My Redemption

Greetings, My Friends;

As I look back, a good number of years, I have often thought that my life would have been so different if I knew then what I know now. If I had counted on God instead of my own bad decisions, who knows what would've happened. The thing that I didn't realize was that God was looking out for me even though I didn't recognize him. The following few paragraphs will give you an idea of how everything unfolded. Everything I write is true.

But over the years I have been saved so many times from disaster, it's incredible. I haven't had the usual problems you hear about from a lot of people, such as drugs or booze, possibly gambling. Those are fairly common. My actions on occasion could have resulted in some severe consequences. I didn't even realize what I was doing, or just plain didn't care. I thought since I was doing my best to love and take care of my family as I understood it, everything was okay.

One of my biggest problems was a typically carnal one. I reacted to people and circumstances around me. I saw nothing wrong with the way I was. In the real world, everything was acceptable. I realize now that pride was one of my biggest problems. When you have too much pride, you have a tendency to create problems. All of this led to a stress filled unhappy life. My little family was great, but I am sure that the way I was probably affected them very much.

As I told my wife many times in the last several years, God must really love me, because he has protected me from myself. In 1972  my mother-in-law gave me a book called praise the Lord anyway. I read it and tried it. I never met anyone who loved Jesus as much as my mother in law. She would say little things once in a while that really stuck in my head. The trouble is, it took years for me to realize the meaning of what she said. I am sure she prayed plenty for all of us, especially me.

Now will skip ahead about 2 weeks. I was on my way home from work on a very cloudy day. I was on the exit ramp from the expressway. I just started to get off, and feeling very depressed. I don't know why, but I said if you are God, help me to know. Just then, even though the day was dark and cloudy, I saw the brightest light that you can possibly imagine. It was so bright that it blinded me completely. I don't know how I didn't have an accident. I was crying uncontrollably and felt total peace and joy. That light was so bright and intense that to this day I have never seen anything that I could compare it to. Unfortunately, I wasn't smart enough at the time to take the hint and pursue it. If I had talked to my mother-in-law, I am sure my life would have changed at that point. Call it pride or stupidity, the results are the same.

When I sat down to write this message, this was not the message I was going the write. Since I was baptized in the Holy Spirit, I believe he puts messages in my heart, and I take a step of faith every time I write one. I guess the whole point of this story is it is never too late.  Prayer from someone who loves you and the mercy of God will save you.  God doesn't condemn you, so forgive yourself and love Him back.

God bless you, and remember,

Jesus loves you.

Prayer of Salvation;

"Oh God in heaven, I believe with all of my heart that Jesus has been raised from the dead. I receive Your word, and I repent of sin. I renounce the past. Come into my heart, Lord Jesus. I receive my forgiveness. I receive the new birth, cleansed and washed in the Word and in the precious blood of Jesus. Fill me with Your Spirit, in Jesus name. Amen."

Waiting on God

Greetings, My Friends;

There seems to be a lot of misunderstanding about what this means. For many years, I had an opinion shared by many people. It is a copout, so you don't have to do anything. An excuse to be lazy. Not true. Finally, by the grace of God I figured it out.

Over the years, even the concrete between my ears would occasionally realize that some things just seem to happen. No rhyme or reason, to the carnal mind at least. Time would go by and something else would happen. It finally got to the point where I recognized  what was going on, and it always seemed to be for my benefit.

I have written that I believe God has taken care of me and protected me from myself, my whole life. I believe that even if you haven't accepted Jesus yet, the Lord knows that someday you will, so he starts taking care of you. He does this by putting little thoughts in your head. Desires in your heart, even times when we say that a little voice told us something. What most people don't realize is it all of the above are true.

Okay.  Getting back to the waiting on God.  Suppose you would like to have a new car, but you can't make up your mind.  Indecision about anything is not God. Pray about it, asking God for an answer. Then just thank Him for what you asked for.  If it will be for your good and does no harm to someone else, you will eventually hear that little voice, or have peace in your heart. At that point, you will know. It doesn't matter if it is a fishing rod or a new house. God will work it out. All you have to do is thank him and step out in faith. If let God control it, it will be really terrific.

One more thing I found out a long time ago. A lot of decisions we humans make are through haste, emotion, pride and many other reasons. Remember, decisions made without God, most times end up being a disaster. So go to God, wait on him,  follow the peace in your heart. He wants to give you his best, give him your best.

God bless you, and remember,

Jesus loves.

