God's Promises Sunday

Up Close And Personal

Proverbs 3: 5-6, trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.

Many Christians, especially new Christians, are surprised and baffled when they encounter a hardship in their journey to Heaven.

You do not feel the joy of Salvation in your spirit. Our Heavenly Father seems distant from us. We have little or no confidence in our prayers. Does this sound like you? It used to sound like me, but it does not have to be that way.

The following example will help you as it helped me. Be completely honest with yourself, because our Lord is probably trying to get your attention. Besides He already knows the truth, you can’t fool Him.

Find a quiet part of your house where you can be up close and personal with our Heavenly Father. Sincerely thank and Praise him for all of the blessings and miracles in your life. Name some you remember.

Matthew 6: 7-13, and when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. Where they think they will be heard for their many words. Therefore, do not be like them. Your Father in Heaven knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in Heaven Hallowed be your name Your Kingdom Come. Your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one, for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, Amen.

This is part of what our Lord and savior taught at The Sermon on the Mount. Take the time to meditate on each phrase. Don’t let a day go by without saying this prayer from your heart.

There are no shortcuts in your trip to heaven. The directions are in the word of God, the Bible. How can any of us love and serve someone we do not know? The old “it’s too hard to understand” is no excuse. The New Living Translation, or as it is known NLT is written in plain English so it is easy to understand.

We must also look at how we spend our time. Do we have three or more hours for our favorite pastime, but we are too busy for 15-30 minutes with our God?

If you don’t really know him, how can you ask for His help? One more important point. When you pray, believe He will do it, and get out of His way. If you have time for Him, He has time for you. 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!

Being A Lazy Christian

 

Genesis 2:15, then the Lord took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to tend and keep it.

If you are like me, you have had some occasions when you were feeling like you were not a very good Christian. You probably felt condemned and useless, and we’re convinced there’s no way God could use you.

One day I felt like I got an answer in my heart. satan didn’t have to condemn me; I was doing it to myself. I was listening to his lies about my faith. He was telling me that I didn’t measure up to what a real Christian is. He was telling me that whatever I did, really didn’t matter much, I was just wasting my time.

I discovered the truth later, and it really hit me. satan was the one causing my lazy streak to exercise Itself by planting all that negativity. He knows that if we get a little lazy about our faith, he has a chance to bring us down the rest of the way. I speak from experience. Remember, as I did finally, he can only do what you allow him to do.

Hebrews 6:11-12, and we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

James 2:26, for as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.

I believe one of the favorite tools in satan’s toolbox is to plant doubt about prayers that have not manifested yet. Once he can convince you that your prayers are not being answered, he invites you to a pity party with you as the guest of honor. Of course, while all this is going on you get even lazier about your faith and sink deeper. I have been there. Praise the Lord, and the Holy Spirit. They told me to read the word. It seems that as soon as I opened that precious book, peace came over me like an impenetrable blanket. Nothing could touch me except the word of God.

I was reminded of a couple of things. God does not see things the way we do. He sees our hearts and forgives. The other thing is, God says we are not to judge anyone not even ourselves. We are to do what we know to be right and leave the results to Him.

Now anytime I feel any negativity I pick up the word and soak in the peace. If you have trouble rebuking satan, remember this, just read the word. He will run in Terror. Peace comes through knowing our Lord Jesus Christ. 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

God Loves Givers

Luke 6:38, give, and it will be given to you; good measure, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.

Whenever tithing is mentioned to a group of people, the usual reaction is deafening silence. Tithing can be contributions to the church, or I believe to charities. The Bible says we are to help the less fortunate. The Lord said that if you turn your head from someone in need, you’re hurting yourself. I heard for years that all we have belongs to the Lord and we are to use some of it to do His work. It is written, to whom much is given, much is required.

There are several problems associated with giving. Some people feel that by giving some of what they have they are giving up control or putting themselves in a weakened position. Another problem people mention often is that we are so inundated with requests from charities that it makes our heads spin. It doesn’t help the fact that there are many so-called charities that are nothing but scams.

The first thing any Christian must do, is to believe what the Bible says.

2 Corinthians 9:7, so let each one give as he proposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful Giver.

2 Corinthians 9: 6, but this I say; he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.

I can say absolutely and positively that what the Bible says about giving is true. I was skeptical at first, but when I started to follow what the Bible says I guess I was pleasantly surprised the way things turned out in my life.

 Some people may call it a coincidence, but it seemed that all of a sudden I had fewer expenses, Our money seemed to go further. Blessings came out of what some people call nowhere, but they were from God himself. I won’t kid you, it took time to muster up the courage to follow what the Bible says, but the results were undeniable.

It may help you if I tell you some of the things I did to reassure myself that I was giving to the right people. There is a website called Charity Navigator. It tells you how a charity uses the money that they collect. You just identify the charity, and you get the results. You get mail solicitations, and you may see people on the street begging, what do you do. The first thing I do is check out the charity. You can tell quick if your money is going to do any good. Another thing I do is ask the Holy Spirit if I should give to whoever or whatever. Then I wait and follow what is in my heart.

If you’re the kind of person that is concerned about anything being a scam, and you still gave, don’t worry about it. The Lord knows your heart and He will count it for your good.

 As with anything else, always check with the Lord.  A five minute conversation with God Almighty and the Holy Spirit will give you the answer. 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

Look To Jesus

Hebrews 4:16, Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find Grace to help in time of need.

When you look at your mail, watch TV, or listen to the radio on the way to work you probably realize that we are being bombarded with all kinds of commercials or junk mail. Commercials are telling you about all types of miracle solutions to problems you didn’t even know you had. Kind of reminds me of a story about the old days with snake oil peddlers.

