It's a new day - Let us rejoice!

“For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but " how" to perform what is good I do not find. For the good I will to do , I do not do; but the evil I will "not"  to do , that I practice. Now if I do what I will "not"  to do , it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me” (Romans 7:18-20). My blessing for you today: As you call upon the Lord today seeking His power for change in your life, may He give you all you need enabling you to rejoice in good health, healing and everlasting hope. Would you say this is a healthy habit or a deadly one? Do you have any bad habits? We’ve all got them. We try to get rid of them but many times we become frustrated with trying and give up falling right back into them. It can be very frustrating! Change is possible though especially when we have a trusting relationship with God. Bad habits bring sin. Sin brings about spiritual death. We definitely do

Faith is the foundation of salvation and the doorway of peace with God . “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God” (Romans 5:1, 2). After Jesus had spoken to the multitude He instructed His disciples; “Let us cross over to the other side.” There was the boat He was in and other little boats following. A mighty wind and large seas began to break into the boats. Jesus was asleep in the stern, asleep with His head on a pillow. The men awoke Jesus saying; “Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?” Jesus awoke and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” The wind ceased and the sea was still. Jesus then said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” I have often wondered if maybe Jesus intentionally went to sleep and caused the wind and seas to come up while He slept to

One afternoon, several years ago, and just after we had purchased our land for The Sanctuary at Camilla ministry God gave my wife and me, a man, who was a stranger to us, approached me at the front gate and quizzed me about what I was going to build on my property. I told him we were building a Christian retreat facility there. The man rudely exclaimed, “What’s that to me? I don’t care if you build a whorehouse back there!” I confirmed for him, he had no worries there! Three months later, this same man drove to the back where our little chapel was being constructed and he met me at the top of our hill. He asked if I remembered him. I told him I didn’t, although he did look kind of familiar. He reminded me he was that same fellow who attempted to slander me and accuse me of building a house of ill-repute a while back. Now, I remembered! This man told me he wanted to apologize for what he had said back then, and he asked if I would pray for him. I said, yes, and that maybe we could go

We see throughout the Bible God desires us to seek His blessings rather than those of the world. He wants us to trust Him, and He wants to enable us in whatever our circumstances. When we aren’t contented envy rears its ugly head and corrupts our minds. The apostle Paul shared this key regarding envy: gratitude . “I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:11-13). When we are not content with who we are or what we have envy sets a path to destruction. Envy begets anger, resentment, bitterness, fear, and a decrease in faith just to mention a few of the weapons of choice Satan will use to separate us from God. The tenth commandment from God is; “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male

Has anyone ever prayed for you? Laid hands on you? What happened? In 1 Timothy 4:14 Paul instructed Timothy, “Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophesy with the laying on of hands of the eldership.” And, in 2 Timothy 1:6 Paul again told Timothy, “Therefore I remind you again to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.”  We can see in these Scriptures that what was given to Timothy earlier was still there even though it was inactive and lying dormant. What had been given to him by God had not left him. It was still there! God’s healing power will not go away from you either! Sure, it may lie dormant, but it is still there within you. Consider that if I gifted you with a new battery for your car it would be up to you to maintain it, protect it, and keep it charged so you could receive the full benefit of it. If you didn’t use my gift and neglected it eventually it would lose its full charge. If you didn’t recharge it

Safety of Abiding in the Presence of God God is with us, and is healing us even when we haven’t been diagnosed with any particular disease or we don’t feel ill. Acknowledging this, I believe He is constantly sheltering us from all the harm that could befall us. Likely many of us take Him for granted in this respect without intentionally doing so. We might consider that our lives seem to be going along without any real problems and maybe we don’t really have anything to complain about. We might even say life is pretty good! Surely, it’s not because we’re just lucky. No, it is our loving God sheltering us under His mighty wings; we are protected! God is healing us everyday, every minute and we don’t even know He is doing it! Let’s stop and think about this for a moment. There is so much more trouble or tragedy we could be experiencing, but we aren’t! So, let’s say; thanks be to God! He gives His angels charge over us and in their hands He bears us up. “ You shall not be afraid of

