Sunday, February 14, 2016

Let Faith Arise!

They had been through a tornado of F-5 proportions. For 3 years they had followed Jesus – camping, traveling and sharing meals daily. All he taught them had pierced their hearts with fire.

He said he would restore the kingdom to Israel but then they crucified him. They killed him dead! If that was not enough, he was buried, not like God, but like a human. Then his body disappeared from its tomb! Woe to us all!!

But then he reappeared as alive as you and me and proved to us in multiple ways YES it was HE! Wait...what? He who said He was God was God but then they KILLED him? And how can GOD be KILLED? But then he wasn't just human because HE ROSE FROM THE DEAD! But it doesn't surprise us because we've seen what He can do!

And here he is... talking with us and explaining what needed to be done. “Stay here in Jerusalem and wait for the gift my Father promised”, he said. And he left us. Again. In those years we had walked with our teacher he had been right there to tell us what to do....to instruct us and mentor us hands-on. So, HOW are we supposed to fulfill all that needs to be done without Him?. Jesus..where are you? Help us!

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” Acts 2:1-4

We are all faced with times when we feel as though Jesus has disappeared. We have all tread water through those storms where we cry out and wait in silence. When we feel like we are on our own. But we are never on our own. Jesus explained in john 14 that he would ask his father (God) and God would send another advocate - The Spirit of Truth – to help you. In Acts 1 Jesus says, YOU WILL RECEIVE POWER WHEN THE HOLY SPIRIT COMES ON YOU. AND YOU WILL BE MY WITNESSES...TELLING PEOPLE ABOUT ME.” In fact, you will do greater things than I have.

And the stage was set...Jesus knew that he had to leave earth so the very power that empowered him...would be sent and made available to each one who asked for Him.. He who is called the Holy Spirit, God's Spirit the Counselor, friend and helper.
How deep is God's love for us that he sent the Holy Spirit to be all that Jesus had been in the flesh.

Alone? You are not alone for you are filled with the power of heaven! Let your Faith arise!

I lift my hands to believe again
You are my refuge, You are my strength
As I pour out my heart, these things I remember
You are faithful, God
You are faithful, God, forever

LET MY FAITH ARISE!

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Remember What You Know.

Today I am reading Deuteronomy 26.  Moses is instructing the Israelites on "How to do life" after they had entered into the promised land.




Do you remember the story?  God used Moses to free His chosen people from slavery and oppression in Egypt.  And though it took 40 years of wandering in the desert places, God finally delivered them into their promised land. 




Gods instruction was clear and had a purpose.  He said, "When you have entered the land the Lord your God is giving you and you take it and possess it -- take some of the first fruits and put them in a basket.  Go to Gods dwelling place and say the following to the priest:




"I declare today to the Lord your God that I've come to the land the Lord swore to our forefathers to give us".




When the priest sets your offering before the Lord you shall declare:




"My father was a wandering Aramean and he went down into Egypt with a few people and lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous.  But the Egyptians mistreated us and made us suffer enslaving us.  Then we cried to the Lord, the God of our fathers and the Lord heard our voice and saw our misery, toil and oppression.  So the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and outstretched arm with great terror and with miraculous signs and wonders.  He brought us to this place and gave us this land - a land flowing with milk and honey.  So now I bring the first fruits of the soil that you O Lord have given me.  Rejoice in all the Lord has given you."




Was this a message only for this people in this time?  I say no.




You see, we are all Israel.  We are all prior slaves - enslaved to sin - for we have all known the crush and oppression and bondage of sin. Some of us are still enslaved privately. And just as the slaves of long ago Israel, God has set some of us free and we have been free indeed. 




Do you remember that moment you realized you were walking in freedom again?  Do you remember the joy of freedom?  You see we are no different from our first ancestors who walked to freedom between two great walls of water through the Red Sea.




Why was it important for Israel, Gods Jewish people -  to make those particular declarations before the Lord?  It was an admonition to REMEMBER...




Remember how hopeless your existence was when once enslaved...
Remember the pain, the abuse, the torment and devastation.
Remember how you cried out for release and for healing.
Remember the abject misery you lived in.




Then...




Remember how the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand.
Remember how He appeared with miraculous signs and wonders.
Remember His faithfulness and every movement He made.




