PREJUDICE stilled

Prejudice then and now is a point of view, a perspective learned, not of God, but of this world. Harrison Ford portrayed Branch, a man that witnessed racial prejudice in his youth and did nothing about it. When he was in position to make a difference, he SHOOK UP the world by introducing the first black man in Brooklyn for the Dodgers. The number 42, the first and last number to be retired in baseball history - is because of one mans passion for the sport, and because of another man's tremendous GOD GIVEN courage to SUBMERGE his anger, and be changed from his inside out, by the spirit of God, for the greater good. Branch warns Jackie "PREPARE yourself to be wickedly trampled in public. You must face verbal abuse like Jesus did, with humility and silence. You must rise above all that is hurled at you. You must maintain WHO YOU ARE IN CHRIST, for His namesake, for HIS greater glory ~ and win souls by your silent witness." Jackie was coached well and he learned to harness his thoughts,

his emotions, his old ways and submitted them unto the Lord, that as a nation we would embrace ALL men as equal, to the GLORY OF GOD. A great emotional performance in REAL LIFE, and in the movie 42! "All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud, but shows favor to the humble.” Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.  To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen." 1 Peter 5:5-11

Effective Prayer

"The prayers of righteous men accomplish much" James 5:16 - What do you want to accomplish today? Have you asked God for His help? The finished work of Jesus allows us to be covered by His righteousness, BUT --- "The Lord is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayer of the righteous." Proverbs 28:9 --- The truth is, the very best Christian is only human and God says that the human heart is deceitful above all else.  The Holy Spirit was deposited in us, to convict us, to guide us, to comfort us, and to teach us about Who God is...He is holy and in order for us to remain in a right and intimate relationship with the Lover of our souls, we must abide in Him, and respond to Him in prayer. Prayer is a relationship, a connection, it is a sacrifice of our time with the Holy Spirit, it is a time to ask, and it is a time to listen to what the Spirit is asking us to do.  In our obedience, we are blessed.  We serve a BIG GOD and HE asks us to do things that stretch our faith and cause us to enter into a

crisis of belief.  "How can I accomplish that Lord?"  EXACTLY!!! "On our own, without God, we can do nothing!"  We deceive ourselves whenever we think we have been completely obedient, or that we are NOT without UNBELIEF at times, or that we have NOT sinned today. "Oh Lord, I believe in You, but help me in my unbelief about...."  Has God asked you to do something you are unwilling to do because of your lack of faith in Him for finances, for provision, or for equipping us adequately? Have you watched a program that would offend God today?  Have you held a single unkind thought about your neighbor? Have you arrogantly thought or said "I am better than they are because I would have acted...I would have done...and they should..." Our prideful thoughts of being superior to anyone, our hesitation to forgive others, or a single good deed performed out of a selfish motive... this unknown, unseen condition of heart makes us unholy, unfit and unable to expect answers to our prayers. We must confess our sins to God with genuine remorse for NOT trusting Him, for avoiding Him, for NOT believing that He cares, for discounting His power, for rebelling against His authority, for offending the King of Kings, and for pridefully denying that we sin and fall short daily.  STOP and listen to what the Spirit in YOU is asking.  Do we need to pray for the Holy Spirit to increase our faith?  To help us with our unbelief?  To forgive today's sins? Are we honest before God?

 "O my Father, my Advocate, my Counselor, Thou art worthy of all my adoration. Before I can approach the Holy of Holies boldly... I must humbly confess that my heart breaks for having offended Thee. Most sincerely I despise all my selfish, offensive ways and thoughts.  I fall short and I admit I need You. Your convicting chastisement is effective and JUST.  Because I have offended the glory and honor of Thy Holy name Jesus, I have NO peace.  O my Lord God, Thou art all good and fully deserving of all my love and devotion. With hope for Thy continuing grace, have mercy on me. I thank You Holy Spirit for convicting me so that I may transparently confess my sins.  You sought a sinner like me and adopted me so that I may reflect the holiness and glory of God.  Jesus said..."But go and learn what this means: "I desire mercy, not sacrifice."  For I have NOT come to call the righteous, but sinners." Matthew 9:13 - Oh Lord, you called me a sinner, and after all your mercy, love and grace, I beseech Thee to forgive my sins again. Oh my Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!  Your glory is above the heavens, and who am I that You would be mindful ...and hear my prayers? Reading the Psalms You inspired David to record, I am reminded that

