Nov. 6, 2015

MY FRIENDS, PART OF THE GOSPEL HAS TO BE OUR STORY!!

“But those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint” Is. 40:31 (NKJV) My friends, the eagle does not escape the storm. It simply uses the storm to lift it higher.

It rises on the winds that bring the storm. The same with a child of God, our faith rest on the promises of God that says, “He will never leave us, nor forsake us.” Our faith eliminates all doubt because we have risen above the storm.

We look back, we know this is just a part of our story that Christ has built around this journey He has placed us on, that is why Christ has chosen us, we have become a part of His good news.

The gospel is now within us because we have lived it, it becomes our story. We can tell the world we did not escape the storm, we just rose above it. Satan had a plan, he made us an offer that at times we could not refuse.

He told us “I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” Is. 14:14 (NIV) But our Savior told Satan; there is only one Most High, and He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.

In addition, “I have prayed for my children, and their faith will not fail; and when they have returned to Me, they will strengthen their brethren.” Luke 2:31-32 (NKJV Paraphrased) and my friends that becomes our story, that becomes our gospel, that becomes our praise.

And when we are on the front lines of the battle field we will “strengthen our brethren” with the good news that “Jesus saves.” Christ has told us, “and it shall come to pass in the last days, I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams.

And on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days; And they shall prophesy.” Acts 2:7-8 (NKJV) My friends, no one is left out in God’s plan, if we have decided to be “heirs to God’s kingdom and joint heirs with His Son Jesus Christ,” that becomes our gospel, that becomes our story, and that becomes our praise.

In addition, our God is not finished with us, He “will complete what He has started,” Phil 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 my friends Today, we just have to accept God’s plan, there can be no last minute adjustments, He needs our undivided attention, the chaos cannot effect our judgement, we must daily rest in his presence above the storm, as we seek His Spirit with a passion.

Remember, the story of our life is still being played out, but now it is all about God’s needs. Soon we will hear the midnight cry, “soon Gabriel will sound the call. Look around you friends, prophecies are being fulfilled and the signs of the times they are appearing everywhere.

We can almost hear the Father as He says, Son go get My children” who have come out of Babylon and have “come out of great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” Rev. 7:14 (ESV) And now they are “safe to save”

My Friends, where there is no vision, the people perish…..Proverbs 29:18 (KJV)

MY FRIENDS, THE PRAYERS OF THE RIGHTEOUS AVAILETH MUCH, IF WE BELIEVE!!

“……The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit. James 5:16-18 (NKJV)

My friends, oh the Power of prayer I can only imagine when we lay prostrate and our prayers are fervent and heartfelt it reaches the throne room by way of our Comforter, where our Savior is already interceding on our behalf.

He here’s the cries of His child like a mother who is alerted to the cries of there precious child in an unfamiliar world who is seeking the familiar warmth of a mothers touch that for nine months established a bond of love that only a mother could feel for a child and a child for a mother.

Let’s imagine Christ folds his priestly robe neatly in place as he did before he left His tomb after redeeming man at the cross. But at this moment His focus is on the cries of His child who seeks His help through prayer.  My friends it’s personal, we must feel the presence of God as one of His Children.

Elijah a man like you and I who knew the power of prayer and understood our heavenly father’s love for him in all of His petitions, let’s try and relate our prayer life to his and see why at times we can’t get the same results.

Let’s start at the foundation of what James is trying to tell us. The first part of the verse says “The effective (producing the intended or expected result), fervent (showing great warmth or intensity of spirit) prayer of a righteous man (virtuous or godly man or woman) avails (effective use in the achievement of a goal) much”

Once these attributes are put into place then the power that can and will only come from God and His Spirit begins to work on our behalf because now what we have prayed for is all about given God all the glory and honor, self is dead, we now live through Christ.

“God is a Spirit; and they that worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth.” We must have a deep, earnest sense of our needs. We must feel our weakness and our dependence upon God, and come to Him with contrition of soul and brokenness of heart.

Faith takes God at His word, with or without feeling. It “is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. When we have offered our petition once, we must not then abandon it, but say, as did Jacob when he wrestled all night with the angel, “I will not let Thee go, except Thou bless me,” and like him we shall prevail.” (E.G. White The Bible Echo, September 24, 1894.)

My friends through our partitions to God, every situation and circumstances even the unseen that only God sees are put into harmony with the life of Christ as we move out onto the front lines of the battle field. But we are safe now we have now exchanged our problems with Christ as we take up our cross and serve.

Problem accomplished through our faith. Our Savior now unfolds His priestly robe and puts it back on as He continues to intercede on our behalf. My friends “whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you (will) receive them, and you will have them. Mark 11:24 (NKJV)

My Friends, where there is no vision, the people perish…..Proverbs 29:18 (KJV)

Nov. 4, 2015

MY FRIENDS, WE MUST FIRST BE TRIED, ARE WE WILLING?

