Tag: Rev. Dr. Ken Crawford

Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart.
– Psalm 37:4 (NIV)

Rather than seeing this as a way to get our wishes list granted, let’s see it for what it really is … an invitation to seek a love relationship with God above all other things. In finding him, we will find our priorities properly aligned and our hearts tuned to know what is really valuable and what is not. Then we will see that what we have in him is our hearts greatest desire.

Awesome and Gracious Father, I confess to you that so often my heart is full of selfish things. But in moments like these, Father, I recognize that you are what I most need and your will is my heart’s desire. Please kindle your Spirit in me so that I may see through any selfish deception that would rob me of having you first in my life. Forgive me when I’m petty, selfish and shallow. May I know you as much as possible for a mortal to know you, not so that I may be full, but that you may be honored. Because of your grace and in the name of Jesus I pray with thanksgiving. Amen.

“What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?” Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.”
— John 3:4-5 NLT

We can begin life all over again. This new beginning is called the new birth. We can be “born of God” (John 1:12-13). While a physical rebirth is not possible, each true follower of Jesus is “born of water and the Spirit.” Confessing Jesus as Lord, sharing with him in his death, burial, and resurrection through baptism, and being cleansed and filled by the Holy Spirit give us a new life. What we once were is gone, and we become new creations in Jesus through the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:9-11; 2 Corinthians 5:17). Life begins again; only this time, our new life happens because of the cleansing and power of the Holy Spirit who then lives in us!

O Father, thank you. Thank for making me new, fresh, and clean. Thank you for reminding me of the new birth by living in me through the Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ name, I offer you my thanks! Amen.

By God’s will I may come to you with joy and together with you be refreshed.
— Romans 15:32

Our lives, our futures, and our plans are in God’s hands. This inescapable reality is the basis of our existence. It is also the foundation of our joy and refreshment when we are with each other. Think about it a second: our meetings with each other, and our ministry to each other, are not chance happenings. They are acts of God’s grace that gives us a chance to share in God’s blessing and joy.

Holy Father, thank you for your direct involvement in my life. Thank you for the leading of your Spirit, the guidance of your Word, and the wisdom of older Christians. These have all deepened the meaning of my life and empowered my service to your Kingdom. Please give me a more profound sense of grace and joy when I am able to be with Christians wherever that may be. I know these precious members of your family are not chance acquaintances I make along the way, but are the reminders of your desire to bless me and refresh your children with your presence. In Jesus’ name I thank you. Amen.

[Jesus said,] “So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.'”
— John 3:7 NLT

We sometimes fail to realize that Nicodemus is the ultimate good guy — he is the best of the best. He is a religious leader and teacher. He has come to Jesus out of darkness to find light. He has noticed what Jesus has said and done and believes the only way Jesus could do those things is that he has come from God. But knowing and saying the right things about Jesus are not what makes a person a true follower of Jesus, a disciple, a real Christian. If Nicodemus, the best of the best, has to be “born again,” then so do all the rest of us! Being born again is a great essential, a great “have to,” that we all must experience. So where are you? Have you been “born of water and the Spirit”? Have you been born of God? Have you been born again?

Father, thank you for my “new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade”! Thank you for the cleansing power and the new life that comes from the Holy Spirit. I praise you in Jesus’ name. Amen.

So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.
— Matthew 7:12

Ah! The “Golden Rule” is so straightforward, isn’t it? Sometimes we make things, especially religious things, far too complicated and complex. I love the Bible because it is so often practical and plain when God deals with our behavior. You want to know how to treat someone? Then do for them what would be a blessing if it was done to you! If it wouldn’t bless, encourage, build up, support, comfort, or help you, then don’t do it to them. If it would hurt, wound, depress, spite, or discourage you, then don’t do it to them. Treat others with the same dignity, kindness, love, respect, and tenderness with which you would like to be treated. Simple to understand; revolutionary to do!

Almighty God, thank you for making some things so simple to understand. Please fill my heart with your love as I try to live the “Golden Rule” in my relationships. In the name of the Lord Jesus I pray. Amen.

