God's Money!

I read a post on Facebook that pastor Troy posted and it made me think.He stated that they had some funds that they are considering spending ,and they inquired from their face book family some feed back on what to do with the money,well here is my take on spending money that God has blessed us with.Money can be a wonderful thing used for the glory of God. But it also provides a temptation to sin. I've heard people say, “Money is the root of all evil.”So I ask them, “Where did you get that?”“It’s in the Bible.”“Show it to me.”They freeze. Here’s what the Bible says in 1 Timothy 6:10, “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” Think about it , money is basically a good thing if used wisely to glorify God.Haggai 2:8 says, “‘The silver is mine and the gold is mine,’ declares the Lord Almighty.so if money were evil then God would have nothing to do with it,right?Think about it ,everything on earth belongs to God,money ,silver,gold, its all his and he knows were it all belongs,so he entrust us with some it to use it wisely so that we may glorify him.
we can use our money several different ways, we are basically imitating God's independence when we use our money to meet our own needs ,along with our family's needs,His mercy when we use it to meet the needs of the unfortunate,and His love when we use it to demonstrate or fulfill the Father’s purpose in His kingdom,
Money empowers us with great responsibility and a constant source of temptation,but money all by itself is in no way "evil". Jesus said you cannot serve two masters ,God and money. But, you can serve God with money.
Think about this, God gives us some very stern warnings on the dangers of having excessive money in the scriptures we read this,Matthew 6:19-21, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”
My friends lets not get our view of money and the ownership of it distorted, we need to understand that we must always try to use it to bring the utmost glory to our Heavenly Father,all the time.There is going to be a day of accountability,and I believe We’re going to be judged and rewarded according to what we did with the resources He gave to us and how we handled them.
So thank you Pastor for setting the wheels of my mind in motion once again.I for one will be the first to admit to all that I constantly need the direction from the Holy Spirit with financial direction,were and when to spend the money that he blesses me with.May we all seek God's direction in our financial needs.

Psalm 144
1 Praise be to the LORD my Rock,
who trains my hands for war,
my fingers for battle.
2 He is my loving God and my fortress,
my stronghold and my deliverer,
my shield, in whom I take refuge,
who subdues peoples under me.

Blessings

The "Right Place?"

This past Sunday Pastor Troy continued his series on the “thermometer” ,and I must say it challenged me .For many of you that were there and heard the message you might be saying to yourself” It was a great message but how did it challenge you”? Let me explain. During his sermon Pastor asked the question “Are you in a place in your life right now that God did not intend you to be?”And he went on to say that Jesus’ plan for your life is the best plan that you will ever experience. So after hearing that I started to think and the wheels of my mind began to turn. I began to meditate on that question that he presented to the congregation and myself, am I in a place in my life right now that God just doesn’t want me to be? that’s a tough question to answer ,or maybe its not, Jeremiah 29:11 says” For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. The scriptures say that the Lord knows the plans for me already and the plans he has for me will not cause me harm, now for me that’s some great news. So let me ask you this , if the Lord already knows the plans for our life’s and they are good , why does it seem sometimes that life could be better?
You know no one knows you better than god himself and He knew you way before time began and He was there the day you were born, and he’s been intimately acquainted with every detail of your life right up until now. He knows your weaknesses and your strengths, your fears and your joys. He knows how to make your life the best it can possibly be ,he created you and me for a purpose and he didn’t create us only to abandon us to figure out life as we go along, no no no, He loves you and I way too much for that! Romans 8:29-30 says this,” For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. Some more great news!
God has a perfect plan for our life, its tailor made for each and everyone of his children, but we have to want it. Think about it this way, wouldn’t it be tragic to live your life and accomplish all your own goals, yet never discover what could have been if you had sought God’s direction? We need to search out God’s direction for our life’s we need to really seek Him in all we do ,imagine if we did that, God would show us options for our life’s that we could never begin to fathom. Colossians 1:27says “To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
Pastor Troy ended his sermon explaining to the congregation that he has a very strong passion to reach people with the message of Christ great love that he has for each and every one of us. He made the statement that maybe sometimes he can be a little “harsh at times” well I may be wrong ,and I don’t mind if you disagree with me , but I don’t feel that Pastor is being harsh at all, you see Like Christ was ,when you care so much, when what you feel in your heart is so strong it hurts, you become so passionate about something that you will do what ever it is required of you, well I think that’s the way Pastor Troy is ,His love for reaching the lost and dying is so intense that he sometimes seems to be ,well harsh, I am a firm believer of this theory “If you don’t want your toes to be stepped on, keep them out of the isle” I thank the Lord daily for Pastors like Troy ,ones that are sold out to God and not afraid to speak the truth of God’s word .You may call it “harsh” I call it OBEDIENCE.
So where are you in life? Are you where God intends you to be or some place different, are you following His direction or your own?
I close with this scripture Matthew 10:37-39 37 “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.
What a blessing to be called a child of God, He is knocking won’t you throw that door open, won’t you? Blessings

