Endurance and Encouragement

Endurance and Encouragement

 

 

For whatever was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that we may have hope through endurance and through the encouragement from the Scriptures.  Now may the God who gives endurance and encouragement allow you to live in harmony with one another, according to the command of Christ Jesus, so that you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ with a united mind and voice.--------Romans 15: 4-6

 

The Holy Scriptures were written to give God’s Children INSTRUCTION as to HOW we should live out our FAITH and to give us a HOPE that will STAND STRONG throughout the ages.  And that HOPE comes through ENDURANCE and ENCOURAGEMENT that we receive from God’s Holy Word. 

 

Living the Christian life is DEFINITELY not for those who want to CONTROL their own lives nor for the WEAK and FAINTHEARTED.  It is not a WIMPY lifestyle.  Many have attempted to try to live by their own STRENGTH and CONTROL only to end up separating themselves from God and His family, because it is a lifestyle that is a CONSTANT BATTLEFIELD of the forces of GOOD and EVIL, and a Child of God NEEDS the ENDURANCE and ENCOURAGEMENT that ONLY the Holy God of this Universe can give to keep us in the battle and to bring us through as VICTORS.

 

When we give our HEARTS and LIVES over to the LORDSHIP of Christ Jesus, we can live VICTORIOUSLY because we have His ENDURANCE and ENCOURAGEMENT to continue on to the goal that we are STRIVING to reach.  We are NOT alone on this battlefield, we have the work of the Holy Spirit to assist us and we have the SUPPORT and UNITY of other believers, who are also in the battle.  

 

It is the will of Holy God that His Children live in PEACE and HARMONY, so that we might glorify God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ with a mind and voice that is UNITED on the battlefield. 

 

If you have NEVER given your HEART and LIFE to Jesus Christ, then you are on the losing side of this battle.  The VICTORY will be the LORD’S!  But you can come over to the WINNING SIDE by:  CONFESSING your sins to God and asking for His FORGIVENESS, BELIEVING, with ALL your HEART, that Jesus died for YOU and is ALIVE, in Heaven, making intercession for you, before God, then ACCEPT His gift of SALVATION.  Do it NOW, while you STILL can.  He’s waiting!!!

You Alone Are God!

You Alone Are God!

 

 

O Lord, You are so good, so ready to forgive, so full of unfailing love for all who ask for Your help.  For You are great and perform wonderful deeds.  You alone are God.--------Psalm 86:5,10

 

Have you EVER stopped and thought ‘just how GREAT the God we serve REALLY is?’  Well, let me tell you, it is AMAZING, His LOVE, MERCY, AND GRACE goes above and beyond ALL that we can EVER imagine.  How could anyone do what He has done for those who have, time and again, REJECTED, CURSED, and have committed HORRENDOUS SINS against Him, YET His UNFAILING LOVE for them caused Him to SACRIFICE His ONE and ONLY SON to SUFFER, beyond belief, the SHAME and DISGRACE of a COMMON CRIMINAL’S death on an old rugged cross. 

 

The Creator of this Universe and ALL that is in it, the KING OF KINGS and LORD OF LORDS, who committed NO SINS or CRIMES, yet because of the HATRED that consumed the hearts of His own countrymen, He shed His PRECIOUS BLOOD to pay the penalty for their and our sins, to prepare a WAY, for ALL who CALL on His name for their FORGIVENESS and SALVATION, to have an ETERNITY with Him in Heaven.  That is UNFAILING LOVE in its TOTALITY.  Only God ALONE can do for the CROWN of His creation, what NO OTHER god can do.

 

Are YOU experiencing God’s UNFAILING LOVE?   Have you CALLED on His name for YOUR SALVATION?  If NOT you can by:  CONFESSING your sins to God and asking Him for His FORGIVENESS, BELIEVING, with ALL your HEART, that Jesus died for YOU and is ALIVE in Heaven, making intercession for you, before God, then ACCEPT His gift of SALVATION.  DO it NOW, while you STILL can.  He’s waiting!!!

