November 2016 – A Safe Harbor is Jesus

When God Test you, you will come out as pure as Gold!

God has these words for you that He is with you and knows exactly where you are going. Right at moment how are you reacting to the problems you face? Have you allowed fear to dominate your life? Are you disappointed? Angry? Frustrated? Worried? Remember that God is with you, all the time-even when the world seems like a dark place and there seems to be no hope. He cares for you-right now. No matter how things may seem on the surface, you can place your hope in Him. Trust in Him! He will deliver you, and you will come forth as pure as gold! Love you all.

“But he knows where I am going, and when he tests me I will come out as pure as gold.” Job 23:10

Are you feeling the weight of some crushing burden or difficult situation? The words that Job’s speak immeasurable comfort in the midst of any trial we are going through. First, never forget this “He knows where I am going”. God is not unaware of your difficult circumstance, nor is He insensitive to the pain you are feeling, He knows your plan. He is intimately acquainted with your situation and your condition.

And if the all-wise, all-powerful, loving God is allowing one of His precious children to pass through affliction, you can be rest assured that there is a good purpose behind it. You may not as yet see it; and you surely may not now even agree with it. But please rest assure that when He has tried you, you will come out of the trial as refined, purified gold. “When He tests me” .The source of the fire may be cruel or malicious intentions on the part of others, but ultimately God is the one who is controlling the temperature and allowing you to pass through it. In Job’s case, the Bible reveals that the devil himself was the author of his sufferings; and yet Job correctly affirmed that the trial was coming through the hand of the Lord (Job 2:10).

My dear friends and followers of Christ, rest in this wonderful assurance, that God is right their next to you in your trial and on His throne in heaven. It is through resistance and affliction that our faith is tested. Today in prayer, praise the Lord that when you are tested you are growing more in His likeness.

Have Faith in God!

Such a short command in this passage below, but one which is not easy to obey. It is easy to say that you want to have more faith, it is much harder to live with great faith. The only way you can run the race is to take your eyes off things or people around you and look to Jesus. He’s the author of the race. He’s the goal to which you run. If you look to Jesus to supply your every need for the race, you’ll find faith growing in your heart and in your life. You see, it’s not great faith in God; it is faith in a great God. Have a wonderful day as you remain in His presence. Love you all.

“Then Jesus said to his disciples, Have faith in God.” Mark 11:22

You are correct in desiring to live a life that is pleasing to God. It is God’s desire that you pursue godliness so that HE might receive the glory from your life. Those who aspire to properly reflect the light of God through their lives have a goal that is worthy of achievement.

God never said it would be easy to be a great individual of faith. In fact, the disciples who were with Jesus on a regular basis were often chided for having little faith.

The command is short, but it is not simple. If we are going to live a life that is pleasing to God, we must daily fall on our face before God and ask HIM to forgive us for our lack of faith. Those who strive to add godliness to their lives understand that each day is a new day with God. Just because one day you found yourself on top of a mountain with a close relationship with God, it does not mean that the next day you will be walking in faith.

We must be diligent to add godliness to our life. This means that we need to daily fall on our knees and seek the will of God for our life. The closer our walk is with God, the easier it will be for us to walk in faith. The more we understand what God desires us to do, the easier it will be for us to reflect the light of God in the world around us. Nothing should surprise us when it comes to the power of God in our lives. We should be ready always to demonstrate to the world what God can do through us.

Some of you are in a situation where everything is locked up! Nothing is flowing in, so nothing can flow out! You have settlements and money in waiting that you cannot access! You are waiting on approval of a loan and a call back for a job interview. You have several petitions before God, but nothing is happening! God wants your attention and He wants it NOW! He wants you to TRULY seek His face, hear His voice, and walk in total obedience to Him! You must get into a place with God that you can hear His voice clearly! You have to do what you have to do! If it means getting up early or staying up late, God is requiring more from you in this season! Get in His face and watch Him work things out in your favor!

Bible study / devotion

2 Corinthians 12:4b

…and heard inexpressible things, things that no one is permitted to tell.

