Heartlight app devotion for today

Ephesians2:19 August 30, 2014

"You are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household."

— Ephesians 2:19 (NIV)

Thoughts on Today's Verse...

Those of us who have been Christians a long time sometimes forget that we have no claim or right to the grace we have received. When we feel we deserve it, that it is ours by right, it is no longer grace and we no longer live in it. To be a part of God's family is grace. For the Holy One who spoke into existence the universe (in which we are a submicroscopic speck), grace is simply and magnificently a gift from the One who knows how to share and love in ways we can't even imagine.

My Prayer...

For the incredible and boundless love you have given to me, O Almighty God, I can only fall to my knees and thank you. Your power is beyond my comprehension. Your awesome holiness is beyond my understanding. Yet your infinite grace is mine because of your love which cost you so much. Thank you. A million times over I say it, "Thank you!" In the name of Jesus my Lord. Amen.

Today's Verse Illustrated...

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In the Lord I put my trust

Psalm 11:1-7 KJV In the Lord put I my trust: how say ye to my soul, Flee as a bird to your mountain? [2] For, lo, the wicked bend their bow, they make ready their arrow upon the string, that they may privily shoot at the upright in heart. [3] If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do? [4] The Lord is in his holy temple, the Lord's throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men. [5] The Lord trieth the righteous: but the wicked and him that loveth violence his soul hateth. [6] Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup. [7] For the righteous Lord loveth righteousness; his countenance doth behold the upright.

Break Down of 2 Chronicles 7:14

2 Chronicles 7:14 KJV
If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.

Its really about the order of events..
Before you pray or even seek the face of God, you must humble yourself . Humility is becoming selfless. You have to forget about yourself and your situation before you come before God.
Then you must pray... prayer is speaking to God.
Then you must seek His face.
When one has to come before a king, in order to seek him, he or she must first get into the palace.
The bible says in Psalms 24 to enter His courts with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise.
Turn from our wicked ways: during prayer, you repent. But after seeking the Face of God and entering into His presence....you will never be the same. Thus, you must turn from the wickedness that was done prior to prayer.
Then will the Lord hear from heaven, only after you become humble, casting down pride, only after you genuinely speak to Him and come before His presence like the debtor went before the king. The king had mercy upon him, just as your Father in heaven will have mercy upon you. Which is what's next: He'll forgive your sin.
And then He'll heal your land. The land is cursed after the disobedience.
Once you obey, the land is healed.

Elijah arises

1 Kings 17:1-24 KJV

And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the Lord God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word. [2] And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, [3] Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. [4] And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. [5] So he went and did according unto the word of the Lord : for he went and dwelt by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. [6] And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook. [7] And it came to pass after a while, that the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land. [8] And the word of the Lord came unto him, saying, [9] Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee. [10] So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink. [11] And as she was going to fetch it , he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand. [12] And she said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die. [13] And Elijah said unto her, Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son. [14] For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth. [15] And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. [16] And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord , which he spake by Elijah. [17] And it came to pass after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and his sickness was so sore, that there was no breath left in him. [18] And she said unto Elijah, What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son? [19] And he said unto her, Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him up into a loft, where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed. [20] And he cried unto the Lord , and said, O Lord my God, hast thou also brought evil upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son? [21] And he stretched himself upon the child three times, and cried unto the Lord , and said, O Lord my God, I pray thee, let this child's soul come into him again. [22] And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah; and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived. [23] And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the house, and delivered him unto his mother: and Elijah said, See, thy son liveth. [24] And the woman said to Elijah, Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in thy mouth is truth.

Lara Stang originally shared

I Apologize to You God

By David J. Stewart

"The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God." —Psalm 9:17

       I apologize on behalf of my nation. The United States of America has become a large Sodom and Gomorrah. I am so sorry Lord, you deserve far much better. You have blessed us with freedom, and yet we taunt your holiness by living in unrepentant sin. You gave us your precious Word, and yet we have banned It from our public school's curriculum since 1963. 

Your Word teaches us to pray; yet since 1962 teachers have been legally forbidden to lead children in prayer. You teach us in your Holy Word that you lovingly formed mankind out of the dust of the earth, and breathed into us the breath of life; yet, our schools are legally required to teach children that they evolved from apes.