How 's you salvation?

You ever wonder if it is possible to loose your salvation. That question has not only crossed my mind at times, but it has been presented to me .I will answer that question, but first I must say a few things about this topic. In the past few years I have witnessed so many people, friend’s family and even some of their children become so distant from God that it really begins to bother me. I mean these are people that once were very passionate about God, and now it barley evident that God has even a small place in their life’s .It hurts me even more to see their children become distant with God. When you were saved you turned to God committing you life to Him. John 1:6-7 it says, "If we claim to have fellowship with Him, yet we walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, then we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son, purifies us from all sin.” This scripture says that if we “ walk in darkness” then we don’t live by the truth, so that goes to say that if our heart is not repentive when we sin ,and we are disobedient to God’s commandments and decide to live a life of sin, and we decide on our own not to live a life worthy unto God, we don’t loose our salvation nor is it taken from us, but we in turn decide to “give it back” and because of our own free will we tell God we don’ want it, we give it up. Ezekiel 3:20, "If the righteous turn from their righteousness and commit iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before them, they shall die”. If you couldn’t give up your salvation voluntarily, then once you became saved you could go ahead and do whatever you wanted. You could steal, murder, cheat, lie, never pray, reject the scriptures, lead others astray, blaspheme God from morning to night, do anything that is sinful, rebellious, and against the laws of God. To believe that "once saved, always saved" is thinking that one has a "license to sin" after the person is born again.”
So here’s my question to you “How do you gain eternal salvation? Ephesians 2:8-9 says this, "By this undeserved kindness, indeed, you have been saved through faith, and this not owing to you, it is God's gift.” and 1Peter 1:5 "Those who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed on the last day. God gave you the free will to make your own choices. If you decide to walk in the darkness then your salvation will not be taken away from you, nor will you lose your salvation. No, what you will do is give up your salvation. You will be telling God that your salvation "is not worth the effort it takes to walk in the light”. God gave us “free will” and in doing that He won’t force us into a relationship with Him. He gives us the choice to either follow Him or walk away from Him. In case you weren’t aware of this fact, God won’t get down on His knees and beg you to love him, believe in him or even trust him, He won’t demand our obedience, If we don’t want any part of Him he accepts that, remember He gave us free will.
John 10:28 "And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand.” So you can't be snatched way, but you sure do have the choice to walk away. .So many Christians today have become so comfortable in their lives because at some point in their lives they came to know Jesus as their savior, but over the years the fire in their heart that they once had has long gone out, or dwindled to just a flicker. Christ no longer plays much of a part in their lives and it just a shame. The bible says this concerning those people. Ezekiel 18:26 "When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity, and dies because of the iniquity which he has committed, he will die.
You can always stop the process of allowing your eternal salvation from slipping away, it’s not that hard. All you have to do is do what you did when you first came to know the Lord, surrender your life totally once again to the Lord, he is always willing to take you back. He is an ever loving Father, his arms are always wide open and they are always willing to sweep you up and wrap around you. won’t you run to him? He is waiting!!
Matthew 17:20"You didn't have enough faith," Jesus told them. "I assure you, even if you had faith as small as a mustard seed you could say to this mountain, `Move from here to there,' and it would move. Nothing would be impossible."
Blessings!

Spiritual Temperature?

