In Bible days, walking was one of the most basic modes of transportation. Today, we might drive or fly or perhaps even take a train, but we usually do something to pass the time. In a trip to Pigeon Forge a few months back, we were keeping track of each license plate to see if we could see one from every state. It’s also time to just talk and fellowship with those traveling with you. In Luke 24, we have two men on the Road to Emmaus and to pass the time on their journey, they were discussing all that had happened in Jerusalem. Perhaps one of the hardest walks to take, is one that leads away from a grave – and that what these two men were doing. Jesus had been crucified, died, and buried and now they were on their way to Emmaus. They probably were confused, sad, questioning, and grieving over the lost of Jesus – but this walk would be a life-changing walking. We don’t know much about these two mean, other than one of them is named Cleopas. 

As Cleopas and his friend were walking, a third man walked up and joined them in their journey. It was Jesus, but the Bible tells us in verse 16 that Jesus kept them from recognizing who He was. As Jesus joins them, He asks what they are talking about. They probably were shocked that this newcomer hadn’t heard already. But as they tell what they knew, we can see that they really didn’t get why Jesus had to die. They, like many others, viewed the Messiah as someone that would overthrow the government and restore the nation of Israel to its former glory under King David. 

Another thing we can assume is that Cleopas and his friend left Jerusalem before the news spread that Jesus was no longer dead and his disciples were saying He had be raised to life again. We can assume they didn’t know this news because if they had they would not have been walking AWAY from the tomb – but running TOWARDS it to see for themselves. 

Knowing they didn’t get it, Jesus gives a slight rebuke saying, “You are such foolish, foolish people! You find it so hard to believe all that the prophets wrote in the Scriptures.” But its important to note that Jesus doesn’t shake his head, fed up with their lack of understanding and walk away. Instead begins to explain all the Old Testament prophecies that led up to his birth, life, dead, and resurrection. 

The more Jesus taught the more curious they become – they wanted to know more. So they invited Jesus to stay for dinner and Jesus continued to teach them. Then in verses 30-32 Jesus turns the tables and He becomes the host. He reaches for the bread, blessed it and broke it and began serving them. It was in that moment as they watched what they had seen him do before, that they realized who he was. Jesus! He had been dead – but now He’s alive and they had been with him all day. Now they understood why they felt this burning within them while Jesus was with them and teaching them.

What is it like for you when your pastor preaches each Sunday? What is it like when you read the Bible? What is it like when you are sitting in your small group studying God’s Word? Are you bored and spend more time looking at your watch to see how much time is left then actually listening to what the Holy Spirit has to say to you? Do you read the Bible more as a check mark in the to-do box? Or does your heart burn within you to know Jesus more? 

The thing about encountering the Living God, is He will always leave you wanting to know more, yearning for a little more time with Him. If that’s not what your Bible study and worship time is like, try getting alone with the Holy Spirit and ask Him what’s blocking the road in your spiritual journey.

#roadtoEmmaus #lifechangingwalk #encounteringthelivingGod #WCM

 

Download the full 52-Day prayer guide by clicking here.

As of May 4, there have been 68,063 deaths in the U.S. and 250,435 have died world-wide. For the most current data regarding the virus, visit the John Hopkins University website.

The prayer guide is available for free download to individuals and churches and may be reproduced in any quantity both printed and electronically through websites, email, social media, apps, or any other method. 

Today, pray for West Virginia:

#Chronovirus #fastandpray #judgement #repentance #revivalin2020 #WCM

Don’t forget to learn this week’s memory verse:

Memorize and hide in your heart one memory verse each week in 2020. If you didn’t start the challenge at the beginning of the year, just jump in now and be sure to sign up to get our weekly Memory verse in your email so you don’t miss a week.

 

This week’s memory verse:

1 John 3:4

^{“Everyone who practices sin 
also practices lawlessness;
and sin is lawlessness”}

 

 #sin #COVID19 #prayer #revival #WCM

 

Not long after Solomon takes the throne as king of Israel, God appears to Solomon in a dream and says: “Ask! What shall I give you?” If God were to ask you that question, what is the first things that comes to mind that you would ask for? Good health, long life, riches, fame, for a wayward child to come back to Christ, a promotion? Would you ask God to wipe out your enemies or seek revenge for a wrong done? Solomon could have asked for anything. However, he asked for nothing from a selfish perspective. Perhaps now that he sat on the throne, the weight of the responsibility weighed on him. Solomon asked for nothing for himself except for God’s wisdom in leading and guiding God’s people. His requests marks a cultural change from a strong military nation to one of peaceful values. Solomon asked God to give him the ability to discern good and evil and to make him a ruler with a wise and obedient heart.

God was pleased with Solomon’s request and granted what he asked for. Verses 10-12 says, “The speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. Then God said to him: “Because you have asked this thing and have not asked long life for yourself, nor have asked for riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice, behold, I have done according to your words.; see, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you.” But God didn’t stop there. In verse 13, God continues and says, “And I have also given you what you have not asked: both riches and honor, so that there shall not be anyone like you among the kings all your days.” Still God didn’t stop, but His final gift to Solomon had a condition placed on it. In verse 14, God says, “So if you walk in My ways, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.”

We can know that God delights to give us wisdom when we truly seek it. Proverbs 2:6-8 says: “For the Lord gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;  he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk in integrity,  guarding the paths of justice and watching over the way of his saints.” And in James 1:5 we find, “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” So if you are struggling with knowing what you should do, ask God to give you wisdom.

So just how wise was Solomon? 1 Kings 4:29-34 describes Solomon this way: “And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and breadth of mind like the sand on the seashore, so that Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all the people of the east and all the wisdom of Egypt. For he was wiser than all other men, wiser than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol, and his fame was in all the surrounding nations. He also spoke 3,000 proverbs, and his songs were 1,005. He spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall. He spoke also of beasts, and of birds, and of reptiles, and of fish. And people of all nations came to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from all the kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.”

