As A Christian Who Are You

I want to talk about who we are in Christ and remind you of some of the promises in the Word that we can stand on as believers. The Bible has a lot to say about the believer and the unbeliever.

In this lesson I want to focus on the born-again believer. In order to have the Holy Spirit dwelling in you, you need to be born-again! In today’s society it seems like anyone who claims to be religious or belongs to a religious group is called a Christian--not so. According to Jesus only those who are born–again are Christians. Check it out in the Word of God in John chapter 3, you don’t have to take my word for it.

******* As Christians we are empowered by the Holy Spirit. *******

If you can’t accomplish what the Lord has called you to do with the power of the Holy Spirit within you then you are not doing your part and you’re probably not walking in the Spirit. Or possibly you don’t know what your calling is. There is no greater power than the power of the Holy Spirit.  The Word says that our bodies are the home of the Holy Spirit, or the temple of the Holy Spirit. Think about it, is there anything impossible for the Holy Spirit to accomplish through our lives? No!
Remember this, "God doesn’t always call the equipped but He always equips the ones He calls." And don’t forget this, "unless the Lord builds the house ye labor in vain that build it."
The Bible says that we dwell in the heavenly’s right now. As believers Paul said our citizenship is in heaven and that is what we should focus on, not on earthly things. Think about what is most important to you. The Bible says, "where your treasure is, their will your heart be also. Read Luke 12:34

Romans 8: 37 says, "we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." What do you think that means?

Think about this, we receive everything that the good Lord has for us and we don’t deserve it and we didn’t do anything to obtain it. It is like we accomplished our own salvation and everything that goes with it, but we actually didn’t nor could we.
In Ephesians 2: 8,9, it says, "it is by grace you are saved through faith and it is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God not of works lest any man should boast." Which means that we can do absolutely nothing to obtain our salvation. There is only one thing that you have a choice in, and that is whether you will receive this free gift of salvation or not. Think of this, you can only come to Jesus when God draws you! You can only repent of sin when the Holy Spirit convicts you and you respond with godly sorrow, which comes only from the Lord.  So if you think you can receive this gift by any others means you are just kidding yourself.

Don’t be deceived, bad company corrupts good character and so does false teaching.
Jesus conquered sin and death and the grave for us but we receive all the benefits from what He did. Think about what this really means in your life and mine. What bothers me is that many believers don’t even seem to be excited about it.
This reminds me of the ten lepers that were healed and only one returned to
thank and praise Jesus and he was a foreigner, a Samaritan. Jesus said in Luke 17: 11–19, "were not all ten cleansed where are the other nine. Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?"

Jesus came to His own but His own received Him not. Let’s not follow their example.  Let’s praise the Lord and be thankful for who He is, and what He is and what He has done and also for what He is going to do in our lives.  Remember the Lord causes all things to work together for good in the lives of a true believer. Praise God!
God says in Jeremiah 29: 11, "I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper
you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
Now I want you to think about this and get excited because we are the redeemed of the Lord. The Bible says let the redeemed of the Lord say so.  This is not just a song we sing in our praise time in our comfortable pews when we are in church, no, it is so much more than that. We need to have a heart of praise and thanksgiving every day. We need to be excited about our salvation.
Think about the last time you were really excited about something, a time when
you were just bubbling over with joy.  Now think about the last time you were that excited about your salvation and your relationship with the Lord. Your relationship with the Lord should be the most exciting thing that has ever happened to you.  We need to be overjoyed about our relationship with the Lord and all that He has done in our lives. If you are, then notify your face more often so others will see your joy and seek to have it for themselves.
The Bible says in I John 4:4 that, "greater is He that is within us then he that is in the world." That is something to be excited about. The Holy Spirit in us makes it possible for us to do all the things that God has planned for us. The Bible says, "we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us." Check it out in Philippians 4:13. This means that whatever God’s will is for your life you can accomplish it with the Lord’s help. Praise God!
God’s Word says, "no weapon formed against us shall prosper." Isaiah 54:17 The Bible says, "when the enemy comes in like a flood the Spirit of God will raise a standard against him." Isaiah 59:19  We are sons and daughters of God. Check out Galatians 3:26–29. The Word says, "we have the mind of Christ and that we are covered by the righteousness of Christ."
John 1:12 also says, "but as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name." We have everything we need to live a victorious life in Christ.
Now that you have all this information march on and be victorious in the Lord.
As God’s children we are not condemned, we have the power of the blood of Jesus in our lives to cleanse us of all sin and to break the power of sin in our lives. Praise God! We also have the power that is in the name of Jesus to come against Satan to make him flee along with all his demon helpers when they are striving against us. None of them can stand against us when we apply the name of Jesus with faith. Some day, at the name of Jesus, every knee shall bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father whether they want to or not and I don’t think that many will want to but they will have no choice. Add this to the power of God the Father and God’s Holy Spirit we have all the power we need to overcome in this life. Jesus promised us that we would have tribulations and troubles in this world but just like He overcame the world when He walked on earth with all the power we have in us we can overcome the world also! Praise the Lord!

See if you can fill in the blanks without looking. It would help you if you memorized these verses. God bless you and have a great day.



1. Luke 12:34 "where your _______________ is, there will your _______________be also."
2. Romans 8: 37 "we are more than _____________________through him who loved us."
3. Jeremiah 29:11 "I know the _____________ I have for you, plans to ____________ you and not to __________ you, plans to give you _____________ and a_________________."
4. 1 John 4:4 "greater is He that is ____________ us then he that is in the___________."
5. Philippians 4:13 "we can do _______ things through ____________ who strengthens us."
6. Isaiah 54:17 "no weapon formed against us shall _____________________."
7. Isaiah 59:19 "when the ________________ comes in like a flood the Spirit of God will raise a standard __________________ him."
8. 1 Corinthians 2:16 "we have the ________________ of Christ"

9. John 1:12 "but as many as received him, to them gave he _____________to become the sons of God, even to them that ___________________ on his name."
10. 2 Corinthians 5:17 "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a __________ creature: old things are _______________ away; behold, _________ things are become new."
11. Psalm 103:12 our ____________________ from us.""As far as the ________ is from the___________ , so far hath he removed
12. Ephesians 2:10 "For we are his______________________, created in Christ Jesus unto ______________ works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Betrayal Barrier

Betrayal is a hard pill to swallow. This is medicine that satan can use to further his agenda. This kind of medicine can poison the soul and destroy relationships.

I have a few questions I would like you to think about.
* Has a friend or a member of your family ever betrayed you?

• How did it make you feel?

• How did you respond to the situation?

• Did you lash out at the person or did you hold the anger inside and let it fester resentment?

• At any point did revenge ever enter your mind?

It is easy to respond with anger and resentment in these situations. But what kind of response should we have as Christians? The ideal and the thing we should do is to respond with kindness out of love but this is easier said than done.

There were many people in the Bible that experienced the betrayal barrier in their lives, even God Himself.

Lucifer betrayed God along with one third of the angels, and then Adam and Eve betrayed Him. And don’t forget the scores of people all through the ages that have betrayed Him also.

Joseph’s brothers and then Potiphar’s wife betrayed Joseph

King David was betrayed by his son Absalom.

Paul was betrayed by John, also called Mark, and on and on it goes.

What was the ultimate betrayal? It was when Judas betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. Now don’t forget the multitudes that have followed after Judas down through the years that also betrayed Jesus.

After it was all said and done what was Jesus’ response? "Father forgive them for they know not what they do."

Being betrayed by anyone is a horrible thing to experience. It is not easy to forget and it is even harder to forgive. Being betrayed by someone you love, someone you have prayed for, someone that is in your family, or a fellow believer is even harder. Think of who Jesus was betrayed by, some were fellow Jews and some were those that He grew up with. There were many types of people who betrayed Jesus and some were very religious people.

I have personally felt betrayed by many people down through the years ~ some in the church and some out of the church. One thing I have learned over the years is that it doesn’t matter who the person is or what their title is they may betray you someday.

Question: have you ever betrayed someone? Maybe you shared something that a friend asked you not to share with anyone else. Maybe out of anger you said unkind things that you wish you never said. Maybe you have acted like a friend to someone just to take advantage of that person.

Have you ever lied intentionally about someone just to cause trouble for that person? Or maybe you just wanted to make yourself look good so you ran your mouth about someone, hurting their reputation.

