Start Time:	07:14AM
End Time:	08:09AM
Date:	June 30, 2014

 

TITLE: The Widow’s Olive Oil

Scripture: 2 Kings 4:1 – 44

God’s Message / God’s Commands / God’s Promises:

→ The wife of a man from the company of the prophets cried out to Elisha, “Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that he revered the Lord. But now his creditor is coming to take my two boys as his slaves.” Elisha replied to her, “How can I help you? Tell me, what do you have in your house?” “Your servant has nothing there at all,” she said, “except a small jar of olive oil.” Elisha said, “Go around and ask all your neighbors for empty jars. Don’t ask for just a few. Then go inside and shut the door behind you and your sons. Pour oil into all the jars, and as each is filled, put it to one side.” She left him and shut the door behind her and her sons. They brought the jars to her and she kept pouring.  When all the jars were full, she said to her son, “Bring me another one.” But he replied, “There is not a jar left.” Then the oil stopped flowing. She went and told the man of God, and he said, “Go, sell the oil and pay your debts. You and your sons can live on what is left.”

NOTES:

Ø  Give whatever little you have to God and He will multiply it!  The widow had nothing to pay for her husband’s debts but when she went to Elisha for help, Elisha asked her what she had…and she told Elisha immediately without hesitation.  The truth is, she knew what she had left and she was willing to give it away to Elisha for the hopes of getting help from him.  Most of the time, we don’t know what else we have that God can use.  We always say we have nothing and don’t think further on the things we do have that we can offer and God can use to multiply.  Know that we have to offer what we have no matter how little it is to God so He can use it and multiply it to provide for our needs.  Plant so you get a harvest!

Ø  When God provides for our needs, He gives more than enough than what we need so we can live on what is left.  The key words here are “more than what we need”, not “more than what we want”.  God is faithful and just and provides more than enough always but our human nature is greedy and we always wants more than what we really need.

→One day Elisha went to Shunem. And a well-to-do woman was there, who urged him to stay for a meal. So whenever he came by, he stopped there to eat.  She said to her husband, “I know that this man who often comes our way is a holy man of God.  Let’s make a small room on the roof and put in it a bed and a table, a chair and a lamp for him. Then he can stay there whenever he comes to us.”  One day when Elisha came, he went up to his room and lay down there. He said to his servant Gehazi, “Call the Shunammite.” So he called her, and she stood before him. Elisha said to him, “Tell her, ‘You have gone to all this trouble for us. Now what can be done for you? Can we speak on your behalf to the king or the commander of the army?’” She replied, “I have a home among my own people.”  “What can be done for her?” Elisha asked. Gehazi said, “She has no son, and her husband is old.”  Then Elisha said, “Call her.” So he called her, and she stood in the doorway. “About this time next year,” Elisha said, “you will hold a son in your arms.” “No, my lord!” she objected. “Please, man of God, don’t mislead your servant!” But the woman became pregnant, and the next year about that same time she gave birth to a son, just as Elisha had told her.  The child grew, and one day he went out to his father, who was with the reapers.¹⁹ He said to his father, “My head! My head!” His father told a servant, “Carry him to his mother.” After the servant had lifted him up and carried him to his mother, the boy sat on her lap until noon, and then he died. She went up and laid him on the bed of the man of God, then shut the door and went out.  She called her husband and said, “Please send me one of the servants and a donkey so I can go to the man of God quickly and return.”  “Why go to him today?” he asked. “It’s not the New Moon or the Sabbath.” “That’s all right,” she said.  She saddled the donkey and said to her servant, “Lead on; don’t slow down for me unless I tell you.” So she set out and came to the man of God at Mount Carmel. When he saw her in the distance, the man of God said to his servant Gehazi, “Look! There’s the Shunammite! Run to meet her and ask her, ‘Are you all right? Is your husband all right? Is your child all right?’” “Everything is all right,” she said.   When she reached the man of God at the mountain, she took hold of his feet. Gehazi came over to push her away, but the man of God said, “Leave her alone! She is in bitter distress, but the Lord has hidden it from me and has not told me why.” “Did I ask you for a son, my lord?” she said. “Didn’t I tell you, ‘Don’t raise my hopes’?”  Elisha said to Gehazi, “Tuck your cloak into your belt, take my staff in your hand and run. Don’t greet anyone you meet, and if anyone greets you, do not answer. Lay my staff on the boy’s face.”  But the child’s mother said, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So he got up and followed her.  Gehazi went on ahead and laid the staff on the boy’s face, but there was no sound or response. So Gehazi went back to meet Elisha and told him, “The boy has not awakened.”  When Elisha reached the house, there was the boy lying dead on his couch. He went in, shut the door on the two of them and prayed to the Lord. Then he got on the bed and lay on the boy, mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, hands to hands. As he stretched himself out on him, the boy’s body grew warm.  Elisha turned away and walked back and forth in the room and then got on the bed and stretched out on him once more. The boy sneezed seven times and opened his eyes.  Elisha summoned Gehazi and said, “Call the Shunammite.” And he did. When she came, he said, “Take your son.”  She came in, fell at his feet and bowed to the ground. Then she took her son and went out.

