April 3, 2015

MY FRIENDS, WHATEVER DAY  YOU KEEP HOLY, HOW DO YOU KEEP IT?

How do we keep that special and unique day God has given His children? We all have our traditions that have been handed down to us from generation to generation. I have friends that honor Saturday as their holy and special day, and friends that honor Sunday as their holy and special day and I have some friends who treats all seven days the same, work, work and more work.

But where I need us to focus today, as a child of God how should we honor that sacred day God has given us to rest on. We all agree that it is a holy day that God created, a blessed, and hollow day that we must focus on the goodness of our Creator and Savior, and all He has done for us. But when His word says my Children shall rest from work, how do we justify all that we do on the day God has told us to keep holy and rest on.

It is lawful to do good on His holy day. But I don’t believe working at the office, or cutting your lawn, and washing your car, is doing good on His special day, for this day is holy and honored, unique and special above all other days of the week. Acts of necessity and mercy are permitted. “Going on from that place, He went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there.

Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on God’s holy day.” Matt 12:1-12 (KJV)

The sick and suffering, are to be cared for at all times, “but unnecessary labor we should avoid. “Turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on My holy day; and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honorable; and . . . honor Him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure.” Isaiah 58:13 (KJV)

God’s precepts also tells us, all within our gates should “lay aside their worldly business during the sacred hours. All should unite to honor God by willing service upon His holy day.” (E,G, White Patriarchs and Prophets) My friends, our God who gave His only Son to die for these Precepts, has ask His Children to make this day special.

Remember In God’s pure and holy kingdom His Children who through their faith have endured till the end will praise His name Day and night, every day will be special at that time, John tells us in Rev. 7:9-17 (KJV) “and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches were in their hands; and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb……

“These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb and we will forever praise His name. So as we prepare for Eternity, His children must obey His Holy and sanctified precepts and take that one Special day God has given us and make it special and rest and only focus on our creator and His love grace and mercy on that day.

God is so good to us He only requires one day out of six. And what is also so awesome about our God,  the only thing He requires all of from his Children is, our mind and body.

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

April 1 2015

MY FRIENDS, THAT ONE NAME CANNOT BE VEILED FROM HIS FAITHFUL!!

“New Age promotes the development of the person’s own power or divinity. When referring to God, a follower of New Age is not talking about a transcendent, personal God who created the universe, but is referring to a higher consciousness within themselves. You and I, if we believe this, would see ourselves as God. In addition, everything that the person sees, hears, feels or imagines is to be considered divine.”

So if I am a new age disciple why should I need to be saved from the penalty of sin when I am God. But my friends my Bible tells me in Acts 4:12 (NKJV) Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” So that text tells ne this chair I am sitting in cannot save me.

My friends, Jesus Christ, the only name we always use in vain, or swear by, and the only name that produces so much hate in the world, or love in one’s Heart who has allowed His transforming power to take effect in their lives.

“Hindu’s believe that the soul reincarnates, evolving through many births until all karmas have been resolved, and moksha, spiritual knowledge and liberation from the cycle of rebirth, is attained, and not a single soul will be eternally deprived of this destiny.” But 2 Corinthians 5:17 tells me “Therefore if any man [be] in Christ, [he is] a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”

Yes, Jesus name is the only one that can give us eternal life if we so desire. And to a Child of God the word reincarnation is the process that we obtain by dying to self daily and “living in Christ and the life which [we at one time] live in the flesh, [because we have given our life totally to Christ [we now live only by the faith through] the Son of God, who loved us, and gave himself for [each of us so that we may have life eternal] Gal 2:20 (KJV)

Oh what power, what hope, what grace love and mercy, behind a name, because in just that name most of us have gone from someone on the road to self-destruction to someone who eats and breathes the awesome power of His name and each day our mission statement should by “My hope is built on nothing less Than Jesus Christ, His righteousness;

I dare not trust the sweetest frame, But wholly lean on Jesus’ name. When darkness veils His lovely face, I rest on His unchanging grace; in every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil.” Yes my friends, there will be times, as we move closer to Christ soon appearing and iniquity abounds on every level, and the love of many waxes colder and God’s grace becomes blurred behind an unseen veil that the god of this world has created.

And when that happens, It is only our faith and endurance that allows us to say with full assurance “Blessed be the God and Father of [His only Begotten Son, and that one name ] our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for [His faithful], who are protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.“ 1 Peter 1:3-5 (NASB)

And as we stand among the redeemed one day soon, while witnessing our Saviors return we will have no doubt who is coming to take us Home because “On his robe and on his thigh he has that one name that has allowed us to make it to the promise land, and what it says is “king of kings and Lord of Lords”

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

MY FRIENDS, IF WE HUNGER AND THIRST AFTER RIGHTEOUSNESS WE WILL BE FILLED!

In Luke 11:1 (NKJV) it tells us “as Christ was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray” and “The Lord’s prayer” it is called, is what He taught them, because only the Lord can fulfill our daily petitions if we believe, because it then becomes a prayer about a God who knows our every need even before we ask Him.

