Archives for August 2014

Aug. 21, 2014

MY FRIENDS, IS IT POSSIBLE TO KEEP OUR MINDS FOCUSED ON THE TRIUMPH, NOT THE TRIALS?

“It will be stormy today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.” My friends your sufferings and hardship should be all the signs you need today as prophecy unfolds.

But in spite of our trials, the road to Salvation is not open for debate, if you truly seek God’s presence and His kingdom, that is why it is a very narrow road and only a few will find it.

In addition, we tell ourselves Conditions are rough, tough and at times VICTORY seem unattainable because it requires carrying your own cross and becoming a disciple of Christ along with the trials of this life. “The Romans forced convicted criminals to carry their own crosses while facing ridicule along the way to death.”

And today, that ridicule along the way are the trials and tribulation of this life that God places in our life for our developmental process for our journey to the kingdom. As your friend and comrade in this war against the forces of evil. I will speak of maintaining our endurance through our trials and tribulation more than any other subject.

In addition, Beside the name of Jesus Christ, endurance becomes central to the foundation of our character for eternity more than anything else, because our trials, becomes a avenue into how Satan will keep our minds FOCUS AWAY FROM THE TRIUMPHS, ONTO THE TRIALS.

But true obedience my friends must have a PASSION from within that our Savior exhibited while He lived among us. “Faith can be maintained only by bringing the Christian religion to the test of practice, thus demonstrating its transforming power and the faithfulness of its promises (E. G. White Manuscript 42, 1901).

James writes: “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” James 1:1-4 (KJV)

Paul also says: “but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

You see, AT JUST THE RIGHT TIME, WHEN WE WERE STILL POWERLESS, CHRIST DIED FOR THE UNGODLY.” Rom. 5:3-6 (NIV) My friends, I need you to focus today, on the words, WHEN WE WERE STILL POWERLESS, CHRIST DIED FOR THE UNGODLY.

At times we do seem powerless, that is when our faith is stretched to the limit and we feel like given up, but we must look to the TRIUMPH OF THE CROSS and what was done for us at Calvary just so we would continue this journey in spite of the rough terrain.

Friends Look around you today, does the god of this word present you with any hope. As the father of deception and lies, he steals the words of our Savior to entice us to follow him as he tells us “I am the way the truth and the life” but remember,

“When he speaks a falsehood, he speaks what is natural to him, for he is a liar and the father of lies and of all that is false.” So what he is really saying to you is, follow me, for I am the way to death and perdition. So as we fall and stumble along the way of this rough and turbulent road on this journey Christ has set before us, remember my friends just cross that finish line with torch in hand.

We must never forget that the torch we carry, represents the character of Christ that we obtained along the way too the promise land. So LET’S KEEP OUR MINDS FOCUSED ON THE TRIUMPH NOT THE TRIALS. For “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever.” Isaiah 40:8 (NIV) and His word tells us “HE THAT SHALL ENDURE UNTO THE END, THE SAME SHALL BE SAVED” Matt. 23:13 (KJV)

So my friends today. Stay focused, remain faithful, love one another and endure till the end and never forget to STUDY&PRAY

Aug. 20, 2014

MY FRIENDS, “WHAT IF THE TRIALS OF THIS LIFE ARE GOD’S MERCIES IN DISGUISE”

“We pray for blessings, we pray for peace Comfort for family, protection while we sleep We pray for healing, for prosperity We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering And all the while, You hear each spoken need Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things What if your blessings come through rain drops What if Your healing comes through tears What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know [our God is] near, WHAT IF TRIALS OF THIS LIFE ARE YOUR MERCIES IN DISGUISE” (Laura Story Blessings)

My friends through our daily petitions to God, as one of His Children we should be so familiar with God, because of His presence in our life that His mind, character, and Spirit are who we are, but we still must have the humility of a child who still needs guidance and that is why we must “pray without ceasing “

As God’s faithful, as the trials of our life occur each day, we will still rejoice at the thought of this Journey God has determined to place each of us on, because today we can say the best is yet to come in spite of what we encounter from day to day in this relentless battle Satan and His forces are waging in his vicious and maddening pursuit for each of God’s’s faithful.

But as a child of the King we will now settle for nothing less than God’s best for our life and our family, friends and the Church that we whole so dear to our heart that we are a part of. It’s time we all say I am ready today to put off the old man or woman and put on the complete righteousness of God.

