It's a new day - Let us rejoice!

“…it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed” (Romans 13:11). This verse from the Apostle Paul’s epistle to the Romans is where he was instructing them to put on Christ. He was illustrating that during the time of sleep we are in darkness, our works may be of darkness as well. He went on to say, the night is already gone , in other words before Christ we were in darkness hopelessly lost. Now that He is come and we know the truth of our salvation Paul is saying  it is time for us to wake up! Come out of our darkness, and put on the armor of light, Jesus Christ. We are to make no provision for the flesh for the flesh will only try to fulfill its lusts. This morning, unless we open our minds to the teachings of the Holy Spirit the world will start right in telling us what it expects us to be doing this day. Our night is over, we now have Jesus, He is our Morning Star, our hope, and He alone is the way . “The night

“And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh…” (Joel 2:28). It is now after Christ has been condemned, crucified and resurrected. A time has passed and man has continued to fail God, and worst deny Him. Now God will fulfill His promise that He will “…show wonders in the heavens and in the earth: blood and fire and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord” (Joel 2:30, 31).  Jesus is coming and all that has been prophesied, dreamt, and seen in visions shall come to pass. God said that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. So, we can rely on His Word that there will be deliverance in Jerusalem and Zion among the remnant whom the Lord calls.  The state of the nation, and the world gives evidence of all Bible prophesy. What we are witnessing now are the expected results of a global community bent on destroying itself. God gave this

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15). (2 Timothy 2:14-26) instructs those whom He knows are His ; and don’t we aspire to be recognized as such, to be approved by God? He tells us to avoid godless chatter (gossip), because we will become more and more ungodly. God warns that what we say can affect others, even destroying the faith of some. Heaven forbid we should say anything to do such damage!   Approved we flee the evil desires of youth we pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace. We don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments because we know they only produce quarrels. As God’s servants we mustn’t quarrel; instead we must be kind, able to teach, and be not resentful.   Approved we are to gently instruct those who oppose us, hoping God will grant them repentance and lead them to the knowledge of His truth. Approved we take on

“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ” (Colossians 2:8). Who will we listen to concerning our future, our welfare? A person who claims to have the answers to our many problems or to Christ? I choose Jesus because Scripture; (Colossians 2:9) tells us all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form (Christ Jesus), and we have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority! Not some…but every power and authority ! God has disarmed those powers and authorities that desire to bring us ruin, making them a public spectacle, triumphing over them by nailing the object of their humiliation to a cross. He has given us life-instructions (His Word) to discern that which is, and which is not, intended by Him for our life in Christ. His Holy Spirit is our advocate. His Word says, “Since you died with Christ to the

“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 to 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 the old me; I am so happy now I am who I am. I know that I owe it all to Jesus. He has anointed my head with His oil of incredible joy!

He is preeminent above all things Our Father God has ownership over us, the world and all things outside our world. The apostle Paul declared He is; “One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all” (Ephesians 4:6).      Considering God is all powerful we may tend to fear Him like a child would fear a powerful father. However, God is not fallible as an earthly father. He is a loving God, a good God, and He is just. In every way He is perfect! “His love for us endures forever” as the words to a contemporary praise song says. “But God , who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)” (Ephesians 2:4, 5). Ho! Even though we aren’t worthy because He is we must give Him all our praise and worship!

  It’s not about coming to church to pray Intercession isn’t meeting with your prayer group either. What exactly is an intercessor ? You know you are a true intercessor when righteousness is birthed in you to the point that you can no longer operate in the flesh. You become a covenant partner in the work of Christ. You are an intercessor when the errands of your day are interrupted by the Lord to pray for someone. At that divinely appointed moment you must have the power of God already in you; you are the temple of prayer, and dropping everything to run to the church isn’t an option. When His anointing pours over you as His intercessor you must be ready to pray for that person then and there! As His intercessor you are on duty 24/7, it’s not a job of convenience where you punch in at 9 and out at 5. It’s not even a minimum wage position. Sorry, no check on payday for you. Just watch when the church announces a special choir program or that a popular guest speaker is coming