My Time With Jesus Tuesday

Do Not Take God For Granted

Philippians 4: 19, but my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

Most people, including Christians, often take things for granted without even realizing it. Why do you suppose that is? Well, it looks like there is no single answer to that question.

We are so used to things happening automatically that we give little or no thought to the fact that they are blessings. We are so spoiled by God's grace, that when something we expect doesn't happen the way we expect, we usually are disappointed and start to doubt. 

Suppose you suddenly stopped being able to breathe. Imagine getting up in the morning and you couldn't see. If you think about all these things, you can make a list that would shock you. It is at this point that most of us realize that we have overlooked these blessings, and the fact that we are blessed. We take it all for granted.

It is time we stop taking God Almighty for granted and started to show appreciation for the many blessings He gives us. He does not owe us anything, we owe Him for more than we can hope to repay. Thanking God every day for everything, would take hours. There is a simple solution. Get a notebook, and every day write down one thing, and sincerely thank God for that blessing.

If you write about one blessing each day, you will end up with hundreds over time. Remember, it is by God's grace we are able to get up in the morning, and see another sunshiny day. God Bless you and your family. Praise The Lord!

Remember Jesus loves you.

Prayer of Salvation.

My Lord Jesus Christ, I Thank you and Praise you for what you did on the cross for me. By your stripes I was healed and your blood washed away my sins. Your death and resurrection made my salvation possible. I confess my sins, and I ask you to come into my heart as my personal savior. 

Amen! 

Praise The Lord!

God's Promises Sunday

Hear The Voice Of Jesus

John 3: 16, for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Over the years I've heard many people talking about salvation. many of them are convinced that God decides who will be saved and who isn't. That is not true.

We were created in God's image. The purpose was that we were to love and serve Him on this earth, and then spend eternity with Him. There is only one problem with all of that, and that is we have free will.

People take the word predestination from the Bible, and from that they reach the conclusion that God decides who is saved. In my personal opinion the predestination they are talking about is the fact that God knew who you were before you were born, what you were going to do, and whether or not you would choose to follow Jesus Christ our Savior.

Ephesians 2: 8, for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God.

As we go through life, we are presented with many opportunities to take advantage of God's offer of eternal life. Almighty God made it very easy for us to be saved. He decided before we were even born that he would give salvation as a gift to anyone who would accept it.

When you accept our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, as your personal savior, repenting of your sins, and believe that Jesus Christ died and rose from the dead for those sins, you will be saved. When you are truly saved it can never be taken away.

There are no secrets or special works that you have to do. Rest assured that God did not pick you or reject you. Whether you are saved or not depends on whether you want to be saved.

You may think it's a no brainer that people would want to be saved. Believe it or not you would be wrong because many people prefer to follow the world that satan runs, to the point that they cannot hear the voice of God calling them. 

John 14: 6, Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Our Lord gave us the Bible which is a full set of instructions on leading a good life, and spending eternity with Him. You can do yourself the greatest favor of your life, find out who Jesus is and cling to Him no matter what. God Bless you and your family. Praise The Lord!

Remember Jesus loves you.

Prayer of Salvation.

My Lord Jesus Christ, I Thank you and Praise you for what you did on the cross for me. By your stripes I was healed and your blood washed away my sins. Your death and resurrection made my salvation possible. I confess my sins, and I ask you to come into my heart as my personal savior. Thank you

Amen! 

Praise The Lord!

God's way

Psalm 119:105, your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

When someone is made ready to do the Lord's work, he is sent to do it. Maybe you're asking yourself at this point, what has that to do with me? Let me give you an idea.

Jeremiah 29: 11, for I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and hope.

Since God knew his plan for you before He even created you, He also knows those who want to serve Him in special ways, such as healing. What most of us don't know is that when we give our hearts and wills to God, He starts to get us ready to do His will.

Getting us ready, includes spiritually, and moving all of the pieces of the puzzle into place, that are necessary in that plan. The whole process can take a day, a week, a year. It is part of the test to see if we are serious.

