THINKING HABITS

Are you in the good habit of higher thinking? Do you employ the habit of capturing every thought and considering IF it glorifies God? Are you in the habit of forgiving others quickly? "For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher that your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts."  God proclaimed this truth in Isaiah 55:8-9.  One major benefit of our redemption is that we share in the image and thoughts of God.  "You have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge 'in' the image of the Creator."  We are reminded in Colossians 3:10 that we are constantly being renewed in knowledge. We gain more knowledge of Who our Holy Creator is. He is our eternal Father of grace, and He forgives us for our habits of stinkin thinking.

We are also renewed in His image. "For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first born among many brothers." God breathed these living words that we may know in our mind the fact that He knew us before we knew Him, and that He chose us for Himself to be conformed into the image of Jesus Christ, for His purpose, that when we meet the lost, that they would recognize Christ in us. "In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus; who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God, something to be used to His own advantage; rather, He made Himself nothing by taking the nature of a servant, being made in human likeness." The mind of Christ highly esteems every relationship and Jesus thought mercifully about each person He encountered. He made deliberate eye contact to connect soul to soul. He stopped at a well midday for the purpose of being about His Father's business. On the way to the cross, He healed a woman who touched His robe.

 He wanted to meet and greet the woman at the well to save her. He listened whole heartedly to her, and He spoke to reveal His soul's interest in the condition of her heart and destiny. As Christ did, we are to think less of ourselves, and more of the person He places in our path. We glorify God and honor the way of Jesus by serving others. We too are the subject of our Father's affection.  He placed His Spirit in us, and He is enabled to transform us into His image as we surrender our old ways and habits of thinking about others to Him. Jesus finds pride repulsive, and from His exalted position He warned us in Isaiah 13:11 "I will also put an end to the arrogance of the haughty, and will humble the pride of the ruthless."   God's ongoing transformation of us into the image of Christ is a silent, unseen divine work, done by His indwelt Spirit. The "BE" attitudes demonstrate the way God works in us. The attitude of our heart is intimately known by God. In our lowly spirit,

we fear God because He alone is all powerful. In our broken contrite hearts we experience the Holy Comforter. In our mild, meek humility we accept our position in Christ.  The opposite of meekness is arrogance and the mind of Christ maintained a state of meekness while steadfast in authority and strength. Jesus described Himself  in Matthew 11:29 KJV  "Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls."  The second four "BE" attitudes function as God's purpose to turn our minds towards others. Blessed are the merciful, we are to show mercy to others.  Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. To BE pure in heart is to beyond prejudice. The Pharisees were proud and prejudiced and they arrogantly asked the disciples in Matthew 9:11 "Why is your Teacher eating with the tax collectors and sinners?"  Confounding those who thought themselves wise, Jesus chose Zaccheus as a follower and He ministered to a Samaritan woman in Luke 4:7-26. We are to BE pure, and not boast of our purity. Jesus was not puritanical, His broad selection of friends was all inclusive.  Jesus befriended the unkempt, the unliked, the sick, the prostitutes, and tax collectors.  Puritanical people narrow their selection of friends and remain Pius regarding their beliefs. Under the divine supervision of the Holy Spirit, we

may uncover surprising prejudices. Some followers of Christ think erroneously that because God delivered them in a certain way, that God will work in others exactly in the same way.  His ways, are not our ways, and if we are prejudiced about the way God should work in anyone's life, we are placing our thoughts and ways above His sovereignty. To be absent minded is a serious matter. It is to live with a vacancy of Christ in our minds.  If we are serious about adopting the mind of Christ, we must pray that God fill our absent minded habit with His living Word. "According to His custom, He once more began to teach them."  Jesus had good habits!  He had the habit of prayer, He customarily attended church, the synagogue to renew His mind with God's word. The habit of confessing "I am simply absent minded, it must be my age" needs to be eradicated from our thinking by inviting the

