Tough Times

Psalm 40:1-3

I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined to me, and heard my cry. He also brought me up out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my steps. He has put a new song in my mouth-praise to our God; many will see it and fear, and will trust in the Lord.

It is the dream of most people, to have a secure, stress-free life. The thought of a warm cozy life is so appealing, that it becomes our number one goal. Some of us spend most of our lives on the roller coaster of life. You know what I mean. You work hard with a goal in mind, but something happens to mess up what you are working on.

Most of us were brought up with the “if at first you don't succeed” idea, so we look for a new plan. Most of us go through many plans, but the ultimate goal, still eludes us. Frustration and despair are the usual result. What can I do?

The first thing we must realize is that God is in control, we aren't. God does not cause our decisions to fail or create hardship, but he does allow it. He allows it, because he is trying to get our attention.

When the Israelites left Egypt, it was supposed to be about an 11 day trip to the promised land. As we all know, it took 40 years. God allowed them to keep going in circles around that mountain until they woke up.

We are on a trip too. Our promised land is heaven. Just like the children of Israel, we have basically the same problems to overcome. They complained most of the time about almost everything. That angered God, so he let them live in their misery until they asked for help and forgiveness. When everything got better they ignored God.

So what is the point of this message? Simply this. When we are warm, cozy, and comfortable, we congratulate ourselves for being smart and clever for all of our accomplishments. God is out of our lives for all intents and purposes. On the other hand, every person can get desperate enough to ask God for help. It takes more for some than others to get to that point, but it will happen unless they already belong to satan.

God is in control. He loves you, and wants the best for you, including eternity with him. He will guide you safely, but you must listen and do. If you really know him, it will be a joy to follow him. If you're having problems of any kind, take them to God, and don't complain, because it is probably a wake-up call. Ask God what you are doing wrong, and ask for help. He won't let you down.

All of us need a wake-up call once in a while. When it happens, thank God for loving you so much, he is showing you that you are heading off the path, and he wants to help you get back on. God bless you and your family. Praise the Lord!

Remember Jesus Loves You
Prayer of Salvation
Lord Jesus, please forgive all of my sins, and come into my heart as my personal Savior. I want to serve only you.
Praise the Lord!
Amen

Nothing Is Impossible

Matthew 19:26

But Jesus looked at them and said to them, with men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.


There are dozens and dozens of verses that tell us that our God, is the God of the impossible. I for one heard most of them, at least I think I did, but I never really gave them much thought. It isn't that I didn't believe it, I just never thought about it.

If I recorded all of the miracles God has done in my life, you would literally get tired of reading them. While God was doing all of these miraculous things in my life, I hardly noticed, and never gave Him credit. Believe me, it is possible to be that unaware.

Not too many years ago, something happened that almost killed me. I don't remember who it was at the time, but they told me that it was a miracle that I wasn't killed. What saved me was impossible. All I said was, yeah, I guess you are right..

After that incident, I slowly started noticing big and small incidents that worked out for my good that were improbable or impossible. They didn't happen every day as far as I know, but at least a dozen or more times something like that did happen. All kinds of little things and big things. God just did it, without me even asking, because he loves me. He loves you too by the way.

Remember what I just said. God loves you. Start noticing the little impossible things that happen in your life, and be grateful and realize that he is always with you and will never leave you or forsake you. God bless you and your family. Praise the Lord!

Remember Jesus Loves You
Prayer of Salvation
Lord Jesus please forgive all of my sins, and come into my heart as my personal savior. I want to serve only you.
Praise the Lord!
Amen

Protection

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.

It is a tough world out there. Anarchy in the streets, corruption in government, viruses and all sorts of calamities. A world gone nuts with hate and violence.

Is it any wonder that so many people want to hide under their beds? That is no exaggeration. I personally know a number of people who are living in constant fear. They won't even go out into their own yard.

It does not have to be that way. I am not talking about living in denial. I am talking about living with trust in God. He is aware of everything that is going on, and allows it for his reasons. Read Revelation in the NLT, and you'll get the idea.

God loves those who love him, and he will always be with, and protect His. One thing that I do during my private time with the Lord, is to read Psalm 91 out loud. It gives me total peace, because I know what it says is true. He said he would never leave us nor forsake us. I have attached a copy of Psalm 91 in case you would like to get started putting the protection of the good Lord on your side. It works for you and everyone you prayed it for. Just believe and relax and trust in the Lord. You have that choice. God bless you and your family. Praise the Lord!

