The Messiah

The world is growing more and more chaotic as the days press onward.  There is much anger and conflict just about everywhere we look.  Things seem to be getting darker and bleaker.  The world needs saving that is for sure.  The world is looking for a Savior or a Messiah.

I heard someone recently on a news broadcast on the radio refer to a certain politician as the possible Messiah.  We know that in the last days before the Lord Jesus comes that there will be a man that will come to power to rule the world for a short time.  That mere man will be the Anti-Christ.  This man will get his power and help from the devil himself.  Many people will follow that man to their demise.  Many people will fall for the lie and be deceived by that man who lifts himself up as is he were a god.

There is only one God and He is the Creator and Sustainer of all things.  There is only One Messiah and that is the One the Lord God has sent.  The Lord sent Jesus Christ into this world to live a perfect sinless life.  Jesus kept the law perfectly and He went obediently to the Cross where He shed His blood for our sins.  The is no forgiveness without the shedding of blood.  The blood had to flow from a perfect unblemished sinless man and the only One that meets that criteria is the Lord Jesus Christ.

18 Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. 
                                                                           

19 They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.

20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.

21 I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth.

22 Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son.

23 No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

24 As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.

25 And this is what he promised us—eternal life.

26 I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray.

27 As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.

-I John 2: 18-27                          

We must be careful not to be deceived and make sure we are following the truth.  Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.  No one come to the Father except through Him (John14:6).  We must all decide whom will we follow and whom we will trust.

The Lord Jesus Christ offers us forgiveness of our sins past, present, and future.  He offers us eternal life to all those who believe in Him for salvation.  Jesus Christ is the true living hope that this world needs.  We must repent of our sinful ways and receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior in order to be saved.  We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus as our Messiah.

The Lord Jesus will return for His Church (All those who have come to faith in Him) and take us to be with Him.  He will pour out His wrath upon the ungodly (those who have decided to follow the Anti-Christ and refuse to repent of their sins).

Then One Great and Glorious Day Jesus Christ will return and defeat the Anti-Christ and bring the Kingdom of God to this earth in full completion.

The Day of the Lord is drawing near and we must be ready.

Do you know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior?

If not, go to Him right now in prayer and receive Him as your Lord and Savior.

He is the Messiah that the world needs.

Lord,

We praise Your Name.

Thank You Jesus for saving a wretch like me.

Thank You for Your love and mercy.

I praise Your Name.

Come Soon Lord Jesus.

In Jesus Name I pray,

Amen.

Calling Out To God

"13 Is anyone among you in trouble? Let them pray. Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise. 
                                                                           

14 Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. 

                                                  

15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. 

                                                  

16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. 

                                                  

17 Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. 

                                                  

18 Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops."                       

- James 5:13-18   

Have you ever found yourself in trouble?  We have all gotten into some kind of trouble at some point in our lives.  It could be our foolish choices or it could be caused by someone else.  Sometimes trouble just shows up like an unwanted guest that just won't leave.  We know that in this world in which we find ourselves living in we will experience trouble.  

Where do we go when we are in trouble?  When we got into trouble as children we mostly ran to our parents of a member of our family.  We believers in the Lord Jesus Christ are children of God.  So, we can go to the Lord when we find ourselves in trouble.  The Lord loves us and He wants us to call out to Him no matter what the circumstances are.

The Lord is able and willing to handle any problem that comes our way.  How often do we just try to get through the trouble on our own?  Too often I am afraid.  Sometimes we wait and pray only when we have exhausted all other avenues.  That is a shame.  Calling out to the Lord should be the very first step for the believer when we find ourselves in trouble.

The Lord told Jeremiah, "Call out to me and I will answer you.  I will show you great and mighty things that you do not know" (Jeremiah 33:3).   We can be assured that the Lord will hear our prayer and that He will answer our prayer.  His answer may not be that answer we like or expect, but He will answer our prayers in His timing and in accordance to His will.

If you find yourself in trouble I would encourage you to keep calling out to God in prayer and expect Him to answer in a mighty way.   

