Like Nothing You Have Seen Before!

Rather, as it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no heart has imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9

About this time of year new major motion picture releases come out of Hollywood with catchy advertising to attempt to make potential viewers feel like they can’t miss it because it is so outstanding. I always wonder by whose standards?

In the verse for today it talks about the thing that is really outstanding and just around the bend for believers. No one can imagine what Heaven will be like. Not movie directors, screen writers, authors, artists, no one!

Why not start this new year on the right foot thinking about Heaven? Don’t get caught up in worldly pursuits that are of no value or anger towards politicians or a government, but start by singing praises to the One Most High, the Lord God Almighty. My suggestion is to pray and fast and for anyone you know caught up in hate and anger just continue to pray for them to think on things above glory of what Heaven will be like.

PRAYER:Father God I look forward to the day I enter the heavenly kingdom. If people think the earth is beautiful just wait. You are awesome and powerful. Thank you for what you have prepared for those who love you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Battefield Faith

Although we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 2 Corinthians 10:3-4

Do you realize you are  living on an active battlefield? Not one with tanks, airplanes, grenades,  IED’s, and land mines but one where Satan is roaming around getting many deceived and thrown off course. Even people who love the Lord are often times infected by this distortion of the truth and start to believe lies. Satan uses many things to help him do his job.

If you are a Christ follower you should be discerning in what you choose to allow into your mind and what and who you allow to influence you. This world is under tremendous spiritual warfare by our enemy Satan who lies so much even believers start to trust his puny fabricated lies and start living in the dump. This is why it is so critical to not wake up daily and feed your mind on worldly garbage coming from the news on TV or the morning newspaper. Often times you can be deceived into believing so many things that are not real.

2019 is a clean slate and a new opportunity to get serious about your walk with God and your quiet time. It is also a time to really set boundaries on feeling you have to listen to news more than you even want to read God’s word. Christians will be persecuted as we stand up to the lies and the moral free fall going on around us. Right is being called wrong. God help us. The culture is not our friend. We are to be spiritually minded but too many people are worldly minded. Brother and sister I urge you please to not trust a political party, a news network, a newspaper, an education system but to trust in the living God. The only way you will be able to combat the enemy and know the truth is to GET INTO THE WORD OF GOD. Are you ready?

PRAYER: God and the devil, two choices that are pretty clear modern culture being run by minions of the enemies court are tricking many. I pray for those I am close to to have their minds opened to the truth and to run with God not the enemy and stay way far away from his camps which are all around. Help me recognize evil. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Time Wasters

The plans of the diligent lead to profit  as surely as haste leads to poverty. Proverbs 21:5

Here we are in 2019 and already many of your resolutions may be broken. Clean closets, clear clutter, exercise daily, lose weight, study Bible daily, you get the idea. One excellent resolution might be stop wasting time.

Deleting email, staying on social media, watching TV all are huge time wasters. If only you and I gave that much time to our savior. Many of us treat him like a good luck charm and aren’t really doing much of anything to keep the mind saturated with Christian thinking.

What can be done?

First the stronghold of time wasting has to be broken. Take inventory and get truthful with yourself about stuff you do that is of no value. Purpose in your heart that you are going to get serious about wasting precious time allotted to you by God.

PRAYER: I only have so many hours in my day and only so much time until I leave this Earth. Give me the desire to not waste valuable time and use what I have in a manner that brings glory to you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Return To Sender

Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns." Matthew 16:33

Many times if you get misdirected snail mail you can write on outside of it “return to sender” thus indicating it does not belong to you. You need to do the same things with the lies Satan places in your head that make you succumb to fear, self pity, speaking before you think, and just wrong thinking in general. 

Satan’s job is to kill, steal, destroy, divide, deceive. There is nothing good in the little puny liar. He may try to appear as an angel of light at times to really get you off course. It is imperative you are versed in scripture to know how to put him in his place. Pray for family members or friends who have been sucked into his lies masquerading as political correctness, a new world order, or cultural shift on morality. 

In 2019 start getting in the habit of knowing where to go in God’s words to fight the lies and deception of Satan and talk out loud to him, cover your family with the blood of Jesus and know he has no power over you. 

PRAYER: I thank you that your promises are throughout scripture. When culture shifts due to the lies of Satan your word and truth does not shift. Satan has no authority over me and can take his lousy stinking hands off my family too. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Sorry To See You Go

How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man. Proverbs 6:9-11

Time wasters are everywhere and one of the biggest of 2018 was wading through unnecessary email and paper junk mail. Conveniently online you can quickly click ‘unsubscribe’ and you will receive a message “sorry to see you go”.  It is a message I love to see more and more.

The more you get rid of unnecessary distractions in your life the more time you will have to spend on what really matters. Clutter keeps you from what is important and can be a major distraction in your life and even put you in stupor like behavior if not careful.

As you are charting your course for 2019 why not seriously look at the junk mail you get electronically and and in paper format and throw it out before it buries you and takes away your peace.

PRAYER: New years are all about new starts and deciding to do new things or go in a different direction. Lord give me strength to get control of all kinds of clutter especially junk mail. Help me use wisdom and discernment in what to keep and what to trash and delete. In Jesus’ name. Amen. 

Here We Go Again...Another Brand New Year

"Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. Isaiah 43:18-19

I love the start of a new year and a fresh beginning but it seems like it was only yesterday we just celebrated 2018. Where does the time go?

As you enter the first day of 2019 I urge you to start with prayer. Get away to pray somewhere this week and ponder the year ahead of you. Yes write some resolutions down but make some of those spiritual ones. Press on with those prayer concerns that you may have been praying for some time now.

Maybe even make a list of things to work on like finishing a project, thinking before you speak, listen better, praying more. A fresh start is always a good thing. Don’t let your mind start to dwell on negative. Stay positive and focused on above. You can do it!!

PRAYER: Ah 2019 has arrived. Our time is in your hands Lord. Help me not waste the days you give me. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

This was to be posted 1 Jan 19. My apologies.

Britches Too Big?

Let someone else praise you, and not your own mouth; an outsider, and not your own lips. Proverbs 27:2

Humility is something each of us should strive for. Tooting your own horn never is a way to win close friends. 

It is God who has gifted each of us with skills, talents, gifts, and abilities and even the gift of giving where you may like to bless others not  ever expecting anything in return. 

Famous wealthy people put their pants on the same way you do just more expensive pants. Those people with the more expensive britches should remember who gave them the ability to buy them and not get puffed up. Do you need to work on letting your virtues speak for themselves? 

PRAYER: Father God I certainly don’t want to be a braggart and boaster. If I boast have it only be of what you have done for me. In Jesus’ name. Amen.