Stop Fretting!!

This is the day the LORD has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.  Ps. 118:24  If the news that you see on TV is starting to depress you, stop listening to it.  Yes, we need to be informed as to what is going on in the world.  But, we should not be obsessed with it.  There are so many things that we can and should be grateful for.  Like for example, did you get up this Morning?! Are you still breathing?  Do you have food to eat, clothes to wear, etc..

Satan tries to draw our attention away form the good that God has and is doing in our lives.  Stop fretting about what you don’t have and start thanking Him for what you do have.  Phil. 4:6-7 tell us, Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. And again, in Ps. 55:22 he instructs us to:  Cast your cares on the LORD and He will sustain you;  he will never let the righteous fail.

Not matter what is going on in your life, God knows it and He has the answer for you.  All you need to do is reach out to Him.  Put your hope in the LORD, for with the LORD is unfailing love and with Him is full redemption.  Ps. 130:7

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Rom. 15:13

If you don’t know Him, take heart, you can.  Go to Him confess your sins to Him and He will forgive you.  (1 John 1:9)  Ask Him to come into your heart and life.  He will!!  Don’t wait a moment longer.  He’s just waiting for you to invite Him in.  It’s the Best decision you’ll ever make.  God bless.

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Speak Up

Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.  1 Pet. 3: 15  God is truth and because of that, you can be secure in his promises; you don’t need to wonder if he will change his plans.  Our hope is secure and immovable, anchored in God, just as a ship’s anchor holds firmly to the seabed. 

To the true seeker who comes to God in belief, God gives an unconditional promise of acceptance.  We don’t need to be pushy about telling people about God’s goodness, but we do need to step us and proclaim what God has done in our lives.  We need to encourage those that we know, that God is alive and He does care about them. We can respectfully tell others about the Goodness of Christ.  We can say with all confidence that no one else gives us unconditional love.  God accepts us as we are.  He loves us just the way we are, but He loves us too much to leave us that way.

God is love, and he who abides in love, Abides in God and God in him.  If you don’t know God, you can right now.  If you have not made Jesus Christ your LORD and Savior, now is the time.  Confess your sins to Him and ask Him to forgive you and come into your heart and life.  Do it now.  It’s the Best Decision you’ll every make.  God Bless!!!!!!!

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Mercy

The faithful love of the LORD never ends!*  His mercies never cease.  23 Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.  24 I say to myself, “The LORD is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in Him!”  Lam. 3:22-24  We need to thank God for not giving us what we deserve.  We deserve to be consumed by God because of our sin.  But God in His infinite mercy, shows us compassion and unconditional love. He offers us hope and joy.  The world is very quick to condemn us, but God’s Word says in Rom. 8: 1-2  So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.  2 And because you belong to him, the power* of the life-giving Spirit has freed you* from the power of sin that leads to death.  Without Jesus, we would have no hope at all.  He took all of our sins to the cross.  And, because of the shedding of His precious blood, we have been given the power to say no to temptation, which causes us to sin.

If you are caught in the trap of sin, just reach out and take the Hand of Jesus that is extended out to you.  It does not matter how many times you fall, it matters how many times you get up.  You are not a failure until you stop trying.  Jesus is our help, our rock, our refuge, our hiding place.  He loves you so much.  Just the way you are.

If you have not received Jesus as your LORD and Savior, you can right now.  Confess your sins to Him, ask Him to forgive you and come into your heart and life.  It’s the Best Decision you’ll ever make.  God Bless!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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The God of All Hope

Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.  Heb. 11:1  In the world that we live in today, it is hard to hang on to hope.  But, that is exactly what we must do.  We are all facing giants of one kind or another.  We cannot rely on ourselves.  The only hope that we can have is in God.  He alone holds our times in His hands.  We can believe Him because of His character.  He is the God of all hope!  He has said in His Word, He will never leave you, nor forsake you (Heb. 13:5).  He knows everything that you have gone through and are going through right now.  All you need to do is to look to Him and ask Him to help.  He will sustain you through it all, and He is with you always even to the end of the earth..

As you begin each day I pray that “The God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 15:13).  The world would have you believe that all hope is lost.   But, I’m here to tell you that as long as you look to God, the creator of the universe and everything in it, you will never be without hope.

