Prosperity Glorifies God

It Is Written, Psalm 35:27, let them shout for joy and be glad, who favor my righteous cause; and let them say continually, let the Lord be magnified, who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.
Many people over the years have had the opinion that Christians should be poor. If Jesus was poor, His followers should be too. I guess they didn't read the Word, or they would've seen many times that God wants His people and you to prosper. His people includes Christians as well as Jews.
If you were God, and you wanted people to come to you, would you prefer to show them blessings, or absolute poverty? Prosperity is good for a couple of reasons. It shows blessings, and it makes God happy to bless.
Prosperity God's way, requires a few concessions on our part. God is number one. He gives us prosperity to share with others. We are to share in love as He did. The more we give in love, the more we get from Him.
When we help those in need, the people we help see Jesus love reflected from us. People come to a God they feel loves them. If we pass out this prosperity to others with a joyful heart, we in turn receive joy and  prosperity. Our joy, and the joy of those we help, praise the Lord.
When we realize that we work for God, as Jesus did on earth, it just can't get any better than that. If you get a good job in life, that is good. When you have even a menial job from God, nothing in life can come close. When I wrote this, something that happened 40 years ago came to my mind as a life example of what I'm talking about.
I was working for a family company. I purchased a beat up old car to drive back and forth to work. I parked it near the front door of my company. One day I was having coffee with the man that owned the company. He asked me if that beat up wreck was mine. I told him yes it was. He then told me that he would like it if I didn't park in that spot, because he didn't want people to think that he didn't pay his help a decent salary. Then he laughed. Praise the Lord!
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

Dream Or Fantasy

It Is Written, Ecclesiastes 5:7, for in the multitude of dreams and many words, there is also vanity. But fear God.

Dreams and visions are common all over the world. They have been around for centuries. People used to make decisions based on dreams. You even read about dreams and visions in the Bible.

All people dream every night, whether they know it or not. Dreams are necessary for our well-being. When someone says that they don't dream, it just means that they don't remember the dreams. Dreams in the present time are usually passed off as nonsense, because we can't figure out what they mean.

Now we come to a different kind of dream. This kind of dream occurs while we are awake, and in control of them. Some people call them fantasies. Regardless of what they are called, they reflect our desires.

Maybe you would like a mansion on a vast estate, a certain kind of car, or your own business to mention a few. Almost all people have something that falls into that category.

While many of these dreams seem harmless and good, sometimes they can lead us the wrong way. We may become so obsessed with them, that we end up doing things that hurt us. We put God out of the picture, and do it our way. Bad choice.

satan loves to play with our minds. He puts things in our heads that paint a picture to deceive us. He works on our patients, and other vulnerabilities. He wants to separate us from God, as well as destroy our lives. As he did with Eve, deceitfulness is his favorite weapon in most cases.

Dreams can be good, if the Holy Spirit is involved. He does put desires in our hearts. If these desires are not contrary to the Word, and we have faith and trust, the Holy Spirit will open good doors, and block harmful ones. Pray that your desires are from the right source. It wouldn't be a bad idea, to read Ecclesiastes all the way through, to get a good idea of what you are dealing with. Praise the Lord!

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

Prodigal Son

It Is Written, in the parable of the prodigal son, in Luke 15:11 – 32.

The story of the prodigal son is one most of us have heard many times. We look at the son and we probably think that he had a lot of nerve asking his father for his inheritance while the father was living. Maybe we thought the father should have hit him with something. Then of course there is the father's forgiveness and rejoicing and his sons return.

Have you ever noticed when you read the Bible, how many times you see yourself? We can all look at the Old Testament Hebrews, and criticize the things they did. The same way with the apostles. We say things like, how dumb were they? For instance, when Jesus was going to feed the second crowd, they didn't know what would happen or how they would feed the people.

People in those days saw Jesus, heard His teachings, and saw the miracles. They had such short memories that most of them forgot what they saw 10 minutes earlier. The Exodus was a classic example of short memory.

The point of all this is that times have changed, but people haven't. Just pick up a Bible and see yourself in the parables. We are all the same. We see miracles every day, and don't recognize them. We unconsciously follow the world view, and pass off miracles as luck, coincidence, or any other number of excuses for what happened.

Jesus said many things to the apostles, and His word was good. Many times they either forgot, or didn't believe. Everything Jesus said was true. Everything the Bible says is true.

Given the truth of so many things, prophecies being fulfilled, why do we have such a hard time believing? Just one example out of thousands "by His stripes we were healed". All we have to do if we are sick in any way, is to claim that healing we already received when Jesus died on the cross. Realize that all of the blessings for us are in the spiritual world, and all we have to do is claim them.

I believe when the average Christian gets to heaven, he will see thousands of blessings with his name, that he never claimed. So when you read the Bible, see your self rather than the chosen people, and you'll probably find, as I did, that I am no better than they were. Praise the Lord!

