It's a new day - Let us rejoice!

A person can’t accomplish sanctification by themselves no matter how much he or she studies the Word or desires this quality. It is not even something God would produce in you as something you would contemplate yourself. Instead it is the Holy Spirit, His Spirit of holiness alone, who can or will communicate His holiness and continue to renew the same in you. By our complete faith we become partakers of His holiness. It is Jesus who sanctifies us for God.  (1 Corinthians 1:30) says, “But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God – and righteousness and sanctification and redemption – that, as it is written, 'He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.'” We seek to surrender ourselves to God by faith, so He may enable us to live life moment by moment. By His Spirit, we are to believe the Lord will, lead us into, and keep us in, this life of holiness and consecration to God’s service. We choose to live in obedience of faith, listening to God’s voice – the

Will listening to some kinds of music and watching too much TV affect our relationship with the Lord? Yes. Today’s society has become too tolerant, permitting all forms of media to project information that is blatantly and openly anti-Christ. In many cases it is so subtle we hardly notice the inclusion of sex, drug-orientation and immorality used to attract our attention. Even our news is created with a style of sensationalism that images of hate, violence, tragedy, and despair just appear as everyday news items. We have become so used to this corruptible kind of viewing matter we hardly pay any attention to it anymore. I am afraid to even consider what will movies, music and TV will resort to next to attract our attention in the future. Although you say you don’t pay attention to these mind invasions, it is virtually impossible to avoid all attacks of the enemy. When you hear or watch certain aspects of today’s music, movies and TV programming they almost inevitably work their way i

"You love righteousness and hate wickedness; therefore God, your God, has set you above your companions by anointing you with the oil of joy" (Psalm 45:7). Once we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and receive His Holy Spirit our lives and our attitudes change. What we used to do, we no longer do. How we used to act, we no longer act. We adopt that same respect for righteousness Jesus shows us. And, we develop a hate for wickedness as well. We become role models for Christ and our companions. The Spirit of God has caused us to take on more of the personality and love for others Christ exampled for us. His joy comes to live in us. We then show joy to our companions because of the anointing God continues to pour over us. I remember that old me; but now I am so happy with who I am today. I know I owe it all to Jesus! He has anointed my head with His oil of incredible joy!

When I was a young boy being a Cub Scout was a really big thing. I’m sure for girls it was a huge thing to be a Brownie. Cub Scouts got to do all kinds of really cool stuff. There were many times when I got to take some of my Scout “projects” to school to do a “show-and-tell.” The other kids would be amazed that I had some Screech Owl feathers in an envelope, or an un-hatched, blue robin egg. I showed them my “board-of-knots” (a piece of plywood with several different knots of rope) I had learned to tie. Getting older, reaching the more grown-up age of twelve, I became a Boy Scout. Our Scout motto was; “Be Prepared!” and we learned the importance of knowing what to do in case of an emergency, or how to find our way out of a difficult situation. We even learned how to use a magnetic compass (another really cool thing boys my age back then took pride in learning how to do.) Now, in today’s world, maybe more than ever we need to “be prepared!” Prepared for what? Jesus said in (Matthew

Adopting a Proper Perspective with God and Others When I accepted Jesus as my Savior, He not only became my Redeemer, but my LORD. When we ask Him to forgive us, and save us from our sins, our lives become His. We are to adopt a life of total dependence and submission to His Will, trusting His plan for our lives. King David wrote in (Psalm 37:4, 5) “Delight yourself also in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the LORD, trust also in Him, and He shall bring it to pass.” All your possessions, circumstances, and the way you appear to others, all of these, God decides what is best. As you become envious of others, you lose your proper perspective toward those around you. Being envious of what others have or do places your desires above theirs. The apostle Paul wrote in (Philippians 2:3) “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only

Oh, how He loves us! This Son of God, the Morning Star; Bread of Life; Prince of Peace; Lord of Lords; Alpha and Omega; Living Water; Redeemer… our Healer, He loves you and He loves me. We cannot conceive of how much Jesus truly does love us! How could we ever doubt this indescribable, complete, sacrificial love our Lord has for us? We do though, too often. Listen as Jesus prays to His Holy Father in heaven; as He prays for you and me (John 17:20-26.) This is proof that He cares for us, that He loves us without measure: “My prayer is not for them alone, I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you have given me that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as