In his book, “Ninety Minutes in Heaven”, Pastor Don Piper describes what some would call an out-of-body experience. After a serious car accident, Pastor Piper believes he died and went to heaven for ninety minutes. However, we really don’t know for certain if he actually saw heaven and spent time there — only God does.

From my perspective, we need to be very careful with Pastor Piper’s conclusions from a theological point of view. He says, now that he has “been to heaven”, he can speak “with more authority” than before. At funerals, his words of comfort to family members “are spoken with greater conviction.” Although some of this is good, I still think it is very dangerous ground. Why? Because anyone is wrong who states that their own personal experience has given them more authority to manage the hope of heaven than the perfect truth of Scripture. What if Pastor Piper’s memory of the event drifted somewhat in the retelling? What if he had a different “dream” that caused him to lose hope for eternity? And what if people who were desperate to find hope, found or lost it by following a pastor or other person, and not the Lord?

On the surface, Pastor Piper’s experience seems to be similar to the one Paul has been discussing in our present section of Scripture. However, there are a few glaring differences: first, Paul hadn’t spoken of it for over fourteen years; second, he didn’t claim it as his own experience (it was far too personal); and third, it was impossible and prohibited for Paul to describe what he saw (our passage today). The way Paul handled his own “out-of-body” experience makes me somewhat skeptical of anyone who “died” on the operating table (or in some other way), and then returns to write a book about it. Paul’s response was to immediately go back to preaching the Gospel — not write a book about it.

Questions to Ponder:

My hope is placed in Christ alone, not in the experiences of any man or woman. Stories of heaven, like Pastor Piper’s, are just that — stories — and should be treated as such. We must let the Lord and His Word be our inspiration. What is the source of your hope?

Feeding the 5000

I love this story of Jesus feeding the five thousand. We don’t know his name, but we do know the little boy among the crowd that had gathered to hear Jesus teach. He had brought a small lunch of bread and fish. And he must have overheard Jesus, who knew exactly what was going to happen, asking His disciples, “Where will we buy food for these people?” Philip quickly answered that it would take more than half a year’s wages to buy everyone lunch! Well I hope this message speaks to your heart like it does mine to offer what you have to the Lord. Love you all.

Offer What You Have to the Lord!

“When Jesus looked up and saw a great crowd coming toward him, He said to Philip, ‘Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?’ He asked this only to test him, for He already had in mind what He was going to do.” John 6:5-6

I can just imagine the scene. Tugging on Andrew’s sleeve, the young boy says, “I have some food,” and holds out his small lunch. Andrew takes the lunch to Jesus, acknowledging that it certainly won’t go far. Yet Jesus receives the small offering and tells His disciples to have the crowd sit on the hillside. Then He blesses the little lunch, breaks it up, and gives it to His disciples to hand out.

Can you imagine the little boy’s delight as his lunch is passed around, yet it never runs out! That day, 5,000 people were fed — and there were 12 baskets of leftovers!

One of the reasons I love this story because of the little boy’s innocent, naive, generous offering to Jesus. It would have made more sense for him to find a shady spot and share his lunch with a friend. Yet when he overheard the need for food, he offered what he had, small as it was. And an incredible miracle took place!

What a great lesson this is for us. So what is in your hand today? A talent that has been dormant too long? Some resources that you could share? Some time to give? All around us there are needs of many kinds. We look at what we have to offer and it simply isn’t enough. It seems naive to even offer our small token toward filling the need. Yet when we place what we have in the hands of Jesus, He blesses it and uses it to meet those needs. He truly performs miracles when we generously offer Him what is in our hands to give.

Expand His Kingdom

Expansion of the Kingdom of God

First, let me ask you this question. Do you currently consider yourself and see yourself as a citizen of the celestial city, the Kingdom of God , now or in the future? I pray you answered, “now” because it is now that we are saved that we are members of heaven! It is also “now” that we begin working to expand the Kingdom of God!

These days in the churches we have lost ourselves in denominations and lost the fact that we are all Christians! We are all a child of God! We are all here to glorify Him!