We are ambassadors that represent God’s kingdom. But we must also realize, Satan has chosen us to represent him here on earth. James tells us “But each one is tempted when by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed.

Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” James 1:14-15 (KJV) But we must remove every “weight of sin that so easily ensnares us“ Paul tells us, “whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters” Col 3:23 (KJV).

The stakes are high my friends, but if we give it all to the Master our reward is eternal life in God’s kingdom and never again will anything “impure enter Gods kingdom, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.” Rev. 21:26-27 (NIV)

But there must be a refining process like gold that makes our character’s “safe to save” as we carry our Cross which purifies us for God’s Pure and holy kingdom. In addition, “the trials of this life that Christ allows on this Journey to the promise land, test our faith and produces a pure product.

And such faith is worth more than gold. Gold can be proved to be pure by fire, but gold will ruin. When our faith is proven to be pure, the result will be praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ comes. We have not seen Christ, but still we love him.

We can’t see him now, but we believe in him. We are filled with a wonderful and heavenly joy that cannot be explained. Our faith has a destination, and we must have a passion from within at reaching that destination. Which is salvation and life eternal.” 1 Peter 1:7-9 (Paraphrased)

Is.1:25 (KJV) tells us, Christ will “thoroughly purge away our dross, and take away all of our alloy or impurities.” But our life must be centered around Christ needs, and we must be willing to give our all for His glory and honor. My friends, a road-map is before us which is God’s word.

Consistent with this, the more we Study and ask God’s Spirit to guide us in all “truth and understanding,” the more we begin to realize there is no short cuts to the kingdom “for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12 (KJV)

Each of us have been placed where we are today because we are “heirs to God’s kingdom and joint heirs with His Son, Jesus Christ. And we are also willing to be tried in the fire, and once tried, “The Spirit of the Lord will be upon us and He will anoint us to take the good news of the gospel out on the front lines of the battle field!!

And He will anoint us to make extraordinary things happen in the name of Jesus Christ!! He will anoint us to take a shared vision that tells the world, “oh what a friend you have in Jesus,” if you will only accept Him as your personal Savior!!

In addition, “He will send each of His chosen to heal the brokenhearted and to proclaim liberty to the captives and to the oppressed that Satan has bound up for perdition!! My friends we have been anointed to “proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord,” if we will accept. And each day God’s Word and Spirit must be our benchmark, with heaven our destination.

My Friends, where there is no vision, the people perish…..Proverbs 29:18 (KJV)

Nov. 1, 2015

MY FRIENDS, THE INVITATION HAS GONE OUT WILL YOU RESPONSE?

What is God’s overall plan for the redeemed? John tells us in Rev. 21:1 (NIV) Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away.”

My friends, the invitation has gone out. Restoration, paradise incarnate, and a new creation beyond our finite imagination all restored for the redeemed. 2 Peter 3:13 (KJV) tells us, “we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness.”

Remember the invitation was originally given on Calvary when Christ said “it is finished.” That let us know, God’s faithful were no longer bound by our sins, or this world that will one day pass away. And if we have Faith and believe in God’s promises, all that was lost in the original Eden will be restored to God’s faithful, one day soon.

But where I need you to focus today is not only the restoration of a “new heaven and a new earth,” for that is a given, but the restoration of our hearts before we can enjoy the fruits of it all.

My friends, we can no longer look at this world as an alternative to what our God has planned for us. We must stand still and recognize the voice of God. He knows what the future holds if we no longer seek with a passion to distinguish the Good Shepherd’s voice from the god of this world.

John 1:12-13 (KJV) tells us, “as many as received Him, to them He gave the authority to become children of God, to those who believe into His name, who were begotten…of God.” Christ main objective when He walked among us was not to bring physical restoration to the lost.

But a restorations that restores man and woman back before sin when Adam and Eve walked through the Garden of Eden with God. Imagine in the very presence of God daily. Remember, as children, we always knew our parents were not far from our presence.

They were an extension of who we were, and we were an extension of who they were, our lives existed around one another and one day we will have that same relationship with “our Father which art in heaven.”

“And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.” Rev. 22:5 (KJV) My friends, the “they who reigns” in that text are the redeemed whose “robes have been washed by the blood of the Lamb, our Savior.”

They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them. And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer; and while they are yet speaking, I will hear.

The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent’s meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord.” Is. 56:23-25

Remember, the invitation is still open, but we must RSVP at this very moment, not when it’s convenient. And if we have Faith, endure and believe in the promises of God, all that was lost will be restored one day soon. “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”

My Friends, where there is no vision, the people perish…..Proverbs 29:18 (KJV)

Oct. 30, 2015

MY FRIENDS IT’S PERSONAL, HE WANTS TO SAVE YOU AND I!!

