Recognizing the Master's majesty

Greetings:
Psalm 100 is a beautiful reminder of God's majesty for which we owe Him much honor and praise.
The passage reads: “Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth! Worship the Lord with gladness. Come before him, singing with joy. Acknowledge that the Lord is God! He made us, and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation.”
We thank for who God is and from God flow all blessings.
The goodness of The Lord is that attribute of God that allows us sinners to have an opportunity to hear the Gospel and be saved.
The goodness of God is what preserves each of every day.
Though we have sinned against the Lord, the goodness of God is what gives us food, water and a roof over our heads.
God's goodness can be seen in the eyes of a small child.
God's goodness is seen in the beauty of farm fields, gardens, forests, lakes, and wetlands.
God's goodness is seen in a sunrise and a sunset.
God's goodness is seen when it rains, even when it storms.
God's goodness is the common blessings that we all have and too often take for granted.
Thinking about the goodness of God affords us the opportunity to return thanks to Him in the form of praise and worship.
The psalm doesn't say we have to be a great singer or even be able to carry much a tune at all. The psalm doesn't say our praise and worship has to be confined inside the walls of the church.
We are simply asked to come to worship The Lord with gladness in our hearts and joy on our lips for this is the day that the Lord has made.
Be blessed.

Thank you, Lord, for another day

Greetings:
Life has a way of coming at us very quickly and in an unpredictable fashion.
Many times good things do happen, and other times we face a terrific onslaught of difficulty after difficulty and it seems like we just can't catch a break.
When the waves of strife drive our faces into the dirt, we must not give up, lose heart, or stop trusting God.
Instead, we should get up, dust off and be thankful.
The Apostle Paul did not learn contentment overnight, but it was over time through a great deal of suffering that he learned not to overlook the basic, small provisions of God, but to be thankful for them.  With mere food and body covering, he could be content. 
Sometimes, God allows suffering to help us be mindful of all of the many smaller graces that He has given us in our lives. It is easy to overlook things and take them for granted.  We should be thankful to God for them, as insignificant as they might seem.  Just comparing our life to somebody who is in a worse state does not necessarily make us feel better. But if we thank God that we have the things, then we realize that others might not be so fortunate.  Our thanksgiving can change our perspective and bring us contentment. 
We need to maintain Paul’s attitude of thankfulness for all things and even in the direst and unfair of circumstances. We need to make a point to thank God for the blessings that He gives us each and every day. 
We ought to wake up every morning and our first thoughts ought to be 'Thank you, Lord, we have another day to serve you'.
Be blessed

Let us always be thankful for the 'Son'

Greetings:
One of the first steps into spiritual decay is to refuse to or neglect to give God thanks after experiencing his goodness and seeing his power manifested on our behalf.
If we fail to acknowledge God, we can begin to feel proud and self-sufficient, which is a dangerous road to walk on.
Rather, we need to acknowledge God’s provision in everything.
In 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (Amplified Bible) we read, “Thank [God] in everything [no matter what the circumstances may be, be thankful and give thanks], for this is the will of God for you [who are] in Christ Jesus [the Revealer and Mediator of that will].”
This verse says that it’s God’s will for everyone who believes in Jesus to be thankful. There are some things that happen in our lives that we are truly thankful for. But some things that happen are really difficult.  Let’s look really closely at the verse. Some might think that this verse says to be thankful for all of our circumstances. But the verse actually says to be thankful in all circumstances. The original Hebrew word for 'in' that is used here means 'in the middle of' or 'during'.
In other words, no matter what is happening in our life, we can be thankful.
We must remember most of all, we should be thankful because God gave His Son, Jesus, to save us from the punishment of our sin, and give us new life.
If only we could see through God's eyes, we would have more mercies than we could ever account for. Let us not let the missiles that the devil fires at us knock us down so much that we forget that we have Christ and the many blessings of God. We should never lose our hope, and we should always have reason to truly be thankful.
Be blessed.

Being humble is bold

Greetings:
The Bible says a humble heart trembles before God’s Word.
Look at Isaiah 66:2 (NLT). It says: “My hands have made both heaven and earth; they and everything in them are mine.  I, the Lord, have spoken! 'I will bless those who have humble and contrite hearts, who tremble at my word'.”
Are we trembling as we read God's Word or just reading it and not truly understanding what God is telling us?
Those with humble hearts don’t read God’s Word carelessly, but rather with hearts that are tender and open to hear what God’s Word might have to say to them to convict them or teach them.
When we are humble we take God’s Word seriously and soak it up like a sponge and the act of hearing it with great reverence and persistence.
When we are humble we actually believe God's Word rather than just read it.
There is a love and value for what God says that clearly sets apart the humble from the proud.
Humility must be the object of special desire and made a part of our character through prayer, faith, study, and discipline.
We must acknowledge that there‘s nothing good in ourselves, except as we are made a servant unto God.
We must let our natural self-die in order to become a vessel to the glory of God.
The humble heart values the welfare of others ahead of its own.
Philippians 2:3(NLT) says, “Don't be selfish; don't live to make a good impression on others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourself."
Humility leads us to admit our need for God.
Humility will lead us to appreciate God, trust God's will for our lives, and give God the glory for all we are and all we will be in the future.
Be blessed.

