City of Refuge Fellowship

We have set aside every Tuesday as a day of prayer for our National leaders: President Obama, the Senate and the Congress. Each week we present a specific focus, birthed from Scripture, that we can agree and pray together.

God be merciful to our National Leaders and bless them, and cause Your face to shine upon them, that Your way may be known on earth, Your salvation among all the nations. Psalm 67:1-2

When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; but when a wicked man rules the people groan. Proverbs 29:2

Therefore, I will exhort that first of all supplication, prayers, intercessions, and giving thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may live quiet and peaceable lives in all godliness and reverence. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior.  I Timothy 2:1-3

In John 3, John the Baptist referred to himself as the “friend of the Bridegroom” and then described that position as one”who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice.” In all of John’s life there was something that he sought for. It was not attention, it was not power, it was not acceptance. In many ways it seems that even John was not sure what he was seeking after until he found it, until Jesus came to be baptized. In a moment John found his joy, found his purpose and found his fulfillment. He declares that it is the voice, the presence, the relationship with the bridegroom that fulfilled and completed the joy of his life.

Many of us are searching for purpose, for mission and for a message to change our lives. While all of these things are useful, they pale in comparison to the sound of the voice of the One who loves us with an everlasting love. What set John apart was that he was not chasing after a mission, he was waiting patiently and obediently for the voice of God. I believe that is what sets us all apart. This life is not about missions and purpose, it is about a divinely inspired relationship with the Living God. From that relationship, from the voice if you will, flows things like purpose and mission but without the voice those things become mere attempts at finding joy.

I believe a friend of the bridegroom is one that chooses to find the joy of life in the voice of God. I ask today, what makes you rejoice? When 70 disciples returned to Jesus after being sent out they rejoiced because they had had authority over demons in Jesus’ name. Jesus gave a bit of a rebuke and told them, “Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” The joy of our lives can never be tied to our circumstances for they are destined to change, our joy must be found in the presence of God, the perfect, unchanging, everlasting love that is determined by His character and not our feelings or understanding. Again, what makes you rejoice? Where is your joy found? I pray today that we will love Jesus with a love that makes us long for His presence so that our joy might be fulfilled, like John’s, when Jesus speaks.

Isaiah 57:14 says “And one shall say, ‘Heap it up! Heap it up! Prepare the way, take the stumbling block out of the way (remove the obstacles) of My people.’” Each one of us face obstacles in our lives, some are of our own doing, some simply come from living in a fallen world and some are direct attacks of deceit from the enemy of our souls. In the midst of this we all need help, we need the Holy Spirit to lead and direct us and we also need others to come along and strengthen, encourage and even admonish us from time to time. I believe that we are called and created to be those that remove the obstacles from the lives of those around us. I pray today that we will know the truth of who God is and of who He says we are and of how precious His thoughts toward us are. If we are strong in these truths the obstacles of Satan’s lies become easier to remove from our paths and the fulfillment of God’s great purposes for each of our lives become more and more real in each day that we live.