 

A Song to be Sung!

A Song to Be Sung

 

 

I will Praise You, Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to You among the nations.  For Your faithful love is as high as the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches the clouds.--------Psalm 57: 9-10

 

There are MANY songs that are sung that offer praises to our Lord.  Songs that offer up thanksgiving, songs that emphasize God’s ‘Amazing Grace’, songs that encourage us to have a ‘Closer Walk’ with Him, songs that gives us the ‘Blessed Assurance’ we need day in and day out. 

 

We lift our voices up in melodious sounds of praise EVERY SUNDAY, but what about the REST of the time?  If we have been ‘Washed in the Blood’ then we definitely have something to SING about ALL of the time, NOT just on Sundays in Church.  We as God’s Children NEED to SING because we DEFINITELY have SOMETHING to SING about and we NEED to let the WHOLE WORLD KNOW IT.  The Psalmist says:  “I will sing praises to You, Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to You among the nations.”  Now I know we can’t go all around the world singing to EVERY nation.  But when we SEND our MISSIONARIES to the foreign lands, and SUPPORT them with our prayers and offerings, in essence, we are using them to be our voice and when they and their converts offer the Lord praises in song we are a part of that PRAISE and WORSHIP. 

 

They are singing the ‘Song of the Redeemed’ and we are a part of the REDEEMED. And the ‘SONG OF THE REDEEMED’ is the BEST SONG OF ALL.  The ONE SONG that touches the very HEART of ALMIGHTY GOD, and we lift our voices to Him because of His FAITHFUL LOVE, of which there is NO COMPARISON.  His FAITHFUL LOVE is as HIGH as the heavens, and His FAITHFULNESS reaches the clouds, and that my dear brothers and sisters is REASON ENOUGH to SING PRAISES to the KING of kings and LORD of lords, for ‘Worthy is the Lamb!’ 

 

If you have NEVER given your HEART and LIFE to the Lord Jesus Christ, then you are not REDEEMED and you can’t SING the ‘Song of the Redeemed.’  And you can’t experience the FAITHFUL LOVE and the FAITHFULNESS of the FATHER of the REDEEMED.  But YOU can CHANGE your situation by:  CONFESSING your sins to God and asking for His FORGIVENESS, BELIEVING, with ALL your HEART that Jesus died for YOU, and is ALIVE in Heaven, making intercession for you, before God, then ACCEPT His gift of SALVATION.  Do it NOW, while you STILL can. He’s waiting!!!

Faith by Hearing!

Faith by Hearing!

 

 

I want to know only one thing.  How were you given God’s Spirit?  Was it by obeying the Law of Moses or by hearing about Christ and having faith in Him?  God gives you His Spirit and works miracles in you.  But does He do this because you obey the Law of Moses or because you have heard about Christ and have faith in Him?-------Galatians 3:2,5

You were saved by faith in God, who treats us much better than we deserve.  This is God’s gift to you, and not anything you have done on your own.--------Ephesians 2: 8

 

Paul is asking the Galatians exactly how they acquired their SALVATION, was it by their obedience to the Law of Moses (the Ten Commandments), or was it by HEARING about Christ and HAVING FAITH in Him?  You receive the Holy Spirit of God, when you have become a Child of the Living God and Paul was asking if they believed they received God’s Spirit by their obedience to the Law of Moses or by their hearing of Christ and then having FAITH in Him.  Then Paul goes on to say:  “God gives you His Spirit and works miracles in you.  But does He do this because you obey the Law of Moses or because you have heard about Christ and have faith in Him?”  In other words, did your SALVATION come by your GOOD WORKS or by FAITH IN CHRIST JESUS? 

