AND IT CAME TO PASS...

Dr. Creflo Dollar was on TV one day talking about believing and having a faith walk and not doubting about your prayers. We need to have serious faith not just be  "Sunday Christians" who think that is all that is needed is a one hour visit one day a week. Dr. Dollar said to walk in faith and keep saying 'and it came to pass' over and over, or in other words you are believing God for a job, 'and it came to pass'. You are believing God for a breakthrough in the life of a wayward child, 'and it came to pass'. You are believing God in other miracles saying 'and it came to pass'.

Now for this to work in a believers' life you have to have your heart right with God. Being jealous, vindictive, hateful, backbiting, is not going to demonstrate a love walk. And without love in your heart it is hard for God to hear you. Psalm 66:18(KJV) says 'If I regard iniquity in my heart the Lord will not hear.'

If you do more than just show up on Sunday and grow in Christ and have a fierce love for Him and His word, then you will have the faith to believe the ending of what you are praying for will 'come to pass'. You have to hang on and keep believing even when circumstances do not seem like your prayers are making a difference. That is what Satan, our enemy, wants us to  believe. Do not focus on circumstances. Focus on ChristConfess things out loud such as:

I have a great marriage

I will find a job

My child will be set free

       No weapon formed against me will prosper.

          All things are possible with God.

In other words think positive and get rid of negativity. Speak positive things out of your mouth. In Romans 4:17 it speaks of 'calling those things as not as though they were.'  Believe it and do it! 

PRAYER: Lord God I thank you for hearing my prayers. I know that I need to keep persevering in prayer according to Luke 18:1 and never give up. Sometimes the enemy will try to discourage me by planting wrong thoughts or fear in my mind. I resist the attacks of Satan and know I am a child of God and you have good plans for me and my loved ones. I need to believe and receive , not doubt and do without. In Jesus' name. Amen.  

ENOUGH SAID!!

Taking a break from my Christmas theme and revisiting the problem with our mouths. Have you ever heard the saying 'Leave well enough alone'? How true that is! When it comes to the mouth, sometimes the less said the better. If you are the kind of person who has to get the last word in then you may be headed for disaster in the "mouth" department. Being impulsive and not thinking about what we are saying can be a real problem. Sometimes it is best to just not say anything than to say something and be misunderstood or to cause friction and hurt feelings.

This is where self control comes in. Oh, to master self control in all areas of life. Wouldn't that be wonderful? Sometimes we may randomly just talk without thinking how what we say will be received by someone. Now I am not saying it is necessary to analyze everything we say before we say it, but in order to not hurt feelings or cause misunderstandings, particularly among friends, family and co workers, make an effort to pause before you speak and really think if what you are about to say is necessary. Something randomly pops out of your mouth and you wish you could take it back so very much. Have you been there? I know I have.

There are many areas to discuss about the words we say but for the purpose of this devotion I will deal strictly with trying to have self control and be able to be careful of what we say. It is a challenge. Even in James 3:8(NIV) it says 'No man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil full of deadly poison.' Now that is quite a word picture. Sometimes though we may say something and another person misunderstands our intent and then that is where forgiveness comes into play and second chances.

Are you able to master watching what you say and when you say it? Our mouths can make us or break us. Matthew 12:37(NIV) says 'and by your words you will be acquitted and by your words you will be condemned.' I myself pray almost daily for help in this area. It is so easy to just talk without thinking. I want my tongue to bless others and not hurt them. I want my words to be kind and sweet and not misunderstood. I want my words to bring joy and not condemnation or guilt. I want my words to be full of peace and love and not anger. I want my words to convey Christ living in me.

Start today and if you need help in this area of impulsive speaking and not having self control ask the Lord to guide you and strengthen you. He cares and he hears your prayers. Proverbs 18:21(NIV) says 'The tongue has the power of life and death and those that love it will eat its' fruit.' 1 Peter 3:10(NIV) which says 'Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech.'

'May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.' Psalm 19:14(NIV).

PRAYER: Father help me as daily I seek to be a vessel used by you for your glory. I seek to portray Christ to my friends, my family, those in my circle of influence and even strangers. Help me Lord put a watch over my mouth so I do not hurt anyone by saying the wrong thing. I want to shine for you and not be a hindrance. In Jesus' name. Amen.

SATAN'S CYBERSPACE WARS

It stands to reason that the enemy wants nothing about God or Jesus to be transmitted over airwaves, TV waves,or Internet waves so at times there may be glitches that cause things to not work right. Some balk at this saying it is a coincidence or accident. I beg to differ.

There have been times writing this blog where my writing has disappeared mysteriously. I work for a few hours when I plan to be out of town to prepare devotions for use during my absence. I am dedicated to getting a daily devotion out and I will do it, Lord willing. Last Fridays' work somehow went missing. No trash file, no spam file, no other folder, no sent file. It was gone. I used to let this upset me and now I just laugh it off as spiritual warfare.

