Then I said, “Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—I have come to do your will, O God.” —Hebrews 10:7

What do you suppose motivated Jesus? First of all, it was reverence. It was reverence for His Father. If you want to know something about the mind of Christ, I challenge you just to make a study of the Gospel of John and look at the relationship Jesus had with His Father. He put it like this, for example, in John 5:30:

By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.

And then later in that chapter He said this, a verse that many years ago gripped me and I hope will grip you:

How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God? —John 5:44

If that kind of thinking will grip you, then you are a candidate to think about the mind of Christ.

All this will only make sense once there is embedded in you a true fear of God. All that a preacher or writer may say or expound will only become relevant if this is so. And that has to happen between you and God. As long as you are looking at someone else and hoping that you will be noticed by this person and are thereby getting your motivation, then your motivation is phony and will not last. Perhaps you want your church leaders to notice your endeavors, and this drives you to carry on. But this cannot work. Something, sooner or later, has to happen so that your honor comes from God. That is all that matters. Then you are not looking to see who else notices you: you are consumed with the passion of wanting God to notice you, taking your orders from above.

Excerpted from Meekness and Majesty (Christian Focus Publications Ltd., 1992, 2000).

President Barack Obama is bringing home 33,000 troops from Afghanistan within the next 15 months.

The removal of the surge forces leaves just under 70,000 troops in Afghanistan. While President Hamid Karzai welcomed the announcement, it was greeted with less enthusiasm and plenty of skepticism elsewhere. Todd Nettleton, a spokesman for Voice of the Martyrs USA, agrees. “There is not a great deal of confidence in the Afghan security forces to protect religious freedom.”

Although President Obama declared that ‘the tide of war is receding,’ pulling out while the Taliban is still alive and well can only bring trouble. The U.S. scenario bears a resemblance to Russia’s withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1989. 

At that time, a believer told Nettleton that their struggle was just beginning. “‘The Taliban has shaved their beards, and they’ve taken off their black turbans, but they’re still here.'” Unopposed, there are concerns that the Taliban will quickly grow back to full strength. 

Nettleton hopes that threat won’t materialize for today’s Christians, who make up just 1/100 of 1 percent of the population. However, “There is all likelihood that there will continue to be persecution of Christians; there will continue to be Christians who will be laying down their lives because of their faith.”

Humanitarian groups worry that the drawdown will bring civil war, religious persecution and increased terrorism. Left unchecked, the Taliban could declare open war on Christians.

Nettleton says, “Their interpretation of being a devout Muslim means that they should attack Christians, that a person who leaves Islam is an apostate and deserves to be killed.”

There’s already evidence of that view gaining momentum. Days prior to the announcement, Afghan militants released a video showing the gruesome beheading of a Christian in Herat Province.   

Believers have few places of refuge left. Neighboring countries have their own problems with anti-Christian sentiments and terrorism. Nettleton acknowledges the normal fear that accompanies such changes. “We can pray for our Afghan brothers and sisters that they will have confidence in Christ, that they will have that eternal perspective and not live in a state of fear and panic,” he says.

Nettleton also says that “one of the things to remember is that security comes ultimately from Christ, it comes ultimately from God. It’s not from U.S. troops, from a gun, or from a big fence around our houses.”

Voice of the Martyrs USA is standing in solidarity with the persecuted church in Afghanistan. “We have contacts within the Afghan church that we provide assistance to. We provide Scriptures and other forms of assistance, but it is very much an underground presence.” 

Pray that Christians in Afghanistan will stand strong in their faith and reach out to their neighbors, despite their small numbers. Pray for a peaceful transition and for increased religious freedom.

AP Photo/David Duprey

An apology is just not good enough for the Family Research Council.

NBC apologized for removing the phrase “under God” from the Pledge of Allegiance in a broadcast of the U.S. Open Golf Tournament on Sunday, but the FRC wants more.

The council is urging its members to send NBC a message, demanding that “the network … take corrective action to ensure that the public airwaves will not be used to censor our nation’s Pledge of Allegiance.”

Tony Perkins, president of the FRC, sent an eblast Tuesday to its members, which explains the situation and requests that they take part in asking NBC to “remedy this abuse by airing a series of public service announcements with the entire Pledge of Allegiance.”

“Remember the airwaves belong to the public and NBC is granted permission to use those airwaves,” the eblast says. “Removing ‘under God’ from one of the most widely viewed sports programs is deeply disturbing and is a misuse of the public trust they’ve been granted.”