Solomon began well, as his humble request for wisdom shows, but later in his reign he would disobey God and it would cost him the majority of the kingdom. However, because of God’s mercy and promise to David, it would not occur in Solomon’s reign, but in the reign of Solomon’s son. Extending even more mercy, God would allow one tribe from the whole nation to remain.

 

#askingforwisdom #Goddelightsingivingwisdom #WCM

 

Download the full 52-Day prayer guide by clicking here.

As of May 1, there have been 64,261 deaths in the U.S. and 237,807 have died world-wide. For the must current data regarding the virus, visit the John Hopkins University.

The prayer guide is available for free download to individuals and churches and may be reproduced in any quantity both printed and electronically through websites, email, social media, apps, or any other method. 

Today, pray for South Dakota:

#Chronovirus #fastandpray #judgement #repentance #revivalin2020 #WCM

Don’t forget to learn this week’s memory verse:

Memorize and hide in your heart one memory verse each week in 2020. If you didn’t start the challenge at the beginning of the year, just jump in now and be sure to sign up to get our weekly Memory verse in your email so you don’t miss a week.

In 2020 our emphasis is on revival for America with three key words: revive, renew, and redeem. You will begin to see the elements of our website and posts reflect this emphasis. We hope you’ll join us in praying for God to pour out the Holy Spirit with a mighty rushing wind of revival for our nation and around the world.

 

Our key verse for revival is 2 Chronicles 7:14. “If my people who are called by my name shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.  For the past few  weeks, we have been focusing on repentance. This week, we look at the spiritual transformation that takes place when we surrender our heart to God.

This week’s memory verse:

Psalm 95:6

^{“Come, let us worship and bow down;
let us kneel before the Lord our Maker..”}

 #bowdown #COVID19 #coronavirus #prayer #revival #WCM

 

The book of 1 Kings begins with the end of David’s life. He has named his son, Solomon, as his successor. With Solomon taking over the kingdom, David has some last words of wisdom to pass down to his son – words that every father (and mother) should desire to teach their sons.

Be strong.  David knew that ruling a kingdom, especially the kingdom of God’s chosen people, was not an easy task. In fact, from the time Samuel anointed David king over Saul, David had to fight for the kingship. His own son, Absalom attempted to take the kingdom from him. He wanted Solomon to be a strong leader – but one who had a heart to follow God. The power that ruling can bring can either be used for good or bad and David desired Solomon to be a good king who could stand up for the kingdom and keep the Israelites following God.

Prove yourself a man.  Solomon was still a young man. He had not fought the battles that David had fought. He still had lots to learn. He was not the warrior that Absalom and Adonijah was. Despite the fact that David had already promised Bathsheba that Solomon would be the next king, David does not stop Adonijah from trying to take the throne. Through the prophet Nathan, God had to remind David that God had chosen Solomon to rule next. So David wanted his son to “prove himself a man.” 1 Corinthians 16:13 says, “Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.” David wanted Solomon to be courageous for God and serve Him with boldness and zeal.

Keep the charge of the Lord. God had called Solomon to be the next king, one that came with huge responsibility. David wanted Solomon to stay true to his calling. To do so would require that Solomon stay close to God. 

Walk in His ways. Israel’s biggest struggle had always been following what everyone else was doing and worshiping false Gods. David wanted Solomon to follow the ways of God, to worship Him only and to lead Israel to do the same. To do so would require Solomon to saturate every part of his life with the principles of God’s Word.

To keep God’s statutes, commandments, judgments, and testimonies. David had learned the hard way what stepping out of God’s commands could cost. He wanted His son to remember every command and law of God, as well as the judgments God had rendered when Israel stepped out of God’s will. He also wanted Solomon to remember all the mighty things God had done for Israel and to place his faith and trust in the God that had provided and protected the nation.

That you may prosper in whatever you do and wherever you go. David knew the importance of God’s blessing and that the way to receive His blessing was to stay within His will by walking in obedience to all God instructed. God’s blessing is a supernatural, wonderful, and unlimited goodness given only by God. Psalm 1:2 says, “his delight is in the LORD’s instruction, and he meditates on it day and night.”

Oh, that we, as parents, would teach our sons these same principles. How different would our world be? However, in order to teach it, we must first live it ourselves.

#consequenceofsin #mercifulGod #WCM

 

Download the full 52-Day prayer guide by clicking here.

The prayer guide is available for free download to individuals and churches and may be reproduced in any quantity both printed and electronically through websites, email, social media, apps, or any other method. 

Today, pray for Oregon:

#Chronovirus #fastandpray #judgement #repentance #revivalin2020 #WCM

Don’t forget to learn this week’s memory verse:

Memorize and hide in your heart one memory verse each week in 2020. If you didn’t start the challenge at the beginning of the year, just jump in now and be sure to sign up to get our weekly Memory verse in your email so you don’t miss a week.

In 2020 our emphasis is on revival for America with three key words: revive, renew, and redeem. You will begin to see the elements of our website and posts reflect this emphasis. We hope you’ll join us in praying for God to pour out the Holy Spirit with a mighty rushing wind of revival for our nation and around the world.

 

Our key verse for revival is 2 Chronicles 7:14. “If my people who are called by my name shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.  For the past few  weeks, we have been focusing on repentance. This week, we look at the spiritual transformation that takes place when we surrender our heart to God.

This week’s memory verse:

Psalm 95:6

^{“Come, let us worship and bow down;
let us kneel before the Lord our Maker..”}

 #bowdown #COVID19 #coronavirus #prayer #revival #WCM