NOTES:

Ø  Every good thing you do for the man of God from the bottom of your heart without being ask to do so, is rewarded by a miracle!  Hallelujah!  Do you have an earnest desire for something today?  Do you have a great need?  Or are you seeking for a miracle?  Then do good things for the man of God out of love and God will reward your good actions with a miracle!  The Shunamite woman decided to set up a bedroom for Elisha without being asked to do so, and God knew her heart even though she didn’t ask for it from Elisha.  God sees what our hearts and though we do not seek for payment in return, every good act we do for His people will always be rewarded by a miracle!

Ø  Our good actions towards God and the man of God will always make us a priority in His eyes!  Elisha was in Mount Carmel and must have set out to do something for that day but when he saw the Shunamite woman, he stopped and told his servant to meet her.  Our love and actions towards God and His servant will put us number 1 or place us in a special part of God’s heart that Elisha had to stop whatever he has planned on that day and focus on the Shunamite Woman first.  Amen!

→ Elisha returned to Gilgal and there was a famine in that region. While the company of the prophets was meeting with him, he said to his servant, “Put on the large pot and cook some stew for these prophets.”  One of them went out into the fields to gather herbs and found a wild vine and picked as many of its gourds as his garment could hold. When he returned, he cut them up into the pot of stew, though no one knew what they were. The stew was poured out for the men, but as they began to eat it, they cried out, “Man of God, there is death in the pot!” And they could not eat it.  Elisha said, “Get some flour.” He put it into the pot and said, “Serve it to the people to eat.” And there was nothing harmful in the pot. A man came from Baal Shalishah, bringing the man of God twenty loaves of barley bread baked from the first ripe grain, along with some heads of new grain. “Give it to the people to eat,” Elisha said. “How can I set this before a hundred men?” his servant asked. But Elisha answered, “Give it to the people to eat. For this is what the Lord says: ‘They will eat and have some left over.’” Then he set it before them, and they ate and had some left over, according to the word of the Lord.

NOTES:

Ø  When God provides, there’s always leftovers!  God is a God of abundance and the sooner we realize that His abundance is based on our needs the more we see His great provision!  As God had said, they will eat and have some left over.  Everything He gives is truly beyond what we need!  Hallelujah!

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, gracious and merciful One!  Amazing Lord and Saviour, how wonderful and great You are!  Thank You for Your provision that is always more than enough!  Thank You because Your provision is based on what we need and You always give more to us with left over!  Thank You because You see our hearts and our desires and when we do good to You and to Your people, You reward us with a miracle!  Thank You Lord because You always see our actions and You make us a priority because of Your love for us.  Lord help me to see Your provision and love and grace and mercy always.  Help me to see whatever little I have that I may offer it to You and You can multiply it. Thank You Lord because in You, I will not need anything.  Truly You are all I need to live a satisfied and joyful life!  In Jesus’ Name, Amen!