About three hours into the broadcast, announcer Dan Hicks offered a corporate apology: “Regrettably, a portion of the Pledge of Allegiance that was in that feature was edited out. It was not done to upset anyone, and we’d like to apologize to those of you who were offended by it.”

NBC Sports Universal issued a second apology on Monday from Vice President of Communications Chris McCloskey. He apologized if the edit upset anyone, and said the “decision was made by a small group of people to edit portions of the Pledge of Allegiance. This was a bad decision.”

“They made a deliberate decision to leave out a part of our nation’s pledge,” Perkins said on air in a CNN report. “What if they would have left out ‘liberty’ or ‘justice?’ American people obviously caught this and they responded to it very quickly and [NBC] began to backtrack.”

Perkins explained that the addition of “under God” was important to the Pledge of Allegiance and he said most Americans think the phrase should stay.

In a June 2002 Gallup Poll, respondents were asked if they agreed or disagreed with a federal court’s ruling that it was unconstitutional for the Pledge of Allegiance to be recited in public school classrooms. Eighty-four percent disagreed.

President Barack Obama is bringing
home 33,000 troops from Afghanistan within the next 15 months.

The removal of the surge forces leaves just under
70,000 troops in Afghanistan. While
President Hamid Karzai welcomed the announcement, it was greeted with less
enthusiasm and plenty of skepticism elsewhere. Todd Nettleton, a spokesman for Voice of the Martyrs USA, agrees. “There is not a great deal of
confidence in the Afghan security forces to protect religious freedom.”

Although President Obama declared that ‘the tide of war is
receding,’ pulling out while the Taliban is still alive and well can only
bring trouble. The U.S. scenario bears
a resemblance to Russia’s withdrawal from Afghanistan in 1989. 

At that time, a believer told Nettleton that their struggle
was just beginning. “‘The Taliban has shaved their beards, and
they’ve taken off their black turbans, but they’re still here.'” Unopposed, there are concerns that the Taliban
will quickly grow back to full strength. 

Nettleton hopes that threat won’t materialize for today’s Christians, who make up just 1/100
of 1 percent of the population. However, “There is all likelihood that
there will continue to be persecution of Christians; there will continue to be
Christians who will be laying down their lives because of their faith.”

Humanitarian groups worry that the drawdown will bring civil
war, religious persecution and increased
terrorism. Left unchecked, the Taliban could declare open war on Christians.

Nettleton says, “Their interpretation of being a devout
Muslim means that they should attack Christians, that a person who leaves Islam
is an apostate and deserves to be killed.”

There’s already evidence of that view gaining momentum. Days prior to the announcement, Afghan
militants released a video showing the gruesome beheading of a Christian in
Herat Province.   

Believers have few places of refuge left. Neighboring countries have their own problems
with anti-Christian sentiments and terrorism. Nettleton acknowledges the normal fear that accompanies such
changes. “We can pray for our Afghan
brothers and sisters that they will have confidence in Christ, that they will
have that eternal perspective and not live in a state of fear and panic,” he says.

Nettleton also says that “one of the things to remember is that
security comes ultimately from Christ, it comes ultimately from God. It’s not
from U.S. troops, from a gun, or from a big fence around our houses.”

Voice of the Martyrs USA is standing in solidarity with the
persecuted church in Afghanistan. “We
have contacts within the Afghan church that we provide assistance to. We
provide Scriptures and other forms of assistance, but it is very much an
underground presence.” 

Pray that Christians in Afghanistan will stand strong in
their faith and reach out to their neighbors, despite their small numbers. Pray for a peaceful transition and for
increased religious freedom.

If you are reading these words, then you’ve probably already chosen
this day whom you will serve. But could it be possible that there are
yet things you need to put away in order to truly worship the Lord in
spirit and in truth and love Him with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength and with all your mind? I submit to you that it is possible, and for many of us even probable.

Today, the Lord is calling you to the Valley of Shechem.

Until
recently, I hadn’t spent much time studying the rich biblical history
of the Valley of Shechem, the place where Abraham first built an altar
to the Lord on his migration out of an idolatrous land. I had never done
an intense analysis of this valley between mounts Ebal and Gerizim,
where Jacob built his well and Jesus would later tell a woman there
everything she ever did (John 4).

