The blood that Jesus shed for me, way back on Calvary, the blood that gives me strength from day to day, it will never lose its power! For it reaches to the highest mountain and it flows to the lowest valleys, the blood that gives me strength from day to day, It will never lose its power!
There was a time when our loving Father looked down from heaven and had seen that sin was conquering and that man hadn't the ability to overcome it, the plan would be to clothe Himself in flesh, come to this earth, walk among us and then pay the ultimate penalty for our sins which was His death on the cross!
It was this precious blood that flowed from the body of Jesus, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, the Lamb of God that would take away the sins of the world, the innocent blood of Jesus that would make me whole again!
What shall wash my sins away, NOTHING but the blood of Jesus. What shall make me whole again, NOTHING but the blood of Jesus!
There is power in the blood! Life sustaining! Wound healing! Sin forgiving! Strength providing! POWER!!!
As I was living my life in sin, doing only what I wanted to do according to my own will I came to an Old Rugged Cross by the way of attending a few church services and learning from my pastor the word of God! I had learned that the penalty of my sins was death. Yes I would have to die because I had sinned against God as all humanity had! But where sin did abound Grace did much more abound! A second chance was offered to me in the scriptures, if I were to escape death I would have to except another's sacrifice in place of my own. The only sacrifice that was ever made that would cover the multitude of sins was that of the blood of Jesus Christ!
As I had accepted His death in place of my own the only requirement on my part is that I now would surrender my life to Him! I was bought with the blood of Jesus and am no longer my own! I was to deny myself take up my cross and follow Him! To follow Him and to live the life that I would lead I needed to be born again of water and of the Spirit! I was born of the water in baptism where I now had taken on His name and born of the Spirit when filled with the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in another tongue!
Now born again, sins forgiven and all things have become new I take the time to thank Him for the blood! Thank God for the blood that washes white as snow! The power in blood that had once washed my sins away, remains yet today. It will never lose its POWER!
Isa 1:18
Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.
Saturday, July 12, 2014
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
Repeat offender!
Prov 17:9
9 He that covereth a transgression seeketh love; but he that repeateth a matter separateth very friends.
Well if that doesn't say it all! Some things are not worth repeating and other things just plain shouldn't be repeated! Enough said! But I will say more.
We can talk about forgiveness and being over things but sometimes we store the offense in our memories as a future weapon! To make ourselves look better we remind people of who they were or what they have done. I call them repeat offenders. People who repeat only do so to hurt or damage those who they are talking to or about!
James 5:20
Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.
In order to convert a sinner is to offer them hope of forgiveness and redemption. To remind a person of the error of there ways is damaging. Its difficult enough to except sometimes that the Lord has really forgiven us from the sins that we have committed just to have others try to hold us accountable for our pasts!
There is a saying in the church about sins that have been forgiven, Its under the blood! You can remind me of my failures and all that I can say is that its under the blood! Its meaning is that I have repented of those sins, have changed my life style to avoid repeating and Gods word says that He has forgiven me! Once forgiven, it no longer can be held against me!
Pro. 17:9 also speaks to those who choose to gossip. Not everything that a person hears is meant to be repeated or shared! If it is an issue that needs to be prayed about, then pray about it and there is no need to involve others. The greatest way to earn someone's trust is to keep your mouth shut. If someone entrusts you with a matter it should be held in confidence! To repeat the matter is to break that confidence and lose the trust of that someone! Repeat offenders destroy relationships! Not only with a single individual but with all parties involved. As the church is concerned it will infect the whole body.
Rom 8:1
8 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Jesus Christ has offered us hope by forgiveness through repentance and baptism! 1 Peter 3:21
21 The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
To have a good conscience is to be freed from the guilt of our sins, baptism washes that sin away never to be counted against us again!
Don't be a repeat offender by gossip! Don't be a repeat offender by judging and condemning a person for the things of there past.
One of the most powerful statements that Jesus had said in the bible comes from John 8:11
11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.
9 He that covereth a transgression seeketh love; but he that repeateth a matter separateth very friends.
Well if that doesn't say it all! Some things are not worth repeating and other things just plain shouldn't be repeated! Enough said! But I will say more.
We can talk about forgiveness and being over things but sometimes we store the offense in our memories as a future weapon! To make ourselves look better we remind people of who they were or what they have done. I call them repeat offenders. People who repeat only do so to hurt or damage those who they are talking to or about!
James 5:20
Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.
In order to convert a sinner is to offer them hope of forgiveness and redemption. To remind a person of the error of there ways is damaging. Its difficult enough to except sometimes that the Lord has really forgiven us from the sins that we have committed just to have others try to hold us accountable for our pasts!
There is a saying in the church about sins that have been forgiven, Its under the blood! You can remind me of my failures and all that I can say is that its under the blood! Its meaning is that I have repented of those sins, have changed my life style to avoid repeating and Gods word says that He has forgiven me! Once forgiven, it no longer can be held against me!
Pro. 17:9 also speaks to those who choose to gossip. Not everything that a person hears is meant to be repeated or shared! If it is an issue that needs to be prayed about, then pray about it and there is no need to involve others. The greatest way to earn someone's trust is to keep your mouth shut. If someone entrusts you with a matter it should be held in confidence! To repeat the matter is to break that confidence and lose the trust of that someone! Repeat offenders destroy relationships! Not only with a single individual but with all parties involved. As the church is concerned it will infect the whole body.
Rom 8:1
8 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.
Jesus Christ has offered us hope by forgiveness through repentance and baptism! 1 Peter 3:21
21 The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:
To have a good conscience is to be freed from the guilt of our sins, baptism washes that sin away never to be counted against us again!
Don't be a repeat offender by gossip! Don't be a repeat offender by judging and condemning a person for the things of there past.
One of the most powerful statements that Jesus had said in the bible comes from John 8:11
11 She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Reality is where I live!
Eccl 9:11-12
I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.
12 For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.
The reality is that LIFE HAPPENS! There are times when God does show His children favor and because of prayers that we have made God has changed His mind on a certain thing, but there are times when life happens. It may be raining today simply because the clouds are full and can no longer contain it! The train has stopped you at the crossing simply because this is the moment it had entered the path in which you were on. People have been mean, unruly, hateful, disrespectful and may just have ignored you because they are people. That's life.
I do believe in spiritual influence, good and evil but I also believe that time and chance happeneth to us all. Meaning that not everything that happens to us in our lives is spiritually determined! The bible tells us that it rains on the just and the unjust alike. This doesn't mean that the just are blessed with the equal amount that the unjust are cursed or judged! What this means is good things happen to bad people and bad things happen to good people!
If bad things always happened to bad people then what hope would they ever have? If good things always happened to good people then what faith, trust or dependency on God would we ever need?
Living in reality means that I recognize that not everything goes according to my plans. It means that I don't blame God for allowing bad things to happen and only bless Him for the good! In all things give thanks!
Like the old song says, You take the good you take the bad you take the both and there you have The Facts of Life! As a Christian I have help from the Lord in my life's journey but I will still face what every life faces. I will face temptation. I will face difficulties. I will face loss and struggle. I will face the rain, the storm and winters cold but I will also face the warmth of the sun, not because the enemy is against me and the Lord is for me but because that's reality.
WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME!!!!!! In most cases it is because your heart is still beating, its because you are alive. We want to blame the enemy for all that happens but the problem is then we end up also blaming God for doing nothing about it.
There are times of influence from the enemy, but it will be a time when you are having an impact on the kingdom, when your reaching the lost, when your life is turning from sin to God not during your day to day life! The enemy will try to do greater damage than a flat tire on your car, broken down washing machine, late payment on your bills and even more than a common cold!
When we learn to live in reality our faith will quit waivering with every mishap! We wont blame God or give unwarranted credit to the enemy!
If you draw a circle and put your life and God in it, that's one reality! Now if you take God out of that circle, that's another reality but a reality nonetheless.
With Christ there is hope, purpose, help, direction, guidance and eternal salvation but there will still be difficult times, that's life, that's reality! Reality is where I live but it is still lived by faith and my life is still in His hands!!
I returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.
12 For man also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.
The reality is that LIFE HAPPENS! There are times when God does show His children favor and because of prayers that we have made God has changed His mind on a certain thing, but there are times when life happens. It may be raining today simply because the clouds are full and can no longer contain it! The train has stopped you at the crossing simply because this is the moment it had entered the path in which you were on. People have been mean, unruly, hateful, disrespectful and may just have ignored you because they are people. That's life.
I do believe in spiritual influence, good and evil but I also believe that time and chance happeneth to us all. Meaning that not everything that happens to us in our lives is spiritually determined! The bible tells us that it rains on the just and the unjust alike. This doesn't mean that the just are blessed with the equal amount that the unjust are cursed or judged! What this means is good things happen to bad people and bad things happen to good people!
If bad things always happened to bad people then what hope would they ever have? If good things always happened to good people then what faith, trust or dependency on God would we ever need?
Living in reality means that I recognize that not everything goes according to my plans. It means that I don't blame God for allowing bad things to happen and only bless Him for the good! In all things give thanks!
Like the old song says, You take the good you take the bad you take the both and there you have The Facts of Life! As a Christian I have help from the Lord in my life's journey but I will still face what every life faces. I will face temptation. I will face difficulties. I will face loss and struggle. I will face the rain, the storm and winters cold but I will also face the warmth of the sun, not because the enemy is against me and the Lord is for me but because that's reality.
WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME!!!!!! In most cases it is because your heart is still beating, its because you are alive. We want to blame the enemy for all that happens but the problem is then we end up also blaming God for doing nothing about it.
There are times of influence from the enemy, but it will be a time when you are having an impact on the kingdom, when your reaching the lost, when your life is turning from sin to God not during your day to day life! The enemy will try to do greater damage than a flat tire on your car, broken down washing machine, late payment on your bills and even more than a common cold!
When we learn to live in reality our faith will quit waivering with every mishap! We wont blame God or give unwarranted credit to the enemy!
If you draw a circle and put your life and God in it, that's one reality! Now if you take God out of that circle, that's another reality but a reality nonetheless.
With Christ there is hope, purpose, help, direction, guidance and eternal salvation but there will still be difficult times, that's life, that's reality! Reality is where I live but it is still lived by faith and my life is still in His hands!!
Tuesday, May 13, 2014
Awaken with purpose!
Isa 60:1-5
Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.
2 For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.
3 And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.
4 Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side.
5 Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee.
