Pastor, Speaker, Author, Counselor
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All of us are only a heartbeat away from our lives changing forever.
All of us will lose people we love, some of us will get sick, each of us will grow older daily, and the older we get the closer our last breath comes. Trials will come, suffering will linger, and we don’t know when any of this will hit us. Pain and suffering are among those things that really belong to the Lord, it all started when sin and death entered the world. God was not surprised when sin and death came, He had a plan in place before He created the Heavens and Earth, to save us from sin and death, He revealed that plan in the beginning for all of us. God's purposes and promises are in Christ Himself and revealed in His Word, so we may know how to live. God has revealed all we need to know right now, He continues to reveal Himself the closer we walk with Him. Instead of trusting in ourselves and our limited knowledge, we have to trust in God’s grace, love and mercy. This is a lesson we learn and relearn throughout our lives. Our relationship with Christ is what brings peace, for love, joy, peace, and kindness are found in Christ, we should celebrate Him every day, not just at Christmas and Easter. Suffering brings us to the end of self-reliance and to the place where all we can do is rely on God, God is all-powerful, so much so He can take evil and turn it around so it works out for our good and His glory! Make no mistake Lucifer brought sin and death to mankind, but God has used it from the beginning to further His kingdom. Our faith is under fire daily, but our lives are in the hands of Christ, He is the vine, we are the branches and in Him we have life. When we come to the point where our faith becomes our own, it becomes real, then we can say in complete confidence, I do trust you, Lord, with all my heart! My faith has grown stronger only because Christ has revealed Himself more and more to me on my journey, in my pain and suffering, I have learned to say, where are going today Lord? Wherever you lead me I will follow! God’s word says this: “Long ago God spoke to the fathers by the prophets at different times and in different ways. In these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son. God has appointed him heir of all things and made the universe through him. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact expression of his nature, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high.” Hebrews 1:1-3 CSB “Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ. For he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless in love before him. He predestined us to be adopted as sons through Jesus Christ for himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he lavished on us in the Beloved One. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he richly poured out on us with all wisdom and understanding. He made known to us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure that he purposed in Christ as a plan for the right time — to bring everything together in Christ, both things in heaven and things on earth in him. In him we have also received an inheritance, because we were predestined according to the plan of the one who works out everything in agreement with the purpose of his will, so that we who had already put our hope in Christ might bring praise to his glory. In him you also were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and when you believed. The Holy Spirit is the down payment of our inheritance, until the redemption of the possession, to the praise of his glory.” Ephesians 1:3-14 CSB “Jesus, knowing in himself that his disciples were complaining about this, asked them, “Does this offend you? Then what if you were to observe the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? The Spirit is the one who gives life. The flesh doesn’t help at all. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. But there are some among you who don’t believe.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning those who did not believe and the one who would betray him.) He said, “This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless it is granted to him by the Father.” From that moment many of his disciples turned back and no longer accompanied him. So Jesus said to the Twelve, “You don’t want to go away too, do you?” Simon Peter answered, “Lord, to whom will we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and know that you are the Holy One of God.”John 6:61-69 CSB “We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. For those he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, so that he would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; and those he called, he also justified; and those he justified, he also glorified.” Romans 8:28-30 CSB “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments and untraceable his ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor? And who has ever given to God, that he should be repaid? For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen.” Romans 11:33-36 CSB “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your cares on him, because he cares about you. Be sober-minded, be alert. Your adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour. Resist him, firm in the faith, knowing that the same kind of sufferings are being experienced by your fellow believers throughout the world. The God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, establish, strengthen, and support you after you have suffered a little while. To him be dominion forever. Amen.” 1 Peter 5:6-11 CSB
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God’s glory and the pride of man collided at the cross of Christ, mankind didn’t want to hear then that they were sinners, self-righteous, lost and in need of a savior, any more than they do today.
