Thoughts

Romans 8:5-6, For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the spirit, the things of the spirit. For to be carnally minded is death but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

The message today is about something that can be complicated or even confusing. That subject is the thoughts that we have. Where do they come from, and how do they affect us?

First, we have random thoughts. Usually these occur while we are relaxing. We get all kinds of thoughts going on in our heads. Some make sense because of certain things going on in our lives, while others seem to make no sense at all. It is as if our brain is looking for something to latch onto. I guess this would explain why when you ask someone what they are thinking, they say, nothing.

 The next group of thoughts takes place when you consciously make an effort to decide about something. I consider thoughts to be suggestions the brain makes. As these suggestions race through our heads, the brain changes gears and tries to pick out the best options. The thoughts keep coming until a satisfactory solution is arrived at.

 Another group of thoughts occurs when we look at what is going on around us. Our thoughts tell us if we like something or not. Is it pleasant to look at? Does it feel good, such as a cool breeze and a warm day? Would we change what we see in any way? Is what we see matter at all to us?

 Another kind of thought can lead to good or bad results. Thoughts have a way of multiplying in your brain. Let’s say you decide to do a particular thing. Your brain starts giving you suggestions. For this scenario let us assume you don’t like someone. Your thoughts latch onto this. As you pick out certain suggestions from your brain. it starts to focus on your choices and gives more extreme suggestions. The process keeps building until you stop it with a conscious effort. All kinds of bad things can occur if you don’t.

2 Corinthians 10: 5, casting down arguments and every High thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.

The same is true of positive thoughts. They build the same way as negative thoughts. As you pick any suggestions, you feel more and more positive about what you first thought of. Again, you must recognize what is happening and control it, or your thoughts will run amok and lead to disaster. Even the best thoughts can end up in disaster. You can arrive in a situation that is totally overwhelming.

You can also direct your thoughts as I call it your brain suggestion. Whatever your initial idea is, if you dwell on it even for a very short time the process starts. Pornography, gambling, starting a business, or shopping, as examples if you don’t control the original thought, the brain considers everything the same. It will keep on building these suggestions until you accept it or stop it or act on it.

One more thing. Let’s say you’re reading the Bible. A thought comes to you that it is too hard to understand. Do I really believe this stuff? Or Another example a little more extreme. Say you are a few stories up and looking down. If you asked 10 people, 5 would probably say that for a split second they thought they should jump.

Thoughts like these bother many Christians. They come out of nowhere, or do they? In their very nature they are against the word of God. As such, you can be sure they come from satan. At this point tell satan that these thoughts are his and not yours and reject them in Jesus’ name. Just praise the Lord and rest in Him. They are not yours, so you are not guilty. God bless you and your family, 

Praise The Lord!

Remember Jesus loves you

Prayer of salvation.

My Lord Jesus Christ, I am a sinner. I know you suffered and died on the cross and rose again in order to wash away my sins and to save me. I acknowledge my sins, and I Repent of those sins, and I ask you to come into my heart as my personal savior. I believe and I receive the gift of salvation, and I thank you My Lord Jesus Christ. 

Amen! 

Praise The Lord!

My Time With Jesus Tuesday

Seek

Matthew 6:33, seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added to you.

You may have heard this verse in the past, and didn’t know what it was talking about when it told you to seek. Let us put this verse on the side till later. The next couple of verses will help you.

John 6: 44, no one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day.

Our Heavenly Father gives us some urging through the Holy Spirit. Usually, an empty feeling, and a search to find out how to fill it. Many times, we remember something in the past, like a movie about the Lord Jesus Christ.

 In your search, you will probably ask a friend if they know anything about Jesus. It could be that you will have to ask several people the same question because not everyone knows the Lord Jesus Christ.

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

Here at this point you know the Lord Jesus is the only way to the Father. So how does all this fit in? One more verse.

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.

 If you put all these verses together you will want to know as much as you can about our Father God, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, and grace. At some point, maybe even years from now, you will have the joy of knowing that God chose you.