   Even though we don’t deserve His mercy God forgives us. When we want His forgiveness we can depend on Him to give it to us. Do you have something going on in your life or is there something you once did that you never feel like you got forgiveness for? Just ask Him to forgive you, He will! Billy Graham use to say, “God forgets your sin when He forgives your sin.” Wow! God does that. Once He forgives our sin He will never bring that sin up to us again. How does knowing this make you feel? Relieved? Blessed? You bet! God’s attitude about forgiveness should help us learn to forgive others, and yes, to learn how to forgive ourselves as well. When we ask for God’s forgiveness He gives it. We don’t need to carry that feeling of guilt around anymore. In fact, as long as we carry a heavy weight of our own guilt or an un-forgiven grudge against someone else we are setting ourselves up for a real problem we’re eventually going to need healing for. God forgives and forgets the sin, should

T o follow Jesus is to deny your “self” Jesus specifically communicated that those who would follow Him would be required to deny self, for it was that part of man that was of the world and not of Him. Paul, the apostle, also spoke specifically clear to the Ephesian Christians that they must deny the “old-self,” which had become corrupted by sin and the ways of the world. He encouraged them to adopt the “new man” which was being developed in them to more like God’s image. “If indeed you have heard Him and been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:21-24). Upon Jesus’ magnificent return, our recognition of Him before men, which begins upon our commitment to Him, will become “a crown of glory that does not fade away” (1 Peter 5:4). Once we have found

The Right Key Following God’s Plan A while back, God gave me a dream in which He offered me three examples of how we get in such a hurry trying to make our healing happen that we miss the miracle He intends for us. He told me I was to speak to others about what He was showing me in my dream. I am sharing what He showed me here. In His first example, He showed me how we can know the combination of a lock, and I saw one of the locks like we used to have on our school lockers, and when we get into such a big hurry that we dial in one wrong number and the lock doesn’t open. We try again and again, and still the lock won’t open for us. We finally stop trying and we slowly dial the numbers we have memorized and our lock opens! His second example followed immediately right after the first. He showed me how we can have the key to our front door in our hand and maybe it’s raining and dark outside and we go to put the key into the door and it doesn’t seem to be the right key. We look at t

Be ready to speak in season and out of season Who among us is called to preach? Certainly, God specifically calls some to stand at a pulpit exhorting His Word, leading a family of believers, shepherding a people for Christ’s sake. Yet, we are all disciples and evangelists of Jesus Christ, therefore being charged to preach the good news to the world. In (Matthew 28:18) Jesus came to the disciples saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always even to the end of the age.” Amen. Jesus spoke these words, commonly called “The Great Commission,” to those whom He called to follow Him. As He did, He stressed the role of the believer in evangelism, discipleship, teaching, worship, and for missions. In the early church, and now once more becoming popular,

Recognize the good God has planned   People sometimes lack hope for their situations because they only see the negative aspects of their circumstances. They may fail to see the good God plans to accomplish through their situation. When God shoves us out of our comfort zone, He is doing it for our growth and development. (James 1:2) says, “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various kinds of trials.” Why? James explains in (vv.3-4 ) “that the testing of [our] faith produces endurance…”  When we recognize the good God has planned for us, and we consider every dark cloud has a silver lining we come to understand and believe in the hope we have through Him who saved us. People often lose hope because they don’t feel they can handle what is confronting them. When we try to deal with our troubles alone, without God’s help we will suffer. We aren’t alone with our problems though. We have a God who loves us, who knows our every difficulty. He truly cares! Consider what

That which is earthly, and that which is heavenly The Bible speaks of us being exposed to two kinds of wisdom; one that subjects us to bitterness, envy and selfish ambition, e.g. earthly wisdom , and that which comes from heaven which is first of all pure; peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. In (James 3:13) this servant of God, asked , “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.” Which form of wisdom will you profess; that which is earthly, unspiritual, of the devil or that which is of heaven? At the time of Jesus’ birth, three wise men from the east came to Jerusalem seeking the one who was now born King of the Jews . King Herod called upon these three to “Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.” he said in; (Matthew 2:8) -- the three wise men were told by He

Each day is your new opportunity offered by God Good morning! “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice in it!” These are cheerful, uplifting words that help us begin each of our new days with sweet tasting hope and fragrant anticipation of all the what wonderful things our Lord has in store for us today! God does have wonderful things in store for you today. He always does. We are the ones who turn sweet wine into bitter vinegar with our sorry attitudes and our negative habits! We have a choice as to how we will start this day, wouldn’t you agree? We can begin this day in darkness, or we can open our sleepy eyes to the glory of Jesus; who is the light of our world ! Here God’s Word provides our encouragement to help us begin this new day: “Then your light shall break forth like the morning, / Your healing shall spring forth speedily, / And your righteousness shall go before you; / The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. / Then you shall call, and the Lord shall