Time: 08:00AM – 10:00PM

Date: June 28, 2014

Scriptures: 1 Kings 17: 7 – 24

Some time later the brook dried up because there had been no rain in the land. Then the word of the Lord came to him: “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food.”  So he went to Zarephath. When he came to the town gate, a widow was there gathering sticks. He called to her and asked, “Would you bring me a little water in a jar so I may have a drink?” As she was going to get it, he called, “And bring me, please, a piece of bread.”  “As surely as the Lord your God lives,” she replied, “I don’t have any bread—only a handful of flour in a jar and a little olive oil in a jug. I am gathering a few sticks to take home and make a meal for myself and my son, that we may eat it—and die.”Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.’”  She went away and did as Elijah had told her. So there was food every day for Elijah and for the woman and her family.  For the jar of flour was not used up and the jug of oil did not run dry, in keeping with the word of the Lord spoken by Elijah.  Some time later the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. He grew worse and worse, and finally stopped breathing. She said to Elijah, “What do you have against me, man of God? Did you come to remind me of my sin and kill my son?”  “Give me your son,” Elijah replied. He took him from her arms, carried him to the upper room where he was staying, and laid him on his bed. Then he cried out to theLord, “Lord my God, have you brought tragedy even on this widow I am staying with, by causing her son to die?” Then he stretched himself out on the boy three times and cried out to the Lord, “Lord my God, let this boy’s life return to him!”  The Lord heard Elijah’s cry, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived.  Elijah picked up the child and carried him down from the room into the house. He gave him to his mother and said, “Look, your son is alive!” Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord from your mouth is the truth.”

Background:

Ø  The more we do evil in our lives the more it increases

Ø  Ahab & Jezebel

Ø  Elijah

Ø  When Evil increases, Elijah appears

Message:

1

11) God is a God of His words (vs 7 – 16)

Possible Worries/hindrances:

Ø  Safety - When God said to Elijah to go to Zarephath in the region of Sidon, he didn’t question God’s command.  He went directly.  Jezebel is the daughter of the king of Sidonians.  So in reality, God told Elijah to go to the enemy’s territory for He has instructed a widow to feed him.

Ø  Human logic/reasoning – Elijah knew that there was drought so he knew that people have no water and there was famine; yet this did not stop him from obeying the Lord’s instructions or from asking the woman food to eat.  He knew God will provide

Elijah has so many excuses to not obey God but He knew that God is a God of His words.  Elijah did not bother to think ahead of what God instructed Him to do.  He did not allow himself to worry of things that are not yet there.  Elijah knew God and has experienced God.  He is assured of His love, protection, provision, etc.  and so everything happened as God said it so (the jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain; also the widow supplied Elijah food as He said she would).

e.g.

Command: witnessing to people

Hesitations: fear of losing them and end up alone

Verse: Matthew 28:19 - 20 say, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

Command: Give to the poor

 Hesitations: fear that they might abuse you and you won’t have anything left

Verse: Luke 12:22 says, "Sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor. Make yourselves wallets that don't wear out—a dependable treasure in heaven, where no thief can get close and no moth can destroy anything.”

Question:  Do you know God enough to trust Him and obey what He said without worrying of anything else?  Are you assured enough that He will provide and protect you even when everything in you says otherwise?

22) God is a God of mercy and not condemnation (1 Kings 17:17 – 21)

After some time, when things are going so well, the widow’s boy fell ill and died.  Then the widow accused Elijah of coming to her life to remind her of her sins and kill her son.  But the story shows that God is not a God who condemns, He forgives and when we obey, even if problem or trials comes our way, His love, provision, grace and favor is greater than any of it.  I believe the son had to die so the widow would see this truth.  The moment her son died, the first thing she said is an accusation that it was God who did it.  This shows us that the widow has a wrong perception of the Lord.  He sees God as a judge more than a Father who loves her.  And the Lord had to change that thought by bringing her son’s life back to show that He does not condemn but forgives even if we do not deserve it but as an answer to the request of His chosen prophet, Elijah. 