We are The Church

Greetings:
You and I are the gospel.
You and I are the hands and feet of Jesus on earth today.
We are the Church.
Let us wake up and step out and do all we are called to do. The job of the church is much more than preaching, teaching and explaining the words in Holy Scripture.
The church in us is to be lived out in our communities where we live and around the world. We are the hands, feet, and mouthpieces for the Word of God.
The mission of Christ is in each of us as Christians. The gospel is the things that we do, who we are, and how we display the love of Jesus Christ to the world around us.
Let us reflect this morning and discover our personal mission field, which does not necessarily involve packing up our things and moving to some far off country. The mission field that we might be called too could be right here in our own backyards if we just look around and listen to what God is telling us.
Pray before doing anything. Please know that God has a plan for each of us to shine the truths of the gospels to someone, somewhere, at some time.
Be blessed.

If we are not thankful, the fault rests with us

Greetings:
Many times we are selfish with God and fail to take time to just thank him for blessings.
On our worst day, we still have plenty of reasons to offer up thanksgiving to God.
Our morning routine ought to be to open our eyes with the new dawn and shout thanks to God for granting us another day of life on this earth. If we are thankful, we don't have time to get weighed down the troubles of the world. God has all of those things under control.
Look at what God's Word says about being thankful.
In 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (The Amplified Bible) we read: “Thank [God] in everything [no matter what the circumstances may be, be thankful and give thanks], for this is the will of God for you [who are] in Christ Jesus [the Revealer and Mediator of that will].”
Thankfulness is a sign of a changed life.
Even in simple things we should be thankful. We should not reserve our praise to God for only the big things in life. Recognize that God is the giver of all good gifts in our lives, great or small.
A thankful heart can change the whole way we view life. It is a flood-gate opener to blessings, joy peace and all sorts of goodness. With thankful hearts, we can even touch the very heart of God, and King David even told us that when we approach God, enter into His gates with thankful hearts!
Psalm 100:4-5 (The Amplified Bible) reads: “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and a thank offering and into His courts with praise! Be thankful and say so to Him, bless and affectionately praise His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy and loving-kindness are everlasting, His faithfulness and truth endure to all generations.”
On this day, thank God for what his son Jesus did on the cross for each of us. Healing, prosperity, joy, peace, and deliverance are all parts of what Jesus accomplished for us.
If we find no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies with us.
Be blessed.

Finding your alone time

Greetings:
There are times when I just need to get alone with God to be refreshed.
My spiritual relief valve or recharge place is to take a drive alone through the beautiful countryside and just look around. The spring season is great. We hear the sound of songbirds, enjoy the smell of fresh flowers and newly-sprouted grasslands.
I've most generally got my camera close at hand and I love to capture images of God's beautiful things. I look for the things we see on many days, but pass by without much thought. Those are the images I like to record and etch into photos for others to enjoy.
I'm blessed to live in an area of southern Indiana  where the work of God's majestic hand is abound.
Look at Psalms 19:1-6 (NLT). It reads: “The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. They speak without a sound or word;  their voice is never heard. Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world. God has made a home in the heavens for the sun. It bursts forth like a radiant bridegroom after his wedding. It rejoices like a great athlete eager to run the race. The sun rises at one end of the heavens  and follows its course to the other end. Nothing can hide from its heat.”
How can one deny the majesty of God's creation when you simply look around and see all of the splendor and beauty?
For me, it is necessary to slow down and look around and get alone for that prayer time, that time of reflection. I find joy and satisfaction, It's a place for me to know his closeness, to hear his voice and sense His smile.
It's priceless.
Be blessed.

Create in me a heart that is pleasing

Greetings:
Too often we fail at doing the simplest of things.
This morning,  I ask God to create in me a heart that will do the things he would have me to do and treat the people around me the way that is pleasing in his sight.
Too often we fall short in those tasks.
I am drawn to Galatians 5:22-23 to think about the Fruits of the Spirit.
Paul wrote: "And the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control."(New Living Translation).
It is all there – the recipe for a good and productive walk with God.
On this day let us pursue, desire and pray for the Fruits of the Spirit to be more evident in each of our lives. The results will be pleasing in the eyes of God and we will get along better with those we come in contact with, those we work with and those in our families.
There's nothing complicated about it. Our heart just needs to be right to get these virtues working in our lives.
Be blessed.