Every one born must choose to either walk across the blood-stained cross denying God’s grace, love and glory into the gates of hell, or surrender their lives to His grace, love, and glory and learn to walk in obedience to Him as Lord and Savior. Either way, we are responsible for the choices we make, there is no other way to God except through Christ. This is the reason He came to us to reconcile the broken relationship between mankind and God, He didn't come to be worshipped as a baby, but as our Savior and King, He came, and lived as a man, but without sin, so we could have His example to live by. Before the manger, Jesus was, and after the cross Jesus is, He is the Alpha and Omega and just as He is eternal, so is His love for us. Are you tired of life's struggles, falling short, being held captive by sin and death, are you at the end of yourself yet? Today would be the day to start a new life, a life redeemed, a life with Christ in command, leading you through the valley of death, into green pastures! Then your reading this is no mistake, the choice is yours. God’s word says this: “But the angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: Today in the city of David a Savior was born for you, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be the sign for you: You will find a baby wrapped tightly in cloth and lying in a manger.” Suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying: Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to people he favors!” Luke 2:10-14 CSB “For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Anyone who believes in him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.” John 3:16-18 CSB “Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him.” John 14:6-7 CSB “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”Mark 10:45 CSB “Since the law has only a shadow of the good things to come, and not the reality itself of those things, it can never perfect the worshipers by the same sacrifices they continually offer year after year. Otherwise, wouldn’t they have stopped being offered, since the worshipers, purified once and for all, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? But in the sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year after year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Therefore, as he was coming into the world, he said: You did not desire sacrifice and offering, but you prepared a body for me. You did not delight in whole burnt offerings and sin offerings. Then I said, “See — it is written about me in the scroll — I have come to do your will, O God.” After he says above, You did not desire or delight in sacrifices and offerings, whole burnt offerings and sin offerings (which are offered according to the law ), he then says, See, I have come to do your will. He takes away the first to establish the second. By this will, we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all time. Every priest stands day after day ministering and offering the same sacrifices time after time, which can never take away sins. But this man, after offering one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God. He is now waiting until his enemies are made his footstool. For by one offering he has perfected forever those who are sanctified. The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. For after he says: This is the covenant I will make with them after those days, the Lord says, I will put my laws on their hearts and write them on their minds, and I will never again remember their sins and their lawless acts. Now where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer an offering for sin. Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have boldness to enter the sanctuary through the blood of Jesus — he has inaugurated for us a new and living way through the curtain (that is, through his flesh ) — and since we have a great high priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water. Let us hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering, since he who promised is faithful. And let us watch out for one another to provoke love and good works, not neglecting to gather together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching. For if we deliberately go on sinning after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire about to consume the adversaries. Anyone who disregarded the law of Moses died without mercy, based on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment do you think one will deserve who has trampled on the Son of God, who has regarded as profane the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know the one who has said, Vengeance belongs to me; I will repay, and again, The Lord will judge his people. It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”Hebrews 10:1-31 CSB “Then he said to me, “Don’t seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, because the time is near. Let the unrighteous go on in unrighteousness, let the filthy still be filthy; let the righteous go on in righteousness; let the holy still be holy.” “Look, I am coming soon, and my reward is with me to repay each person according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. “Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter the city by the gates. Outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood. “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to attest these things to you for the churches. I am the root and descendant of David, the bright morning star.”Revelation 22:10-16 CSB When we say things like ” I believe in God, He is in control, my faith is in Him, I trust Him, ” do we really mean what we say all the time, or do we believe this to be true only when things are good?
What about when trials come our way and the storms are raging, when all seems lost do we really have faith and trust, in God? Is God over our marriages, families, health, finances, our jobs, neighborhoods, schools, our government, churches, nation or the world we live in, is He over life and death? Either God is always in control or He is never in control. We must ask ourselves in everything, do we trust God? A.W. Tozer said this “The reason why many are still troubled, still seeking, still making little forward progress is because they haven't yet come to the end of themselves. We're still trying to give orders, and interfering with God's work within us. ” Our walk with Christ is not based on feelings, feelings will betray us, our walk is based on faith, and trust, who our faith is in determines our walk! We either have faith enough to always follow God and trust Him, or we have faith in ourselves and try to do life without Him. Are we interfering in God’s work in our lives, in the lives of others because of our lack of faith? Let’s live our lives in total surrender, complete trust, and unfailing faith in Christ, for all of our help comes from Him! God’s word says this: “I lift my eyes toward the mountains. Where will my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to slip; your Protector will not slumber. Indeed, the Protector of Israel does not slumber or sleep. The Lord protects you; the Lord is a shelter right by your side. The sun will not strike you by day or the moon by night. The Lord will protect you from all harm; he will protect your life. The Lord will protect your coming and going both now and forever.” Psalms 121:1-8 CSB “My son, don’t forget my teaching, but let your heart keep my commands; for they will bring you many days, a full life, and well-being. Never let loyalty and faithfulness leave you. Tie them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will find favor and high regard with God and people. Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding; in all your ways know him, and he will make your paths straight. Don’t be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and turn away from evil. This will be healing for your body and strengthening for your bones. Honor the Lord with your possessions and with the first produce of your entire harvest; then your barns will be completely filled, and your vats will overflow with new wine. Do not despise the Lord’s instruction, my son, and do not loathe his discipline; for the Lord disciplines the one he loves, just as a father disciplines the son in whom he delights.”Proverbs 3:1-12 CSB “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, just as it is written: The righteous will live by faith.” Romans 1:16-17 CSB I must admit my favorite time of year is Christmas, I look forward to all that it represents, let's start by looking at the Christmas tree.