So now that you know what to seek and basically how to seek it, you don’t have to wait for some inspiration 30 years from now. You know the answer right now, and in seeking here’s what you need to really understand. How blessed you are. Maybe you didn’t choose God, but He chose you. God bless you and your family. Praise The Lord!

Remember Jesus loves you.

Prayer of Salvation.

My Lord Jesus Christ, I am a sinner. I know you suffered and died on the cross and rose again to wash away my sins and to save me. I acknowledge my sins, and I Repent of those sins and ask you to come into my heart as my personal savior. I believe and I receive the gift of salvation.  I thank you and I Praise you Lord Jesus. Amen!

Praise The Lord!

God's Promises Sunday

Accepting Blessings

John 8:31-32, If you abide in My word you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

There are many people who have handicaps of one sort or another. Handicaps that are physical and sometimes age-related are common. Along with the obvious handicaps there are questions of self-worth so that makes it an emotional or mental problem also.

On many occasions, well- meaning people will try to help someone, and will receive anger and hostility in return. Why is that? Let’s look at some reasons.

Psalm 5:12, For You O Lord will bless the righteous; with favor You will surround him as with a shield.

Usually, a person that has a problem looks at themselves as not being a whole person, and they resent someone who has what they do not have or cannot do. This could be as simple as an older person who cannot cut his own grass. This can also be a pride issue.

I would like to be an example. I am 82 years old. There are days that are too hot, and I have trouble breathing. There are days under 45 degrees that I have trouble breathing. The doctor gave me all the rules and told me I better stick to them.

Last winter one of my neighbors started shoveling my snow, and does it all of the time. This summer another neighbor started cutting my grass, every week.

At first in each of these cases, I was thankful, but being honest, it hurt my pride a little. Here I am an old man and kind of helpless in certain things and these people are taking care of me.

My message to all of my fellow people in need of help. Thank God for the help. My helpers told me I was doing them a favor because they didn’t have to go to the gym. Can you imagine that. Talk about kind loving people.

I believe with all my heart; these people are receiving blessings from almighty God for helping me and others. As the Lord Jesus Christ said,

Matthew 25:40, the king will answer and say to them, assuredly I say to you and as much as you did it to one of these my brethren you did it to me.

At this point the only thing I can say is, don’t cheat these helpers from God by taking away their blessings. Instead pray for these Servants of Almighty God and their well-being and the well-being of their families. God bless you and your family. Praise The Lord!

Remember Jesus loves you.

Prayer of Salvation.

My Lord Jesus Christ, I am a sinner.  I know you suffered and died on the cross and rose again to wash away my sins and to save me. I acknowledge my sins, and I repent of those sins, and I ask you to come into my heart as my personal savior. I believe and I receive the gift of Salvation. Thank you, Lord Jesus. 

Amen, 

Praise The Lord!

Not My Problem

James 1:2-4, And my brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials. Knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.

Each day seems to have a way of confronting us with problems. Big ones and small ones. We do our best to deal with these problems as best we know how.

The first real problem we have is, thinking we have a real good chance of solving the problems on our own. As time goes by and the results of our efforts prove inadequate, we start to worry.

We all know that worry has many side effects. Loss of sleep, appetite, irritability, and so on. It even can drastically affect relationships.

1 Peter 5:17, casting all your cares upon Him, for He cares for you.

Philippians 4: 6-7, be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Psalm 55: 22, cast your burden on the Lord, and He shall sustain you; He shall never permit the righteous to be moved.

So, you see my friends, the answers are right there. Give your problems to the Lord and believe and receive what the word says. Wait for God’s perfect timing, thank Him and Praise Him, and you will see the best answer for you. It may not be exactly what you were hoping for, but in many cases it is more than you were hoping for. 

 If at first you have a problem turning things over to our Lord, have patience and stay with it. I have found through experience that an answer you get from the Lord today probably takes into consideration something that happens to you years later and it is for your benefit. The word of the Lord is total truth. Believe it and live it. You will not be disappointed. 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 by your blood you 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

Unrealized Unforgiveness

Matthew 6:14-15, For if you forgive men their trespasses, your Heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

If you are human, you will experience many situations in your life that require you to forgive someone who treats you badly. But what does forgive mean?