Well if that doesn't say it all! The people of God have great purpose to be awake and alive this morning, noon and night and every day that follows! We are the light of an ever darkening world and without us there is no hope for them that live in it! Let your light so shine before men that they see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
Absolute darkness is simply the absence of light! We bring and we offer that light through our lives and His glorious gospel. If we don't arise, if we don't allow the light of Jesus to shine in our daily walk it is not we who are being effected but those who depend on us! Our families, co-workers, friends and everyone who we may come in to contact with need to see Jesus in us to survive.
As the church we have to understand what we mean to this world! We are the counter agent to all that is evil and ungodly! Where sin doth abound grace doth much more abound! Greater is He that is in YOU than he that is in the world! If you being the light are removed from the surroundings you are involved in darkness prevails! It may seem hopeless, it may seem unproductive to remain but without you there hope fades.
This morning I awoke with purpose! Though most of my day will be spent on the job I have to remember and remind myself that there is a greater purpose to this day than making a living or fulfilling my duties! It is to present Christ to the world!!! Maybe you are awake to get kids off to school, go to school yourself or maybe its to clean the house or to do nothing at all, today you have purpose! Shine the light on all that you can and if your confined to your home then pray for those who aren't and for the souls of the lost to receive that light! We all have a significant role to fulfill today, wherever you are and whatever your day brings YOU are a force in the kingdom!
If the church could ever realize the importance that we have to this world our woes would become non-existent or at least not our focus. As dark as it seems our lives can get being the light I cant even imagine how those without light feel!
You may get or be frustrated with those who you are trying to help and influence for the cause of Christ but the light must continue to shine! Many will reject you, turn against or rebel against you but that does not change our purpose! Just remember that the resistance and the rejection that you feel is not toward you, it is a reaction to what the light you shine is revealing in their lives.
Prov 4:18-19
But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.
19 The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.
When Jesus shines through us it reveals what it is that they are stumbling upon and they have to react to it, some react with persecution and some to repentance! My purpose is to shine the light and be ready to lead them to repentance!
Isa 59:10
We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men.
As the blind and they that stumble reach out to find stability and direction we need to be the ones they find. If you have breath and know Jesus, then you have purpose!
Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.
2 For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.
3 And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.
4 Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves together, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy daughters shall be nursed at thy side.
5 Then thou shalt see, and flow together, and thine heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted unto thee, the forces of the Gentiles shall come unto thee.
Well if that doesn't say it all! The people of God have great purpose to be awake and alive this morning, noon and night and every day that follows! We are the light of an ever darkening world and without us there is no hope for them that live in it! Let your light so shine before men that they see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven.
Absolute darkness is simply the absence of light! We bring and we offer that light through our lives and His glorious gospel. If we don't arise, if we don't allow the light of Jesus to shine in our daily walk it is not we who are being effected but those who depend on us! Our families, co-workers, friends and everyone who we may come in to contact with need to see Jesus in us to survive.
As the church we have to understand what we mean to this world! We are the counter agent to all that is evil and ungodly! Where sin doth abound grace doth much more abound! Greater is He that is in YOU than he that is in the world! If you being the light are removed from the surroundings you are involved in darkness prevails! It may seem hopeless, it may seem unproductive to remain but without you there hope fades.
This morning I awoke with purpose! Though most of my day will be spent on the job I have to remember and remind myself that there is a greater purpose to this day than making a living or fulfilling my duties! It is to present Christ to the world!!! Maybe you are awake to get kids off to school, go to school yourself or maybe its to clean the house or to do nothing at all, today you have purpose! Shine the light on all that you can and if your confined to your home then pray for those who aren't and for the souls of the lost to receive that light! We all have a significant role to fulfill today, wherever you are and whatever your day brings YOU are a force in the kingdom!
If the church could ever realize the importance that we have to this world our woes would become non-existent or at least not our focus. As dark as it seems our lives can get being the light I cant even imagine how those without light feel!
You may get or be frustrated with those who you are trying to help and influence for the cause of Christ but the light must continue to shine! Many will reject you, turn against or rebel against you but that does not change our purpose! Just remember that the resistance and the rejection that you feel is not toward you, it is a reaction to what the light you shine is revealing in their lives.
Prov 4:18-19
But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.
19 The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble.
When Jesus shines through us it reveals what it is that they are stumbling upon and they have to react to it, some react with persecution and some to repentance! My purpose is to shine the light and be ready to lead them to repentance!
Isa 59:10
We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men.
As the blind and they that stumble reach out to find stability and direction we need to be the ones they find. If you have breath and know Jesus, then you have purpose!
Friday, May 2, 2014
Time to be selfish!
1 Sam 30:6
And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.
David as the leader of the people was catching all the blame for what had just transpired. The enemy came in and burned the city and had captured their wives, sons and their daughters! But here is what the people didn't allow themselves to see, Even David's wives were taken! David was suffering loss right along side them and instead of sticking together, working out a plan to save them they turned to David and put all the blame on him! Welcome to leadership 101. When the people don't get the results they want, you get the blame!
David had no one that he felt he could turn to. David the bible says was GREATLY DISTRESSED! You might say he felt like throwing in the towel. You might say he felt like giving up! David may have even been contemplating running for his life! But David encouraged HIMSELF in the Lord!
If God before me who can be against me! God is my strength, my shield, my deliverer! I am chosen of God, called and sanctified for the Masters use! David had to say to himself all that he knew of His God to get himself back into a place where he could lead and where he could begin again to encourage others!
David was not in a place to speak to the people with faith, considering it was the people who caused him to be distressed. Looking at them and saying All things work together for the good, to them that love God and are the called according to His purpose probably would have worked against Him. And since no one was stepping up to encourage David, no one was standing beside him or holding up his hands David had to be selfish and care for himself!
David didn't give up. David didn't abandon them. David didn't go on a vacation, David went to the prayer room and lifted himself up. Not by putting others down, or condemning their actions or seeking out others who would be in agreement with him, he encourage himself in the Lord.
If you're going to be selfish, be this kind of selfish. Take time for yourself in prayer to build yourself up by Gods word. Take time for yourself and read the scriptures. Take time for yourself, by yourself away from others who are not encouraging you, and who may be causing you to be distressed!
The biggest reason that I hear from people why they don't take time away from others is because they are trying to help them! And the answer I can usually give is You cant save a drowning victim if you are drowning yourself!
Maybe its selfish to get saved! Maybe its selfish to seek healing for your own soul! Maybe its selfish to find the shore to plant your own feet on. But if your going to be this selfish do it for the right reason and that is for the cause of Christ. To offer hope and help to others! To become strong in the Lord and be able to do His will!
Its time to build yourself up, speak faith into your life and encourage yourself by what God has to say about you!
Jer 29:11-14
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.
13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
14 And I will be found of you, saith the Lord: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the Lord; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.
And David was greatly distressed; for the people spake of stoning him, because the soul of all the people was grieved, every man for his sons and for his daughters: but David encouraged himself in the Lord his God.
David as the leader of the people was catching all the blame for what had just transpired. The enemy came in and burned the city and had captured their wives, sons and their daughters! But here is what the people didn't allow themselves to see, Even David's wives were taken! David was suffering loss right along side them and instead of sticking together, working out a plan to save them they turned to David and put all the blame on him! Welcome to leadership 101. When the people don't get the results they want, you get the blame!
David had no one that he felt he could turn to. David the bible says was GREATLY DISTRESSED! You might say he felt like throwing in the towel. You might say he felt like giving up! David may have even been contemplating running for his life! But David encouraged HIMSELF in the Lord!
If God before me who can be against me! God is my strength, my shield, my deliverer! I am chosen of God, called and sanctified for the Masters use! David had to say to himself all that he knew of His God to get himself back into a place where he could lead and where he could begin again to encourage others!
David was not in a place to speak to the people with faith, considering it was the people who caused him to be distressed. Looking at them and saying All things work together for the good, to them that love God and are the called according to His purpose probably would have worked against Him. And since no one was stepping up to encourage David, no one was standing beside him or holding up his hands David had to be selfish and care for himself!
David didn't give up. David didn't abandon them. David didn't go on a vacation, David went to the prayer room and lifted himself up. Not by putting others down, or condemning their actions or seeking out others who would be in agreement with him, he encourage himself in the Lord.
If you're going to be selfish, be this kind of selfish. Take time for yourself in prayer to build yourself up by Gods word. Take time for yourself and read the scriptures. Take time for yourself, by yourself away from others who are not encouraging you, and who may be causing you to be distressed!
The biggest reason that I hear from people why they don't take time away from others is because they are trying to help them! And the answer I can usually give is You cant save a drowning victim if you are drowning yourself!
Maybe its selfish to get saved! Maybe its selfish to seek healing for your own soul! Maybe its selfish to find the shore to plant your own feet on. But if your going to be this selfish do it for the right reason and that is for the cause of Christ. To offer hope and help to others! To become strong in the Lord and be able to do His will!
Its time to build yourself up, speak faith into your life and encourage yourself by what God has to say about you!
Jer 29:11-14
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
12 Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.
13 And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.
14 And I will be found of you, saith the Lord: and I will turn away your captivity, and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the places whither I have driven you, saith the Lord; and I will bring you again into the place whence I caused you to be carried away captive.
Monday, April 28, 2014
Longing for His Presence!
Job 23:3-6
Oh that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat!
4 I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments.
5 I would know the words which he would answer me, and understand what he would say unto me.
6 Will he plead against me with his great power? No; but he would put strength in me.
In all that Job had lost, his children, his servants, livestock, wealth and even his health the one thing Job desired to regain was the presence of His God! Not for one minute do I believe that Job didn't love all that he had lost but Job understood that without the presence of the Lord his own life would be meaningless!
To have the gains of this whole world but to lose your soul, to find yourself with material things and longing for something more.
To be without the presence of the Lord in comparison would be like a fish out of water, a tree plucked up by its roots or a severed finger or limb! All of these things removed from there natural habitat or its atmosphere quickly begin to die unless reintroduced to its natural environment.
When an astronaut leaves the atmosphere of the earth he must create, by imitation, this type of atmosphere in order to survive. He would have to wear a suit that would supply oxygen in order to breath. This suit would also provide enough weight to overcome the lack of gravity, keeping him grounded and avoiding floating off into space! God has created an atmosphere for His children to live in and that is His own presence. When we get out of that atmosphere, or having never entered in to that atmosphere life cannot be sustained at the level that Almighty God has designed it to be!
The bible tells us that it rains on the just and the unjust alike but with the rain on the just an umbrella of Gods protection is also provided! Troubles still arise, difficulty is still a part of life, temptation is still present but God provides a way of escape!