Think about it. Evil forces are at work in the United States now trying to remove God from practically everything. Some deny it but it is happening. It is true spiritual warfare. The mention of the name of Jesus is repulsive to Satan and his henchmen, as I call them. We are not to be angry at the men or women doing this evil deed but to simply pray for them to come to know the Lord and turn from their wicked ways.

This country was founded on using the Bible as a guide even in writing the laws. When you visit DC you will note that nearly every monument has a Bible verse on it. The heritage of this nation was and is Jesus Christ. Our own President uttered the words 'We are no longer a Christian nation' and I said 'look out, you are treading on dangerous territory Mr. President.' We are respectful and tolerant of other religions here, but indeed, we are still a Christian nation.

The First Amendments' intent was to protect religion from the government not government from religion. Now Christians are told to be tolerant and deny their beliefs almost. I heard someone say during this past years minor earthquake in the Nation's Capitol that it was the Founding Fathers rolling over in their graves.

So whether it is in cyber space or wherever, the enemy, Satan, is out to destroy. Our job is to take authority over him in the mighty powerful name of Jesus. We are engaged in a battle of good versus evil. It is time for the men and women of God to stand up and take authority over evil forces of destruction. Do not just live in this world and then die. Stand up for the truth and for righteousness. Speak out against wrongs in society using the Bible as your guidebook.

Let me leave you with Ephesians 6:10-12(NIV) which says 'Be strong in the Lord and His mighty power.Put on the full armor of God that you may take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realm.' If you will continue on in that chapter it will instruct in how to put on the "armor of God" to protect yourself from spiritual warfare.

Today brother and sister arm yourself by reading the word of God for only in dong so will you have the strength and tools to uncover Satan's schemes.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus I thank you for living in a country where I am free to read my Bible and worship. I pray for protection for that right and ask that you deal with those on this earth who are working on Satan's team trying to remove you from everything. Soften evil hearts. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Click on link for a powerful song of worship:
http://youtu.be/GsjJmk7tdk4

TRAGEDY, SADNESS, AND CHRISTMAS

Christmas time is happy and joyous for most or so we might think. Many people associate a family members death around this time of year and can not seem to get past it. Death may have occurred prematurely for a young person and when it is time for Christmas, the ache of that memory of that loss lingers on.

Yesterday the unspeakable tragedy occurred when a gunman opened fire at an elementary school in Connecticut with 20 young children among those killed. The families of these children will indeed have a horrible time at Christmas this year. Who would think of killing small innocent elementary school children? It is hard to comprehend why this would even happen. Who knows? Evil is out there and it works overtime to destroy our world.
The news media will be on the bandwagon now to ban all guns. It is a fact that this world has become ultra violent. People who are against guns always use times like this to try to take them away from law abiding citizens. It is not having a gun that is the problem, but it is what is in the heart of man. It is no wonder people do evil things especially since look at what is on television and in the movie theaters these days. Why on earth does everything have to be about killing and violence? Why is it necessary to make video games depicting crime and violence? Taking prayer out of our public schools in 1963 was certainly a huge factor in the downfall of our American society as well as removing the Ten Commandments.

Why are some so offended about the name of Jesus and the word of God? First of all Satan is alive and well and working his evil schemes in the heart of mankind. The Bible says in Proverbs 18:10(NIV) that ' the name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous run to it and are safe.' It is only through Jesus that you have eternal life.
There is good and evil in our world and yesterday's shootings were definitely in the very evil category. We need to pray for the families of the victims, the family of the shooter, and the entire community. Also pray for First Responders who had to come upon this unimaginable scene. Pray also for clergy and counselors in the area to use words of faith and wisdom in their counseling for the many people affected by this tragedy. Also pray for our government to not overreact to try to abolish our Second Amendment rights.

Once again we do not know why bad things happen to good people and especially to little children. This is not the time to get angry at God although many people do. They say 'why didn't you stop this Lord?' God can bring goodness out of tragedy although it may not seem so at the time.

In attempting to comfort those in grief, it is not the time to give them a bunch of Bible verses. It is time to be a friend and comfort them and pray for them.
Jeremiah 17:9 (NIV) says 'The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?' Mark 7:21(NIV) says 'for from within, out of man's hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder and adultery.' You can see from reading these two Bible verses how important it is to get your heart right with God. You keep it right by feeding it a steady diet of scripture. This is how you grow in love and learn to stop hating. For now we all need to simply keep all those involved in this senseless tragedy in our prayers.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus help us keep in the word of God and stay on the path of goodness and righteousness. We know Lord you too are hurting to see little children gunned down but we also pity this shooter who obviously had some problems. Father God we ask that you work something good out of all this tragedy. In Jesus' name. Amen.

BEST OF TIMES/WORST OF TIMES

If you are reading this and live in America you are pretty blessed. We have freedom to read our Bibles here. We have freedom of speech. We have a democracy, at least for now. Many times if people become complacent forces may "sneak" in and trick people to believe lies and destroy things. Many today are fearful we are on the brink of the worst financial crash ever, to include the weakening of our military strength. Spiritual blindness and deception has settled in primarily due to loyalty to a political party or a certain race. Many are in bubbles of protection thinking all is well. This is a recipe for disaster.

