Sep 17, 2015

MY FRIENDS, HE LOOKED BEYOND OUR FAULTS AND SAW OUR NEED!!

Our God saw that in 2015 “Amazing Grace would always be our song of praise. For it was grace, that brought us liberty and we shall forever lift our eyes to Calvary, to view the cross, where Jesus died for you and me. How marvelous, His grace that caught our falling soul as “He looked beyond our faults and saw our need.”

A story is told; one night a house caught fire and a young boy was forced to flee to the roof. The father stood on the ground below with outstretched arms, calling to his son, “Jump! I’ll catch you.”

He knew the boy had to jump in order to save his life. All the boy could see, however, was flames, smoke, and blackness. He was afraid to leave the roof. His father kept yelling: “Jump! I will catch you.” “Daddy, I can’t see you, he cries out.”

The father replied, “But I can see you.” And my friends, that’s all that matters. And so he jumped to safety. On this Journey to the promise land most of the time we are traveling in blind faith, all we see is flames, smoke, and blackness along with every other obstacle and trap that the god of this world has provided in our life to discourage us from continuing.

But all that matters is our Father sees us. His focus on us never wavers. I can remember when my son was no more than eight or nine years old, he’s thirty six now and even though he had some physical and health issues I still tried to teach him how to walk to school on his own.

So the journey begins. After walking with him several times, I finally decided, along with a hesitant mother to let him make the journey on his own or so he thought. Every tree along the way I hid behind as he walked thinking I’m a big boy now.

But he was never out of my sight, not even for a moment until I could see him safely walk into that school.  And if we are faithful and endure, Christ never loses sight of where on this journey we are at, even when the flames, smoke, and blackness of this world are all around us.

In addition, He will continue to watch over us until we can enter that place “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man and here his voice, enter, well done my faithful servant.”

Let’s now make it personal as we focus and look throughout our hectic schedule today, whether we are in a office or driving a tractor on a farm or a forklift in a factory, we all spend our days in very unique, unusual and chaotic ways.

Each day only brings a whole new set of issues and problems. And if we are a child of God, there should be no reservation that His focus is always on us. But today and until we can run our fingers across the scars in his hands and brow I need each of us to focus on the movement of Christ and fully understand where he is leading us.

And if we seek his presence with a passion, I can assure you it is not in the direction most of us are going. Because if we are seeking him with a passion, we have also allowed self to die while denying everything in this world that the god of this world has told us we cannot do without.

In addition, we are also carrying our very personal and unique cross that Christ has custom made for each of our unique characters and daily, not just when it is convenient, we are following Christ wherever He leads. My friends, your decision. your salvation.

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

Sep. 15, 2015

MY FRIENDS, GOD’S GOT ENOUGH POWER IN THE HEM OF HIS GARMENT TO SATISFY OUR NEED!!

“God’s got enough power in the hem of his garment to satisfy our need.” But we must step out on His word and have faith that our God is most capable. “He can do the impossible, Reach the unreachable, Save the unsavable.” (Vicki Yohe)

“He has inscribed us in the palms of His hands. Our walls are continually before Him.” That is the God we serve! So Focus today as you close your eyes and just meditate on those words “God’s got enough power in the hem of his garment To satisfy our need” if we believe.

“A woman who had had a hemorrhage for twelve years, and had endured much at the hands of many physicians, and had spent all that she had and was not helped at all, but rather had grown worse, after hearing about Jesus, she came up in the crowd behind Him and touched His cloak.

For she thought, “If I just touch His garments, I will get well.” Immediately the flow of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of her affliction.” Mark 5:25-29 (NASB) Immediately my friends, when she was still on her knees.

Immediately, when she was still in heartfelt pray and supplication with her Savior, she was healed.

Crawling, hyperventilating, oh what passion as she reached out her hand and touched His garment as He passed her and Immediately she was healed. Yes my friends, that was all it took. She did not have to have a long conversation, about her problem or how long she had been sick.

