July 16, 2015

MY FRIENDS, LIKE A TAPESTRY HE’S WEAVING US TO BE LIKE HIM

As a child of God we try to follow His direction and in our limited capacity we try and comprehend the things of God, we figure we can follow His hand as it moves us along on this journey to the promise land. Then all of a sudden things happen, what seemed like a straight road is now a maze and so we panic.

Maybe it is the death of a love one, or maybe being laid off of that perfect job, or maybe your child is not the child you thought you had raised as a Christian but now has a mind of their own and that mind has nothing to do with the God you raised them to serve.

Or maybe you have been diagnose with cancer along with all the other trials in your life. My friends we live under the umbrella of uncertainty each day but as a child of God it is God’s hand and heart that guides us. In addition, I feel at times it is appropriate to fall on our knees and ask God what’s going on, where are you.

I know you will not always get an answer but “All things do work together though sometimes we don’t see how they could Struggles that break our hearts in two Sometimes blind us to the truth, Our Father knows what’s best for us His ways are not our own So when your pathway grows dim And you just don’t see Him Remember you’re never alone.

He sees the master plan And He holds our future in His hand so don’t live as those who have no hope, All our hope is found in Him, We see the present clearly But He sees the first and the last And like a tapestry He’s weaving you and me To someday be just like Him.

God is too wise to be mistaken God is too good to be unkind So when you don’t understand When you don’t see His plan when you can’t trace His hand Trust his heart.” (Babbie Mason) “Like a tapestry he’s weaving you and I to someday be just like Him”

By definition a tapestry is a piece of fabric consisting of material that you bend or twist out of shape, upon which colored threads are woven by hand to produce a design. Those bends and twist are each of the Trials we face each day but its all about shaping us into a design that is pleasing in God’s sight and one day with no reservations God will say, these are my chosen and they are “safe to save.”

It is not the perfect life that prepares us for the kingdom of God. On the contrary, it is the constraints and contentions, the mountains and valleys of despair that advance us in our Christian journey while at the same time we continue to yield to the will of God.

Consistent with this, we have God’s assurance that He “will never leave us or forsake us”  we also know the hand of God is guiding our life as we continue to say Lord “not my will but thou will be done.”

Trust my friends, we must allow our Faith in God and His word and Spirit to guide us with no reservation that God’s will is to prepare us for His kingdom. So we must “Be strong and courageous. We cannot  be afraid; we cannot be discouraged, for the Lord our God will be with us wherever we go.” weather at night or day, in the storm or in sunshine.”

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

July 15, 2015

MY FRIENDS, WE MUST STAY FOCUSED AND KEEP HEAVEN ON OUR MIND!

“And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.” Daniel 2:44 (KJV)

My friends, if we believe and endure we will be a part of that kingdom, but we must have a passion to see that vision and what it will take to get there. “Jesus spoke these words, lifted up His eyes to heaven, and said: “Father, the hour has come.

Glorify Your Son, that Your Son also may glorify You, as You have given Him authority over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as many as You have given Him. And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.” John 17:1-3 (NKJV)

My friends, promise after promise in God’s word is getting us prepared for a place that is beyond any and all imaginations of a created being. This earth is as far as our finite minds can comprehend when you talk about that special place, heaven.

And to all of God’s children whose focus is on that place  “eye have not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man or woman, the things that our Savior has prepared for everyone who loves as our Savior loves, must also be willing to let the world know that it does exist.

In addition, as heirs to God’s kingdom we must stay focused and keep heaven on our minds. We cannot allow the god of this world to draw our focus on the things of this world that will one day fade away.

Consistent with this, there must be a commitment that involves “laying aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, [as we] run with patience the race that is set before us” Heb 12:1 (KJV)

For each of us who are looking for Christ soon return, there is no doubt, we are in the final stretch to the finish line, as we travel in the unchartered territories of our mind which are the unexplored areas of our life that we have so hard of a time turning over to God.

Our desire, our goals, our passion, our focus, our faith, our endurance, our prayers, and the never ending study of God’s word, must be centered around given it all to the Master. To finish this race will be very grueling in this final stretch to the promise land.

But our example is Jesus Christ as we allow Him to guide us every step of the way on this journey He has placed us on as we stay focused and keep heaven on our mind. When the Israelites left Egypt Exodus 19:4 (KJV) tells us He said to the Israelites “You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.”

But then God asks them to do something breathtaking and awe-inspiring God asks them for a commitment. He asks them to stand up and pledge their loyalty to Him He says: in “Exodus 19:5-6 (KJV) 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 is asking us to do something breathtaking and awe-inspiring also, and that is to stay focused, and keep heaven on your mind!!!

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

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July 14, 2015

MY FRIENDS, GOD HAS A PLAN TO SAVE US, DO WE HAVE A PLAN TO BE SAVED?

And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. Gen. 22:8 (KJV) The ram offered in Isaac’s place represented Christ, who was to be sacrificed in our stead.

