Jehovah's Boy

CALL MY NAME

2010-08-31T11:07:00.001-07:00

Ezek 14:19-20
19 "Or if I send a plague into that land and pour out my wrath upon it through bloodshed, killing its men and their animals, 20 as surely as I live, declares the Sovereign LORD, even if Noah, Daniel and Job were in it, they could save neither son nor daughter. They would save only themselves by their righteousness. NIV
** I think it’s quite amazing how God uses the three men to make a point of righteousness. Oh how I want to be called by name by the Lord! I want to live a life to the point that God would want to mention my name when giving an example of righteousness. This kind of recognition that comes from the Lord is not cheap. It will cost us everything and every selfish desire and act. I want to be mentioned but do I want to pay the price to be mentioned? Step by step one day at a time here a little there a little….. it can happen but small adjustments must be made to my lifestyle until I have come into alignment with the Holy Spirit.

HE LOVES ME

2010-08-19T09:14:00.001-07:00

John 21:6-8
7 Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord." So when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put his outer garment on (for he was stripped for work), and threw himself into the sea. 8 But the other disciples came in the little boat, for they were not far from the land, but about one hundred yards away, dragging the net full of fish. NASU
** Isn’t it wonderful to refer to yourself as “the one whom Jesus loved? You would have to have such confidence and such a close relationship with Jesus to be able to say such a thing. I know that I can say that about my wife…. “I’m the one whom Tandi loves.” But can I say that about Jesus in my life? I feel often times I fall short of being the one whom Jesus loves but according to the Word of God, it is not by works or anything that I can or will do that causes Him to love me but by His grace and mercy. Romans chapter 5 even says that “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” I’ve been told and I’ve preached it myself many years ago, that even if you were the only person alive on the earth, Jesus would have still come and died on the cross for you! I’m so glad that He loves me that much!!! So as I close this session of my journal writing, I the one whom Jesus loves, prays that you will find His love for you and would fall hopelessly in love with Him.

ADULTRY

2010-08-17T10:21:00.001-07:00

Jer 23:10
10 For the land is full of adulterers;
For the land mourns because of the curse.
The pastures of the wilderness have dried up.
Their course also is evil
And their might is not right. NASU
** this is not only talking about having sex outside of marriage, but when God’s people turn from Him to enjoy the worlds pleasures. I’ve seen so many dry Christians in the world today, people who supposedly belong to the most High God walking around being loose in our Christian walk. When will God’s people REALLY fall in love with Him? When will we say it’s all or nothing? How long will we play around with the world while being married to God? God is a jealous God and He even put it in the 10 commandments…. “you shall have no other Gods before me.”

WHAT'S YOUR TESTIMONY?

2010-08-10T10:01:00.000-07:00

John 12:9-11
9 The large crowd of the Jews then learned that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He raised from the dead. 10 But the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death also; 11 because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and were believing in Jesus. NASU
** So here we see that people are coming to see Lazarus because of him being raised from the dead. This is the joy of God that peoples lives that were turned around and or miracles that were done for them should be a point of interest to the world around them. Everyone has a testimony of some sort and I believe that everyone should be perfecting that testimony of how they came to know Jesus so they can share it with others to draw them to Jesus. We are also to be sharing our testimonies of healing and miracles too so that people can see that God is still alive today and touching Him people.

WHEN WHEN WHEN?

2010-08-05T09:11:00.000-07:00

John 7:37-38
37 Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, " If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. 38 "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'"
NASU
** He who believes in me…. LIVING WATER! If you are a follower of Christ. If you are a believer, then life will flow from you out to others. It’s very simple but people have made it so very difficult. If you love Jesus and are called a CHRISTian, then your life will reflect what you love. People will not have to guess if you are a follower or not. It’s amazing to me how cowardly Christ followers are. I mean look at it this way. Muslims have no problem bowing down right in the middle of the airport to pray to their god. They make no apologies about their actions. Neither do most other cults in this world. The Mormons and Jehovah’s witnesses go door to door and proclaim their devotion to their god. The Christians? Where are they? They are all hidden in the market place and you can’t even distinguish between them and the world because they act so much like the world that they confuse everyone so no one knows who they serve. When will we ever sell all out to be a disciple of Christ? When will we decide enough walking incognito and confess Him as Lord before the whole world? When, when, when, when? Only you know.

WHERE ARE THE MEN?

2010-08-04T09:47:00.001-07:00

2 Chron 34:3
3 For in the eighth year of his reign while he was still a youth, he began to seek the God of his father David; and in the twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherim, the carved images and the molten images.
NASU
2 Chron 34:19
19 When the king heard the words of the law, he tore his clothes.
2 Chron 34:31
Then the king stood in his place and made a covenant before the LORD to walk after the LORD, and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes with all his heart and with all his soul, to perform the words of the covenant written in this book. NASU
** Oh how I wish our young 18 year old Christian young men of today would have this kind of conviction when reading the scriptures! Oh how I wish all of our men both young and old would have this conviction after reading the scripture! I pray for our men in the name of Jesus, that they would rise up and be counted on to set the standards of purity and holiness in the church. I long to pastor a church that has men making decisions in the church that would bless the whole church and their families and yet when I look around on any given Sunday in any given church in America, I see women serving in places where men should be serving. I often wonder what happened? When did the men step aside to allow the women to come in and have to fill in for their positions of authority in the church? I call to all men who are followers of Christ…. Come back to His calling in your life and let the Father guide you and lead you in leading the church and your family. Call out to Him and He will answer you and restore you to the calling you have been anointed to do.

