Finding A Church

I don't know if you have ever had a problem finding a church, but I sure did. What do you look for?

For me the problem started with the preachers on TV. There are so many to pick from that you are bound to find a couple that you really like. Many of these preachers, are also good teachers. They explain many things that puzzle the average person. They bring in the original Hebrew or Greek words that clarify what we read.

Jesus and the Holy Spirit are constant subjects. The word of God is open to all. They have books and CDs that I have found to be a big help. I have listened to some CDs, literally dozens of times. I have books that I read 4 or 5 times, and highlighted a lot of them. I also share them with others.

Now for the bad part. Most of us who enjoy TV preachers have a tendency to compare a local church to them. That may or may not be a good thing to do.

When you check out a local church, realize no church is perfect, not even the ones on TV. I look at things like, do they teach, and are the sermons based on the Bible, do they teach Jesus, the Holy Spirit, grace. In the end it should edify you. Ask the Holy Spirit for guidance in selecting a church. It may take going to a number of them, before your heart tells you that this is the one. If the Holy Spirit puts it in your heart to go to a particular church, do it. If you are in a church that your heart is not happy with, ask the Holy Spirit, and if your heart still tells you this is not the one, leave it.

Remember Jesus Loves You

Prayer of Salvation

Lord Jesus, I thank you for what you did on the cross for me. Your blood washed away all my sins, by your stripes I was healed, your death and resurrection brought me salvation. Please forgive my sins, and come into my heart as my personal Savior.

Thank Yourselves

Amen

Hearing From God

It Is Written, Isaiah 30:21, whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, "this is the way, walk in it".

Most people do not believe that hearing from God is possible. In Isaiah 30:19 it is said as soon as He hears He will answer you. I am here to tell you that what these verses say is entirely true in my experience. You probably have experienced the same thing, and didn't even realize it.

Most people don't realize that God talks to everyone with that quiet little voice inside. Some people hear it all the time, some not so much, and some whose hearts are so hard to God or Jesus, they can't hear it at all.

Here is something you should do, to prove to yourself that God talks to us. Every day, ask Him with all your heart to guide you in everything you do or say that day. Then just relax and believe. Before you know it, you will experience it.

God has a plan for each of our lives. He uses the Holy Spirit to teach, help, and guide each one of us. If we ask the Holy Spirit every day, to hear, understand, and do, we will be doing the plan God has for us. It is that simple to know the will of God.

When you pray for something, believe you received, and relax. Again listen to that small voice, and you will hear it. Praise God for the result, and you will experience His plan for you. Psalm 37:4 says "delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart".

The fact of the matter is my friends, that God speaks to us all the time. Depending on our relationship with Him, determines how well we hear Him. The best thing any of us can do, is build a true relationship with the Holy Spirit, and we will be blessed.

Remember Jesus Loves You

Prayer of Salvation

Lord Jesus, I thank you for what you did on the cross for me. Your blood washed away all my sins, by your stripes I was healed, your death and resurrection brought me salvation. Please forgive my sins, and come into my heart as my personal Savior.

Thank Yourselves

Amen

Faith Is A Choice

It is written, Ephesians 2:8, for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.
Faith and belief are really the same thing. Many people believe faith is a hope thing when it comes to spiritual things. They believe God can do anything, yet when it comes to prayer, they lack faith for any number of reasons.
I have learned over the years to look at spiritual things in a different way. For instance, faith is required for salvation. If you believe that you are saved by faith, why not believe everything else God says.
Jesus said we are to believe as a little child. When you were little, you believe everything your parents said. Well my friends, God is our father, and he is never wrong. We need to believe in Him the same innocent way we believed our parents.
The biggest problem we have to overcome most of the time, is the world we live in. There is so much misinformation, and corruption, that it is hard to ignore. In this world run by satan, everything seems to go against God. People hate Jesus, and they ridiculed those who believe.
I made the choice to always trust God. It isn't easy sometimes, but stick to it. When you read the word of God, remember it is all true, no matter how hard it is to accept some things. The fact is you can't pick out what you believe. You will be judged by God's word, not yours or someone else's. God looks at everything and does things we do not understand sometimes. We have to put our pride and fear aside, of what someone else might say, and believe the word of God. When it comes right down to it, His word is the only one that counts.
We don't have to prove God to anyone, that is not our job. The only thing God wants us to do, is to trust in Him no matter what. He will do the rest. So you see faith really is a choice.
1 Corinthians 2:5, your faith should not be in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
Remember Jesus Loves You
Prayer of Salvation
Lord Jesus, I thank you for what you did on the cross for me. Your blood washed away all my sins, by your stripes I was healed, your death and resurrection brought me salvation. Please forgive my sins, and come into my heart as my personal Savior.
Thank You
Amen

