Devotions - Prayer

Our Awesome God has done great things. Let’s not keep it to ourselves!

Come and listen, all you who fear God, and I will tell you what he did for me.
(Psalms 66:16).

*WE are not  mistakes, but put on the earth for a very specific purpose!

Testimonies proclaim God’s faithfulness, power, and glory to all who hear. God does wonderful and miraculous things in our lives, which are meant to be shared. Your testimony will bring God glory and encourage someone, which may lead them to a relationship with Christ. Don’t hide your light under a basket.

** Why Your Testimony?
*A time-honored, effective method of evangelism is “Your Personal Testimony”.
Just telling about your spiritual pilgrimage. The skeptic may deny your doctrine or attack your church, BUT he cannot honestly ignore the fact that Your Life(what Jesus has done for you) has been cleaned up and revolutionized
Now, I’m not talking about some stale, dragged-out verbal marathon. That kind of testimony never attracted anyone!

I’m speaking of an effective, powerful missile launched from your lips to the ears of the unsaved. Consider these five suggestions:

1. You want to be listened to, so be interesting. It’s a contradiction to talk about how exciting Christ really is in an uninteresting way. Remember to guard against religious clichés, jargon, and hard-to-understand terminology. Theologians, beware!

2. You want to be understood, so be logical. Think of your salvation in three phases and construct your testimony accordingly: (a) before you were born again—the struggles within, the loneliness, lack of peace, absence of love, unrest, and fears; (b) the decision that revolutionized your life; and (c) the change—the difference it has made since you received Christ.

3. You want the moment of your new birth to be clear, so be specific. Don’t be vague. Speak of Christ, not the church. Emphasize Faith more than Feeling. Be simple and direct as you describe what you did or what you prayed or what you said. This is crucial!

4. You want your testimony to be used, so be practical. Be human and honest as you talk. Don’t promise, “All your problems will end if you will become a Christian,” for that isn’t true. Try to think as unbelievers think. Remember where you and your thoughts once were.

5. You want your testimony to produce results, so be warm and genuine. A smile breaks down more barriers than the hammer blows of cold, hard facts. Let your “Enthusiasm” flow freely. It’s hard to convince someone of the sheer joy and excitement of knowing Christ if you’re wearing a face like a jail warden. Above all, be positive and courteous. Absolutely refuse to argue. Nobody I ever met was “arm wrestled” into the kingdom. Insults and put-downs turn people off.

Ask the Holy Spirit to open your lips and honor your words . . . but be careful! Once your missile hits the target, you’ll become totally dissatisfied with your Former Life as an earthbound, secret-service saint. You will want to tell the world!

1 John 5:9 Since we believe human testimony, surely we can believe the greater testimony that comes from God. And God has testified about his Son.
*God as true rests on His testimony. Believing what is true, we believe His testimony.

To be sentenced we must testify to the sin in our life. God in flesh and blood testified to the truth that can save us from being sentenced.
God’s Holy Spirit now stands as our testimony to the Truth. Convicting us of sin, but our testimony of Sin no longer holds up in God’s court if we accept the true testimony of Christ as our testimony.  Jesus at the Cross set us Free!
Psalms 107:2 Has the LORD redeemed you? Then speak out! Tell others he has redeemed you from your enemies.
*”Let the redeemed(means to restore to usefulness something that has been rendered useless) of the Lord say so…” No one else can say it like us. No one else can express like we can.
* We know He’s done a miracle on our behalf and has saved us from the clutches of the enemy and an eternity in darkness.
*Now we have joy. We have a newfound joy!!!
*Are you really excited about what God has done for You? Can you recall what an effort He made to redeem you?
* If so, say so. If it is real to you, say it and share it. Only those who truly know can say so.

” So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” ( 2 Corinthians 5:20)
Dear Lord, please help us be a beacon and not hide that light you’ve given us. Help us represent you well as Ambassadors of Christ.  Lord, help me to move forward and take action ; help me to remember to review everything and do it for You, but first, to take action! Lord let the Holy Spirit take all Fears and Lies out of my mind and then Guide and Teach me the words You want on my lips for your Glory and my joy. In Jesus name I pray. Amen

” How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity”!    (Psalms 133:1)

**Until we walk in the “Spirit of Unity”, we will hinder those in whom God has reserved a place in Heaven.

*I have learned this from my life experiences….
There is no walking together nicely if there is no Unity. One will go this way and the other will go that way.
No unity = No peace!
Know unity = Know peace!
*Support the things we KNOW to be true, and leave the rest to stimulating intellectual discussion.

“Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace”.(Eph. 4:3).

*****The Power of Unity!!!!!
“That all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in Me and I am in You. May they also be in Us so that the world may believe that You have sent Me.” John 17:21

* What is the greatest power that allows the unsaved to make a decision for Jesus Christ?
*It isn’t prayer, though this is important. *It isn’t good deeds, though deeds indicate a fruitful relationship with God. *It isn’t good behavior, though Christ commands us to be obedient as sons. ****The Greatest Power God’s children have over darkness is UNITY.

Jesus talked a great deal about His oneness with the Father and the importance of Unity in the Body of Christ(The Church).
*It is the most difficult command Jesus gave to the Church, because it wars against the most evil aspect of our sin nature—–Independence.

There is much work to be done. The walls of division and competition among His Body are a stench in God’s nostrils.
***God sees the competition and the pride of ownership and weeps for the LOST who cannot come to Him because they cannot see Him in His Body.

When His Body is ONE, the unbelieving see that Jesus was sent by God. It is like a supernatural key that unlocks Heaven for the heathen soul.
***The key is in the hand of Christ’s Church.
****When there is unity, there is power. *Scripture tells us five will chase 100, but 100 will chase 10,000 (see Lev. 26:8). There is a dynamic multiplication factor in unity of numbers.
***We are a hundred times more effective when we are a unified group. Imagine what God could do with a unified Church.

Jesus prayed that we all might be one, as the Father and He are one. He wanted the same love God has for Jesus to be in EACH of us.
When this love is in us, we are drawn to each other with a Common Mission(Lifting up Jesus).
1. The walls fall down.
2. The independent spirit is broken.
3. Competition is destroyed.
4.  Satan’s accusations are thwarted.
5 Our love for each other is manifest to the world around us.
6. Lost souls begin to seek this love that is so foreign to them.

Have you contributed to an independent spirit within His Body? Are you seeking to break down walls of competition among Christians, churches, denominations, and ethnic groups?
*Until we walk in the “Spirit of Unity”, we will hinder those in whom God has reserved a place in Heaven.

Pray for His Church to be unified!!!

” Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose”.
Philippians 2:2

*If you want God’s blessing on your life and you want to be known as a child of God, you must learn to be a peacemaker. Jesus said, “God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God.” (Matthew 5:9 NLT)

*Set aside our personal agenda; to take on the corporate agenda of the Body of Christ.
*Unity does not just happen. Must be created.
“Unity is corporate humility”!

He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake (Psalm 23:3b).
*What drives us to search for something, is the VALUE that we assign to it.
What’s the Value we put on “Unity in Jesus”?

****Unity requires!
1.Honesty-to deal with conflict.
2.Humility- to think of others more then ourselves.
3.Courtesy-to respect our difference.
4.Confidentiality – to build trust between us.
5.Frequency-to allow regular contact. We need each other.
We are to be an Expression of Unity that– God wants in all!
*Love God Love People when you buy the field You get the treasure and the dirt!!!!

“Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord” (Colossians 3:23). “Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Corinthians 10:31). “Whatever you do, do everything in the name of the Lord” (Colossians 3:17). By faith in Jesus, every act becomes this one thing—the work of the Lord.