The reason for this is necessary for it serves a mighty purpose.  It is in the remembering that we remain tethered, anchored and grounded to how we need to live -- which is CHRIST centered and not self centered.  We need to be CHRIST dependent and not I - dependent which is "in"dependent.  It is good for us to remember our salvation, our freedom - does not depend upon us, but rests solely upon the power of God.  All we have to do is realize our need for him.




Remember it is a sign of strength and not weakness to understand the need for God and our dependence upon Him.




Entrust yourself therefore to God Almighty and Remember what you know!.  Be quick to glorify Him with all you are and all you have.



Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Gods Word is Alive



"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men."


 I like to think of it this way...in the beginning was God and all life flowed from him with all power. Gods word is transforming yesterday, today and forever.


When Moses went up the mountain and spent days in the presence of God, HE WAS TRANSFORMED.  His spirit literally became infused with the mightiness and holiness of GOD. When he came down from the mountain -- everyone could see the transformation.  He shone with LIFE. 


That same power was seen by the Israelites as they were led by Moses in the desert places. His very presence was with them as a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. In our day i would call a pillar of cloud a tornado. Imagine that...a tornado that was lasoo'd and restrained but powerful nonetheless. That same power parted the red sea providing his people with an escape route. 


All consuming...all knowing, all seeing, all supplying is Gods power. It reverberates with life and still does today. Applying Gods word which is really Gods heart and thoughts and ways like a salve to life's problems brings forth life and hope and healing. Just ask the couple whose marriage was saved after infidelity....just ask the woman brought back from the brink of death by suicide...ask the teen who mutilates herself in secret but is able to put the knife down....ask the hopeless infused with meaning and hope --- the dead that rise....the sick who are healed...the grieving who live... the poor who eat and the fearful and poisoned who overcome their demons --- the demon possessed who find peace...the addicted who find freedom. 


Ask those who were filled with hatred....who now love.


Only someone resonating with power could bring about such wonder, such life and such hope.  Only someone all powerful could infuse a book with such ability.


Just how powerful and alive is God? I love the picture this passage creates... Luke 11:20 says, "But if it is by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you." Demons cast out by just the power in Gods pinkie? Let that wash over you with this final thought..."For he was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but in dealing with you we will live with him by the power of God". 


 It was all things human that led Jesus up Calvary. It was all things mortal that nailed him to the cross and murdered his life. But it was the mighty, living HAND OF GOD that resurrected Jesus and raised him to life as it reverberated power. And it is that knowledge we place our trust in.

Friday, August 21, 2015

Blood Moons. What Are They Saying?






If you are like me, you've realized that there has been a lot going on in the heavens. We've had eclipses, meteors and not one but three blood moons to thrill us. These signs in the skies had me heading for scripture to better understand what is going on.  Three have already occurred and the next unusual event to happen in the heavenlies will occur on August 27th when Mercury will be next to the moon in the sky. The fact that we've not experienced just one but a myriad of many signs in the skies has had me scratching my head with so many others. Is this just coincidence or is something else going on....and why?

John Hagee's book "Four Blood Moons" opened my eyes to that which is seen and happening on earth and is connected to the unseen spiritual world around us.  What I discovered i wanted to share in hopes that his book might shed some light into your life as well because we were experiencing too many things in the heaven's for me to ignore. 

To quote the author John Hagee, “It is rare that Scripture, science and history align with each other. Yet the last three series of Four Blood Moons have done just that.” Did you know that they did? What do they mean? I wanted to know. Why am I so curious? Because throughout scripture God revealed often that,





There will be signs in the sun, in the moon and in the stars..Then they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.” Luke 21:25, 27-28





The book “Four Blood Red Moon's” masterfully begins to reveal an alignment of scripture, science and past history to reveal prophecy that has come to pass and reveals our seat upon the precipice of history about to be made. You see not all of prophecy has come to pass yet....but we are close.





So lets see how the irrefutable science of what was happening in the skies perfectly lined up with what was happening to Gods chosen people Israel and the Jewish people.



We are experiencing a thrilling reveal of Four Blood Red Moons but it is not the first time in history this has happened. 


When four appear they are called a Tetrad. There have been several Tetrads since NASA first recorded their occurrences, but Tetrads linked to significant Jewish history have happened only 3 times in more than 500 hundred years. So science has paralleled with scripture and prophecy before and is about to happen again. The first three happened in 1493, 1949 and 1967.