Who wouldn’t like to have victory over their anxiety and fears? We all would. No one wants to live with monsters of doubt and uncertainty. Be sure fear will follow doubt and uncertainty, and fear will consume us if we allow it to enter in. Satan attempts to use fear as a weapon of mass destruction to try to destroy our faith in all the mercies and benefits he knows God has for us. Jesus declared, “Satan get behind Me!” With all authority of Jesus, our Savior, we are able to make this same command of Satan’s attempts to wreck our lives. When you struggle with your doubts and fears seek God’s help. Confess your anxiety to God asking Him to forgive you for your lack of trust in Him. God will respond by forgiving you. He always wants you to grow into a deeper relationship with Him. The more you trust Him the stronger your faith becomes. Having faith in God assures you He not only knows your needs, He meets them. Jesus said in (Matthew 6:25-27) “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about

Rejection: to rebuff; especially, to deny acceptance, care, love (to someone) [ a rejected child ] . That is how the New World Dictionary defines this troubling word. That Paul is the author of Romans is virtually undisputed. The book is generally dated to A.D. 57, probably during Paul’s third missionary journey. It is believed that Paul wrote this letter from Corinth (Archaeological Study Bible NIV.) In the following verses, Paul talks about rejection , although he is speaking of another kind of rejection. This is a quote from this same Bible. It is Paul, the apostle speaking about rejection: “I am talking to you Gentiles. Inasmuch as I am the apostle to the Gentiles, I make much of my ministry in the hope that I may somehow arouse my own people to envy and save some of them. For if their rejection is the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?” (Romans 11:13-15) To be rejected is painful; it is unfair, destructive, and condemning as well

The words we speak can speak bondage or freedom for us. If we talk of sickness we are likely to experience sickness, but if we speak healing according to the promises of God through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus we can have what God says we can have. His Word (Jesus) is our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. We have all heard people speak of their illnesses as though they own them; or like their illnesses are their punishment deserved for the way they have lived. Sometimes this may truly be the case. Many times the words of their mouths keep them in bondage for some other reason. Speaking the Word of God from your heart will set you free of bondage. The Word produces health and healing just as God said it would. Too many people speak what Satan has said, which is contrary to God’s Word. As we establish what God says about our health, our healing our faith soars and we rise up in health and healing! With our faith increased we reach up to a new level of life wher

No place can we hide that He won’t find us. In the beginning, we were one with God, then sin tempted us and we succumbed to the lure of the evil one. We became a lost people, doomed! Still God loved us. He wanted us to be one with Him like it was before. He missed us so much and wanted to hold us once again like He used to. But since sin cannot exist with God we were doomed to our isolation from Him. Then, God, who loves us so much created a plan for our salvation; a way in which we could be forgiven and everything between us and Him would be forgotten. Once again, God would be able to hold us, express His deep love for us. We would be His children once again, and He would be our heavenly Father. So, He sent His only Son, Jesus to rescue us. God knew He would have to cause Jesus to be sacrificed for our sins, but it was the only way. He grieved His method, but we are that special to Him! YOU are that special to Him! Even if you were the only one He could have and to hold He would hav

We are no longer a defeated people! Jesus defeated Satan, our greatest foe with His death and resurrection. The power of Satan has been destroyed, so those who were entrapped are now free. Keep this in mind when hardships come upon you and you feel there is no hope. Why then is it we still struggle with temptation and sin if Jesus has already defeated Satan? We struggle because we are relying on our own strength to do what God has already done for us. How many times have you and I determined to “do better” only to backslide again and again? It’s inevitable we will fall short of God’s will for us when we leave God out of our efforts. We need God’s guidance and His grace to overcome our sin. We are victorious when we depend on Christ’s power. He alone gives us peace for all our trouble. “Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or the left that you may prosper wh

I pray for knowledge and understanding. “Dear Jesus, I pray for Your special protection over my life, my wife, my home, and this ministry you have given me to reach out to a world that so desperately needs You. I choose to be only Your servant, ever-willing to serve You; always ready to obey Your voice. Your “belt of truth” guards me against Satan’s evil deceptions and his darkness. It is You who provides the beacon of light that gives me hope, and the ability to see more clearly what is the real truth. I pray the words of my mouth and the meditation of my mind will always be pleasing to You O Lord. Father , pour me full of Your Word until I am running over. I want to feel full of Your Spirit down deep in my life. You are my heart's delight! I need to know Your will for my life. Jesus , I am asking for your forgiveness when I fail You. Whenever I am not speaking Your truth quicken my knowledge, my understanding, according to Your will, so I may only speak what You would have m

