He is not here.  He is risen!

 Luke 24:6

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Church of the Holy Spirit

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'You care for people and animals alike O LORD.' 

Psalm 36: 6b

   Who We Are 

The Church of the Holy Spirit is a Christian church.

We believe in God the Father....our Father, the Creator

In Jesus, the Messiah....our Savior
and in
Holy Spirit, Comforter and Teacher. 

We believe that God made the heavens, the earth, and all creatures therein....

He forgives us of our sins.

 He gave all creatures His son, Jesus,
who died on a cross and arose from the dead, allowing us to receive eternal life.

We believe Jesus went to heaven, he is now seated at God’s right hand,
 and
that God gives us Holy Spirit to teach, comfort, and guide us.
 
We believe the Bible is the inspired word of God.

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Jesus Christ from Nazareth, the man who was crucified, was raised from the dead by God!

Jesus has now become the cornerstone.

"There is salvation in no one else!  There is no other name in all of heaven for people to call on to save them."

Acts 4: 10 - 12

Holy Bible New Living Translation

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Who are God, Jesus and Holy Spirit?

God is our heavenly Father who 'created the heavens and the earth'.  He lovingly forgives our sins.  God gave us His Son, Jesus, who died on a cross.  He is the Messiah, our Savior.  He can be our Lord, if we believe in him and accept him!  He gave us the opportunity to receive eternal life. When Jesus went to heaven, Holy Spirit was made available to us to comfort, teach, and guide us. 

God in the beginning:  Genesis 1 & 2
Jesus:  Matthew 1, 2 & 3
Holy Spirit:  John 15:26, 16:5-15

Are you one with God, Jesus and Holy Spirit?

If you have not accepted the Trinity (God, Jesus, Holy Spirit) into your life to receive all they have to give you, and you would like to, pray this prayer or use your own words from your heart:

“Dear Heavenly Father God, please forgive me of my sins known and unknown.  Jesus, please come into my life, heal me, and make me whole.  Give me a new life in and with you.  I wish to receive all that you have to give.  Baptize me in the fullness of your Holy Spirit, so that I can learn all I can about you, to love you as you love me, and so I can love others.  So I can love myself.  Holy Spirit, please fill me to overflowing with all the fruits and the gifts you have to give me to help me grow in Christ Jesus and be able to share the Trinity with others.  Thank you for giving me this new life.  Please send other Christians to surround me to help me grow and be strong to defeat Satan and the things of the world.  Help me to be worthy of your love.  Thank you God, Jesus and Holy Spirit.  In Jesus name I pray by and with the power of the Holy Spirit, to dear Heavenly Father God.  Amen.” 

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If you have prayed this prayer, or one from your heart, please email us at TrinityMissions@msn.com, so we can agree with you in prayer, praise God, and uplift you with prayer support.  We are thrilled to welcome you into the family of believers and encourage you to find a church home nearby where you can study, grow and fellowship with others.  Someone may need your support as much as you need them.  We are commanded to come together in fellowship to worship His majesty.

If you choose to fellowship with us via the web, we are honored to welcome you to the Church of the Holy Spirit.  We pray you will be enriched and uplifted in the fullness of the Trinity to their glory.  Stay in touch and let us know how you are doing from time to time.  As the website grows, we will have a special page for this purpose, and, you will be able to list prayers for all to see, so that we may come together praying as a body of believers, for ‘wherever two or more shall gather, there will I be.’   Don’t forget to send prayers of thanksgiving, as well as petitions of tears.  

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You are who God calls ‘The Promise Children’, as in Romans 9:25-26 NLT:

“Those who were not my people, I will now call my people.  And I will love those whom I did not love before.  And, once they were told, ‘You are not my people.’  But now he will say, ‘You are children of the living God.”

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“The Kingdom of God is near you now.”

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The Apostle Paul gave us a “Prayer for Spiritual Empowerment” in Ephesians 3:14-21 NLT.  It reads

“When I think of the wisdom and scope of God’s plan, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.  I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will give you mighty inner strength through his Holy Spirit.  And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him.  May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love.  And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is.  May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it.  Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

Now glory be to God!  By his mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope.  May he be given glory in the church and in Christ Jesus forever and ever through endless ages.  Amen.”  

Jesus told us to remain in his love in John 15:9-13 NLT:

“I have loved you even as the Father has loved me.  Remain in my love.  When you obey me, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father and remain in his love.  I have told you this so that you will be filled with my joy.  Yes, your joy will overflow!  I command you to love each other in the same way that I love you.  And here is how to measure it - the greatest love is shown when people lay down their lives for their friends." 