And a God who is willing to “give us this day, our daily bread.” Not our weekly, monthly, or our yearly bread, but our daily bread. This is where I want to take you today my friends, because this journey to the kingdom that Christ has placed us on requires a daily walk with our Savior. Christ tells us in John 6:35 (KJV) “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

What an awesome promise to His chosen generation who seeks His presence “whoever comes to me will never hunger, or thirst” and if I read that right, never is an infinite number which has no end and  if we thirst after righteousness: we shall always be filled. In addition, our Savior is telling us we have to also crave Salvation.

It must be a passion we seek daily just like our craving for physical nourishment, we must also crave daily to be filled spiritually, and it can only come from God’s word and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, for if we seek our Savior with a passion our focus will no longer be of this world “but whoever drinks of the water that [our Savior] shall give will never thirst….[because He]will become in [us] a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” John 4:14 (NKJV)

“The Bread of Life,” and a fountain of water who lives in us; and once we have been filled spiritually we then will allow self to die and begin to live by faith in the bread of life who is the Son of God, who loves us and gave Himself for all who believes.” For He is the “living bread that came down from heaven and Whoever eats of this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.” John 6:51 (NKJV)

Now my friends, what will you give in return for eternal life. Remember Salvation is free, but at what price. Let’s never forget we were on the auction block when Christ saved us, a slave to sin, and the god of this world, but our Savior paid the ultimate price for us which was his own blood that was shed on Calvary. And now because of what Christ has done for each of us we should be willing to give Him our all.

Paul tells us in 1 Cor.15:10 (NKJV) “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain; but I labored more abundantly than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.” Yes my friends, we must make it a personal challenge to ourselves and work harder than anyone else, as we serve the Lord, and take the good news of the gospel to everyone.

For Christ tells us “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” John 6:32 (NKJV) and today this becomes our mandate, that we “go into all the world” and tell them about the bread of life from heaven as we let our light so shine that all may see Christ in us.

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

March 29, 2015

MY FRIENDS, ARE WE ABLE TO SOAR ABOVE THE RAGING STORMS OF OUR LIFE?

My friends, we can define a storm, as a violent disturbance of the atmosphere with strong winds and usually rain, thunder and lightning. And as the storm rages above us, the eagle soars also, not necessarily to escape the storm, but it uses the storm to lift it higher.

It rises on the winds that bring the storm. And like the eagle when the storms of our life rages, we too can rise above it by setting our faith and mind towards our heavenly Father. Today the world under the control of the god of this world perishes on so many levels and it is only our faith that will enable us to ride out the winds that bring about sickness, tragedy, a rebellious child.

Problems in a marriage and at the job and all within the sphere and domain of a world where Satan’s only goal is to stretch our faith to a limit so that at “13,000 feet or at the point of our “anxiety, burnout and depression” we will just turn the auto pilot on as our lives descent into utter destruction.

My friends this is at the moment, where Satan encourages us to give up and no longer recognize the grace and mercy of a God who gave it all for us on Calvary, it is also at the moment where our life will have to weather the storm, while understanding that true peace, and hope, only comes through Christ and His Spirit.

And this is also at the moment the raging storm becomes calm, and the temperas waves subsides enough for us to say. “If it was not for the Lord on my side where would I be.” Yes real peace, and hope, comes when in the middle of the storm, and when the raging waves seems to be taking control, we can find rest in the loving arms of Jesus, as we face the storms of our life head on and rise above it while knowing that our God is always there.

The Bible says, “Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles.” Isaiah 40:31 (KJV) Also in Joshua 1:9 (KJV) it also tells us “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Yes my friends, doing the final day of life’s history as we begin to enter the threshold of the promise land, we must be willing to say, God, I can’t figure out what is happening in my life, in fact I will not even try to, I’m just going to trust You to give me a vision of discernment that will allow me to rest in your arms as I ride out this storm.

And In addition, no matter what happens in our  life, if we remain focused on the saving grace of a loving Savior and say with passion “our hope is built on nothing less then Jesus blood and righteousness. We dare not trust the sweetest frame, But wholly lean on Jesus’ name. On Christ, the solid Rock we stand; All other ground is sinking sand.” then, my friends, we will make it into the promise land,

So today, our faith and God’s word must tell us to hold on and endure, as we rest in the loving arms of Jesus and each day, as our faith is strengthened, our God will complete what he has started in each of us. Paul also tells us Phil 1:6 (KJV) “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 until we see our Savior face to face, just accept God’s plan for your life as we rest in his presence, while allowing the storms of life to prepare our Character for eternity. And then and only then can we experience total peace and happiness throughout the ceaseless ages of eternity.

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

March 27, 2015

MY FRIENDS, ONLY THE MASTERS APPROVAL MATTERS!!!