Lord,

Thank You for the ability to come to You when we are in trouble.

Hear our cry O Lord.

Help us to pray in accordance to Your will.

Come Soon Lord Jesus.

In Jesus Name we pray,

Amen.

Jesus Loves You and me

The world may be crazy and harsh at times, but remember that the Lord Jesus Christ loves you with a deep unending love.  God loves you more than you can possibly understand or fathom.  God is a good God and He cares for us.  He will see us through any storm that we go through in life.  Our God is an awesomely amazing God.

God is very much alive and He is still at work in this world.  We may not be able to tell sometimes what exactly He is doing, but we know from His Holy Word, the Bible, that the Lord is working out all things for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purposes (Romans 8:28).  That doesn't mean that everything we go through will be good, but that God can bring good out of our situation.

Life can be hard and the troubles that we have to endure can drag us down.  We must not lose heart.  When we feel beaten down we need to look up to God.  We need to call out to the Lord in prayer and trust Him to be our help in our time of need.

The Lord cares for us and He will help us in our struggles.  The Lord will never leave us nor will He forsake us.  He is waiting to hear from us in prayer and when we pray we must allow time for God to talk to us.

Lord,

Thank You for loving us so greatly.

Help us to love You more and help us to love others as well.

Lead us and guide us by Your Holy Spirit.

In Jesus Name we pray,

Amen.

Fixing Our Eyes On the Prize

The world seems rather crazy and dark nowadays.  There are so very many distractions and it is easy for us to lose focus.  Sometimes we get so overwhelmed with all the bad things going on we forget to whom we belong.

If we have trusted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior then we belong to Him and we have a wonderful future in Glory to look forward to.  This world is not our home.  The believer in Jesus Christ has a home in Heaven where we will be with the Lord forever.

Jesus Christ is our living hope and we must keep our focus on Him.  It is so very easy for us to take our eyes off of the Lord and look at all the problems of this world and the problems in our own live and lose track of the Lord.  The Lord is always with us each step of the way and He is working out things for us.

Paul writes in Philippians 3:12-14,

"Not that I have already obtained all this, or have been made prefect,
but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.

Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it.  But one thing I do:
Forgetting what is behind and straining toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called
me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

Our walk with the Lord may not be easy at times and we may feel weary and beaten down, but we must remind ourselves to continue to persevere and run the race with our eyes set upon Jesus Christ our Lord.  He is our true Reward.  He is the prize that we look forward to.

We owe everything to the Lord Jesus for He bought us by His precious blood and gives us a place in Heaven.  What a Savior!

Lord,

We praise Your Name.

Help us to keep our eyes one You.

Lead us and guide us by Your Holy Spirit.

In Jesus Name we pray,

Amen.

Being Strong and Courageous in the Lord

I had the opportunity to preach yesterday morning at the New Limerick Baptist Church which is about 15 minutes away from where I live in Houlton.  I was feeling kind of nervous about the message that I was going to preach even though I have been preaching for many years off and on.  The message was about being strong and courageous in the Lord.

I felt the Lord telling me to just lean on Him and allow Him to work through me during the service and He did just that.  I find it hard to let go of control sometimes.  Do you ever feel that way?  We like to do things our way and we don't want anyone to help us.

The Lord wants to use us to spread the Gospel to those around us, but far too often we get in the way of way God wants to do.  We get afraid and we end up doing nothing.  The Lord wants to use us for His glory.  We are just jars of clay with a precious gift within ourselves and that gift is the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit will enable us to do far greater things than we could ever possibly do in our own power.

I felt very unprepared yesterday, but I am glad I felt weak so God could show His strength and power.  My mother came along with me and she said I showed no nervousness at all and it seemed as if I had been doing it for years.   I took notes with me, but I didn't even need them nor did I look at them.  God is so good.  The words flowed out of me like a fountain, but I know all the credit goes to the Lord Himself.  I am just His servant.

One of the verses of scripture I used was Joshua 1:9 which says,

"Have I not commanded you?

Be strong and courageous.