The tree represents life to me, even though they are cut down, they are still vibrant and green as they die, they hold lights which represent hope, they hold ornaments which represent joyous memories, they shine with tinsel, ribbons and candy canes and are topped with a star or an angel which represents peace. Most of all, the things I love about a Christmas tree are this, everything about them reminds me of Jesus. Jesus is life, and even though He came to die, He is life, He came to the world to be the light in the darkness, His glory still shines today, His love and grace are our only hope, and without Him we are bound to die in our sin, He alone gives us new life, in Him alone our joy, and perfect peace are found. The Christmas tree also reminds me of the manger where Christ lay, inside the stable where He was born, the work He did with His hands as a carpenter as He grew in grace and knowledge, and the cross He hung on and died to pay for my sins, and yours, because He loves us and knows there could be no other way for us to get to God the Father. I look at the Christmas tree and see all Christ has done for me, I am in awe of His love, His grace, and God the Father's gift to all mankind, Jesus. This Christmas season I hope you see who I see in the Christmas tree, Jesus, I pray you will come to know Him and receive the greatest gift of all, salvation and start your personal relationship with Him. God’s word says this: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things were created through him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. That light shines in the darkness, and yet the darkness did not overcome it.” John 1:1-5 CSB “Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Anyone who believes in him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God. This is the judgment: The light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil.” John 3:14-19 CSB “Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6 CSB “Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family line of David, to be registered along with Mary, who was engaged to him and was pregnant. While they were there, the time came for her to give birth. Then she gave birth to her firstborn son, and she wrapped him tightly in cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them. In the same region, shepherds were staying out in the fields and keeping watch at night over their flock. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for look, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people: Today in the city of David a Savior was born for you, who is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be the sign for you: You will find a baby wrapped tightly in cloth and lying in a manger.” Suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying: Glory to God in the highest heaven, and peace on earth to people he favors! When the angels had left them and returned to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go straight to Bethlehem and see what has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” They hurried off and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby who was lying in the manger.” Luke 2:4-16 CSB “For all who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, because it is written, Everyone who does not do everything written in the book of the law is cursed. Now it is clear that no one is justified before God by the law, because the righteous will live by faith. But the law is not based on faith; instead, the one who does these things will live by them. Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, because it is written, Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree. The purpose was that the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles by Christ Jesus, so that we could receive the promised Spirit through faith.”Galatians 3:10-14 CSB “Then Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit and said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders: If we are being examined today about a good deed done to a disabled man, by what means he was healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified and whom God raised from the dead — by him this man is standing here before you healthy. This Jesus is the stone rejected by you builders, which has become the cornerstone. There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:8-12 CSB As I sit and read this morning, the story of Joshua and Caleb and the 10 other spies, that went into the promised land to scout and report back to Moses.
I think about how Joshua and Caleb trusted the Lord, they knew above everything else that He would deliver them and protect them, but the 10 other men (who were also leaders of Israel ) grumbled and excited the people; they told them it was impossible to take the land, it was filled with giants, the people believed them, they feared and trembled and worried so much that God's anger burned against them. Everyone who was 20 years or older at the time, died without going into the Promised Land because they chose to listen to the 10 spies, instead of listening to Joshua and Caleb and trusting God. How much are we like them today? We listen to the negative reports because they are constantly before us, the world says trust us, we know what we're doing, while men of God speak His truth and say cast your eyes upon Jesus follow Him, He will deliver, He will provide, He will protect, He will take care of His children. So many are eager to believe the crowds, but we must follow Christ we must listen to Him, and not those of the world it's time we take our eyes off of mankind and put them on God, for in Christ alone salvation is found for there is no other name in heaven or earth where salvation can be found. If you trust Him if you call yourself His then you must follow Him when you read the story in Numbers you see God punished those who disobeyed Him the consequences of their sins was that they died in the wilderness. Today will you wander in the wilderness of doubt or fear or will you trust in what the Lord has said? Is the Lord's power limited? the answer is no. As for me and my house, we will always trust the Lord. God’s word says this: “The Lord answered Moses, “Is the Lord’s arm weak? Now you will see whether or not what I have promised will happen to you.”Numbers 11:23 CSB “The Lord said to Moses, “How long will these people despise me? How long will they not trust in me despite all the signs I have performed among them? I will strike them with a plague and destroy them. Then I will make you into a greater and mightier nation than they are.” But Moses replied to the Lord, “The Egyptians will hear about it, for by your strength you brought up this people from them. They will tell it to the inhabitants of this land. They have heard that you, Lord, are among these people, how you, Lord, are seen face to face, how your cloud stands over them, and how you go before them in a pillar of cloud by day and in a pillar of fire by night. If you kill this people with a single blow, the nations that have heard of your fame will declare, ‘Since the Lord wasn’t able to bring this people into the land he swore to give them, he has slaughtered them in the wilderness.’ “So now, may my Lord’s power be magnified just as you have spoken: The Lord is slow to anger and abounding in faithful love, forgiving iniquity and rebellion. But he will not leave the guilty unpunished, bringing the consequences of the fathers’ iniquity on the children to the third and fourth generation. Please pardon the iniquity of this people, in keeping with the greatness of your faithful love, just as you have forgiven them from Egypt until now.” The Lord responded, “I have pardoned them as you requested. Yet as surely as I live and as the whole earth is filled with the Lord’s glory, none of the men who have seen my glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tested me these ten times and did not obey me, will ever see the land I swore to give their fathers. None of those who have despised me will see it. But since my servant Caleb has a different spirit and has remained loyal to me, I will bring him into the land where he has gone, and his descendants will inherit it. Since the Amalekites and Canaanites are living in the lowlands, turn back tomorrow and head for the wilderness in the direction of the Red Sea.” Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron: “How long must I endure this evil community that keeps complaining about me? I have heard the Israelites’ complaints that they make against me. Tell them: As surely as I live — this is the Lord’s declaration — I will do to you exactly as I heard you say. Your corpses will fall in this wilderness — all of you who were registered in the census, the entire number of you twenty years old or more — because you have complained about me. I swear that none of you will enter the land I promised to settle you in, except Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun. I will bring your children whom you said would become plunder into the land you rejected, and they will enjoy it. But as for you, your corpses will fall in this wilderness. Your children will be shepherds in the wilderness for forty years and bear the penalty for your acts of unfaithfulness until all your corpses lie scattered in the wilderness. You will bear the consequences of your iniquities forty years based on the number of the forty days that you scouted the land, a year for each day. You will know my displeasure. I, the Lord, have spoken. I swear that I will do this to the entire evil community that has conspired against me. They will come to an end in the wilderness, and there they will die.” So the men Moses sent to scout out the land, and who returned and incited the entire community to complain about him by spreading a negative report about the land — those men who spread the negative report about the land were struck down by the Lord. Only Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh remained alive of those men who went to scout out the land. When Moses reported these words to all the Israelites, the people were overcome with grief. They got up early the next morning and went up the ridge of the hill country, saying, “Let’s go to the place the Lord promised, for we were wrong.” But Moses responded, “Why are you going against the Lord’s command? It won’t succeed. Don’t go, because the Lord is not among you and you will be defeated by your enemies. The Amalekites and Canaanites are right in front of you, and you will fall by the sword. The Lord won’t be with you, since you have turned from following him.” But they dared to go up the ridge of the hill country, even though the ark of the Lord’s covenant and Moses did not leave the camp. Then the Amalekites and Canaanites who lived in that part of the hill country came down, attacked them, and routed them as far as Hormah.”Numbers 14:11-45 CSB Our lives are momentary reflections of what is going on around us, we are driven by the moment, this is why we seem to live on an emotional roller coaster.
