It's a new day - Let us rejoice!

"Gideon said to God, 'If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised -- look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said.' "And that is what happened. Gideon rose early the next day; he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew -- a bowlful of water" (Judges 6:36-38). This is a wonderful story and to know God responded to what Gideon suggested as proof of His will for Gideon, and Israel is powerful. But should we put God to the test or require Him to show us a sign of His cooperation in helping us? Definitely not! We should never expect , or challenge God to show us some kind of proof of His will because certainly God is under no obligation to do so. Without any doubt I believe God listens to our petitions and requests, and He responds to what we pray for. Also, I believe His will and our prayers will many times agree;

“A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones” (Proverbs 17:22) . When I was a child, we had neighbors all around us who enjoyed getting together on weekends. We always had a great time! The grown-ups barbecued, played Canasta (an odd card game), and our dads talked about their jobs and bosses. Our moms always talked about us kids; the bargains they found at the grocery store; coupons; and their families – we laughed, and joked with each other, and generally had a wonderful time – it was a simpler time back when I was a kid. I still remember Mr. Baker who lived next door being what I thought was a grumpy old man. I’m sure he was a good man; he probably had a lot of responsibilities, but I don’t remember him ever being in a good mood. He sat among the other adults not having much to say or contribute to the group, and he was quick to snap at us kids if we got too close to him. I’m thinking he must have been miserable all the time. I recall some of the othe

“For you have delivered me from death and my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before God in the light of life” (Psalm 56:13). It was only after reading this Scripture over again a few times was I was able to understand its powerful meaning. Jesus came to this world for only one purpose to save us. For only thirty-three years, and approximately two and a half in His ministry, He walked and stumbled just as we do, and He so perfectly set our example for living before God in the light of life. His death and resurrection saves us from eternal death, His example of living shows us how God intends for us to live healthy, righteous lives avoiding obstacles He knows will trip us up in our walk with Him. At seventy, going on seventy-one, in good health and able to walk and run (short distances only) as I need to – thanks be to God – I have been walking for what nearly seventy years? I guess. Walking is something I do a lot of, but every once in a while I trip on something or stumble. I ma

"But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness" (Hebrews 3:13). This same Scripture (v.14, 15) goes on to say; "We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first. As has just been said: 'Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion.'" As we consider ourselves; as "believers," the faithful, and Christians we are also unmistakably, present-time examples of Christ. This means we are to love as Christ did, forgive as Christ did, teach as Christ did, and admonish sin as Christ did. He has become, and is our perpetual example. Just because we once believed, and felt the powerful presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives, but today that feeling may not be as strong, we should not consider ourselves less a part of Him than we were before. Our Christ is consistent, He is always the same. Hi

“He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant – not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Corinthians 3:6). Early in my personal ministry, I had already received God’s calling in my heart, spent many months, years reading His Word, and studying everything I could get my hands on. I enrolled in various Bible studies – I was hungry for more of Him. I had fallen deeply in love with Jesus, and He in turn gave me a deep love for His people. I sincerely felt His “call” for me to drop everything and to follow Him – to serve Him and those whom He considers precious to Him, but I didn’t feel worthy of such a calling. I was of the understanding that I wasn’t qualified to minister to anyone without a degree (a letter.) I thought I had to have a degree from some seminary. So, I hesitated to speak to those whom the Lord was putting before me – I instead referred them to speak to a pastor of a church. I forgot what Jesus said in (John 15:20)

"Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him" (Psalm 34:8). I am thinking as we witness for the LORD, we are not unlike those who strategically station themselves in the aisles of many of the popular grocery stores offering free samples of Hill Country sausage bites, fancy party dips, fresh crab salad on a cracker, and other irresistible, good food stuff. Like these friendly "servers" are doing for their employers, we say to a friend or to a complete stranger; "Taste and see that the LORD is good." We offer these; whom we believe don't know the LORD as their personal savior our suggestion they get to know Jesus by "sampling" His Word by reading the Bible, or attending church with us, or listening to one of our favorite Christian message cd's. We offer them their opportunity to get to know this wonderful Savior of ours so they too can experience the joy and reassurance of their salvation just like we h

