Thoughts ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZONPRTOFF dateof comment Look Inside Data Conditions:Order: 1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9|10|11|12|13| Dateof Comment 06/05/2023 Have ever thought about how well God did when he created everything including us. He even did it without my advice. When he finished creating us, he wanted us to become part of his plan. God gives us all talents and special abilities. These things were designed to bring us money to live on and to do things for the kingdom of God here on earth. Everyone of us have some talent that will benefit the Kingdom of Heaven. The problem we may develop is pride if we think God cannot do things without us. Even worse is believing that we can do everything on our own. David had something to say about this pride: 1 Chronicles 29:11-15 “O Lord, the God of our ancestor Israel, may you be praised forever and ever! 11 Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty. Everything in the heavens and on earth is yours, O Lord, and this is your kingdom. We adore you as the one who is over all things. 12 Wealth and honor come from you alone, for you rule over everything. Power and might are in your hand, and at your discretion people are made great and given strength. 13 “O our God, we thank you and praise your glorious name! 14 But who am I, and who are my people, that we could give anything to you? Everything we have has come from you, and we give you only what you first gave us! 15 We are here for only a moment, visitors and strangers in the land as our ancestors were before us. Our days on earth are like a passing shadow, gone so soon without a trace. Really, life is a gift from God. We need to humble ourselves when we begin to realize how fragile we are. I am alive today because God has a purpose for my life. There is no other reason. If we and our children are willing to continue to serve God with our whole hearts, the Lord will remain amongst us for a long time: Ps 103:17-18 NLT But the love of the Lord remains forever with those who fear him. His salvation extends to the children’s children of those who are faithful to his covenant, of those who obey his commandments! We all need Jesus Christ and to develop a relationship with him. The Holy Spirit will help in this area. Let's not forget how we fit into God's plans. 06/01/2023 If you are like me troubles can wear us out. This can make us tired and sometimes wanting to give up. I do not see many verses from Lamentations, but this caught my attention when my buddy sent it to me. It makes me appreciate the foundation of our God. This verse was written centuries ago but God has not changed. Everything holds true for us today. We even have the Holy Spirit to strengthen us. He was sent by Jesus Christ when he returned to the Father. Our ancestors did not have the access to him like we do. He makes these verses even more powerful. Our God stands with us each morning. He is always excited to walk with us each day. Only our stubbornness will make him fall back but He never leaves us. Lets give thanks each morning and believe that this is what God wants to do for us: Lamentations 3:22 NLT 22 The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. 23 Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning. 24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!” Our traits should be depend on him, quietly wait which can be tough, and submit to him at an early age: 25 The Lord is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him. 26 So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord. 27 And it is good for people to submit at an early age to the yoke of his discipline: I feel that the KJV version really paints a picture of who God is. It is like getting up early in the summertime in the morning. With our high altitude the air is crisp and fresh early in the morning. This energizes me and makes me want to start the day in a positive note: God is like that! Lamentations 3:22 KJV 22 It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. 23 They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. 24 The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him. 25 The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. 26 It is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. 27 It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth. Use the Holy Spirit and continue to look for the things God. He will reveal more things to us as we develop that personal relationship with Jesus Christ. 