” So then, let us aim for harmony in the church and try to build each other up”. Romans 14:19
* Let the main thing be the main thing teach the life of Jesus and spread the hope given to us through Gods word.
* God looks at the heart. It’s up to Him to judge us according to how we live our lives.
*Support the things we KNOW to be true, and leave the rest to stimulating intellectual discussion.(Denominational beliefs)

Father, You have promised to lead me in paths of righteousness. Help me to be willing to follow, even when I don’t understand. People don’t wanna know how much I know, but how much I love Jesus. So Thank You that Having Love is the most important aspect in having a Personal Relationship with You. Lord help me be more unified –Let the main thing be the main thing teach the life of Jesus and spread the hope given to us through Your Word.
“May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus.  Then all of you can join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Therefore, accept each other just as Christ has accepted you so that God will be given glory.” (Romans 15:5-7)
Amen

Morning by morning (and moment by moment!) we must choose to remain cleansed vessels fit for the Master’s use.
*”Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for I pray to no one but you.  Listen to my voice in the morning,LORD. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly.”Psalm 5:2-3

We are responsible for the negative thoughts which first enter our mind. If we recognize these thoughts and immediately confess and relinquish them to God, we have not sinned.
** “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
(1 John1: 9).

*Many of us have not been delivered because we are too ashamed to admit we are struggling.
******Admit the Sin and Listen!
Every one of us is recovering from something. We ALL are addicted to some sin. (Romans 3:23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard).
*James 4:17 Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it. *All of humanity has sinned in thoughts, words or actions. If we cannot admit that, then we have played the fool (Psalm 14:1).

If we don’t take ungodly thoughts captive, they will take us captive.
* “Listen, all the earth! I will bring disaster on my people. It is the fruit of their own schemes, because they refuse to listen to me. They have rejected my word.”Jeremiah 6:19

*****Admit the Sin and Listen!
*Spiritual discipline is allowing God to get me to a place I am not at———- Discovering MY sins!
* Confessing our sins leads to recovery.
James 5:16 Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed….

God gave His Son, the Son gave His life, and WE receive ALL the benefits!

The Father made this covenant pledge to His Son: “I, the Lord, have called
You in righteousness, and will hold Your hand; I will keep You and give You as
a covenant to the people, as a light to the Gentiles” (Isaiah 42:6).
**God was saying, “My hand will always be holding on to Yours and You will never be away from my keeping power. I pledge to keep You safe from all the schemes of the devil.”

This pledge by the Father is made available to us now because the Son’s
sacrifice on the Cross has brought us into their covenant agreement.
God pledged to His Son for you and me!  Now that is Love!!!

Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me (Psalm 51:12).

Very simply, the Holy Spirit changes the way we look at our sin. He knows that
as long as we continue to take our lust lightly, we will never be set free.
How does the Holy Ghost do this? By using the convicting Word of God—the piercing arrows of Holy Truth.
** Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning, because they are children of God. 1JN 3:9

2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. 17 God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.

Be quiet on the inside, and let the Lord’s still small voice resound, for He will show you things and bring you through to the victory that only comes from yielding to what He reveals.  You can gain much victory as you overcome, but the victory that He gives will be absolutely supernatural and beyond what you can do through self-effort.  It will quicken your faith and cause you to trust Him more.  These are days when you will have every opportunity to rise up spiritually and become one with Him.
1 Kings 19:11-12  Then He said, “Go out, and stand on the mountain before the LORD.” And behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind tore into the mountains and broke the rocks in pieces before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind; and after the wind an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake; and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.
*Sometimes God speaks in the still small whisper. Could our problem with hearing God’s voice today have less to do with God’s apparent silence and more to do with our inability to slow ourselves down, to carve out quiet time to listen without the background noise of the television, music, or the buzz of the cell phone (calls, texts, emails, Facebook msgs), and be totally available to God?
Perhaps this is one of the greatest obstacles to our relationship with God in our time, call it “Spiritual Attention Deficit Disorder”.
Be attentive to His “whisper”, which may come as a thought or image on your mind. Ask, is this from you God?
For me God’s “whisper” comes as a result of reading His Word, the Bible, as He speaks to my heart through it.

Dear God please help me to be a person that trust what you tell me over what I see. Remind me not to try and interpret what I see around me but to seek You(through the Word) for the interpretation. Lord, hear my cry for help to only You and I pray that I seek your wisdom and guidance as I listen.
Lord, Thank You for hearing the quiet words of my heart. I pray that You continue to encourage me to poor out my heart to you and let me be still to hear Your “whisper” to me.   Amen

Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. 1 Peter 5:7.

You seek deep moral change as a Christian not primarily through moral instruction, rules and will-power, BUT primarily by understanding, believing and acting on Who YOU are IN Christ.

Paul the apostle wrote: “God will do this, for he is faithful to do what he says, and he has invited you into partnership(fellowship) with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. ”  (1 Corinthians 1:9).

*This single verse opens us up to a truth that can see us through EVERY storm of
life.
*Here is a simple TRUTH that can keep our hearts at rest when all things
around us are shaken.
*Here is the Word of God that can keep us from the fear that now grips the whole world.

The Truth is this: We learn God’s faithfulness by answering our calling to
stay in fellowship/partnership with Jesus. “Called into the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ” (1:9)

*We are not called to trust our own intellect.
*We are not called to trust in flesh, or men or anything that is of this world.
** Jesus calls to us, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew11:28).

Christ alone is our Peace, our Confidence and Contentment.
I have experienced such great contentment when I see by faith my Lord in glory—loving me, calling me into His sweet presence, telling me He is all-sufficient. I do not have to beg or plead or fear. The more I keep looking unto Jesus in all things, the more I know He is pleased, because without faith it is impossible to please Him.

Always be on the lookout for anything that takes your “peace” away, and then ask God to reveal what’s going on “Inside the Hidden Chambers of Your Soul.”
**  “Why are you in despair, O my soul? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him for the help of His presence.” Psalm 42:5

Sadly, many who truly Love Jesus often panic in times of crisis, and they worry
and fret. They spend time trying to figure out ways to escape or endure their trial.
They do not heed His call to “come and dine” with Him.
I am not talking about spending one hour or so each day in prayer, I am talking about focusing on Him all through the day, 24/7.  “Praying without ceasing” (1Thessalonians 5:17).
** This is simple, quiet conversation—just talking to Him, becoming more acquainted with Him, so that in crisis times we need not rush in to a prayer closet and wail out for help like a stranger.

He hears ALL cries, loud and soft, and He will always answer us in His
faithfulness.

Isaiah 55:10 “The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry. 11 It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it. 12 You will live in joy and peace.
*Let the rain from heaven fall upon you.  Let it refresh you.  For, in the refreshing of that rain your spirit man will be quickened, your faith will be energized, and you will come to know that the Lord’s Glory is coming in a fresh and new way for you and I.   There will be an abundance of new life within you.  The Lord’s  power will spring up, and the power of His WORD will become the sword by which you will defeat the enemy.  Allow the rain of the Spirit to bring that which is needed.  It is time for you, to ask for the rain and this is that time. It is time for you to ask in faith that the water of heaven would fall upon you and bring you out into a bright place; into a place of glory; into a place with His presence; into a place of healing; into a place of restoration and renewal.  Let the rain of the Spirit become a river that flows through and around you, says the Lord.

John 7: 37…. Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! 38 Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’” 39 (When he said “living water,” he was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him….

To those of you who seem to be stuck and don’t know what to do to get unstuck, you need to quiet the inside voice of worry and regret, and seek the Lord for wisdom.  Do not rely on your own ideas that come from frustration and desperation, and refuse to allow emotional reactions to motivate you.  Be Patient and at Peace for the Lord will show you the next step and the way out of your dilemma if you will truly listen to Him through the Holy Spirit as you read His Word.
Proverbs 3:5-6  Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.

It is easy to make assumptions about the path we are on. If God’s Spirit has not enlightened our reasoning, we are inclined to make the wrong choices. Our choices seem right at the time, but later we discover these choices have led us away from God because they were based on our own reasoning.

Acknowledge God in all your ways today. Lean completely on Him to reveal His direction for your life. If you do so, He will direct you to the desired destination He has for you

God, You  don’t call the qualified, but You qualify Your called out ones. Thank You for being always faithful to us every step of the way.
I know Your Word is ALL true but often don’t take the time each day to claim these truths! Help me Lord that I will begin each day  praising your name first thing when I awake and finding more truths to Trust in.  Lord I desire to deepen my relationship with you!  I want to love you more!  I want my first thoughts of the day to be praises of your Holy name. Keep qualifying me Lord for Your Glory and my joy. Amen

WE ARE VALUABLE TO GOD!