This slang saying was popularized by Italian speaking characters in the movie "Godfather." "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it" (Isaiah 43:18,19). This is what the only GOD and FATHER said in His Word. I have heard it said: "What's past is past." And, my dear sweet grandmother use to tell my mother; "No use crying over spilled milk" when I clumsily made a mess as a child, or broke something in the house. My grandmother was always full of mercy and forgiveness. See how I have remembered her after all these years? God is mercy and forgiveness. His  Son, Jesus made it possible for us to not only receive God's mercy and forgiveness, but to express our mercy and forgiveness to others. Are you harboring a grudge against someone from the past? Up until now have you been unable to forgive them? Most of the time, the burden of our unforgiveness will never af

“Listen, my son, accept what I say, and the years of your life will be many. I guide you in the way of wisdom and lead you along straight paths. When you walk, your steps will not be hampered, when you run, you will not stumble” (Proverbs 4:10-12). Our lives are built upon our first step, and   then proceed step after step after step thereafter. As infants we learn to crawl, then stand and eventually to walk to the waiting hands of our proud fathers and mothers. Our walking skills can develop into running skills; some of us will go on to run races, some will even run long distance marathons, but it all begins first with our desire to walk. The Lord tells us to listen to what He says to us through His Holy Spirit and the years of our lives will be many; as we go through life, our steps will not be hampered; when we hurry through our impossible daily schedules and race through our lives, we will not stumble.   All successful runners have a professional trainer, our trainer is none less

"Shout with joy to God, all the earth! Sing the glory of His name; make His praise glorious" (Psalm 66:1,2)! Hallelujah! Praise to our King! See how glorious He is! He is our awesome God! He is our Healer, our Counselor, our Morning Star, our heavenly Father, our Savior and our Redeemer. He is our Lamb of God, He is our Maker, our Sacrifice, our Bridegroom, our Living Water, our Helper, He is our Blessing, our Bread of Life, our Sweet, Sweet Song, He is Abba Father...let us make His praise glorious! He is Yahweh-Jehovah, Jehovah-Elohim, Jehovah-Elyon, El Shaddai, Jehovah-Jireh, He is Jehovah-Tsidqenu, Jehovah- Shamah, and He is Jehovah-Tsebaoth...let us make His praise glorious! What's in a name, and why would we sing the glory of God's name(s)? Often a name provides an important clue to the nature of a person. This is definitely true of God. The Bible refers to God by many different names, each one referring to some aspect of God's character or His relation

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a loving hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade" (1 Peter 1:3,4 NIV). This is a wonderful Scripture; one that assures us of the incredible hope we have in Jesus. Certainly, I believe you will enjoy even more of this Scripture by reading from (v.3-13.) When I read this Scripture it awakens me spiritually to better understand even more of the mystery of our faith. Peter, the apostle, was given this message of hope not only for the people of Galatia and Cappadocia in his time, but for us all by God's Holy Spirit. It was and is without any doubt, God's powerful voice of love speaking to you and me through Peter. This Scripture describes what I think the old hymn; "Blessed Assurance" was helping us sing about. Without Jesus we would have no hope at all. We would live out

The righteous serve God. They make every effort to follow His laws, and they choose to live their lives according to what they have seen His Son Jesus do, and to say what they have heard His Son say. Jesus is the voice teacher of the righteous. Once we have found Jesus, and we have asked Him to come into our lives we are changed. One of the more important changes we will go through as Christians is to become; speakers for God . What comes out of our mouths should reflect the voice of God. Others, especially non-Christians, are likely to form an opinion of God by what we say. Example: I was standing in a group of men, our conversation was mostly innocent at first -- these men knew me to be a Christian -- however, after a little while a few words of profanity, subjects of lust, drunkenness, and other traits of a sinful life surfaced. I felt as though these guys were testing my devotion to my belief as a Christian. They were waiting for me to chime in with similar bad-choice expressio

Jesus was talking to His disciple Paul when He said this. He was instructing Paul and even today, in our present time, we must have faith , to not doubt in our hearts, but believe what God says will happen. Faith is powerful, it really can move mountains! Charles Capps in his little book; "GOD'S CREATIVE POWER" said, "Remember -- when you are sick, call yourself well, for you are calling for what you don't have. If you put this into practice and make it a way of life, then your body will respond to your faith demands that are based upon the authority of God's Holy Word." Your healing won't take affect just because you say it. However, by you saying it you become involved in it happening! The Lord desires that by our faith in Him we plant His seed for what we need. God's spoken Word is incorruptible seed, and it produces after its kind. Would you like healing? Set aside time daily to fellowship with your God. Meditate His Word by speaking it