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Love Inspire Our Prayer for Each Other

2/25/2020

For the last few months we have been considering surrender and especially focusing on how surrender to Jesus impacts how we love God and each other. And like every other aspect of our walk with Jesus; only love can prepare us for the ministry of prayer!
We have already discovered that it is only love that can fit us for our walk and work with Jesus. Do you know what is the most challenging and most important work we can do for each other, and for a sin sick world? It is the work of praying for each other! Going to God; and taking the time and effort to lay hold of Jesus!
Friends, we may be earnest Christians, our main goal in life to minister to others. But unless we learn what it means to tarry with God; unless we truly learn what it means to have a spirit to pray for each other, we have not yet grasped the greatest and most important work of being a disciple of Jesus. It is my prayer that not one of us will let a day pass that we do not pray for each other! And this is not just talking about Christian friends and beloved family. God ask us to pray for our enemies! To beg for the souls of those that hate us and want only our hurt! I encourage you today to pray for each other!
It is truly important to pray for ourselves; to spend that thoughtful hour everyday on the life of Jesus. But I assure you it is equally important to our church and to our personal walk with Jesus to pray for all believers! I encourage you to pray for all believers!
It is vitally important to pray for those that do not know anything of God. We must pray for our government and world leaders! We must pray for missionaries and the work of God all over the World. But I find it interesting that Paul the great missionary to the Gentiles did not tell us to pray for the heathen or the unconverted only. His command was to pray for believers! Make this your first prayer everyday; after your praise time to God, make your first prayer; "Lord, bless Your saints everywhere."
The church needs our prayers! Every single person needs our prayers! I know I personally crave and covet everyone of your prayers! We must plead for God's people that they will find Jesus and make Him their only hope and the great guide of their life. We must plead for those that are trying to work for God. Pray that love will fill our hearts; that Jesus will pour it afresh into our hearts every single day. We must ask the Holy Spirit to use us to be intercessors for our church and for each other. The fruit of the Spirit is love! Lord help us to truly understand this and surrender our love completely to You!
It is my desire to surrender my life completely and continually to Jesus. Let's pray everyday for each other!
I love you!
Brad

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Christian Work Requires Love

2/17/2020

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We have been discussing love and how it relates to our surrender to Jesus for several weeks now, and could easily spend a year just on this subject without exhausting it. Just a couple more weeks and we will look at other aspects of surrender, but today I would like to look at how Christian Work Requires Love.
Let's begin with the question, why is love so important in our work to share Jesus to a sin sick world? And the answer is: That is the only power in which we as Christians can possibly do our work. If we do not have divine love to bind us together and to draw us to the lost around us we are merely involved in a form of philanthropy that we see in the lives of atheist and agnostic's who have a natural spirit of compassion for their fellow-men. Is it possible that we sometimes take on Christian work just because our pastor or another member has a vision for reaching souls, but we do it just out of duty or to please that person, but don't have that baptism of love in our own heart?
Now that kind of work and devotion is certainly better than nothing at all, but the results will fall far short of what can happen when we have the fire of everlasting love that we see in Jesus and God the Father at Calvary.
That is the baptism of love that will give us as a Church the same results that Jesus experienced. The same results that His disciples experienced in the early Church. The only way that we too can experience this love and sacrifice is if we get down on our faces in confession and pray to God:
"Lord, let love from Heaven flow down into my heart. I am giving up my life to pray and live as one who has given himself up for the everlasting love to dwell in and fill him." Absolute Surrender page 32.
Friends, if the love of Jesus were in our hearts as God wants to put it through the Holy Spirit, what a difference it would make! How often have I heard devoted Christians say, "I would love to do more; I really would, but it's just not my gift! How often have I felt that way myself if I'm honest? Sometimes we just throw up our hands and say, "I don't know where to begin. Lord, I just don't know what to do?"
Our part in this is to ask God to fill us with the Spirit of Love, and that love will change everything! Love truly covers a multitude of sins! Love is the one thing that can cover our mistakes and weaknesses in our work with people.
I heard the story of a woman who was asked to speak at a mission where there were a number of poor women suffering with addictions and beat up by life. As she was preparing to speak she noticed a pitiful women outside that didn't even seem to have the desire to come in out of the cold. The speaker asked; "who is that?" The matron answered; "She has been here thirty or forty times and she always goes right back to the streets. Nothing can be done with her, she is a hard case." But the speaker said; "She must come in." The matron then said; "Its almost time to start and we only have an hour for your address."
The speaker then replied; "No, this is more important"; and she went outside where the woman was sitting and said; "My sister, what is the matter?" "I'm not your sister," was the reply. Then the speaker laid her hand on the woman, and said; "Yes, I am your sister, and I love you"; and so she spoke until the heart of the poor woman was touched. Finally the speaker brought the woman inside. She was embarrassed! She wouldn't even sit in a chair, but sat down on a stool beside the speakers seat and leaned against her. The speaker wrapped her arms around this woman as she spoke to the people. And that love touched the woman's heart; she had found someone that really loved her, and that love gave access to the love of Jesus.
I praise God for the love in your hearts! But how much more does God want to give us? How much greater of an impact can we have in our homes, communities and churches if we allow the Holy Spirit to fill us more fully with the love of Jesus?
I love you!
Brad