Do not be afraid;

do not be discouraged,

for the LORD your God

will be with you wherever you go.”        


We are weak and frail people.  We stumble.  We fall.  We fail and we sin.  God is rich in grace and mercy.  The Lord is so very patient with us, thankfully.  I am thankful that the Lord can use us to proclaim the truth of His Word when we humble ourselves before Him allow Him to use us for His Glory, Honor, and Praise.

We need strength and courage in this world in which we live in.  We can't walk this Christian walk on our own.  We need the Lord to carry us through and to empower us through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.  The Lord is with us wherever we go.  The Lord will equip us to do those things that He has called us to do.  We just need to be obedient to His call on our lives and trust Him to do His work in us and through us.

Lord,

Thank You, that you can use us even though we fail a lot and we are weak in strength and we sometimes feel fearful.
Help us to have strength and courage that comes from You.
We surrender ourselves into Your loving hands.
Use us for Your Glory.
May Your Name be praised and lifted up.
In Jesus Name we pray,
Amen.                                                   

Lifting Up Our Eyes

There will be times in life when we will need help.  Sometimes there won't be any friends or family members around to help us, but thankfully God is always there to help us during our time of need.  The world around us can be a rather dangerous and scary place at times.  Thankfully we have a friend in Jesus who sticks closer to us than a brother ever could.

We believers in Jesus Christ have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us to help us in our walk here on earth.  We must call out to the Lord in prayer and keep communing with Him.  Jesus loves us and He cares for us.  The Lord is faithful and true to His Holy Word.  The Holy Spirit will also help us when we struggle to find the words to say as we pray to the Lord.

Psalm 121 (ESV)

1 I ¹lift up my eyes to ²the hills. From where does my help come?
                                                                             

2 ³My help comes from the LORD, who ⁴made heaven and earth.

3 He will not ⁵let your foot be moved; he who ⁶keeps you will not slumber.

4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

5 The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your ⁷shade on your ⁸right hand.

6 ⁹The sun shall not ¹⁰strike you by day, nor the moon by night.

7 The LORD will ¹¹keep you from all evil; he will ¹²keep your life.

8 The LORD will keep your ¹³going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.                            

When troubles come, and unfortunately they will, we need to stop and lift up our eyes to the Lord.  The Lord is our helper and He supplies all the help we need.  Sometimes we try to handle things and situations in our own power, but we end up failing miserably.   

Let's keep looking to the Lord and trusting Him each step of the way.

Lord,

We thank You for being our helper and our friend.

Lead us and guide us by Your Holy Spirit.

In Jesus Name we pray,

Amen.

 

God's Plan

Wouldn't be nice to know God's plan for our lives?  We would all like to know the direction the Lord would have us to go and we would like to know just exactly what He would have us to do.  When we read His Word, the Bible, and we listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit, whom indwells everyone that has placed his or her faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior we can get a better sense to what HE would have us to do.

Sometimes God's plan for our lives aren't clear as we wish they would be.  We like to know things right now, but sometimes God makes us to wait.  Sometimes the Lord leads us through a dark valley in order to be better prepared to do those things that He has called us to do.  Life isn't always easy and sometimes the Lord calls us to do things that are beyond our capabilities so that He will get the glory for working through us and we won't be able to take any credit what so ever.

I do like the verse that some have called the, "Refrigerator Magnet" verse because that is where one usually finds it.  The verse is found in Jeremiah 29:11 which says,

"For I know the plans I have for you", declares the Lord,
"plans to prosper you and not harm you,
plans to give you hope and a future."

This is something that God said to the children of Israel through the prophet Jeremiah as they where about to be led into captivity in Babylon for seventy years.  Sometimes people forget the context of this verse, but we must also remember the great promise that God makes to us through it.

The Lord does have a plan for our lives and He gives us a wonderful hope and future.  We have a true living hope in the Lord Jesus Christ.  The Lord will lead us and direct our steps through the Holy Spirit.  God will equip us and prepare us for the work He has planned for us to do.  We just need to trust Him and be obedient to His call.

