THIS VIDEO SAYS IT ALL!!!!
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Fight the good fight!
Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high [places]. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
Ephesians 6: 10 - 19 The Holy Bible KJV
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high [places]. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
Ephesians 6: 10 - 19 The Holy Bible KJV
The Warrior is a Child
Words and music by Twila Paris
Lately I've been winning battles left and right But even winners can get wounded in the fight People say that I'm amazing, strong beyond my years But they don't see inside of me, I'm hiding all the tears
They don't know that I go running home when I fall down They don't know who picks me up when no one is around I drop my sword and cry for just a while Deep inside this armor - the warrior is a child.
Unafraid because His armor is the best But even soldiers need a quiet place to rest. People say that I'm amazing - never face retreat But they don't see the enemies that lay me at His feet.
They don't know that I go running home when I fall down They don't know who picks me up when no one is around I drop my sword and look up for a smile 'Cause deep inside this armor...
Deep inside this armor... Deep inside this armor... The warrior is a child.
They don't know that I go running home when I fall down They don't know who picks me up when no one is around I drop my sword and cry for just a while Deep inside this armor - the warrior is a child.
Unafraid because His armor is the best But even soldiers need a quiet place to rest. People say that I'm amazing - never face retreat But they don't see the enemies that lay me at His feet.
They don't know that I go running home when I fall down They don't know who picks me up when no one is around I drop my sword and look up for a smile 'Cause deep inside this armor...
Deep inside this armor... Deep inside this armor... The warrior is a child.
There Was a Time
I do not know why Bad things happen to good people! I only know I am not the one who made all these bad things happen. I am not the sinner Lord! Why am I the one being punished? There was a time when those words crept into my heart perhaps even into my very spirit. I know I am not alone in that line of thinking others have asked me the same thing again and again.
Sin to me was a naughty word and I didn’t want my name attached to it in anyway not even at the sake of my own Salvation it took sheer desperation on my part the wanting to give my Family all that I never felt I had “The missing link” if you will to their happiness and mine.
I realized until I was happy with myself and Loved myself I would remain untouchable to the ones I loved the most so I swallowed the last bit of my pride, surrendered the last bit of control I had over me and I got me knees and I prayed.....
Sinner’s Prayer- That’s Not for Me!
“I’m not a sinner” -“I don’t go around sinning”-”I’ve never murdered anyone, I’m not like that!” Sinner is a word that gets a bad rap these days, as well it should but unfortunately, the bad rap it is getting is for the wrong reasons. Confronted with our shortcomings, we are quick to defend ourselves and because of that, we often don’t dig deep enough to see what the word says about sin. Sin simply means to miss the mark, fall short of your goal; it shouldn’t mean that some Christian stands in judgment of you waiting to hang a scarlet letter around your neck. The fact is we are all sinners for there is no one but our Lord Jesus Christ who lived a life that did not fall short of the Perfection God requires. We all deserve to pay the penalty for sin, which is to spend eternity in Hell.
Sin, according to the Bible, is any action that violates the law given by God in the Ten Commandments. A law given with the purpose of showing what it means to live a life deserving of God’s love. It was also given to show us that none of us could live that kind of life. God knew that in advance and that is why he sent his Son Jesus to be that perfect life for us! Jesus, God in human flesh, voluntarily laid aside His God-hood to connect with us, to show us that he understands us, and to give us a way to be reconciled to the Father, since none of us can keep the law to its letter.
“For all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23)
Sin may be something we cannot be free of, but we can be free of its penalty.
Sin may be something we cannot be free of, but we can be free of its penalty.
“For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23)
As long as we are content to live our life in sin, the bible says we are separated from God. That may seem okay for you for now but it ultimately leads to misery and then to eternal separation from God.
As long as we are content to live our life in sin, the bible says we are separated from God. That may seem okay for you for now but it ultimately leads to misery and then to eternal separation from God.
“There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death”(Proverbs 16:25).
The good news is that God Himself has made a way to be reconciled to Him, and He has done this through His Son, Jesus Christ (Romans 5:6-15).
Are you content living your life for yourself, being the best for you, getting the most for you and dying anyway? Or do you want a life of hope? God, the one who created you, has a purpose for your life and wants to give you a new beginning. If you are ready to admit your need for a clean slate in life, the God of second chances is waiting to give it to you; ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS ASK!
Are you ready? Is it time to be free at last?
