Tired And Grouchy

I got up this morning like a grouchy old bear; all I wanted to do was sleep.  I was very tired, going to bed around 11:30 and waking up around 4 o’clock and I couldn’t get back to sleep.  My wife got up and turned the first alarm off but forgot to turn off the second alarm on the clock radio so the radio kept going off until I wanted to gently knock it on the floor, lol, but I didn’t, thank the Lord!!

When I finally got downstairs, I was very tired and not very happy, I didn’t want to talk to my wife or my dog or anyone else, not even the Lord, all I wanted to do was go back to sleep and, can you believe it, I call myself a Christian!  Can any one of you relate to this situation?

My wife was so gracious, she made my breakfast, then got ready for work, put her arm on my shoulder, told me she loved me and she was gone, and my dog did what he does many mornings, he went back to bed, he is very good at doing that.  I did manage to read a couple of chapters in my Bible while I ate and then I started to pray and I was having a hard time staying awake, but I finally managed to accomplish that.  Eventually I sat down to do a blog and I totally fell asleep for a while in my chair.  When I got myself together I started praying, asking the Lord for something to write about and guess what, I wrote a praise song.  

It is hard to stay grouchy when you are writing and singing a praise song, if you don’t believe me the next time you feel like I did, try writing a praise song and singing it, it is probably better than medicine.  Read Proverbs 17:22, “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones.”  A happy heart means to be cheerful and, if you are cheerful that is a good thing, then you will be a blessing to those around you.

Now read Proverbs 15:13, “A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.”  Praising the Lord sure seemed to help me get out of the mood I was in, praise the Lord.  

I just remembered one of Pastor Piedmonte’s favorite songs; it was called, “It’s Amazing What Praising Can Do.”  It went something like this:

“It’s amazing what praising can do, halleluiah, halleluiah

It's amazing what praising can do, halleluiah  

I don’t worry when things go wrong

Jesus fills my heart with a song

It’s amazing what praising can do, Halleluiah”  

We would sing this song over and over again and everyone seemed to enjoy singing it, just praising the Lord through it!!  It was a very sad day when Pastor Piedmonte passed away, he was a great pastor and a great man of faith and he will always be greatly missed, if I can say it that way.  As far as I am concerned, he was a man that touched the heart of God and a man that loved people.  I’ve said this before, he was small in stature, but large in faith and he was also a true Pentecostal preacher.

Another man that knew how to praise was King David, the man God said was a man after His own heart.  David knew how to worship and praise God, we could all learn from him, Read Psalms 145, it may just get you in the mood to praise.  The next time you are tired and grouchy, give the Lord a sacrifice of praise, it will do you a world of good, so to speak, and drive the grouches away. Something to think about and may the good Lord bless you and yours with His perfect peace, love and joy!!

You Are Not Alone

You may be a believer today, but you feel all alone.  Maybe you feel forsaken and you are very discouraged and, maybe, you can’t even figure out why.  I have good news for you, please read on.  In John 14:18 Jesus said this to His disciples, “I will not leave you comfortless, I will come to you.”  Even though Jesus was telling them He was going to leave them and go back to His Father, He wasn’t going to leave His disciples comfortless and He will not abandon us either.

The Greek word for the word comfortless in this text means orphanos which is where we get the word orphan.  I got this from my devotional called ‘Sparkling Gems’ by Rick Renner.  If you have never read this devotional, I would personally highly recommend it.  What do you think about when you think about an orphan?  A person that has no parents and that is true.  Jesus was everything to these disciples; a mother and father, a teacher, a provider, a protector and a friend and also a healer and a mentor.  Like I said, Jesus was everything to them and now He was talking about leaving them, what do you think they would feel like?  Think of this, after leaving everything and following Jesus, which is what the disciples did, and now they hear He is leaving.

But there was also great news, praise the Lord; He would send them the comforter that would be in them, the Holy Spirit, who would always be present with them.  They would never be alone and one day Jesus would return and take them back with Him.  

Sometimes we go through what I would call dry times or valley experiences, where we can’t seem to get in touch with the Lord for a period of time and we can feel forsaken, but when these times happen we need to stand on the promises of God and continue to do what we know we should be doing.  Maybe at these times we are being tested or maybe there is unconfessed sin in our lives and we are being corrected, but the Lord still loves us.  I believe that sin separates us from the Lord but He doesn’t just throw us away, He lovingly corrects us to get our attention to get us to repent and when we do He faithfully forgives us and restores us back to fellowship with Him because He knows what sin will do in our lives.

