March 23, 2015

MY FRIENDS, THE KNOCKING CONTINUES, ARE WE IGNORING IT?

But now the Lord who created you, O Israel, says: Don’t be afraid, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are mine. When you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you.

When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown! When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up the flames will not consume you.” Isaiah 43:1-2 NKJV)

It was almost 1:00 in the morning when the phone rang. Dr. Leo Winters, the highly acclaimed Chicago surgeon, was abruptly awakened. There had been an accident and his skill hands were needed for immediate surgery.

The quickest route happened to be through a rather tough area, but with time being a critical factor, it was worth the risk. At one of the stoplights his door was yanked open by a man with a gray hat and a dirty flannel shirt.

“I got to have your car!” the man screamed, pulling him from his seat. Winters tried to explain the gravity of the situation but the man would not listen. When the doctor was finally able to get a taxi to the hospital over an hour had elapsed and it was to late as the patient had passed away 30 minutes earlier.

The nurse told him that the father of the victim had gone to the chapel wondering why the doctor never came. Dr. Winters walked hurriedly to get to the chapel and when he entered he saw the father wearing a gray hat and dirty flannel shirt. (J. Utley)

Tragically the man in the gray hat, and dirty flannel shirt, had terminated the one chance he had in saving his son’s life. My friends How, many times, in our life do we terminate or eliminate the saving grace of our Savior from our lives.

He knocks daily, “Here I am! Please respond, for I Am the only way, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which you can be saved” Acts 4:12 (NKJV)

My friends, If you hear God’s voice please open the door to your heart and allow His Spirit to come in and make a complete transformation, for God’s love, grace and  mercy is still sufficient to sustain us until we cross over into the promise land.

Please don’t terminate your relationship with Christ because your schedules, and time does not fit within Christ spiritual agenda. “The steps of a good man [and 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. Ps 37:23-24 (NKJV) So that text tells me, Christ has ordered our steps and has set an agenda that will get us to the promise land if we will only respond to His knocking.

Jer. 29:11 (NIV) tells us 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.” Remember This is the great I Am who created the heavens and earth in 7 Days.

In addition, He “created man and woman in His own image;” That is why we should “Trust in the Lord with [a passion of hope], and lean not on our own understanding” but give it all to the Master as we acknowledge the presence of God in our lives, by letting our faith and endurance dictate our journey.

So my friends, today with heartfelt prayer and supplications let’s make it all about our redeemer and as we take up our cross, with passion cry out “All to Jesus I surrender; Humbly at His feet I bow, Worldly pleasures all forsaken; take me, Jesus, take me now” as you create in me a clean and pure heart, one that will shield us against all “principalities, and powers, and the rulers of the darkness of this world” and prepares me to cross over into the promise land and life eternal.

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

March 21,2015

MY FRIENDS, JESUS CHRIST IS THE ONLY WAY IF WE BELIEVE!

When I think about the closeness of the hour and Christ soon return and all God  has done for me then I realize, I must “open up my heart to everyone I see and say Jesus Christ is the only way if you believe.

Soon, time will be no more and we will see His face as He “descends from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and we will then hear the sound of Gabriel’s trumpet blow.

And at that moment we will look around and see the dead in Christ and all of our friends, family and love one’s rise, along with all of His faithful who are alive and endured to the final stage of this journey being caught up together.

In addition, we will then meet the thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand of angels and our Lord and Savior in the air too begin the last stage of our journey to the promise land, our new home where we will always be with the Lord throughout the ceaseless ages of eternity.

But what is so different about this last stage of our journey compared to the first? There is no one to tell us you can’t make it, the journey is too hard, the road is too narrow, your time is too demanding, if you follow me you will only have to worry about self.

Consistent with this, the road you are trying too take, only a few are taking, but I have an easier way, one that does not require you to carry a cross or continually pray and study, your time is all yours, you will never be required to help someone along the way.

And spreading the good news is not important on the road I put you on. It is a much wider road easier to travel that many have chosen. Also on this road the world is yours if you will just follow me.

Then in flight we will look around to everyone we see and say Jesus Christ and the road we took was truly the only way. My friends, just think how great it is living in the 21st century and being a part of God’s chosen generation, commissioned by the all-powerful, all-knowing Omnipresent God to finish up His work right before He comes.

It is now clearer than ever before why Satan is so determine that we fall in some area of our life, weather it is appetite, marriage, wasted time, gossip, dishonesty, adultery, covertness, and most of all our “socially acceptable sins,” the list goes on.