“We beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). Jesus is God, one person of the Trinity. Even though our Bible does not mention the word Trinity, the Bible clearly teaches God is one God, revealed in three persons; the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. In the book of John, Jesus is referred to as “the Word.” He is the essential embodiment of all that God is. Even before time Jesus was with God the Father, and the Holy Ghost; He was a partner with them in all creation. (Colossians 2:9) says, “For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” Jesus, throughout the Bible, is revealed as divine. Some of His enemies at the time of His crucifixion even confessed He was Son of God. In (John 10:30) Jesus revealed His relationship with the Father by speaking; “I and My Father are one.” Even though Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness, He remained sinless. He was as God, and forgave sin, as only God can (Mark 2:

Berea (modern Verria) was located approximately 50 miles (80 km) from Thessalonica, a district of Macedonia (Greece.) The name means “place of many waters.” Mount Olympus, an extraordinary landmark, stood within view of what was once known as; Berea. This must have been a beautiful place to live as it rested between the sea and the mountains. The warm, ocean wind would have contrasted the chilly, snowcapped mountains in the distance. Christians who lived there in the time of the apostle Paul were considered to be nobler than the Thessalonians. Why were the people of Berea considered to be more noble than the Thessalonians? As Paul preached to them they received the message with great eagerness, but examined the Scriptures every day to see for themselves if what Paul was saying was true. This story is found in (Acts 17:11). None of us is so learned concerning the Bible that we don’t need to search the Scriptures for ourselves. As believers of the Word we have the right to ask questions

Jesus warned of offenses. In (Matthew 18:7) He said, “Woe to the world because of offenses, for offenses must come, but woe to the man by whom offenses come!” Unlike the game strategies of football, there is no such thing as a good offense when we are talking about human relations, and the discipline of being a Christian. Being an offense to someone, or the act of offending someone is wrong and hurtful, and it has the potential power of being devastating to the human spirit. Offending another person is most importantly sinful; this is why Jesus warns us not to be offensive to others. Unfortunately, our world today encourages us to “get-in-front-of,” “out maneuver,” or get ahead of others, sometimes at any cost. Why is this? Maybe it’s because we have been taught we deserve the best parking place, that bigger house, the fancier car or the highest paying job; even if we have to offend the other guy to get what we want. Well, that’s life (or so we have been led to believe.) Not so! I

It doesn’t matter if we’re brand new Christians anxious to start serving God, or we have been serving Him for years and years, there are times when in our zeal to serve we get tired of waiting for God. We get so anxious to start that new building, change our worship style, or reach new people for Christ we impetuously start without God’s okay. Without God’s timing and His resources we surely will hit some major pot holes down the road. We should understand God is under no obligation to finance or equip our plan if it doesn’t line up with His plan. Sorry, that’s just the way it is! Another way we can run into difficulties in serving God is allowing our pride to get in the way. In Scripture: (Proverbs 29:23) it says; “A man’s pride will bring him low, but the humble in spirit will retain honor.”  Pride has gotten in the way of so many good ministries. Pride causes us to determine to have things go our way instead of the way God wants them to go. Pride is something Satan uses to disrup

The word “love” is mentioned in the Bible over 500 times; God surely considers love essential to our lives. God is love. Without love we are lost. One of the first Scriptures in the Bible to stress “love” is (Deuteronomy 6:5) where Moses instructs his people to; “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” Love begins with God. “We love because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19). Do you remember your very “first-love?” I do! Her name was Jeri Stubb________ and she was my very first girlfriend back in the fifth grade. I would do anything to impress her, like try to kick the volleyball over the school fence, hang upside down from the monkey bars, and make strange faces for her! Back then I believed I loved her…I did as a 9 year old boy could. I made her several valentines that year even beyond Valentine’s Day! Now, after all these many years, I have a more memorable “girlfriend” and she is my lovely wife Sally. I am proud to say, I do,

Were God a greedy God He would expect ninety percent of our earnings leaving us the remaining ten to support our needs, He doesn’t though. Instead, He asks exactly the opposite of our potential, one tenth, a tithe. Have we excluded God out of our plans? Sure we have! Do we continue to exclude Him from what we want to believe is rightfully our world, our government, our lives? We not only exclude Him, we deny Him of what is rightfully His from the very beginning. Even worse, as a nation, a world, a people we deny He exist! We have declared He has no place in our government, our public buildings, and our schools. Pity us, it is no wonder we are under a curse as a nation with so much turmoil in our lives – we are robbing God. This is not a sermon, but wait, yes, it is! We are truly guilty of “me-ism.” We have become a world of “what about me?” Our insatiable greed has consumed us, so we have no choice but to continue feeding our monster, because it’s demanding more and more. Nothing is