Prayer of Salvation;

"Oh God in heaven, I believe with all of my heart that Jesus has been raised from the dead. I receive your Word, and I repent of sin. I renounce the past. Come into my heart, Lord Jesus. I receive my forgiveness. I receive the new birth, cleansed and wash in the Word and in the precious blood of Jesus. Fill me with Your Spirit, in Jesus name. Amen."

Unbelief

Greetings, My Friends;

Unbelief is defined as sin in the Bible. John 16:9, "of sin, because they do not believe in me." and 1 John 5:10 "he who believes in the son of God has the witness in himself, he who does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of his son."

I guess you can get the idea of how the Lord feels about unbelief. I know of at least 70 verses in the Bible concerning unbelief. These verses, concern just people. There are even more verses concerning nations. If you check a good  concordance, like Strongs, and read some of these verses, you will quickly discover that unbelief is not cool, or something to just ignore.

I must confess that at one time in my life, and that covered many years, I was so wrapped up in life, that I never gave faith a thought either way. I guess when most people have an ordinary life, they probably don't think much about it either. The funny thing is when most of us are faced with a crisis, we have a tendency to ask, or even  beg  God for help.

It seems to me that one of the biggest problems with a lot of people is not that they don't believe in God, but pride gets in the way and makes them think that they don't need God. They feel they can handle it. That was my problem. Another common idea is "I don't want to bother God with these little problems." You cannot be farther from the truth. In Matthew 21:22 "and whatever things you ask in prayer, believing you will receive".

If most of these people knew how much the Lord loves them, they would be believers. Look at it this way. If you know your earthly father loves you so much that your happiness and well-being was all he cared about, would you ask him for something? And having asked, would you believe he would give it to you? How much more so our heavenly Father loves us.

Here comes the great revelation. Read the word of God and see how much He loves those who believe. He chose you before He created the universe. Don't let His blessings pass you by. Choose to believe now.

God bless you and remember,

Jesus loves you.

Prayer of salvation;

"Oh God in heaven, I believe with all my heart that Jesus has been raised from the dead. I receive your Word, and I repent of sin. I renounce the past. Come into my heart, Lord Jesus. I receive my forgiveness. I receive the new birth, cleansed and wash in the Word and in the precious blood of Jesus. Fill me with Your Spirit, in Jesus name. Amen."

Bless Your Children

Greetings, My Friends;

The best, most loving thing you can do for your children is to introduce them to God. They are never too young to hear about Jesus. Tell them Bible stories for starters. There are some good children's Bibles. When they are going to bed, show them the pictures and tell them the story.

I have seen young children who have so much faith and love for Jesus, it warms my heart, and I am sure the Lord is happy beyond measure. One boy at our church, his name is Paul, came to one of our meetings and asked us to pray for his sick dog. He asked, because he believed Jesus loved him and his dog. His dog was fine the next day.

Most of us want our children, or someone we love to be saved. A person who is saved, and reads the word, has a quality of life for better then a nonbeliever. A believer isn't affected by circumstances the way everyone else is.

There are some things to remember that can be pretty big. Don't constantly beat someone over the head with God. People get tired of it and the opposite happens. Don't preach. God has his time, and it is perfect. Don't get upset or doubtful if you don't see anything happening. Just relax and trust God.  He honors and answers sincere prayer. Show your kids and everyone else by your example. Our job is to plant the seeds, and God makes them grow.

When you take the time to teach your children, or to witness to other people, you are doing the greatest thing you can do. All the seeds in God's garden flourish.

God bless you and remember,

 Jesus loves you.

Prayer of salvation;

"Oh God in heaven, I believe with all my heart that Jesus has been raised from the dead. I receive your word, and I repent of sin. I renounce the past. Come into my heart, Lord Jesus. I receive my forgiveness. I receive the new birth, cleansed and washed in the word and in the precious blood of Jesus. Fill me with your spirit, in Jesus name. Amen."

Complaining

Greetings, My Friends;

Many people are unhappy for many different reasons. Marriages, children, jobs, money, are all among the things that are most common things for people to complain about. A spouse that doesn't understand, children that aren't acting the way you expect, your boss doesn't appreciate you, and on and on it goes.

It's too hot out. It's too cold out. Too much rain. Not enough rain. On and on. We find so many reasons to complain. What a lot of us don't realize is the damage we are doing to ourselves when we complain. We feel sorry for ourselves, and I believe it does 2 things. You are predicting your future, and 2nd, your mind closes to any possible solution.

Believe it or not, what ever you vocalize becomes your future. When you constantly talk about something negative, you convince your subconscious that what you say is chiseled in stone. Your subconscious will then guide you to the fulfilment of what you complain about.