Holy Spirit to heal our mind of such an excuse. Ask the Lord to conduct a new and fresh work in you.  We are weak and we need to admit that we are unable to change by our human way of personal discipline. Instead of relying on our ways, we must yield more consciously to the indwelt Holy Spirit and His ways. Let us intentionally adopt the habit of submissive thinking to the Spirit. Listing our habits of thinking, our fears, our prejudices, our relationships, our hurts so that we can BE aware and then transformed is life changing. Inspect the harmony within the mind of Christ. The wisdom of mind are action verbs, they are the ways of Christ thinking listed in James 3:17:  Practice thingking Pure, Peace loving, Considerate, Submissive, Full of Mercy and Good Fruits, Impartial and Sincere thoughts. Also the fruit of the Spirit is listed in Galatians 5:22: Love, Joy, Peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and self control.  FREEDOM from the bondage of our thinking and behavior habits is NOT accomplished by our weak old patterns of thinking that are impure, conflicting, ill willed, whining, impoverished, complaining, stubborn, lacking compassion, prejudiced and insincere.  "The mind set on the Spirit is life and peace." Romans 8:6 The mind set on their next pleasure, on the condition of the economy, on their favorite sport, or on who is falling short...is a person whose mind is filled with the ways and thoughts of the world. That person is NOT living the LIFE God gave them, rather it is a person whose soul does NOT experience the peace of God. We were given free will to choose our Source of information, our Teacher of thinking. If we set our mind according to the 6:00 news, or on the most recent debate on FOX, then we are hindering the thoughts of Christ. "Your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God." Isaiah 59:2 - It is our responsibility to hold captive eachwill power.  The GOOD NEWS is that the grace of the Holy Spirit is ever present in order to convict us when we begin to repeat

thought to Christ Jesus, and to confess the sin of having an absent, wondering mind.  "But I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ." 1 Corinthians 11:3 Be reminded to "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, THINK about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from Me, or seen in Me, put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” Philippians 4:4 - Let us therefore choose to NOT be absent minded of the ways of Christ thinking. Lord HELP US BE ever mindful of thinking like Christ, AMEN!  “But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays. And you will go out and frolic like well-fed calves.” Malachi 4:2

White as Snow

When we say we trust in God...and we pledge our allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, one nation, under God.....with liberty and justice for all, and to the republic for which it stands...what does that mean? Do we put God first? Do we stand up for the people? Let us remember that we are here to serve God by serving and by encouraging others. Let us put God back on the throne and trust His Word as the way. Let us trust that His will is done, on earth as it is in heaven. He is in charge regardless of who sits in the oval office. He chose us for His purpose. AMEN.

Every day is a DAY of MEMORY MAKING - let us remember all those who gave up their life so that we can enjoy freedom. Freedom is not without a cost. The truth is that suffering and pain are a part of this life. "Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you.  But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when His glory is revealed.  If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you." 1 Peter 4:12-19

When things do not go according to our plan, do we ask "Why me Lord?" Do we wonder if God forgot all the good things we did for Him? Our natural inclination is to feel sorry for ourselves, and not rejoice in our sufferings. Recently a pastor was put in prison in Iran. He is being tortured for his faith and wrote a letter rejoicing that his persecution is bringing various churches together. The living Word of God paints a picture for us. Imagine the seven dwarfs, those uneducated yet uniquely gifted smallpeople. Those happy little fellas who whistled as they went off to work ~ they suffered persecution

because they were short.  Snow White suffered the jealousy of the Queen because of the pure innocense of her soul.  These cherished people wisely chose to listen to what the spirit was saying. Snow ran from evil. She was alone and terrified while seeking refuge. The dwarfs welcomed her and they showed her kindness. As it is written, Snow was blessed, for the glory of the Lord shone all around her. God's earthly presence rested upon her, and He gave Snow rest. The Spirit of glory gave her refreshment and a brief intermission from toil. 