I believe God has what I call a boot camp for each person. The training you'll get depends on the job He has for you. He trains us to be non-judgmental, loving, trusting, and many other things that will be required. He tests our faith and persistence under adverse circumstances, such as dealing with other people and situations. When we are ready to do the job properly, for the right reasons, He gives us the job.

I found out a long time ago you must wait on God's timing for whatever it is. If you just go charging out there on your own, unprepared spiritually, not really knowing for sure what God wants from you, you will fail. You may get so messed up that it would be  difficult for God to use someone in that condition, but thankfully not impossible because He is God.

It may sound easy to do God's will when you hear a preacher talking or you read it in the Bible. My friends, that doesn't tell you the whole story. It just gives you an idea of what is possible. So, when you get an idea, pray about it, take it to the Lord, and follow His lead. It may not be easy, but it will be worth it, because you will be serving God.

There is one thing we must all consider. Perhaps what we are doing with our lives at the present time is a part of God's plan for us. I'm not talking about anything we are doing that is against the word of God, but according to what the word tells us. Here's a suggestion, in the meantime just do your best at what you are doing, and if you are ready to move up to other things, I guarantee the Holy Spirit will lead you there. God Bless you and your family. Praise The Lord!

Remember Jesus loves you.

Prayer of Salvation.

My Lord Jesus Christ, I Thank you and Praise you for what you did on the cross for me. By your stripes I was healed and your blood washed away my sins. Your death and resurrection made my salvation possible. I confess my sins, and I ask you to come into my heart as my personal savior. 

Amen! 

Praise The Lord!

My Time With Jesus Tuesday

The Blood Has Power

Matthew 26: 28, for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

A covenant has been the most sacred type of contract you could make with someone else. I say sacred because it was almost unthinkable to break a covenant once it was made with someone. We have a covenant with Almighty God Himself.

This covenant called a blood covenant was exemplified by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. There was a solemn agreement between man and God, that could not be broken by God.

Through the years Christians have always considered the blood of Jesus to be one of the most important things they could rely on. They felt so sure about its power that they pleaded the blood of Jesus Christ over themselves, their families, and everything they owned or was precious to them. For a long time many in the church thought it was blasphemy, while others knew the true power of the blood.

After reading quite a bit about the blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, I became convinced that if someone wiped up the blood of Jesus at the crucifixion, and they touched a sick person with that rag or towel or whatever it was, that person would be healed. At the time I had no idea just how true that was.

It became almost like a mission in my life to find out as much as I could about the power of the blood through the Bible, and books written by well-known legitimate people like Charles Spurgeon. I also asked the Holy Spirit as I usually do, to help me know the truth, and I believe He showed it to me.

It was then that I found out what I thought was the true meaning of the power of the blood covenant. If God has a blood covenant with us, that guarantees certain rights to us, and we have certain promises to Him. He cannot go back on His word, unless we do. A covenant was unbreakable, with severe consequences for the one who broke it.

Now follow me on this. If we pray to the Father, and plead the blood of Jesus in our prayer, there is no way Father God is going to dishonor the blood of His Son. Therefore, it stands to reason, that if we hold up our end, He will not and cannot ignore our prayers. So, my conclusion was, as long as we keep our end of the covenant, and pray according to the word, Father God will, and must answer our prayer.

Just tell Father God that you are pleading the blood of Jesus over whatever you are asking. One thing that my wife and I do, is tell Father God that we are washed in the blood of Jesus. According to what I read; satan is made totally powerless against the blood. It wouldn't be a bad idea to plead the blood over every person you love every day.

Romans 5: 9, since, therefore, we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved by Him from the wrath of God.

1 John 1: 7, if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

God Bless you and your family. Praise The Lord!

Remember Jesus loves you.

Prayer of Salvation.

My Lord Jesus Christ, I Thank you and Praise you for what you did on the cross for me. By your stripes I was healed and your blood washed away my sins. Your death and resurrection made my salvation possible. I confess my sins, and I ask you to come into my heart as my personal savior. Thank You

Amen! 

Praise The Lord!