Today at church the Pastor is starting a new series, that unfortunately I am going to miss due to this stupid virus I have contracted.(in my body not my p.c.)Well as I sat around the last couple of days wallowing in my sorrow, waiting to get better I had this thought?
I took my physical temperature to see if it was normal since I was feeling so lousy and low and behold I wasn't running a fever, but I still felt crummy. When I feel this way it's very hard for me to focus on prayer and praise, I mean I just can't seem to get past how lousy I feel, and taking my own temperature didn't seem to do a thing for me. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could take our own spiritual temperature? Wouldn’t it be helpful if there were a test of some sort to tell you if you needed treatment for a spiritual fever? I read this scripture and began to think, what my “spiritual temperature” is The Bible says this, the steps of the godly are directed by the LORD, He delights in every detail of their lives. Psalm 37:23.I think we can evaluate our spiritual temperature by looking at what things in our life have the most attention.
Do you find it difficult to read the Bible without being distracted by other things around you and are you having a hard time making prayer a priority through out your day ?Do you find it hard to pray for others or even you own needs? Well if that's the case, which it was with me I think these are signs that your spiritual temperature needs some attention. I believe we need to keep our spiritual temperature as even as possible. That doesn't mean that we can't let it get a little high at times, but I think we need to keep it in control. I believe that our spiritual temp is governed by the things we have in our lives, are those things that we value just temporary and some day will be burned up ,or do they affect a dear soul that will be with you throughout all eternity. Just as temperature needs the right conditions to rise, we as Christians need the right conditions to raise our spiritual temperature. We read this in the Bible, Revelation 3:14-17,To the Church in Laodicea “To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the ruler of God’s creation. 15) I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16) So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17) You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. I know that these words seem harsh, and I believe that they are for a reason. You see our spiritual temperature is very important, not only to ourselves but also to the Lord. Our focus on God and our spiritual temperature go hand in hand, they directly affect one another. Each of us needs to assess our spiritual temperature, and make sure we are fervent in Christ's business, and I believe best thermometer of your spiritual temperature is the intensity of your prayer. Make sure that you don't become a complacent Christian, one who is quite content living life in the gray areas, not wanting to get too uncomfortable. Will Jesus say "well done good and faithful servant" Matthew 25:23? Or will He say "I never knew you; depart from Me" Matthew 7:23? Ask the Lord to light a fire in your heart today that will set on "fire" any area of your life that has become lukewarm and complacent. Life here on earth is but for a moment, but eternity is forever. Blessings

Is God Bigger?