Let me give you a simple example. You come home from work , and tell your wife. I really had a tough day today, I don't think I can cut the grass this evening. Your mind and your body are happy to go along with that idea. Keep complaining and talking like that and it won't be long until you can't even drag your  worn-out body to the couch.

The more you complain about something and talk about it, the worse it gets in your mind. This type of problem is tough especially on family members. It is depressing when you are constantly bombarded by a complainer. Anyone that tries to help just gets frustrated because the complainer is enjoying being miserable. It is a good way to alienate anyone that comes in contact with them.  Then true to form, the complainer starts complaining that no one likes them.  Pretty sad.

What does God say about complaining?

Philippians 2:14 "do all things without complaining and disputing"

Numbers 11: 1, "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.  Forget complaining and try seeing the blessings from God. Just as negative produces negative, positive produces positive.

God bless you and remember,

Jesus loves you.

Prayer of salvation;

"Oh God in heaven, I believe with all of my heart that Jesus has been raised from the dead. I receive your word, and I repent of sin. I renounce the past. Come into my heart, Lord Jesus. I receive my forgiveness. I receive the new birth, cleansed and washed in the Word and in the precious blood of Jesus. Fill me with Your Spirit, in Jesus name. Amen."

Choose to Believe

Greetings, My Friends;

Many people say that they would like to believe, but they just can't. They love to knit pick the Bible as though they were an attorney pleading a  case. The sad part is that they usually don't know anything about what they can't believe in. People take a few words here and there and conjure up their own story to match what is convenient to them. If they took the time to read the verse in front of, or in back of the words they just picked out a year, they might discover the real story.

The solution to the whole problem is pretty simple if you give it a chance. Start out with the thought that eternity is forever. If you don't think that you have at least 20 min. a day for the Lord, the devil will make sure you don't.

Okay, that's covered. Now we begin. Set aside time for the Lord every day. You can get an MP3 player loaded with the Bible. Listen in your car. If you prefer, get a good study Bible. A study Bible has the story on the upper part of each page, and an explanation of each verse on the bottom of the page. This will really help your understanding of the Bible. Take your time, you aren't in a race.

If you don't understand something, read it again. If something doesn't make sense, do what I do. I know the Bible is the word of God, not by my intellect, but by my spirit. Therefore, I choose to believe what it says. If God said it, and he did, I figure there was some way he said it so we can understand.

If you follow this plan for a while, you will begin to see what I'm talking about. You will begin to see how much God loves you and wants you to be with him forever. In my own opinion, and this is not biblical or something. I heard a preacher say as I said strictly my own opinion, the Bible was written the way it was to test our faith. Many things were written for believers to understand. When you seek the Lord with all of your heart,  He helps your spirit to understand. Anything else that still remains a puzzle will be answered in eternity. Remember eternity is forever. Give yourself another chance by seeking the Lord . Choose to believe.

God bless you and remember,

Jesus loves you!

Prayer of salvation;

"Oh God in heaven, I believe with all of my heart that Jesus has been raised from the dead. I receive your word, and I repent of sin. I renounce the past. Come into my heart, Lord Jesus. I receive my forgiveness. I receive the new birth, cleansed and washed in the word and in the precious blood of Jesus. Fill me with your spirit, in Jesus name. Amen."

A Christians Journey

Greetings, My Friends;

Many years ago a man named John Bunyan wrote a book called Pilgrim's progress. It is about a man called Christian and his journey from his hometown to Celestial City. It really is the story of faith. He encounters all kinds of diversions that get him off the path temporarily. He presses on and eventually makes it. I read the book, 3 or 4 times and enjoyed it so much, I wished that I had written it.

Actually, that story has many likenesses that we have heard about, and a few you may have experienced.  For instance,  the space program.  If they want to go to the moon or anywhere else,  it takes more than just  aiming a rocket. Years of study, computers, computer programs, and endless training, just for starters. It takes dedication and perseverance to make it all work. Once the rocket takes off, it goes through countless course corrections and other adjustments to reach the goal.

I remember when I was about 5 years old, and learning how to ride a 2 wheel bicycle. I didn't know anything. My dad would hang onto the seat and run alongside. He kept saying keep pedaling. As soon as he let go, I crashed. The poor guy finally gave up. Well, there I was with my bike, so I tried to ride on my own. I went 2 feet and crashed. I got up again determined to go farther. You guessed it, I crashed again. Several tries later, I guess by instinct, when I started to lose balance, I moved the handlebars. Shaky at first, but I was riding. My poor well-meaning dad neglected to tell me or show me that the crucial part of learning was to move the handlebars.  When I taught my son's how to ride, I explained it and showed them how and when to move the handlebars. They were riding. 10 min. later, and I didn't have to run alongside. They didn't have to learn the hard way that trying to go straight, will usually cause a crash. Everything requires adjustments.