But if you are a Child of God who seeks His presence each day, we must understand with no reservation that Satan will never take one prisoner. So we must lay prostrate before our God daily as we humble ourselves before Him and pray like never before, as we make it personal.

Lord I now know you are the only way and the “good work you have started in me you can now “carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” So please allow the power of your Spirit to fall on me until it is overflowing, not only on my head but every part of me.

“Let my life send forth a glow, Let the oil around me flow, so please anoint me Lord this day I pray, For I now realize that broken hearts and lives Can be mended anew Just with one touch Dear Lord from you. So please let it overflow.” (Vicki Yohe)

And as His anointing oil flows within us, we will be a witness for our Savior “in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” So my friends let’s praise His name in great exaltation today, as we put on the entire armor of God and go to battle in this great controversy as we finish up the work of God because He is the only way.

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

March. 20, 2015

MY FRIENDS, THE ACCUSER OF THE BRETHERN TELLS IT LIKE IT IS!!!

Then he showed me Joshua the high priest standing before the Angel of the Lord, and Satan standing at his right hand to oppose him. Zechariah 3:1(NKJV)

At this time in the history of Israel, Joshua is interceding before God, for His chosen. Satan is also bringing accusations against them based on their sinfulness.

A familiar trait of Satan that will not end until “Michael stand up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people: and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.

And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.” Daniel 12:1-3 (KJV)

So my friends your adversary the accuser of the brethern continues His fierce attacks against God’s chosen today because he knows his cup of indignation has overflowed to its limit “So be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.

“Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the [accuser of the brethren] in all situations and circumstances] Ephesians 6:10-11 (KJV) Then “The Angel of the Lord stands against Satan on Joshua’s behalf, and Satan stands at his right hand to oppose him.

And the Lord said to Satan, “the lord rebuke’s you, Satan! The lord who has chosen [my faithful] rebuke’s you! Zec 1:2 (KJV) Now Joshua was clothed in filthy garments, and was standing before the Angel.

Joshua isn’t in God’s presence just as an observer, but as an ambassador to the office of the priest for Israel. As I see it this is not a position Satan ever wants to be in for this defeats his demonic purpose, because once we are in the presence of God “[He will] make known to [His faithful] the path of life.

[yes my friends] in [His] presence there is fullness of joy; at [His] right hand are pleasures forevermore. Ps. 16:11(ESV) But Like the Children of Israel Satan portrays each of God’s faithful as undeserving of His love, grace, and mercy.

We are now on trial before the universe like Joshua and Israel of old, as we stand before the pure countenance of our Lord and Savior we stand under condemnation, clothed in filthy garments as the accuser of the brethern presents His case  before the Lord of our evil doings and character defects.

He shows our faults and failures, He shows each instance in our life where God’s precepts were of no effect. My friends I need you to see what is happening here, the accuser of the brethern has put each of us on trial before Christ, with accusations of breaking the same precepts that he encourage us to violate.

“Even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” 2 Cor. 4:3-4 (KJV)

But for His faithful disciples, each of us who have taken up our cross and endured as we followed our Savior all the way to Calvary, Christ tells Satan; even though their garments were as filthy rags at one time.

I have given them a pure white robe they will now wear throughout the ceaseless ages of eternity for they are “a brand plucked from the fire?” Zec. 1:2 (KJV)

My friends, it will be a sad scenario for everyone that will came so close to God’s kingdom, but choose to follow the accuser of the brethern to perdition. And then the greatest tragedy will be, those who chose this world, now realize that all you owned and accomplished on this earth cannot compare to eternal life.

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

March 19, 2015

MY FRIENDS, TIME TELLS A STORY BUT DO WE HAVE THE INABILITY OR UNWILLINGNESS TO BELIEVE?

“A Tale of Two Cities (1859) is a novel by Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution.” The most popular quote from the novel states;

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness,”

“worst of times, age of foolishness, epoch of incredulity, season of Darkness,” all attributes of life in the 21^st century, depicted in a supposedly fictitious novel over 150 years ago. And what is so incredible, when Dickens tells us, it was the epoch of incredulity, similar to the times we live in today.

In addition, it is a very distinctive time, but like 1859 we also have allowed the god of this world to place within us the inability or unwillingness to believe what is being played out before our eyes each day.

But my friends the final season the coldest of them all is about too end, for the darkness is continuous at this point. But because of the love, grace and mercy of God for His children there is still a glimmer of light that still flickers and that my friends is the light that must shine within us as we carry out God’s mandate throughout the world.