In addition, we know God loves us more then ever. So my friends give it all to the Master. Not tomorrow, but at this very moment put on the whole amour of God. We cannot let Satan intimidate, or discourage us any longer because we are a child of the King.

Consistent with this, our faith tells us we have been chosen “for such a time as this”. Oh WHAT A HONOR TO HAVE BEEN CHOSEN, SO WE MUST NOW STAND FIRM, STAY FOCUSED AND ENDURE, because, if you have decided to serve God and make a total commitment to Him, we are no longer lost sheep, but we are now vessels of God, set apart, as the term the bible uses “A FEW” for “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers ARE FEW.”

Just think how great it is living in the 21st century and being a part of ”A FEW” FOR GOD, one of His faithful to finish up His work. It is now more clearer than ever before why Satan is so determine that we fall in some area of our life. Weather it is appetite, marriage, work, gossip, dishonesty, adultery, covertness, other gods, entertainment, and the list goes on.

I now know the god of this world will never stop or take one prisoner, so I now challenge Satan and his forces, as I lay prostrate before my God today, as I humble myself, and say with no reservations the good work you started in me you can now “carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

Today we must honor our commission that God has set for us. We must not let Satan victimized us anymore. we now know more then ever that we are God’s children. Because OF THE TRIALS OF OUR LIFE.

We cannot let Satan intimidate, or discourage us any longer and whatever happens it is because our God have placed us on the he or she are my Children list and they are now being tried and as I witness their faith, that tells Me they will endure as my chosen “for such A time as this.”

Oh WHAT A HONOR TO HAVE BEEN CHOSEN, SO WE MUST NOW STAND FIRM, STAY FOCUSED AND ENDURE!! AS WE REMEMBER, THE TRIALS OF THIS LIFE ARE GOD’S MERCIES IN DISGUISE, THAT TELLS THE WORLD WE ARE HIS.

So my friends today. Stay focused, remain faithful, love one another and endure till the end and never forget to STUDY&PRAY

Aug. 19, 2014

MY FRIENDS, GOD CALLS US TO SOMETHING, GREAT, BREATHTAKING AND AWE-INSPIRING!!!

Abraham Lincoln, had the great misfortune of being at the forefront of our nation, during it’s most troubled times. The united States divided, sounds familiar. The North and South waged a unrelenting war on each other that claimed the lives of many. Lincoln felt the weight of it all, as it took its tool. Each day, he mourned the deaths of many. While spending hours visiting the wounded.

Then, his own son died, the President was literally brought to his knees. In midweek, Lincoln  found refuge at a church in Washington D.C. Along with an aide. Trying not to interrupt he sat off to the side. The minister opened the Scriptures and taught from God’s Word, when the preacher finished, the president stood quietly as his aide asked, “What did you think of the sermon, Mr. President?”

“He said, “I thought, the sermon was carefully thought through, and eloquently delivered.” “but he failed because he did not ask of us, something “GREAT AND AWE-INSPIRING.” My friends, even In the midst of Lincoln’s turmoil and strife, he understood that when you listen to God you should expect the Lord to call you to something GREAT, BREATHTAKING AND AWE-INSPIRING. God’s mandate to us is never effortless or unpassionate.

The picture that should be forever burned into our conscious is a God with an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, an Omnipotent God who has unlimited power and is willing to share that same power with His Children, “For he spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood fast. The Lord bringeth the counsel of the heathen to nought: he maketh the devices of the people of none effect. The counsel of the Lord standeth forever, the thoughts of his heart to all generations. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance.” Ps. 22:8-12 (ESV)

There is no other like Him. His mandate to His chosen is forever GREAT, BREATHTAKING AND AWE-INSPIRING. “He is exalted over all the nations. Let them praise your great and AWESOME NAME he is holy.” As we go to 1 Samuel 17 Eliab, David’s older brother is scolding David because he is inquiring about the uncircumcised Philistine Goliath, who is defying the armies of the living God?” David tells Eliab, “What have I done now? Is there not a cause?”

“Then he turned from him toward another and said the same thing.” David knew the power of His God even though no one else on that battle field did. He knew His God would do something GREAT BREATHTAKING AND AWE-INSPIRING. And God did, through the boy David, a sling shot, and one smooth stone. God also ask us today to do SOMETHING GREAT, BREATHTAKING AND AWE-INSPIRING, God asks us for a COMMITMENT.

He asks us to stand up and pledge our loyalty to Him and ENDURE. “Exodus 19:5-6 (NKJV) says “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” So my friends today God has challenged us. He is asking us to FOCUS, AND KEEP HEAVEN ON OUR MIND.