Pastor Troy delivered a very powerful message in church today that I feel had a great impact on many in the congregation. He spoke on a scripture out of the Bible many refer to as "The Love” chapter.1 Corinthians 13, and to say the least it was very powerful. The Pastor and his wife Diane gave a very powerful testimony today that truly touched the hearts of all that heard it. I am in know way trying to make our Pastor's head big, but I am giving him and his wife "props" for being obedient and faithful and speaking what God had placed on their hearts, and for that i thank them both.
During the sermon the Pastor spoke about the bible, and how it is our guide to life. How everything we need is in that book, let’s call it our "instruction manual”. He posed this question to the congregation,” If we read and believe the contents of the bible, why aren't we living a victorious life?”He asked this question also,” Are your problems greater than God, or is God greater than your problems? The bible says Proverbs 3:5-6, 5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart, do not depend on your own understanding.6 Seek his will in all you do and he will show you which path to take. That scripture starts out saying "Trust in the Lord". If we look up the definition of trust we find it to say this; Firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something. We read that scripture and it clearly tells us in whom we are to put our trust in ,"The LORD” The Bible tells us in that scripture that we are to trust in the Lord and he will direct our paths ,or our "life” so lets chew on that a little, if the word of God says to fully trust in Him and he shall direct our ways, and lets say we do, why are our life's so troubled at times? Verse 6 says, Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. There are a couple of key words I think we need to focus on in this scripture.” Seek HIS will”, not "Seek OUR will” Its easy to do my friends, trust me I've done it, I have gotten so caught up in life at times ,and so determined to "fix" it my self I totally ruled out the option of "HIS will”, and the fact that maybe God already has it figured out.
Diane explained how certain things happened in their relationship at specific times that they had no explanation for why it happened, only later on in time did they come to realize it was part of God's plan for their lives. God had a plan for Troy and Diane already in place and 20 plus years later, all that they have gone through can be used today as a powerful tool of ministry for the Lord.
1 Corinthians 13:5(c) says this; it keeps no record of wrongs. Isn’t that the most wonderful scripture? It’s telling me that if I truly repent, honestly give it over to the Lord, HE FORGIVES ME!!And doesn't remember it. So I encourage you my friends to get rid of the "trash" in your lives, throw it out and ask God for forgiveness. Even more important ask God to give you the strength to forgive. There was a beautiful song sung in church today and the lyrics touched on how we can't do it ourselves because we just aren't strong enough, that is so true and thank you Stephanie for sharing that song with us.
So once again I ask you "Is God bigger than the problems in your life or are the problems bigger than the God in your life? The Bible clearly tells me that GOD IS BIGGER! and there is nothing to big for God. Let me close with a quote from Charles Spurgeon,
Those who serve God must serve Him in His own way, and in His strength, or He will never accept their service. That which man doth, unaided by divine strength, God can never own. The mere fruits of the earth He casteth away; He will only reap that corn, the seed of which was sown from heaven, watered by grace, and ripened by the sun of divine love. God will empty out all that thou hast before He will put His own into thee; He will first clean out thy granaries before He will fill them with the finest of the wheat. The river of God is full of water; but not one drop of it flows from earthly springs. God will have no strength used in His battles but the strength which He Himself imparts. Are you mourning over your own weakness? Take courage, for there must be a consciousness of weakness before the Lord will give thee victory. Your emptiness is but the preparation for your being filled, and your casting down is but the making ready for your lifting up.” Blessings

God's plan?

You ever wonder if God has a plan for your life. I mean as a Christian I know that He has a plan for my life, but I often think of those that don't know Jesus as their personal savior and wonder what they are thinking. A few months back my Pastor made a suggestion to me, he said I should start a blog’ I took it into consideration and prayed on it. You see if I am going to do something that I think might impact the Kingdom of God in some positive way, I want to make sure it is something God wants me to do. I have the utmost respect for Pastor Troy, so when he suggested it I was more than willing to give it a shot. The bible says :Ephesians 1:11-Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan. The word of God clearly states that God has a plan for us, we serve a purpose. Knowing that God has a plan for each and everyone of us, the next step should be to try to follow it, right? Easier said than done my friends. You see we can easily become discouraged in life; there are so many obstacles in life that if we aren’t paying close attention we become entangled in the snares before us, Then before we even realize it we're in such a rut that we can’t seem to find an escape from it. Let me use this blog for example. I started it because I know it is what God wanted me to do, so naturally I thought " God if its something you want me to do its going to be great" So I started it ,diligently blogging what God placed on my heart for those who needed maybe a little encouragement, or inspiration Well as time went on and I would look at my "Follower" list, and I would seem to focus on that number. For some strange reason it was important to me to see that number grow, get larger each and every time I posted another blog. Well guess what, after weeks and weeks of posting my "follower" list wasn't any larger than when I first began. So my first thought was "God am I doing the right thing?" The Bible says this; Galatians 6:9, Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. I must say that I was getting a little discouraged, and I was questioning if this was really what God had in mind for me. You see its easy to become discouraged in life, even doing God’s will .You see the believer has someone to turn to when they become discouraged. We read in the Bible; 1 Thessalonians 5:17-18, 17) Never stop praying. 18) Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. What about the non-believer who do they turn to in time of need? I am so grateful that someone decided to share the wonderful gift of Salvation with me, because I don't know how I would of or could of made it this far without Jesus in my life. I am going to continue on with this blog as God so leads me. And I refuse to give into the sly deceptive ways of the devil. You see God placed it on Pastor Troy’s heart to share it with me, and through much prayer God has reassured me that this is what I am to do. I don’t need to focus on any number, all I need to do is be obedient to God and he will do the rest. My friends, as anything you do in life do it to the best of your ability, we will all certainly face discouragement, But we do not have to be overwhelmed by it. We are nothing without God and nothing in this life is permanent. One day we will give account to Him for the way we have lived. We must humble ourselves before Him, submitting to His will, obeying His word. God has a plan for each and every one of us, seek it and live it. Blessings

Our words!