Each of these tetrads is linked to specific Jewish holidays and feasts. For example, the first Tetrad of Blood moons occurred on the Jewish holidays of passover and feast of Tabernacles as shown here :









1. Passover, April 2, 1493


2. Feast of Tabernacles, September 25, 149


3.  passover, March 22, 1494


4.  Feast of Tabernacles, September 15, 1494







The second tetrads sequence occurred in 1949-50



  1. Passover, April 13, 1949
  2. Feast of Tabernacles, October 7, 1949
  3. Passover, April 2, 1950
  4. Feast of Tabernacles, September 26, 1950.



The third tetrad sequence occurrencedin 1967-68.



  1. Passover, April 24, 1967
  2. Feast of Tabernacles, October 18, 1967
  3. Passover, April 13, 1968
  4. Feast of Tabernacles, October 6, 1968.



The fourth tetrad began in 2014 with



  1. Passover, April 15, 2014
  2. Feast of Tabernacles, October 8, 2014
  3. Passover, April 4, 2015



and will conclude on September 28, 2015 on the same day as the Jewish

Feast of Tabernacles. Coincidence? I think not. Read on...





So what do these dates have to do with Jewish customs? Good question!

Is it by chance or divine orchestration that these signs in the heavens correspond with Jewish customs but more importantly Jewish history? Mr. Hagee notes in his book that each time one of these tetrads has occurred, something significant happens regarding Gods chosen people, the Jews and or Israel. Every time. Case and point...





The First Tetrad - 1493-1494

In 1493-94 King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain consolidating their power by uniting Spanish kingdoms into the nation of Spain. In 1481, fearing Jewish influence the king and queen allowed a catholic controlled Inquisition by one Tomas de Torquemada who created villainous acts of torture to attack the Jewish people living there. 


Many were murdered during great atrocities of torture. Those who survived were exiled in the Edict of Expulsion, banishing all Jewish people from Spain who refused to convert to Catholicism. The ousted Jews were stripped of their wealth and all they had and were cast away to nothingness. 


Its interesting to note that in 1492 when Columbus sailed the ocean blue...doing so for Spain he would write,





in the same month in which their Majesties issued the edict that all Jews should be driven out of the kingdom and its territories, in the same month they gave me the order to undertake with sufficient men my expedition of discovery in the indies.”





And we all know that Columbus discovered America which would later become a haven for many Jewish people. Its interesting to note that Columbus' voyage was financed with Jewish monies stripped from the Jewish people. 


As Columbus sailed out into the sea toward the new world he would pass by many ships laden with over 200,000 surviving Jewish refugee's. Indeed, the year 1492 was a significant year in the history of the Jew's as well as the history of America. 


Coincidence or divine orchestration?





The Second Tetrad - 1949-1950

When the second tetrad occurred in 1949-50 they occurred during the rebirth of the State of Israel which began in 1948. The land of Israel was given to the Jewish people by God in what is called the Abraham Covenant.





Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you.”

Genesis 13:17





The gift is recorded between God and Abraham, Isaac and Jacob repeatedly and repeatedly powers in this world have tried to strip it from them. Coincidence? This power struggle for the land God gifted to those he chose and those who die in their pursuit of taking it away? Why? Why such a struggle over and over if its only coincidence?





In the book Mr. Hagree lays out 25 various scriptures showing that God emphasizes his desire for the Jewish people to exclusively own this land. Among them are the following:





Now the Lord had said to Abram:

Get out of your country,

from your family and from your fathers house,

To a land that I will show you.

I will make you a great nation:

I will bless you and make your name great;

And you shall be a blessing.

I will bless those who bless you

And I will curse him who curses you;

And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

Genesis 12:1-7





the Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him: “Lift your eyes now and look for the place where you are --- northward, southward, eastward and westward: for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendents forever.”

Genesis 13:14-15




The land of Israel is the only nation ever created by a solemn act of God.



To read the other scripture verses write me and I'll give them to you or go and buy the book!





In AD 70 Titus forcibly exiled the Jewish people from Israel. Since that time they had been scattered across the face of the earth (in keeping with prophetic scripture) ...until May 14, 1948. It was then with accordance with a decision of the United Nations General Assembly and with the support of the United States that the State of Israel was established.





The first permanent Israeli government took office on January 25, 1949. During the next several months, a series of four Israeli War of Independence truce agreements were signed: with Egypt on February 24, with Lebanon on March 23, with Jordan on April 3 and with Syria on July 20th. All of these agreements created armistice demarcation lines which established Israel's borders.