All these things and more would cause someone to feel betrayed

If you are guilty of any of these things then you need to be forgiven also and it should make it easier for you to forgive someone else. If we live long enough we will all need to be forgiven and we will all need to forgive? If Jesus was willing to forgive us when we betrayed Him then we need to be willing to forgive when we have felt betrayed. If you don’t think you are guilty of betraying Jesus then you are only fooling yourself. We have all betrayed Jesus because of the sin in our lives. So let’s let Jesus be our example and let’s get in the habit of always forgiving others. Then we will be pleasing God and receive His blessings and we will be set free. Praise the Lord.

If you are reading this message and would like to have a personal relationship with Jesus and have your sins forgiven you might want to repeat this prayer.  Heavenly Father I am guilty of sin and I would like to be forgiven. I am truly sorry for my sins and I am trusting you to cleanse me and wash me whiter than snow through the blood of Jesus, your precious Son. Please take over my life and change me into your image and likeness and I thank you for doing this. I pray these things in Jesus precious name, amen.

If you truly are sorry and are serious, then welcome to the family of God. Now go and find a Bible teaching church and get a Bible and start reading it. You might want to pray before you start reading and ask the Lord to allow His precious Holy Spirit to teach you and bring all the things back to your remembrance whatsoever Jesus teaches you. And don’t forget to thank and praise God for helping you.

May God bless you!
　

It Will Be Worth It All When We See Jesus

There is a song that goes something like this
          "It Will Be Worth It All When We See Jesus"

When I think about my walk with the Lord over the years:
--I think of how the Lord has blessed me and my family many times.
--I can think of miraculous things the Lord has done in my life.
--I can think of prayers that have been answered and times that were so special  that I can’t explain the joy I experienced.

It has been quite an emotional experience also and some of it has been very hard.

I think walking with the Lord can be sort of like a merry go round, sometimes you feel like you are up and everything is going great and other times you feel like you are down and you don’t know if you will ever get back up again.  Depending on your situation and your circumstances your emotions seem to be out of control.
Many people are controlled by their emotions so their faith and their Christian walk seem to be controlled by the way they feel at any given time.

The Word says that we will have problems even tribulations and even be persecuted, there will be tests and trials. Jesus never promised it would be easy, in fact He said He didn’t come to bring peace but a sword and the members of one’s family would be against each other.

How should we respond when we are faced with all kinds of disappointments, troubles, temptations, tests and trials? James 1: verses 2 - 4 says, "My brethren count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations (which means various trials). Knowing this that the trying of your faith worketh or develops patience. But let patience have her perfect work that ye may be perfect and entire wanting nothing which means being complete, mature and finished lacking nothing." Our problem is too many times we see trials or tests as a hindrance, but God sees them as a learning tool. No matter what we experience (temptations, tribulation, tests or problems or trials) if we have the right attitude we can learn and grow from them.

There are three ways we can handle these things:
1. We can despise them by getting bitter angry and resentful and live a secluded life
2. We can faint under them by just giving up and throwing in the towel, so to speak, and just drop out of the faith completely.
3. We can learn from them by allowing God to teach us and to have His perfect will accomplished in our lives, we have the choice.

Or we could commit all these things to God knowing that He works all things out together for our good if we love Him and allow Him to.  In the end we will know that it was worth it all.

There was a man in the Bible that experienced more problems and trials and temptations and was also tested more than we may ever have to face and he never gave up.

Can anyone guess who I am talking about? Remember Job and what he went through?

Job was quite a remarkable man, a real man of faith and a man that loved and honored and feared God.  Job was very rich and influential and he was very faithful to God.  God had blessed him and his family abundantly and put a hedge of protection around him and all he owned.  The Bible says he was blameless and upright and he feared God.

Let’s read about his two tests that the Lord allowed him to go through and how he responded to them and what he learned and how God blessed him in the end.
Turn to Job chapter 1 and chapter 2
Now let’s read about how God blessed him. Job 42: 1 – 6.

I think when it was all said and done Job could say that it was worth it all.

So whatever a believer is facing today it isn’t a shock or surprise to God, He knows all about it.  So whatever it is God is allowing you to face it is for a good reason.  The Bible says, "all things work together for good to those who love God to those who are the called according to his purpose."  There isn’t a Christian alive that doesn’t have to carry his "cross."  A cross always represents pain and a cross can represent many kinds of things. It’s not what the cross represents that counts, it is how you carry the cross that counts. When Job carried his cross he did it with praise and thanksgiving. I don’t know anyone outside of the Lord himself that has faced any more than Job did.

It may be good to use Job’s example when we face trials and tribulations. Just like Jesus and Job and many others overcame their situations, the Lord will be faithful to help us overcome ours. Praise God! Remember, in the end it will be worth it all.

Think of the words of the chorus of this song:
"It will be worth it all when we see Jesus our problems will seem so small when we see Christ. One look at His dear face all sorrows will be erased so come and run the race till we see Christ."

Look this song up on the computer and sing it and I think it will encourage you, at least I hope it will. Praise God!

From Darkness to Light

Question: if you could see the way God sees when He looks at a "Born Again Believer" who has been washed and cleansed by the precious blood of Jesus, what is the first thing that you would see? I think you would see righteousness, holiness, purity and the Blood of Jesus. I don’t believe that anyone will see or get to Heaven without the blood of Jesus being applied to his or her life.

It seems that people think and teach that you can get to Heaven many different ways. This statement is a lie; nothing can be farther from the truth. Read what Jesus said in John 14 verse 6, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." So don’t be deceived there is no other way to get to God or to have a relationship with God or get into Heaven except through Jesus Christ. If there was another way, then Jesus suffered for nothing.
Think about this: if that is true Jesus was beat, whipped, spat on, hated, rejected, crucified, died and was buried for no reason. There are many that have been deceived into this way of thinking. Only the "walking dead" believe these things about Jesus.

Let me say this, I am not a Bible scholar and I never went to Bible college but I think I am in good company. None of Jesus’ disciples did either and some of them wrote parts of the Bible, in fact none of the men that wrote the Bible went to Bible College although some were well educated. Before anyone gets all bent out of shape when they read this, I have nothing against Bible College or Bible teachers if they are born-again and they teach the truth. But I believe the Holy Spirit is the true teacher and He resides in every born-again believer. The one that seeks Him and studies the Bible diligently, the Holy Spirit will teach and will bring all things back to their remembrance whatsoever the Holy Spirit has taught them. Praise God!

Getting back to my topic, the reason I said the "walking dead" is because everyone that isn’t born-again is spiritually dead according to God’s word. There are people that say they believe in God so they are going to go to Heaven but they live like the devil all week, be careful, St. Paul said to examine yourself to see if you are in the faith. He also said to work out your salvation in faith with fear and trembling. Think of this, the devil and the demons believe in God also, but I guarantee you that you won’t find them in Heaven.

It takes more than head knowledge and being emotionally stirred to get to heaven you have to be born-again, no ands, ifs or buts about it. When Jesus was here He was both God and man. The reason I say this is that the Bible verifies it. In John chapter 1:1--3 it says, "In the beginning was the word and the word was with God and the word was God, He was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him and without Him was not anything made that was made." John 1: 14 says, "And the word became flesh and dwelt among us." Who was the word? Jesus, also check out John 14: verses 7 – 11.

Today it seems like there is a famine of the Word and I don’t mean there is a shortage of pastors or teachers, what I mean is there is a shortage of the true gospel preached or taught. Entertainment and half-truths seem to be on the menu in many pulpits. It seems like being people friendly is the goal instead of the true gospel. Thank God there are still some pastors and teachers that make the Truth their priority. We live in uncertain times and people need to hear the Truth. You can spend all kinds of money on sound systems, on programs and saving all kinds of money in your church accounts to make your church more user friendly. You can even be the most popular pastor or teacher there is, but if you don’t teach the whole Truth, you will be held accountable in the end and you will miss out on many blessings while you are here. The Bible says, "unless the Lord build the house ye labor in vain that build it."

