Words Concerning God

Greetings My Friends

Every morning when I get up I say, I thank you, I praise you, and I love you Lord. Even though I mean what I say, the words sometimes seem like they don't really mean very much. The reason I believe, is that we have a tendency to repeat things without thinking, kind of like a parrot.

Some examples to think about. Someone sneezes, and without thinking we say bless you. Why? When you really bless someone, you are passing on the blessing God gave to Abraham and his descendents. Blessing someone is a loving, powerful, and sacred thing. It should never be taken lightly. We need to put a little thought into what we say, and not bring something as beautiful as a blessing into the commonplace.

Another example. Suppose you were someplace with a lot of other people. The leader of the group tells everyone that they are to be killed the next day. He also says that if they all do a certain thing, whoever does it will be spared. When it happens as he said, how would you feel? Casual or grateful. Sounds silly? Ever hear of Passover?

Think about the worst things you could ever imagine happening to you. Picture the most horrible tortures you can think of. This would go on and on forever with no chance of escape by dying. Then someone you don't like or maybe even you hate, steps up and says, I'll take your place. You can go to Hawaii. Sound impossible? Well my friends, except for the Hawaii part, Jesus did it for us. How would you feel? Can't describe the joy probably.

There have been many movies about Jesus. The miracles, the crucifixion, and the resurrection. Many people feel that it was no big deal. They think and even say that He didn't feel anything because He was God. Then there are some who say it never happened in the first place.

Even though the crucifixion was countless times worse than portrayed in the passion of the Christ, you still get a tiny glimpse of the hatred for Jesus and how he suffered. If you watch this movie with your brain turned on, you would need the hardest heart possible to not be moved.

He did it all for us. We were forgiven, healed, and offered salvation. Every time He gets punched, whipped and abused, if we really think about it we will realize that our sins are what He was being beaten and abused for. Jesus wasn't just a movie for our entertainment, but a real person, who died for us. God gave us His son to save us. Would you give your son to someone who hated you or you knew would hate him? Think about what He did.

It did happen, He felt everything, and His love for us is what caused it all, because he wanted us to spend eternity with Him. So my friends, if you haven't already, start meditating on the things of God. Really think about what he has done for you, and whether or not you take it all for granted, or even care. I don't say this in a nasty way, because I to have been guilty. Ask the Holy Spirit to open your heart and mind, so that you can appreciate what God has done for you, and what thoughts and words mean to the rest of His people.

Remember Jesus Loves You

Prayer of Salvation

Father I repent of all my sins. I know that Jesus suffered and died to forgive me for those sins. By His stripes I was healed. By His death and resurrection he made salvation possible. I ask you Jesus to come into my heart and be my personal Savior. Help me to live according to your plan. Thank you Lord.

Jesus Power In You

Greetings My Friends

When I was at Bible study last Sunday, the person who was the leader, told the group that he felt that a couple of people in the group, were about to receive a revelation from the Holy Spirit. He mentioned this a couple of times. We concluded this study, and attended the Sunday service at the same location.

The pastor started a series on the Holy Spirit. As he was talking, a thought came to me that I would call a revelation. This revelation as I will call it, made the idea of prayer so powerful that I feel I have to share it. It is one of those things that you totally understand in your own mind, but have some difficulty explaining it to someone else, because words seem inadequate.

As I write this, I ask the Holy Spirit to open hearts so that others see it the way it was showed to me. I realize that many people may already know what I am about say, but I feel compelled to say it anyway.

God created the universe by His words. He spoke everything into existence. He said "light be" and there was light. Whenever He spoke to anything, it had no choice, it had to obey. The gospel of John tells us that in the first few verses.

When God sent His only son to earth on a rescue mission, He told Jesus what the mission was, and gave Him the same power through the Holy Spirit, that He had during creation. God gave Jesus a helper who happened to be the Holy Spirit, because Jesus was temporarily human when He was on the earth. Jesus had no power of His own to do the works He was supposed to do. He acted for God through the Holy Spirit. Because of the Holy Spirit, every word that Jesus spoke had to be obeyed.

When Jesus spoke to His apostles after His resurrection, He told them that He would send them a helper. The same helper that made creation happen, helped Jesus, and made Him rise again from the dead. He told the apostles to preach the word to all men, cast out demons, heal the sick, and make disciples. Jesus spoke and so it was.

When Jesus spoke, He did it for all generations to come. We now take our turn. We are in the same position as Jesus was. The same helper is ours. The same command He gave to the apostles applied to all believers. By His word, which must be obeyed, we are charged with doing His work until He comes back. Our words spoken in His name, must be obeyed. When you realize that, you also realize He gave you the faith that is required to make it happen.

So the bottom line is this. Pray in Jesus name, speak the words that the Bible backs up, and what you speak to, must obey. Just as you had a father, and he had a father, and so on down the line, the bloodline is there. When we became children of God, we stepped into His bloodline. To put it in a carnal away, it is like carrying on the family business.