If you have not made Jesus the LORD and Savior of your life, if you want to experience that hope that I’m speaking about, You Can.  Confess your sins to Him and ask Him to forgive you and cleanse you and come into your heart and life.  He will.  He loves you.  Just as you are, but too much to leave you there.  Do it now!  It’s the Best Decision you’ll ever make.  God Bless!!!!!

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Hope is Yours Through Christ

Ps. 130:7 Put your hope in the LORD, for with the LORD is unfailing love and with him is full redemption.  Are you laboring under the assumption that all hope is lost?   That you have done so much wrong in your life, that no one will ever love you, or make things right again?   Well, I have good news for you.  There is someone that has seen and heard everything that you have ever done in your life (good or bad) and loves you still.  His name is Jesus and with Him is forgiveness, mercy, and hope.  All you have to do is confess your sins to Him and ask Him to come into your life. 

Sound to good to be true, read it for yourself in 1John 1:9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.  And again he says in 1John 2:1,2 My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin.  But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father.  He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous.  2He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins–and not only our sins but the sins of the world. 

We have the best defense attorney.  Jesus Christ.  He paid the price for our sin that we never could.  Satan wants to keep on reminding us of our unworthiness.  In ourselves, we are unworthy, but through the blood of Jesus we have been made worthy and righteous.  There is nothing that we have done on this earth, that cannot be washed clean by the blood of Jesus.  His blood covers every sin imaginable!  Alleluia!!!!

So I say to you, if you have not made Jesus the LORD and Savior of your life, you are missing the hope for a blessed future.  But, you can change that right now.  Just confess, from your heart, that you are a sinner in need of a Savior.  Ask Him to forgive you and come into your heart and life.  He’s just waiting for the invitation.  Do it now.  It’s the Best Decision you’ll ever make.  God Bless!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Faith to Move Mountains

Though you have not seen Christ, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.  1Pet. 1: 8-9  Because we know God holds our future, we can rest assure that he is aware of everything.  He has our best interest at heart.  With that in mind we must faithfully serve him, no matter what the circumstances.  This may mean that you may have to swallow your pride and apologize for your part of the conflict, to keep peace, even if you weren’t the one to cause the conflict .  By doing so you are honoring God and trusting that He will make right all wrongs.   He alone can move the mountains in your life.

We have to remember that 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.  Heb. 11: 6   We need to encourage others to seek God.  To read the Good News (the Bible) so that they can know the hope we have. God says that all that diligently seek him will find him.  Jesus made it possible for us to have a loving relationship with the Creator of the Universe.  God wants our trust and faith, even while we wonder about the different situations in our lives, and how they are going to be resolved.  Have faith in Him because He will never let you down.

Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.  Heb. 11:1  To believe and have faith in God you need to know Him.  Do you know Him?  The way to get to know Him is the same way you get to know anyone.  You have to spend time with Him.  Read His Word, find out about His character. 

If you don’t know Him, you can right now.  Confess that you are a sinner in need of a Savior.  Ask Him to forgive you and to cleanse you.  Ask Jesus to come into your heart and life.  Ask Him to be the Lord of your life.  It’s the Best Decision you’ll ever make.  God Bless!!!!!!!!!!!

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Give Me Hope!

Jesus said, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  Matt. 11:28-29  We are being bombarded with so much today.  The media is constantly feeding our fear.  With news flashes of how many more businesses have let so many people go.  How the stock market is falling more and more everyday.  The possibility of banks foreclosing on houses, the rate of crime increasing, the price of everything going up daily.    If we listen to the news all the time we will become almost frozen with fear.  But, Jesus says to us Cast all your anxiety on Him because he cares for you.  1Pet. 5: 7 

 Carrying your troubles, cares, and worries shows that you are not trusting God.  You are trying to figure out a solution to the problems in your life.   Pride gets in the way.  We think that we can handle everything that comes our way.   But, what we have to realize is we can do nothing without God.  He knows all and He can Do all!  Sometimes we feel that we have sinned and consequently have caused our own problems.  But, if we know that we have sinned and we confess it, God is faithful to forgive us.  (1 John 1: 9)

John Hage made a statement that has stayed with me.  He says “what man gives to you, man can take away, but what God gives to you, no man can take away.”  That is so true.  When you remember that God is your provider, you will be more encouraged.  Take your eyes off the news and trust in God. 