We may not always get step by step instructions and we will wonder at times what God is up to, but we can rest assure that God is faithful and He will see us through each step of the way.

Lord,
Thank You for the plans that You have for us.
Lead us direct our steps to do Your will.
In Jesus Name we pray,
Amen.

No One Is Righteous

It is all too easy to look at all of the hate and violence going on in our world today and think that passing more laws would help remedy the current situation.  We need laws, but laws won't stop nor deter violence of the worst kinds.  Preventing law abiding citizens from obtaining certain weapons won't help reduce hatred in people's hearts and it won't prevent those who have evil motives from obtaining something to inflict harm on others.

The world is in trouble.  We are living in an increasingly dark world and something really horribly bad is about to happen.  I am afraid that we haven't even begun to see the evil that will be unleashed upon this world because of the wickedness that is found deep with in the hearts of mankind.

The heart is deceitful and no one can truly know it.  God knows each of our hearts and He knows our ways.  There is not one of us that is righteous on our own.  We have all sinned and we have all fallen short of the glory of God.

Romans 3:9-26 says,

"9 What shall we conclude then? Do we have any advantage? Not at all! For we have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under the power of sin. 
                                                                           

10 As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one;

11 there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God.

12 All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”^a

13 “Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.”^b“The poison of vipers is on their lips.”^c

14 “Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”^d

15 “Their feet are swift to shed blood;

16 ruin and misery mark their ways,

17 and the way of peace they do not know.”^e

18 “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”^f

19 Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God.

20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.  

  21 But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. 

                                                                           

22 This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, 

                                                  

23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 

                                                  

24 and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. 

                                                  

25 God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement,  through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished— 

                                                  

26 he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. "

The Lord gave us His law.  We can see the summation of the law in the ten commandments.  We have broken each commandment either in thought our deed.  The book of James says that even if we broke God's law at one tiny point we would be guilty of breaking them all.  We are law breakers.  There is no one that is good.  There is not one of us that does good consistently all the time.  

C.S. Lewis once said something to the effect that, "No one ever realizes how bad they are until they try to be good."  That is a very true statement.  How many times have we become angry when someone cuts us off in traffic while driving to work?  Jesus equates anger towards another as murder.

There is definitely no fear of God in people's lives these days.  The true living God has been ignored for far too long.  He is not dead nor dost He sleep.  God is alive!  He is calling us to repent of our wicked and evil ways and turn back to Him by trusting in the One He has sent.  This world needs a savior and the only one that can save is the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Church needs to awaken from it's sleep and repent of it's sins.  We need to do what the Lord would have us to do and that is to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ to all the nations.  We have been commanded by the Lord Himself to make disciples of all nations and baptize them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

There is not one of us that is righteous on our own.  We have all failed.  We are all sinners and each of us will have to give an account before the true living God.  God loves you.  He wants you to repent of the evil in your heart and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ who can transform you from the inside out.  We are saved by placing our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ by trusting in His grace.

Lord,

We need You.

The People of this world need You.

Awaken Your Church to proclaim the Gospel message all around the world while being empowered by the Holy Spirit.

We praise Your Holy Name.

Come Soon Lord Jesus.

In Jesus Name I pray,

Amen. 

                                                    

Thirsting For God

                                          (Photograph by Michael J Rairdon)

There have been several deer roaming around my yard as of late.  The snow is really deep and the deer are in search of food and water this time of the year.  I took several photos of deer yesterday and posted them on social media.

The above photo of the two deer drinking water from the puddle on the side of the road at the beginning of my driveway brings to mind Psalm 42 which says,

"1 As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. 
                                                                           

2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?

3 My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”

4 These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go to the house of God under the protection of the Mighty One^dwith shouts of joy and praise among the festive throng.

5 Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

6 My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon—from Mount Mizar.

7 Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me.

8 By day the LORD directs his love, at night his song is with me— a prayer to the God of my life.

9 I say to God my Rock, “Why have you forgotten me? Why must I go about mourning, oppressed by the enemy?”

10 My bones suffer mortal agony as my foes taunt me, saying to me all day long, “Where is your God?”

11 Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God."    