Make the choice of prayer.

Greetings:
Praying is a choice, an action that we have to physically take.
It does take the effort to find time in our busy lives to give time to God in prayer. We pray to praise him, honor him and hear him. We need time to be still and to know he is God and listen to what he is telling us.
This prayer battle was that we are in is the real deal. But the good news is 'we win'. God prevails, but prayer will get us there. Prayer will keep us safe. Prayer will give us comfort, wisdom, strength, protection, guidance, healing, peace and happiness.
Once we realize our own weaknesses and the evil powers standing ready against us, we understand the need and importance of prayer. If we want to do things for the kingdom, if we want to move forward with the work that God has called us to do – we have to be praying.
Look at James 5 starting at the 13th verse (NLT) to learn about the power of prayer that is as alive today as it was hundreds of years ago.
It reads: “Are any of you suffering hardships? You should pray. Are any of you happy? You should sing praises. Are any of you sick? You should call for the elders of the church to come and pray over you, anointing you with oil in the name of the Lord. Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven. Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.“
There are things, many things that we can’t do in our own strength or abilities.
In Acts 4, the church prayed and the house where they prayed was shaken and the gospel went forth with power.
Peter prayed and a woman was raised from the dead in Acts 9
In Acts 12, the church prayed and Peter was released from prison by an angel.
Paul prayed and many were healed in Acts 28.
Without prayer, we really are shackled and God's power to act through us and others is diminished.
Be blessed.

Do we thirst the things of God?

Greetings:
This morning remember how it feels when we are really, really thirsty? We long, maybe even ache, for a cool refreshing drink of water.
In Psalm 42, we learn about longing for God from the deer’s thirst for water.
In the Living Bible, Psalm 42:1-7 reads:
“As the deer pants for water, so I long for you, O God. I thirst for God, the living God. Where can I find him to come and stand before him? Day and night I weep for his help, and all the while my enemies taunt me. “Where is this God of yours?” they scoff. Take courage, my soul! Do you remember those times (but how could you ever forget them!) when you led a great procession to the Temple on festival days, singing with joy, praising the Lord? Why then be downcast? Why be discouraged and sad? Hope in God! I shall yet praise him again. Yes, I shall again praise him for his help. Yet I am standing here depressed and gloomy, but I will meditate upon your kindness to this lovely land where the Jordan River flows and where Mount Hermon and Mount Mizar stand. All your waves and billows have gone over me, and floods of sorrow pour upon me like a thundering cataract.”
Just as a deer needs the streams of waters for survival and pants for those refreshing waters, so also our souls should long for God.
Testing our thirst is one of the best tests we can perform on our hearts to determine our true love for God.
Do we thirst to study God’s revealed word?
Do we thirst to worship the Lord?
Do we thirst to talk about spiritual things?
Do we thirst to study the word with other brothers and sisters in our Christian family?
Do we have the thirst that causes us to ask, “When can I go and meet with God?”
As we go about our activities today, we can ask ourselves, have we really developed a true thirst for the things of God?
Be blessed.

Strive to be revived

Greetings:
Souls are dying all around us every day, spiritually and physically.  It’s time to go and “snatch them from the fire”.
The redemptive work of Christ on the cross took care of the devil's defeat. Throughout the New Testament, the Church has been called to do restoration work, such as releasing – delivering – people from the devil's bondages that were put on them as well as healing the sick.
Christ and the Church release the talents through people – some sing, some evangelize, some play instruments, some worship,  some pray and intercede, others are given the same gifts that we see in Romans 12, such as love, patience, being hospitable, being humble, fostering peace, feeding those in need and doing good to conquer evil.
Let us become like Paul and have the faith to see great things happen. It's time to move out of the way to let God's power move through each of us.
In 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, Paul wrote: “And He said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.  Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ's sake.  For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
May we become the church that God has ordained us to be. Let us be expecting to bring souls to Christ; expecting to see people healed, expecting to see people delivered and set free through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Let the Church be filled with a new fire of revival that starts with each one of us.
Be blessed.

Faith opens God's promises

Greetings:
Faith brings the promises of The Bible alive and gives us hope as we walk each day. Faith produces a sweet song of strength in my heart when the dark clouds of despair roll in.
Faith shouts to the devil 'get out of the way you liar. My God reigns all the time all day long'.
Faith, oh the sweet sound of faith is music to my ears. We can't see faith, we can't smell faith. We can't taste faith. But, for sure we can't live without faith.
Thank the Lord for giving us the mighty word of faith. With it, we draw our strength, our patience, our perseverance, our love, our view of better days ahead.
Faith is there for each of us. It is the substance of things hoped, the assurance of things we don't see. It is the answer to our prayers. Faith gives us reason to push on and proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ, the author, and perfecter of our salvation.
Faith tells me the sun will rise and set each day.
Faith leaves me no doubt that there is more than this earthly life. Faith tells me there is an eternal life where we are going to have a glorious reunion in heaven with our Christian Family members and all our other Christian brothers and sisters.
Be blessed.