DOES YOUR WORKS PROVE?

2010-08-03T09:26:00.001-07:00

John 5:36
"But the testimony which I have is greater than the testimony of John; for the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish — the very works that I do — testify about Me, that the Father has sent Me.
NASU
** The very works that I do, testify about me…. Oh my goodness! This is so true all across the board. People will say one thing and then do another. The church is so guilty of this. They confess to be followers of Jesus but then their walk is one that imitates the world. Oh what a sad day it will be when one day everyone will stand before the creator of the universe, Jesus Christ, and have to give an account of their works. I so don’t want to disappoint Him. I want Him to be so proud of me and that that day would be a joyous reunion between me and Him. So…… I PRESS ON AND WORK HIS WORKS!!!

CAN GOD SEE YOU?

2010-07-29T09:37:00.000-07:00

Isa 59:1-2
Behold, the LORD'S hand is not so short
That it cannot save; Nor is His ear so dull
That it cannot hear. 2 But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God,
And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear. NASU
** It’s very clear that nothing is impossible for God… however, God is limited to what He can do for us because of our sins that separate us from Him. If we don’t stay pure then our sins turns His face and His ear from seeing or hearing us! So it is that God always wants to hear us and see us and answer our prayers but He cannot because we continue to walk in sin. I would say this is a good time to examine our lives and see what kind of people we are. Is our lives full or sin? Is there some lingering sin in our lives? Or are we righteous before Him night and day? Examine our lives and see if we are still seeing movements of God in our lives. If not then check your heart and see if there is any wicked or sinful way in it and repent and get rid of it so God’s ears and eyes will be turned to us again.

DON'T RELAX

2010-07-27T10:23:00.001-07:00

Ps 92:12-14
12 The righteous man will flourish like the palm tree,
He will grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
13 Planted in the house of the LORD,
They will flourish in the courts of our God.
14 They will still yield fruit in old age; NASU
** Yay! Not only will I yield fruit meaning I’m going to be productive my whole life but that I will live to be old aged! I don’t believe anybody becomes too old to produce great fruit in their lives. As I grow older I can see how easy it would be to just have the attitude of “I’ve worked very hard my whole life, now let me take it easy while the next generation takes over and does the work.” I believe if I take that attitude then I am robbing God for all the SEASONED gifts that He has bestowed upon me and I am robbing the people around me both young and old of some amazing talents and gifts that I have to help them become more like Jesus!

HE CALLS US

2010-07-23T09:14:00.001-07:00

1 Peter 2:9
9 But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION,A PEOPLE FOR God's OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; NASU
** Here it is….. We are set a part. We are called out and are separated as a Chosen race, Royal Priesthood, Holy nation and a people belonging to God! He sets a new direction to our path and our feet. He then says “ you are called OUT OF DARKNESS into His marvelous light! Why then do we continue to walk toward the darkness? Why then do we who are called light, hang around with the dark things of this world? We cry and moan because we don’t see God’s blessings and God’s deliverance in our troubled situations and yet we continue to walk away from our calling to something less and something that is against God’s will and plan for our life. Our best bet is to TURN from our lukewarm state our double mindedness and walk back to the light! His benefits far out weigh His punishment….. what will you choose?

DOUBTING GOD

2010-07-22T08:12:00.001-07:00

Isa 36:14-17
14 "Thus says the king, 'Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you; 15 nor let Hezekiah make you trust in the LORD, saying, "The LORD will surely deliver us, this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria." 16'Do not listen to Hezekiah,' for thus says the king of Assyria, ' Make your peace with me and come out to me, and eat each of his vine and each of his fig tree and drink each of the waters of his own cistern, 17 until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards. NASU
** Oh how our enemies love to doubt our God! Foolish people speaking foolish things because they have not taken the time to read the Word of God nor time to have a relationship with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Most of our enemies are not speaking from experience but hearsay. They hear what others say about Jesus Christ and His followers and then rise up against them. Spreading rumors and lies that don’t even exist. The sad thing is, one day they will stand before the creator of the universe and we see Him face to face and they will shake in their shoes when they find out all the things they said against Him were wrong….. One day…..

ARE YOU PREPARED?