The deer were thirsty and they were in need of a drink.  We all like a nice drink of water when we are thirsty.  There are times when we have a thirst within ourselves that only God Himself can satisfy.  There is a deep longing within each of us that can only be filled by knowing God in a personal way.

Do we have a thirst for God and His Word?  Is there a longing in our souls that we are trying to fill with things of this world?  Sometimes we try to fill the voids in our hearts with stuff that doesn't matter or really isn't that fulfilling as we thought it would be.  

We may feel empty inside and we may have that longing for something more.  The good news is that there is more to life than just accumulating stuff and dying.  There is a purpose and a plan for our lives through God.  We can come to know God and have a personal relationship with Him by coming to faith in the One He sent, His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ.  

The Lord loves us and He has made each one of us to have a thirst in our hearts that only He can satisfy.  Many people try to fill that thirst will things that aren't good.  When we come to the Lord He will satisfy us with His goodness and mercy. 

We no longer need to be downcast as if there is no hope at all for us.  We believers in Jesus Christ have a wonderful living hope in the Lord Jesus Christ.  We must put our hope firmly in the Lord and praise Him for being our Lord, our Savior.  He is our God and He will never leave us nor will He ever forsake us.

I am thirsty for God.  I want to know more about Him and I want to love Him more.  I love His Word and I want to dive deeper in His Word.  I have the desire to walk more in the Spirit.  I am weak and a tend to stray from the path the Lord would have me walk on.  Thankfully the Lord keeps me on track and thankfully He is a God of mercy and grace.

Let's continue to thirst for God and drink from His deep well.

Lord,

We thirst for You.

Help us to love You more.

We come thirsty.

Lead us and guide us by Your Holy Spirit.

In Jesus Name we pray,

Amen.

                      

Our Choice

We are living in very troubling times.  There are many people who are struggling with many issues and they may even feel like there is no hope for them.  Many people have turned to drugs and alcohol to try to fill the void that they feel in their hearts and lives.  We all struggle with something in some way.

We all have that sinful nature within us that wants to do things our way and we don't want to have anyone else telling us what to do.  We can be so very prideful and self-centered.  We often want things done our way or no way at all.

We have trouble submitting to authority in all of it's forms.  We have all sinned.  We have all fallen short of God's high standards.  Many people give no thought at all about God.  There is a God and He is real.  We will all have to stand before Him one day when we die and enter into eternity.

It has been appointed for every person to die but once then face the judgment of Almighty God.  There is not one of us that would be allowed to enter Heaven based on our own merit because there is not one of us that is good enough.  We have all failed to live up to God's rules.

God made a way for each of us to find salvation and a place in Heaven when we die.  God sent His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ, to live a perfect and sinless life.  Jesus went obediently to the Cross where He shed His blood for our sins.  We must come to the Lord Jesus by faith and trust in His grace that He showed us on the Cross by taking that punishment that we so rightly deserve.

There is hope for each one of us no matter what hardships we are facing.  The believer in Jesus Christ has a wonderful unshakable hope through Jesus Christ.  There is only one name under Heaven in which we must be saved by and that is the name of Jesus.

I am selfish and sometimes I even act like a hypocrite.  I don't do the things I ought to be doing and I end up doing things that I ought not to do.  I am thankful that the Lord forgives me through the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, my Lord and my Savior.  I am thankful that God raised Jesus to life on the third day and one day He will return to this earth and reign as the King of kings and the Lord of lords.

We have a choice where we will spend eternity.  We can spend it in Heaven by trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ who died for our sins on the Cross or we can reject the gift of salvation that Jesus offers each of us and spend eternity in a literal hell outside of the presence of God.

It's your choice.

Lord,
I praise Your Name.
I pray for those who don't know You.
Help me to walk more in the Spirit so I can reflect who You are more often.
In Jesus Name I pray,
Amen.

Be Still, and Know

"Be Still, and know that I am God!
I will be honored by every nation.
I will be honored throughout the world."