Resurrection Day

The Meaning Of The Resurrection of Jesus Christ

 Isaiah 53:1-12 is a prophecy hundreds of years before the time of Jesus death and resurrection. Rather than going through all 12 verses I will quote just four to give you an idea. Verse 4 surely, He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God and afflicted. And verse 5 tells us He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement for our peace was upon Him and by His stripes we are healed. 

The story of the resurrection is really in my opinion the greatest love story of all time. It tells of God's love for His creation.  John 3: 16 tells us, that God loved the world so much that He gave His only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

The whole story starts with the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ the only Son of God, who was sent here to save us. I start there because without His birth there is no story. As Jesus was growing up, he was a man like us. He put aside His God self, in order to fully experience what we deal with. He experienced temptations, pain, hunger, happiness, and all of the same things we face. He witnessed evil in the world on a daily basis.

I don't know if He realized who He really was, or what His mission was. I suspect He had some kind of an idea because He always spoke to His Father, but at that point it must have made Him sad, seeing man's inhumanity to man. He saw what the religious teachers were doing in the name of God. He could see how people had practically no chance for Heaven.

Jesus went around teaching the good news and working miracles. While some people believed in Him, most turned against Him, and even some of those He healed turned against Him. Many people hated Him and wanted to kill Him. At this point in His life, Jesus knew what He was here to do. He still taught and healed people He knew would ultimately reject Him. It takes love beyond understanding to do what Jesus did for us.

Let's skip ahead to Jesus’ betrayal. He had to feel like the whole world was against Him, even as the apostles abandoned Him, and one of them was actually His betrayer. He was lied about, punched, spit on, and suffered all manner of abuse. As bad as all that was, I am sure it was made worse by the fact that people that He was here to save, we're the ones doing this to Him.

What people did not know then, and most don't know today is, that every drop of blood Jesus shed, was washing away all their sins, past, present, and future. Imagine yourself forgiving someone who hates you and is trying to hurt you as much as possible. I don't know about you, but I doubt that I could do it.

When He was scourged, by His stripes we were healed. Everything we needed healing was taken care of. He took all of that pain for people who hated Him. Some people probably even enjoyed seeing Him suffer.

When Jesus was on the cross, all our afflictions were on Him. We are told to visualize putting our burdens on Him, so He could take care of them. He died that horrible death to save us, and to keep us from getting what we deserve.

Now we come to the resurrection itself. By rising from the dead, Jesus conquered satan for all time and made our salvation possible. Now we who believe and accept Jesus as our savior will never die. We will be with Him in Heaven for eternity.

When Jesus was ascending to His Father, He sent the Holy Spirit to us. The Holy Spirit was sent to give us help, guidance, teach us in all things. When Jesus was going, He told all believers to preach the gospel, cast out demons, heal the sick, and raise the dead in His name. This is only possible through the faith which He also gives us, and the power of the Holy Spirit.

When I think about Jesus’ resurrection, I realized how much God our Father, and Jesus our brother loves me. At that point, it is to me a joyous occasion, and more than enough reason to love Him back by doing my best, planting seeds in people's hearts for their redemption. We all have reason to rejoice and love one another. Have a Blessed Resurrection Day, and Praise The Lord Jesus Christ.

Remember Jesus loves you.

Prayer of salvation.

Lord Jesus Christ, Thank you and Praise you for what you did on the cross for me. By your stripes I was healed and your blood washed away my sins. Your death and resurrection made my salvation possible. I confess my sins, and I ask you to come into my heart as my personal savior. 

Amen! 

Praise The Lord!

A look at Good Friday

Isaiah 52: 14, just as many were appalled at you His appearance was so disfigured that He did not look like a man and His form did not resemble a human being.

Many people do not realize just how bad the whole process of crucifixion can be. It was the Romans favorite source of execution for non-Roman citizens. Let me briefly describe the process in order to give you an idea of what our Savior did for us.

