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Post  Admin Fri 17 Sep 2010, 12:45 pm

Pruning Away Undesirables
When a tree or plant does not produce enough fruit or flowers it is often pruned or purged. To prune means to cut off or remove anything considered superfluous or undesirable on the plant. The word superfluous means something unnecessary or needless. In other words, pruning is removing anything that is undesirable or unnecessary if we want to see something good come out of it. Have you ever seen a bush or tree that was pruned? Sometimes all that is left is branches, it looks dead and lifeless, but come spring you will start to see budding and life to it once again. As Christians, it is necessary for God to do some pruning in our lives. If we truly want to serve God and allow Him to do a great work in us we must allow Him to prune away what is superfluous or undesirable in our lives. The Bible says, "How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" - Hebrews 9:14. Works by man made religions to not purge or prune away all the impure, immoral, or corruptible from our lives, the blood of Christ does. It is only by the blood of Christ that we can purge the superfluous or undesirable things from our lives and begin serving the living God, not some false, man made god made to sound like the one and only living God.

Nebuchadnezzar knew of God, but he failed to acknowledge Him as the one and only living God and remove the false gods from the nation. Through a dream God revealed to Nebuchadnezzar what would happen if he continued ignoring the warnings. "I thought it good to shew the signs and wonders that the high God hath wrought toward me...This dream I king Nebuchadnezzar have seen. Now thou, O Belteshazzar, declare the interpretation thereof, forasmuch as all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known unto me the interpretation: but thou art able; for the spirit of the holy gods is in thee. Then Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, was astonied for one hour, and his thoughts troubled him. The king spake, and said, Belteshazzar, let not the dream, or the interpretation thereof, trouble thee. Belteshazzar answered and said, My lord, the dream be to them that hate thee, and the interpretation thereof to thine enemies....This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the most High, which is come upon my lord the king: That they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will. And whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots; thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee, after that thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule." - Daniel 4:2,18,19,24- 26. Nebuchadnezzar was warned that if he did not stop worshiping these false gods that he would be forced to live like an animal. Let me tell you that if God has to He will do some serious pruning to get us to remove the undesirables from our lives and prove that He is the one in control, especially if we fail to listen to the warnings.

Nebuchadnezzar failed to heed the warning and withing the hour he was literally transformed into a type of animal and forced to live in the fields as one. "The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles' feathers, and his nails like birds' claws. And at the end of the days I Nebuchadnezzar lifted up mine eyes unto heaven, and mine understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most High, and I praised and honoured him that liveth for ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom is from generation to generation: And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou? At the same time my reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honour and brightness returned unto me; and my counsellors and my lords sought unto me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me. Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment: and those that walk in pride he is able to abase." - Daniel 4:33-37. It took seven years for Nebuchadnezzar to look up to God and just pray to him, he knew that it was his pride that kept him from saying that God is in control, but once he humbled himself before God he returned back to normal.

When a sinner comes to himself, he will promote the welfare of others by making known the wondrous mercy of God in his life. When we realize the greatness of God and compare it to the failures of our lives, we will find it easier to turn loose of our prideful attitudes and just accept that God is always in control. The kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever, are the Lord's, but many are employed in making known His wonderful works to others, who themselves remain strangers to His saving grace. After being thrown into a lions den for praying, Daniel was thought to be dead for his faithfulness to God, however, his faithfulness in God proved to all that God is with all who put Him first. Even the king acknowledged God as the one and only living God. "Then king Darius wrote unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you. I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: for he is the living God, and stedfast for ever, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end. He delivereth and rescueth, and he worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who hath delivered Daniel from the power of the lions." -Daniel 6:25-27. We can expect to be pruned from time to time, but as long as we fear (respect) of God and walk according to that rule, peace, protection, and God's blessings will always be upon us. "Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:" - Hebrews 12:28. Praise God!

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Post  Admin Thu 16 Sep 2010, 1:44 pm

Nothing Is Impossible
Perhaps one thing we should never forget in our walk with Christ is that the more we walk with Him, the more strength we have through Him. It is amazing how much a tiny bit of faith in God will do to change a situation, imagine just how blessed we are as that faith increases. Praise God! You know, people of the world and even false Christians are going to try and wreck our faith in God, they want us to think that God can not do anything for us, that we need to do it on our own. Well, these people do not know who they are dealing with, we have the one and only Living God on our side and no one can take us away from our God. They fail to realize that, "With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible." -Matthew 19:26. We are human, no matter how much skills, money, or power we have, it is impossible for us to do some things, but nothing is impossible with God. Praise God!

Today we begin reading the Book of Daniel, the Book of Daniel is the twenty-seventh book of the Old Testament/Bible and contains twelve chapters. The author of the book is Daniel and it was first written to the Jews that were held captive in Babylon. The purpose of the book was to show how God rules the affairs of all men. What we are to learn from the book is that God is sovereign and honors those who honor Him.

Daniel was was carried captive into Babylon when he was a youth. Soon after his capture, Daniel and other select Israelite captives were favored and assigned new names which would hide their identity as Israelites and as citizens of Babylon. "And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, and of the king's seed, and of the princes; Children in whom was no blemish, but well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king's palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans. And the king appointed them a daily provision of the king's meat, and of the wine which he drank: so nourishing them three years, that at the end thereof they might stand before the king. Now among these were of the children of Judah, Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: Unto whom the prince of the eunuchs gave names: for he gave unto Daniel the name of Belteshazzar; and to Hananiah, of Shadrach; and to Mishael, of Meshach; and to Azariah, of Abednego." - Daniel 1:3-7. The name Daniel means God is Judge, but his Babylonian name Belteshazzar means Prince of Baal. As Daniel heard his new name called day after day, it was intended to remind him that the comfort, self-esteem, and high position he enjoyed in his new society were all the result of his being the Prince of Baal. The king's intent was that these select men would be taught to think and live like the Babylonians, slowly forgetting that they were children of God and turn to their false god.

Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah had all sorts of opposition, but they never gave up on God, somewhere in their mind, they too proclaimed, "Nothing is impossible with God!" Daniel and his friends refused to blend in with society and remained faithful to God, they could change their names, but they could not change their faith in God. First, Daniel's life was threaten when Nebuchadnezzar ordered all the wise men in Babylon destroyed. Nebuchadnezzar had a disturbing dream that he wanted interpreted, the catch, he wanted someone to tell him what the dream was first, he got sorcerers, astrologers, and even magicians to try to interpret the dream, but none of them could reveal the dream first, out of anger Nebuchadnezzar ordered all the wise men in Babylon killed. The first mistake he made was probably thinking that these men were wise in the first place, but Daniel approached the king. "Then Daniel went in, and desired of the king that he would give him time, and that he would shew the king the interpretation. Then Daniel went to his house, and made the thing known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions: That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. Then was the secret revealed unto Daniel in a night vision. Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven...Daniel answered in the presence of the king, and said, The secret which the king hath demanded cannot the wise men, the astrologers, the magicians, the soothsayers, shew unto the king;..The king answered unto Daniel, and said, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods, and a Lord of kings, and a revealer of secrets, seeing thou couldest reveal this secret." - Daniel 1:16-19,27,47. Through God, Daniel was able to tell Nebuchadnezzar what his dream was and interpret it. Not only was his life spared, but even the others as well. I imagine God's objective to all this was for Nebuchadnezzar to realize not only God as number one, but to put his false gods away and only serve Him, but all he did was acknowledge God's existence.

After all that, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah would now be tested of their faith. Nebuchadnezzar had a golden statue built for worship and every time music played every person was to bow down to this statue and worship it. However, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, now named, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. refused to bow down and worship the idol. Out of anger Nebuchadnezzar had these men thrown into a fiery furnace, seven times hotter than it would normally be. "And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace. Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Therefore because the king's commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flames of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.... Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonished, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king. He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God. Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire....Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God." - Daniel 3:20-22,24-26, 28. That fire was so hot that it consumed the men throwing Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego into the furnace, but not a hair was singed on these men, in fact, something amazing occurred, Jesus was in the midst of them, protecting them.

As Christian's, we are going to be faced with lots of opposition, even more so because we choose to live our lives by following Jesus Christ. Take a person that believes in God and one can be accepted, but say that you believe in Jesus and that acceptance can utterly turn into hate. For this reason many fear telling people that they walk with Christ. However, we can not allow the world or even our loved ones to keep us in the closet about our faith. We need to stand true to God even in the face of death, and obey God rather than man. If we do, God will honor us as He did Daniel and every other faithful servant. With God Nothing Is Impossible! We can overcome every obstacle with God. Praise God!

Enjoy the rest of your day/night and week.
God Bless You, I am praying for you
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Post  Admin Wed 15 Sep 2010, 1:57 pm

The Glory Of The Lord
On Sunday's, most holiday's, and perhaps one day during the week many Christians go to church or some kind of building that resembles a church to worship God. While the world would view worshiping God as something more liken to slavery, worshiping God actually means simply to honor God, we usually do that by song, prayer, reading, and learning a little about His Word. It is truly a wonderful thing to come together, fellowship, and hear some good preaching. It seems that these preachers know just what to say to revive us and get us going for the week and revive us during the week when we are drained spiritually. So, what happens once we get out of those doors? Do you take God with you and apply what you have learned or do you leave Him at the door and continue to go on with life as if you were never there? The truth is this, God does not just dwell in a room with four walls, God is everywhere and inside of every person who knows Jesus Christ as their Savior, through the Holy Spirit. Praise God! "Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." -II Corinthians 3:17,18. It is only when we allow the Holy Spirit to work in us that we will see the glory of the Lord and when we see the glory of the Lord we will apply what we have learned when we get out the door and see His glory shine even more through us.

Okay, so what is the glory of the Lord? The word glory means, something of great importance, honor, beauty, and or to boast about. In other words, the glory of the Lord means to honor God by recognizing the importance of Him being in and working in our lives. The more we allow God to work through us, the more we are blessed. The more we are blessed, the more we boast about Him, the more we boast about Him, the more beautiful He looks to others as God's glory shines through us. "For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." - II Corinthians 4:6.

Before Jesus came, God did not dwell in anyone, but over the Temple that king Solomon built. In a vision, Ezekiel had witnessed the departure of the glory of the Lord from the magnificent, but now destroyed, Temple (Ezekiel 10:4-19). Jerusalem and the once-glorious kingdom of Israel were only memories. The Israelites had chosen to ignore God's Word and were actually worshiping idols, the sun, and all sorts of creatures in the Temple that had been dedicated to God alone. However, in a new vision Ezekiel saw a new Temple being built and God coming in by the very way through which He had departed from the old Temple. The Eastern Gate led straight to the Temple entrance of the eternal King, "Afterward he brought me to the gate, even the gate that looketh toward the east: And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east: and his voice was like a noise of many waters: and the earth shined with his glory. And it was according to the appearance of the vision which I saw, even according to the vision that I saw when I came to destroy the city: and the visions were like the vision that I saw by the river Chebar; and I fell upon my face. And the glory of the LORD came into the house by the way of the gate whose prospect is toward the east. So the spirit took me up, and brought me into the inner court; and, behold, the glory of the LORD filled the house." - Ezekiel 43:1-5. The physical Temple had foreshadowed the life and ministry of Christ. In the millennium there will be no need for types or symbols because God the Father and Jesus Christ, whom the symbols represented, will be present. Our concern should not be how and when the prophecies will be fulfilled, but that our body, mind, and spirit be prepared for the His return.

Ezekiel's vision also foreseen Jesus as the prince who would be in charge of the new Temple, "Then he brought me back the way of the gate of the outward sanctuary which looketh toward the east; and it was shut. Then said the LORD unto me; This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it; because the LORD, the God of Israel, hath entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut. It is for the prince; the prince, he shall sit in it to eat bread before the LORD; he shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate, and shall go out by the way of the same." - Ezekiel 44:1-3. Jesus will be sent to restore Israel. "Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him." - Acts 5:31,32. Today, all who call on Christ as their Savior are witnesses, through the Holy Spirit that indwells in us.

God is always with you, so, let all the burdens, guilt, or shame go and give it all to Him. Never stop allowing God to work in you, He is the key to all the blessings in our lives, even the struggles. The more we allow the glory of the Lord to work in us the easier we will be able to handle future struggles as well as see the blessings through all of them. More importantly we have the amazing Christ in us to strengthen us, guide us, and lead others to the glory of the Lord as well, which is the most important thin we can do for someone who is not saved. "For the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly." - Psalm 84:11. Praise God!