Finding and returning what is lost to its place brings Extreme Joy and a desire to celebrate and tell others.
* God desires us all to be in community/relationship with Him.

If we don’t take ungodly thoughts captive, they will take us captive.
* “Listen, all the earth! I will bring disaster on my people. It is the fruit of their own schemes, because they refuse to listen to me. They have rejected my word. “Jeremiah 6:19

*Spiritual discipline is allowing God to get me to a place I am not at———- Discovering MY sins!
*Sin brings consequences (Jer. 6:19-21). Even when we repent and are forgiven the consequences may remain. Let us not bring these consequences upon ourselves.

WE ARE VALUABLE TO GOD!–GOD NEVER GIVES UP!

“What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he loses one of them, does not
leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one which is lost
until he finds it? (Luke 15:4).

Jesus is speaking here of a sheep that had been in the fold. Clearly, this
represents a member of Christ’s flock, one that has been well fed and led by
a loving shepherd.
Yet this sheep has gotten lost, so the shepherd has gone out looking for it.
*There seems to be a HIGH Value placed on sinful people in the eyes of God.

*What may have caused the one sheep to get lost?
* He took is eye off of his Shepherd.
We too Become distracted. Worldly things,etc. , pleasures of life.
* Inability to control ones appetite. The living word of God is what we should have an appetite for.
*Maybe Because he heard wolf noises.
* Maybe Caught in the thickets, couldn’t get out of it.( my people know my voice).

Note what Jesus says about the shepherd here: “He goes after the one that is lost until he finds it”
* God NEVER gives up on anyone who belongs to Him and has gone astray. *Instead, He goes out to find that sheep, embraces it and brings it back into the fold.
*Retrieval brings celebration. All of Heaven rejoices when a single life is restored to God’s family.

Simply put, you can go so far into sin that you come to very brink of hell, and
God will still pursue you.
David testifies, “If I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there” (Psalm 139:8).

We have all heard the expression “hell on earth.” That is what life is like
for those who run from God. Their “bed in hell” is an awful, terrible
condition.
*It means to be captivated by sin, drifting so far from the Lord that
you eventually fall into a lifeless slumber.
This slumber is accompanied by a
nagging fear that whispers, “You are going deeper and deeper into hell. You
may not ever get back to God.”

Christ’s message to us is, “You may have made your bed in hell, but you are
not too deep in sin for Me to reach you and receive you with open arms.”

When the shepherd finds the lost, injured sheep, he carries the wounded
creature into his house.(The sign of the shepherd, carrying the lost sheep on his shoulders shows imagery of intimate care. The lost sheep that was found does not walk back, but is carried by the shepherd).
* Then he calls all his friends and neighbors together, exclaiming, “Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost”
(Luke 15:6).

“Likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance” (Luke 15:7).

“We all, like sheep, have gone astray; each of us has turned to his own way” (Isaiah 53:6).

I know my tendency toward self-indulgent individualism, going my own way and doing my own thing. That’s to much me. I’m a sheep. And if Jesus Christ is to be my shepherd, I have to Admit that I need one daily!!!
It is difficult, but that is where we must start. Once we admit that Need, we discover the Truth of what David is saying. We shall not want. (Read Psalms 23).
* In this psalm David enumerates the ways in which the Good Shepherd meets our needs.
* The first thing He does is to Meet the needs of the Inner Person, the basic needs that we have for nourishment within.
*He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul (Psalm 23:2-3a).
In times of deep, dire need, when we cast about for help, it is no farther away than God’s Word. Everything we need to nourish the inner person is right there. As Peter says,
“His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness” (2 Peter 1:3).
*Everything we need that relates to life and to living godly lives in the world is available IN Christ. I ask am I employing that resource?
Jesus is in the business of redemption! I believe The Church(the Body of Christ) is a hospital for sinners, NOT a country club for the rich and respectable. We in our nice middle-classed churches and groups must Not be too wary of welcoming the Lost of this world. We have to follow Jesus’ example.
*As the Father has sent the Son, the Son has sent us. What will we do to help with Gods great search for that one lost
soul?
**What drives us to search for something, is the VALUE that we assign to it.
**Imagine this… If we who have been found—- would Truly Value those who may be lost.
*****WE ALL ARE VALUABLE TO GOD!

Lord, though I am a sheep who is prone to wander, come and be my shepherd today. Bring me to that place where I can say, “The Lord is my shepherd I shall not be in want”.
Take away from me Lord any feelings of  emptiness, loneliness, despair, frustration, hopelessness, or wants that exist in my life– Help me daily to recognize Your  call to rescue me and then Truly Value those who may be lost.
Lord, thank You for Your Word. May it be to me like green pastures and still waters, leaving me fully satisfied in You.
Lord, help me to continue learning to find green pastures and still waters in the written Word and see there the Good Shepherd who IS our Life!!!
Lord, I ask that you help me to say Yes to you each and every day and moment so that I don’t miss out on your perfect will for my life. Continue to magnify your Holy Word in my life that it continues to mold and shape my thoughts and life for Your Glory and my Joy.  In Jesus Name, Amen.

” But thank God! He has made us his captives and continues to lead us along in Christ’s triumphal procession. Now he uses us to spread the knowledge of Christ everywhere, like a sweet perfume.  Our lives are a Christ-like fragrance rising up to God. But this fragrance is perceived differently by those who are being saved and by those who are perishing.  To those who are perishing, we are a dreadful smell of death and doom. But to those who are being saved, we are a life-giving perfume. And who is adequate for such a task as this?” 2 Corinthians 2:14-16

After Reading this passage I thought to myself: What do I smell like…Victory or Death?

*If we don’t allow God to cleanse US FIRST, we’ll end up “contaminating” everyone we come into contact with.
* But if we allow Him to transform us, we’ll be a:
“…fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing…”
2 Corinthians 2:15
*We are a sweet aroma to Christ – reflected in HOW we live our lives. Sometimes reflected by mere presence, not just our words.

Why need to be Refined in the Furnace

“For You, O God, tested us; You refined us like silver”.
And then, later on, God says,
“See, I have refined you, though not as silver, I have tested you in the furnace of affliction”. Psalm 66:10 & Isaiah 48:10

One thing the Bible teaches very clearly is that God tests His people and the comparison that’s used many times in Scripture is that God tests us the same way as a silver refiner refines silver.

In Bible times the way that a man did that was to place the silver in a metal container over the hottest possible fire and then, as the silver began to melt and bubble in the heat, the dross, the scum, the impurities would rise to the surface and he would skim them off as they rose up and he would go on skimming until there was no impurity left in the silver.
And the test of that was that as he looked into the surface of the silver he could see his own face properly mirrored in the silver.

***So that’s how God tests us in the furnace of affliction. The hotter the furnace, the more the impurities are brought to the surface.
And God graciously skims them off with His great heavenly skimmer.

***God goes on with that skimmer until He sees His Own Image reflected in our lives.
* And then God knows the process of refining is successful and He takes us out of the furnace.