Remember Jesus Loves You

Prayer of Salvation

Father I repent of all my sins. I know that Jesus suffered and died to forgive those sins. I know that by His stripes I was healed. I know He rose again to make salvation possible. I ask you Jesus to come into my heart, and be my personal Savior. Help me to live according to your plan. Thank you Lord.

Are We Blind?????

Greetings My Friends

When you spend quiet time with the Lord every day, you may be surprised to find out how enlightening it can be. Quiet time the way most people do it, is to get by yourself, talk to the Lord, and just wait to hear that small voice within.

I'll give you a for instance. I am sure we have all been amused by the fact that the Pharisees wanted to see a sign that Jesus was the son of God. The thought that occurred to me was how ridiculous could they be? Where were they when all of Jesus miracles were going on? They must have been there, because they were persecuting Him for things that He had done.

Take the apostles. They lived with Jesus over three years, and saw everything He did. After Jesus fed the crowd with a few loaves and fish, you would think they would know exactly what would happen a second time. Apparently they didn't. As we say now, they didn't have a clue. It makes you wonder if they had any brains. We can't judge them too harshly though, because we aren't any better than they were.

All of us at one time or another, have wondered if Jesus or God the father loves us. We constantly ask God to show us even a little bit of His love. We even gets frustrated and begin to doubt because we may not feel something we think we should feel.

Well my friends, get ready for a real shocker. Our lives are full of examples of His love for us. We are alive, God sent his only son to die for us to forgive our sins, and make salvation possible. That's just the beginning.

We are blessed in ways we don't even realize. How many disasters have we avoided? How many mistakes did we make, and not pay a heavy price. How about our loved ones? The list goes on and on. We have the Holy Spirit as a helper, teacher, and guide, if we take advantage of it. We are so blessed in so many things, we don't even realize the blessings we have because we take everything for granted as if we deserve them.

At one time I used to laugh about how blind I thought many people in Bible times were. Then one day the Holy Spirit started to show me, that we are no different than they were. There is an old saying that you wouldn't notice something, even if it fell on you.

All I can say for myself is, all I have to do is look around me, and look for examples of God's love for me. You don't have to look very far. I find that I am loved beyond measure, even though I do take things for granted. I am thankful, that my eyes are finally starting to open.

Remember Jesus Loves You

Prayer of Salvation

Father I repent of all my sins. I know that Jesus suffered and died to forgive my sins. By His stripes I was healed. He rose again to make salvation possible. I ask you Jesus to come into my heart and be my personal Savior. Help me to live according to your plan. Thank you Lord.

Be All You Can Be

Greetings My Friends

That is one of the mottos of the United States Army. It implies that whatever you decide to do, you can do it. While this is true to some extent, it is not a guarantee. Many people have had tough lives because they believed that totally. I don't say this in a negative, doomsday kind of way.

When you decide to do something, take a look at the reality of what you want. It may sound silly, but if you are 5 foot tall and you want to be a superstar in the NBA, your chances are not good. Okay, so it is a bit extreme, but it is an example.

When God created everything, he gave each thing limits as to what it could do and where it would live. Just as a polar bears would probably not survive in the jungle, because they were not made that way. Everything has a limit.

Man has been blessed in countless ways. Man has practically no limits on Earth, when compared to any other creature. I believe we are created to live in a particular place and have a particular job that we are to do. I also believe, that if we are following God's plan we are content. If we aren't, the Holy Spirit is trying to nudge us back to the right path.

God puts things in our hearts. If we pray about it and proceed, and do not have confusion, fear, or any constant negative, we will succeed. At that point we will be doing all we can do, and being all we can be.

I found out that if I get a negative feeling about something, or I am confused, I just drop it. A few times in the past, I proceeded anyway, and failed miserably. If you really want to be all you can be, follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, and what is in your heart.

I know for a fact because of some of my experiences and that of a couple of friends, that the Lord opens doors and closes doors. It is always for our good, if we pay attention.

Just to repeat one more time, if you get an idea, pray about it, and proceed. If you encounter confusion or negativity of any kind, just drop it. You will be much happier, and at some point in time you'll see how it all worked for your good.

Remember Jesus Loves You

Prayer of Salvation

Father I repent of all my sins. I know that Jesus suffered and died for me in order to forgive those sins. I know that by His stripes I was healed. I know He rose again to make salvation possible. I ask you Jesus to come into my heart, and be my personal Savior. Help me to live according to your plan. Thank you Lord.

Relationship With God

Greetings My Friends

I believe the word relationship does not have the same meaning to all people. Most of the time our definition fits the circumstances at the time. True relationship goes much deeper than that.

Suppose you tell someone that you know a particular individual. The person you are talking to, does not know if you know details about the person you are talking about, or you just know of him. I think you'll agree that there is a big difference between the two.

