Preparing Our Hearts For Christmas

The world is a very dark and scary place to live at times.  There is a lot of anger and division among people.  Things may seem bleak and hopeless, but we must remember that there is indeed wonderful awesome hope in the Lord our God.

The world has been a dark place since sin entered into it when Adam ate from the tree that God told him not to eat from.  Our world is full of sin and it is passing away.  We know that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).  The gift of God, however, is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

We are fast approaching Christmas when we believers celebrate the first coming of Jesus Christ as a baby placed in a manger.  God so loved the world that He sent His Son, Jesus, on a rescue mission to save us from our sins and the penalty that our sin brings (John 3:16).

Isaiah the prophet spoke about the great hope that was to come into the world.  That great hope is found in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Isaiah 9:2-7 (NLT)

2 The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine. 
                                                                           

3 You will enlarge the nation of Israel, and its people will rejoice. They will rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest and like warriors dividing the plunder.

4 For you will break the yoke of their slavery and lift the heavy burden from their shoulders. You will break the oppressor’s rod, just as you did when you destroyed the army of Midian.

5 The boots of the warrior and the uniforms bloodstained by war will all be burned. They will be fuel for the fire.

6 For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

7 His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen!        

We have all sinned and we have all fallen short of God's standards.  There is not one of us that can make our selves right with God by our good works.   We are all deserving of being placed in hell for all eternity and out of the presence of God who is Holy.  

Thankfully God made a way for you and I to be saved from our sins by sending His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to this earth.  When we think of the coming of Jesus Christ at Christmas we must also remember what He did for us on the Cross as well.  We should also remember that He will One Day come again as the King of kings and the Lord of lords at His Second Coming when He brings the Kingdom of God to the earth in full completion.

The Lord Jesus was born to die for us so we can live with Him for all eternity.  Jesus came to shine the light of hope in our dark world.  Let's prepare our hearts this Christmas season and give thanks to God for the blessed hope that we have in Jesus Christ.

Lord,

We praise Your Name.

Thank You for the hope we have in Jesus Christ.

Help us to tell others of the hope we have in You.

In Jesus Name we pray,

Amen.              

Praising Our Awesome God

Yesterday morning the sun was shinning and it was a beautiful late fall day here in Northern Maine.  I took some pictures as I was walking around outside in my yard.  I found a robin, but he flew away before I could get a descent picture.

A little while later I took my camera inside and then I came back outside to do some snowshoeing around the yard.  It was a nice day to do it.  Since the Romaine lettuce recall I have been eating ice cream instead of salad so I figured I probably get some exercise and burn off the calories.  

If you have read my blog for a while you probably know what usually happens when I go snowshoeing and yes I did end up on the ground a few times from tripping and falling.  On one lap around the yard I looked up and saw an amazing sight.  I saw a rather large bird that I had not seen around my yard before.  He was soaring over the tree tops.  I turned to my head and body to get a better look and as I did I tripped over my snowshoes landing firmly on my back looking straight up into the sky.  It was rather comfortable laying there in the snow although it got kind of cold real fast.  I had several warm layers on thankfully.  I did get a very good view of the bird that was flying over head.  I am not sure what kind of bird it was and I wish I had my camera with me at that time because it would have been a great picture.

I was able to get myself back up on my feet thankfully and I continued my snowshoeing adventure around the yard.  That little experience got me thinking how awesome God is and how wonderful His creation is.  Sometimes we take Him and everything He has made for granted.

Sometimes we get so negative and bitter because of all the wicked things happening in our world these days.  We can become sour and ruin our witness for the Lord Jesus if we are not careful.  We believers in Christ need to be thankful for all the Lord had blessed us with and we should be filled with joy because of who He is.  God is awesome and He loves us.  That ought to make us want to rejoice and praise His Holy Name.  We need not go around being hopeless for we have a true living hope in the Lord Jesus Christ.



Lord,
Thank You for the beauty of Your creation.
We rejoice in who You are O Lord.
Thank You for loving us so very much.
Come soon Lord Jesus.
In Jesus Name we pray,
Amen.

Dealing With Our Temptations

We all face temptations in life.  The things that I am tempted by may not be the things that tempt you and vice versa.  Temptations can range from someone wanting three pieces of pie, four scoops of ice cream with whipped cream on top to something far worse such as being tempted to do something immoral or illegal.

