prayer – Page 19

…”It wasn’t much….

Hey there BCU Fam!

For this post, because of the informal format, please tune into the podcast recording (click here or on the BCU avatar below) and refer to the written post for the highlights. We pray the post blesses and encourages you. If so, please thumbs up AND leave a comment! Thank you and enjoy the post!

Podcast highlights:

A sweet friend of mine gave me a gift, and asked me how I liked it.
After telling the person how wonderful it was, friend remarked, “well, it wasn’t much”.
I gently scolded friend—–and let the individual know any gift given from the heart was much.
The Lord led me to talk about the “Widow’s Mite” and how Jesus sees our giving.

BlenCouragesU · BCU podcast | "It wasn't much, but…"| Ep 292

Scripture references:

Mark 12:41-44

⁴¹And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much.

⁴²And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing.

⁴³And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury:

⁴⁴For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.

Colossians 3:23-24

²³And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;

²⁴Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.

BCU Fam, this short passage of Scripture is a POWERFUL aide memoire that really has me rethinking giving and heart motives. Jesus sees everything, so we want to ensure that EVERYTHING we give and really all we do is in the right Spirit. In the final analysis, Jesus will reward us for all we do, and we want to make sure our reward is where we will be welcomed into the Kingdom of Heaven versus told to depart. Since the Lord is reminding us now, let’s all be sure to repent for any “mis-giving” and be more intentional going forward. Amen? Amen!

Father, in the name of Jesus, we thank You for Your Word today and the reminder about the heart behind our giving. Help us not to be concerned about what others are giving, or to be guilted or shamed into giving anything other than how you have led us.

Please bless us to remember that whatever we give—whether time, love, or money, talents, gifts–that we are stewards over what You have entrusted us with, and we always want to give out of a pure and cheerful heart, so you will be glorified, honored and praised. In Jesus Name, we thank You, Amen!

As a reminder, if you have not subscribed to BlenCouragesU.com, please do so! It’s free and a good place to get the encouragement, inspiration and information based the Word of God! Additionally, you can also see what we are up to on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Also, if you so inclined, join us for our Thursday Night Bible Study––we are LIVE on YouTube 8:05EST/7:05CST. You can also listen in and subscribe to the podcast on whatever platform BCU is available on. Some of those platforms are Amazon Music, AnchorFm, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, iHeart Radio, Spotify, Stitcher Radio , and many more of your favorite podcast platforms!

Thank you SO much for stopping by! May God bless, keep and make His face to shine upon you as you #StayOnTheWall!

Love,

BCU

25 Apr 2023

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God had other plans

Hey there BCU Fam!

Podcast highlights:

A few weeks ago, the Lord blessed me to record a BEAUTIFUL “impromptu” podcast.
I went to retrieve the recording and it was GONE, GONE, GONE!!!
After spending over an hour trying to recover it, the Lord led me to do another recording.
As always, God sent valuable reminders for me, which I will share with you.

BlenCouragesU · BCU podcast | The Lord had other plans | Ep 291

Scripture references:

Proverbs 3:5-6

⁵Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

⁶In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

I Thessalonians 5:18

¹⁸In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

James 1:2-4

²My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;

³Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.

⁴But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

John 1:1
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John 10:4-5

⁴And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice.

⁵And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.

BCU Fam, with all the reminders, what really stands out to me is that we want to acknowledge the Lord in all our ways AND follow what He says. It’s really tempting to try and do all the things we want to–and that’s not necessarily wrong, we just need to be flexible enough in the Spirit so that our schedule becomes God’s schedule. This way, everything we take care of will be perfect, because He is perfect. Amen? Amen! Let’s pray!

Father, in the name of Jesus, we thank You for this day You have made and we rejoice and are glad in it. Thank You for the lost recording, for slowing me down, for the words of this recording coming directly from You and for helping me to follow Your schedule for me versus my own. Jesus, please help us as we go through our days to acknowledge You in all our ways, so You can direct our paths. Bless us Lord, as we put our trust in You and NOT lean to our own shaky understanding. Help us to recognize Your voice, as the book of John says, so we do not follow the voice of the enemy and stay on the perfect path You choose. Jesus, we want to You to be represented in our schedule and how we do things, so our lives will be a testimony to your glory, honor and praise. Thank You for blessing us to be flexible in the Spirit, to count all the divers temptations joy, and for us giving thanks in all things, because this is Your will for us. Thank You, Jesus for blessing us so that You are represented in our schedule and in how we do things, so our lives will be a testimony to Your glory, honor and praise. It is in Jesus name we thank You for this and all things, we pray, Amen!