Snow had the gift to easily encourage others.  With authentic grace she spoke highly of Sleepy's kindness, Dopey's delightful humor, and the compassion Sneezy had developed as a result of his constant allergies. The dwarfs directed Snow to consider God's living Word and that victory was hers over the evil plots to steal her position as a princess of the most High Priest, Jesus Christ. Satan does use religion to subject the world to himself, but Snow read what God wrote to the angel of Thyatira: These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like blazing fire... He knows your deeds, your love and faith, your service and perseverance little ones. God sees all, and knows all of our true intentions. He knows why you work, and why you say you love God. He knows what you are doing today is more than when you first came to believe. Nevertheless, God  is holy and cannot overlook sin. He holds this against you:

You tolerate that evil woman Jezebel, the wicked queen who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads many servants of God into acts that dishonor the Holy name of Jesus. Actions that show the watching world that we do not need God. That our wicked human ways of satisfying our desires is superior to God's way, His will and His Word. God gave Jezebel time to admit her wicked ways, to confess her hopes to influence others to do evil, but she remained unwilling to repent. So our righteous Lord cast Jezebel down on a bed of suffering.  God is just and He searches all hearts and minds. He will repay all according to our wicked deeds and the true intentions of our hearts. TRUTH IS: God knows our intentions. 1) We are serving God because we desire to honor Him, or 2) We are doing what we do to gain a good reputation for ourselves. Selfishness and pride are not hidden from God.  Our Lord is full of compassion and He writes to us to warn us; 

"To you who do NOT hold to Evil's twisted teachings, to those who have used their shield, and worn the helmet and rejected the words of man, to all who denied Satan's cunning temptations and schemes to seductively ensnare, to all who used the Sword of Truth to chase off false teachings and polluted insights into the ways of God....Our Father warns those to HOLD ON to what you have, your FAITH and TRUST in God."  To each of you who overcomes, to each of you who remains faithful until Jesus Christ returns, God will give authority to rule over the nations. God issues His power through small and large acts of kindness. (Revelation 2:26)  "He who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches."  God has compassion for His chosen and 

He sends us people to bend our ears. Let us listen to His still small voice and be moved to act in ways that bring God glory. The village in which you work and live is much like Thyatira. A place where man finds work, a town with many trades. A city that is governed by people who are very capable of being deceived. God is delighted and He commends you for growing in good deeds, but He encourages us to grow in love, faith and trusting in His words alone.  Rise up and capture every thought. Sweep away any thought of revenge, of doubt, of fear. Choose to listen to what the Spirit of God is

compassionately warning. Our Lord speaks of seven seals, seven bowls, seven plagues, and in the end... Jesus declares 'It is done!' ~ Because we are loved, because of God's compassion and kindness, He tells us the truth. Evil ever lurks to destroy us, to tempt us to deny Christ. In your weakness, the Holy Spirit will rise up and give you understanding and strength. "Then there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder and a severe earthquake. " (Rev 16:17) REMEMBER ME when you eat the bread of life and drink from the cup.

God is merciful, but He has a limit to His patience. After 3 years of revealing Himself physically on earth as the Son of Man, and after demonstrating His love to a group of pride filled theologians, Jesus showed His power by raising the dead and healing the sick. Jesus spoke with astounding authority in the synagogue. The proud students of God's word were unable to recognize Jesus as the Messiah. They were unable to let go of what was familiar, what was their way, and they felt threatened instead of humbled by the living Word of God. These proud men, demanded throughout nine hours of trials, that Jesus be crucified so that their teaching, their understanding of scripture would be upheld. ~  After 2,000 years  of displaying His grace through His chosen

people, Jesus will extend His compassion, grace, patience and mercy another 3.5 more years after the great tribulation, when He returns to rescue His bride, the church.  All who have ever claimed Jesus as the Son of God and personal Savior, as His beloved, we will dine with Jesus and all the saints of history at the wedding of the Lamb.  Jesus warns the world of His coming final judgement by His living Word. The vision of His ultimate Glory is found in the book of Revelation.  He reveals the truth, one chapter at a time. With each of the seven seals opened, and with each bowl of deserved wrath our Father encourages us "So do not fear, for I am with you; do NOT be dismayed, for I am your God, I will strengthen