2010-07-20T08:48:00.001-07:00

2 Chron 29:34
34 But the priests were too few, so that they were unable to skin all the burnt offerings; therefore their brothers the Levites helped them until the work was completed and until the other priests had consecrated themselves. For the Levites were more conscientious to consecrate themselves than the priests. NASU
** So….. if the priest would have been doing their job and keeping themselves consecrated, then the Levites wouldn’t have had to step in and help with the sacrifices….. so this puts 2 things to my mind. 1, Even if it doesn’t look like you need to consecrate yourself, do it anyway because God can cause growth at any moment. If you are a leader in a church, it is your responsibility to be prepared for the ministry God has called you to do. Never slack off to the point that others have to come in and take over your ministry just because you were not ready or not prepared to see it thru. 2. Fill gaps… Always look for ways to please the Lord even if it is not your delegated task. Here the Levites were able to step in and help because they kept themselves prepared at all times to do whatever needed to be done.

I KNOW

2010-07-16T08:44:00.001-07:00

Isa 25:9
9 In that day they will say, "Surely this is our God;
we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the LORD, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation." NIV
** Yay God! He is the God that saves. I do not know of anyone that I can trust in this world today. Everyone seems to change and you never know when someone whom you trusted and love will turn their back on you. BUT there is a God who loves me and I KNOW that I can trust in Him! He has never left me alone, He has never let me down. I KNOW that I can trust Him for He gave His very life for me. LET US REJOICE AND BE GLAD for He has saved us from our sins and He is able to deliver you from all harm…… put your trust in HIM!

WHY POVERTY?

2010-07-15T18:19:00.001-07:00

Isa 24:4-6
4 The earth dries up and withers, the world languishes and withers, the exalted of the earth languish. 5 The earth is defiled by its people;
they have disobeyed the laws, violated the statutes
and broken the everlasting covenant. 6 Therefore a curse consumes the earth; its people must bear their guilt. NIV
** Why does a curse consume the earth? Two reasons…. 1 because the people disobeyed the law and 2 because it is a sign that the people must bear their guilt. How often I’ve looked at poverty stricken countries and wondered why? Why are they so poor? Maybe these verses show some light on why some people and or countries are so poverty sticken…. Maybe long long ago, there were people who decided to disobey God’s laws and chose to walk in the way of sin and then God just took His hand off of that people or country and it went down far away from prosperity…. Maybe….

STRIKE AND HEAL

2010-07-14T08:06:00.001-07:00

Isa 19:22
22 The LORD will strike Egypt with a plague; he will strike them and heal them. They will turn to the LORD, and he will respond to their pleas and heal them. NIV
** Strike them and then heal them???? Does this go along with your doctrine? I’m sure this scripture bothers a lot of people when they read it. God will strike them and then….. heal them? This is not God’s fault…. Often times we get focused on the one who punishes rather than the ones being punished. It is easy here to focus on God striking them than the reason for the striking…. It was because Israel ONCE AGAIN had wandered away from God and was serving other gods and idols and doing all kinds of things horrible in the Lords sight. So, God, like a loving father, takes His children and disciplines them and when they turn to the right way, He heals them. If God just gave us everything we wanted and never disciplined us when we went astray, then He truly wouldn’t love us.

JUST A WORD

2010-07-01T08:22:00.000-07:00

Well, it’s been a while since I last posted. Been reading but not posting. Life has been a huge whirlwind and I’m wondering when all will settle down. God is amazing to me and I find that it’s good that He doesn’t look at the outward but the heart and knows where I am. I often feel like Paul when he wrote…..”the things I want to do I don’t, and the things that I don’t want to do, I end up doing…. What a wretched man I am!” No, I’m not going off the deep end but I do feel like I need to step it up another notch and press myself to be more like Jesus in every way. It’s always good to feel His presence, but it is very important that when you don’t feel like He is around or that you don’t feel His presence, you should continue walk in the ways you were taught weather you feel like it or not. Oh well, that’s my two cents worth for today….Blessings!

HEART COMPLETELY HIS?

2010-06-15T10:01:00.001-07:00

2 Chron 16:9
9 "For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His. NASU
** Wow! Not only support us, but STRONGLY SUPPORT us! Ok, yep there is a catch…. “those whose heart is COMPLETELY His.” So I guess that would mean that if your heart is not completely His, He will not strongly support. I suppose that this would bring me to two responses…. Either I can give my heart completely to Him and be strongly supported or keep my heart to myself and not have the support of the Lord… Hmmmm…. What should I do? Lord, I fully give my heart to you.

GOTTA STOP LOVING ME SO MUCH

2010-06-11T10:15:00.000-07:00

Phil 1:21-22
21 For to me, living is for Christ, and dying is even better. 22 Yet if I live, that means fruitful service for Christ. I really don't know which is better. NLT
** I just have the hardest time getting this right! Uuuuhg! The reason I live is Christ? I am just too much in the way for Christ to be first….I know I can say that Christ is first and it’s easy to preach and talk about but when it comes down to making the decision to put me on the shelf and put Him first…..THERE IS A HORRIBLE STRUGGLE IN ME! Now don’t get me wrong. I love Him more than anything except I keep finding that at times I love me more…. I don’t like it and I keep trying to change it but my flesh is so hard to kill and keep dead. So when Paul says that “dying is even better” I run into more problems because I think I love me so much I don’t want me to die so I struggle with death and dying because I don’t want to loose me! Yep, I know I’m a mess and my wife says it takes a mess to make a message. So I’ll continue to work on putting me last and Him first…. I hope you’re having a better time at it than I am.