Sometimes we feel the strong pull of temptation and we give into it time and time again.  Temptation can feel like there are invisible strings pulling us in and we feel almost powerless to say no.  The good news for the believer is that we are not powerless.  We believers in the Lord Jesus Christ have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us and He will give us the power to say no to temptation.

The Lord will always show us a way out of those moments of temptation (I Corinthians 10:13).  The problem is that sometimes we aren't truly looking for the way out.  If we want to break free from those things we need to humble ourselves and allow the Holy Spirit to lead us and direct our steps by submitting to His authority.

We all face moments where we are tempted by something or someone.  Temptation is not a sin.  Giving into temptation is a sin.  The Lord Jesus was tempted by the devil, but unlike you and I Jesus never ever gave into temptation.  That means Jesus never sinned.

We can learn how to battle temptation by looking at the way the Lord Jesus handled being tempted by the devil.  We can read of that account in Matthew 4:1-11 which says,

"1 Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted^a by the devil. 
                                                                           

2 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.

3 The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”

4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’^b”

5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple.

6 “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’^c ”

7 Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’^d”

8 Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor.

9 “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”

10 Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’^e”

11 Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him."

Jesus was led out into the wilderness, after He was baptized by John the Baptist, by the Holy Spirit.  Jesus fasted for forty days and forty nights and He was very hungry.  The devil came along to tempt Jesus in this time of presumed weakness.  The devil likes to attack us when we feel weak, tired, hungry, and worn out emotionally.  We need to be on our guard.

We can be on our guard by reading God's Word, the Bible, and memorizing Bible verses that we can use when our enemy attacks.  We also need to learn to flee from those temptations that really trouble us.  We need to submit to the Lord and resist the devil so that he will flee from us.

The Lord Jesus fought back against the temptations that the devil threw at Him with the Word of God.  The Word of God is powerful and sharper then a double edged sword.  We need to stand firm upon God's Holy Word and the truth of who the Lord is.

We can say no to temptations with the help of the Holy Spirit and with Scripture.  God's Word never fails and it will never return to us void if we use it properly.    

We believers in Christ want to live lives that honor the Lord, but sometimes those same temptations keep attacking us because we are weak in the flesh.  Thankfully, Jesus is strong and He is a present help in our time of need.  

May we seek the Lord's help in saying no to the temptations that come to us.

Lord,

Help us to deal with our temptations.

Help us to want to say no to them.

Sometimes we don't feel like saying no even though we know that giving in to them is wrong and hurts You.

Please forgive us for our sinfulness and foolishness.

Help us to walk in the Spirit so we will not give any room to the flesh.

Thank You Lord for helping us overcome those things that tempt us.

In Jesus Name we pray,

Amen.

                     

Thankful For God's Love

Today was the day here in the United States when we celebrate Thanks Giving.  I hope all of my American friends and family had a wonderful day celebrating.  I had a great day spending time with family and friends.  I thinking about things to be thankful for and I found that there is so much to be thankful for everyday.

It's hard to see those things at times especially when we are in pain or life isn't turning out the way we think it should.  Sometimes we fail to be thankful because our pride gets in the way and we become self centered and selfish.

Sometimes we need to take a step back and remember all that the Lord has done for us.  The Lord is the One who is in control of our lives and every situation that we encounter.  We aren't in control of anything.  We may think we are at times, but ultimately it is the Lord that is in control.  We have freewill.  We can decide to follow the Lord and obey Him or reject Him.

The Lord loves us so very much.  He wants to have a relationship with each one of us.  There are many people in our world these days that give no thought of God at all.  They become prideful and angry and they show no love.  Many hearts are growing colder and colder because they don't know how to love.

They don't know how to love because they have never embraced the God that loves them.  God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life (John 3:16).

The world needs to know the love of Jesus and we believers in Christ have a mission to tell them.  Our job is simple.  We are to tell the world about Jesus Christ and what He did for each one of us on the Cross.  Jesus shed His blood for my sins, your sins, and the sins of the entire world.   He doesn't want anyone to perish and go to hell, but He wants everyone to come to know the truth and come to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

We should be thankful for God's great love that He demonstrated to each one of us by sending His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.  I love the Lord Jesus Christ and I am thankful He loves me so much.  I know I don't deserve His love at all.