Coming soon

Very pleased to share the cover of my latest writing project - "Faith Now" . This book is a 40-day devotional of hope and encouragement. We are in the final review process and it will be released in a few days on Amazon. I am blessed beyond measure.

Keep climbing up the ladder

Greetings:
Our Christian walk can be compared to a stroll up a steep staircase.
Each step is a challenge. These challenges are learning moments designed to increase our faith, show to us God's mercy and loving grace.
The staircase is like the eight Beatitudes described in Matthew 5:1-12 because they are all aspects of being in close communion with God.
There is a pattern and a progression here. Each step leads to the next. Remove any one of steps, and we fall or we are stopped. It is a carefully built staircase. The steps are not in a random order. To reach the second step, we need to make it past the first step.
We are directed to keep climbing, even when it seems it takes every ounce of our strength to keep going up. It's difficult to put one foot in front of the other on some days.
We just keep walking, keep climbing, keep trusting in his guidance which whispers in our spirit.
Sometimes we wonder if we will ever make it to the top. Our muscles and bones ache. Our heart pounds with fatigue. We pray for another route to make the climb easier, but there is none.
We must consciously make a choice to go to the next step, and God is not in a hurry. He waits patiently, lovingly and relentlessly for us to catch our breath and relax along the way.
At these times of rest, we know that by looking down, we see and comprehend what we have overcome just to get to this place. But if we look up at the number of stairs still left to climb, it seems daunting and almost overwhelming.
God showed me that we cannot look at only the stairs. We need to fix our eyes on what we cannot see. It's by faith that we walk. Going back down is not an option. We've been set free.
At times we want to stop and sit right where we are at. We just hang out for a while in one place. That's a time of rest. But we shouldn't get too content and we must continue upward and overcome the temptation to stop.
So we pray for a steady pace, understanding each level. We make a conscious decision to move up and onward as we climb the stairs on this particular day.
Be blessed.

Getting real with forgiveness

Greetings:
In recent weeks God has been teaching me much about His goodness and His blessings. He's been showing me what real faith is and what it's not.
Faith is not wearing out your brain trying to come up with all the possible outcomes of a situation. Know God has a plan and he is in control.
Faith is not performing the same mistakes things over and over again and ending up with an outcome you hoped would be different.
It's time to get honest.
I have been timid in my approach to God. For that, I ask forgiveness.
I have been less than the perfect mate. For that, I ask forgiveness.
I have not always happy – even when I should have been beaming with glory for God's goodness and blessings. For that, I ask forgiveness.
I should have been listening to God, hearing his voice and taking direction from Him. For that, I ask forgiveness.
I've been mad at myself when I should be praising God for his many blessings. For that, I ask forgiveness.
God has prompted me to pray and encourage some friends and strangers too, and I failed to do it. For that, I ask forgiveness.
The Apostle Paul gives some great in 2 Corinthians 13:11 (NLT) on how to find our own peace. He writes, "Dear brothers and sisters, I close my letter with these last words: Be joyful. Grow to maturity. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you."
I will improve.
Be blessed.

Trusting God is not for the faint at heart

Greetings:
Trusting God means exactly what it says. We trust him fully every day - no matter how we feel, what we see, what we hear, regardless of our circumstances.
In our hearts, we believe God is who he says He is.
God desires that we turn to him for strength.
God desires that we rest safely in His care.
God does allow distress and conflicts into our lives, but difficulties are our chance to let God work.
God doesn’t want to merely come to our aid when things go bad and get beyond our control.  God wants us to trust Him fully all the time. To trust Him with our hearts means that we let Him direct our thoughts, dictate our decision-making, sanctify our emotions, and refine our desires.
God wants full surrender, taking up our crosses, denying ourselves, and following Him
Read Matthew 16:24-26 if you want to know the criteria for being one of Jesus' followers. It says: “Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?”
The road to spiritual strength and growth is not for the faint of heart. But it is for those who know how to pray and are willing to put in the time to build strength and faith. Then, we are directed to follow.
Be blessed.

