Praying in Jesus' name

My friend posted an amazing quote from Paul Miller regarding praying in Jesus' name.   What an amazing and humbling picture of Jesus' as our Saviour!

"Imagine that your prayer is a poorly dressed beggar reeking of alcohol and body odor, stumbling toward the palace of the great king. You have become your prayer. As you shuffle toward the barred gate, the guards stiffen.

Your smell has preceded you. You stammer out a message for the great king: ‘I want to see the king.’ Your words are barely intelligible, but you whisper one final word, ‘Jesus, I come in the name of Jesus.’

At the name of Jesus, as if by magic, the palace comes alive. The guards snap to attention, bowing low in front of you. Lights come on, and the door flies open. You are ushered into the palace and down a long hallway into the throne room of the great king, who comes running to you and wraps you in his arms.

The name of Jesus gives my prayers royal access. They get through. Jesus isn’t just the Savior of my soul. He’s also the Savior of my prayers. My prayers come before the throne of God as the prayers of Jesus.

‘Asking in Jesus’ name’ isn’t another thing I have to get right so my prayers are perfect. Is it one more gift of God because my prayers are so imperfect.”

-Paul Miller A Praying Life page 135

Santa...shhh

We're not doing Santa.

Did I hear outrage?  Are you asking what kind of parent doesn't do the Santa thing? 

Hear me out.  We are not going to tell Kiyomi that Santa is real, because we don't want to lie to her.  Ever.  Moreover, if Kevin and I are serious about trying to teach Kiyomi about God, what does it say to her if I tell her that there is a man who always watches what she is doing, judges her actions, and then rewards or punishes her for them, and then tell her it's all made up?  Doesn't set us up for success with the God thing, I think.

What we will do:
- tell her about the original St. Nicholas, who gave generously to the poor
- drill into her, the fact that she.absolutely.cannot.spoil.Santa.for.anyone.
- celebrate the real reason for Christmas, which is the birth of our Saviour, Jesus Christ

We will celebrate Jesus' birthday like it's 1995.  It was a good year for me.

Animals in God's will

Countdown to reunion: 21 days till my hun comes home!!!!!!

Congrats to Carol and Will on their engagement! :) Will next year be a crazy wedding summer? :)

I have a couple animal observations to share with you today. The first came during my visit with my Japanese Pastor and his wife. They are AMAZING people and I was so blessed during our meal together, but the most surprising part came right before the meal when they fed their dog, Naru. Naru waits patiently as his dad puts his food in the dog dish, and he waits while his dad says grace! Yes, the Pastor prays with Naru before Naru eats, and Naru doesn't make a move until after the "Amen". I know, I know, Naru probably has no idea what the Pastor is saying, but it was one of the most touching animal moments I've seen. A dog saying grace before dinner.

*********

My cat came to join me during my quiet time today, and it led me to think about how animals are so much in God's will. They do exactly what they were designed to do! He must have such joy in His creation as they purr, leap, snuggle, shed, eat, sleep, pounce, sleep some more... That I would have such obedience to God's will in my life!

Divine Design

When a manufacturer designs a coffee mug, they don't make a mug and then try to find a purpose for it. No engineer would design something without an idea of what it is supposed to do. They know what it's going to do before they design it. They think about the best features and details they could put into a cup in order to make it fulfill its intended purpose in the best way. In the same way, God did not create us and then look at the world and say "hmm... I wonder what purpose I can give them before they come to heaven." He created us with our purpose in mind. He designed our lives, our personalities, our strengths, our weaknesses with the idea that we would fulfill our intended purpose. - Margie

What's your purpose?