Let's be thankful everyday for God's love for us.

Lord,
Thank You for Your great love for us.
Help us to love You more and more.
Help us to love each other as You love us so greatly.
I pray for those who don't know You to come to know You.
I uplift those who have strayed away from You O Lord.
I pray they will repent of their sins and turn to You.
Thank You, Jesus, for dying for our sins once and for all.
In Jesus Name I pray,
Amen.

Giving Thanks

Sometimes we forget to be thankful.  When we are children our parents taught us to say thank you when someone did something nice for us.  Sometimes our society and our culture doesn't seem to be very thankful at all.  We live in the, "What's in it for me?", era where people are more concerned about themselves than showing gratitude to others by being thankful.

There are times when we too fail to show our thanks and appreciation to the people around us, myself included.  I realize sometimes I don't seem very thankful or at least I don't express my thankfulness like I should and I am sorry for that.

I thank all of you who take the time out of your busy schedules and read my blog writings.  I pray they have been true to God's Word and hopefully helpful in drawing you closer to the Lord Jesus.  I would like to thank everyone who has been an encouragement to me throughout life.  I am thankful to the Lord Jesus Christ who saved a wretched man such as I from my sins.

It is good for us to give thanks to those around us and especially to God, our Maker and our Creator.  The Lord has done wonderful things for us and He is still at work in our world and in our lives.  We must remember to give thanks to the Lord for all He is doing and the things that He has done.

The Lord promises never to leave us and He promises to never forsake us throughout our lives here on the earth.  We may feel all alone at times in life, but the truth of the matter is that we are never truly alone because the Lord Jesus is right by our side each step of the way.  We should be very thankful for that.

Psalm 136 is a wonderful Psalm that urges us to give thanks to the Lord for who He is and all that He has done in the past.  We need to remind ourselves how amazingly awesome the Lord our God is.  There is absolutely nothing that is impossible with God.  All things are possible with the Lord.

Are there areas in our lives where we need to be more thankful?

Lord,
We thank You for loving us so very much especially when we don't seem very lovable.
We thank You for Your mercy and grace.
I thank You Lord for saving me for my sin through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.
Help me to be more thankful in all things.
We praise Your Name.
In Jesus Name we pray,
Amen.

Be Thankful

Sometimes it is so very easy to be negative especially when life gets hard and everything seems to be going wrong in our lives.  We are living in an increasingly negative world.  There many things that can cause us to be negative that is for sure.  There are troubles in our lives that can cause us to feel negative and even a little depressed.  These are very difficult times in which we live.

We believers in Jesus Christ must remember that our hope isn't in this world nor is it in anyone in this world.  Our hope is in the Lord Jesus Christ.  We have a lot to be thankful for.  This coming Thursday we will be celebrating Thanks Giving here in the United States of America.  This is the day we celebrate to give thanks to the Lord our God for all that He provides for us.  We usually gather with family and friends.  Many people celebrate with a large meal that includes several varieties of food.

We are thankful for the food and family of course, but we should also be thankful for all that the Lord has done for us.  We should be thankful for the love that the Lord demonstrated to each of us by sending Jesus Christ into this world to save us sinners.  Jesus took the punishment for our sins upon Himself.  It is through the shed blood of Jesus Christ that we are saved.  We are saved by His grace through faith in that finished work that Christ accomplished for us on the Cross.

We need to repent of our sins and receive Jesus as our Lord and Savior.  That means we must come humbly to the Lord acknowledging that we are sinners and can't save our selves.  There are no amount of good works that we can do that can make us right with God.  We need to trust Jesus Christ and Him alone for our salvation.  Then we must allow the Holy Spirit to work in and through our lives.

I like what the Apostle Paul writes in Colossians 3:12-17 which says,

"12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 
                                                                           

13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.

16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.

17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.              

Once we know Christ as Savior we ought to clothe ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.  That means we believers should act like Jesus acted and we do that by submitting to the Holy Spirits lead in our lives.  We should also bear with one another and forgive one another as the Lord Jesus has forgiven us.

Most importantly the believer needs to put on love.  We are called to love the Lord with all of our hearts, minds, bodies, and souls and we are to love our neighbor as our selves.  We also need to be thankful.  Sometimes it is hard to find things to be thankful for.

There have been many times that I have stood before congregations if anyone has a joy they would like to share and n one says anything, how sad.  Sometimes people don't like to speak up in front of people.  I understand that, but shouldn't we believers proclaim praises to the Lord for what He has done and is doing in our lives.  If we are breathing we have something to be thankful for.  The Lord blesses us everyday.  Sadly sometimes we fail to see His blessings in our lives and we become ungrateful.

May we remember the message that Christ brought to us and may we stir one another on with encouraging words of the hope that we each have in Jesus Christ.  May we lift our voices in songs of praise and worship with gratitude in our hearts to our God who loves us so very much.

What ever we do may we do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus and give thanks to God the Father through Him.        

Lord,

Thank You for Jesus.

Thank You for this day that You blessed us with.

Thank You for this life that You gave to us.

Thank You for forgiving us our sins through the shred blood of Jesus Christ.

Help us to be more thankful for all that You do for us.

In Jesus Name we pray,

Amen. 

Thankful For Grace

Sometimes people don't seem very thankful these days.  I say that from my experience from working in a grocery store.  The retail business has given me the experience to see a whole gambit of different personalities.  If working in retail were a reality television program it would probably amply named, "The Battle of the Personality Disorders!"  Maybe I am overtired and being a little harsh.

It is often times very easy to pick out other peoples character flaws and it seems much hard to look and discover our own.  Sometimes the Lord allows certain things to happen in our lives to reveal something in our hearts that needs to be taken care of.   The Lord is still working on us through the Holy Spirit that dwells within us.

I am thankful the Lord saves us by His grace.  We are saved by placing our faith in the shed blood of Jesus Christ.  It is from that point on that the Holy Spirit starts His work in our lives to make us more like Christ.  This work is a life long process and it won't be completed until we are taken to Heaven.

I am thankful the Lord forgives me of my sin through my faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ.  Sometimes I get stressed and angry words come out of my mouth.  We have all have those times of stress and frustration.  The after we say those things we feel ashamed and foolish for getting so upset over something that probably isn't really a big deal at all.

Sometimes it is hard for us to admit when we are wrong because of our pride.  There is not one of us that is good enough to save ourselves.  We each need the forgiveness of Jesus Christ.

We need to learn to forgive others as Christ so greatly forgives us our many sins.

Lord,
Thank You for forgiving us our sins through the sacrifice of Your Son, Jesus.
We praise Your Name.
In Jesus Name we pray,
Amen.

Overcoming Lukewarmness

There seems to be an extreme Spiritual dryness that has encompassed our land and it has been occurring for a while without notice it would seem.  We see the rise of wickedness and evil.  We see society growing more and more ungodly.  The Church is supposed to be calling out to people to repent of their sins and turn to Jesus, but voices for the most part remain silent as countless numbers of people enter into eternity unprepared and headed for hell.

Many people wonder, "Where is the Church?", during these times.  God is still building up His Church and we know that the gates of hell will not prevail against it.  We must remind ourselves what the Church is or should we say who the Church is.  The Church is not a building or a religious organization that is encompassed with a bunch if rules and regulations.  The Church is the Body of Christ which is comprised of everyone that has repented of their sins and have trusted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and are sealed with the Holy Spirit.

The evil and wickedness in our Country here in the United States of America appears to be spreading and it is also spreading around the world.  We are heading down a very dark and dangerous road I am afraid.  The Church is heading for a wave of persecution and I am afraid that many believers are not ready to endure that very well at all.

There have been many so called believers that have compromised their faith in the Lord and gone along with the world in it's pursuit of wickedness.  We true believers need to be careful and be obedient to the Lord and the truth of His Holy Word, the Bible.

The Lord wants true worshippers and He wants His believers to live in obedience to Him.  We are accountable to the Lord and we will each have to answer to Him for the way we lived our lives.  The Church in our day and age has fallen asleep and has grown lukewarm.   It may be on the verge of death, but there is still life there I am sure of it.

The Apostle John wrote a letter to the church in Laodicea while he was on the Isle of Patmos which we can read in Revelation 3:14-22 which says,

"14 “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.

18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.

19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent.

20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.