LIVE LONG AND WELL

2010-06-10T09:40:00.001-07:00

Eph 6:1-3
6:1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 "Honor your father and mother"-which is the first commandment with a promise— 3 "that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth." NIV
** This verse has been with me since I was about 8 years old. I remember every new years eve, our church would gather together until midnight and we would sing songs and eat those wonderful little quartered egg salad sandwiches and just before midnight we all would share our new years promise that we felt like God was sharing with us. This was mine. I knew that living a long life on the earth was something that I wanted and so when I found this verse I looked and saw the answer to a long well life was honor to my parents. At that point I chose never to dishonor my parents. I remember even asking my mom when I was married and struggling with some kind of sickness in my life, if I had been honorable to her and dad and she told me that I had been the most honorable child that they ever had. (they had 9). So…. This verse has always been a life saver (literally) when I felt I was doubting my health….. and another verse that goes with this one that I quote consistently is:
Heb 10:23
23 Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. NIV

WHAT ARE YOU SEEKING OUT?

2010-06-08T09:02:00.000-07:00

Eccl 7:29
29 "Behold, I have found only this, that God made men upright, but they have sought out many devices." NASU
** Boy isn’t that the truth! God’s design on our lives is for us to be upright and righteous and yet we will always find a way or “device” to draw us away from it. Every generation finds something to draw us away from the upright people we are to be. Whether it be rock music, free love, down with authority, texting or a million other things that will draw us away, we will always find something that will distract us from His plan and purpose for our lives. We must seek Him every day and decide in our hearts that we will not be moved by what comes our way. We must choose to stop seeking out many devices and only seek Him!

I'M NOT BEING FED

2010-06-01T11:03:00.001-07:00

Prov 19:24
24 The sluggard buries his hand in the dish;
he will not even bring it back to his mouth! NIV
** Many times as a pastor I’ve had people say to me or I’ve heard people say about other churches and pastors… “I just don’t get fed over there.” Or “I’m leaving because I don’t get fed here.” It always made me feel bad as if I just didn’t do enough or it was personally my fault that they were leaving the church. Then one day I came across this scripture and I realized the only reason these people are starving is that they are not feeding themselves. To be honest the people who usually say this kind of statement are older Christians. If anyone should be feeding themselves and not relying on the Sunday services for their feeding, it’s the mature older Christians. I totally understand when a person feels like they are done at a particular church or that God is moving them for a specific purpose to another location with their pastor’s or leaders approval but to say you’re starving when you have the word of God sitting before you every day? You’re just lazy and need to straighten up and feed yourself and others around you.

MEMORIAL DAY REMEMBRANCE

2010-05-28T09:35:00.000-07:00

TRUE STORY FROM AN AIRLINE PILOT

My lead flight attendant came to me and said, "We have an H.R. on this flight." (H.R. stands for human remains.)

"Are they military?" I asked.

"Yes," she answered.

"Is there an escort?" I asked.

"Yes, I already assigned him a seat."

"Would you please tell him to come to the flight deck. You can board him early," I said.

A short while later, a young army sergeant entered the flight deck. He was the image of the perfectly dressed soldier. He introduced himself and I asked him about his soldier. The escorts of these fallen soldiers talk about them as if they are still alive and still with us.

"My soldier is on his way back to Virginia," he said.

I asked him if there was anything I could do for him and he said no. I told him that he had the toughest job in the military and that I appreciated the work that he does for the families of our fallen soldiers. The first officer and I got up out of our seats to shake his hand. He left the flight deck to find his seat.

We completed our preflight checks, pushed back and performed an uneventful departure.

About 30 minutes into our flight I received a call from the lead flight attendant in the cabin. "I just found out the family of the soldier we are carrying is on board," she said. She then proceeded to tell me that the father, mother, wife and 2-year old daughter were escorting their son, husband, and father home. The family was upset because they were unable to see the container that the soldier was in before we left. We were on our way to a major hub at which the family was going to wait four hours for the connecting flight home to Virginia.

The father of the soldier told the flight attendant that knowing his son was below him in the cargo compartment and being unable to see him was too much for him and the family to bear. He had asked the flight attendant if there was anything that could be done to allow them to see him upon our arrival. The family wanted to be outside by the cargo door to watch the soldier being taken off the airplane.

I could hear the desperation in the flight attendant's voice when she asked me if there was anything I could do.

"I'm on it," I said. I told her that I would get back to her.

Airborne communication with my company normally occurs in the form of e-mail like messages. I decided to bypass this system and contact my flight dispatcher directly on a secondary radio. There is a radio operator in the operations control center who connects you to the telephone of the dispatcher. I was in direct contact with the dispatcher. I explained the situation I had on board with the family and what it was the family wanted. He said he understood and that he would get back to me.