The power is ours for the asking if we believe, so He knocks, He waits, His Spirit waits. My friends today “I bend beneath the weight of His will and mercy,” yesterday, coming from Virginia I totaled my car, my rib feels broken, because I have felt the wrath of a cracked rib before but I will be alright God is good. Driving to fast in the rain my fault, not the rain. To late to rent a car small town. So I was going to stay in emergengy waiting room untill car rental open in Morning. Like I said small town, very nice people and God is good, they let me stay in a patient room.

God never ceases to amaze me. The only reason I have noted this incident. I was given some LarTab’s for pain but wouldn’t  take them, because I needed to get God’s devotional out this morning, because if God can use me each day to help only one, I have to say THAT IS SOMETHING GREAT, BREATHTAKING AND AWE-INSPIRING.

So my friends today. Stay focused, remain faithful, love one another and endure till the end and never forget to STUDY&PRAY

Aug. 18, 2014

MY FRIENDS, “TRUST AND OBEY FOR THERE IS NO OTHER WAY!!!”

My friends, Let’s focus on three simple words today TRUST AND OBEY. For the most important thing in these turbulent times we live in today in regards to our Salvation, is in TRUSTING a God that loves us beyond what our finite understanding of the word trust may be and OBEYING all of His precepts found in His Word. There can never be a time where we doubt or TRUST in God and what He is willing to do for His Children.

In addition God will supply all of our needs, He even supplies our wants which is secondary in God’s sight because our wants usually have nothing to do with our Salvation. God’s passion is to save us for His kingdom and our passion should be to want to be saved and if we have allowed God’s Spirit to transform our life into a Character like Christ, then all of our needs and wants will be the same as God’s.

In addition, it then becomes all about given God the PRAISE, GLORY, AND HONOR. God also wants us to understand that He is our only legitimate source of Help. Paul tells us “to this end we toil and strive, because we have our hope set on the living God, who is the Savior of all people, especially of those who believe. 1 Tim 4:10 (KJV) So my friends today ask God to supply your needs in whatever way He fills fit to accomplish what He has started in our life.

Philippians 1:6 (KJV) tells us “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” So continued to make you petitions to the Lord as you do His will, while searching the scriptures for his promises as we hold on to our faith and endure until this race is over and you cross over into the promise land.

But in the meantime let’s prepare our Character for what God’s answer to our petitions and what the outcome may be, so ask yourself, How will that Job, house, car, big screen TV, or marriage, honor God and give us Eternal life at the same time. As a Child of God we must continue to focus “in [all] situations and [to] be content. [In addition, we must] know how to be brought low, and [we must] know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, [we must also] learn the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. [Because we] can do all things through him who strengthens [us].”Philippians 4:11-13 (ESV)

And some days we may not here his voice or receive a answer to our request for “In the day of my trouble I sought the Lord; In the night my hand was stretched out without weariness; My soul refused to be comforted” Ps. 77:1-2. But What are our options in a “trying season of waiting”? Remember my friends God has wrote, while at the same time He leads, us through every Chapter of our life.

As we move closer to the end of this life history and Christ soon return, the last chapter is being written. And if we seek God’s presence daily, we know how our story ends, because it all comes down too our love for others and our relationship with God. So today we must ask ourselves do I serve God and others, or do I serve self and the god of this world and whatever honest answer we come up with, tells us how our story will end.

Remember my friends, God has given us His only begotten Son and His Son has Died and has risen for our Salvation. Consistent with this, He now mediates and advocates on our behalf to the Father. So we must TRUST Him to continue to do what seems impossible to us, for our Salvation. But even though “dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.”  One day soon those thousand years and that one day will end and God will say to His Son,  Go get my Faithful Children who OBEYED MY WILL AND PUT ALL OF THEIR TRUST IN THE SAVING POWER OF THE CROSS.

So my friends today. Stay focused, remain faithful, love one another and endure till the end and never forget to STUDY&PRAY

Aug. 17, 2014

MY FRIENDS, IS THERE EVER A TIME WE CAN SAY, NO MORE, NO MORE?

Many celebrities have died or took their own lives, or been killed in my lifetime. But none affected me or caused me to think about God’s Children’s vulnerability as we continue this journey He has placed each of us on to the promise land. Robin Williams and myself, are the same age, our birthdays are four days apart. His career on TV started about 1978 on the show Mork and Mindy.