you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Our Lord Jesus proceeds to assert His power, lifting up His own while cleansing the world of its sin and rebellion against a Holy God. If evil has sought to destroy your faith, if evil has enlisted others to persecute you, if evil has caused you to suffer unjustly for your faith in Jesus Christ... "Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay,' says the Lord." Do not withhold forgiveness, be kind, be compassionate to those who seek to harm you for they know not what they are doing. Do not initiate a lawsuit, just

move on. Do not lash out with a sharp tone, do not keep retelling of how you were wronged. Do not attempt to destroy the reputation of the person who acted willfully to harm you. Our Father, Who knows all, Who sees all from heaven, respect His Word, His name. His kingdom come, His will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Revenge belongs to the Lord. AMEN ~ Draw close to Jesus, read His word, speak His name for there is HOPE for you "In Christ". We will be changed according to how much of our mind, body, beliefs we surrender to the MIND OF CHRIST. The truth is:  "That He who began a good work in me, will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."  What we will be

like "has not yet been made known. But I know that when He appears, I shall be like Him, for I shall see Him as He is."  

PRAISE GOD!  The day fast approaches when we will no longer struggle with sin, or be inconsistent, nor shall we stumble and fall. "Everyone who has this hope "in Him" purifies himself, just as He is pure".  MAKE YOURSELF READY as a bride makes herself ready for the wedding feast.  The wedding of the Lamb, of the Lord Jesus to us His bride, His church, is an occasion of unsurpassed JOY! Halleluiah! The robe that was stripped from Jesus on the cross,

that same robe that was gambled for while Jesus bled His royal blood for us on the cross, this same robe shall drip in the blood of those who ever denied His authority as God. "HIS NAME IS THE WORD OF GOD"  Revelations 19:13.  The bible is the written Word of God, and Jesus Christ is the living Word of God, both are revelations of God. Read it with reverence, with a humble attitude, with a repentant heart. God considers our reception or rejection of the Bible to be our reception or rejection of Himself.  His identity is firmly stated with these words written on His robe and on His thigh: KING OF KINGS and LORD OF LORDS.  Do you not stutter in

shock and awe knowing that "  Jesus showed us the way to live in the world but not be changed or threatened by it.  Jesus saw the work of the Liar at work in his friend Peter and He loved Pete enough to speak the truth.  Peter denied Jesus three times and still Jesus bestowed him with the important role of establishing the first church. The living Word in this segment of Peter's reality show. It is clear documentation that demonstrates our Father's forgiveness for our frequent mistakes, moments of pride, and 

embarrassing bloopers. God forgives and forgets.  He does not remind us of our faults, but He lets us know that He will make use of us regardless of our human frailty. Whoever believes in Jesus, though they suffer and die, they shall enjoy life "in Him" eternally. Peter suffered the shame of being rebuked by Jesus.  Our father loves us enough to discipline us.  Peter was able to see his human tendency to seek the admiration of man, instead of the grace of God. Peter in a moment of stupor attempted to correct the living Word, Jesus the bridegroom!  Married or single, we are to submit to God.  When we die to ourselves,

we submerge the urge daily to cast stones or speak before we listen for His still small voice of wisdom. Completely dependent upon our Lord Jesus, we obey the Word of God by His grace.  When our peers, our family observe the pure and modest way in which we conduct and interact with respectfully with others, they will rightly perceive our reverence, our genuine honor and esteem for our Father, our Lord Jesus Christ. Our inward adoring of the hidden person of the heart, the Holy Spirit (Who has incorruptible and unfading loyalty to God)  when we recline