On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture said, streams of living water will flow from within him.”
– John 7:37-38 (NIV)

Streams of water — living water for dying hopes, cool water for parched hearts, refreshing water for those tired and weary. This is, of course, much more than a liquid we can drink with our lips. This is the ultimate water of the soul that God longs to give to us, his children. Let’s spend the month of August, refreshing ourselves with the promises of Jesus and trusting that, as we draw close to him, the Spirit will restore our soul.

Loving Father, thank you for sending Jesus to save me and the Holy Spirit to sustain and renew me. Please bless me, especially this month, as I seek to draw closer to my Savior and restore my soul with the refreshing living water of your Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

On July 30, 1956, by an act of Congress, signed by President Eisenhower,
‘In God We Trust’ became the official U.S. motto.

“We profess that we know God, but by works we deny Him; for beatitude doth not consist in the knowledge of divine things, but in a divine life, for the devils know them better than man.” – Sir Walter Raleigh

The LORD was with Samuel as he grew up,
and he let none of his words fall to the ground.
– 1 Samuel 3:19 (NIV)

Samuel began his ministry at such a young age and was so important in bridging the generations between the period of the Judges and the period of the Kings. During that whole time, God was with him and empowered his ministry, making his words true and effective. Let’s pray that God does the same with his spokespeople today. May God use his servants effectively all their lives and not let any of their words fall to the ground.

Today, O God, I ask you to empower your faithful servants who proclaim your Word all over the world. Please bless them with a season of freedom from satanic attack. Bless them with health, vigor, and passion. Please give them a long life full of useful service empowered by your grace. In “God We Trust” and in Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
– Philippians 1:21 (NIV)

I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day…
– 2 Timothy 4:7-8 (NIV)

I am so thankful for Paul’s confidence as he faces his death. He is all but abandoned and is worried about the future of the Church, but he knows two things: he has served the Lord faithfully and the Lord will receive him when he dies! Shouldn’t those two things be our most important goals in life? So if they are our goals, how do we live each day to fulfill them?

Faithful and loving God, you have so richly blessed me with salvation by your grace. Please strengthen me out of the riches of that grace. I am sometimes weak and falter in my faithfulness. I know your grace is lavish, but I don’t want to presume on it or abuse it. Please give me strength and courage to live faithfully and passionately for you until the day I see you face to face and share with you in your glory and victory. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

“Too many of us have a Christian vocabulary rather than a Christian experience. We think we are doing our duty when we’re only talking about it.”
– Charles F. Banning

Do not neglect your gift, which was given you through a prophetic message when the body of elders laid their hands on you. – 1 Timothy 4:14 (NIV)

Life seems so busy, so full of distractions and “to do” lists. Let’s not let our “busyness” keep us from our Father’s “business.” Let’s find the ways God has gifted us to serve him and his people; then let’s dedicate ourselves to that with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.

Gracious God, you have blessed me in so many different ways. Thank you for all these touches of your grace. But Father, I need your help to more clearly see how you have gifted me to serve you and to more passionately make that service a key priority in my life each day. Thank you for always hearing my prayers. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Some of you were once [living sinful lives]. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. — 1 Corinthians 6:11 NLT

The verses leading up to this passage give a laundry list of sins (1 Corinthians 6:9-10). Then Paul makes two points using the verb “were.” His first point is that some of us “were” people habitually living those sins! The second point is that now, however, we live with a new reality because we “were” cleansed and made right with God. We can call this “the grace of were.” We are no longer guilty of the sin we used to commit. We are no longer under the condemnation of our rebellion and failures. We are no longer slaves to the old way of life, to what we “were”! Rather, because the Holy Spirit entered our lives to sanctify us — to make us holy, new, clean, pure, valuable — we ARE holy and right with God. Each of us is a new creation and lives in a whole new world (2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV). Such is the power of the Holy Spirit and the gift of the Spirit’s grace and presence.

Father, thank you that I am not who I used to be. Thank you that all the old is gone and the new has come. I pray that I will live out this new life in holiness and honor, empowered by the Holy Spirit and conformed each day to be like my Savior, Jesus, in whose name I pray. Amen.