I have watched, one or two of his movies, but whatever venue he was performing on TV I would stop and listen, knowing I would be entertainment at that moment because he seemed like he always gave you 110% as he had the unique ability to “go from manic to mad to tender and vulnerable, which allowed everyone to smile and forget our own problems.

I guess you can say he always made you feel like he was one of us the average man or woman who tries desperately from day to day to keep our head above water. So my friends let’s focus today on what point do we get to, where we go from I’m moving towards the point in my life that I am somewhat comfortable with, to a point of “one who has no hope”

And where does the bar have to be set for a Child of God to allow the god of this world to take us to the very edge of sanity, and then to insanity, where we SAY TO OUR-SELF, NO MORE, NO MORE? And then the coroner report reads “clothed, in a seated position “with a belt secured around his neck, with the other end of the belt wedged between the clothes closet door and the door frame, with his right shoulder area touching the door, with body perpendicular to the door and slightly suspended.”

Reports also have Mr. Williams being diagnosed with early signs of Parkinson disease, plus he was forever battling depression and of course, his battles never ceased with alcoholism. Once again my friends what point do we as a Child of God get to where we SAY TO OUR-SELF NO MORE, NO MORE? Or when do we “discover, the secret, after climbing a great hill, [we] only [find out] that there are many more hills to climb.”

And as we take a moment to rest, we become complacent and want to stay right where we are and not move another step and it is at that time when the journey just doesn’t seem worth it and we give up. But my friends as we look above and ask our God “Are You telling me to go? Are You telling me to stay? Are You telling me to hold on to You for another day? ‘

Cause I got nothing left Yeah I’m hanging by a thread I give You all my weakness, You give me Your strength ‘Cause I’m here again, Here at my end Where You begin. (Mandisa – Where You Begin) Yes God pleads with us, don’t give up and let Go, for Eternity and My kingdom is worth it. In addition, remember as “you draw near the battle against [the god of this world]:”

“let not your heart faint. Do not fear or panic or be in dread of [the forces of evil], for the Lord your God is He who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.” Deuteronomy 20:3-4 (KJV) My friends we are at the threshold of the “Promise Land” we can never  SAY, NO MORE, NO MORE. In addition, as His chosen we are stationed at God’s COMMAND AND CONTROL CENTER.

This is where our God has place His chosen, throughout the world, where we will exercise His authority and direction, as He assigns  His faithful the resources to accomplish His will on “ÖNE ACCORD” and with one objective and that is to spread the good news of the gospel “as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” My friends that is the only way to end this battle, there is no short cuts to eternity for “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12 (NIV)

So my friends today. Stay focused, remain faithful, love one another and endure till the end and never forget to STUDY&PRAY

Aug. 16, 2013

MY FRIENDS, IF WE BELIEVE, WE CAN BECOME CONQUERORS, THROUGH CHRIST!!

We are “CONQUERORS, THROUGH CHRIST.” Paul says it best in Romans 8:35-37 (NKJV) “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.”

The truth is that the strength to endure every painful trial lay’s in our total dependence on Christ. If your eyes were opened to view the spiritual battle that is raging, each day for your soul you would see the army of the living God totally surrounding and protecting His faithful children. He also places in each of our hands weapons far greater than the forces of evil.

In addition, God’s weapons of mass destruction was created only for His faithful. Starting with the belt of truth buckled around [our] waist, [along with] the breastplate of righteousness, and [on our feet to guide and nurture His Children in the love and admonition of the Lord, is] the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace.

In addition to all this, we] will be equipped with] the shield of faith, with which [we] can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one, [also, place upon [our] head is] the helmet of salvation and [in our hand] the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. [but we must forever pray and study]in the Spirit on all occasions, [and] with all kinds of [supplications]… With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying [not just for yourself but] for all the Lord’s people.” Ephesians 6:10-18 (NIV)

Consistent with this, our God has the weapon that can never be destroyed and that is the weapon of the cross. Though you will still endure attacks from the enemy, your hope of victory is secure no matter what may happen if you are faithful and endure, simply because Jesus died so you would gain through him, VICTORY, VICTORY, VICTORY.

Remember my friends it is God who wakes you up each day, that means He not only wakes us up but he has also provided us with an agenda that has nothing to do with us and what we may want, for to His faithful, His wants becomes our wants and his needs, our needs so that no temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.