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Our Love Shows God's Power

2/2/2020

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We have been discussing the last several weeks that "The fruit of the Spirit is love." Why is this so important for you and me to not only understand, but to make part of our life? It is because, the Spirit of God has come to make our lives a daily exhibition of Jesus power and to show the world what the love of Jesus can do for His children.

In chapters two and four of Acts we read that the disciples were of one heart and of one soul. But when we look back at the three years they walked with Jesus; that was not their spirit at all! They were showered in Jesus teachings for three years and yet that did not make them of one heart and one soul. But when the Holy Spirit came from Heaven and filled their hearts with the love of Jesus, they were of one heart and one soul.

Friends, that same Holy Spirit that brought the love of Heaven to the early disciples, longs to fill our hearts with that same love and unity. Literally nothing else will do that! We can listen to the best sermons and read the best teachings of love possible; as the disciples did. But that will not teach us to love unless the power of the Holy Spirit fills our lives and brings the love of Heaven into our hearts.

When we think of the church as a whole, we see so many divisions! And honestly, differences of opinion do not bother me in the least. It is a blessing that we have different temperaments and minds. The danger is that we allow hatred, bitterness, contempt and meanness to rear its ugly head over truths in God's word. On occasion we get caught up in what we think is right and it becomes more important than love. There is the danger that while we feel justified because we believe we are standing up for righteousness; we forget God's command to always speak the truth in love. We saw this during the Reformation between two great men of God in Luther and Calvin. They were mean and un-Christlike over the communion of all things! It was meant to be a bond of unity among believers and caused separation and division. All to often as Christians we allow dear and precious truths that are supposed to unify us to become mountains that separate us.

If we want to have great power in prayer. And if we want to have the Holy Spirit transforming our lives by Jesus living His life in us; then we must enter into a covenant with Jesus to fill us with love for one another.

Are you ready for that? Only the love that wants the very best for those that are hard to love and puts our enemies before ourselves is the love of Jesus. And friends, this love comes only from absolute surrender to God!

That absolute surrender is what allows the Holy Spirit to do His work in our lives. Unfortunately we have often degraded the Holy Spirit into a mere power to help us in our work! May God forgive us! I pray the Holy Spirit for you and me will be a power to fill us with the very life and nature of Jesus!

If you took the Gospel Challenge for 2020 and you started in Matthew you should be reading the Sermon on the Mount and the Beatitude today. If you have the time I encourage you to read chapter 31 in the Desire of Ages as well. And remember that we are reading these chapters with the simple desire to get to know Jesus as a friend!

I love you!
Brad

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Pastor Brad

Pastor Brad Traxler is the pastor of the Wrangell SDA Church. Brad Traxler is the husband of forty years to Cheryl, father to Kimberly and Ryan, and grandfather to Brad, Kevin, William, Eamon, Zairhen, Seraphina, and Zeelyah. He holds a BA in Theology and has been pastoring churches for twenty years. The greatest passion of His life has been to share Jesus.

Love Inspire Our Prayer for Each Other

Christian Work Requires Love

Our Love Shows God's Power

Pastor Brad

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