21 To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne.

22 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”   

The church on Laodicea wasn't hot nor was it cold.  It was just lukewarm.  There have been times when I have gone to my kitchen sink to get a drink of water from the faucet and I accidentally filled my glass with warm water instead of cold water.  When I take a drink I what expect to be a nice refreshing glass of cold water and it is actually warm I immediately spit it out into the sink.  

That is what the Lord warned this church He would do to them because of their Spiritual lukewarmness.  The Spiritual temperature is not very high in many areas of this great land where I live.  We need prayer and guidance.  We need an outpouring of the Holy Spirit into the lives of every born again believer in the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Lord is knocking at the very door of our hearts waiting for us to open the door and let Him in.  The Lord has given His Church what we need to be a witness for Him in this world.  He has given us the Holy Spirit and the Holy Bible.  The Lord has a mission for us and that mission is to proclaim the truth of the Gospel to this lost and dying world.  

The Lord Jesus is coming back very soon and people need to be given the chance to repent of their sins and turn to Him so they won't face an eternity in hell separated from the true living God.  

It is time for the Church to wake up from it's sleep and stand up for Jesus and everything that is right in God's eyes without fear.  

Lord,

Forgive me for being lukewarm.

Forgive the Church for becoming lukewarm.

Help us to repent of our sins and be empowered by the Holy Spirit to live in obedience to Your call.

Raise up a people who will proclaim the truth of the Gospel to all Nations.

I pray for willing men and women to stand for the truth in our ever darkening world.

Here I am Lord send me.

Come Soon Lord Jesus.

Revive the Church O Lord through Your Holy Spirit.

In Jesus Name we pray,

Amen.

                     

America Needs Jesus

My prayers go out to all of those families that have been impacted by yet another shooting in America.  These days are troubling indeed.  Many people are wondering what can be done to prevent another tragic event from unfolding in another place in America.  There are no easy answers I am afraid.

There are some that think blaming the weapons and preventing other people from owning weapons will cure the problem.  I find it odd that when people are stabbed with knives and run over by vehicles there is no one calling for the ban on those items.  During those times the person who did the horrible crime is to blame and that should be the case in this ungodly event as well.

America doesn't have a weapon problem.  America has a heart problem.  Hearts have been hardened over the years.  People have turned away from the true living God and have turned to immoral lifestyles.  We have sinned against God as a Nation and now we are reaping what we have sown for many years.

The problem doesn't lie in one political party or the other.  The problem doesn't lie with that group over there or the group over here.  The problem lies with in each of our hearts.  Our hearts have grown cold and we have distanced ourselves from one another.  We have failed as a people and as a Nation to love the Lord our God with all of our hearts, minds, bodies, and souls.  We have also failed to love our neighbors as our selves.

We must repent of our sinful ways.  We must turn away from the hatred and anger.  We must turn away from sexual immorality and other immoral ungodly lifestyle.  We need to turn back to God the Father through faith in Jesus Christ the Lord.

Jesus is the only hope that this country and every country has.  We need to address our heart problem and turn back to God before this Nation stops being completely one Nation under God and becomes one Nation gone under by God.

The Lord is trying to grab our attention.  He is seeking people to turn to Him to fins peace and hope.  Please reach out to the Lord Jesus Christ.  Find hope and peace in Christ alone.

Lord,
I come before You in the Name of Jesus.
There has been another shooting in America.
I pray for those families who lost loved ones.
I pray for that woman who doesn't want any to pray for her.  
Touch heart and comfort her with Your love.

We as a Nation have sinned against You time and time again.
We have become angry and hateful towards others.
Hearts of many have grown cold.
Have mercy on us O Lord.
Please Heavenly Father forgive us our many sins.
We have sinned against You and we pray that You would have mercy on us.
I pray that You would turn people's hearts back to You through You only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.

In Jesus Name we pray,
Amen.

Our Best Days Are Ahead Of Us

Many of you know that I like to take photographs with my trusty camera.  I really enjoy taking pictures of God's beautiful creation outside.  I like capturing the beautiful leaves on the trees, lovely sunsets, and all kind of birds and animals that God created.

This time of year is really hard for me to do what I love to do and that is take pictures outside.  I go to work and when I come home it is already dark outside.  It gets dark really early this time of the year and that is a complete bummer when you like taking photos outside.