05/25/2023 One of the greatest challenges in life is getting along with other people. James has a good start on how to improve our people skills: James 1:19 (New Living Translation) Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. This verse is a must if you are trying to get along with people. It is interesting that when you listen to what people or God has to say, you are demonstrating interest. God loves it when you interested in what he says. People are no different. The next step with people is our response. What they are saying may be totally stupid or even demonic. Sometimes people do this to get a reaction. By controlling our our anger we throw water on their fire by remaining cool. By being slow to speak gives us time to say a quick prayer and process the situation. Stupid replies many times will cause negative results. Always stick to the truth and never forget about the concept of love. Jesus applied this last statement and was crucified. Just as he did, never compromise the truth. This is how God's children should do it to get along with his other children. This brings unity to the church: Romans 12:10 (New Living Translation) Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. After all the above occurs, we are learning to work within God's people. Now we are ready for this step: Romans 15:2 (New Living Translation) We should help others do what is right and build them up in the Lord. Now we have formed a powerful and spotless church. The next step requires a powerful church to accomplish: Mathew 24:14 NLT 14 And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come. After this step is completed, Jesus will return for his church. So let's become bold and become that church that he will be proud of. 05/22/2023 There is one party in specific in our government who is constantly pushing racism and division in our culture. The love of money influences both parties in the desire to get money at whatever cost the public may face. Our government uses the selfish influence of the have nots to take things away from those who work and earn their wealth. They will take it even if it means destroying a section of our society. I have even noticed that the selfishness each one of us will make us support those committing evil if there's a free lunch involved. These people do not get their ideas from God's word. It is the contrary. James said it well: James 3:17-18 NLT But the wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds. It shows no favoritism and is always sincere. And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness. Another man Paul said basicly the same thing: 1 Corinthians 1:10 NLT I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose. Which one are you? Do you live and think as the world or do your thoughts follow these verses? You cannot please God unless you think the way these two men do. Jesus Christ is the solution to all of this. When Jesus begins to rule our lives, we begin to think exactly as these two verses quote. Jesus Christ has always been the answer to everything since the beginning of time. 05/12/2023 I like to go to biblegateway.com to see what the verse of the day is. It was fitting that being mother's day weekend that this verse would appear: Proverbs 31:10-31 NLT A Wife of Noble Character 10 Who can find a virtuous and capable wife? She is more precious than rubies. [ I have seen many successful marriages because of Who You women are. You are to be commended on all the hard work that you've done to not only bring up a family but to keep your marriage intact. I do have to admit many times us husbands have not always been there for you. You are worth your weight in rubies. ] 11 Her husband can trust her, and she will greatly enrich his life. [This is a gift of peace that every husband should appreciate. We need to be exactly the same to our wives.] 12 She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life. [ How many of us husbands are successful just because of our wives. We also should support our wives to make them feel good about who they are. It doesn't hurt that she become successful also. ] 13 She finds wool and flax and busily spins it. [ She is definitely creative in all the things she does.] 14 She is like a merchant’s ship, bringing her food from afar. [ Luckily for us she only has to go to the Costco store to get food.] 15 She gets up before dawn to prepare breakfast for her household and plan the day’s work for her servant girls. [I see this happen by the ladies more than I see men doing this. Again ladies thank you for your sacrifice in doing this. Men we should greatly appreciate our wives who do this.] 16 She goes to inspect a field and buys it; with her earnings she plants a vineyard. [Definitely sounds like a farmer's wife to me. Women can make the same decisions that men do.] 17 She is energetic and strong, a hard worker. [This definitely makes the husband's life easier. We should appreciate the sacrifice our wives do for us.] 18 She makes sure her dealings are profitable; her lamp burns late into the night. [I know my wife always got up in the night when the kids needed stuff while I slept. This is another thing to not be taken granted of.] 19 Her hands are busy spinning thread, her fingers twisting fiber. [This one also goes for you wives who are cooking meals and cleaning the house for the family. This job is very important and usually pays little. If you do this job not complaining it definitely pleases God because you are being a servant to all. Husbands do not take advantage of your wife's servant hood. We are also to be servants to our wives as Jesus was a servant to us.] 20 She extends a helping hand to the poor and opens her arms to the needy. [ This is another thing that our wives do better than us men.] 21 She has no fear of winter for her household, for everyone has warm clothes. [ Another great service that women do for us husbands. Most of us men couldn't care less about shopping for clothes for our kids.] 22 She makes her own bedspreads. She dresses in fine linen and purple gowns. [We should remember this because our wives do want to look good for us if we only appreciate them. We need to love our wives just as Jesus Christ loved the church.] 