“The man of God came up and told the king of Israel, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Because the Arameans think the Lord is a god of the hills and not a god of the valleys, I will deliver this vast army into your hands, and you will know that I am the Lord’.” 1 Kings 20:28

Whenever we stand on the mountain, we are able to see clearly. It is the best vantage point to see what lies ahead. Wouldn’t it be great to live on the mountain all the time in order to anticipate what is ahead?
God allows us to experience the mountaintop at times.
Joseph’s first mountaintop experience was as a young man. He had the favor of his father, Jacob. He was given a fine coat and even had a dream about his future. As a young man, Joseph had a sense of destiny about his life.
* God often gives us a picture of our future so that we will remember this picture when we are being tested to trust Him in the valley.
* This picture usually does not reveal how God intends to bring about the visions for our life.
*However, none of us really derive the character qualities God desires for our lives while we are on the mountain.
***It is in the valley where the fruit is planted and harvested. It cannot grow on the mountain; it must grow in the valley.
God is a God of the mountain, but he is even more a God of the valley. In the valley, it is more difficult to see ahead; the clouds often cover the valley and limit our sight.
* Joseph was thrust into a deep valley that left him wondering if the God of his father had forsaken him.
* Jesus hoped that He might be able to avoid the valley that caused Him to sweat blood.
* There is a valley that each of us must enter, usually unwillingly, in order to experience the God of the valley-and to experience His faithfulness in the valley.
Once we have spent time in this valley, we come out with something we would have never gained if we had not entered it.
**The valley brings much fruit into our lives so that we might plant seeds into the lives of others!!!
*** God does not waste valley experiences. If we are faithful in the valley, we will enter a new dimension with God that we never thought possible.
There is a harvest of wisdom and virtue that can only be grown in the valley.

Has God brought you into the valley? Know that the valley is a place of fruitfulness; it is a place of testing. It is where God brings what you know in your head into your heart.
The only value of knowledge is when it becomes part of your heart. Look for God in the valley today.

You are My offspring, says the Lord.  You belong to Me.  The past days, months, or even years of struggle are becoming a thing of the past as the Lord prepares you for this time of new things.  Refuse to allow the fears, disappointments and failures of the past to dictate your current course.  Allow the Lord to bring forth a transformation.  He will heal the brokenness of the past and give you new hope for the future.

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Life is very short here on this Earth.
Psalms 90:10 Seventy years are given to us! Some even live to eighty. But even the best years are filled with pain and trouble; soon they disappear, and we fly away.
*I need to be more grateful for all that God has blessed me with and not look at how my life could be better. Life is but a vapor. I need to focus more on how I can best glorify our Father in this short life. I have eternal glory with Jesus to look forward to.
Verse 12: “Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom.”

Please God hold me close to you and guide me in the correct direction with Christ. Let me be a pleasing aroma to you that guides the people around you towards life. Thank you for the hardships I have overcome because of You to learn from and to share.
Help me Lord to stay true to Your word, and present it in my life to make sure that the people around me are not lead to death but rather to life. Help me do this by staying in the word daily, applying it to my life and looking for improvements through Your perfect refining process.  I Thank You for the purpose and Life You created me for. Help me see Your Purpose for me daily! Lord I want You to be my signature scent. I want to dedicate more of my time with You so that Your scent lingers only to attract more people to you for Your glory.
Amen.

“We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing.”2 Corinthians 5:2

In order to walk God’s Way of Agape, we must be willing to take every thought captive.
*”Casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God…”
2 Corinthians 10:5

Jesus  Ascension
*Acts 1:9 After saying this, he was taken up into a cloud while they were watching, and they could no longer see him.
The apostles saw their Lord lift off and head home. On a cloud, no less.
Clouds play an important role in the coming and going of the manifest presence of God. The glory cloud led and protected Israel in the wilderness. The glory cloud filled the tabernacle and the temple. Prophets continually describe clouds as part of God’s earth-rumbling arrival. A cloud rolls onto the mountaintop during Jesus’ transfiguration. And Christ told His followers that He we would see Him return one glorious day riding on a cloud.

One remarkable thing about the ascension is that it affirms Christ’s physical body went into Heaven following his resurrection.

Some Christians imagine that Christ shed himself of his humanity and returned to being a completely spiritual being when he went back to Heaven. *But this is false according to the Bible recalling  the witnesses that were there .
John 20:17 “Don’t cling to me,” Jesus said, “for I haven’t yet ascended to the Father. But go find my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’”

*He could have “dissolved” or “disappeared,” but instead Jesus Physically ascended to a place, from which he will physically return to earth in the same physical body.
Philippians 3:20 But we are citizens of heaven, where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. And we are eagerly waiting for him to return as our Savior.
*So Jesus became a man (first coming, incarnation), defeated death and assumed his eternal body as a man (resurrection), and went back to Heaven as a man (ascension) and will return as a man (second coming; and as our firstfruits raising our self-same bodies as bodies like his).
He will reign over the New Earth as the God-man. He has become a permanent member of the human race.

Luke 21:27 Then everyone will see the Son of Man coming on a cloud with power and great glory.
Matthew 26:64 Jesus replied, “You have said it. And in the future you will see the Son of Man seated in the place of power at God’s right hand and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

So if you’re ever wished you could walk the earth with Jesus, like his disciples did, good news…if you know Him, you will. You will have a new (raised) body and it will be a New (raised) Earth, but it will really be you, it will really be Jesus, and it will really be Earth.
* No sin, no death, no curse. I will be me without all the bad parts, and the Earth will be Earth without all the bad parts. (New bodies are not non-bodies, and new earth is not non-earth, any more than a new car is a non-car.)

As Job put it, “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!” (Job 19:25-27)

*The Resurrection of Christ was the event that accomplished salvation and verified Christ’s victory over death,
* but it was the Cross of Jesus Christ that showed us the grace of God. Everything that God wants us to know about Himself comes together in those crossbeams.

****Our entire purpose in life is to elevate the Cross. Think on Jesus Christ there. In your mind’s eye, picture Him stretched out against the sky.

What’s He doing up there? Answer:
*He’s subbing for you and me.
* He’s taking God’s wrath for your sin. *He’s satisfying the just demands of a holy God.
* He’s paying the price that God’s holiness requires so that you and I can be forgiven. In the place where our blood should have stained the ground, Jesus hung as our substitute.

You can’t understand the Gospel until you understand this idea of substitution. Jesus’ death was in the place of every person who has ever lived. I am in that line. You are too. Each of us deserves to die in payment for our own sin, BUT Jesus stepped in and took that penalty for each of us.

The Lord has spoken to you through His written word.   All you have to do is to put your trust in Him and believe what He has said.  Refuse to allow fear to have a place in your heart or to allow doubt and unbelief to undermine or destroy your faith.  Stand your ground of strong belief and be unwavering.
* Numbers 23:19 “God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
*We humans are guilty of lying, deception and misleading others, but God is TRUTH. In Him there is no shadow or turning. He is totally forthright, honest and integral. Further His track record proves beyond the shadow of a doubt that anything He says he will do, he has performed it completely. You can totally depend and take God at His Word!

Revelation 1:7 Look! He comes with the clouds of heaven. And everyone will see him—

* Look forward to leaving this planet. Do you have eternal plans? In other words, are you building God’s kingdom? Do you have your spiritual blueprints and instructions? Are you investing in the Kingdom?

Lord Jesus, You are the perfect investment. Your Kingdom is the best investment. Thank You for letting me get in on the ground level. You took all the risk. You paid the price. And You let me reap the benefits.
Lord I rejoice in the knowledge of your soon coming again! Thank you for your grace and mercy that have set me free from the bondage of sin and death and given me a hope and a future. I am indeed grateful that I am ready, and hopeful for your glorious and triumphant return. Come Lord Jesus! Come. In Jesus name, Amen.

Are you trusting God with the very details of your life so that He can lead you in the way you should go?

” I take joy in doing your will, my God, for your instructions are written on my heart.” Psalms 40:8

We must be willing to obey God’s Will and do exactly what He asks us to do, no matter what we think or how we feel.  He has our Best interest in mind and is the only one that knows the future and He Loves You so much that He gave His Son Jesus up for YOU-that He will Spend eternity with You!

Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” Matthew 4:19
*Sometimes we forget that God calls us. It’s not about us as much as it is about God’s mission here on this earth. We need to listen to these calls and obey. Trust-Knowing that God has a purpose for what He is doing that we may not see or understand.

***Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned Obedience from the things he suffered. Hebrews 5:8
*Even Christ “Learned Obedience” by obeying his Father through each temptation he faced.
*We often misinterpret obedience as offering material sacrifices to God.