Many have joined the church but never have become saved or become members of heaven. I love my church but I love the Kingdom of God more! No denomination is more important than another when it all comes down to it… we are all members of heaven if we are saved by the blood of Jesus Christ. We all bleed red together.
For the expansion of the Kingdom of God, first it has to begin with us! It’s starts with me! It starts with you!
Prayer: Father, please enlarge your Kingdom in me and take me to the borders to expand your Kingdom!
The Kingdom began when Christ was born; the day our King came to this earth given to us by our Father. In order to begin working to expand the Kingdom, we first have to obey the King. True obedience to the King is when you become truly a citizen of the Kingdom. We also have to obey the gospel and have total faith in Christ Jesus.
We are given three valuable tools to complete our assignment to expand the Kingdom.

1. We have a voice.

2. We are given the way~ Jesus!

3. We are all given an assignment.

We have been given these tools because when we are truly a member of the Kingdom of God, we don’t want to go to heaven by ourselves. We desire to spread the gospel and bring as many as we can to heaven with us. I want to take everyone I can with me, don’t you?

With our ‘Voice’, we should pray and we should never hold our tongue when we have the opportunity to use our voice to talk and share about the love of Christ and his gift of salvation. We are the voices in the wilderness!

When knowing the ‘Way’ which is only through Jesus, it doesn’t matter what denomination we belong to; it only matters that there is only one way to the Kingdom and that is of course through Jesus.

Our ‘Assignment’ is to make a path straight to Jesus, leave no road blocks, including denomination but so many other blocks are out there that need to be moved in order to complete our task. We need to make the path clear and take away anything that will block us from our assignment.

The Kingdom of God was never intended to be a secretive Kingdom. It was never meant to be stationery, but always moving! We are to use our voices every opportunity we have to expand the Kingdom.

Expanding the Kingdom begins by reclaiming ground, helping the broken, sharing the Word, performing miracles. (Matthew 10:7)

The Kingdom was meant to produce power and experience Christ Jesus because there is power in His name! Some churches you see experiencing praise, good sermons, but never the experience of Christ which is what we need above all: One on one experience with Jesus.
“Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as is it in heaven”… that means now people! When attending a truly good church where the people praise, worship, hear the Word AND experience Christ Jesus; that is when heaven and earth meet together and collide. That is when we truly become the “church” and not a building and not a particular denomination, but in unity we become Christ’ church. A church building is merely an outlet to expand the Kingdom and experience Christ Jesus and any church that ‘contains’ the Kingdom is in opposition of the Kingdom and those churches you need to run from immediately!

Kingdom minded people always exist for reaching the next generation. Are you a Kingdom minded person? Does your church reach out to the community? Do you reach out to your family and friends?
In summation, Kingdom expansion begins with these four things!

1. Us (you and me) My life is an extension of the Kingdom and nothing that I have belongs to me, but it all belongs to God!

2. Church – No longer a member with rights and privileges, I am a citizen of the city of God.

3. Family – I must take the Kingdom of God to my family in my home! I must be childlike and reach my family with the Kingdom. Teach them and guide them.

4. Community – I must take the Kingdom of God out into my community. We don’t take our community to the Kingdom, but we take the Kingdom to the community!
The one true thing we can do to show the love of God and the gift of salvation from Jesus and to expand the Kingdom of God is to preach the gospel to everyone we come in contact with daily! Do your part today and share this with others! Spread the Word!
Scriptures to read: Isaiah 54:2, Matthew 10:7, Matthew 2:1-2, Matthew 3:2-3, Acts 1:6-11, John 1:49-50, John 14:26, Luke 17:21

“Don’t be afraid; just believe.”

Of all the things that burden us and weigh on our souls, sickness and suffering in the lives of those we love is likely at the top of the list. Is there any greater trial than to observe a loved one in pain and yet be entirely helpless to bring them relief and rest? Though we do all that we can to comfort and console, we reach a point of exhaustion, desperation, and helplessness. This is exactly the sort of person Jesus encounters in Mark 5. So I hope this message will minister to you.