We focus on events and things, like ourselves, and others instead of God. It's easy to be distracted, get caught up in the waves of despair in our busy world. This life takes us all through storms, no one is immune, but as a child of God, we know Christ Jesus is with us always, trust Him. This time of year is overwhelming, holidays seem to bring bouts of greater depression, fear, anxiety, anger, grief, financial problems, health problems, family problems, they seem to intensify during holiday seasons. What really happens is our focus changed because we are looking back on the things that have driven our lives, we start dwelling on them, they have helped make us or break us, these things are all part of our story, but we are part of God's story, He is big enough and great enough to help us overcome all of these things we need to turn our eyes upon Him and trust Him, we must cry out ”Lord save me” We must make the choice to get out from under the waves of despair that drag us along, we must press into the Lord and grab hold of His hands, focus on His face, and voice. We must grab hold of those around us, start living our lives in a manner that the Lord's name will be exalted, we must choose moment by moment if need be who we will live for, me, myself and I, or Jesus, others and ourselves. If you want the Joy of the Lord in your life then He must have first place always, when He is the desire of your heart everything else will fall into place. God’s word says this: “His divine power has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. By these he has given us very great and precious promises, so that through them you may share in the divine nature, escaping the corruption that is in the world because of evil desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with godliness, godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being useless or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. The person who lacks these things is blind and shortsighted and has forgotten the cleansing from his past sins. Therefore, brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election, because if you do these things you will never stumble. For in this way, entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly provided for you. Therefore I will always remind you about these things, even though you know them and are established in the truth you now have. I think it is right, as long as I am in this bodily tent, to wake you up with a reminder, since I know that I will soon lay aside my tent, as our Lord Jesus Christ has indeed made clear to me. And I will also make every effort so that you are able to recall these things at any time after my departure.” 2 Peter 1:3-15 CSB “I give thanks to my God for every remembrance of you, always praying with joy for all of you in my every prayer, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now. I am sure of this, that he who started a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Indeed, it is right for me to think this way about all of you, because I have you in my heart, and you are all partners with me in grace, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel. For God is my witness, how deeply I miss all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. And I pray this: that your love will keep on growing in knowledge and every kind of discernment, so that you may approve the things that are superior and may be pure and blameless in the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God.” Philippians 1:3-11 CSB “Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. After dismissing the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. Well into the night, he was there alone. Meanwhile, the boat was already some distance from land, battered by the waves, because the wind was against them. Jesus came toward them walking on the sea very early in the morning. When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost!” they said, and they cried out in fear. Immediately Jesus spoke to them. “Have courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter answered him, “command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” And climbing out of the boat, Peter started walking on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the strength of the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus reached out his hand, caught hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. Then those in the boat worshiped him and said, “Truly you are the Son of God.” Matthew 14:22-33 CSB It was a black Friday, over 2000 years ago that Jesus said” It is Finished “ and made a way for you and I to be reconciled to God,
there were not any shortcuts, Christ paid the full price for our salvation, death, the price we could not pay, for sins He did not commit. Have you ever received the gift of salvation, forgiveness, grace or love that God is giving to all who will receive Him? If not as we enter this Christmas season, with God’s help you can turn black Friday into Freedom Friday, freedom from the penalty of Sin and Death. God loves you and I and gave His Son to redeem us all, through this act of mercy, grace and love by Christ Jesus is the only we can be with God the Father. Jesus didn’t come to condemn, He came to save the world, of which you and I belong to. We condemn ourselves when we reject Christ. We are all sinners, you and I alike. Your sin is no greater than mine. The penalty for sin is eternal separation from God, physical and spiritual death. Eternal life, love, and freedom are found in Christ alone. All of us can only change and come to God through Christ Jesus, there is no other way, period. The decision you make today will affect the rest of your life, for eternity! God’s word says this: “For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Anyone who believes in him is not condemned, but anyone who does not believe is already condemned, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.” John 3:16-18 CSB “Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”John 14:6-7 CSB “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”Romans 3:23 CSB “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”Romans 6:23 CSB “If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, Everyone who believes on him will not be put to shame, since there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, because the same Lord of all richly blesses all who call on him. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”Romans 10:9-13 CSB Have you thanked God for all He has done for you?