Remember Jesus Loves You
Prayer of Salvation
Lord Jesus, please forgive all of my sins, and come into my heart as my personal Savior. I want to serve only you.
Praise the Lord!
Amen

Head Off Unhappiness

It Is Written, Philippians 4:6, be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with Thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God.
It is pretty common for people to go through times of unhappiness. At the time we are going through it, it almost never dawns on us, that  unhappiness is usually avoidable. There is a way of combating this problem.
When we are unhappy, it is usually because things, or situations that we choose to worry about, or feel unsatisfied about. Sometimes we even feel God doesn't love us. That is satan talking, so stop listening.
If you think someone has it better than you, realize that for each person that has it better than you, nine are much worse off than you.
I thought I was thankful to God most of the time. Then the Holy Spirit showed me the truth, I found out just how thankful I should be. I came to realize just how well-off I am, when I watched the news, and several documentaries that were on TV in the last few weeks.
Most of us have not had the misfortune of living in the middle of war, going without food, water, or shelter. Most of us are not among the tens of millions who are in fact slaves of one kind or another. We all knew slavery always was and is  horrible beyond imagination. That, but for the grace of God could be you and me.
We must always think about how blessed we are. When you think about how things could be, thank God most of us have tiny problems. God bless you and your family. 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 Lord
Amen

A Day to Treasure

Psalm 118:24

This is the day the Lord has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it.

We have a small patio in front of our house. About 6 AM this morning, I went outside to have my coffee. I thought about this verse, because every day before I get out of bed, my wife and I both say it.

My wife of many years joined me. There was a pleasant breeze, birds were singing. We talked about how good the sound of the birds was, because we both feel that when birds sing, all is well with the world.

As we sat there, my wife commented about what good neighbors we have. That led to thanking God for them, and the town we live in. Well when we get started, we realize just how much God has blessed us. He really does supply all of our needs. We aren't rich  with money, and have been on a modest income over 18 years, and I can honestly say we have lacked nothing.

Think about every breath you take, everything you see, hear, and feel. Start realizing the blessings all around you. Appreciate them, and realize that God is always there, even when times seem hard.

I have had a triple bypass, a heart valve replacement, and half of my liver taken out because of cancer, to name a few things that have happened to me. My wife has had knee replacement and hip replacement. The really funny thing is, because we trusted God before these problems, we had peace in our hearts. As a result of God's love and the power of the Holy Spirit, today my heart is good, my cancer is gone, and I feel great. My wife gets around like she hadn't done in years. I would like to add that these medical problems came up in our middle and late 70s.

Maybe you'll think I'm a little bit wacky, but we think everything in our lives has been a blessing. It is during hard times, that we see and appreciate how much God loves us, and takes care of us. I tell you all of these things in order to help you in your life. Prayer does work my friends. The Holy Spirit still works incredible miracles. Jesus still loves you and will never let you down. The only regret we have is that we are human and we can't love God the way He loves us. It is not possible in the flesh so we will have to do it when we see Him in the future in our spirits. God bless you and your family. Praise the Lord!

Remember Jesus Loves You

Prayer of Salvation

Lord Jesus, please forgive all of my sins and come into my heart as my personal savior. I want to serve only you.
Praise the Lord's
Amen

The Bible And Miracles

2 Timothy 3:16-17

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. That the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

I have known many people that think of the Bible and as just a bunch of stories. Others say it is too hard to understand. Still others talk about things like the parting of the Red Sea, and other major miracles as impossible.

If you really know Jesus, not just about Him, you would probably have an open mind about the Bible. Let's look at it in a different way. Start out by believing in miracles. Start out with the ones you think are possible. Believe what the Bible describes as Jesus the person. Really meditate on what Jesus did and why He did it.

Fast-forward 2000 years. Jesus is alive and well. The Holy Spirit still works miracles in Jesus name. Now bring that same Jesus  and Holy Spirit into your life. If you aren't a believer yet, realize that Jesus came for sinners and unbelievers.

Take a little time, and think about things from your life that you called luck. How impossible for most of those incidents? How about the so-called bad luck. When you look back at those, do you see any good that came later because of the initial bad luck.

Give it a try. Put yourself in Bible times. They took many of the same problems you have, to Jesus. He never said no to them, and He will not say no to you. Misinformed people say you cannot fight destiny and things are what they are. I take issue with that idea, because I know when you follow Jesus, it changes your life and your destiny. God bless you and your family. Praise the Lord!

Remember Jesus Loves You
Prayer of Salvation
Lord Jesus, please forgive all of my sins, and come into my heart as my personal savior. I want to serve only you.
Praise the Lord!
Amen

Occasional Weakness

It Is Written, Psalm 34:19, many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.
Weakness is something believers and nonbelievers have experienced. Most of the time, fear and weakness in faith, kind of sneak up on us. How we handle it is what counts. satan tries to plant doubt in each of us, for one of two reasons. Let's look at each of them.
When a believer experiences an attack, usually they start to feel guilty about something. They feel guilty because they had the seed of doubt planted by satan.
When we experience evil thoughts, doubt, fear, and such, we must realize that they are satan's thoughts and not ours. We have no control over what he tries to put in our heads, but we can reject his ideas. It is not a sin, unless we take ownership of those thoughts. As long as we live, satan will try to get us away from God. Always remember though, that Jesus died for our sins, and we can turn to Him for reassurance.
Nonbelievers who are attacked by satan, usually don't know any better, so fear, doubt, and guilt grow. If they think about God at all, they wrongly figure that God will not forgive them. This is also satan's attempt to keep people from God.
The truth is, that all of us are forgiven because of Jesus death and resurrection. All we have to do is accept Jesus and repent. No sins are beyond God's mercy. God bless you and your family. 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 Lord
Amen