Recently I heard a couple of sermons on TV that said that God sometimes does His best work when times are hard and look hopeless. He does not want us to fear men but to trust in Him. When things look bleak, do not fear, but look to God.

There is a hymn, "This is my Father's World" and onc stanza says "and oh the wrong seems oft so strong God is the ruler yet." This says to me to not fear the tyrant, the dictator, the bully, the arrogant leader who gains pleasure from dividing the people he is to lead, but look to God. He is King of Kings and Lord of lords. We are to keep praying for our leaders whether we feel like it or not.

What is troubling you today? What are you afraid of? Can you and will you let Jesus be on the throne where He should be and cast your cares on Him?God is still on His throne ruling over all.

Psalm 46:1(KJV) says 'God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in time of trouble.'

PRAYER: You oh Lord are mighty, Holy, powerful, and in charge. I realize that the enemy is the one who causes me to fear. Help me Lord as I seek to focus on you and not the fears of the world. In Jesus' name.Amen.

Click on link below and listen and watch the video accompanying this praise song to be strengthened and blessed.

http://youtu.be/nAUIkDoD1QQ

BIRTHDAYS

We are coming upon the celebration of the birth of Christ. At this time of year thoughts turn to Jesus' birth. We all look forward to our birthdays, or at least you should. They are gifts from God. Today my beautiful mother is celebrating her 88th birthday! Birthdays are a reason to celebrate and for the birthday of the King of kings and Lord of lords, we should pull all the stops out.

Christmas is not about toys, gingerbread men, mistletoe, pretty light displays, holly, eggnog, and office parties often dubbed " holiday parties" but Christmas is for us to remember a baby born in a manger who came to save us from our sins. There is nothing wrong with making this a family time but Christ should stay in the center of your activities.

I am not sure why people have a hard time saying 'Merry Christmas' and instead opt for 'Happy Holidays". Maybe it is less threatening or less "religious" sounding. Perhaps you do not want to offend those who get uncomfortable with the name of Jesus. Funny but many who may say "holiday" in lieu of offending anyone with the word "Christmas" may be surprised that one of the definitions is "holy day". The word "Christmas" comes from the words "Christ's mass" or festival.

I do not have enough time in this writing to delve into where the red and green came from and all the rest of the man made traditions, but the important thing to remember is to be sure to not cut Jesus out of His own birthday celebration.
Start some Christian Christ-centered activities especially if you have children. Do not make it all about reindeer's, Santa, elves,and the North Pole. One thing we used to do is have a Happy Birthday Jesus cake. When one of our son's was a small child riding along in the shopping cart in a local store when asked if he was ready for Santa to come he bravely and boldly replied 'It's not Santa's birthday, it is Jesus' birthday". From the mouth of a child, pure truth and innocence.

So are you ready for the big birthday or are you worn out shopping and doing things you think people expect of you? Might I suggest making time for alone time with God where nothing noisy is distracting you and perhaps decide that this Christmas things will be different. Less commercial and more peace filled perhaps?

Take time December 25th and help celebrate the birth of a King.

Isaiah 9:6(NIV) says 'For unto us a child is born, a Son is given,and the government will be upon His shoulders and His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.'

PRAYER: Lord I want to have your peace only you can give this season of your birth. Help me not feel I have to fit into the world's mold of what is expected but do things to celebrate the Christ centered aspects of this special day all the while remaining peaceful. In Jesus' name.Amen.

Click link below to enjoy a familiar Christmas song:

http://youtu.be/GaxB0xEbO0c

WHO IS ON THE THRONE?

 

God is, that's who! Sometimes when the world situation looks dire you may tend to start to fret and fear men. Then is the time more than ever to run to God. We should never leave Him in the first place. Often we let someone else occupy the "throne" of our life without hardly giving God a thought except maybe on Easter and Christmas.

Here we are in the midst of the season of the Saviours' birth yet many still trust someone or some thing more than God who is King of kings and Lord of lords. You drive by homes decorated with snowmen, Santa, candy canes, and elves but baby Jesus is nowhere to be found. He has been "dethroned" by many people I am sad to say.

Christmas time can be hectic only because the world we may allow the world's idea of Christmas to influence us. Many decorate, scurry about, shop till there is no money left, bake cookies and gain weight. Where is Christ in all this activity? Is He even there at all? Why even bother if you leave Him out on His own birthday party. Can you imagine throwing a party for a birthday and not inviting the guest of honor? That is what many people do at Christmas.

This Christmas is Santa on the throne or the baby born in a manger? Is the purpose to just buy presents and eat ham and treats? The purpose is to pause and reflect on Jesus' birth and how thankful we are for Him. Can you let Him be on the throne of your life?

Luke 2:1(ESV) says 'For unto us is born this day in the City of David, a saviour who is Christ the Lord.'

PRAYER : I love you Lord and I thank you for the time of year to remember your birth help me Lord to keep your birthday alive 365 days a year and not just at Christmas. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Click on link and be blessed by a powerful worship song.

http://youtu.be/oYCcFtFwcxo