A few illustrations of how life itself works.   If we aren't taught, we are in trouble. If we don't prepare for our next venture, we will crash.

There are a lot of examples like these in life. The trip can be bumpy and hazardous. If we prepare ourselves with the word of God, listen to what he is telling us, we will reach our destination. God does not tell us we won't fall, get hurt, or have problems. However, we make the journey and how long it takes is up to us and our free will. He is telling us He will be there to pick us up, sooth our pain, and get us going again. The Lord gives us all the tools, but we have to use them.

God bless you and remember,

Jesus loves you.

Prayer of salvation;

"Oh God in heaven, I believe with all of my heart that Jesus has been raised from the dead. I receive your word, and I repent of sin. I renounce the past. Come into my heart, Lord Jesus. I receive my forgiveness. I receive the new birth, cleansed and washed in the word and in the precious blood of Jesus. Fill me with your spirit, in Jesus name. Amen."

Planting Seeds

Greetings, My Friends;

I write these messages because I feel led to do it. My personal experiences, are probably, much like a large number of people. When I relate my experiences, I am hoping they help you find out that I am giving you what I think is a heads up that saves you some grief.

When you realize what you have when you are a Christian, the normal thing is to want to share the good news with everyone. The trouble is, not everyone wants to hear the good news.

I know a few Christians that want to save the world, and they will try everything they can think of to as they put it, save someone. I know their hearts are in the right place, but I have seen a couple of people really turned off by their methods. They browbeat people, use scare tactics, and anything else they can think of to get a person to say the prayer of salvation.

In the first place, if someone does say they accept Jesus as their personal Savior, are they sincere or trying to escape? That does no good. You have to realize that God has a plan for everyone, and His time is what counts. I came to realize that our job is to plant the seeds, and the Lord makes them grow. When we rest with anything, the Lord works, and when we work the Lord rests. We do our part, He does His. It has been my experience that when you meet a person, sometimes you are led to talk to them, and they are receptive to what you say. The Lord has other servants besides you and me. He knows who will accept Jesus since before time began. He has the plan, and He will help you follow it, if you listen with your heart.

I write these messages with this thought that what I do, or write is guided by the Holy Spirit. I do not know how many people that read my message are already saved, and how many aren't. I do not concern myself with numbers of readers, or what to say. I put all of that in the Lord's hands. I just rest in the Lord, and keep planting seeds.

God bless you, and remember,

Jesus loves you!

The prayer of salvation;

"Oh God in heaven, I believe with all of my heart that Jesus has been raised from the dead. I receive Your Word, and I repent of sin. I renounce the past. Come into my heart, Lord Jesus. I receive my forgiveness. I receive the new birth, cleansed and washed in the Word and in the precious blood of Jesus. Fill me with Your Spirit, in Jesus name. Amen."

Holy Communion

Greetings, My Friends;

As most people know, the last supper of Jesus was actually the beginning of what we call Communion. Matthew 26:26 – 28 Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to his disciples and said, "take, eat, this is my body"He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "drink from it all of you, for this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed, for many for the remission of sin".

While most people are aware of this, they do not really understand what the actual meaning of Communion is. This included me until a few years ago. I'll tell you my story briefly. It may seem familiar to you, because it could be your story too.

When I was 7 years old, I made my first Holy Communion. At that age, I barely knew I was alive. All we were told was that it was a big deal. It was the body and blood of Jesus Christ and it was very holy. Sound familiar? Many years later I heard Joseph Prince talking about Communion. I was very happy to finally hear the facts. I wanted to tell everyone I know. It finally made everything clear and exciting.

Briefly, here it is; Jesus beatings and broken body, which He suffered in our place, caused our bodies, minds, and spirit to be healed. Isaiah 53:5 "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." This blood he washed away all of our sins and made us righteous in Jesus sight.

Joseph Prince also said this about the meaning of Communion. Visualize your infirmity on Jesus broken body. He took it upon himself, so you don't have to. Since we found out just what Jesus death and resurrection really mean, we walk in God's blessings. Jesus said, "do this in memory of me." Nowhere does it say that Communion must be administered by another person. Preacher or otherwise.