It was during this process of Israel's rebirth and the establishment of her borders that on Passover 1949 God splattered the heavens with the first Blood Moon of the second Tetrad. The Jews had endured great hatred, severe tribulations, Inquisitions, imprisonments and the Holocaust and finally were given their homeland back. And the celestials responded in kind.





Hmm. Another Tetrad and another red letter event in the history of Israel and God's people the Jews.





The Third Tetrad - 1967-68



Though the Jewish people were filled with great joy at yet another biblical prophecy coming to pass, their joy quickly turned to fear as Israel's (and God's) enemies began to try and reclaim the land they had lost. Israel was at war from the moment they declared their statehood.





In the War of Independence, may 15, 1948 to March 10, 1949, seven Arab nations came against Gods people. In this bloody war fought along its entire border 6,373 were killed in action.





Then there was the Six Day War and the Sinai War fought between October 29 – November 7th 1956.





March 1967, Arab nations began to rally their country's with the intention of driving Gods people into the sea. Consider this....in Psalms 83 David writes:



See how your enemies growl, how your foes rear their heads.



With cunning they conspire against your people; they plot against those you cherish.

“”Come,” they say, “let us destroy them as a nation so that Israels name is remembered no more.”





And on May 18, 1967 the Voice of the Arabs radio station proclaimed:



As of today, there no longer exists an international emergency force to protect Israel. We shall exercise patience no more. We shall not complain any more to the UN about Israel. The sole method we shall apply against Israel is total war, which will result in the extermination of Zionist existence.”





Two days later Syria's defense minister threatened Israel with a declaration of war that would make one faint with fear.  May 27, 1967 Nasser of Egypt leveled a threat of destruction upon the Jewish state.  May 30th, King Hussein of Jordan signed a defense pact with Egypt stating:





the armies of Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon are poised on the borders of Israel while standing behind us are the armies of Iraq, Algeria, Kuwait, Sudan and the whole Arab nation. This act will astound the world. Today they will know that the Arabs are arranged for battle. The critical hour had arrived.



All of this rhetoric was matched by the mobilization of approximately 465,000 enemy troops with over 2800 tanks and 800 aircraft.





And Israel won the war.





And Israel won the war. No this is not a typo. Its to emphasize the miracle of what happened in those 6 days. You see there were many eye witness accounts of miraculous things that happened during those 6 days that impacted both Israeli, enemy and journalist bystanders. 


Those accounts undoubtedly led to the miraculous triumph when by all accounts it should not have happened. Consider this:





The Conquest of Schechem – This city was an important asset and expected to be one of the bloodiest battles they would encounter. The enemy of Israel assumed the army would enter through the coastal region so the Jordanian army placed their artillery there. Israel however entered through the back door of the city. When the Israel Defense Force or IDF entered in, rather than being met with opposition they encountered their enemy waving flags at them as they were mistaken for Iraqi fighters. By the time it was realized the fear of the God of the Jews fell upon all. They raised their arms in surrender.





A Direct Hit – An IDF truck loaded with arms and shells was loaded and ready to deliver armaments to the front lines. If the truck was hit by enemy fire it would explode bringing down all buildings near it. In the night an enemy shell was heard whistling through the air and scored a direct hit upon the vehicle. The shell never exploded.





Eighteen against Two – Two fighters for Israel were sent out on patrol. They each had a gun and some ammo. Suddenly a half track with mounted machine guns and many fighters turned a corner and headed straight for them. The two Israeli fighters were filled with despair. As they watched them approach they pointed their two weapons at them waiting for a barrage of bullets. No bullets flew. After some time the two decided to approach the vehicle. They found 18 soldiers inside with a petrified look on their faces. When they asked why they had not fired they each told a story of losing the use of their arms and bodies.





There are more stories told in the book and I strongly encourage you to read it and additional stories of “the finger of God' moving on behalf of his people as found if nowhere else in the total people killed. In that six day war Israel's enemies lost 21,000 people while Israel only lost 779. Think about that.





And the fourth blood Moon occurred on the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles October 6, 1968.



This book went to print before the 4th Tetrad began April 2014. This tetrad will end September 2015. 


Remember in 2014 we had the first Blood Moon on April 15, 2014 which was also Passover. Later that year we had the second Blood Moon on october 8th which happened on the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles. Our third occurred on Passover, April 4, 2015 and here the world is poised for the fourth and final moon.





Doesn't it make you wonder what is going to happen given the history already made?