In thy presence is fullness of joy and at thy right hand are pleasures forever more! Psalms 16:11
The world provides imitations to try to fulfill the emptiness in our lives that only Gods presence will do! But like the astronaut we need to find our way back into our natural atmosphere because the longer that we are out of it the greater the toll on our bodies, our lives!
Job had lost everything and his response was, Oh that I knew where I might find Him, that I might come even to His seat! I can live with the loss of all that I loved but I cannot live with out thy Presence! I know the words which He would answer me!
What would God say to me when I am at a loss, when hurting, when feeling abandoned, hopeless and at the end of my rope? Job said would He plead against me? NO, but He would strengthen me!! God is our help, our refuge, our strength,healer, deliverer and our salvation! Not to mention a caring, loving, concerned and compassionate Father like no other!
No matter where I am, what is happening in my life I long for His presence!
Read Psalms 63
Oh that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat!
4 I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments.
5 I would know the words which he would answer me, and understand what he would say unto me.
6 Will he plead against me with his great power? No; but he would put strength in me.
In all that Job had lost, his children, his servants, livestock, wealth and even his health the one thing Job desired to regain was the presence of His God! Not for one minute do I believe that Job didn't love all that he had lost but Job understood that without the presence of the Lord his own life would be meaningless!
To have the gains of this whole world but to lose your soul, to find yourself with material things and longing for something more.
To be without the presence of the Lord in comparison would be like a fish out of water, a tree plucked up by its roots or a severed finger or limb! All of these things removed from there natural habitat or its atmosphere quickly begin to die unless reintroduced to its natural environment.
When an astronaut leaves the atmosphere of the earth he must create, by imitation, this type of atmosphere in order to survive. He would have to wear a suit that would supply oxygen in order to breath. This suit would also provide enough weight to overcome the lack of gravity, keeping him grounded and avoiding floating off into space! God has created an atmosphere for His children to live in and that is His own presence. When we get out of that atmosphere, or having never entered in to that atmosphere life cannot be sustained at the level that Almighty God has designed it to be!
The bible tells us that it rains on the just and the unjust alike but with the rain on the just an umbrella of Gods protection is also provided! Troubles still arise, difficulty is still a part of life, temptation is still present but God provides a way of escape!
In thy presence is fullness of joy and at thy right hand are pleasures forever more! Psalms 16:11
The world provides imitations to try to fulfill the emptiness in our lives that only Gods presence will do! But like the astronaut we need to find our way back into our natural atmosphere because the longer that we are out of it the greater the toll on our bodies, our lives!
Job had lost everything and his response was, Oh that I knew where I might find Him, that I might come even to His seat! I can live with the loss of all that I loved but I cannot live with out thy Presence! I know the words which He would answer me!
What would God say to me when I am at a loss, when hurting, when feeling abandoned, hopeless and at the end of my rope? Job said would He plead against me? NO, but He would strengthen me!! God is our help, our refuge, our strength,healer, deliverer and our salvation! Not to mention a caring, loving, concerned and compassionate Father like no other!
No matter where I am, what is happening in my life I long for His presence!
Read Psalms 63
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
My enemy is me!
Read this in the first person.
Today I wake up and I decide. I decide what to wear, what to do, what to think about, who to be around and as the day goes on how to react to life. Its easy for me to blame others for how my life goes but it is I who allows how much other people influence my life. It is my decision who I allow to influence my life.
My problem is that I care what people do and say about me that don't really care about me and I really need to focus on the ones that do! I let there actions dictate my response! I shouldn't but I do. That's my problem, I am in contact and communication with the people that are not good for me! I'm constantly surrounding myself with negativity whether in person or by social media and then I get caught up in it and become negative myself. Its me, I am my enemy! I do this to myself! I need to get off this merry-go-round because its no longer any fun and I keep ending up where I started.
What does the bible say in 2 Cor 6:14-16
Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?
15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Its no wonder I am not getting along with these people because we are not on the same journey. Our destination is in two different places. For those who are on the same journey we must be at different points along the way.
This is hard for me to say but in every situation that I find myself in I am the constant factor! Every time Im at odds with someone I am involved. Every time Im in disagreement with someone I am involved. Every time the drama curtain opens I am the star of the show! My enemy is me! I am fighting with myself!
Today I change course. I am turning away from those who choose not to influence my life in a positive way and I turn to those who do. I am not going to socialize with or respond to anyone who is not going to benefit my life and who's life will not benefit from mine!
Today I am choosing to let my light so shine that others will see the goodness in me and desire what I have!
I am sick of drama and gossip and all the negative things that go with it so I am going to quit spreading it! I am my enemy! Rom 7:18-19
For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
With that said I realize that if I take me out of every problem then there is no problem at all!
Authors note: If you find yourself offended or angered in any way remember your enemy is not me.
Today I wake up and I decide. I decide what to wear, what to do, what to think about, who to be around and as the day goes on how to react to life. Its easy for me to blame others for how my life goes but it is I who allows how much other people influence my life. It is my decision who I allow to influence my life.
My problem is that I care what people do and say about me that don't really care about me and I really need to focus on the ones that do! I let there actions dictate my response! I shouldn't but I do. That's my problem, I am in contact and communication with the people that are not good for me! I'm constantly surrounding myself with negativity whether in person or by social media and then I get caught up in it and become negative myself. Its me, I am my enemy! I do this to myself! I need to get off this merry-go-round because its no longer any fun and I keep ending up where I started.
What does the bible say in 2 Cor 6:14-16
Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?
15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?
16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Its no wonder I am not getting along with these people because we are not on the same journey. Our destination is in two different places. For those who are on the same journey we must be at different points along the way.
This is hard for me to say but in every situation that I find myself in I am the constant factor! Every time Im at odds with someone I am involved. Every time Im in disagreement with someone I am involved. Every time the drama curtain opens I am the star of the show! My enemy is me! I am fighting with myself!
Today I change course. I am turning away from those who choose not to influence my life in a positive way and I turn to those who do. I am not going to socialize with or respond to anyone who is not going to benefit my life and who's life will not benefit from mine!
Today I am choosing to let my light so shine that others will see the goodness in me and desire what I have!
I am sick of drama and gossip and all the negative things that go with it so I am going to quit spreading it! I am my enemy! Rom 7:18-19
For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not.
19 For the good that I would I do not: but the evil which I would not, that I do.
With that said I realize that if I take me out of every problem then there is no problem at all!
Authors note: If you find yourself offended or angered in any way remember your enemy is not me.
Friday, April 11, 2014
Measuring up!
Eph. 4:13
Till we all come in the unity of he faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
If at the entrance of every church there was a scale or a measuring device, we would all come up short! We have all sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God.
In the church there are standards but these standards are set by the word of God and can only be fulfilled by heeding the word of God! It is Christ and not a single individual that I am striving to measure up to. Jesus is my example, my model and my mirror!
This world has its own standards, fashions and what they would consider the model in which to become! As the church we are not striving to fit the mold of the world, nor are we striving to fit the mold that the church has even shaped for itself! If there is a mold or a model it is that of Jesus Christ, created in the image of God!
"Christians" that model the world or even strive just to become like someone else need to re-evaluate its true meaning. By definition to be a Christian is to be Christ-like, or to be little-Christs.
When we gather together as the church we are not to become spitting images of one another, or judge and compare ourselves with each other! We come together as many members of the one body and bride of Jesus! As the body and bride of Jesus we want to prepare and present ourselves to Him in a way that is pleasing to Him! The difficulty that many people face while trying to serve the Lord is that they are also at the same time trying to please everyone else! What happens then is that we may change many of our outward appearances and make lifestyle changes while our hearts haven't made the journey.
The bathroom scale is probably the most feared measuring device in the bathroom and yet it is one of the easiest ways to measure your progress! No matter the outcome the scale reads true! We may not always like the results but the scale lets us know where we are at! The bible needs to become the most feared( reverenced, respected) measuring tool in our libraries of books! The bible whether we like the direction it offers or the council it gives, it is the truth! It is the bible that will let us know where we stand in our journey to be like Christ!
We can all follow others on this journey but our destination is to be like HIM!
I may fail to reach perfection, but I will not fail in reaching for perfection!
I know that I will never measure up in the eyes of man or of this world but that's acceptable to me because they are not the RULER!
Till we all come in the unity of he faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
If at the entrance of every church there was a scale or a measuring device, we would all come up short! We have all sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God.
In the church there are standards but these standards are set by the word of God and can only be fulfilled by heeding the word of God! It is Christ and not a single individual that I am striving to measure up to. Jesus is my example, my model and my mirror!
This world has its own standards, fashions and what they would consider the model in which to become! As the church we are not striving to fit the mold of the world, nor are we striving to fit the mold that the church has even shaped for itself! If there is a mold or a model it is that of Jesus Christ, created in the image of God!
"Christians" that model the world or even strive just to become like someone else need to re-evaluate its true meaning. By definition to be a Christian is to be Christ-like, or to be little-Christs.
When we gather together as the church we are not to become spitting images of one another, or judge and compare ourselves with each other! We come together as many members of the one body and bride of Jesus! As the body and bride of Jesus we want to prepare and present ourselves to Him in a way that is pleasing to Him! The difficulty that many people face while trying to serve the Lord is that they are also at the same time trying to please everyone else! What happens then is that we may change many of our outward appearances and make lifestyle changes while our hearts haven't made the journey.
The bathroom scale is probably the most feared measuring device in the bathroom and yet it is one of the easiest ways to measure your progress! No matter the outcome the scale reads true! We may not always like the results but the scale lets us know where we are at! The bible needs to become the most feared( reverenced, respected) measuring tool in our libraries of books! The bible whether we like the direction it offers or the council it gives, it is the truth! It is the bible that will let us know where we stand in our journey to be like Christ!
We can all follow others on this journey but our destination is to be like HIM!
I may fail to reach perfection, but I will not fail in reaching for perfection!
I know that I will never measure up in the eyes of man or of this world but that's acceptable to me because they are not the RULER!
Tuesday, April 8, 2014
Going it alone!
John 12:24
Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
It is amazing to me that when we are surrounded by people that we can still feel like we are alone. When we have people who genuinely care about us and for us how we can still feel that we are all alone!
Scripture after scripture tells us that we are a body, many members but one body! The bible talks of a fellowship of Gods people and that we should be of the same mind! It speaks to being fellow laborers WITH God! The bible tells us that God has made us sit together in heavenly places!
Eph 2:21-22
In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:
22 In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.
Together, together, together, together, together, if in fact we are together than why do I feel so ALONE?