It seems that the poverty stricken countries of the world are experiencing God’s miracles and blessings more than we are. And this might come as a shock, they don’t have buildings that cost millions and many don’t have air conditioners and thousands of dollars in sound equipment and millions in their coffers, how can this be? Because they are not all cluttered up with outward appearance, their faith and their trust are in the Lord and not on what they can accomplish by their own means. The conviction of the Holy Spirit is what is important to them and not how they can stir people up by preying on their emotions. Only when the Truth is heard will people be changed. Only when the Holy Spirit convicts will hearts be broken and weeping over their sins will take place.

What the church needs is the fear of the Lord and godly sorrow and not all the trappings that man devises! When we stop trying to entertain people and lulling people to sleep with half truths, entertainment and user friendly teachings then the church will regain its power and souls will be converted and the captives will be set free. The sick will be healed and the lame will walk and blind eyes will be opened. If Jesus will be lifted up then multitudes will be ushered into the kingdom. Praise God! Then those who walk in darkness will see a great light and that light is Jesus for He is the light of the world.

Oh how we need a revival in the church so that we as God’s children will truly repent and turn away from sin. Then we will be an army to be reckoned with. God said, "if my people who call themselves by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I shall hear from Heaven and forgive their sins and heal their land." Praise God!

It would be good if we all started praying for revival. Then stop depending on "us" and get back to depending on the Lord and preaching the true gospel. Putting the Lord first is the main thing and then getting out of the way and letting Him build His house. He can do all things and if He needs to He can do it without our help. Praise God! He still wants to use faithful people so let’s not put barriers in His way by trying to further His kingdom in our strength and means. Let’s walk in His Spirit and not gratify the desires of the flesh, then God will accomplish His purpose. Praise God!

Silent Scream

I want to talk to you about a subject that I think affects many people.

Let me share my version of a story with you that I heard awhile ago. There was a Priest who was a young man without much experience in the Priesthood. The day had come for him to give his first sermon and the older Priests were worried about how he would do and what he would say. The young Priest had a nice aquarium and some beautiful fish that he enjoyed and took great care of. When he wanted to relax he probably sat in front of the fish tank and watched his fish swim lazily around the tank. The morning he was going to give his first sermon he got up and started to prepare for the day ahead of him. At one point he went over to check on his fish and he was startled to see that all his fish had died. Then he realized that the heater was turned up so high that it killed every one of his fish. Needless to say he was very sad. As he looked closely at his fish he noticed that they were all swelled up and they looked scared, as if they had a silent scream on their faces. Then he went to church and stood before all the people and the older Priests sort of held their breath wondering what he would say. He started out telling the congregation what had happened to his fish. Then he asked a question that probably took everyone by surprise. His question and my question to all of you who read this is similar. How many of you are silently screaming inside about something that you feel you can’t share with anyone else?

As we live life there are many things that happen over the years that we feel like no one would understand. Maybe you tried to share these things with someone and all you got was condemnation and judgment, so you carry the guilt and shame around living a miserable existence. Maybe you feel these things are so personal that you can’t share them.

Maybe you were in the service and were responsible for taking others’ lives and you can’t forgive yourself.

Maybe you have had an abortion or maybe more than one and your guilt is so overwhelming that you are screaming inside and you don’t dare to share it with anyone.

You may have been a pimp or a prostitute or possibly in the gay lifestyle and you would like to be set free but you are afraid to tell anyone.

You may have committed so many crimes that you are feeling overwhelmed by them and the guilt is tearing you apart.

You may have been divorced in the past or you may have lost a loved one that you can’t get over.

There are so many things and reasons why you may be screaming inside that you feel you will never be set free.  I am not going to tell you that there aren’t any consequences for some of these things because there are.  But I am here to tell you that none of these things are the unpardonable sin and you can be forgiven and set free.

I want to share something that happened to me while living a Christian life.  I am only sharing this with you in hopes that the Lord will use it to help you in your pain, suffering and guilt and I hope you will let Him.

First let me tell you that God is not only willing but He wants to set you free because He loves you and He understands what you are going through.  If you read my testimony you know a little about me.  What I am going to share is something that happened after I had committed my life to the Lord.  At the time I was very excited about what had happened to me and I wasn’t shy about sharing what had happened and in fact I did it quite often and I am still sharing, Praise God! It seemed like I was studying the Word most of the time like I just couldn’t get enough of it.  My relationship to God was very close and it seemed that I was talking to God most of the time and He was blessing my family and me tremendously. But as time went on I started thinking about some of the things I had done in my past and I was feeling very guilty about them. Like I said earlier I was reading the Bible quite often and the Lord was teaching me many things. Then a problem began to take place, as I continued to read I came across things that started to scare me because of the guilt I had over some past experiences.

Because of losing relationships, it seemed like everything I had at that time that really mattered to me I wasn’t capable of loving because it was like part of my heart was missing. I never knew what real love was at the time, and to be honest, I still struggle with it because I hear about it far more than I ever experience it. Think about this; saying you love someone doesn’t prove anything if all it is, is just words. This has been my experience over the years but it may not be yours and I hope it isn’t.

As time went on, I started to feel like God didn’t love me either and I went into a deep depression. I know now that satan was trying to destroy my relationship with God, but I didn’t know it at the time and I was totally devastated. My life became a nightmare; I lost all my confidence and felt like I didn’t want to do anything. I remember sitting down to eat and I would break down and cry.  As time went on I felt like what, I think, Cain felt like after he had killed his brother Abel and was banished from God’s presence and had a mark put on him. This happened in the Bible in the book of Genesis. He then became a wanderer and an outcast, being separated from man and God. I felt that the worst thing that could happen to me had happened, I was separated from God and I would never be able to get back to Him.

I had a tremor at the time and I also had severe asthma. Between the tremor and the asthma medicine, I had to take quite often, I was shaking quite a bit.  As time went on I was shaking much more between the tremor, the asthma and the depression and I was going down hill fast. This went on for about twelve to fourteen years which seemed like a lifetime. All the time this was going on I never went to see a doctor but I did press into God seeking Him in prayer more than I think I had ever done before. And believe me I have spent many hours with the Lord over the years and I still do, I am not bragging just stating a fact. Not many people knew I was going through this because I kept it more to myself and some pastors and a few friends at the time. These people prayed for me but nothing seemed to happen and I was scared and miserable.

All during this time period my wife and I were teaching Sunday school and going to church. It seemed like I would go into church feeling horrible and I would come out, after hearing the sermon, feeling like a train had run over me, but it didn’t stop me from going.

I remember one Sunday after teaching Sunday school going to see a friend of mine in his Sunday school class. While I was there I met the man that God would use to help deliver me from this terrible situation I was in, Praise God!  This man’s name was Dan Comfort and he was a super nice guy.  If I remember right, he came to my house at least once a week for two years and demonstrated and shared with me how much the Lord loved me unconditionally. This man didn’t just talk about love, he showed it by his actions. He lived around thirty miles from where I lived but he was faithful to what he felt was his calling, thank the Lord. This man knew what love was and I have met very few like him since.

Now I would be amiss if I didn’t mention a wonderful lady that helped me see what I call unconditional love. You might say that no human can express this kind of love and I won’t argue with you about that. But I have experienced what I would call unconditional love for many years. This lady has something that many women will never possess. I have known this lady for about thirty-five years. During my "freaky" years in the world we partied together, she knew me in times of anger and rage when I would smash things and rant and rave and throw fits. Many times I would be out of control.  She was there when I would park my motorcycle in our front room in front of my television set.  She was with me during the years of my smoking, drinking, popping pills and marijuana use. When this lady said she loved me, she meant it.  She has been with me in my worst years and my better years and she loved me through them all.  When she married me I didn’t even love her but she loved me. How could I love her when I didn’t even know what love was.  I can remember times that I am ashamed of when I hurt her feelings but she still loved me and never held anything against me.  She has never had to have the last word in an argument, trying to be the winner in an argument never interested her.  Have you ever tried to argue with a wall? You will never win even if you do get the last word in! It is very hard to argue with someone that doesn’t argue with you. And let me throw this in, she has never tried to change me by ranting, raving and complaining like so many people do after they get married. She has always left the changing to the Lord, she knows He is the only answer and the only one that can change me if I allow it to happen. I am not trying to say my wife is perfect, there are a few things I would like to change about her, but I will leave that to the Lord. I think my wife treats me like a king and she treats everyone else with respect. She is a very godly woman and I am so blessed to have her and I do love her very much. She has been a wonderful wife, mother and grandmother and a friend and all my kids will vouch for that.  When I first met my wife I thought she was beautiful, she was twenty-three at the time.  She may not be as beautiful on the outside now but she is more beautiful on the inside.  One thing my wife has that I wish every woman had, and that is a sweet and gentle spirit, which is far more important than being beautiful on the outside. All the beauty in the world means nothing if you are ugly on the inside. The Lord showed me, through my wife, that He could love unconditionally and that He loves me that way, Praise God!

