Awake from your slumber!

Luke 21:25
And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring;


Acts 2:20
“…and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:…”






Matthew 24:7
For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.




If we listen to the news we can see the events of the Bible coming to pass. We are fast approaching the time of the return of the Lord and the end of time.
Do you know Jesus, you must recieve Him as savior. It's more than to mentally acknowledge Him. You must be born again. He is the way, the only way.


John 10:1
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.
John 3:18
He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed (persuaded/confidence in) in the name of the only begotten Son of God.
ARE YOU READY TO ENTER ETERNITY?

3/25/2009 Pathways!

Psalms 119:105
Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
Sometimes we feel that we move along this path of life all alone. The path seems long and narrow. At times the only sound we can recognize are the echoing of our own steps, and that sound makes us feel that much more forsaken.
As we look ahead we realize that no one else can make this particular journey for us. It is ours and ours alone. No one else is able to walk it. If we don’t take this journey it will sit in the hollows of time empty and unused. This is our course and we must muster the strength to place one foot in front of the other.
The world is full of empty and unrealized lives because they could not deal with the overwhelming sense of helplessness and loneliness, so they checked out early. They had lost all hope. They felt as if their leaving was not dieing but relief from their pains and fears. Maybe their path was not lit.
But I know of one called Jesus, who is the oil of my joy, the hope of my end. When I feel alone and abandoned of human companionship He always touches and comforts me. When He found me I was a mess, so He touched me and changed every aspect of life.
I no longer look toward the worldly ends of things to gain but to the future with Jesus.
Philippians 3:14
I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
I have an unwavering promise that holds me, binds me and comforts me wherever I find myself.
Hebrews 13:5
“…I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee…”
As the picture above demonstrates, my path is lit, I’m not there yet but I have a prize in the future. It is my place of rest, promise and shelter in Christ. His Word shall forever light my way and I’ll never be left in the dark. His light goes ever before my face.
Romans 10:9-10
v9)That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

v10)For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
ARE YOU TRAVELING GODS’ LIGHTED PATH?

Sounds of the flow!

3/23/2009 Sounds of the flow!
Jeremiah 17:13
O LORD,….all that forsake thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the LORD, the fountain of living waters.
Whenever people see pictures like this, it always makes them feel good, rather they are Christians or not. Gods creation brings great joy to all people. They bask in His created natural world.
Almost every time a Christian sees a picturesque scene of a flowing river or water fall they immediately think of the scripture:
John 7:38
He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.
And this brings quite a reassuring feeling as we hope that in someway we may help others who don’t know Jesus come to invite Him in as their Savior. That we will let that river of life flow through us into another persons life.
And while this stands true in my own life, what I like to do is remember that I need to stay in the flow of his giving love, grace and mercy. That I do not forsake the “fountain of living waters”. I must remember, as in the picture above, the water begins from the top (God) and flows down to mankind (me). I must position myself in a place to stay under the flow from God.
I must never wonder or stray from that flow and believe me it’s very easy to become distracted. If I’m not careful before I know it I can be out in the wilderness where there is no flow. If I wonder to far I can’t hear the bustling sound of the flow to guide my way back.
It’s then that God comes in search of me, “for His mercy endureth forever” which is found in over 43 scriptures in the Bible.
ARE YOU STAYING CLOSE TO THE FLOW!

3/20/2009) Upheld by the power of His Word!

3/20/2009) Upheld by the power of His Word!
Colossians 1:17
And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
How could mankind ever believe the splendor of the universe just happened? That by some cosmic accident or bang, what we can see and know of our universe just happened.


Proverbs 3:5
Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
We must accept what "thus sayeth the Lord" and not trust in our own knowledge and wisdom. Take eggs for example, one group of people says it’ll kill, another says you must have it, and yet others say it doesn’t matter or makes no difference. Who do we trust???????? Who's man made wisdom do we believe???????????
I believe what is so dangerous about our food today is the chemicals that companies blast them with, steroids, growth hormones, ect….. God gave us dominion over the beasts, fowls and fish’s, and that dominion is to eat and be filled. (ps: we should never abuse them).
The awesomeness of the power God has instilled into the natural elements are amazing. Man has never built any structure that could completely withstand the onslaught of the forces of nature. Every time the natural forces eventually overcome and destroy mans architectural wonders.

Isaiah 42:5
“…God the LORD, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:…”

HAVE YOU BECOME WISE IN YOUR OWN EYES!

Raise your eyes

3/18/2009 Raise your eyes!
Psalms 121:1-2
v:1) I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help,
v:2) My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth.