***Rather “True Obedience” lies in offering our broken and repentant hearts to Him and obeying His word in our lives.

“Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing.” Acts 9:8a
* There is a place of Obedience for all of us. For Paul, it was being struck blind on the Damascus road.
* God literally knocked him off his horse with a blinding light.
* A voice from Heaven asked Paul why he was persecuting Him (Jesus).
* When Paul arose, he could not see. *Jesus told him to go to Damascus and meet a man named Ananias. There, Jesus restored Paul’s sight through Ananias.

Each of us has a place of obedience.
* For some, it requires only a Nudge of pressure to gently lead us toward God. *For others of us, a lightning bolt is necessary to get our undivided attention.
Many who are hard-hearted rebel against the living God. Yet God’s love for these individuals is so great that He takes extreme measures to gain their attention-and their hearts.

When you come in contact with people like this, do not fear their arrogance. **Instead, see them as God sees them-as people who need the Savior and who could be a powerful force in the Kingdom if God saved them.

It is a sign to begin Praying for them!

We’ve all heard the saying, “The bigger they are, the harder they fall.” In many cases this is true. God has called many hard cases into His Kingdom through miraculous circumstances in order to save their lives from the pit of hell and transform them into a sweet-smelling fragrance.
Do not let the hard exterior fool you.
* These are needy people who are crying out for help in their own prideful way. Whenever God begins this process in the life of a sinner, He has others standing by to assist.
Ananias was the person in Paul’s life. He found it unbelievable that Paul really could have been saved.
An angel had to convince him.

Has God placed such an individual in your path? Perhaps God desires to use you to be an “Ananias” in the life of one of His wayward children.
To do so requires a willingness to come Alongside that one who needs your help. Who knows, that person could be the next apostle Paul.

True Pure Obedience to pleasing God in our lives– will often meet the needs of those around us.
1 Peter 1:22 You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart.

*Are you trusting God with the very details of your life so that He can lead you in the way you should go?
* Are you allowing Him to teach you? **Seek the Lord today for what He wants to teach you and allow Him to lead you, and you will ensure peace and righteousness in your life.

If we don’t allow God to cleanse us, we’ll end up “contaminating” everyone we come into contact with. But if we allow Him to transform us, we’ll be a:
* “…fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing…”
2 Corinthians 2:15

*God wants our hearts more than he wants our actions. He knows that when he has our obedience to His direction, the things we do will fall in line with his will.

Father we pray that we may be obedient in your sight, that we may set our minds on offering our hearts as sacrifices of our obedience. Lord we understand that you do not desire the fat of rams as sacrifices,but you desire our obedient hearts. Lord through your word we see that Obedience and Faith are what pleases You, not religious works, though they may seem noble–help me see what You want.    We pray that we may listen to your still and small voice, even when it is difficult to do so. This will ensure that we learn to obey your Word. Amen…
1 Samuel 15:22 But Samuel replied,
“What is more pleasing to the LORD: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams. 23 Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft, and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols.

*All the invisible help that God can give you in the day of trouble, in the hour of pressure, is made available by prayer.
*Psalms 118:21 I thank you for answering my prayer and giving me victory!
*This day belongs to the Lord! Let’s celebrate and be glad and Praise Him for All He has and is doing in our lives today. Make a list of All you are Thankful for this day.
*The Lord is full of loving kindness, faithful, and patient. He pours on us unlimited favor, blessings, grace, and mercy- even during trials. We need to glorify His name in all circumstances for what He’s done and for who He is.

*Whatever the condition of your heart is, will affect how you will receive the Word of God.

*God’s plan for me is not limited to what I can see in my future and when I limit my future to what I can see– I am limiting the possibility that God just might have something bigger for me.

1 Corinthians 2:9….“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.”
*There comes a time when, in our own self-confidence and zeal, we keep pushing ahead, only to find our efforts resulting in frustration and emptiness.

“The problem may be that you have tried to help God instead of letting God help you”.

At times, God may need to demonstrate to us our need for His ability in our life. To remind us that HE IS our Source of creativeness, strengths, and wisdom. The glory and honor should go to Him when we experience success – not to ourselves.
*Where you Center your attention determines how you think and make decisions, which ultimately determines your path.

Christ has given you all things in Him. He has a unique plan for you that cannot be compared to another. You are made in God’s image, His DNA and YOU are His Masterpiece!!!!!
God alone is your security. Trust in the purposes He has for your life. And remember,
*”My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:19)

God Hears and Answers

”  We all arrive at your doorstep sooner or later, loaded with guilt,  Our sins too much for us-but you get rid of them once and for all “.
( Psalm 65:2-3-message)

* Jesus shows us in Psalms 65, the great difference between a passing emotion, a feeling which doesn’t last, and a True conversion which leads to a changed life.
*He speaks of those who ‘receive the Word with JOY,… endure for a while’ and then ‘fall away’.
*He speaks also of those who ‘Hear the Word and accept it and bear fruit’(Mark 4:3-9,16-17,20). About the farmer that went out to plant some seed.
*The soil represents the heart of people and the seed represents the Word of God.
*God wants us to hear with our heart -*Gods word is alive,its life!

Types of HEARTS:
•Harden hearts-doesn’t allow word to enter -seed fell on a footpath.
•Shallow heart-suspectable to joy now sadness later -seed fell on shallow soil.
•Crowded heart-word gets in immediately choked out-seed fell among thorns.
•Good heart-receives word and produces harvest -seeds fell on fertile soil.
*Whats the condition of your heart? Whatever the condition of your heart is, will affect how you will receive the Word of God.

How do you worship the Lord?
* Are you looking for a good feeling – and nothing more than that?
*God is looking for more. He wants us to live as ‘a new creation’(2 Corinthians 5:17).

God hears and answers prayer!!”

That’s what the psalmist says, “O you who hear prayer, to you all men will come.” Ultimately:
* Everybody needs God.
* Everybody needs to know that God hears and answers prayer.
That’s what’s going to bring, ultimately, the whole of humanity to God – the fact that God hears and answers prayer.

And there’s one special prayer that He delights to answer above all others and that is the prayer for forgiveness of our sins!!!! We need this the most!
When we’ve sinned and failed God and man we don’t need to turn away in despair, we can turn Back to God, Cry to Him for forgiveness and then we’ll be able to say, as the psalmist says in Chp. 65,
* “When we were overwhelmed by sins, You atoned for our transgressions.”  . *Don’t let fear or guilt or despair keep you from praying.
* Remember, in the depths of your agony God hears and He answers prayer.

All the invisible help that God can give you in the day of trouble, in the hour of pressure, is made available by prayer.

There are places in you that have required healing.  Until now you have received a measure of healing, but the Lord is releasing the full measure in those who will believe wholeheartedly and without any fear or doubt.  Your faith has been prepared to receive all that is necessary, but you must exercise and put into action the faith that you’ve been given.  Only believe, and you will receive.
*Mark 11:23 “For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says.

Lord, there are far too many places I turn in times of trouble. Teach me to turn to your sanctuary for the help that I need. Open my heart more so You can Teach me Wisdom and Discernment for Your Glory and my Joy through Your Holy Spirit inspired word. In Jesus Name Amen

The answers we seek are found at the cross.

James 4:4 You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God.
**There is so much Good in the best of us, and so much Bad in the worst of us.

*What can wash away my sin?
**** Nothing but the blood of Jesus!!

Our thoughts are first to be triggered in the “chain reaction” of our souls: *thought stirs up emotion,— emotion influences desire,– and desire produces action.
“…but I say to you, that everyone who looks on a woman to lust for her has committed adultery with her already in his heart.” Matthew 5:28

John 8:2-11.(The Story of adultery)
“Woman,” he(Jesus) said, “where are they? Has no one condemned you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go and from now on sin no more.”

Forget for the moment the self-righteousness of the accusers and the apparent injustice of the adulterous man’s absence.
Did you really hear what Jesus said?
This woman’s guilt was real. She committed the crime of adultery.
God, through Moses, commanded her death.

**But God the Son simply said, “Neither do I condemn you.”

Now, if God violates his own commandment and lets the guilty go unpunished then God is unjust.
*** So how could Jesus possibly say that to her?
*Here’s where the news gets really good!

