attract sinners to Me.”

If I had been content to deal with theological commentaries, I might – or might not – have ever understand what Jesus had been getting at, in the referenced verses.

So let’s look at the same passage again, from The Message translation:

“Who needs a doctor: the healthy or the sick? Go figure out what this Scripture means: ‘I’m after mercy, not religion.’ I’m here to invite outsiders, not coddle insiders.”

That gets closer to what the Lord said to me. Now let’s see it from The Passion Translation:

“Now you should go and study the meaning of the verse: ‘I want you to show mercy, not just offer me a sacrifice.’ For I have come to invite the outcasts of society and sinners, not those who think they are already on the right path.”

Neither of the translations used here were available in the mid-1990s, when I had that conversation with the Lord. So you can see that asking Him to provide the understanding was infinitely better than reading books about what others thought it meant.

So I told my Dad the same thing I’ve just written, above. He looked at me and said, “Are you sure you’re hearing from God? He hasn’t ever spoken to me.”

“Are you sure, Dad? When you’ve prayed for an answer, what about circumstances coming about which make the choice obvious? Has anyone ever spontaneously said something to you which sparked a sudden understanding or interpretation of the thing you were praying about?”

Dad was silent for a few moments, and then admitted that answers had come through circumstances. Those things were so coincidental that he just never realized it was God answering his prayer.

One other personal story: as many of you know, I was a music minister for some 20 years (and may yet be, again, but that’s another story). One evening, after the praise & worship team had practiced, they asked me to conclude the session with prayer.

When the prayer was over, one of the associate pastors said to me, “I wish I could pray like you do.”

“What do you mean?”

“When you pray, it’s like you’re just talking to God. It’s so conversational.”

Up until that moment, I’d never given it much thought. So – speaking of others inspiring a thought – I realized that prayer is supposed to be a conversation.

When you speak with a friend, isn’t there an exchange, a give-and-take? After you’ve said something, the other person will usually have something to say in response. And so should your prayers be. When you’ve asked the Lord a question, or presented a petition, shouldn’t you listen for an answer?

After all, you’re talking to the most intelligent Person in the universe. Shouldn’t you let Him do most of the talking?

But how, you may ask, do you hear from Him?

It really isn’t complicated, except by experiences and cultural training. It may take a bit of practice, though.

You must quiet your mind, and still your emotions as best you can, and – after you’ve said your piece – listen for that still, small voice.

A hurricane wind ripped through the mountains and shattered the rocks before God, but God wasn’t to be found in the wind; after the wind an earthquake, but God wasn’t in the earthquake; and after the earthquake fire, but God wasn’t in the fire; and after the fire a gentle and quiet whisper. (I Kings 19:11-12, The Message)

He’s a God of diversity, so the answer may not come the same way each time. In fact, it probably won’t. The point is that God doesn’t need huge, overt displays to speak to His children – or to anyone who earnestly seeks Him.

He just needs us to listen.

God's Word for Thursday, 1/11/18

Out of my deep anguish and pain I prayed, and God, you helped me as a father. You came to my rescue and broke open the way into a beautiful and broad place. Now I know, Lord, that you are for me, and I will never fear what man can do to me.

Psalm 118:5-6 TPT

Another Prayer

Lord God,

We thank You for the election results. And now we ask that You do not allow us to be boastful or vain, as if by some method we accomplished something great.

Rather, Lord, we know that YOU called these results beforehand, and that You are still sovereign.

Father, we throw ourselves on Your mercy, and ask You to keep Your hands on us as we move into this (unknown to us) future which You have called into being.

Lord, please help us as we attempt to bind the wounds which have divided us as a nation, and lead us in every decision, every policy, every change.

And please keep and protect our President-Elect as he prepares to lead us.

In Jesus' name we pray,
Amen.



I just want to remind us of God's great mercy and love for this nation and His promise to us in 2 Chronicles.  There have been, and even at this moment there are, many, many believers who have stood in the gap in repentant prayer for our nation.

Now it is time we move to the next step, take our place as His sons and daughters, using the authority given us by God and decree and declare the turning and changing of  our nation back to God and our founding father's covenant with Him.

We decree and declare: America IS even NOW turning back to God and  reestablishing her covenant with Him.  We declare, according to 2 Chronicles 7:14:  because we, God's people have called upon Him in humble repentance, seeking His face and calling upon His mercy, that He has heard from Heaven and is healing our land.

A Word For Today: Somebody Needs This

When you're praying for something you need, you have to believe that the Lord will provide it. You don’t want to tie His hands.  Don’t try to figure out where the answer is coming from – and don’t try to figure who it’s going to come through.

Remember Hebrews 11:1 says, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." If you've learned true Biblical faith, you know it's the confident expectation that God WILL provide the answer. It's not "I hope so"; it's "I know so."

We can’t expect God to live down to our expectations – He’s got higher standards than we have!  His answer probably won’t make any sense – in the natural.  But it’ll work.

You never know where the answer’s coming from.  And you never know how God can use you to bless others, but you have to be open to it.  Just expect it – and expect the answer to your prayer.

Update: Our Prayers, Answered

Most of you will recall that I recently wrote about a friend's missing brother-in-law. After more than two weeks, he has been located. He's okay, and his family now knows where he is. For that, we are truly grateful.

We thank everyone who prayed and offered good wishes.

An Answer to Prayer

I just got off the phone with my cardiologist. Saturday's stress test/nuclear imaging shows minimal damage to my heart - no further procedures/surgeries required.

Just stay on the meds, and I'm cleared to start exercising again.

Thank you, Lord!!!!!


And thank you to all those of you who were praying for me. I will always be grateful for the outpouring of support.

You folks are the BEST.