Rick Warren's Prayer for Obama

Rick Warren's Prayer for Barack H. Obama, 44th President of the United States of America

Almighty God, our father, everything we see and everything we can’t see exists because of you alone. It all comes from you, it all belongs to you. It all exists for your glory. History is your story. The Scripture tells us “Hear, oh Israel, the Lord is our god; the Lord is one.” And you are the compassionate and merciful one. And you are loving to everyone you have made.

Now today, we rejoice not only in America’s peaceful transfer of power for the 44th time. We celebrate a hinge-point of history with the inauguration of our first African-American president of the United States.

We are so grateful to live in this land, a land of unequaled possibility, where the son of an African immigrant can rise to the highest level of our leadership.

And we know today that Dr. King and a great cloud of witnesses are shouting in Heaven.

Give to our new president Barack Obama the wisdom to lead us with humility, the courage to lead us with integrity, the compassion to lead us with generosity. Bless and protect him, his family, Vice President Biden, the Cabinet, and every one of our freely elected leaders.

Help us, oh God, to remember that we are Americans, united not by race or religion or blood, but to our commitment to freedom and justice for all.

When we focus on ourselves, when we fight each other, when we forget you, forgive us. When we presume that our greatness and our prosperity is ours alone, forgive us. When we fail to treat our fellow human beings and all the Earth with the respect that they deserve, forgive us.

And as we face these difficult days ahead, may we have a new birth of clarity in our aims, responsibility in our actions, humility in our approaches, and civility in our attitudes, even when we differ.

Help us to share, to serve and to seek the common good of all.

May all people of good will today join together to work for a more just, a more healthy and a more prosperous nation and a peaceful planet. And may we never forget that one day all nations and all people will stand accountable before you.

We now commit our new president and his wife, Michelle and his daughters, Malia and Sasha, into your loving care.

I humbly ask this in the name of the one who changed my life: Yeshua, Essa (ph), Jesus, Jesus, who taught us to pray, “Our Father who art in Heaven hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, for thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.”

Amen.

God of the Ages

There’s this song that’s constantly plays on mind. It plays on an unending loop and this is not quite new to me. Every time I become addicted to a certain song, I have this tendency to listen to it over and over and over again until I eventually lose interest in it. But I think I will never get tired listening to this song because of what the message that the song imparts compares to none. It tells us about the SUPREMACY OF CHRIST as written by Paul to the Christian church in Colossus/Colossi. Paul writes:

¹⁵He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. ¹⁶For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. ¹⁷He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. ¹⁸And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. ¹⁹For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, ²⁰and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

Colossians 1:15-20

I am truly amazed at how some people can create a symphony of praise and worship out of a few verses of the Bible and in this case four verses from Colossians 1--- verses 15 to 18. The song is entitled GOD OF THE AGES and the musical genius behind this simple worship song is Travis Doucette. Here are the lyrics of the song:

God of the Ages
Travis Doucette

He is the image of the invisible God
The first born of creation
He is the first, the last,
The One who matters most

He is creator, ruling sustainer of all
For He holds is all together
He is the word of God
The hope for all the world

His name is lifted higher
Jesus, your name is lifted higher

We bless you Lord
God of the ages
The highest of all
We magnify you
Your name will be exalted, exalted

Who can compare?
Who can compare to you?

The message struck me hard, deep in my core. Nothing can compare to my GOD that is JESUS. HE sustains all the life in this earth. Isn’t it amazing to think how brilliant God is – that he created EARTH, strategically placed it between Venus and Mars, capable to sustain life and everything on it. I cannot even fathom the greatness of God and all I can do is simply offer him praises of worship and thanks for creating and sustaining me.

I believe that life is not that difficult to hurdle (in contrast as to how other people perceive it) as long as we fix our eyes on Jesus. We need to acknowledge that He is our creator, He is our Sustainer, He is our Hope and He is the one holding us all together. Without Christ, we are nothing.

So if you think you have not been acknowledging the fact that Christ can give us the peace that we are searching for if we simply let Him rule our lives, it’s about time you should. Bow down; offer a simple prayer of surrender to Christ. Let Christ reign in your life. Let the God of the Ages sustain you all the days of your life.

Have a blessed weekend!

HIS Grace is Enough

I woke up not feeling well today. My muscles were aching, my body is sore, and my throat hurts. But despite these, I have a lot to thank to - a new day, a life-sustaining job, the gift of family and friends, to name a few. It's sad to note that most people are simply swamped by problems and plagued by worries, not thinking that there is a GOD willing enough to help us in our darkest and deepest times. All we need to do is to CALL on HIM because His grace and mercy abounds us.

A verse in Ephesians tells us the beauty and magnanimity of God's Grace. Here, Paul tells us that God has already predestined us to be His Sons through Christ though His grace. Through Him we were saved. Through Him we can enjoy the gift of life everlasting.

In love 5He predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will— 6to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves. 7In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace 8that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.

Ephesians 1:5-8 (NIV)

In these days where stress and worry is prevalent (brought about by man's worldliness), we must learn not to rely on ourselves, not to be heavily worried and anguished by the world's inequity but rather to rely on the Grace of God for HIS Grace is enough. This reminds me of a song by Chris Tomlin which I really like - Your Grace is Enough. The song tells us how wonderful God is and what God offers to us.

Friends, let us keep our eyes on Him. Keep the ball of faith rolling for someday we will receive our just rewards in heaven.

Have a blessed and grace-filled day!


Your Grace is Enough*
Chris Tomlin

Great is Your faithfulness oh God
You wrestle with the sinner's heart
You lead us by still waters and to mercy
And nothing can keep us apart

So remember Your people
Remember Your children
Remember Your promise
Oh God

Your grace is enough
Your grace is enough
Your grace is enough for me

Great is Your love and justice God
You use the weak to lead the strong
You lead us in the song of Your salvation
And all Your people sing along

Your grace is enough
Heaven reaching down to us
Your grace is enough for me
God I see your grace is enough
I'm covered in your love
Your grace is enough for me

____________________

*Your Grace is Enough by Chris Tomlin, lyrics courtesy of www.christian-lyrics.net. The song is included in Tomlin's album entitled "Arriving". All bible verses from www.biblegateway.com.