** God fully intended for this SIN of adultery to be punished to the full extent of his law.
* But she would not bear her punishment. She would go FREE.

****This young teacher(JESUS) would be punished in her place.*****

Might he have written theses words from Isaiah in the dirt?
*But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our inequities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:5-6).

**Every one of us, in a sense, is that woman.
** Our addiction to sins — our shameful lusts, destructive tongues, murderous hatred, corrupting greed, covetous pride, lack of patience, jealousy  — stand exposed before God as starkly as in that temple courtyard.
Our condemnation is deserved.
***And yet,  Jesus speaks these stunning words to you:
“Neither do I condemn you.” Why? **Because Jesus has been condemned in your place. “The Cross”
* ALL your guilt has been removed. No stone of God’s righteous wrath will crush you because Jesus was crushed for YOUR iniquities.

Jesus was the only one in the crowd that day who could, in perfect righteousness, require the woman’s death. And he was the only one who could, in perfect righteousness, pardon her.

**Mercy triumphed over judgment for her at great cost to Jesus. And the same is true for us.

“There is therefore now no condemnation FOR those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1).
* God’s mercy leads us towards what? Repentance.
I think that if we look at the Word of God as a whole, there’s usually a qualifier for God’s grace and God’s mercy.
**It’s Repentance!!!
Jesus in 1 Peter says, “Be holy, because I am holy.”
*My point is this. We talk a lot about God’s grace these days. And make no mistake, there is certainly grace and mercy for when we fall short in our humanity…as we often do.
But God is not calling us to His grace….He is calling his church to Repentance.
*** He’s calling us to Holiness.  The closer you are to the Lord the higher your standards are.

** Grace is simply a vehicle to help us get there as we hit the road bumps along the way.
Hebrews 10:26 Dear friends, if we deliberately continue sinning after we have received knowledge of the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice that will cover these sins.
*Does this mean that if we sin again after receiving Christ, we will be doomed forever? No, there are other scriptures that make it clear that we still do sin even after receiving Christ,
** BUT that we should quickly confess and repent.
*Fear the judgement of God more than the fear of losing a pleasure. 2 Cor. 7:1
*Warning—Whatever you worship, you’ll become that very thing.

*God is calling us to A higher standard.
Stop trying to satisfy your flesh by justifying It.

Repentance is not a door leading to a dungeon, but rather a pathway leading to the Love, Truth and Freedom found only in Christ.
*  ” Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. “Revelation 3:19

1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
* We must live in light of what God has done for us(the Cross) and live pure and holy lives.
*We can go to God any time.
*Sin is a serious matter. It is a perversion of Christian doctrine to say that since there is now grace, we can continue to sin so that grace may abound. (Romans 6:1)
*So, we must strive daily to live holy lives. But if we do sin, we have an advocate with the Father – Jesus Christ the righteous (1 John 2:1). So we must quickly confess and repent and receive God’s forgiveness.
* Our lives must be characterized by holiness, not by sin.
*At the same time, we can rejoice in the intimacy we have with God because of what Jesus has done.
** “If therefore the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.”John 8:36

Father, I am tempted daily to sin. I come before you in the Holy of Holies to ask for your power to resist the devil and discipline my own flesh. I confess my sins to You and thank You for Your forgiveness bought by the precious blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you for the intimate relationship we can have with You because of Your gift.  Help me Father to stay Close to You and not the world–that WE may be so spiritually United. With You, Jesus—No temptation can overtake me.   Thank You for your Word which is absolute Truth that gives Your perfect Guidance into all things.  Lord help me receive more of Your Holy Spirit as I read Your word and: “Search me, OGod, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.  Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.”  In Jesus Name,Amen.

*Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. (Colossians 3:5 ESV)

*The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil. (Ecclesiastes 12:13, 14 ESV)

*No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. (1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV)

“And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called
in one body; and be thankful.”.  (Colossians 3:15)
*I think thankfulness is one of the main tools we use that moves God! A grateful heart does things for Gods heart!

* In order to experience peace of Christ, we need to meditate upon the word. Read bible everyday!
* In order to experience peace of Christ, we need to thank God with our heart if you smile brain feels happy!
*Peace comes through forgiveness and love for others. We recognize that God has already done this for US – so WE distribute it to others.

LET THE PEACE OF GOD RULE
* Like an umpire in a baseball game calls the balls and strikes. Let the ‘peace of God rule’ our Life.
* This peace is more than an umpire deciding who is right or wrong; peace in the church is an indication that Christ is ruling in our hearts.
*When we decide to make Jesus the ruler of our life, His lordship will challenge our egos, any envy, dissentions, or gossip to bow the knee before Him.
How about you and me? Are we at peace with our brothers and sisters? If not, obey the CALL to Peace and let Christ rule in your heart.
*For God hath not given us the power of fear, but the power, and love, an of a sound mind. You will need to stand in faith, under attack by the enemy, before you can move forward.
2 Timothy 1:7 For God did not give us a Spirit of fear but of power and love and self-control.

“And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called
in one body; and be thankful.”.  (Colossians 3:15)

This one verse contains an incredible command: God calls the entire body of
Jesus Christ to let His peace govern our hearts, minds and bodies!
***The peace of God is to be the arbitrator of our lives, sitting as ruler over everything.
** If there was ever a time this call needed to be sounded, it is today in this hour of turmoil and confusion!

Why did the Lord command the early church to let His peace rule in their lives?
It was because He knew what was coming and He wanted to prepare them!
In just a few years’ time, incredible turmoil would come upon them. They would be tortured and persecuted. They would face hard times, loss of homes,
confiscation of all worldly goods, even attacks from vicious men who thought
they were doing God a favor by killing them.
God was warning them, preparing
them, “You are going to have to be grounded in My peace because it alone will see you through all the incredible changes ahead!”

“The things which you learned and received and heard and saw in me, these do, and the God of peace will be with you” (Philippians 4:9).
*God answers all our requests and supplications with the GIFT of His peace:
“Let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which
surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ
Jesus” (v. 6-7).

Right now there is a false peace sweeping through many churches, a peace that will fail in the troubled days ahead.
** It is the peace of stubborn, sin-blinded Christians!

Moses called such believers “self-blessed,” meaning self-deceived.
*Moses warned Israel that a curse would come upon all wicked, disobedient children of God who walked in idolatry.
*Moses said they would plaster over their sinful ways with a false sense of peace:
“ When such a person hears the words of this oath and they invoke a blessing on themselves, thinking, “I will be safe, even though I persist in going my own way,” they will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry.” (Deuteronomy 29:19).
* Here’s a sign someone has lost touch with God — when they know what God says, do the opposite, & don’t care

*Moses here,is describing the child of God who decides to satisfy his lust for evil!
*He finds a Cozy doctrine that tells him he is all right, still saved, heaven-bound, while continuing in his sin.
*He says to himself, “I will do as
I please and still not lose the peace in my heart.”

No matter what happens to America or to the nations of the world, NO Power in
hell can ROB YOU of the ‘Peace of God through Jesus Christ’, which He implants in your soul! God will have His people governed by peace.

*God is jealous for His glory. He cannot share it with false gods. He clearly promised blessings for keeping the covenant and curses for breaking the covenant. Serving other gods was the most heinous offense against God and grounds for breaking the covenant.
*We all need to remove idols from our lives- whatever takes priority over our relationship with God. These idols may take the form of family, work, recreation/sports, tv, gaming, and even ministry. If we don’t set our priorities straight, God will do it for us.

****“Let the peace of God rule in your hearts!!!!!”

The Lord is creating opportunities in your life that will lead to greater unity with Him.  The Lord will reveal those things that create hindrances and distance between the two of you.  Let the Lord show you the way to restored innocence and purity, not as one who worships from outside, but as one who can enjoy spiritual intimacy with confidence in the reality of oneness.
*Hebrews 13:20-21  Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.