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July 7, 2013

 Jesus Confirms Prophecy 

Luke 18: 31 - 34

Luke

Gathering the twelve disciples around him, Jesus told them, "As you know, we are going to Jerusalem.  And when we get there, all the predictions of the ancient prophets concerning the Son of Man will come true.  He will be handed over to the Romans to be mocked, treated shamefully, and spit upon.  They will whip him and kill him, but on the third day he will rise again."

But they didn't understand a thing he said.  Its significance was hidden from them, and they failed to grasp what he was talking about. 

***

Thoughts.....

When I read this, I recall those moments when my parents would warn me as a little child, "Don't touch, it's hot."  Or "Don't stay out late beyond the time we've asked you to come home."  Or "Don't pet the dog because it might bite."  You may have heard the same from your parents.  Some of us listened, understanding the consequences, some did not.  Some choose to listen as adults to warnings, some may not want to hear, or in hearing choose to stay on the same path.  The latter may be the situation for the twelve disciples.  On the other hand, how many were fully versed in what we now know as the Old Testament?  One might presume that because they were called by Jesus, that they might have had full knowledge of the law.  Would a fisherman, or a tax collector have time for worship and learning?  In the culture, it was expected.  It is now, too.

When the signers of the Declaration of Independence enacted such, they presumed this would be an America based on Christian ideals.  They had no idea that 'unalienable rights' would become, at it's foundation, a legal term, rather than a spiritual term.  That life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness would become a rattlesnake to wrangle with rather than the embraceable Christian spiritual concept filled with joy and freedom intended.  The same can be said for what Jesus foretells. 

The world had wrangled with a rattlesnake called Satan a long time.  Jesus is telling the disciples that a day is coming when life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, if you will, will have new meaning for him and everyone in the world.  Jesus will reign and Satan will be squashed.  Let's look at todays lesson and see how that applies.

In todays lesson, Jesus gathered the 12 disciples only....for the meat of the matter.  He didn't want the other multiple thousands to know, because they could possibly cause trouble for God's plan....maybe attempt to forestall it in an effort to keep their new found hero around....safer....longer.  He also did not want to cause alarm or panic.  Of note is that Matthew, and Mark, also, reference this in Matthew 20:17-19 and Mark 10:32-34. 

There are many references in the Old Testament that prophesy Jesus death and resurrection.  Isaiah 52:13-53:12 prophesies clearly what Jesus is telling his disciples, most specifically Isaiah 53:5.  But let's read in context [complete thought] what God had to say through Isaiah.  Oh, and keep this reference in mind, as we continue through the end of Luke. Also, please remember that when 'LORD' is all capital letters, it refers to God. 

From Isaiah:  'See, my servant will prosper; he will be highly exalted.  Many were amazed when they saw him - beaten and bloodied, so disfigured one would scarcely know he was a person.  And he will again startle (sprinkle, cleanse) many nations (bodies of many people).  Kings will stand speechless in his presence.  For they will see what they had not previously been told about; they will understand what they had not heard about.

'Who has believed our message?  To whom will the LORD reveal his saving power?  My servant grew up in the LORD'S presence like a tender green shoot, sprouting from a root in dry and sterile ground.  There was nothing beautiful or majestic about his appearance, nothing to attract us to him.  He was despised and rejected - a man of sorrows, acquainted with bitterest grief.  We turned our backs on him and looked the other way when he went by.  He was despised, and we did not care.

'Yet is was our weaknesses he carried; it was our sorrows (sicknesses, diseases) that weighed him down.  And we thought his troubles were a punishment from God for his own sins!  But he was wounded and crushed for our sins.  He was beaten that we might have peace.  He was whipped, and we were healed! (v.5)  All of us have strayed away like sheep. We have left God's paths to follow our own.  Yet the LORD laid on him the guilt and sins of us all.

'He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word.  He was led as a lamb to the slaughter.  And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth.  From prison and trial they led him away to his death.  But who among the people realized that he was dying for their sins - that he was suffering their punishment?  He had done no wrong, and he never deceived anyone.  But he was buried like a criminal; he was put in a rich man's grave.