I hope this has been an encouragement to you and I also hope you will have a blessed day.  God bless you and yours will His perfect peace, love and joy!!

Unhealthy Choices

So many times, as believers, we make unhealthy choices or decisions and we end up being negatively affected by them.  This could constitute many things like choosing friends or activities or even jobs.  Sometimes in our zeal to help someone, we end up needing help ourselves because of how negative the person is, and their negativity spills over onto us.  There are some people that you are not going to be able to help because they just seem to love the situation they are in, and trying to help them will just make them angry, so you need to give them over to the Lord and just keep praying for them.  I am convinced that only the Holy Spirit can bring conviction to a person’s life and even that won’t help unless the person is willing to act on that conviction.

Think of what Jesus said in Mark 6:4-6, “But Jesus, said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house. And he could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them. And he marvelled because of their unbelief. And he went round about the villages, teaching.”

This isn’t only for prophets, but it may be true of anyone that works for God, but regardless, your work is very important.  If you are not respected, you can still be useful in kingdom work.  If friends, neighbors or family won’t accept your help, don’t let their rejection keep you from doing the work of the Lord!!  Sometimes your coworkers can ridicule you and make things very hard to the point where you may want to conform to their way of thinking, in that case you may need to seek another job; God is always able to provide for you.

What about the activities you are involved with, the things you watch or the things you hear and the things you are into that can negatively affect you to the point where you start conforming to the world.  God’s Word says that we need to be transforming our minds and not conforming to the things of this world.  

Read Romans 12:1-2, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.”

Spending time with the Lord and meditating on His Word, putting His Word into practice and having a time of prayer each day will be very helpful and in doing these things they will help you to transform your mind and not conform to the world and its way of thinking.  Another thing is getting involved in ministry which will be of great value to you also.  I have given you something to think about and I hope it has been an encouragement to you.  May the good Lord bless you and yours with His perfect peace, love and joy and may you have a super day!!  PS Don’t forget to thank and praise the Lord for He is worthy!!

Jesus Loves You

If it is true that Jesus loves us, we can love one another because Jesus loved us first and Jesus loves the very best.  I heard a message and the pastor talked on love and how we should love the body of Christ as a family and we should love them in a way that we would stick up for them and never say any unkind things about them.  I know many of us struggle with this at times, but a born-again believer that has the Spirit of the Lord God in them has the capacity to love because God is love and there is no true believer that has an excuse not to love.  If you say you love God and hate your brother or sister you are a liar and the truth in not in you, for how can you love God who you haven’t seen but hate your brother who you have seen.  

Will you have disagreements?  Of course, think of your family members when you were growing up, did you have any fights or arguments?  You probably had many but, when it was all said and done, you stuck up for them when they needed you and they stuck up for you when you needed them because you loved each other.  The body of Christ is huge, it is spread out all over the world, and there are many denominations and you may not agree with everything they teach, but if they are a part of the body of Christ we need to love them.  

Think of anger, bitterness, unforgiveness and slander they all fall under the covering of pride, along with other sins.  Probably these take precedence over most all of the other sins in the church, and that may be why God hates pride in people’s lives and in the body of Christ.  God resists the proud and draws to the humble.  People may be tired of me talking about this subject but it is so important for me to hear and also for others to hear because I have been guilty of these sins and there is no doubt that others have been guilty of these sins also.  

If the body of Christ truly loved one another, the world would see it and desire to have that kind of love, but when they hear us bickering and fussing and fighting, running one another down, why would they want to be a part of the church when they get that from the world.  Remember those outside the church will know we are Christians by our love.  Wouldn’t you like to be known as a person who truly loves, and not a person who just talks the walk but does not walk the talk?  Think about this, Christians taking each other to court in front of unbelieving judges or even believers and hearing them say can’t you people just get along, is a blemish on the church and a slap in the face of God.  