When man was doomed to death because of his transgressions of God’s law, the heavenly Father, looking upon His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, said to the sinner, “Live! I have found a ransom” (H.M.S. Richards, Walking through the Bible”)

Webster defines ransom as, “the redemption of a prisoner, slave, or kidnapped person, of captured goods, for a price.” My friends the plan of redemption that was established for our salvation from the foundation of the world is so amazing.

In addition, God’s plan is the reason why planning is so crucial in our life. God didn’t create Lucifer as a bad seed with the intent that one day he would say in his heart “I will ascend to the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God;….

I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.” Is. 14:13-15 (NKJV) But when man was created a plan had been established, if for some reason, God’s law of love was not adequate enough to make man happy.

But God’s plan was established so that we would see that His law is all we need to be truly happy in spite of what Satan tells us. And there would be only one name by which we must go through to make that happen.

“Live! My friends, for “Our Father which art in heaven” “found a ransom” and it was “His only Begotten Son”  “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Acts 4:12 (NKJV)

So today, let’s ask ourselves the question, what is our plan? Have we looked at our lives and decided how our plan relates in any way to God’s plan to save us? My friends the ransom has been paid, “God made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in him we would become the righteousness of God.” 2 Cor. 5:21 (KJV)

So as I see it and hope you see the same thing and that is, if we have faith and endure, we will only have to make sure our plan coincides with God’s plan. And the only way that can happen, is to allow self to die daily as we allow God’s Spirit to transform our lives into the Character of Christ.

And I can’t say this enough, there must be a passion within us to make that happen, as we say daily, Lord, “not my will but thou will be done” My friends, nothing on this earth is savable except what God created in His own image, we are what Christ died for.

God did not sacrifice His only Son for our, cars, houses, jobs, education, TV programs, the internet, food and the list goes on and on of things that has us bound to the point where the things of this world has become more important than our Salvation and telling others of a “risen Savior” that saves.

But my friends, it is all dung. “But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,” Phil 3:8 (KJV)

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

July 13, 2015

MY FRIENDS, WILL A MAN OR WOMAN ROB GOD OF HIS TIME?

My Friends, as we move closer and closer to the second coming of our Savior, Satan will somehow be at the forefront of prioritizing our time in such a subtle, cunning and unsuspecting way, that our relationship with God, becomes secondary.

In addition, once we allow this to happen we are then not allowing God’s spirit to guide us into accomplishing within our time frame, what is more important to God. Consistent with this, we must also begin to recognize the urgency in God’s agenda in regards to the closeness of His second coming with what time we have left in our probationary period from birth to death.

Remember with such a short time on this earth once God’s Spirit has transformed our character into the character of God and we have become God’s chosen, then our time must become all about Him and His will in finishing up His agenda on earth.

And if that is not the criteria in how we value our time, than we must re-evaluate how serious we are about our Salvation and eternal life. Jesus, our example never created such a hectic schedule that He lost sight of what His mission was as He approached Calvary.

In Christ 33 years on this earth as He carried out His earthly ministry, Jesus spent time praying, teaching, helping, healing and interacting daily with men and women from every social, educational, and economic class.

So like Christ Their must be a passion for the use of our time and how we share the love of  “Our Father which art in heaven” as we spread the good news of the gospel to a world that has lost hope. Our love for God must be absolute and how we spend His time.

Psalms 90:12 (KJV) teaches us “to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.” Satin is at his best when he can utilize our time for his agenda and when this happens, we rob God by taking His precious time and squandering it away on things that are not eternal.

Malachi 3:8-9 (KJV) tells us, “Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, wherein have we robbed thee? And I say it is not just about our tithe and offerings. But also how we rob God of His time and doing His will.

John Maxwell summarized for us this powerful lesson on sacrifice when he writes: “Giving is the highest level of living.” Perhaps you have instead heard it said that “to live is to give”. If this is true, and Christ made painfully clear He believes it is, what does it say about the extent to which you or I are really living and using our time?

Our mission as Christians is “to love God absolutely and love others sacrificially.” Isn’t that what Christ epitomized upon the cross? What His death and salvation were given for, that we may live likewise as our focus forever remains “steward’s of God’s time.

“The Bible gives no endorsement to idleness. It is the greatest curse that afflicts our world. Time squandered can never be recovered. We cannot call back even one moment. The only way in which we can redeem our time is by making the most of that which remains, by being co-workers with God in His great plan of redemption.  (Ellen G. White Christ’s Object Lessons)

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

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July 12, 2015

MY FRIENDS, IF YOU KNOW THE WAR IS OVER, THEN TELL THE WORLD!!!

MY friends, four thousand years Satan had the opportunity to study prophecy and then, two thousand years ago, all foresight, predictions and warnings by the prophets that were made about the Son of God and His mission on earth, terminated on the cross when Christ said it is finished.