God speaks to us in many ways. Sometimes He communicates with us in an audible voice, or His voice may be heard in a spiritual manner, as an inner-voice, a significant thought. Sometimes we hear from Him in a single word, or several that just seem to come to us from out of no where. A while back, I attended a men’s Christian encampment, there were many men there whom I did not know. For some reason,  one of the participants seemed to stand out from all the others. I could feel the Lord was telling me to pay special attention to this particular man, and I felt led to pray for him. I did, and I asked God to show me why He wanted me to pray for this stranger. Suddenly, three words came to my mind; spirit of fear. I had no idea why I was associating those three words with this man. Later, as part of the program, we were all given an opportunity to pray aloud for something we wanted God to take away from us; an unpleasant memory, a past un-confessed sin, or whatever was keeping us from

This is a land (Israel) like no other land, a land and a nation God promised to Abram. In (Genesis 12) God told Abram, son of Terah, to leave his country, his people, and his father’s household and go to the land He would show him. God said to Abram, “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you. Israel is now imperiled. Her enemies threaten her in ways not seen before. We know Iran repeatedly threatens to “wipe Israel off the map.” The nuclear threat Iran possesses is a very serious concern for Israel, and is for all Christian nations. The United States is a friend to Israel, and our role in her future must remain strong. We must pray for Israel! God warns in the above Scripture; “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse…” Israel is not just another embattled cou

Recently, a well-known person spoke on television of his personal distain for pork – giving justification for his decision to not eat it by describing the unclean habits pigs are characterized by; “They will eat anything, they are scavengers; what they eat is digested in only forty minutes leaving many harmful toxins in their meat,” etc.  What he said is all true – check it out for yourself, just Google the facts. Do you eat pork chops? Ham, bacon, and sausage? A lot of people do. I must confess, I enjoy eating this other white meat. Is it good for you and me? Hmm…I can’t really say; I’m no medical expert or dietician. In the Old Testament, many foods were considered to be unclean and the people were commanded to not eat them. The Pharisees of that time strictly upheld these laws. In the New Testament, Jesus was quizzed by some Pharisees (Mark 7:1-20) about why His disciples didn’t live according to the traditions of the elders instead of eating with “unclean hands.” He replied, “Isa

Depend on God not on material possessions. All that is, and was, and is to be is God’s. He created it all, and it all belongs to Him. We are only temporary caretakers of what we call ours. Our lives, our time, and our material assets are God’s gifts to us. We are accountable to God for what we do with them while we are here on this earth. Financial debt is a curse, a heavy burden, and God’s desire is that we are not under such a burden. “Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law” (Romans 13:8). God does not want us to depend on all these material possessions we call; my, mine, or ours. Instead, He wants us to depend on Him! In (1 Timothy 6:17) it is written; “Command those who are rich in this present age not to be haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.” It is God who is rich, and who gives richly to us. All that we have in material possessions will one day quic

You and I are not alone! No, we aren’t; our Good Shepherd keeps a watchful eye over our coming and going – He knows our every move, and He cares for us. Why? Because, He loves us. He calls us His sheep, and we listen for His call. Like He said, “My sheep know my voice.” This morning I will provide you with five powerful Scriptures, you already know them, but we are strengthened by reading them over and over. Allow His Word to settle deeply within your mind, and believe them without doubt. God will prosper (heal) you when you do. “I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the Lord has done” (Psalm 118:17). “But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds” (Jeremiah 30:18). “For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose” (Philippians 2:13). “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful” (Hebrews 10:23). “This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to His will

It’s four-thirty one morning, my wife and I are sound asleep and the phone rings! The phone is right there on her side of the bed, so she quickly answers. Groggily, she says, “Hello?”…no one answers her, so she repeats herself, “Hello?” The stranger on the other end of the phone confesses they have dialed the wrong number…they hang up! Phone calls in the middle of the night are rare; typically, they mean family or friends are in trouble. Thankfully, this was not one of those kinds of calls. We are annoyed by the stranger’s call, but relieved it’s not someone whom we love in distress. Awake and unable to go back to sleep I get up deciding to write the day's blog. I asked the Holy Spirit, “What shall I write?” He directs me to (1 John 4); Testing the Spirits NIV. This is the chapter in the Bible instructing us to not believe every spirit, but to test the spirits to see whether they are from God. Do we recognize the voice we are listening to as we go about living our lives in this

