Peace In Your Heart

Habakkuk 3:17-18

Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit to be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail, and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, and will take joy in the God of my salvation.

I like to quote this verse often, because to me, I see my life through the Bible. By the way I also like Job. I can relate to these two people.

As we go through life, many things just seem to happen. Usually the bad things gang up on you, and good things seem few and far between.

The way I have come to look at it, the good and the bad are pretty much the same. They are in fact tests allowed by God for us to check our faith. Sound crazy? Let me explain.

Human nature has a tendency to take things for granted. When everything is going great, most of us congratulate ourselves for being smart, ambitious, hard-working, and more clever than the other guy. God does not enter into the picture. Most of the time, we don't even acknowledge His existence.

On the other hand, when things are going against us from everywhere, the majority of us blame God. Even if they never thought of Him, they now blame Him for everything that is wrong in their life. They take no responsibility for any of the things they did against God. There are times however when somebody gets so desperate they are ready to lose their mind, and they all of a sudden in desperation ask God for mercy. The amazing part of God's love for us is that He does help.
Job 2:9-10
I
Then his wife said to him, “do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!” But he said to her, “you speak is one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, shall we not accept adversity? In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

So you see, by doing what he does, God allows us to see where we stand in our faith.

                                                              Hebrews 13:5

Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said,” I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Remember Jesus Loves You

Prayer of Salvation
Lord Jesus, please forgive all of my sins, and come into my heart as my personal savior. I want to serve only you.
Praise the Lord!
Amen

Holy Spirit Baptism

It Is Written, Acts 2:38, then Peter said to them, repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
There seems to be some confusion, or lack of knowledge about the Holy Spirit as far as baptism is concerned. Many do not understand, or were not taught the difference between receiving the Holy Spirit at salvation, and baptism in the Holy Spirit.
When we are saved, we automatically received the fruits of the Holy Spirit as written in Galatians 5:22-23. These are evidences of the renewed inner  man, and a sign to others that Jesus is in our lives.
The baptism in the Holy Spirit is a separate thing. This baptism is by choice.. You must want to be baptized. The baptism may be performed by a pastor, or any spirit filled Christian for that matter, by a simple prayer, such as, I baptize you in the Holy Spirit in Jesus name.  1 Corinthians 12:7-11 explains the gifts of the Holy Spirit, when you are baptized in Him.
The gifts of the Holy Spirit are what I call power gifts. The Holy Spirit was the power that enabled Jesus to do the same thing. In other words as Jesus Himself said, and John 14:12, most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to my father.
Faith built and maintained by reading and meditating on the Word of God, unlocks the power of the Holy Spirit in a believer's life. Do yourself a big favor, and read 1 Corinthians 12:7-11. God bless you and your family.
Praise the Lord!
Remember Jesus Loves You
Prayer of Salvation
Lord Jesus, I thank you for what you did on the cross for me. Your blood washed away all my sins, by your stripes I was healed, your death and resurrection brought me salvation. Please forgive my sins, and come into my heart as my personal Savior.
Thank You Lord
Amen

Praise The Lord Anyway

Habakkuk 3:17-18

Though the fig trees should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail, and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold, and there being no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will take joy in the God of my salvation.

It should come as no surprise to most Christians, that satan is working harder than ever to undermine our trust in God. satan knows that one of the most powerful flaws in people, is to complain. It is easy to find things to complain about, because satan makes everything look worse than it really is, and then hits us between the eyes with it.

Why does satan works so hard at trying to get us to complain? Because he knows it offends God.

Numbers 11:1-3

Now when the people complained, it displeased the Lord, for the Lord heard it, and His anger was aroused. So the fire of the Lord burned among them, and consumed some in the outskirts of the camp. Then the people cried out to Moses, and when Moses prayed to the Lord, the fire was quenched. So he called the name of the place Taberah, because the fire of the Lord had burned among them.

If we stumble once in a while, God will forgive us if we ask. When that happens, ask the Holy Spirit to guide you and give you strength. Make a conscious effort to look for the blessings in your life. Don't look just for material things that you can buy, look at things such as trees and flowers, birds, your health. Don't miss a chance to look at everything as a blessing.

The average person has a tendency to minimize or overlook the good and maximize the bad. satan is the key factor, but remember, God gave each of us the gift of choice. We decide who and what we follow. Remember when you live according to God's will, and give your day to Him, everything that happens that day is part of His plan, so no matter what happens during that day, it is part of God's plan for you. Thank Him for it with all your heart, regardless of what satan is trying to tell you.

Praising the Lord anyway, opens your heart and mind to doing it God's way, and being who you were created to be.

1Thessalonians 5:18-19

In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. Do not quench the Spirit.
God bless you and your family. Praise the Lord!

Remember Jesus Loves You

Prayer of Salvation
Lord Jesus, please forgive all of my sins, and come into my heart as my personal savior. I want to serve only you.
Praise the Lord!
Amen

Trial And Tribulations

1 Peter 5:10
And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, confirm, strengthening, and establish you.

In the book of common sense, Thomas Paine wrote, “these are the times that try men's souls; the summer soldier and the sunshine patriot, will in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country.”

In these times, a true Christian is fighting on two fronts. He is involved with a spiritual war, and a secular war at the same time.