Forgive, means to stop feeling angry or resentful towards someone for an offense, flaw, mistake.

Mark 11:25, whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him, that your Father in Heaven may also forgive you your trespasses.

Colossians 3: 13, bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do.

The word of God, the Bible, teaches us what our Father God thinks about forgiveness. The Lord Jesus Christ was a living example of forgiveness.

We know it is important to forgive as a part of being a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ. Sometimes it seems impossible for us to forgive, but eventually we do, or do we? True forgiveness is a heart thing. If it stirs up some feelings, you have not truly forgiven.

You will not be at peace with yourself or be right with our Heavenly Father until you do. It is a conscious decision; your spirit makes. Based on the word of God.

Ask the Holy Spirit to help you see it God’s way. It is the best thing you can do. Keep asking, and it will be.

1 John 3 :21, beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward 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

LIFE IS A BATTLE

Romans 12:21, do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

As we go about our daily lives, the majority of our fellow human beings do not realize what is really going on. Life is a years long battle between good and evil.

We are bombarded with all sorts of distractions that can lead to some unpleasant results. Perhaps you have heard the term diversionary tactic. These tactics are used every day by the military, companies, and all levels of politics.

The whole idea every time is to create something for you to focus on, while your adversary goes about doing something that you will not be aware of until it is too late.

1 Peter 5:8, Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

satan wants to keep you from knowing the Lord Jesus Christ by overloading your brain with sinful actions that will distract you. He wants you to get so involved with his picture of pleasure, that you never think of God, or the Lord Jesus Christ.

When someone becomes a follower of our Lord Jesus, they receive the Holy Spirit, and what is called the fruits of the spirit.

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.

The Holy Spirit also helps us to know what is good and what is evil. This is what’s known as discernment. The fruits are in fact a guide telling us how to live. It isn’t the only thing but it’s a good start in your journey with the Lord Jesus Christ. And that journey leads to eternal life. It is also a way of avoiding satans’ traps. ‘

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!

Trials Of Faith

1 Peter 1:7, that the genuineness of your faith being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Today I would like to tell you about some of the trials of faith that most people have experienced in their lives and will probably go through again. I will tell you about these because I experienced it I’m sure you will too.

Let’s start with feeling the presence of the Lord in your life. Most of the time you don’t have any type of overwhelming feeling. You do, however, generally have total peace in your heart and mind that you really can’t explain. Fear or being afraid has no place in your life. Choose to believe the Lord is with you always because He said He would be.

Trust is another thing that comes up constantly in daily life. A problem comes up and the first reaction is normally do something about it. Most of the time when we try to take care of anything ourselves it doesn’t do much good, and as a matter of fact a lot of times it gets worse. The normal thing is when you get in trouble deep enough, you’ll call on the Lord and He helps. We all know we should call on him first, but we don’t always do the smart thing when we get in a jam because we panic.

Another trust issue involves things like the desires of your heart. Sometimes it’s easy to forget that the Lord puts desires in our heart based on His plan. Being human is not an excuse even though you are. You must make up your mind that you trust and believe and really try no matter what happens and how bad it looks. Don’t ever trust yourself alone. If you are working on a solution the Lord backs off and lets you do it. If you want Him to work in your life, you must step back out of the picture. This may not sound too hard to do, then the issue of patience comes up. God’s timing is perfect and ours isn’t, so sometimes it’s pretty hard when we have to praise the Lord and wait rather than just think we can do it ourselves.

Prayer is something we need to do regularly. Prayer is kind of amazing because you could be praying about one thing and the Lord puts something else in your mind that turns out to be more important than what you’ve been thinking about. Don’t let prayer scare you off. That is one of satan’s tricks.

Real prayer, including when we are told to pray always is just a matter of talking to our Father in Heaven. When Jesus was on this earth, He talked to people, they talked to Him and things got done. The Lord Jesus Christ never turned away a sincere person. He always helped with love and compassion. It is no different now. Talk to our Father Almighty God In The Name Of The Lord Jesus Christ and you will see your life change. God Bless you and your family. 