Enjoy the rest of your day/night and have an awesome week.
God Bless You, I am praying for you
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Post  Admin Mon 13 Sep 2010, 9:45 am

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The Resurrection
I remember when my nephew was smaller that whenever he did not obey he would say, I wanna be good. He knew he did wrong and that he was going to get punished so, he pleaded with us to forgive him and not punish him and swore that he would be good. As Christians, when we sin we often do the same thing, we plead with God to forgive us and say to Him, I wanna be good and promise not do it again. The amazing thing is that no matter how many times we do not obey, just like parents, God always forgives us, even if we do the same thing over again. However, that does not mean we will not face the consequences of those sins, but at least they will be less severe for admitting them. Praise God for His mercy and grace! It is only by His mercy and grace that we are even saved. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: - Ephesians 2:8. Praise God!
Perhaps one of the most controversial and often misunderstood topics of the Bible is the resurrection. Jesus said, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? - John 11:25,26. It is only by our faith in Jesus that we have eternal life and will be resurrected when He returns. I can say that I do not completely understand all that is going to happen when Jesus does return, I do not think that anyone does, but I can say that I do understand that Jesus is returning and that all will be resurrected at some point. Jesus said, For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself; And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.- John 5:26-29. When Jesus returns we all have to face Him. If you ever had to face a judge before you may know how this feels, he has the ultimate authority of your life. Well, Jesus is the judge who will decide whether or not we truly believed in Him or have been lying about it the whole time.
This topic is not something that we just learned about over the past 2000 years, it has been prophesied centuries before. God showed Ezekiel an amazing prophecy concerning the resurrection, The hand of the LORD was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the LORD, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones, And caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry. And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered, O Lord GOD, thou knowest. Again he said unto me, Prophesy upon these bones, and say unto them, O ye dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live:..Therefore prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, O my people, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, and bring you into the land of Israel. And ye shall know that I am the LORD, when I have opened your graves, O my people, and brought you up out of your graves, And shall put my spirit in you, and ye shall live, and I shall place you in your own land: then shall ye know that I the LORD have spoken it, and performed it, saith the LORD.- Ezekiel 37:1-5,12-14. The vision that Ezekiel saw was one that foreseen a desolate nation coming back to life through the Power of God and all His people receiving a new, godly, spirit filled body. God is life and without God we have no life in us. The second we call on Jesus to save us God renews a new spirit within us and give life to our dead flesh. And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. - I John 5:11,12.
When the Lord shall have mercy on the whole house of Israel, by converting them to Christianity, and when they shall have born the shame of being cast off for their sins, then the nations shall learn to know, worship, and serve God. After that they have borne their shame, and all their trespasses whereby they have trespassed against me, when they dwelt safely in their land, and none made them afraid. When I have brought them again from the people, and gathered them out of their enemies' lands, and am sanctified in them in the sight of many nations; Then shall they know that I am the LORD their God, which caused them to be led into captivity among the heathen: but I have gathered them unto their own land, and have left none of them any more there. Neither will I hide my face any more from them: for I have poured out my spirit upon the house of Israel, saith the Lord GOD. -Ezekiel 39:26-29. Israel also shall know the Lord, as revealed in and by Christ. Past events do not answer to these predictions. The pouring out of the Spirit is a pledge that God's favor will continue. He will hide his face no more from those on whom He has poured out his Spirit. This is not also true for the people of Israel, but for all who believe in Him. Christ suffered on the cross for every person created by God and offers salvation to all, That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles. - Acts 26:23.
Since Christ suffered for everyone, that means He judges everyone, When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. - Matthew 25: 31-36. Now, this is where all our good works help, we will receive our reward according to what we have done after we are saved. Most of all, the most important thing we can do and are commanded to do is to tell others about Christ. All should have the opportunity to hear the Gospel, even if they do not choose to accept it. Christ will show us opportunities that we missed concerning this. Above all, we are saved and will inherit the promised land that God will give to us. Praise God!
Enjoy the rest of your day/night and enjoy the rest of your weekend.
God Bless You, I am praying for you
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Post  Admin Sun 12 Sep 2010, 1:05 pm

Follow The Shepherd
As Christians, we can rejoice in the fact that we have someone watching over us in all that we do. That someone is none other than Jesus Christ. Praise God! Jesus is always with us, guiding us, and working in us, even when it seems like the storms in life have us right in the middle of them with no end in sight. When Jesus was up on a mountain praying His disciples were on a ship, and even though He was not with them, He was still watching over them. "And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening was come, he was there alone. But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary. And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea...And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? And when they were come into the ship, the wind ceased." - Matthew 14:23-25,28- 32. Jesus never stops watching over us and is always there to catch us when we are sinking. Praise God! You know the difference between us and the Israelites of yesteryear is that they had to trust in God's Word before He sent the Savior and we have to trust in God's Word after He sent Him. Same, God, same Word, same Savior, just different ages.

God's Word is amazing, the incredible thing is that people make the mistake of thinking they know God's Word by reading the Bible one time of having someone tell them when it means. This is destructive and causes many problems not only for the one reading or hearing, but the one telling it. Those who live in the world will see God as having hatred for everyone that does not bow down to Him. That is completely false and whoever came up with that conclusion obviously has not read the entire Bible or more than once. No one can know everything that God is trying to tell us by reading a verse once. The truth is this, God does not cause the destruction, people do, God is just warning them of what is coming if they keep doing things the way that they are doing. This is not something new, God sent Ezekiel to warn the Israelites that they had a chance to escape from the destruction that was coming. Through Ezekiel, God says, "Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman: If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people; Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul....Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel? " - Ezekiel 33:2-5,11. God does not want us to suffer, He does not even want to see the wicked suffer, He just wants people to acknowledge Him and have some morals. God's watchman during that age was Ezekiel and he was to warn the people so they could have a chance to be saved. God has always used those who are saved to warn those who are not of the destruction that is coming. As Christians, we are required to tell the lost the Gospel, if not, the guilt of it will haunt us when they die, but all we can do is sow the seed, after that it is up to them.

Like I said earlier, the Israelites had to trust in God's Word that He was sending the Savior, Ezekiel gives a prophecy of our Savior coming as the shepherd who will watch over us. "And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd. And I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the LORD have spoken it. And I will make with them a covenant of peace, and will cause the evil beasts to cease out of the land: and they shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods. And I will make them and the places round about my hill a blessing; and I will cause the shower to come down in his season; there shall be showers of blessing." - Ezekiel 34:23-26. Sheep need a shepherd, as long as they follow the shepherd and his commands they are safe, but when they get away from the shepherd they will unknowingly walk into danger and even get caught by their predators. People are like sheep, they will play follow the leader, and if they do not have a positive leader they will unknowingly walk into danger and get captured by the predator, none other that Satan.

Jesus said, "I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep." - John 10:11. God gives a promise to all who follow His shepherd, "For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God." - Ezekiel 36:24-28. An amazing thing happens to all who follow the Good Shepherd, a new life literally begins, one that actually has life to it and is fulfilling. You no longer search for what the world has to offer, but what Jesus has to offer and I will tell you what, Jesus has much more to offer than anyone in the world ever can. Praise God! "Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin." - Romans 6:3-6. Because Christ is in us we are no longer subject to Satan and the sin that he had held us down with, we are now free and cleansed by the blood of Christ. Praise God!

Enjoy the rest of your day/night and great weekend.
God Bless You, I am praying for you
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Post  Admin Thu 09 Sep 2010, 11:15 am

Coffee Break
"Witness Still"
"But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, till there was no remedy." 2 Chronicles 36:16
We are in a time in this nation that I don't believe we have ever been in before. Christians are beginning to receive some forms of persecution for our faith. We are losing our freedoms to share the truth of the gospel more and more each day while other religious beliefs are gaining a platform to propel their gospels. What was once accepted as the religious foundation of the nation is now rejected. Even though not everyone chose to receive the gospel of Christ and came to salvation, God was not blatantly rejected, mocked, blasphemed and cursed so openly as He, His gospel and His witnesses are nowadays.
So what am I saying? I am saying this- just because you may be mocked in your faith, just because you may be ridiculed and considered foolish, just because not everyone accepts you, just because you might be rejected, don't stop sharing Jesus' love and plan of salvation for mankind. Don't stop letting your light shine. Don't stop being a witness. Keep being salty. Keep living your lives in such a way where God is honored by men seeing your good works and giving your Father in heaven glory.
Two reasons why we don't quit.
1) Did you read the end of the verse above? There will come a time when God will no longer put up with the people's rejection of Him. When that time comes, there is no escape for those who have rejected and persecuted the gospel and its messengers. The verse above even says that there will be no remedy- nothing that will heal it. In other words, it is too late. That being the case, we can't stop telling them because we know that it is not God's will that any should perish, so we have to continue to warn the wicked man of his wicked way while there is still hope and healing.
2) "Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you." (Matthew 5:11,12) There is a reward in heaven that awaits those who don't let the persecutions, taunts and rejections stop them from living for the Lord as His witness. It will be worth it when we leave this earth and stand before our wonderful Lord and Savior.
If you are receiving any sort of "persecution" for your faith, you are not alone and it isn't anything new. Persecution and rejection for the gospel's sake was going on even in the Old Testament days. Our brothers and sisters around the world have been facing it through imprisonments and even death for a long time. But the point is that we must continue to share the gospel that is able to make men wise unto salvation. We can't quit or stop just because they mock us, reject us, talk about us or hurt our feelings. We must continue to share the gospel because Jesus is the only hope for the world.
Have a great day. Don't stop sharing the love and gospel of Christ, that is the only hope for those who are lost.
For further reading:
Matthew 5:13,14
1 Peter 5:9
2 Peter 3:9
Ezekiel 3:18,19
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Post  Admin Wed 08 Sep 2010, 8:07 am

God's Grace
God tells Christians over, and over, and over again to cast away the abominations that keep them from needless pain and suffering, yet many will continue to follow the sinful lives they are leading and wonder why they are having such a hard time in life and start blaming God. We are children of the living God saved by His grace through the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made for us. We are going to suffer some affliction from time to time because Satan is always on our backs, but as long as we hold on to God's grace than we will endure them and see blessings through our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. However, no one can expect to endure affliction and God's blessings as long as they continue to live in sin. It is time for all backsliding Christians to stop blaming God and everyone else for their problems, fess up, get over it, and start serving God again. "We then, as workers together with him, beseech you also that ye receive not the grace of God in vain. (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.) Giving no offence in any thing, that the ministry be not blamed: But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses,...By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, " - II Corinthians 6:1-4,7.

On three occasions the elders went to Ezekiel to inquire of the Lord (8:1; 14:1; 20:1). On the first occasion, Ezekiel exposed their sins and foretold Jerusalem's destruction because of idolatry. At the second meeting, God revealed to Ezekiel that the elders were not sincere and had no desire to do His will. The third time, Ezekiel told them that the destruction of Jerusalem and the nation was certain. God declared that the real reason for the Israelites' failure, rebellion. "And say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; In the day when I chose Israel, and lifted up mine hand unto the seed of the house of Jacob, and made myself known unto them in the land of Egypt, when I lifted up mine hand unto them, saying, I am the LORD your God; In the day that I lifted up mine hand unto them, to bring them forth of the land of Egypt into a land that I had espied for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands: Then said I unto them, Cast ye away every man the abominations of his eyes, and defile not yourselves with the idols of Egypt: I am the LORD your God. But they rebelled against me, and would not hearken unto me: they did not every man cast away the abominations of their eyes, neither did they forsake the idols of Egypt: then I said, I will pour out my fury upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the midst of the land of Egypt." - Ezekiel 20:5-8. It was out of pure rebellion, disregarding His Word, and falling into the corruption of the heathen nations that God let them suffer. To inquire of the Lord without a sincere desire to put Him above all else in your life is foolish for God will not listen to anyone who rebels against Him.

