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)

Sep 5, 2014

MY FRIENDS, CAN YOU HEAR THAR STILL SMALL VOICE OF GOD?

I’ve seen broken Turn into beauty I’ve seen redemption come in and save the day, so I don’t have to be afraid, when You’re telling me to go when You’re telling me to stay when You’re telling me to hold on to You for another day.

When I got nothing left when I’m hanging by a thread I give You all of my weakness, You give me Your strength, I’m here again, Here at my end Where You begin, Jesus, You make all things new So I will trust in You. ( Mandisa, Where You Begin)

Yes my friend where He first begin, in the chaos of this world we live in. But to get back to where God needs us to be, we have to just still away into the quiet of the night when everyone is asleep and just fall on our knees in total awe of the One whose presence we are now in, as we listen for that still small voice telling us, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God;

I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand……For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Fear not, I am the one who helps you” Is. 41:10-13 (ESV).

And of course Satan would love for us to stay focus on the chaos of this world, so that still small voice of God we will never here. But my friends, God also seeks our presence, He longs to be a part of our very complicated lives each day because God knows the only way we are going to finish this journey and make it into the promise land is through the redeeming powers of His love, grace and mercy.

Yes my friends, we know what God can and will do for us, “we’ve seen broken turn into beauty, we’ve seen redemption Come in and save the day” But the chaos and the storms of our life will never cease until that still small voice begins to “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. 4:16-17 (NKJV).

But our faith and endurance in Christ is what we need to get us through the storm and too that special day of Christ appearing. All of God’s promises are in His word we just have to recognize they are there by studying each day as we ask God’s Spirit to Guide us into all understanding.

But my friends, it begins with that still small voice, because we have to know what God’s plans are for our life because nothing else should matter except what God wants and how we can bring glory and honor to His name.

So we must continue to ask “are you telling me go or are you’re telling me to stay or are you’re telling me to hold on to You for another day” and once you have asked those set of question, I am sure you will hear that still small voice saying, “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth” Acts 1:8 (NASB).

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

Sep. 4, 2015

MY FRIENDS, WHY DO WE WORRY, WHEN GOD DOES NOT?

As we travel along this journey Christ has placed us on, the terrain is very rugged and treacherous, at times it seems we will not make it, victory is no where in sight, Satan has booby trapped the entire war zone with land mines all along the way.

My friends how do we finish this course in victory? Simple question, deserves a simple answer, “trust and obey, there is no other way.” “We can only know the power that he holds, when we truly see how deep our weakness goes.

His strength, it must begin when ours comes to an end, He hears our humble cry and proves again His strength is perfect when our strength is gone He’ll carry us when we can’t carry on. Raised in his power the weak becomes strong” (CeCe Winans).

In every situation and circumstances of our life, there is no need to worry, if we will only trust God, because He does not worry. My friends, “You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord, who is with you.

Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord is with you” (2 Chronicles 20:17, NKJV). The wonderful promises of God, “do not fear or be dismayed” Then next comes the part of the text that shows the amazing love and grace of our God when He tells us to “Go out against them, for the Lord is with you.”

Which tells us don’t worry, our Savior does not panick, and He sure is not, pacing back and forth in the throne room wondering, how He is going to solve our Problems? Why are you worried, God is not?

“Are not five sparrows sold for two copper coins? And not one of them is forgotten before God. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows” (Luke 12:6-7 NKJV).

But my friends, we also have a part to play in the mystery of our Salvation on this journey we are on. Christ tells us to “Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you” (James 4:7-8 (NASB).

“Submit,” that word is telling us to give over or yield to the power or authority of another, in this case it is to the one who gave His only Begotten Son so that salvation would be assured if we have faith and endure and the Son who said I will go and die for mankind.

Oh what love “For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 4:7-8 (NKJV).

My friends, our God is Jehovah Nissi, the Lord our banner, For our sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. “Yet”, my friends that three letter word is our full assurance that victory is ours through Christ “yet” in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,  nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” [if we believe and endure] (Romans 8:36-39 NKJV).

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

Aug. 2, 2015

MY FRIENDS, HE LOOKED BEYOND OUR FAULTS AND SAW WHAT WE COULD BE

As we look back at our Faults and abominations against our Savior throughout our life, and realize where He has brought us from, we must thank God that He is not through with us yet and we can “be confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in [us] will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.” Phil 1:6 (NKJV)

Oh the miracle our God has performed in each of our lives as He looked beyond our faults and saw what we could be if completely transformed by His Spirit and so He waits patiently for “the Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness;” but He has a plan for each of our lives and He has set us on a course that will lead to our Salvation.

Yes He takes wretched sinners like you and I and transforms our life from being what we are, to the one who recognizes and believes through the faith of our God and his word what Calvary meant for our salvation and through this faith we can say without a doubt that we are going to serve Christ with a passion.

And my friends, we will do this because our Savior looked beyond our transgressions and saw what we could be if we allowed Him to guide our footsteps. Peter, James, and John, were the best of the best disciples.

Even though Peter was “quick to speak, impulsive and impetuous……James and John were called “Sons of Thunder,” a nickname given to both, because they had such stormy personalities, easily angered and quick to judge,” in other words they were always ready to fight if someone did not agree with them.

You can say the same about Peter who cut a soldiers ear off when they came to take Jesus away to be tried. But a few hours later in the heat of the storm, when He should have had our Saviors back, Peter denied Christ three times as He fled the scene.

My friends, what would we have done under these same trying circumstances, would we have denied Christ and ran. But I need you to focus my friends, whenever we allow the god of this world to influences us into placing our attention on the things of this world, as we use our time, talents, and money to the glory and honor of what he deems appropriate.

Also, when the god of this world influences us, as to where we go or what we look at or what we hear, we are saying, who are you, we don’t know you. You would think being with the Master for 3-1/2 years the disciple’s character would have been completely transformed.

But, that did not occur while He walk among them but on “the day of Pentecost when all of the disciples were on one accord in their commitment to serve God. Suddenly there came a sound from heaven like the rushing of a violent tempest blast, and it filled the whole house in which they were sitting.

And there appeared to them tongues resembling fire, which were separated and distributed and which settled on each one of them and they were all filled with power from the Holy Spirit [which awaits you and I also if we believe and endure] Acts 2:2-4 (AMP)

And my friends, this would never have happen to them or us if Christ had not looked beyond our faults and saw what we all can accomplish through him if we would give it all to the Master.

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