23 Her husband is well known at the city gates, where he sits with the other civic leaders. [ Husbands make sure that this is true. Our actions can reflect on our wives and we want them to look good to everyone else.] 24 She makes belted linen garments and sashes to sell to the merchants. [ Even though our wives may not make clothing but I have seen how creative they can be with coming up with ideas to make money. Make sure that we encourage our wives in anything godly that they do.] 25 She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future. [Anyone who has turned their life over to Jesus Christ will experience this. We as husbands should experience the same thing.] 26 When she speaks, her words are wise, and she gives instructions with kindness. [Our wives are capable of coming up with good advice. As husbands we should listen to what they say so that we may catch things that we would otherwise miss. Our wives were meant help us make our lives better. As husbands we should also do the same for them.] 27 She carefully watches everything in her household and suffers nothing from laziness. [She definitely can't be too lazy if she's going to keep up with those kids. It is amazing to watch what some of the wives do for their families. As husbands we should not be just lazing on the couch, we should also be apart of what our wives are doing.] 28 Her children stand and bless her. Her husband praises her: [Pay close attention to this verse husband's. It was only put here in the Bible because it is true.] 29 “There are many virtuous and capable women in the world, but you surpass them all!” [I pray that all of you hard-working wives could experience this verse. This would make you feel like you're on top of the world.] 30 Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised. [All of you women who live this verse are extremely powerful. You have kept marriages together and saved the lives of your children. This is one of the greatest things you have ever done.] 31 Reward her for all she has done. Let her deeds publicly declare her praise. [Husbands really pay attention to this verse. This will encourage your wife Beyond her wildest dreams. Also do it because she deserves it.] 05/03/2023 I have watched people including myself trying to outdo the next guy. There is nothing wrong with this. Paul in his letters talks about running the race to win. The question that I am about to ask does this make you exalt yourself above everyone else? Or is it your attitude to tell your secret to someone else to help them to succeed. This all makes a difference. That's the reason why Paul wrote to the Philippians church about having the attitude of Jesus Christ: Philippians 2:5-8 (New Living Translation) You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus 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. Once are attitude becomes like Jesus Christ, we'll be raising our petitions up to God that will please him. John has something to say about that in our prayer life. 1 John 5:14-15 (New Living Translation) And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for. Again, Paul covers his basis. If our prayers are not answered right away, we are not to give up. He talked about this to the Romans: Romans 12:12 (New Living Translation) Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. What does it mean by "keep on praying". Jesus had something to say about this: Luke 18:1-8 NLT 18 One day Jesus told his disciples a story to show that they should always pray and never give up. 2 “There was a judge in a certain city,” he said, “who neither feared God nor cared about people. 3 A widow of that city came to him repeatedly, saying, ‘Give me justice in this dispute with my enemy.’ 4 The judge ignored her for a while, but finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or care about people, 5 but this woman is driving me crazy. I’m going to see that she gets justice, because she is wearing me out with her constant requests!’” 6 Then the Lord said, “Learn a lesson from this unjust judge. 7 Even he rendered a just decision in the end. So don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, he will grant justice to them quickly! But when the Son of Man[a] returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?” Why would God allow this in his word if it was not true? If it is valuable enough to you, you will want to continue praying daily. Do not expect to get an answer from God if you have selfish desires. This does not honor the Lord and can jeopardize your salvation. Do not expect God to answer you if you are a doubter. James has something to say about this: James 1:6 But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. 04/27/2023 Have you ever thought about how much emphasis Jesus puts on the individual. Jesus would have come to this earth just for my sake to save just me. That is how much he loves us. The parable of the Sheep tells us his dedication to locate us and bring us back into the fold: Luke 15:1-7 NLT 15 Tax collectors and other notorious sinners often came to listen to Jesus teach. 