Question: do we accuse God incorrectly when things don’t go the way we planned it?  When we are not given what we desire or needed because of our own doing, do we think that God has not provided for us?  Do we think that He has abandoned us or maybe we think that we have done something wrong that stopped the flow of God’s provision?

Our sins open our lives to troubles and the enemies’ attack but it does not hinder the power of God.  God can continue to bless and provide and heal and give and pour out blessings to us even in the presence of sin in our lives.  Sin has no authority over God’s power and blessings.

3

33)  God wants to be known! (1 Kings 17:24

After everything God did, the end result is confirmation of His existence and glory.  Everything God does in our lives is to reiterate His existence and to increase our faith in Him.  When we get victory or when God provided for us or when were safe from danger, the first thing that comes to mind is to thank the Lord because now we know that He exists and we managed to escape, to be free, to receive blessings because of Him. 

Question:  do we acknowledge God’s works in our lives as we should? 

It is critical that we know God so we can see His hands working in our lives daily.  Seek God at all times by reading His word and praying.  Spend time getting to know Him so you will see His marvelous works in your life.

4)       

Start Time:	06:51AM
End Time:	08:05AM
Date:	June 27, 2014

 

TITLE: Moab Revolts

Scripture: 2 Kings 3: 1 – 27

God’s Message / God’s Commands / God’s Promises:

→ Joram^[a] son of Ahab became king of Israel in Samaria in the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned twelve years.  He did evil in the eyes of the Lord, but not as his father and mother had done. He got rid of the sacred stone of Baal that his father had made. Nevertheless he clung to the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit; he did not turn away from them. Now Mesha king of Moab raised sheep, and he had to pay the king of Israel a tribute of a hundred thousand lambs and the wool of a hundred thousand rams. But after Ahab died, the king of Moab rebelled against the king of Israel. So at that time King Joram set out from Samaria and mobilized all Israel. He also sent this message to Jehoshaphat king of Judah: “The king of Moab has rebelled against me. Will you go with me to fight against Moab?” “I will go with you,” he replied. “I am as you are, my people as your people, my horses as your horses.”  “By what route shall we attack?” he asked. “Through the Desert of Edom,” he answered.  So the king of Israel set out with the king of Judah and the king of Edom. After a roundabout march of seven days, the army had no more water for themselves or for the animals with them.  “What!” exclaimed the king of Israel. “Has the Lord called us three kings together only to deliver us into the hands of Moab?”  But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there no prophet of the Lord here, through whom we may inquire of the Lord?” An officer of the king of Israel answered, “Elisha son of Shaphat is here. He used to pour water on the hands of Elijah.^[b]”  Jehoshaphat said, “The word of the Lord is with him.” So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him.

NOTES:

Ø  God allowed King Jehoshaphat (king of Judah) to ally with King Joram (king of Israel) to fight a common enemy, the Moabites!  Despite the fact that King joram did evil in God’s eyes, it didn’t hinder God to use him together with King Jehoshaphat and the King of Edom to fight the battle against the Moabites.  This only shows that we are never God’s enemy no matter what we do against Him.  He has considered us His despite of our wrong decisions and choices.  And He will continue to fight ahead of us against our main enemy.  Those who revolt against us or God’s children (even if the world thinks, they have the right to do so) become God’s enemy in the end.  Hallelujah!

Ø  It is critical that we seek God in every battle we face to give us right directions for our victory!  I believe King Jehoshaphat played a great role for both this battle and the battle led by King Ahaziah/Ahab.  He, King Jehoshaphat, was the conscience or the reminder to everyone that we need to seek God at all times.  This is the 2^nd time that King Jehoshphat adviced to seek God’s prophet before going to battle.  We need a King Jehoshaphat in our lives today, many times, he is the Holy Spirit but many times, we think of him as our conscience that reminds us the importance of seeking God.

