A Journey of Faith

Who are you to judge?

2010-08-25T02:48:00.001-05:00

Paraptoma: A side-slip (lapse or deviation), (unintentional) error or (willful) transgression; ---fall, fault, offense, sin, trespass.

     That is how just one Greek word for SIN is defined in Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible.  Paraptoma possesses a rather involved and highly scrutinized definition within the immediate Christian community amongst an extensive list of many other Greek words which are similarly used to define of one Christianities hugely debated subjects of much controversy. This three-letter word and its definition has evoked a sense of discontentment and endless controversy across the religious board with various denominations in the Christian whole in, not only, the Christian community but also in opposing circles around the world. While there are other creative and just as important definitions that have managed to permeate the halls of Christiandom, this one simple word and its closed-for-debate definition will be the topic of this post for the next...well, however long is takes to establish my point.
     Although part (well, most actually) of me says "No, don't do this you know better", referring to actually compromising my long-standing view of not involving politics with religion, my conscience says "speak your mind". It is important to point out that I have had this topic pressing on my spirit for some time now and so I err on the side of caution as I unwind years of an issue that, to say the least, has been quite influential in my recent life of being a full-fledged Christian. While I have maintained courtesy to both the Christian community and opposing side up until now with most of my posted content, I warn the reader with absolute integrity, read with caution and thick skin! I will establish for the sake of apologetics (I am not an apologist, yet at least) that I am a God-fearing Christian who believes to this day in the infallibility of the Bible, as written and compiled in its originality and by the original and universally accepted authors. I also currently do not hold any affiliation with any specific denomination (another topic to be covered in upcoming post) or doctrine and I avoid dogmatic inspired views [this is outside expected interaction with others in the Christian community of course]. I am happy and content to simply love my God and I am firm in my belief that He is active in my life and reveals His presence with miracles and the working of the Holy Spirit. I am undergoing a major life development in my personal theology and while going to school full-time to conquer my Bachelor of Science in Christian Ministry through Mid-American Christian University, I have already begun learning so much more, which I am confident is contributing to the development of this personal theology.
     So, to get right to the point, that is my style-extremely and sometimes overly blunt [what can I say, I don't want to waste any more of my life], I am discussing my take (not to be confused with your take) on the current state of affairs in the Church in regards to hypocrisy! I need to first lay the ground work for my opinions. 1) I do believe in unity as God desires this in His children [biblical and personal choice] 2) I do appreciate constructive criticism if the intent is for the exhortation not degradation of another Christian [biblical and personal choice] 3) I do firmly believe in strength in numbers especially when spreading the Gospel 4) I do believe in corporate worship if the worship is beneficial to all members of the body as a whole [biblical and personal choice] 5) I do desire love, kindness, integrity, faith, and mercy from other Christians and I constantly and uncompromisingly offer the same in everything I stand for as a Christian (although I fall short at times but always get back up) [personal choice] and 6) I absolutely consider the Bible the ultimate authority in my personal life as a Christian individual [personal choice]. Now, with all of this being said, I will responsibly assume that the reader is also a human being and believes in the ability and obvious propensity for all human beings, non-believer and believer alike, to not only make mistakes but also fail in our perpetual quest to reach that utopia state of spiritual perfection. So, again I urge you, "reader beware!" and take what I am about to say with a grain of salt.
     While I am being reader specific to fellow believers, I personally believe that if we are unable to cooperatively function as a body of believers and cannot avoid criticism of other Christians or fail to arbitrate or find common ground amongst our own Christian circles and community, we have also failed the single most important mission of all...reaching out to other people to spread the Gospel. Please understand I hold a personal belief in spreading the Gospel proactively but also very non-confrontational and absolutely non-abrasive manner. You cannot force the Gospel on anyone as this was not the intent in the first place. Too quickly we forget that it was choice that we possess collectively as the human race, which distinctly sets us apart from all other creation and choice that played a part in our salvation [it should be understood I personally acknowledge only the grace of God through Jesus Christ makes salvation possible]. And far too often we believers think that we have reached a certain "level" that is superior to all others or as we often refer to, "the sinners" and this only turns non-believers off even more to God.  You see, we are walking, talking, breathing representations of what it should be like to be a Christian so our whole being is surrounded by scrutiny. We live in, not just a glass house, but a world surrounded by glass. True, God does not need selling [Jesus said He will draw the world to Him] but if those looking at Christiandom through their curious eyes observe a false image or an obvious breech of integrity in our character revealed through our behavior or by our words, then we have failed being Christ-like. In itself this is just another sin or lapse by the individual human but to a world with an interest in trying the Christian lifestyle, this has a much larger negative effect. The damage to our own persona is can be remedied with repentance and a humble heart but the detriment to our identity as a Christian, even more as a mentor to others interested in giving our "lifestyle" a try is sometimes permanently and irreversibly scarred. This makes me stop right here and thank God for His saving grace which supersedes all human standards and consequences. God is not a man that He is in any way regulated or conformed to our simple and quite worthless [when compared to Him] standards or mere rules. On the flip-side, our identity or individuality with other people is measured according to these standards and so, in a way, we need to be conscious of our "performance" as examples to the world.
     To lapse or deviate from being a Christian could mean to compromise your entire belief system [wow, pretty shocking when said like this huh?] or to simply turn aside or "veer" from the straight and narrow for a split second while still maintaining your standing as a Christian. So you slipped up with a very slight or very noticeable margin of error. But you compromised your conscience whether for a split-second or spacial day. So does this automatically condemn you to eternal death (I use you for emotional emphasis) or just corroborate your oh so humanness? Are we forever branded a failure within the Christian community or just a weak believer? Or, do we simply nod, admit foul, then move on like nothing happened at all with complete discretion on the part of the offender? I already know how I feel about this issue [that is after all the reason for this post] but I want to know what the general consensus is. How do you view sin? What do you consider mistake, dangerous move, and absolutely death deserving? Now, I refuse to answer my own question here [I say here because I am a habitual self-conversant] so I will move on to my main point.
     I have observed a nasty trend within the Christian community as a whole [I don't want to limit this fault to the Church because it is not just the Church]. Too often, we [I am using we because I have only recently begun to distance myself from the role of offender] are so eager to point out each other in situations where the blame game begins and fault finding seems all to comfortable. But why? I mean, as a human being [we are only human] we are prone to follow predisposures to certain unpleasantness but as Christians, we are morally obligated to follow Christ-like procedures and divinely orchestrated rules. Christiandom demands 24/7 behavior of this caliber. Our behavior is non-debatable and should remain a constant, perpetually movement forward without slowing down. Christianity is not some religious "faucet" you can turn on when you desire to save face or "look good" then shut off when you need to undergo a small "indiscretion" or infraction of your untimely choice.  And, because of the glass house theory mentioned above, looking in a mirror should become relative to our lifestyle. It should be a norm ingrained into our existence as a Christian.
     I have not only been the contest of preying judgement consultants within the Church but I have also observed others who, either observant of their folly or unaware of their apparent state as a victim [the latter often being the case], have fallen victim to similar slandering and condemnation by the Church body. Just as common and often as damaging are attacks from select "clicks" within the main body of the Church. Whether from the entire community, the Church, or just a single offender, being the victim of an attack by another in any context or setting is emotionally, spiritually, and socially damaging. Some are able to take these attacks in stride with nothing more than simple offense while others [too often the case] receive scars that last a long time, sometimes never recovering from the effects. With justification these victims become, at the least, wary of the "system" and begin to rethink their status in Christiandom.  Can you blame them? Are we not supposed to be mentoring and discipling each other? Are we not held to a higher standard of tolerance and love? Do we not lead by example and play the role of a servant-leader versus leader-servant? The answers are quite simple, YES, YES, YES, YES! All Christians are held to standards that are intended with every dimension of exceeding all other standards especially the worlds' standards. When a non-believer cannot differentiate between another non-believer or believer [the questionable person is understood to be a Christian] by observing their attitude and behavior, we must then assume that this is a misrepresentation of Christiandom as a whole. But when a Christian is spreading rumor(s) about a fellow Christian whether true or false, the slander or not slander debate does not apply. This is a legal maneuver not a moral issue. To deprave another brother or sister of their confidence and take anything apart from a constructive approach to every relationship with other Christians is far short of justified in any Christian arena. It is simply unChristian! To make a snap judgement about another brother or sister based on another's individual opinion or personal definition is a far cry from spiritually sound.
     The Holy Spirit was pretty clear when He had the inspired men write about slandering, backbiting, spreading false witness, judgement, condemning, and taking on God-ly duties that are otherwise off limits to anyone except God himself. Jesus was extremely clear when He repetitively taught about leaving the judging up to God and condemn not lest we be condemned and those who judge will they themselves be judged. Though the exact words and incident for cause differ the purpose and context remains constant. We, as Christ-like children of God, are to avoid this behavior and there is nothing, absolutely no justification that makes any offending behavior in this neighborhood even remotely OK.  If you are one of those legalistic, controlling [control carries a demonic tone in meaning] types then using God's message [intended to save and show us how to live] for your own personal crusade is nothing new. However, and take this little piece literally, using the Word of the Most High God as a foundation for your own preconceived ideologies that differ even slightly from the intended purpose carries its own special penalties to be executed by God at His discretion. I plead with others who may have done this [as I am guilty of doing] to rethink your effect not only on the victim of your smear campaign [whether intended to harm or simply playing ignorant] but also on Christiandom as a collective whole. It will always fail. God gave us His Word as a standard by which we maintain our identity as Christians and realize our own indiscretions and shortcomings as believers, not to leverage others to accomplish our own human desires and evil schemes. God allowed us another chance at salvation through His Son, the precious Lamb, the Jesus Christ our Lord. We call ourselves Christian because we love those who don't love us, we don't follow who or what others follow, and we always benchmark our success here on earth off of the future glory there in the New Kingdom. We love because God first loved us, not wait and see if someone deserves our love based off of their actions. We cannot just assign another person "probation" according to our own personal standards because they will fail every time and that attitude is judgement in itself. That is precisely why we have a universal standard [compliments of Heaven] who never deviates or lapses or is in error (Jesus Christ). It is important to remember that "ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God".
     So next time you hear a negative word about someone else or are told something about someone else, don't adopt the majority opinion about that person, don't pass that information along, and do not attempt to converse with another thinking your care to properly investigate the matter justifies your involvement because it doesn't. Thou shalt not bear false witness against your neighbor-Ten Commandments. One important and priceless lifetime lesson I learned as a Police Investigator was that you NEVER know the entire truth until you know everything and until you have had a chance to investigate everything involved [and you will never get that luxury in a Christian setting] you will never get the whole story. So, take it from me who has ruined some relationships of my own, don't travel the same path because it leads to heartbreaks and soul aches. Too many people would still be friends and still be together if others would have just minded their own affairs. From a biblical standpoint and personal creed, live and let live and even more, let God be God and you just be you. Stop building expectations for everyone else and only be concerned about you. Love covers a multitude of sins and much more than that. Leave the rumors where they belong and the judgement to the JUDGE. If you want to know the true definition of SIN, look in a mirror...It humbled me! Amen.

Point of no return!

2010-05-21T00:42:00.000-05:00

     Have you received Jesus into your life and are moving forward in your walk of faith along with the Father? Is your life different now that you are changed and in love with the Father? Are you completely content with your new life in Christ Jesus without any remnant past life showing up since your change?

     I received the Lord into my life with joy and zeal. Having been through a hell of my own, I was oh so happy to start over and begin my walk with my God in a new light...After losing everything give my two children, submission to a Christian lifestyle was not sounding too bad or extreme. When you lose everything, you have everything to gain. You see friends, we tend to judge the quality of our lives on the material in our lives...What a deception this truly is to believe. Not long after my complete spiritual, emotional, and physical life change, I began to notice pieces of my past start to reveal themselves in the strangest situations. Very unexpectedly and surprisingly, I began to see issues resurface...Now, understand I am a new person in Christ. I gave up ALL my carnal ways and traded most every negative thought I possessed previously and selfish tendency for the love of God. It was a different experience and completely new to me coming from a very self-centered and self-loathing past. Self-indulgence in many different and equally evil sins was a regular occurrence in my personal life and even though I was a good father and husband, I was the worst child of God. You see, when we are unaware of the standard of God and what He requires out of us as His children, when we don't know what we need to be compared to from what we are, we think we are not that bad. The enemy most definitely has us blinded to the truth...He is very effective at clouding the truth of our state of existence. Best at deception, he goes to great lengths to convince us our current personal state of affairs is fine and we do not need anything or anyone interfering with our lives. How wrong this lie is...how dangerous and detrimental to our future life if we have one at all!

     When my pieces of my past began to resurface in my new life, the doubt started to surface also. When we give in to even just a little doubt or fear, the enemy uses this as his wedge to put more and more into different areas of our life. Doubt leads to more doubt and eventually you have uncontrolled paranoia in your life. Now I know why Peter tells us to FLEE FROM THE DEVIL...Because we cannot slowly walk away from him...he will just follow us...we must never ask him politely to leave us alone. You cannot deceive a deceiver! FLEE FROM HIM. Run away. You never need to be afraid of him. Just use wisdom when dealing with him and his trickery. Distance is the best solution to prevention. We must understand that our past has nothing good for our growth. It is meant be put away and forgotten. It is purposed to remain our past and never have a place in our present or future.

     One blessing God has graced me with as a result of my obedience to Him is to take away my former over-powering desire to indulge in blatant sin. While surrendering all of my past to God as a condition of my new life and forgiveness by Him, there have been occasional situations where minor parts of my past seem to try and revisit my new life. Having choice at our discretion, we are ultimately responsible for decisions of right or wrong. This discretion does not go away when we surrender to God. It is what separates us from the rest of creation. It is what proves God's nature of love rather than showing Him to be a sick puppeteer who wants us to be human robots who walk around mindlessly doing His bidding. Worship of Him should be our desire, not forced against our will. With the choice being our decision, we must choose wisely. We must understand that our past is just that, our past. It is already done. Nothing we do now will change it. We must keep our past as our past. When pieces of our past begin to appear in our renewed lives in Christ, we must realize that is just the enemy attempting to put that wedge into our new lives to break us apart from God. Do not reopen a closed chapter of your life. Would you readdict yourself to cocaine after years of being clean? Would you reinfect yourself with a disease after complete healing? It is no different in your new life with Christ!

     Treat your relationship with the Almighty God with the utmost respect. Approach it with care. Be cautous in everything you do as the enemy goes to great lengths to get you back into sin away from God. Do not ever take your new found freedom for granted. Take nothing for granted. Walk lightly and pray hard. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Flee from the devil and he will flee from you. Do not put yourself into any compromising situations and never throw caution to the wind, it will blow away. Never allow a situation to escalate into dangerous ground, thereby threatening your new life in Christ. Turn every negative into a positive, every wrong into a right. Choose life, not death!

Your own faith!

2010-05-12T01:07:00.000-05:00

     We are all endowed with a natural ability to choose our own life. We were all created with the same effect-choice. This choice has shown throughout history to be a blessing and a curse, a curse which we lodge against our own person. When used for benefit, choice is powerful. However, when used in contempt and under selfish pretenses, it is death to the user. One major point is to understand that without absolute and unhindered discretion from God, we will always make the wrong choice...We cannot possibly know what the right choice by using our own wisdom!

      This so relevantly applies to our faith. Your faith is just that, your faith... It is your journey to reach perfection in Christ Jesus. It is your own story containing your own unique experiences of trial and error. Your pains and your victories. Untouched by any outside contamination because it is your faith...no one elses...only yours. Too often other caring Christians might not understand this need to undergo this journey on your own and with good intentions in mind, they encroach on your life by not giving you the benefit of the doubt or even by assuming your spiritual maturity through unrelated actions or words. Though this is meant by them in the highest order of respect it is not right or respectful. My own faith is being developed from experiences only I have been through and frankly, only I wish to ever have to go through. Without these experiences, I cannot say what condition I would be in today regarding my spiritual maturity. More specifically, without formulating my own techniques and methods of conflict resolution and problem-solving, I cannot say with any certainty if I would have the faith I do.

     Faith is unique and must be contained to your own personal journey and any attached affects. The only other person involved in the development of your faith should be GOD. Faith is learning to trust God to be God and using every situation you encounter or experience as just that...an experience that makes you stronger and wiser. But ultimately faith should only serve to build your dependence on God more and more as time goes on and you are victoreous. All victory comes from Jesus and all success through faith in His ability to make us who He wants us to be. So do not let anyone else attempt to live your life for you or take anything away from you. We are all children of God equal to eachother, inferior only to our God. Jesus is the only one with seniority above all. Your faith will be a testamony of your own personal life journey...make it a good one. Use it to serve the Kingdom of God.

Believe and be healed!!!

2010-04-26T02:38:00.001-05:00

My motto used to be, “I have to see it to believe it!” Since my coming to the truth in Christ Jesus, I have changed that motto to say, “You have to believe it to see it!” There is no room for any subjectivity on that motto when you are a Christian. Faith is just that. That is just faith.

I am a survivor of oppression, affliction, and spiritual suicide otherwise known as depression, injury, and self-inflicted curse. For years, I have battled all of these demons with absolute success but for the Grace of God. I refer to these terms with prejudice. I cannot be more serious when I state that these are direct acts of satanic forces! I will not downplay the danger of these demonic forces because of the resulting damage caused when other Christians downplayed them to me for years. This only caused more oppression in my life and did absolutely nothing for improving my health or faith.

However, during the former years of being constantly afflicted and oppressed, I experienced real pain. The state of this health was not psychological; it was very real and very physical. I was administered several mandatory psychological tests which are designed to determine if one’s pain is real or imagined. Mine was determined by several doctors to be very real. I was clinically diagnosed with PTSD, Chronic Depression, Chronic Anxiety, Sleep Apnea, and Severe Sleep Deprivation. I also underwent twelve major medical surgeries, many various alternative medicines, a couple separate series of trigger-point injections, and a plathoera of prescribed Class III & Class II medications. I was in a doctor or specialists office over two times a month and in and out of the hospital a couple times a year. I underwent over two years of Intensive Psycho-Therapy due to the intensity of the psychological problems I was experiencing. However, the diagnosis of God is nothing like the diagnosis of man! My all time favorite verse must be Jeremiah 29:11-14 “For I know the plans that I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,” declares the Lord, and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.”

I will listen, I will be found by you, I will restore you, I will gather you, I will bring you back…These are all promises. We know this to be the truth because, rest-assured; if it comes from God, it is TRUTH! All these promises with only one requirement…We must love Him with all of our hearts. That is it folks. This is also the key to unlocking the treasure-chest of how to receive full healing from all disease and sickness known to the human race.

Did you know the Greek definition of the word pharmacy? Its Pharmakos which, according to the Wikipedia, means a kind of human scapegoat (a slave, a cripple, or a criminal) who was chosen and expelled from the community at times of disaster or crisis. This term was later changed to “pharmakeus” which refers to; a drug, spell-giving potion, druggist, poisoner, by extension a magician or a sorcerer. God says in Exodus 22:18 “you shall not allow a sorceress to live.” Deuteronomy 28 lists in detail every curse, disease, and punishment that will befall us as a direct result of disobedience to God and sin. It then details every blessing that will come to us because of obedience to God. These are all very descriptive and explain in detail our instructions for health, not calamity. God’s Word is so simple to understand if you spend enough time learning to understand it. Once you begin to get the truth of the messages in the material, the Holy Spirit will take over and explain the rest of it to you. God provides a way for everything to work out if you just give Him the respect of your attention. However, you must do that.

I discovered through those years of much tribulation by afflictions that healing is absolutely relative to your faith level or maturity. I also noticed that as I began to grow more interested in pursuing God’s Word reading and meditation, prayer daily and at times, hourly, I began to heal very quickly. Keep in mind for the sake of this message that after my fifth surgery to remove the broken titanium screws in my lower back, I was told that I would be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life. The pain I was experiencing could not medically be corrected because when my spine slipped off itself, it severed nerves and could not be medically separated from those nerves. My spine did not fuse correctly due to worn edges, which did not allow new growth to occur causing a fusion between the old bone and new growth. To look at the CT scans is disturbing to say the least as the spine is completely broken and out of alignment. I also have a TEN’s Unit implanted under my skin in my right groin area, bilateral hearing loss with hearing aids, and wonderful tinnitus or ringing of the ears. After years of medical doctors & specialists alike, every medication on the market (small exaggeration), and many medical procedures ranging from surgeries to bone grafts, I was fit for the glue factory or so I thought. I do not think that someone can go much lower than I felt. My life was turned around on a dime and I was looking ahead to no more career & a crashing life dream, a pending divorce, and no way of making money. Hopeless does not cover how I felt.

“If I am for you who can be against you?” Gee God, you are still there, still caring, still patient, still loving me…I was so worn out from relentless attacks on my body by the enemy and multiple surgeries that I honestly did not think to even stop and seek God out. I was blinded by all of the impairments, shackled by affliction, and riddled with hopelessness. I did not know where my life had gone in couple short years from a promising career in law enforcement to stay-at-home father who could not even play with my two young children. I had almost six years of U.S. Army Military Police experience and a shorter tenure as a civilian police officer. I had completed the hiring process for an extremely lengthy administrative process of the Border Patrol and U.S. Customs. Waiting on phone calls for an academy date from both agencies, something caused me to finally go into a hospital and seek relief from the constant unbearable pain. I had dealt with this pain all those years in the military, so this is why I say, “Something caused me.” Having become good at masking my pain through my own developed techniques, at the time, I could not understand why I went in to see the doctor. I could barely get out of bed in the morning and after intensive pressure from my former wife, I just caved to human weakness and went in. No doubt in my mind that this was once again apart of the careful and orderly plan of God.

I began to receive healing in my body only after I received healing and repair on my spiritual state. Healing literally began to travel at breakneck speed. Then I reduced my medications from nine to two. No detox, no weaning. Completely dropped. Using my own plan. I discovered that most underlying secondary disease or medical issues are directly related to or result from other disease. I currently work-out at the local gym (using low weight and paced for little to no injury), have no anxiety or depression, and very little pain! What a miracle. I went from hopeless to happy. Extremely deflated to extremely elated. My life was over…or so I thought. Now I look forward to the next day, instead of dreading it. I am an optimist not a pessimist. Glass half-full kind of person. All this because of one truth-GOD! Healing is very real, yeah, but it does not happen if you do not have GOD. You cannot receive healing in any form without first receiving Jesus Christ as your savior, God as your Father, and the Holy Spirit as your advocate. Period! It is not that God is a good-ole-boy club. No, rather He needs us to be on board with Him and we need to be able to understand His love language to us. Without a relationship with Him, this is not possible. Would you stay married to someone you did not live with? There are some absolutes to adopt for this type of breakthrough healing. Here are some guidelines, which must be followed:

1) First, do not ever buy into the biggest lie of the enemy-that disease is normal and you must learn to live with it and adjust to it, not attempt to eradicate it and defeat it. In truth, God brings life, the enemy brings disease, calamity, and death. Wow! Still, I bought the lie because the doctor who pitched the idea to me had me convinced and, had I not given my life back to God, I would have gone to my grave believing it. Doctors can be so deceiving and convincing. It is not that they purposely try to lie to you; they are just following their training and knowledge. However, God uses the knowledge of this world to confuse and confound the wise. Hmmm!

2) Secondly, Jesus Christ cancelled all disease and affliction known to humanity on the cross. He bore our sickness and by His stripes, we are healed. Therefore, to buy the enemies lies, we are crucifying Jesus Christ all over again thereby negating His sacrificial death altogether or denying His death. Do not do this…It is called blasphemy and to downplay this is sure death!

3) Third, never ever connect or claim any disease or affliction you may be providing a host body to now as your own problem. This is so important to understand. By claiming a problem, we are really cursing ourselves and any children we might have. All the enemy needs to control our lives and wreak havoc is to get his ugly foot in the door of our lives. Did you know that he is powerless to cause any harm otherwise. Generational curses are the number one cause of “hereditary disease.” It is that simple. Deny it, cancel it, then be patient and let God continue forward with His awesome healing plan He has for you, but do not claim it! Claim healing.

4) Lastly, in your prayer, begin by giving God due praise and thanksgiving. Worship Him for everything you have, what He has already done for you, and what He is doing (you see that, doing=faith) for you. Then identify your concerns and ask Him to provide you the strength to resist the enemy and reinforce your authority already provided by Christ’s death on the cross. Finally, end your prayer by stating with respect and authority that by His stripe’s we are healed and you will trust God to continue forward with complete healing and restoration. Do not revisit or re-travel that same prayer. Progress forward with your prayers and if the problem continues (it very well may because God might have your restoration worked in as part of His plan), continue to get proper healing from the elders in your church and pray for strength to fight the enemy.

Nevertheless, brother and sister do not ask or request God to heal you. He can, He will, and He already has. That is as admitting that you do not believe God can do what He has already said He has done, can do, and will do. That is like saying you do not believe in God at all. To doubt God’s abilities or capabilities is to doubt God Himself! I asked God if He could heal me for a long time to no avail. I never received an answer to those prayers. He says in His Word that He will not answer empty, self-condemning, pity prayers. Bashful Christians do not see victory. They cannot experience the power an intimate relationship with the Creator includes. In addition, they become easy prey to the enemy. Remember, we must be in-sync with God to understand what He requires and expects from us. We are created in His very image; therefore, we must start living as He does. He spoke everything into existence. Speak your healing into existence. You have that authority. Jesus provided us this luxury through His love sacrifice. Do not insult the Lord of Lords by asking Him to crucify His Son on the cross a second time! It hurt the Father enough to turn His back on Jesus the first time. Use what He died to accomplish. Use your FAITH. Make your faith a reality. Activate your belief system. Faith without action is useless. It is that easy.

If you do not see healing instantly as some do, look for improvement soon after. If you do not notice any then, the real problem must be on your end and directly related to your spiritual health. Troubleshoot your life starting with your ancestors and their medical histories. Eliminate any disease or afflictions within your previous family tree. Bind up any former problems or they will quickly become your own, or worse, your children’s curse. We are all equipped with every weapon we need to fight the enemy in the war of healing and recovery. Yes! God is not gender-specific. He is not bound by race or culture in His miraculous workings and He is no respecter of persons. God never allows things that we cannot handle happen to us. Moreover, He always provides us a way out of problems we do encounter. He is not a puppeteer. He finds no pleasure in our pain. He only desires restoration and relationships. There is no “trick” to healing. It is rather simple. FAITH! Faith that what the Word says is truth, that God loves you, and what He says He will do, He will do! God created you; don’t you think He can fix any problems with your structure or internal workings? Can’t you believe that if He sent His only Son to die for us that He has a plan for healing us also? Is it so hard to believe that all we must do is BELIEVE? Not believing is buying the enemies lies. FEAR is the opposite of FAITH. Doubt is second-in-command only to fear!