You are the answer to that question! You are the key! You determine your own relational status of togetherness or loneliness! You are the missing ingredient, you are the deciding factor whether you are in fellowship or you are GOING IT ALONE!
When a single seed is planted and dies, breaking its shell only then will it bud and break forth from the ground producing a crop! But any seed that remains a seed abides alone as a single seed!
When I decide that this life is no longer all about me and change my focus to include others I am no longer going it alone! Others become a part of my life and I become a part of theirs!
What I have learned in this life is that others have been through and have experienced the things that I am facing at the present! They have been down this road before and with that they are an advantage to me because I can walk in their path! Or I can choose to plow my own way which many have done as well!
If I will plant myself into the family of God and I becomes WE and Us, I will no longer have to go it alone! Every situation I face I choose to face it by myself or with someone else! Whether I suffer or rejoice I choose to do it with or without someone else! A single seed abides alone until its planted, dies and brings forth much fruit!
When I plant my life in to the church I don't just gain a friend but a family! I only go through life alone if I choose to abide alone!
Loneliness by definition is being apart from others! So to change my status I need to plant myself into the gardens of others! If its so easy then why is it so hard? Because we tell ourselves that we don't fit in, we wont be accepted, we have been rejected in the past, maybe we don't want to be a part, maybe we don't want to be attached and that is the reason we are alone!
We have to look at the church as a garden and not as a farmers field. In a farmers field there are specific crops that the farmer wishes to produce, corn field, potato field, wheat field and in these fields we may not fit but in a garden there is variety and they all grow together!
Except the seed fall to the ground and die it abideth alone, but if it dies it will produce much fruit no longer being by itself!
Jesus felt alone on the cross but by His death He had reaped a harvest of souls in which to have fellowship!
We are the only reason that we are alone! There are opportunities for us to come together and we must choose to be a part!
Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
It is amazing to me that when we are surrounded by people that we can still feel like we are alone. When we have people who genuinely care about us and for us how we can still feel that we are all alone!
Scripture after scripture tells us that we are a body, many members but one body! The bible talks of a fellowship of Gods people and that we should be of the same mind! It speaks to being fellow laborers WITH God! The bible tells us that God has made us sit together in heavenly places!
Eph 2:21-22
In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:
22 In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.
Together, together, together, together, together, if in fact we are together than why do I feel so ALONE?
You are the answer to that question! You are the key! You determine your own relational status of togetherness or loneliness! You are the missing ingredient, you are the deciding factor whether you are in fellowship or you are GOING IT ALONE!
When a single seed is planted and dies, breaking its shell only then will it bud and break forth from the ground producing a crop! But any seed that remains a seed abides alone as a single seed!
When I decide that this life is no longer all about me and change my focus to include others I am no longer going it alone! Others become a part of my life and I become a part of theirs!
What I have learned in this life is that others have been through and have experienced the things that I am facing at the present! They have been down this road before and with that they are an advantage to me because I can walk in their path! Or I can choose to plow my own way which many have done as well!
If I will plant myself into the family of God and I becomes WE and Us, I will no longer have to go it alone! Every situation I face I choose to face it by myself or with someone else! Whether I suffer or rejoice I choose to do it with or without someone else! A single seed abides alone until its planted, dies and brings forth much fruit!
When I plant my life in to the church I don't just gain a friend but a family! I only go through life alone if I choose to abide alone!
Loneliness by definition is being apart from others! So to change my status I need to plant myself into the gardens of others! If its so easy then why is it so hard? Because we tell ourselves that we don't fit in, we wont be accepted, we have been rejected in the past, maybe we don't want to be a part, maybe we don't want to be attached and that is the reason we are alone!
We have to look at the church as a garden and not as a farmers field. In a farmers field there are specific crops that the farmer wishes to produce, corn field, potato field, wheat field and in these fields we may not fit but in a garden there is variety and they all grow together!
Except the seed fall to the ground and die it abideth alone, but if it dies it will produce much fruit no longer being by itself!
Jesus felt alone on the cross but by His death He had reaped a harvest of souls in which to have fellowship!
We are the only reason that we are alone! There are opportunities for us to come together and we must choose to be a part!
Sunday, March 23, 2014
Shattered past, brilliant future!
1 Cor 6:9-11
Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
Today I want to share the short story of my past to give you an understanding of my joy of the present and the future.
I would say that I had had what I think is a normal early childhood. I went to school, played games and sports with the neighborhood kids, went on vacations with the family and learned to ride a bike! What else is there?
My parents divorced and remarried when I was to young to understand, and life goes on. At this time this is the life I learned to live with and didn't seem to have much of an effect on me!
Entering the seventh grade is where life turned the corner, not drastically at first but just the beginning! I started smoking cigarettes and we know what society calls those, the gateway drug to other things and for me it was true! Being introduced to other drugs and of course alcohol led my life down a whole new path! These things were prevalent in my family by one member or another so no big shock to me!
I was able to make my way through high school even though skipping class and even being expelled my senior year was a part of my course! I met my wife, we got married, had three children and while our heads were still spinning the next chapter begins! Married at 17, three children by 20 and not a clue for what life was all about! Divorce was a major subject in our home, no direction and not much hope for the future. Dependent on the government for aid and nothing else to speak of.
BUT GOD!!!!!!
Laying in our bed one night God allowed us to sense a dark presence in our room, not knowing anything of the Lord, faith or the power in the name of Jesus I turned to my wife and out of the darkness spoke these words, "I think that we need to start going to church"! Without my knowledge of her past she responds, "I know just the one"! And the next chapter of life begins!
I said short story so here is my closing statements! We started going to church! Our pastor and assistant pastor taught us the word of God through bible studies and pulpit ministry! We believed and obeyed the scriptures concerning our lives and are now forever changed! I felt a calling to ministry only after a few years in the church, began the licensing process and now have been pastoring for almost 10 years!
The brilliant future in the title comes with this testimony. I have been married to the women I married in high school for going on 24 years and there is not a greater marriage that I know of from any other! All of my children are in church and all aspire to some kind of ministry! I have been forgiven of all my sins, I have been baptized in the most precious name, Jesus and He has filled me with the Holy Ghost! I am content in my life though I still struggle at times, but I know that Thou art with me! My Past is behind me, My present is now and My future is brilliant!!
Read and memorize 2 Corinthians 5:17
Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
11 And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.
Today I want to share the short story of my past to give you an understanding of my joy of the present and the future.
I would say that I had had what I think is a normal early childhood. I went to school, played games and sports with the neighborhood kids, went on vacations with the family and learned to ride a bike! What else is there?
My parents divorced and remarried when I was to young to understand, and life goes on. At this time this is the life I learned to live with and didn't seem to have much of an effect on me!
Entering the seventh grade is where life turned the corner, not drastically at first but just the beginning! I started smoking cigarettes and we know what society calls those, the gateway drug to other things and for me it was true! Being introduced to other drugs and of course alcohol led my life down a whole new path! These things were prevalent in my family by one member or another so no big shock to me!
I was able to make my way through high school even though skipping class and even being expelled my senior year was a part of my course! I met my wife, we got married, had three children and while our heads were still spinning the next chapter begins! Married at 17, three children by 20 and not a clue for what life was all about! Divorce was a major subject in our home, no direction and not much hope for the future. Dependent on the government for aid and nothing else to speak of.
BUT GOD!!!!!!
Laying in our bed one night God allowed us to sense a dark presence in our room, not knowing anything of the Lord, faith or the power in the name of Jesus I turned to my wife and out of the darkness spoke these words, "I think that we need to start going to church"! Without my knowledge of her past she responds, "I know just the one"! And the next chapter of life begins!
I said short story so here is my closing statements! We started going to church! Our pastor and assistant pastor taught us the word of God through bible studies and pulpit ministry! We believed and obeyed the scriptures concerning our lives and are now forever changed! I felt a calling to ministry only after a few years in the church, began the licensing process and now have been pastoring for almost 10 years!
The brilliant future in the title comes with this testimony. I have been married to the women I married in high school for going on 24 years and there is not a greater marriage that I know of from any other! All of my children are in church and all aspire to some kind of ministry! I have been forgiven of all my sins, I have been baptized in the most precious name, Jesus and He has filled me with the Holy Ghost! I am content in my life though I still struggle at times, but I know that Thou art with me! My Past is behind me, My present is now and My future is brilliant!!
Read and memorize 2 Corinthians 5:17
Thursday, March 20, 2014
The devils duty!
John 10:10
The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy:
As a child of God to live victorious this is one scripture that I need to understand! My enemy will try to destroy everything in my life to get me to turn away from serving the Lord. If the devil can get me to blame God, if he can get me to become bitter against the church or cause my faith to diminish enough then his chances of fulfilling his duties are much better.
The devil may try to scare us and torment us but in truth he knows to be more affective in a Christians life he will offer glamour, fame and even riches. These things can just as easily steal, kill and destroy our relationship with God while still believing that we have a relationship with God! I am being overwhelmingly blessed and have been given favor so it must be God! Does God get the glory? Are you just as committed to Him and the kingdom as you were before? Is church and fellowship still a necessity for your life? Do you still uphold your standards, convictions and morals or has that all fallen by the wayside?
The enemy is subtle, Gen 3:1. Yeah hath God said, ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? What is the devil trying to do with this statement? He is trying to get us to question what it is that Gods word really sais. God didn't say that we shall NOT eat of every tree, what He did say was Of every tree of the garden thou MAYEST freely eat but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it!
The devils plan is to get us to look, participate in and desire anything and everything that is contrary to the word of God and a Christians lifestyle! He knows that he cannot defeat us unless we give in to his temptations and in truth it is we who defeat ourselves giving him the victory.
Eph 6:11
Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
The word wiles here means tricks or schemes. Another words we are able to stand against the devils plan to kill, steal and destroy! The bible tells us that we are not ignorant of his devices. 2 Cor. 2:11 Knowing this we have to be able to recognize in every situation what it is that is taking place. When I have an awesome time in the presence of God and only a short while after leaving the service I find myself falling right back to bitterness, or anger or just feeling all the weight that was lifted coming right back, this is the sign of the enemy working his plan. After feeling some victory, encouragement, hope and faith in your life and then you run face first in to a brick wall, the enemies plan is at work! One step forward, two steps back. The enemies plan at work!
1 John 2:15-16
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
The enemies plan is to get us to look to the world for all its beauty and see what we could have and what we deserve and to cause us to think that the Lord is keeping us from it! The rich young ruler had all that the world could offer but when he came to Jesus seeking what more he should do to inherit eternal life, Jesus simply asked that he deny this worlds good and follow Him but that was to much for one who had so much, that's the enemies plan at work!