→ Elisha said to the king of Israel, “Why do you want to involve me? Go to the prophets of your father and the prophets of your mother.” “No,” the king of Israel answered, “because it was the Lord who called us three kings together to deliver us into the hands of Moab.” Elisha said, “As surely as the Lord Almighty lives, whom I serve, if I did not have respect for the presence of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would not pay any attention to you. But now bring me a harpist.” While the harpist was playing, the hand of the Lord came on Elisha and he said, “This is what the Lord says: I will fill this valley with pools of water. For this is what the Lord says: You will see neither wind nor rain, yet this valley will be filled with water, and you, your cattle and your other animals will drink. This is an easy thing in the eyes of the Lord; he will also deliver Moab into your hands. You will overthrow every fortified city and every major town. You will cut down every good tree, stop up all the springs, and ruin every good field with stones.” The next morning, about the time for offering the sacrifice, there it was—water flowing from the direction of Edom! And the land was filled with water.

NOTES:

Ø  God made sure King Jehoshaphat was with King Joram and the King of Edom during this war because His grace and provision flowed in them because of the presence of King Jehoshaphat.  God wants His people winning against their enemy and even if we are not pleasing before His eyes and we did evil, God finds a way to provide for us the things we need to be victorious against our true enemy, that’s why the Lord made sure King Jehoshaphat was with them.  Thank You Lord because You find ways to protect and provide for us even when we are not worthy of it.

→ Now all the Moabites had heard that the kings had come to fight against them; so every man, young and old, who could bear arms was called up and stationed on the border. When they got up early in the morning, the sun was shining on the water. To the Moabites across the way, the water looked red—like blood. “That’s blood!” they said. “Those kings must have fought and slaughtered each other. Now to the plunder, Moab!”  But when the Moabites came to the camp of Israel, the Israelites rose up and fought them until they fled. And the Israelites invaded the land and slaughtered the Moabites. They destroyed the towns, and each man threw a stone on every good field until it was covered. They stopped up all the springs and cut down every good tree. Only Kir Hareseth was left with its stones in place, but men armed with slings surrounded it and attacked it.  When the king of Moab saw that the battle had gone against him, he took with him seven hundred swordsmen to break through to the king of Edom, but they failed. Then he took his firstborn son, who was to succeed him as king, and offered him as a sacrifice on the city wall. The fury against Israel was great; they withdrew and returned to their own land.

NOTES:

Ø  God’s provision and love toward His children sometimes, masked as the opposite in the eyes of our enemies, to trick them into thinking that they have won, then we get our full victory!  God provided water for the Israelites, while at the same time, the Moabites thought that it was a pool of blood, thinking that the Israelites killed themselves, so they rush towards them to get plunder but little did they know that the Israelites were waiting for them.  God’s protection to us is amazing and real.  He gives us victory against our enemy for His Name’s sake not because of what we did or what we can do for Him.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, my protector and Savior!  Thank You because Your action to protect me is never based on what I did for You or what I can do for You, because if that is the case, then I have died a long time ago.  Thank You because everything You do to me and for me is based in Your word, Your love and Your grace.  I am so grateful because of that.  Thank you because You find a way to help and protect me even if I don’t deserve it.  Thank you because our victory seems like our defeat in the eyes of our enemy to trap him into his full defeat.  Thank You Jesus because You fight for me and You plan everything including my winning.  I love You Lord.  In Jesus’ Name, amen!