My wife and I repeat Jesus words and receive holy Communion every day, and believe we receive what Jesus death and resurrection did for us.

God bless you and remember,

Jesus loves you.

Prayer of salvation;

"Oh God in heaven, I believe with all my heart that Jesus has been raised from the dead. I receive your Word , I repent of sin. I renounce the past. Come into my heart, Lord Jesus. I receive my forgiveness. I receive the new birth, cleansed and washed in the Word and in the precious blood of Jesus. Fill me with your Spirit, in Jesus name. Amen."

Idols

Greetings, My Friends;

The dictionary defines an idol as an object of worship. Today I would like to talk about idols. Idols as you know, were probably the most common and treasured objects, people had in Old Testament times. The Old Testament had many stories of people and their idols. There were idols for each of the hundreds of god's. There was a god for everything. Many craftsmen made a very good living, their entire lives, just making idols.

Idols took the place of the one true God. When you think about it, it is pretty funny that a God and a chamber were both made from the same lump of clay. Don't you wonder how anyone could believe that a piece of wood  had the power to do anything. As you know it couldn't.

When Moses got the 10 commandments from God, this addressed the issue. The 1st commandment told them, "I am the Lord thy God, thou shall have no other gods before me." This should have solved the problem right? Wrong. In spite of the miracles in the wilderness, the events in Egypt that led to their freedom, they still worshiped idols. Unbelievable.

Now we look at our times. We have the Bible.We have read about Jesus, his death and resurrection.. We see his countless miracles and his unconditional love for man. We have many spirit filled preachers telling us about salvation. They keep talking about the grace, blessings, and favor, we receive from God. By grace we are saved, not by anything we did or will do. It is a gift from God.

So let's recap briefly. God gives eternal life, blessings in abundance, favor, and the only thing we have to do is accept Jesus as our personal Savior. I am constantly amazed at how many people change the subject, upset, or just find something else, they decide they must do. They don't even take the time to figure out what they are turning down.

Don't think for 1 min. that the days of idols or false gods are over. It is probably worse now than it ever was. Whenever you become obsessed with anything to the point where you have difficulty living without it, it is an idol to you. Our God wants us to enjoy life, and not forget Him. A lot of people  have indeed replaced Him. They have become obsessed with things of the world. Objects such as, cars cell phones, computers, video games, other people, and any number of objects that you can name, including jobs or businesses. These people don't have 5 min. for God, but they have a lifetime for things that may cause them to perish. You can have just about anything you want and more, just put it in its proper place.

As far as I know Solomon is in heaven. Take the time to read Ecclesiastes and you will find the story of his life, and as he puts it, all is vanity, meaning the futility of what we think is important in life. To me, one of the most chilling lines in the Bible, is in Luke 12: 20 God said to a certain rich man. "You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you." It would be a good idea to read a couple of verses before and after verse 12.

Put it all together Ecclesiastes and Luke and see how you feel about eternity. We will all go there someday. We, I choose God Almighty and his son Jesus the Christ. There is a heaven, and there is a hell. God allows you to make the choice.

God bless you and remember,

 Jesus loves you.

Prayer of salvation.

"Oh God, in heaven, I believe with all of my heart that Jesus has been raised from the dead. I receive Your word, and I repent of sin. I renounce the past. Come into my heart, Lord Jesus. I receive my forgiveness. I receive the new birth, cleansed and washed in the word and in the precious blood of Jesus. Fill me with Your Spirit, in Jesus name. Amen."

Condemnation

Greetings, My Friends;

Matthew 12:37 "For by your words, you will be justified and by your words you will be condemned."

We as humans have a tendency to judge or condemn other people. Even Christians sometimes for a brief moment, or as a reflex type response, judge, blame, criticize, or condemn someone else. We even have times that we don't realize we are doing it.

There are times, especially with loved ones that we judge them without even knowing. In our hearts we are actually trying to help but in the process, we sometimes bring up the past, opening old wounds. We don't realize how much words can hurt. The level of hurt seems to correspond directly to the relationship the person has to the one doing the judging. If a parent or other person that you love or respect criticizes you, it usually hurts the most. In a lot of cases, you really do hurt the ones you love. You may love them so much that you try to help in your own knowledge or opinion. If the one criticizing is just any old body, it usually does not hurt anywhere near as much.

Another thought is, the person you are bringing up old mistakes with, is usually aware that they messed up, and they feel horrible enough already. It helps absolutely nothing.