A story is told of a young boy giving his first violin recital. He had studied hard for years under the guidance of one of the greatest masters in all of Europe. The boy had outstanding talents a feat very few his age accomplishes.

As he stood on the stage before an audience of hundreds of music lovers, he performed with great proficiency after each selection, as the crowd cheered him on. He was the finest young performer they had ever had the pleasure of hearing. And yet the boy seemed not to notice. In fact, some later commented that he almost seemed annoyed by the applause.

At the conclusion of the recital, the entire audience rose and gave the young performer a standing ovation as they shouted “Bravo, Bravo, Encore, Encore” and other words of praise and appreciation, throughout the theater. However, the young musician was motionless as if not to hear his surroundings.

Instead, he stood looking up into the balcony where an old, withered man sat, looking back down at him. Finally after some consideration, the old gentleman smiled and nodded his head in approval. Only then did the boy seem relieved as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders, as his young face beamed with joy and delight.

You see, the cheers of the crowd meant nothing, the praise was meaningless unless he had the approval of the Master! And like the young violinist, we are also in a performance and each day we stand on the world stage but it is all meaningless if we don’t have God’s approval, as we stand in His presence each day and say “Lord not my will but thy will be done”.

Remember Satan realizes the sand of the hour glass has just about run its course, the history books will close soon and everyone according to his works would have either been sealed by the blood of Christ or decided that this world and perdition is sufficient for their eternal happiness.
But when it is all over they will cry out ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then [Christ] will declare to them, ‘I never knew you…” Matt. 7:22-23 (ESV) That text tell us how easy it will be to be blinded by Satan into thinking, our works are sufficient for God’s approval for our Salvation.

My friends, God’s approval is all about staying in the presence of God as we allow self to die each day. One day Empire, Scandal and dancing with the stars would have run it’s course and everyone will be debating about the finally for months. But then Satan will create another must watch TV show that occupies God’s precious time for another ten seasons and the cycle continues.

We must never forger, in God’s precepts where He tells us; I am “a jealous God.” meaning, He wants “no other god’s before Him” or anything that will keep our minds “on things on this earth and not on our eternal destination. For it is “He that gives us the vision of Hope and the Passion to be like Him.”

Remember my friends we are God’s prodigy, He has “formed us from the dust of the ground, and created us in the likeness of His image” and one day we must all face our righteous Judge, who will  judged us on our faith as a student, and our performance and the choices each of us has made throughout our life.

Ecc. 1:14 (NIV) tells us “I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.” So for each of us who have decided to finish this race we must remember, “we are running to obtain that prize” from the Masters which is eternal life.

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

March 25, 2015

MY FRIENDS, HAS SATAN BLINDED US FROM ACCEPTING THE PROMISES OF GOD?

“The Lord will always deliver us from all evil and will bring each of us into his heavenly Kingdom. To God be the glory” My friends “Satan well knows that all whom he can lead to neglect prayer and the searching of the Scriptures, will be overcome by his attacks.

Therefore he invents every possible device to engross the mind. But neither wicked men nor devils can hinder the work of God, or shut out His presence from His people, if they will, with subdued, contrite hearts, confess and put away their sins, and in faith claim His promises.”(E.G. White The Great Controversy)

My friends, that seems like such an easy solution to salvation and that is to claim by, or as by virtue of, our rights which are God’s promises.

“And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable [us] to share his divine nature and escape the world’s corruption caused by human desires.” 2 Peter 1:4 (NKJV)

“Standing on the promises that cannot fail, when the howling storms of doubt and fear assail, By the living Word of God we shall prevail, Standing on the promises of God.” My friends God has made His promises available through His word if we will believe.

In addition, God’s promises are a declaration that something will be done Because He says it. Remember, God is “not human, that He should lie, not a human being, that he should change his mind. [He does not] speak and then not act? [He Does not] promise and not fulfill? Numbers 23:19 (NIV)

But my friends we have to know what is in God’s word and how each promise relates personally to each of our situations. “Train up a child in the Lord, and when they are old, will not depart from your teachings,” relates basically too someone with children.

And then there are promises for all, no matter what the situation, “….for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.” Deu. 31:6 (NIV) Another promise for His faithful says “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jer. 29:11 (NIV)

“Standing on God’s promises, we now can see Perfect, present cleansing in the blood for me; Standing in the liberty where Christ makes free, Standing on the promises of God.” Oh the precious blood of Jesus christ and the promises of it’s cleansing power.

“But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:7-9 (ESV)

In addition, as we follow the word of God we should understand that Satan’s motives are only to keep us blinded with what this world which is bound for perdition deems is right and acceptable.

2 Corinthians 4:4 tells us “whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them.”

Well today we have a choice to be blinded by Satan and the things of this world or we can focus all of our attention on things above and God’s word and finish our course and continue to hold on to our faith as we endure and await our crown of righteousness, “which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give each of us at that day and not to us only, but unto [everyone] that love his appearing.” 2 Tim 4:7-8 (KJV)

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