Thank you SO much for stopping by! May God bless, keep and make His face to shine upon you as you #StayOnTheWall!

Love,

BCU

18 Apr 2023

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The sauce story

Hey there BCU Fam!

Podcast highlights:

I am not the most organized person in certain areas, however I do like order for certain things.
Lack of preparedness is one of those things–I have a hard time functioning with “thoughtless” last-minute requests.
I accepted one such request and was very displeased about it—murmured and fussed for a good bit of time, BCUFam!
The Lord heard my cry and answered it in way that I was not prepared for, but it blessed me!

BlenCouragesU · BCU podcast | The lesson from the sauce | Ep 287

Proverbs 3:5-6

⁵Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

⁶In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Psalm 63:1

1 O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;

Philippians 2:12-15

¹²Wherefore, my beloved, as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

¹³For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

¹⁴Do all things without murmurings and disputings:

¹⁵That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;

Colossians 3:23-25

²³And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;

²⁴Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.

²⁵But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.

BCU Fam, when we think about those verses, it helps puts our tasks and assignments in a proper and godly perspective, doesn’t it? Note that we may feel some sort of emotion about what we need to do (upset, angry, frustrated, etc), and that is fine—–for a mature/maturing Christian, that is a signal for us to take our feelings to the Lord in prayer. This way, He calms our feelings down, speaks to our hearts, teaches us the lesson(s) from the situation, blesses us to get through the tasks, and with His help we walk out Philippians 2:12-15 and Colossians 3:23-25. Amen? Amen! Let’s pray!

Father, in the name of Jesus, we thank You for this day You have made–we rejoice and are glad in it. As we come before you, we are reminded that whatever tasks, assignments and projects, You assign us, they should be done in a way that reflects You, Jesus. While we do/did not always get it right, from this point forward and with Your help, please bless us to carry out our duties with excellence and distinction in Your Name and with Your strength, Jesus. Help us to remember to acknowledge You in all of our ways, and to respond according to Your instructions versus being cajoled or guilted into doing things You have not authorized us to do. Please help us in the care-taking, administrative tasks, dealing with difficult people, and all the tough day-to-day things we do not always enjoy doing. Please give us the grace, strength, wisdom, knowledge and understanding to help us complete our tasks successfully so You are glorified, honored and praised, and we are blameless, harmless, without rebuke, considered Your children, and lights in this crooked and perverse nation. It’s in Your Name, Jesus, that we thank You for granting our request and all You do for us, we pray and we bless Your name, Amen!

Thank you SO much for stopping by! May God bless, keep and make His face to shine upon you as you #StayOnTheWall!

Love,

BCU

21 Mar 2023

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“Stop Talking”

Hey there BCU Fam!

Podcast highlights:

Because of my schedule, I often update my friends about the happenings in my life while I am on the go.
In a seemingly innocent conversation, I was in mid-sentence, the Lord told me to stop talking.
I initially questioned if I was hearing correctly, but the Lord assured me it was Him!
It is important for us to hear God, obey and apply the lesson from the correction so we’ll see Him in peace.

BlenCouragesU · BCU podcast | Taming the Tongue | Ep 286

Hebrews 12:11

¹¹Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.

James 3:5-10

⁵Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, how great a matter a little fire kindleth!

⁶And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity: so is the tongue among our members, that it defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire of hell.

⁷For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind:

⁸But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.

⁹Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.

¹⁰Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be

Proverbs 21:23

²³Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles.

Jeremiah 17:9

⁹The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

I John 3:20

²⁰For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.

Psalm 51:10

¹⁰Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

Matthew 15:18-19

¹⁸But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.