God has a plan for each person's life. All of our actions, including mistakes are part of His plan. We have free will, and that messes us up. We drift off course and need a nudge back. God didn't cause our mistakes, but he knew they would happen, so he took that into account in his plan. Just as in the Old Testament, the law showed people they could not keep the law, free will, shows us we can't do anything worthwhile without God.

When we judge, condemn, or criticize, we are not doing it to the person, we are actually telling God we have a better plan than He does. The created is wiser than the creator. Did you ever look at it that way? In my personal opinion, the correct answer is let go and let God do his will. Remember, it is written," Matthew 7:1 – 2 judge not lest ye be judged for what judgment you judge you will be judged and what measure you use, it will be measured back to you."

God bless you and remember,

 Jesus Loves You

Prayer of salvation;

"Oh God in heaven, I believe with all my heart that Jesus has been raised from the dead. I receive your word, and I repent of sin. I renounce the past. Come into my heart, Lord Jesus. I receive my forgiveness. I receive the new birth, cleansed and washed in the Word and in the precious blood of Jesus. Fill me with Your Spirit in Jesus name. Amen."

Mentoring

Greetings, My Friends;

Many times I have talked about helping other people. There are so many ways to make a difference in someone's life. One of the ways is something not too many people think of, and that his mentoring. There is practically no way to get through life without running across examples of someone doing it, receiving it, or ignoring this great opportunity.

Everyone has a first job, unless you were born rich. When you start the job, chances are there will be a number of things you will need to learn. Usually, the same holds true if you change jobs, or get promoted. At this point, you can ask an older employee to help you to learn. All a lot of people are more than happy to help someone. Unfortunately, there are some people who won't.

There are many reasons for not helping. Some people don't feel they can teach. Maybe there is a language problem. Sometimes you might run into an answer like, I had to learn the hard way, do you think you're special? In a more skilled position, some people think it is job security to keep information to themselves. I am sure there are dozens of reasons. Even the absurd makes sense to some people.

If you get the opportunity to teach someone, either because they asked, or you approached them, always do your best. Mentoring covers a lot of ground. The right attitude can encourage someone, possibly for life. Teach them everything you know. If they have trouble understanding, find another way to explain it. Have patience and understanding. Maybe they don't learn as fast as you do. Make yourself available for questions or problems.

Some of the benefits to you,  are the knowledge that you are making a difference in someone's life. Possibly a better position for you in the future, because someone you trained can take your place, so you can move up. Just remember that one time you were in their spot and how much you appreciated someone mentoring you. There is no better way to show a real Christian attitude then to do what you can to help your fellow man.

God bless you and remember,

 Jesus loves you!

"Oh God in heaven, I believe with all of my heart that Jesus has been raised from the dead. I receive Your Word, and I repent of sin. I renounce the past. Come into my heart, Lord Jesus. I receive my forgiveness. I receive the new birth, cleansed and washed in the Word and in the precious blood of Jesus. Fill me with Your Spirit, in Jesus name. Amen."

A Christian Friend

Greetings, My Friends;

I would like to tell you about a true Christian of love for another person. This is not about some terrific act that was done that put someone in jeopardy or anything like that. We'll call the friend, Carol. But first I would like to give you a little background leading up to the story.

As I said a week or two ago, my sons  built a pond for my wife for Mother's Day, about 14 years ago. Because of the love and attitude they had when they did it, it was one of the most precious things my wife had. I say had, because she no longer has it.

There are two little girls that live next door to us. We found out that when we are away for the weekend, they come over and throw rocks in it and generally hang around. The thing that concerned my wife the most,  was the fact that the girls are small, and the pond was about 2 1/2 feet deep.

My wife called her friend, Carol, who is very artistic and asked her to help design a rock garden to replace the pond. Well, Carol came over and came up with a very nice design.  As Carol and my wife talked, Carol said that she enjoys that kind of work, and she would like to do it. If you saw her place you would believe what she says, because it is absolutely beautiful. I get tired thinking about the work she put into it.

Back to the story.  She came over the next day and told my wife that she was going to redo the pond as a gift to her. She said that since it was a gift, she did not want any help. My wife tried to assist in a few little ways, and I helped by staying out of the way. It looked like a 3 day job, but it only took her 6 hours. I asked her how that was possible, and she replied that the Lord helped her do it.

The new rock garden looks fabulous. 2 days later she dug up some ground cover in her yard, and she and my wife planted it in a drizzle. One of the neighbors in a joking way said, you guys must be dedicated or nuts.

This whole episode goes to show a couple of things. While something like the loss of something you love hurts, if the Lord is involved, it is replaced by something you love just as much or more. Carol blessed us by what she did. She did all of that work out of true Christian love.  A real friend for many years.