Losing our ability to see clearly After arriving in Bethsaida , some people brought a blind man to Jesus. They asked Jesus if He would touch their friend so that he could be made to see. Pleased with the faith of the friends, Jesus took the blind man aside, away from his friends, and the curious bystanders who had been listening to their conversation. Jesus wanted to get the man away from all these distractions. They walked just to the edge of town, it was quiet now and Jesus began to speak with the man about his blindness; asking him if he knew what may have caused his blindness. It was then Jesus revealed to the man things no other person could have known. The blind man was struck with awe, wondering how this healing man could know so much about him! The blind man talked; Jesus listened. Standing before the man, Jesus spit into His palm, and stirred His spit with His finger. He then wet His thumb and gently bathed both of the man’s eyes with His spittle. Holding the man’s head in

His power is perfected in our weakness Naaman was a powerful man of his time. He was also very self-reliant, not needing anyone’s instructions to do what he was great at. After all Naaman was appointed high-commander of King Ben-hadad II of Damascus ’ army. He was recognized as a courageous soldier, a conqueror of nations and a powerful leader. He was highly hailed among other gods of his people like; Ishtar, Rimmon, and Baal. And, just as the apostle Paul was “Hebrew of Hebrews,” (Philippians 3:5) Naaman was an Aramean among Arameans. There was however one destructive enemy Naaman, with all his wisdom and might could not conquer. This powerful enemy was leprosy, a corrosive disease that eventually would threaten his future with mutilation, isolation, blindness and certain death. Those with the horrible disease were known as; lepers, and they were shunned with fear. The officials and royalty who once revered Naaman now avoided him. His disease continued to gain ground and he was now

As only a servant of King Artaxerxes of Persia, Nehemiah was in no position to ask the King for time-off to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, or to ask Him for the building materials and his protection while he was doing it. However, Nehemiah understood how to pray to his almighty God for help. Nehemiah began his prayer (Nehemiah 1:4) with; “I beseech you, O LORD God of heaven.” LORD being spelled with all capital letters, which indicates reference to Jehovah (a Hebrew name and a form of Yahweh , meaning; God who is eternal in His being). This recognition declares God is; everything; everywhere; and all within His presence. The promises of God are such that He already knows exactly how He will keep His promises to you. Nehemiah knew God as; “the awesome God who preserves the covenant.” Another Hebrew word for God is; Elohim , translated to mean, ( He who is absolutely sovereign) . Nehemiah understood that this same God who created the world and everything in it was more than capab

The evidence of ownership How do you provide proof of ownership of your home? You exhibit your [deed] as evidence thereof. Faith is our title deed to our healing. Jesus said over and over again; “He that believeth, hath.” In my Bible (NKJV), Hebrews 11 (a.k.a., the faith chapter ) is titled;   By Faith We Understand and in verse 3 it explains; “By faith we understand that the worlds were formed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.” I interpret this to mean; we understand or receive by exhibiting our faith. Moffatt’s translation of Hebrews 11:1 reads: “Faith means that we are…convinced of what we do not see.” Do you believe God has power to forgive you of your sins? Faith for His healing is the same as having faith for His forgiveness. Believe …on the authority of God’s Word. This you can know; long before you felt forgiven you were! By this example; if your rich uncle dies leaving all his wealth to you in his will, the

You know who you are I have seen you on the streets, in the market, and at your place of business. I have seen you at the clinic, the music store, at the car wash, the court house. You waited on me at the restaurant; you smiled at me when I paid my light bill. You wished me "have a good day!" when you took my shopping basket for me in the parking lot, I watched you help that old man get out of his chair. I saw you hug that little crying child; remember when you picked up that candy wrapper in the hallway at church? Servant of God; you know who you are . You don’t make a fuss about it – you’re always willing to lend a hand. How about the time I was depressed and you gave me encouragement? Remember when I tried to cut you off in traffic and you offered to let me in? And, how about when I heard you praying this morning for your brother’s friend? Servant of God, I read all about you in Isaiah 42; how you will not shout or cry out in the streets. How a bruised reed you wil