I pray that you receive a deeper relationship with God from this experience. I pray that you experience victory and power that Christ died for us to experience. I pray that after all this, you finally experience true healing, miraculous healing. I pray that it blows your mind. I pray that you become so spiritually shaken from this experience that you too will have the same success testimony, which you can actively use to affect victory with others in the Kingdom of God. Can you imagine what can be accomplished through you with God’s love? Think about your testimony of healing being used to bring others to the same relationship with the Creator that we experience…What a thought, make it an action. Seek God, He will answer. Love Him because He first loved us. Amen.

Dare to trust GOD!

2010-04-19T00:51:00.001-05:00

When you were born, you became an official child of GOD. However, what about when you were still developing? What about when you were being conceived? What about who you are now? Who cared for you then and who cares for you now?

The same GOD who cares for you then cares for you now. This same GOD created you with just a Word. A divine thought. You were created in His image. In the image of the Most High GOD! What a thought. What an even better existence.

Q. So what about when I am distressed?

A. GOD never has nor ever will forsake us or leave us. He will forgive our sins as far as the east from the west, He will forget our transgressions. If we take the offering of eternal life in the New Kingdom and abundant life here on earth, GOD will live up to His end of this offering. It is perpetual, always in play. He continues to protect us and His offer never becomes obsolete.

Q. What about my future? What about future problems?

A. GOD says that His love for us is everlasting. Everlasting goes on and on and on. It never stops or even slows down. In addition to everlasting love is everlasting grace and everlasting mercy. He extends His grace through the blood atonement of His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. His sacrifice on the cross gave us freedom! Not freedom as we imagine in America. No, freedom that reaches so much deeper than that. Our own "freedoms" that we believe are so important are actually so miniscule in reality. The freedom Christ made possible through His death applies to our salvation first, suffering and pain second, and freedom from Satan's control third. As one decision of man separated us from GOD, so the death of the Son of Man separated us from the grip of death forever.

Q. Why do we still die or why do we still have pain?

A. Affliction is relevant to our faith. Satan lost all power and authority over man forever in a single moment of time at the very moment Christ gave up His spirit on that tree. However, like any war, the war goes on until the Commander in Chief comes back for the final battle. Satan continues to attempt to win souls while Heaven wages war against his dark forces. Until that final day, we may still fall. Nevertheless, after Christ's death, we were given another way. He bought our salvation through His death. Through His suffering, we obtained grace. Through GOD's mercy, we were given another solution to our dilemma. Do you see the point? Do you get it? We must do something to get something. We must do if we want to get! There is that decision process again.

Our salvation was purchased by our Savior, Jesus Christ, GOD with us. We are held to the trust system. We live as Christians and above reproach. We get to have an abundant life here on earth then go to everlasting life in utopia known as the New Kingdom. All we must do to receive this awesome grace is TRUST GOD! Give Him our dedication and attention. Take everything to God in prayer and worship. Let Him work His plan in our lives and be patient. Ultimately, the result is in His control and out of ours. Ultimately, we have no bearing on the result. We can help along the way by how well we obey and heed His advice, but we in no way affect the result.

Q. So, where does this leave us?

A. Trust GOD to be GOD! Let Him do what He does so well--Guiding us. GOD does not need our advice, assistance, or interpretations. He has a set standard, which He was so gracious to share with us, the Ten Commandments. He is a GOD of order. We must not ever seek to learn His ways or reasons. He has a plan and loves us and this love is all we need to know. GOD has established that He will never leave us nor forsake us--He is a GOD of His Word! Doubt is fear and fear is the opposite of faith. Fear comes from the enemy, not GOD. If something causes doubt or fear, chances are we are doing something out of His grace or protection. We must learn from our ancestors the lessons from bad choices and stupid mistakes. Abraham had his faith, we have the Word. Moses had his faith; we got the Ten Commandments written in stone. David had his faith and one small stone, we have big weapons and strong body armor. Paul had his faith, we have his writings--instructions for how to be a Christian, how to be married, how to be a Church, how to be everything in Christ Jesus. The disciples had their faith; we have their stories to use as learning lessons.

We become Christians then seem to forget who we are. We attend Church and affirm the pastor’s message with an occasional Amen then go home and forget to apply that message to our lives. We go through the motions of praying when we need something but forget to thank GOD when we get something. We claim victory over problems then run from them when faced head-on. We listen to Christian music with positive lyrics but sound like a depressive maniac when our stress level is raised. We admit our feeble human strength yet puff up our chests when confronted by our pride. We agree with GOD’s Word yet cannot quote one verse out of it. Why do we become complacent in our journey of faith? Why do we fall back into our old ways so easily? Why?

We have so many more resources now then they had in those Bible days. We have the Scriptures with actual examples for a buffer in our walk with GOD. A guide for everyday life as a Christian. An example of every situation and every culture to match every problem we may encounter today. The Scriptures have not changed, the times have. GOD is still the same loving merciful GOD. We have become more sophisticated, more advanced, more distant from our faith. Let us get back to the basics of Christianity, the fundamentals of faith in Christ Jesus. We need to seek GOD out as He is, not as we think He should be. He has so much abundance in store for everyone's life; we must begin to obey Him to see this abundance. He offers eternal life, we bring shame and contempt. He offered His only Son; we brought all of our pain, suffering, and affliction. We cannot and should not attempt to recrucify our Savior. What is done is done. Let us accept this and move forward to the life that awaits us as new creations in Christ. Let us be the head and not the tail. Let us dare to trust GOD. Selah!

My Grandfather...

2010-04-13T23:02:00.000-05:00

    My grandfather was always an influence in my life. He brought happiness to my siblings and me when we were children growing up in Douglas Arizona. At that time, a rather small border town, now a very large player in the drug war in the United States. A population exceeding 100,000 people, mostly all of them Hispanic. A culture all its own but very much a part of me. Being a minority in a foreign land among foreign people will always have a role in my life. My grandfather, Corky, was a spirited person, one led to small talk and meaningful words. He demanded a respect but was very understanding. I will never forget my grandfather because of the impact he had on my life.

     We homeschooled and both he and my grandmother taught at our school. English, Math, and computer familiarization. Although computer was not in our official curriculum, he always managed to get a lesson in on his days of teaching. I will never forget visiting with him and my grandmother. Their house was warm and welcoming. It had this attractive draw to it. It is hard to put into words but it held this comfort feeling about it. I would always find an excuse to go over and visit with them during the afternoons after school was out for the day. Growing up in a very tight-control style of home, it was a break to go to his house and he had a real television which my mother still does not know we watched. Having been forbid from doing or being a part of anything with a worldly slant to it, we grew up living off self-created fun and pure adrenaline. It was fun to sit around and tell my grandparents everything that my siblings and I were having difficulties with at the time. Living in a cult-style environment, it was an almost like finding a refuge to visit their home during my childhood and myself and my older sister would always confide in my grandparents as they were always there for us. One of many trailers circled around the cult leader’s trailer, their trailer was on the fringe of the compound and the opposite side of our own doublewide mobile home. It was perfect. Security in a very unsecure world.

     I will always remember the feeling of freeness I always got when I visited their home. My grandfather always on his computer and my grandmother always in their small kitchen. She was a saint of saints. God took extra time to create her. She was the most patient and loving person I have ever met. A strong woman of God. An Esther of our time. My grandfather was a hero in my eyes and the eyes of my siblings. He always stuck up for us to the cult elders who he was always butting heads with. Although done with a grace only my grandfather can reveal, he would always stand up to their constant bullying and mistreatment of us children, which was a regular event. He did not budge an inch and this affected my life in a very positive way. I look back now and wonder in complete amazement at the level of tact that my grandfather used when dealing with my own parents and the other elders in the compound.

     He instilled in me a feeling of endurance and hope. I spent more than enough time irritating my grandfather as I tended to be overbearing but he showed loving-kindness even in the most stressful of situations. He is a man of God among men of God. He is my own hero. I look up to him. I have this awe binding respect for him. Some people are in your life, others outside your life, and only a few ever making it into your heart. My grandfather will always be an influence to me and has played a major role in my salvation. God used that man to reach so many other lives but used him to change mine. I thank the Lord that I have a relationship with my grandfather and love him very much.

the Love!

2010-04-08T22:29:00.000-05:00

God is love. We love Him because He first loved us. Draw near to God and He will draw near to us. For He so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son...These are all very encouraging, very inspiring, very touching.

Why does He seem so far away then? Why do we still have problems? Why? I can say for sure but I, myself, have come from a long way ago but still have a long way to go. It took some extreme life adjustments to begin to see the real God, the God I read so much about in the Bible. It took me 30 years to find God. I am not bragging. I am simply grateful that it did not take any longer. Grateful to God for allowing me to make so many mistakes and yet, still provide recovery for me. Grateful to God for forgiveness, for wiping away all my sins as if they never happened. No more record of wrongdoings! No more mark on my record, no more stain on my clothes, just clean, white clothes. And a crown awaiting me. For me? Yes! For me...This is what I have waiting for me. I am not looking forward to the crown, rather the King. I long for the day I will see my King, my Lord, Holy, Holy, Holy...is the Lord God Almighty...Who was, is, and is to come!

I found that God is always working on us, always improving us, always looking out for us...Why then is it so difficult to see this improvement. It is very simple actually. He tells us in Deuteronomy 28 everything we ever need to know about succeeding. He lays it all out for us in the last of the first five books in His Word to us, the Bible! He explains in detail even though there is no need for explanation. The Bible is the single greatest book in creation. It needs no other power to hold it up. It stands alone, supports its own existence. It is God-inspired, Spirit lead. It is accurate, ultimate, and perpetual. It is consistent not compromised. It will always be within context of time. It is completely factual, poetic, and mysterious. It takes simple people with normal problems in a lost time and turns every story, every situation into a miracle, a life-changing account of one man's story to another’s recovery.

It has been tested and found to be unremarkable. It has survived wars, empires, relentless attacks, and constant scrutiny. All the while remaining unchanged and unscathed. It bears the title of truth, records of God's omniscience, omnipresence, and omnipotence. It attests to God's power and resounds of His love. One event reveals His authority, His absolute integrity with prejudice while another His gentleness that of a lamb. He is constantly caring, always loving, and more often merciful. His love pushes through the pages jumping off into your very soul. It intrigues, confirms, though never denies. It is all-powerful, awe binding, even visionary, transcending the very depths of despair called humanity.

God gave us love, and then He gave us a chance. When we failed Him again and again, He instated His law. When we let Him down yet again, He decided to come down a little closer, even to our level. He chose to live as we do, to show us that He loves us enough to become us and then, die for us. He accomplished this as a lowly carpenter. In the guise of a blue-collar second-class citizen. He became us to save us. He lived in every aspect as us but without sin. He showed us, that though He had the power of the universe and heavens in His hand, He chose something as simple as a lowly working person to give us just one more chance to right our many wrongs. Then He took the burden of all our sins on His own shoulders. He felt pain though He need not. He was mocked though He had created the mockers. His humanity resulted in the worst death imaginable, His divinity became our grace. He became us to save us.

Can we not return the love in just a minute fraction of the way in which He showed us? Are you willing to allow your worst enemy to falsely arrest you, publically humiliate you, scourge you, beat you, torture you, all the while mocking you to your face in front of the world? If that is not enough, don't just allow everything to just happen; actually love those who are doing it! Yes! You read that right...LOVE those who torture you. Then, when you have been given the worst hand of your life, let them nail your hands and feet to a wooden cross. Let them place a crown of thorns on your head--In your head. Pray for them but do not answer their mocking. Do not speak your mind; let them have a little piece of how you view them! Just hang there and remain calm. Hide it as well as you can even though you are in excruciating pain. Remember, don't say anything other than "Father, forgive them for they know not what they do!" Nevertheless, you must mean what you say in your prayer. You must actually love these people. The ones who are slowly killing you. The ones who want to see you suffer and continue to mock you to your face. Every drop of your human blood, one more laugh from the mob. You have all of Heaven's legions and legions, the vastest, greatest, strongest Army in all creation, all at your whim. But, you cannot use them. All you must do for them to save you is call. But, you will not because this is love. This is what you are doing for a people who don't even believe in you in the first place. What is going to change that now, you do not know, but that is not your concern. Because you are going to save humanity from itself by your sacrifice of love.

Can you do this now? Could you feel the pain, the sick empty feeling of being forsaken by your Father? Are you up to the task? Remember the time when you were absolutely at your worst, loneliest time in your life and the one last friend that would listen, who would listen and love you...then imagine that one last resort turning their back on you. Your absolute last confidant, gone. That’s it! That’s the feeling! Could you at least remember what Jesus did next time your cut off in the store? Next time the local school bully picks on your child calling him names using racial slurs or degrading terms, can you bless that bully, can you pray for that driver right there in your car? Could you manage a simple friendly wave with all five fingers? Can you? Oh, would you? Jesus would, Jesus did! Selah.

My faith!

2010-03-25T11:29:00.000-05:00

Faith is a subject of much debate and much deboggle. Faith is scrutinized by the critics and stumbled over by so many others. It is and has always been highly elusive in the pursuit of definition which has been described best in Hebrews 11:1 "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Simply put, to have FAITH is to believe in something or someone better.

As simple as this may sound, it is much more particular in nature. Faith has been attributed as the cause of much strife since the beginning of mankind and his constant dealings with the "higher power" otherwise known as God. Either, we don’t have it, can't master it, or spend entirely too much effort trying to prove its place and purpose in our lives. The theory of Faith and how it applies to our walk with God has been attacked relentlessly by the critics. They hold the view that everything must be reasoned and one can only hold what is in his hand. Anything else is simply imagined and cannot, therefore, be real. Many renowned people have attempted to debunk FAITH as we as Christians have labeled it. But, with all the attacks which have been constant and consistent, Faith still stands strong within the Christian community and needs no interpretation or explanation. It is self-existent and holds its own. FAITH does not need proof, it is self-evident. Most who possess it also possess strong character and will-power as additional life attributes. The value we assign various life trials depends on our ability to believe in a better future with God. It most always follows strong moral standards coupled with an ethical approach to our life.

I have observed in my short time as a believer that the greatest factor in learning to grow in Faith is to relinquish "control" to a belief system or Christianity. The opposite is true that we seem to feel that if we choose to have Faith, we are giving over control of our sanity to something hoped for but not seen. That is what scares [fear-the opposite of faith] us into hesitation the most. Losing control of our "realism" and putting our trust in something which is not readily available to our five natural senses. Man has a tendency to reason everything. We are constantly analyzing everything we do or observe. We want to rationalize everything we do with reason. I battled this negative habit for years. I had to see something to believe it. I refused to trust in something that I couldn't see or feel. I used to say, "If I can't prove it or see it for myself, than I can't believe in it." How wrong I was!~I just didn't want to give up control of my emotions to anyone else let alone God.

Only after exhausting all other possible avenues of handling my life's biggest and smallest problems did I begin to come to the understanding that life just wasn't working the way I thought it would. I began to notice that despite my effort or the effort of other influential people in my life, no one could help improve my life. Nothing was working for me and it was only proving to me how helpless we really are without God. I "ran" or controlled my life for over twenty years without any progress or noticeable change or improvements. I reached a point where I knew in my heart that, as unpopular as it may be and "uncool" it might seem, I needed some kind of outside help with my life's problems because I was getting nowhere real fast. I actually reached a point where I didn't care about what others thought; I just wanted change and so desperately needed it.

This is where God comes into the picture. He was willing to forgive me for all of my countless sins against Him and other people. Just like that! I was a new person with a new life and new agenda...To please Him and do what He intended for me to do, not what I wanted to do. You see, I had spent over six years of actual law enforcement work, three years of investigations in the private realm as a Private Investigator, and two years as a special investigator for the government. I have the experience and knowledge of an intermediate police officer and was assigned to many different and interesting positions while law enforcement. My certifications and schools fill a normal resume and I had "tried" everything there was to do in that career field. I was headed forward to a continued career in law enforcement with the government and I was going to fulfill my dream of becoming federal law enforcement and nothing was going to stop me! I almost reached my goal. Then something changed...My whole life as I knew it changed. All of the sudden, my service in the military combined with my short tenure as a police officer resulted in several medical issues which started to become a real problem and the surgeries began to increase. I began to see doctors weekly and my life went from becoming a federal police officer to becoming a medical test dummy and doctor’s nightmare. I lost total control of my physical state and eventually, my emotional state as well. It was because of my physical impairments that I lost everything I had worked so hard to achieve. I was told by a Nuerosurgeon point-blank that my almost nine good years of investigations experience were over. Down the drain basically overnight. My marriage was quick to follow and it was at this point that reality hit me right smack in the face. I was not in control anymore and despite my ability to ignore certain problems; I could not ignore what was happening to me. I had reached my "rock-bottom!"

I sought out God. I had done this before but without such sincerity. I truly needed change and change is what I got. Turns out, God was just waiting for me all along. He has a life lined up for each one of us. The flipside is that we get so consumed with our own vices that we miss His purpose. We are so intent on proof and reason and whatever else we can drum up that we pass His purpose right by without even slowing down to notice it. We busy ourselves with ourselves. Everything we do centers around me, me, me! But, we fail to understand that God has so much more in line for us to enjoy. We can go our whole lives and miss blessing after blessing because we blind ourselves with selfishness and self-centered ideologies. Our reality is just our imagination going wild. Our reason just our excuse for not wanting to give control to God.

Again, I do not need to "defend" or explain my FAITH. It holds its own in that area. However, I will say that having faith in God to do what He says He will do if we are doing what we are instructed to do will come to pass. We will notice the fruits of our labors if we believe in God and trust Him. This is faith. All you have to do is trust God instead of yourself. He won't lie or deceive. He won't let you down. He is faithful and just and He will do what He says He will do in His Word and by His Spirit. I have FAITH because I have seen it work. I have FAITH because I can attest to its existence. I have FAITH because I have God. Selah.

Do not worry and pray about everything!

2010-03-17T10:13:00.000-05:00

"Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done." (NLT)

"For I will never leave you nor forsake you." (NKJV)

These are soothing passages of scripture to read. They invoke a general feeling of wellbeing. Just to hear them spoken brings comfort. But is it really that easy? Can we truly NOT worry about anything? Isn't it natural to worry sometimes?

All questions needing answers. All valid points to ponder. How could Paul, a person who had been shipwrecked, beaten, bitten [deadly snake], stoned, imprisoned, denied, mocked, and much more be so positive in his outlook on life's biggest temptation? The temptation to worry is so readily available to the average person that it is almost accepted as a norm in our society and culture. If we are not stressing about something, we find something to stress about. It seems if we are stressing about something, we are in our comfort zone. And the typical solution to stress is more stress. We constantly go against the grain because we are accustomed to feeling "blue." There are more songs written about being blue than anything else. We complain to our doctor "Why am I so stressed out all the time?" Then we walk out the office and begin stressing ourselves out all over again. Stress is the number one killer in America today. This statistic probably parallels in other nations as well. Our solution to stress is talking to a $200 an hour shrink which only secures their paycheck and is the equivalent of buying an ear for an hour, or going to the Chiropractor who is equally costly with not much more of an effect. The other solution is to start taking "anti-depression", "anti-anxiety', or "anti-stress" medications which only complicates the root issue by causing other health problems. Now we are stressed, hooked on meds, and worse off more now than ever! The last resort to "fixing" stress on our own is suicide. A very sad reality which has become rampant in our society today.

So what is to say about stress then? Have you ever seen those commercials on television about the anti-depression medications? A person looking like dog in the rain with a monotone narration in the background talking about how you feel hopeless all the time. The commercial itself is enough to make one take one's life. I thought it was supposed to pitch ANTI-depression medication, not DEPRESSION medication! What a sad state of mind to always be surrounded by so much stress and be battling it ourselves.

Do you know that hopelessness is Satan's number one vice in his battle for your soul? He would like nothing better than for you to feel hopeless and alone without any chance of improving your condition. It is his number one goal to bring you so low that you take others down with you or take your own life. Just your negative ora alone could cause so many others damage. Think of the domino effect. That is the kind of result that feeling worried all the time causes. He makes us think that there is no way out or the opposite, which is even more tragic. If he can separate us from God using worry as his angle, then he thinks he has won that battle against the Almighty. This, as we well know, is false. It is a big lie! But isn't that how he operates?

Mission...Your soul!

Plan...Make you feel hopeless!

Weapons...Feelings of hopelessness, anxiety, depression, fear, SUICIDE!

Mode of Attack...Bombard your soul with hopelessness, attack you body with sickness, and take your life!

Success Rate...Good!

That is how Satan operates. How he manipulates your own mind against you. How he thinks he will win. Oh, how he is so wrong!

For years I have struggled with depression, anxiety, PTSD, and more. All the medications, treatment, counseling. Although some of it helped to its credit, not one of those solutions brought me out of it. It just taught me how to deal with it. How to accept it. How to integrate it effectively into my life and live with it. It masked the real problem while solving nothing. But it was still there. Some days were bad, others better, and very few actually good. The more I thought about it the more it became my crutch. The more I attempted to fix it the more it became a problem. It became consuming. Like a fire burning everything in its way. It was destructive. It bled over into my family life affecting my loved ones. I didn't like it but I couldn't stop it. I reached my rock bottom almost daily. Why? Why? Why?

Then something happened. I was having my second set of three more surgeries on my back making my back surgery total five. I have had other medical surgeries, twelve total in my short 29 years of life. I have been in and out of doctor’s offices and hospitals since my childhood, so this was nothing new. But, it was unique because it just so happened that during these last three surgery series, my wife informed me she wanted a divorce. This devastated me as I was a family man since 19 years old when I married her to one house, two cars, a dog, two children, and a lot of debt later. All of it hit me at once. And it hit me hard. I had nowhere else to turn, no more tears to cry. So, I did something that changed my life forever more and I will never be the same for it. I cried out to God. I ask Him to have pity on me and find it in His heart to forgive me my sins so I could start over. I didn't really know the what, why, where, when, and how’s of Christianity but I was determined to do something about my situation. The alternative hadn't improved my life enough to justify not trying God.

Since that hour, my life changed for the better. I began to receive miracle after miracle. Blessing after blessing. The more I got of Him the more I wanted. My problems didn't change, my outlook on life did. God changed my whole view of life as I had known it. I gave Him a complaining broken spirit. He gave me a new happy mindset. I gave Him a rattled body. He gave me a method for handling it. Do you see the relationship? You give, He gives. Why do you think He talks so much on giving in His Word? Why so many passages on surrendering? Because, we can only begin to notice real change when we completely surrender to Him. Let me be clear! He WILL change your life and work in ways which will leave you scratching your head and thanking Him at the same time. He does work in mysterious ways, but that is His style. We don't need to know the details. Just buckle yourself in and hang on because I can guarantee you will have the rollercoaster ride of your life. But, it is the best life you will ever have. It will be the best life because it will be what He wants for you, not what you want for you.

So, I conclude, it is easy to not worry about anything and it is good to pray about everything. Prayer is simply communication with God. And, brothers and sisters, nothing pleases Him more than communicating with His children. Prayer moves mountains and heals broken spirits. But, God fixes everything. Selah!

Butterfly.

2010-03-17T00:20:00.000-05:00

Take the butterfly. It begins as an egg. Then it slowly grows to a larva. It is bare in description, actually pretty ugly. Very distasteful, it must shed its skin several times to accommodate further growth. It has one more stage of growth before coming to full maturity. Each extra level of growth it becomes something much different than before as it changes colors and shape. As is goes into the pupa stage, you notice it has all but stopped any physical movement as it sets in its outer protective layer while continuing to grow. It is not at all attractive at this point in its maturity stage but it continues to grow none-the-less. But it is all the time developing. Stage after stage. As time progresses it begins to shed its cocoon image and something beautiful happens at this point. All of the sudden and without warning it transforms into a beautiful vibrant colorful creature which fly’s on the wind with weightlessness in its wings. Just the simple glance at this beautiful and intricate creature can soften a hard heart. You wonder as you watch it go about its business, “How did it go from an ugly worm to a beautiful creature?” You begin to faze into a positive mindset yourself, still transfixed on its glowing beauty. You begin to feel yourself floating on the breeze, soaring above the earth.

This is what we replicate as believers in Christ Jesus. We begin as ugly [sinful] beings. Brought into this world with a stigma not our own. We begin to slowly develop becoming better and improved as time goes on. We reach a point in our development where our ugly [sinful] attribute becomes apparent in our lives. We realize that the reality is we are just a shell of what we want to be. Then, Christ comes along and in some way, maybe through someone we know or don't know, He makes His presence noticed. It could be through an experience or something that happens totally unexpected to us. But He is there. We know it and we acknowledge His presence because it gives us this feeling of fullness. We can't pin this feeling down but, we like it because it completes us. It gives us happiness and reason. A real purpose to live.

We begin to want more of Him. We don't know why, we just know. We begin to notice more of Him in more of us. The more we pursue Him, the more He reveals Himself to us. The pieces of the puzzle begin to fall into place. One after one. Little by little. But it is enough. It is enough because we are going through a process. One which is progressively better and better. All of the sudden, we understand Him. We finally realize our absolute desire for His presence and we want it more than ever. We feel this natural dependence on His presence because it brings us peace. It is true passion. It satisfies our very soul. It fulfills every need we have ever had. Things which once were important to us we can't even remember and we approach every day anew. Our whole outlook on life has completely changed and we don't care anymore about anything but getting more of Him.

You have just become a fully matured butterfly. You are beautiful in every way. You are given everything you will ever need through and from Him. He is Jesus Christ. Our Servant, Savior, Sustainer, and Soul mate all in one. There is nothing that you cannot do through Christ. Use Him. Lean on His strength. He is strong in our weakness. Go to Him with every problem, question, comment, request, and idea you ever have. He will never leave you nor forsake you. He is always on call. So, beautiful butterfly, give Him back what He has given you.....LOVE. He loves you more than you can ever possibly know and this will never change. We look back on our lives and wonder “How could Jesus accept my ugliness and transform it into beauty?” As we navigate through our lives, we begin to realize that we are who we are because of Christ Jesus. For in Christ Jesus we are a new creation and old things are passed away with all things having become new. Selah!

It is................

2010-03-16T21:19:00.000-05:00

I cannot be silent! I am incapable of non-disclosure! I am constantly on guard for the next opportunity to let others know! To know about the feeling.....The life.....The thrill.....The power.....The amazing euphoria never before experienced by all of my five senses. I have not been the same since I received it and I cannot remember a time when I felt so good. I am recharged daily, always receiving, always learning. It is incomparable and unchangeable. Once you have it, you won't want anything else. It’s like a good cancer, always eating away at your innermost soul. But it is good, real good. It heals, repairs, but does not relent. It is always positive, never depressed, almost impossible to believe but so very real. It cannot be taken away from you and you won't want to give it up but, you will want to pass it on. It cannot be denied and will never die. Its construction is stronger than titanium. It will not be beat and cannot lose. It is absolutely foolproof, fireproof, and watertight. It is better than good. It is free but of the highest quality. It is beautiful on its own, needing no outside influence. Man cannot master it nor replicate it alone. It is, it is, it is…………….