The devils duty is to steal, kill and to destroy our lives in Christ by any means necessary. To avoid defeat we must learn and abide in Gods word and to live with contentment! Because discontentment is the enemies foothold in our lives!
Read Luke 4:1-13
The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy:
As a child of God to live victorious this is one scripture that I need to understand! My enemy will try to destroy everything in my life to get me to turn away from serving the Lord. If the devil can get me to blame God, if he can get me to become bitter against the church or cause my faith to diminish enough then his chances of fulfilling his duties are much better.
The devil may try to scare us and torment us but in truth he knows to be more affective in a Christians life he will offer glamour, fame and even riches. These things can just as easily steal, kill and destroy our relationship with God while still believing that we have a relationship with God! I am being overwhelmingly blessed and have been given favor so it must be God! Does God get the glory? Are you just as committed to Him and the kingdom as you were before? Is church and fellowship still a necessity for your life? Do you still uphold your standards, convictions and morals or has that all fallen by the wayside?
The enemy is subtle, Gen 3:1. Yeah hath God said, ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? What is the devil trying to do with this statement? He is trying to get us to question what it is that Gods word really sais. God didn't say that we shall NOT eat of every tree, what He did say was Of every tree of the garden thou MAYEST freely eat but of the tree of knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not eat of it!
The devils plan is to get us to look, participate in and desire anything and everything that is contrary to the word of God and a Christians lifestyle! He knows that he cannot defeat us unless we give in to his temptations and in truth it is we who defeat ourselves giving him the victory.
Eph 6:11
Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
The word wiles here means tricks or schemes. Another words we are able to stand against the devils plan to kill, steal and destroy! The bible tells us that we are not ignorant of his devices. 2 Cor. 2:11 Knowing this we have to be able to recognize in every situation what it is that is taking place. When I have an awesome time in the presence of God and only a short while after leaving the service I find myself falling right back to bitterness, or anger or just feeling all the weight that was lifted coming right back, this is the sign of the enemy working his plan. After feeling some victory, encouragement, hope and faith in your life and then you run face first in to a brick wall, the enemies plan is at work! One step forward, two steps back. The enemies plan at work!
1 John 2:15-16
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
The enemies plan is to get us to look to the world for all its beauty and see what we could have and what we deserve and to cause us to think that the Lord is keeping us from it! The rich young ruler had all that the world could offer but when he came to Jesus seeking what more he should do to inherit eternal life, Jesus simply asked that he deny this worlds good and follow Him but that was to much for one who had so much, that's the enemies plan at work!
The devils duty is to steal, kill and to destroy our lives in Christ by any means necessary. To avoid defeat we must learn and abide in Gods word and to live with contentment! Because discontentment is the enemies foothold in our lives!
Read Luke 4:1-13
Saturday, March 15, 2014
The Comforter!
John 14:15-18
If ye love me, keep my commandments.
16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
Jesus was about to enter the final leg of His journey and He was offering some final hope to His disciples. Jesus spoke to them and said that He would be leaving them but the Comforter that He would send would come and be with them!
Peter in John 13:37 after hearing of Jesus' departure said, Lord why cannot I follow now? I will lay down my life for thy sake.
Peter had become accustomed to being with Jesus. Being in His presence was comforting to Peter and I believe the very thought of Jesus not being around caused Peter to become anxious. Jesus understood the need for this fellowship and communion and assured them His comfort would return.
And He shall give you another Comforter, that He may ABIDE with you FOREVER!! John 14:26
But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
The comfort that we need in our lives, the comfort that we seek in our lives can only come from the Holy Ghost! The Comforter which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send! The Comforter came on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Ghost filled all that were in the upper room in Acts 2:1-4.
Its not enough for Gods people to come to church and feel the presence of God during services and then have to go back out in to the world alone! The Lord would have His children filled with His Spirit that He may dwell IN them and that we would never be alone, we would never be comfortless!
John 16:12-13
I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
The Holy Ghost doesn't just provide comfort but is also a guide to us in to all truth! There are many things that we don't and cannot understand without the Holy Ghost because there are things that can only be spiritually discerned!1 Cor 2:11-14
For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
The Holy Ghost is the Spirit of God dwelling in us to give us the ability to understand spiritual things. The comfort in that is knowing that when I receive the Holy Ghost and He abides in me, greater understanding in what I feel and have to deal with in this life is then revealed to me!
Comfort doesn't come while in His presence, Comfort comes as His presence!
In the presence, of Jehovah, God Almighty, Prince of peace. Troubles vanish, hearts are mended, in the presence of the King!
If ye love me, keep my commandments.
16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
Jesus was about to enter the final leg of His journey and He was offering some final hope to His disciples. Jesus spoke to them and said that He would be leaving them but the Comforter that He would send would come and be with them!
Peter in John 13:37 after hearing of Jesus' departure said, Lord why cannot I follow now? I will lay down my life for thy sake.
Peter had become accustomed to being with Jesus. Being in His presence was comforting to Peter and I believe the very thought of Jesus not being around caused Peter to become anxious. Jesus understood the need for this fellowship and communion and assured them His comfort would return.
And He shall give you another Comforter, that He may ABIDE with you FOREVER!! John 14:26
But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
The comfort that we need in our lives, the comfort that we seek in our lives can only come from the Holy Ghost! The Comforter which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send! The Comforter came on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Ghost filled all that were in the upper room in Acts 2:1-4.
Its not enough for Gods people to come to church and feel the presence of God during services and then have to go back out in to the world alone! The Lord would have His children filled with His Spirit that He may dwell IN them and that we would never be alone, we would never be comfortless!
John 16:12-13
I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
The Holy Ghost doesn't just provide comfort but is also a guide to us in to all truth! There are many things that we don't and cannot understand without the Holy Ghost because there are things that can only be spiritually discerned!1 Cor 2:11-14
For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.
12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
13 Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
The Holy Ghost is the Spirit of God dwelling in us to give us the ability to understand spiritual things. The comfort in that is knowing that when I receive the Holy Ghost and He abides in me, greater understanding in what I feel and have to deal with in this life is then revealed to me!
Comfort doesn't come while in His presence, Comfort comes as His presence!
In the presence, of Jehovah, God Almighty, Prince of peace. Troubles vanish, hearts are mended, in the presence of the King!
Monday, March 10, 2014
Naked (rated G)
Rom 12:1-2
12 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
This blog is written for those who are professing a Christian lifestyle and not for those who desire to live a worldly one. When people come to me for biblical advice or even my opinion my answers are always dependent on whether they have faith in the bible or they don't! If a person doesn't believe that the word of God is true then giving them scriptural answers will have no effect on there lives!
For example, if a person asks me what I think about a certain lifestyle I may ask them if they are trying to please the Lord or if that doesn't matter? If pleasing the Lord doesn't matter then how they live doesn't matter. (my opinion) If pleasing the Lord does matter then we can look at it from a biblical perspective and proceed accordingly.
The bible teaches us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God. Verse 2 speaks of non-conformity to the world and to be transformed in our way of thinking! The word conformed here means to be fashioned alike! If we are not to be fashioned like the world then what are we to be fashioned like! We are to be fashioned after the image in which God created us, in His image!
If you were to ask me if I believe that we should run around naked, I would say yes but not in the way that you are thinking! Remember after there sin in the garden God had clothed them with raiment to cover there bodies but He didn't clothe them immodestly or with any style of ornaments.
People of the world may call that plain but it doesn't matter what they call it! This is the way that God has created us and as far as the Christian is concerned that is what should matter! There is a saying that the body is a canvas and should be treated as such but it is a work of art the way God created it and should be left alone!
Gen 2:25
25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
They were naked and not ashamed! So the very thought of needing to decorate the body could easily relate to being ashamed! Ashamed of our appearance, the appearance God created. Every tattoo, piercing, dyes, ornamental jewelry, immodest clothing is simply applied for appearance!
God created us naked, without shame, covered our sinful bodies with clothes but needed to add nothing else.
The world would have us to be like them but Jesus would have us to be like Him and I want to be like Jesus, as naked in appearance as He would have me( fully and modestly dressed) and not ashamed!
We are to be a witness of Christ and to do that we need to have a lifestyle that is not drawing attention to us, but to reflect there attention to Jesus. I must decrease!
12 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
This blog is written for those who are professing a Christian lifestyle and not for those who desire to live a worldly one. When people come to me for biblical advice or even my opinion my answers are always dependent on whether they have faith in the bible or they don't! If a person doesn't believe that the word of God is true then giving them scriptural answers will have no effect on there lives!
For example, if a person asks me what I think about a certain lifestyle I may ask them if they are trying to please the Lord or if that doesn't matter? If pleasing the Lord doesn't matter then how they live doesn't matter. (my opinion) If pleasing the Lord does matter then we can look at it from a biblical perspective and proceed accordingly.
The bible teaches us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God. Verse 2 speaks of non-conformity to the world and to be transformed in our way of thinking! The word conformed here means to be fashioned alike! If we are not to be fashioned like the world then what are we to be fashioned like! We are to be fashioned after the image in which God created us, in His image!
If you were to ask me if I believe that we should run around naked, I would say yes but not in the way that you are thinking! Remember after there sin in the garden God had clothed them with raiment to cover there bodies but He didn't clothe them immodestly or with any style of ornaments.
People of the world may call that plain but it doesn't matter what they call it! This is the way that God has created us and as far as the Christian is concerned that is what should matter! There is a saying that the body is a canvas and should be treated as such but it is a work of art the way God created it and should be left alone!
Gen 2:25
25 And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
They were naked and not ashamed! So the very thought of needing to decorate the body could easily relate to being ashamed! Ashamed of our appearance, the appearance God created. Every tattoo, piercing, dyes, ornamental jewelry, immodest clothing is simply applied for appearance!
God created us naked, without shame, covered our sinful bodies with clothes but needed to add nothing else.
The world would have us to be like them but Jesus would have us to be like Him and I want to be like Jesus, as naked in appearance as He would have me( fully and modestly dressed) and not ashamed!
We are to be a witness of Christ and to do that we need to have a lifestyle that is not drawing attention to us, but to reflect there attention to Jesus. I must decrease!
Friday, March 7, 2014
666
John 6:66
From that time many of His disciples went back and walked no more with Him.
And you thought this blog was going to be about the mark of the beast! It is not but what it is about is what the devil would have us to do, WALK AWAY!