-Psalm 46:10 (NLT)

It's seems hard for us to be still in this busy world.  There are many things that try to get our attention.  We have computers, tablets, phones, and other devices that distract us from the Lord our God.  We have short attention spans so it is hard for us to focus on one thing at a time.

There is a lot of things going on in our world.  There is a whole bunch of turmoil and earth shaking things going on all around us.  We believers in Jesus Christ need to take a step back from those things that distract us and focus on God.  We need to discipline ourselves and learn to be still in His Holy presence. 

The Lord wants our full attention when we approach His throne of grace with boldness.  The Lord loves us and He has done so much for us.  We need to quiet our minds and our hearts before the Lord and listen for His still small voice.  The Lord is still speaking to us.  The problem we have is that we aren't listening.

The Lord never says anything that goes against His Holy Word, the Bible.  Let's learn to be less distracted by our devices and Let's be still in the presence of the Lord.  He alone is worthy of all of our praise and He deserves our full undivided attention.

Lord,

We praise Your Name.

Thank You for loving us and caring for us.

Help us to be more focused on You.

In Jesus Name we pray,

Amen.

Grateful For God

Sometimes we get so caught up in the negativity of the world and all the bad things that seem to be happening every day that we forget to be thankful.  It is easy to forget to give thanks.  The world has grown selfish and self absorbed.  Many have no thoughts about God and many never even consider Him at all in their daily living.  The truth is that there is a God.  He is the Creator of all things seen and unseen.  He loves you with a deep unconditional love.

The Lord has poured out His blessings upon our lives and many people just don't give Him the credit or the praise.  He brings rain on the just and the unjust.  He provides us shelter and food to eat.  He is the One that allows us to awake in the morning.  The Lord meets all of our genuine needs.  He gives us the air that we breathe.  God is Awesome and we should be grateful for all that He does for us.

The Lord demonstrated His great love for each one or us by sending the most awesome gift of all.  He sent us Jesus Christ.  Jesus came to earth to live a perfect and sinless life.  Jesus went obediently to the Cross where He died for our sins.  He took the punishment that we so rightly deserve.

We have all sinned and we have all fallen short of God's high standards.  There is not one of us that can earn our way into Heaven on our own.  We are not good enough in our own power or strength.  The Lord made a way for us to be reconciled back to Himself by sending Jesus Christ to die on a cruel old rugged Cross.

Jesus didn't stay dead on the Cross.  He didn't stay dead in the borrowed tomb, but He arose from the dead on the third day to show us that He is indeed God and has conquered the grave.  Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord Jesus will be saved.  We must come to the Lord confessing that we are sinners and can't save ourselves.  We need to come to Jesus by faith trusting in His grace.

"God saved you by His grace when you believed.  And you can't take credit for this; it is the gift of God.  Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it." 

-Ephesians 2:8-9

We believers in Jesus Christ have a wonderful unshakable hope in the Lord.  Life isn't easy.  We suffer loss of loved ones.  We suffer illness and pain of various kinds.  We have many troubles and trials that we must go through.  We know that, as a child of God, the Lord will help us through every step of our journey here on the earth.  Then one day the Lord will take us to be with Him in Heaven where we will dwell with Him forever.

We have a lot to be grateful for and we have a lot to look forward to.  The Lord will take care of us each and every moment of our journey here on the earth.  I am thankful for the Lord's mercy and His tender care.  I am thankful for those moments that the Lord shows me that He is clearly working in my life.  God is amazing.  I am thankful for the Holy Spirit that dwells within me and in everyone that has trusted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

What an Awesome God we serve!

Lord,

Thank You for Your love and mercy.

Thank You for allowing us to awake this new day.

I praise Your Name. 

Help us to be grateful for all that You do in our lives.

Lead us and guide us by Your Holt Spirit.

In Jesus Name we pray,

Amen.

Being In Awe of God

God is amazing and He is still at work in our lives today.  Sometimes we get so caught up in day to day living that we lose the Awe for God that we once had.  God is worthy of all of our praise and worship.  We should be wanting more of God and that starts by wanting more of His Word, the Bible.  We need to be in His Word everyday.