Oh the passion and the prayers that must never cease as we “repent therefore and become converted, that our sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,

and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to [us] before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began.” Acts 3:19-20 (NKJV)

Oh the daily searching of the scriptures it is going to take to gain the faith and endurance to continue on this Journey to the promise land, but “All who come to Christ for a clearer knowledge of the truth will receive it.

He will unfold to them the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, and these mysteries will be understood by the heart that longs to know the truth. A heavenly light will shine into the soul temple, and will be revealed to others as the bright shining of a lamp on a dark path.” (E. G. White Christ Object Lessons pp 36)

My friends if we allow that bright shinning of a lamp to go out within us we will be like one of the five foolish virgins while the bridegroom was delayed, slumbered and slept.

But when the “midnight cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’ Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’[for they were unprepared to meet Him.]

But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut.” Matt. 25:1-10 (NKJV)

My friends grace still allows that door to be open for His Chosen, But we must stay focused for that door is gradually closing “For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah.

For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be.” Matt. 24:37-39 (NASV) So please my friends, let’s all stay focused.

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

MY FRIENDS, “THE EFFECTIVE, FERVENT PRAYER OF A RIGHTEOUS MAN OR WOMAN AVAILS MUCH”

“….You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.”…The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man or woman avails much.”James 4:2-3 (NKJV) James 5:16 (NKJV)

My friends, from the mighty mountains of New York, [Praise His name] from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania. [Praise His name.]From Lookout Mountain of Tennessee, [Praise His name.]

From every hill and mole hill of Mississippi, [Praise His name]!” because we now know with no reservation”[That the prayers of the righteous availeth much if we believe.]” (Martin Luther King I have a Dream Speech)

Those words tell His chosen that we must have a passion about what we are petitioning God for. There must be a passion of hope that a family member or friend will be healed when you lay prostrate before the great physician and say Lord not my will but thou will be done.

A passion of faith that our son or daughter will find the Lord one day as the tears runs down your cheeks and we cry out, oh the Great I Am, it was your promises that told me “train up a child in the way of the Lord and He will not depart.”

A passion of understanding as you study the word of God from Genesis to Revelation, as you cry out, all Scripture is breathed out by you God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work. 2 Tim 3:16-17 (KJV)

A deep and heartfelt passion for a successful marriage as you plead for direction, as you cry out, my God too you only can I turn to, for I know “Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every [situation and] circumstance. ” Cor. 13:7 (KJV)  

A passion, today, in the 21st century, as we cry out, oh Lord, the true light of the world “the increase of wickedness, and the love of the world grows cold, please give me direction as a vessel “for such a time as this,” and the will, and desire, to spread the good news of the gospel to all the world as we look above with tears in our eyes and say “Lord Jesus, come quickly, please come soon.”

But most of all my friends, a passion that whatever our petition is, it will bring glory and honor to our Saviors name because we were “bought with a price, so every day of our life we will glorify God in our body, and in our spirit, which are God’s.”  1 Cor. 6:20 (KJV)

And as we lift Him up and magnify His name we are petitioning our best friend, not just some acquaintance. Oh “What a Friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and grief’s to bear! What a privilege it is to carry everything to God in prayer!”

My friends, as we talk to God we really can “here the sound of the rushing wind, and the more we talk to Him we begin to realize, His appearing is closer then ever as we begin to here the trumpet of Gabriel, and hear the Father as He says son go get my children,

And in the twinkling of an eye, as the trumpet is blown, our friends, family, and love one’s that were laid to sleep suddenly become alive, with new bodies that will never, never die; and then we who are still alive shall suddenly have new bodies also.”

As the final season of this world is about to end and the books of God’s judgment will soon be closed. Our prayers must be passionate and focused, as we pray for a double portion of God’s Spirit to rain down upon us while enduring until the day of Christ soon appearing and we will all, who are faithful, go to our new home and life eternal.

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

March 17, 2015

MY FRIENDS, DO OUR NEIGHBORS KNOW WE ARE SIMPLY A REFLECTION OF GOD’S LIGHT THAT SHINES?

“And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. ’This is the first commandment. And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself. ’There is no other commandment greater than these.”(NKJV)

My friends as a child do you remember sometimes at night looking up at the vast array of infinite beauty that God has created, imagining if you were only a star, everyone would see you.

Larnell Harris has a song that says. “Have you ever walked outside into the stillness in the night and looked deep into the heavens and view the brilliance of the light and wished upon that moment that you could shine that way and then called out to the father so that He could hear you say.