into His presence, we are not anxious or fearful of any temptation or any person.  Like when Sarah obeyed Abraham, she willingly followed his guidance and acknowledged his authority over her, she called him her husband, her leader. As we are of Abraham's seed, we are His true daughters and we are not terrified. Men and women are to consider the intelligent design of both man and woman. We honor the woman as physically the weaker, but we acknowledge that both man and woman are joint heirs of the God’s unmerited favor, His grace.  Finally,

men and women are to be of one and the same mind, united in spirit, sympathizing with one another, loving each other as brethren of one household, and be compassionate, humble and courteous.  Never return evil for evil or insult for insult. Scolding, tongue lashing, or destroying the character of another are the ways of the lost. As our Father inhabits the prayers of His chosen, we also likewise inhabit the blessings of God. Let us obey and pray for the welfare, happiness, and protection of

those who persecute us. We have been set apart and equipped to forgive as we have been forgiven. Let him who wants to enjoy life and see good days do the will of our Father, and love others as we are loved by Him. JESUS was reviled and insulted, yet He did not revile or offer insult in return; when Jesus was abused and suffered, He made no threats of vengeance; but he trusted Himself and everything to God Who judges fairly.  Jesus offered Himself on the cross, that we might surrender our will to His. Let us cease to seek to satisfy our wants by our selfish, inferior ways.  Let us VALUE what Jesus has done for us and put on His robe of righteousness. Let us boldly declare in faith that "by His wounds I have been healed."  Say outloud, "I am healed of fear, and uncertainty"

I now speak with confidence about who I am to the King of Kings. Jesus Christ is my Lord, and I stand firm in the truth that I am His, and He is mine. Admitting that before we met Jesus on our road to destruction, we were all going astray like so many sheep.  YOU were worth it in the eyes of the Lord, that He would come down from His throne, to be known, to be rejected, to be tortured, to die and then return to pay the price for your sins.  Jesus Christ is worthy to be praised!

C'MON MAN - Really?

People generally refuse to recognize that sin is a fact of life, and we ALL fall short, even baptized Christians. The grief Jesus bore cannot be compared to what we suffer here on earth. All the past, present, and future sins of all humanity crushed Jesus to the point of grieving blood droplets in the garden of Gethsemane.  People cannot associate with the kind of grief Jesus endured.  C'mon man, what do we really grieve? Jesus lost friends and family members as a result of His ministry. Like King David, we too grieve the loss of a loved ones, and our good friends. "I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother; you were very dear to me." 2 Samuel 1:26 -- QUESTION: Do you think we also grieve the Holy Spirit when He pricks our conscious with guilt and we choose not to confess any sin?  Do we love ALL, as we are loved?  Is'nt that a command of God?  There are Christians who claim they have surrendered all to God and that they have become new creatures in Christ, however, they choose NOT to completely obey His word.  Do Christians continually pray and “Praise God in all things”? Does their reasoning mind, at times, tell their belief system that God does NOT care and He does NOT listen to their laments? Do they confess that unbelief?  "Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions." Psalm 51:1

Do they continue to go to church, without fully believing that they are loved, forgiven and saved?  Do they ALWAYS fully trust that God is just in all His ways? Or...on their own, do they simply attempt to control their bits of unbelief from surfacing?  Do they live in denial, or do they admit that they hurt and struggle at times? Or, do they simply smile and continue to boast “Jesus is Lord" while doubting?  Do they really trust that they are covered by grace and that confessing sin is not really necessary, because they got the Holy Spirit, they got baptized, and they are good to go? Do they think that they intimately KNOW God because they have memorized some scripture? Reading first John should shed some light on thia self-centered thinking, but without asking and trusting the Holy Spirit to reveal truth in scripture, they continue to justify that they know God and say flatly “I am not a sinner”  The truth is: Christian or not, a rational mind filled with scholarly intelligence generally denies any need of a dependency on God.  So the sin nature of man’s proud mind keeps them blind to the truth.  Believing “Jesus is Lord” is not enough.  We must also confess our sins, surrender our ways, and trust and obey His living and active Word.  Having the mind of Christ is to surrender our thoughts to His way, His will, and His word.  “If sin rules in me, God’s life in me will be killed; if God rules in me, sin in me will be killed. What was true in the history of God on earth will also be true in your history and in mine— that is, sin will kill the life of God in us. All must bring themselves to terms with the fact that we all sin. Continued sin is the only explanation why Jesus Christ came to earth.” Oswald Chambers "Let us confess our sins to one another so that we may be healed." James 4 - Reveal any unholy thing or thought in me Lord!  AMEN