2 This made the Pharisees and teachers of religious law complain that he was associating with such sinful people—even eating with them! 3 So Jesus told them this story: 4 “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he will joyfully carry it home on his shoulders. 6 When he arrives, he will call together his friends and neighbors, saying, ‘Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven’t strayed away! Unlike the Sheep though, Jesus will not drag us back like a Shepherd for the Sheep would do. We still have the choice to reject him and he would leave us alone. But he never really leaves us alone. He still hopes that we will decide later to let him bring us back into the fold willingly. Always remember though that tomorrow is never promised and if you do not make that choice before that day you will be separated and sent to the Lake of Fire. Zacchaeus is proof of one who accepts the offer of Jesus Christ: Luke 19:8-10 (New Living Translation) 8 Meanwhile, Zacchaeus stood before the Lord and said, “I will give half my wealth to the poor, Lord, and if I have cheated people on their taxes, I will give them back four times as much!” 9 Jesus responded, “Salvation has come to this home today, for this man has shown himself to be a true son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man came to seek and save those who are lost.” Just remember every time that person returns to the fold of Jesus Christ, the angels in heaven rejoice. This shows you how valuable you are that they would do this. It was hard to fathom that this is the whole purpose of Jesus Christ coming to Earth in the first place. 04/17/2023 We should know by now about the only place in the bible that God commands us to test him: Malachi 3:10 NLT 10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse so there will be enough food in my Temple. If you do,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will open the windows of heaven for you. I will pour out a blessing so great you won’t have enough room to take it in! Try it! Put me to the test! I firmly believe we are going to see in this decade the largest transference of wealth from the wicked to God's people who tithe because of God's plan. Have you ever thought about what that would be like? Sounds pretty cool but remember what Timothy said about the power of money: 1 Timothy 6:10 For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows. I have thought about this and have talked it over with my prayer partner asking these questions about wealth: 1. Am I going to change my friends? This will be the first sign of trouble in your life. You are beginning to exalt yourself. 2. How are planning on using it? If you use it all on your own pleasures you are on the path to trouble. I believe one should spend money on yourself to prove to everyone that God can bless people financially to have some cool stuff. Do not forget about contentment though or it can ruin you. Remember Malachi 3:10 where you cannot out give God. Invest his money back into his Kingdom to be blessed even more. Have fun doing it. I have seen how investing money into God's families in the Ghetto has changed the community forever. Those who have received God's blessing have experienced large increases in faith and are coming together to worship God in a King Soopers parking lot. It is the type of worship that make me envious on how well they worship God. Nothing fancy at all but they are totally focused on pleasing God putting the clock out to pasture. God deserves this Kind of worship. The people in the ghetto greatly appreciate blessings. The first thing they do is put you on their prayer list. Could you imagine that if everyone who is blessed by your obedience is praying for you? You could have 100's of prayers going up into the heavens lifting you up. Now, that is a lot of prayer power. I believe Jesus Christ is going have the greatest outpouring of the Holy Spirit ever. He needs us and our resources to accomplish his great plans. God's desire was to have the families protected in the Ghetto. I was given the privilege to help fill his desire. I do not want to have great wealth deviate me from seeing and filling God's desires. I believe as long as you heart stays in God's Kingdom, you will use great wealth wisely. 04/12/2023 When Jesus Christ hung on that cross, the criminals spoke to Jesus: Luke 23:39-43 NLT 39 One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed, “So you’re the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself—and us, too, while you’re at it!” 40 But the other criminal protested, “Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? 41 We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.” 42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.” 