We are loved more than we can imagine

Greetings:
Sometimes we struggle with a sense of need for spiritual motivation.  Somehow things have not gone quite as we expected. We haven't been able to do just what we determined to do. So we are asking ourselves, "How can I do better? How can I motivate myself really to do what I know I ought to do?"
The answer is to meditate on the vast love of God for each of us.
God has picked us up, cleaned us up and presented us worthy as forgiven sinners when we didn't deserve a thing. God sent his son Jesus to walk among us to die on a cross for the forgiveness of our sins and the sins of all generations in the future. He was the perfect and lasting sacrifice for you and me.
This was done because of God's love for us. Is there a better gesture of love?
Are we feeling sorry for ourselves and our spirit is tired? Have we been regarding worship and prayer as a real task? Many days we simply don’t do it. Have we allowed the world, the flesh or the devil to beat us up and to depress us? The one spiritual medicine to fix all of that is to meditate upon and to contemplate the love of Christ for each of us.
When I reflect on the love of God for each of us, I continue to be in awe and my spirit becomes uplifting. Troubles that I may be facing at the time suddenly seem to be of little importance in light of this awesome truth.
Look at Ephesians 3:18-19 (NLB) to better understand this love. It reads, "And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God."
Think about our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, and dreams. God is able to do above even those things.
Be blessed.

Rise and shine

Greetings:
I am what one would call an early riser. I enjoy the first hours in the morning when it's still dark and I can sit and pray and hear the 'tick-tock' sound of the wind-up clock that hangs on our dining room wall.
To me, it's a peaceful time to reflect and ask for God's presence. I can also sit here at my keyboard and rejoice before dawn, knowing God has graciously granted me a new day, a new dawn and the opportunity to serve him.
I remember as a youngster hearing my Mom's voice bellowing up the stairway to my second-floor bedroom,
“Come on Nick, rise and shine!’
I was thinking about her familiar 'rise and shine' greeting this morning and found out through a little study that the phrase‘ rise and shine’, traces its roots back to a passage in Isaiah 60.
Isaiah 60:1 (Amplified Bible) reads: "Arise [from the depression and prostration in which circumstances have kept you—rise to a new life]! Shine (be radiant with the glory of the Lord), for your light, has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you!"
The light shines in the darkness of our own lives and in that light we can see.
When we have Christ in our lives,  we can see ourselves for what we are. We can see the Lord Jesus for who He truly is. We can see the purpose of life.
Let us discover his plans and purposes for this unique hour in which we live so that we can build according to God's ordained plan for each of us.
Be blessed.

Life isn't always fair

Greetings:
Life is supposed to be fair and just.  At times it is not.
We must understand and accept the reality that the rain falls on the just and the unjust as it says in Matthew 5:45.
In this life, at times the wicked prosper, and other times the righteous reign victorious.
Our hope has to remain in Jesus.
We believe he will settle all accounts, avenge all wrongs, and make all things fair and just. But in the meantime, things will be out of balance, unfair, and unjust. Thus, we must accept the reality of being in a fallen world, and we must then look forward to the day when Christ will make all things right. We will be rewarded for our faithfulness and stewardship because God sees all.
Paul says in Philippians 4:7, “And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
We must remember that we are not God, and we don’t have all understanding.  However, we can have His peace despite our lack of understanding as we trust God that He will help us know what we need to know. 
Peace makes it possible for us to have rest even when things don’t make sense to us.
This internal tranquility and comfort require that we trust God; that we rest in His plan; that we cast our cares upon Him; and that we accept the fact that sometimes we just do not understand what God is doing.
Be blessed.

It's battle, not a recreational game

Greetings:
We each face our own daily spiritual battle. It’s not a recreational game. It is serious and warrants our full attention.
The place to start is in our place of prayer - our prayer closet wherever that might be.
We are talking about evil demonic spirits that can and will attack each of us as Christians if we allow it.
In spiritual warfare, demonic spirits are launched as fiery darts or flaming arrows as Ephesians 6:16 tells us: “In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one."
These fiery darts come in one of three forms; temptations, deceptions, and accusations.
The devil tempted Eve in the garden. If Satan wants more legal grounds in our lives, we can expect some temptations to come our way. That's his way of getting us to fall and give him a place to operate.
A countless number of believers are living in defeat because they have been deceived. The enemy has deceived them and caused them to believe and live a lie. If we allow deception to take hold, strongholds can then be formed in our minds.
Strongholds have tremendous power to affect our feelings and emotions. Many Christians feel guilt-ridden and worthless because they don't see themselves the way they ought to because of deception.
If we let our guard down, bam!....he's got us.
Satan is also the accuser of the believers. Not the accuser of the sinners or the world, but the children of God. He could care less about badgering those who are in his kingdom, but he loves to pick on the children of God – you and me.
He accuses us by reminding us of our past sins and failures. Don't listen to his accusations.
Ephesians 6 speaks of the weapons that we are to use in spiritual warfare, and in verse 17 we are told to take up the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God."
The devil tells us: "You're a failure! Look at your past!"
God's Word says: "What past? The blood of Jesus has washed it away!" We are clean and redeemed by the grace of God.
This is the real deal and a challenge if we are not prepared, studied up and prayed up.
Fight the battle with the Word of God. The devil can't stand the truth. Rebuke and resist the devil's advances. Remember, God, wins this war.
Be blessed.