While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?” Overhearing what they said, Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” Mark 5:35-36

Jairus, we are told in verse 22, was “one of the rulers of the synagogue,” clearly a man of personal means and great influence. We find him begging and pleading with the Lord Jesus for his daughter to be made well. He was, as we say, at the end of his rope. Or so he thought. As our story unfolds, we see the situation go from bad to worse as the last light of hope goes out, with word reaching the man that his daughter had already died. In light of this tragic news, as the messengers say, “why bother the teacher anymore?” When all hope is lost, why continue to pursue Jesus? Jesus’ response to this question invites us deeper into the mystery of God’s love, nature, and power.

To follow Jesus is to believe that there is never a time, moment, or situation in which all hope is lost. Even when staring death in the face, we must learn to hear the words of Jesus, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.” We must remember that we serve a God who is Lord of heaven and earth, in whose hand “is the life of every living thing.” (Job12:10) We must believe that the God who defeated death on the cross is powerful enough to bring hope and healing to the darkest and most painful moments of life, even when all hope seems to be lost.

Do we seek Jesus in prayer only for the things that seem likely to be answered, or are you and I willing to learn from this story and continue to open ourselves up to God’s plan and power even when it is beyond what we can see or understand? Take whatever weighs heavy on your heart today to the Lord in prayer, and find comfort and peace for your soul. Do not be afraid. The Lord is with you and will never abandon you, and in light of the resurrection we know that a day is coming when all shall be made well. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!

Putting God First!

To the human mind, it sometimes seems easier to run ahead of God, and then just pray that He protects us from the consequences of our own ways. Nonetheless, when we trust in our personal wisdom, and we follow our desires over God’s will, our lives become chaotic. Chaos and confusion aren’t from God, but are the result of our flesh being in control of our decisions in life. When God is given preeminence in our hearts, He will bring order into our lives.

“But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” James 4:6-8

Even though God has given us freewill, willpower is no match to the spiritual power that Satan can exert over us when we run from the plan that God has for us. We may be able to say “no” to Satan for a while in our own strength, but eventually we will wear down and give into his devices. Therefore, we have to realize and acknowledge that we’re in desperate need of God’s grace so that we can overcome the spiritual struggles we face.

Does your life have order and structure? Do you put God first in your life? There is a direct correlation between running from God’s authority and experiencing chaos in our lives. In order for life to exist and produce, be fruitful and multiply, there has to be a healthy environment. God’s Word sets the structure into place, which allows life to exist and flourish.

Placing God first is simply an act of your will that involves your heart. However, before we can place God as number one in our lives, we will have to love Him more than this world or its pleasures. Therefore, if you’ve been running from God, and now you’re running from Satan, then stop, submit to God, and you will have the power to resist the Devil and watch him run from you.

The Power of Faith!

In the scripture for today’s word, Jesus teaches us how to release our faith so that it can work on our behalf to bring about the things that we need. Jesus told the disciples that if they had faith, they could say what they wanted to see come to pass, and then they would have it. This means that we are to speak those things that we have the faith for; and then we should expect to receive what we have spoken. Our mouths have the ability to create… this is especially true when we confess with our mouth based on what we believe in our heart.

Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not cast it out?” So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17:19-20

It’s amazing to me how faith can be so tiny, and yet be so powerful that if it is used effectively can move something as massive as a mountain. Nevertheless, that is exactly what Jesus said, and He didn’t exaggerate. This tells us that faith is powerful. Therefore, when we declare those things that we need to happen in our lives, we must stand in faith.

Furthermore, when we choose to respond to a negative report or a bad situation in faith, we are empowered to move forward to victory over the enemy that has attacked us. In other words, faith will help us walk “out of” problems that might otherwise try to hold us captive. Instead of accepting an evil report as the final word for this season of our lives, we must choose to stand on God’s Word in faith and trust in God’s plan to bring us through victoriously.

If you’ve hit a seemingly impossible situation, and everything in your soul is telling you that it won’t pass, then make a conscious decision to standby faith. Many Christians are living in bondage to past situations simply because they don’t know how to “choose to respond” by faith and walkout of the pit of hopelessness. If you see yourself as more than a conqueror through Christ, you will be more than a conqueror. Faith works, but you have to work it!

When God Test you, you will come out as pure as Gold!

“But he knows where I am going, and when he tests me I will come out as pure as gold.” Job 23:10

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