No,
I didn’t know too much about this significant valley. But it only took
three words from the Lord to pique my curiosity. He said to me, “Valley
of Shechem.” Those three words set me off on a prophetic investigation
for what the Lord is saying to the church in this hour. I studied the
geographical and historical significance of Shechem, but it is the
spiritual significance on which the Lord shined a bright light.

The Valley of Shechem is where Joshua called together all the tribes
of Israel. Once all the elders, chiefs, judges and officers arrived and
presented themselves before God, Joshua delivered a powerful prophetic
word to the nation. Joshua prophesied about Abraham, a prophet who once
worshipped other gods. He prophesied about the plagues on Egypt. He
prophesied about the parting of the Red Sea. He essentially offered a
history of Israel right up to its modern day. God was reminding them of
the kind intentions of His will.

God was going somewhere with this
prophetic history lesson. Indeed, He was methodically working to drive a
point home. See, God had given Israel a land for which she did not
labor and cities she did not build. Israel was dwelling safely in the
Promised Land, eating of the vineyards and the olive groves. In other
words, God followed His miraculous deliverance with His abundant grace.
Much the same, God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in
heavenly paces in Christ, predestined us to adoption as sons of Jesus
Christ to Himself—according to the good pleasure of His will (Eph. 1:3-6).

With
this spiritual truth in mind, come with me to the Valley of Shechem and
listen closely to the heart of the prophetic message Joshua delivered
to Israel on that day of decision—then apply it to yourself.

“Now
therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put
away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River
and in Egypt. Serve the Lord! And if it seems evil to you to serve the
Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the
gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River,
or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and
my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:14-15).

The
question is simple: Will you serve Jehovah whole-heartedly or will you
serve an idol? The simplest definition of “idol” is a false god.
Merriam-Webster defines idol as a “representation or symbol of an object
of worship; a false god. Another definition is “pretender, impostor.”
Yet another definition is “an object of extreme devotion” or “a false
conception.”

In ancient times, people created idols to worship.
They gave these wooden, silver and golden idols names that represented
gods. Today, we are a little more sophisticated and the enemy is a
little subtler. We would never dream of worshipping a golden calf. But
we may be tempted to worship our favorite sport, our career, our
children or even our ministry.

In other words, we may set up
people, places and things as idols in our lives that draw our attention
away from God. Anything that draws our attention away from Jesus is a
pretender and an imposter. Any object of extreme devotion apart from God
is a false god.

The Bible clearly says “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3). In case you didn’t hear it loud and clear in Exodus, the Holy Spirit repeats Himself in Deuteronomy 5:7:
“You shall have no other gods before me.” And once more, “For thou
shalt worship no other god: for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a
jealous God” (Exodus 34:14).

Maybe
you have “idols” in your life, like your kids or your car. But this is
what the Lord is saying in this hour: More often than not the idols in
our lives is self.

The Bible says that stubbornness is as idolatry (1 Samuel 15:23).
Stubbornness is putting our self-will before God’s will. The Lord is
saying that now is the time for our self-will to decrease so that His
will can increase in the earth. Now is the time for us to lay aside
childish ways and adopt His ways for His glory. Now is the time for us
to surrender with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our strength, and with all our
mind to the will of God—even at the expense of our personal ambitions,
hopes and plans. It’s time to lay everything on the altar and let the
Lord give back only that which agrees with His plans and purposes.

Just
like Jesus told the woman at the well in the Valley of Shechem, God is
Spirit, and His worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth. So
choose this day whom you will serve: self or Spirit. I urge you by the
Spirit of God not to be conformed to this world, but to be transformed
by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and
acceptable and perfect will of God to a lost and dying world. And I pray
that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and
spiritual understanding—and that you may be strengthened will all
might, according to His glorious power to do obey the will of God in all
things.

About the
author: Jennifer LeClaire is news editor at Charisma. She
is also the author of several books, including The Heart of the Prophetic. You
can e-mail Jennifer at @ or visit her website at .

Sukhra Chauhan was unknowingly possessed by a demon for almost six years. After an arduous search for deliverance, she unexpectedly came to the right place—her relative’s house.

Sukhra’s torment robbed her entire family of peace. Desperate for a solution to her problems, they spent a lot of money going to magicians who could supposedly heal sicknesses.

None of them could help Sukhra. But when she went to another state for a religious festival, she ended up visiting a relative, a Christian woman who belongs to the congregation of GFA-supported pastor Vibhas Jaiteley. Sukhra’s relative realized she was demon possessed and asked her to stay in her home for a few days.