the arrogant cannot stand in Your presence. God hates pride and all who gossip and speak ill of others. Only because of Your great mercy, am I able to kneel down and ask for Your forgiveness. Your perfect word says "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9 -- My soul is in anguish, be merciful to me Lord for my heart is broken, full of remorse. Forgive me Father, for I have offended Thee by my -----------. "I praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me.  I set the Lord always before me, therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body will also rest secure, because I trust His unfailing love will not abandon me." Psalm 16 --- Lord, You have made known to me the path of life; You filled me with the Holy Spirit and I am yours.

AMEN and HALLELUJAH! Our heartfelt prayers are words that are spoken from a pure heart. No matter the words we use, the Holy Spirit, our intercessor will deliver the perfect request to Jesus, our Advocate who sits at the right hand of our Father. "We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us through wordless groans." Romans 8:26.  "My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin.  But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father ---Jesus Christ, the Righteous One." 1 John 2:1. The Psalms are a gift from God. They overflow with genuine praise to God, given under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, through men whose hearts and minds were overtaken by the glory of God. Our impoverished vocabulary does not diminish our prayers because God knows our hearts and He issues us grace, mercy and compassion as we stumble to express our adoration, daily confessions and thanksgiving.  "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart"  Psalm 51:16 ---Our Father will not despise or reject the prayers that come from a heart that

genuinely feels remorse for their realized impurities.  It is unwise to take God's mercy for granted.  God is not obligated to forgive us.  The failure to FEEL gratitude for all the benefits of being a child of God is to be like a pagan or the apostate.  "For although they knew God they did not honor Him as God or give thanks to Him." Romans 1:21 --- When we FEEL the emotion of gratitude, we are compelled from within to ACT, and to express our genuine thanksgiving.  To NOT give due thanks to God is to exalt ourselves and degrade what God has done for us.  Our Lord Jesus is dishonored when we choose to withhold praise.  Keeping a praise journal is a great way to never lose sight of the countless times God blessed us. If our Father never grants us another prayer request, or if He withheld His stream of grace, we would be hard pressed to thank Him adequately for what He has already done. Read the entire Psalm 66 and consider all that God has done for you personally. The Psalm is filled with praise and this important truth: "If I had cherished sin in my heart (withheld confession), the Lord would not have listened; but God has surely listened and heard MY VOICE in prayer.  Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld His love from me." Psalm 66:20 ~ Thank God for giving us...DAILY... amazing gifts!

Dear Lord Jesus, thank you for the wonderful way You created me.  Thank You for providing me with endless opportunities to be of service and to avoid a stale life of routine boredom. Thank You for giving me courage to take risks, to think outside the box, and to experiment. Thank You for giving me timeless commands without endless rules!  Thank You Lord for inviting me to ask and receive what is best for me, in Your time. Thank You for increasing my faith daily by all the glorious evidence of God in nature. Thank You Lord for allowing me to make tons of mistakes, and for Your unmerited grace. Thank You for collaborating with me, and uniquely gifting me that I may excel in life. Thank You for Your generosity of time and unlimited resources, that I in turn may be generous towards others. Thank You for the freedom I have "in You" that allows me to live set apart, and independent from world views.  Thank You for Your mercy as I experiment with words and actions.  Thank You for motivating me from within, to do good and to be accountable.  Thank You for giving me plenty of work to do, and the strength to do it well.  Thank You Lord for never forsaking me, for always going before me, and leading me in the right way. Thank You for giving me eyes to see, for ears to hear, for a mind that can choose what to think, a heart that feels compassion, and hands and feet to keep moving. Thank You for restoring what was lost, for repairing my heart, and healing my body. AMEN - The practice of prayer becomes sweet as we anticipate a dialogue with our Father God who is delighted to hear from us. Our Father is genuinely interested in every aspect of our lives. SPEAK plainly to GOD, be HONEST and pour out the contents of your heart. Everyday brings a need or a trouble to tell to our Father.