But when [we] are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that [we] can ENDURE IT.”1 Corinthians 10:13 (NIV) The key my friends is to FOCUS AND ENDURE. The god of this world keeps us so involved with all of the day to day problems of this sinful world, we can’t see over the storm, to a place called Calvary, where lies our only hope, which is in Jesus Christ our Savior and His Spirit.

God truly is a on time God. Remember,  He who created the world has already created a solution for whatever problems may arise in our life, so God’s challenge to us is to“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of [the enemy], for the LORD [our] God goes with [us]; he will never leave [us] nor forsake [us].” Deuteronomy 31:6 (NIV)

Paul also tells us “Since all have sinned and are falling short of the honor and glory which God bestows and receives. [All] are justified and made upright and in right standing with God, freely and gratuitously by His grace (His unmerited favor and mercy), through the redemption which is [provided] in Christ Jesus,” Romans 3:23-25 (AMP)

My friends, those text tells His Chosen, what God will do, and has done to save us, even to the point of dying on a cross. So right now Let’s just reciprocate the love God has shown for us, as we give Him from the bottom of our heart all the honor praise and glory that our God and our God only deserves.

So my friends today. Stay focused, remain faithful, love one another and endure till the end and never forget to STUDY&PRAY

Aug. 14, 2014

MY FRIENDS IS THIS THE LAST INVITATION?

My friends let’s focus on Matt 22 today “when Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come……….“Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come.

So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find. So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes… He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend?’

The man was speechless. “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness….. FOR MANY ARE INVITED, BUT FEW ARE CHOSEN.“  My friends it’s only a wedding what is the big deal? we should be able to just go home and change, and even if we miss this wedding there will be OTHER INVITATIONS. Or will there be?

Oh what faith, and the Sacrifice of Calvary that was made so that everyone who accepted THE INVITATION could be there. But there will be some clothed in the dress of the world. It will show that they spent no time in knowing, or making the preparation required by the king to be there. For in Matt. 7:21(NKJV) it tells me “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

In addition, the saddest words we will ever here will be “How did you get in here without wedding clothes” And what could possibly be one’s answer when the King gave everyone who was invited His own robe of righteousness, His only Begotten son. The only thing that was required was to accept the KING’S INVITATION and the free gift of His garment.

So in not accepting we have condemned ourselves. And then the king said, “Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness.” So yes my friends this will be the LAST INVITATION so we must get the required attire right the first time. The Marriage represents the unification of Jesus Christ incarnate as the son of God and humanity.

The wedding garment represents the transformation of our character to be like that of God’s only Begotten Son Jesus Christ. And to everyone who got it right one day soon we will be part of that “great number” who will witness “Jesus [as He] raises “His mighty, glorious arm, [and] lays hold of the pearly gate, swings it back on its glittering hinges and says to us, “You have washed your robes in my blood, stood stiffly for My truth, enter in.

” We all march in and fill that we have a perfect right in the city…….We try to call up our greatest trials, but they looked so small compared with the far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory that surrounds us that we cannot speak them out, and we all cry out, “Alleluia, heaven is cheap enough!” we then touched our glorious harps and make heaven’s arches ring….

There we saw most glorious houses, most glorious to behold….…. Soon we heard Christ lovely voice, saying, “Come, my people, you have come out of great tribulation, and done My will; suffered for Me; come in to supper, for I will gird Myself, and serve you.” We shout, “Alleluia! Glory and honor to the King of King and Lord of Lord’s” (From the writings of E.G. White)

My friends, THE LAST INVITATION HAS BEEN SENT OUT and God’s Kingdom is where the final banquet of the redeemed will take place. The decision is yours, so are you willing to do whatever it takes to be there for my God will come soon, and His reward is with Him, “to give every man or woman according as his work shall be.” Rev. 22:12

So my friends today. Stay focused, remain faithful, love one another and endure till the end and never forget to STUDY&PRAY

Aug. 13,2014

WHY US LORD?

looking over our lives there has been a radical change that has taken place if you are a Child of God, and it is by the grace of God that we came out of it with eyes wide open. And with most of us having no physical signs that we had been in a war zone. And as we look back over our life, there have been so many lives lost of those we have loved or been acquainted with.

And I wonder today why did God give us that Damascus Road experience as we set out on this journey He placed us on. As I focus on my past and future, maybe our God just saw in us a star that would shine anywhere, or at anytime that He wanted us to. Paul, had been a Pharisee. He considered himself the most zealous, rigorous and careful of all Pharisees, but God choose and used Paul because He knew Paul was capable of remaining a faithful servant that would ENDURE no matter what situation or circumstances he might find himself in, even if that meant his life ending at the guillotine.