The Love of God!

Was that me or Satan!

2010-03-16T14:04:00.000-05:00

Often times we make mistakes or do something we regret only to place the blame for that action or misplaced word on someone else. We find that it is much easier to deny something we should really be taking responsibility for than to actually face our mistake and admit foul. We have become a finger-pointing society, one which will always have an explanation or excuse for our wrongs instead of the truth. Why are we so easy to find a scapegoat when we are the source? Why do we always shirk responsibility for our actions?

The alternative to self-admission of blame is to transfer that blame to Satan for the evil action or thought. We claim the devil put us up to it or entered us influencing or "telling" us to do it. "It wasn't me"…"I wasn't in my right mind"..."Man, Satan sure can be deceiving!" Do we really think it is Satan doing the deceiving or, is our own mind deceiving us? Satan only planted the seed in the Garden of Eden for man to sin. Man made the decision to actualize that seed and sin bring it to fruition. God created both angels and man and both with the ability to choose. Too often man uses that choice against God's laws or moral standards because we “choose” to rebel. We have rebelled since the beginning of time. When we think we are better off on our own or can do things better using our own feeble strength, we will reach a dead-end. Lucifer thought he would “exalt himself above God” and this was where he was very wrong. He was once cherished by God, but because of his pride, he fell out of grace. It was at this point that he was dispelled from Heaven and made to roam earth, thus Lucifer became Satan. Ultimately, we give Satan more credit than he deserves when we use him as our excuse. This is due to the plain and simple fact that he is always waiting around the corner to try and separate us from God. He wants to cause dissent between us and the Father. This is his greatest vice in his campaign or “crusade” to win a war which has been waged since the beginning. This factor is a constant and will not change until Jesus comes back. However, there is good news! Our God is the creator of all including the serpent and He has already won the war through His Son, Jesus Christ. This victory automatically becomes part of our legacy through grace and grace alone and only after we admit our sin, accept Jesus into our lives, and begin to live in the grace of God. So, Satan has lost the war but, make no mistake, he continues to fight battles.

This doesn’t take away the danger that Satan poses to us, rather it gives us an understanding of his position in our lives. He no longer holds power or control by right. He was cast out of Heaven but still has access to the Throne of God. Understand, this access is in a cowardly, powerless way. He, like all creatures, is accountable to God and is in subjection under God. God’s sovereignty supersedes all. There is nothing that will ever be above or greater than God. Do not underestimate the enemy either. The devil only has as much control as we allow him to have over us. He created fear, not God. He can only influence us as long as we are living out of the grace of God and in sin. His authority only applies to our spiritual state of mind. His demons [angels who followed him and fell with him] are his arm and legs. Fear is his greatest weapon. His control is only relative to our status as believers in Christ Jesus. Therefore, if we are living in God’s grace, we are protected by that grace. If we are strong in our FAITH, we have nothing to fear. Fear is imagined, not real. God tells us we have nothing to fear when we are doing what He commands and living according to HIS will.

Having covered the brief origin of fear, history of mankind and his relationship to the devil, and our position in God’s kingdom, we can safely come to the understanding that there are two different but equally dangerous extremes working against us, ourselves and the devil. But, going back to God’s sovereignty and ultimate authority over all creation, we know He is in control of everything and there is nothing that He cannot do. If Satan only has the control that we willfully give him, then it is safe to assume that he is powerless to control us if we are living as we ought, as true Christians. We can sum our problems up into one point. We are responsible for things that happen in our lives and we have the “choice” to live in FAITH or allow the devil to bog us down in fear. In Deuteronomy, Moses tells the children of Israel to choose life or death, blessing or curse. This is our decision and our choice. The direction of our lives are up to us but made possible through Christ Jesus. Selah!

Faith and Application!

2010-03-15T01:10:00.000-05:00

F-Forsaking

A-All

I-I

T-Trust

H-Him

Hebrews 11:6 It is impossible to please God without FAITH! (NLT)

Religion is man’s own creation in an attempt to validate their search for the truth. Religion is NOT God! Belief in God is the beginning of FAITH! Walking with God is the proof of that FAITH! Salvation is the finality [full circle] of that FAITH!

Q. So, should we continue to live in fear that we do not see this FAITH?

A. If we are in fear, we are not walking in FAITH!

Q. How do we know what FAITH is?

A. Stop reasoning everything, start actualizing your doubts! FAITH is the opposite of fear!

Q. How will I know that FAITH is working?

A. FAITH is made real in works!

Always remember and never forget that God has already provided us a life filled with abundance of everything we will ever need irrigardless of whether we decide to receive that life or not! Think of the baby rattlesnake……They are most potent after birth because that is when they possess all of their life supply [abundance] of poison [ability to acquire food and defend themselves]. Now, let’s substitute our own lives for this reptile…….As newborn babies, we have a life supply of abundance of provisions [blessings] given to ALL of us by our loving Father waiting in our love accounts to be withdrawn. We didn’t earn these automatic provisions [blessings] of abundance but, as children of God, we are entitled to His plan for our lives which includes unlimited blessings. Even though we didn’t earn these automatic provisions [blessings], if we choose to receive [through FAITH] these provisions [blessings], He will grant us [through His grace and our FAITH] these blessings. Yes, more than we could humanly imagine. Do you see this paradigm? We have, already set aside for us, a good life filled with blessings and surprises…………….Will we reach out and accept this life? Will we believe through FAITH?

Evaluate your life and ensure that you are pursuing [pleasing] God through FAITH! Where there is FAITH there cannot be fear. Selah!

God sometimes allows [not causes] us to endure afflictions so that we may see His grace and wonders work through the recovery process from those afflictions. He is a God of wonder and majesty, glorious in every way and everything so that we may see Him in everything we encounter and everything we experience. Although His nature is built on love and grace, He sees ways which will help us even when we do not. Our God does not think like us. God has other plans than us. Jeremiah 17:5, 7 says, “Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans, who rely on human strength and who turn their hearts away from the Lord!”………“But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence!” (NLT) But, God does not allow us to experience the same affliction again once we have reached completion [healing] of that affliction. In other words, once we have been healed from that affliction, we will continue to progress [move forward] not regress [move backward] back to that affliction. We also now have a testimony [healing] given us by God’s authority to use in the spreading of the Good News. God desires for us to move forward in life, not backwards. In the natural realm, we live a life that moves forward, not backwards, therefore we age and mature physically. We grow up not down. This same principle applies to our FATH walk. In the spiritual realm, we must always be prepared to step up our FAITH walk, strengthening our FAITH in everything we encounter and experience. We should always be willing to go to the next level of spiritual maturity. Use our past to discern our future. Wisdom comes with experience or past experiences. We must always seek deliverance and healing and not be content with possessing these afflictions or being in a state of stagnation. We are our own worst enemy. Additionally, Satan will pick up where we leave off. Satan desires for us to be content living in a state of stagnation [never progressing or improving] with our affliction. Our own human nature desires selfish ambition or self pity. Although opposite, these attributes of our human nature are very similar to the core of the problem...SELF! Until we realize our own feeble and very incapable human nature called weakness, we will never reach true intimacy with God. We cannot reach this intimacy with God because we are not acting in FAITH and are instead acting on our own limited abilities. Without FAITH, we will not see the end of the road or have hope. Hopelessness leads to depression, low self-esteem, feelings of little or no worth or value to society or self, and in many sad but very real situations, taking of one’s own life. All of these are effective and dangerous weapons which Satan uses in his conquest to separate us from the Father. A dangerous precedence was set in the Garden of Eden by Adam and Eve. They caved to their own understanding and thought process and made a choice to step out of the protection of God. They followed the first one to fall, Satan, and believed in a lie instead of walking in FAITH. Instantly they had their very first experience of FEAR. This occurred because they became separated from God. Sin or disobedience to God was the cause, Satan the tempter, to be like God the temptation. With this separation came pain or affliction. Our lives are a daily journey around traps, pits, and bumps in the road. We can navigate with the help of God. We will fall without it. Whenever we step out on our own, we have just left FAITH behind and stepped outside of the protection of God. We will not see the grace of God because it is impossible to please God without FAITH! Amen.

Believe and defeat the devil!

2010-03-08T22:33:00.000-06:00

We are in a war. This war is different than other wars. It is spiritual, not physical. But it is also more dangerous and the end result is our very souls. It has been waged since before mankind was formed and created by God. It has been active since that time and will continue to remain active until Jesus Christ comes back to make His enemies His footstool. Isaiah 14 talks of Lucifer's (now Satan) fall from Heaven, from his seat of status as Chief of the Angels of Heaven. Although he had everything, he wanted yet more. He thought of himself higher than the Most High God. He wanted to be higher than God and so he was cast down from his position in Heaven to the lowest on earth. Since that time, he has been trying to rally mankind to follow him in his campaign against God. He uses flattery and lies to manipulate man into believing he is something more than the Devil. After all, one-third of Heaven's angels followed him and were also cast out of Heaven down to earth. So he is always trying to strengthen his ranks. Mankind is the mission, our souls the target.

Satan constantly uses vices to keep us in bondage to him. He uses addiction, affliction, and temptation. He puts all of these evil born attributes against us or in us if we are weak and unready for his attacks. Sickness is not natural to man. It was introduced after man's fall in the Garden of Eden. Sickness is our enemy. It has since been conquered through the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. He bore our sicknesses and pain. By His stripes we are healed! We do not have to stay in a state of sickness or pain. We do not have to continue to bear these burdens. It is not supposed to be. It is a result of unbelief in God and His divine ability to take care of us. It is a tactic of the enemy but, if we believe, than we can overcome it just as it was overcome by Jesus! We must call on our God and use the Holy power in the name of Jesus Christ to activate our faith in His abilities and capabilities. It absolutely works if we believe.

The issue is that Satan gets us to believe that we are powerless to defend ourselves from this sickness. That we are only human and cannot perform supernatural powers of healing. That healing was something only Jesus Christ and His disciples did in a fairy tale story in the Bible long ago. That we are supposed to remain in this state of pain or sickness. Or that the Bible is just words and cannot be actualized or applied to real problems or issues. This is where FAITH is necessary. We must have the faith to believe that we have the ability to heal ourselves and beat the odds regardless of others opinions or professional help. We must break free these chains of this bondage which Satan keeps us in. We must always be on guard, constantly weary of Satan and his ever-present evil powers. We must build up our spiritual health to form a wall of divine protection against the devil. Do you notice how these are all action words?

We must acknowledge that there is a problem, identify the problem, isolate that problem, then begin to fight the problem with prayer, fasting, Bible reading, meditating on the Word, and assistance from fellow Christians. Never verbally connect the problem to yourself. Do not agree with the problem or accept the problem as natural or a common thing. By accepting sickness or pain, we are allowing Satan to keep us in bondage. We need to begin to bind the devil in everything and everywhere with everyone. We need to bind up the devil by using the name of Jesus Christ and acting out on our faith in His healing power. We are ourselves able to heal through what Jesus has already given us. It is by His precedence that we can heal sickness, bind up the devil, and cancel any lingering evil the devil has tried to keep over us. We must become battle-minded and versed in the Scriptures to enable us to begin to walk in truth and activate the spiritual power Jesus Christ gave to us through the Father.

Satan uses defeat, we have the Truth! Satan uses a losing mentality; we have the mindset of Jesus who is the Truth! Satan can only win if we allow him. We are conquerors in Christ Jesus through God. It is because of His sacrifice that we have salvation. It is through His grace that we have life. But, we need to stop settling for second best and begin striving for first place in our spiritual walk of faith. Jesus temporarily left, the Holy Spirit remained, and God has always been there. Stop letting the devil, who has already lost, win! Do we know that even though we must still fight daily battles that the war has already been won? That the devil can only go as far as we decide to let him go? It is true and very real! We are conquerors through what Jesus Christ has already done for us. We are above the devil and more powerful than any evil thing. But, we must tap into that faith which enables this power. We must start thinking in that mindset which puts the devil to flight. We must take captive all our thoughts and control our way of thinking so as not to allow any room for another visit from Satan. He is powerless to us if we believe in Jesus Christ and exercise our faith in God's omnipotence. We will win!!! Amen.

My Vision!

2010-03-03T00:04:00.001-06:00

I had a vision recently. I envisioned something similar to what you might know as "cell groups" otherwise known as a smaller faction within a church body which meets weekly in addition to attending regular church services. This vision was to create another faction or group known as a "Pin-Point Prayer Team."

Now, what I am referring to are teams which are carefully organized with a team leader, (a spiritually mature and educated Christian brother or sister who is very passionate about the Kingdom business and has years of experience in ministry or walking with God) the team body, (volunteers of fellow believers who are available during the week to assist in the prayer missions) and a person responsible for transportation to and from targeted areas which have been previously marked as areas of need. Money for these trips would be a unified contribution by all the team members.

This would encompass a structured meeting or brief prior to going out on a "mission" and an arranged date, time, and location of that specific mission. Each team could target specified areas of need or interest and these prayer team(s) would simply go to these areas with the appropriate literature, personal knowledge of the Word, and someone strong in the gift of prophecy and also speaking in tongues.

With the schematics of each mission pre-arranged and orchestrated by a cluster leader (person chosen to be in control of entire operation or all the teams) and the specified areas of interest pending, each team could choose what schedule works best for them with each member coordinating with the team leader, then start going OUT and telling people about the awesome grace of God and wonderful freedom of salvation through Jesus Christ.

We do not have to spend more than one day a week at the very least doing this, but can you imagine what an impact this would have on the community? I mean, literally speaking, this could reach thousands of people a month. Why can't we put something like this together for our own community and surrounding areas in addition to attending regular church services? It is coming up on spring and soon, summer and prime time to be out and enjoying God's gift to us.

We are called to not just live as Christians but we were given a mandate by Jesus Christ himself on getting out and spreading the Word of the Gospel. What better way than to affect our own community? It would cost next to nothing, give us all the exercise we need in a spiritual sense, and begin to take back our communities in a cultural sense.

I am going to begin to put this vision into action. If anyone has any ideas, comments, or questions, please let me know. I am serious about this but I need your help. The Bible says were one or two are gathered together in Jesus' name, there He is. It also says to be fishers of men and that we are the light of the world and we must shine before all men so that they may see our good works and glorify the Father in Heaven by doing so. If we began a revolution, a revival of the Holy Spirit revolution (peaceful of course) it would have an effect which reaches father than we can imagine.

A seed must be planted to grow. Then, it must be watered to thrive. Finally, it will be ready for harvest when all of these have first occurred! This is a way to plant those seeds. We can conduct personal follow-ups with the planted seeds through our own time, church channels, and additional help. Then we will leave the rest up to Jesus. A little effort and sweat goes a long way.

I know this will work because I see the need. I see so many children of God trying to understand, trying to be heard, trying to know more.........But Satan always interfers using vices to accomplish this interference (busy jobs, broken relationships, sickness, etc.). Lets stand up for our God and show the world who we are for!!! We can start in our own back yards.

Lord, I believe in you and I know that others will too. I know that I was so confused for so long and had many misconceptions about you because I just didn't have anyone to come and clear those misconceptions up for me. Jesus, I know you are real as I always have and I have no doubt as to what you did for me even though I did not deserve it by dying for me on the cross. I love you and want to grow more intimate with you and the Father. I am excited for your Kingdom and want to do anything I can to further it! I am on FIRE for you Lord and I can't stop this burning passion I have for you. I want to do what you say in your Word and I will prevail against the Devil and his silly and weak tricks. Lord, continue to guide me as I pursue this vision for you and I give you all the Glory! Give me the strength and resources i will need to accomplish this vision which you have given to me! Use me for your purpose and let me not stray from the course. I love you and worship you and consider myself so blessed to be able to work for you. You are truly the best boss anyone could ever have. Thank you for everything you have already given to me and done for me. AMEN!!!

A little reminder of why I believe in God!

2010-02-27T17:26:00.000-06:00

I have been a victim of my own flesh my whole life. I have spent most of my adult life at odds with God much to my own disadvantage. I let my carnal nature lead me instead of allowing God to lead me. My own spirit filled with lusts of the world was in complete control. I was addicted to life. An alcoholic, chain-smoking, daily porn viewing, angry, lonely person! I was in control of myself, or so I thought? I was consumed with always wanting and always worrying. The more I thought I was in control, the more things fell apart. The more I tried to reason with my own sanity, the more I came up empty. I had enough but didn't know what to do. I was a mess!

Then something happened. I met God at His level. I bought a Bible and began to read. I read and read and read until my eyes burned. The more I read the more I began to see parallels in my own life to the stories I was reading about. Out of every verse came hope. Out of every chapter came closure. I didn't know where to start or even have a reading plan, I just began to read. The more I read the more I understood. I reached out to God in my weakest moment and found His strength. He extended His grace to me and I accepted it.................I accepted it! When I could take no more, when I hit rock-bottom, when I had been drained of every last ounce of my own feeble strength, I had reached the point of absolute exhaustion. I had never been so lonely, so out of control. I felt as though there was nothing that I could possibly do to save myself from myself. It was at this darkest hour that I made a decision. I used my attribute of choice. I chose to follow God. I chose to just get on my knees and talk to Him. I didn't know how to pray or what to say, I just talked to Him as if He were sitting across the table from me. Every day, I talked with God, every day I felt closer. And every day, He became more real to me.

You see, I had to do something. I had to surrender. I had to completely surrender all of me to Him. I went even further though. I submitted my entire life as I knew it to Him. I was completely surrendered and in absolute submission. I dropped all my addictions. I began seeking people out for forgiveness. People I had come into contact with throughout my life and rubbed the wrong way or offended. I began to start viewing every day and every moment through the eyes of Jesus and the Scriptures. I started going to church. I revamped my life as I knew it and this time I was in it for the long haul.

Some things began to happen. I became a different person. Everyone who knew me noticed the change. My children noticed the change. But, it wasn't "happily ever after." No, rather the opposite. I lost my marriage which was already shaky. My wife filed for divorce and even though I fought it, eventually, I was forced by law to sign off. My three best friends turned their backs on me. Members of my own family turned on me, taking the side of my ex-wife. My mother-in-law turned on me along with other family of my ex-wife’s who I had known and had relationships with. I was confused, depressed, anxious, and saddened. And, I was going into three more surgeries on my back to remove and replace broken hardware in my back from previous surgeries. All while going through all these other issues and problems. While I was in the hospital undergoing surgery number two (three piggy backed) a day after the first surgery, I received information that my soon-to-be ex-wife and mother-in-law were attempting to take custody of my two children out from underneath me. They had banked on my medical problems as the doorway through which to obtain custody of my children. I have had a very close relationship with my two children since their births and this news devastated me. But, I was helpless to do anything at all. All I could do was pray and believe that God was bigger than this. He is!

God did something. He stayed with me through it all! I repaired a relationship with a very close person in my life which was destroyed by my own doing years before. I began to notice little miracles happening all around me despite the confusion and constant disappointments. I was faced with daily battles, attacks from other people around me and Satan, mostly daily. I was constantly on guard, ready for what would happen next. I had to remain on guard due to several potential land-mine situations which almost became nightmares in my life. I was in recovery through all of the divorce proceedings and, even with no attorney or plan, God still showed His grace by protecting me and my two children. Without as much as a dollar to spend in my defense while undergoing the custody battle, I came out as the primary-physical custodian which was more than I imagined would happen. But there was more...................

About this time and with not much else to do in recovery, I had been sorting through my veteran affairs disability paperwork (I am a disabled veteran) and I noticed an error in the records. I should have received an increase in my disability payments, so I sent this error in to the regional Veteran Affairs office. A month later, they corrected the error and I received an increase in my monthly disability payment amount. This was right around the time when I was in dire need of money to afford a new vehicle with air conditioning. I had been driving my Honda Civic since 2001 (bought it new in 2001) and the air conditioning had gone out around 2008. It was 2009 and summer time in Arizona. It was a very HOT situation. I spent a little under a year praying about a new vehicle prior to this after the rededication of my life to God and finally, a year later, I got a this blessing in disguise. It was a rainy weekend and I had the idea (hmmmm?) to go to the local dealership to look at new vehicles. I test drove a new Jeep and two days later, without any real expectations, I drove home in that same Jeep.

After this, I had planned on moving to Texas from Arizona to me near my sister and her family so they could assist me my children so I could attend my medical appointments and to be closer to the children's mother (she lives in San Antonio). But, my ex was fighting me relentlessly with trying to keep me in Arizona because her mother (she lives in Arizona) wanted to control how I raised my two children. I was not completely divorced and the paperwork required a court order or both parents consent to moving out of state. I obviously could not get both consents, so I attempted to go the court order route. Problem was, I didn't have any money. I prayed on it and decided that God was telling me to move forward. I went to court and submitted a hearing request to get permission to move to Texas. Because I had allowed the divorce to go into default (I could not fight because I didn't have an attorney) the judge was not supposed to grant any court appeals or hearings regarding the divorce. However, not only did I get a hearing granted, but the $800+ court fees were deferred. But God stepped it up a notch. Because of the trouble of having to show up in court, my ex's attorney called me and worked it out were, not only did I not have to show up to court, but I received permission to move to Texas from my ex (at the suggestion of her very intelligent attorney).

I have been living in Texas ever since and God has continued to prosper my life just as He says He will if we obey Him and trust Him to do what He says He will do. There are so many more miracles in my life since I have given it over to God, but it would take all day to tell them. Just remember to give God the glory and praise and obey Him. Live His Word and do what He says and He will give us the desires of our hearts. He will do so much more if we will just allow Him to. I know that He is real because He has shown me this. He has given me so much more than I thought I had lost through all of this and He will do the same for all of His children, but we have to step out on our faith. We cannot regress back to our old selves and we cannot get so carried away that we lose our faith. If we do stumble, He allows us to pick ourselves back up and keep moving forward. He is an awesome and gracious God with more capabilities than we can humanly imagine. But, we can at least give it a try and in doing so, we will taste the goodness of His glory and grace. I pray that each and every one of you may also experience God's goodness and awesome power. May He bless you as He has blessed me. And remember, there is nothing that you have done which He is not willing to forgive and forget, but you must be willing to change and seek forgiveness. God already has more blessings in store for you than you can possibly imagine, you just have to give Him a try...................................Amen!

Halfway?

2010-02-27T14:40:00.002-06:00

Halfway is:

H-haven’t
A-already
L-learned
F-from
W-wisdom
A-and
Y-youth

How many of us continue to make the same mistakes and take the same path that we have walked thousands of times before? How many of us can't seem to reach that point of spiritual maturity because we still allow carnal pleasures to take priority in our lives? I did this for over 13 years. I gave up on the only One who could repair my broken soul and fractured spirit. I gave up on God because I didn't want to give up my own selfish desires!

Too often, I would find myself compromising what I knew was right for what I pretended wasn't wrong just to find out the hard way what the truth really was. I began to make the same, rather stupid mistakes over and over again without even measuring the consequences of those mistakes. I settled for second best and I only went halfway. I never reached finality because I held myself back by choice.

God created mankind with the ability to choose. It is this ability which allows us to choose right from wrong. He has never impeded on this attribute that He instilled in us and He has never tried to take it away either. Yet, we continue to abuse this attribute or gift from God. I look around and see so much abuse of choice around me in the world. I see so much of the same selfish attitude that I was so guilty of for too long. It makes me sad. I am sad because I see the results of this selfishness and unwillingness to change. You see, we humans think we got it all figured out. We think that we are always in charge of our lives and can run them ourselves without any help from other sources. We don't need others assistance and we detest authority in any form.

But, I also see what comes from this selfishness. It destroys lives. It destroys the very hearts of people because we are too proud to allow God any room in our lives based in the premise that we don't need His help. We couldn't be further from the truth. It is only because of God that I am even able to write this blog or partake in His grace on a daily basis. It is because of God that I am able to provide the nurturing care for my two children so they will grow up knowing Him for themselves and having an intimate relationship with Him. It is because of God that even with twelve surgical procedures and many doctor visits later; I can still function and have a life. And it is because of God that, with all that I have been through, learned, lost, and received, I can still look forward to eternal life with Him after my short life here on earth. It is because of God that I am who I am!

I value my life now. I didn't care what happened in the past because I lived for the moment. I value relationships that I have now, especially with my God. I had many secular friends from my prior life but when I gave my life back to God, I lost every single one of them. I value my children each day that I am with them. I valued them before but didn't quite show that value through my attitude towards life. We can unknowingly send signals of anger and hate just by our attitude toward people and never realize it because of our lack of self-confidence and love. I did for so many years. I value my ability to get up in the morning and just live for God!

Remember what Jesus said in Revelation 3:14-16 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodicean's write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth.

God, may I not swerve to the left or to the right. May I continue to walk in your steps and follow your paths. May I learn to put you before me in everything and always make the right decision no matter what the worldy consequences may be. May I never compromise what I have with you and only grow more in love with you every day that you allow me to live. I love you God for everything you have done and continue to do and I want to grow more intimate with you as each day passes. Thank you for your wonderful grace which you have so graciously extended to all of your children. I love you and I worship your holy, holy, holy name.......Amen!

Hupotasso...........Submit!

2010-02-20T14:54:00.000-06:00

Submit in Greek means: Hupotasso, hoop-ot-as-so; to subordinate, to obey:---be under obedience, put under, subdue unto, be put in subjection to, submit self unto.

1 Peter 2:13 Be submissive to every human institution and authority for the sake of the Lord, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, Or to governors as sent by him to bring vengeance (punishment, justice) to those who do wrong and to encourage those who do good service. For it is God's will that by doing right [your good an honest lives] should silence (muzzle, gag) the ignorant charges and ill-informed criticisms of foolish persons. [Live] as free people, [yet] without employing your freedom as a pretext for wickedness; but [live at all times] as servants of God. (AMP)

Lets read a little further in 1 Peter 3:2,7 When they observe the pure and modest way in which you conduct yourselves, together with your reverence [for your husband; you are to feel for him all that reverence includes: to respect , defer to, revere him--to honor, esteem, appreciate, prize, and, in the human sense, to adore him, that is, to admire, praise, be devoted to, deeply love, and enjoy your husband]. In the same way you married men should live considerately with [your wives], with an intelligent recognition [of the marriage relation], honoring the woman as [physically] the weaker, but [realizing that you] are joint heirs of the grace (God's unmerited favor) of life, in order that your prayers may not be hindered and cut off. [Otherwise you cannot pray effectively.] Finally, all [of you] should be of one and the same mind (united in spirit), sympathizing [with one another], loving [each other] as brethren [of one household], compassionate and courteous (tender-hearted and humble). (AMP)

Clearly, submission is meant to go both ways. There should be no bias and you should not have a tendency to think of yourself with superiority to another with true submission. To think of oneself higher in importance or value than the other is not what Peter was talking about and not what Jesus intended for us to do. Peter, one of Jesus' closest disciples, learned about servant hood and submission on a very personal level. His intimate relationship with Jesus was sincere and very real. He spent three years with Jesus during Jesus' ministry, traveling around and learning example after example on being submissive. He was taught by the Rabbi Himself and understood submission in a much different way than most of us can relate to. It was Peter who walked on water because of his faith in Jesus, it was Peter who observed the Transformation of Jesus, and it was Peter who admitted that Jesus was the Son of God. Peter had an intimate relationship with Jesus that many did not. Peter was so grieved of his denial of his beloved Savior, but was also quick to reconcile himself. Peter was the founder and "corner-stone" of the first church as we know it. He was hand-picked by Jesus to carry out this task because Jesus knew of Peter's inner strength and capabilities. Jesus knew of Peter's undeniable love for Him and the Father. All it took was some trials by fire and several temporary struggles, but Peter became a man of great influence and a very effective leader in the formation of the church.

