Dear Deacon John,
There are only a
few 40 Days for Life vigil locations having tolerable weather this week.
But wouldn’t you know … it’s the places with the worst weather that are
seeing some of the most amazing blessings right now!
In really bad weather, schools close ... offices close ... and some businesses close, too – even abortion centers.
So if God put shoveling snow on your schedule today, smile! You may be snowed in … but so is the abortionist!
McKinney, Texas
Icy Texas roads
have been a big concern for vigil volunteers in McKinney this week … so
Paul, the local leader, has stressed safety. “On a positive note,” he
said, “Planned Parenthood closed due to weather for two days and is
already scheduled to be closed Friday. That means Planned Parenthood is closed all week!”
Earlier in the
campaign, it wasn’t snow and ice but rain that concerned Paul and his
team. As they were arriving for an event last week, they saw rain in the
distance. “We barely had the books sheltered under the plastic table
before it started raining buckets,” he said. “Instead of setting up the
sound equipment, we bundled up and prayed.”
People started
showing up in the rain … but right before the event was set to start,
the rain stopped. Eventually, more than 50 people turned out.
“I may have
temporarily lost my voice by the end but everything went pretty smoothly
even without a sound system,” Paul said. “After our closing prayer, a
volunteer announced that someone had bought pizza for everyone. God is good!”
Roanoke, Virginia
Sean, the local leader in Roanoke, sent out a great message: “Zero abortions this week!”
“The snow came down hard and canceled our kick-off prayer rally,” he said, “but the snow did not cancel our prayers.”
And then it kept on snowing. And this time, the weather shut down Planned Parenthood.
“Because Planned Parenthood was closed,” Sean said, “women who were scheduled to have an abortion last week were not able to keep their appointments in Roanoke.”
Fullerton, Maryland
It was yet another
cold day as 40 Days for Life volunteers in Baltimore’s Fullerton area
rallied outside the abortion center. The local leaders shared some
thoughts that were offered by the speakers at the event.
Pastor Dale South
observed that the Apostle Paul’s preaching in Ephesus was “bad for
business” for the idol makers. “Our hope here as we gather for these 40
days,” he said, “is that we will rightly be accused of being bad for
business for the abortion business ... but that it will be very good for the mothers and babies.”
“As a senior in
high school I gave a speech on abortion,” Sherrie Palmateer told the
group. “Unknown to me, a classmate was pregnant and considering
abortion. Because of my speech, she did not abort her baby… and I just
recently saw her 31-year-old daughter and grandchildren on Facebook. We never know who we are affecting. God knows. He just asks us to be His voice.”
Today’s devotional is from Carmen Pate of Alliance Ministries.
Day 9 intention
Pray that the post-abortive woman would be repentant, accept forgiveness, be healed and restored, and bring glory to God with her new life.
Scripture
I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I have not hidden. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and You forgave the iniquity of my sin.
— Psalm 32:5
Reflection by Carmen Pate
Because abortion is legal in America, many have justified their choice. “If it’s legal, it can’t be wrong, right?”
We now have an entire generation of men and women who have never known abortion to be illegal; a generation of people who have never been broken over their sin of abortion.
As a result, the consequences of unconfessed sin weigh on their souls, yet they have never connected the dots as to why their hearts are heavy. No wonder we have millions of women who are struggling with depression, addictions, eating disorders and more.
Post abortion syndrome is very real but recovery begins when the individual agrees with God as David confessed in Psalm 51:3-4, 14, “Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in Your sight — that You may be found just when You speak, and blameless when you Judge. Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, the God of my salvation.”
Brokenness is the key to accessing God’s glorious mercy and healing. Christ came to heal the brokenhearted and He is waiting with open arms to take the post-abortive woman on a glorious journey of healing and restoration if she will only run to Him.
God will not waste any sin we lay at His feet. Imagine millions of healed and restored post-abortive women like myself singing aloud of His righteousness and giving testimony of His love and forgiveness.
What a day of rejoicing that will be!
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we have turned our backs on you and your principles in your Word. We have allowed man to usurp Your role as God over life and the number of our days.
But we come to you in brokenness and repentance over our sin.
We cry out for Your mercy and ask you to remove the scourge of abortion from our land. Use us as your vessels, Lord, to bring the light of Your Truth to our nation once again. Because of Christ we pray, Amen.
Printable devotional
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For life,
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SHAWN CARNEY
Campaign Director
40 Days for Life
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