Living a life of Thanksgiving is a choice we get to make each day, are we grateful for all God has done and is doing in our lives? We all need to take time today and recognize the blessings we've come to take for granted. Let us focus on what we have instead of what we don’t have, when we do this, it will improve our attitude. Be thankful for our trials for in them we grow. Be thankful for our limitations for in them God is limitless. Be thankful we don't know everything, for everyday we can learn something new. Be thankful for our weakness, for in it God is strong. Be thankful in all we have for, the Lord gives and He takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord. It’s easy to be thankful for all the good things. But, a thankful life is a life of fulfillment, be thankful in all things in our setbacks we learn how much we need God, take every opportunity to praise, Him, thank Him and call on His name. God’s word says this: “Then Job stood up, tore his robe, and shaved his head. He fell to the ground and worshiped, saying: Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will leave this life. The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Throughout all this Job did not sin or blame God for anything.” Job 1:20-22 CSB “Listen, Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. Protect my life, for I am faithful. You are my God; save your servant who trusts in you. Be gracious to me, Lord, for I call to you all day long. Bring joy to your servant’s life, because I appeal to you, Lord. For you, Lord, are kind and ready to forgive, abounding in faithful love to all who call on you. Lord, hear my prayer; listen to my plea for mercy. I call on you in the day of my distress, for you will answer me. Lord, there is no one like you among the gods, and there are no works like yours. All the nations you have made will come and bow down before you, Lord, and will honor your name. For you are great and perform wonders; you alone are God. Teach me your way, Lord, and I will live by your truth. Give me an undivided mind to fear your name. I will praise you with all my heart, Lord my God, and will honor your name forever. For your faithful love for me is great, and you rescue my life from the depths of Sheol. God, arrogant people have attacked me; a gang of ruthless men intends to kill me. They do not let you guide them. But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love and truth. Turn to me and be gracious to me. Give your strength to your servant; save the son of your female servant. Show me a sign of your goodness; my enemies will see and be put to shame because you, Lord, have helped and comforted me.” Psalms 86:1-17 CSB “Each person should do as he has decided in his heart — not reluctantly or out of compulsion, since God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to make every grace overflow to you, so that in every way, always having everything you need, you may excel in every good work. As it is written: He distributed freely; he gave to the poor; his righteousness endures forever. Now the one who provides seed for the sower and bread for food will also provide and multiply your seed and increase the harvest of your righteousness. You will be enriched in every way for all generosity, which produces thanksgiving to God through us. For the ministry of this service is not only supplying the needs of the saints but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. Because of the proof provided by this ministry, they will glorify God for your obedient confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone. And as they pray on your behalf, they will have deep affection for you because of the surpassing grace of God in you. Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!”2 Corinthians 9:7-15 CSB This week we celebrate Thanksgiving, one of my favorite times of the year.
We of all people should live a life of gratitude, and be thankful unto God above for every blessing He has poured out on us. If we started thanking God now for each blessing, we would no longer be able to complain or bicker, we would not argue amongst ourselves over trivial things that really don’t matter. We have a choice how we live! We can be a sweet aroma to God our Father, a sweet aroma of life and gratitude to those around us, or we can be the stench of death and garbage. We have more than enough to be grateful for and we have all that we need in Christ Jesus in Him we have the victory over all the things around us, including sin and death. Starting today let us determine in our hearts that we will live as an aroma of life, we will live a grateful and gracious life honoring God who has given us His all, in all we say and do. God’s word says this: “But thanks be to God, who always leads us in Christ’s triumphal procession and through us spreads the aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. For to God we are the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To some we are an aroma of death leading to death, but to others, an aroma of life leading to life. Who is adequate for these things? For we do not market the word of God for profit like so many. On the contrary, we speak with sincerity in Christ, as from God and before God.” 2 Corinthians 2:14-17 CSB Life is uneasy things are happening always, and we can not stop what comes our way, life is what it is, uneasy.