Father God, I believe in you; I know that you are the Son of God, that you died for my sins, and that you were buried and rose again. Father, I am sorry for the things I have done to hurt you; I want to turn away from the sinful ways of my past. Please forgive me of all my sins. Come into my heart, take charge of my life and make me be the person you would have me be. Cleanse my heart, Father, with Your blood. You are my Lord and Savior. Fill me with your Holy Spirit and have your way. In Jesus’ Name, I give you thanks and all the praise and glory. AMEN!
“Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” (Acts 2:38)
As you grow closer to Jesus, the Bible tells us to follow up on our commitment as Christians, so I encourage you to:
1) Get baptized as commanded by Christ.
2) Tell someone else of your new faith in Christ.
3) Spend time with God each day.
4) Develop a daily habit of prayer.
5) Read his word.
6) Ask God to increase your faith and understanding of the Bible.
7) Seek fellowship with other Christians.
8) Develop a support group of Christian friends to answer your questions and support you.
9) Find a local church where you can worship God!
PRAISE BE TO GOD I AM SAVED BY HIS GRACE AND I AM FREE AT LAST!
COME TO ME
“Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” Mathew 11:28
Is the Lord God our friend? Or is he just another stranger we meet in passing? The truth may be that he is a stranger to you. It is very easy for us to treat him that way. We may think of him only occasionally; we may only think of him at church, or occasionally at other times. If we only think of him in passing once in a while when something reminds us of him, he is as much a stranger as someone you would meet in passing on the way into the grocery store, doctor’s office or speak to only briefly on a telephone.
We may enjoy talking about him to others, at church, to would be Christians on the street, wherever but do we talk to HIM. If not are we not treating him as a stranger?
If God is a real person in our lives, if we actually know him, then we must talk to him, pray to him and listen to him in a real living way. We should not just go through the emotions of praying to him without thinking about what he is saying. Such shallow conversations are for acquaintances, not for friends, not for family, and not for God.
We need to have a personal relationship with him, we need to get close to him, and allow him to get closer to us. He was born of this earth and became a man that we might be close to him. He created and governs all things; he is all seeing and all knowing; he loves us and wants the best for us.
He is a person we are to trust, love, and come to in prayer. If our Lord God seems distant, if he does not seem like a real person, a person who cares for us like none other every day of our life then the problem does not lie in him but in us!
Prayer is a spiritual communication between man and God, a two-way relationship in which man should not only talk to God but also listen to him. Prayer to God is like a child’s conversation with their Father. It is natural for a child to ask a Father for things that he needs.
There are many promises in God's word to encourage us to pray, such as “He shall call upon and I will answer him: I will be with him (Psalm 91:15) “And it shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking I will hear. (Isaiah 65:24) Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you find; knock and the door will be opened to you”(Mathew 7:7). The scriptures tell us that God hears and answers prayer.
When you receive Christ into your heart, you become a child of God and have the privilege of talking to him in prayer at any time about ANYTHING. The Christian life is a personal relationship to God through our Lord Jesus Christ and, best of all, it’s a relationship that will last for all eternity.
We may enjoy talking about him to others, at church, to would be Christians on the street, wherever but do we talk to HIM. If not are we not treating him as a stranger?
If God is a real person in our lives, if we actually know him, then we must talk to him, pray to him and listen to him in a real living way. We should not just go through the emotions of praying to him without thinking about what he is saying. Such shallow conversations are for acquaintances, not for friends, not for family, and not for God.
We need to have a personal relationship with him, we need to get close to him, and allow him to get closer to us. He was born of this earth and became a man that we might be close to him. He created and governs all things; he is all seeing and all knowing; he loves us and wants the best for us.
He is a person we are to trust, love, and come to in prayer. If our Lord God seems distant, if he does not seem like a real person, a person who cares for us like none other every day of our life then the problem does not lie in him but in us!
Prayer is a spiritual communication between man and God, a two-way relationship in which man should not only talk to God but also listen to him. Prayer to God is like a child’s conversation with their Father. It is natural for a child to ask a Father for things that he needs.
There are many promises in God's word to encourage us to pray, such as “He shall call upon and I will answer him: I will be with him (Psalm 91:15) “And it shall come to pass that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking I will hear. (Isaiah 65:24) Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you find; knock and the door will be opened to you”(Mathew 7:7). The scriptures tell us that God hears and answers prayer.
When you receive Christ into your heart, you become a child of God and have the privilege of talking to him in prayer at any time about ANYTHING. The Christian life is a personal relationship to God through our Lord Jesus Christ and, best of all, it’s a relationship that will last for all eternity.