God bless you, and remember,

Jesus loves you.

" Oh God in heaven, I believe with all my heart that Jesus has been raised from the dead. I receive your word, and I repent of sin. I renounce the past. Come into my heart, Lord Jesus. I receive my forgiveness. I receive the new birth, cleansed and washed in the word and in the precious blood of Jesus. Fill me with your spirit, in Jesus name. Amen."

Ongoing Prayer

Greetings, My Friends;

There are many kinds of, prayer or ways of praying. I saw the movie fiddler on the roof several years ago, and I got a real kick out it. The main character named Reptevia, talked to God quite a few times during an average day. Some of his prayers were funny as well as  serious. Many times he would refer to the good book. When he wanted to prove a point to someone, he would say " the good book says". Where he got his quotes is a mystery, because very little was from the good book.

I started thinking about what he was doing, and it began to make a lot of sense to me. If you didn't know better, you would think he was talking to someone that was with him. The whole idea got my mind going. If God is always with us, and he is, why not talk to him in that real, personal manner. He isn't some unreachable God billions of miles away. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that prayers must be long, you must dress in a certain way, or be in a special place. The only requirement is that your prayer is sincere. There is no particular form, either. It should, however, come from your heart.

On many occasions during the day, I pray. For instance, if I am playing golf, and there are a number of people watching, or even when I'm alone, I asked the Lord to help me to do my best. If one of the guys I am with is having a bad day, I occasionally ask the Lord to help him. As we play I thank the Lord for the beautiful day, the peaceful surroundings, and for the fact that I am able to go out and enjoy it.

If you get in the habit of seeing with your spirit, even a rainy day is beautiful. Every time you thank the Lord, because you can see, here, speak, walked, take care of yourself, or any of hundreds of blessings you are praising him and saying a prayer. If you will take the time to see and appreciate God in everything, you will notice how much joy comes into your life.

When I have any project, I always ask the Holy Spirit to help me, and He does. Every once in a while I get a little overconfident and I forget to ask for his  help. Believe me, he reminds me. The beautiful point is that even when I don't ask him first He bails me out and makes it right.

The whole point is your whole day can be a prayer. All it takes is something as simple as, thank you for this day Lord or I can sure you use your help with this project. You will be blessed more than you think. The Lord wants a close personal, intimate relationship with you. Acknowledge him, and he will do the rest.

God bless you and remember,

Jesus loves you!

Prayer of Salvation.

"Oh God in heaven, I believe with all my heart that Jesus has been raised from the dead. I receive your word, and I repent of sin. I renounce the past. Come into my heart, Lord Jesus. I receive my forgiveness. I receive the new birth, cleansed and washed in the word and in the precious blood of Jesus. Fill me with your spirit, in Jesus name. Amen."

Prayer For Others

Greetings, My Friends;

When you pray for someone else, it is supposed to be the most powerful kind of prayer. The Lord looks on anything you do for or to someone as doing it to him.

First, let us clear up a misconception that is held by many people. God does not cause catastrophes, diseases, addictions, or any other kind of tragedy. God does not kill people, including children, because he wants them back. We live in a fallen world ruled by Satan. Throw in man with his free will, and you have quite a recipe for disaster. God allows us to exercise our free will, in order for us to see how much we need him.

If you have a loved one who has a serious problem, such as an addiction to various things, or is out of work, has a bad marriage, debt problems, or any other problem,  remember only God can help. Many times we do not know the whole story, and even though we have the best intentions make matters worse.

You and God make a powerful team. Get in touch with the ultimate recycler. God's arm is not too short. He created, you He can fix what He created. Jesus died and rose again to forgive our sins, heal our afflictions and bring us eternal life if we accept and believe He is our Savior.

Make sure there is no unforgiveness or anger against anyone in your heart. The more love you feel for the person you are praying for the better. The prayer must be sincere, not just words. These prayers can heal our afflictions; heal troubled marriages, and anything else you can think of. Satan will try to discourage you, so the results might take a little while. Faith in Jesus willingness to heal always wins.

If you take all of this into consideration, your prayer might sound something like this. Let us use a troubled marriage for example. Father in heaven, I come to you because my marriage is in trouble. You are the one who created marriage to begin with, so I know it is important to you. Father I ask you in Jesus name through the power of the Holy Spirit to heal my marriage.  I ask you to correct anything that has caused our problems. It is written," whatever you ask the Father in My name, believing you have what you ask,  it will be given to you." Father, I stand on Your word and claim a healed and loving marriage in Jesus name. Amen.