This is where I defer to Gods own word. You see, already prophets of old who forecast events they saw in their minds eye and in dreams foretold of events and those events came to pass including the Jewish people receiving their homeland Israel back. I find it interesting that the Bible refers to moons that will turn the color of blood (blood red moons) and the sun that will go black

(eclipses). 


Those are familiar to us now, like a neon sign in the sky telling us......what?



And this is where we are given our charge. Gods word says when these things happen –

the prophet Joel says in Joel 2:30-31 -





And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth;

Blood and fire and pillars of smoke.

The sun shall be turned into darkness

And the moon into blood

Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.





The neon sign is blinking people.





So is it any wonder --- should I have been surprised that last nite I opened an email from Charisma magazine and the headlines of an article shook me. The headline, “10 Things That Are Going to Happen Within 15 Days of the End of the Shemitah”.





The word “shemitah” refers to the Jewish celebration of “Shabbat” or sabbath which refers to allowing the land to rest every 7th year similar to the way the Jewish people rest every seventh day. Observing this law guarantees abundance but neglecting it leads to judgment and is recorded throughout the Bible. 


Jewish tradition (which are Gods traditions) teach that exile is the penalty for the three cardinal sins of murder, idolatry, sexual immorality and for neglecting to keep the shemitah laws.





So what does a Jewish tradition have to do with the United States?





Though we generally are not a Jewish nation, we are a Christian nation and one who has been --- until recent generations – committed to following Gods word. But our disobedience as a nation to the precepts of Gods word is begging for a correction from Abba Father. 


Consider this...





2001 was a Shemitah year. We all remember September 11th when we were attacked on our own soil for the first time since Pearl harbor.





7 years later we landed on another Shemitah year. 2008 saw the American economy collapse 777 points on September 29, 2008.





You do the math.... seven years later we enter September 2015.



The article in Charisma magazine does not predict any one event but it lines up for us what the world DOES know is going to happen. Take a look:





Sept. 14th Rosh Hashanah – The Jewish New Year. (This ends the year of rest – Shemitah and ushers in the new year.





Sept. 15th The Jade Helm military exercises are schedules to end.





Sept. 15th: The 70th session of the U.N. General Assembly begins on the date. It has been widely reported that France plans to introduce a resolution that will give formal U.N. Security Council recognition to a Palestinian state shortly after the new session begins. Up until now, the U.S. Has always been the ONE blocking such a resolution, but Barack Obama has already indicated that things may be different this time around. Understand that God WILL continue to uphold Israel regardless of what anyone in the world desires. Continuing to uphold, support and pray for Israel is the salvation of America!





Sept. 20th to 26th: The “World Week for Peace in Palestine Israel” sponsored by the World Council of churches.





Sept. 21: The U.N. International Day of Peace. Could this be the day that the U.N. Establishes a Palestinian state?





Sept. 23: Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement for the Israeli people. It is the holiest day of the year).





Sept. 23: Pope Francis arrives at the White House to meet with President Obama.





Sept. 24: The Pope addresses a joint session of the U.S. Congress.





Sept. 25 to 27: The U.N. Is going to launch a brand new sustainable development agenda called “the 2030 Agenda”.





Sept. 28th: This is the date when the Feast of Tabernacles begins. This is also the date for the last of the four blood moons that fall on biblical festival dates during 2014 and 2015.



Author Jonathan Cahn released a new video in which he expressed his belief that a great shaking is coming to America and the world. He points to the biblical pattern of desecration preceding judgment and he is convinced that we recently witnessed a historic act of desecration here in the United States.





I do not pretend to know everything and I do not presume to forecast the end of the world nor have the ability to prophecy. However I am not blind and I do read Gods word and I know from deep in my gut that Gods word never lies and Gods ways cannot be erased just because a foolish country wishes it so. 


Gods word stands and it never changes. His ways are yesterday, today and tomorrow regardless of where we live or who we call ourselves.





With the arrival of the Charisma magazine article I felt a strong urging within my spirit to finish this lengthy book report and put it out there for all to read.



Jonathan cahn's book “The Harbinger” is a gripping read as well as his other books that allow the non-Jew to understand how God works and has worked throughout history. Look him up and buy the books.  It was in reading that book almost two years ago that opened my eyes to how scripture, current and past events can reveal the hand of God and his ways, at work.




And when you read these books, cross reference the scriptures they note with Gods word and read what God has to say about the signs he is leaving in the skies.





My prayer is that we as a nation will not be who the prophet Jeremiah describes in Jeremiah 6:10 when he says,





To whom shall I speak and give warning

that they may hear?