"To those whom much is given; sometimes too much is asked in return"
WE NEED JESUS TO LEARN HOW TO LIVE LIFE AS GOD DESIGNED IT!
We need Jesus to help us through life’s struggles because life can at times be devastating. One struggle after another mounts upon you until the weight of the world itself seems to be on your shoulders. Lonely and discouraged, you easily start to believe that no one really understands and that, even if someone did, there is nothing he can do to help. As life brings you down, things start to shake the foundation of your very existence and the pain becomes unbearable. We need to remember that Jesus has never promised to take away all of our struggles but he has promised to carry us through them. No one has ever known suffering the way that he does. The bible calls him “a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering” (Isaiah 53:3).
We need Jesus to help us through life’s struggles because life can at times be devastating. One struggle after another mounts upon you until the weight of the world itself seems to be on your shoulders. Lonely and discouraged, you easily start to believe that no one really understands and that, even if someone did, there is nothing he can do to help. As life brings you down, things start to shake the foundation of your very existence and the pain becomes unbearable. We need to remember that Jesus has never promised to take away all of our struggles but he has promised to carry us through them. No one has ever known suffering the way that he does. The bible calls him “a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering” (Isaiah 53:3).
Father God you are amazing beyond words.
You are everything we require.
Thank-you for your grace and mercy!
You are everything we require.
Thank-you for your grace and mercy!
-Amen
Monday, June 11, 2007
WHERE WERE YOU GOD
Many people have experienced tragedy. Some have lost their homes in fires,
Lost homes in hurricanes, earthquakes or tornadoes. Then there are those
Who, sadly, have lost everything. There are people who have lost relatives or friends to cancer and other threatening diseases. Some have lost jobs or have been faced with financial hardships. It seems natural for people to complain when faced with any tragedy such as these and often they find themselves asking the same questions that we might ask…
“Where were you God when we needed you the most?”
Where is God when we need Him? He is right with us. He is always with us!
"BUT WHY IF GOD IS SO GOOD?"
I have heard it asked often over the years, even asked the question myself a time or two. Why do I hurt? Why is there so much suffering in the world? Why do bad things happen to good people? Why do the wicked prosper and the righteous take the beating? If God is so good and has the power to stop human suffering, why does he allow us to suffer? Where was GOD when I needed him the most?
Of all the questions that trouble the people of God, these have to be among the toughest. The connection between God’s goodness and our pain can be a mystery that can torment us for all of our lives if we let it.
When trying to find answers to these questions years ago, my husband had me turn to the book of Job. Have you considered my Servant Job…?
“He knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold” (Job 23:10). A lot of spiritual truth can be found in this simple statement.
“He knows the way that I take.... Job affirms his confidence that God sees him through his pain.
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:24) It is not uncommon for believers to lose sight of God’s presence during the darkest times of our lives. We wonder where he is during the pain of a divorce, times of extreme abuse, the feeling of betrayal when a friend turns on us, or the heartbreak of watching someone we love die.
Remember even the Lord Jesus cried out form the cross... “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34)
It is not wrong to feel that way and you have not sinned just because you have lost the sense of God’s presence. Job said, “I’ve got a case to present to the Lord if only I could find him; I've looked high and low for God but I can’t find him anywhere. I’ve searched every direction but he is nowhere to be found.” Then he rose to a higher level of faith and declared, “I can’t see him but it doesn’t matter because I know he sees me.”
We need to remember spiritual growth is a journey, not a destination. Job recognized the fact that it was God allowing his sufferings. You may say it was all Satan's doing, but that is not the whole truth. It was God who brought up Job’s name in the first place when he said, “Have you considered my servant Job?” (Job 1:8) It was God who set the limits on how far Satan could go in tormenting Job. Satan may have started it, but God set the rules for the game. “Go ahead; do what you want with all that is his. Just don’t hurt him.”(Job 1:12). In Job 2:6 God tells Satan you can do what you want to Job but do not kill him. Even after being stricken with terrible sores, Job did not curse God. He simply stated, “We take the good days from God; why not also the bad days.” (Job 2:10)
Suffering is part of God’s process to bring you to spiritual maturity. WE ALL HAVE TO DO SOME FURNACE TIME SOONER OR LATER. It is hot in there; it hurts; inside it feels like it will last forever and that you are all alone. None of us likes it but in the end those objections do not really matter.