There is another thing about this time of the year where I live.  All of the leaves have fallen off of the trees and the grass is starting to turn brown in places.  Everything seems to be turning gloomy looking.  Dead looking trees with no leaves don't really make a nice picture in my eyes anyway.

Looking at the dark and gloomy landscape got me to thinking.  Sometimes life can seen rather bleak and gloomy with no hope in sight.  We may think that it will always be gloomy and then we get to feeling all down and depressed, but you know what?

Things don't always stay dark and gloomy.  Eventually there will be a fresh coating (or several tons) of snow falling on the Northern Maine landscape around where I live.  I am not a fan of the snow and extreme cold, but I know that one day spring (or mud season as some call it) will come once again and then summer will also come.

We know that the seasons will eventually change and things will start to come to life again.  We have hope that things will get better.  Things will get better in our lives too.  Sometimes our lives can seem dark and gloomy.  The years seem to fly by and we start to age and our bodies start to change in not so fun ways.  We can't seem to do those things we used to enjoy doing.

We believers in Jesus Christ have a wonderful hope in Him.  This life with all of it's dark and gloominess is not all there is.  There is a place in Heaven for you being prepared just for you by Christ Jesus our Lord Himself.  He even promises to give us a new body that is fit for Heaven.  Our new body will be designed for eternity and it will never get old or wear out like the one we have now.

We have a great promise and a great hope in the Lord Jesus Christ.  Jesus Christ died on the Cross for our sins once and for all.  He paid the penalty for our sin and it is through His shed blood that we are saved.  We must receive His forgiveness by confessing our sins to Him and receiving Him as our Lord and Savior.

When we place our faith and trust in Jesus Christ and in Him alone we are forgiven and saved for all eternity.  We believers in Jesus Christ have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us sealing us for the day of redemption when we enter in Heaven and see Jesus with our very own eyes.  What a great and wonderful day that will be indeed.

I am looking forward to that day when I see Jesus.  I do hope my family, friends, and co-workers will come to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior so they can be in Heaven too.

We believers in Jesus Christ have a great and wonderful hope in Him.  Our best days are ahead of us and they are not gloomy.


Lord,
Thank You for the hope we have in You through Jesus Christ.
I praise Your Name. 
Help us to keep our focus on You.
Lead us and guide us by Your Holy Spirit.
In Jesus Name we pray,
Amen.

God Is In Control

Tomorrow is election day here in the United States of America where many Americans will head to voting booths around the Nation to cast their votes.  It is important for every American to exercise their right to vote.  We have a voice when we vote whether or not our choice wins or loses.  If we chose not to vote we are actually saying we don't really care what happens, but we should care because there is much at stake.

The world is a very troubling place and things are growing darker.  Freedoms that we have are slowly being in danger of being taken away from us and if we don't exercise our right to vote then the day will come when we have no rights at all.  The Lord has placed us in the greatest countries and most blessed countries in the world.  We believers in Jesus Christ are also in one of the worlds biggest mission fields in the world and we have great freedom to gather together and worship the Lord with no fear.  We are also free to tell others about Jesus Christ and their need for Him by sharing the Gospel with them without any or little interference from the government.

If we fail to vote those freedoms will soon be a distant memory and things will go from bad to worse in our country and spread throughout the world.  There is still time to change things here in America and throughout the world, but we must continue to pray to the Lord for a Spiritual Awakening to spread throughout this land throughout this world.

We must remember that no matter how bad things get and no matter how dark things may appear that God is still in control.  The Lord will use times of adversity to draw us near to Himself.  

Lord, 
We praise Your Name.
Thank You for the right to vote in this Nation.
I pray people will pray and vote tomorrow in accordance to Your will.
Lord, help us and direct us on how You would have us to vote.
Help us to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ to those around us.
In Jesus Name we pray,
Amen.

Keeping In Step With The Holy Spirit

There are many people all around us that are going through very difficult times.  There are many people who are struggling with various things.  Many people are struggling with anxiety and depression.  This world seems to be spiraling downwards at an alarming rate and many people don't know what to do or where to turn.

The darkness seems to hang over people's heads that robs many of their joy.  It is very easy for us to become negative and worried.  These are very trying times and there are many troubling events going on everyday.