'But it was the LORD's good plan to crush him and fill him with grief.  Yet when his life is made an offering for sin, he will have a multitude of children, many heirs.  He will enjoy a long life, and the LORD'S plan will prosper in his hands.  'When he sees all that is accomplished by his anguish, he will be satisfied.  And because of what he had experienced, my righteous servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for he will bear all their sins.  I will give him the honors of one who is mighty and great, because he exposed himself to death.  He was counted among those who were sinners.  He bore the sins of many and interceded for sinners.'// 

Isaiah probably put ink to these words toward the end of his ministry which occurred in about 681 B.C.  That's about 676 years before Jesus was even born.  The words are prophetic, meaning, that it is something foretold of an event expected to occur.  Confirmation occurs when this later comes true....actually happens later on.  That's pretty powerful....the 'comes true' part.  Anybody can say something may happen.  But when it does, well, that's grounds for pretty profound credibility for the one having prophesied.  It is true that someone can say, "Well, so and so said this is going to happen and so I am going to prove them true, I'm going to be THE ONE, I'm going to make this happen."  In this case, first I have to ask, who in their right mind would want to be the one to fulfill THIS prophecy?  It doesn't matter IN THIS CASE, because there are WAY TOO MANY events that prove Jesus was who he said he was, and who God said Jesus was, and Holy Spirit pointed to Jesus being THE ONE, all with proof by miraculous events.  And events ever since. 

In Psalm 22, David is sharing his lament, yet, his words, some of which were spoken by Jesus many, many, years later, provide us a clear look at Jesus life and resurrection.  Could David have been sharing prophetically about Jesus, living Jesus' life vicariously, prophetically?  Let's read what David had to say.  As you are reading this, I want you to place yourself in Jesus' shoes.... read this as if you are Jesus saying these words....even tho' we know this is David's lament.

From the Life Application Bible New Living Translation, Psalm 22 reads:

'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?  Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?  O my God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and [I] am not silent. 

'Yet you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel.  In you our fathers put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them.  They cried to you and were saved; in you they trusted and were not disappointed.

'But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people.  All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads: "He trusts in the LORD; let the LORD rescue him.  Let him deliver him, since he delights in him."

'Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made me trust in you even at my mother's breasts.  From birth I was cast upon you; from my mother's womb you have been my God.  Do not be far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help.  Many bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me.  Roaring lions tearing their prey open their mouths wide against me.  I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint.  My heart has turned to wax, it has melted away within me.  My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death.  Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and feet.  I can count all my bones; people stare and gloate over me.  They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.

'But you, O LORD, be not far off; O my Strength, come quickly to help me.  Deliver my life from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dogs.  Rescue me from the mouth of the lions; save me from the horns of the wild oxen.

I will declare your name to my brothers; in the congregation I will praise you.  You who fear the LORD, praise him!  All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!  Revere him, all you descendants of Israel!  For he has not despised or disdained the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help.

From you comes the theme of my praise in the great assembly; before those who fear you will I fulfill my vows.  The poor will eat and be satisfied; they who seek the LORD will praise him - may your hearts live forever!  All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, for dominion belongs to the LORD and he rules over the nations.

'All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; all who go down to the dust will kneel before him - those who cannot keep themselves alive.  Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord.  They will proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn - for he has done it.'//    

All the words of David could have been, and some were, the words of the Lord Jesus, as he lived his life, as he hung on a cross, as he went to his grave, and as he was delivered....so that you, and I, may have everlasting life!  Praise the Lord of our salvation!  Alleluia! 

"But you followed God's prearranged plan.  With the help of lawless Gentiles, you [Jews and residents of Jerusalem] nailed him [Jesus] to the cross and murdered him."  Those words were spoken by Peter in Acts 2 23.  Let's read Acts 2:22-36....and please feel free to read any of the complete text references I've given you today.  Every day, we should be reading the Word....the Bible.  Don't feel you have to stop where I do, or start where I do.  There is wealth and life in every word of God.

Peter said, "People of Israel, listen!  God publicly endorsed Jesus of Nazareth by doing wonderful miracles, wonders, and signs through him as you well know. But you followed God's prearranged plan.  With the help of lawless Gentiles, you nailed him to the cross and murdered him.  However, God released him from the horrors of death and raised him back to life again, for death could not keep him in its grip.  King David [David of Psalms] said this about him:  'I know the Lord is always with me, I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me. No wonder my heart is filled with joy, and my mouth shouts his praises!  My body rests in hope.  For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your Holy One to rot in the grave.  You have shown me the way of life, and you will give me wonderful joy in your presence.' 

"Dear brothers, think about this!  David wasn't referring to himself when he spoke these words I have quoted, for he died and was buried, and his tomb is still here among us.  But he was a prophet, and he knew God had promised with an oath that one of David's own descendants would sit on David's throne as the Messiah.  David was looking into the future and predicting the Messiah's resurrection.  He was saying that the Messiah would not be left among the dead and that his body would not rot in the grave.