Does God see us during times of suffering? In the Old Testament we meet a woman named Hagar. Hagar fled from the household of Abraham and Sarah. Pregnant and alone, she wandered in the barren desert. The Lord found her near a spring and told her to go back to Abraham and Sarah. He also told her to name her son Ishmael, which means “God hears,” because the Lord heard of her misery. She replied with one of the most wonderful statements in the Old Testament, “You are the God who sees me” (Genesis 16:13). You may not see him but he sees you. He knows everything you are going through.
What is God trying to do when he allows his children to go through hard trials and deep suffering? There are several answers to that question. First, God is trying to purge us of our sin and purify us of our inequity. Second, God uses suffering to test our faith. Will you still obey God in times of darkness? Will you serve God when things are not going your way? Will you hold onto the truth when you feel like giving up? Third, God uses times of difficulties to humble us. When things are going well, we tend to get a swelled ego (Big Head) because of our accomplishments but let the darkness fall and we are on our knees crying out to God. Fourth, God uses hard times to prepare us to minister to others. He comforts us so that we may comfort others. Finally, God uses hard times to prepare us for the understanding of his character. In the furnace we discover God’s goodness in a way we had never experienced it before.
I believe that hard times are a gift from God, a way to help us see how much we need a relationship with the Lord. Out of the pit of darkness we often learn of Gods great grace. We often forget of this until life falls apart around us.
Job said, “I will come forth as gold.” In the midst of all that Job was going through, and all the pain involved, he understood with eyes of faith that what God was doing had a purpose. All the terrible things that happened to him were not to destroy him but to improve him. When God wants to improve a person spiritually, he puts them through great trials.
Job compared it to the process of refining gold. To refine gold, you take raw chunks of gold (pieces of stone flecked with tiny pieces of gold) and put them into a fiery furnace. The heat causes the stone and dirt to melt and to rise to the top to be skimmed off so that all that is left is pure gold. It takes an enormous amount of heat but the end result is worth it. What you are left with is pure gold without any impurities.
In our own lives, the hotter the fire, the more the pain but the quicker the gold comes forth. The end result? You are both approved and improved by God. Approved: Found to be better; improved: made to be better.
For those among us who still find ourselves inside the furnace, the promise that it will not last forever may not help when the flames are still leaping up and around. I cannot promise when your trials will end; however, our God is always on time. You cannot rush him, but rest assured he is never late. When he deems the time appropriate, the fierce heat will dissipate and the gold of tested character will come forth in your life.
“My feet have closely followed his steps; I have kept to his way without turning aside. I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread. Job, a man in dire straits, far worse than most of us will ever know, boldly states: “I’m still serving the Lord. As bad as it has been nothing can make me turn away from God.” Wow! If we all had that much faith!
For those of us who survive great trials, it becomes easier to recognize that faith is a conscious moment-by-moment choice. It is not based on how we feel in any given moment. It is not an emotion. “I feel good today, things are going well.” Feeling-based faith will not cut it when life crashes in on us at every side. (It is only an emotion and lacks substance). Simply putting on a feel good “High” faith is easy but when thing’s are not going well, we lose that “High” as our faith is tested. In those moments of desperation, we have a choice to make. I am sure Job did not feel like following God after all tragedies he had endured but he did it anyway. Faith comes in many varieties, but in the end the faith that wins is the true faith that chooses to obey God in spite of our own circumstances.
A lot of us tend to forget that God is God and we are not. Until we understand this, we are going to be unhappy because we will end up fighting against God.
Let us pray:
Father God, I give you the right to set the agenda for my life moment by moment, day by day. Help me to understand the things that I do not. You can change the agenda any time you want without advanced warning. I pray, Father God that you will use me for your glory in a way that will please you and as you see fit! I surrender my agenda and control. Even when it makes me angry, I will allow you to be God. I am stepping out of the way! Thank-You, Lord. I give to you all the praise and Glory.... Amen!
If you find yourself in the fiery furnace, do not take matters into your own hands- that only makes matters worse. Escaping the furnace is an impossible task. Learn from this time; grow from it. God has wonderful things to teach you if you will only listen and learn. Grow from this experience. While you are in the furnace, you should seek a quiet heart, listen to God’s voice, look for God’s handiwork and stay faithful, no matter what.
If you are hurting today, you may feel like you cannot take anymore. My prayer for you is that you will hang on to the lord; turn to him; if you turn away, things can only get worse.
If God is good, why do we hurt? The truth of the matter is we can hurt with God or we can hurt without him. Do you trust God? If so, you can face the worst that life has to offer. Trust in him and know that he can be trusted to do what is right. Our God is faithful to keep every one of his promises. Nothing can happen to us except it first pass through the hands of a loving God. If your path is dark, keep on believing, light is soon to come. When your furnace time is over, you will come forth as gold!