We are so filled with sinful pride and stubbornness in America that we have even renamed one of our most popular cities SIN CITY! Some people believe that You judged New Orleans with hurricane Katrina, which makes me wonder what's going to happen to Sin City Las Vegas? Americans, including professed Christians, can't seem to get enough of Sin City. The overall themes of Sin City are gambling and fornication. In fact, Nevada boasts oflegalized prostitution. And let me tell you, What Happens in Vegas is RECORDED in Heaven! I apologize to you Lord Jesus, that we are such big hypocrites in this country. 

You told us in 1st John 3:8... "He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil." We not only commit sin in America, we parade it up and down our streets in the form of homosexual parades and public nudity. This is what God is talking about in 1st John 3:8. Gay pride is sinful pride. In Brattleboro, Vermont, citizens are legally allowed to walk aroundcompletely naked, and they do!

There is nothing as filthy in America today as County Music Television(CMT). CMT is nothing but a bunch of whores and whoremongers who don't care about morals or decency! I'm so sorry that we treat you like garbage Lord. 

Unbelievably, most of these country-music-singing-hypocrites call themselves Christians, who help produce lascivious videos to make a buck, and cause more sexual sins. We are so wicked Lord, that we even taunt your command not to commit idolatry by hosting a show calledAMERICAN IDOL. Carrie Underwood sings, Jesus Take the Wheel; but her personal life is an entirely different story, having been featured inSELF

I apologize on her behalf Lord, that she has mocked your name. Faith Hill, who has unrepentantly posed twice in Playboy, sang the Gospel hymn I Surrender All on the Oprah Winfreyshow. I'm sorry for her wickedness Lord. We area rotten bunch in America. We claim to trust in you; but we DON'T.

Woe unto America, we deserve the judgment we are bringing upon ourselves. Where is repentance? Where is sorrow over sin? Where is the guilt that we should have as a nation over our wickedness? We are a stiff-necked people, many of whom are working relentlessly to passanti-hate speech laws to shun the truth of God's Word concerning sin. No one is trying to shun the Atheists, homosexuals, Communists or feminists. No one is trying to shun Black Muslims who spew absolutely contempt and hatred for Caucasian people. No, but they want to shun Christians who Biblically speak out against the sin of homosexuality. This nation is headed for the dust! I apologize to you Lord, for we are a woefully sinful people.

I apologize to you God for the blasphemous ads ran on Washington D.C. buses throughout the Thanksgiving holidays in 2008. We are so ungrateful for your blessings in America. I'm sorry that we spit in your face in the United States. I'm sorry that Sarah Palin and many professed Christians like her call you a liar and a war criminal. I'm sorry that most of our churches are blinded by apostasy and support tyranny. I apologize that we are stealing Iraq's oil. Sadly, we arrogantly think we can do as we please in America and don't take responsibility for our actions as a nation. We are woefully guilty.

I am sorry Lord, that we are a nation of quitters and liars. Our divorce rate is higher than any nation on earth, bar none.  We Americans all exchange the same wedding vows... “For better, for worse; 'til death do us part”; BUT, then we look for excuses and reasons to justify a divorce when we want out. People do what they want to do, and then look for reasons to justify their actions, with no honest regard for the truth of your Word Lord. Evil people all across America are running around spouting, “Some marriages just weren't meant to be,” with absolutely no regard for their marriage vows, or Your Holy Word. 

We have deteriorated into a nation of liars, cheaters, and promise-breakers. We have sinned as a nation! Sadly, because of the evils of feminism, women file for divorce TWICE as much as men. We have spit on you God. It is utter evil. Our lawyers, judges, and politicians are world renowned LAIRS! Our kids are taught that it's ok to lie if they cross their fingers. We are a spiritually sick people.

We are a nation of idolaters, who worship rock stars and entertainers. We ought to fall on our faces before you Lord, and repent of our idolatry. We ought to burn every rock-n-roll recording in existence (and thankfully one day they will be, as you have promised). We are a rock-n-roll nation of fornicators, who have irresponsibly flaunted Your moral laws, and as a result have caused tens-of-millions of unwanted pregnancies. In our wickedness, we have stooped lower-than-low by murdering those same children through abortion. 

Isn't it convenient for us, to be able to just wash our hands of sin, and selfishly move on in our self-righteousness? We have declared it legal to disobey Exodus 20:13... “Thou shalt not kill.” We don't obey You Lord, and I apologize for the sins of my fellow countrymen. We are a nation of blood-thirsty murderers. Abortuaries exist all across America. Our political leaders have the audacity to make pompous speeches, bragging about how America is a nation that values life, when nothing could be further from the truth. Whether it be the terminated life of Terri Schiavo or the lives of the 48,000,000 aborted children—we are a nation of MURDERERS!!! We have defied Your authority God.