This is another thing we must remember, God hears everything we say and I don’t think it makes Him happy.  Sometimes taking the blame for something we didn’t do is a better option.  Jesus said this to his disciples in John 13:33-35, “Little children, yet a little while I am with you. Ye shall seek me: and as I said unto the Jews, Whither I go, ye cannot come; so now I say to you. A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”

Jesus gave us the strongest example of love when He laid down His life for us.  Think about this, Jesus knew what Judas and Peter were going to do but He never stopped loving them and He didn’t stop them either, they had a free will and He didn’t stand in the way of their decisions.  Seeing Jesus knows all things, He also knows how we will hurt him but that doesn’t stop Him from loving us.  And when we repent and ask for forgiveness, He is faithful to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness, praise the Lord!!  So what we need to do is ask the good Lord to help us to love the things that He loves and hate the things that He hates.  If we are commanded to love our enemies, how much more the body of Christ, our brothers and sisters!!  Something to think about and may you have a super day and may the good Lord bless you and yours with His perfect peace love and joy!!

Lost

Imagine this; you can be lost in the church or in the temple.  I heard something similar to this from Jim Cymbala and it is so true.  I think we would be shocked if we knew how many people that go to church are truly lost.  This was always interesting to me and that is why I put it in here.  The English Standard Version Bible says this about creation in Romans 8:19, “For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.”

I think I feel the same way at times, wondering who are really the sons and daughters of God.  Sometimes we may judge people in the church far too quickly saying that they are born-again, or many other things about them, but we need to be very careful because many times we find out that we were wrong in our judgement.  Thank the Lord that the church is somewhat like a hospital because almost everyone that comes there has some kind of problem; many are bruised and battered, some are sick, some carry all kinds of baggage, like emotional and psychological problems, while others feel guilt and some are weighted down with unconfessed sin.  Some have never been born again, not knowing their condition before the Lord and some come with fear and anxiety, not knowing what to expect.  Most all have needs of one kind or another.

What do you think these people need desperately?  I think one of the most important things they need is to be loved and another thing they need is to hear the truth.  How else will people know that we are true believers but by our love?  Some people don’t even want to know about what you know until they know how much you care.  When you really care for someone, you tell them the truth, because the truth may be the only thing that will set them free!!  If you water down the gospel isn’t that like putting a bandage on a sore that won’t heal?  I know the Word says this in 2 Timothy 4:1-4, “I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”

I know we live in the time when truth isn’t even considered by many because many do not believe that there are any truths, or absolutes, but even they need to hear the truth.  The truth is that there is no one that doesn’t need Jesus, and even though Jesus doesn’t need them, He loves them and wants to have a personal relationship with them and that is the truth.  Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life, no man cometh to the Father but by me.”  In John 18:37-38, it says, “Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all.”

So you see all down through the ages people had a problem with the truth.  The reason why this is so prevalent is that the evil one has blinded the eyes of so many that they can only know the truth if they repent of their sins and, by faith, put their trust in the Lord and He opens their eyes and ears and removes the veil from their minds!!  

Read 2 Corinthians 4:1-6, “Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; but have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: in whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

The good news is this; that everyone can know the truth, except those that refuse to believe, and come to Jesus.  Jesus is more than willing to set people free but He doesn’t force Himself on anyone.  The Bible says, “For many are called but few are chosen,” in Matthew 22:14.  This is from a parable about a wedding feast in Matthew 22:1-14.  The problem in this case was that people at that time had excuses and were not ready to go and this is still happening today.  And another problem was that in order to get into the wedding feast you had to be clothed with the righteousness of Christ, which only happens when a person is born-again.  There was a man there that did not have a wedding garment on and was thrown out into outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.  The truth is that no one can get into the wedding feast of the Lamb at the end of time unless he or she is covered by the righteousness of Christ; you have to be born–again.

Read John 3:17-21, “For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.”

This truth is far too important to neglect or take lightly.  Jesus came that we might have life, and have it more abundantly, praise His holy name.  Now read John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

Jesus said in Revelations 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.”

I know at the time Jesus was talking to the church but I think it is still relevant today.  So I hope you won’t put it off any longer; repent of your sins, which means to turn in the other direction, and then ask the Lord to be the Lord of your life and forgive you of your sins.  Take your time and let the good Lord fill you with His peace, love and joy then go rejoicing and praising the Lord and share with others what the Lord has done for you!!  Then start growing in your new found faith.  May the good Lord bless you and yours and may you have a super day!!