To many times when affliction comes we want to blame the devil for our problems. We give the devil to much credit for what is going on in our lives and we are giving him the victory for what is in fact our own doing! It was Flip Wilson who coined the phrase, The devil made me do it! The problem with that statement is people believe that the devil is responsible for our sinful action when in fact it is us who are responsible.
If I am afflicted I will run to Jesus! If I am troubled in my spirit I will run to Jesus! If I am in need of a certain thing in my life I will run to Jesus! With that said the enemy knows these things and would be foolish to do things against me that would cause me to run to Jesus! So what he tries to do are things that will make me run from the Lord!
LIKE WHAT? That's a great question, like what. Like causing you and a brother/sister in the Lord to be at odds with each other. Like causing you to get offended by the preaching of the word instead of convicted. Like causing you to see or hear all the negativity all around you! Like blessing your life with all kinds of material goods of this world causing you to turn your eyes from the Lord!
The devil doesn't want to make the life of a Christian miserable because we will turn to the Lord. What he wants to do is get us to a place where we think that we don't need Jesus anymore or that we need Him a lot less! A happy sinner rarely needs Jesus!
What the enemy of our soul wants more than anything else, is for us to go back and walk no more with Jesus! The devil doesn't care if you worship him. He doesn't care if you declare his name. He doesn't care if you are a nice person and you help people. The only thing the devil cares about is whether or not you are a worshipper of THE GREAT GOD ALMIGHTY!
The cross before me, the world behind me, I wont turn back, I wont turn back! Take this whole world but give me Jesus!!!!!
Read Matt. 19:16-24
From that time many of His disciples went back and walked no more with Him.
And you thought this blog was going to be about the mark of the beast! It is not but what it is about is what the devil would have us to do, WALK AWAY!
To many times when affliction comes we want to blame the devil for our problems. We give the devil to much credit for what is going on in our lives and we are giving him the victory for what is in fact our own doing! It was Flip Wilson who coined the phrase, The devil made me do it! The problem with that statement is people believe that the devil is responsible for our sinful action when in fact it is us who are responsible.
If I am afflicted I will run to Jesus! If I am troubled in my spirit I will run to Jesus! If I am in need of a certain thing in my life I will run to Jesus! With that said the enemy knows these things and would be foolish to do things against me that would cause me to run to Jesus! So what he tries to do are things that will make me run from the Lord!
LIKE WHAT? That's a great question, like what. Like causing you and a brother/sister in the Lord to be at odds with each other. Like causing you to get offended by the preaching of the word instead of convicted. Like causing you to see or hear all the negativity all around you! Like blessing your life with all kinds of material goods of this world causing you to turn your eyes from the Lord!
The devil doesn't want to make the life of a Christian miserable because we will turn to the Lord. What he wants to do is get us to a place where we think that we don't need Jesus anymore or that we need Him a lot less! A happy sinner rarely needs Jesus!
What the enemy of our soul wants more than anything else, is for us to go back and walk no more with Jesus! The devil doesn't care if you worship him. He doesn't care if you declare his name. He doesn't care if you are a nice person and you help people. The only thing the devil cares about is whether or not you are a worshipper of THE GREAT GOD ALMIGHTY!
The cross before me, the world behind me, I wont turn back, I wont turn back! Take this whole world but give me Jesus!!!!!
Read Matt. 19:16-24
Friday, February 21, 2014
Mans rules dont rule me!
Ps 119:9
Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.
Proverbs tells us that there is a way that seemeth right unto man but the end thereof leadeth to destruction!
There are two ways that I want to consider when reading this verse! The first is that sometimes we govern our own life by what we think to be right and even worse what we think is good for us! By living our lives this way we are living only by our own opinion! As a child of God this is obviously not the way to govern our lives! But even for those who are not living for God this way of living will bring consequence! If my opinion of the speed limit is to slow and I choose to go faster I will have to deal with the consequence if I am caught. If in my opinion I can treat people any way that I want to treat them, again I will have to deal with the consequence!
The second way that I want to view this verse is from someone elses opinion of how I should live! Even though there is a way that seems right to me doesn't give me the liberty to demand my view above anothers! Nor does it give liberty to others to demand of me how I should live my life by there opinion! We can all offer our opinions on lifestyle but ultimately it is the choice of the individual!
HOWEVER!!!!! Ps. 119:9 How shall I keep my way clean, pure, upright and acceptable to the Lord? By obeying His way! Jesus said I am the way the truth and the life! To often in hearing the preaching of Gods word we are only hearing the viewpoint of the preacher and we deem that as his own opinion! Faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the word of God, hearing what God is saying! If it is Gods word being uttered then it must be received as the opinion of the Lord and not of man! ,
Gal 1:10-12
For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.
11 But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.
12 For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.
I have to live my life in a way that is pleasing to God and it may not be pleasing to men but in order to do that I have to live according to His word in every aspect of my life!
The disciples were rebuked for preaching the name of Jesus and were warned not to do it any more and Peter responds with the response I need to use in my walk with God, Acts 5:29
Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.
Read Luke 1:34-38 Paying close attention to Mary's final response!
Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.
Proverbs tells us that there is a way that seemeth right unto man but the end thereof leadeth to destruction!
There are two ways that I want to consider when reading this verse! The first is that sometimes we govern our own life by what we think to be right and even worse what we think is good for us! By living our lives this way we are living only by our own opinion! As a child of God this is obviously not the way to govern our lives! But even for those who are not living for God this way of living will bring consequence! If my opinion of the speed limit is to slow and I choose to go faster I will have to deal with the consequence if I am caught. If in my opinion I can treat people any way that I want to treat them, again I will have to deal with the consequence!
The second way that I want to view this verse is from someone elses opinion of how I should live! Even though there is a way that seems right to me doesn't give me the liberty to demand my view above anothers! Nor does it give liberty to others to demand of me how I should live my life by there opinion! We can all offer our opinions on lifestyle but ultimately it is the choice of the individual!
HOWEVER!!!!! Ps. 119:9 How shall I keep my way clean, pure, upright and acceptable to the Lord? By obeying His way! Jesus said I am the way the truth and the life! To often in hearing the preaching of Gods word we are only hearing the viewpoint of the preacher and we deem that as his own opinion! Faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the word of God, hearing what God is saying! If it is Gods word being uttered then it must be received as the opinion of the Lord and not of man! ,
Gal 1:10-12
For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.
11 But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.
12 For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.
I have to live my life in a way that is pleasing to God and it may not be pleasing to men but in order to do that I have to live according to His word in every aspect of my life!
The disciples were rebuked for preaching the name of Jesus and were warned not to do it any more and Peter responds with the response I need to use in my walk with God, Acts 5:29
Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.
Read Luke 1:34-38 Paying close attention to Mary's final response!
Monday, February 17, 2014
Worst case scenerio!
Gen 19:14-16
And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law.
15 And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city.
16 And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the Lord being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.
Verse 14 tells us that as Lot was sharing the impending doom of the city, he did it in a way that seemed as if he were mocking those that had brought the news! Lot must not have been very convinced if at all that these things spoken were really going to come to pass.
People of God we are living in such a day and the church needs to take very seriously the impending judgment of the last days and spread the gospel fervently and with passion!
The Lord is not delaying His coming and now is not the time to sleep!
After the hastening of the angels in verse 15 we see the response from Lot in verse 16, he lingered! What this speaks to me is that Lot was trying to decide if leaving what he had loved was the best course of action for his life! We sometimes find ourselves in that same situation when it comes to leaving this world and all its goods to serve the Lord. Then what happens next, the angels have to grab Lot and the rest by the hands and had to bring them out of the city.
Gen 19:26
But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.
Worst case scenario, after having been delivered from evil and a that wicked place there was still something in the heart of Lots wife that had caused her to look back, second guessing whether leaving was the answer.
Read 2 Peter 2:20-22
And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law.
15 And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city.
16 And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the Lord being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.
Verse 14 tells us that as Lot was sharing the impending doom of the city, he did it in a way that seemed as if he were mocking those that had brought the news! Lot must not have been very convinced if at all that these things spoken were really going to come to pass.
People of God we are living in such a day and the church needs to take very seriously the impending judgment of the last days and spread the gospel fervently and with passion!
The Lord is not delaying His coming and now is not the time to sleep!
After the hastening of the angels in verse 15 we see the response from Lot in verse 16, he lingered! What this speaks to me is that Lot was trying to decide if leaving what he had loved was the best course of action for his life! We sometimes find ourselves in that same situation when it comes to leaving this world and all its goods to serve the Lord. Then what happens next, the angels have to grab Lot and the rest by the hands and had to bring them out of the city.
Gen 19:26
But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.
Worst case scenario, after having been delivered from evil and a that wicked place there was still something in the heart of Lots wife that had caused her to look back, second guessing whether leaving was the answer.
Read 2 Peter 2:20-22
Friday, February 14, 2014
Love more than words!
1 Cor 13:4-7
Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
Love is a word that we use far to often without the actions that should follow.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He GAVE! He gave of Himself for the sake of the ones that He loved! Love always requires action, if we love someone we will do for that someone! Sometimes we have it backwards in that we think that we express love by inaction! I don't do certain things because I love, I don't go certain places because I love, I don't treat you a certain way because I love but it should be the other way around! What I do is because I love.
If you love Me keep my commandments!
Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friend!
1 John 3:16-18
Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
17 But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?
18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
It doesn't get much plainer than that, but in deed and in truth!
Don't let candies, chocolates, flowers and teddy bears simply be an extension of the spoken word of love but whatever you do for love let it be an expression of your passion!
Sing Its all about love, love, love, love, love. Its all about love, love, love, love, love, Everything else comes down to this, nothing any higher on the list than love. Its all about love!
Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
Love is a word that we use far to often without the actions that should follow.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He GAVE! He gave of Himself for the sake of the ones that He loved! Love always requires action, if we love someone we will do for that someone! Sometimes we have it backwards in that we think that we express love by inaction! I don't do certain things because I love, I don't go certain places because I love, I don't treat you a certain way because I love but it should be the other way around! What I do is because I love.
If you love Me keep my commandments!
Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friend!
1 John 3:16-18
Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
17 But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?
18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
It doesn't get much plainer than that, but in deed and in truth!
Don't let candies, chocolates, flowers and teddy bears simply be an extension of the spoken word of love but whatever you do for love let it be an expression of your passion!
Sing Its all about love, love, love, love, love. Its all about love, love, love, love, love, Everything else comes down to this, nothing any higher on the list than love. Its all about love!
Thursday, February 13, 2014
To die is gain!