The same type of prayer can be used for any problem. Just make sure your heart is clean and you will receive with what you ask in Jesus name. Just believe you have what you ask, receive it,  thank the Lord for giving it to you. Ignore any negative thoughts or comments from friends. See the whole situation through your spiritual eyes.  Speak  life to your marriage, and all of your prayers and beliefs  will be generated in the spiritual world and manifested in the physical world in time. A prayer does not have to be like a novel. Jesus used very few words when he healed someone. Generally, all he said was be healed. No man can improve on what he did. Always pray with boldness and confidence knowing that your prayer will be answered. Jesus never fails, and he always says yes.

Remember;

Jesus Loves You

Effective Prayer

Greetings, My Friends.

Today I would like to tell you about some of the things I have learned about prayer. What I am about to tell you has worked for many people, and certainly works for me.

I start out with the basic belief of what I see in the Bible. The Lord loves you, wants you well, tells you that whatever you ask the father in his name, and believe you will have it. And the Lord always says yes.  When you pray ask the father.  In Jesus name. I never say if it is your will Lord. I believe I am asking because it is his will. You may think that having enough faith is a problem. I look at it this way. Jesus has all of the faith, and the father never refuses Jesus. Since this is a fact, I figure that if I believe in Jesus faith for results, my prayer is answered.

After I pray I say I receive whatever it is I pray for, I believe, and I accept the results of my prayer. I then say thank you Jesus, then I relax and thank the Lord every day for the results. The results will be manifested; do not doubt that for a minute. See the results right from the start in your spirit. Call it what you will, but do it. You will be happy you did.

One of the most important things about prayer in order to be successful, you must visualize the results. Satan will try very hard to convince you that you don't have enough faith, you are not worthy, God does not hear you,  you are wasting your time. Do not be disheartened. Just keep thanking God and believing his word. Remember, you are counting on Jesus faith for your results.

Hebrews 11:1" faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

God bless you, and remember,

Jesus loves you.

Prayer of salvation.

", Oh God in heaven, I believe with all my heart that Jesus has been raised from the dead. I receive your word, and I repent of sin. I renounce the past. Come into my heart, Lord Jesus. I receive my forgiveness. I receive the new birth, cleansed and washed in the Word and in the precious blood of Jesus. Fill me with Your Spirit, in Jesus name. Amen".

Talk to that Mountain

 Greetings, My Friends;

If you watch any preachers, or read their books, they speak of talking to your mountain. In Mark Chapter 11 verses 23 and 24. Jesus says," for assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain be thou removed and be cast into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says".

 I believe when Jesus told this to his apostles, He was not referring to when actual amount. He used that word to describe obstacles in our lives that may seem to us as big as a mountain. Examples might be, finding a job, dealing with debt, drugs, or smoking. Any hard things in our lives can be like a mountain.

Let me tell you a story of something that happened recently in my life. Every word is true, no exaggeration or fluff. Last summer was very hot with no rain. It started in early spring. Before it started, though, my lawn was thick, green, and the best looking grass around. My wife's favorite tree got some kind of disease, and the lawn had practically no grass. 95%. Looked like a desert landscape.

Needless to say, I was unhappy. I started to think about replacing the lawn, but that is pricey. I thought about seeds. I didn't know what to do and I thought about that verse from Mark. I then realized I had my own personal mountain. I decided to talk to the lawn and tree. The thought crossed my mind that the neighbors would probably think I was crazy talking to the lawn and tree. The Lord put it in my heart that faith is nothing to be ashamed of. My wife and I agreed together to talk to those mountains.

We looked at the lawn,  or what used to be a lawn and said, lawn. we command you in Jesus name, be lush, green, and better than ever. We then spoke the same way to the tree. Every day we tell the lawn and tree how beautiful they are. That was this spring.

The tree is now disease-free and hasn't been this beautiful in year's. The lawn is looking great again. The mountains have been moved in Jesus name.  I know it sounds like a fairytale to a lot of people, but every word is true. You can move your mountain too. No mountain is too big for the word of God. Praise the Lord!

God bless you and remember,

 Jesus loves you!

"Oh God in heaven, I believe with all my heart that Jesus has been raised from the dead. I receive your word, and I repent of sin. I renounce the past. Come into my heart, Lord Jesus. I receive my forgiveness. I receive the new birth, cleansed and washed in the Word and in the precious blood of Jesus. Fill me with Your Spirit, in Jesus name. Amen."