My friends, it’s personal because it is all about each individual’s relationship with God. He is our friend if we will only believe what He is willing to do for His children if we will only “Keep our wants, our joys, our sorrows, our cares, and our fears before Him.

[We] cannot burden or weary Him. He who numbers the hairs of our head is not indifferent to the wants of His children. “The Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.” James 5:11 (KJV). His heart of love is touched by our sorrows, even our utterances of them…..……

Take to Him everything that perplexes the mind. [Remember] He rules over all the affairs of the universe……There is no chapter in our experience too dark for Him to read; there is no perplexity too difficult for Him to unravel…..

No sincere prayer escape the lips of which our heavenly Father is unobservant, or in which He takes no immediate interest…….The relations between God and each soul are as distinct and full as though there were not another soul upon the earth to share His watchcare, not another soul for whom He gave His beloved Son.” (E.G. White Steps To Christ p 100)

Consistent with this, God so loved the world, not as a group, but individually He gave His only begotten Son for you and I,” because His desire was that we receive life eternal through his Son if we would only believed. In addition, as God’s children He sees our character flaws.

He also sees our overall development into where he has been trying to take His chosen who are His heirs and joint heirs with His only Begotten Son. Just the thought of Him given us that opportunity should cause us to want to serve Him and give glory and honor to His name each day.

Even though we are being refined daily in the fires of affliction, He is only preparing us for the journey ahead. Today with our permission, He molds us into His image, He shapes our character into His likeness.

“And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.” Ez. 36:26 (ESV) as He prepares us to be a-part of that number John said no man could number.

But my friends, we must remember, everyone that will be in that number will all be on one accord, because all have been washed in the blood of Jesus Christ. So each of us personally must “press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Phil. 3:14 (ESV)

That is why today it becomes an individual decision that we ask ourselves, “what must I do to be saved? And how can My life be centered around God’s will and not my will? My friends these are the decision we must make but we must also remember like in the days of Noah “God’s spirit shall not strive with man forever.”

But today His grace still abounds, and we still have a right if we believe and endure “to the tree of life, and a chance to enter into the gates into that city.” that no “Eye has seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things God has prepared for those who love Him.” Rev. 22:14, 1 Cor. 2:9 (NKJV)

My Friends, where there is no vision, the people perish…..Proverbs 29:18 (KJV)

Oct. 29, 2015

MY FRIENDS, HAVE WE ARRIVED AT THE HE’S ABLE, BUT IF, MOMENT?

When the testing time shall come, those who have made God’s word their rule of life will be revealed. In summer there is no noticeable difference between evergreens and other trees; but when the blasts of winter come, the evergreens remain unchanged, while other trees are stripped of their foliage.

So the falsehearted professor may not now be distinguished from the real Christian, but the time is just upon us when the difference will be apparent. Let opposition arise, let bigotry and intolerance again bear sway, let persecution be kindled, and the halfhearted and hypocritical will waver and yield the faith.

But the true Christian will stand firm as a rock, his faith stronger, his hope brighter, than in days of prosperity. (E.G. White, Great Controversy p 602) My friends, like the evergreen tree, this is the point we we need to be striving for in our life.

Cementing our faith in God’s word and Spirit, or the “God is able, But if not” point in one’s life. This point is where in Daniel 3, the three Hebrew boys were at in their relationship with God.

When threatened with death in a fiery furnace their response was “the God we serve is able, But if not”, our faith will not falter. My friends where on this journey Christ has placed us on can we actually look at our own lives from within and say we are prepared for a “God we serve is able, But if not” moment in our life?

Consistent with this, where in Matt 24 don’t we understand or maybe we just don’t believe, where it says “Take heed that no one deceives you,” or “what you see now is only the beginning of birth pangs.”

Or, “there will be great tribulation such has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be. And unless those days were shortened, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake those days will be shortened.”

Or, “know, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

In addition, is there some reason for God’s elect to believe everything that is stated in the word of God is true and accurate except Matt. 24. My friends, let’s not let Satan keep us so focused on the chaos, we are never aware that we have entered the final season, of the final chapter of history.

The chapter where God says, “it is finished,”  “and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still” Rev 22:11 (KJV) My friends the process by which we build our faith on, must be renewed daily.

And this can only happen if we study God’s word daily, while allowing Self to die and God’s Spirit to make a Complete transformation. And without this process taking place in our life, we will never know or have a reason to say “He is able, But If”, because we will not know who “He is”.

Or, why should we put any trust in who “He is?” And soon we will not even know where to go find who “He is”, because the god of this world and the chaos that he has allowed, only shields God’s voice. And at that point,we will only be able to “call evil good, and good evil; or recognize darkness for light, and light for darkness.” Is. 5:20 (NKJV)

My Friends, where there is no vision, the people perish…..Proverbs 29:18 (KJV)

Oct 28, 2015

MY FRIENDS, HOW DO WE PORTRAY CHRIST IN A FRAGMENTED WORLD?