When we are ill and physically hurting bad it’s hard for us to believe God is around. It’s hard to believe He cares that we are suffering so. But, He does. A while back, I was suffering from some kind of wicked flu germ, a backache from lifting a lawnmower, and if this wasn’t enough pain, I had a toothache to contend with. I was really suffering let me tell you! Nothing I could do or take seemed to offer me any relief. I told my wife to just shoot me and put me out of my misery. She would not! All the while I suffered; I remembered one of my own bits of advice I have given others in the past…”When there seems to be no hope, turn to God.” I did. However, I was so uncomfortable with all that was going on in my body at the time I didn’t want to do anything, not even get my Bible and read the Scriptures for my healing. So, I asked my wife to read God’s Word to me. She read; (Psalm 103:3) “Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits – who forgives all your sins and heals a

Sorry I missed posting my blog message today. Yesterday (Friday, Novemeber 4,) one of my two dogs; (Chix), a five-year old, Blue Heeler-Australian Shepherd, was running to come to me when I called them from the surrounding woods here on our acreage. She ran  through some old barbed-wire fence that she must not have seen and caught her chest on it ripping about three inches of skin down her chest. As soon as we saw how she was injured my wife and I rushed her to our vet. She's okay now. She has a lot of stitches and some pain today, but we are treating her with antibiotics and pain medication. She will be fine and will have her stitches removed in about two weeks. I will have my post for tomorrow (Sunday) up in the morning; probably by 5 AM as usual. Again, I am sorry if you came here to my blog and today's message was not here. God loves you and I know He appreciates your continued interest and faithful readership of what He gives me each day for you.

Solomon's Colonnade was a popular place to "hang-out" in Jerusalem. A lot of people gathered there to meet, "do-lunch," or just people-watch. I suppose back then it must have been like us going to the mall on Saturdays in these modern time for the same reasons. At times, it was so crowded in the streets many vendors would run out of the popular foods the hungry shoppers wanted. Kids ran through the crowd, chased each other, and playfully hid behind their parents robes. The excitement of the Colonnade was always entertaining. The apostles of Jesus were known to perform many miraculous signs and wonders among people there, and those who believed in Christ really looked forward to visiting the Colonnade, especially if they knew His apostles were going to be there. Most of the unbelievers avoided the apostles, preferring to watch them from a ways off. Although the apostles wee highly regarded, there still were those who didn't want to be thought of as joiners,

All we need God will provide. He already knows what we must have and He promises to provide that which is necessary for us to live a godly life. One of His names is Jehovah Jireh; the god who provides , so He is more than deeply compassionate, and extravangantly generous to give to us. Are you looking for comfort? He is your comfort. Feeling confused and looking for guidance? He has provided His Holy Spirit to guide you. Seeking righteousness? The blood of His Son Jesus washes away your sin. Do you wish for wisdom? He will share His wisdom with you through His Word. Whom can you always trust? God is always trustworthy. "So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, 'On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided'" (Genesis 22:14).

The house is quiet, the dogs are asleep, and my wife is gone for the morning running her errands. The lonely silence gives our home a feeling of emptiness that seems to cry for noise or activity of some kind. What do I do to fill this void? I could turn on the TV – not much on this time of day though. I know; I’ll put on a CD. How about a little "Stones.", ZZ Top or perhaps some Van Halen; all good driving music, but what makes us feel like we have to fill the silence of our homes with noise or some other distraction? Is it because we fear loneliness? We miss a tremendous opportunity to have an intimate relationship with God at times like I just mentioned if we choose earthly substitutes instead of a Spiritual involvement with our Creator. God created us to be involved with Him, to have a yearning for His awesome presence. No music, TV or hobby can truly fill the voids we feel when we are alone. Only He can satisfy our need. Yet, don’t we try to keep busy and fill the airwa

We are free from the law of sin and death because of Jesus Christ. The law of the Spirit of life; which is Jesus, has set us free. God sent His Son in the likeness of a sinful man to be our sin offering. So, no longer then do we live according to the sinful nature but according to His Spirit . Thinking about this, I am reminded of (1 Corinthians 13:11) where the Bible says; “When I was a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me. Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now, I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.“  The Holy Spirit provides us wisdom to discern how we are to live before God. The Spirit of God says as we live, we must love and not condemn. The Word of God shows us the way, and we acknowledge the Spirit’s wisdom by following His way. Paul, the apostle, said in (1 Corinthians 14:20) “Brothers, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil