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PRAYERGEAR.COM / SPIRITUAL RESOURCE SERVICES
NEWSLETTER
June 8, 2000; Issue 48: Bill of Citizenship in the Kingdom, Part
2
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<>< CONTENTS <><
1. Mini-Reflection
2. Cruising Christian Cyberspace!
3. Prayergear.com product and services updates
4. Let us know!
5. Weekly Reflection: "Bill of Citizenship in the
Kingdom," Part 2 of 4
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Greetings to all of you once again and a great welcome to our new
subscribers! Jesus said that the path to destruction is wide and
many are on it. To follow Christ as sheep follow their shepherd
is to be on the narrow path and "few find it." There's
an interesting thing about the management of free grazing sheep:
In the western nations sheep are driven like cattle, from behind.
In the East, the keepers of the flock know their sheep and vice
versa, and they lead in front, sheep following. The sheep know
the call of the shepherd and respond to his leadership. Except
for those of you living in agricultural regions, most of us
aren't as profoundly struck by Jesus' metaphor regarding sheep as
were His listeners of 2000 years ago. Yet your subscription to
and interest in this newsletter indicates you heard Jesus' call
and are following, or you, in some way, are hearing His call and
still haven't responded with commitment. Having said all this,
let's move right into the Mini-Reflection...
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1. ~~ ** Mini-Reflection ** ~~
I dislike "sugarcoated" Christianity and enticements
into the kingdom of God by some who appeal to people's fears and
self-centeredness. To relegate Christ as hellfire insurance or
imply that the Christian life is bliss and physical abundance is
to belittle our Lord and Savior. The typical "sinners
prayer" doesn't mention commitment, sacrifice and the
passion of making Christ, and not our egocentricity, the essence
of our lives. That prayer typically centers more on us than on
Him.
But those of you hearing the call of Jesus in your hearts need to
respond in some way. Please consider responding like a sheep to
the shepherd. There are those of you who have already responded,
but feel the need to reaffirm your devotion. I invite you to
consider praying these words, as your own... (You can obtain an
attractively printable version from our web site under the
Article Index or by clicking
A Prayer for
Redemption .)
"Jesus, I hear You calling me. I feel You loving me. I know
about Your ultimate sacrifice for me. I come to You just as I am
and with all that I am. My sins violated the Father and I am so
sorry. I repent of them and ask Your forgiveness. I love You
because You are Love Itself and You loved me first.
I surrender my entire self and respond gratefully to Your
invitation to live in You and have You live in me, now and
forever. I pledge to You and announce to all that You are my
Savior, Redeemer, Friend, Master and High Priest. Cover me with
Your redemptive blood and fill me with Your Holy Spirit. Heal and
transform me from being darkness to being light, the light of the
world.
I am willing to let Your Spirit take over every part of me and
pray for Your grace to help me let go of self-indulgence,
self-promotion, self-interest and rather make You the center of
my life and complete obedience to You, as Your servant, my
passion.
I know Your friends are to be my friends, and Your enemies are to
be my own. Your ways will be mine. I know You will discipline me
for my own spirit's sake. I accept all this while I embrace You
and am nurtured by Your infinite love and mercy and sustained by
my complete faith and trust in You, in the Father and the Holy
Spirit.
God Lord Jesus, live in me as I live in You. I love You. I will
follow You every day of my life, a life without end. Thank you
for loving me into Your kingdom! Amen."
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2. ~~ ** Cruising Christian Cyberspace! ** ~~
Our web site feature of the week is
WorldVision.org
(http://www.worldvision.org)
A subscriber asked us to consider featuring this site after her
and her husband's personal experience with its mission, and that
is to bring physical and spiritual relief into the poor and often
isolated regions of this world through sponsorships by people
like you. This web site provides individual profiles of children
and their families in the country of your personal interest who
are in great need. Information about the region in which that
family lives is also provided along with World Vision's 2 to 5
year plans for training and intervention goals for that region.
The site also serves as a great news resource and update about
the conditions in which our brothers and sisters in Christ live.
You'll read the subscriber's personal comments below.
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3. ~~ ** Prayergear.com Product and Service Updates ** ~~
For several reasons we revised A Prayer:
Breaking the Strongholds .
Most of our e-mails this week were questions or comments about
the nature of strongholds in spiritual warfare in response to our
articles on the web site and people's personal experiences and
struggles. This prayer is a structured, biblically based appeal
to the Holy Spirit for intervention as we wrestle with "the
principalities and powers of darkness in the heavenly
realm." We invite you to use it as a model or aid in your
prayers to "deliver us from evil" as Christ taught us
to do. And do let us know of your experience with these types of
prayers.
The update on the online store at
www.prayergear.com/prayerware.html
is that we have a major update! The three sections on T-shirts
(for all, for the ladies, for kids) feature newly released
designs, all of which are powerful testimonies to our faith. Some
of these designs are now available on tote bags . One of our
distributors, the Solid Light Company, provides great hats and
caps worth reviewing. Your purchases support our ministries.
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4. ~~ ** Let us know! ** ~~
Here's a note from the subscriber mentioned above:
< To fellow subscribers: I suggested that Prayergear.com
consider featuring World Vision's web site because of my personal
experience. World Vision says this about my sponsorship: "He
lives in a poor area with his parents. They are struggling to
make ends meet because there are few job opportunities in this
area. Your sponsorship will not only help to provide this family
with their basic needs, but will also enable them to develop
their skills in a World Vision training program." My husband
and I were thrilled to hear directly from this promising young
man. I urge all subscribers and your friends to consider
investing less than a dollar a day in these communities! >
And thank you for letting us know!
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5. ~~ This week's Weekly Reflection follows below ~~
Thank you again for allowing me into your prayers and thoughts.
Please forward this newsletter (in its entirety) to whomever you
believe would be interested and help this ministry and us to
grow. "I know I will live to see the Lord's goodness in this
present life." (Psalm 27:13) Yes indeed, eternal life in
Christ doesn't start when we die. It starts the moment we embrace
Him as Lord and Savior.
John
John S. Hilkevich, Ph.D.
Spiritual Resource Services: Prayergear.com
~ Education, Services and Products
in the Christian Faith ~
www.prayergear.com
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For a more attractively formatted Weekly Reflection or links to
previous
Reflections, point your browser to
http://www.prayergear.com/weeklyintro.html
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WEEKLY REFLECTIONS
BILL OF CITIZENSHIP IN THE KINGDOM
PART 2 OF 4
[CONTINUED FROM ARTICLE 3]
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