Lost homes in hurricanes, earthquakes or tornadoes. Then there are those
Who, sadly, have lost everything. There are people who have lost relatives or friends to cancer and other threatening diseases. Some have lost jobs or have been faced with financial hardships. It seems natural for people to complain when faced with any tragedy such as these and often they find themselves asking the same questions that we might ask…
“Where were you God when we needed you the most?”
Where is God when we need Him? He is right with us. He is always with us!
"BUT WHY IF GOD IS SO GOOD?"
I have heard it asked often over the years, even asked the question myself a time or two. Why do I hurt? Why is there so much suffering in the world? Why do bad things happen to good people? Why do the wicked prosper and the righteous take the beating? If God is so good and has the power to stop human suffering, why does he allow us to suffer? Where was GOD when I needed him the most?
Of all the questions that trouble the people of God, these have to be among the toughest. The connection between God’s goodness and our pain can be a mystery that can torment us for all of our lives if we let it.
When trying to find answers to these questions years ago, my husband had me turn to the book of Job. Have you considered my Servant Job…?
“He knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold” (Job 23:10). A lot of spiritual truth can be found in this simple statement.
“He knows the way that I take.... Job affirms his confidence that God sees him through his pain.
“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:24) It is not uncommon for believers to lose sight of God’s presence during the darkest times of our lives. We wonder where he is during the pain of a divorce, times of extreme abuse, the feeling of betrayal when a friend turns on us, or the heartbreak of watching someone we love die.
Remember even the Lord Jesus cried out form the cross... “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” (Mark 15:34)
It is not wrong to feel that way and you have not sinned just because you have lost the sense of God’s presence. Job said, “I’ve got a case to present to the Lord if only I could find him; I've looked high and low for God but I can’t find him anywhere. I’ve searched every direction but he is nowhere to be found.” Then he rose to a higher level of faith and declared, “I can’t see him but it doesn’t matter because I know he sees me.”
We need to remember spiritual growth is a journey, not a destination. Job recognized the fact that it was God allowing his sufferings. You may say it was all Satan's doing, but that is not the whole truth. It was God who brought up Job’s name in the first place when he said, “Have you considered my servant Job?” (Job 1:8) It was God who set the limits on how far Satan could go in tormenting Job. Satan may have started it, but God set the rules for the game. “Go ahead; do what you want with all that is his. Just don’t hurt him.”(Job 1:12). In Job 2:6 God tells Satan you can do what you want to Job but do not kill him. Even after being stricken with terrible sores, Job did not curse God. He simply stated, “We take the good days from God; why not also the bad days.” (Job 2:10)
Suffering is part of God’s process to bring you to spiritual maturity. WE ALL HAVE TO DO SOME FURNACE TIME SOONER OR LATER. It is hot in there; it hurts; inside it feels like it will last forever and that you are all alone. None of us likes it but in the end those objections do not really matter.
Does God see us during times of suffering? In the Old Testament we meet a woman named Hagar. Hagar fled from the household of Abraham and Sarah. Pregnant and alone, she wandered in the barren desert. The Lord found her near a spring and told her to go back to Abraham and Sarah. He also told her to name her son Ishmael, which means “God hears,” because the Lord heard of her misery. She replied with one of the most wonderful statements in the Old Testament, “You are the God who sees me” (Genesis 16:13). You may not see him but he sees you. He knows everything you are going through.
What is God trying to do when he allows his children to go through hard trials and deep suffering? There are several answers to that question. First, God is trying to purge us of our sin and purify us of our inequity. Second, God uses suffering to test our faith. Will you still obey God in times of darkness? Will you serve God when things are not going your way? Will you hold onto the truth when you feel like giving up? Third, God uses times of difficulties to humble us. When things are going well, we tend to get a swelled ego (Big Head) because of our accomplishments but let the darkness fall and we are on our knees crying out to God. Fourth, God uses hard times to prepare us to minister to others. He comforts us so that we may comfort others. Finally, God uses hard times to prepare us for the understanding of his character. In the furnace we discover God’s goodness in a way we had never experienced it before.
I believe that hard times are a gift from God, a way to help us see how much we need a relationship with the Lord. Out of the pit of darkness we often learn of Gods great grace. We often forget of this until life falls apart around us.