Behold, their ears are closed

And they cannot listen.”





I pray we will listen.

Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Recharge

We are told to 'eat your veggies they will make you strong'. We gravitate toward people who are encouraging and uplifting. We can hardly wait for our vacations which allow us to set aside directed time for rest, relaxation and revving up our drained batteries.


We live in a world that drains us of power, belief and hope. Often times we encounter people who re-create us negatively through word and action -- people who take advantage of us and chisel away at our spirit. Is ...it any wonder we need R&R aka Recharging and Rebuilding. 


Acts 20:32 says "So now bretheren I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, WHICH IS ABLE TO BUILD YOU UP and give you an inheritance among those who are sanctified". 


Basically what this passage is saying in modern language is ... my friends! I point you forward and give you over to God and to his word of Grace because it is able to BUILD YOU UP and lead you toward an inheritance along with all others heading the same direction. 


You see there is no power like the power of God. Only HE is able to refill, recharge, repair, redeem, restore, re-do you, your heart and life. He is the master of "re-". Don't wait any longer....reconnect now to the optimum recharger of life...the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Friday, April 17, 2015

Be Persistent

Is there nothing more persistent than a child asking for a treat in a store?  Ah, I see you smile.  It starts out as a request which turns into a plea which turns into a bellow which turns into a louder bellow and....well, you get the picture.  And it doesn't stop either does it?  Even threatening bodily injury through clenched teeth often will not stop them.  What a perfect definition of "persistence".


In my bible reading this morning I read a parable out of the book of Luke, chapter 18.  The story finds a widow who continually goes to see the judge of the town who "neither feared God or cared about men" in search of justice from an adversary.  The widow was persistent.  Day after day, continually she sought out the judge, over and over again seeking justice.  Remember, the judge could care less.  But the judge is quoted as saying, "Even though I don't fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!"


Of this Jesus says, "Listen to what the unjust judge says!  And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry to him day and night?  Will he keep putting them off?  I tell you, he will see that they get justice and quickly."


Here is what this parable teaches me:


1.  Because the widow was persistent, the judge in the story finally gave her that which she asked for to satisfy her.  It was her persistence that made her noteworthy.


2.  The judge admittedly neither feared God nor cared about the affairs of man.  But how different our God is!  Jesus himself uses the story to convey that because we are his chosen one's God the father will bring justice to us.


3.  What is persistence?  To be persistent means to be never ending, tenacious, always occurring!  Bulldoggish, demanding, devoted, obsessive, perseverant.


When you have a need go to the Father in prayer not once, not twice but praying without ceasing.  1 Thessalonians 5 says, " Rejoice always,  pray without ceasing,  give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."


In various other passages the plea or call to prayer includes such words as praying always, in every situation, devoted, faithful.  We are given an awesome direction on how to pray!


Why does it say in Thessalonians that this is Gods will for us?  Because in his rich wisdom he knows we will be changed from glory to glory when we spend time in his presence and our outlook and hope will be buoyed.  He knows we need him as much as he wishes to spend time with his chosen ones.  


If your heart is heavy ladened, gather up your cares and go to God in prayer and use this prescription "bulldoggedly" pray for that which is pressing upon your hearts.  Be like that widow --- don't give up, sink your teeth into it and rattle the gates of heaven with your requests!


"Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need".  Hebrews 4:16

Thursday, April 16, 2015

Spending Time With Christ

Let me hear of your unfailing love each morning, for I am trusting you.  Show me where to walk, for I give myself to you.  psalm 143:6


They say you become who you spend the most time with.  I remember watching my children choose their friends and I tried to instill within them a list of what attributes were important when choosing their friends.


I've watched people as they choose "outside their normal crowd".  As time passes I've witnessed how they begin to morph into the ones they spend the most time with.  One observation showed one person who spent time with someone with a foul mouth and a lean toward sexual innuendo.  It did not take long for this person to slowly begin to take on the veneer of the crowd he hung out with.


Spending time with Christ has become paramount to having a life infused with all the things necessary to live a successful, stable and victorious life.  It is vital that each morning I have time with him, listening to him and reading of all things "him" to become more like him -- which is my life's goal.


Time with Him is time well vested as I learn how to sidestep life's pitfalls; I learn how to combat the traps that satan sets for me; I find comfort -- almost like medicine for whatever ails me or I am reminded again of how big my God is.


Spending time with my friend provides the necessary time to become more like him.