Everything from that point expired and all charges the god of this world was attempting to make against heaven, folded. Consistent with this, his “statue of limitation” ran out and this is where God concludes, to everyone who believes in the name of Jesus and the power of the cross, that “the war is over.”

I can picture, Satan and all the forces of evil going to plan B! “we will take no prisoners, everyone must die. So the first 30 years of Jesus life, is in preparation for Calvary. Can you imagine the prayers, fasting, and all that went into preparing for that event.

In addition, Satan knows if he can get Christ to falter just once, a thought, an action, a movement, all the things that Satan traps us on, he would win the controversy between good and evil, right and wrong.

But He did not succeed, and Calvary took place and now everyone has an opportunity to be saved if they believe and endure to the end. The first chapter of Christ life has been written, The second chapter came to a climax on the cross, when he said “it is finished,” The final chapter began at His resurrection, and will end very soon.

Oh the disgust Satan must have felt, knowing that Jesus had brought the battle to the place that he claimed as His dominion, and won. My friends, what is so amazing is how He won, not with a legion of angels, or with weapons of mass destruction, but with the power of the cross and love.

In addition, the redemption and salvation of man is guaranteed for all who seeks God’s presence.” And will remain throughout the ceaseless ages of eternity. But there are still individual battles taken place over the souls of many, as Satan’s time runs out.

Christ is now advocating, and mediating on our behalf, and if our faith holds firm and we endure while continuing to die daily as we allow the power of God’s Word and Spirit to transform our character into the character of Christ then our salvation is sealed in the blood of Christ.

But, a transformation of Character means doing the will of Christ and His will for us today is to take the good news of the gospel to a world marred in sin. Every excuse not to witness for Christ was challenged starting with Judas kiss of betrayal at the Garden of Gethsemane.

Then to Pilot’s court where He was sentence to die by the Jewish elect for claiming to be the Son of God, to the Via Dolorosa, “Way of Sorrows” “which was the path that Jesus followed from the Roman courtroom proceedings to His crucifixion and then His burial,” while staying focused on our Salvation.

My friends, it is only an individual who has walked in the presence of God, and who has a passion that burns from within, and whose heart is fixed to serve God, who will always find the opportunity to be a witness for Him.

And the more we can focus on the character and love of Christ the more we come to realize that we have to follow our Savior all the way to Calvary by being a humble servant to others as we carry out Christ mandate to go into all the world and tell everyone of His love, grace and mercy and that the war is over, if they will only believe.

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

July 8, 2015

MY FRIENDS, IS FORGIVENESS THE GIFT THAT KEEPS ON GIVEN?

“Mistakes are your school of learning therefore forgiveness is your greatest teacher in this school of learning.” (Stephen Richards,) “And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”

And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.” Acts 7:59-60 (KJV) To have the passion of Christ under all circumstances that is what being a disciple and carrying our cross is all about.

“The Via Dolorosa, the road Jesus walked from the place of Pontius Pilate’s sentencing, to Golgotha, The “way of sorrows.” and as he hung on that cruel cross nothing that happen on Calvary that day was about Him, but to the contrary it was all about the saving of Humanity from the clutches of the forces of evil.

But it ends with the gift that keeps on giving Luke 23:34 (KJV) says it best. Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” Those eleven words spoken by our Master under the greatest pressure, while enduring humiliation, ridicule and pain, shows a child of God, the power of forgiveness we all must seek on our journey to the promise land.

The hatred of others, towards the one who had come to save even the high and mighty elect who had sentence Christ to die, down to the street rabble who cried crucify Him crucify Him, was conquered by the love. Grace and, mercy of a forgiven Savior.

Matthew 5:44 (KJV) tells us “But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,” forgiveness is a conscious choice that everyone who seeks to enter God’s kingdom makes, motivated by being obedient to God’s command to forgive as He forgives.

“One by one, they looked to the screen in a corner of the courtroom on Friday, into the expressionless face of the young man charged with making them motherless, snuffing out the life of a promising son, taking away a loving wife for good, bringing a grandmother’s life to a horrific end. And they answered him with forgiveness.

“You took something very precious away from me,” said Nadine Collier, daughter of 70-year-old Ethel Lance, her voice rising in anguish. “I will never talk to her ever again. I will never be able to hold her again. But I forgive you. And have mercy on your soul.” (The New York Times)

In other words we forgive you because you know not what you have done because Satan has made you believe “evil as good, and good as evil.” [Who only] puts darkness for light, and light for darkness! Is. 5:21-21 (NKJV) Christ tells us in Matthew 6:14-15 (KJV)

“For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” My friends, consider your salvation, are you willing to give up eternal life because you are unwilling to forgive.

When we accept Jesus and His forgiveness towards us, we also must forgive others. Peter came to Christ with the question, “How often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.” Matt. 18:22 (NIV)

That statement lets me know that we are never to become tired of forgiving.  “He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.” (Martin Luther King, Jr.)

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

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