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Showing posts from September, 2021

CAPTIVATED BY CHRIST

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          You have heard the saying, “Garbage in, garbage out.” However, the converse to that can be applied just as easily. Purity or Cleanliness in, Purity and Cleanliness out. I would venture to say that many times whether the input is garbage or pure content, the choice is ours. All of us need to make better decisions, however I encourage my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to really focus on their total engagement with Jesus and His Holy Spirit.           As mentioned, we have inputs – the eyes and ears. These we use for our sight and hearing. We have a processor called the mind. This we use to grow or evolve our thought and emotional life. Then we have our output – the mouth. Here we have the tongue that forms words which holds the power of life and death (Proverbs 18:21) . So, in order to show the importance of the whole Christian needing to be captivated by Christ, every moment of every day, let’s break down these ...

GOD WILL TAKE CARE OF OUR PATHS

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  "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on you own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him and He will make your paths straight." (Proverbs 3:5-6)           Straight paths are preferred by many but some like to take the scenic route in life. Whether or not we choose to have crooked roads that lead to meandering, indecision and procrastination in our lives - God can make our paths straight.            However, there is a price for all this Road Construction (Pathway) . The Christian must: Trust in the Lord with all their heart Lean not on your own understanding In all your ways submit to Him then the Lord will do His part -  He will make your paths straight.           Why is the work ratio heavy on our part? Because our will, our nature, this side of Heaven is always battling God's will.            Straight paths lead to clear dir...

KEEP YOUR SIGHT ON GOD

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                    There are many uses of the word "sight" in Scripture. There is the biological sense of vision. The phrase "in God's sight" is loaded with concepts such as God's view, God's perspective, God's knowledge-of or God's presence. Then there is living by faith not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7) yet if we keep our sight set on God, life tends to go as it should.           However, do we live as though God's gaze or sight is everywhere? There is nothing that shocks or surprises God. There is not anywhere God does not want believers to be holy and blameless before Him. Paul speaks to the omnipresence of God, especially with Christians and uses the word "sight" to convey that idea when he says, "For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight." (Ephesians 1:4)           If God can see you and God is everywhere, esp...

FAITHFUL INTERCEDERS

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                    In a world that is filled with more unreliability and deceptiveness everyday, I am so glad I have as my friend someone known as Faithful and True -  Christ Jesus -  Revelation 3:14 and 19:11 .           There are so many times when I fail myself, I fail others, I fail God and others disappoint me.  The Lord knows I have taken His presence through some bad decisions. But even through all this He has not left me. He was, is and will always be Faithful. T he times when I feel neglected by God is when I'm basing my judgment on feelings not God's Word, Spirit or testimony of what He has done in my life and others around me.           Did you know that The Trinity has two of its members that minister as interceders for believers? In Romans 8, Paul encouraged the believers in Rome and all through the ages that Christ and the Holy Spirit are ...

A MESSAGE FOR THE YOUTH

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Ecclesiastes 11:9 "You who are young, be happy while you are young, and let your heart give you joy in the days of your youth. Follow the ways of your heart and whatever your eyes see, but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment."           When anything is judged, the result is either approval, needs improvement or failed. King Solomon, perhaps by experience, but certainly by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, encouraged young people to be happy, to follow their heart and their eyes but know this - it had better line up with what God wants for your life.            Ever heard the expression - Sow Your Wild Oats Early? This simply means an individual got their experimentation with touching the hot stoves of life out of the way. Though many of us go through this stage, there is no need for it. We can be happy while we are young and not receive the failed judgment rendering. A good start ...

THE APPROACHABLE SOVEREIGN

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                    The idea of the Sovereignty of God must be accepted for life to have meaning. Any option welcomed in place of this doom existence to oblivion. The vehicle for accepting the Planner God, the Creator God and Master of it All or Sovereign God is faith. There is no way around faith. About faith, Scripture says, "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see." (Hebrews 11:1)           However, now that we know what faith is, God's Word goes a few steps further in accepting His existence. The Bible speaks to the power of faith and the lack thereof through the writer of Hebrews and Paul. The writer of Hebrews says, "And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him." (Hebrews 11:6)           Then Paul adds, "For ...

DUE DILIGENCE

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          Back in the times of kings, queens, counts, ladies and knights there was an expectation by these individuals and the rest of royalty to attend the Royal Court activities. Their attendance and contribution to the events of the day in court was their way of due diligence to the King and kingdom.           Today, two of the ways Americans show their due diligence is to vote and answer the summons to appear in court as a member of a jury. The dictionary defines diligent or diligence as constant in effort to accomplish something; attentive and persistent in doing anything .            When I researched the words diligent or diligence in Scripture, the references were to the consistent work on The Temple, not giving-up in your own personal faith journey ( Heb. 6:10-12 ), being persistent with your gift from God ( 1 Tim. 4:14-16 ) and if you consider yourself a leader, then being  s...