Being weak, but strong in faith

Greetings:
Can a person be weak and still be strong in faith?
That question is answered by the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 where he writes: “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
The problems in our life are often blessings in disguise. We must learn to view them from this spiritual point of view.
The greater the burden placed upon us, the greater the faith required to “hang-in-there.”
It takes faith to continue living for God when things turn for the worse in our life. It's easy to be happy and praises God when everything is going great, but the true test is to continue in your walk and increase your faith in a time of trouble or burden.
I don't know of one Christian who is invincible. The key is to always to get back up off the ground, brush the dust off, and do what you can to get back on track for God.
Proverbs 24:16 (NLT), says: “The godly may trip seven times, but they will get up again.  But one disaster is enough to overthrow the wicked.”
The key is to keep getting up when we are challenged. Keep trusting in God for he is the answer when we have none.
Remember, unshakable faith comes from having your faith shaken.
Be blessed.

Find your God job

Greetings:
Let us take time today to reflect on our place and mission in the kingdom of God. We all have a ministry and most of those do not involve standing in a pulpit on Sunday morning.
We are called to spread the Good News around the world. Are we each doing our part to accomplish this commission?
If we are unable to do anything else, we can pray for those on the front lines of the spiritual battle and in the prayer closets in the war rooms.
We can each do our part. We just need to seek God's direction, get on His path and do something.
Ephesians 4:11-12 (NLT) gives us our role as followers of Christ.
It reads, "Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ.
That says we are all different in our talents. We each do have a job for Christ. Let's get on with it.
My prayer for today:
'Lord, please give me a clearer sense of your glory and victory. Please empower my faith to trust the truth of your conquest over hell. Please fill me with your Spirits of boldness and wisdom and love. Bring forth your fruit in my life. Please fill my mouth with joyful praise for all that you have done for my family and me. In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.
Be blessed.

Let the joy of the Lord lift us up

Greetings:
The Lord keeps showing me to let His joy be our strength when we are tired, drained and needing more than another cup of coffee or a hit from a 'Five Hour Energy' container.
Let the joy of the Lord lift us up and guide us on those long days and short sleepless night.
Let the joy of the Lord pick us up and direct our paths when we are lost and searching aimlessly for direction in our lives, our careers, our future.
Nehemiah 8:10 says, “This day is holy to our Lord. Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.”
This joy or gladness is not happiness that depends on our circumstances and our moods, which has to do with our emotions or station in life. This joy is something that is constant. It is from within us because He lives within.
Joy is just part of our strength. When we have the joy of the Lord we will rely on the strength that God has given us. If we are joyful we can more easily trust in God who is our strength.
In closing, my prayer is Romans 15:13 (NLT), which reads: “I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Be blessed.

Teach me, God, to do your will

Greetings:
To grow spiritually, we have to be teachable.
Psalm 143:10 is an uplifting verse that is actually a desperate cry for help.
In The Amplified Bible, it reads, “Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; let your good Spirit lead me into a level country and into the land of uprightness.”
“Teach me to do your will” – that seems so simple, but it is a difficult thing to do.
How childlike - "Teach me"!
How practical - "Teach me to do"!
How undivided in obedience -- "To do your will."
When our heart can sincerely call Jehovah "my God", then understanding is ready to learn of Him, the will is prepared to obey Him and the whole man is eager to please Him.
God is all spirit and all good. His essence is goodness, kindness, holiness. It is His nature to do well.
Learning to do anything new is often difficult. I remember learning to ride my bicycle for the first time. It was hard, and so was the ground that I often fell on when the training wheels were removed.
However, the reward was good.
On those days that aren't so great, God has a new bike ready for us to learn how to ride.
Psalm 143 is a cry for help.  David is desperate for God to rescue him.  And in the middle of all his cries for help, David asks God, “Teach me to do your will, for you are my God.” 
David knows God is in control, and the best way to learn His will is to go through and not around the storm.
Are you ready for God to use any circumstance in your life to teach you to do His will?  Today choose to see difficulties as opportunities to learn how to obey the will of God.
Let us all cry out this morning, "Teach me, God, to do your will!"
Be blessed.