Instructions to the rich The apostle Paul wrote instructions to Timothy in his first epistle; that Timothy was to say to the rich of that time that they should “ do good ” to help others less fortunate [First Timothy 6: 17-19.] But, giving, or sharing isn’t restricted only to those who are financially well-off. We are all rich by other measures. We can all give something using our gifts of God -- as we have been given. There are many people who suffer; especially during Christmas. Our love and kindness are priceless gifts. Sometimes a simple act of kindness shown to a stranger in the parking lot, the mall, or at the super market can bless that person beyond all understanding – a simple act out of love could be something that stranger won’t receive from another living person this Christmas – sad, but true! Patience and understanding are huge “gifts” we can give each other all year long. We don’t have to wait until Christmas. Giving of our gifts cost us nothing, and usually it

God’s criteria for success What makes a person successful? We hear these wonderful stories of some young man or woman, who comes out of college, starts up an entrepreneurial business of some kind, and in five or six years they are worth millions! Then, there is the sports hero who is given a contract for one hundred million dollars to play baseball for ten years! We think now that’s being successful. No doubt about it these folks are very fortunate, but are they successful in God’s eyes? Maybe not, you see God views our success differently. The world defines success by the accumulation of money, honor, position, prestige, power, and material things regardless of what it has cost the person in terms of their personal life, their family, or their spiritual life. God considers a person successful when they are fulfilling the purpose He has for their life. Successful Christians are those who come to know their calling, understand their special gifting, and faithfully stay with God’s p

Fulfillment of a divine promise “Life” translated in the New Testament from Greek has four different meanings. One being “manner of life”; another meaning “human life”; another “behavior”; but the life Jesus brought is translated in Greek “zoe” which is; “eternal life,” and the “life of God.” F. F. Bosworth in his book; Christ The Healer said; “Without a divine revelation I cannot tell a person the specific reason why his or her prayer for the fulfillment of a divine promise is delayed. I can, however, point you to a most wonderful truth. This is the most vital of all truths that God has revealed. It is the only cure for all our ailments. A delay in receiving healing for instance is, in one sense, good news. The good news is that we can have more of the “life of God.” Jesus said in (John 10:10); “I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” We can understand from this one Scripture that we have a right to an “abundance” of a new kind of life, “G

Our Lord now sits at the right hand of the Father, after having been born of a virgin. He was crucified, died, and was resurrected on the third day. He now lives, and He will come again! And, it all began that one cold, winter night in Bethlehem , under a bright, shining star. O hallelujah to the King! I am not a writer of songs, nor am I much of a musician, but I sense there is new music to be written; inspired by His Holy Spirit with lyrics that offer our love and our true praise! He alone is worthy of our new song. Let us sing a new song! The Book of Psalms (songs) was composed over a period of almost 1,000 years – it is a collection, or rather five collections – and as such does not reflect a single author. David is attributed with at least 73 of these psalms. Most were written during Israel’s wilderness wanderings, in Israel, Judah or Babylon. The audience who sang, played or listened to the psalms varied, but most were either Israelites or Judahites. Many of these psalms wer

“What would you like for Christmas?” It’s a fair question when you’re looking for gift ideas to buy for those you love. It can be a tough question to answer though for a lot of us adults. Most of us don’t have a clue. Many of us are so busy preparing for Christmas we haven’t taken the time to think of what we want. I pretty much already have everything I want, so I can be difficult to buy for. Generally, kids are pretty quick to tell you what they want. You ask, they’ll tell you straight away! What it costs, or how difficult it might be to satisfy their desires doesn’t seem to matter much, after all it’s Christmas and getting gifts is what it’s all about…at least to little kids. I was once a little kid; I’m sure you remember being a kid and having your Christmas wish list too. Okay, so let’s play like you’ve just asked me what I want for Christmas.  Here is my wish list: The first day of Christmas I would like all wars to end, and there be peace on earth, good will