The message of this post is to show an idea of the true importance of submission and its role in our personal relationships and also our relationship to the church based off of passages from Scripture. Submission is absolutely necessary in our relationship with the Father and we will never be able to receive the grace of God without first fully surrendering ourselves over to Him. Complete surrender and submission is necessary in order to have an intimate one-on-one with God. It is also a necessary attribute in the way we relate to each other. Successful marriages are built on solid foundations. Solid foundations provide the base from which love can grow and create stronger ties between a man and a woman.

If we approach our relationship with our spouse, sibling, son or daughter, parent, or other significant other in this manner as described by Peter, we will find that we can have a healthy and successful intimacy with that person. If we show the respect to that person that we ourselves would expect or want, we will find that our relationship will grow strong and our love will increase more and more as each day passes. We should always keep these Scriptures in our minds as we navigate through our daily lives and meditate on them. We can apply submission to every part of our lives and in everything we do. By living in submission to others, we show the love of God. By living in obedience, we are living according to God's will. By showing the love of God by example, we are the most effective in passing the message of God’s love and grace along and spreading the Good News. We are not letting our gaurds down by submitting to another and we definitely do not have to agree with that person, but we must learn to submit to them and in doing so, show them the honor and respect that God requires.

God is love. His nature constantly reveals this love and if we have love, we have God! I pray that I may continue to show everyone I encounter love and by doing so, I will learn to relate to others in ways in which I never could have imagined. May we all be servants to each other as Christ was a servant to us all. May I learn more each day about the importance of submission and may others see by my life what it is like to live in God’s love and grace. Amen.

You are my God! Oh, that I may be called your child!

2010-02-16T21:59:00.000-06:00

There is revival in the air. A whisper it has begun, a roar it will become. God is real. He is showing His awesome nature by giving us grace in our time of need. His mercy endures forever!

We are living in unsure times. Look to history and it will present the same story over and over and over again. Look to Israel, God's chosen people and you will see a pattern begin to emerge. Fast forward to the present, do you notice anything relative? See it? It’s there......it’s so very clear that we are approaching the hour of finality. It is an awesome thing to be so close. We must not worry. Fear is faith falling away. We must remain calm in these stormy times. We are not experiencing anything Jesus himself didn't prophecy. We have received our forewarnings, let us now heed them!

We will reap what we sow, so let us sow a promise. The promise that God will not forsake us. Let us go out and sow love. Let’s go out and sow the greatness of God, our Jehovah Jirah. He will provide as He always has. Let not the past be forgotten lest the future be doomed. We must cling to God more now than ever before. Draw close to God and HE WILL DRAW CLOSE TO YOU! Flee the devil and he will flee from you!

Take back control of your life! You are a child of God, heir to His Kingdom, heir by faith, by the blood of Jesus Christ! Stomp on Satan's head!!! Jesus will when His time has come. Scriptures say that He will make His enemies a footstool. Get a righteous anger towards the devil, that old serpent. So, brethren, let us use Satan as a doormat. He cannot control what he does not own. You belong to God, made in His own image!

We will be victorious! WE WILL WIN! Why? Because we have GOD! If God is for me, who can be against me? No one! Separate yourself from death. Distance yourself from the enemy. Jesus has already won the war, you must only win the battle. We have been given our Spiritual Armor and it is bulletproof. It can stop anything the devil throws at you. It will! You will prevail, there is no doubt. Do not doubt, not one little bit. Doubt gives way to fear and fear gives way to defeat and defeat gives way to death. So, stand up, dust yourself off, call on God and He will break down the wall of doubt. His glory is our hope, His love our strength. Believe in God and He will believe in you.

We must fight until our Savior has returned. We must not procrastinate. We shall not waver. Our God is an awesome and mighty God, the only true God. Let us bow down and worship Him for all He has done for us. Let us give Him the praise He is so worthy of.

"Oh God, forgive my iniquities, blot out my transgressions from before me. Take my sins and wash them away. Let your countenance shine upon me every day that I might bask in your Glory! Oh, that I am worthy to be called your son, show me the way I must go and let me not fall into temptation. I know you are God, I know you are Holy, Holy, Holy! Keep me close to you for all I fear in this short life is falling away from you. Hold me in your arms and carry me when I cannot go on any further. Give me strength when I am weak and through your Son's sacrifice I live! Bless me and those around me so they may partake in your Glory! Amen!" -Richard Mathewson

Update on website link

2010-02-16T12:41:00.001-06:00

To all,

The new link to my website is: http://www.faith.design.officelive.com/

Thank you.

Please check out my site.

2010-02-16T12:05:00.002-06:00

I have recently moved forward as I have been called to do by our Lord. I have designed my own website which is supposed to be informative, interesting, real reality, and also enjoyable. I will be revising the site continually and updating, upgrading, and improving it also. Please follow the path through my latest addition to my ministry and give me whatever feedback you feel like. Thank you for your continued support and love.

http://www.faith.design.officelive.com/
The link is also at the bottom of this blog.

-Richard Mathewson

When one soul is saved!

2010-02-13T01:50:00.000-06:00

The Bible says that all of Heaven rejoices when one soul is saved. If all of Heaven rejoices at the newly obtained grace of God, what if we picked up our pace down here on earth? What, just what if we began to expand and step-up spreading of the Good News? What a party Heaven would be having! Think about it. I havn't done statistics on this, I will not because it would dip into legalism, but just imagine a 24/7/365 Holy party in Heaven. Constant euphoria in a divine utopia! To much to imagine, to difficult to humanly imagine!

We must hit the ground running with spreading the Good News. We must get motivated in a way that we have never been motivated before. I, for one, am so excited about getting that news out to the world. Most of us have jobs, others different and varied engagements. But, as believers, as Christians, we were instructed, mandated, and ordered by Jesus Christ to get on it! We must not procrastinate. We must not bail. We must not shy away from our duty as Christians and we must get proactive!

Pray for me....pray for my work for the Kingdom..........pray for those I will meet, that God renews my strength every morning. That I will mount up with wings of an eagle and run and not be weary, that I may walk and not faint. Pray for me as I approach the day anew. Pray for me fellow brothers and sisters.

I pray daily for strength because of the enemy who is constantly looking for ways to hinder me. I pray for constant guidance from the Holy Spirit so that I may choose my words with wisdom and they may impress godliness on those I am ministering to. I pray that all my fellow warriors are also given daily renewals of strength that we can all represent our awesome Father. And lastly, I pray that I continue to die daily to my own flesh so that I might receive life through Jesus Christ. Give me power oh Lord! Give me my Spiritual Armor to fend off the devil. And give me more of you every day. Amen!

Compromise.......Satan's vice!

2010-02-11T01:43:00.000-06:00

Why have we compromised our first love? Why are we content with second best when it comes to our faith? Why?

There was a time when we possessed a faith. We had a love. We called out to the Father, our God in times of distress. Now, it seems, we curse Him for everything bad that happens in our lives and fail to exalt Him and recognize when He blesses us with good things in our lives. We have traded faith for facts.....Praise for proof..........Worship of our Creator for worship of self!

This is so evident in the way we live. This is made so clear by the fruits of our labor. We work so hard for material gain, only to lose everything in earthly death. We try so hard to "buy" our ticket to our idea of an afterlife with good works and loose words, all very meaningless when contested in truth! We constantly curse ourselves by the very words that come out of our mouths. Back when I was working, when asked how my day was going, I would respond, "Same old stuff, different day." Did I actually expect something to change with those condemning words? Did I really want something different if I constantly verbalized failure and lived it out? At that time, I didn't realize that I was actually creating my own failed future. I was making my own destiny and setting myself up for absolute failure. I didn't understand the power of words. I didn't know that words, when spoken, turn into actions.

God spoke life into the world. By His Word, we were brought into existence. God also made man in the image of Himself. Therefore, we have similar characteristics and abilities. We have the ability to speak healing, and restoration. Jesus gave us this ability before leaving to be with the Father. An Advocate, the Holy Spirit, was left with us to guide and influence us. But, we were given the powers and abilities to perform miracles in the name of Jesus Christ. So what then becomes of us who are not of the faith? Those of us who don't use these powers? We still have these powers and abilities available, as we all are entitled to blessings from God, but if we do not believe in Jesus and the power of God, if we do not profess that Jesus died for our sins, then we cannot know how to utilize these powers and abilities. We simply never get the opportunity and privilege of experiencing the awesome and wonderful feeling of using the power of the Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus Christ. We never get to activate these abilities because we are ignorant of their awesome capabilities.

Miracles are real. The Power of Jesus Christ to heal, mend, restore, and much more is very real. I have already witnessed or received so much healing and restoration in my own life as I know so many of us have. I am speaking to those out there who might be feeling a little abandoned or a little confused because something in their life is not going as they had hoped for. Don't give up, never quit. Never say never either! Do not compromise your life any longer. You have so many blessings in store for you already. God has an awesome journey ahead for you. You have so many more experiences to go through. Your knowledge will never peak and your wisdom will not see an end. Don't give up! Don't throw in the towel just because you have been disappointed. Put your stock in God, not man. Proverbs 25:19 "Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a broken tooth and a foot out of joint!" (KJV)

I have noticed that when I begin to think I have everything in control and my life is doing well because I am doing good, that is when I fall back down and realize that I am losing sight of the goal, to get closer to God daily. It is when I think I have it all together that I fall on my tail again. I also notice that when I begin to lean too much on other people that I get disappointed and let down. We are mere humans, created in the image of God yes, but born into sin. Therefore, this is the biggest reason that we absolutely need God carry us to the finish line. Jesus Christ told us to cast all of our cares on Him, and that His burden is light and His yoke easy. It is because of this victory in Jesus and only because of this victory that we are able to have lives of fulfillment and purpose. We are only able to be strong through His weakness. He bore our sins; He took our burdens on Himself and freed us from the eternal damnation of death. He broke the grasp that death had on us and provided us with an exit strategy, a plan B.

We must understand that it was our own selfish nature that traded God's grace for logical reasoning. It was mankind who thought that we needed a reason or tangible proof of His existence in order to believe in Him and put our trust in Him. But, what did we have before? Were we really better off before Jesus came along and provided us salvation through grace? Could we save ourselves from the aweful and terrifying grasp of death? Did we have a solution to disease, and pain, and failure, and all the other terrible things that Satan used to hold us hostage? No! Period!

May God bless everyone and bring all of us to an understanding that we all so desperately need and desire. May we be content with His best and only be concerned about living for Him in everything we do and with everyone we encounter in our faith-walk with Him. Amen!

The Final Hour!

2010-02-05T12:29:00.000-06:00

Please note that where the word "we" as used in this material, it most commonly refers to Americans and other persons, not necessarily just the Christian community.

The Bible has presented an unprecedented accuracy in its self-contained prophecies, all of which have been fulfilled, are being fulfilled, or will be fulfilled. Never before has a "book" been so accurate and so precise in its material and key points and topics. Never before has there been a "book" capable of making such precise predictions hundreds of years prior to the events actually happening. The Bible has brought timeless stories of a very factual history of a nation and its development from formation to established sovereignty. We have seen manuscripts come from hidden caves, located in the nation of Israel, and also passed down from generation to generation, evolve into the most read book in the world! After the first official copy of the Bible (King James Version) was printed in 1611, we observed many different copies and translations developed and put into circulation for the spreading of the Good News. There has never before been a "book" put into circulation on such a world-wide scale before in history.

We have followed the evolving Nation of Israel, God's chosen people, through war after war, persecution of epidemic proportions, and constant victimization by the rest of the world. We’ve observed the millions of Jews murdered by Stalin, Hitler, and Saddam followed by so many other murdering anti-Christ’s.............We have seen the devastation of a people chosen by God and hated by man followed by restoration. This restoration continually vindicated by God and God alone. Always a whole restoration. We have seen miracle after miracle regarding the restoration of Israel. We now see the intense hate and anti-Semitism of the Jewish people by almost every other country or established regeim with a standing military. We have followed the daily murder of the Jewish people in their own country immediately following the official establishment of Israel as a Nation and recognized by the rest of the world in 1948 by the Palestinian Muslim population and numerous other recognized Islamic Terrorist Organizations which encircle the small country of God's chosen children. Those of us who follow the news get to observe the perpetual persecution of Israel by its Arabic and Anglo-Saxon neighbors alike. Anti-Semitism is on the rise and slandering Jews has become almost second-nature in everyday life. We are always reminded of the horrible Holocaust when the Jewish people are referenced in our culture, but we seem to disgard their daily plight of surviving as a Nation and people. America seems to have forgotten God's children.

If we quickly go back to the Bible, we are again shown its proven track record in its accuracy and correctness. History is "proof" of its God-inspired writing. Events once foretold and now fulfilled attest to its factual substance. Although many various religions and belief systems have constantly attempted to refute and deny the accuracy of the Bible's content material, all we have to do is look back on history to corroborate the facts. All we must do is follow timelines and prophecies to present the divine inspiration of the Word, God's Word, and the Bible. But, we must also realize that God uses Israel and all of the history of this small nation to show us the love He has for those who love Him. He wants the entire world to see how the "impossible" can be overcome with His divine intervention. That we are not to fear, but to have faith in Him. It is by His will that the earth was formed and it will be by His will that the earth will be made new. We are not to fear the approaching hour, but to become proactive in spreading the Good News. We want everyone to have the opportunity to experience God's gracious and merciful love.

With the unprecedented accuracy of God's Word in mind, we cannot deny that we are approaching the final hour. Given the Bible's exactness and accuracy, we can automatically assume that the prophecies yet fulfilled are coming to fruition. They are only a short while away. We are quickly approaching the ultimate revelation preached by Jesus Christ during his short time here on earth and later, given to John by God as a prophecy. This pattern; God inspired, Son verified, and prophesied by men of God, is a pattern which we should recognize and learn. The world is being prepped and prepared for the ultimate makeover. One only possible by God and through God's omnipotent attribute. He created the world and only He can destroy it. If we look into Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Zechariah, Revelation, and the four Gospels or Saints, we will see where it talks of the end time being orchestrated by God, not man. God is in the cockpit and He has His hands on all the controls. He is an awesome God and will do what He says He will do. We must not become complacent during these last days. We must not fall prey to the Deceiver. We must not be afraid for God is with us and He will never leave us nor forsake us! If God is for us, who can possibly be against us!

John 16:33 I have told you these things, so that in me you may have [perfect] peace and confidence. In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration; but be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you.] (Amplified Version)

Revelation 22:7 And behold, I am coming speedily. Blessed (happy and to be envied) is he who observes and lays to heart and keeps the truths of the prophecy (the predictions, consolations, and warnings) contained in this [little] book! (Amplified Version)

All we must do is continue living for Him under His protection and by His will, all-the-while reading His Word and using it as our life manual, immersing ourselves in daily prayer and meditation, walking with the Holy Spirit, and keep on Spreading the Good News to all the world. He will take care of the rest! Amen!

Eternal Life!

2010-02-02T20:38:00.000-06:00

John Tillotson said-"He who provides for this life, but takes no care for eternity, is wise for a moment, but a fool forever!"

If we live for the moment and take life at face value, are we truly living at all? I was raised with the ideals of a Christian but lacked any knowledge or tangible proof of God to provide a benchmark for my own personal faith. This failure to provide a basis for something in which to logically believe in by my parents caused the next twenty or so years of my life confusion and much personal inner turmoil. A spiritual battle ground in my soul with no formulated defense plan or developed attack course. A constant and very real fear lingering around the corner with every experience I went through or put myself through. I was "spiritually void" in not so many words. The intent of my parents ideoligies were good, but the perception of God and His awesome grace and love was not yet understood by me personally. I had no real understanding of God's intent for each of us, His children, and didn’t even realize that I was capable of receiving unlimited blessings and purpose for my life through His love as our ultimate and only real Father. I didn't seek Him out. Draw near to God and He draws near to you.

I spent the first part of my life in confusion, guilt, resentment, anger, hopelessness.............SIN! I became so accustomed to sinning that it became second nature to me. I sinned daily. I lived for the day, even the minute at times depending on which way the wind was blowing. I look back and realize the actual amount of sins I committed and it brings me to my knees every time. I realized that I had no plan for what I would do if I died or where I would go when my life on earth was complete. I had no idea of what eternity was or how awesome it is when spent with Jesus Christ and the Father. Most importantly, I did not truly know how to obtain eternal life. I have since received the wonderful grace God extends to us all, but you occassionally have a tendency to look back at your past in hindsight, mine was shameful. When I have occasional "flashbacks" or memories, I claim my victory through Jesus Christ and switch my mind into Christ like mode, thereby taking those negative and destructive memories and thoughts captive. I augment this technique with reading and meditating on God's Word and prayer.

I cannot, however, stop thinking about how much I love my Creator, the Lord God Almighty, nor do I want to..........I have learned so much in the way of positive thinking with the very real help of the Holy Spirit. Our lives are so fragile and if we do not "handle them with care" we will fall and break into pieces. We must come to a mature mode of thinking, a holy mindset which is God-oriented and Covenant binded. We must surround ourselves with love, love of God first, then love of each other. We must continue to stay vigilant, always anticipating Satan but not dwelling on his weapon called fear. I continually think of God's awesome and loving nature thereby avoiding falling victim to my own sinful nature. If I am not constructively building my spiritual defenses, I risk falling back into my former sinful nature, as I believe we all risk. Flee from the devil and he will flee from you.

Have you ever noticed how a closet closed is completely dark inside, however, when you open the door, light floods in and takes over the darkness turning it into light. The same idea applies to our minds and what is filling them. Without constant spiritual stimulation, or our minds become filled with doubt and fear. They become stagnate. Make no mistake, Satan cares about every person on earth. He cares about taking you away from the Father and creating his own version of what he wants us to be. He distorts the truth and only cares about convincing us that we don’t need God. We do, for if we don’t have God in our lives, then we will eventually find sure death. Remember, the greatest trick the devil ever played was convincing man he doesn't exist. If we are not ready for an attack, we cannot fight it off when it comes. Only believing in Jesus Christ as our Savior and allowing God to guide and protect us will lead to everlasting life, eternal love, and peace with security. What a feeling............To see Jesus, to be by Him! To be able to partake in the Glory of God makes my adrenaline peek. I am truly stimulated when I am filled with the Holy Spirit and Christlike thoughts.

Romans 10:11 The Scripture says, No man who believes in Him [who adheres to, relies on, and trusts in Him] will [ever] be put to shame or be disappointed. (taken from the Amplified Bible) We must constantly believe in God and His capabilities and not our own. This is love. This is wisdom. This is LIFE! Amen!

The essence of love.

2010-01-25T15:24:00.000-06:00

We have known love from the beginning. We are also very intimate creatures in nature. We were created with the need for partnership. When God created mankind, he intertwined love into our DNA. The Scriptures say God is love and we were created in the very image of our Father. But, with love comes the most intense emotional attachment of all, the emotion of feelings.

Our feelings are one way of expressing our love whether consciously or subconsciously. We feel loved when we are receiving attention from someone who holds value in our life. We feel loved during acts of intimacy. We feel the love when we observe our children, our own flesh and blood. We feel love when love is in action. And we feel emptiness when love is out of action.
Our ability to love is based off of our past experiences. It is also derived from our upbringing. People from loving homes and childhoods normally end up in stable relationships with generally stable lives. They emanate love through their behavior and norms. They know the value of self-worth and importance. While people from abusive homes end up becoming very disconnected and distant in their social interactions. They don’t know what it “feels” like to be loved and henceforth don’t know how to show these feelings to other people. A lot of times they do not even know how to love themselves. This usually reveals itself in their behavior and actions. They have low self-esteem and appear defeated and lost in their lives. They often display an attitude of helplessness or carelessness. There is almost always an obvious lack of ambition for something better because they only know what they have, not what they lack.

When we have an active relationship with God and recognize His presence in our lives, we know love because God is love. And the Scriptures say that we are children of God and share in His glory, therefore we are love. Love always has a deeper meaning with God and we tend to avoid situations which are destructive in nature. There can be no darkness where there is light. Then there can be no emptiness where there is completeness. Love gives us a feeling of completeness. It humanizes us and provides a feeling of well being.

To love is to live. Life with love is life lived. We should always seek out God and where we find Him, there will love be also. You will find it better to have loved and lost than not loved at all. Amen!

Its good to be a Christian!

2010-01-23T21:35:00.003-06:00

I have found that being a Christian is not everything I thought it would be. Actually, it is nothing close to what i thought it would be. Its better! Its sooooooo much better..........................................

I fought my "demons" for years prior to my recent life re dedication to God. I had my share of demons like anyone but I didn't have the foggiest idea on how to handle them. I had no inkling of an clue on how to manage my stress and I definitely didn't have any coping mechanisms in place for battling Satan and his vicious attacks. I was at a dead-end street in my life and falling rapidly. My world was spiraling out of control and I was scared. Scared of why. Scared of what to do. Scared of who to go to. I needed help!

Not until recently with my ugly divorce did I realize what was wrong in my life. I finally came to an understanding that the problem was not why but what. What I was doing that was causing all of the turmoil and pain. I was living in sin! Kill it, cut it, and can it anyway you want to, I was living in plain old sin. I was serving myself and Satan. I was so wrapped up in what I thought was making me happy and with who I thought was keeping me sane when God had a much different plan in mind for me.

You see, I believed that I was in control of my own life and therefore, my own destiny. I had created this idea years before and years of self-indulgence and following fleshly lusts had not helped. I honestly thought that I was the one who had complete control of my life and no one else but me. I didn't think for one minute that Satan, the Devil, the Serpent could possibly control me or my actions. I didn't think that God has blessings in store for everyone but it is up to them to seek Him out to receive those blessings. What I failed to understand and only recently discovered is that Satan loves to manufacture feelings of lust, hate, envy, resentment, offense, and so much more in our lives and through our experiences. It is Satan who was the first to sin and Satan who convinced man that we could be "like God." After all, he thought he could be like God and this is the root reason for his fall in the first place. Did you know that he was second in command to God? That he was adored by God and cherished in Heaven prior to his fall? Isaiah and Ezekiel talk about how God mentions, then Lucifer, in an endearing manner. But this once Chief Angelic Being became the most sinful being to ever exist. His own pride and lust for God's power and idea that he could be his own god became a deadly mistake. He fell from Heaven and brought sin to earth. Yes, man did have choice and chose sin, but Satan was the major player in that incident. His whole existence as Satan has been to convince man that we don't need God and that we should choose self over salvation. I did for years. Those were the most lonely and painful years of my life.

Then I discovered that even though we are automatically born into sin, we reach a point in our lives where we can decide if we will continue to sin or start to live. In choosing our path, many of us have peer guidance while some have influencing situations, but in some way or another, we all reach a point where we are able to choose life or death. As Moses addressed Israel, "Oh that you choose life!" We are all responsible for our own salvation, our own "destiny" and we will all have to make that decision. People prayed for me for over twenty years. Over two decades, they patiently prayed, never interfering only praying. God always answers our prayers. He doesn't always give us the answer we want, but He will answer them. He says if we ask, we will receive, if we pray, He will listen to us. Oh, the power in and of prayer, but I will get to that in an upcoming post..........

Looking back in hindsight, I realize that I could have made much different decisions which would have ended in much different results. I could have saved myself allot of pain and allot of grief. But we weren't given the ability to redo our lives, only the privilege of reviewing them. God gives us more than one chance to choose life, "Oh, that we choose it!" I come to tears and hit my knees when I think about all the times I could have died and should have been hurt because, I know that "But for the grace of God" I would not be here today. And I realize that as short as my life has been, I still have a future of eternity with Him. Here is a poem I came up with about the power of prayer.

I'm in need of a miracle, some money to buy,
a little morsel of bread for the hungry, the child who's mother will die,
The lame who's never walked, the blind who can't see,
the deaf and the mute and the widow to be,
I pray for the cold, the young and the old,
all God's children with stories untold,
I thank God for shelter and food on my table,
I thank Him for health and just being able,
to give to the poor and provide them a sight,
Of God's awesome grace and powerful might,
so give me the strength to face the new day,
And give me a plan, a path, and a way,
to spread kindness everywhere, with everyone in every way,
God give me what I need to show them your love,
just one little miracle that comes from above......................

I pray for miracles every day. I pray that I can continue to soldier on with God in the lead. May He bless all of you as much as He has blessed me. Please pray for me also because you can never get too much prayer. Amen!!!

What is a gift?

2010-01-19T23:50:00.004-06:00

What is a gift. Paul lays the gifts out quite extensively in 1 Cor 12:4-11 (KJV) "4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord. 6 And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all. 7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal. 8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; 9 To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; 10 To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues: 11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will."

These are gifts given us by the Holy Spirit. Jesus had utilized all of the above gifts during His ministry while on earth and before His sacrificial death on the cross which resulted in a victorious resurrection from the grave! Before ascending up to the Heavens to be with the Father, Jesus informed His disciples that when the Holy Spirit comes to them, they would receive power and witness to the world. John 14:12-14 (KJV) "12 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. 13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.

To be endowed with any of these gifts from the Holy Spirit and to possess the ability to perform the same miracles as Jesus our Savior is an awesome thing indeed! To be given the ability to use our faith in these ways is also a very humbling responsibility and sobering reality. I am still trying to determine which of these gifts I have................but I know that I will soon discover what I seek. I have faith that what God says will happen will happen and I stand on God's Word. I know that God has a plan for my life in ministering for His Kingdom. The exact details are not written in stone but I patiently await my gift. What is written in stone is our mandate to go out into the world and preach the Gospel. How we go about that should not be a stumbling stone to us, the believers.