Before a person was crucified, it was normal practice for them to be scourged. Scourging involved a whip with 9 long pieces of leather, each piece of leather had pieces of bone and even some metal embedded in them. It was in the form of cat of nine tails. While the person was whipped, the idea is that they would swing the whip hard enough to get the pieces of bone to penetrate the skin and then the person whipping would jerk sharply, tearing skin and muscle from the poor victims body. Not many survived this ordeal.

Stop to consider this. The Roman army in Israel, basically consisted of some of the worst there was. The so-called soldiers took great pleasure in inflicting as much pain on the victim as they could. They had it down to a science, knowing how much damage they could do to the body without killing them outright. They wanted the victim to suffer as much as possible before they died.

Isaiah 53: 1-12, basically tells the story about what Jesus did for us. It says in the Bible that Jesus sweat blood. Many people do not believe that is possible. Let me enlighten you. A medical condition known as hematidrosis is diffusion of blood in perspiration, caused by extreme anguish, or physical strain. Subcutaneous capillaries dilate and burst merging blood with sweat. Many people who suffered this problem, died.

Stop to consider this. The fact that Jesus knew all of this way ahead of time, but did it anyway. Can you imagine how horrible that was?

Each lash was called a stripe. If you read Isaiah 53 you will see that by His stripes we are healed. His blood that was spilled, forgave all our sins, past, present, and future. He did it in our place so we wouldn't have to. As horrific as it was, He would have done it for even just one of us.

OK, if you doubt the description I gave, check it out on Google. If anyone in history should be glorified or praised, it is Jesus Christ our Lord. All we have to do is admit to Him that we are sinners, ask for forgiveness, and invite Him into our hearts as our personal savior. This is what He suffered and died for. He wants us to spend eternity with Him. God Bless you and your family. 

Praise The Lord! 

Remember Jesus loves you. 

Praise The Lord!!!!!

My Time With Jesus Tuesday

Holy Week

Many people today do not realize what Holy Week is all about. The people in the time of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ didn't realize the truth of what was about to happen.

Holy Week for most Christians has been a time to think about what Jesus said and did during His last week on this earth. It is sad when we stop to realize how much the Lord Jesus did for us and how indifferent most of us have been. 

To get an idea about the whole crucifixion and resurrection it would be a good idea if we sat down and read Isaiah chapters 52 and 53. It is much too long to print here but it foretells exactly what will happen. 

The next thing would be to read in the New Testament, Matthew chapter 26 through 28. These verses give you the total story and sets you in a place where you can think and pray and with the help of the Holy Spirit, in order to realize how important it really was.

Most people do not stop to realize that it wasn't just what we call Easter that did anything. There was a master plan from Almighty God Himself to send His Son to this earth to teach and give an example of how a Christian should act. That was the first part.

The second part is resurrection Sunday, the day that represents our salvation, and relationship with Almighty God through what the Lord Jesus Christ did for us.

The only thing I would point out at this time is the fact that no matter how horrendous what you read in the Bible, the crucifixion was something that it would be almost impossible for anyone to bear because it was a long, horrible, painful, suffering death.

Don't forget the Lord Jesus Christ did what He did because He loved us. It was His choice to follow His Father's will to redeem us, or not do what He did, and we would face eternal damnation.

I found out several years ago that no matter how much you meditate on what Jesus did during His life and in that final week there is no way a mere human being could totally understand or feel what happened. Almighty God knows that, and He gives us a little leeway in that.

We also have a decision to make. That decision is to whether we follow the plan and will of God Almighty or live according to what satan tells us to do. This whole thing is real my friends. Anyone who scoffs about what the Bible says is going to get a nasty surprise when the time comes.

Call on the Holy Spirit to help you understand. Give your entire heart and self to the Lord Jesus Christ. Confess your sins to Him, ask Him to forgive you, and invite Him into your heart as your personal savior. God Bless you and your family. Praise The Lord!

Remember Jesus loves you.

Prayer of Salvation.

My Lord Jesus Christ, I Thank you and Praise you for what you did on the cross for me. By your stripes I was healed and your blood washed away my sins. Your death and resurrection made my salvation possible. I confess my sins, and I ask you to come into my heart as my personal savior. Thank You My Sweet Jesus

Amen! 

