Shirlee Abbott

Credit Where It’s Due

Posted on August 30, 2018 by Shirlee Abbott

I don’t remember who said this, but the message stays with me:

We humans often take credit for God’s work.
We think, “Praise us from whom all blessings flow.”

Been there, done that.
I was wrong, Lord.
The credit is all yours.

Posted in other | Tagged credit where it's due, Doxology | 4 Comments

Uplifted

Posted on August 29, 2018 by Shirlee Abbott

Ever been knocked down, then kicked? Pushed over and stepped on?

If you find yourself in a pit–due to your own poor choice or someone else’s deliberate action–you can look to God for a hand up.

Psalm 40:2 (NIV)
He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
and gave me a firm place to stand.

Hold tight. We have an uplifting God.

Posted in other | Tagged Psalm 40:2, uplifting | 1 Comment

Celebrate Disaster?

Posted on August 28, 2018 by Shirlee Abbott

Proverbs 24:17-18 (ESV)
Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles, lest the Lord see it and be displeased, and turn away his anger from him.

Matthew 5:44-45
I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.

No gloating.

Posted in other | Tagged gloating, Matthew 5:44-45, Proverbs 24:17-18 | 3 Comments

Because It’s Not Nice

Posted on August 27, 2018 by Shirlee Abbott

Are you guilty of these not-nice actions?

I gloat at others’ troubles
I kick ‘em when they’re down
I grab all the credit
I lord it over others

The prophet Ezekiel prophesied disaster for nations doing these things.
(from Ezekiel 25, 29, 31 – MSG)

Because you cheered when my Sanctuary was desecrated . . .

Because the Philistines were so spitefully vengeful . . .

Because you said, “It’s my Nile. I made it” . . .

Because it skyscrapered upward, piercing the clouds, swaggering and proud . . .

Not nice for a nation—not so good in people either.

Posted in other | Tagged Ezekiel, not nice, prophesy | 3 Comments

Sheltered Advisors

Posted on August 26, 2018 by Shirlee Abbott

Joseph and Daniel are Old Testament examples of godly advisors to heads of state. Surely there are many men and women of God behind the scenes in national, state and local government.

Capitol Ministries is one organization working to make disciples of Jesus Christ in the political arena.

“We are following God’s command to reach the leaders of our troubled world—for only through obedience to God is true hope and change possible.”

Let’s support them with prayer.

Lord God, we pray for the Christian men and women who work in government in the US and around the world. May the godly wisdom they offer be respected and valued. Open doors for Capitol Ministries and other organizations as they work to establish Bible study and prayer groups in every capitol.

Posted in other | Tagged Capitol Ministries, Safe Shelter | 2 Comments

Shoot Off a Prayer

Posted on August 24, 2018 by Shirlee Abbott

I can send a prayer anywhere–

1 Timothy 2:1 (MSG)
Pray every way you know how,
for everyone you know.

I can send my prayers off to the White House, into the secret corners of North Korea, over crowded slums, behind jailhouse bars, into the halls of the school down the street. There’s nowhere my prayer can’t go.