GOLLY WHAT A DAY

Intimacy Understood

When we surrender our hearts, hopes and dreams to the superior plans of God, and invite Jesus to become our Lord and Savior, we receive the Holy Spirit as our trusted Teacher. By studying the character of God we learn that He alone is trustworthy and unchanging. Many people compare themselves to others and they desire a change.  Many people want to be someone else. STOP and consider who you are in Christ! STOP thinking you are merely a face, a body, and what you have or have not accomplished.  Where is the soul in that image?  Seek Who God is, and He will lavish His love on you!  CLICK the link below and consider the very real Intimacy that God wants with you.


Intimacy With Our Heavenly Father: God wants to have an intimate, loving relationship with you.

"To walk in God's grace, is to walk in the world as poetry in motion, in this world, but not of this world ~ a world that is filled with people still trying to comprehend philosophers and magicians."  Let God silence your desire to "fit in" this world and accept your position in Him! “Be still and KNOW that I am God”  It is NOT necessary to silence or change oureselves or others.  The Holy Spirit enters us, and He is the change maker! Silence the endless inner turmoil and allow yourself to be adopted into the family of God. In the dim light of a candle, it is not possible to see properly, and a person could hurt their vision by reading God's Word in the shadows. When a person cannot accept the love of God, that person may dress well, but on the inside they are dry, dead, empty, unfulfilled and living without grace. God’s grace exudes from within.  “God is light; in Him there is  no darkness at all.  If we claim to have fellowship with

Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth.  But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin.  If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  If we claim we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar and His word is not in us.” 1 John 1:5 ~  When we don’t have the necessary understanding of the good practice of being transparent with God, and admitting we are sinners, and confessing our sins, His living Word becomes a dead rule book. With proper understanding, any rule or law becomes a willing practice, a way that helps us to live the LIFE we have been given JOYFULLY.  With deeper understanding,

a dawning within reveals the love of God and His commands.  We understand the INTIMACY He so wants to share with us.  We accept the Truth that we were basically created for His purpose, that we would love ourselves and others as He loves us. His commands, not suggestions, are His way and when we follow His way, we are practicing His ways of grace and forgiveness. When we are walking with Jesus, we become at peace with ourselves and with others. Many have forgotten the basis for God’s living Word.  “Love one another, as you are loved by God.” There are people who truly believe that being kind and good is enough and that they have no sin.  The Truth is – we all fall short. Humans cannot “be” perfect.

Humans fuss a lot before they are ready to surrender to God's Way and the path that He has purposed for all of us. People may hide in darkness for a time, denying the truth of their soul’s deep hunger for Truth.  But then, Glory be to God, the yearning of a soul to be connected to the Source of Life, which is the Creator of all things, that empty soul will be compelled to open their hearts and listen to the messengers God Almighty sends.  “Yet to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” John 1:12-13 NIV ~ When a lost person attempts to silence their

mind in order to find peace, they quiet the kids, they remove all distractions, then they may practice meditation. Let us examine the results of such meditation.  After a minute or two, they will start swatting gnats or mosquitoes. A couple of minutes later, a major itch manifests on some part of their body. Then, the back begins to ache. NO PEACE that surpasses all understanding occurs and the person meditating, on their own, according to their understanding...decides ENOUGH!!  Let us encourage one another to invite Jesus Christ into our hearts and minds so that we can experience His peace. Without God, achieving peace would be like a speaker trying to silence the listeners by simply outshouting their voices. If the listener is “not interested” in