“Immediately the flow of her blood was dried up” Immediately her prayers were answered. My friends, what about your prayers while you are pleading, Lord I am sinking hear, there is quicksand all around me and I don’t see how I will survive.

“Lord, you have examined me and know all about me. You know when I sit down and when I get up. You know my thoughts before I think them. You know where I go and where I lie down. You know everything I do. Lord, even before I say a word.” Ps. 139:1-4 (KJV)

So Jesus, please don’t pass me by. Every Situations and circumstances in my life tells me I have no hope, “but I here in your touch, “there is hope for the helpless, rest for the weary and love for the broken hearts. There is grace and forgiveness, mercy and healing.” [if we just reach out in faith] (Third Day )

Yes our Savior will meet His Children wherever in our life we are, but we must believe that He is “the way, and the truth, and the life.” In addition, God will meet us there with outstretched arms.

And when the wind and rain, beats against the very fiber of our existence, He will be there because, His power grace, and mercy knows no bounds and all that is required is that we reach out in faith because, “God’s got enough power in the hem of his garment To satisfy our need”

So today “Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding or knowledge”. And then one day as we walk down the middle of the street that is made of pure gold.

And on each side their is a crystal clear river, we will be able to continue to reach, but only it will be in the very presence of God, as we reach while picking “from the twelve crops of fruit, that yields its fruit every month” in Gods pure and holy kingdom.

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

Sep.14, 2015

MY FRIENDS, PLEASE, PLEASE STAY IN THE BOAT!!!!!

“He who upholds the unnumbered worlds throughout immensity, at the same time cares for the wants of the little brown sparrow that sings its humble song without fear. When men go forth to their daily toil, as when they engage in prayer; when they lie down at night, and when they rise in the morning;

when the rich man feasts in his palace, or when the poor man gathers his children about the scanty board, each is tenderly watched by the heavenly Father. No tears are shed that God does not notice. There is no smile that He does not mark.” (E.G. White Steps to Christ pp 86)

My friends we must have faith that God is not overwhelmed with anxiety in trying to figure out how to solve our problems. Our God sees us when we first wake up and start our day as we fall on our knees in the morning and say.

God please have mercy on me today and please continue to let your grace abound within me for I have no idea what lies ahead. All I know is where I was before you found me and then “I looked hard at this world to learn how Heaven could be gained Just to end where I began, where human effort is all in vain.”

Then, “were it not for grace, the free and unmerited favor of God,” Unmerited, meaning we do not deserve God’s love or grace. My friends I need you to pull back that curtain today and imagine the world we live in without God’s Grace or unmerited favor, “a time like never before.”

Acts 27 and 28 tells of Paul’s voyage to Rome as a prisoner and a violent storm arises. I will use Paul’s words speaking to the prisoners in relationship to our lives today as we are also in a violent storm, and it is called life.

“As we are being violently storm-tossed, and neither sun nor stars has appeared for many days. Men, and women I perceive that the voyage will certainly be with damage and great loss, not only of the things of this world we hold so dear, but also to some of our lives.

But, I urge you to hold on to your faith and endure, for I believe in the God we serve. And with no reservation my faith tells me this storm will turn out exactly as we have read in His word. But, “Unless you remain in the ship, you yourselves cannot be saved.”

Today my friends, God’s saving grace and His word are the ship that we all must stay in if we are to be saved. In addition, as we move deeper and deeper out into the open waters of life, and the rain and storms seems to never cease.

Satan beckons us to seek refuge in him and get out of the ship. That is when we study, study and study more then ever God’s word as we ask for His Spirit to guide us into all understanding because we are only safe when we stay in the ship and keep our eyes focused on the one who paid it all for our Salvation.

“God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary [and life eternal]” Heb. 6:18-19 (ESV)

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

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Sep. 13, 2015.

MY FRIENDS, ENDURE, ENDURE, ENDURE, THE RACE IS ALMOST OVER!!!!

The race is not given to the swift nor the mighty, but to him that survives until the end, even though we are driven by circumstances and situations that pushes us to the point where we feel we are not going to make it? And we question, does God really care?