I have said all this to let you know that I was delivered from my depression and you can be to. God is no respecter of men, He treats all of us equal. The Lord said, "if you seek me with all your heart, you will find me." The good Lord uses many different ways to set people free, for me it was prayer, Dan and my wife, for you He may use something altogether different.

One thing I do know, the devil is here to kill, steal and destroy holding in bondage everyone he can. But the Lord has come to set the captive free, to heal the sick, to open blind eyes and to even raise the dead and to proclaim the wonderful year of the Lord. So there is always hope as long as you are willing to seek Him.
And let me say this, the Lord is not shocked by your circumstances or your sin He knows all about it. I think the thing that bothers Him the most is when you won’t confess your sin and repent and receive His love and forgiveness. He wants you to trust Him to set you free. If you confess that you are a sinner and then ask Him to forgive your sins and tell Him that you are in need of his grace and forgiveness and then ask Him to be Lord of your life and you truly repent, it will happen. The Lord is not willing that anyone be lost but that all will come to repent. Jesus suffered terribly for our sins, shedding His blood so that we could be forgiven and set free of sin and guilt. Please let the Lord set you free and let Him turn that silent scream into laughter. Let these words come true in your life "weeping comes in the night but joy comes in the morning" Praise God! Let the Lord heal the years that the locust have eaten up and receive the joy of the Lord that surpasses all understanding. May God bless you.

WHERE HAS LOVE GONE

What kind of church body would you like to belong to?
     One that claims to love but you can see by their actions they don’t or
     One that claims they love and you can see by their actions that they do.

For me my choice would be the latter but to be honest I have experienced more of the former than the latter.

It is very easy to say we love but much harder to prove it.

Sometimes it seems like if we preach to people that is all we need to do to show them we love them. Well for me I would rather see a sermon then just hear one any day. Talk is cheap and easy---actions are much harder but they show and prove much more that we really love.

I’ve heard people say that they love me but when there was a disagreement about something they were gone. It’s hard to take when you hear someone say that you are their best friend one day and the next day they’re gone.

Where are the people that truly love? I mean through the good times and the bad times! Where are the ones that you can really count on that love you, not just for what they can get from you? It's a strange thing when people want something from you, you seem to have a lot of, so called, friends or what you might call fair weather friends. If that is the only kind of friends you have, then you really don’t have any friends at all.

It seems we are very good at judging the outside of a person—
his clothes           his hair      the car he drives
the job he has      where he lives      his outward appearance
and other things that are external without really knowing his heartI am so glad that God judges the thoughts and intents of the heart and not just the outward appearance. And I am so glad he loves me unconditionally and not for any other reason. And I thank the Lord for my wife also who I think loves me unconditionally. To be very honest I think God showed me His love through her love. Praise God! And I also thank God for my family that loves me.

It seems that if we don’t conform to what other people think we should, we will be the outcast whether we are Christians or not.

Tell me, who has all the answers and who sets the standard? No one, only God.

When I think of David and all the ways he sinned—
          he took a census                    he committed adultery
          he killed an innocent man         he lied
          and I’m sure there were many others sins he committed
          but even in all this God said that David was a man after his heart.

How could he say that?

Let’s read Psalm 51 verses 1-17
     David wasn’t a perfect man and neither are we.
The thing that set David apart from many others was that David had a humble and contrite heart and was willing to repent.  Because of it, and like I said earlier, God judges the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Praise God and He does the same thing with us.

So it is important that we let God do the judging and that we continue to love and to be faithful friends to others.

I think I can relate to what the Psalmist said in Psalms 35:11 – 20 check it out.

Remember let love reign in our hearts and let’s love like:
     Jesus loved His disciples          David loved Jonathan
     Ruth loved Naomi                   Paul loved the brethren

Let us not just love in word, but in deed.

Jesus said the world would know us by our love.

Question: what kind of friend are you? God Bless you.

Glimpse at People and Gaze at the Lord

Let’s talk about this statement.

Question: What does it mean to glimpse at people?
              And what does it mean to gaze at the Lord?

If we glimpse at people we won’t always be comparing ourselves with someone else.

God didn’t make any mistakes when He created us in our mother’s womb.  God made us just the way He wanted us.  Our problem is we start looking at other people then we look at ourselves and many times we don’t like what we see.  We are so concerned about our outward appreance that we neglect what is really important and that is what’s inside.

The Bible proves this in 1 Samuel 16 verse 7 the Lord said to Samuel the Prophet, "do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at.  Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."

If we would look at things the way God does, we would save a lot of money.

Question: What are some things we spend money on just to make ourselves look good, and I mean a lot of money?
     How about makeup?
     How many different colors of lipstick, eye shadow, eyebrow pencils? 
     What about shampoos, hair colors, hairstyles and cuts?
     Then there are clothes, shirts, slacks, dresses, and shoes.
     Think about how many different pairs of shoes that you have, how many can you wear at one time? and what about coats, hats?
     What about jewelry?
          And most of these things have to be the latest fashions.
     What about diets, tanning beds, face lifts, plastic surgery?
     What about perfumes, how many different ones do you have?

And the same thing happens with us men, all of us do so many things and spend so much money to make ourselves look good on the outside when the inside is what really counts!

Tell me something, who do you think sets the standard? These are all worldly things that people are making millions of dollars on. We are making others rich at our expense.

We learn to do these things through the media, TV, movies, magazines, advertisements, radio and through other worldly means. Basically the world has a certain standard and we follow after it.

The Bible says this in Romans chapter 12, "And do not be conformed to the world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."

At a very young age we have let the things of the world shape and mold us into what we have become.  How do I know that?  Just look at the things you are wearing, think about your speech, and many of your actions? God made us to be individuals, not one of us is alike.

One thing all of us have in common is that we were created in God's image and likeness.  Another thing we have in common is that we were all born with a sin nature.  So we have no problem living a sinful life.

I am not saying that it is wrong to have some things and to make ourselves look as good as we can but we need a balance in all things. If we keep our eyes on the Lord and seek Him above all other things He will help us to have that balance we need so badly.  God’s standard is so much different than the world's.

The Bible says that God’s purpose is that you become transformed into His image and likeness.  His purpose is to help you to become more complete in Him.

He wants to prosper you and not to harm you and to give you hope and a future. He wants to pour His love into you and give you the peace and joy that surpasses all understanding.  He wants to work all things out for your good if you trust Him.

God accepts you just the way you are, after all He created you in His image and likeness.  If you don’t meet the standards of the world the people of the world have a way of not accepting you and kind of throwing you on the sidelines because you’re not good enough for them.  God accepts you the way you are and then He makes something even more beautiful out of you because He loves you.

I encourage you not to allow yourself to conform to the ways of the world anymore but let the Lord transform your life into something beautiful from the inside. Think of the word metamorphose, the transformation of the caterpillar into the beautiful butterfly. This is not just a covering over of the caterpillar, but is a complete transformation into the butterfly.

This reminds me of the blood of Jesus and the animal’s blood. The animal's blood was a covering over of sin but the blood of Jesus cleansed and purified sin so it was completely removed. The Bible says, though your sin be as scarlet they will be white as snow."  Praise God!

If God can do that for the caterpillar, how much more important are you to Him than a butterfly? If you allow Him He will transform you into something far more beautiful than a butterfly.

And remember people are not perfect and sooner or later they will likely hurt you and even let you down, even if they are Christians and you will probably hurt them and let them down also. But remember to love and forgive. And don’t forget that none of us are perfect only God is.

I started this message with 'glimpse at people and gaze at the Lord' for He will never let you down and He will never leave you or forsake you. Praise God!

Have a great day and God bless you.

Thankfulness

Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on the past and to thank and praise God for His provisions, His blessings, His sustaining power and His precious love and grace.
Take some time and just think of what you are thankful for.

Do you ever count your blessings or do you just take them for granted?

The Bible says that, "a happy heart is good medicine."

It also says, "rejoice in the Lord always again I say rejoice."

Are you an optimist or a pessimist? Do you see the cup half full or half empty?
Do you get excited when you hear about how God is working in others lives or does it make you a little jealous?

Do you ever thank God for what He is doing in your life and in your family’s or do you just think of it as luck?

How many of you, when something good happens to you, think you were just lucky? There are a lot of Christians that use the word lucky quite often. When we do we take the focus off God and place it on chance or happenstance and that brings no glory to God. Personally I don’t think the word luck or lucky should be used at all in a believer’s life. I think God should receive all the praise and thanks.

The Bible says, "the steps of a righteous man are ordained of God." That means that God guides our steps when we become Christians and walk in the Spirit and not the flesh. He allows things that happen in our lives whether good or, what we may think is, bad.

Nothing can happen to one of God’s children unless God allows it to happen. If the Lord does allow something to happen in our lives that we don’t like or we don’t agree with He knows what is best and there are some things we will never understand this side of Heaven that is where faith and trust come in.

So whatever happens, we need to have a heart of thanksgiving and praise. The Bible says, "that God inhabits the praise of His people." God loves it when we thank Him and praise Him. Should we praise Him and thank him only in the good times no! We should be willing to thank and praise the Lord in all circumstances and situations.

What does it mean when the Bible says, "all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose?"  It means exactly that--all things good or bad.

Think about Job and his situation, did God allow it to happen? Yes!

Why did God allow Job to be tested? I think it happened for more than one reason.

One thing that came out of it was that God showed Satan that a man with a sin nature would still praise God and not rebel against him even when it may not make much sense to do it.

We all know that Job suffered many things but at the end of his first test, what did he say? This is what the NIV Bible says in Job 1: verse 20–22, "At this Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell on the ground in worship and said, ‘naked I came from my mother’s womb and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away may the name of the Lord be praised.’ In all this Job did not sin by charging the Lord with wrongdoing." 

Think about this, Satan was created a perfect angel without sin or a sin nature.  But instead of praising or thanking God for the position he was in, he chose to sin against God by not being content serving God but by rebelling against God, wanting God to serve him. He was determined to become greater than God. And somehow he influenced a third of the angels to follow him in his rebellion and foolishness.  And they all ended up being thrown out of Heaven and he became the Devil or Satan. They would have been far better off if they would have chosen to serve and worship God in Heaven.

By the way, if you don’t want to worship or praise or thank God here, then why would you want to go to heaven. Remember that in Heaven you will be worshipping and praising and thanking God, along with other things, so you might as well get used to it here.

Let’s read what it says in Luke 19: 36–40. Think about these verses, are you a person that is grateful or do you just take things for granted? Do you try to take advantage of the Lord or do you give the Lord what is due Him, like praise and thanksgiving, or do the very stones have to cry out for you?

I was blessed by God to write a song about this subject. It has never become a hit but I think the Lord is pleased with it and that’s what counts.

If you are reading this and have kids help the kids explore how different people in the Bible gave thanks for God’s blessings. Read and discuss how thanks was given for each portion of scripture:


1: Noah (Genesis 6:9-14, 17-22)  through his obedience
2: Moses (Exodus 15:1-6, 11-13) through giving glory to God
3: Daniel (Daniel 6:10, 16-23) through his loyalty
4: David (I Chronicles 16:7-14, 31-34) through his love
5: Mary (Luke 1:46-55) through praise　Do the little quiz with them and discuss it after they are done.

God Bless You!

Use the following number code to answer each question, then add up your score.
          0 = Never 3 = Usually not 7 = Usually 10 = Always
_____ 1. Are you happy when your friends get something new?
_____ 2. Are you pleased when someone says "thank you" to you?
_____ 3. Are you satisfied with what you have?
_____ 4. If someone does something nice for you, do you return the kindness?
_____ 5. Are you glad for whatever you receive on your birthday, even if it’s not what you hoped for?
_____ 6. Do you say "thank you" to others on a regular basis?
_____ 7. Do you make it a point to thank God for His love each day?
_____ 8. If you don’t get your way, are you sill happy?
_____  (Total)

I hope this lesson was a blessing to you.

Getting Ahead the World’s Way

Characters:    Narrator            Jimmy            Shelley
                      Sammy             Mike                John
                      Matt                 Sue                Sharon
                      Frank                Joe   

Narrator-- Jimmy and Shelley have been elected to be the most popular
                 students in their school. The vote was a tie so there is going to be  
                 another vote to determine which one is the most popular. 

Sammy, Mike and John are talking and kidding around with each other in the classroom

Jimmy and Matt walk into the classroom

Jimmy and Matt (walk over to Sammy, Mike and John)

Jimmy:  Did you hear about Shelley?

Sammy:  No, what about her?

Jimmy:   I heard Shelley was at the store today and she tried on a
      shirt and a pair of jeans and then she walked out with them
      hidden under her other clothes.

Matt:  Yea

Mike:  You mean she stole them.

Matt: Yes, and that’s not all.  I hear she does this all the time.

Jimmy and Matt: (walk out of the room)

Sammy, Mike and John walk over to Sue, Sharon, Frank and Joe.

Sammy:  Hey guys did you hear about Shelley?

Frank:  No, what’s up.

Mike:  Jimmy told us that he heard she was stealing clothes at the store.

Sharon: What?  You must be kidding!

Joe:  No, it is true.

Sammy: Boy she sure has fooled a lot of people.

Sue:  Isn’t there a vote Friday to see who is the most popular person
in school between Jimmy and Shelley.

Mike:  Yes, what are we going to do?

Sue: I am in charge of the school paper I will make sure that everyone hears about this.
(she walks out of the room)

Mike:  (to Sammy, John, Sharon, and Frank) It is hard to believe that Shelley
would steal anything.  She goes to church and she is always witnessing   
and sharing the things the Lord is doing in her and her family’s lives.

Sammy: Just yesterday she invited me to her youth group I guess
     you never can tell about people.

Sharon: Hey guys, what if this is not true about Shelley?  After all she has always been nice to us even when we haven’t been nice to her.

Mike: Yeah and don’t forget about the vote that is coming up maybe Jimmy is lying to win the vote and be the most popular kid in the school.

Jimmy and Matt: (walk back into the room) Hey guys what’s up?

Sharon: Are you sure about what you heard about Shelley?  You know she is a nice girl.

Jimmy:  Yes I’m sure and I have been telling everyone I know.

Matt: Me to!

Frank:  Yaw know Sue is going to write about it in the school newspaper.

Jimmy and Matt: That’s great then everyone will know.

Narrator:  The vote was taken and Jimmy won the vote. Shelley denied ever
        stealing and started crying. Her mother and Father and her sister
        and her Pastor even came to school to try to straighten things out
        because they knew it wasn’t true, but no one would listen to them.

Jimmy: (walking out very smug and happy walks over to his close friend Matt) I told you it would work. 



How would this skit make you feel if it was real life? For Christians it should give them a righteous anger. Think about the last time you had a righteous anger over anything.

Righteous anger is not sin. Jesus was very angry when he cleared the temple, did he sin? no

A righteous anger isn’t just rage and it doesn’t result in bitterness, unforgiveness or holding a grudge. Righteous anger comes when an injustice is done and brings forth actions that will remedy the situation.

One of the problems I see among Christians is they get angry and bitter over things that don’t really mean a whole lot just because their pride gets hurt and I am including myself also. Far to many times the things we should be angry over we just overlook because we have bought into the lie that we can’t offend anyone. Let me assure you that if you live a godly life you will offend people and you will be persecuted for it.

For many that are not Christians this skit would be no big deal just another way to get ahead in life.

To a believer this verse could apply to this situation, “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” It seems that many non-believers would like to change these words to, “do unto others before they do it unto you.”

This is very foolish when you think of what the Bible says about reaping what you sow. In case you don’t know what this means think of this, the way you treat others is the way you will be treated. In other words, your sins will find you out. Your sins may be overlooked on this side of Heaven but God knows and He never excuses sin. You can never get away with sin and there are always consequences for it.

God is truly a loving and merciful and forgiving God but He is also just. God never winks at sin and He never sweeps your sin under the rug, so to speak, no God hates sin and deals with it and at times very severely. The Bible says that, “the wages of sin is death.”

In other words, if you live a life of sin and never repent and confess your sins and trust in the Lord to forgive your sins and you die, you have chosen Hell as your resting place, but there won’t be any rest there just an eternity of pain and anguish. There are many people that think that God will never make anyone go to Hell because He is just to loving and kind and merciful.  They are right, all these things are true God will never make anyone go to hell but He will allow you to go if that is what you choose to do.

Remember this, man has been given a free will to choose either Heaven or Hell so if you do end up in Hell you chose to go there. Think about this, you won’t be able to blame God or anyone else for your choice. Hell wasn’t created for man it was created for Satan and the fallen angels who choose to rebel against God. But the good news is that we all have a choice.

Like I said earlier, the Bible says, “that the wages of sin is death,” but it doesn’t stop there, the rest of the verse says, “the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord!” 

In John 3:16 the Bible says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” Verse 17 says, “For God didn’t send His Son into the world to condemn the world but to save the world through Him.”  Praise God!

This is great news God isn’t willing that any be lost but that all will come to repentance. This means that God loves us so much that He made it possible for us to make the right choice. God will do what you can’t do on your own and all you have to do is tell him that you are a sinner in need of His forgiveness and His grace. Tell Him you are sorry, ask him to forgive you of your sins and ask him to be Lord of your life.

If you mean what you said welcome to the family. Now go and tell somebody what you did and then find a Bible teaching church and start growing. And be sure to thank and praise the Lord and if you would tell me about it too, thanks. God Bless.

Choices We Make

What kind of choices do you make each day?
     Think about what you do on an average day.

When we wake up in the morning we start making choices.
     Our first choice is do we want to get up or not?

What do you think about when you first wake up, while you are still lying there?

Do you ever say to yourself, Heavenly Father I love you, Jesus I love you Holy Spirit I love you, you are all precious to me and I want to be like you?
     Maybe I am a little odd but I have tried to make that a choice for awhile now. Most every day before I speak to my wife I have already expressed my love and praise to my heavenly Father and Jesus and the Holy Spirit. I will always try to make this a priority in my life.  My wife and I have this little thing that we do most every morning. We tell each other that we love each other but we take it a little farther than that. We will say something like this, "I love you lots and lots and lots of big huge, gigando, colossal bunches and bunches and bunches." It is something we have done for many years now. Even that is a choice, we can do it or we don’t have to do it.


The Bible says in Matthew chapter 6 verse 33, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you."  This verse talks about choices also. I know that this verse is talking about food and clothing but I think it goes beyond that.

The Bible says that we should give the Lord the first fruits.  I relate this with spending time with the Lord early in the day and so that’s what I try to do.  When I give the Lord the first part of the day it seems like the day goes better. I have found that the choices we make either result in blessings or consequences.

Think about this: Our prisons and jails are full of people that made bad choices.  Every day we are faced with right or wrong choices.

Over the years there have been many church people and some of your own friends who have made the wrong choice and now they are not in church anymore, they drifted away and became spiritually shipwrecked. I want to make this very clear not all the people that leave a Church have made a bad choice. Many pastors have bought into the popularity system and they’re so afraid to offend anyone that they preach watered-down sermons. They start catering to their people instead of honoring God, which is a formula for disaster. If the people are being entertained and just catered to and not changed they need to find a church where the truth is taught and where they will be convicted through the Holy Spirit and repent through godly sorrow and confess their sin so that they can grow to be more like the Lord. Being stirred up emotionally to make a decision just wont cut it.
There are many examples in the Bible about people that made good and bad
choices.
     Jonah made a bad choice and ended up in a big fish’s belly.
     Lucifer made a bad choice and ended up thrown out of heaven and became known as the Devil—God’s enemy.
     David made a bad choice and ended up committing adultery and killing an
innocent man.
     Ananias and Sapphira made a bad choice and lied to Peter and the Holy Spirit about some property they had sold, saying they got less than what they did and they lost their lives.
There are others I could mention but I think you got the message.
David and Jonah and many others made good choices also and were blessed because of them but every one of the bad choices resulted in sin and every one of them brought severe punishment.

Now I want to ask all of you a question:
Have you made some bad choices this week or maybe even today?
　
Out of all of these examples I mentioned, only one truly repented and that was David and that wasn’t until a year later when God sent the Prophet Nathan to David to confront him with the sin that he had committed with Bathsheba and against Uriah.
You can find his repented prayer in Psalms 51.
David had lost his fellowship with God and he was a very miserable person.
His joy was gone and he felt like all his bones had been crushed. Sin always separates us from God and should make us feel miserable. Think of what David said, "The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise."

Now you have a choice to make--you can deal with your sin now and repent or
you can continue to be separated from God and be miserable. This is between you and God, not you and me.

Remember when Lazarus came out of the tomb he was still bound with grave clothes, he was alive but he wasn’t set free until they removed the grave clothes.  Just like Lazarus we are alive too but, if there is still unconfessed sin in our lives that has not been repented of we are also bound.

So let’s do business with God and let Jesus set us free! Seek godly sorrow and confess your sin and repent, then you will be free indeed. The Bible says when the Son sets you free you are free indeed!
Praise God!

Consequences of Sin

I want to talk about sin and its consequences!

I want to start with this, sin never builds up it always tears down.

Let me start with these two sins: lying and deceiving.

I have noticed that many people that claim to be Christians have no problem committing these sins. I don’t know how many times I have been told by someone that they were going to do something and they never did it. I don’t make a claim of perfection in this area either I am also guilty at times, to my shame. My purpose here is not to condemn anyone but to make us all aware of these sins because that is what lying is ~ sin.

How many times have we tried to encourage people with lies? For instance, how many times have we said to someone you look great or said about something they were wearing that it was beautiful or something close to that and we really didn’t think that at all. That is the sin of lying and deceiving. Because you not only lied but you deceived that person as well.

How many times has someone asked you how you are doing and you respond with great and you knew that you weren’t doing well at all. That is also lying and deceiving. To be honest I have had so many people tell me things over the years that didn’t happen that I only believe it when it happens. I am talking about people in and out of the church. I hate to say this but it is true in many circumstances and situations you can’t tell the difference between the church and the world. Oh how we need the Lord to pour out his Spirit and cause a great revival to take place in the universal church and I pray it will start in me.
What happens when we lie and deceive people?


When we lie about people we not only hurt ourselves, but we encourage the people we lie to, to look at the people we lie about in a different way.

Lying and deceiving, gossiping and backbiting are all basically in the same category.
Why? Because they can all destroy the person’s reputation that does it and the other people’s reputation they involve in it.

Let’s read 2 Kings 5: 25 – 27.

How do you think Elisha knew where Gehazi went?
Because God told him and he also told him what he did.
Back in the days of the prophets, God spoke to His people about different
things.

How do you think Gehazi felt when Elisha confronted him and told him about
where he went and what he did?

What about Elisha, how do you think he felt when Gehazi lied to him?

Now, what do you think about the consequences?
I want you to know when we sin there will be some kind of consequence or punishment. Sometimes the punishment can be very severe such as the case of Ananias and Sapphira in Acts chapter 5. Their sin was that they lied to Peter and also to the Holy Spirit and they both died because of it. The Bible says, "that the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." When they were confronted by Peter they could have repented and confessed but they choose not to. The consequence was very harsh and swift but I see something good that came out of this and it was that the fear of the Lord came over the whole church and all who heard about these events. I think when the fear of the Lord comes to the church, the church is much healthier and I think we desperately need the fear of the Lord in our churches today. Without this kind of fear, God’s people will always try to take advantage of him. Remember the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

In Hebrews 12: 6 it says, "The Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son." We rejoice in many things that God does but how many rejoice in his discipline? We all should, it proves we are God’s sons and we know "that all things work together for good to those who love God to those that are the called according to his purpose." Praise God!

God doesn’t punish us because He doesn’t love us, He punishes us because He
loves us beyond what we can comprehend.

God will always forgive us if we truly repent and ask for forgiveness.
Discipline will help us have a healthy fear of God and keep our feet on the
straight and narrow path that leads to God’s kingdom.

It would be good to memorize these two verses: Hebrew 12: 5 - 6 and in the future if you are tempted in the areas we just talked about maybe knowing these verses will help you to resist the temptation. When Jesus was tempted he came back with scripture; doing so he set the example for us to follow, let’s walk in it! Praise God!

