Charlyne Cares Daily Devotional - Helping Stop Divorce God's Way

Be Prepared

"In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage-with great patience and careful instruction."      2 Timothy 4:1-2

Tomorrow morning, Saturday, Charlyne will be giving her second teaching at Covenant Keepers conference. I'm sure there's a few butterflies in her stomach tonight. But she isn't going to go up to that podium unprepared. She has been working for months on this teaching and probably even did some final fine tuning in her hotel room. But Charlyne is prepared to correct, rebuke and encourage tomorrow, as always, with great patience and careful instruction.

Are you prepared? If someone asked you to tell them why you are standing and praying for your loved one are you prepared to give an answer? Would you be able to share a short scripture or two to make your point? Have you really been preparing for your loved one's return?

"Do not fear what they fear; do not be frightened. But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have." 1 Peter 3:14b-15a

One of the enemy's favorite schemes is to encourage complacency in our stand. It's one of the battles that I often fight. You see a little crack in the mountain and think it will come tumbling down any minute. Or you catch a glimpse of that heart of flesh and think God is truly changing them. You hear of an incident where you just know there was Holy Spirit conviction going on and you can't understand why they aren't seeing it themselves. Time marches on, things don't really change, hearts are not healed. We get complacent.

Are you preparing your heart and your mind for your loved one's return? Are you continuing to pray scripture personalized just for them? Have you become lukewarm in your prayers and wavering in your stand? This is just what the enemy likes to see. He likes to see a stander who doesn't pray as much anymore or fast like they used to or even believe like they once did. This is fertile ground for the enemy's fiery darts and he will not hesitate to send them.

How do we fight this complacency? We prepare. We prepare with daily time in God's Word. We prepare with urgent prayer for our loved ones. We prepare by letting God be in control of our lives. We prepare by joining with others to pray for all prodigals to turn their hearts to the Lord and to their families. We prepare by praising the Lord for all that He has done, is doing and will do in our lives.

"He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God." Psalm 50:23

Are you ready? Are you prepared? Today may be the day your loved one finally listens to the gentle whisperings of God. Are you ready? Today may be the day he or she allows the Lord to touch and change them. Are you prepared? Today may be the day that voice in their head becomes so loud that they cannot hear any other. Are you ready? Are you prayed up? Do you have enough prayers in your faith account?

"The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. "Quick, get up!" he said, and the chains fell off Peter's wrists. Then the angel said to him, "Put on your clothes and sandals." And Peter did so. "Wrap your cloak around you and follow me," the angel told him. Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. They passed the first and second guards and came to the Iron Gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him."  Acts 12:6-10.

Do you get it? It doesn't matter that nothing has changed in your situation for a long time. It doesn't matter that your loved one is bound and chained. It doesn't matter what it looks like to us. We serve a God who can and will do the impossible. In answer to our prayers. That's what happened for Peter. Urgent prayer was made on his behalf in the Upper Room. And God answered.

We need to be ready. We need to be prepared. We need to pour as much of God's Word into our hearts as we can so that when the angel of the Lord comes to shine his light into our loved one's prison cell, we will be ready to welcome them back with open arms and unconditional love. And this day will come because He has promised us.

"God is not a man, that he should lie, nor a son of man, that he should change his mind. Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?" Numbers 23:19

God bless you,
Kim, standing in Nebraska
http://rejoiceministries.org/kim.html  

Rejoice Marriage Ministries, Inc.
Post Office Box 10548
Pompano Beach, FL 33061 USA
http://rejoiceministries.org 

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Devotional Copyright© 2010 Rejoice Marriage Ministries, Inc.

Scripture quoted by permission and are from the Holy Bible; New International Version® Copyright© 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.