43 And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.” I thought about what the criminals said to Jesus when I read this verse: Romans 5:6-8 (New Living Translation) When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. Even though both criminals were probably scum, Jesus did not care. He was looking at the one man's heart when he laid his life down for us. Jesus laid his life down for the loveable and for the unlovable. This includes the politicians who run our government today. I never have seen so much hatred they have against the people. Unlike Jesus, I would have extreme difficulty laying my life down for these kinds of people who persecute the innocent. This next verse emphasizes even more what he did for us: 1 Peter 2:24 (New Living Translation) He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed. But remember there is no record of the other criminal giving his heart to Jesus. This means he is spending eternity in the Lake of Fire while his buddy is in the Kingdom of God where Jesus is. So, it will be with those who persecute us today. Until we all come to Jesus Christ, our fate will be the same as the criminal who rejected Jesus Christ. 04/10/2023 I noticed that a lot of people seem to be worried about a lot of things. I mean banks are failing, inflation It's the worst that it ever has been. The borders are open with lot of chaos going on and there's a lot of child trafficking going on. Look at all the weird stuff that people are doing that are not scriptural. The craziest thing that's going on right now is that good is bad and bad is good. We definitely have things switched around . A lot of people are worried about all this going on.Paul had something to say about this when he wrote a letter to the Philippine church: Philippians 4:6-7 (New Living Translation) Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus. Praying is a good thing. But until we learn to trust God, our prayers will be weak. I also believe having support from other brothers and sisters also takes away the worrying by encouragement. God has had even had me produce funny videos, just so people can laugh. Laughter also decreases worrying. We need to trust God that hes got everything under control. There is so many verses in he Bible that talk about heart aches. David talked about them and had to turn everything back to God. Sin can cause us to worry. Paul wrote about this to the Romans: Romans 8:1-2 (New Living Translation) So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. Jesus Christ is the answer to the worry of sin. He will forgive anything we may have done but do not abuse this gift. If you have no desire to change you better start worrying. 04/04/2023 Easter is on April 7, 2023. Paul summed up Easter in one sentence. Ephesians 1:7 (New Living Translation) He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. This arrangement made by God and his son at the beginning of creation changed everything for you and me. It made it possible for us to enter the Kingdom of God. No one could go into heaven until Jesus conquered death. Everyone should appreciate what Jesus did when he sacrificed himself for us. Before him, a lot of blood had to be shed to purify us. It never reached the purity of what his shed blood accomplished. Jesus really had to love us a lot to put himself through the intense beating and finally crucifixion. The least we should do is honor him by serving him and standing for the things he holds dear. Next is to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. Loving our neighbor still is not as difficult as the sacrifice he made for us. Jesus even sent the Holy Spirit to help us to love even the worst neighbor. Let's give Glory to Jesus Christ this Easter. 03/23/2023 I am beginning to believe that the only place you can find truth is in God's word. I get up each day and all that I see is the lying mainstream media and government. I know that I am right because God is exposing them like never before. They have been lying to us for a long time. I am not even sure if the people we see in the news are even real. So many people have look alikes or they wear masks created by Hollywood to look like someone else. At least God doesn't fake a thing. He is always real and never deviates from truth for no one: John 17:17 NLT 17 Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. I like how God's number 17 is used twice for truth. But this is what happens next if we do not get to hear the truth. There are only 2 options in life. We serve either God or the devil. You cannot serve two masters. John 8:44 It’s because you can’t even hear me! 44 For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 So when I tell the truth, you just naturally don’t believe me! We need to fill our minds with godly truths or we will be like those that Jesus was talking about above. 03/21/2023 I know God is looking for the thankful heart but what happens when we complain. DEUTERONOMY has something to say about our complaining: Deuteronomy 1:34-37 NLT 34 “When the Lord heard your complaining, he became very angry. So he solemnly swore, 35 ‘Not one of you from this wicked generation will live to see the good land I swore to give your ancestors, 36 except Caleb son of Jephunneh. He will see this land because he has followed the Lord completely. I will give to him and his descendants some of the very land he explored during his scouting mission.’ 