I wanna be a star up somewhere in the silent sky like the one over Bethlehem that brought the humble and the wise [I] want the world to know Your love, and the hope that’s found in you I’ll shine anywhere you ask me to.

[I will have] no glory of my own for it will [just]be for anyone to see it’s simply a reflection of your light shining in me” (Larnell Harris, I want to Be a Star) My friend, God’s commission to us is that we shine anywhere He ask us too.

In addition, we must remember that when Christ tells us to “love our neighbor as our self, it “does not mean merely one of the church or faith to which we belong. It has no reference to race, color, or class distinction.

Our neighbor is every person who needs our help. Our neighbor is every soul who is wounded and bruised by the adversary. Our neighbor is every one who is the property of God. (E. G. White Christ Object Lessons pp376)

A story is told about the duke of Wellington who was once present where a party of Christian men were discussing the possibility of success in a missionary effort among the heathen. They appealed to the duke to say whether in his judgment such efforts were likely to prove successful, proportionate to the cost.

The old soldier replied: “Gentlemen, what are your marching orders, Success he said, is not the question for you to discuss. If I read your orders, they run thus, ‘go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.’ Gentlemen, obey your marching orders.”

So the secret my friend “to every Christian’s success as to his or her mandate from God will be found in the harmonious and daily workings of all Christians, along with the Holy Spirit in the finishing up of Gods work regardless of what this world deems as success.”

Remember success as a Christian for Christ is not Him asking us to devote ourselves to His cause: but for us to yield ourselves to His will. “Every excuse in word and action, with every element of fear and faithlessness to continue witnessing for Him was challenged and answered on the cross when He said” “it is finished.”

While much of the fruit of our labor will not be apparent in this life, but if your desire is to give it all to the Master, then when the element above opens up with thousands upon thousands upon ten thousand of angels at our Saviors side singing, “Holy, Holy, Holy and we look into the face of our Savior and realize we had seen that face many times before “in the least of them.”

At that moment my friends we will know our reward is with Him, “to give every man and woman according to his work while we were hear on this earth. Oh what a day I hope we are all  longing for.

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

March 16, 2015

MY FRIENDS, HOW MANY GODS DO WE HAVE IN OUR LIVES?

Today, let’s determine how we as Christians look at God and His law in the 21^st century. Webster’s take on Christianity and other monotheistic religions simply means the creator and ruler of the universe and source of all moral authority; the Supreme Being.

So today we will focus on God’s first two commandments and whether what was recorded over 3000 years ago is still relevant to us today which tells us to have no other Gods before us, in other words, to renounce anything that hinders a true worship of God.

My friends, in our fast pace got to have it now society how is that possible? At the time God is giving His commandments, Moses is on top of a mountain and the Bible says, then God spoke these words: “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.”

It is amazing that the 10 Commandments don’t start with a command, but a statement.” I am the Lord your God who brought you out of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before Me.

“You shall not make for yourself a carved image any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them.

For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. Ex. 20:3-6 (NKJV)

My friends, He has made His precepts personal to each of us. You and I, He tells us, must make a decision about serving Him. You shall have no other God’s before me. And why is that so important for us today? “The core of the New Age theology tells us: you and I are gods.

Each of us has access to a supraconscious, creative, integrative, self-organizing, intuitive mind whose capabilities are apparently unlimited,”

The question we must ask ourselves today is; have we allowed the god of this world too take our attention and relationship off of the true God who made the heavens and the earth and our responsibility to serve Him and place it on Satan and the things of this world.

When we are laborers together with God, we cannot set our affections upon things below; for where our affections are, our thoughts will be; and where our thoughts are, there will be our treasure. When we dwell upon things seen and temporal, we fail to obtain divine knowledge (White)

I often find myself these days having to sacrifice something I love to do, for the sake of what is more important at that particular time. Well God wants us to know in giving us this commandments that He wants nothing before Him “for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God,”

In other words, every decision you make in life should first be centered and focused on our love, honor, respect, wisdom, knowledge and relationship with God. God started his precepts off by reminding us that we were slaves. But my friends we have been bought with a price.

“For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Rom 5:7-8 (NKJV)

The words of one’s marriage vows say “forsaking all others” and that must be our vows to our Savior, we must forsake everything else in this world for our God. So take the scales of your life today and place Christ on one side and the desires of your heart that are centered around this world on the other side and now ask yourself which one out weights the other.

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