Israel did not just volunteer to be God's people, they were chosen by Him personally. That alone should have been a blessing to them, but that fact never seemed to grasp their attention. God let it be known to them while they were in Egypt, that He was their God, loved them, even when they rebelled against them, but He was not about to let them get away with their disobedience. God showed them that love by the miracles He performed in bringing them out of their captivity there, yet, they continued to rebel against Him. "As I live, saith the Lord GOD, surely with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out, will I rule over you: And I will bring you out from the people, and will gather you out of the countries wherein ye are scattered, with a mighty hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with fury poured out. And I will bring you into the wilderness of the people, and there will I plead with you face to face. Like as I pleaded with your fathers in the wilderness of the land of Egypt, so will I plead with you, saith the Lord GOD. And I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant: And I will purge out from among you the rebels, and them that transgress against me: I will bring them forth out of the country where they sojourn, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel: and ye shall know that I am the LORD." - Ezekiel 20:33-38. Morally, the Israelites had sunk to the corrupt conduct of the heathen nations around them. Because they disregarded His Word and lived like the world, God could not bless or protect them. God will not bless evil. However, He will bless those that repent and return to Him. God extends forgiving grace to every sinner who sincerely repents and turns to Christ as Savior and the Lord of his life. Praise God!

As Christians, we are not just volunteered to be God's people either, Jesus said, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you. These things I command you, that ye love one another. If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also." - John 15:16-20. We are chosen by Christ Himself to not only be witnesses, but and example to follow to show the world God's great grace. Because we are chosen we are going to suffer as Jesus did, but we should count all suffering as blessings because, "Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen." - Galatians 1:3-5. Praise God! Hold on to God's grace, never let it go, He has plenty to give those who are willing to receive it.

Enjoy the rest of your day/night and have an awesome week.
God Bless You, I am praying for you
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Post  Admin Tue 07 Sep 2010, 2:51 pm

Bring God's Blessings or Judgment
There is no better reward than the gift of eternal life as we believe in and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior. Amazingly, once we get saved we are always saved, no matter how many times we sin. If you were to walk away from God right now, you would still see Him when you die because you are saved by grace not by works. Praise God! However, eternal life does not mean that a person living in sin will not face the consequences of those sins while here on earth. "But let none of you suffer as a murderer, or as a thief, or as an evildoer, or as a busybody in other men's matters. Yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God on this behalf. For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God? And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear? Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator." - I Peter 4:15-19. It seems that many people think that if they accept Christ into their lives it makes them exempt from suffering the consequences of their continued sins. Just as obedience brings God's blessings, sin brings His judgment, no matter how many think they have escaped the consequences, they are always accountable for their actions.

During the final days before the destruction of Jerusalem, the people of Judah endured much suffering before they were taken as slaves into Babylon. They were bitter with God and could not understand why they were suffering and why He was not protecting them. Through Ezekiel, God answers their questions, "What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge? As I live, saith the Lord GOD, ye shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel. Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die." - Ezekiel 18:2-4. The House of Israel was putting the blame on everything that was happening to them on their forefathers, yet refused to justify their own actions. God is telling them that He is the creator and father of every living soul, even our children, and when a soul sins it dies. A soul is the core of a human being, without a soul we are dead, even though we may be alive physically, we are dead spiritually. However, when we repent and return to God the soul comes back to life.

The House of Israel are the Christian nations of today and many are bitter and angry with God. They are putting the blame of everything that is happening to them on God, churches, father's, mother's, or others instead of taking responsibility for their own actions. God addresses this as well, "Now, lo, if he beget a son, that seeth all his father's sins which he hath done, and considereth, and doeth not such like, ….As for his father, because he cruelly oppressed, spoiled his brother by violence, and did that which is not good among his people, lo, even he shall die in his iniquity. Yet say ye, Why? doth not the son bear the iniquity of the father? When the son hath done that which is lawful and right, and hath kept all my statutes, and hath done them, he shall surely live. The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him. But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die." - Ezekiel 18:14,18-21. Often we see other Christian's living in sin and never seem to suffer, yet whenever we sin, we seem to have endless suffering and are left with the question of why. However, no sin goes unpunished, we are accountable for all our actions. Things one thinks he/she has gotten away with, even forgotten, somehow always resurface and he/she will end up suffering for them. "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God." - I Corinthians 6:9,10.

My family just went through something similar to this, my father has three sons from another woman, all of them have been saved, but can care less about serving God. My father seems to always be there for them, yet we can go months without even talking to him. Last weekend he showed up driving a truck that I have been wanting and one of my half-brothers came along as well bragging about all these things that they have. When they left I felt a little discouraged and wondered why they were always getting blessed with the things that I have worked so hard for yet can not seem to get. A few days later my half brother was arrested, he was a fugitive and tried to impersonate himself as my younger brother (same father and mother). While we think that God may be allowing those who live in sin go free, He is not. He waits for just the right time and still protects those who remain faithful to Him. Praise God!

No one can escape the consequences of disobedience to the Word of God. God is the God of love, but He is also the God of perfect justice. The Israelite's suffered many horrible months of famine and pestilence before the city and Temple were destroyed. God said Himself that He does not want to see anyone die, but the truth is this, no one who lives a wicked life will live. "Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live? But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die. Yet ye say, The way of the LORD is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel; Is not my way equal? are not your ways unequal? When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them; for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die. Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive." - Ezekiel 18:23-27. Genuine repentance, turning to the Lord for mercy and forgiveness of all sins, is a sincere desire to faithfully do His will according to His Word. God is pleading with us here. He is telling us that He finds no pleasure in destroying our souls, and causing us to die. He is begging us to turn form our sins, to repent and to seek His ways. God offers us all eternal life and all we have to do to receive it is to accept Jesus Christ. It's that simple. Regardless of what state of wickedness anyone has lived, God has stated in these verses they are all forgiven, every last one of them and all we have to do is repent of them in Jesus Name. Jesus Christ's blood paid the price, and there is nothing that you can do except take what has been offered to you and in return, God offers us, by His Word, eternal life. Praise God!

Enjoy the rest of your day/night and weekend.
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Post  Admin Sun 05 Sep 2010, 4:06 pm

True Doctrine of Christ

You can pretty much go on any major street and see a church on just about every corner, the amazing thing is that not one is like the other, every one of them follows a different law, a different book, a different religion, and a different god. Yes, a different god. While it is true that there is only One God, one law, one religion, and one book, all these different churches want to get you to believe that their god is the True God and their way is the right way. However, the truth is this, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made....And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." - John 1:1-3,14. There is One God and that God was the Word of God that came to earth in the flesh through Jesus Christ. In other words, there is One Law, One Word, and One Religion, all wrapped up in One True and Living God. Praise God! "For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one." - I John 5:7. It is hard enough trying to live right with God without trying to comply with laws created by man. Sadly, it is hard to tell which church is following the truth. So, how can we know the truth? The truth is in the Word, if a church follows the true doctrine of Christ then they are telling you the truth, if they are not then they are telling you lies.
When God called judgment upon the Israelites many of the elders could not understand why God was so angry and allowed such destruction to take place. A group of them went to Ezekiel and asked him what was going on. "Then came certain of the elders of Israel unto me, and sat before me. And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, these men have set up their idols in their heart, and put the stumblingblock of their iniquity before their face: should I be enquired of at all by them? Therefore speak unto them, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Every man of the house of Israel that setteth up his idols in his heart, and putteth the stumblingblock of his iniquity before his face, and cometh to the prophet; I the LORD will answer him that cometh according to the multitude of his idols; That I may take the house of Israel in their own heart, because they are all estranged from me through their idols. Therefore say unto the house of Israel, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations." - Ezekiel 14:1-6. Although the Israelites regularly offered sacrifices to God, they also worshiped the heathen idols of other nations. God knew their hypocrisy and gave them a command, "Get rid of the idols and repent." God despises those who throw Him in the midst of false religion. Praise God that He does not hold a grudge and will forgive anyone who repents.
God's purpose in judgment is to reclaim the hearts of His people who have wandered away to idols, the pursuit of pleasure, the race for riches, the struggle for power, the toil for knowledge, and greed for possessions. God is unchanging in His character and He will not bless people who assume He will overlook their sinful lives because their good religious works are highly praised by others. Only when we turn to Him and repent can we see God's mercy, grace, forgiveness, and blessings. "Then thou shalt remember thy ways, and be ashamed, when thou shalt receive thy sisters, thine elder and thy younger: and I will give them unto thee for daughters, but not by thy covenant. And I will establish my covenant with thee; and thou shalt know that I am the LORD: That thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame, when I am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord GOD." - Ezekiel 16:31-63. The word pacified means to restore or make peace with. Anyone who repents and turns or returns to God restores their relationship with Him and all the guilt and shame that came along with the sin is removed, never to be remembered by God. Praise God!
Satan is the source behind false religion, if he can get people following a false god than he has done his job. Why does he care? The more people he can deceive, the less he can get to follow the One True God and learn the truth that he is a good for nothing liar who is not only trying to destroy God, but every person God created. The amazing thing is that while Satan can drum up false religion, he can not control anyone, just like God can not control anyone. We are free to choose who we follow and live the life we want to live, including choosing the religion we want to follow. However, there is going to come a time when every person will be judged for the decisions they make, including choosing to follow that false religion. Religion or works do not get us right with God, Jesus does, and as long as one remains in a false religion nothing they do for God will do any good. "I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth." - Revelation 3:15,16.
As Christians we can not live by certain words of the Bible, we need to live by every word. While being tempted by Satan, Jesus Himself said, "It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." - Matthew 4:4. Knowing every Word of God is the key to truly knowing whether or not you or someone you know is following the true doctrine of Christ. When we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior we, in a spiritual sense, join Him in marriage. "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body. Therefore as the church is subject unto Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in every thing. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish." - Ephesians 5:22-27. Jesus cleanses and washes us by our faith in Him through the Word of God, the result, eternal life and forgiveness of sins. What more could we ask for? Praise God! One day we will see that glorious church, but until that day we can not stop trusting in and following the One and Only True Living God. Thank God that even if we mess up we never lose our salvation and always have a wonderful, loving, Living God on our side. What do those false churches have to offer us? More rules to follow and money to get from you? Trust in the Living God and True Doctrine of Christ and we will see the amazing things that God has to offer us, simply by trusting Him. Praise God!
Enjoy the rest of your day/night and week.
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Post  Admin Sat 04 Sep 2010, 3:27 pm

The Presence of God
There is no better feeling than to feel the presence of God, to see His blessings unfold right before your eyes and to know that God is alive and well and with you. Praise God! No matter what we are going through He is always there to guide us and give us peace and comfort. Sadly, most often, we can forget that the presence of God is with us and end up waiting until something is going wrong before we seek His help again. However, God is always always there, faithful, and just for us to call on Him. Praise God! If there is one thing that I have learned over the past couple of years it is this, the more trials I face the more blessed I am. Praise God! Each and every trial we face helps us to grow closer to God and more faithful to Him, encouraging us to praise Him even when things are going well. Not everyone enjoys the presence of God, you must have Christ in you if you want God's presence. It is only in by accepting, believing and confessing to Him from the bottom of our hearts that we receive the presence of God in our lives., also known as the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost. "Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual." -I Corinthians 2:12,13. The Holy Spirit indwells and teaches us how to live the way God intended for us to live. Although the Holy Spirit indwells in every believer there are times when He appears dormant. This usually happens for one of two reasons, either there is sin in our lives or we are being tested of our faithfulness to God. Either way, it is a good thing to remember that God is watching, waiting, and listening for us to make the first move.

Since God created the earth He only allowed certain people to be able to talk to Him one on one, usually a priest or prophet would be called to preach, teach, and minister to the people. Before Jesus came, God use to dwell over the Temple in Jerusalem, when a person wanted to get right with God he would bring an offering (animal sacrifice) give it to the priest and the priest would offer up the sacrifice to God on His behalf. The burnt offering would bring up a sweet smell that pleased God, allowing one to be reconciled with Him. However, during the destruction of Jerusalem and while the House of Judah was in captivity I imagine not much of an offering was being given to God, on top of that He had to witness one abomination after another, even in the Temple. He had enough, it was time to remove His presence from the Temple. "Now the cherubims stood on the right side of the house, when the man went in; and the cloud filled the inner court. Then the glory of the LORD went up from the cherub, and stood over the threshold of the house; and the house was filled with the cloud, and the court was full of the brightness of the LORD's glory....Then the glory of the LORD departed from off the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubims. And the cherubims lifted up their wings, and mounted up from the earth in my sight: when they went out, the wheels also were beside them, and every one stood at the door of the east gate of the LORD's house; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above." - Ezekiel 10:3,4,18,19. Brokenhearted, His presence hesitatingly departed from the city and went to the Mount of Olives, lingering there for a while as though waiting to see if Israel would repent and return to Him. Today, God's dwelling is no longer in a building, but in each and every person who accepts Christ as their Savior.