Phil.1:20-21
According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be life, or by death.
For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain!
Knowing what I know of the Lord and the promises of His word how can I not look forward to what is to come! My expectations are of great proportions of good things to come! Not just an eternity with Jesus but here on this earth and in my lifetime! All things work together for the GOOD to them that love God and who are the called according to His purpose!
I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation! I must stand for Christ, I must live my life in a way that will glorify Him and that will offer this hope to others. As I live I will live for the purpose of the cross, be salt to the earth and be a shining light in the darkness of this world! I must decrease that He would increase!
As the body of Christ we die out to our old nature, to our own wills and desires! This life is not my own to YOU I belong, I give myself away! I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, Not I but Christ liveth in me. Christ lives through me! I must die so that Jesus can live by me! To die is gain!
It is gain for Christ! It is gain for the kingdom! It is gain to a lost world! It is gain for me to die that others may live, not a spiritual death, not even a natural death but a death of this carnal worldly nature! Its time for the church to glorify God in their bodies and in their spirits.
Read Matt. 16:24-27
According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be life, or by death.
For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain!
Knowing what I know of the Lord and the promises of His word how can I not look forward to what is to come! My expectations are of great proportions of good things to come! Not just an eternity with Jesus but here on this earth and in my lifetime! All things work together for the GOOD to them that love God and who are the called according to His purpose!
I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation! I must stand for Christ, I must live my life in a way that will glorify Him and that will offer this hope to others. As I live I will live for the purpose of the cross, be salt to the earth and be a shining light in the darkness of this world! I must decrease that He would increase!
As the body of Christ we die out to our old nature, to our own wills and desires! This life is not my own to YOU I belong, I give myself away! I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, Not I but Christ liveth in me. Christ lives through me! I must die so that Jesus can live by me! To die is gain!
It is gain for Christ! It is gain for the kingdom! It is gain to a lost world! It is gain for me to die that others may live, not a spiritual death, not even a natural death but a death of this carnal worldly nature! Its time for the church to glorify God in their bodies and in their spirits.
Read Matt. 16:24-27
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Confident of His performance!
Phil 1:3-6
I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,
4 Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy,
5 For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now;
6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
I make every effort to do my best and to be my best everyday but as we all know we come up short! We continue to try, a better word would be that we strive to make changes in our lives to better represent Jesus to the world.
Gods word tells us that without Him we can do nothing, but it also says that with God all things are possible! We are all blessed with talents and gifts but these alone are not enough to be able to make the necessary changes in our lives to be able to overcome the challenges and hardships that we face! There may be a certain amount of will power and desire that can help us to make changes but thank God for the Holy Ghost power that we have been or can be endued with from on high! Read Luke 24:49
It is not by works of righteousness which we have done! Its not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit saith the Lord!
Phil 2:13
For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
Heb 13:21
Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
The theme throughout this blog is that God is working not just on us but in us! We must have confidence that what He has started He will finish! He is not finished yet, and the progress is looking really good! As God continues to fashion and shape us we can begin to see the transformation of our lives in to what God has planned for His children!
As a carpenter I have started a few projects with a vision of the end result in mind only to realize somewhere in the middle of it all for whatever reasons I was not able to finish! Very frustrating to have a vision of a finished product and not be able to see it through but with God that is not the way that it is!
1 John 3:2
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
Rom 4:17
As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. God is able to see us as we will be and His work in us will bring us to that result! HE WILL FINISH THE WORK THAT HE STARTED!!
Sing, He who began a good work in you, He who began a good work in You, will be faithful to complete it, He'll be faithful to complete it, He who started the work will be faithful to complete it in you!
I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,
4 Always in every prayer of mine for you all making request with joy,
5 For your fellowship in the gospel from the first day until now;
6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
I make every effort to do my best and to be my best everyday but as we all know we come up short! We continue to try, a better word would be that we strive to make changes in our lives to better represent Jesus to the world.
Gods word tells us that without Him we can do nothing, but it also says that with God all things are possible! We are all blessed with talents and gifts but these alone are not enough to be able to make the necessary changes in our lives to be able to overcome the challenges and hardships that we face! There may be a certain amount of will power and desire that can help us to make changes but thank God for the Holy Ghost power that we have been or can be endued with from on high! Read Luke 24:49
It is not by works of righteousness which we have done! Its not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit saith the Lord!
Phil 2:13
For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
Heb 13:21
Make you perfect in every good work to do his will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
The theme throughout this blog is that God is working not just on us but in us! We must have confidence that what He has started He will finish! He is not finished yet, and the progress is looking really good! As God continues to fashion and shape us we can begin to see the transformation of our lives in to what God has planned for His children!
As a carpenter I have started a few projects with a vision of the end result in mind only to realize somewhere in the middle of it all for whatever reasons I was not able to finish! Very frustrating to have a vision of a finished product and not be able to see it through but with God that is not the way that it is!
1 John 3:2
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.
Rom 4:17
As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. God is able to see us as we will be and His work in us will bring us to that result! HE WILL FINISH THE WORK THAT HE STARTED!!
Sing, He who began a good work in you, He who began a good work in You, will be faithful to complete it, He'll be faithful to complete it, He who started the work will be faithful to complete it in you!
Monday, February 10, 2014
Blessing or curse?
Duet.11:26-28
Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse;
27 A blessing if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day:
28 And a curse; if you will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which you have not known.
Our choice to serve the Lord is based upon whether we choose to obey, which brings the blessings or disobey which brings the curse! This would seem like an easy choice but as you know to obey Gods commandments usually if not always requires us to surrender our wills and desires to His!
After having done this on many occasions I have never regretted that choice but it is still a choice that has to be made nonetheless.
Joshua said, Choose you this day who you will serve, as for me and my house we will serve the Lord! Every day we are given the same ultimatum, obedience and blessings or disobedience and curses. Every day we have to decide how will I live my life today, for the kingdom of heaven or for my own self! After making a number of consecutive choices to serve the Lord, before to long I no longer have to debate who it is that I'm going to serve because it becomes a lifestyle!
Let your love for the Lord lead you in your decisions, Read John 14:15-21
Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse;
27 A blessing if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day:
28 And a curse; if you will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside out of the way which I command you this day, to go after other gods, which you have not known.
Our choice to serve the Lord is based upon whether we choose to obey, which brings the blessings or disobey which brings the curse! This would seem like an easy choice but as you know to obey Gods commandments usually if not always requires us to surrender our wills and desires to His!
After having done this on many occasions I have never regretted that choice but it is still a choice that has to be made nonetheless.
Joshua said, Choose you this day who you will serve, as for me and my house we will serve the Lord! Every day we are given the same ultimatum, obedience and blessings or disobedience and curses. Every day we have to decide how will I live my life today, for the kingdom of heaven or for my own self! After making a number of consecutive choices to serve the Lord, before to long I no longer have to debate who it is that I'm going to serve because it becomes a lifestyle!
Let your love for the Lord lead you in your decisions, Read John 14:15-21
Friday, February 7, 2014
Before the cock crows
Mark 14:72
And the second time the cock crew. And Peter called to mind the word that Jesus said unto him, Before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. And when he thought thereon, he wept.
Its time to break the cycle of denial, accept who we are in Christ and live accordingly! We are the true light of the world and the salt to the earth! We are also the hope to the world by the word of God that flows from our lips!
We are ambassadors of Christ, we speak as the oracles of God and we represent His kingdom, WE BELONG TO JESUS!!
Before we dismiss the idea that we would deny Jesus in any way we need to look at the different ways that we could deny Him!
Matt 10:32-33
Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.
33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.
Denying the Lord is not just a simple rejection but it is also what I will call an omission of confession. Acts 1:8 But you shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you and you SHALL be witnesses of ME! When an opportunity arises for us to be a witness of Christ and we choose to keep silent is this not a denial? We certainly don't want to believe that because there are times that this happens in our lives! We have to break the cycle!
Matt 16:24
Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
A part of our denial of Jesus is when we put our will, desires and plans above His and we begin to turn back to that old nature that Jesus has delivered us from.
Titus 1:16
They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.
When we hear the word of God and are given instructions or commandments we must become doers of that word! If we believe the word of God to be true and necessary for our lives than to be idle and not respond accordingly would be considered denial!
The bible tells us that Peter had remembered what Jesus had said even though it was after the fact. Let this be a reminder to us today that in order to avoid the cock crowing I need to confess the Lord Jesus! Not just with my words but also with my actions.
Read 2Tim.2:1-19
And the second time the cock crew. And Peter called to mind the word that Jesus said unto him, Before the cock crow twice, thou shalt deny me thrice. And when he thought thereon, he wept.
Its time to break the cycle of denial, accept who we are in Christ and live accordingly! We are the true light of the world and the salt to the earth! We are also the hope to the world by the word of God that flows from our lips!
We are ambassadors of Christ, we speak as the oracles of God and we represent His kingdom, WE BELONG TO JESUS!!
Before we dismiss the idea that we would deny Jesus in any way we need to look at the different ways that we could deny Him!
Matt 10:32-33
Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.
33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.
Denying the Lord is not just a simple rejection but it is also what I will call an omission of confession. Acts 1:8 But you shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you and you SHALL be witnesses of ME! When an opportunity arises for us to be a witness of Christ and we choose to keep silent is this not a denial? We certainly don't want to believe that because there are times that this happens in our lives! We have to break the cycle!
Matt 16:24
Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
A part of our denial of Jesus is when we put our will, desires and plans above His and we begin to turn back to that old nature that Jesus has delivered us from.
Titus 1:16
They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.
When we hear the word of God and are given instructions or commandments we must become doers of that word! If we believe the word of God to be true and necessary for our lives than to be idle and not respond accordingly would be considered denial!
The bible tells us that Peter had remembered what Jesus had said even though it was after the fact. Let this be a reminder to us today that in order to avoid the cock crowing I need to confess the Lord Jesus! Not just with my words but also with my actions.
Read 2Tim.2:1-19
Thursday, February 6, 2014
Achans treasures.
Josh 7:1
But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing: for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing: and the anger of the Lord was kindled against the children of Israel.
Josh 7:10-13
And the Lord said unto Joshua, Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face?
11 Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put it even among their own stuff.
12 Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they were accursed: neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you.
13 Up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow: for thus saith the Lord God of Israel, There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O Israel: thou canst not stand before thine enemies, until ye take away the accursed thing from among you.
Josh 7:19-21
And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the Lord God of Israel, and make confession unto him; and tell me now what thou hast done; hide it not from me.