It is one thing to be informed, it’s another thing to be obsessed.  When we find ourselves checking the news whenever it’s available, we are obsessing.  We need to step back and let God be God.  The Bible says:  When I said, “My foot is slipping,” your love, O LORD, supported me.  When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul.  Ps. 94: 18-19  God is a refuge for us and he is a stronghold in times of trouble.  We just  need to lean on and trust in Him.  He is ever-present in our troubles.  If we trust in Him we do not need to fear.  Find rest in God alone, for your salvation comes from Him.  We can run to him and He will hide us in the shelter of His love.

So let not your heart be troubled, let God take hold of your hand and listen to Him when He says, Do not fear, I will help you.  God is the ONLY ONE who will not let you down.  He says in His Word:  Put your hope in the LORD, for with the LORD is unfailing love and with Him is full redemption.  Ps. 130: 7  And again:   This I call to mind and therefore I have  hope:  Because of the LORD’S great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail…The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks Him.

If you don’t know this God that can help, now is the time to get to know Him.  Confess from a sincere heart, your sins to Him and ask Him to forgive you and come into your heart and life.  He’s just waiting for you to call out to him.  And when you do, you will find the hope that I’ve been talking about.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Rom. 15: 13 

Ask God in, trust in Him, it’s the Best Decision you’ll every make.  God Bless!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Are You Losing It?!

Don’t lose the innocence!!!!!!!!  When we are born and up until a certain age, (and for everyone that age is different) we all have a sense of awe with what the LORD is able to do.  We don’t even question the miracles.  We just accept them at face value.   We know that God exists and we feel sad for those that don’t.    In fact, we wonder why they don’t believe  that He is, when it is so obvious.  Do you ever wonder why children can fall asleep so quickly and sleep with such abandon?!  It’s because, in a normal child’s life, life is very simple, and unencumbered.  They just trust and accept.  That’s how God wants us to be with Him.

13One day some parents brought their childrwn to Jesus so He could touch and bless them.  But the disciples scolded the parents for bothering him.

14 When Jesus saw what was happening, he was angry with his discipes.  He said to them, Let the children come to me.  Don’t stop them!  For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children.  15 I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child willl never enter it.” Mark 10: 14-15 

How can you “receieve the Kingdom of God like a child”?  Adults considering the Christian faith for the first time will have life experiences that take them way past the ability to be as innocent as children.  Jesus does not ask us to put aside our experiences, but recognize its need for the sovereign God; adult moral defensiveness must humble itself before the holy God; and adult skeptical toughness must soften before the loving God.  Children do not feel supremely powerful, perfectly righteous, or totally autonomous.  These are adult fantasies.  Coming to Jesus means to accept his goodness on your behalf, confess your need, and commit your life to his tender guidance.

  Just trust that He who holds our lives in His very capable hands, knows what we need or want before we do.  After all He created us.

Too many times as we get older we start hearing the noises of the world, rather than believe the wonders of the creator.  The world tells us we need to grow up and stop believing in things we cannot see.  But what the world does not realize is that God is more real now than what they think is real. 

14Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne.

Unfailing love and truth walk before you as attendants

15 Happy are those who hear the joyful call to worship,

for they will walk in the light of your presence, LORD.  Ps. 89:14-15

Righteousness, justice, love, and truth are the foundation of Gods throne; they are central characteristics of the way God rules. (Life Study Application commentary)

For us, it should be enough to know that the one who holds our very next breath in His power, loves us and is more than capable of providing all that we need.  We don’t have to understand everything, we just need to develop that child like trust that will enable us to believe that what God says in His Word is the Truth and we can live our lives based on it. 

The world will lie to us, but God cannot lie.  So we have to make a decision; do we believe what the world says, or will we trust the Word of God which has been around since the beginning of time;   1In the beginning the Word already existed.  The Word was with God, and the Word was God.     (John 1:1) 

If you want to recapture that innocence, ask the LORD to be your LORD and Savior.  Confess that you have sinned, and ask Him to forgive you, He will.  He’s just waiting to be asked.  It’s the best decision you’ll ever make.  God Bless!!

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Worry: Stop It

We worry about everything.  We worry about whether or not we’ll have a job; enough money to last us; whether or not people will like us, whether or not we’ll get that promotion, whether or not we look good etc..  We can worry about the least little things.  But God’s word says do not worry.  In Matt. 6: 25-27  That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life–whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear.  Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing?  26 Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them.  And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are?  27 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?