When we receive Christ as our Savior we receive not only eternal life, but a new spirit, the spirit of the living God. "Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Although I have cast them far off among the heathen, and although I have scattered them among the countries, yet will I be to them as a little sanctuary in the countries where they shall come. Therefore say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; I will even gather you from the people, and assemble you out of the countries where ye have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel. And they shall come thither, and they shall take away all the detestable things thereof and all the abominations thereof from thence. And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh: That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God." - Ezekiel 11:16-20. Those who do not know Christ will face His wrath, but those who do will be saved and one day all those whom have chose Christ will meet and live together happily, in the promised land, just as God intended for us to live.

Ezekiel had observed the leaders of Jerusalem who appeared to be the chosen ones and the favored people, blessed and called to remain in charge while so many others had been killed or taken captive. In reality, it was those captive in Babylon who learned, through suffering, to repent of their pagan idolatry and trust in the One True God of Israel. "For I am the LORD: I will speak, and the word that I shall speak shall come to pass; it shall be no more prolonged: for in your days, O rebellious house, will I say the word, and will perform it, saith the Lord GOD. Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying. Son of man, behold, they of the house of Israel say, The vision that he seeth is for many days to come, and he prophesieth of the times that are far off. Therefore say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD; There shall none of my words be prolonged any more, but the word which I have spoken shall be done, saith the Lord GOD." - Ezekiel 12:25-28. We cannot change our heart, but we can choose to repent of our sins and receive Jesus as Lord and Savior of our lives. God is warning every one of us, He is not backing down any longer, God gives us the power of choice, but it is the choice we make that will determine our future.

Be careful, there are going to be many false prophets trying to convince believers and the lost that what they believe is false. Through Ezekiel God warns us of this, "Likewise, thou son of man, set thy face against the daughters of thy people, which prophesy out of their own heart; and prophesy thou against them, And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the women that sew pillows to all armholes, and make kerchiefs upon the head of every stature to hunt souls! Will ye hunt the souls of my people, and will ye save the souls alive that come unto you? And will ye pollute me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to save the souls alive that should not live, by your lying to my people that hear your lies?Wherefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, I am against your pillows, wherewith ye there hunt the souls to make them fly, and I will tear them from your arms, and will let the souls go, even the souls that ye hunt to make them fly. Your kerchiefs also will I tear, and deliver my people out of your hand, and they shall be no more in your hand to be hunted; and ye shall know that I am the LORD." -Ezekiel 13:17-21. The only way to know if someone is telling the truth is by reading God's Word. If what a person says lines up with God's Word than you shall know, and I mean every Word of God, not just a few. We can not stop God's judgment, but we can seek His protection through it, He will not let any of His people perish.

Although God can hear and see everything that we are thinking and doing He still wants to show His presence among His people when they are living righteously, but when His people live in sin He will remove Himself from their sight. Think about it. Since God dwells in every believer that means any sin we commit we are defiling the Temple that God dwells in, therefore, you can imagine God's anger and sadness with those who refuse to acknowledge Him. Those who live is sin will, in a sense, lose the presence of God for a time, He will not continue to help anyone who chooses to live their own sinful way. However, He will help them if they seek forgiveness and His help. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." - I John 1:9. Praise God! Let God's presence be known in you. He is there. For two weeks I have been without a computer, although I could not type up a devotion I never stopped praying and reading, doing the same things I would normally do before. I tried everything to get the computer to work, then yesterday while I was praying I said to God, "thank you for testing my faith, although I did not have to write a devotion I still got up, prayed, and read my Bible as though I was." Later that day, I turned on the computer, clicked F10 like I had been doing for the past two weeks with no results, withing 20 minutes the computer was fixed and it is like new. That is the power of the living God! I am back online because of Him, Praise God!

Enjoy the rest of your day/night and week.
God Bless You, I am praying for you
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Post  Admin Fri 03 Sep 2010, 10:24 am

Pray For Direction

After Joshua's victories over Jericho and Ai, five kings united to fight the Israelites. However, the Gibeonites, located between the land of the Canaanite kings and the encampment of Israel decided their chances of survival would be greater by making a league with the Israelites rather than by joining with the Canaanite kings in their war with Israel. "And it came to pass, when all the kings which were on this side Jordan, in the hills, and in the valleys, and in all the coasts of the great sea over against Lebanon, the Hittite, and the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite, heard thereof; That they gathered themselves together, to fight with Joshua and with Israel, with one accord.....And they went to Joshua unto the camp at Gilgal, and said unto him, and to the men of Israel, We be come from a far country: now therefore make ye a league with us." (Joshua 9:1-2,6)
However, to make such a league was a violation of the Law, "And I will set thy bounds from the Red sea even unto the sea of the Philistines, and from the desert unto the river: for I will deliver the inhabitants of the land into your hand; and thou shalt drive them out before thee. Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods. They shall not dwell in thy land, lest they make thee sin against me: for if thou serve their gods, it will surely be a snare unto thee." (Exodus 23:31-33). Israel soon would realize that ignorance of God's Word does not cancel out its results.
This league with the Gibeonites should impress upon us the enemy's skill in deception and how fallible our human reasoning is. "And the men took of their victuals (food), and asked not counsel at the mouth of the LORD. And Joshua made peace with them, and made a league with them, to let them live: and the princes of the congregation sware unto them. And it came to pass at the end of three days after they had made a league with them, that they heard that they were their neighbours, and that they dwelt among them." (Joshua 9:14-16). If Joshua had prayed for the Lord's guidance, the league never would have been made and they would have never been betrayed by the Gibeonites.
This was the second time that Joshua made a decision without directions from God. Joshua was misled by a deception that resulted in a covenant with the Gibeonites. At the time, he was unaware that they were actually Canaanites who were to be destroyed because of their wickedness. The Gibeonites knew they could not stand against the power of God; therefore, they resorted to deceiving Joshua. This decison ultimately resulted in a devastating famine in Israel during David's reign many years later. Joshua experienced how impossible it is to discern God's will by human judgment.
All of us tend to be rather gullible when we don't seek the Lord's guidance. How easy it is to make a decision based on what looks best and fail to pray for the will of God only to see devastation sometimes years later. The natural mind is no match for the supernatural power of Satan for he will often convince us that what we are thinking is God's will only to be fooled. However, God's people are invincible against every force of the enemy when we continue to read through the Bible."Put on the whole armour 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 armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand." (Ephesians 6:11-13).
Knowing the Word of God, we can pray according to His will and not face consequences down the road. It is so important to read and reread the Bible over and over again. No matter how many times you read it, you will always learn something different as God designed it that way. If is only by reading His Word are we able to know how He wants us to live, "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 perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." (II Timothy 3:16-17). No other book is inspired of God.
In today's study Jesus Christ is reveal through whom we have victory, "And Joshua said unto them, Fear not, nor be dismayed, be strong and of good courage: for thus shall the LORD do to all your enemies against whom ye fight." (Joshua 10:25). "But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." (I Corinthians 15:57).
Today's Psalm: 23:5-6
"Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever."
Today's Prayer:
Dear Lord,
Thank you for your plan for our lives. You are the one, True God, and you are all powerful in every aspect of our lives. We want to turn all over to you, but there are parts of us, that we are reluctant to release. We might not even know what it is that we are holding on to, but we can feel that part of our flesh is ruling us more than it should. Holy Spirit, sweep through us. Help us to see what it is that we are unable to let go of, and then minister to our hearts so that we can trust you and follow Your will in our lives. In Jesus' name......Amen.
Have a wonderful and great Lord's day and always remember He is always with you and will get you through any situation.
God Bless
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Post  Admin Thu 02 Sep 2010, 9:21 pm

PS iam learning to be like Christ-like to be have a Humble Spirit i think the fruits of the spirit is what God calls us to be ....God bless your day



Humbleness





Today we will read and learn about the values of pleasing the Lord and wise choices. Today's message focuses on the importance of learning to be humble.

To be humble means to feel less proud of one's own importance, to be repsectful toward others no matter how bad they treat you, and to face humility with grace. God urges us to be humble, "Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. Better it is to be of an humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud." (Proverbs 16:18-19). However, no one is naturally humble. Our human nature is infused with pride passed down from Adam. It is only the indwelling Christ who can develop true humbleness in our lives. Humbleness will produce in us kindness toward the unkind, long suffering toward those who annoy us, and love toward our enemies.

Many of us would like to think that we are humble, at least more than others, but humbleness, or a lack of it, is apparent by our attitude when we are with someone who irritates us. "Through desire a man, having separated himself, seeketh and intermeddleth with all wisdom. A fool hath no delight in understanding, but that his heart may discover itself." (18:1-2). Knowing the destructive power of pride, let us look beyond our hearts and choose to use the difficult people that God places before us as an opportunity to cleanse ourselves of that pride and to express the Christlike humbleness that God seeks from us.

How inconsistent it is to think we have humblely given ourselves to Christ when we snub or react harshly to anyone who wrongs or irrates us. It can be very hard to forgive someone who has hurt you, but without forgiveness comes a chain reaction of anger, bitterness, and hate toward all.

To be Christlike is to see others through the eyes of Jesus and to give equal consideration to all people, regardless of their race, position, abilities, or wealth, for God is no respecter of persons. Paul reminds us, "Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind. Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:" (Philippians 2:2-5).

In today's reading Jesus Christ is revealed as the One who punishes the proud. (Proverbs 16:5). Jesus said, "For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted." (Luke 14:11).

Today's Prayer:
Dear Lord,
You have placed Your children in a world where people push and shove to be first. Because of their self-importance they will stop at nothing until they get what they want in life, even if it means hurting others in the process. Lord, You have called us to view life from a perspective that considers others as important as ourselves. We are to have a humble attitude that puts You first, others second, and ourselves last in everything we do. In our humanity this is impossible, but as we are being transformed into the likeness of Your Son, Jesus, we become more like Him. Help us to have the mind of Christ in all that we do and to humble ourselves as You would, Jesus. In Jesus; name.....Amen.

Have a great day and weekend!
God bless
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Post  Admin Tue 31 Aug 2010, 11:58 am

GOOD NEWS
Resist Lust & Help Others

The underlying principle of the laws of these chapters was given by a loving Creator to protect His people from the immoral conduct of surrounding nations which would destroy the Israelites' ability to fulfill His purposes. There are many unusual laws and although we are under no obligtion today to literally observe these command, the principle of purity is still the main focus. "Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall." (I Corinthians 10:6-12).
Our Lord also set forth the principle of single-hearted devotion by saying, "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." (Matthew 6:33). Single-heartedness is the key to victorious Christian living. Jesus declared that there can be only one lord in our lives. We choose either Christ, who speaks to us through His Word, or some other person or thing. The test comes when both are demanding our time and it is those who chose Christ over riches that not only live victoriously, but are also blessed with much of what they desire. "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon (riches). Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?" (Matthew 6:23-26). God will never forsake us and will always take care of our needs without resorting to the lusts of the world.
The Israelites had been taught that everything belonged to God and they were only caretakers of His possessions. Because of their Covenant relationship with the Lord, they even were responsible for the welfare of their neighbor's property. "Thou shalt not see thy brother's ox or his sheep go astray, and hide thyself from them: thou shalt in any case bring them again unto thy brother. And if thy brother be not nigh unto thee, or if thou know him not, then thou shalt bring it unto thine own house, and it shall be with thee until thy brother seek after it, and thou shalt restore it to him again." (Deuteronomy 22:1-2).
We may not be held legally responsible for failing to prevent someone else's financial loss. But our stewardship responsibility to God requires that we respond to another's needs in a spirit of Christlike love. The person we help may or may not appreciate or deserve the kindness shown, but our responsibility is not to the person who needs our help but to the Lord, who is the true Owner of all creation, and who provides the opportunities for us to express His love. In our Lord's Sermon on the Mount, He taught His followers to go beyond merely helping preserve the property of enemies or friends. Jesus commanded His followers to love their emenies and to bless those who curse you. "But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust." (Matthew 5:44-45). God rewards us for helping out those who have hurt us and will always take care of us no matter what situation we face. Now, God does not want you to be a pushover, but He does want you to be kind and pray for those who like to take advantange of others kindness.
In today's lesson Jesus Christ is revealed through the one who died on a tree, "His body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day; (for he that is hanged is accursed of God;) that thy land be not defiled, which the LORD thy God giveth thee for an inheritance" (Deuteronomy 21:23).
Jesus died on a cross in our place, releasing us from the penalties of death imposed by the Laws for our sins. In the evening He was taken down from the cross, signifying that the Scripture had been fulfilled. "After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth. When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost. The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away." (John 19:28-31)
Today's Psalm: 96:9-11
"O worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth. Say among the heathen that the LORD reigneth: the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: he shall judge the people righteously. Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof."
Dear Lord,
Thank you for blessing me with another day here on earth and thank you for the many blessings that you give us each and every day. Lord Jesus, I thank You that salvation comes from You alone. I thank you that You are enough. We would come up far short if we relied on our good works, our charming personality, our status in life or our worldly accumulation to purchase our salvation. You are the sinless Lamb of God, the only acceptable sacrifice to God, who provides salvation to every man, woman, boy and girl from every region on the face of this earth who call upon Your name. Keep reminding us that we cannot earn our salvation because You give it freely. Bles those who do not know you and thoae who have fallen away from and refuse to know you. Lord, forgive them for they are unaware of the truth, work in their hearts and show them the truth. In Jesus' name, I pray....Amen.