But my friends, in the end we must be able to say “we have competed well; we have finished the race; we have kept the faith!”2 Tim. 4:7 (KJV) and endured Even though at times our life was in utter chaos.

Our focus must never waver from the fact that it is God’s Spirit that gives us the power to endure. It is God’s Spirit that is guiding us on this journey as He keeps us focus on Calvary and the price that was paid so that we were even able to qualify for this race.

In addition it is God’s Spirit that continues to give us the power to endure so when the storms and torrential rains of this life is upon us. We will never have to wonder if there is a rainbow at the end of the storm that says God is still in control and He cares more than our finite minds could ever imagine.

My friends, all of the blessings throughout our life that we have ever received is because we allowed God’s spirit to give us the power from above to endure. We must never forget endurance is all about our Faith and God’s saving grace and they can never be separated.

The passion of Christ died so that we would always have the faith to be saved, but we must have that same Passion to want to be saved and the endurance not to give up, on top of carrying a cross as you tell others about the saving grace and love of Christ our example who set the bar for endurance.

The word itself means to “suffer without yielding; and to suffer patiently” My friends that is where we need to focus, on the words “suffer without yielding; suffer patiently” Christ is asking a lot from us. But Christ knows our breaking point and He will never let Satan take us beyond that point.

We just have to have faith, endure and stay focus. When Christ was on the cross “His mind passed from His own suffering to the sin of His persecutors, and the terrible retribution that would be theirs.

No curses were called down upon the soldiers who were handling Him so roughly. No vengeance was invoked upon the priests and rulers, who were gloating over the accomplishment of their purpose. Christ pitied them in their ignorance and guilt.

He breathed only a plea for their forgiveness,–“for they know not what they do.” (E.G. White Desire of Ages pp744) “Suffer without yielding; suffer patiently” My friends, Satan’s mind control over a child of God is always with doubt and fear.

In addition, the more our focus is taken off of where God has brought us from, and the place He is trying to take us life eternal in His kingdom, the more we begin to lose hope and then that hope along with our Salvation is left into the hands of Satan who only wants to lead us to perdition.

Getting to the kingdom is a marathon, the test of endurance to finish is today while Christ still knocks and His Spirit is still willing to give us the power to finish this grueling race. My friends you are almost at the finish line. Your reward awaits you.

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

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Sep. 12, 2015

MY FRIENDS, I HAVE BEEN YOUNG, BUT NOW I AM OLD!!

“The steps of a good man [or woman] are ordered by the Lord, And He delights in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; For the Lord upholds him with His hand. I have been young, and now am old; Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, Nor his descendants begging bread” Psalm 37:23-25 (NASB).

My friends, it becomes personal today. “Because if you like I have been young and now you are old” we can believe in the promises of that text with no reservation because, “If you could have seen me just yesterday.

Then You’d know why He’s life and He’s breath to me You’d know why He’s more than I could show and more than you’ll ever know Christ means more to me than you’ll ever know” (The Imperials – More Than You’ll Ever Know)

And with no reservation if you are a child of God, you also know “our steps have been ordered” from the foundation of the world. In addition, it was made official when Christ signed it with His blood on Calvary and then said, “it is finished.”

My chosen “have been bought at a price;” and now their steps are ordered by the sacrifice That I have paid so that they may “be heirs of my Father which art in heaven and joint heirs with Myself.”

And my friends, to be heirs to Gods kingdom can only happen if there is a complete revival and restoration that has taken place in our life, brought about by the Spirit of God who we have allowed to take full control.

Romans 8:17 (NKJV) then tells us, to be heirs we must “suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.” Paul says it best in 2 Tim. 2:11-12 (NKJV) “For if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him. If we endure, we shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He also will deny us.”

But our steps have been ordered my friends by God, Salvation is ours if we choose to accept it. But we have to make the decision if we want to serve Christ and allow Him to guide our footsteps on this Journey to the promise land?