Do you ever wonder just how the language of non believers affects believers? First of all let me define what a "Believer" is according to the word of God"...if anyone makes the assistance of grace depend on the humility or obedience of man and does not agree that it is a gift of grace itself that we are obedient and humble, he contradicts the Apostle who says, "What have you that you did not receive?" (1 Cor. 4:7), and, "But by the grace of God I am what I am" (1 Cor. 15:10)..The definition of the non believer is as follows, One who does not believe or have faith, as in God or a philosophy, a person who does not believe, especially in God and religion. I think that the language of others around us has a profound affect on us. I think that it has a much greater effect on us than we even realize. A brother in Christ was telling me this morning that he had gotten up this morning and had some quality prayer time, a great devotional ,and he was in a pretty good mood, Praise God. Well after only a few minuets at work his happy mood started to fade. All the filth and foulness that surrounded him started to take its toll on him. The bad language ,the poor attitudes started to wear on him immediately. Proverbs 10:18-21 18 Whoever conceals hatred with lying lips and spreads slander is a fool.19 Sin is not ended by multiplying words, but the prudent hold their tongues.20 The tongue of the righteous is choice silver, but the heart of the wicked is of little value.21 The lips of the righteous nourish many, but fools die for lack of sense. We discussed how that type of language makes a person look, how UN professional it is. I don't think we have a clue how that type of foul language affects the believer. There are so many great scriptures that support why our language should be good and wholesome. This is what Proverbs 12:13-23 says,13) An evil man is trapped by his sinful talk, but a righteous man escapes trouble. 14) From the fruit of his lips a man is filled with good things as surely as the work of his hands rewards him. 15) The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice. 16) A fool shows his annoyance at once, but a prudent man overlooks an insult. 17) A truthful witness gives honest testimony, but a false witness tells lies. 18) Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. 19) Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue lasts only a moment. 20) There is deceit in the hearts of those who plot evil, but joy for those who promote peace. 21) No harm befalls the righteous, but the wicked have their fill of trouble. 22) The LORD detests lying lips, but he delights in men who are truthful. 23 A prudent man keeps his knowledge to himself, but the heart of fools blurts out folly. James 3:3-6 reads: "When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Wow, how powerful words can be! Think of a large horse, such a powerful, strong, sturdy, animal. Yet, a small bridle placed into the mouth of a horse allows a person to control the horse. In the same way, such a small word spoken unwisely controls the life of a human being, or worse yet, destroys the life of another. As human beings, we have managed to tame all sorts of wild animals, for example Zoo Keepers spend their lives inside the cages of lions, tigers, and all sort of animals that most of us would never approach in the wild. However, not one person has ever been able to tame the tongue. In the book of James we read this, starting with chapter 3 verse 9-12,"With the tongue, we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth comes praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grape vine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.” I like to take verse 9 and make it a little more personal, With MY tongue, I praise my Lord and Father, and with MY SAME TONGUE, I curse man. Think about it ,How many times have we sat in church and sang songs of praise and uttered words of prayer only to shatter the reputation of a brother or sister with our words on the way to the car after the service. this should not be, But what are we to do if the tongue cannot be tamed? We strengthen our relationship with our Father and strive to control such a destructive beast. We cannot do it alone, but He has given us instructions as to how to control our tongue in His Word. Proverbs 12:13 - An evil man is trapped by his sinful talk, but a righteous man escapes trouble. Proverbs 10:11 - The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked. So my prayer is this ,that we strive to tame our to tongue on a daily basis, and that we continually put our pride aside and not be afraid to ask our heavenly Father above for strength in doing so. I truly believe that the way we talk around those that have a truly "Filthy" mouth affects them .Subconsciously i think they realize the absence of profanity and filth in our language, and I believe they take note of it. So may God always impress on your hearts to use language that will edify and bring glory to Him. You are a representative of God, and your behavior is part of demonstrating your relationship with Him. Romans 12: 2 - "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Blessings

God Hears!