Instead of worrying we need to just trust that the God that created you, the universe, and everything in it, is capable of taking care of all that you need.  God wants us to have faith in Him.  He will never let us down.

Worry does a lot of harm to us.  It causes mental anguish, which causes us to have bad eating habits, which causes us to either lose or gain weight, which causes us to have bad health.  When we are worrying we are not focusing on the goodness of God.  All that he is doing for us.  He does not want things in our lives that are taking His place.  In Jer. 29:11 He says:  For I know the plans I have for you, says the LORD.  “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. 

God knows the future.  He will go with us wherever He sends us.  He has said that He will never leave us or forsake us.  (Deut. 31:8)  We can have hope that is boundless with God.  He knows what it will take to meet all of our needs.  He knows our needs better than we do.    Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  Phil. 4: 6,7  Casts your cares, commit you way to the LORD, keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have.  That is the key to living a worry free life.

If you are a worry wart, STOP IT RIGHT NOW!!!  God has your future in hand.  If you don’t know Him, you can right now.  Admit that you are a sinner in need of a Savior and ask Him to forgive you and come into your heart and your life.  He will and when He does He will teach you how to worry no more.  It’s the best decision you can make for your future.  God Bless

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Make the Hurt Go Away

I was sitting at my computer today and I just sensed the prompting of the Holy Spirit to address the issue of hurt.  I don’t know what the Hurt is,  whether it is physical, emotional, or mental, but I can assure you that God does.  We all experience hurt of some kind or another, our first step is to acknowledge that we have been hurt and then ask God to help us forgive the person who hurt us. There is healing in forgiveness. He knows what you’ve been through and He knows what you are going through right now. He wants you to know that you can have peace, if you turn to Him.  But, realize that if you don’t forgive, God will not forgive you. So, you can see that to experience true healing, we must forgive. After all we have all been guilty of hurting someone at one time or another. And we hope that we have been forgiven also by those we have hurt. It doesn’t matter where you’ve been or what you’ve done, He’s waiting for you to reach out to Him. 

God’s Word says: Seek peace and pursue it.  For the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer. (1Pet. 3: 11-12)  The Word of God is full of scriptures that tell of God’s peace.  One such scripture is: “Peace, peace, to those far and near,” says the LORD.  (Isaiah 56:19)  “And I will heal them.”  That includes you.  You don’t have to suffer the desolation of feeling you’re all alone.  Or that God could not possibly love you.   It doesn’t matter how far away from the LORD you’ve been, you can come to Him.  He will receive you with open arms.  Nothing you’ve done, or nothing that’s been done to you, can cancel out the LOVE of GOD!!!!  If you will call out to the LORD, this is what He promises:  I the LORD will be their God…I will make a covenant of peace with them…I will bless them and the places surrounding my hill.  I will send down showers in season; there will be showers of blessing.  (Ezekiel 34: 24-26)  God wants to bless you.  Yes, you can believe that!!!  Do not go by the opinion of the world.  The world is very cold, it will tell you that you have done too many bad things, or that you don’t deserve any blessings.   None of us in our own would be worthy of anything good.   But, that is not what God says: (Rom. 5:8)  But God demonstrates his own love for us in this:  While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.   And also it is written:  John 3: 16 For God loved the world so much that he gave his One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. 

So, you see that the requirement, to become one of His, is to believe in the LORD Jesus and you will be saved.  God said: whosoever will.  Are you a whosoever, than you are a candidate for God’s grace and His peace. You can become one of his saints.  Examine your heart and admit that you are a sinner in need of a Savior.  Ask Jesus to forgive you and come into your heart and your life.  He will and then you will be an inheritor to his promises.  God’s Word says: The LORD gives strength to his people; the LORD blesses his people with peace.  (Ps. 29:11)  Also, I will listen to what God the LORD will say; he promises peace to his people, his saints. (Ps. 85:8)

God’s Word (the Bible) is the perfect manual for living a life full of purpose, hope, joy and peace.  Don’t live another day full of despondency and darkness.   Don’t waste another moment.   Call out to the LORD, He will here and He will answer.  God loves all of His creation, give Him a chance to show you just how much He loves you.  To Him you are very special.   God Bless!!!!

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