God Bless
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Post  Admin Sun 29 Aug 2010, 6:21 pm

Victory From Battles
The hostile Philistines who lived on the coastal plains of the Mediterranean Sea, on the southwestern border of Israel, often declared war on God's people. They went to battle with Israel and Isreal had lost 4000 men. "And the word of Samuel came to all Israel. Now Israel went out against the Philistines to battle, and pitched beside Ebenezer: and the Philistines pitched in Aphek. And the Philistines put themselves in array against Israel: and when they joined battle, Israel was smitten before the Philistines: and they slew of the army in the field about four thousand men." (I Samuel 4:1-2).
Because they are losing the battle the Israelites decide they needed God in their midst so they foolishly take the most sacred Ark of the Covenant into battle and are not only defeated by the Philistines, Eli's sons die and the Ark is taken by the Phillstines. "And when the people were come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Wherefore hath the LORD smitten us to day before the Philistines? Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of the LORD out of Shiloh unto us, that, when it cometh among us, it may save us out of the hand of our enemies...And the Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten, and they fled every man into his tent: and there was a very great slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen. And the ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were slain." (4:3,10-11). Because of their lack of spiritual insight, the Israelites' hopes were on the Ark, not on God who dwelt above the Mercy Seat and who alone has power to save.
Eli, who was old and blind, sat near the Tabernacle anxious to hear the outcome of the battle, but when he heard of their defeat ans that the Ark had been taken he fell backward and died. "Now Eli was ninety and eight years old; and his eyes were dim, that he could not see. And the man said unto Eli, I am he that came out of the army, and I fled to day out of the army. And he said, What is there done, my son? And the messenger answered and said, Israel is fled before the Philistines, and there hath been also a great slaughter among the people, and thy two sons also, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead, and the ark of God is taken. And it came to pass, when he made mention of the ark of God, that he fell from off the seat backward by the side of the gate, and his neck brake, and he died: for he was an old man, and heavy. And he had judged Israel forty years." (4:15-18).
During the time of Eli and his two sons, Israel once again drifted far from the Lord and for many years they had been under control of the Philistines. However, when the Ark was in the hands of Philistine's destruction came where ever the ark went. The Philistine's finally realized that unless they gave the Ark back everyone who came in contact with it would be destroyed. "And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, What shall we do to the ark of the LORD? tell us wherewith we shall send it to his place. And they said, If ye send away the ark of the God of Israel, send it not empty; but in any wise return him a trespass offering: then ye shall be healed, and it shall be known to you why his hand is not removed from you." (6:2-3).
Now, Samuel became judge and spoke to Israel, "And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the LORD, and serve him only: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines. Then the children of Israel did put away Baalim and Ashtaroth, and served the LORD only." (7:3-4). They also fasted on that day as well as confessed to God their sins. "And they gathered together to Mizpeh, and drew water, and poured it out before the LORD, and fasted on that day, and said there, We have sinned against the LORD. And Samuel judged the children of Israel in Mizpeh." (7:6). Their confession of sin was followed by a desire to be obedient to the Word of God. Our sinful ways also must be confessed and forsaken. There must be a determination to put away sins. For Israel this meant putting away the false gods and putting their trust and faith in God. Following their confession of sin and the desire to look to the Lord for guidance, Samuel prepared and offered a burnt offering sacrifice, symbolic of entire consecration to God.
While they were fasting and spending time with God the Philistines assumed it was an opportune time to attack only to be defeated. "And as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel: but the LORD thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and discomfited them; and they were smitten before Israel. And the men of Israel went out of Mizpeh, and pursued the Philistines, and smote them, until they came under Bethcar. Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Mizpeh and Shen, and called the name of it Ebenezer, saying, Hitherto hath the LORD helped us. So the Philistines were subdued, and they came no more into the coast of Israel: and the hand of the LORD was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel." (7:10-13).
The many years of domination by the Philistines over Israel could not be overthrown either by the supernatural strength of Samson or by the leadership of the other eleven judges, but it was terminated by the prayers of Samuel who was faithful to God. Samson, who represented the best of human strength, (See Judges 13:5) only began to deliver Israel, but through Samuel, who represented the power of prayer and obedience to His Word, the hand of the Lord was against the Philtinises.
The satisfying truth is that God works through men and women of faith, like Samuel, who display their trust in Him by their obedience to His Word. He will always protect us and deliver us from any battle that we face.
In today's reading Jesus Christ is revealed through the rock called Ebenezer, which means The Stone of Help (I Samuel 7:12). Jesus is the Rock of our salvation; our help comes from Him. "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." (Phillipians 4:13).
Today's Psalm: 18:2
"The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower."
Today's Prayer:
Dear Lord,
Although I am called to go through many hardships, there isn't one that I face alone. Through my weakness You give me the strength to endure, in my folly You are the God of infinite wisdom, and in my fear I take hold of the hope You offer to me which is firm and secure. You will not abandon the work of Your hands, but fulfill Your purpose for me as You strengthen, sustain, and instruct me during my battles. In Jesus' name, I pray....Amen.
Have a wonderful day and God Bless you,
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Post  Admin Sat 28 Aug 2010, 2:30 pm

GOOD NEWS
Overcoming Battles
God directed Israel to overthrow the kingdoms which were reigning in Canaan because of their abominable wickedness. No inhabitants of Canaan were to be spared to share the land of promise with Israel because of their sinful conduct. Israel was faced with the Canaanite armies who were far greater in numbers.
The Israelite soldiers thought they were powerless when Canaanite soldiers in speeding iron chariots attacked them. This is why the Israelites fled to the mountains where the chariots could not follow. However, all the miracles of their past should have caused them to believe that God was right there in battle with them and that they were safe. "When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, and a people more than thou, be not afraid of them: for the LORD thy God is with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And it shall be, when ye are come nigh unto the battle, that the priest shall approach and speak unto the people, And shall say unto them, Hear, O Israel, ye approach this day unto battle against your enemies: let not your hearts faint, fear not, and do not tremble, neither be ye terrified because of them; For the LORD your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you." (20:1-4). Israel was reminded not only of what God had done but what He would do.
The Christian life is a life of warfare. But we can be assured that God will not fail us nor forsake us. The God who saved us will empower us to overcome all evil, but only as we determine to be all that He created us to be. Only when the Israelites fought with all their might were they able to overcome their enemies. They illustrate our spiritual battles that can be won daily when we are determined to defeat the devil and all his deceitful deceptions.
Mose foretold the coming of Christ, "The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;.....And the LORD said unto me, They have well spoken that which they have spoken. I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee, and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him." (18:15,17-19). Jesus said to His critics that Moses and the Scriptures bore witness of Him, "For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me; for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?" (John 5:46-47)
Jesus declared to Pilate: My kingdom is not of this world, meaning it is a spiritual kingdom without end. On the Day of Pentecost, Peter boldly proclaimed that Jesus fulfilled the prophecy of Moses, "For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you. And it shall come to pass, that every soul, which will not hear that prophet, shall be destroyed from among the people. Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days." (Acts 3:22-24).
In today's reading Jesus Christ is revealed through the Old Testament sacrifices which were made without blemish or defect (Deuteronomy 17:1). "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:" (I Peter 1:18-19).
Today's Psalm: 9:9-10
"The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee."
Today's Prayer:
Dear Lord,
Thank you for blessing me with antoher day here on earth and thank you for the many blessings that you have given me. Lord, there are times when all I feel is darkness, weakness and helplessness. Lord, forgive me for letting my cares and emotions control my actions rather than coming to You for help. Lord, watch over me, guide me, and be with me in all that I do, let me sense Your presence, Your love, and Your strength. Help me to have complete trust in You knowing that You are with me and protecting me through all my battles. Teach me Lord, to follow Your will and not my own and in doing so I will be blessed. I love You, Lord and ask these things in Jesus' name.....Amen.
'DIVINE GUIDANCE *
*THE CHRISTIAN'S PREROGATIVE.' *
*Part One* *of Two
** By Late Pastor L. Peterson*
*Genesis 24:27; Proverbs 3:5-7. *
*

'I being in the way, the Lord led me.'
The above text had its birth. In the experience of Abraham's servant
seeking a wife for Isaac. Abraham spoke to his servant saying 'Swear by
the Lord, the God of heaven, and the God of the earth, that thou shalt
not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among
whom I dwell.' The servant promised Abraham and thus went in search of
the proper girl to become Isaac's wife. He went to the land from which
his master had come. In his journey he had asked God for guidance so
that he would not err in his choice and that he would always be in God's
will. God did guide him and in acknowledgment of this heavenly guidance,
the servant gave the testimony of our text: 'I being in the way, the led
me'. Gen. 24:27.
The Christian has every right to expect divine guidance in life. It is
the Christian's prerogative to have this supernatural guidance. There
are however, certain principles and laws under which we live and work.
If we go in accord to these divine laws we will know and have God's best
for us. The astronauts in their journeys into space work in harmony with
God's laws. The precision of their instruments are accurate only as they
obey or synchronize with these laws. The space ships are guided by
certain stars that God long ago placed in space. So it is spiritually as
long as the Christian works in harmony with God's plan he or she may
know His leading in their lives. Proverbs 3:5-7 sets forth our Heavenly
Father's order to be followed in realizing His guidance for our lives.
You, dear friend, cannot err in obeying His Word. It is your prerogative
to have this supernatural guidance. Here are the necessary steps in
experiencing your rightful heritage.
First, there must be an absolute and total confidence in God. Provo 3:5.
The writer of Proverbs declares 'Trust in the Lord with all thine heart;
and lean not unto thine own understanding.' Another translation presents
it this way: 'You be persuaded in all your heart upon God, do not prop
yourself up' (or lift yourself up). The inspired text is crying out to a
young man who is journeying through life. He is on the road of life and
has not traveled that road before. There are many pitfalls and unmarked
ways. The experience of travel can only be learned by travel. No
academic training or study can take the place of experience. The
traveler coming to unmarked 'Y's' will need divine guidance, he cannot
trust his own and must resort to another's wisdom. This is why in the
first seven chapters of Proverbs the inspired writer cries out 'My son -
my son - my son.' Note Proverbs 1:10. 'My son, if sinners entice thee,
consent thou not'; 2:1, 'My son, if thou wilt receive my words ... ;
3:1, 'My son, forget not my law ... '; 4:l, 'Hear, ye children. the
instruction of a father ... '; .5:1, 'My son, attend unto my wisdom...';
6:1, My son, if thou be surety for thy friend .... ' and 7:1, 'My son,
keep my words ... ' These expressions are the cries from a heart and if
you please, the heart of your Heavenly Father begging you to follow His
guidance. He knows the road better than His servant. His beloved Son,
our Savior has gone the road before us and knows the hazardous journey.
He knows you need guidance and you know it too if you will honestly
acknowledge it. You may profit by His guidance and wisdom but you must
not, you cannot do so without 'absolute and total confidence in God.'
You must not 'prop yourself up.' You must not make crutches of your own
to find your way in life. You must learn to lean On God and trust Him
completely. Your own maneuvering will never do. You cannot trust your
own feelings in the matters of decision. Feelings will often mislead
you. Have you ever been lost in a deep dense forest? It is a real
strange experience. You will in such experiences always have certain
convictions and feelings as to directions. You must never trust them,
they may be entirely wrong. People who have been lost and found often
tell tales of how they walked for hours thinking they were going in the
right direction and learned that they had just walked in circles. They
had gone no place. Christians often do this for they do not resort to a
complete trust in God abandoning their own ideas and feelings. Oh! hear
the cry of a wise father; 'My son ... trust in the Lord with all thin
heart; and lean not to thin own understanding.'

*Faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible and receives the
impossible. -- unknown *
*If you are blessed by this devotional, please *
*forward it to your friends*
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Post  Admin Fri 27 Aug 2010, 10:17 am

Coffee Break
"Clarity In The Closet"
"But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly." Matthew 6:6
I am so thankful that the Lord has placed truly wonderful, godly people in my life. And when I talk to them about certain issues and matters they always refer me to the scriptures. God has blessed us by giving us people that will counsel us, encourage us, pray with/for us, admonish us in God's word, teach us, bear our burdens, pastor us, stand with us and mentor us. It is nice to have someone to talk to when you are going through a problem or trial. But, people should never take the place of God.
There are some things- some answers, clarity, revelation, insight, understanding of the situation- that you aren't going to get any where except in your prayer closet talking to God. This is why a prayer closet is so important. We all need that secluded, quiet place to pray. We all need a place where we can "shut the door" to distractions and other things that would try to grab our attention away from seeking God for an answer. We all need a place where we can get alone with God and not be interrupted.
There are so many questions, so many needs, so many answers that we desire and we would gain clarity of many of them if we would get alone with Him in a place of prayer. We can't expect to get all we need "on the go'- praying while in the middle of doing ten other things. We have to learn to separate ourselves and come aside to seek the Lord. Moses would go to his closet- a mountain- and get alone with God and receive God's commandments and instructions. Jesus did this. And it seems to me that if Jesus needed to do it, how much more do we.
We are to pray without ceasing- that means that we should keep a prayer on our hearts, and it means that there will be times that we have to pray on the spot and can't get to the prayer closet. But it doesn't mean we are to neglect prayer in our closets alone with God. I am concerned that the "prayer closet" has become obsolete. I think they are becoming a rarity. Not too many people have one. It is no wonder we stay confused, frustrated, unsure of what we are to do, always seeking out someone to "give us a word" and talk to us for God. God would give it to us if we would spend some time alone with Him in quiet and shut out the rest of the world.
Have a great day. We would have a lot more clarity concerning God's will for our lives in every area if we would spend some time with Him in the prayer closet.
For further reading:
1 Thessalonians 5:17
Mark 1:35
Genesis 32:24-29
Matthew 14:23
<>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <><
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Post  Admin Fri 27 Aug 2010, 10:13 am

Seperation From God
All lepers were consigned to isolation beyond the reach of human aid because of their disease. They would surely defile everything and everyone they touched. "He is a leprous man, he is unclean: the priest shall pronounce him utterly unclean; his plague is in his head. And the leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and his head bare, and he shall put a covering upon his upper lip, and shall cry, Unclean, unclean. All the days wherein the plague shall be in him he shall be defiled; he is unclean: he shall dwell alone; without the camp shall his habitation be." (Leviticus 13:44-46).
The word leprosy struck terror in the heart of an Israelite for two reasons. First, the person who had leprosy became an outcast from society. He was forced to leave his home, his family, friends, and the place of worship. He was only able to exist outside the camp. When anyone went near him, the leper had to cry out the warning: Unclean, unclean. But perhaps the most horrifying reason leprosy was so feared was that there was no known cure for it. At first leprosy seems harmless, a small white or pink spot on the skin and, in its earliest stages, it is totally painless. The spot might remain for months or even years before it begins to develop further. Eventually, leprosy produces an extremely repulsive disfigurement of the entire body, including spongy tumor-like swellings on the face and head.
In the following chapters God gave specific instructions for those who were declared lepers and all people and things who were around him. "And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, This shall be the law of the leper in the day of his cleansing: He shall be brought unto the priest: ....And he that is to be cleansed shall wash his clothes, and shave off all his hair, and wash himself in water, that he may be clean: and after that he shall come into the camp, and shall tarry abroad out of his tent seven days....Then the priest shall command that they empty the house, before the priest go into it to see the plague, that all that is in the house be not made unclean: and afterward the priest shall go in to see the house: And he shall look on the plague, and, behold, if the plague be in the walls of the house with hollow strakes, greenish or reddish, which in sight are lower than the wall; Then the priest shall go out of the house to the door of the house, and shut up the house seven days:" (14:1-2, 8, 36-38)
Leprosy illustrates how sin may first appear as insignificant, harmless, or painless. However, like leprosy, sin immediately separates us from God and makes us unclean. People controlled by sin exist in a state of living death, they have to continue over and over again to try and make things right only to be plagued by it. However, God has given us a way to be cleansed from all that through our Lord Jesus Christ. When we turn to Christ, truly repent, and forsake our sins, the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us of our sins, and to cleanse us from all sin no matter how big or small.
As we prepare for a season of reflection and atonement for our sins we learn that "For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9). Once we accept that we are sinners, want to be forgiven, and want Jesus in our lives the Holy Spirit will enable us to be transformed and renew in us a right relationship with God. "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." (Romans 12:1-2).
In today's lesson Jesus Christ is revealed as the priest who made atonement for the leper (Leviticus 14:20). The priest was symbolic of our Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom we have now received atonement. (Romans 5:11).
Today's Psalm: 18:32
"It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect."
Today's Prayer: From Psalm 27:1-6
The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident. One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple. For in the time of trouble he shall hide me in his pavilion: in the secret of his tabernacle shall he hide me; he shall set me up upon a rock. And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD.
Take some time today to reflect on the year past and asked God to forgiven you of any forgotten sins as this is Ash Wednesday, the day for atonement.
Have a wonderful day/night and God bless you.
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Post  Admin Thu 26 Aug 2010, 3:37 pm

Good news
God's Warning To The False Teachers
I was watching a movie the other day and there was a quote that was said that came to mind as I read today's chapters, "God don't care what church you go to as long as you show up" This is the mentality of most people, including many Christians. The truth is, God does care what church we go to, the number one reason being, the wrong church can literally send a person to hell. There are churches deceiving people into thinking that they will get to heaven, even if they have to pay for it. There is only one way to heaven and that is through Jesus Christ, He paid the price already by dying for us and it is only by confessing and accepting Him personally as your Savior that you can go to heaven. "For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." - Romans 6:23. One time and One time only is what it takes to receive eternal life, yet millions of people will end up in hell because they refused to heed the warnings and ask Him personally to save them, all because they chose to believe in their church instead of God.
God has a warning for all the false pastors and priests, this is not something that has only happened in this present day and age, before the destruction of Jerusalem God warned the people of what was to come if they continued to ignore His warnings. Now, it is too late and Jerusalem is headed for disaster. Through Jeremiah, God said, "Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! saith the LORD. Therefore thus saith the LORD God of Israel against the pastors that feed my people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you the evil of your doings, saith the LORD. And I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have driven them, and will bring them again to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase. And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the LORD....For both prophet and priest are profane; yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the LORD. Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery ways in the darkness: they shall be driven on, and fall therein: for I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their visitation, saith the LORD."- Jeremiah 23:1-4,11,12. You know, we think of a church as a place that is safe, secure, and of God, but sadly, that is not always the case. Often people will get such a bad experience from a church that they assume all churches are the same and the majority of the time they not only walk away from the church, but God as well. We can not let one bad apple ruin the whole bunch, the important thing to look for when choosing a church is to look for one that bases it's authority on the Bible.
God warns those who continue to trust the false pastors and priests, "Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD. They say still unto them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you. For who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it? Behold, a whirlwind of the LORD is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked. The anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly." - Jeremiah 23:16-20. There is a warning here, do not believe their lies, Jesus is the church, if a church does not preach the true Gospel of Christ than it is not of God.
There is also a blessing here to those individuals who heed the warning, God assures all who follow Him in the midst of the destruction will be saved. "The LORD shewed me, and, behold, two baskets of figs were set before the temple of the LORD, after that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the carpenters and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon. One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are first ripe: and the other basket had very naughty figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad....Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good. For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up. And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the LORD: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart." - Jeremiah 24:1,2,5-7. God was sending the chosen figs into captivity to protect them from the crushing destruction coming on the bad figs. The Lord proclaimed hope for a future kingdom when the Israelites as well as Christians would be regathered from all the ends of the earth.
You have the right to know and understand the truth, and all you have to do to find the truth is to read His Word. God has told all in the pages of His Word, and everything will happen exactly as He has stated. A church or religion does not take anyone to heaven, Jesus does. Jesus is coming and those whom have not asked Jesus to save them will not be saved when He returns. It does matter what church you attend and God is telling all that remain faithful to a church that they have one more chance before it is too late. You never know when you last day on earth will be, once you die it is too late to save yourself. Instead of living in fear wondering if you will make it to heaven, be assured that as long as you have personally accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior than you have eternal life ans will be in heaven. "For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." - Romans 10:10. Praise God!
Enjoy the rest of your day/night and your weekend.
God Bless You, I am praying for you
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Post  Admin Wed 25 Aug 2010, 11:39 am

CONFESSING OF SIN

Today we will read and learn about David's trust in God; the blessedness of forgiveness; the Lord hears the righteous; David's prayer for safety; David's confidence in God; the destruction of the wicked; the prayer of a penitent heart; and the briefness of life. Today's message focuses on the importance of realizing that our failures do not need to be our future. Confession of our sin as an offence against God will bring restoration of His purpose for us and blessings beyond measure..
In constant danger, trouble, grief, or humiliation, David trusted God and went straight to Him in prayer. "In thee, O LORD, do I put my trust; let me never be ashamed: deliver me in thy righteousness. Bow down thine ear to me; deliver me speedily: be thou my strong rock, for an house of defence to save me. For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name's sake lead me, and guide me." (Psalms 31:1-3). Praise in our worship services, at mealtime, and during daily devotions is good and right and fills our hearts with joy. But, the psalmist went beyond the expected times of worship and praise because he was continually expressing love and devotion to the Lord.
When Nathan the prophet confronted David with his iniquity, he confessed his sin and his need for mercy and forgiveness. And the Lord forgave David, not only for his sins, but also for the iniquity of his sin. "Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the LORD imputeth not iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no guile. When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my moisture is turned into the drought of summer. Selah. I acknowledge my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah." (32:1-5). Iniquity means more than rejecting God's Word. It means perverting His Word to say something more or less than has been written in the only God-inspired Book. The inevitable result of iniquity is always misery and unhappiness. There can be no lasting peace and joy until sin is sincerely confessed and forsaken.
A sincere believer is often tempted by Satan to fear that his faith is too weak, that his desire is not upright or as earnest as it should be, or that his surrender is not complete. When we desire spiritual maturity two things are good to remember, "The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand." (37:23-24).
We should also consider that when we received Christ as our Savior and Lord, we were born again. It is the loving desire of God to gain first place in the hearts of all His children. He imparts His love and power to all who are willing to yield themselves to Him. As we yield to God, we become conformed to the image of His Son. We then discover great joy in loving the things that He loves.
Time given in reading, praying, planning, and doing for Christ is indispensible for spiritual growth and prepares us in humility to depend entirely upon the Lord Himself. Suspension of progress, obstacles, and setbacks remind us of our need every day to be dependent upon His great wisdom provided in His Word.
In today's reading Jesus Christ is revealed through the prophecy that not one of His bones would be broken as recorded concerning His crucifixion (Psalm 34:20). When they came to Jesus, and saw that He was dead already, they did not break His legs. (John 19:32-36).
Both Chapters 31 and 34 are considered Messianic Psalms. Can you find Christ and the Crucifixion in them?
Today's Prayer:
Dear Lord,
Nothing brings abiding peace more than knowing that we are saved from the penalty of sin and that we are firmly grounded in Your holy precepts. It makes us feel safe in a struggling world that continues to search for knowledge from all the wrong sources. We are sound in our outlook when we align our understanding and convictions with the teachings of Christ, His disciples and the prophets of old. We speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age nor from the authority of this world that changes from year to year. Our wisdom is based upon our knowledge and understanding of You, our eternal Father, the One who changes not. In You we are saved and we are sound. Praise Your matchless, holy name. In Jesus' name.....Amen.
Have a great and wonderful day!
God Bless,
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Post  Admin Tue 24 Aug 2010, 1:14 pm

Just Cooperate
A yoke is a device that joins two animals together to make them stronger, for instance, often horses are yoked together in order to be able to pull a heavier load. However, in order for the yoke to be effective both animals have to cooperate, if one is trying to go in the opposite direction the yoke is pretty useless. Jesus Said, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." - Matthew 11:28-30. What Jesus is saying here is, "I know you have been trying to do everything all by yourself, you are trying to pull a load that is too heavy for you to carry alone. Come to me, attach yourself to my yoke, and I will make you stronger to carry the load, in fact, I will make your load even lighter." What a wonderful God we have! Praise God!