Resisting Temptation

I would like to talk about temptation. I am writing this to young people and adults because we all need to hear these things. None of us are beyond temptation.

Question: What does the word tempt mean?
The Webster Dictionary V.T: tries; try to persuade, esp. to evil.

Question: Do you think that everyone is tempted? The answer is yes even Jesus was tempted but He never yielded to the temptation.Temptation comes from different sources.

Question: Do you think Jesus could have sinned?
Yes, Jesus could have chosen to sin just like satan chose to and also Eve and then Adam. None of them had a sin nature but they all had a free will. The difference was that Jesus never even gave a thought to sin.

Question: Does God ever tempt anyone?
The answer is no
James 1: verse 13 says, "Let no one say when He is tempted, I am tempted by God, for God cannot be tempted by evil nor does He Himself tempt anyone."

Question: How are we tempted?
We all know about how the Devil tempts us to sin, for his purpose is to kill, steal and destroy. Now what about our participation. Check out James 1: 14-15. Now turn to James 4: verse 7 – 10.

Question: How do we resist the Devil?
Turn to Matthew 4 and read verses 1—11 and see how Jesus did it.

Question: How many of you have gone without a meal or how many have not
eaten for a whole day? How did you feel? Now think about not eating for forty days and nights how do you think you would feel then?

Think about the time when your day seemed unbearable nothing you did seemed to go right. Think about times when you worked hard and long hours and you were dog tired just exhausted. Young people think about the times when you struggled to pass a test and failed and in doing so the stress overwhelmed you. There are many scenarios that I could use but you got the picture. Sometimes we bring circumstances on ourselves.

Remember this when we experience hard times, whether we bring it on ourselves or it comes to us by outside sources, the devil loves to use these times to bombard us with temptations. We need to be careful with the stress and trials that come from living life, and there will be many, that we don’t yield to satan’s temptations.

In case you don’t know how the devil came about let me give you some background on the devil. At one time he was a beautiful angel whose name was Lucifer and he stood in the very presence of God. What a position to be in but this beautiful angel threw it all away. Because of his choice to sin he was thrown out of Heaven along with a third of the angels. He not only sinned but he also influenced all those angels. If angels can be deceived and chose to sin being perfect be alert it can happen to you. Now you know how he became satan or the devil.

Question: What was his sin?
Something that God hates---pride
This is something that all of us have in our lives.

Just as Lucifer and all the angels choose to forfeit their position with God the same thing can happen with us. Sin separates us from God. We should be so thankful for his promise in 1 John 1:9 that says, "if we confess our sins he is faithful to forgive us our sins and cleanse us of all unrighteousness."
So as believers if we are truly sorry and we are willing to humble ourselves before God we can always find forgiveness when we confess our sin to the Lord. Praise God!

The Bible says that, "God draws to the humble but he resists the proud." So humble yourselves under the mighty Hand of God and He will lift you up."
The Bible also says that, "Pride goeth before a fall and a haughty Spirit before
destruction."

Satan was trying to get Jesus to sin in the same way that he did~through pride. Jesus could have said to Satan, "Who do you think you are, have you forgotten who I am I could do all these things and many more things, after all I Am God’s Son."

But Jesus didn’t come to earth to brag about Himself but to do the will of God, His Father, and to be a servant. So instead of bragging He came back with scripture and in doing so He resisted the devil and the devil had to flee from him.
Why is it so important to memorize scripture, and not just memorize it but to understand what it means? So when we are tempted we can use it just like Jesus did. Praise God!

Question: What are some of the things you are tempted with?
Stealing ~ cheating on tests ~ lying ~ swearing ~ telling dirty jokes ~ maybe bullying other kids ~ gossiping ~ smoking ~ taking drugs ~ watching bad things on TV or on the computer ~ looking at magazines you should not be looking at ~ maybe you’re tempted to go places your Mom and Dad don’t want you to go ~ maybe it’s music ~ maybe skipping school ~ maybe just being the class clown or disobeying your parents or giving your teachers a hard time ~ maybe listening to dirty jokes.

And there are many more ways we can be tempted.

The good news is that the Bible says in 1 Corin. 10 verse 13 that, "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man but God is faithful who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able but with the temptation will also make the way of escape that you will be able to bear it." The big problem here is many times when we are tempted we don’t look for the way out, at least this has been true in my life at times but maybe you are more spiritual than I am, think about it.

1st Peter 5: 8 says "be self controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."
It also says, "If we resist the devil he well flee from us."

Praise God--so let’s use Jesus’ example and memorize scripture. And use it when we are tempted to sin. Don’t forget the word says. "Greater is He who is in you than he that is in the world." It also says when the Enemy comes in like a flood the Spirit of God will raise a standard against him. If these things are true, and they are, then we have the power to resist sin Praise God!

Fear

I thought we would talk about fear today. Towards the end of this lesson I have placed a few verses that you can look up and meditate on which I think will help you to overcome negative fear.

There are so many reasons to be fearful in today’s world.

It seems like our world is out of control:
>There are many gangs in the streets.
>There are many young people that carry guns and knives to school filled with anger and bitterness.
>We hear of stabbings and killings and rape and robberies almost everyday
>There are many kinds of diseases, some with no cures in sight.
>I don’t think anyone will forget what happened on 9-11-2002.
>There are terrorists that hate our country and us.
>We are in a war in Iraq.

The Bible says that men's hearts will fail them from fear.

These truly are uncertain times and it sure does seem like the world is spinning out of control and I’m sure there are many that feel there is no hope.  

But I’m here to tell you that there is hope and that hope can only be found in Jesus.

But those that reject Jesus Christ have no hope whatsoever.

That is the reason so many are depressed and many commit suicide.

There are many that are mentally, psychologically and emotionally drained.

Without the Lord most people live miserable lives. They live in uncertainty and many are paralyzed by fear.

Fear is an emotion that everyone of us needs to have. But fear can be positive or negative. 

I think we all know that it is important to have a healthy fear. The Bible says that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom so it is important that we have a healthy fear of the Lord.

If we are Christians we should not be overcome by fear.

God is on the side of those that love Him and nothing can happen to them unless God allows it.

 If He does He will give us the courage and strength to go through it.

One thing we can be sure of, if we are Christians, we never have to worry about being separated from God for the Bible says that He will never leave us or forsake us.

Paul says in Romans 8 verses 35-39 that we will never be separated from God’s love. Open up your Bible and read it for yourselves.

In 1st John 4 verse 18 it says “there is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”  And that is true but I have never seen a perfect person and I have never seen anyone demonstrate perfect love.

Outside of the Lord himself, my wife is the only one whom I think loves me unconditionally and I thank the Lord for her. 

Not even the apostle Paul claimed to be a perfect person but he did say that we should strive for perfection. But one thing I do know is that Paul did not have any fear, not even in death. Paul knew whom He believed in and He knew that God was able to keep Him safe. And even if He did have to give up his life for whatever reason he knew that He would be with the Lord, which would be a far better place.

 We can have this same assurance. Paul said in the Word of God, “to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.”

Remember, fear that steals our peace and joy and harms our relationship with God is from Satan.

Jesus said in John 14 verse 1, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God.”

The Bible also says to, “cast all your cares on Him for He cares for you. Praise God.”

I have put here a few verses that deal with fear check them out and be encouraged, trust the Lord and fear not for the Lord loves you and He will work all things out together for your good.

Deuteronomy 31:6-8

Joshua 1: 7-9

Psalms 3: 6

Psalms 18:30-36

Psalm 27:1 - 3

Psalm 56:3-4

Psalm 118:6 - 7

Isaiah 41:13 - 14

Matthew 10:28-31

John 14:27

Romans 8:35-39

2 Timothy 1:7

1 John 4:18

Jeremiah 29: 11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”  Praise God!

I also want to encourage all of you that are not born again.  If you can relate to this message and you feel your life is spinning out of control and fear has overcome you, let me give you some hope today. The Bible says, “all have sinned and fell short of the glory of God” it also says, “there is none righteous no not one.”  It is not your fault that you were born with a sin nature. But it is your responsibility to admit that you are a sinner and that you have sinned. If it is your desire to make Jesus the Lord of your life please repeat this prayer, Lord I know I am a sinner in need of your grace and mercy. Please forgive me of my sins and cleanse me of all unrighteousness with the blood of Jesus. Come into my life and set me free of sin, I thank you in Jesus’ name amen. If you meant what you said, welcome to the family of God. Now talk to him about all your cares and fears and pray and ask Him to help you overcome all these things and don’t be shocked when it happens. God bless you!       