personally meeting God, no matter how much one shouts, God’s message of love and peace will not be heard or experienced.  Religious practices, or meditation will not bring you peace, only God can. Invite Jesus to become your Lord and Savior and accept the power of the indwelt Holy Spirit to begin His work in you. Our Father has endowed us with unimaginable freedom in Christ, the Holy One. Be alert and listen for His still small voice, and accept His love and the liberation from the voices of this world. Our Father sees us perfectly, He loves us as we are and He invites us to "come" to Him, to pour out our hearts to Him. We cannot hide from God, He is everywhere, all the time and He knows the contents of our hearts already. TRUSTING GOD is to keep our hearts open to Him, and we demonstrate our faith and trust in God by not hiding from the Truth, the Way and the Life. Oh Lord give us eyes to see as You see. Trust the living Word of God and KNOW that He lives in us, and we live in Him. Some may continue to cling to a fantasy or in the changing times of this world.  The choice is ours to hold onto a confident HOPE in His Word. The character of God does not change.  "I the Lord do not change" Malachi 3:6 - "How priceless is Your unfailing love!"  I encourage you to feast on the abundance of God's living and active WORD .... "For with You is the fountain of life; in Your light we see light." Psalm 36:7 ~  Thank You Lord Jesus for the new LIFE that You gave me.  AMEN

Feeling Old?

If you are feeling old, tired and more than ready to settle into the rocking chair of rightfully being crotchety.... STOP and PRAY this in your own words. Lord Jesus, I ask that You keep me reasonably sweet; I do not want to be a sour old person—some of them are so hard to listen to.... Give me the ability to see good things in unexpected places, and talents in unexpected people.  Thou knowest all the contents of my heart.  You certainly know me better than I know myself.  Lord,  I am aging beyond my maturing and I ask that Your indwelt Spirit keep me from the fatal habit of thinking I must say something on every subject and on every occasion.  Release me from craving to straighten out everybody’s affairs.  Keep my

mind free from the recital of endless details; give me wings to get to the point swiftly.  Seal my lips on my aches and pains.  Hiccups in my physical body are increasing, and love of rehearsing them is becoming sweeter as the years go by.  I dare not ask for grace enough to enjoy the tales of other’s pains, but help me to endure them with patience.  I dare not ask for improved memory, but for a growing humility.  When my memory seems to clash with the memories of others, keep my tongue tamed that I allow them the grace that You have so lavished upon me.  Teach me the glorious lesson that occasionally I may be mistaken.  Make me thoughtful but not moody.  Helpful, but not bossy.  More humble than right. Thou knowest all Lord, and because of Your work in me, my hope is that you grant me a few friends as I come to the end of myself.....   O Lord, give me the grace to encourage others rather than correct them.  Amen. 

Know What Time It Is !!

"Oh foolish generation, you do not discern the signs of the times!" We are the generation that will see the return of Jesus! The gospel is now being preached worldwide in various ways, and not everyone is listening, but it is the Spirit's job to draw hearts to the Truth. Are you listening to what the Spirit is saying to you, a servant of God? What a priviledge, and what a responsibility to walk with Jesus in humility, unity and integrity. Oh Lord Jesus I asked that You to rattle me out of my complacency and it is TIME to pay attention to the opportunities that Jesus has set up for me...to humble myself and without concern for my reputation, to share the Truth with those in my life...right now. "This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit." John 15:8 --- When I stand in front of Jesus, I do NOT want to regret wasting my time on earth, and definetly NOT be surprised. Do NOT grow weary! Do NOT quit! The intensity and frequency of spiritual, national and enviromental tragedy is occuring day after day. JESUS is COMING, JESUS is COMING, JESUS is COMING soon! Thank You Jesus for choosing me and equipping me to speak to this generation. Thank You Lord Jesus for giving me the opportunity to participate in what You are already doing. AMEN