37 “And the Lord was also angry with me because of you. He said to me, ‘Moses, not even you will enter the Promised Land! Complaining can take us far away from the things that God wants to do for us. In fact, God can give what he planned for us to someone else. Even if we stop complaining we still need to listen to what God says or we may see the same results like Moses faced. 03/15/2023 Have you ever thought about what it takes to love like Jesus. Peter did in one of his letters. He created a list and I feel like it must be in this order: 1. Moral excellence 2. Knowledge 3. Self-control 4. Patient Endurance 5. Godliness 6. Brotherly Affection 7. LOVE Of course, there are seven steps. We know of the number 7 in God's Kingdom. 2 Peter 1:5-8 (New Living Translation) 5 In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone. 8 The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. The amplified version adds a lot more detail to this verse: 2 Peter 1:5-8 (Amplified Bible) For this very reason, applying your diligence [to the divine promises, make every effort] in [exercising] your faith to, develop moral excellence, and in moral excellence, knowledge (insight, understanding), and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, steadfastness, and in your steadfastness, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly affection, and in your brotherly affection, [develop Christian] love [that is, learn to unselfishly seek the best for others and to do things for their benefit]. For as these qualities are yours and are increasing [in you as you grow toward spiritual maturity], they will keep you from being useless and unproductive in regard to the true knowledge and greater understanding of our Lord Jesus Christ. You cannot get up one day and love. It is a process and the work required to make Christ like love with greatly please our King once we implement it. Here are some more encouraging verses that show what love can do: Colossians 3:12 (New Living Translation) Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Philippians 2:1-5 New Living Translation Have the Attitude of Christ 2 Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? 2 Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose. 3 Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. 5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Our attitude has a great impact on what we can accomplish for our King like the last verse says: 03/03/2023 Isn't it interesting how God has to explain himself. Yes, because we do not get it. Our problem is because we think the way humans think. God is not bound by human thought. He had to explain this to Isaiah: Isaiah 55:8-9 (The Message) “I don’t think the way you think. The way you work isn’t the way I work.” God’s Decree. “For as the sky soars high above earth, so the way I work surpasses the way you work, and the way I think is beyond the way you think. Just as rain and snow descend from the skies and don’t go back until they’ve watered the earth, Doing their work of making things grow and blossom, producing seed for farmers and food for the hungry, So will the words that come out of my mouth not come back empty-handed. They’ll do the work I sent them to do, they’ll complete the assignment I gave them. Even though we think that God may be wasting time, he is a very constructive and organized God. Many times, he waits on us to ask him to make things happen. We are living at a time where the church was enjoying the surplus of God's blessing and ignoring the takeover by evil. Evil was benefiting from are "so what" attitude. I was told many times to stay silent because you will just start an argument. Evil loves to start an argument and that is why it has been winning. Finally, the church has been praying against evil and is beginning to stand up for what is right. I firmly believe that what God is doing today would have been going on decades ago if we asked him and lived his will. Everything he does has a purpose. Jeremiah 29:11 says: Jeremiah 29:11 New Living Translation 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. If you do enough research, you will see that our God has been doing things behind the scenes his way for his children. Wait a little longer and it will be epic like no man has seen before. Look at the moving of God in our universities. The hardest part in all of this is just being patient and obedient to his calling. If you are like me, I would love to see it all happen now. Just watch and see how big our God is going to win. 02/27/2023 Have you ever thought about the God we worship. Many times, we worship based on how we feel. True worship is based on glorifying our King no matter how we feel. You are right when you say this may be a difficult thing to do. The Holy Spirit would love to help if we let him. Here are some verses that someone else came up with. I feel they make our worship purer: Psalm 51:15 NLT 15 Unseal my lips, O Lord, that my mouth may praise you. Psalm 63:3 NLT 3 Your unfailing love is better than life itself; how I praise you! Psalm 71:23 NLT 23 I will shout for joy and sing your praises, for you have ransomed me. Psalm 120:2 NLT 2 Rescue me, O Lord, from liars and from all deceitful people. Psalm 141:3 NLT 3 Take control of what I say, O Lord, and guard my lips. Isaiah 6:5-8 NLT 5 Then I said, “It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.” 