Relationships are the same way. You may know Jesus from the Bible, because of the words you read. That is not a relationship. A true relationship requires that you throw your whole self into it.

Take for example your spouse. You get to know everything about that person. You think of that person all during the hours you are awake. Not constantly, but often. You may say I love you before you are even fully awake. You do things that you know will please them. When they are at home, an I love you once or twice a day is beautiful. That my friends is part of a real relationship.

To have a real relationship with Jesus is what he wants too. We are to love the Lord with all of our heart, mind, and body. Sound difficult? Scare you? I think if we work at a relationship with Jesus that is meaningful, we would find that it is well worth the effort. In a true relationship, you know without a doubt how the other person will react to any given situation.

Just get to know Jesus the same way you get to know anything. Study, meditate, and put into practice, what he says in the word. Take a verse of Jesus teaching in context and meditate on it all day. The next day find another verse, and do the same thing. Talk to the Holy Spirit, and ask for guidance.

One morning you will wake up, rub your eyes, and hear yourself saying; good morning Lord, I love you. That my friends is the beginning of a true relationship. You'll also start to realize how much Jesus loves you too.

Remember Jesus Loves You

Prayer of Salvation

Father I repent of all my sins. I know that Jesus suffered and died for me to forgive those sins. By his stripes I was healed. He rose again from the dead to make salvation possible. I ask you Jesus to come into my heart and be my personal Savior. Help me to live according to your plan. Thank you Lord.

Sowing Is Not Just Money

Greetings My Friends
Whenever sowing seed is mentioned, you could almost hear the groans from those present. It normally happens because a lot of people don't know the whole story, or they worry about their money. I will give a brief explanation.
First of all, let's take what most people are troubled by. That is tithing with money. All I can tell you is that it works. I have been on a fixed income for quite a few years, so it is easy to think that there will not be an increase, because the income is fixed. That is our kind of thinking, not God's. While my income has not gone up, my expenses have gone way down, in effect giving me much more spending money. The lower expenses had nothing to do with anything that I did.
Next, let's look at the seeds I will call helpfulness. You can help a neighbor, by shoveling snow, raking leaves, even keeping an eye on their house while they are away. Helping neighbors can cause other people to help other neighbors. They may even end up helping you if you need it.
Now let's look at a joyful spirit. Are people at work generally down a lot? Cheer them up by speaking positive words. When I was working, I interacted with all departments on a daily basis. When I came into a department, I told everyone that I came to bring some sunshine into their lives. Some people laughed, but it worked. I benefited, because I had to live up to what I said, and it made me feel good.
If you are a believer, and you work with unbelievers, bring a reflection of Jesus to these people. You don't have to preach. Just reflect Jesus love in what you do. It will become contagious, and the atmosphere of depression will change.
I think you get the idea. You can give yourself, your time, anything you can think of. Remember, whatever kind of seed you plant, that is the harvest that will come. You plant the seed, God makes it grow. If you plant nothing, nothing will grow. So you see, sowing is more than just money.
Remember Jesus Loves You
Prayer of Salvation
Father I repent of all my sins. I know that Jesus suffered and died for me to forgive those sins. I also know that by His stripes I was healed. I know that by His death and resurrection, He made salvation possible. I ask you Jesus to come into my heart, and be my personal Savior. Help me to live according to your plan. Thank you Lord.

Dealing With Complainers

Greetings My Friends
In this modern world, everyone, well almost everyone has stress and pressure of all kinds to deal with. It is pretty normal for people to be crabby, angry, depressed, and complaining.
I have even noticed that many people who do not have the same stress and pressure to deal with, act the same way. Some of these people look for something to get upset about. They probably even get upset because they cannot find anything real to get upset about. It has become second nature to them.
After I found Jesus, and through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, I became one of those who are not overcome very easily by circumstances. Anyone can do the same, it is open to all through Jesus.
I found out with a few neighbors and friends, even family members, how to deal with people who are always in a bad mood. At first I tried to speak faith filled words. It was as if they didn't hear, and were on a mission to complete their litany of disasters. Even the smallest thing, like the mail coming a half-hour late seemed to really upset their day.
After a while of listening to all this stuff, I stuck Jesus name in the conversation, and found that it was a good way to get rid of them. They had to leave all of a sudden
I really like these people and want to help them, but it got to a point where I wanted to hide when I saw them coming. I must admit they were starting to get to me. Finally, the answer that came to me was simple, and it will work for you. As someone is complaining, my mind is praying for them. This by the way is a recent development. After they leave, I send them a silent blessing. I know a few of these people for over 20 years, and I would love to see them find Jesus. I figure if I keep up with my latest remedy they will eventually accept Him.
Remember Jesus Loves You
Prayer of Salvation
Father I repent of all my sins. I know that Jesus suffered and died for me to forgive those sins. By His stripes I was healed. He rose again from the dead to make salvation possible. I ask you Jesus to come into my heart and be my personal Savior. Help me to live according to your plan. Thank you Lord