'This prophecy was speaking of Jesus whom God raised from the dead, and we all are witnesses of this.  Now he sits on the throne of highest honor in heaven, at God's right hand.  And the Father, as he promised, gave him the Holy Spirit to pour out upon us, just as  you see and hear today.  For David himself never ascended into heaven, yet he said, 'The LORD said to my Lord, Sit in honor at my right hand until I humble your enemies, making them a footstool under your feet'.  So let it be clearly known by everyone in Israel that God has made this Jesus whom you crucified to be both Lord and Messiah!"//

The whole of the message today is not just that Jesus' death and resurrection was prophesied, but that the prophecy was fulfilled!  Because Jesus died, you can LIVE!

I don't like it when people tell me the ending of a movie or book.  But I haven't told you the ending....I've told you the beginning of LIFE with Jesus Christ! 

No longer do you have to sit and wait wondering if the end is near or if you will get to heaven.  You can make a choice today, right now, to accept Jesus as your Savior, and make him Lord of your life!  In the beginning of this page, is a prayer you can pray to ask him into your life, or use your own words.  Ask forgiveness for any and all sins you have committed to make yourself a cleansed vessel in which he would want to live.  Then tell him you believe he is the Messiah, the Savior come, and ask him to come into your life.  After that, start reading the New Testament to understand who he is and how to live your new life.  Galatians 5:16-26 will help you with a brief foundational starter.  And don't think you can just say you accept him and go on your merry way doing what you did before.  You need to show God, Jesus, Holy Spirit that you are honest, true, sincere in your intent, and thankful.  Here is where the rubber meets the road, so to speak.  Here is how you will be known to them....whether you are indeed a Christian living by Christian standards, or have just SAID you wanted him in your life to manipulate him into believing, so you can go to heaven.  Please note:  it doesn't work that way.  They WILL KNOW if you are sincere or not.  And Jesus is pretty clear he will BURN [cast into hell] any who do not remain in him, stay joined to him, obey him.  See John 15:1- 16:4 for proof of him....Jesus saying that.  Don't let Satan have the satisfaction of you going to his house....hell.  If you do your part, Jesus will do his.  Live your new life today!

If you don't have a church to go to, look for one.  Ask God to show you which door to go through.  Make sure they focus on the NEW Testament.  It doesn't make any sense to have focus on the Old Testament, if we are to be living under the NEW law....the New Testament.  The Old Testament is important to understand why we have/need the new law....the importance and significance of it, and the prophecy of the Messiah....Jesus.  It helps us understand God, why he created us and so much more.  But to fully grasp who you are to be as a Christian, to learn more about Jesus so you can do this, you need to read the New Testament.  Besides, it's a much happier book, sans the persecution parts.  I relate the New Testament to the 'flower children' of the 60's and 70's....happy messages. 

For those who are already Christians, do you need a reminder that those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit?  If you are strengthened in Jesus, are walking the walk and talking the talk, then Alleluia!  I ask you to please pray for other Christians, including me, and those who are meeting him anew.  May all paths be lighted, all spirits strengthened in Jesus Christ our Lord.

I hope you can see although Jesus told the 12 disciples what was coming....almost as if keeping it a secret....it was far from a secret, having been foretold 600 plus years ago just by Isaiah.  And, when someone we love who is near and dear to us tells us about their pending death, how it would be easy to go into denial....not understand....not want to understand....or even know.  Fortunately for us, we know that wasn't Jesus' end....only the beginning of a new life....for him and for many.  Will you be one to accept the gift he has given you, through his life, suffering, death, resurrection?  Will you count the cost as worthy?   Will you accept it all as having meaning to your life....for your resurrection?   

My prayer for you today is that you will count it worthy.  That you will accept it all as having meaning to your life....for your resurrection.  May you be blessed beyond measure by the one who gives life....and gives it abundantly.  Alleluia.  Our Lord reigns!  

***

Let Us Pray

God, Jesus, Holy Spirit, may all those who seek you....find you.  May all those who have found you....keep you.  May all those who keep you....bring honor to you by how they live their life in thanksgiving for all you have done for them, given to them, and will give to them.  Please forgive me of any sins I may have committed, known and unknown, that I may be a cleansed vessel where you, God, Holy Spirit, want to live.  Help me to please see the road ahead, that I might better prepare, plan, and know where to walk....show me how to get....there.  Receive the fullness of love and gratitude from my heart as thanksgiving for everything you've done for me, are doing for me, going to do for me.  Help me to also walk the walk and talk the talk to further show you my sincerity, and show you my gratitude in thanksgiving.  May others know you as I do, Lord.  And may we all learn even more....'to see you more clearly, love you more dearly, follow you nearly....day by day'.  I praise you and thank you!  Alleluia!  I love you.  Amen.                       