Start Time:	06:40AM
End Time:	07:11AM
Date:	June 26, 2014

 

TITLE: Elijah Taken Up to Heaven

Scripture: 2 Kings 2:1 – 25

God’s Message / God’s Commands / God’s Promises:

→ When the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal.  Elijah said to Elisha, “Stay here; the Lord has sent me to Bethel.” But Elisha said, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethel. The company of the prophets at Bethel came out to Elisha and asked, “Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today?” “Yes, I know,” Elisha replied, “so be quiet.”  Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here, Elisha; the Lord has sent me to Jericho.” And he replied, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So they went to Jericho.  The company of the prophets at Jericho went up to Elisha and asked him, “Do you know that the Lord is going to take your master from you today?” “Yes, I know,” he replied, “so be quiet.”  Then Elijah said to him, “Stay here; the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.” And he replied, “As surely as the Lord lives and as you live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them walked on.  Fifty men from the company of the prophets went and stood at a distance, facing the place where Elijah and Elisha had stopped at the Jordan. Elijah took his cloak, rolled it up and struck the water with it. The water divided to the right and to the left, and the two of them crossed over on dry ground.  When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?” “Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied.  “You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah said, “yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours—otherwise, it will not.”  As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.  Elisha saw this and cried out, “My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his garment and tore it in two.  Elisha then picked up Elijah’s cloak that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. He took the cloak that had fallen from Elijah and struck the water with it. “Where now is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” he asked. When he struck the water, it divided to the right and to the left, and he crossed over.  The company of the prophets from Jericho, who were watching, said, “The spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha.” And they went to meet him and bowed to the ground before him.  “Look,” they said, “we your servants have fifty able men. Let them go and look for your master. Perhaps the Spirit of the Lord has picked him up and set him down on some mountain or in some valley.” “No,” Elisha replied, “do not send them.”  But they persisted until he was too embarrassed to refuse. So he said, “Send them.” And they sent fifty men, who searched for three days but did not find him. When they returned to Elisha, who was staying in Jericho, he said to them, “Didn’t I tell you not to go?”

NOTES:

Ø  God wants His children to have the determination and fixation of Elisha!  Despite of the many number of times that Elijah said to Elisha to stay, Elisha was determined to go with Elijah.  God wants us to have the same passion in seeking His presence; that we should not be easily discouraged or give up when things don’t go the way we planned it… or if we are just traveling like there’s no goal or destination..God wants us to seek for Him the same way that Elisha was determined to be with Elijah. 

Ø  Those who faithful seek the Lord will get what they asked for.  Elisha refused to be left behind and stuck to Elijah wherever he go.  He asked for a double portion and even if Elijah’s answer was not a complete yes, Elisha still decided to be with him until his request is given.  God wants us to have the same determination that when things doesn’t seem to fall the way we want or plan it to be, we should still continue to pursue him!  Because there is reward to those who are faithful and persistent.

→The people of the city said to Elisha, “Look, our lord, this town is well situated, as you can see, but the water is bad and the land is unproductive.”  “Bring me a new bowl,” he said, “and put salt in it.” So they brought it to him.  Then he went out to the spring and threw the salt into it, saying, “This is what the Lord says: ‘I have healed this water. Never again will it cause death or make the land unproductive.’” And the water has remained pure to this day, according to the word Elisha had spoken.  From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some boys came out of the town and jeered at him. “Get out of here, baldy!” they said. “Get out of here, baldy!”  He turned around, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the Lord. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the boys. And he went on to Mount Carmel and from there returned to Samaria.

NOTES:

Ø  When we speak ill of the man of God, we are literally speaking ill of God!  Know that when the people persecute or speak negative things about us, God’s children, they are directing their words to God, Himself, and it hurts not only because we are the recipient of those insults but because God is hurting at the same time.  However, God will not allow His Name, and His people get insulted.  He will avenge us because it is avenging Himself.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, the great I am!  Thank You because You long for us to seek You and be determined like Elisha.  Thank You Lord because You are searching for Elisha’s in us and You long to reward us for our faithfulness and determination.  Lord thank You because those who are faithful are rewarded and we will always receive Your goodness and blessings.  Thank You Lord for Your loving kindness.  Thank You Jesus for Your mercy and grace.  Lord, remind me always never to speak ill of Your chosen people.  Help me Lord to always see You in the lives of the people You have appointed.  Keep my mouth from speaking negative or ill words to Your chosen people who represents You Lord.  And open my eyes to see You in them always.  In Jesus’ name, Amen!