Praise the Lord for the gift this new day. We will gather for our Wednesday fellowship and Bible study this evening at 6:00 PM, followed by Choir practice at 7:30 PM. We read and hear about the political paralysis in high places. The Church of Jesus Christ is in the world but not of the world. We are called to be the light of the world and the salt of the earth.

We are getting ready for our Prayer conference next weekend. We are expecting miracles to happen. Jesus, our Lord, is the same yesterday, today, and forever. His promises, His Presence, and His power propel us to press on with confidence and zeal, for we serve under a captain who has never lost a battle.

I talked with our granddaughters yesterday. They are a spending a week in Cape Cod on vacation. Sunita and Andy, along with a few of their friends who are the prayer warriors from Washington, DC, are coming here to participate in the prayer conference. Those who live in the area please do come and join us. We all look forward to being blessed, changed, and challenged to live victorious lives in His kingdom for His glory.

A few Years ago Alice and I were attending a conference in Birmingham Alabama. One of the speakers was Dr. Alistair Begg. Dr. Begg is a pastor serving in Cleveland, Ohio. He was born in Scotland and trained in London. Near the end of one of his lectures he told the story from 2 Chronicles 20 of how King Jehoshaphat prayed. The Ammonites and the Moabites were moving with a vast army toward Jerusalem. Because there were so many of them and they were so well armed, the men of Israel could never defeat them. As the invaders came closer and closer, the situation looked increasingly hopeless. When the king called for a nationwide fast, men from every town and village gathered in Jerusalem to seek the Lord. Then the king stood up and cried out to the Lord for deliverance. At the end of his prayer, Jehoshaphat concluded with this simple confession: “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you” (verse 12). God’s answer came through a prophet who told the people to “stand still and see the salvation of the Lord.” The next day Jehoshaphat put the male singers at the head of the army and sent them out to do battle. They literally stood still and watched as the Lord sent confusion into the enemy ranks. The Moabites and Ammonites started killing each other by mistake. There was a great slaughter followed by the plundering of the supplies left behind by the enemy soldiers. The story ends with the army gathering for a praise celebration, giving thanks to God for the victory he provided (vv. 27-28).

After telling that story Alistair Begg commented that when Jehoshaphat prayed, “We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you," he was really saying, “Lord, we’re just a bunch of pathetic losers. And if you don’t help us, we’re sunk.” “We’re just a bunch of pathetic losers and if God doesn’t help us, we’re sunk.” That’s a good name for Christians. The Lord's church does consist “Pathetic Losers.” You would never run out of prospects.

Apart from God’s grace, it's true that we all are just a bunch of pathetic losers. Without out the Lord, we don’t have a chance, we don’t have a thing to offer, and we don’t even know what to do next. I am a pathetic loser. Apart from the grace of God, I own up to the truth that in me, that is in my flesh, there is nothing good at all. Whatever talent I possess, and whatever good I have accomplished, the power to do it has come from the Lord, and He alone gets the credit.

    Perhaps you’ve heard the old Shaker hymn, "Simple Gifts", that goes this way:
        ’Tis a gift to be simple, ’tis a gift to be free,
        ’Tis a gift to come down where we ought to be.
    It’s a good thing for all of us to “come down where we ought to be.” Jesus told us how to live when he declared, “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it” (Mark 8:35). In the Kingdom of God, all the values of the world are reversed. The way up is down. We are all “pathetic losers, saved, restored, redeemed, and healed by His grace alone. Yes, this is true, but we don’t know the half of it. Apart from God’s grace, all of us are pathetic losers. There are no exceptions. Yet, when pathetic losers band together to seek the Lord, the Red Sea parts, the walls come tumbling down, the enemy is routed, and the church rolls on for the glory of God.
Blessed be His Name.
    Brown
http://youtu.be/i2Iz4cS1PF8