Day 25

It Is Written, Proverbs 1:28, "then they will call out to me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently, but they will not find me".
I thought I would write this verse as an example of what you should not do. This verse gives you the idea that God is coldhearted, and lacking in love or compassion. If this is all there was, that would be a reasonable assumption. Read on my friends.
If you read verses eight – 31 of Proverbs 1, you will quickly understand why God said this. To make a long story short for those who aren't familiar with  these verses, here it is briefly.
As in all of Proverbs, it is basically written as instructions to his son. He is talking about wisdom, and avoiding all kinds of sin. It refers to rejecting God, refusing to accept correction, acting like fools and thinking you don't need God. Obviously this is a basic recap. Do yourself a favor and read the whole chapter.
There are many places in the Bible, if you take a line here or there, you may get the opposite idea of what it really means . So if you study the word, don't just take the line that seems to jump out at you. Think about every verse and whether it lines up with the word of God. Not sure? Check it out till you find it out.
Remember Jesus Loves You
Prayer of Salvation
Lord Jesus, I thank you for what you did on the cross for me. Your blood washed away all my sins, by your stripes I was healed, your death and resurrection brought me salvation. Please forgive my sins, and come into my heart as my personal Savior.
Thank You
Amen

Day 24

It Is Written, Matthew 4:4, but He answered and said "it is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God".
When I read this verse, I look at it from a couple of different angles.
Not live by bread alone is directed to the flesh man. God is basically saying to man, that the ways of the flesh will not lead to salvation, which we need more than bread. It also implies there is a better way to live.
2 Timothy 3:16 tells us that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God. Scripture therefore is in fact the word of God.
Luke 24:27 says that beginning with Moses and then the prophets, Scripture was revealed to them by God. The Scriptures were written by various people as revealed to them by the Holy Spirit.
With Jesus resurrection, the Holy Spirit was given to all believers in Jesus and what He did. The Holy Spirit at that moment becomes our teacher, helper, and guide. The Holy Spirit is that small voice within us.
2 Corinthians 5:7 says that we walk by faith and not by sight. Romans 10:17 says faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
The only possible way any of us can achieve any of this, is by the Holy Spirit. He enlightens us, helps us, and gives power to our prayers when we pray in Jesus name. It seems to me, that the whole point of this verse, is to follow the word of God, and put aside the ways of the world.
Remember Jesus Loves You
Prayer of Salvation
Lord Jesus, I thank you for what you did on the cross for me. Your blood washed away all my sins, by your stripes I was healed, your death and resurrection brought me salvation. Please forgive my sins, and come into my heart as my personal Savior.
Thank You
Amen

Day 23

It Is Written, Romans 6:3 –4 , " or do you not know that as many of us were baptized into Christ Jesus, were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the father, even so we also should walk in newness of life"
There are two schools of thought about baptism. Some religions sprinkle water on a persons forehead, and other Christians believe in immersion, when a person is old enough to understand what it represents, and to make that choice for themselves.
I am not saying that one is right and the other is wrong. Baptism by immersion is biblical. People get in lakes, rivers, even swimming pools. Most churches use a large tub. Baptism by sprinkling is usually done in a church, when a baby is about a month old.
It is said that baptism washes away our sins. The fact is in Bible times baptism followed conversions so quick, most times, it was like it was one event. The true significance of water baptism, is that it is an outward sign to those present, of our new life and faith through Jesus. In the baptism we die with Christ, we are buried with Christ, and we rise again with Christ.
I don't know about you, but in a church that I was brought up in, we never heard anything about what baptism was about. All it meant to us was that if we died right away we go right to heaven. When I found out what baptism really represents, I couldn't wait to be baptized. When that  happened I felt such a feeling of peace and joy, that I can't describe it. Check it out for yourself, and believe me it didn't hurt a bit. If you're bashful, most churches will baptize you in private.
Remember Jesus Loves You
Prayer of Salvation
Lord Jesus, I thank you for what you did on the cross for me. Your blood washed away all my sins, by your stripes I was healed, and your death and resurrection brought me salvation. Please forgive my sins, and come into my heart as my personal Savior.
Thank You
Amen

Day 22

It Is Written, Exodus 30:30, unknowing to Aaron and his sons and consecrate them, so they may serve me as priests.

When you read the Old Testament, you find many incidents where anointing occurred. There was the common everyday type of anointing, mostly with perfumes and other types of oils. Then there were sacred anointing s with special holy oil.

We will look at the sacred oil. It was made by priests according to a formula given to Moses by God. Exodus 30:23 – 25 this oil was used for anointing prophets, Kings, and priests. Anyone anointed with this special sacred oil, was protected by God Psalm 105:15 among others.

When someone was anointed, such as a prophet, he had a special connection with God. He could talk to God, pass on prophecy from God to the King or the people, and even work miracles as directed by God. These people were chosen by God, to do specific things.

You really don't see that type of anointing in everyday life. That does not mean that type of anointing is not happening.

I believe the anointing today comes as a spiritual one from the Holy Spirit. There are people today who seem to have special insight in teaching the Bible. Some are evangelists, and some have a healing ministries. I believe God picked these people because He knows they are willing to do everything it takes to fulfill His plan. When God picks them, the Holy Spirit anoints them for their particular role.

God knows what each of us is capable of, and what we are willing to do. What we have to do, is understand that if God wanted us to do something different he would've put it in our hearts. Just as the celebrity preachers are doing their job, we need to do ours, knowing that in God's eyes, we are just as good as they are, and He loves us just as much.

Remember Jesus Loves You

Prayer of Salvation

Lord Jesus, I thank you for what you did on the cross for me. Your blood washed away all my sins, by your stripes I was healed, your death and resurrection brought me salvation. Please forgive my sins, and come into my heart as my personal Savior.