We must ensure that we are taking every opportunity to testify to other people and we must always be prepared to answer one's questions when they are asked. Col 4:2-6 (KJV) 2 Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving; 3 Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds: 4 That I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak (to walk wisely toward those who have not yet come to the true knowledge of Christ). 5 Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the time. 6 Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.

God has been pruning me ever since I rededicated my life to Him in 2008. He has been purging me of my imperfections little by little to bring me out of the fire to the point of clarity so I am able to establish my credibility as His soldier and servant in the world. Although the process will never be completed here on earth, I grow closer to Him daily and mature in my walk with Him as I approach every hill in my life and then crest it just to move onto the next one. But this is the experience I was talking about. This is the Journey of Faith! My Journey of Faith. I am excited about being His child and I am ever hungry for more spiritual food as each new day comes. I have learned so much just in the last year that I never knew existed. I am learning more by the day and fervently look forward to a life a happiness and contentment despite any set-backs or issues which might arise. Why? Because my God reigns! He is in control.............................. Amen!

A little story about my coming to understanding. Part 2

2010-01-19T16:10:00.009-06:00

So, after coming to the understanding that we all have an end, whether we believe or not, I continue on to my furtherance of the faith. Readers should note that these are my own personal angles, views, experiences, and opinions. No thought of condemnation is considered or should be considered in the writings of my own hand. I am simply giving some insight to my walk with God, the One true God, the Lord of Heaven and Earth. I am revealing wonderful and awesome things God has entitled me to and given me the privilege of experiencing. I thank Him daily and am grateful for the ability to be able to write for Him. I refer to my understanding of the present, seeing as how I will never come to completion of understanding, I write about the journey to the day when my Savior comes back, a glorious day that will be!

I realized that to forcefully disregard any notion of a higher power is simply to admit that I am in control of my own destiny and that thought scares me. The thought of having to decide my fate based on my own actions, whether good or bad, is frightening. I would assuredly fail if this were the case. But it is not the case. The idea of self-deity is hard because so many find it so difficult to make a decision or decisions about their life-after-death on their own. Just the thought of life-after-death makes most people change the subject or at least very uncomfortable. Why is that? Why do we put so much stake into right now and so little thought into where we are going after we physically die. We are supposed to not worry about what tomorrow holds, but we were never instructed to throw our final destination to the wind either. We can live for today while securing our tomorrow. I mean this in an eternal sense of course. I am referring to the "Where we go" part of tomorrow. To think otherwise is insecurity and much to the disadvantage of the thinker. We must stand on God's Word when He says that to those of us (the Saints) who hold fast to the faith, the "second death" has no power.

I also discovered, after much trial and error on my part (ongoing to this day) that Jesus Christ died on the cross to give us life! Not just to give us eternal life, although that is the main theme, but to give us life..........................life now, life here, life of present! Jesus' sacrifice took some things away, fulfilled others, and implemented yet more. He was victorious by His atonement for our sins so we can be victorious. He took our pain away so we could be pain free, I say this in a literal sense. I have spent most of my life in and out of hospitals, and under the knife so much I have that smell, that sterile hospital stench which is permanently embedded in my nose. I have undergone multiple surgeries and Ive completely lost count of the times Ive visited the doctor's office. Even so, even with all of these worldly medical procedures and diagnosis', Ive still maintained that I am not destined to be in pain for the rest of my life. I am convinced that through the power of the Blood of the Lamb and nothing more, I am healed and I am victorious! By His stripes we are healed, He bore our weaknesses and through weakness we are made strong.

No amount of pain or diagnosis or "professional opinions" will ever keep me from believing in the Word of God! No doctor or expert or professional is better or bigger than God! If there was one thing in this world that I could grab and hang on to, it is the Word of God. Why? Because I have seen it fulfilled in my short life. I have been witness to it's miraculous and mysterious authority. I have seen others healed from their "permanently disabling sicknesses" and even my own powerful and encouraging testimony of healing. Nothing can keep me from the wonderful love of our Father, not even earthly death. It has no control over me or my soul. I have already dedicated my soul to God thereby putting my foot on the head of the Serpent. I am a child of God and will, therefore, participate in the future of His Kingdom! He says so in His Word. He ensures those of us who believe that we will partake in His riches. We will all have a room in His house. What an honor. What a future to hold onto.

Why dissect the existence of God when the existence of God carries so much happiness and love? Why argue senselessly over the very purpose of Jesus Christ when He died for all of us. He died for us and bore our sins so we can receive Him and the Father and everything good that follows. He died for everyone and offers eternal life of fulfillment to anyone who wants it. Anyone who makes the decision to get it. You have to want it before you can get it and get it before you can experience it and experience it before you will understand it and understand it before you can live it! I am so thankful for God's grace and eternal mercy. I am grateful for the people He has decided to place in my life. I live to worship Him and serve Him and nothing else really matters. Everything else is just extra..............................................Amen!

A little story about my coming to understanding. Part 1

2010-01-16T01:05:00.002-06:00

While conducting my Bible Study for the day, I read Malachi 3:10 Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house,and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. (KJV) This is a true mandate of God which has a direct bearing on tithing and the principles behind tithing. If followed, this mandate will show itself to be a reality and is very self-evident in nature! I, for one, have tested this in obedience to the Almighty God with results which show His absolute miraculous capabilities. *It should be noted I struggled with this in understanding it and actually realizing its intended meaning for the first few months of my new life with God. It wasn't until after recently realizing the true meaning and following the rule that I began to see fruits.

And it was also not until complete obedience to this mandate did I realize the extent of God's promises for my life. After tithing faithfully for a couple of months I began to notice very real changes in my life. I began to receive; a new vehicle, raised compensation from the Veteran Affairs, ability to move from one state (of which I spent most of my life trying to escape) to another, and noticeable betterment in my health status. All of which were only achieved after my complete surrender to God and obedience to God. All of which I have been recently praying on and asking for, and in the past, attempting to accomplish myself under my own ill-conceived efforts through years of hard effort and worn-out patience in the forwardness of these endeavours. Although I exhausted every avenue of approach in my own futile attempts to better my own life, I only served myself in going nowhere. Only after realizing my own personal attempts were taking me nowhere did I begin to seek out God and read and meditate on His Word daily, even hourly. It is also important to understand that I began to fall into line with God's Word and listen to the Holy Spirit. This was also made possible due to very patient people in my life who served as spiritual mentors to me namely my sister who I love so dearly, and my unsuspecting brother who is an atheist. He has unknowingly been used by God to help me in times of need. Oh, if he only knew the power of faith in God.

Yes, after years of waiting and hundreds of man hours of sweat-inducing work did I start to realize I was headed down a dead-end street. I reached my point of self-realization that I could not make these things happen any more than I could control the weather. It was after meeting my rock-bottom that I gave my own spirit up and threw in the gloves. After my recent divorce in which I was the divorcee, and only then did I seek out God and guess what? He answered! It was confusing, surprising, intriguing, and deboggling all in one wrapped up present. But, I found this peace. A peace that was better than any physical enjoyment I have ever had. I no longer felt the desire to please myself or indulge in my own interests and pleasures. I lost all sense of control but somehow I knew that the end far outweighed the means and everything I was and my entire identity as a human was amazingly recreated. I was a new person.

I cannot explain this feeling in words but it far surpasses all feelings of anything we know as people or anything which we could even imagine. I was never so comfortable, never so at home with myself. If there could be just one phrase to sum the feeling it would have to be "Spiritual Extasy!" By no means can it be summed up into one, simple phrase, but if it could, that is how I would phrase it. Yes, "Spiritual Extasy."

You see, God doesn't just have certain "kudo's" that are attached to His grace called salvation. No, it goes so much deeper than that. God ensures that once we get a true taste of His glory and splendor, we will want more and more and more.....................And we do, I do! God has this whole program allotted for our lives irregardless of what our final decision will be. Eternal Life or Eternal Death! That is ultimately our decision because God so graciously created us with the ability to choose. But, despite our own insecurities, God has security for us. Not security in the sense of human needs, security with so many more strings attached. All of them bonuses. All of them better than the last and less than the next. God is a game plan. God is a religion. God is a job. God is a way of life so that we may obtain life. In other words, a life lived with God in control is a life lived to the fullest. He doesn't just have this bonus called Heaven waiting for us in the afterlife, He has a life full of fullness and contentment awaiting us now!

We can spend our whole lives running around busying ourselves in our own vices and pleasures. But, from experience, I promise you that we will NEVER receive completeness in anything we do or anyone we meet. No number of people in our lives or money in our bank account can give us the feeling of completeness at the end of the day. All the riches in the world brings with it so much heartbreak and emptiness. At our death beds, you won't hear the father requesting his current number of IRA's or the amount of equity he has accrued with his home. He won't ask his son for a list of accomplishments on the community board. No, he will ask to see his family one last time. He will cry for the crumbling relationship between him and his prodigal son or daughter. He will be saddened by the small number of family members present for his upcoming funeral. He will have this nagging sense of something missing in his life and then he will weakly ponder his impending future in death that is getting progressively closer by the minute. Where am I really going? Who is on the other side of my one last breath? What awaits me? Who awaits me? Wait...................Did I treat everyone with respect? Did I contribute to society in a positive way? How about all those transients I treated so harshly years ago................That was a lifetime ago, but it seems so close now........................What if there really is a hell?????

This is something I dealt with for years in my youth. The mere mention of death triggered this shockingly but very real fear in the pit of my soul! For years, I worked around dead people as a police officer, I saw the worst possible scenarios; dead baby call, woman who had attempted suicide by using a .38 Smith & Wesson only to have half of her brain and skull fragmented on the wall behind the bed she was sitting on, a boy-somewhat of a local favorite-drowned in a residential lake with a maximum depth of 8 feet, and the wife of a cheating husband who drove off a 90 degree angle cliff of approximately 200 yards in height in a mini van. These are all very real incidents which I had the unfortunate luxury of observing on a daily basis. I was on the local Special Reaction Team and one day on a hostage situation call to a local school to intercept a man with a gun only to be called off seconds after the man took his wife's life then his own. Luckily, his son was in a different classroom at the time. I was the point man or shield-man of the team and I would have been the first to engage the disturbed man.

All of these very real, all of these very sad. Did the woman go to heaven? Did she have a conversion during the three days she was hooked up to life support with only her organs functioning? Was the boy right with God? Did the parents of the baby ever survive the ordeal? All serious and necessary questions. Serious because reality is much different than the television! Necessary because salvation and damnation are the only two alternatives! The most important question you should ask yourself is "Am I ready to face God if I died tonight?" I know that this might stir some emotions, some of you might have experienced similar situations, and others may just be wondering and asking the same questions. But the important point I am trying to make is that God is the absolute only way of ensuring that when and if that time comes, we are prepared. God is the only answer to our problems and because of His grace and the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ, are we able to look forward to eternal life with Him. Because of the pain endured at the cross are we able to bypass the pain here on earth while we approach our lives eternal in the New Kingdom.

So, let this be sobering but serious. Let each of us take a step back and reevaluate our lives and ask ourselves, are we ready? God has offered us eternal life, but we must understand that this offer does not limit our ability to enjoy our lives here on earth. We are meant to have good and prosperous lives while we borrow this worn out piece of dirt called earth. So let us take every thought captive, bring all of our problems, pains, and issues to God. And most importantly, let us show by our own lives who we serve and who we love as He first loved us. Amen.

VICTORY!

2010-01-13T10:30:00.007-06:00

One of the most important aspects of religion is "where", where are we going when we die? Most cultures have norms, traditions, and religious beliefs. But of those varying religious beliefs, which ones tell of what the long term goal or purpose is? What do they say about our souls? What do they say about where we are headed? Have you stopped to "ponder" your future life or death?

I have. When I was very young (about 5 or 6 years old) I began to develop this fear of death. Coming from an over-zealous and very cultish religious background, I was taught that death was imminent and hell was the alternative to Heaven. I was taught that sinning lead to a death more horrible than anything that could humanly be imagined. I'm sorry to state that, in hindsight, I believe my parents used the Bible and Hell to scare religion into me. It worked........for a few years more.........then I began to slip into a life of confusion, sin, and fear. But still, with all of my sinning and rebellion against God, I still had the fear of death and eternal damnation of Hell. Images of burning for infinity always haunted me and the fear of dying became a regular nightmare throughout my early years and into my twenties all the way up to rededicating my life to God! It was not necessarily a bad thing to believe in hell as the alternative to Heaven, it was just used as the tool to convince me to become a Christian, versus salvation by the Grace of God.

I only recently realized how "hell" fits into the schematics of our eternal future. Hell is the alternative to the New Heaven and Earth. Hell is reserved for Satan and his followers. But, those of us who have a relationship with God and are true believers have a reservation waiting for us in this New Kingdom with the Father, Jesus, the Heavenly host, and all the other Saints. Jesus told us that he is preparing a place for us in His New Kingdom. And God told John (Revelation) that the second death or "hell" has no power over us. Christ's "death" on the cross was the elimination of eternal death for those of us who believe. He took away Satan's tool called "death" and replaced it with a privilege called "Life!" What an act of grace!

So, we know there is a place called Hell or Hades and we know who is bound for that place because it says so in the Bible. We also know that if we are walking with God and our faith is strong, we are lined up with the Word and Holy Spirit, then we have salvation awaiting us and the "second death" or place called hell has no power over us. We have VICTORY over death by Christ's sacrifice for us. By the GRACE of God we are saved, not the wonderful acts of kindness we perform or amount of time we spend in the pew or reading the Scriptures. We can now approach the Throne of God, the Most Holy of Holy's through His Son, Jesus Christ!

Let us now activate our "boldness" in everything we do and everything we say. Let us not waste anymore time and start telling the world the biggest newsflash of all, eternal salvation comes through knowing and believing Jesus' and through God the Father. There does not have to be anymore confusion or fear. No more frivolous fighting or pointless arguing. As the old adage goes, Why beat a dead horse with a stick? Let us pursue life and life eternal. But let us also enjoy life while here on earth and prepare ourselves for life in our future. Let us look forward to a future of love and happiness, not anger and sadness.

If we can't believe that there is something better in our lives and for our lives and that we have a future, then why believe in anything at all? If we can't spend our short time here on earth happy and content, then why wake up in the morning? What good does the pursuit of wealth and status do us if gaining it takes away our very souls? We can all be prosperous and happy. Really! No joke folks! We are all intended to have wealth and status, but not our own way. We are all "destined" to have a place of importance in our lives. This can be achieved only through the wonderful grace of God, the God of heaven and earth. The one true God. The Lord Almighty.......Slice it, dice it, and add some pepper..................................It always comes back to God. He is the only true way of "living" while we are living. Achievement is only possible if we have a future to look back on our past of achievements. A future is only possible if we "believe" that there is something better out there for us to experience than just living and we don't just settle for a normal life. Something better is only possible if we live according to God's plan for us and not our own plan for us!

Let God tell you what to do, what to say, and how to live. We already have a place in His Kingdom, He is just waiting for us to acknowledge this and accept it at the same time. Once we do this, He will show us things that we never knew were otherwise possible. We will not always agree and might not always understand but we will definitely enjoy. A life with God in control is a life lived. He wants so much more for us and will give it to us if we give us to Him. Amen!

Get out there and preach the Word!

2009-12-28T14:19:00.006-06:00

We all know the passage from Scripture, John 3:16 "For God loved the world in this way; He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life." (Holman CSB) Most Christians and Theologians alike live-out Hebrews 11:1 "Now faith is the reality of what is hoped for, the proof of what is not seen." (Holman CSB) At a very young age, I could recite from memory the 23rd Psalm. And almost every church service uses passages from books of the Pentateuch (Genesis--Deuteronomy which were authored by Moses) integrated into their sermons. From the Old Testament to the New Testament, from the Kings to the Prophets, believers, as a culture, all know of Scripture in some form or another. But do we know what the Word is really saying? Do we possess true understanding of the meaning of those all-to-familiar passages which are ingrained into our spiritual lives? I know that I don't always get the intended goal of every message or every passage. This is why we must make time to study the Word and meditate on it. This is why we must make time instead of excuses and find the truth versus imitations. We must not replace God's holy Word with our own vices. It is a decision we must make but the reward is eternal!

Have you noticed how the authors and writers utilized metaphors in most Biblical stories and autobiographies to portray the message. How the Bible is packed with similes and hidden meanings. How the Prophets used laymen terms and layman level descriptions in their interpretations of the prophecies given them by God..................................and how symbolism is a norm of Scripture, both Old and New Testament. Jesus himself used parables to tell His stories and give His lessons to the masses. He used realistic examples of actual events to engage the crowds. He never used sugar-coated terms or politically-correct sentences. He never beat around-the-bush with his sermons, but was always direct and to-the-point. He saw a need and provided the solution. Saw spiritual hunger and provided the food. He observed the audience and noticed every detail about them. He even "felt" healing power leave Him as a woman (who had been bleeding for 12 years) touched His clothing as He passed by. He stopped to heal the blind, deaf, and lame. He cast out demons using the very spiritual power and influence that we also have as Christians. We are entitled to the same privileges and given the same authority to heal, save, and teach. We have the ability to carry out ministry wherever we are and with whoever we are with. We all have the same spiritual weapons as Christ to wage spiritual warfare against the Devil. We were given these abilities by God and we were given Christ to show us how to utilize them. Being a Christian was made relitively easy for all of us and following in the footsteps of Jesus is not too much to acomplish. It is not the level of difficulty which impedes our faith increasing, rather the ability to conform to godly principles and rules. We are given everything we need to fight the good fight and run the race, its up to us to see it through.

Jesus lived as himself, not putting on a face in public or pretending to be someone else when around other people. He was honest, authentic, and sincere. He was man, but God. He was just as tempted and targeted by Satan as we all are, He just faced the temptations down and returned the accusations with spirit-lead rebuttals. He never argued, but always discussed. He was never offensive in tone but never coward from a challenge to His authority lodged either by man or Satan.........................He was perfect! We, as Christians, are constantly striving to reach this perfection in Christ. We are always on the mission of progression in our relationship with God. We will always make mistakes and will never be without temptations while here on earth but, God will forgive us our mistakes and He always provides a way out of temptations. For every wrong there is a right. For every problem a solution. Every down an up and for every bump in the road there is a path around that bump. God has pre-planned our lives but He has given us the freedom to make choices. This is were we get lost.............were we go off the straight path.............were we fall off the wagon. It is our ability to make these choices which decide our fate.

We are entitled to direct time with the Father through the blood sacrifice and atonement for our sins by the Christ. We can go to God directly with our requests, our problems, and our interests. We can approach the Throne of Grace with boldness. This is something which was once impossible and, in-fact, very dangerous. It was a very lengthy and nerve-racking process only performed by the most knowledgeable Priests who were separated by birth from the rest of the Israelites and raised in a very secluded lifestyle much different from ordinary citizens. This was necessary to be able to approach God with a blood (animal) sacrifice to atone the sins of the people. After the last breath of Jesus was breathed and His spirit was surrendered up to God while on the cross, the curtain in the Holy of Holy's in the Temple was torn in two thereby symbolizing the New Covenant between God and His people. At that moment, after the tearing of the curtain, we were once and for all able to approach God on a personal level and at any time we desired. This is huge given the very time-consuming and formerly difficult process of going to God for sin atonement.

If we read Romans 8:12-17, "So then brothers, we are not obligated to the flesh to live according to the flesh, for if you live according to the flesh, you are going to die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. All those led by God's Spirit are God's sons. For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption, by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father!" The Spirit Himself testifies together with our spirit that we are God's children, and if children, also heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ--seeing that we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him." (Holman CSB), then we read Hebrews 6:1-3, "Therefore, leaving the elementary message about the Messiah, let us go on to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, faith in God, teaching about ritual washings, laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead. and eternal punishment. And we will do this if God permits." (Holman CSB), we will clearly see that we are to move forward towards the goal. We must not become stagnate in our faith and callous to our beliefs, so much so that we began to regress to our former state of sin or our old selves! We were given a mandate by God to spread the Good News and tell others about Jesus Christ, so that they might have life and have it more abundantly. That is the key word, abundantly. Having a relationship with God Almighty is living with meaning. Being a Christian is a state-of-mind and a lifestyle not a religion. It is about living the good life here on earth so we can live the good life in the fast-approaching New Kingdom!

I pray that I can live the good life or godly life that I was purposed to have. I pray that I may come to an understanding of cosmic proportions which far surpasses all other earthly understanding. I pray that I may be the man God wants me to be and that I may die to myself daily so I can live for Christ more. Deuteronomy 30:19 "I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live." (Holman CSB), Joshua 24:15 "As for me and my family, we will worship the Lord." (Holman CSB). This speaks volumes of books unwritten and words unspoken. Nothing more be said about what need be done. We know what we are to do and how we are to do it............................The rest is up to you??? Amen!

Why I am what I am!

2009-12-26T11:29:00.002-06:00

I am a born-again Christian! I am a free man! I am finally free..........................

I was a lost and now I am found, was blind and now I see! Those words ring so true to me. I am so thankful to God for allowing me to find satisfaction in grace, completion in love. I am grateful for Jesus Christ for His earthly sacrifice of atonement for OUR sins!

I realize that as a human, I am so pathetic standing alone, but of so much worth as a child of God. I am the most important me to God. To think that God created me in His own image, an image of the most awesome beauty and exotic and mysterious wonder. I am a CHILD of God. I am His own replica.....................I cannot feel sad when I think about this. I find it increasingly difficult to be selfish when faced with Christ's sacrifice on my behalf.

What a huge and very impacting placement of value to be a child of God! I mean little to the world but the world to God. I hold His affection close and love divine. I am different than His angelic host, higher than the rest of creation. It is so humbling to just attempt to comprehend my place in the Kingdom of God and my level of worth in His echelon of value. What a wonderful feeling to know that even though I was born into sin, I am free of it if I choose.

It is so very awesome but also so very confusing to try and understand the what, where, why, when, & how of divinity while being so human in nature? It is somewhat surreal to humanize the realization of God's unlimited power and sovereignty. Irrational to try and replicate His knowledge of the universe's very workings. Why can't we just let it be so? Why can't we just allow life to be? Why can't we just accept it?

I am finding my personal spiritual value or worth far outweighs my fleshly desire to know more. I now realize that to live is to conform to God's laws and commands. I find it increasingly easy to surrender my self to my God. To give me to Him. To let God be God and stop trying to determine the why of everything and everyone. I understand that I am only human and carry the burden only if I cause it to be so. To surrender myself to God is to give Him my burdens and problems. To ask Him for assistance and receive His love. Matthew 11:28-30 (NKJV)

Let me continue to love you Lord God Almighty and be the person you want to see me be. Let me do your will and live according to your precepts. Let me never fall into sin, but if I am tempted, let me use my knowledge of your Word and wisdom from your Holy Spirit. Let me be constantly thankful and let my light shine to the world so that they may see and believe in you. Let nothing cover my light, to stop it from shining or cause it to dim. But let my light become stronger and stronger until it is a flame oh God! I love you God and I lift my voice to worship you. I live to praise you and love you more and more each day............................Amen!

Being all that I can be!

2009-12-23T20:16:00.003-06:00

We were instructed by Jesus Christ himself to go out and be disciples for The Kingdom of God. The basic fundamentals of Christianity are: To gain a more intimate relationship with the Father here on earth, To live as Christians (as we are instructed in God's Word), and To Spread the Good News! We can choose to have a life as a born-again Christian, or to live as a born-again Christian! What do you choose? What will your legacy be as a Christian while you lived here in earth awaiting the New Kingdom of God?

I know of many ways to be of good cheer. I know how to try and "convert" someone to Christianity. I know of ways to help out the poor and provide relief to the widows. But do I know the true meaning of being a Christian or soldier for Christ. Do I really know what it means to give up everything for the Kingdom of God? Would I do this? How would I react if told to do this by Jesus Christ to my face?

I have to stop and think about this within its context. We have a mandate from God's own standing orders, His Word, the Scriptures, the Bible, and the Truth. Without slipping into legalism, this is something I need to take a closer look at. Those were the instructions of Jesus Christ before ascending into the Heavens to be with the Father. He gave us instructions on what we were to do and how we were to do it. Then God told us earlier through His prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, ....................) that we are to take care of the poor, widows, and needy. That we are to spread the Good News. Jesus just confirms this mandate to ensure our understanding of it and then gave us additional guidance before leaving us physically to be with the Father.

We know this to be true. We read this every time we open the Word. We hear this being preached. We see this being done by others on television and through other modern communication channels. We meditate on this. But, I can truly say that I haven't really done everything within my limitations to accomplish this.

I am holding myself accountable through the means of this blog to be more attentive to what the Holy Spirit is telling me in concert with the Scriptures. I read the Scriptures every day, I pray even more, and I am constantly communicating with God. I need to hit my knees more in complete humility towards God. I need to act more and say less. I need to be that shining light before all men and not that flickering spark. I need to apply what God says in His Word to every situation I find myself in, every problem I encounter, and every relationship I establish. Let the words of my mouth be edifying to God and let my actions be approved. Let me be that servant that He wants us to be and has called us to be. Let me actualize my Faith and be a true Christian! Amen!

Praise God!

2009-12-14T20:13:00.000-06:00

The sole purpose of man's existence is to Glorify and Praise God. We live and breath to give God the glory He so rightly deserves. I personally give God praise and glory daily and, even hourly. I praise Him from when the Sun comes up to when it goes down!

Our praise to our Father and Creator should be something woven into the fabric of our spiritual garment which we put on and cleave close to throughout our daily walk with God. We should always give our Lord praise, whether it be on an important occassion or simply in everyday tasks.

Praise originated long before mankind was created and therefore, is part of God's plan. He says in His Word that if we won't praise Him, than the rest of His creation will. "Let everything that has breath or life praise the Lord!" Can you imagine watching animal and agriculture alike praising God in our place. What a huge humility check! I would find a very secluded corner to ball up in out of shame, nothing more, just pure and unadulterated shame!

Praise is:
1) Mandatory-God requires it,
2) Necessary-We need to do it,
3) Wonderful-The feeling is spiritual empowerment,
4) Enjoyable-Praise is a healthy and satisfying spiritual exercise,
5) Encouraging-We always come away from praise more mature in our relationship with God,
6) Renewing-Praise gives our spirit and soul new energy& strength,
7) Refreshing-Praise solidifies our appreciation & respect for God,
8) Influencial-Praise causes our general demeanor to change, becoming as a shining beacon to the world,
9) Cancerous-The results of praise show our absolute dedication to our Gracious God and the spiritual maturity and feeling of security in life,
10) Positive-Praise pleases God, pleases the one giving the praise, and exposes our true love for our Creator and Father!

It starts with praise and ends with praise. Praise for who God is, what God has done, how many people God loves, why we are worthy to come before God ourselves, and when we will see Him soon. So, praise God in everything you do and everything you say! Amen!

Awareness!