In the spiritual war, it is good versus evil. This one, tests our faith and beliefs in Almighty God. The Bible was written to guide us in the perfect will of God. We are living in a time that is testing these beliefs and our faith in general.

The Constitution was written as a guide to running a government according to Christian beliefs and ideals, with the Bible as a guide.

These really are times that try men's souls. We have not experienced so much hate and chaos since the Civil War. The difference now is, so many people have turned against God and country. They want to erase the Bible and the Constitution, and pretend that they never existed.

There is one answer for both problems. The answer is Almighty God.

2 Chronicles 7:14
If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

The subject obviously could fill a couple of volumes but due to limited space I just scratched the surface to identify that there is a problem. Keep one thing in mind if you are a Christian. This will give you hope. God is light, and evil is darkness. The undisputed fact is darkness cannot overcome the light. God bless you and your family. Praise the Lord!
Remember Jesus loves You

Prayer of Salvation
Lord Jesus, please forgive all of my sins, and come into my heart as my personal savior. I want to serve only you.
Praise the Lord!
Amen

The Holy Spirit In Action

It Is Written,1 Corinthians 2:13, these things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
I'd like to tell you about an incident that happened to me recently. I tell this story to help someone to realize that none of our needs is too small for the Holy Spirit to handle.
This past January, I had bypass surgery. The cardiologist told me that I cannot shovel snow, until further notice.
Well, I came home, and almost 2 months went by without any snow. Very unusual for where I live. While talking to my son, I thought I would be a wise guy, so I told him that since I couldn't shovel snow, the Holy Spirit didn't let it snow. I was believing what I said, no matter how silly it may have sounded to someone else.
A few weeks later, we got about 4 inches of snow at night. The next morning when I saw all of that snow, the thought went through my mind, what am I going to do? At that point, I said to the Lord, I would appreciate if He could send someone to shovel. I thanked Him, and didn't give it another thought, and went about what I was doing.
About an hour later, I looked out of my front window, and I saw five neighbors shoveling my driveway and sidewalk. They even got the snow off the car. The funny part about this whole story, is that it was exactly as I said. I guess you could say the way it came about, with me asking the Lord, and forgetting about it, showed me once again, and him how faith works. Is the Holy Spirit great or what? God bless you and your family. Praise Lord!
Remember Jesus Loves You
Prayer of Salvation
Lord Jesus, I thank you for what you did on the cross for me.  Your blood washed away all my sins, by your stripes I was healed, your death and resurrection brought me salvation.   Please forgive my sins, and come into my heart as my personal Savior.
Thank You Lord
Amen

Why Not Me?

It Is Written, 1 John 4:17, love has been perfected among us in this; that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.
You have probably heard many people say, why me? You might have even said that yourself. You may think I'm a little nutty, when I say, why not me?
Let me explain. We all know that Jesus died on the cross, and rose again, in order to forgive our sins, and make us right with God.
When you realize the full impact of what Jesus did, you realize that you are now a child of God. God does not have favorite sons or daughters, He loves them all the same. What He does for one, He will do for all. You must put the words, why not me , in your heart and mind.
During Jesus time on earth, He said He only did what His father did or said. He said this on a number of occasions. Since Jesus was God's Son, because of Jesus, we have the same Father.
When we go to our Father in prayer, we tell Him what we need, or want, and we thank Him for giving us His best in regard to our petition, and live knowing that our prayer is answered. You may want to say to yourself, why not me, before you pray, with faith and trust in your Father to do His best for you, just like He does for all who know and love Him. God Bless You and Your Family. Praise The Lord!
Remember Jesus Loves You
Prayer Salvation
Lord Jesus, I thank you for what you did on the cross for me. Your blood washed away all my sins, by your stripes I was healed, your death and resurrection brought me salvation. Please forgive my sins, and come into my heart as my personal Savior.
Thank You Lord
Amen

Faith And Works

Ephesians 2:8-9

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

Trying to live a good Christian life can be confusing and frustrating at times. I have been through many times, of so much frustration trying to figure out God's plan for me, that I couldn't count the times.

We know we are saved by grace, and not by anything we did to earn it. We see big-time preachers, and a lot of us think that is the answer. We see someone like a mother Theresa, and think that is the answer. All of that would be wrong.

The truth is, God called each of us for a special purpose. We fit into his plans for other people's lives. It could be our prayers for others, small kindnesses we show others, or giving of our time or money.

God made it real simple for us. He gave us an instruction book called the Bible. We don't have to be frustrated, confused, or feeling useless. Just follow his word, enjoy his presence in your heart, and follow as you are led by the Holy Spirit.

James 2:17-20

Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, you have faith, and I have works. Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my work. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe-and tremble! But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?

As we can see, faith and works go together. Just remember that salvation is by grace, and that grace inspires us to do the things of God. To give you a good idea of the kind of thing I'm talking about, Galatians 5:22-23 will give you a perfect idea of the kind of works we are talking about. There are others of course but this is a starting point.

Galatians 5:22-23

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. As I said this is a good starting point to give you an idea of the type of works that we are all called to do. If we do them we are following God's plan for our life until he directs us to do something else. God bless you and your family. Praise the Lord!

Remember Jesus Loves You
Prayer of Salvation
Lord Jesus, please forgive all of my sins, and come into my heart as my personal savior. I want to serve only you.
Praise the Lord!
Amen