20 And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done:
21 When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it.
A powerful lesson to be learned here not only for the church but for our individual lives! The Lord had given simple yet explicit instructions, defeat the enemy and destroy the spoils! But because of one family who were ultimately all involved gathered up a FEW things all would be effected!
A little leaven, leaveneth the WHOLE lump.
And now because of there disobedience the opposite began to happen! Because Achan gathered the spoils the enemy would now defeat them! We sometimes try to hold on to things in our lives that the Lord is wanting us to be rid of and this is what will continue to affect our relationship with Him! We attend church, sit in bible studies and even attend prayer meetings while at home hidden amongst the stuff, even hidden in our hearts the spoils or the treasures of past life we have yet to destroy!
God had given a commandment and a promise and followed up with this, Num 32:23
But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the Lord: and be sure your sin will find you out.
This isn't a scare tactic or the Lord threatening destruction, what we have to realize is, is that sin is what keeps us from the blessings an more importantly the presence of the Lord! 2 Peter 3:9
not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Achans treasures became his demise. Treasures that he had to keep hidden away. Treasures that he would never be able to enjoy! Treasures that would constantly remind him of the wrong that he had done! Every night that Achan would go to bed he would lie down knowing that these "treasures" were buried beneath him!
Read Matt. 6:19-21
But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing: for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing: and the anger of the Lord was kindled against the children of Israel.
Josh 7:10-13
And the Lord said unto Joshua, Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face?
11 Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put it even among their own stuff.
12 Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they were accursed: neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you.
13 Up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against to morrow: for thus saith the Lord God of Israel, There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O Israel: thou canst not stand before thine enemies, until ye take away the accursed thing from among you.
Josh 7:19-21
And Joshua said unto Achan, My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the Lord God of Israel, and make confession unto him; and tell me now what thou hast done; hide it not from me.
20 And Achan answered Joshua, and said, Indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done:
21 When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it.
A powerful lesson to be learned here not only for the church but for our individual lives! The Lord had given simple yet explicit instructions, defeat the enemy and destroy the spoils! But because of one family who were ultimately all involved gathered up a FEW things all would be effected!
A little leaven, leaveneth the WHOLE lump.
And now because of there disobedience the opposite began to happen! Because Achan gathered the spoils the enemy would now defeat them! We sometimes try to hold on to things in our lives that the Lord is wanting us to be rid of and this is what will continue to affect our relationship with Him! We attend church, sit in bible studies and even attend prayer meetings while at home hidden amongst the stuff, even hidden in our hearts the spoils or the treasures of past life we have yet to destroy!
God had given a commandment and a promise and followed up with this, Num 32:23
But if ye will not do so, behold, ye have sinned against the Lord: and be sure your sin will find you out.
This isn't a scare tactic or the Lord threatening destruction, what we have to realize is, is that sin is what keeps us from the blessings an more importantly the presence of the Lord! 2 Peter 3:9
not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Achans treasures became his demise. Treasures that he had to keep hidden away. Treasures that he would never be able to enjoy! Treasures that would constantly remind him of the wrong that he had done! Every night that Achan would go to bed he would lie down knowing that these "treasures" were buried beneath him!
Read Matt. 6:19-21
Wednesday, February 5, 2014
A new day dawning!
Gen.28:12
And he dreamed, and behold a ladder was set up on the earth, and the top of it reached heaven:and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.
V. 16 And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not.
V. 20-21 And Jacob vowed a vow saying, if God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, So that I come again to my fathers house in peace; then shall the Lord be my God.
Jacob was on the run, hiding from the wrath of his brother Esau after he had deceived his father into blessing him instead of Esau!
Jacob probably feeling scared and very alone, uncertain about what the future would now hold, found a place to rest! If we are going to have communion with the Lord we must find ourselves in a place of rest! This is a place where we can be alone with God and where the voice and the image of the world is not!
It was at this place where God had offered Jacob hope and assurance that God would be with him! V. 15 And behold I am with thee and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land, for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.
If you are in that place, if you have had one of those days, God is not finished yet, there is a new day dawning! It is time to awake from your sleep and realize that you are in the place where God dwells!
And Jacob called that place Bethel, "the house of God!"
Sing 10,000 reasons
The sun comes up, its a new day dawning, its time to sing your song again, whatever may pass and whatever lies before me Let me be singing when the evening comes!
And he dreamed, and behold a ladder was set up on the earth, and the top of it reached heaven:and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.
V. 16 And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not.
V. 20-21 And Jacob vowed a vow saying, if God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, So that I come again to my fathers house in peace; then shall the Lord be my God.
Jacob was on the run, hiding from the wrath of his brother Esau after he had deceived his father into blessing him instead of Esau!
Jacob probably feeling scared and very alone, uncertain about what the future would now hold, found a place to rest! If we are going to have communion with the Lord we must find ourselves in a place of rest! This is a place where we can be alone with God and where the voice and the image of the world is not!
It was at this place where God had offered Jacob hope and assurance that God would be with him! V. 15 And behold I am with thee and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land, for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.
If you are in that place, if you have had one of those days, God is not finished yet, there is a new day dawning! It is time to awake from your sleep and realize that you are in the place where God dwells!
And Jacob called that place Bethel, "the house of God!"
Sing 10,000 reasons
The sun comes up, its a new day dawning, its time to sing your song again, whatever may pass and whatever lies before me Let me be singing when the evening comes!
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Positioning for a miracle!
Josh 3:5
And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for to morrow the Lord will do wonders among you.
Our God is in the miracle business! God is able to do all things! Nothing is to hard for God! With God all things are possible!
These verses of the bible have been quoted in many of services and have been the preaching points of many sermons yet we haven't seen the amount of the miraculous in our lives as it has been preached.
In order to receive a miracle a need for a miracle must first be present! What is a miracle? A miracle is something that only God can do! A miracle is not something that is at all humanly possible, if it were than it isn't a miracle! For an example we will look at the act of salvation! I believe that salvation is one of the greatest miracles that will happen in our lives! Its not by works of righteousness which we have done but by His mercy He saved us! Salvation can only be obtained through Jesus Christ our Lord!
If there is something that you have need of in your life, that no man can perform than you need a miracle! In order to receive that miracle you must be positioned for, in the place to receive it! What's the place? What is the position?
Joshua told the people, "Sanctify yourselves!" We must get to the place where our hearts and our minds are pure and where our desires and motives align with the will of God. I must separate myself from the carnal and begin to look to the spiritual!
If you are in great need of a miracle you must position yourself for it! Repent, turn away from fleshly desires and turn toward the Lord!
Read Joshua 7:7-13
And Joshua said unto the people, Sanctify yourselves: for to morrow the Lord will do wonders among you.
Our God is in the miracle business! God is able to do all things! Nothing is to hard for God! With God all things are possible!
These verses of the bible have been quoted in many of services and have been the preaching points of many sermons yet we haven't seen the amount of the miraculous in our lives as it has been preached.
In order to receive a miracle a need for a miracle must first be present! What is a miracle? A miracle is something that only God can do! A miracle is not something that is at all humanly possible, if it were than it isn't a miracle! For an example we will look at the act of salvation! I believe that salvation is one of the greatest miracles that will happen in our lives! Its not by works of righteousness which we have done but by His mercy He saved us! Salvation can only be obtained through Jesus Christ our Lord!
If there is something that you have need of in your life, that no man can perform than you need a miracle! In order to receive that miracle you must be positioned for, in the place to receive it! What's the place? What is the position?
Joshua told the people, "Sanctify yourselves!" We must get to the place where our hearts and our minds are pure and where our desires and motives align with the will of God. I must separate myself from the carnal and begin to look to the spiritual!
If you are in great need of a miracle you must position yourself for it! Repent, turn away from fleshly desires and turn toward the Lord!
Read Joshua 7:7-13
Monday, February 3, 2014
The Unruly
James 3:8-12
But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
9 Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.
10 Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.
11 Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?
12 Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.
James is certainly not allowing room for an excuse why it is that we speak the things we speak! "Because we cannot tame the tongue!" James illustrates in the next verse that with this tongue we bless God, we make that choice to use our tongue for good and yes he goes on to say, curse we men. The answer is to continually bless the Lord so that I have no pause in my speech to curse men!
" His praise shall continually be in my mouth."
Doth a fountain, can a fig? So can no man speak evil and good at the same time! Choose your words! Listen to the teaching of your mother, If you cannot say anything nice than say nothing at all!
Speak not what is on your mind until its been filtered through your heart!
Read Matthew 12: 34-37
But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
9 Therewith bless we God, even the Father; and therewith curse we men, which are made after the similitude of God.
10 Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.
11 Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?
12 Can the fig tree, my brethren, bear olive berries? either a vine, figs? so can no fountain both yield salt water and fresh.
James is certainly not allowing room for an excuse why it is that we speak the things we speak! "Because we cannot tame the tongue!" James illustrates in the next verse that with this tongue we bless God, we make that choice to use our tongue for good and yes he goes on to say, curse we men. The answer is to continually bless the Lord so that I have no pause in my speech to curse men!
" His praise shall continually be in my mouth."
Doth a fountain, can a fig? So can no man speak evil and good at the same time! Choose your words! Listen to the teaching of your mother, If you cannot say anything nice than say nothing at all!
Speak not what is on your mind until its been filtered through your heart!
Read Matthew 12: 34-37
Saturday, February 1, 2014
Equality
The Ambassador
(pastoral communique)
Feb. 2, 2014
2 Cor 8:11-15
11 Now therefore perform
the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to will, so there may be a
performance also out of that which ye have.
12 For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted
according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not.
13 For I mean not that other men be eased, and ye burdened:
14 But by an equality, that now at this time your abundance
may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for
your want: that there may be equality:
15 As it is written, He that had gathered much had nothing
over; and he that had gathered little had no lack.
Good intentions are just that, they are those things that
you intend to do that would be good and beneficial to those who would be a
recipient of the intention. Verse 11 tells us to perform (action required)the
doing of it! It has entered our minds to do and now there must be a fulfilling, or a performance, of the will or the good intention that you have.
"It is accepted
according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not." We are only
required to do with what it is that we have. I am not required to do or go
beyond what it is that I am able to do, but I am required to be a good steward
of those things I do possess.
Verse 14 talks of an
equal playing field bringing the levels of every individual to a neutral
position. That they had all things common. Read Acts 2:44-45 Because you have more at
this moment you supply for my need and when I have more then I become the
supply for your need! Equality!
In summation, I am to
have what I need and no more but also having what I need and no less. Read Eph. 4:16.
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