At first glace this scripture seems old to many. They wonder what it means when the Word would tell us to look up to the hill or mountains or high places. As if this meant we should trust in some “thing” here in the created physical world.
This scripture is actually pointing and directing us to a higher place of confidence. It is saying that there is a higher source of authority from which flows total power that controls and over rides our physical reality.
When we find ourselves in the wine press of the enemy, being squeezed and buffeted from every direction, what are we to do? Where do we turn? Often in many American Christian lives, they have placed their confidence in relief systems and programs.
While these systems help numerous people and do good they have caused our faith to falter. No longer do many of Gods’ people turn to Him first and plead their case. I am not saying these systems don’t have their place in our society, but they should never take the place of God in the Christians’ confidence.
We are not to trust in abilities, powers or instruments of earthly kingdoms. They are not our provisions for whatever they can provide us are only temporary and never satisfy our deep seated needs.
The Christian congregation must return to believe that only in God is every need satisfied. That ultimately our situations will only change for the better through Christ.
Romans 8:28
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Look at this scripture closely. Notice it says very plainly “all things”. I believe all things are sometimes those hard, difficult and dreaded things that we often find ourselves in.
Psalms 23:4
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
1 Corinthians 10:13
There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

These two verse say that we will sometimes “walk through” and we will be “tempted”. Sometimes God has to allow us to go through things, He never removes all the valleys or temptations,
But this confidence we have; lift up our eyes to the hills from whence comes our help, his staff and rod will lead us for he shall make a way to deliver us.
WHAT DO YOU TOTALLY TRUST IN!

3/16/2009 Into all the world!
Ephesians 6:17
“…the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:…”
The Word is completely and totally about the Gospel of Christ. From start to finish the Bible is a written history of the works and purposes of Christ.


Mark 16:15
And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
As the Church of the risen living Christ, namely Jesus, what are we doing? I believe that most of the Body of Christ has become complacent about the expectation of the return of the Lord.
I believe He is soon to return and will catch many asleep or slumbering. We have been commissioned to go into all the earth and reveal the gospel to everyone.
Don’t we realize that this “WILL” happen and we are powerless to stop or hinder it. It will come to pass and we nor the forces of evil can thwart or encumber it.
But I fear we are impervious to the signs of the time. We see all that’s going on around us and are unmoved and worse unaffected for the cause of salvation. We do not ready ourselves in the face of impending events.
Matthew 24:14
And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
This scripture is fulfilled in our day with the advent of the world wide internet of electronic connections. It has arrived brothers and sisters, Christ is knocking at the very door of all the eternal predictions of His Word.
Daniel 12:4
But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.
This scripture was fulfilled in part in the days of Jesus and the Apostles after His death when further revelation of the mysteries (increased knowledge) of God were revealed to them, which are recorded in the New Testament. Now in our day the fullness of that scripture is fulfilled. We can contact someone from any country we chose simply by the internet and we can find out information about anything.
This increased knowledge is also the knowledge of the Gospel. The scripture simply says “knowledge”, there is no limit on what kind of knowledge. The war in Iraq is Gods’ purpose of getting the Gospel into that country where it has been suppressed for thousands of years. They have computers and tvs in homes like never before. They have an electronic means of getting knowledge including the Gospel.
Don’t be caught off guard or unawares;
Matthew 24:38
For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark,
…ARE YOU READY AND LOOKING FOR HIS RETURN?…

The sword of the Spirit

3/14/2009 The sword of the Spirit!
I have sit most of the day studying the Word. It has refreshed me so. As I read it the worlds problems and concerns seem so trivial, inconsequential and petty. Why do we as humans let this world bother us so much to the troubling of our own souls?
Jesus said in:

John 10:10
The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
I find my life a fulfillment of this scripture. When I let the worlds affairs and cares weigh me down, I feel destroyed, almost literally. The thief consumes me. But when I read the Word I feel the life giving refreshing power of it. All things become second in mind and matter.
2 Corinthians 4:9
Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;
I remember that the Lord Jesus has given to me promises that can not be broken or forsaken. As it says in Romans 3:4 “…let God be true, but every man a liar;..” No matter what man may say of me, curse me with, or try to afflict me with, Gods' Word over rides mans word at every turn. God can not fail!!!!!!!
Isaiah 55:11
So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
This is the most powerful scripture in the Bible. It ties every other verse in the Word of God together with a binding that can never be broken, shattered, destroyed, smashed, weakened or diminished in any way. This is the power scripture of the Bible.
Whatever God says in the Word, “it…shall…so…be…!!!”
Ephesians 6:17
And take…the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:
The word “sword” simply means a medium to long sharp instrument used in cutting & thrusting.
The word “word” simply means the living spoken word and utterances of God as recorded in the Bible.
2 Timothy 3:16
“…All scripture is given by inspiration of God,…”
2 Peter 1:21
For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
The word “moved” above, (in the original greek) relates the ideal of a boat being moved on the water by the wind. This gives us the ideal of the prophets being push or guided by the wind (Holy Ghost). So the origin of scripture all belongs to, or a better way to say it, proceeds from, God.
Hebrews 4:12
For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

The word “quick” means living.
The word “powerful” means active.
“Dividing asunder” simply means that it has the ability to do fine, precise surgical types of incisions.
The Word of God seizes the conscience of man and brings him to repentance. It will convince, convert, and comfort powerfully. It has the powerful to destroy Satan's kingdom and then raise up the Kingdom of God. The Word has the power to put to death the sinful lusts and corruption of men and women of all ages and bring eternal life to those who recieve Jesus.
HAVE-YOU-READ-YOUR-BIBLE-TODAY?