I was talking to a friend the other day and he posed this question to me , he asked me "Do you think God hears all our prayers" Well at first I thought that’s an easy question to answer and I almost immediately shouted out to him, YES.I knew that there must be something deeper ,there must be more to this question he was presenting to me. I have known this individual for several years and he knows about the Lord. He has heard me talk about the many great and awesome things that God has done not only for me, but also for my family and friends’ almost with hesitance I told him "yes, I’m sure God hears each and every prayer we present to him. But why was I hesitant to give him my answer? Was it that maybe I had experienced a delay in my prayers being answered, or was it possible that I was reacting on the timeliness of the way God answered someone else’s prayers. As I thought about the comment, I realized the person was really saying God did not give him what he wanted. God always answers prayer. Sometimes the answer is no. Sometimes the answer is yes. God answers every prayer ever offered to Him but not necessarily like we want.1 Peter 3:12 says this, FOR THE EYES OF THE LORD ARE UPON THE RIGHTEOUS, AND HIS EARS ATTEND TO THEIR PRAYER, BUT THE FACE OF THE LORD IS AGAINST THOSE WHO DO EVIL. Sometimes I think we get our priorities mixed up, we tend to forget at times that God has a will for our lives, and he wants to bless our socks off if we will just be obedient to that will. I believe in Holy Spirit timing. In God's own time, all our prayers will be answered-in one way or another. The trouble is, we are afraid to submit our prayers to Holy Spirits scrutiny. Some of our prayers need to be purged. Some of our faith is being misspent on requests that are not mature. We are so convinced that if our request is "in accordance to His will, we should get it." We simply do not know how to pray, "Thy will be done!" We don't want His will as much as those things permitted by His will. The only test we require of our prayers is rather self-centered: "Can I find it in God's catalog of things permitted?" So we can search all through God's Word and cleverly lay out all the reasons why we should be granted certain blessings and answers. We match the promises to tailor our specific requests. When we are convinced we have a good case and have garnered enough promises, we march boldly into the presence of God as if to say, "Lord, I've got an iron tight case-in no way can you turn me down. I've checked my faith. I've got Your Word on the matter. I've done everything according to plan. It's mine! I claim it! Right now!” So as my friend and I talked some more about God ,I offered him this, Don’t worry about whether God is saying "Yes!" or "No!" to your request. Don't be downcast when the answer is not in sight. Quit thinking of faith formulas and methods. Just commit every prayer to Jesus and go about your business with confidence God will not be one moment early or late in answering. And if the answer we seek isn’t right away, lets say to our hearts, "God is all I need. If I need more, God will not withhold it. God will do it in his time, in His way, and if He does not fulfill my request, He must have a perfect reason for not doing so. No matter what happens, I will always have faith in His faithfulness."
Psalm 54:2 Hear my prayer, O God; listen to the words of my mouth. Blessings.

God wants us to be positive!