Fragmented is define as “existing or functioning as though broken into separate parts; disorganized; disunified. My friends, nothing no longer makes sense in our fast pace got to have it now society.

While at the same time our faith is being tested in areas we never knew existed as Satan declares an all-out assault on God’s chosen. So the question is, how will we respond? Christ has told us.

“If you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you” Matt 17:20 (NKJV). What’s amazing, there is no stipulation on God’s elect being able to move that mountain, only that we have faith and not what we may feel is acceptable faith.

My friends, only our Savior determines what is genuine faith. “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……” Ps. 139:1-24 (ESV). Luke 21:1-4 (NKJV) goes deeper into God’s Omniscience or the all-knowing nature of God.

“And He looked up and saw the rich putting their gifts into the treasury, and He saw also a certain poor widow putting in two mites. So He said, “Truly I say to you that this poor widow has put in more than all; for all these out of their abundance have put in offerings for God, but she out of her poverty put in all the livelihood that she had.”

So whatever level of that mustard seed Christ spoke of that is within our character, it will be revealed in how we live our life and respond to God’s needs each day. “And God is able to make all grace [every favor and earthly blessing] come in abundance to you.

In addition, we will always [under all circumstances, regardless of the need] have complete sufficiency in everything [being completely self-sufficient in Him], and have an abundance for every good work and act of charity.” 2 Cor. 9:8 (AMP)

But my friends those blessings are only too advance the “cause of God’s kingdom and not what we may seem appropriate in our life. In this fragmented world we live in, God needs our undivided attention no matter how many directions we witness this world moving in.

Consistent with this, our focus, faith and our endurance must remain in the God who made heaven and earth. The God who has promised, as long as we are “strong and of good courage, and never fear nor be afraid the Lord our God, [will go with His chosen and] He will not leave [us] nor [will He ever] forsake [us]” Deu. 31:6 (NKJV).

And once God has our undivided attention then we will begin to portray Christ in a fragmented world, a world that is centered around chaos and confusion. And then each day we will seek God’s Spirit as he anoints [us] to proclaim [the] good news to the poor.

[And] to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, [and] to set the oppressed free.” And then one day soon, this Fragmented world will no longer be. But the redeemed will then live in mansions in a new heaven and a new earth throughout the ceaseless ages of eternity.

My Friends, where there is no vision, the people perish…..Proverbs 29:18 (KJV)

Oct. 26, 2015

MY FRIENDS, WHAT’S OUR WILL AND OUR COURSE OF ACTION?

Nothing of value is achieved without effort and perseverance and if that goal is worth achieving we cannot stop until it is reached. Fritz Kreisler, the famous violinist, testifies to this point, “Narrow is the road that leads to the life of a violinist. Hour after hour, day after day and week after week, for years, I lived with my violin.

There were so many things that I wanted to do that I had to leave undone; there were so many places I wanted to go that I had to miss if I was to master the violin. The road that I traveled was a narrow road and the way was hard.”

My friends God’s chosen, must also have such passion for our salvation. There must be a total commitment. Consistent with this, there are goals and achievements as God’s chosen we will not be able to accomplish, if it is not all about Christ and His will.

We are closer then we have ever been before. Some things we want be able to buy and places we want be able to get too because it will take resources and time away from Gods needs. Often the stronghold of Satan centers around our mind and what we are willing to give up for Christ.

Jesus said, “Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel’s, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time—houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions—and in the age to come, eternal life..” Mark 10:29-30 (NKJV)

My friends, the battle is fought daily in our hearts and minds, about how far we are willing to say to Christ, and carry out whatever the answer may be, “Lord not my will but thy will be done.”

As we follow God’s word, we should understand that Satan’s motives are only to keep us blinded with what his world, which is bound for perdition deems is right and acceptable. The question we must all ask, are we willing to give up “our will” for God’s will.

Someone’s will being, “the mental faculty by which we deliberately choose or decide upon a course of action.” So today our course of action if we seek life eternal must be turned completely over to Christ as He continues to guide us on our journey to the “promise land.”

Remember, Satan has a legal claim to our mind and body because of the choices we make that allows him to be our master, and not God. And God will never overrule a person’s course of action.

That’s why it is important to first know who we are in Christ, and John 1:12 (KJV) gives us that answer. “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” Oh what love, that He would give such a right to a wretched sinner like you and I.

“Amazing grace how sweet the sound.” The next course of action is to know our rights and privileges once we have established ourselves as a child of God. And Rev. 22:14 (KJV). Gives us that answer, “Blessed are they that do his commandments that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.”

My Friends, where there is no vision, the people perish…..Proverbs 29:18 (KJV)