In this month of December, and around the world, we who believe in Jesus are getting ready to celebrate His miraculous birth; a time of the year we call Christmas! As part of our celebration, most of us will take part in gift-giving with members of our families and friends. Not because we have to, but more because we want to -- because we love them, and want to do something special for them; out of our love for them. Over two thousand years ago, God gave us His only Son Jesus out of His special love for us! So, this is Christmas! Jesus in turn gives us His own "gifts." Some of these gifts we refer to as; "The Beatitudes." Gifts Of Christ These Beatitudes He gave to His disciples Although Jesus taught His disciples these words of comfort and wisdom, they might be considered “gifts” as well, since they are His blessings upon those whom He mentions in this Scripture [Matthew 5:3-10]: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Waiting for the Lord’s blessing There are some who have prayed years for their healing without getting it, and then when told how they can appropriate their healing it came upon them in a moment. Still even though we may act upon our faith, and we receive our healing, we may not see our symptoms disappear instantly. God does heal, and God does perform  miracles . The Bible differentiates between the "gifts of healing” and "gift of miracles.” The Bible says Jesus could do no miracle in Nazareth due to the unbelief of those who lived there, but He did heal some who were sick there. Healing sometimes happens over a period of time, while a miracle maybe in an instant! Think about it, if God were to make everyone whole in an instant, we would not witness the “gifts of healing.” There would only be miracles. We mustn’t confine God to miracles only. When Jesus promised; “They shall recover,” He didn’t say; “instantly.” Our faith sustains us while we wait for God’s process of

God will always be the conqueror for His people What do you credit for making you what you are today? Maybe you credit yourself with being exceptionally smart, handsome or pretty. Maybe it’s because you think you know how to get out there and create opportunities for yourself, and all this enables you to drive that expensive car or truck, live in a beautiful new home, and keep your well-paying job. You’ve got brains! You’ve got muscle! You’re a work-a-holic! Life brings changes, especially when we leave God out of our lives. Eventually, even God’s people go through a “dry desert”, just like the Israelites did. Like them, we are likely to run up against one dead-end after another, and one problem after another. Some of us will even blame God, and admit defeat. Defeatism is a curse. It can overwhelm us, and cause us to give up; give up on our blessings , our opportunities through Christ, and even our personal healing ! When Moses saw his people starting to accept defeat he went strai

Whom we choose as friends is important We all want to have close friends. Whom we choose as such requires us to be careful in our selection. The apostle Paul warned the Corinthian church concerning their close association with unbelievers. Paul pointed out; that as a fundamental principle – spiritual truth – believers and unbelievers don’t share much in common. On one hand, we want to listen to God’s desire that we love and care for those who are non-Christians and those whom are seekers of the world. Yet, on the other hand, we must be careful of how involved we become with them. God is our first priority and we must avoid any chance of being tempted to abandon our relationship with Him.  Our challenge is to influence the world to Christ without being ensnared by it. As we pursue life in the spirit, we will often times need to change our lifestyle, and those whom we call friends. Although this may be painful, it is crucial that we search for those who are mature believers so we ca

We can believe that Jesus Christ is Lord. We can believe He came to earth to save us; save us from all sin and eternal death. These should be our foremost beliefs. But, you may be saying; “I know, but what can I believe regarding His healing of my disease?” Jesus died not only for our sins, but also for our infirmities. The Bible tells us so; (Psalm 103:2, 3) “…Forget not all His benefits: who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases.” So then you say; “I know all that! What I want to know is; am I going to be healed of my diabetes, or my cancer?” or whatever else might be troubling you. We can’t know the mind of God. I know this sounds like an escape clause or an excuse for not answering your very serious concern specifically, but it isn’t intended to be. You understand we cannot know the will of God -- He alone determines our coming and our going; our rising up and our sitting down. What we can understand and believe is; He is our God! We can believe He loves yo

Hear the good news! This day the Lord has led us to (Psalm 61:1-4.) “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord has appointed me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn, to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness;  that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.” He has reminded us of our being chosen by Him in (1 Peter 2:9-10): “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtai

When Christians say they hear from God, what do they mean? Most Christians when they say the Lord spoke to them don’t mean they actually heard His audible voice; although I believe God does allow us sometimes to hear His voice. Rather, they are saying the Lord has spoken, or communicated with them through their innermost being, allowing them a supernatural understanding of His will. Believers in Jesus Christ receive His Holy Spirit, and His Spirit dwells within our hearts, ever present to lead and guide us according to God’s will for us. The leading of His Holy Spirit in our lives (is) His voice to our spirit. This same Holy Spirit is our leader, our guide, as well as our teacher who directs our path in life according to the will of God. God did not leave us alone to fend for ourselves. No, He gave us His “love letter,” “His Word" the Bible and He uses this to speak to us. There have been times when I have read a Bible verse and it seems as though it was written just for me for