This is one of those subjects that i really don't like to discuss or even talk about, but I feel we need to.” NEGATIVITY IN GOD'S CHILDREN" I know o lot of Christian people and for the most part they are fairly positive people. I am aware of the fact that life can bring you down, but we as Christians should have some kind of clue were and what we need to do when life gets us down. This is what my Bible says, Psalms 18:2 The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. But that's not all, there’s more, Psalms 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. and more, Psalms 62:7 In God is my salvation and my glory: the rock of my strength and my refuge is in God. The other day i was driving through a large city, and I was looking around at all the different people .I noticed one particular man walking down the street and I swear if it was possible ,another inch and he was going to trip on his lower lip. Then there was this car that was behind me for several blocks, and the woman driving seemed to be very agitated. Maybe it was my driving but if she could have gotten any closer to me she would have been in my back seat. At every stop light I couldn't help but notice the anguished look upon her face from my rear view mirror. I couldn't help but to wonder what in the world could be so bad to give her a look like that. Don’t get me wrong, or think that my life is all "peaches and cream", it's not, but when things start going in a direction that I really don't care for I try to call upon the one who I think can ,,,WILL help me. How about this, when we realize that we are truly incapable of controlling our life, we can surrender our will to God’s will. It may be a matter of finally saying we trust Him. This will open the door so that we may experience the fullness of all God wants and has for us. After all, He is our Creator and has a perfect plan for us when we let Him orchestrate it. I think that we as humans often have it in our heads that we can do it on our own. I think we make up our own minds most of the time without even consulting with God about it. Think about it, the Scriptures say that "God formed us”,,, does that mean anything at all to you? I'm not trying to beat anybody up, but if God formed you and me you might think he has a clue what’s good for us! We walk around all week with our head down and our hearts heavy and you know time and time again I've heard people cry, "God hasn't blessed me. I asked Him for good things, but it doesn't help." Or they complain, "I try so hard to do the right things and to be a good Christian, but it just doesn't work for me." Others have tasted of God's goodness and want more. We all long for God's favor, don't we?, and yet it often seems elusive. What’s the reason? There has to be a reason right? You see when a Christian is negative, and his heart is heavy ,his focus is on everything but Jesus, all the worries in his or her life have just become so much more important, and their focus is now off the Lord, Our adversary loves that! See a weak un focused angry, negative Christian is absolutely no threat and We need to be aware of that. I think all can apply this to our lives, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." Psalm 139: 23-24. Talk to God about your struggles, then seek him to help you in those areas. With the help of the Holy Spirit and some heartfelt prayer I think we can all be better Christians and make a positive impact in the Kingdom of God. Psalms 19:14,,May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer. Blessings!

Life is good with God in it !!

Today i spent the day with my beautiful wife at the doctor’s office. I have to admit it’s not always the most exciting thing for me to do, but it’s always enjoyable because I get to spend time with my wife. I love spending time with her, although we have been together nearly 32 years it seems I still get to know her better each and every minute we spend together. Some may think that’s a little odd, your probably saying "what did they do the first 31 an 1/2 years ?We do spend a lot of time together, and it seems as though sometimes as though we’ve just met. Its not that we don't listen to each other, its just that the more time you spend together, talking and sharing and especially listening to each other the more you get to know one another. This leads me to my topic, the more time we spend with God the better we get to know Him,,,,makes sence right? The more time we spend in the word of God the better we will be tuned to His voice. The scriptures are like a tuning fork; if we are on that same frequency, we will hear God's voice clearly. If you want to hear the voice of God, you must study and know the teachings of Jesus. Have you ever tried to carry on an in depth conversation with a complete stranger or a person that you really didn't know? Well usually it doesn't go too far. See as we spend time with our heavenly Father we get to know him on a deeper plain. The more questions that you present to Him, and the more answers that you seek in response, the better you get to know Him. I think this is a neat concept regarding getting to know God. When you want to have a conversation with someone, how do you begin? Do you stand in front of the person and hope they will talk to you? That might work, if the other person is outgoing enough, but usually we begin a conversation by opening our own mouths and talking, engaging the other person's attention. It's the same with God! He loves to hear us talk to Him, and it's in those moments that we prepare ourselves to hear the voice of God. Prayer is like saying, "Hello, God, it's me. I believe you created me and that you know way more about how I should live my life than I do. I'd like to get to know you better. Here's what's going on in my life, and I'd sure like your thoughts on how to handle it. Would you please speak to me about this today?” Just like getting to know your wife, getting to know God works the same way, we must engage Him in order to know Him. Do you want to hear God's voice? I know I do. We need to tell God that we want to know him we want to love him and we want to learn more of him. I spent the entire day with my wife today; well we can do the very same thing with God, on a daily basis also. I challenge you tomorrow morning when you get up, asks the Lord to come with you wherever you are going. Make it a specific invitation. "Lord, I have to get ready for work now. Would you please come with me?" Of course, He will but I think it delights him to be asked. And it helps us to be conscious that he is with us during the daily grind no matter was we go. John 10:26,But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you.27 My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 28 And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. These are good words. So as we get to know one an other in this world each new day, May we try even harder to get to know our Heavenly father on a daily, hourly maybe even by the minute basis. God loves us so much and he longs to hear from all of us. Blessings.