2009-12-07T14:53:00.004-06:00

Satan, the Great Deceiver, has one purpose and one goal here on Earth! To gain our souls which is his deceptive way of trying to gain a leg up on God. This is why Lucifer, God's former Chief of Angels, the Morning Star, now known as Satan, the Master Deceiver. This jealousy and envy is the very heart of his demise and downfall . No one is exempt from this trap of sin, no one! The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak! Matthew 26:41 (NKJV)

We must stop downplaying the importance of the dangerous and deadly nature of the Deceiver. We must never think we cannot be influenced by the same sins. We must always pray that we do not fall into temptation just as our Savior, Jesus Christ, has instructed us to do. As we learn from our past and we should learn from our past, we will see a pattern of repetitive attacks launched by Satan and his followers against man. We were forewarned by Jesus of this because He was also tempted by Satan. He knows how strong of a pull Satan can have on the human spirit. He knows what tactics Satan uses to deceive man. Jesus knows because Jesus was tempted. He knows the capabilities of Satan's tactics and he knows the manipulating and deceptive powers Satan has. After all, he deceived man from the very beginning. It was the serpent who tempted Eve then Adam and convinced them that they could sin against God. Jesus knows what Satan is, what he stands for, what he wants, and how he intends on accomplishing his evil goals. This is why Jesus took our sins and bore them on the cross to free us from sin and bind the serpent.

We know about Satan. We know about his trickery and deception. We know about his intent. We have established what Satan wants and what he is willing to do to get what he wants, so why can't we learn how to avoid his relentless attacks? Why are we not using more, advanced spiritual warfare when we fight him? When are we going to take accountability to each other as believers and responsibility to ourselves and our families regarding our spiritual state-of-mind? When? The answer is actually so simple its almost ironic! Now! We must start taking control of the spiritual battlefield now! Because this is our duty as Christians and this is the only way we will prevail against the dark forces of Satan and his followers. He was already beaten at the Cross. We already have stomped his head underneath our feet by the Sacrifice of our Savior. We just need to keep his head under our feet until Jesus comes back to bring a New Kingdom. I am giving every believer their marching orders......................We cannot sit by idle any longer! God is our power and authority and we just need to exercise it through Him to keep the Deceiver where he belongs, beneath our feet. Trampled beneath our feet like the Lamb at Calvary! Amen!

We fall short of your Glory Oh God!

2009-12-07T13:44:00.010-06:00

I have learned certain and all-to-common lessons from life which have only served to strengthen my intimate relationship with the Almighty God. I have been through very difficult and trying times with the good blessing of always coming out a better me. This is only because of God's mercy and continual grace which is in His nature. He is such an awesome God. I am awestruck by the immensity of His wonderful and intricate creation and divine designs and inner workings of His intended plan for mankind. I am perplexed by His delicate and detailed patterns which everyday life follows as it progresses forward through the space of time. The simple yet complicated human mind is a wonder all its own. The human body, impossible to replicate yet perfectly fitted, work of His super powerful omnipotence. All of creation designed with a purpose in mind, a part to play in the wonderful cycle of life. And to think, we are the icing on the cake so-to-say of all His creation. We, us human beings, so important that even the angels are in awe. What an awesome God. What a merciful Creator. He created the very anatomy of life for His benefit. We are here to worship and please Him. We are here to make Him well pleased. We are here to develop an intimate relationship with Him with the expectation of an even better future when He comes back to reclaim His children and take away all of the pain and suffering that the human race has so immensely caused on ourselves. God's creation is so beautiful if you stop to absorb the reality of the beauty. It reveals so much of God's nature if you pause to actually appreciate it. He has given so much to each one of us, His children. We all have an inheritance awaiting us which, by spiritual comparison, minimizes even the most wealthy of people on our planet. Our future reward for absolute obedience to and love of God is life everlasting with our Father and His Son, Jesus Christ and all His heavenly host. 24/7/365 infinite fellowship, laughing, loving, rejoicing, spiritual ecstasy, music so rich to our ears, and the awe inspiring glory of our loving Father, God.

We mean so much to God. This is so evident, not only by His son, Jesus Christ, but also by His perpetual grace which He constantly shows to us in every different and unique way. It is amazing to realize that I have a Father who, not only created me, but also loves me regardless of how I am towards Him. He does not care about what we do wrong, He only cares that we continue to seek forgiveness for our wrongs and that we make a constant attempt to stop the behavior that He has instructed us to avoid and abstain from it in the future. You see, God's forgiveness is guaranteed. Can you say the same for your forgiveness? I know that I find it very difficult to forgive if someone has done something that really hurt me or damaged my personal reputation.

But, the reward to me far outweighs the journey! I am thrilled that I call myself a child of my God, the One and only True God. The Lord God Almighty! My Savior and Hero. I could literally fill an entire book with ways to worship you, God! I could sing wonders to your Holy name all the day long. There are not enough words to describe your splendor and wonders. I am infatuated by your creation and awestruck by your designs. Your nature continues to show itself in every thing every day. Your grace continues to save me from myself. Your mercy gives me hope and your love keeps me safe. Your kindness is every where and runs through me and seeps out my body like sweat through my pores. Your love shows through me like a landscape through a window. I cannot stop reading your Word and meditating on your law. Your lessons for your chosen people teach me how to live and your Holy Spirit teaches me how to speak. Your Son has left me with an example of how to act and most importantly how to love. I have learned true compassion from your awesome Son and how to treat my earthly brothers and sisters. I find the comfort of your Word to be my rock and I cannot stop the feeling of intensity in love that I have for you. I take your Word with me everywhere. I read it daily and dream about it nightly. You fill my thoughts and I bath in your love. I long for the day when I can meet you face-to-face. I dream of seeing your glory and being close to you. I greatly anticipate being together with you, your Son, and all my brothers and sisters in Christ. I cannot comprehend the intensity of your glory as you describe in your Word. But, I look forward to being in your presence every day for evermore. Lord, I am not afraid of anything except being away from you. I pray daily for your constant love and grace in my worthless earthly endeavors and only wish that I can grow closer to you by the day. Let me not fall into temptation but always be strong in your Word as you have instructed me to do. Let me be a bright and shining beacon to the world of your awesome and inspiring Glory and Love. Let me bring others to your love so they may also enjoy a life filled with your Glory and Love. If I may fall, pick me up, If I fail, help me succeed, and If I die, may I live! All praise and glory be to you my God, my Father of all creation. Amen!

Spiritual Awareness!

2009-12-04T08:17:00.000-06:00

Too many times we tend to use our faith to condemn or judge unbelievers and other believers. By pushing our faith and our own slanted doctrines, we are negating God's true intent for us, which is to free us from the shackles of sin through Grace and His son, Jesus Christ! Mark 7:13 (NKJV)

We curse ourselves to the point of death by taking the Truth and poisoning it through; legalism, holding stedfast to the traditions of men and not God, and by allowing Satan to twist and manipulate God's great message to us.

We need to step in and take back control of our intimate life with God by doing what He says in His Word and listening and obeying the Holy Spirit! We must strengthen our faith, engage our spiritual armor to always be prepared for Satans next attack, and equip ourselves with the proper and necessary tools needed to defend ourselves from Satan; knowledge of and in the Word of God, to grow much closer to God through the Holy Spirit so we will be able to understand and acknowledge when the Holy Spirit is talking to us.

This is what we are to do because Satan is so relentless in his attacks on us (1 Peter 5:8 NKJV), and his influence is cancerous to our relationship with God if we are not prepared both spiritually and mentally. The Deciever will swoop in and take from us whatever we leave available to him to the point of taking of our very souls. We must first recognize that Satan is always on duty and he never sleeps, not even for one moment.

Understand your enemy and you have just taken the first step to winning the war. We were endowed with choice and we should use this choice to choose God! He will always give us what we need if we will give Him what He requires from us................Amen!

God's true intent for us!

2009-11-10T09:39:00.005-06:00

God created humans! Not the other way around. Sometimes, we tend to think that we created God and in doing so, we have control over how we relate to Him. Well, we didn't, and despite what we may think, we don't!

God created everything else also! Humans, or mankind, are not alone on earth. We are just sharing God's wonderful creation with all of His other creations. But, we, unlike the rest of creation, have been tasked with a very important responsibility.....................To take dominion over the rest of creation or to take care of it. This is a huge responsibility. But, if God didn't think we were up to the task, He would not have given us this responsibility. After all, God never gives us more than we can handle. And, He always gives us a back-up plan for every situation we encounter or problem we will face!

The human race is so important to God that He gave His only begotten Son to die for us so we could have eternal life with Him in Heaven! That's right! We mean more to God than any other part of His creation.

God created mankind in His image, had His only Son die for us, then arranged for us a way to be with Him eternally. What more proof do we need than this? How much more does God need to give to show us how much He really loves us? Why can't we accept this token of love which He freely gives in order to show us His true intentions for us? We are working out all of the kinks in our life hose to prepare us for eternity with God. We are being tried through the sparks of temporary life to withstand the flames of eternal life! God wants us to grow closer to Him and that is the sole purpose for our lives here on earth. To grow closer to God so, when we move forward to eternal life with Him, we can enjoy it in complete love and perfection! We are being polished here on earth to shine in eternal life. Thats it! Pretty simple huh? I think so................

Because, our flesh combined with Satan's deception tells us otherwise. We have been given the world and dominion over it included with a guarantee to eternal life with God and the rest of Heaven. This is as easy as it may sound. God is not an author of confusion, but order. He has made our salvation a very simple process.......................Grace through believing in His Son and doing what we are told by Him. He has given us His instructions through the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit to guide us and act as our Advocate to help get us through our earthly life and into our next level of life with God, eternal life!

We just need to believe. Believing comes from faith, and faith from hope. So, we need to have hope in a better life ahead of us, have faith in God, and believe what He says is true and will happen as He says it will happen! Whether we know it or not, believing is part of our everyday life. We believe that when we cross the street, passing vehicles will not run us over. We believe that when someone tells us that they will pay us for the hours we work, they will follow through with their promise. We believe that when we buy cereal from the grocery store, it is not tainted and will provide our body with much needed elements like it says on the box. We believe in every day situations. So then, why do we find it so hard to believe in God? Why can't we believe in something bigger and better for us? Why can't we put our faith in a lifestyle that is filled with love and hope versus hate and bitterness?

We need to understand that God believes in each one of us! Yes, He has hope that we will take that step of faith and reach out and take His hand. He has faith in us to do the right thing and accept Him and His Son. He has faith, why can't we?

I, for one, am a walking testimony to the wonderful Grace and Love God extends to mankind. That means each one of us has the same opportunity to secure the same exact prize! Eternal life with a Father who loves us more than we can possibly and mentally comprehend! God has taken my life and changed it to be more meaningful and full of purpose. I was going down and crashing rapidly and God had already saved me, I just didn't know it. That's right! We already have a place in God's family, all we have to do is reach out and secure it.

Sadly, most people go through their entire earthly lives without ever securing their next life with God. Most people never reach their purpose or fulfill their life "path". This is because they miss the biggest discount of all, true freedom through eternal salvation from God. And even more sad is that most "Christians" never reach true intimacy with God because although they think they are walking with God, they are so far off the path...................We need to never allow this to happen! We must get closer and closer to Jesus and in doing so, we are achieving intimacy with God. The closer we are to God, the farther we are from Satan! The farther we are from Satan, the bigger the opportunity we have of gaining true intimacy with God.

What is greater than God, more evil than the devil, the poor have it and the rich want it? The answer is below.............................................

Make a choice today! Choose eternal life filled with love and kindness. Choose God. As Joshua said, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord!" It does not matter whether you have sinned or not. God already covered your sins with the sacrifice of His Son. There is nothing you have done that is greater than the blood atonement sacrifice will cover. God created you, don't you think He knows you? He made us and everything else. There is nothing greater than God, nothing! Amen.

My Inspiration!

2009-10-28T13:00:00.002-05:00

These are little pieces of thoughts given to me by God while I was only a month into a new life with God. These are my thoughts which are authentic and from my own creation. I credit them to God as He is the originator of everything. This goes to show what God is capable of doing in someones life!

1. Its not that we are not listening,
its that we don't hear Him.

2. When you want something that you've never had,
your going to have to do something that you never have.

3. Inspiration will uplift you but God will lift you up.

4. You have to know when to stop
before you will learn when to start.

5. A marriage is a test of endurance,
for without this, it will fail.

6. It should never be about what you want, rather what you don't have.

7. You'll never know God until you try Him.

8. Doubt erases any chance of hope.

9. Knowledge comes from knowing between right and wrong

10. You are never truly alone for even your shadow remains by your side.

11. The pursuit of wealth brings poverty but the pursuit of God brings wealth

12. It takes courage to face your fears and fear to face God.

13. To carry God's Word is Truth, to obey it is Faith, & to live it is Life.

14. Forgiveness begins with yourself.

15. True love is seeing into the heart.

16. To die is to live.

17. You cannot hide a lie when you are held hostage by guilt, your guilt will always win.

18. Guilt is the result of deception.

19. A cautious mind comes from wisdom.

20. A compromised trust is cancer to a relationship.

21. A broken spirit is mended only with time.

22. A rush to judgement will end with your own demise.

23. Our naked flesh is a sacred gift from God. To abuse it is sure death.

24. If you question the existence of God, look to mountains. Could man have possibly formed millions of pounds of dirt which are its foundation and body? Not even with the largest of machines. And could man have caused rain to form into water from vapor? Not even with the greatest of all man-made intelligence.

25. Do we not use only a small portion of our brain? Where does the remaining portion go?

26. A marriage is defined by the dedication of those in it. Its success is ultimately determined by unending love. Without this love, it is surely doomed.

27. God will give you all the rope you need. Its up to you whether to grab it or let go.

28. Be wise and raise your children with morale's for they are a reflection of you.

29. Hope comes in many forms.

30. Do not let the Sun go down on your anger, for you are not guaranteed tomorrow.

31. You will not sincerely find who God really is without first and completely surrendering your body and soul to Him. After all, our bodies belonged to God first, not ourselves.

32. God is the greatest addiction of all. Satan is the greatest affliction of all.

33. If you deny God while living in the present, He will deny you of life in the future.

34. The key to success is the key which opens your heart to God.

35. The best winners are great because they have survived a loss.

36. Science is a bi product of man, Religion is the result of a need, God in your life is a result of faith.

37. Believing is receiving the impossible and accepting the truth.

38. Deny God and you will consistently stumble over the same hole in the road. Accept God and he will help you avoid those holes in the road.

39. It took God just one day to make mankind. Not even the most highly-experienced, lengthy-schooled surgeon can come close even with multiple surgeries. The more we play God the uglier mankind becomes.

40. God sometimes uses us against ourselves because that is what it takes for us to look inward instead of outward.

41. We are so quick to point fingers and place blame and so slow to accept fault. Test yourself. Accept fault......

42. God never intentionally hurts us. We blame Him even though He is not the problem.

43. Forgiveness is the biggest mountain you will ever clime, but without it you will never reach the top.

44. You can never get over your guilt by pretending to be someone your not.

45. Life is what you make of it so make sure you make of it!

Servants of God!

2009-10-28T11:31:00.004-05:00

We (the human race) have always wanted to control our environment. Control is our way of feeling total completion or fulfillment. If we are in control of our environment, then we are doing OK. Control however, only leads to constant battles were we struggle to reach the top of the totem pole and everyone always wants to be the one in the pilots seat with the power! We are always on the path of gain. We are always constantly attempting to get bigger, better, and louder. We think if we have the best, we are the best. If we look the best, we will be the best! These are all serious and detrimental misconceptions.

We need to understand that God is the only One who can handle total control. He is the creator of control and has been in control long before the human race! God is the pilot and we are just the stewards with the purpose of serving others interests and needs while living here on earth. We need to grasp this concept of serving and being a servant. To serve another is a major feat for most of us and one which seems to be a constant issue and, even more so, an eluding accomplishment.

We see servants everywhere we go; waiters in restaurants, bar tenders at the bar, salesmen at the local car dealership, police officers passing by us on the road, soldiers in the news, etc. There are servants everywhere we look and at every level. But, they are almost always paid for their service, and therefore, cannot truly be considered servants in a biblical sense. Or could they? Do they do their service because they have to or because they want to? Are we being nice because everything seems to be going our way, or because we know that in 8 hours it will all be over until the next day?

Doesn't the Bible tell us that to be leaders we must first be followers and to enter the Kingdom of God we must learn to be servants for His Kingdom? Are we not called to follow the example of Jesus and learn to serve others in a completely genuine attitude and way? Yes, we are! As Christians, we must mimic what Jesus did while He was here on earth by beginning to serve others. In doing this, we are really serving the Kingdom of God, or God himself. Remember, the greatest commandment of all is that we love each other. We are called and instructed to learn to love and actually do it!

Why then do we always seem to find it so difficult to; wait an extra 10 seconds and hold open that door for the older lady at the grocery store, smile and wave at the other driver who just cut you off in traffic and then showed you that his middle finger functions just fine, stand in line at Walmart and allow the person with two items less than you to cut in front of you, be patient and actually wait on the phone while on hold without thinking about what you would do to the person on the other end of the line if you just had one wish, smile at your coworker and congratulate her even though you were just told she was getting your promotion which you have waited 5 years to get, and there is so much more............................................Could we do even one of these? Does it even cross our mind?

This is what God is referring to when He instructs us to be servants of the world. These are the occasions in which we find ourselves tested and tried. We read these verses in the Scriptures telling us about serving others and being good examples for others to show them the goodness of having an intimate relationship with God, but we too often, seem to slip up and forget them when we; go to work, to school, to the store, to church, or on a vacation. We fall apart when faced with actualizing what we have read in the Word. We fall back into our regular attitude of me, me, me when we step out of our safety zone and into the world................................Why can't we just let go of our own self-indulgence and exchange it for self-lessness? Why can't we read something in the Bible then turn right around and put it into actual practice by doing it?

The Scriptures tell us to be doers of the Word and not hearers only. This is our call to revolutionize our method of approaching everything we do and say, and break from our normal response, replying with a Biblical response. Take a bad situation and turn it into a good situation by applying what the Scriptures say. Do and not just hear! Let us begin to recognize our imperfections and indifference's and accept that we are not perfect, but God is! We can never and will never be able to completely control anything, let alone our own lives without His help and instructions. He is our benchmark. He is our standard. He is our pilot and He is always in control. So, when you feel like letting yourself or someone else control you, read His Word, act on His Word, and listen to the Holy Spirit to guide you and you will not be disappointed! Give God an inch and He will give you a mile. He is the only true way to a happy and controlled lifestyle................................................;....................Amen!

Compromise? Is it really worth it?

2009-10-25T14:15:00.004-05:00

The institution of marriage has long been held between a man and a woman. God has created man, then woman, to keep man company and for the purpose of man. Man is one extreme and woman is distinctly different. How? Sexuality and physical characteristics! More man comes from the first man and woman. As men began to populate the earth, they gave into sexual immortality which lead to the eventual and complete wipe-out of the human race from the face of the earth by God (Noah is the story). Why then do we go so far today to "accept" or "understand" homosexuality and marriage of same sex versus marriage of man and woman? Divorce is the legal separation of a married man and woman. God says (Malachi 2:16) that He "hates" divorce! This is a very strong statement coming from a loving God who constantly promotes peace and love. God knows the results or repercussions of divorce. He also designed marriage as a covenant and this is crucial to anyone who has an intimate relationship with God. After all, it was a covenant that secured the earth from a second complete destruction by flood. It was a covenant that made our eternal salvation possible. It was a new covenant that made it possible for everyone who believes to be saved through grace versus obedience to laws.

So, we have allowed several variations or "solutions" to the original intent of marriage, all of which God clearly hates, to saturate our society to the point which leans dangerously close to pushing God over the edge. Its not if but when will God have enough! So many people without God think that to please the crowds is to be correct. To be politically-correct is to be "understanding". All we are doing is seriously compromising our faith and salvation for the sake of pleasing a few small interest groups. This is a deadly compromise.

Through all of this debating on the meaning of marriage and its very institution, so much stress and mind control is placed on the intended meaning and not the definitive meaning. In other words, Satan has twisted and manipulated the points he knows he can versus directly attacking what God has already clearly defined. Why? Because, Satan never directly attacks God and God's laws. He already tried that and failed miserably (the Fall of Satan). I think we humans don't give enough time to stop and understand how smart and crafty the Serpent really is..............

Marriage, like so many other issues today, is not debatable if you are a Christian obeying God's Word! Pretty simple really. Yup! It is clearly defined in the Scriptures and leaves no room for public scrutiny. But, isn't this the case with most everything else which is considered sin? Yes!? Why then does it seem as though it is so easily accepted to fight or attack this institution set up by God and defined just as clearly? Because, we find it almost taboo to speak out against these twisted and changed institutions done by man but all too easy to speak out against or attack God!

Its those of us who are trying to please the crowds or certain "interest" groups that twist and manipulate God's truth into half-truths and, eventually, mistruths or sin. Why are we so quick to explain, excuse, or defend a certain belief or view, but so slow to stand for what is morally right? For the same reason we constantly attack God and His laws. We are playing right into Satan's hand and we are simply too ignorant to see it or we choose not to see it. But, if we call ourselves Christians, we cannot continue in this direction or on this path. The path to life is narrow and difficult but wide and broad is the way which leads to destruction (Matthew 7:13-14).
God has already given us so many escapes from legalism and political-correctness. It is a Christian duty and salvation requirement to obey God! There's not much room for play with this. The Scriptures say that God will never give us more than we can handle and He will always provide us a way out!

We must do what the Scriptures say because this is God's Word or "instructions" to us while we are here on earth preparing for the New Heaven and Earth. God is not the author of confusion so we should not be a reader of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33). If we are for the world, we are against God. I for one choose to be an enemy of the world because this is the only true way to eternal life!

But don't confuse this with being at odds with everyone all the time. No, instead this means to take a serious approach to your relationship with God and grow more intimate with Him by adhering to His laws and instruction. If we are always doing what He tells us to whether it be obeying His Word or listening to the Holy Spirit, we can't go wrong. Really! Just remember that God never changes (Malachi 3:6) and this includes His laws and truths. His instructions to us are the same today as they were in the days of Abraham, Moses, all the way to Jesus and today. The only difference is our way to salvation. Amen.

Freedoms!

2009-10-22T14:11:00.003-05:00

This post is on my opinion of Freedoms which are inherently ours if we are American.

There is truly only one freedom I wish to retain. My freedom of thought so that I can continue to have a relationship with my loving Father (God), and this freedom will secure, through this relationship, my future salvation. Absolutely no one can ever possibly take this freedom away or temporarily deprive me of it, because it is in my heart. The only person or being who can possibly, physically remove this freedom of thought is my own self.

You are your own worst enemy. You even have ultimate control, which is control over Satan and any influence he might attempt to exercise on you. Every other freedom could be stripped from me and I do not care nor would I despair. These are freedoms which other humans have entitled to me and, therefore, have no real authority. Why? Because ALL authority comes from God and is ordained by Him.

He gives and He takes away! This is the most meaningful political statement ever made which is recorded Biblically in the Book of Job. So, why should I care what "freedoms" man decides to give or take away. It only counts when it comes from or through God. If my salvation is destined through and controlled by God, and it is, then my freedoms are also controlled by God. And God said all you have to do is ask and you will receive! We spend our whole lives thinking that our freedoms are the key to our happiness or essential to the "completion" of our lives, but what does this matter if tomorrow we die? And what good does it do us to spend our whole lives fighting for several freedoms if we die only exercising one? I'm referring to the Freedom of Speech..............Remember, we are simply players in a much bigger game, and the ultimate win is to know God more intimately.

I appreciate America's "freedom theory", however, we really don't have these freedoms because of governmental control or influence, so I'm not too concerned about them being taken away when we are already experiencing our deprivation of them and their systematic and gradual degradation in general. Why should I fight for what I really never had so I really never lost because I really never had full freedom? Therefore, if I never really had a freedom, then I never really lost this freedom in the first place. And I have lived a good life up to this very second without these freedoms I'm supposed to have but never really did, so I will continue to live as I have been, without exercising these non-freedoms.

I believe the worst freedom ever entrusted to man was freedom of speech because (as covered quite extensively in God's word) the tongue has, does, and will continue to get humankind into trouble which eventually leads to death. I've survived and maintained my life up to this point based solely off my faith in my God, the one true God. If you took away everything tomorrow, gave me stage five cancer, and threw me in the worst prison, I will still have my God and my faith. My faith would be tested (most definitely), but not taken away. It can never be taken away because it comes from my very soul or spirit!

Fighting for something and taking a stand or view on something are two very different issues. I fought for my country when I was in the military and I will not stand for moral degradation when it directly affects myself or my children in derogatory manner. I can, however, leave the major war up to God while still fighting daily battles against Satan. My freedoms as an American are important to me but, I do not see them as having the importance in my life that my salvation does! As Paul says, things here on earth are just temporary, but things regarding our salvation are eternal.

So, yes, I do appreciate freedoms that could otherwise not be experienced in another country, but I also have lived without certain freedoms and realize that I can function without these freedoms. It is important to stand up for what you believe in within reason! That reason should be determined by God and what His Word says. I used to enforce the law as a police officer and when I would testify in a court of law on my cases, I would have to adhere to the "reasonable persons standard". However, now that I have turned my life over to God, I operate under His standards. These are not standards which are either acceptable or recognized by most of the world, but they are definitely accepted and recognized in my world! Amen.

Praise God and His holy name!

2009-10-09T11:27:00.002-05:00

I have something that has been graciously given to me by God...................a second chance at life!

I am referring to my life as a "born-again" Christian. I am a new person. I have a new reason to thank God. I am a new person with a purpose. Praise God!

My whole world at this point revolves around God and my two children. I was recently divorced (against my will) but I am getting along just fine. I am because of God and ONLY because of God. He has done things in my life in the last year than was ever accomplished by me or anyone else in the last 28 years of my life!

I am taking time out of the everyday routine of tackling serious subjects to just worship and give praise to God for everything He has done and is doing in my life and the life of my two children!

I worship God and praise Him for His constant protection over us, His constant mercy towards us, His constant kindness to us, His constant support of us, His constant love towards us, and much more..................................GOD IS GOOD!!!

I am thankful for everyday that I am able to breath His wonderful air, listen to His wonderful creatures, observe His wonderful work, partake of His wonderful creation, and enjoy His wonderful plan for my life. Thank you God.

I know that I, personally, do not thank God enough. I know that I need to begin thanking Him more. And, I know that I will continue thanking Him in the future. He deserves my thankfulness and gratitude and praise because of what He does for me every day that I am alive!