Praise The Lord!

Remember Jesus loves you.

A 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 by your blood my sins were washed away. 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

Long Term Plan

Romans 8:28, And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

 In this world of ours, there are many things that humans do that have not changed in thousands of years. We can look at our lives, or the lives of others and immediately notice that it is normal for people to procrastinate.

Our governments, and a very large percentage of our companies, are the same way. What is this momentous discovery? Human nature does not like to deal with a problem until it becomes a major problem. There is very little action until there is no choice.

When Almighty God created everything, He was not thinking short term, because if He did, the universe would cease to exist. He had to plan for a continuous existence no matter how long it lasted.

Many of us do not realize that each of us was considered even before the actual creation. Almighty God already knew everything that would take place in His universe.

Ephesians 1:11, in Him we have obtained an inheritance being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will.

Since God is the Most High God, He also knew who would love Him and follow his Son the Lord Jesus Christ. That sounds pretty good to most of us but what does that really mean?

Isaiah 41:10, Fear not, for I Am with You; be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.

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.

 I personally believe that the Lord God Almighty Works in our lives even before we are saved. He arranges all the details in our lives to get us to Salvation and eternal life.

As an example. God knows where you will be at every time in your life. Five minutes or 50 years doesn’t matter. He will make sure we have what we need at the time we need it. Almighty God gets there before us to make a way where there is no way, because He loves us. God bless you and your family. Praise The Lord!

Remember Jesus loves you.

Prayer 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 salvation possible. I confess all my sins, and I ask you to come into my heart as my personal savior. Amen. 

Praise The Lord!

God's Promises Sunday

Lunch With God

Matthew 5:8, blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

A little boy wanted to meet God. He knew it was a long trip to where God lived, so he packed his suitcase with a bag of potato chips and a six pack of root beer and started his journey.

When he had gone about three blocks, he met an old man. He was sitting in the park, just staring at some pigeons. The boy sat down next to him and opened his suitcase. He was about to take a drink from his root beer, but he noticed that the old man looked hungry, so he offered him some chips. The old man greatly accepted it and smiled at him.

His smile was so beautiful that the boy wanted to see it again, so he offered him a root beer. Again, the old man smiled at him. The boy was delighted. The two of them sat there all afternoon eating and smiling, but they never said a word.

As twilight approached, the boy realized how tired he was, and he got up to leave; before he had gone more than a few steps he turned around and ran back to the old man and gave him a hug. The old man gave him the biggest smile ever.

When the boy opened the door to his own house a short time later, his mother was surprised by the look of Joy on his face. What did you do today that made you so happy? He replied, I had lunch with God. But before his mother could respond, he added, you know what? He’s got the most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen.

Meanwhile the old man also radiant with Joy returned to his home. His son was stunned by the look of peace on his face, and he asked, dad what did you do today that made you so happy?

He replied, I ate potato chips in the park with God. However, before his son responded, he added, you know he’s much younger than I expected.

Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, and honest compliment, or the small act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around. People come into our lives for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. Embrace all equally!

Send this letter to people who have touched your life in a special way. Let them know how important they are. I did.

God still sits on the throne. You may be going through a tough time right now, but God is ready to bless you in a way that only he can. Keep the faith!

Pass this letter on to at least four people that you want to bless. This prayer is powerful, and prayer is one of the best gifts we receive. There is no cost, but a lot of Rewards let’s continue to pray for one another.

Here is the prayer

Father, I ask you to bless my friends, relatives and email buddies reading this right now. Show them a new revelation of your love and power. Holy Spirit, I ask you to minister to their Spirit at this very moment. Where there is pain, give them your peace and mercy. Where there is self-doubt, release a renewed confidence, through your grace. Bless their homes, families, finances, and their going and their coming. In Jesus precious name amen.

I hope this message gives you a boost. It was an emotional letter when I got it so I passed it on to you. Maybe you’ll have the same benefit that I did. 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 all 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!