Two hours went by and I had not heard from the dispatcher. We were going to get busy soon and I needed to know what to tell the family. I sent a text message asking for an update. I saved the return message from the dispatcher and the following is the text:

"Captain, sorry it has taken so long to get back to you. There is policy on this now and I had to check on a few things. Upon your arrival a dedicated escort team will meet the aircraft. The team will escort the family to the ramp and plane side. A van will be used to load the remains with a secondary van for the family. The family will be taken to their departure area and escorted into the terminal where the remains can be seen on the ramp. It is a private area for the family only. When the connecting aircraft arrives, the family will be escorted onto the ramp and plane side to watch the remains being loaded for the final leg home. Captain, most of us here in flight control are veterans. Please pass our condolences on to the family. Thanks."

I printed out the message and gave it to the lead flight attendant to pass on to the father. The lead flight attendant was very thankful and told me, "You have no idea how much this will mean to them."

Things started getting busy for the descent, approach, and landing. After landing, we cleared the runway and taxied to the ramp area. The ramp is huge with 15 gates on either side of the alleyway. It is always a busy area with aircraft maneuvering every which way to enter and exit. When we entered the ramp and checked in with the ramp controller, we were told that all traffic was being held for us.

"There is a team in place to meet the aircraft," we were told.

It looked like it was all coming together, then I realized that once we turned the seat belt sign off, everyone would stand up at once and delay the family from getting off the airplane. As we approached our gate, I asked the copilot to tell the ramp controller we were going to stop short of the gate to make an announcement to the passengers.

He did that and the ramp controller said, "Take your time."

I stopped the aircraft and set the parking brake. I pushed the public address button and said, "Ladies and gentleman, this is your captain speaking. I have stopped short of our gate to make a special announcement. We have a passenger on board who deserves our honor and respect. His name is Private XXXXXX, a soldier who recently lost his life. Private XXXXXX is under your feet in the cargo hold. Escorting him today is Army Sergeant XXXXXXX. Also, on board are his father, mother, wife, and daughter. Your entire flight crew is asking for all passengers to remain in their seats to allow the family to exit the aircraft first. Thank you."

We continued the turn to the gate, came to a stop and started our shutdown procedures. A couple of minutes later I opened the cockpit door. I found the two forward flight attendants crying, something you just do not see. I was told that after we came to a stop, every passenger on the aircraft stayed in their seats, waiting for the family to exit the aircraft.

When the family got up and gathered their things, a passenger slowly started to clap his hands. Moments later more passengers joined in and soon the entire aircraft was clapping. Words of "God bless you," "I'm sorry, thank you, be proud," and other kind words were uttered to the family as they made their way down the aisle and out of the airplane. They were escorted down to the ramp to finally be with their loved one.

Many of the passengers disembarking thanked me for the announcement I had made. They were just words, I told them, I could say them over and over again, but nothing I say will bring back that brave soldier.

I respectfully ask that all of you reflect on this event and the sacrifices that so many of our men and women have made to ensure our freedom and safety in these United States of America.

WHEN THEY REBUKE YOU....

2010-05-25T10:28:00.000-07:00

Some people feel like they are chosen by God to go around and condemning other Christians by what they are doing with their lives. I believe there is a time and place for people to confront others to walk in a way that is worthy of the cross of Christ. Scripture is very clear that if you see a brother or sister who has wandered from the faith, rebuke and RESTORE that person.
James 5:19-20 - 19 My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, 20 remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins. NIV
Gal 6:1 6:1 Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. NIV
I am all for calling people out that seem to be wandering from the truth HOWEVER, calling them out is only the beginning of a process of RESTORATION. Following thru is confrontation (face to face) and then discipling them thru the process of being restored. But this is what I find. I find that there are people out there that are like witch hunters who will cut people down at any sign of unrighteousness and then tear them apart and even use scriptures and use “THUS SAITH THE LORD” (which by the way really shows me the immature level of their walk with Christ) to get the big power punch to try and destroy the wandering believer. Now days with the internet available for these self proclaimed prophets, it’s easy to just type and send without taking one thought about searching out what is truth and what is lie. If you are one that has been wandering away from Jesus and you unfortunately have had one of these ungodly men or women point their finger at you and curse you, please understand that this is not from God because God would always follow up the rebuke with an opportunity to meet with Him and bring on restoration….. LOVING RESTORATION. I have had many times in the past had people write me letters, send me emails, and even give “thus saith the Lords” to me. If their intent was to see me truly walk in righteousness then they would give me time…. Their time to instruct me and encourage me by showing me my error and showing me the scripture that helps me in my restoration. Sadly though, they never have. They are wicked witch hunters that need to look in the mirror and see the true problem in their lives. Rebuke without restoration is nothing but evil and is send directly from demons and ungodliness. Come let us reason together……. I’m waiting.

HOW COULD HE?