Meanwhile, Vibhas’ church members were meeting for a three-day session of fasting and prayer. Sukhra’s relative took her to the prayer meeting, where the whole congregation prayed for the demon-possessed woman.

On the third day of the gathering, God freed Sukhra from the demon’s grip, and Sukhra decided to follow Jesus!

Sukhra returned home and started attending worship services at a church in her own community. She would appreciate prayer that she continues to grow closer to the Lord and that her family also opens their hearts to His love.

Pastor Vibhas requests prayer that he will witness God’s healing of several friends who are suffering from chronic illnesses. Also, pray God will protect and guide Vibhas and provide a church building for his congregation.

One of my friend’s sons has a parrot named Danny.  Once when I went to visit, the bird,
which was perched on the child’s shoulder, screeched so loudly it hurt my
ears.  I looked nervously at it and
then at its owner.  Seeing my
apprehensive glance, my friend’s son spoke to me.

“It’s OK; he can’t fly because he won’t let go.” His simple
statement stayed with me all that day and the next. I realized that many believers are like that bird.

The Scriptures tell us that as Christians, we are meant to
operate like the eagles and soar above the voices of this world.  But what exactly does it mean to “Let
go?”

A good example of “Letting go” was Peter’s stepping out of a
boat onto unfamiliar territory—the water.  He saw that Jesus was not controlled by natural realm
circumstances, and it appeared to be a pretty good idea when he took that first
step.

After all, walking on water is an exciting venture—not
your everyday routine. Peter wanted that experience.

“Jesus, bid me come to You on the water,” Peter told Him.

When Jesus spoke the word, Peter let go of what he
knew—the familiar boat—and eagerly jumped over the side.  He wasn’t really expecting his
experience to be “different.” When he first got the idea of walking on water,
it sounded fun.  And as long as he
kept his eyes on Jesus, everything was fine.

But the waves were calling out, “Look at us,” and the winds
were calling out, “Listen to us,” and poor old Peter got rattled with those two
factors vying for his attention. 
When he looked at Jesus he was fine, but when he looked at those waves,
he lost his confidence.

Do you, like Peter, have a desire in your heart that you
believe God has planted there? 
Perhaps He has given you a promise, a word to encourage you to walk on
water.  Maybe you even heeded the
word and began to step out of the boat, but the waves and the wind distracted
you.

The problem is that when the wind starts blowing, it carries
with it other people’s opinions. Sometimes those opinions seem louder than the
one you first heard.

So what do you do?

Go back to the place where it’s just you and Jesus once
again, and ask Him to confirm the word. 
When he does, He will impart the faith to go along with it.

Be aware that other things may come and try to get your eyes
off Him and away from your vision. Those “things’ may be well-meaning saints or
good opportunities that appear on your spiritual horizon.

But the GOOD things can take you away from the GOD
things.  The good things seem
safer—familiar territory mostly. 
The God things, on the other hand, may be frightening because they are
unknown. They may take you to ground that is yet untrodden. To go there you
must be willing to let go of what you know—like Danny the parrot needs to
in order to fly.

When you’ve got the vision in front of you again and the
word in your ears, let go of what you know in the natural realm, as well as all
the voices and opinions, and fly out in the Spirit. Ask the Holy Spirit to let
you see what He sees about you and your vision.

Those around you may not be able to see what God has put in
you. They know you so well after the flesh! They will never draw from your
spiritual resources because they don’t see the way God sees.

But there are others who will see and who will draw living
water from your well. God will open the way. Don’t strive to perform or prove
that you can fly.

You don’t have to prove you have something from God! Eagles
don’t struggle and flap their wings around; they just spread them naturally and
catch the wind currents that take them to the realms of the Spirit.

You can do the same. Let Him teach you to fly. Let go, and let God have His way in your life. You
were born again to be borne.

PRAYER POWER FOR THE WEEK OF 6/27/2011

This week ask the Lord to help you see what He sees
concerning you and your future. Focus your prayers on the truth of His Word and
thank Him that there are no limits to what He can accomplish in and through
you. Ask God for revival in our nation, unity among our churches and fervency
in our commitment to teach His Word and spread His kingdom. Continue to pray
for Israel and our nation’s role in helping it fulfill God’s purpose. Pray that
President Obama would have supernatural wisdom when he makes decisions
affecting our nation and the world. 1 Thes. 5:17; James 5:16

To enrich your prayer
life and learn how to strategically pray with power by using appropriate
scriptures, we recommend the following sources by Apostle John Eckhardt: Prayers that Rout Demons, Prayers that Bring Healing, Prayers that Release Heaven on Earth and Prayers that Break
Curses. To order any or all of these click here.