The advertisers get paid to prey on people’s problems. If no problem exists, they will create one in your mind. One product will take care of a memory problem you didn’t even know you had until they told you that you had one. Improve your eyesight, sleep better, cure all your ailments, Etc. One of the favorite targets is people who are overweight. There are a number of companies pedaling what sounds like a magic bullet. They claim that if you take their pills you can lose as much weight as you want without changing any bit of your lifestyle.

The only thing that gets better is a company’s bottom line. A few people do get better in their own minds, because they believe the product works, and that eliminates the fear that caused the problem in the first place.

1 Peter 5:7, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.

Well, my friends, I am here to tell you about a real cure for any problem you have. It won’t even cost you a penny. That solution is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. You see, God created you absolutely perfect in every way. Things started happening when satan messed everything up when he caused Adam and Eve to sin.

As you can imagine God was not very happy where that left man, so He sent His only Son to make everything right again. Jesus paid a heavy price to redeem us. He suffered, died and rose again in order to make us right with God.

The sad part is that many of us don’t realize what that meant to us. Through Jesus suffering and death, we again became what God created us to be. However, satan is still operating in this world. He’s still trying to sell you things he says will solve all your problems. The cost for what he is selling is eternal damnation.

Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on the other hand, will take care of all your problems. The cost? Believe and trust in Him. Besides receiving all He has for you, He also included eternal life. The Lord Jesus Christ is the real deal. Don’t fall for a cheap imitation. It is your choice, how you live and where you spend eternity. 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!

Do Not Be Deceived

Galatians 6:7-8, do not be deceived, God is Not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.

When we were conceived in the mind of our creator, He had a plan for our good. At the same time, He did not want robots who were forced to love and obey Him.

God’s master plan gave each person free will. Free Will gives us the choice of who we will serve and who we will obey. We must make choices.

Either we do everything God’s way, or our way. Whichever way we choose to go there are consequences. If we make bad choices, we will have bad results. Godly choices have good results.

1 John 1:15, Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

If we go through life just satisfying our physical feelings, we are headed for disaster. If we choose to ignore the fact that our decisions cause the circumstances, we will never be better off than we are at the time.

When the Lord was consulted first in the Old Testament, Israelites prospered in war and peace. When they didn’t, they suffered loss. The whole point of this, is that God wants us back to Him for eternity. It does not matter how smart or hard-working you are, you cannot do it without Him.

Before you do anything, and I mean anything, talk to your Heavenly Father about which way to go, and wait for an answer. The time you spend waiting will be much shorter than having to do something and then go back and redo it because it didn’t work out. I speak from experience, because I learned the hard way. 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 by 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

Be Your Best

Jeremiah 29: 11, for I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

The commercial for the Army says that you can be all you can be. The funny thing is, they pretty much stole that line from God. Before you were born, God had a plan for you. That plan was developed by a living God.

When we are born, we really don’t know what God’s plan is for our lives. Many of us don’t even know that God has a plan. As we go through life, starting out as babies, we have experiences that guide us along a path. If we are fortunate, we have parents that can guide us toward the Lord.

As we get older satan steps in and tries to get us going in the wrong direction. He tries to make it seem that there is absolutely nothing wrong with where he is steering us and tells us that everyone does it.

With all of this going on, there’s usually some little voice or sign along the way that is trying to get us in the right direction. Our conscience, and in most cases, it is the Holy Spirit trying to get us to follow God’s plan. One way or another, everyone is acquainted at some point with God. Whether it is someone you know, or just looking at nature, you come to realize there is a creator.

 Proverbs 16: 9, a man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.

 Proverbs 19: 21 there are many plans in a man’s heart, nevertheless the Lord’s counsel-that will stand.

 If you listen to the hints that the Holy Spirit gives you and ignore the things you know are not right that you get from satan, you are starting to get onto the right path. The Lord would put people and circumstances in your life that will guide you if you pay attention and take advantage of it. He also puts things in your heart and at some point, He may allow a spiritual 2x4 hit you between the eyes to wake you up.

As you grow, you’ll find your life slowly changing for the better. The more you become aware of God, the faster it will go. You could be in a situation you are not happy with, but if you do your best and make the Lord part of your life the situation can change. You can believe that change will be for the better. Your situation will probably improve in steps, as you prepare to take them from satan as he tries to discourage you. Just realize he does this because he is desperate. The more you believe in the Lord and put your cares in his hands, the more satan will attack you. That is when you know you are going in the right direction. God never gives you more than you can handle. as he moves you forward at the level you are capable of.

 When you get to the point where you seek the kingdom above all else, you’ll find that nothing is impossible with the Lord. He will get you to where your life will be fulfilling.  He will get you to the plan that God had for you, if you just follow your heart, and that little voice from the Holy Spirit. Remember one other thing. If at any time in your life you hear a little voice that does not line up with the word of God, it cannot be from God. 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

Because I Can 

Psalm 118:24, This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. 

Today I heard what could be called an innocent remark that really caught my attention. That comment was “it is a shame Christmas is in the middle of the work week”. 

That statement probably reflects the opinion of most people. In a way I sympathize with them, Because at one time I felt that way when I had a regular job.  When we look at what Christmas represents, and not the way the world is picturing it, our attitude about its timing becomes a little different. 

Colossians 3: 23, and whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men. 

Every day is a gift from the Lord. We are here to love and serve Him. Almighty God did not consider if the day He sent the Lord Jesus Christ was convenient to those He came to save. 

The purpose of each day is to get closer to God, by growing your faith. Almighty God will guide us, but we must take a step each day as we are led by the Holy Spirit. It is up to us whether we use it or waste it. 

Proverbs 22: 6, train a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it. 

If you have a job, you cannot hold it very long, if you do it by how you feel, or if it is convenient. Almighty God has a plan for each of us. The goal is eternity with Him. Give Him 100% every 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, 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!