 

The answer we see is in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, chapter two:  Paul says:  “You were SAVED by FAITH in God,” not by ANYTHING we have done.  If a person is depending on getting to Heaven by their GOOD WORKS, they are deceiving themselves. Our SALVATION is through our FAITH in the Lord Jesus Christ and not by anything we do or have done.  OUR righteousness is like FILTHY, PUTRID rags to Almighty God. We can obtain a GODLY RIGHTEOUSNESS, ONLY, through our FAITH in the shed blood of God’s Spotless Lamb, Jesus Christ, not by keeping the Ten Commandments or ANY other way.  Jesus, Himself, says that:  He is the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE, and NO ONE comes to the Father, but by Him. (John 14:6)

 

So if you are depending on YOUR GOOD WORKS, you are a DOOMED person.  You NEED to STOP depending on YOUR GOOD WORKS and depend on GOD’S GOOD WORK, through FAITH in God’s ONLY BEGOTTEN SON, the LORD JESUS CHRIST, and you do that by:  CONFESSING your sins to God and asking Him for His FORGIVENESS, BELIEVING, with ALL your HEART, that Jesus died for YOU and is ALIVE in Heaven, making intercession for you before God, then ACCEPT His gift of SALVATION.  Do it NOW, while you STILL can.  He’s waiting!!!

 

 

 

Pray in the Spirit!

Pray in the Spirit!

 

 

Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion.  Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.--------Ephesians 6:18

 

 

Prayer is our way of communicating with our Heavenly Father, God.  There are many types of prayer, but one that is needed and coveted is the prayer of INTERCESSION.  This is coming to God, the Father, on behalf of someone else and their need. 

 

In today’s verse, the Apostle Paul urges the Ephesians to “PRAY in the SPIRIT at ALL times and on EVERY OCCASION.  When we pray under our OWN power or WITHOUT the help of the HOLY SPIRIT of God, then our PRAYERS are nothing more than words.  We need to be LED by the SPIRIT when we come before God’s presence with INTERCESSION for others. 

 

Paul urges us to PRAY at ALL times and on EVERY OCCASION.  This means that we need to be in a CONSTANT attitude of prayer.  It doesn’t mean that we should walk around chanting little prayers, but it does mean that we should have a HEART and MIND that is ALWAYS in a PRAYERFUL MODE.  So that we are able to lift up our prayers at anytime and anywhere.  We should be able to allow the Spirit of Holy God to use our minds to quietly voice our petitions of prayer to the Father, WHENEVER it is NECESSARY.  It is the work of God’s Spirit to pray for us at times when we are at a loss of words or when we are so moved that we can’t VOICE our petitions. He is there to VOICE them for us.  

 

Paul says:  “Stay alert and be persistent in our prayers for ALL believers EVERYWHERE.” As Children of God we are ALWAYS to intercede for our fellow brothers and sisters in the Lord wherever they may be.  And Paul says we are to “stay alert and be persistent,” because we are continually in Satan’s crosshairs, in other words, he is ALWAYS waiting to use his powers against us to STOP us from furthering the GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST,” and if we fail to be ALERT and PERSISTENT in our prayers for other believers then they are at RISK.  We ALL NEED to be PRAYER WARRIORS, willing to STAND in the GAP for our brothers and sisters in the Lord.

 

If you have NEVER given your HEART and LIFE to the Lord, then you are NOT a Child of the LIVING GOD.  And the ONLY prayer that God will hear from you right now is your prayer of REPENTANCE,  You can NOT come into His presence with any need until you:  CONFESS your sins to Him and ask for His FORGIVENESS, BELIEVING with ALL your HEART, that Jesus died for YOU and is ALIVE, in Heaven, making INTERCESSION for you, before God, then ACCEPT His gift of SALVATION,  and His Spirit will abide in you and you will then be able to come into His presence and offer up your prayers, knowing that He hears and will answer.   Do this NOW, while you STILL can.  He’s waiting!!!