Job said, “I will come forth as gold.” In the midst of all that Job was going through, and all the pain involved, he understood with eyes of faith that what God was doing had a purpose. All the terrible things that happened to him were not to destroy him but to improve him. When God wants to improve a person spiritually, he puts them through great trials.
Job compared it to the process of refining gold. To refine gold, you take raw chunks of gold (pieces of stone flecked with tiny pieces of gold) and put them into a fiery furnace. The heat causes the stone and dirt to melt and to rise to the top to be skimmed off so that all that is left is pure gold. It takes an enormous amount of heat but the end result is worth it. What you are left with is pure gold without any impurities.
In our own lives, the hotter the fire, the more the pain but the quicker the gold comes forth. The end result? You are both approved and improved by God. Approved: Found to be better; improved: made to be better.
For those among us who still find ourselves inside the furnace, the promise that it will not last forever may not help when the flames are still leaping up and around. I cannot promise when your trials will end; however, our God is always on time. You cannot rush him, but rest assured he is never late. When he deems the time appropriate, the fierce heat will dissipate and the gold of tested character will come forth in your life.
“My feet have closely followed his steps; I have kept to his way without turning aside. I have not departed from the commands of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my daily bread. Job, a man in dire straits, far worse than most of us will ever know, boldly states: “I’m still serving the Lord. As bad as it has been nothing can make me turn away from God.” Wow! If we all had that much faith!
For those of us who survive great trials, it becomes easier to recognize that faith is a conscious moment-by-moment choice. It is not based on how we feel in any given moment. It is not an emotion. “I feel good today, things are going well.” Feeling-based faith will not cut it when life crashes in on us at every side. (It is only an emotion and lacks substance). Simply putting on a feel good “High” faith is easy but when thing’s are not going well, we lose that “High” as our faith is tested. In those moments of desperation, we have a choice to make. I am sure Job did not feel like following God after all tragedies he had endured but he did it anyway. Faith comes in many varieties, but in the end the faith that wins is the true faith that chooses to obey God in spite of our own circumstances.
A lot of us tend to forget that God is God and we are not. Until we understand this, we are going to be unhappy because we will end up fighting against God.
Let us pray:
Father God, I give you the right to set the agenda for my life moment by moment, day by day. Help me to understand the things that I do not. You can change the agenda any time you want without advanced warning. I pray, Father God that you will use me for your glory in a way that will please you and as you see fit! I surrender my agenda and control. Even when it makes me angry, I will allow you to be God. I am stepping out of the way! Thank-You, Lord. I give to you all the praise and Glory.... Amen!
If you find yourself in the fiery furnace, do not take matters into your own hands- that only makes matters worse. Escaping the furnace is an impossible task. Learn from this time; grow from it. God has wonderful things to teach you if you will only listen and learn. Grow from this experience. While you are in the furnace, you should seek a quiet heart, listen to God’s voice, look for God’s handiwork and stay faithful, no matter what.
If you are hurting today, you may feel like you cannot take anymore. My prayer for you is that you will hang on to the lord; turn to him; if you turn away, things can only get worse.
If God is good, why do we hurt? The truth of the matter is we can hurt with God or we can hurt without him. Do you trust God? If so, you can face the worst that life has to offer. Trust in him and know that he can be trusted to do what is right. Our God is faithful to keep every one of his promises. Nothing can happen to us except it first pass through the hands of a loving God. If your path is dark, keep on believing, light is soon to come. When your furnace time is over, you will come forth as gold!
Sunday, June 10, 2007
THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME
When Jesus took up the scroll in the temple and read from the words of the prophet Isaiah (Luke 4:17-21), He read this far:
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor;he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted,to preach deliverance to the captives,and recovering of sight to the blind,to set at liberty them that are bruised,to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. Isaiah 61: 1-2a
Then He closed the book, returned it to the minister, and sat down. All eyes were upon Him, and He told them,
This day is THIS scripture fulfilled in your ears.
Isaiah 61:1
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because the LORD has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners;
18"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor Luke 4:18-19
PRAISE THE LORD AND PASS THE AMMUNITION!
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor;he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted,to preach deliverance to the captives,and recovering of sight to the blind,to set at liberty them that are bruised,to preach the acceptable year of the Lord. Isaiah 61: 1-2a
Then He closed the book, returned it to the minister, and sat down. All eyes were upon Him, and He told them,
This day is THIS scripture fulfilled in your ears.
Isaiah 61:1
The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because the LORD has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners;
18"The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor Luke 4:18-19
PRAISE THE LORD AND PASS THE AMMUNITION!
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