Praise The Lord!

God's Promises Sunday

Something Special

John 1: 9, The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world.

In case you were never taught, the week before Easter is usually called Holy Week. This is a special week of remembrance of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ’s last week on earth.

Let us recall in some small way what our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was saying, thinking, and doing during that week. Remember that even though He was God, he lived on this earth as a man. He was exactly as we are as far as he felt everything that we feel including temptation and had no advantage that we don't have.  

1 Corinthians 10: 13, No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and He will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with temptation He will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

Our Lord was different in that He knew everything that was going to happen to Him. He would think, feel pain, abandonment, what it felt like to be hated, and in His case such incredible physical pain and suffering, that we cannot possibly imagine the level of it.

He was here to save us from sin, but He was rejected by many. The people He taught, and even healed, turned on Him. Some of them were even in the crowd that was screaming for His death.

Even though He knew all of these things, He still loved us and probably stepped up His efforts to save more people.

Colossians 1: 20, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether on earth or in Heaven, making peace by the blood of His cross.

I don't know about you, but if I think about something I dread doing, it is like suffering that dread in all its pain over and over. If that pain was caused by a friend, I would find it almost impossible to forgive them. Thank God not so with our Lord Jesus Christ!

Jesus was here to save us, knowing everything that would happen to Him and how He would be betrayed but He did it anyway. As a matter of fact, He would have done it, even if it was just for you or for me.

Meditate on love beyond understanding that made Him do it. Would you have turned on Him? Praise and thank Him every day, for what He did. It is because of all His pain suffering, love, forgiveness, and grace, that we are saved and have an eternity with Him to look forward to. God Bless you and your family. 

Praise The Lord!

Remember Jesus loves you.

Prayer of Salvation.

My Lord Jesus Christ, I Thank you and Praise you for what you did on the cross for me. By your stripes I was healed and your blood washed away my sins. Your death and resurrection made my salvation possible. I confess my sins, and I ask you to come into my heart as my personal savior. Thank You

Amen! 

Praise The Lord!

Irrational Fear

Isaiah 41: 10, fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Fear is a common problem among men. The biggest reason  people fear is the fact that they don't know what is happening or will happen. Most of the time we fear things that will never happen.

In this present time, it is easy to understand how people have a problem with fear. If you watch TV, read magazines or newspapers, talk to other people, all you hear is fear. Take a look at advertising. Every commercial you see is trying to sell you something based on fear.

There are ways to minimize the fear in your life. The most important one is to trust our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Bible tells us in many places how fear is the lack of trust in the Lord our God. Trusting in God will give you peace of mind and you will not be paralyzed by fear.

Psalm 58: 3, whenever I am afraid, I will trust in you.

Think about this for a moment. If you realize that the media and advertisers are trying to sell you on the idea of being afraid of this or that happening, you will be able to deal with it quite easily.

The first thing I would suggest is to become very familiar with the Bible and get to know our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. When you trust Him that is a big step in the right direction.

The next thing to do is to ask the Holy Spirit to help you understand what is going on, and how to deal with it. The world always has and always will be full of people that will lie and try to plant fear in someone else to get them to react in the way they want them to.

The Lord our God does not rely on fear to show us the way to a good life. He shows us through the way He lived when He was on this earth, including all the times He showed us how much He loves us through the way He lived and taught.

2 Timothy 1: 7, for God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love, and a sound mind.

When you know who our Lord really is, you know you can trust Him to take care of you and your family. At that point the Holy Spirit will show you that common sense combined with the Word of God, will put peace in your heart and peace in your life. God Bless you and your family. Praise The Lord!

Remember Jesus loves you.

Prayer of salvation.

My Lord Jesus Christ, I Thank you and Praise you for what you did on the cross for me. By your stripes I was healed and your blood washed away my sins. Your death and resurrection made my salvation possible. I confess my sins, and I ask you to come into my heart as my personal savior. Thank You Lord

Amen! 

Praise The Lord!