Kill them with kindness

Greetings:
Through the life of Jesus Christ, we see the greatest, most complete example of kindness we'll ever know. Jesus saw a whole lot of hurt, brokenness, and despair, but he kept on being kind, with no regard for the conditions.
When we think of kindness, what does that mean to us?
Is kindness a bag of fresh garden vegetables taken to a friend or even a complete stranger?
Is kindness an encouraging note sent by a friend?
Is kindness a caring shoulder to cry on?
Is kindness a bowl of chocolate chip cookies fresh from the oven delivered to or from a friend?
Is kindness a telephone call just to say 'hello and how are you doing'?
Is kindness greeting someone on the street with a smile?
Is kindness offering one of those 'pay' shopping carts to a stranger for no other reason than you want to be kind?
Read Galatians 5:22-23 and see that kindness is there in the list of fruits that we should cultivate in our orchard of life.
“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”
When we're kind, others get to experience that warmth, and whether they realize it or not they are also experiencing some of God's own character.
God knew what we needed before we even asked for it. That's kindness - the ability to recognize the needs of others and take steps to meet those needs.
Galatians 6:10 (New American Standard Bible readsds, "So then, while we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who are of the household of the faith."
Kindness is compassion towards others when we have nothing to gain.
Be kind today in some way, reach out, see and act on the needs of others above our own wants.
Be blessed.

We are never alone

Greetings:
When one of life's storms hit, the place to start to find calm is with God.
As it says in Psalm 46:10, “Be still, and know that I am God.”
When trouble is all around we can either panic or find strength in our faith.
God and His army of angels are constantly at work protecting us in ways we aren't even aware of.
God is protecting us day and night. He's aware and on the job for each of us around the clock.
We have to remember that in the midst of any storm – not just natural weather storms – God is at work. He is protecting, healing, cleansing, delivering and loving us.
Since God is our protector, He delivers us out of our dangers. Sometimes we don’t even realize immediately that He has delivered us out of a danger.
We might be diverted from something of turned away from a situation that potentially could have been very harmful to us, by the guiding hand of God.
Psalm 34: 19 says, "A righteous man may have many troubles, but The Lord delivers him from them all; He protects all his bones, not one of them will be broken.
Be thankful today that we are never alone.
Be blessed.

Blessed are those who show mercy

Greetings:
The Bible makes it clear that God is the Great Judge who hates all evil-doing, he is also the God of Mercy, who forgives and accepts people who turn to him.
Mercy is a precious gift to be cherished and practiced.
The word mercy means compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender, an enemy, or any person in one's power. A second definition is a disposition to be compassionate or forbearing. Another meaning of the word mercy is something that gives evidence of divine favor or a blessing.
Mercy may be hard for us to understand.
We read in Matthew 5:7," Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy."
When we have walked in meekness before God and have hungered and thirsted for his righteousness, then it will produce mercy in us. We will be more merciful because we recognize how much mercy has been extended to us.
Mercy is something we do, not just something we feel. Mercy means to help a person in need, to rescue the miserable and to pour out an act of kindness – expecting nothing in return.
Mercy means a sense of pity, plus a desire to relieve the suffering.
Simply saying, "I feel your pain" is not mercy. Mercy is meeting the need, not just feeling it. Real mercy is pity plus action.
Mercy is taking a step forward, sometimes in faith, and doing something –  not just thinking or praying about it.
The gospel tells us that some things are excusable and everything is forgivable.
If we give no mercy, we can expect none. If we show mercy, we shall—absolutely for sure — obtain mercy.
Be blessed.

Stand firm on the promises

Greetings:
As Christians, we become established in our righteousness by faith, not by our works.
If our works could make us righteous, then Jesus died in vain. When we believe we are the righteousness of God, sin has no more dominion over us.
In Colossians 1:13-14, it says we have been delivered from the realm of darkness.
In the realm of darkness, there is depression, sickness, poverty, and all types of lack. In the realm of light, there is joy, peace, love, prosperity, healing, righteousness, deliverance, and victory.
Our first reaction is going to determine the outcome of a crisis situation. Seldom do we have the luxury of sitting back and looking at things. The attitude we have when Satan comes against us is going to determine the final result. We have power over spiritual weapons fired at us.
The first thing we have to do when Satan comes against us is to make the decision that we are not going to let our heart be troubled.
The vast majority of people who are attacked by Satan don't really understand this. A lot of them believe that in a given situation, there is no way that they can help, but to be depressed and discouraged. They justify emotions that are contrary to God's Word.
We can learn about faith, we can learn about confession, we can learn everything the Bible says. Yet, in our heart, if we've taken offense, if we've been hurt, if we submit to feelings of depression or discouragement, we'll wipe out everything good. Nothing is going to work.
That's why some people can take all the steps people outline for them, memorize them and carry them out, but if their hearts are discouraged, to begin with, it won't work. They never were standing in faith.
The enemy plans to deceive us. He wants us to believe that God does not love us. We've got to fix our heart on Jesus so that no matter what the devil does, we're going to walk in victory.
Be blessed.