6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. 7 He touched my lips with it and said, “See, this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven.” 8 Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?” I said, “Here I am. Send me.” Psalm 80:18 NLT 18 Then we will never abandon you again. Revive us so we can call on your name once more. Psalm 119:25 NLT 25 I lie in the dust; revive me by your word. Psalm 119:37 NLT 37 Turn my eyes from worthless things, and give me life through your word. Isaiah 57:15 NLT 15 The high and lofty one who lives in eternity, the Holy One, says this: “I live in the high and holy place with those whose spirits are contrite and humble. I restore the crushed spirit of the humble and revive the courage of those with repentant hearts. Habakkuk 3:2 NLT 2 I have heard all about you, Lord. I am filled with awe by your amazing works. In this time of our deep need, help us again as you did in years gone by. And in your anger, remember your mercy. Ephesians 1:17-19 NLT 17 asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom[a] and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God. 18 I pray that your hearts will be flooded with light so that you can understand the confident hope he has given to those he called—his holy people who are his rich and glorious inheritance.[b] 19 I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe him. This is the same mighty power. If one keeps the flesh from tainting our worship, following these verses will bring the worship our King deserves. 02/15/2023 Everyone can tell you the story of Jesus walking on the water. But unless you read it close, you can miss some important details. Jesus saw his disciples struggling in the boat while he was on land: Mark 6:47-52 47 Late that night, the disciples were in their boat in the middle of the lake, and Jesus was alone on land. 48 He saw that they were in serious trouble, rowing hard and struggling against the wind and waves. About three o’clock in the morning Jesus came toward them, walking on the water. He intended to go past them, [Have you ever thought about why he was going past them? I chuckled and thought about how much fun Jesus was having. How often do you get a chance to walk on water. I know that the wind was not bothering him because of the authority our Father gave him. I envisioned the Father telling Jesus to go rescue them. Jesus did not question the Fathers authority and immediately walked towards them. After all, if you could get an ax head to float it would be a piece of cake to walk on the water.] 49 but when they saw him walking on the water, they cried out in terror, thinking he was a ghost. 50 They were all terrified when they saw him. [Jesus gave up where he was going because of his great love for us.] But Jesus spoke to them at once. “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Take courage! I am here!” 51 Then he climbed into the boat, and the wind stopped. They were totally amazed, 52 for they still didn’t understand the significance of the miracle of the loaves. Their hearts were too hard to take it in. Verse 52 is the clincher. I thought about this for a week to make sure that I understood it myself. It was amazing, but a person who has no idea who I am gave a message on this exact verse and confirmed my thoughts. The disciples had the opportunity to see the healing of the sick and cast out demons. They just witnessed the feeding of the 5,000. In man's world the feeding of 5,000 men is impossible because of the law of the conservation of mass. This is where we make our first mistake by putting limitations on God. Even worse, is seeing God work once and believing it will not happen again. Jesus fed the 4000 later proving it could happen again. When dealing with God we are in his realm where the impossible is possible. If we see it happen once it should not be a surprise to see it happen someplace else. I even believe that the disciples could have silenced the wind themselves if they understood the authority Jesus gave them. Fear kept them in the dark. Listening to bad advice can make us dense to the things of God. Mark has more to say on that: Mark 7:13 13 And so you cancel the word of God in order to hand down your own tradition. And this is only one example among many others.” Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. “All of you listen,” he said, “and try to understand. {21st century lingo->Get it through your thick head.} 15 It’s not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart.” Checking things out and comparing them to God's word, is really the only thing we physically have to learn who God is. Spiritually, intel from the Holy Spirit helps prevent us from becoming dense. Expect a Miricale in your life and don't be surprised when it comes. Even more so, when you see many miracles. Do not let unbelief kill your miracles. These people may never see a miracle their entire life. Mark 6:5 (New Living Translation) And because of their unbelief, he couldn’t do any miracles among them except to place his hands on a few sick people and heal them. Never forget that God loves us. We have to make sure our heart is right with him to see miracles in our life. 1 John 4:10 (New Living Translation) This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. 