AP Photo/David Duprey

An apology is just not good enough for the Family Research Council.

NBC apologized for removing the phrase “under God” from the
Pledge of Allegiance in a broadcast of the U.S. Open Golf Tournament
on Sunday, but the FRC wants more.

The council is urging its
members to send NBC a message, demanding that “the network … take
corrective action to ensure that the public airwaves will not be used
to censor our nation’s Pledge of Allegiance.”

Tony Perkins, president of the
FRC, sent an eblast Tuesday to its members, which explains the situation
and reqests that they take part in asking NBC to “remedy this abuse
by airing a series of public service announcements with the entire
Pledge of Allegiance.”

“Remember the airwaves belong
to the public and NBC is granted permission to use those airwaves,”
the eblast says. “Removing ‘under God’ from one of the most widely
viewed sports programs is deeply disturbing and is a misuse of the
public trust they’ve been granted.”

About three hours into the broadcast, announcer Dan Hicks offered
a corporate apology: “Regrettably,
a portion of the Pledge of Allegiance that was in that feature was
edited out. It was not done to upset anyone, and we’d like to
apologize to those of you who were offended by it.”

NBC Sports Universal issued a
second apology on Monday from Vice President of Communications Chris
McCloskey. He apologized if the edit upset anyone, and said the
“decision was made by a small group of people to edit portions of
the Pledge of Allegiance. This was a bad decision.”

“They made a deliberate
decision to leave out a part of our nation’s pledge,” Perkins said on air in a CNN report. “What if they would have
left out ‘liberty’ or ‘justice?’ American people obviously caught
this and they responded to it very quickly and [NBC] began to
backtrack.”

Perkins explained that the addition of “under God” was important to the Pledge of Allegiance and he said most Americans think the phrase should stay.

In a June 2002 Gallup Poll,
respondents were asked if they agreed or disagreed with a federal
court’s ruling that it was unconstitutional for the Pledge of Allegiance to be recited in public school classrooms. Eighty-four
percent disagreed.

Sukhra Chauhan was unknowingly possessed by a demon for almost six
years. After an arduous search for deliverance, she unexpectedly came to
the right place—her relative’s house.

Sukhra’s torment robbed her entire family of peace. Desperate for a
solution to her problems, they spent a lot of money going to magicians
who could supposedly heal sicknesses.

None of them could help Sukhra. But when she went to another state
for a religious festival, she ended up visiting a relative, a Christian
woman who belongs to the congregation of GFA-supported pastor Vibhas
Jaiteley. Sukhra’s relative realized she was demon possessed and asked
her to stay in her home for a few days.

Meanwhile, Vibhas’ church members were meeting for a three-day
session of fasting and prayer. Sukhra’s relative took her to the prayer
meeting, where the whole congregation prayed for the demon-possessed
woman.

On the third day of the gathering, God freed Sukhra from the demon’s grip, and Sukhra decided to follow Jesus!

Sukhra returned home and started attending worship services at a
church in her own community. She would appreciate prayer that she
continues to grow closer to the Lord and that her family also opens
their hearts to His love.

Pastor Vibhas requests prayer that he will witness God’s healing of
several friends who are suffering from chronic illnesses. Also, pray God
will protect and guide Vibhas and provide a church building for his
congregation.

There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. —Luke 2:36-37

Anna and Mary of Bethany were two full-time watchmen set upon the Jerusalem wall. Anna speaks of the spiritual warfare, intercession, and fasting. These are people whose main focus is to open the windows of blessing and tear down the spiritual walls of resistance. They are full-blast intercessors and spiritual warriors who are committed to fasting. The Marys of Bethany will enjoy great grace for prayer and worship and will change the atmosphere of the cities and churches that they are a part of by being extravagant lovesick worshipers. God has placed them in the midst of the people as a tender fragrance of the beauty of the Lord.

{ PRAYER STARTER }

Make me a watchman on the wall of Your glory like Anna and Mary of Bethany. I want to give myself to intercession so that I might influence the atmosphere of my city and church to a higher level in You.

Even if the Annas and Marys never speak to anyone,
their very presence creates a type of grace that
preserves the church.