So, thank you God for your continual love and support, thank you for my health and the health of my two children, thank you for giving me the opportunity to wake up every morning and enjoy your beautiful creation, thank you for your blessings, thank you for your mercy, thank you for your awesome power that you have enabled us with to use in our constant battle against Satan, the ultimate Deceiver! We have already won the battle against him because of your Son dying for us, but we know that we must still continue to persevere in keeping Satan away and in keeping our own carnal nature and tendencies away. You have given us the power we need to do this and you also have given us the blessings we so desperately search out when all we need to do is ask! Continue to protect and bless us as you see fit. Amen!

Your Testimony!

2009-09-29T01:01:00.000-05:00

Our story or testimony of how we came to Christ is our identity as Christians! It will always be told to a new audience & will never change. It should serve as a valuable tool in reaching out to others in spreading the Good News.

We all have one & its our story. Its how we came to know Jesus & how we maintain our relationship with our heavenly Father today. We don't have to tell others, but why not? You might be reaching someone who is going through the very same spiritual battles you fought before. They might have encountered the very same problems in a very similar setting and by telling them your testimony, you could be giving them that little push they truely need to seek out Jesus Christ. They might be waiting for that little extra bit of evidence proving that God can be very real in their lives by what He did in yours.

We never know, but we, as Christians, don't want to be caught procrastinating by the devil. He will take this a use it against the furtherence of God's Good News.

So, get out there & single people out by watching for their longing for belonging. Everyone does. I know I was & it took my rock-bottom to get me on track with God in my life. Let's not wait for their rock-bottom to tell them about God. Just tell them! Use "situational-awareness" as our weapon in our fight to spread the Good News. We'll be more effective if we know how to get them to open their lives up to us. Then, its on to the problems. Solutions are promised & Jesus Christ is our claim or gauruntee.

Can we begin to be more aware of our surroundings? Can we start becoming "bold" & approach people with kindness & humility? Everyone is in need of God in their lives. Let's be the one to give them that little needed push. Let's do what we are all (Christians) called to do. Remember, we are not trying to convert someone to a religion, we are attempting to convince them that they do need God in their lives & God will carry through for them & He is a friend who will never leave them.

God bless & guide us always! Amen.

The Least of These.............

2009-09-27T13:53:00.000-05:00

1 John 5:1-3 Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth Him that begat loveth Him also that is begotten of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep His Commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His Commandments: and His Commandments are not grievous. (KJV)

1 John 5:7-8 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one. (KJV)

We are called to walk in the Word. This is God's daily instruction to: how we present ourselves, how we are to face problems, how we overcome these problems, what we say, what we do, and how we grow closer to God. In His Word are His Commandments or laws. These are requirements, not provisions.

Out of experience, we seem to miss these in some way or another. Christians strive to reach perfection in Christ through practicing what is said in His Word and what the Holy Spirit guides and instructs of us. But we occassionally (understatement) fall short of this perfection. The biggest cause is that we miss one, some, or (in certain cases) all of God's Commandments.

Matthew 5:19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least Commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (KJV)

James 2:10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. (KJV)

Most believers don't even know what they believe! We have heard the usual Bible stories from our childhoods and can recite certain passages from it, but have we really pursued God's very Word to us to the necessary extent? And what is that extent anyhow? How do we know what to study?

These are necessary questions worthy of answers in order to understand the fundimentals of Christianity!

Taking on the Intellects!

2009-09-24T13:47:00.004-05:00

Why are we insistent on "NOT BELIEVING" in God? Why do we go so far out of our way to prove this and spend our whole lives in mistruths? We insist on proving that we are and always have been evolved. The majority of thinkers in our society hold twisted views and opinions which are very human in nature. These views have graduated into beliefs throughout the ages, resulting in the current views we possess and are always evolving as time progresses. But is evolution real? Can it be true? I think not!

Lets look at the definition of "belief" which is taken from Webster's Dictionary.
Main Entry: be·lief
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English believe, probably alteration of Old English gelēafa, from ge-, associative prefix lēafa; akin to Old English lyfan — more at believe
Date: 12th century
1 : a state or habit of mind in which trust or confidence is placed in some person or thing2 : something believed; especially : a tenet or body of tenets held by a group3 : conviction of the truth of some statement or the reality of some being or phenomenon especially when based on examination of evidence
synonyms belief, faith, credence, credit mean assent to the truth of something offered for acceptance. belief may or may not imply certitude in the believer . faith almost always implies certitude even where there is no evidence or proof . credence suggests intellectual assent without implying anything about grounds for assent . credit may imply assent on grounds other than direct proof .

Faith, as defined in the Bible, is hope in things unseen, belief that what God says will happen will happen.
Here is the definition of faith taken from Webster's Dictionary.
Main Entry: faith
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural faiths fāths, sometimes fāthz
Etymology: Middle English feith, from Anglo-French feid, fei, from Latin fides; akin to Latin fidere to trust — more at bide
Date: 13th century
1 a : allegiance to duty or a person : loyalty b (1) : fidelity to one's promises (2) : sincerity of intentions
2 a (1) : belief and trust in and loyalty to God (2) : belief in the traditional doctrines of a religion b (1) : firm belief in something for which there is no proof (2) : complete trust
3 : something that is believed especially with strong conviction; especially : a system of religious beliefs

synonyms see belief

on faith : without question

Now, let us look at the definition of evolution, as written in Webster's Dictionary.
Main Entry: evo·lu·tion
Function: noun
Etymology: Latin evolution-, evolutio unrolling, from evolvere
Date: 1622
1 : one of a set of prescribed movements
2 a : a process of change in a certain direction : unfolding b : the action or an instance of forming and giving something off : emission c (1) : a process of continuous change from a lower, simpler, or worse to a higher, more complex, or better state : growth (2) : a process of gradual and relatively peaceful social, political, and economic advance d : something evolved
3 : the process of working out or developing
4 a : the historical development of a biological group (as a race or species) : phylogeny b : a theory that the various types of animals and plants have their origin in other preexisting types and that the distinguishable differences are due to modifications in successive generations; also : the process described by this theory
5 : the extraction of a mathematical root
6 : a process in which the whole universe is a progression of interrelated phenomena

If evolution is a process or theory, belief is a state-of-mind, and faith is a belief, than the very belief in evolution is a constant state-of-mind about a process or theory. In more simplified words, evolution is based on theories and processes which are held to be true by thought, not fact!

But faith is simply a belief in what God said is true is true. One could argue evolution by attempting to utilize actual examples ie. the Galapagos Finch, but will be unable to ground that view by providing actual facts to back or corroborate that view.

On the other end, one could argue faith without having to provide actual proof of the result of faith. But, faith holds a stronger basis for belief than evolution because of one major difference. Faith is belief, evolution is theory! It is seamingly easier to believe in something that could be true based on a well-grounded foundation (God's Word and actual biblical events as written in the Scriptures that have been proven to have happened) versus some theory that may or may not be true which is based on an ever changing platform without any actual evidence to support that theory.

Evolution is just that, a theory or a compilation of theories. Faith is just the opposite, actual, proven events which have occurred and continue to occur to this very day! So even though, by definition, faith is a belief; by history, faith is well-grounded in actual and very real events.

Why then do I see so many people that completely refuse to or don't even simply attempt to believe in a faith in God and that what He says is the truth is the truth when, evolution, the opposing view held, is based on man's theories in processes that cannot be proven with the status qou of acceptance in the world-actual facts???

I have listed some varying theories that evolution holds in our society. They are:

1) The Evolution of Man Theory
2) The Intelligent Design Theory
3) Darwin's Theory

The above theories are authored by professors, all of which are doctors whom have spent their entire "professional" lives dedicated to the pursuit of proving a theory or theories which are not well grounded and cannot be proven with factual evidence! Again, these evolution theories are based solely on ever changing evidence of inconsistent proportions which have no real factual evidence to back them. But, are they still considered beliefs? The answer is simple. Yes!

By believing in a thing or idea, you have already formulated a belief system for yourself. And if you believe in evolution, you believe!

The arguement against evolution is easily won if the person instigating and orchestrating the argument approaches it using tact and a Holy Spirit guided mouth. We Christians must stop trying to force our faith on people, but we must start showing people the truth! Again, we must spread God's Word, also known as the Good News, without turning people off to it. We can do this in simple ways....................

1) Show people by example (our daily lives)
2) Approach arguments and turn them into discussions
3) Use God's Word in everything we say to corroborate our discussions
4) Listen just enough to understand but not enough to lose ground in the discussion
5) Be slow to offend and quick to ammend
6) And always, always keep everything we use from God's Word in the context it was written in, not in the context we think it should be in!

These are a few tips in our constant battle of the minds. Remember, we are not fighting a worldly war, but a spiritual war. Our opponent is a master deceiver and master liar, so we already have some intelligence to use against him!

May God guide and protect us and keep us on the straight and narrow path which leads to Him. May He always show us to be His warriors and servants by the examples we live and may we shine bright as we are intended to as Christians for Him. Amen!

Learning to Love others!

2009-09-20T14:59:00.005-05:00

So many of us are lonely. Everyone needs someone to be there for them at some point in their lives and someone to talk to during difficult times. This is because we are social by nature. Man was created first, then God created a woman for the man. Specifically to keep man company. We have the tendency to lean towards being social in our blood. We are born with this tendency. But this can be our downfall too.

We are constantly disappointing ourselves or each other! We are being close one minute, distancing ourselves the next! Confiding one minute, backstabbing the next! Best friends one minute, enemies the next! We will never find true love through self-gratification or the company of other people. We cant. Its just that simple. We are so small and weak compared with our Almighty Father and Lord of Heaven and Earth.

We are always going to be in someones life and mean something to someone and this is the reason for learning to get along with others. We need to understand that it is essential to learn to exist with each other or "co-exist" in order for us to live a somewhat normal life. More importantly, we must learn to ACCEPT people as they are! Acceptance is a very difficult and touchy subject......................but a subject necessary to our survival as Christians none-the-less!

Love is the answer to co-existing with other people. Love and love alone. Love is what will keep us alive and in touch with our emotions. Love was taught by Jesus, is taught in Christianity, and is instructed by God.

I Corinthians 13:1-8 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseverance. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away! (NIV)

We will find that once we can learn to accept others for who they are, we will begin to notice a shift in our own attitudes. If we can stop expecting others to bend to our whims and construct to our lifestyles, we can start getting along with them and love will begin to show itself evident in our own lives. Love is the greatest of God's Commandments. Love is the root of all that is good and positive!

Can we start showing more love? Can we love one another regardless of what they do or say? Jesus did and He still does! God is the prime example of LOVE. God loves us when we hate Him. He loves us when we deny Him. He loves us when we denied and crucified His beloved Son. A Son who really did not have to suffer such a horrendous death but did so for our salvation. Christ is the ultimate example of love.

Ephesians 4:1-6 As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humbly and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make very effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit-just as you were called to one hope when you were called-one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. (NIV)

WOW! We need to keep these passages from the Scriptures very close to our hearts. We need to read them often and when we begin to veer away from love or when we begin to get discouraged, we need to pick up the Bible and read them again.We cannot continue to go through life having our little hate agendas and emotional battles against this person and that. He did this, she did that. They all did something to make us mad or make us feel that we are justified to hate them! WHO CARES! God doesn't care about our little bickers and fights, and neither should we. He does care about us and loves us very much. Enough to sacrifice His only "Beloved Son" in a very painful way, both in the physical and emotional realm. We must always remember this and continue to go back to this every time we feel like hating or hurting someone. God does not want us to always be at odds with one another, He instructs us to love one another as Jesus Christ loves us. Love promotes positivity and good things. Where there is love, there cannot be hate. And where there is no hate, there will be no anger. And where there is no anger, there can be no differences or personal agendas. You see, it is like a love landslide..............................................................

If we are to call ourselves Christians and live as Christians, then we need to read the whole chapter, not just the verse! When we pick up God's Word, we need to READ IT! Let it soak in and actually understand it. Most importantly, LIVE WHAT WE READ. We must stop drowning in self-pity and realize that if we are to be friends of God, we are automatically enemies of the world and people in it. But this is the attitude we need to expect from the world, not the attitude we need to show the world. Let us learn to show more love and less anger. We don't need anyone other than God, our true Father. He is and always will be, our loving Father. He will never abandon us and never hurt us. He will always have a ear to hear our problems no matter how big or small.

Galations 1:6-10 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel-which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from Heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned! Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ! (NIV)

This passage should serve to enforce God's Word in our hearts and minds. We should read the Word daily and always go back to it when we have questions or when issues arise in our lives. We should learn to put into practice what we read and start living the Word and not just reading it. It is our Instruction Manual for daily living. It was, is, and will always be. God's Word is His word in place of His person. Until Jesus Christ comes back to take us with him to the new Kingdom, we will not see God face-to-face. So, God gave us His Word, the Scriptures, the Bible. We can learn so much if we are willing to actually read. We will not suffer understanding or knowledge from reading the Word because it is final. So I encourage you to make it a habit of reading, studying, and absorbing God's Word. In this, we shall know all things and in knowing, we will have life.

So learn to love eachother as Christ loves us and learn to out into practice what the Word says regarding love. We must love ourselves first, then we can love others. And if we truely love God, than we will love eachother. We will not need someone to talk to or hang on becuase we have God and God will be present in everything we do and everywhere we go. He will take away our lonliness. This is part of the package that comes with giving our lives to God and surrendering to Him our extra baggage and problems. He takes our negative and turns it into positive. He takes away our feeling of lonliness and gives us a feeling of happiness. Our anxiety is turned into excitement. Our pain into resolve. God is the best solution to every problem. Give God a chance and surrender your life to Him today. Give Him everything and He will give you everything. Amen and may God bless you.

Give God the Glory!

2009-09-18T10:56:00.000-05:00

Let us give God all the Glory and Praise! He deserves much more than we can ever give Him, but, we can give Him what we have. We need to understand His Omnipresence and how it works.

God created everything. More specifically, Angels, divinity as a whole, humans, animals, plants, the land, and water. God created the air we breath and the lungs we utilize to process that air. God has always given life, something man has tried to replicate, which has never been successful.

Most people would argue this fact. Science, in its very definition and purpose, denies God's work and contaminates His marvelous design's. The "Intelligent Design Theory" holds the belief in evolution. The "Big-Bang Theory" spews out subtle "poof" belief's. Mutation and Cloning claims mankind's win in re-creating life. None of these beliefs, views, or opinions hold any real proof of success! Period!

What has happened is mankind is once again (happened many times before) trying to "play God!" This is absolute chaos! We need to get "fired up!", as they say in the military, and take a stand against this ignorance and these conscious misconceptions about our place in the universe. We are not the only "life forms." God informed us of Nephilites who roamed the earth (Genesis 6:4) before, in the beginning. God didn't say one day, " Gosh, i'm so bored, I think i'll create some fleshy, human thingies and watch them slowly destroy eachother while they destroy the Earth I created for them!" God IS VERY ORGANIZED! HE HAS ORDER AND DEMANDS ORDER WITH EVERYTHING!

Leave it to mankind to fiddle with His beautiful Work and do what we do best, mess with it.

Why can't we just live in contentment and accept His creation for what it is supposed to be, a creation for us to enjoy, not tear down and fix. ITS NOT BROKEN! You all know the saying, "if its not broken, don't fix it!" Well, its not broken! Stop trying to get one-up on God! Look at Satan, God's former chief angel. He tried this and failed. Be content with what we have and thank God. Amen!

Be BOLD in Christ!

2009-09-17T11:01:00.000-05:00

Our Lord wants us to come "boldly" before His throne and to be "bold" in our lives as His servants!

Hebrews 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

We must be bold in our ministries so we may obtain God's mercy and find the grace that is necessary to get us through our difficult times of need.

We need to understand something as believers. We can do "just enough" to get to heaven but that will not get us God's grace. Scimming to just-get-by is not appreciated or rewarded by God.

Revelation 20:6 states, Blessed and HOLY is he that hath part in the first esurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.

1 Corinthians 6:2-3 Do ye not know that the Saints shall judge the world!
Know ye not that we shall judge angels!

God makes it very clear that those of us who are bold in Him in our lives will reap a special reward, one reserved for the bold alone.

However, to avoid turning others off to the Good News, we must base all of our words off of the Scriptures. This will ensure that our correctness and integrity is maintained. But, more importantly, we must live by example, showing Christ through our own lives!

Philippians 1:20 According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or death!

Let us ourselves not be ashamed of Christ, rather, let us be bold about the wonderul Good News and our Almighty Lord and Savior!

Get up and Go out!

2009-09-16T11:52:00.000-05:00

We need to start a revolution! A peace revolution. We will use our wisdom, faith, and boldness to energize and back this revolution. We need to join forces with believers worldwide and start preaching the Good News!

2 Timothy 4:2 Preach the Word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.

1 Corinthians 1:18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the Power of God!

Luke 9:60 Jesus said unto him (a man), "Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the Kingdom of God!"

There are countless other passages in the Scriptures which instruct us (believers) to go out and preach God's Word to the world.

God is our "way out!"

2009-09-11T11:51:00.000-05:00

We are a very negative, selfish society. One which measures everything by its place on our popular list and gauges importance by what we act like in public, not who we are inside. This is so detrimental to a society as it leads to the purge of our core values and morales altogether. We eventually lose our identity as a people and lose our whole purpose and importance as individuals.

What is happening is happening very quickly and without a slow down in sight! We are going to begin to notice a change in the general attitude of our culture as we become more negative and show less concern for our emotional well-being and that of our fellow man. We have already set a very dangerous precedence in establishing and implementing an attitude of political-correctness in our everyday lives with everything we do. We have set the wheels in motion by allowing this attitude to spread through our society like cancer, and it has.

It will only get worse, and like cancer, cannot be fixed by man. This can only be fixed through divine intervention. God is our only hope. He has always been our only hope. He will always be our only hope. If we will just swallow our human pride and realize that our need for God and His divine intervention is real in our lives, and with it, nothing would be impossible. God is free and 24/7/365! He is always willing and ready to intercede on our behalfs and will if we let Him. Give Him an inch and He will give you a mile! Amen and praise be to our Almighty God.

How Faith works in our daily lives!

2009-09-08T11:54:00.002-05:00

Faith is believing in something while operating in the unknown. It is really turning our lives over to God and believing that He will do what He says He will do. We encounter incidents involving faith and experiences were our faith is tested daily. We need to build our faith to the point were we exercise it in every situation and on every occasion.

Hebrews 11:1-3 Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see. Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputation. By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God's command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen.

Galations 3:11 So it is clear that no one can be made right with God by trying to keep the law. For the Scriptures say, "It is through faith that a righteous person has life."

2 Corinthians 4:18 So we don't look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever.

2 Corinthians 5:7 For we live by believing and not by seeing.

There are so many passages in the Scriptures were faith is needed, required, used, neglected, and prayed for, forgotten, and sought after. God is always listening! Are we asking? He is Omnipresent, are we actually seeking Him out?

You see, the problems will always come and go, its how we handle those problems that truly matters, not what type of problems come our way. We will always need God, but will we admit this and do something about it? We must put God at the forefront of our daily lives. We have to or we will run into problems that we are unable to handle. We will be faced with decisions which we will be unable to make. We have so many issues arise from our failure to acknowledge and believe in God!

I spent the first 28 years of my life doing things my way. I was my own boss and no one was going to change this. I did not realize that I was digging my grave deeper and deeper and deeper by the day. I refused to admit I had problems and this only caused more problems. I am a very proud and stubborn person by nature and family background. This only intensified my belief that I didn't need anyone but me making decisions in my life. My pride led to more pride and my chest puffed up to the point of popping!

Only after receiving God back into my life did I decide that this pride needed to go. I dropped my act of toughness and stubborn ways. I had to give all my problems to God. Once I did this, my life completely changed. It changed in ways which I cannot explain but it was good, very good. You see, once you let God take control of your life, you don't have the pain anymore. Your life takes a turn for the better and you begin to notice little changes take place which were once insignificant but are now important. You feel a peace come over you that wasn't there before. You have a general feeling of being free!

Don't make the mistake of thinking that all your problems are gone and you will live a spotless life filled with constant happiness and no more pain. There will be the same issues, you will feel the same pain, and you will face the same difficulties. But, you will have God, who cares for you and loves you, and the Holy Spirit, who guides and directs your words and actions. You will begin to notice changes in your attitude and changes in people around. You will be a different person with a purpose now. You will have a constant Friend who will never leave or abandon you, God. Your general quality of life will get better and your approach to daily issues and problems will be more mature and responsible. This is just a few things about your life that will improve when you let God take control.

Try it out! Let God run you instead of you running you! It works!

Security in an Insecure World!

2009-09-04T12:00:00.003-05:00

We are constantly wondering what if? What if my paycheck doesn't come through? What if I don't get that raise? What if I get into a car accident on the way to work? What if, what if.......

There are so many "what ifs" that it will make you dizzy! How can we alleviate these "what ifs" and "unknowns" in our lives? We can't! Its that simple..........We can't!

We will always find ourselves in these situations and bogged down with these burdens, but its how we handle them that matters. Its what approach we take when we tackle these problems that set us aside as God's children. The only difference between Christians and Un-Believers is that we believe! That's it! We believe......................We feel the same feelings and encounter the same daily issues, but we believe in God and have FAITH that He will guide and protect us.

There is that word again, Faith! Faith in God is believing that He will come through for us when we need Him to. It is believing that God will see us through our problems and give us a way to cope. He does and He will! I have seen Him working in my life in so many different ways on so many different occasions. I have personally witnessed Him working in my life and the lives of others around me. It is awesome and almost, unbelievable! But it is true and very real. He will support you and do wonders in your life but you have to let Him.

I have seen so many people who desperately need a miracle and desperately want one, but they choose rather to put their trust in superficial solutions and they entrust their lives to fate instead of God. They come so close, but they never hit the mark. They never get to God because they never let Him in. This is all to common. We know that we alone cannot navigate through our lives without the help of someone bigger than us, but we are not willing to give up some things to gain some things. We get so comfortable in our own security that we think we do not need God and we continue to stumble and fall short of the mark. This is why so many of us live miserable and empty lives filled with anger, untrust, grumbling, hate, and many more things that lead to misery. If we don't identify our need for God and if we think that we can make it on our own, than we will never be able to enjoy the wonderful life that God has in store for us.

He loves all His children, but we have to love Him back. He won't chase us, but He will welcome us. He doesn't need us, we do need Him. He can make it without us, we cannot make it without Him.

If we choose to try and remedy all the problems and challenges that we meet on our own, we will find that this will only lead to more problems and bigger challenges. We need to start turning to God and letting Him be the solution to the problems we face daily. We need to stop worrying about everything that comes up and start looking to God for guidance. This is not always easy and, like everything else, is easier said than done. But, none-the-less, it can be done. God is so much bigger than our little problems. He can fix any breaks and forgive any wrongs, but we have to let Him! We cannot just sit back with the idea that because God said He will, He will. Of course He will! But in order for this to happen, it still requires obedience to His instructions and full submission to His direction. We need to understand that God doesn't just wave His wand, and, "ping" its fixed. There are steps that need to be taken in order for His Will to be done. He is a God of Order! He has an order for everything that happens and without this order, there is chaos!

We (Christians) have a responsibility to God in our walk with Him to obey His instructions and follow His commands to the letter. This is why we have His Word to use as our daily guide. We must use His Word daily or we will miss His instructions and open ourselves up for attack! Attack by The Deceiver or Satan. Satan is waiting for any little opening to come in our lives and wreak havoc. And he will!

Have you ever had a problem with little bugs in your home? You start seeing little bugs everywhere in your home and wonder how they got in? Your home is secure and, to your naked eye, there are no visible cracks in its foundation, but you have little bugs none-the-less! You determine that the only way to remedy this problem is to call in the Exterminator! He comes to your home, lays out his traps and poison, then you stop seeing the bugs for another couple of months. But, as the months go by, you begin to notice the little bugs again. The process starts all over again, and, if you don't call the Exterminator, the little bugs won't go away. It is the same with Satan. We think that our spirits don't have any cracks or weaknesses in them but we begin to notice that Satan has been attacking us lately in our lives. We call God to come in and "exterminate" Satan out of our lives and He does. Problem fixed! But, unless we constantly live according to God's Word and in His Will daily, well then, Satan will find some little weakness or hole in our lives and he will use it to enter our lives and wreak havoc! We must not become complacent with our Faith and we must always keep ourselves ready and poised to fight off any little attack that Satan may launch against us by using God's Word and our Faith in God as our ammunition. We are in a constant battle for our intimate relationship with God, or our "Security", and Satan is our enemy. We must continue to remain vigilant and faithful to God in order to keep Satan at bay! So, brothers and sisters, continue to fight the good fight and keep God's Word close and His confidence even closer! Amen...........................................................

The HOLY TRINITY!

2009-08-31T14:12:00.006-05:00

What is the Holy Trinity? Who is in the Holy Trinity? These are questions which need some attention as we Christians navigate through our daily lives.

I have thought, for a long time now, that God created the earth and man, Jesus Christ died for our sins and through Jesus we can continue to seek out God. The Holy Spirit was a deity who occassionaly was brought up during discussions about Christianity or mentioned in the same context with speaking in tongues. I never realized the inportance and relevance of the Holy Spirit and how much influence He really does have. He is our Advocate just as Jesus was our Advocate during his short period here on earth before his death. Jesus was created by God like man and as a man. He was raised by human parents and in a human atmoshpere. He was always perfect but, Jesus still had to go through experiences much like us and had much of the same feelings as us. He had a purpose though. This was a very important and necessary purpose. He was to redeem mankind from our sinful nature by acting as our Advocate and dying for us on the Cross! He accomplished much in his lifetime and even more in his death. However, Jesus was raised from the dead and soon after, recieved up to Heaven to be with his real Father, God.

God created this earth and everything in it to include man. He gave man a chance to make a choice and man made the wrong choice, sin! God then created an atonement for our sin, a blood sacrifice known as the Son of Man or Jesus Christ. He made it this way because of His first commandments to us known as the Ten Commandments. These were given to us to follow by His faithful servant, Moses. During this time, it was customary to offer God sacrifices of blood ie. clean and perfect animals of God's choice. *Note It is here that we see the direct correlation of blood sacrifice. Jesus was a human, but a perfect human, the only perfect human. He committed no sins and therefore was accepted by his true Father, God, as a sacrifice to atone for our sins. He didn't even die for his own actions or deeds, no, instead, he died for mankind. This explains what role Jesus Christ plays in our salvation. Now, we will shift into second gear.............................................

This is where it becomes very interesting, rather fascinating indeed! However, until recently, I didn't give what I am about to say much thought. I didn't because I was brought up to think differently and taught the same. I was brought up believing that Jesus was in our hearts and in us. How can this be if he was recieved up into Heaven (Acsention) after his brief death and coming back to life? And who was supposed to act on our behalf as our new Advocate?