The PIT of Despair

During this life we each have spent time in a dark place, in a pit of despair and we question "If there is a God, why am I suffering?" Many wonder where was God when jets crashed into the twin towers, and thousands of good people along with many church going Christians perished. The deep incomprehensible pain after 911 was not easy for thousands of the survivors.  This kind of terror stunned even the most devout.  The United States was awakened to the reality of evil after Pearl Harbor, and on September 11, 2001.  Each citizen was shaken to the core and moved to cling more tightly to the truth, that the earth as we know it, is NOT our eternal home, or simply implode with no hope for the future.  We each have a choice to grow emotionally and spiritually stronger as we pass through the fires of this life, or faint and disintegrate into the pit of hopelessness. Many unhappy citizens of planet earth "TRY GOD" on their human terms. If God does not appear and respond according to their expectations, they quickly determine that faith in God does not work. Stuck in a pit of despair, they try other Gods. They may temporarily distract themselves from their emptiness with superficial relationships, or any number of pursuits or activities. Depression leaves us in the fetal position of despair. Share this short clip with anyone you know who is stuck in the pit of hopelessness:      In our urban society there is a belief that God simply wants us all to be happy, or that God does not exist. Those same folks with slippery beliefs choose to blame God for all gloom, stormy times, 911, their divorce, or for any lost dream.  A wildly popular thought is nurtured in the minds of the lost by the great deceiver who whispers "There is no such thing as God, because if God cared, He would have prevented this tragedy."

Americans long ago tossed God out of schools, the court room, and Wallstreet. Our Father does not force Himself on anyone and He does not return to those who choose to reject Him. "Trust in God" is on the face of every American coin, but do we Trust God in times of trouble? Many have chosen to follow the easy way, to simply satisfy their human desire and believe that all religions lead to God. Many believe that each individual has the freedom to choose which way FEELS right, to them. --- In 2014 to BE politically correct, those who lack the wisdom of God TOLERATE everything --- To obtain the popular vote, the minds of non-believers and many believers simply choose to GO WITH THE FLOW. Attempting to avoid upsetting anyone, many strive to win the approval of peers, family, or constituents. The world's cunning MYTHICAL message is broadcast daily in the news. We seek to be like a local HERO, a man made super star or get to the top no matter what. All this idol worship eventually proves unsatisfying.  The media promotes the belief that we must accept that TRUTH is ---- whatever is TRUE for each individual.  FACT: Truth is found in God's unchanging word. Our true friend Jesus Christ shares light and salt. Many myths exist in the mind of man regarding our eternal fate. Today RELATIVITY = the absence of absolute truth. This generation is shown in song, on film daily that what is wrong is right, that whatever is down will on its own rebound, and that the perfect politician can fix the economy. Like Alice in Wonderland, the world is a confusing rabbit chase of glamour, glitz and fame. Some folks worship gold, dogs, trees, statues, Hollywood legends, fame, athletes, rock stars, or the freedom to be the most pleasing Snow White, Mommy, Daddy, or Fashionista. Today absolute TOLERANCE ---NOT Truth --- RULES! --- In the media, in the home, in politics, TOLERANCE is the worst sin of all. Any God opposing TRUTHS regarding: methods of parenting, same sex marriage, abortion, what is relative, what is true, Who God is, thoughts about the devil, or evil is absolutely INTOLERABLE to a holy God! A world wide web of lies exposes the wise and the innocent to instant data, facts, research, and opposition to any position taken about any one thing....BUT,  IS IT TRUTH? Does it honor God?  Trusting in God's word is to have confidence in a grand ETERNAL future that is far superior to anything we enjoy on earth.