2010-05-25T10:27:00.001-07:00

1 Kings 11:9-10
9 Now the LORD was angry with Solomon because his heart was turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, 10 and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods; but he did not observe what the LORD had commanded. NASU
** This is so sad. Here the God of the universe appears to Solomon TWICE to warn him about not going after other gods and yet he still disobeyed and walked away from God. APPEARD TO HIM TWICE! I know many people including me would jump at a chance to have God appear to them. I would imagine that if God did appear to me, that I would stop and listed very carefully to every word He said and work my hardest to obey everything that He told me. Was Solomon too comfortable with God? Did he stop fearing God the way he should have? I am stumped on this one because of the wonderful life that God gave him and after appearing to him twice, he still chose to walk away from all the blessings of God….. amazing!

WHY ARE WE DEFEATED?

2010-05-21T09:14:00.000-07:00

1 Kings 8:33-34
33 " When Your people Israel are defeated before an enemy, because they have sinned against You, if they turn to You again and confess Your name and pray and make supplication to You in this house, 34 then hear in heaven, and forgive the sin of Your people Israel, and bring them back to the land which You gave to their fathers. NASU
** Defeated because they sinned? As I read thru this chapter I see that there are consequences for sin…. Go figure…. It surely is amazing to me that people…. God’s people… Christians…. Sit around wondering why they are being defeated and their lives are horrible and nothing goes right and yet they live like the world and submit to the things that the world has to offer. God is a great parent and will not let us be rebellious and do things that are destructive to our spirits. I’m glad that God so loves us that He gives us a spanking when we need it so we can live in righteousness after we repent.

ASHAMED?

2010-05-20T10:18:00.001-07:00

Rom 1:16
16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
NASU
** Ashamed? What would that entail? If you are a Christian and the Gospel is the power of God for salvation and you are ashamed of the Gospel then that would be like being ashamed of the motor that propels the vehicle that you are riding in. Are you ashamed of the power that propels you? We need the power that propels us and if we are making that power available to other people to be their power, then being ashamed of it would limit us telling others about it. I know this seems confusing but the basic concept is this; That which you are proud of you will not be able to keep your mouth shut about. If you are proud of the Gospel then you will be telling others about the gospel…. If you are ashamed of the gospel, you will not be sharing it with others around you. So….. why are you not sharing the gospel…. Ashamed?

WHY?

2010-05-14T09:21:00.001-07:00

2 Chron 24:20
Then the Spirit of God came on Zechariah the son of Jehoiada the priest; and he stood above the people and said to them, "Thus God has said, ' Why do you transgress the commandments of the LORD and do not prosper? Because you have forsaken the LORD, He has also forsaken you.'" NASU
** Why is America in the mess they are in and are getting more and more deeper in trouble and are not prospering? Because they have forsaken the Lord…. We have allowed evil rulers to rule over us and have allowed people who do not follow God’s Word to make our decisions for us and now we will see that God will forsake us. Every time a disaster happens in America, we always cry out “Why?” Why is our schools unfit to send our kids to? Because we took God out of our schools and took prayer out of our schools. Why is our society on a downward spiral? Because we have allowed the killing of over 40 million babies that did not have a choice to live but was murdered by our head officials. We have taken the husband and wife family and have made it a minority in America and now we are paying for it and will continue to pay for it until America repents and turns from their wicked ways…. How long will we stand back and watch the destruction of our wonderful country? It’s up to you…. What do you say?

DECISIONS DECISIONS

2010-05-13T08:59:00.001-07:00

1 Chron 21:17
17 David said to God, "Is it not I who commanded to count the people? Indeed, I am the one who has sinned and done very wickedly, but these sheep, what have they done? O LORD my God, please let Your hand be against me and my father's household, but not against Your people that they should be plagued. NASU
** I’ve always been bothered by this passage. Why did God kill thousands of innocent people because of David’s sin? So I prayed and prayed some more and I began to realize that the choices of leaders carry a strong consequence not only to them but to those they serve. You see the phrase “those they serve?” If you are truly a leader, your heart will suffer when those you are leading suffer. Often times we don’t see bad things happen to leaders when they make stupid decisions and people around them fall and die but I will tell you today that those leaders will be judged by God at a given time weather here on earth or standing before Him at His throne. We see presidents make decisions that will destroy thousands of babies or thousands of people who serve our country and the president only loses the next election but others die…. They will be judged, I guarantee that but the question is…. What are we doing in our choices as leaders now that we know that our very decisions could cost someone their lives? I don’t know about you, but it makes me fear God and pay closer attention to the decisions that I make today.

ENDURE TO THE END

2010-05-07T09:07:00.000-07:00

Matt 24:13-14
13 " But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. NASU
** Endurance…. Not the strongest, not the most prosperous, but he who endures will be saved. Showing up day after day to your prayer closet. Showing up week after week to church even though you don’t get nothing out of it. Continuing to serve Him day after day even though it doesn’t seem rewarding. Enduring! Minute by minute, hour by hour, day after day, week after week, month by month and year after year….. staying faithful and enduring thru all the mire and muck. Choosing to follow Him no matter what. Keeping your eyes on Him for He is the faithful and true God that will never leave you nor forsake you. No matter what others say about you or do to you….. I say unto you…. ENDURE TO THE END!