A Testimony to the Lord

I would like to start off with thanking all the veterans that read this testimony and those that don’t. I thank you for your willingness to fight on any battlefield you were called to fight on. You were willing to give your lives for your country. And because of your sacrifice our country is still free. I know that when many of you came back you weren’t treated very nice. And some of you paid a dear price and are still paying that price. I just want to say that I am sorry and I personally congratulate you. Thank you all once again for your dedication, commitment and sacrifice to keep our country free. The Bible says greater love hath no man than that he would lay down his life for a friend and all of you were willing to do that, thanks again.


Now I would like to talk to you about a man that left His Father’s side in heaven  to come to earth, His name is Jesus Christ.

He also came here to fight a battle, but his battle was not against people and it wasn’t for land. His battle was against the forces of darkness in the spiritual realm. His battle was for the hearts and souls of man. He came to preach the gospel, heal the broken hearted, to set the captive free, to give sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord. Check it out in Luke 4:18, 19. He came to break the devil’s grip on mankind.

Here was a man that never hurt anyone intentionally because his purpose was to seek and to save mankind.

In John chapter 3: verses 16,17 it says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him."

Jesus fought the battle and won. And just like those who fought in the different wars and suffered so that we could live in freedom Jesus suffered also that we could be set free of our sins totally forgiven and live in Heaven with him Praise his Name!

Now I would like to share a little about how my life was and how God
miraculously changed it.

To start out I grew up with many fears and was sick often. I never remember being hugged by my parents and never remember being told that they loved me until after I became a Christian. I was over fifty when my Dad told me he loved me I can’t remember if my Mom ever told me she loved me. There were fourteen in my family counting my parents and money was kind of scarce. Because of our circumstances when I finally went to school I didn’t have nice clothes to wear and I wasn’t too popular. I remember at one point of my school experience the soles on my shoes would flop up and down when I walked. I had a very hard time in school and over time I hated to go. I dropped out when I was 16. I couldn’t understand why anyone would want to get an education, looking forward to getting a good job and making something out of themselves. I went to work for the Endicott Johnson shoe factory because I had to help my Mom and Dad because we were very poor some times eating one or two meals a day and I hated every day I worked there. You might say I hated life! All I seemed to want to do was drink and party and I did it quite often. I started smoking at 15 or sixteen I guess I just wanted to escape reality.And as time went on I ended up getting married at a young age and it was like a nightmare. It seemed like all we did was fight and argue. That lasted about five years and ended with her getting a divorce. I never gave up my drinking and smoking and I was a terrible husband. Thinking back I can’t remember many happy times in that marriage.


One of the good things I do remember happened on a night I was going to go out drinking.  I was just about to leave when I heard someone knocking on my door. I opened the door and there were three guys standing there. They were out witnessing--going around telling people about Jesus. I let them in and they told my wife and I about Jesus and I asked Jesus to come into my heart. At that moment it felt like someone had run their hand across my chest and I felt so light and so different it seemed like I could have jumped as high as a building. I would like to say that is when all the terrible things I was doing ended but I can’t. The result was that my wife at the time just laughed, acting like it was a joke and I went out drinking like usual. No one ever came back and I didn’t know what to do. The next day I remember telling some people at work about what had happened but none of them understood either, so I was right back where I was.

My problems just seemed to escalate and I was getting into a little marijuana.

After my marriage ended I went to Texas thinking I could run away from my
problems. I got a job at Sea Arama Marineworld in Galveston where I started in their landscaping department. Then I went into their animal training department and found myself riding their killer whale and even got a chance to wrestle an alligator twice.

I started attending a church there and things seemed to be going better. I had stopped drinking and smoking but I still had emotional problems and a terrible temper. It wasn’t long until I was back to my old lifestyle because one of my main purposes for being there was to find girls.

My life was steadily going down hill and I was right back doing all the same things I was doing before

As time went on I returned to NY and I got married again but that lasted less than 2 years and she left and got an annulment.

I was a terrible, miserable person and no one could put up with me very long.

It seemed like I was always losing everything and I was getting hard. I felt like a part of my heart was missing and I couldn’t love. To be honest I never knew what love was, I don’t think I ever experienced it and I don’t think I ever gave it. To me love was nothing but lust.

I was still drinking and doing what I always did but now I was popping pills and
had gotten into the chopper motorcycle scene. I was becoming a real freak. Partying had gotten to be a regular thing.

As time went on I met another girl and we were both into the partying and the drinking scene. Two and a half years later we got married and when I married her I didn’t even love her.

We started raising a family but I started running into problems because my heart had become so hard that I couldn’t go to my kids, they had to come to me.

I still had a very bad temper and was a very miserable person, what I considered a total freak. I don’t know how my wife put up with me. She had quit smoking because she said she couldn’t afford to smoke and she didn’t drink much either. She faithfully stayed home and took care of the kids while I would be out drinking and partying.

As time went on something seemed to be happening to me, I started thinking
about spiritual things.

Jesus said no one can come to me unless the Father draws him in John 6:44.
I didn’t know this scripture at the time but it seems to me now that is what God was doing with me.

So about 30 years ago I committed my heart to Jesus and He started transforming my life. I remember pouring liquor down the sink, the cigarettes were gone, the drugs were gone and I know now that God had done something
miraculous in my life which He continued to do.

It wasn’t long after that when my wife received the Lord and she began to change which was another miracle, Praise God!

Satan tried to destroy our lives but Jesus had a different idea, he healed the years that the locus’ had devoured. He did in us what He came to do, He set us free. Then I felt like there was a purpose for my life

I can’t thank and praise God enough for what He has done over the last 30 or more years: 
**He has taught me what love is about and has helped me to love people. 
**He has given me a wife that is far beyond what I could ever hope for and has shown me His love for me through her.
**He has also given us 5 great kids that I love and that love me.
**He has taken all desire for alcohol, tobacco, drugs, and other things from me. 
**He is helping me to overcome my temper and helping me to overcome my psychological and emotional problems and I can’t thank Him enough.
**He has put a peace and joy in my heart.
**He continues to bless us beyond our understanding.

I am not trying to say that we have not had any struggles or problems over the
last 33 years. We have experienced some very tough times. I am not trying to say that Christianity is a rose garden, it is a very tough life at times, but it is also exciting and rewarding to see how the Lord always gets us through our tough times and it is the greatest life you will ever live.

Sometimes you may hear that if you give your life to the Lord your life will be sort of like a bowl of cherries but the truth is sometimes it may seem like the pits. Sometimes you may feel like you are on a mountaintop and everything is going great and you find it so easy to Praise the Lord, then, other times you may feel like you are in a valley and everything is going wrong and you don’t know what is going on and you are devastated and you find it very hard to praise the Lord. I want to encourage you to try to praise the Lord as much in the hard times as you do in the easier times. If you do, then you will have a different perspective and the hard times won’t seem near as hard. Remember the Lord said He would never leave us or forsake us and He never lets us down.

August 13^th we celebrated our 33^rd wedding anniversary and our love just seems to get stronger and stronger for the Lord and each other every year.  I can’t believe what a great marriage we have and I know it is because my wife and I have always tried to put the Lord first in our marriage. We know unless the Lord build the house you labor in vain that build it. It takes three to make a great marriage The Lord first then you and your spouse. Without the Lord being in charge of your lives I think it is almost impossible to have a great marriage.  I am totally convinced that if any married couple would put the Lord in the center of their marriage, and honor him with their lives that the Lord will help them and it won’t just be a marriage but it will be a good marriage.

If you are reading my testimony and would like to experience some of these things in your life and you are not a Christian, all you need to do is to pray and ask Jesus to come into your heart and life.

Tell Him that you are sorry for your sins because the Bible says that we all have
sinned and fell short of the glory of God which means that we need to be forgiven, then repent of your sins and ask Him to forgive you, and if you really mean it, it will happen. Praise God. Then find a good Bible believing church and start growing in the Lord. And don’t be afraid to share your testimony with someone. I sure would love to hear it, thanks Praise God!