Father, forgive me for being so self-centered thinking I can do it myself. What I truly need can only come from you. Help me to be more focused on what you have to offer and not on what the world offers me. Help me to depend more on you and not on myself. Help me OH lord to evaluate my life according to your Word! True satisfaction and Peace comes from you alone. ” Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you”.    In Jesus Name Amen

Imagine our “feet” as representative of our “souls”. When we make wrong emotional choices, it’s like stepping into a mud puddle. We don’t need a full bath (to get saved again) in order to become clean, but we do need to wash our feet (recognize and repent of wrong choices.
*  “Jesus said to him, ‘He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet…'”
John 13:10

THE GIFT OF HIS PEACE
“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).

When I reread this passage recently, I was struck by something I had never seen before. Paul instructs us to stop worrying, go to God with prayer and
supplication, and thank Him for the answer.
** But he never says anything about
getting answers! Paul says nothing about receiving a word of direction,
deliverance, miracles, or healing.
**Instead, he says we receive a gift of the PEACE of God!

God answers all our requests and supplications with the GIFT of His peace:
“Let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which
surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ
Jesus” (v. 6-7).

In other words, God’s first answer to our every prayer and heart-cry is His
peace! All praying people have this one thing in common:
No matter how bad they feel going into their secret closet of prayer, they come out filled with His peace!
God has limited Himself to His own government. This is known as the
providence of God. He does things here and there, preparing people’s hearts
and orchestrating events, but until His providence works out the answer to your prayer, He says, “I am going to give you not what you think you need, but what I know you need—peace of mind and heart!”

Many of us wrestle with the Lord in prayer.
* We petition Him with crying and
tears;
* We pound heaven’s gates;
*We claim every promise.
But as the days,weeks and months go by, we begin to wonder:
* “Why won’t You answer, Lord?
*What is blocking my prayer?
*What have I done to grieve or displease You?”

The fact is, God already has said to us, “Here is My peace that passes all
understanding! Take it and let it rule in your heart while I work out all
things for your good!”
We are to be kept in God’s peace until His promise is worked out by the Holy Spirit!

Hold on to His peace and let it rule and reign in your heart!

(Psalm 107:6-7). Some of you have had this experience. You too were restless; you were uncertain, wandering, hungry, and thirsty for life, but you could never find it. You tried everything. Finally, when you reached the bottom, you cried to the Lord in your trouble.
When you did, He heard you. Not suddenly or instantaneously, but gradually, He began to set you free.

He began to lead you “by a straight way.” God delivers those in this condition by leading them in a straight way. They have been wandering circuitously, deviously; now they start going straight. That is the way described in the Scripture. It is a straight way, right through the middle of life.
God leads them until they find a city to dwell in, until they reach the place of excitement and security.

Isaiah 53:5-6
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me… Restore to me the joy of thy salvation, and sustain me with a willing spirit.”
Psalms 139:
I believe this Says “Make me fresh again. Please—Take care of yourself. Be fresh! YOU are an irreplaceable piece in God’s Kingdom work”.

Lord, thank You for hearing my cry for help. Thank You for Your steadfast love, which rescues me from my restless wandering and leads me in the straight way. Thank You for Your Gift of Peace.
Teach me and give me more of Your Peace for Your Glory and my Joy!  Amen!

Change your ways. If Jesus Christ is in you, you can do it.  That is his point. You cannot go on living like everybody else if Jesus Christ lives in you. Let’s take off our Masks.

“I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:13)

By the power of the indwelling Spirit, Christians can be truly free if they so choose to be…free from self, free from expectation, free from circumstances and free from Satan’s control.
* “…and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.”2 Corinthians 3:17

God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. Psalm 63:1-2;6.

How important it is to have your own personal revelation of God through His word speaking to you. Not just to rely on what someone else has told you or what you read in a book or even what you heard in church.
All that may be good, but it’s not sufficient. There must come a time *when you’ve seen God for yourself, *when you’ve come to know Him first-hand.
* When you’ve had such a revelation of God that nothing else can ever satisfy you but God Himself.

David had that kind of revelation. (Psalm 63).  He said, “I’ve seen You in the sanctuary. I’ve beheld Your power and Your glory and now I’m in a dry and thirsty land, but my soul longs for You more than it does for water. And even when I lie in bed at night my meditation is of You. You fill my heart and my mind, my imagination, my longing. All the day through I’m taken up with You, my God.”

There’s no other source of true satisfaction. My soul doesn’t find rest in any other way. I’ve seen You and known You in a way that I can never forget and that has determined the course of my life. It determines my attitudes, my actions, the things that I choose, and the way I walk, and so it needs to be in each one of our lives.

The purpose of the church(the Body) is to worship and witness. Some will go and some will send, but all are called to the work of spreading the gospel. This is not a suggestion; it is a command.
Matthew 28:19  Therefore GO and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them…… .
* Believers living in God’s will are all to be involved in missionary work.

If Christ tells me to do something or to be something, then there is no limit to my ability to do or be it, because He will provide the Power.
* But in myself, trying to do anything depending on my gifts, I will accomplish nothing of any value in God’s sight.
Now that is the mark of a true servant of Christ!
One of the ways you can test the false apostles of our day is to listen carefully to what they say about themselves. Look what’s behind the Mask.
* Do they claim anything is coming from them?
* Do they claim to be remarkable people of remarkable ability, or are they talking about the power coming from Christ?
That is the big difference.

*Have you ever wrestled with the events of life, feeling that God has deserted you?
*Have you been honest with God?
*God is the kind of Father who is willing to have those difficult conversations.
*God won’t always change things, but His purposes will be accomplished and peace will come if you trust.
*Trust Him this day with those things that are most difficult.
God will began to replace the pain and disappointment with an inner joy that only His grace can provide, once you Trust in Him to show you All he wants for your Life.
*Psalms 56:3 When I am afraid,
I trust in you.
*Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding.
*Lamentations 3:25 The Lord is good to those who trust in him, to the one who seeks him.

God is faithful  and his love never fails!

We are not responsible to change our negative feelings. Our responsibility is to put “in charge” the only Person who can change them, and that Person is God.
* “Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He will do it.”Psalm 37:5

If we are honest, we all know that there is sometimes a big difference in what we want people to think about us and what we really are. Behind the perpetual comedian may be a truly sad face and a painful heart. The boastful man may be hiding a serious lack of self confidence etc..
*It is often easy to see behind the masks of others. It is easy to label them “hypocrites” when you catch a glimpse of their lives without the mask.
*But I had to ask myself: what is under my Mask???

*” You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32)

Lord as I  pray, before you this Day I reach my hands to my face and grab the mask I am wearing. I take it off and stand before You–Jesus- exposed completely to You. Lord I say to You, deep from my heart, “Lord You are all I need; I can depend on You.”
Thank You Lord for removing my mask for Today’s joy and thank You- Jesus that You see behind my mask and love me anyway. Thank You Lord for the Hope which is something I need for tomorrow and for Your unconditional Love which is forever and for Faith which is within.
Thank you Lord that: ” I am able to do all things through the one who strengthens me”. Phil. 4:13.
Amen

Ease and pleasure fail to refine!!!

If you’ve confessed, repented and given the negative thoughts to God, but they don’t immediately disappear…don’t give up! The deeper the wound, the longer it takes your feelings to align with your choices. It’s a battle, and you will win if you persevere.
* “Submit yourselves, therefore, to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” James 4:7

If you want the peace of God to reign in your life, you have to quit several
things:
* You must quit trying to figure out HOW God will work everything out.
* You must quit worrying and fretting: “Be anxious for nothing…”
(Philippians 4:6).
* You must quit telling God what you think is right for you.
* And most of all, you must quit thinking you are a failure; STOP thinking you do not please God!
**You are God’s Masterpiece!(Eph. 2:10)

One of Satan’s most effective traps for robbing Christians of peace is to
convince them they must strive in the flesh to please God.
*You feel at times as if you’re not doing much for God?” Yes! The devil comes in and makes us all feel UNWORTHY,
Unfulfilled.
And we lose our peace by giving in to these awful feelings!