HE STILL HAS MERCY

2010-05-06T08:43:00.000-07:00

2 Sam 12:13
13 Then David said to Nathan, " I have sinned against the LORD." And Nathan said to David, "The LORD also has taken away your sin; you shall not die. NASU
** Every time I read this story it makes me sick. I cannot believe that a man who had honored God could do such outright horrible things. It makes me upset at David and I don’t even understand why God would let David live after murdering Uriah. Why? Why would this happen? The only thing that I can think about is in all this horrible stuff we see a God of mercy greater than we can ever imagine. When I see this story of God’s mercy and grace I can look at all the things that I’ve done and know that God is still forgiving and merciful today as He was back then. Oh God, I don’t understand all your ways but I choose to trust in you and know that you love me so much that you pour out your grace and mercy even in the middle of my mess. Thank You!

ALLIANCES

2010-05-05T09:13:00.000-07:00

2 Sam 10:11
11 He said, "If the Arameans are too strong for me, then you shall help me, but if the sons of Ammon are too strong for you, then I will come to help you.
NASU
** Helping each other in the time of war, trouble or turmoil is very important. If we choose to be loners in this life we will find a time where we will need to have someone to help us in the time of battle but there will be no one because we didn’t prepare and make agreements with others. We all need someone to be on our side. The time is coming and I believe it is very soon, that we will even have families living in homes with each other because of the fallen economy. We need to make alliances with others that we are compatible with so we will have help in the time of need.

MY BURDENS

2010-04-30T09:18:00.001-07:00

Ps 68:19
19 Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burden,
The God who is our salvation. Selah. NASU
** Oh how I needed this verse today…. “daily bears our burden.” I’m so glad that He doesn’t just come by once in a while and check on us. Every day God takes the time to bear my burden. Thank you Lord God for your faithfulness and that you care about my burdens so much that EVERY DAY you take my burdens and put them on You. I love you Lord and when it seems like others are pointing their fingers at me, You take that burden and put it on you so in actuality they are pointing their fingers at You….Thank You!

GETTING AWAY?

2010-04-27T09:28:00.000-07:00

Matt 14:13-14
Now when Jesus heard about John, He withdrew from there in a boat to a secluded place by Himself; and when the people heard of this, they followed Him on foot from the cities. 14 When He went ashore, He saw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and healed their sick. NASU
** Here we find Jesus saddened by the death of His cousin John. However in the midst of His going away to be alone, Jesus sees the people still coming to Him to be healed. Jesus had every right to have His alone time but dug deep within Himself, even in the midst of mourning the death of a loved one, and ministered to the crowds by healing their sick. I’m amazed at how easy it is for me to just want to get away from it all because the pressures of ministry and life. I need to be more like Jesus and press on in ministry even though I want to have my own way.

HEALING AT THE CROSS

2010-04-22T08:15:00.000-07:00

First of all.... Happy Birhtday to me! :)

Matt 9:6-8
6 "But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins" — then He said to the paralytic, "Get up, pick up your bed and go home." 7 And he got up and went home. 8 But when the crowds saw this, they were awestruck, and glorified God, who had given such authority to men.
NASU
** So…. Jesus is saying that if you want to know if I forgive sins, look at the proof of it in my healings. So often times people wonder if Jesus still heals today. Well does He still forgive sins today? YES! So then we can know that if He forgives sin, then He heals too. I know that bothers some people but to me it’s exciting! If Jesus cares so much about forgiving our sins that He died on the cross for them, then we can be sure that He cares so much about our healing that He died for that too. “By His stripes you are healed.”

AFRAID OF FEAR

2010-04-21T10:07:00.001-07:00

Matt 8:26
26 He said to them, "Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?" Then He got up and rebuked the winds and the sea, and it became perfectly calm.
NASU
** “Why are you afraid?” Why? Because there is a storm and the boat is sinking and I DON’T WANT TO DIE!.... I totally relate to this verse! I don’t want to drown, I don’t want to be in a storm…. I want a pain free life! Lol. I definitely have much to learn about overcoming fear. I am getting better but every once in a while along comes a huge storm and there I am again, worrying about what is going to happen next. Well, perfection is far from me but I will press on to the goal set before me…

FOR THE SAKE OF YOUR NAME

2010-04-20T18:32:00.000-07:00

Ps 31:3
3 Since you are my rock and my fortress,
for the sake of your name lead and guide me. NIV
** I often feel the same way as David does here. God “For the sake of your name” save me! I know that I make a lot of mistakes and I don’t ever want to embarrass the name of God. So in the midst of my mistakes, I believe God helps me and fixes the mistakes for His Names sake. I’m glad He does cause if everyone thought of God just by the way that I serve thru the mistakes etc. they may think He wasn’t very faithful….

DO YOU BELIEVE?