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Lord,LordJesJeJeJJjEJJJ     JJThe LORD is king!  Let the nations tremble!  T***

More love.... 

  Benediction....Blessing

Let us hear from Paul as he prays:  

When I think of the wisdom and scope of God's plan, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.  I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will give you mighty inner strength through his Holy Spirit.  And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him.  May your roots go down deep into the soil of God's marvelous love.  And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is.  May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it.  Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

Now glory be to God!  By his mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope.  May he be given glory in the church and in Christ Jesus forever and ever through endless ages.  Amen.  Ephesians 3:14-21 NLT         

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Scroll down to read Jesus' Prayer of Thanksgiving...'The Unforced Rhythms of Grace'.

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Definition of a Christian:  Anyone who believes in God, Jesus and Holy Spirit, and accepts Jesus as Lord and Savior.  Regardless of church name or religious affiliation. 

'All who have been united with Christ in baptism have been made like him.  There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female.  For you are all Christians - you are ONE in Christ Jesus.'  Galatians 3: 27

  It is not how we worship, but that we worship....the Trinity!

Teach tolerance....reach in acceptance....worship as one!

Embrace....Respect....Encourage!

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baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.  And be sure of this:

I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

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There is no better time than now to let God, Jesus, and Holy Spirit know how grateful you are for them being there for you, all they have done for you and will do, and, show thankfulness for being fed the Word of God, so you can know and obey him.   

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  Our Continual Cause

It is time to reach into the community and the world around you to see wherein lies the greatest need.  As you choose to focus on these areas, do so with a servant's heart.  Whether the need is for children, adults, or animals, or any cause in between that will help those in need, ask God how you can best serve his needs, what path you must take, and how long you should persevere.  Sometimes we are to be in the lives of others merely as stepping stones.  Sometimes we are to touch those lives forever.  Whatever journey you are called to take, whatever team you will be a member, know this:  God is with you always...even til the end of time.  He loves you, is grateful for you, and will help you along life's way, especially if you are helping others along theirs, persevering with a servant's heart.  

Please accept my sincerest thanks....and God's....and may God richly bless you ! 

BesidesBesid   ***

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    One last thing....

 Jesus' Prayer of Thanksgiving

'The Unforced Rhythms of Grace'

"Abruptly Jesus broke into prayer:  "Thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth.  You've concealed your ways from sophisticates and know-it-alls, but spelled them out clearly to ordinary people.  Yes, Father, that's the way you like to work."

Jesus resumed talking to the people, but now tenderly.  "The Father has given me all these things to do and say.  This is a unique Father - Son operation, coming out of Father and Son intimacies and knowledge.  No one knows the Son the way the Father does, nor the Father the way the Son does.  But I'm not keeping it to myself; I'm ready to go over it line by line with anyone willing to listen."

"Are you tired?  Worn out?  Burned out on religion?  Come to me.  Get away with me and you'll recover your life.  I'll show you how to take a real rest.  Walk with me and work with me - watch how I do it.  Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.  I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn how to live freely and lightly.

   Matthew 11:  25-30

  The Message

And the people said,

"Amen."

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 ***  

I now write most prayers in the position of ' I ' (first person) because most people are sitting at their computer alone, not in groups, and it allows those reading and praying to personalize the prayer as coming from them going to God.  Variations may appear on holidays when families may wish to use the prayer provided.  I encourage you to pray your own prayers as well.

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  Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996.  Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189.  All rights reserved.

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NOTE:  I said it long ago, but let me say it again.  If you are wanting to lead a group, start a church, or are confined in an institution, or live in a country where the Gospel is not preached, and you don't know what to say or how to say it, and yet feel led to share, teach, or preach, besides just reading straight out of the Bible and sharing what God puts on your heart, please feel free to share any or all of what I've written, if it will help you, as long as you include where it comes from, due to copyright laws.  Jesus gave God's love and healing freely, as well as his message.  Our responsibility is to get the Word out to those who need to hear it.  If what I've written....by the power and direction of the Holy Spirit....or what he has said through me....has helped you, it may help others that you know.  You are welcome to share it.  God calls all of us to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the world.  Please share it with the fullness of love that God, Jesus, Holy Spirit....and I....have given it.  Amen!   

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