* “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ.  For he himself is our peace,…”Eph. 2:13,14

Listen to Paul’s prayer for us: “Now may the God of hope fill you with all
joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13).

*Trust in His goodness. Believe in His love and mercy. Do not accuse Him of
being angry or upset with you or of not speaking to you.
* Let His peace rule in your heart and over your whole life!

Just think here a minute:
The weight of the glass of water is always the same. But the longer you hold it up, the heavier it gets.
*That’s the way it works in our life too. *Things are bound to happen that will weigh heavy on your heart.
** But the longer you “hold them in,” the heavier the burden gets.

God insists there must be “dry ground” on our way through the Red Sea. He
told Israel, “[You] shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea”
(Exodus 14:16).

Simply put, Dry Ground is a Path. And if you are on it, then you are going
somewhere.
You are not losing ground or going backward; your dry ground is the
Lord’s plan, His work in your life, His miracles to perform.
You are Moving Forward toward a revelation, a new victory in Christ, toward something greater.

*God is telling us, in essence: “I want you to learn to Move Forward in your faith—not according to a vision or a voice(which is great also), but when you are in the midst of a dry spell.
I want you to be confident that when you cannot hear My voice or see
ahead—when you are on dry ground—I am leading you somewhere.”

The Lord promises that He will turn our dry ground into springs of fresh water:
**“When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongues fail for thirst, I, the Lord, will hear them. . . . I will open rivers in desolate places, and fountains in the midst of the valleys; I will make the wilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water” (Isaiah 41:17-18).

*What an incredible promise of hope for someone in distress. Our God is the God of the impossible and our hope is His promise of His presence and provision. Hang on!!
*God delights in doing the unexpected, answering prayers in ways least looked for. Watch for his rivers of blessing in the desert wastelands – that may be where they are most likely to spring up!

In God’s economy, abundance is often measured in wisdom and knowledge of Himself. It is then that we are truly blessed.
Wisdom cannot be gained through intellectual pursuits. Wisdom comes only through experience.
Real wisdom comes from the kinds of experiences that come only through the deepest valley tests.
*The valley brings much fruit into our lives so that we might plant seeds into the lives of others. God does not waste valley experiences. If we are faithful in the valley, we will enter a new dimension with God that we never thought possible. There is a harvest of wisdom and virtue that can only be grown in the valley.

Has God brought you into the valley? Know that the valley is a place of fruitfulness; it is a place of testing. It is where God brings what you know in your head into your heart. The only value of knowledge is when it becomes part of your heart. Look for God in the valley today.

It would seem strange that a loving God would use such means with His children.
What we often fail to realize is that God’s measuring stick is the character and likeness of Jesus Christ Himself in each of us.
This cannot be gained through a life of ease and pleasure.

Ease and pleasure fail to refine!!!

Take heart if this is the place you find yourself, and realize that if you are faithful through the tests and valleys, you will enter a place of abundance that few will ever attain.
The darkest hour is just before daybreak.
**”We went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance”   Psalm 66:12b

Lord, Jesus Knowing Our Identity in Christ is such a gift of Peace. Thank You that: We Are Blessed, We Are Chosen, We Are Adopted, We Are Accepted, We Are Redeemed, We Are Forgiven, We Are Sealed With The Holy Spirit, We Are Seated Together With Christ.   Jesus thank you for tearing down the walls that divide us! May we walk more and more in the way of Unity and may we live to create Peace.  Lord forgive us that A dividing wall of hostility is sometimes our own giftedness which Becomes the cause of division. And more times then not– the problem with the wall is me.  Help us to speak Blessings and Peace to all with You- Jesus being at the Center of it all to give You All the Glory and Praise!

Lord, too this day I ask for a special pouring out of Your Blessings on Rosalyn and Justin on their wedding day. Give Them, their parents and other family and friends a special Peace as Rosalyn and Justin become One Flesh.  Lord, fill me with Your Spirit that Your words of Truth of Encouragement flow from my mouth to lift others up also during the ceremony. May there be lives touched for your Glory.  Give them the Freedom to Love as YOU have loved them.  In Jesus Name, Amen.

What’s the most extraordinary moment in the history of mankind?

We are not to dwell on the negative thoughts that come into our minds, nor be paralyzed by them. We must allow God to reveal the root causes of these thoughts, and then prayerfully ask Him to remove them.
*  “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me and know my anxious thoughts; and see if there be any hurtful way in me, and lead me in the everlasting way.” Psalm 139:23-24
*Thank you for David’s honest heart Jesus. He set the tone for brutal honesty when we need it most. When I am struggling, reach to me and wait on my honest heart to come through when it counts.

The Wonderful Cross!
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

The verse above is one of the MOST Powerful verses in the Bible. It describes the most extraordinary moment in the history of mankind.

When Jesus died on the cross, a magnificent exchange took place.
**Jesus, who was sinless, pure, and blameless, literally took upon himself YOUR sin and mine… the sin of the world.
*As Jesus “Became Sin” for us, ALL the judgment of God that was intended for us fell upon JESUS!
Read Luke 22 and see the cost:
Verse 44 And being in anguish, he(Jesus) prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.
* Only Luke tells us that Jesus’ sweat resembled drops of blood. Jesus was in extreme agony, but He did not give up or give in. He went ahead with the mission for which He had come.

*Under the Grace and favour of God, there is no place for guilt, or shame, or regret, or unworthiness. ALL our sins, past presence and future have been forgiven and justified by the blood of Jesus. The Wonderful Cross!
*Guilt comes from what you feel may have failed to do.
*Shame comes from how you react to this.
***You may then either choose to condemn yourself and wallow in self pity, or you may chose to take it to Christ in prayer.

The cross of Jesus Christ was, and still is, the world’s MOST astounding picture of LOVE.
*It was the moment in history when Jesus took our sins upon himself and blotted out your transgression.
* And in that divine moment, God found the ONE worthy sacrifice to pay for ALL our sin, Jesus Christ.  The Wonderful Cross!

Let me ask you, have you recognized that sacrifice? No, Really recognized it?

Jesus took the death and the judgment that you deserved. And through Jesus sacrificial act on the Cross, the blood of Jesus Christ cleansed YOU from Every sin, Every stain, and Every shame.

Have you received Jesus’ tremendous gift of forgiveness and love? He’s waiting for you even now. Ask him to be Lord of your life right now. It’s a decision you’ll never regret.

If you feel angry, unworthy, like a failure, or are burdened with any disappointments or regrets, then you can confidently renounce these things NOW in Jesus name, and hand them over to him in prayer.

Stand up in your freedom and your liberty, because the grace of Jesus has set you free!
*2 Corinthians 5:18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:
*GRACE is God’s Riches at Christ’s expense-grace is the opposite of judgment.
*verse 20 We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God.
*Our purpose is to reconcile the world to Him, as His ambassadors, inviting them to be rejoined to their Redeemer, Jesus. Compel them to come.

Be done with all trauma of the past.  Today is a new day, and this is a day when you can Move Forward with a new lease on life.  By faith remove the stigma of condemnation and rise up in new hope and confidence that you are more than a conqueror.  Set your face like flint and allow nothing to detour you from your desired and sought-after goal.  I am your hope, your strength, and your very present help in times of trouble, says the Lord.

Romans 8:37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
*I will not be confined by my circumstances! The Wonderful Cross!

Lord, in case I don’t have the right remedy for my problem, let me add this prayer: ‘Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”  Father, how desperately I need to be led through the complexities of my life. Help me not to settle for simple yet wrong solutions but to be willing to let You work out Your own purposes knowing that You have taken all the factors into consideration.
In the name of JESUS, through the precious Blood of the Lamb; Father GOD: I thank You so much that we are more than conquerors through Christ JESUS. I ask that You increase our faith, in this LOVE walk called life….thank you for loving me so much, You- Jesus went to the Cross for US ALL that we may have the opportunity to Repent of our sins and have the Peace of Knowing we have Eternal Life with You. We can be FREE!  Yes- The Wonderful Cross!  In Jesus Name, Amen