1 John 4:19 (New Living Translation) We love each other because he loved us first. 02/02/2023 Have you ever wondered why sometimes it takes a long time for our prayers to be answered. It is not because God has not heard them. But it is many times like what's going on in Daniel's life: Daniel 10:12-14 NLT 12 Then he said, “Don’t be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day you began to pray for understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your request has been heard in heaven. I have come in answer to your prayer. 13 But for twenty-one days the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia blocked my way. Then Michael, one of the archangels, came to help me, and I left him there with the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia. 14 Now I am here to explain what will happen to your people in the future, for this vision concerns a time yet to come.” Paul talks more about this spiritual warfare going on: Ephesians 6:10-12 NLT The Whole Armor of God 10 A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. 12 For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. We can prepare for ourselves but we cannot put the armor on other people. Our only option is to pray asking God to bind the devil so our prayers are not hindered. The enemy wants to make sure that every person you pray for fails. The next step that hinders prayers is unforgiveness. Jesus talks about this in Mark: Mark 11:25 NLT But when you are praying, first forgive anyone you are holding a grudge against, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your sins, too.” If you pray for things that glorify yourself and put God on the backburner you may also see slow answers to your prayers. Make sure you believe it is possible that God can do it. Doubters will see slow response times to their prayers. Other times you may be doing everything right but since we serve an event oriented God, the timing may not be right. The other case is that he may be testing your faith. Whatever happens do not give up praying. Always look at condition of your own heart to make sure that it is not the problem. Jesus is ready but are we. 01/23/2023 I hear about the grace of Jesus Christ quite often. It was provided for us at a great cost to our Saviour. But very seldom do people ever speak about the cost of serving Jesus Christ. It does require some sacrifice from us. Mark explains it vividly: Mark 8:34-38 New Living Translation 34 Then, calling the crowd to join his disciples, he said, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. 35 If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it. 36 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? 37 Is anything worth more than your soul? 38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my message in these adulterous and sinful days, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.” You may ask why is it necessary to give one's life up in order to serve Jesus Christ? Matthew explains this very well: Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money (Could be any distraction). This last verse shows your soul is at stake if you try to serve things other than Jesus Christ. I have found out myself that too many distractions can keep me from learning everything God wants me to know. Once we commit ourselves to serving Jesus Christ, we need to be bold for him. It is not important what people think of us talking about Christ but what Jesus Christ thinks of us. Verse 38 says "If anyone is ashamed of me and my message in these adulterous and sinful days, the Son of Man will be ashamed of that person when he returns in the glory of his Father with the holy angels." This definitely describes the times we live in. Are we going to be an embarrassment to our Lord? Or are we going to be somebody that Jesus Christ is going to brag about in the Kingdome of God? It is your choice. Choose wisely! 01/17/2023 Paul wrote this one because he knows that God is not pleased whenever we complain. I can relate complaining with being ungrateful. Paul also knows that God does not like arguing either. But what determines what is an argument or speaking up against evil. The latter is required of us. If love is used like Jesus did and with the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, everyone had difficult time challenging his logic. He also knows that man can be bullheaded and he did not stand there trying to beat us up with the truth. He speaks the truth and lets it go. Paul tells us how we can please God: Philippians 2:14-16 (New Living Translation) Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people. Hold firmly to the word of life; then, on the day of Christ’s return, I will be proud that I did not run the race in vain and that my work was not useless. People watch us every day to see what we are doing. They notice if our lives reflect those of Jesus Christ. Darkness will flee but those who God has called will want what we have. We then can share the good news with them. In the end we can say, "I am proud that I did not run the race in vain and that my work was not useless."