Or have we decided the terrain is too rugged and the mountains are just too steep to finish. And my friends, if we don’t keep the vision before us of that place “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him” [we will parish] Prov. 29:18 (KJV).

Because without that vision and the faith and endurance to make it happen, Satan wins because he will give us other alternatives, which are the things of this world and he will make them more appealing, because our focus would have been rerouted away from the things above.

In addition, we lose sight of the fact that “we have been young, and now we are old; Yet we have not seen the righteous forsaken Nor his descendants begging bread.”

So our mission statement must be, “And if you could have seen me yesterday you’d know why He’s life and He’s breath to me and He means more to me than you’ll ever know.”

And I will serve Him until I can see His face and the scars in His hands and say with the final tears in my eyes I will ever shed before He wipes them away, thank you. Every rough terrain and steep mountain I had to cross over to get hear was worth it!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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

Sep. 11, 2015

MY FRIENDS IF YOU ARE MOVING IN THE WRONG DIRECTION REROUTE!!

“Love is of God. The unconsecrated heart cannot originate or produce it. It is found only in the heart where Jesus reigns. “We love, because He first loved us.” 1 John 4:19, (NKJV). In the heart renewed by divine grace, love is the principle of action.

It modifies the character, governs the impulses, controls the passions, subdues enmity, and ennobles the affections. This love, cherished in the soul, sweetens the life and sheds a refining influence on all around.” (E.G. White, Steps to Christ pp 59)

God has placed each of us on a journey but our salvation is not dependent on when we start but our passion for the journey as we allow our faith and endurance and our heartfelt pray and God’s word to guide us along the way.

God’s Spirit now becomes our GPS and as long as we continue to seek Him, we will never loose our way. Remember we “are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession…” 1 Peter 2:9 (NIV)

And if we do begin to loose our focus because the god of this world has turned our attention back to the things of this world, our GPS will begin to read reroute which at that point tells us that we are moving in the opposite direction of our salvation.

An observation is made of the frigid waters around Greenland where there are countless icebergs, some little and some gigantic. If you observe them carefully, you would notice that sometimes the small ice floes move in one direction while their massive counterparts flow in another.

The explanation is simple. Surface winds drive the little ones, whereas the huge masses of ice are carried along by deep ocean currents. When God begins to reroute our lives, it’s helpful to see our lives as being subject to two forces–surface winds and ocean currents.

The winds represent everything changeable, unpredictable, and distressing that the god of this world places before us on our journey. But operating simultaneously with these gusts and gales of this world is another force that’s even more powerful.

It is the sure movement of God’s wise and sovereign purpose and the deep flow of His unchanging love as He reroutes his Children on a course toward Eternity as He prepares our lives to become “safe to save” for His kingdom.

My friends, in our rerouting process our Savior starts at Calvary, and places a cross on our shoulders as He takes us through the trials and tribulation of bearing the cross for Christ, He then places us in His loving arms and guides and protects each of us as we begin to move in the right direction and making the right decision through Christ about our Salvation.

In addition, the main change in this new direction that we are headed is that we now give it all to the Master, we cannot hold anything back, self must completely die because we are at the end of this journey and our vision must remain on the promise land.

The closer we get to Christ second coming that road to Salvation begin to get narrower with very few remaining on it because of their lack of faith and endurance. So we must stay focus and keep our eyes stayed on Christ.

And soon my friends, we will see him face to face as He tells all of His Children “Well done, good and faithful servants! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness! In my pure and holy kingdom.

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

Sep. 10, 2015

MY FRIENDS, HAVE WE LOST FOCUS AND LINGERED TO LONG?

My friends It is very hard to take our focus off of the things of this world and give our life totally over to Christ, as we say with a passion “not my will, but thy will be done.” Paul says it best in Romans 7:19 (ESV) “For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing.”

“When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, “Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city.” And while he lingered, the men took hold of his hand, his wife’s hand, and the hands of his two daughters….and set him outside the city.” Gen 19:15-16 (NKJV)

Oh the love grace and mercy of God, “who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” 1 Tim. 2:4 (NASB) “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you…lest you be destroyed.” “Then the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, out of the heavens……..