¹⁹For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:

Ephesians 4:29

²⁹Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

Revelation 12:10-11(a)

¹⁰And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

¹¹And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony;

BCU Fam, the update I was giving was meant as a form of entertainment, so in the moment, it “felt” okay to keep going in the conversation. While I did not understand why the Lord asked me to stop in the moment, after some thought, I realized that perhaps in my zeal to share, the hearer may not have been edified at what was said, maybe it could have caused them to stumble, or perhaps the talk was out of a place in my heart that God needed to work on. Or maybe a combination of all of the above. As I work though that in prayer with God, I do thank Him for hearing and obeying His voice! When we do get the victory, it’s important to testify about it, and therefore God is glorified, the accuser is horrified, the people are edified and Jesus is magnified! Amen? Amen! Let’s pray!

Father, in the name of Jesus, we thank You for the time we had together and the lesson You taught us about our communication, and how we should filter our words through the Word of God. Bless us Lord, to acknowledge You in all of our ways, including in causal conversation. With Your help, we want to have wholesome conversations with laughter and fun, but only from a pure place from our hearts, and that edify and administer grace to the hearer.

Lord, please bless those of us who struggle in this area to be sensitive to Your voice as we interact with others, so that You are well-represented, honored, glorified and praised in our lives. Thank you for the victory in our conversations so that we can see You in peace. It’s in Jesus name that we thank You for this and all You do for us, we pray and we bless Your name, Amen!

Thank you SO much for stopping by! May God bless, keep and make His face to shine upon you as you #StayOnTheWall!

Love,

BCU

14 Mar 2023

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The Birds…

Hey there BCU Fam!

Podcast highlights:

A few weeks ago, we noticed a beautifully fashioned bird’s nest.
It is estimated that there are almost 20,000 species of birds in the world, and they all build nests and find food relative to their ilk.
God, in His infinite wisdom, not only created each species, He told/tells them what to do to function.
As God’s greatest creation, how much more will He direct us, if we follow His lead?

BlenCouragesU · BCU podcast | The Birds | Ep 285

Genesis 1:10;19-20

1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

²And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

³And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

⁴And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

⁵And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

⁶And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

⁷And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.

⁸And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

⁹And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.

¹⁰And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.

¹⁹And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

²⁰And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.

Genesis 2:7, 20-23

⁷And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

²⁰And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him.

²¹And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof;

²²And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.

²³And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.

Psalm 51:5

⁵Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

Proverbs 3:5-6

⁵Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

⁶In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Acts 2:38

³⁸Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Matthew 6:24-31

²⁴No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

²⁵Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?

²⁶Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

²⁷Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

²⁸And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:

²⁹And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

³⁰Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?

³¹Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

³²(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.

³³But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

³⁴Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

BCU Fam, every time I read this passage of Scripture it blesses me! I have never seen a bird walk the nest worried about the next meal. They do what God tells them to do and they eat and rest daily. Think of all the lilies are that grow each year without working or thinking about what they will put on, yet they grow and are beautiful! How much more will God take care of US? God has given everything He created instructions on how to function on Earth including us, through His Word. With His help, we need to mediate on His Word and follow through with what He tells us, starting with seeking His kingdom and His righteousness knowing everything we need will follow. Amen? Amen! Let’s pray!

Father, in the name of Jesus, we thank You for this day you have made and we rejoice and are glad in it. Thank You for reminding us that You take care of everything you created beautifully, and will do so much more for us, who You made in the likeness and similitude of You. Thank You for letting us know that You love us and will take care of us—–we need to follow Your Word and trust Your directions. Remember those of us who are struggling with worry, concern, and doing what You have requested. Help us to remember that when we do things Your way, they will turn out perfectly, because You are perfect in all of Your ways. Thank You for blessing us to walk by faith and not by sight in these situations, and when it’s all said and done, we can look back over those concerns and say that Jesus took care of every last need, so You will be glorified, honored and praised.

We also thank You, Jesus for blessing everyone here who has not made You their choice, to do so, by repentance, baptism in Jesus name and being filled with the Holy Ghost according to Acts 2:38. We thank you for Your drawing, saving and keeping power working in lives all over this world, in Jesus name, we pray, Amen.