Sickness, death, brokenness, loneliness, depression, hatred, violence, wickedness, poverty, separation, all these things take their toll on the human soul. And all these things exist because of the fallen nature of man, sin, and death, are all part of the curse and they touch every single life on this earth. They are all attempts to create a crisis of faith, doubts to make mankind believe there is no God in heaven, and if He's there why won't He stop this? These questions are nothing new, God has answered them from the beginning, and the crises of faith we have today are the same ones that every man and woman has fought through since Adam and Eve. Abraham doubted God when he went to Egypt and he lied to the Pharaoh about Sarah, David doubted God's strength and counted the number of people, John the Baptist sent his followers to ask Jesus are you the one? As he sat in jail awaiting execution, the disciples ran when Jesus was arrested and Peter denied Him in front of the crowds. A crisis of faith can be a stepping stone, we can focus on the crisis, things we can not change, or we can take ourselves out of the crisis and focus on the cross and what Jesus has changed and done for us already , we need to take a moment and look back over our lives, and see the times Christ has always been there for us, how He has blessed us, and how these crisis moments make up the story of our lives and how they are inter-connected to a merciful, mighty God who allows is to walk with Him. God has great plans for you and me, He has given us victory over the world, over sin and death, by taking our place and bearing the penalty for our sin, death. Then He rose again so we may walk with Him in a new way, life everlasting. I don't know what exactly may be causing your crisis of faith but God does, and He is faithful, He will see you through, when we focus on Him and realize this life is temporary and where we are going is eternal, our crisis becomes little and our faith will grow stronger. God’s word says this: “Therefore, since we know the fear of the Lord, we try to persuade people. What we are is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your consciences. We are not commending ourselves to you again, but giving you an opportunity to be proud of us, so that you may have a reply for those who take pride in outward appearance rather than in the heart. For if we are out of our mind, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ compels us, since we have reached this conclusion: If one died for all, then all died. And he died for all so that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for the one who died for them and was raised. From now on, then, we do not know anyone from a worldly perspective. Even if we have known Christ from a worldly perspective, yet now we no longer know him in this way. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come! Everything is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. That is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and he has committed the message of reconciliation to us. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf: “Be reconciled to God.” He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:11-21 CSB “Therefore, since we also have such a large cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us lay aside every hindrance and the sin that so easily ensnares us. Let us run with endurance the race that lies before us, keeping our eyes on Jesus, the source and perfecter of our faith. For the joy that lay before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, so that you won’t grow weary and give up. In struggling against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. Hebrews 12:1-4 CSB “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you. You are being guarded by God’s power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. You rejoice in this, even though now for a short time, if necessary, you suffer grief in various trials so that the proven character of your faith — more valuable than gold which, though perishable, is refined by fire — may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. Though you have not seen him, you love him; though not seeing him now, you believe in him, and you rejoice with inexpressible and glorious joy, because you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who prophesied about the grace that would come to you, searched and carefully investigated. They inquired into what time or what circumstances the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating when he testified in advance to the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you. These things have now been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven — angels long to catch a glimpse of these things.” 1 Peter 1:3-12 CSB We live in wicked times, when we are trying to serve the Lord by living in obedience to His word, and we are attacked by a wicked society, and a floundering church that has sold out to worldly values it becomes a struggle.
Jesus lived in such times also, but He lived in total obedience and submission to God the Father. The hard part for us is when we take our eyes and hearts off of Christ, we only see us, and our problems, but really it is not that the world is striving and we are struggling, it is the world struggling because we are striving in Christ and they are trying to steal our hearts and minds. We must learn to live in total obedience to Christ, by submitting to Him in all things. This is a natural battle that we are in, but we have a responsibility to keep our hearts and eyes on Christ, instead of envying the world and it’s pleasures or treasure, pray that Christ will be revealed and the world would turn from the false hope it holds onto, to the hope that we have in Christ for eternity. This is why Jesus taught us to pray,: “Therefore, you should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, your name be honored as holy. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” Matthew 6:9-13 CSB We can’t do this life, that is a christian life without Christ, we must surrender all to Him. Is Christ the desire of our hearts? If so let us keep our hearts and eyes on Him for He is the author and finisher of our faith. Let's not trade the eternal for the temporal, Jesus was tempted and tested by the devil himself, yet He overcame and so can we when we ask for His help and guidance. God’s word says this: “Don’t let your heart envy sinners; instead, always fear the Lord. For then you will have a future, and your hope will not be dashed. Listen, my son, and be wise; keep your mind on the right course.”Proverbs 23:17-19 CSB “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. Then the tempter approached him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” He answered, “It is written: Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God. ” Then the devil took him to the holy city, had him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down. For it is written: He will give His angels orders concerning you, and they will support you with their hands so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. ” Jesus told him, “It is also written: Do not test the Lord your God. ” Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. And he said to him, “I will give you all these things if you will fall down and worship me.” Then Jesus told him, “Go away, Satan! For it is written: Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him. ” Then the devil left him, and angels came and began to serve him.” Matthew 4:1-11 CSB “Jesus replied to them: “Watch out that no one deceives you. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Messiah,’ and they will deceive many. You are going to hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, because these things must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these events are the beginning of labor pains.” ”Then they will hand you over to be persecuted, and they will kill you. You will be hated by all nations because of my name. Then many will fall away, betray one another, and hate one another. Many false prophets will rise up and deceive many. Because lawlessness will multiply, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. This good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed in all the world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” Matthew 24:4-14 CSB My prayer for America is this, that God will expose those who are destroying our Nation, that He would change their hearts as only He can through Christ or remove them from power and influence.