Paul trusted and believed

Greetings:
In reading the Epistles, written by the Apostle Paul, I am amazed at how cool he remained as the world around him was crashing down.
He remained strong in spirit.
Paul didn’t learn contentment overnight, but it happened over a period of time and through a great deal of suffering that he learned not to overlook the basic, small provisions of God. He learned to be thankful for them.
When strife drives our faces into the dirt, we must not give up, lose heart, or stop trusting God. That's the time to get up, dust off and be thankful.
Sometimes, God allows suffering to help us be mindful of all of the many smaller graces that He has given us in our lives. It is easy to overlook things and take them for granted.  We should be thankful to God for them, as insignificant as they might seem.  Just comparing our life to somebody who is in a worse state does not necessarily make us feel better.  But if we thank God that we have the things that we realize that others might not be so fortunate to have, then our directing can change our perspective and bring us contentment. 
We need to maintain Paul’s attitude of thankfulness for all things and in even the worst and unfair of circumstances.  We need to make a point to thank God for the blessings that He gives us each and every day. 
We ought to wake up every morning and our first thoughts ought to be 'Thank you, Lord'.
In 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (Amplified Bible) we read, “Thank [God] in everything [no matter what the circumstances may be, be thankful and give thanks], for this is the will of God for you [who are] in Christ Jesus [the Revealer and Mediator of that will].”
Some might think that this verse says to be thankful for all of our circumstances. But the verse actually says to be thankful in all circumstances. The original Hebrew word for word 'in' that is used here means 'in the middle of' or 'during'.
In other words, no matter what is happening in our life, we can be thankful.
Be blessed.

Don't be stupid

Greetings:
We all have said things and done things that we were sorry for later when we’ve lost our temper.
Each of us needs to learn how to respond when life slaps us, rather than react harshly to it.
Proverbs 14:29 pretty well spells it out for us. I found it interesting to read this scripture in a couple different versions of the Bible. The message is the same, but some speak in terms that stand up and shout at you.
Proverbs 14:29 in the New International Version (NIV) reads, “A patient man has a great understanding, but a quick-tempered man displays folly.”
In the King James Version, it says, “He that is slow to wrath is of great understanding: but he that is hasty of spirit exalteth folly.”
In the New Living Translation, we read: “Those who control their anger have great understanding; those with a hasty temper will make mistakes.
I really like the verse in the Good News Translation. It says it like it really is. The verse reads: “If you stay calm, you are wise, but if you have a hot temper, you only show how stupid you are.”
In James 1:19-20 (Good News Translation), it says, “Remember this, my dear friends! Everyone must be quick to listen, but slow to speak and slow to become angry. Human anger does not achieve God's righteous purpose.”
So the message today is simple. We must think before you speak. Be a ready listener and enjoy the freedom from anger that God offers each of us. After all, who wants to be stupid?
Be blessed.

He is alive

Greetings:
Happy Easter today with the joy of Christ's resurrection at the top of our blessings on this special holiday.
We can take comfort that the price has been paid in full for our salvation, redemption and justification in the eyes of God. We are forgiven, wiped clean of sin by the shed blood of Jesus.
The stone had been rolled away and the tomb is empty. Christ lives. No greater gift could we ever receive.
The birth, death and glorious resurrection of Jesus Christ sets Christianity apart from other religions. Our Savior lives and we wait for His promised second coming.
The Bible asserts in 1 Corinthians 15:17, "If Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless; you are still in your sins".
By raising from the dead, Jesus proved His authority and power to break the bonds of sin and to assure forgiveness and eternal life to all who accept His gift of salvation.
Resurrection is the basis for our Christ faith - Jesus Christ was born to a young virgin girl, he died on the cross and on the third day he rose from the death so we might have eternal life.
Those who persecuted Jesus and sentenced him to a humble and painful death on the cross thought on that Friday afternoon that the teachings of this young preacher man were going to be extinguished. Oh, they were so wrong. His teaching and the faith that was formed over the years are still alive and well on this day.
The Resurrection is the final proof that Jesus Christ is who He claimed to be. We can all shout for joy every Resurrection Sunday and proclaim loudly that "God's Not Dead. He's alive!
To Christians, Jesus' resurrection is important, not just because it proves to us who He is, but also because it is the basis for the hope of eternal life.
On this day we should appreciate the wonders and love of God's creation and everything he has granted us through his amazing grace. We should flock into our churches throughout the
world today not out of obligation, but to praise and worship his Holy Name.
Be blessed.