The destruction of Jerusalem was inevitable, God had had enough all the wickedness and evildoing going on in His city, He is going to destroy all of it. However, He did not want to destroy those who remained faithful to Him. He has one final warning to the people and even nations, through Jeremiah God speaks, "Thus saith the LORD; Stand in the court of the LORD's house, and speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the LORD's house, all the words that I command thee to speak unto them; diminish not a word: If so be they will hearken, and turn every man from his evil way, that I may repent me of the evil, which I purpose to do unto them because of the evil of their doings. And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD; If ye will not hearken to me, to walk in my law, which I have set before you, To hearken to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I sent unto you, both rising up early, and sending them, but ye have not hearkened; Then will I make this house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all the nations of the earth." - Jeremiah 26:2-6. God is telling all, "Come to me and you will be saved, otherwise I will not stop the evil that is about to happen and you are going to suffer." This is another example of being yoked with Jesus. When we yoke ourselves with Jesus we are saved from any evil that is about to happen, while we might have to deal with some affliction, in the end we will be safe in God's care.

God used Jeremiah to illustrate the importance of being yoked with Him, "Thus saith the LORD to me; Make thee bonds and yokes, and put them upon thy neck, And send them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to the king of the Ammonites, and to the king of Tyrus, and to the king of Zidon, by the hand of the messengers which come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah king of Judah;...And now have I given all these lands into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant; and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve him. And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his son's son, until the very time of his land come: and then many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him. And it shall come to pass, that the nation and kingdom which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, saith the LORD, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand." - Jeremiah 27:2,3,6-8. God wanted Jerusalem and all the surrounding nations to yoke themselves with Nebuchadnezzar. While it seemed that they were losing their freedom by becoming servants of Nebuchadnezzar, God was actually saving their lives. The same reigns true for those who yoke themselves with Christ. While it may seem that we are losing our freedom to do whatever we choose to do, God is actually saving our lives. When Jesus returns not only Jerusalem will be destroyed once again, but every nation will be and those who are not yoked with Him will be left behind and destroyed.

Now, just like a yoke is useless when both animals do not cooperate, when we do not cooperate with Jesus the yoke is useless. Jesus will not yoke Himself with someone who does not want to cooperate with Him. Think about it. Would you want to align yourself with someone who is constantly wanting to do things their own way instead of the right way? I have worked with many people who did not want to the work the right way and ended up having to do mine and fix theirs, it is pretty much useless and aggravating to have them around. Well, imagine how Jesus must feel? The Bible says, "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage." - Galatians 5:1. Every time a person tries to handle a situation on their own they are in bondage to the burden rather than free from it. Jesus wants to help us, think about it, He died for us. If He gave His life to save you from hell don't you think that He would help you with every one of your burdens? Of course He would! He is God! He set us free! Now, instead of making His yoke useless, just cooperate with Him. He will show you what to do and make your burdens lighter. "Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved." - Psalm 55:22. Praise God!

Enjoy the rest of your day/night and weekend.
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Post  Admin Fri 20 Aug 2010, 10:13 am

A Strong Christian
Reading through the Book of Jeremiah one can not help, but think that many of the prophecies given are so true today. You will hear so many people try and say that the Bible is outdated and not for today's generation, but they have no clue what they are talking about. You could swear that God is speaking about today in these chapters. The false churches, gods, religions, and prophets are no different than they are today, in fact, today there are even more, but all of them have been predicted. These are all the product of Satan and since he is the master deceiver it is not surprising that many people fall into his deception, it takes a strong Christian to be able to decipher God's truths from Satan's lies, but it can be done.

Most of the Israelites of the Northern Kingdom turned from God and sought the false gods created by people still inhibiting the land. The Southern Kingdom was the center of God and where His Temple was so, you would think that they would have remained faithful to God since He was right there. Yet right under His nose they were doing the same things that the Northern Kingdom was doing. This angered God more because while all the Israelites were His chosen people, the Southern Kingdom were the ones who stood by God the most so, when they began following in the footsteps of the Northern Kingdom God did not take it very well. Speaking with Jeremiah, God reveals His anger toward the Southern Kingdom and that they too will face His judgment. "Therefore thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon them, which they shall not be able to escape; and though they shall cry unto me, I will not hearken unto them. Then shall the cities of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem go, and cry unto the gods unto whom they offer incense: but they shall not save them at all in the time of their trouble. For according to the number of thy cities were thy gods, O Judah; and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem have ye set up altars to that shameful thing, even altars to burn incense unto Baal. Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up a cry or prayer for them: for I will not hear them in the time that they cry unto me for their trouble." - Jeremiah 11:11-14. Do you know someone who has bounced from religion to religion? They are in constant search of a god that fits them. Let me tell you something, there is only One God and the Christian life is not, have it your way, it's God's way. If people would just realize that, it would save them a lot of pain and suffering. And you know what? God will give you anything you want just by being faithful to Him.

Okay, so you are faithful to God and it seems the more faithful you are to Him the more you suffer. At the same time you see those who continue to live in sin prosper and seem to have everything going great for them. It can seem that way at times, but it will all catch up to us eventually. Jeremiah asked God these same questions, here is God's response, "Thus saith the LORD against all mine evil neighbours, that touch the inheritance which I have caused my people Israel to inherit; Behold, I will pluck them out of their land, and pluck out the house of Judah from among them. And it shall come to pass, after that I have plucked them out I will return, and have compassion on them, and will bring them again, every man to his heritage, and every man to his land. And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, The LORD liveth; as they taught my people to swear by Baal; then shall they be built in the midst of my people. But if they will not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy that nation, saith the LORD." - Jeremiah 12:14-17. God is saying here that He will not forget those who remain faithful to Him. He is going to remove anyone that tries to corrupt His people, including those who seem to be prospering by their wickedness (swear by Baal). Only those who remain faithful (know Christ) will be saved. There is also a prophecy here, when Jesus returns all of God's people of all nations will return to Jerusalem to their promised land. God places the wicked among the good so that they can see that what they need is God, but if they never learn, He will take them away. A strong Christian will, in the midst of suffering, remain faithful to God, knowing that he has a wonderful inheritance awaiting him.

So, how to do you become a strong Christian? First of all you need Jesus, without Him you are wasting your time praying or doing anything for God because He will not hear or see you. "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." - Matthew 7:21-23.

Secondly, you need to be praying, praying keeps our mind on God and increases our faith, the more you pray the more you want to learn about God's will, the ore you want to know God's will, the more you will read the Bible and follow it. It is a win win cycle. No one is perfect, but if you try, and if you care to live your life through His will, there is forgiveness, and a great inheritance awaiting you. Friend, God has promised it to you. As long as you care, and repent in Jesus name, you will not be judged for any sin, and God has said that if I have forgiven you, then it is forgiven, and there is no need to bring it up again.

Perhaps the most important thing in becoming a strong Christian is to remember that you can not get through life alone and you do not have to. "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." - Philippians 4:13. Jesus Christ is our strength, while we all get a little weak in our faith from time to time it is good to know that Jesus is always with us and He is all we need to be a strong Christian so that we can know what Satan is up to and how to stand up to him. Praise God!

Enjoy the rest of your day/night and week.
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Post  Admin Wed 18 Aug 2010, 11:50 pm

FROM GOOD NEWS
The False Church
As I was reading the chapters for today something hit me, God would rather see a desolate country than one full of wickedness. It must be pretty gruesome in His sight if He would rather see nothing than watch those whom He made in His own image destroying themselves. It is sad to see what we are doing to our nations, people will constantly question God and wonder why He allows so much pain and suffering in the world. What people do not realize is that God is not the one causing our destruction, the people are. God is just warning everyone what they are going to be doing and the result of it. Think about it. If you had a husband or wife that was unfaithful, would you continue to welcome them with open arms every time they came back from their affair? Of course not, you would be jealous, angry, hurt, and ashamed, especially when you found out that everyone else knew about it all along. God made us and every person who rejects Him or even worse acts like they know Him, is going to face His wrath. As Christians, we need to be prepared, God's judgment is only beginning, just like He warned Jerusalem of their fall He is warning all of us, "Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;" - I Peter 1:13.
You know, the culprit to all this destruction is, self, the word self is defined as that which is essential to an individual, in other words, the ego. When people start desiring things that only benefit themselves, that is when the ego kicks in and forgive the expression, all hell breaks loose. Satan feeds off of the ego, the more people he can get to focus on themselves the happier he gets. You know why? He is the master of deception. The more people he can deceive the more people end up in hell. He can care less what happens to the people God created in His own image, he wants to see the greed, the violence, the diseases, and destruction of the world. In today's chapters God is warning the false church as well as the people who continue to ignore the warnings that judgment is coming. "Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place. Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, are these....Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee. Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger. Do they provoke me to anger? saith the LORD: do they not provoke themselves to the confusion of their own faces? Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, mine anger and my fury shall be poured out upon this place, upon man, and upon beast, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched." - Jeremiah 7:3-8, 16-20. Pay attention to these verses here, God is talking about the Catholic church as well. Yes, the Catholic church is deceiving the people. They view Mary as the queen of heaven, this is false.
I grew up Catholic, but never understood much about the religion, I never took catechism so I was not allowed to go up the the altar and receive communion or do much of anything in the church. My mother taught me some things, since she had gone to a Catholic school, but since she was divorced she was not allowed to do much of anything either. When she found out that many of the things she had been taught were lies it saddened her, even now it does because she realizes that some of her family may not be in heaven. She encourages herself be saying, they all have their last rights before they die so they might be in heaven. Curious, I looked up the information on last rights and found something disturbing, while they do communion and confess some sin to the priest, the person does not actually talk to Jesus and ask to be saved. They are being deceived into thinking that if they confess some sin and do communion there is the hope of eternal life. The truth is unless they asked Jesus to save them there is no hope of eternal life. "For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." - Romans 10:10. And this is what God is talking about, not only with the Catholic church, but all false churches.
A lot of people are going to defend their false churches and God's warnings as they did in Jerusalem when Jeremiah tried to warn them. The people considered Jeremiah's preaching far too narrow-minded, so they would not tolerate this prophet of God. Through Jeremiah, God continues, "How do ye say, We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us? Lo, certainly in vain made he it; the pen of the scribes is in vain. The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the LORD; and what wisdom is in them? Therefore will I give their wives unto others, and their fields to them that shall inherit them: for every one from the least even unto the greatest is given to covetousness, from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely." - Jeremiah 8:8-10. God is asking them how can they be wise in His Word when their scribes (transcribers) have changed the meaning of them. The vain pen is those whom have changed the meaning of God's Word by re-writing the Scriptures. This is seen in all those books trying to explain the Bible, e.g. the Sunday Missal, the Book of Mormon, New World Translation, etc. All wisdom comes from God and those who reject the very Word of God by reading substitutions are being foolish. It's time to get rid of that substitute trash that is used as a replacement of the True Word of God and get used to thinking for yourself from His Holy Word, that is where true wisdom comes from. Now do not mistake a sermon or Bible study as a substitution for God's Word, these are guides to help you understand, not a replacement, one still needs to read His Word to know Him personally.
Incidentally, if one does not know Christ, he will never truly understand the Word of God, it is only through the Holy Spirit that we can understand His Word and the only way to receive the Holy Spirit is by accepting Christ as your Savior. "Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." - Acts 2:38. By the way, do not be deceived, once you are saved, it is eternal and no one can tell you that you do not have eternal life. It is forever no know matter how many times a person sins. Praise God! There is hope for all, before Paul was the great evangelist that he was, he was against Christians and even would have them killed, but God can get anyone to repent and turn to Him. Praise God!
Enjoy the rest of your day/night and have a great week.
God Bless You, I am praying for you
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Post  Admin Tue 17 Aug 2010, 11:25 am