I pray that His hands of mercy and grace be upon this Nation as He calls us to repentance and that we turn back to Him, that He shines His face on us again as He restores us to His glory and grace. The road to redemption is paved with repentance, we must turn from our ways and follow Christ. For He alone is God, and He alone can change a persons heart, for He has changed and continues to change mine. He alone can destroy a Nation or restore a Nation. He alone can turn the heart of leaders like a river, making it go which ever way He chooses. He alone can turn the hearts of the people back to Him. God’s word says this. “Listen to my words, Lord; consider my sighing. Pay attention to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for I pray to you. In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I plead my case to you and watch expectantly. For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil cannot dwell with you. The boastful cannot stand in your sight; you hate all evildoers. You destroy those who tell lies; the Lord abhors violent and treacherous people. But I enter your house by the abundance of your faithful love; I bow down toward your holy temple in reverential awe of you. Lord, lead me in your righteousness because of my adversaries; make your way straight before me. For there is nothing reliable in what they say; destruction is within them; their throat is an open grave; they flatter with their tongues. Punish them, God; let them fall by their own schemes. Drive them out because of their many crimes, for they rebel against you. But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them shout for joy forever. May you shelter them, and may those who love your name boast about you. For you, Lord, bless the righteous one; you surround him with favor like a shield.” Psalms 5:1-12 CSB “Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous ones; praise from the upright is beautiful. Praise the Lord with the lyre; make music to him with a ten-stringed harp. Sing a new song to him; play skillfully on the strings, with a joyful shout. For the word of the Lord is right, and all his work is trustworthy. He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the Lord’s unfailing love. The heavens were made by the word of the Lord, and all the stars, by the breath of his mouth. He gathers the water of the sea into a heap; he puts the depths into storehouses. Let the whole earth fear the Lord; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him. For he spoke, and it came into being; he commanded, and it came into existence. The Lord frustrates the counsel of the nations; he thwarts the plans of the peoples. The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart from generation to generation. Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord — the people he has chosen to be his own possession! The Lord looks down from heaven; he observes everyone. He gazes on all the inhabitants of the earth from his dwelling place. He forms the hearts of them all; he considers all their works. A king is not saved by a large army; a warrior will not be rescued by great strength. The horse is a false hope for safety; it provides no escape by its great power. But look, the Lord keeps his eye on those who fear him — those who depend on his faithful love to rescue them from death and to keep them alive in famine. We wait for the Lord; he is our help and shield. For our hearts rejoice in him because we trust in his holy name. May your faithful love rest on us, Lord, for we put our hope in you.” Psalms 33:1-22 CSB “A king’s heart is like channeled water in the Lord’s hand: He directs it wherever he chooses. All a person’s ways seem right to him, but the Lord weighs hearts. Doing what is righteous and just is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice. The lamp that guides the wicked — haughty eyes and an arrogant heart — is sin.”Proverbs 21:1-4 CSB “For look, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and everyone who commits wickedness will become stubble. The coming day will consume them,” says the Lord of Armies, “not leaving them root or branches. But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings, and you will go out and playfully jump like calves from the stall. You will trample the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day I am preparing,” says the Lord of Armies. “Remember the instruction of Moses my servant, the statutes and ordinances I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel. Look, I am going to send you the prophet Elijah before the great and terrible day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse.”Malachi 4:1-6 CSB We don't have to leave our homes to see the moral decay in our Nation, from those who are elected to lead our Nation to the crimes in the streets of our cities, our Nation is morally bankrupt.
Hatred is pushed by the media, our educational institutions and politicians, it is heartbreaking, this is not the Nation I grew up in, this is not the Nation that God has shed His grace on, what happened? How did we get here? The answer is simple, we have turned our backs on God ,we have walked away from truth, love, mercy and justice, we have been played as fools by the enemy of our souls and we have willingly followed like sheep to slaughter. The best way, and the quickest way to destroy a Nation, is make God our enemy. Are we there yet? I fear the day, God says enough! We as a nation are vile, we seek and serve ourselves murdering innocent children, casting off those who are less fortunate, celebrating sexual perversions, throwing caution to the wind in the name of tolerance for strangers, while being intolerant to our fellow Americans who don't say the same things we do or believe the same as we do, we have wondered away from God, we must repent , and pray for mercy before God shows His wrath to this rebellious society. We need to have such a relationship with God that it is better than life, we should desire God, walk closely with Him, our relationship with God should be above all other relationships, we should be so close that everything else can fall apart and we will be okay. When we come to the point in our lives where we say just give me Jesus, He then sets on the throne of our lives. The prophet Isaiah spoke these words thousands of years ago, but you would think that they are headlines for today. God’s word says this: “Indeed, the Lord’s arm is not too weak to save, and his ear is not too deaf to hear. But your iniquities are separating you from your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not listen. For your hands are defiled with blood and your fingers, with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, and your tongues mutter injustice. No one makes claims justly; no one pleads honestly. They trust in empty and worthless words; they conceive trouble and give birth to iniquity. They hatch viper’s eggs and weave spider’s webs. Whoever eats their eggs will die; crack one open, and a viper is hatched. Their webs cannot become clothing, and they cannot cover themselves with their works. Their works are sinful works, and violent acts are in their hands. Their feet run after evil, and they rush to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are sinful thoughts; ruin and wretchedness are in their paths. They have not known the path of peace, and there is no justice in their ways. They have made their roads crooked; no one who walks on them will know peace. Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness does not reach us. We hope for light, but there is darkness; for brightness, but we live in the night. We grope along a wall like the blind; we grope like those without eyes. We stumble at noon as though it were twilight; we are like the dead among those who are healthy. We all growl like bears and moan like doves. We hope for justice, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far from us. For our transgressions have multiplied before you, and our sins testify against us. For our transgressions are with us, and we know our iniquities: transgression and deception against the Lord, turning away from following our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering lying words from the heart. Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands far off. For truth has stumbled in the public square, and honesty cannot enter. Truth is missing, and whoever turns from evil is plundered. The Lord saw that there was no justice, and he was offended. He saw that there was no man — he was amazed that there was no one interceding; so his own arm brought salvation, and his own righteousness supported him. He put on righteousness as body armor, and a helmet of salvation on his head; he put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and he wrapped himself in zeal as in a cloak. So he will repay according to their deeds: fury to his enemies, retribution to his foes, and he will repay the coasts and islands. They will fear the name of the Lord in the west and his glory in the east; for he will come like a rushing stream driven by the wind of the Lord. “The Redeemer will come to Zion, and to those in Jacob who turn from transgression.” This is the Lord’s declaration. “As for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the Lord: “My Spirit who is on you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, will not depart from your mouth, or from the mouths of your children, or from the mouths of your children’s children, from now on and forever,” says the Lord.” Isaiah 59:1-21 CSB “What is the source of wars and fights among you? Don’t they come from your passions that wage war within you? You desire and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and wage war. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and don’t receive because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. You adulterous people! Don’t you know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? So whoever wants to be the friend of the world becomes the enemy of God. Or do you think it’s without reason that the Scripture says: The spirit he made to dwell in us envies intensely? But he gives greater grace. Therefore he says: God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” James 4:1-8 CSB We grow tired of praying for other people and ourselves, but God doesn’t, God embraces our prayers and our tears when we come to Him and pray for salvation for our family and friends, when we ask Him to heal others or help us, God loves the prayers of His children, we should never grow tired of praying for something or someone!
God's word says we should "devote" ourselves to prayer and be "alert" in prayer. Our persistence in prayer expresses our faith that God answers our prayers, He loves to hear our petitions and request for He is God, as a matter of fact, the Holy Spirit prays for us when we don't know what to pray, and Jesus prays for us daily, this shows us the power, the necessity, the pleasure God takes in prayer. Our faith shouldn't fade or faint God answers us slowly or doesn't answer us the way we think He should, for God's way of working things out is always perfect, for His glory and our good. When we feel tired of praying, remember God is present, He is always listening, He always answers, He knows best. Let's not grow weary in our prayer life, for prayer is a lifeline for us and others, God longs to hear from His children, He wants to bless and guide us, He wants to help us in every area of our lives and our family and friends, we must learn to pray and surrender all to Him. God's word says this: “Whenever you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by people. Truly I tell you, they have their reward. But when you pray, go into your private room, shut your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. When you pray, don’t babble like the Gentiles, since they imagine they’ll be heard for their many words. Don’t be like them, because your Father knows the things you need before you ask him. “Therefore, you should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, your name be honored as holy. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. “For if you forgive others their offenses, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well. But if you don’t forgive others, your Father will not forgive your offenses.” Matthew 6:5-15 CSB “In the same way the Spirit also helps us in our weakness, because we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with unspoken groanings. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because he intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God, who are called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:26-28 CSB “Devote yourselves to prayer; stay alert in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us that God may open a door to us for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains, so that I may make it known as I should. Act wisely toward outsiders, making the most of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer each person.” Colossians 4:2-6 CSB Most Christians never experience victory in their lives because they have never realized we are in a war.
They live this life in the physical and not the spiritual, but we are both physical and spiritual beings, for only we are created in God's image, not angels, not animals, only mankind. Until we stop trying to be gods, we will never be able to walk with God, surrendering our all to God is not optional, it is required. Walking and living by faith is not a life of comfort, it is a life of conflict, no one is called to sit in a building and worship God, we are called to go and to make disciples, and along the way, we will confront evil, for we are light in a dark world. To grasp the peace of God in this life, we must surrender and acknowledge Christ is Lord of all, all we have, all we are, everything and everyone in our lives belong to Him, starting with us. The good news is victory is ours, because victory is His, He has overcome sin, death and the world the war is won , the battle rages not for the soul that belongs to Christ, rather it rages for the souls that are not His yet, stand firm, keep the faith for He will fight these battles! God's word says this: “But to all who did receive him, he gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in his name, who were born, not of natural descent, or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man, but of God. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:12-14 CSB ”He must increase, I must decrease.” John 3:30 CSB “I have spoken these things to you in figures of speech. A time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures, but I will tell you plainly about the Father. On that day you will ask in my name, and I am not telling you that I will ask the Father on your behalf. For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. I came from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I am leaving the world and going to the Father.” His disciples said, “Look, now you’re speaking plainly and not using any figurative language. Now we know that you know everything and don’t need anyone to question you. By this we believe that you came from God.” Jesus responded to them, “Do you now believe? Indeed, an hour is coming, and has come, when each of you will be scattered to his own home, and you will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, because the Father is with me. I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.” John 16:25-33 CSB “Be alert, stand firm in the faith, be courageous, be strong. Do everything in love.” 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 CSB “For although we live in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh, since the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but are powerful through God for the demolition of strongholds. We demolish arguments and every proud thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 CSB |
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