 

 

Living in Harmony

Living in Harmony

 

 

How wonderful and pleasant it is when brothers live together in harmony!  Harmony is as refreshing as the dew from Mount Hermon that falls on the mountains of Zion.  And there the LORD has pronounced His blessing, even life everlasting.---------Psalm 133:1,3

 

 

Harmony------‘peaceable or friendly relations.’   It is the desire of our Heavenly Father, God Almighty for ALL of His Children to live in PEACE AND HARMONY with each other. 

 

I have been in some churches, among people who have PROFESSED to be Christians, but they cannot live in HARMONY, UNITY or PEACE with anybody else who PROFESSES to be Christian.  Thus the atmosphere is filled with TURMOIL, TENSION, DIVISION, and in some cases even HATRED and I ask myself, ‘how can they possibly call or consider themselves to be Children of the Living God?’  This is not the way God intends for His Children to act. 

 

It gives Satan ‘free reign’ and makes the church his ‘playground’ where he is able to influence and control people who are at work to NOT live together in harmony.  Especially if they want to control everything that happens within the church.  They go to work stirring up HOSTILITIES and HEARTACHES among God’s people.  And the one thing that Almighty God REALLY, I mean, REALLY HATES, HE ABHORS IT, is:  ‘the one who sows discord among brothers.’  (Prov. 6:19)

 

Do you fit in that category? Are YOU sowing seeds of discord or dissention among God’s Children?  If you are involved in the devil’s schemes to defame and shame God’s church. You are playing with fire.  God WILL NOT stand for it.  YOU will come under God’s condemnation.  You NEED to REPENT and SIN NO MORE!!  Turn over a NEW leaf and live a life that is PLEASING and ACCEPTABLE to HOLY RIGHTEOUS GOD. 

 

If you have NEVER TRULY given your HEART and LIFE to God, then chances are you are or have participated in bringing DISSENTION to God’s Children at some point in time.  Maybe you are someone who has never entered a church door and therefore have NEVER had the opportunity to give your HEART and LIFE to God, but whatever the case, you have the opportunity to make things RIGHT between YOU and GOD NOW by:  CONFESSING your sins to God and asking Him for His FORGIVENESS, BELIEVING with ALL your HEART, that Jesus died for YOU and is ALIVE, in Heaven, making intercession for you, before God, then ACCEPT His gift of SALVATION.  Do it NOW, while you STILL can.  He’s waiting!!!

God's Awesome Presence and Protection!!

God’s Awesome Presence and Protection!

 

 

As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds His people, from this time forth and forevermore.---------Psalm 125:2

 

Isn’t it a MARVELOUS feeling to KNOW, I mean REALLY KNOW that God’s ALMIGHTY PRESENCE AND PROTECTION SURROUNDS HIS CHILDREN?  He is a LOVING, COMPASSIONATE FATHER, who DEEPLY LOVES HIS own, and will be with us CONTINUALLY through EVERY situation.  He will NEVER forsake or leave us ALONE to fight our own battles or to go through SORROW, HEARTACHE, and DESPAIR.  All we NEED to do is to CALL ON HIM and then TRUST HIM to take us through EACH situation we encounter.  None of us know what tomorrow will bring but God does KNOW and He is READY and WILLING to take our hand and lead us through the UNKNOWN.  Don’t shut Him out, but OPEN WIDE the door of your HEART and let Him come in.

 

He is STRONG and MIGHTY to SAVE us!  And one way or another He WILL BE VICTORIOUS!  Don’t you want to be on the WINNING SIDE?  There’s ONLY ONE WAY to be a part of His team and that is if you are a part of His family.  He LOVES YOU and WANTS to be a BIG PART of your life, if you will just SURRENDER ALL to Him, you too will EXPERIENCE His LOVING PRESENCE and AWESOME PROTECTION and all you have to do is:  CONFESS your sins to God and ask for His FORGIVENESS, BELIEVING, with ALL your HEART that Jesus died for YOU and is ALIVE in HEAVEN making intercession for you, before God, then ACCEPT His gift of SALVATION.  Do it NOW, while you STILL can.  He waiting!!!