Our human definition of happiness shifts - because we are highly influenced by fleeting events. The JOY of the Lord is rock steady, it is eternal and consistent, regardless of circumstance. The goal of most people is "To just be happy" But God's perfect plan is to deliver us from the temporary and transport us into His eternal Love, Joy and Peace. The MYTH that WHATEVER makes us happy, makes God happy --- is to think that a human knows the mind of God. As long as we are satisfied with what we believe, we can then slide positively from one truth to another. Being righteously intolerant is to say "Hey, I like you, but your actions are offensive to God and to me." Hollywood promotes tolerance for all issues. Human weakness is that we all strive to be liked by our peers. Who we become depends on the thoughts we adopt. God's thoughts or man's thoughts about God? We get to CHOOSE to put on the full armor of God and care more about what God sees and hears, or we choose to put on the thoughts of man in order to be tolerated, or liked. No person that you admire in this world can lift you out of the pit of despair.  God can, and He does.

Images and words are directly aimed at our spiritual souls ~ they encourage us to buy what we do not need, and to TOLERATE all the ways of an evolving world.  Freedom is translated by a lost generation to mean that we are not accountable to God. That our behavior cannot offend a God that does not exist. This world celebrates madness! The truth is WRITTEN: "Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin." Hebrews 3:12-13 God also warned: "And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who did not obey? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief" Hebrews 3:18-19 now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in

spirit and truth.” The woman said to Him, “I know that Messiah is coming” (who is called Christ). “When He comes, He will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am He.” John 4:24  ~ The cause of DESPAIR in the world is this: Lies, cheating, murdering, stealing, mixed up sexuality, and gossip.  It is our choices that spins the MADNESS into each script of most television shows. The world broadcasts boldly that "ANYTHING we DO or SAY is OKAY" Commercials are designed to change the mind so that we buy whatever is being sold. We then find pleasure in dark places that cannot satisfy the soul's thirst for truth --- DENIAL protects our secret desire for peace. God created us before the foundations of the world, He knows our hearts, He knows our thoughts, He knows our human weakness, and He gave us access to the truth, to His wisdom, to His perfect ways ~ and He gave us the freedom to choose Him above the ways of the world, the lost, the deceived, the deprived. God placed in each soul a yearning for truth, a need for divine love that never rejects --- and a love that is merciful. BE YE TRANSFORMED BY THE RENEWING OF YOUR MIND ~ IT IS WRITTEN: "While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!” And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their faces and were greatly afraid. But Jesus touched them and said,  “Arise, and DO NOT be afraid.” Matthew 17 -  Invite Jesus to reveal Himself to you.

Almighty God waits patiently for us to ask Jesus to assure us that we are loved as we are. Ask God to give you eyes to see beyond the visible, and ears to hear His voice. Ask Jesus to come into your heart and give you new life. Receive the TRUTH of JESUS, the Son of God as your ETERNAL Father, the Lover of your soul and receive His unconditional love, joy, peace. Surrender the knowledge begotten of the internet, a friend, a family member, the misguided teachings of a world gone mad. Surrender to the MIND OF CHRIST and be changed in a twinkling! Be satiated with His living water! The scales on your eyes will be lifted and you will understand that what happens in Vegas, does not stay in Vegas, but that the serpent of evil corrupts the mind against the simplicity in Christ. If we choose to broadcast the TRUTH that God does not approve of all ways to His throne, we are mocked as silly bible thumpers. ABSOLUTE TRUTH does exist ---and God wrote to tell us repeatedly in the book of John - "I tell you the truth". As Ambassadors of Christ, we are God's feet, hands and mouth. When we speak God's TRUTH, we are called lunatics and judged as INTOLERANT by those that love their life in this world. "The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life."  John 12:25 -- "Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were

of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are NOT — to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before Him. It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord." 1 Corin 1:1-31 - Let us believe God at His word, that He loves us.  Let us forgive ourselves as we are forgiven and LAUGH about our foolish past and rejoice in our NEW heart. Let us boast of what the Lord has spoken in our ear! IT IS WRITTEN: “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man." John 5:24-27 - "But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who, by the power that enables Him to bring everything under His control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body." Philippians 3:20-22