GOOD NEWS
Let God Handle It
As Christians we can be pretty hard on ourselves, especially if we get caught up in sin. The great thing about God is that even if we get caught up in the messiest of sins we can be forgiven. All the guilt, shame, and sleepless nights can be eliminated simply by asking for forgiveness. "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." - I John 1:9. Praise God! You say it is not that simple? Of course it is, we have a choice and there comes a point in our lives where we need to just stop trying to fix it all on our own and let God handle it. No one escapes chastisement for their sins, so, if one is caught up in sin, he needs to just accept it, take the punishment, and move forward, chastisement does not last forever and the longer one tries to avoid it the more he will suffer. The chastisement is actually a blessing and once it is over more blessings are to come.
The book of Jeremiah is the twenty-fourth book of the Old Testament/Bible and contains fifty-two chapters. The author of the book is Jeremiah and it was written to Judah to warn of the coming judgment of captivity and call for repentance. What we are to learn from the book is that national disasters and deterioration is often due to disobedience to God, but like all storms when we call on God and repent, He will restore what has been lost. Jeremiah was actually very young when God called on Him to warn the people of the coming destruction of Jerusalem. "Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child. But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD. Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth." - Jeremiah 1:4-9. There is an assurance from God listed in these verses, no matter how young or old a person is they can be used of God. In fact, before we are even thought of God has a plan for us and when He calls us we need to answer Him. Often a person will face lots of pain and suffering before they realize God's call, but once they do they realize just how much God loves them and wants the best for them.
I remember before I got caught up in a mess that God was calling me, I knew He was because I had the urge to start reading the Bible again and while I was out of town my brother called me to tell me he was going to church. I ignored it and it took a few years for me to completely commit to God, and I suffered for it too, but once I did I knew God had a better path for me than where I was going. Did you ever take a wrong turn and get lost? Sometimes it takes a long time to get back on the right road, but once you do you are relieved, even if you are a little late. I always imagine two paths in life, of course, one being God's path, the other our own. Sometimes we take a wrong turn and get lost for a while, but God always directs us back on the right road. Of course, it is usually affliction that directs us, but how else is He going to get our attention. If you were a child of God at birth and remained that way praise God that you never fell into the lusts of the world, if you were a backslider like I was praise God that He got you back on the right road. If you are a backslider or never even known God, praise God that you are reading this because He is calling you right now. "Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." - I Corinthians 6:9-11. Praise God!
Through Jeremiah God illustrates our backsliding as an adulterous woman. "And I saw, when for all the causes whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce; yet her treacherous sister Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also. And it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones and with stocks. And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD. And the LORD said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah. Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the LORD; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the LORD, and I will not keep anger for ever." - Jeremiah 3:8-12. God does not stay angry forever, we can all praise Him for His mercy and grace. If it were not for His grace we would all still be offering up animal sacrifices to seek forgiveness for our sins. He is telling all who have backslid, "You are forgiven, but in order to be forgiven you must return to me." Until I with my mouth asked God to forgive me I suffered deeply, the guilt and shame of what I allowed myself to get involved in alone made me suffer, but when I finally made that choice to let God handle it I was set free. Yes, I was chastised a bit, but it was all worth it because as I look back now I realize God was always there trying to get me to get back on the right road. Praise God that He did. He can do the same for anyone else who let's God handle it.
Enjoy the rest of your day/night and the rest of your weekend
God Bless You, I am praying for you
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Post  Admin Mon 16 Aug 2010, 11:12 am

Give Them The Opportunity
As Christians we can rejoice in the fact that Christ will return and when He does it is only the beginning to our wonderful journey, no more pain, suffering, or remembrance of anything that we had to endure here on earth. Whether we just come to know Him, forgot about Him, or were faithful servants, all who have called on Jesus to save them will escape the horrible fate of every person who rejected the Lord, eternal separation not only from God, but everyone as they spend the rest of eternity burning in the lake of fire. "And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire."- Revelation 20:14,15. Yes, it is a scary thought to think that there is such a place, but it is real and anyone who has not called on Jesus to save them will end up there. It saddens me to think that I have family and friends that I will not see in heaven because they did not know the truth or ignored it. "He that hath received his testimony hath set to his seal that God is true. For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him. The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand. He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him."- John 3:33-36. Everyone in their lifetime on earth will have the opportunity to be saved, it is up to them to accept it, we can not dwell on those who did not heed the warning, but we can do what we can to try and tell the rest so they have the opportunity as well.

A lot of people think that all we read in the New Testament is new news and that it has no impact from the Old Testament, but the fact is, it is nothing new. All throughout the Old Testament these things have been told already. When God inspired Isaiah to write his book, the prophecies given to him about Jesus coming were given over seven hundred years before his birth. Isaiah also prophesies about Christ's second coming and the destruction that will take place. Isaiahs prophecies deemed true when he warned the Northern Kingdom and later the Southern Kingdom of their destruction. Eight years after the fall of the Northern Kingdom the Southern Kingdom began to take a fall that would lead to it's destruction and the Israelites being taken captive by the Babylonians. The majority of the people had abandoned the Lord and had turned to the false gods of neighboring countries. In a desperate plea Isaiah began praying to God, "But now, O LORD, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand. Be not wroth very sore, O LORD, neither remember iniquity for ever: behold, see, we beseech thee, we are all thy people. Thy holy cities are a wilderness, Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation. Our holy and our beautiful house, where our fathers praised thee, is burned up with fire: and all our pleasant things are laid waste. Wilt thou refrain thyself for these things, O LORD? wilt thou hold thy peace, and afflict us very sore?" - Isaiah 64:8-12. Just like today, they rejected the prophecies as well, but that did not stop them from happening. Through Isaiah, God is giving us a warning and is preparing us for what is about to come of our own nation, which ever one that may be, like Isaiah, we too need to be praying and pleading to God for our nation.

Regardless of what we have gotten ourselves into, God is forgiving and although we will suffer some chastisement when it is over we will be blessed through it. God assures us that although we have sinned He will save us from His wrath, "Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, my servants shall eat, but ye shall be hungry: behold, my servants shall drink, but ye shall be thirsty: behold, my servants shall rejoice, but ye shall be ashamed: Behold, my servants shall sing for joy of heart, but ye shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl for vexation of spirit. And ye shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen: for the Lord GOD shall slay thee, and call his servants by another name: That he who blesseth himself in the earth shall bless himself in the God of truth; and he that sweareth in the earth shall swear by the God of truth; because the former troubles are forgotten, and because they are hid from mine eyes. For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind." - Isaiah 65:13-17. Jesus is the bread of life, unless we receive His offering we will always be hungry and thirsty for more, never satisfied. Jesus Said, "I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst." - John 6:35.

When God's people have the bread of life they shall want nothing good for them, but those who forsake the Lord, shall be ashamed of vain confidence in their own righteousness, and the hopes they built thereon. Worldly people bless themselves in the abundance of this world's goods, but God's people bless themselves in Him, recognizing Him as their strength and will. They shall honor Him as the God of truth. They shall think themselves happy in having Him for their God, who made them forget their troubles. The former confusions, sins, and miseries of the human race, shall be no more remembered or renewed. In the grace and comfort believers have in and from Christ we look forward to the new heaven and new earth awaiting us. Praise God!

Enjoy the rest of your day/night and have an awesome and blessed weekend.
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Post  Admin Sun 15 Aug 2010, 12:34 pm

Fasting God's Way
When most Christians think of the word fasting they think of Fat Tuesday, Lent, and Easter. The word fast is defined as to abstain from food, or limiting of one's food or certain kinds of food, especially when voluntary and as a religious observance. I remember growing up and only eating fish on Friday's and the forty days of fasting during Lent when we would take a food we enjoyed the most and not eat it the entire season. Another meaning for the word fast is a period of such abstention or self-denial. You would often hear of people during the Lenten season use that time for abstaining from fleshly desires as well. While it is good to have times of reflection and restraint, it is important to remember that living the Christian life is not about taking forty days out of the year to do what is right, it is about a lifetime commitment to living your life as Christ did. "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." - Romans 12:1.

Through Isaiah, God addresses people who fast in vain, "Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and forsook not the ordinance of their God: they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God. Wherefore have we fasted, say they, and thou seest not? wherefore have we afflicted our soul, and thou takest no knowledge? Behold, in the day of your fast ye find pleasure, and exact all your labours. Behold, ye fast for strife and debate, and to smite with the fist of wickedness: ye shall not fast as ye do this day, to make your voice to be heard on high." - Isaiah 58:2-4. As I said earlier, living the Christian life is not about taking forty days out of the year to do what is right, and this is what God is talking about here. You can not live immorally and seek God and expect His blessings. Often Christians will abuse God's good graces to continue to live in sin, although God is a forgiving God, He is not a gullible God, He knows what we are doing and if we are sincere.

Isaiah continues and through him God addresses what we are to do when we fast, "Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the LORD shall be thy reward. Then shalt thou call, and the LORD shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;...Then shalt thou delight thyself in the LORD; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. " - Isaiah 58:6-9,14. Fasting is not to impress the world of how religious we are, but is to seek the will of God through intercession. We are blessed when we truly seek the Lord with all our heart, soul, and mind, it is only then can we forget about our own burdens and desires and focus on others, who have much more to deal with then we do.

God assures us through Isaiah, "For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth. And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name. Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God. Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah: for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married. For as a young man marrieth a virgin, so shall thy sons marry thee: and as the bridegroom rejoiceth over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over thee." - Isaiah 62:1-5. Hephzibah means Jerusalem will be restored and Beulah means a land of peace. That new name for the Gentiles are Christians, that is all who have called on the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior. We sing a song at my church called, In Beulah land, it is a vision of what is to come as Christians and Jews come together to a land of peace.

So many people make the assumption that if they are a particular religion that will save you from hell. This is wrong, whether Jew or Gentile the only way to escape hell is through Jesus Christ. "And their seed shall be known among the Gentiles, and their offspring among the people: all that see them shall acknowledge them, that they are the seed which the LORD hath blessed. I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels. For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth the things that are sown in it to spring forth; so the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations." - Isaiah 61:9-11. Alee who accept Jesus Christ are saved. Praise God!

Fasting is perhaps the most intimate relationship you can have with God, fasting is more than refraining ones self from eating food and doing things we love, it is about using that time for prayer, getting in God's Word, and helping others not only come to know Christ themselves, but see that they can find peace through their burdens. Jesus Said, "Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father, which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly." - Matthew 6:16-18. Spiritual fasting is something between you and God and no one else. We are to go about our day like every other day, for instance, instead of eating at lunch time you would be praying or reading the Bible.

At times it is necessary to fast, while God answers all prayers, some requests take more than just praying, and this is where fasting comes in. You know, the disciples did not always have total confidence that Jesus could do and make anything happen. They doubted Him from time to time as well so, we are no different from His first twelve disciples. When questioning why they could not heal a boy possessed by the devil, Jesus Said, "Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting." - Matthew 17:20,21. Prayer and fasting combined can truly move mountains. Think about it, a mountain is just a rock, it can not grow, it has no life to it, but a seed, as seed has live to it and when it grow it can literally break through that mountain and it will tumble. Ever see a flower or piece of grass pop through a driveway or sidewalk? That is the power of a tiny seed. Just that much faith can increase ones faith, especially through prayer and fasting, so much so that it can show God you truly believe in Him. If just a little bit of faith can move a mountain imagine what more faith can do? Praise God!
Enjoy the rest of your day/night and week.
God Bless You, I am praying for you
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