The Lord has done so much for us and He is always true to His promises.  He promises never to leave us nor forsake us.  He tells us not to be afraid or anxious about life itself because He will guide us through life's troubling times.  We know that in this world  troubles will come, but we also know that Jesus has overcome this world.

The Lord is willing to help us in our times of trial.  He helps each of us in different ways.  Sometimes He removes the problem from us instantly to show us His power and might.  Sometimes He leaves the problem and shows us how to lean on Him for support while increasing our faith in Him.

We don't always see clearly what God is up to, but we can know that He always has our best interest in mind.  Our job is to trust Him and walk in obedience to His calling.  We often hear that God works in mysterious ways and He does.

The other day I had my follow up MRI.  Last year it was discovered that I had a spot on my pituitary gland and the doctor that I was referred to ran blood test to see if the gland was functioning properly and it was.  I have been praying that there would be good news with my follow up MRI.

I haven't heard from the doctor yet officially, but I checked the local Hospital's portal and took a look at my medical records in hopes to see the results of my test.  This is what the conclusion of the report says,

" A focal area of diminished enhancement involving the posterior inferior
aspect of the pituitary gland, seen on the prior exam, is no longer identified
and may have been resected.  There is mucous membrane thickening in the left
sphenoid sinus likely post operative."


I am no doctor, but it sounds to me that the spot on my pituitary gland is gone and not only is it gone, but God left evidence that He had been there since the report says that there was evidence of surgery.  I have never had surgery of any type in my life except for having my wisdom teeth removed in 1995.

I am very happy and in Awe of my Awesome loving God.  I am humbled.  God is always good-always.

Lord,
Thank You for the good news.
Thank You for Your healing touch.
Thank You for Your love and mercy.
I pray for other people who need Your healing touch right now.
May Your will be done in my life.
In Jesus Name I pray,
Amen.

Times of Testing

Last year around this time I had a MRI to get a closer look at my pituitary gland that seemed to be enlarged.  The first MRI was a failure because I found out before the test that I was extremely claustrophobic.  The next one went better and they discovered a spot on my pituitary gland.

They ran blood test and everything turned out normal.  I was referred to a specialist in Bangor that recommended that we keep an eye on it.  This coming Monday I scheduled for my follow up MRI to see if there has been any changes.

We don't like test, do we?  Whether it is a medical test or a test of faith they just aren't fun, but both are necessary.  Our thoughts want to run wild with worry and fear.  We may even play the "What if game?"  We wonder, "What if this turns out bad?"  Those games never lead us anywhere except into full blown worry and panic.

We need to turn our thoughts to the Lord Jesus and all that is good.  Philippians 4:8 says,

"And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise."                          

Sometimes it is so very easy for us to dwell on negative thoughts and get all gloomy.  We must remember of all the times that God has been with us through hard times.  God has not failed us yet and He won't fail us now or in the future.  Our God is faithful and He is always there to help us.

The Lord Jesus loves us and He will see us through the darkest valley.  We needn't be afraid for the Lord will go with us wherever we go.  We must place our faith and trust in the Lord Jesus not just for salvation, but for everyday living as well.

I like that song that says, "The God on the mountain is still God in the valley."  The Lord is still God when we have those wonderful mountain top Spiritual experiences, but He is also God in those dark lonesome valleys that we all must go through at times.

There is great hope for us in the Lord Jesus for we have a great and wonderful promise that one day we will be where Jesus is and see Him with our very eyes.  What a wonderful day that will be indeed.

I don't know what the results will be with my MRI, but I know the Lord will be with me and I don't have to be afraid.  I am a little nervous of course.  I will ask for your prayers for my MRI and for the weather that is supposed to be bad on Monday.

Lord,
I praise Your Name.
I pray for all those who are undergoing medical testing.
Touch each one with Your loving touch and let them know that they aren't alone.
Thank You, Jesus, for Your love and grace.
In Jesus Name I pray,
Amen.