Ezra 9:6-7, “And said, O my God, I am ashamed and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God: for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens. Since the days of our fathers have we been in a great trespass unto this day; and for our iniquities have we, our kings, and our priests, been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, and to a spoil, and to confusion of face, as it is this day.”

I apologize to you God for the rebellion of the American people, from the United States to the island of Guam (America's furthest east territory), we have embraced sin. Our society is saturated with demonism—from hellish rock music to witchcraft, from rebellious wives to fornication, from feminism to lesbianism, from drunkenness to strip joints, from night clubs to gambling casinos, from immodestly dressed women to pornography—we have sinned against You oh Lord! The television (Hellivision) has become our god

We are not a stupid people Lord, for we have some of the most brilliant minds in the world in our nation; BUT, rather, we are a sinful people, who are willfully ignorant of Your Truths. We are a very foolish people, and a stubborn nation. We deserve judgment, and no blessing whatsoever. How dare any American today ask God to bless America—when we LEGALLY allow pornography, prostitution, rebellious wives, divorce, gambling, drunkenness, abortion, homosexuality, gay-marriages, lesbianism, adultery, fornication, witchcraft, nudity, psychics, Girls Gone Wild, and every other form of SINFUL  imaginable. 

I apologize to you God on behalf of my nation, for we are a sinful people filled with stubborn pride. We are spoiled in America, having an overabundance of food and consumer goods, enjoying your wondrous blessings; YET, we thanklessly call Christmas "X-Mas," and teach our children about Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny instead of Jesus. We are a rotten bunch of ingrates in America. 

Jesus healed ten lepers, and only one came back to thank Him (Luke 17:12-18). Americans are amongst the nine lepers, who refuse to thank God for their blessings. We have become a gluttonous people oh Lord, eating like pigs and then searching for a drug to help us lose weight. We spend irresponsibly, and then gamble in an attempt to pay our bills. Instead of living for You Lord, Americans patronize night clubs, bars, and dance halls. We American's are infatuated with Dirty Dancing, Desperate Housewives, and Cheaters. Our TV shows curse You Lord, they make a joke of holiness, and mock the Bible. 

Americans use Your Holy name in vain more than any other nation on earth. Cursing in God's name has become the insignia of Hollywoodmovies, and we are guilty as a nation for supporting such blasphemy (Deuteronomy 5:11). We have treated you like our enemy oh Lord, and we deserve to be punished. Please judge us Lord, for we are a stubborn people blinded by our own sinful pride. Woe unto us Americans! 

Many of our top leaders are members of the demonic Bohemian Grove occult that worships Satan.  This includes Presidents Ronald Reagan and both Bushs. I'm sorry Lord, you deserve better. I apologize that the average believer in America is ignorant of these things, because they are too indifferent to care about the truth. While America's churches are filled Sunday after Sunday with with professed Christians, very few are taking a Biblical stand against evil in this nation. In fact, many of our churches are part of the problem. 

I apologize Lord for these disgraceful churches that are pro-abortion, and proudly march in pro-death rallies. I am so sorry that this church hired an ordained lesbian to be their associate pastor. Evidently insanity has crept into our churches, and is causing professed Christian to act crazy. Here's a pastor who thinks the murdering of 48,000,000 children is a MINOR CONCERN. Repent America!

We have sinned against you God, and I apologize from the bottom of my heart. Shame on us! I don't dare ask or expect You to bless my nation Lord, for we have abandoned You. God bless America? I think not. We have brought a curse upon ourselves Lord, by our own complacency and love for sin. Woe unto America! Even so come Lord Jesus.

"The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day." —Isaiah 2:11


Open To Grace: He Won't Let by Katherine Singer

Open To Grace: He Won't Let Go

Romans 10

Romans 10:1-21 KJV Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. [2] For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. [3] For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. [4] For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. [5] For Moses describeth the righteousness which is of the law, That the man which doeth those things shall live by them. [6] But the righteousness which is of faith speaketh on this wise, Say not in thine heart, Who shall ascend into heaven? (that is, to bring Christ down from above :) [7] Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.) [8] But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; [9] That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. [10] For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. [11] For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. [12] For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him. [13] For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. [14] How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? [15] And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! [16] But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? [17] So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. [18] But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world. [19] But I say, Did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you. [20] But Esaias is very bold, and saith, I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me. [21] But to Israel he saith, All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people.