But his wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt” Gen 19:23-26 (NKJV Paraphrased). My friends, the obvious tragedy is, Lot’s wife did not focus on where God was trying to take her, while disobeying His command and allowing her heart to return to that sinful and despicable place.

A place where sin had abounded to such an extent that God had to destroy it. But I need you to focus on four words today and those words are, “and while he lingered,” and that my friends is the real tragedy of this story.

Lot, who had to be literally carried out, before he would leave from the clutches and influence of the forces of evil. This was the patriarch of the family, the provider, who was not able to come to terms with the fact that he had already lingered in sin to long, only to be saved because of the grace and mercy of a loving God.

And as we focus today, on those four words, let’s make it personal. “And while we lingered,” meaning you and I to long. Remember Satan is a master strategist at manipulating and captivating our undivided attention as far as what we see, and what we hear, and where we go, and what we put into our bodies, that is detrimental to our salvation.

As God’s chosen generation we “cannot linger any longer”, Christ will be hear soon to take His faithful who have endured to our new home, so we must give it all to the Master and put on the full armor of God while taking up our cross and becoming His disciples.

As heirs to God’s kingdom and joint heirs with Christ, we must not linger any longer, but we must present a vision to others that takes them to places they never thought possible through Christ who is “the way, the truth, and the life” as you allow them to walk down those streets of gold with you in God’s Kingdom.

In others words, make Salvation real. God is asking us to Give the world a shared vision as we inspire and motivate others by the way we live our lives. And as the world sees us they will also see Christ and Men, and women, who realized they had stayed in sin to long but now their focus is to only serve as they wait on Christ soon return.

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

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Sep. 7, 2015

MY FRIENDS DON’T GIVE UP, BUT PRESS TOWARD THE MARK FOR THE PRIZE!!!

Daily, we must “press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” Phil. 3:14 (KJV). The weekend is over, our high filled church experience has ended.

The Holy Spirit was sure entertaining at church and since we were only entertained we feel comfortable enough to remove some of our armor, which will then leave us completely vulnerable to Satan.

Or, to use Jesus analogy from Luke 11, we cleaned our house for the weekend, but have not taken the time to fill it with the character of God no farther than our weekend’s spiritual praise team and worship experience.

That tells me life as a part time Christian is complicated because during the week “we, never seem too let our light so shine before men, [and women] that they may see our good works, as we glorify our Father which is in heaven” Matt 5:1`6 (KJV).

The question we must now ask our self, do we represent Christ in every situation and circumstances of our life? Are our lives centered on Christ daily? In addition, is there limits in what we will do for Christ?

If we have answered no too the first two questions and yes to the last one, than this journey Christ has placed us on has becomes problematic, because “if any man or woman be in Christ, he or she must be a new creature in every situation and circumstances of our life for the old things are passed away.”

As a Christian the battle rages daily so self must die daily. Remember every time we try to do good, Satan will always present an alternative plan as to what we watch with our eyes or hear with our ears, or what we allow to come out of our mouth or where we allow our feet to take us.

Endurance, is the ability through our faith to stay strong as we continue to “press toward the mark for the prize” “despite fatigue, stress, or other adverse conditions.” My friends, Christ is coming soon, and He will bring His reward with Him to repay each of us according to our deeds, that we have accumulated on our journey to the promise land.

Our commission is to go out on the front lines of the Battle field and serve in our communities as we take the good news to those who have lost hope. But the reward my friends, being paid according to our deeds that is what we seek, that is what the plan of Salvation was all about.

Christ is a living example that lived among us and demonstrated that it can be done and Satan can be defeated for “there is 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 you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it” 1 Cor. 10:13 (NIV). And one day soon my friends, “if we believe that Jesus died and rose again” we will receive our reward for “the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God.

And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.” 1 Thess. 4:14-17 (NKJV)

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