Jesus stated that the Holy Spirit gives "eternal life!" John 6:63 "The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life." Thats huge. Why, because it changes that way most believers think about the purpose of each of the three in the Holy Trinity. Yes, thats right! There are three deity's that make our salvation possible; 1) God the Father and creator of the earth, man, and Jesus Christ, 2) the Son of Man or Jesus Christ, who made our salvation possible by dying for our sins (or becoming an atonement for our sins), 3) and the Holy Spirit, who now guides and influences us in our earthly walk towards the ultimate goal of Salvation!

We must understand that mankind was not the first being to fall short of the mark and commit sin. Satan, or The Deciever, fell long before we walked this earth. He became jealous of God and God's omnipresence, and wanted it for himself. This is why Satan and his angels, or the demons, are constantly attempting to decieve us and cause us to stray from God by sinning! Even though Satan has already lost the battle (Jesus Christ's sacrifice on the Cross), he will continue to try and make us sin or lose sight of our goal which is righteousness through adhering to God and His rules. We can still give in to sin by listening to Satan or following our own temptations and will to do wrong. This leads to eternal death if we do not correct (get forgiveness) our mistakes and if we refuse to continue to sin. God has a plan and until His plan has come to full circle, we must continue to live free of sin or we face sure death.

Now, after Jesus' action of atonement, God took Jesus back to Him to sit by His throne in heaven, but God decided to leave us another guide or "Advocate" to influence and guide us into eternal salvation with Him. This shows God's love for us. How much He truely loves and cares for us is made so clear by His divine nature. The "Advocate" God put here on earth for us after taking back His Son is known as the Holy Spirit. He is our current Intercessor and assists us in getting into the New Kingdom. The Holy Spirit will influence and guide us if we acknowledge him and his role in our lives as Christians.

We can see by studying the Book of Acts how much of a role the Holy Spirit played, plays, and will play in man's salvation! Listed are some passages which directly mention the Holy Spirit and his role in believer's lives. John 6:63, 12:23, 13:31, 14:15-31, 15:26-27, 16:7-10,11-15, Acts 1:1-2,5,8, 2:4,33,38, 4:24,31, 5:3,32, 7:55, 8:29,39, 9:17........ You have to actually read the Bible to see what God says. You cannot miss the awesome and fascinating stories and examples of how wonderful and glorious God really is if you study His Word. You will see that God has a plan and its in that plan that He tells us the steps we need to take in order to secure our place in Heaven. These steps are very easy to follow and understand IF you can understand each of the three and their roles in the Trinity. But, it's just as easy to miss these steps so reader beware! It requires patience and prayer to be able to understand God's intentions and directions which He lists in His Word. You cannot just flip through the Bible in a day and expect to understand its content and the meaning of that content. You must give the Word much effort and meditate on it daily to realize what it says. It takes knowledge of God, not man, to unlock the scripture's meaning. This knowledge is possible only with time and lots and lots of study. We will never be able to acomlpish absolute knowledge and wisdom and therefore, we should not even try! Satan did and was cast out of Heaven! We simply need to pursue God's meaning and direction in our lives. We are able to do this by reading His Word, obeying His instructions, and forming an intimate relationship with Him.

Because God is untouchable and we cannot physically see Him (only a few situations where a human did see God), He gives us the Holy Spirit to influence and guide us. God gives us His instructions, The Word, then provides us our Advocate (Holy Spirit) to guide us in adhering to or obeying His instructions. Jesus Christ was our Advocate during his short time here on earth and gave us the ability to obtain salvation by offering himself as a blood sacrifice for our sins. He will come back again to get us and take us back to Heaven with him to be with God. It is because of his next appearance that we should be focused on living our lives as God has instructed us to while we are still here on earth. If we do, than we can be sure that we will be going to live an eternal life with God when Jesus Christ returns.

If Jesus Christ is going to return, then that means that he is not here now, and this further supports the fact that someone is, the Holy Spirit. Without an Advocate here with us, we would surely be doomed. God knew this and this is why He left us the Holy Spirit! God has never and will never abandon His children!

John 14:15-31 "If you love me, obey my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth! The world cannot recive him, because it isn't looking for him and doesn't recognize him. But you know him, because you because he lives with you now and later will be in you. No, I will not abandon you as orphans---I will come to you. Soon, the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Since I live, you also will live. When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And becuase they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them."

Notice that Jesus says IF. This should not leave any doubt about the importance of following and obeying God's instructions or commandments!

This explains everything pertaining to the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Thats it! Pretty Simple~It has to be. Because there are so many people who will not or do not understand if it wasn't so simple. Humans (Christians also) have this inate tendency to complicate rather simple things into major things. It is this tendency that causes so much discontent and unrest with and among Christians. We can't just do what The Word says, but instead, we always seem to want to become fanatics or idealists and manipulate everything into a mistruth or untruth. We take God's Word and integrate our own bias and opinions into it to the point of actually changing what it says. Then, we begin to believe, through repetition of teaching these changes, what we think is the Truth........but it really is not. Be carfeul that when you read God's Word, you cleanse yourself of any subjectivity or sin, or what you read will not be fruitful, but instead, it will be confused and have no real meaning. This is why God states that before we approach Him with requests or prayer to first forgive anyone who we have an issue with.

Romans 5:3-5 "We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develope endurance. And endurance developes strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love."

You see, if something is not true, especially with God's intended message, than it does not matter who preaches or teaches it, it will be wrong. To teach God's Word in a manner different from what He has commanded or directed (Holy Spirit), is to sin! Luke 17:1 One day Jesus said to his disciples, "There will always be temptations to sin, but what sorrow awaits the person who does the tempting!" That is a very loud statement! We must realize the importance and relevance of sending out the wrong message of God! Jesus plainly stated the result of sending out the wrong message. We (Christians) should all have the maturity to understand God's true meaning of sending His Son and the Holy Spirit! We cannot continue to live in denial. If we do not start understanding God's Word and what He really intends us to understand versus what we think he intends for us, we are facing sure eternal death.

What does it mean to be a Christian (Christ-like)?

2009-08-28T14:04:00.006-05:00

Why do we avoid or dodge the difficult problems in life instead of working them out by coming up with a solution or consulting God to help us? Why are so many Christians always complaining about an issue or problem that involves them or bugs them, but then, when they are asked to provide a possible solution to that issue or problem, they don't seem to really want to fix what they are complaining about in the first place? They don't open their Bible, God's very Word to us, and read it to find the solution. The Bible has a solution to every problem we have faced, do face, or will ever face. There is nothing that happens to us now that hasn't happened to someone before us. We have the same problems, tendencies, habits, customs, and issues that people faced since the creation of man! But, we have God's Word to guide us and give us solutions. We can "consult" with God at any time, any day by simply opening His Word and reading. It is absolutely free and has absolutely no bias or "secret" agenda. It is tried and very true. Then WHY don't we consult it more? Why are we constantly trying to pass our problems and issues off to someone else?

The important question is why do we (Christians) put up with this constant complaining and misery without do something about it?

Because, too often, we find it easy to sit back in our "comfort zone" and place judgement about other people or issues without really searching out God and activating our Faith! We are content in simply covering the underlying problem up and pretending it is not there. We look the other way or appear to be happy on the surface when the real problem is like a cancer beneath our skin, slowly eating away at our lives. On the outside, we "claim" God in our lives and "claim" to live a Godly life but are we really? Aren't we really just being superficial in our walk with God? We pretend to have a relationship with God and profess to believe in what Jesus Christ did for us on the Cross, but then we clam up and abandon others in need when the storms start to brew in our daily lives! We "claim" this and "claim" that but we refuse to show anything by doing nothing. On the surface, we appear to be Christians, yet we change that appearance when the very values we "claim" to live by become a reality. WE ARE NOT DOING WHAT GOD SAYS TO DO!

2 Corinthians 6:14-18, 7:1 "Don't team up with those who are unbelievers. How can righteousness be a partner with wickedness? How can light live with darkness? What harmony can there be between Christ and the devil? How can believer be a partner with and unbeliever? And what union can there be between God's temple and idols? For we are the temple of the living God! As God said; "I will live in them and walk among them, I will be their God, and they will be my people. Therefore, come out from among unbelievers, and separate yourselves from them, says the Lord [it is a command, not a request]. Don't touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you. [it doesn't say "please don't touch their filthy things" or "I might welcome you"] And I will be your Father, and you will be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty!" [this is not a suggestion or request, it is an order] Then it goes on to say in the next chapter, "Because we have these promises, dear friends, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that can defile our body or spirit! And let us work toward complete holiness because we fear God!"

God had this written because He knew that by hanging around unbelievers or negative people, it would pollute those of us who believe. He knew that nonconformity to our Faith is like a cancer and destroys us just as quickly! Our God is not a politically-correct God or a lukewarm God. He is a tolerant and forgiving God, but do not mistake this for weakness, no, do not make this confused!

For the scriptures say in Romans 12:2 "Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think [this also covers how we live]." We are made in the image of God and therefore are given a duty to remain holy as God is holy and clean as God is clean. For are we not Christians or Christ-like? Like Christ, in the image of God...........This means that we have become like God in our image and our image is our identity. So if we identify with or affiliate with sin, we have just violated God's image! And if an image is also an identity, then we have just violated His identity! We have just "misrepresented" God and Christianity because we are supposed to be Christ-like in everything we do and say. This is very important because it is something we encounter every day in our lives!

I have studied the religion of Islam and attended multiple classes and briefings (while serving in the United States Army) regarding the religion and its fundamental ideologies and beliefs. This was mandatory as a result of the September 11th 2001 attack on our country. This attack brought about an intense hatred and dislike for Islam and Muslims everywhere. But I have noticed something about this religion that is very different than most other religions. There is absolutely zero tolerance for lukewarmness or half-way participation when you are a Muslim! You cannot be a Muslim and not practice the religion. You have to conform to all the beliefs and practice every requirement or you will, not might, will face severe punishment and in some countries, certain death! That's right, death!

If we Christians had the passion or conformity to Christianity as Muslims have to Islam, I can guarantee that the world would be a much better place. Yes, there would be absolute happiness with one another, patience in the waiting lines at the store, giving and more giving, hope and love everywhere we looked, and full church buildings on Sunday.................We would have polite telephone operators, positive news reporters, there would be equality with race and no divisions among wealth classes. We would be an almost perfect world! But this would be because we would live like-Christ.

If we could just come close to this other "religion" we would, the the least, be more understanding and passionate toward other people. We would stop thinking less of the other man or putting others down with our thoughts and we would definitely not be acting the way we do towards others on a daily basis in our regular lives. Why can't we just come close to what God requires or what Jesus tried so hard to show us by his righteous example? When we accept God into our lives, we are giving Him control (complete and utter) of our lives and everything that is a product of our lives. This means that we do nothing without His consent or, more importantly, His guidance. We must live a God-guided life. This is a very strong statement in itself because it leaves no other alternative to how we approach life. We do not have the "choice" of living this way or that way because, God guides and orchestrates everything we do and how we deal with our problems and issues. But if we do not let Him, he can't! Because God gave the human race choice. And every day we choose to ignore and disregard God. We choose to try and take on life ourselves and it always fails. We will never be able to fix us if we don't admit that we need to be fixed. We must "cast off" the old us and "put on" the new us!

2 Corinthians 5:17 "This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!"

What "separates" us from the unbelievers is our Faith or belief that Jesus Christ died for our sins to set us free and that with God at the front of our lives, we cannot and will not fail. We will surely live and survive the storms we face in life. So if it is our Faith which separates us, then we must begin to show the world that we have this Faith and this can only be accomplished by living it. The best method of bringing an unbeliever to believe or to God is to show them how good it really is to have God in our lives. We must live our Faith and beliefs every day in every way. Stop "hiding" from our problems and turn them over to God. He will handle every problem we give Him and nothing can separate us from the love of God! By gaining true intimacy with God, we are gaining life. And by living with God, we are living as true Christians!

Galations 3:26 "For you are all children of God through FAITH in Jesus Christ."

You see, it is Faith in Jesus Christ and the Cross which makes us true Christians and we need to begin thinking of ourselves as soldiers for Him in the fight for ultimate survival in this world filled with sin. As long as there is sin, there will be a need for God and when we need God we need to let God dictate our every step in life. He must orchestrate every decision we make and action we commit. Without this guidance, we will fail and surely die. I challenge we Christians to begin letting God handle our problems and start living "like-Christ".................... Amen!

Jesus Christ (Son of God, Son of Man)

2009-08-27T14:11:00.006-05:00

Jesus Christ was born of a virgin Jewish woman. He was born of a human woman in a very human form and through the same human method of birth.

Colossians 2:9 "For in Christ lives all the fullness 0f God in a human body!" Notice that I made a point to put in an explanation mark in place of the period for emphasis on the statement preceding it! We, as Christians, or of Christ's body (the Church) cannot argue with this one, single statement. This is the precedence for any debating Christ's human existence with a godly or perfect (sin-free) spirit.

Jesus was a human. But, he was a perfect human. In fact the only perfect human. But, Jesus was still a human being. Galations 4:16 "God gave the promises to Abraham and his child. And notice that the Scripture doesn't say "to his children," as if it meant many descendants. Rather, it says "to his child"---and that, of course, means Christ (Jesus Christ)."

Philippians 2:5-11 "You must have the same attitude that Jesus Christ had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal's death on a cross. Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all names, that the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, the glory of God the Father."

Colossians 1:15-20 "Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through him God created everything in the heavenly realms on earth. He made the things we can see and the things we can't see---such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through him and for him. He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together. Christ is also the head of the church, which is his body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So he is first in everything. For God in all His fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through him God reconciled everything to himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ's blood on the cross [blood sacrifice]."

Wow! This says alot. In fact, this pretty much explains what God's purpose was for Jesus being His son but in human form. Because God knew that we (humans) would need something real, something believable in order to believe that God himself was real. Even with the previous post about our knowing of God's existence explained in Romans 1:18-21, humans still find a way to deny God or refuse His omnipresence! We always find "another eplaination" or "another theory" of who God is or what God is.......
This must stop! We must realize that Jesus Christ was sent for one purpose and one purpose only, to save humanity by sacrificing himself.

I think that most people (alot of Christians) don't really grasp the reality of how human Jesus really was. We read about his youth, his miracles, his perfection, but we skip the part about his struggles with sin and constant battles with the Deceiver or Satan. We need to understand that Jesus was very human and had the same temptations as we encounter daily. He felt real pain. went through real emotional trials and battles.

John 1: 10-12 "He came into the world he created, but the world didn't recognize him. He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God."

Jesus represented God on earth to the human race. He was God's Son and chosen One. He was crucified and nailed to the cross so everyone (even as undeserving as we are) could accept his sacrifice and be set free from sin. So we can have everlasting life without going through the same pain Jesus encountered on the cross and before the cross! Although he did not always enjoy parts of his job, he did it none-the-less! He never questioned God and did as he was told. He was a perfect human and now, our ticket to God, our representative or sponsor for heaven, the New Kingdom.

Jesus did take pride in his work and so should those of us who are working for the Kingdom of God. John 4:34 Then Jesus explained: "My nourishment comes from doing the will of God, who sent me, and from finishing His work." Let us not forget what Jesus accomplished on earth while he was here. Let us remember daily what Jesus had to go through and the hurdles he had to over-come during his ministry. Let us always be thankful for his work and the work he continues to do to and with us to this day. Let us begin each day giving thanks to God for letting us experience His mercy and faithfulness to us. I urge you to remember, as you experience your daily struggles, that Jesus was also human and what he went through and the struggles he encountered were very similar to ours. If Jesus was able to resist deception by Satan and live on earth in a peaceful manner, so can we! God bless you and may He be with you.

Let our nourishment come from doing the will of God everyday and in every way, Amen!

Dangers of Un-Belief (taking on the Atheist)

2009-08-26T11:36:00.006-05:00

I have known several atheists in my lifetime and have been able to get opinions and the general attitude of the average Atheist from my experience. I am taking a very hit-miss angle with this post, so if you are weak of Faith or are easily offended, please do not read this post!

Atheism: is the condition of being without theistic beliefs and alternatively the disbelief in the existence of deities. In antiquity, atheism was represented by Epicureanism. It disappeared from European philosophy when Christianity became dominant. During the Age of Enlightenment, atheism re-emerged as an accusation against those who questioned the religious status quo, but by the late 18th century it had become the avowed position of a growing minority. By the 20th century, atheism had become the state-supported position of countries governed by communism, as well as the dominant position amongst scientists, rationalists, and humanists.

-Atheism is believing in unbelief. What a huge contradiction in itself. We have not even crested the term itself and it is already coming into contradiction.
-Another point about Atheism is that by being in the condition of or having a view of un-belief, an atheist has already admitted that they acknowledge God exists!

In order to believe that something does not exist, you have already entered into the realm of the spiritual world (1 Corinthians 2:10-15 "But it was to us that God revealed these things by His Spirit. For His Spirit searches out everything and shows us God's deep secrets. NO ONE can know a person's thoughts except that person's own spirit, and NO ONE can know God's thoughts except God's own Spirit [the Holy Spirit]. And we have received God's Spirit [not the world's spirit], so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us. When we tell you these things, we do not use words that come from human wisdom. Instead, we speak words given to us by the Spirit [the Holy Spirit], using the Spirit's words to explain spiritual truths. But people who aren't spiritual cant receive these truths from God's Spirit. It all sounds foolish to them and they can't understand it, for only those who are spiritual can understand what the Spirit means. Those who are spiritual can evaluate all things, but they themselves cannot be evaluated by others.") whether you intend to or not. Be very cautious because this is were it gets very touchy and serious! You invoke the Deceiver's power in your life when you begin to open yourself up to attacks by making strong statements like "God doesn't exist", or "God is a big lie!" You just entered into another realm, one which is very real and very dangerous! You just sent Satan a huge notice saying "Come on in and ruin my life."

I am taking this stance on Atheism because so many people tend to throw God away or just plain deny His existence. Remarkably enough, I was raised in a predominantly christian (non-denomination) home and read the Bible daily and attended our little church regularly. But my past experience in Christianity caused my previous beliefs which I held for so many years. "God did not exist!" I firmly believed that God was not real and could not be real because I could not feel, touch, taste, see, or hear Him. So He couldn't be real, right? Wrong!

I eventually hit my rock-bottom in my not-so-distant life and turned to the God that I had to re-believe in and as a result, I am now a born-again Christian. I do not question God's existence or the validity of Jesus Christ's sacrifice on the cross. I now know God exists and I now know that Jesus suffered and died for our sins to serve as a blood sacrifice (that was the customs of repentance to God in that period of time). He had to in order for God to forgive us of our transgressions against Him. This was the only thing God would accept in place of total extinction of the human race in payment for what we had become from what we were created to be. God had previously conducted a sin-sweep or clean-up during the Great Flood and had promised to man that He would never again conduct the same clean-up of our sin. So He had a Son named Jesus Christ who was born of a virgin woman (ensuring His birth remained very spiritual and pure) and raised as the human Son of God! Jesus was very human and I will get into this more in my next post. But even with Jesus' stigma of needing to eventually die for all humanity to be saved (not a small accomplishment), He was very human, He differed in that He did NOT sin!

Too many atheists spend so much time and so much energy trying to prove what is already true and trying to deny what has already come to pass. This is a mistake that will only be forgiven if that person repents to God and turns their life around and begins to live according to what God wants in their lives and not live according to what Satan wants in their lives! Satan loves atheists because they are deceived and try to deceive others in what they say and do. Their lifestyles are their "ministry" of fate. We as Christians need to love them and return love for hate and show these confused people by our lifestyles that God is VERY REAL and VERY EXISTENT! Pray for those who persecute you and do good to those who harm you. This is the Word of God, our book of instructions for life.....................................................................................

1 Timothy 6:3-5 "Some people may contradict our teaching, but these are the wholesome teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. These teachings promote a godly life. Anyone who teaches something different is arrogant and lacks understanding. Such a person has an unhealthy desire to quibble over the meaning of words. This stirs up arguments ending in jealousy, division, slander, and evil suspicions. These people always cause trouble. Their minds are corrupt, and they have turned their backs on the truth. To them, a show of godliness is just a way to become healthy."

Be careful not to become a party to this behavior because God takes this very seriously, so we should also take this very seriously.....................God WILL NOT tolerate ignorance and blatant disregard for Him!!!

SIN! Is it Evil or just plain Ignorance?

2009-08-26T10:28:00.005-05:00

In the beginning, God created the earth and creatures to roam the earth, both fowl of the air and beasts of the ground. God also created man. Now, in the beginning, man was sin-free.

Sin literally means: any thought, word, or act considered faulty, shameful, harmful to oneself or to others, or which alienates self from others and especially from God.

So anything that goes against the will of God is sin. Anything! Pretty simple huh? Not for most people, more specifically Christians.

After man was created, God created woman to keep man company. See, even before we knew loneliness, God knew we would become lonely. This is why He created woman for man. Anyhow, woman (who should be considered man in this context) enticed man to sin after herself being enticed or decieved by the Serpent or Satan himself to sin. More specifically do the exact opposite of what God had instructed. This is the most important part of our existence because it is at this point that the direction or Word of God became necessary to lead man in his walk in life! Without it, we are lost! So many are convinced of their "right" to lead their own lives and do so in complete blindness all-the-while slowly getting closer and closer to the grave.

Before this act of sin, man was without fault. After this act of sin, man was born into sin. At this point in human history (there was much history prior to man's existence which consisted of God, the Holy Spirit, Angels, and other heavenly beings)it was an automatic occurrence for man to want to sin..............................

After this fact, man became so sinful or shameful in the eyes of God that He not only lessened man's lifespan almost 800 years, but also wiped out the entire race leaving only one man and his family with each and every animal walking, swimming, and flying in this universe. This was a direct result of SIN! This was what was known as the Great Flood.

You see, God knew that at the very moment man gave into sin and became sin, he was only going to degrade even further because of man's weak spirit and failure to acknowledge God's Omnipresence and Greatness! Man was never equipped with anti-sin measures or sin-proof agents to utilize on a daily basis. We need to understand where sin originated though.

Sin began long before man was created. It began with Lucifer or Satan, The Deceiver! He has earned the title Deceiver because of his previous involvement with angels and God. Satan became very jealous and envious of God and His power. So Satan decided to break away from God and start his own little click known as the demons, or angels who have turned away from God to follow Satan. Satan was a very powerful and influential angelic being in the beginning. We know that he was very powerful and one of God's right hand mates or possibly even the general of God's angelic hosts.

If we can accept that sin originated with Satan and because of his deception, man turned to sin, than we will admit that it is really The Deceiver who leads us into temptation and not God.

Far too many Christians and UN-believers alike think that God tempts us into doing wrong or sinning. This could not be farther from the truth. God never tempts man, only Satan or man himself. The Word says in Romans 6:23 "For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord." Also, 1 Corinthians 10:12-13 "If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall. The temptations in your life are no different than from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptations to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, He will show you a way out so that you can endure."

James 1:12-14 "God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterword, they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him. And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, "God is tempting me." God is never tempted to do wrong and HE NEVER TEMPTS ANYONE ELSE. Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away [from what is right]."

In

If you want a good life, give up your bad attitude!

2009-08-25T13:02:00.005-05:00

Too many people tend to "feel" sorry for themselves and use this pity as their operating system. But it really becomes their "Identity!" They unknowingly have just sealed their own future or "fate."

Why don't we try to understand them and their problems? Why not join everyone else in feeling sorry for them and just nurse their pity even further into self-loathing? Why not jump on the bandwagon?

Because! We will just be serving to make their problems worse. We will only be coddling them and encouraging them. This is bad, not good. Counter-productive, not productive.

We find too much that it is far too easy to be "politically-correct" and by choosing this route, we are choosing failure for them and us. God teaches us that we need to forget our problems and give them to Him to fix. We are directly responsible for believing that He can and will make everything better. He accomplishes this through His Son, His Word, and the Holy Spirit. His Word? The Bible.

Understand that we must not confuse The Bible with any other written book claiming to be the Bible or altered in order to fit a "certain" religion or belief system. Christianity is not a religion, so don't get it confused with religion. (We will touch on this in the next post). I am referring to the Bible as we know it to have been influenced by Godly men with Holy Spirit lead prophecies and hands to write God's Word. It is truly God's Word and nothing will ever take that away. Not if you truly believe in God.

We need to begin to start encouraging the unbelievers, new believers, old believers, anyone who needs encouragement, to start being positive and begin to trust that through their Faith, God will fix their problems and create their "futures." We need to start preaching God's Word to everyone and spreading His wonderful story to the world. God's Word is awesome and also very sobering. It is the ONLY true guide or instruction for everyday life. But we need to share the Good News so it may multiply and touch someone else who is in need of something to believe in and someone to love. The best way to convince an unbeliever to believe in God is to show them by living it in our own lives and presenting ourselves as true disciples of God, not allowing them to wollow in their self-pity and not by being "politically-correct." I challenge you to challenge yourselves and start living the Word and not just reading it!

Words of Wisdom

2009-08-11T11:06:00.003-05:00

"It isn't what you have in your pocket that makes you thankful but what you have in your heart."-Uknown

"Learn to differentiate between what is truely important and what can be dealt with at another time."-Mia Hamm, Soccer Champion

"Rudeness is a weak man's imitation of strength."-Eric Hoffer

"Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves."-Carl Jung

"Everyone wants to be apprecicated. So if you appreciate someone, don't keep it a secret."-Mary Kay Ash

"Character may be manifested in the great moments, but it is made in the small ones."-Phillips Brooks

"It matters not what a person is born, but whom they choose to be."-J.K. Rowling

Have you lived everything you can but still feel a void in your life?

2009-08-10T16:16:00.001-05:00

Have you done everything you can in life but still know that there is something missing?

Can you pinpoint what is missing?

Do you want to know what you are missing but are too afraid to admit it?

Follow this blog as I take you through my life from my childhood to the present........................

A Journey of Faith

2009-08-10T15:36:00.000-05:00

I have spent my whole life walking in self-absorbtion. I have seen what being self-absorbed really is. You could call me a "professional self-absorbed expert!"

This has gotten me much. I have learned so much from this very interesting journey. I have gained so much knowledge in absolutely everything but definitely nothing!

Am I a smarter person for going through this experience? Yes.
Do I know more than I did before I went through this period? Yes.
Can I truely say I am better for making it? Yes.

But what have I really learned? What great lesson have I really walked away with implanted in my brain? Who am I now that I have been through the hardships of this painfully becoming experience?

Is this you? Have you crossed the same paths over and over again wondering why you continue to keep coming to the same path you crossed before? Do you want to know what more there is to accomplish and experience in life?

Please join me in a journey to discover Faith. I don't mean faith in yourself but faith in God. A Faith that over-comes all other faiths and a Faith that leads to a life lived fully. One that you will be able to look back on a say "I have truely lived for everything I could have ever imagined and I know that I will leave this earth completed!" Why? Because you will have lived your life for God and this is all you will ever need to do..............This is a Journey of Faith!