We believers in Jesus Christ need to remind ourselves of where our hope lies.  Our hope is not in someone running for political office.  Our hope is not in who is President.  Our hope is not found in any political leader or any human being.  Our hope is a true living hope.  Our hope needs to be firmly established upon the Lord Jesus Christ and no one else.  For there is no other way that a person can receive forgiveness of their sins except through the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

There is no forgiveness without the shedding of blood, but not just any blood will do.  The blood of bulls and goats or any other animal won't do us any good.  The only one that could shed His blood for our sins was the Lord Jesus Christ.  He was Heaven's perfect lamb without spot or blemish.   Jesus lived a perfect and sinless life.  He is the only one who ever kept the whole law.

Jesus is the Son of the true living God.  Jesus laid down His life on the Cross and He shed His blood for our sins past, present, and future.  Jesus took the punishment that you and I so rightly deserve.  We must repent of our sins and receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior in order to be saved.  There is no other name under Heaven in which we should be saved by  and that Name is Jesus Christ.

We have all sinned and we have all fallen short of the Glory of God.  We must recognize that we are sinners and that we can't save ourselves then we must receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior by asking Him to forgive us by going to Him in prayer and confessing our need for Him.

I am thankful for the Lord loving me so very much that He sent Jesus to this earth on a rescue mission to save us sinners of which I consider myself  among the worse.  I am thankful for God's wonderful grace and I am thankful for the Lord Jesus lifting me up from a very dark pit.  I was sinking deep in despair and darkness, but the Lord in His divine mercy lifted me up and set my feet on the Rock, my firm foundation.

God has been and is still good to me.  He is good to all of us who call on the Name of Jesus.  We have a great hope in the Lord Jesus and no one can take that away from us.  Satan will try to convince us differently and he will try to wreak havoc in our lives, but the devil is no match for the Lord Jesus who has sealed us with the Holy Spirit who dwells within everyone that has come to faith in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation.

I am thankful for the Holy Spirit who dwells within us.  He will lead us and comfort us on our journey here on the earth until the day when we are taken to Heaven where we will dwell with the Lord forever.  We must submit to the Holy Spirit's direction and His promptings.

I like what Paul says in Galatians 5:16-26 which says,

16 So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 
                                                                           

17 For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want.

18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;

20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions

21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live

like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

We are urged to walk in the Spirit for when we do we will not gratify those fleshly desires.  Even though we have been saved we still have a sinful nature within us so the Spirit and flesh war against each other inside of us.  We want to do good, but sometimes our fleshly nature rises up within us and do things that we don't want to do.

We must train ourselves to continue to walk in the Spirit.  How do we do that?  We do it by faith and one step at a time.  There will be times when we will be walking in the Spirit and we will be doing very well and there will be times when we slip and stumble.  

The acts of the fleshly nature are pretty obvious to all of us and even the unbeliever.  We believers in Jesus Christ have the Holy Spirit who helps us overcome the cravings of the fleshly nature when we submit to Him and His lead.  The Holy Spirit produces fruit in our lives.  He produces in us love, joy, peace, forbearance (patience), kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.  The Holy Spirit is continually producing these qualities within us.  Sometimes it is hard for us to see this happening because our fleshly nature clouds our vision at times, but Lord is still at work in our lives and He will continue that work through His Holy Spirit until the day we see Him in Heaven where we will dwell with Him forever.

May we continue on our journey here on earth by walking in the power of the Holy Spirit and in submission to His will and direction.  May we say no to the fleshly desires that stir up within us at times and live and walk in the Spirit.  Let's keep our eyes upon the Lord Jesus Christ and allow the Holy Spirit to produce the wonderful Spiritual fruit in us to draw other people to Him for salvation.

God wants to use us to bring more people into His Kingdom.  We believers in Jesus Christ have quenched the power of the Holy Spirit for far too long.  It is time for the Church to awaken to the call of the Lord and to the mission that He has called each one of us to accomplish.  It is time to allow the Holy Spirit to flow into and through our lives for the Glory of God and to draw unbelievers into a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.

Lord,

We praise Your Name.

Help us to keep in step with the Holy Spirit in order to draw others to You.

Produce fruit in our lives for Your Glory.

I pray for those around us that need the Lord Jesus Christ in their lives.

Lead us and guide us by the Holy Spirit into Your will.

In Jesus Name we pray,

Amen.