Paul tells us in Phil. 1:21 (NKJV) For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.“ Acts 9:15 tells us that The Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. When you read Paul’s letters, you realize God knew, because He is a Omniscience God all knowing.

Consistent with this, He knew that Paul could be all things to all people. Paul says in Phil. 3:7-8 (NKJV) But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ.”

My friends can God say the same about us? They are my chosen instruments they will proclaim My name to the world and endure through their faith in Me to the end.  Psalm 139:1-24 -41 (KJV) tells us “O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways.

Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.” But “Like a grapevine branch, we are not always producing fruit in our life. That would be unnatural, for a significant portion of a grapevine’s life is nothing but a dry, twisted stick, and fruitless with no benefit to anyone.

It is even useless for shade, worthless as timber, to all appearances it is only fit to be ripped from the ground, thrown in a heap and burned.” “Yet those barren times are as vital in the life of the vine, as the season itself”. “If spring could tip-toe passed nature without stirring it from its winter slumber; if the sun could slip through the sky without dispelling the night; if rain could fall to the ground without bringing life to the desert, only then should you fear the dry and lean times, but because of God’s grace, for everything there is a season.”(Grantley Morris)

Paul tell’s us in Ephesians 2:4-9 “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ by grace you have been saved, and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

Remember the forces of evil looks back over our life and accuses each of God’s chosen of all of our mistakes and tells us we have gone to far to be saved. But my Savior starts at  Calvary, and takes us through the trials and tribulation of this life, and places us in His loving wings, and guides and protects each of us daily. All the way to his soon appearing where He has prepared A banquet table for all of the redeemed.

So my friends today. Stay focused, remain faithful, love one another and endure till the end and never forget to STUDY&PRAY

Aug 12, 2014

MY FRIENDS, TIME, TIME AND MORE TIME!!!

Friends! Our Day has started, if not, it will start soon. We usually awake with this thought in the back of our minds. I wish I had more time, I’ve got so much to do today! Instead of, how do I regulate my time today that will give God all the praise, glory, and honor, how can I make today all about Him.

Whether at work, school, gym, even at the mall, no matter what occurs in my life today it will be all about God. What a wonderful scenario, one that God seeks from His Children and the way our time should be spent each day. “Life is too solemn to be absorbed in temporal and earthly matters, in a treadmill of care and anxiety for the things that are but an atom in comparison with the things of eternal interest.

Yet God has called us to serve Him in the temporal affairs of life. Diligence in this work is as much a part of true religion as is devotion. The Bible gives no indorsement to idleness. It is the greatest curse that afflicts our world. Time squandered can never be recovered.” (Ellen G. White Christ’s Object Lessons)

As a steward of God’s time, when Jesus lived on this earth He never created such a hectic schedule that it caused Him to lose sight of His goal. He never had a moment of remorse for time lost, because He was forever doing His Father’s will. In addition, He was never so absorbed by productivity that He forgot His mission as he approached Calvary.

My friends what is our passion today, if it is not serving God and as His Chosen what could be more important. Once we recognize that simple “life maintenance” can chip away at our time in such huge blocks, we will see how vital it is that we don’t busy ourselves “in vain” Surely every man walks about like a shadow; Surely they busy themselves in vain; He heaps up riches, And does not know who will gather them.” Ps 39:6 (NKJV)

Psalm 39 gives us some perspective in David’s complaint to God, he said, “You have made my days as handbreadths, and my age is as nothing before You” Ps. 39:5 So my friends to an eternal God our time on earth is brief, and God doesn’t want us to waste it because time wasted is the most precious commodities God has give us.

Wealth can’t even come in at a distant second, in least it is used for God’s glory and honor. Each minute is an irretrievable and unredeemable slice of eternity and what our God is trying to prepare us for in the earth made new. There is nothing in us, or of ourselves by which we can influence others for good if we do not realize our helplessness and our need of God’s Holy Spirit to guide us in how we spend our time.

We know not what each day, hour, or a moment will determine, that is why it should be committed to our Lord and Savior. My friends I not only speak to you through my devotionals each day, but also to myself for I, like you “have been sinful since birth,” “….For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature.

For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do this I keep on doing…..” Rom 7:14-25 (NIV) Like Paul this is every child of God’s Dilemma, but “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.

Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. [even his time because we]  do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my [mind and] body, and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

So my friends today. Stay focused, remain faithful, love one another and endure till the end and never forget to STUDY&PRAY