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

Learning To Walk

It Is Written, Ephesians 4:15, God wants us to grow up, to know the whole truth and tell it in love, like Christ, in everything.
When a person is a baby in faith, satan likes to target that person. It becomes vital that a person grow in their faith. The Holy Spirit guides, but we must learn to follow.
A lot of people have a hard time understanding that statement. To put it another way, look at a baby anything. Whether human or animal, they are helpless when they are born. Their mothers protect and teach them. When we are baby Christians, the Holy Spirit teaches and protects us.
As we grow, and we slip or fall, the parent is right there to help, just as the Holy Spirit is. The parent does not scold a child that falls while learning to walk. The parent helps the child up, offers encouragement, and keeps watching. The Holy Spirit is the same way. He does not condemn us when we fall, He is there to help us.
 As we learn, we become responsible for what we do. We can practice what we learned to that point, or we go in another direction. There are blessings or consequences, depending on if we follow God, or our own plans.
Here is a comforting thought, Psalms 34:22, the Lord redeems the soul of His servants, and none of those who trust in Him shall be condemned.
Just as no one or nothing can be a baby forever, you must grow for your own good. Incredible blessings await those who call on the Lord. Praise the Lord!
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

Value Everything

It Is Written, Psalm 50:14, offer to God Thanksgiving, and pay your vows to the most high.
When we thank God for something, it has no value to Him if the thanks are not sincere. Instead of praising God, valueless thanks are an insult. I started to look at things in my own life a while back. There were a number of things I was not particularly happy with. As a matter of fact there were a couple of things I really didn't like.
One day during my prayer time, I got a very warm feeling in my heart. The fact that I had a nice comfortable prayer room really made me feel thankful. It was at that point that I realized that to be truly thankful, you need to value what you are being thankful for. I started to look at where I live for instance. I would like to live in Alaska, and as a result, I really didn't like living in the big city. As a matter of fact I hated it.
The Holy Spirit laid a couple of things on my heart. God has a plan for my life, and that includes where I live. Because of that, I now see that where I live has value to me. I realize that I cannot pray to do God's plan for me, and then reject the parts I don't like. It is like slapping Him in the face. It then becomes my plan not His.
I decided to rethink everything in terms of value. To me salvation is number one, my family is number two, and probably health comes next. After that comes all of the other priceless gifts from God. And yes, that is exactly what they are, gifts from God.
One way to determine if something has value to you, is to make a list. Put down everything you can think up. If you have an old car for example, list it too. Now next to each item write a simple yes or no. Would the item be missed if it was taken away. Those simple yes answers show you what has value in your life. Then of course, you can also take a look at the 90% of the world, that is not as well off as you are. After I did all of this, my house in the city, started to look like a palace.
If you start thinking about all of your blessings and their value to you, you can then be truly thankful. Praise the Lord!
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

Don't Worry, Be Happy

It Is Written, Colossians 3:15, and let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.
We all face situations in life that are common to all of us. The difference is in how we handle it. I could go on and list dozens of every day occurrences that cause stress and aggravation, if we allow them to.
We have many decisions to make every day. Some are big, and some aren't. Other people can cause a problem for us. Things like a washer or a car that doesn't work, can aggravate us. I am sure that anyone you talk to can add to this list.
What do all of these things have in common? In about 95% of these cases, there is nothing you can do to change them. We do not know what is going on everywhere, but God does. Maybe the guy in front of you is there because if he wasn't, maybe you would be going a little faster and have an accident a mile down the road. So just relax, it might be saving a life, maybe even yours.
If you follow the Lord, and talk to the Holy Spirit about all decisions, and listen, He will guide you. So just do it and have peace. God considers worry and complaining to be sins. They are prayer blockers. He gave us the Holy Spirit to help us to have peace and joy, not worry and complain.
You can pooh-pooh this, but I suggest you make the decision to follow the Lords peace in your heart. Once you decide to do it, you will be amazed at how bumps in the road disappear. Praise the Lord!
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

Don't Forget God

It Is Written, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
This message concerns a subject that most of us don't even think about. I have been guilty of this a number of times. Every time I slipped, satan was right there to condemn me.
When you are at home, chances are you have a routine that includes God. Maybe you get up early and read a chapter in the Bible, or listen to CDs on the way to work. You do these feel good things, because you love God, and you realize how much He loves you.
When you go away for the weekend, or take a vacation, you usually break your normal routine. You end up feeling guilty, and satan condemns you tries to tell you that God is upset with you, and guilt takes over.
Well here's the good news. God does not condemn you or punish you. When you give anything to God, money, time, kindness to others, He wants it from your heart, not because you have to.
Think about how you feel when your child gives you a gift, or does something for you, because they love you. How would it feel if they did it because they thought you would be upset with them. If you know they love you, and they forget sometimes, you don't get upset, do you? How much more does God care about us and how we feel.
Now when I am on vacation and my routine is messed up, I know God still loves me. When I enjoy the scenery,  or just being alive and healthy, I make it a point to sincerely thank God for what He has given me , which amounts to everything.
I have a routine only because it helps me set aside time to talk to the Holy Spirit, listen to what he says, and read the word of God. I follow this routine because I feel like a very large something is missing if I don't. I hope this helps.
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