2010-04-13T09:10:00.001-07:00

1 Sam 14:6-7
6 Then Jonathan said to the young man who was carrying his armor, "Come and let us cross over to the garrison of these uncircumcised; perhaps the LORD will work for us, for the LORD is not restrained to save by many or by few." 7 His armor bearer said to him, "Do all that is in your heart; turn yourself, and here I am with you according to your desire." NASU
** I don’t think we trust God like this anymore. I mean look here at Jonathan. He put his life on the line to see if God was with them or not. At any given time, if God was not with them, they could have been overcome by the Philistines and had been killed. Oh I want to trust in God like this. I want to believe and then act upon all of God’s promises and His commands. I really believe that we’ve just stopped even making a challenge to ourselves whether or not God is with us or not. THEN just look at Jonathan’s armor bearer… “whatever you say, I will do.” I will fight with you and I will die with you, but I will never leave you cause I believe in you and in the God you serve! I think we all need an armor bearer in our lives. Someone who will walk beside us and support us in our adventures with God.

NO WORD FOR THE WEARY

2010-04-08T09:55:00.001-07:00

1 Sam 3:1
In those days the word of the LORD was rare; there were not many visions. NIV
** To me this has always been a very sad verse and yet I find this verse being more and more true here in the Puget sound as the days go by. If you even use the word of God in any conversation today among the public you’d almost thought you had said something dirty. People around here do not want to hear the word of the Lord. I’ve even heard that in some churches you don’t even hear the world of the Lord being preached but only stories and comments on life. As far as visions, I find no visions among the world and find very little going on in the church. I believe it’s because we have walked so far away from God that He has stopped giving His people visions. Today my heart is heavy after reading this verse. I am so jealous for God and His presence I can’t hardly breathe. Oh how I long to see His presence move through our city and through the churches of this city. How long O God will you hold back your Holy Spirit from this area? Please show us what we have done and the sins of this city so that we can repent and turn back to you. We wait for you….

WHAT TO DO

2010-04-07T08:47:00.000-07:00

1 Sam 2:35
35 I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who will do according to what is in my heart and mind. I will firmly establish his house, and he will minister before my anointed one always. NIV
** God is looking for people who will “do according to what is in His heart and mind.” And so many people just go thru life and follow their own desires. How sad it is that God wants to bless people and make their paths good and straight and yet they choose the cursed crooked path. Today I choose to be a faithful priest who will do according to what is in God’s heart and mind. I choose to be the pastor, husband, father that He desires for me to be.

WHAT ARE YOU CHASING?

2010-04-06T09:32:00.000-07:00

Ruth 3:10-12
10 "The LORD bless you, my daughter," he replied. "This kindness is greater than that which you showed earlier: You have not run after the younger men, whether rich or poor. 11 And now, my daughter, don't be afraid. I will do for you all you ask. All my fellow townsmen know that you are a woman of noble character. NIV
** I’m amazed at how desperate it seems that our young ladies are in today’s world. I’ve seen time and time again how when they loose one boyfriend, they don’t waste time finding another. Sometimes it’s just a matter of hours before they’re hooked into another relationship that takes their focus off of doing what God wants in their lives. It all boils down to character…. What do you do when no one else is around? Here Ruth is known all thru the town in just a short time that she was a woman of noble character.

APRIL FOOL'S?

2010-04-01T14:52:00.000-07:00

So, here it is, April fool's day.... we play tricks and jokes on people because this is the one day that we feel we can be foolish and get away with it! I admit, this is a fun day for me. i usually think of some sneaky thing to pull on my family. So, the fake spider in the cabinet and referig. just doesn't work as well as it used to.... :) But who really is the fool?
Ps 14:1
The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, their deeds are vile;there is no one who does good. NIV
** So if the fool is an athiest, then actually april fools day is the only holiday for athiest... go figure!....
Oh Lord, how can they not see that you are alive and here among us? Even the handiwork of your creation SCREAMS OUT your exsistence! You along oh God are to be praised and honored..... I love you..... A LOT!!!

THE WHOLE STORY....

2010-03-29T22:41:00.000-07:00

Often times people will judge others before they even know the whole story. I've even had people say things to me and about me that didn't have any foundation to it at all because they were too focused on the problem that they didn’t take time to ask me the whole story. I forgive them because I’ve made that same mistake myself in the past. I think the thing that bothers me the most in all this kind of stuff is the fact that when someone does blame others for doing things they think happened without knowing the whole story, they are brave enough to write the letter, but coward enough to not sign their name. In the long run take some advice from me. If someone writes you a letter or an email, before you read the whole letter, check to see if they signed their name. If they didn’t sign their name, then the letter is not worth reading.

Pastor Dave

DIVIDE IT UP

2010-03-24T10:10:00.001-07:00

Josh 18:1-5
18:1 The whole assembly of the Israelites gathered at Shiloh and set up the Tent of Meeting there. The country was brought under their control, 2 but there were still seven Israelite tribes who had not yet received their inheritance.
3 So Joshua said to the Israelites: "How long will you wait before you begin to take possession of the land that the LORD, the God of your fathers, has given you? 4 Appoint three men from each tribe. I will send them out to make a survey of the land and to write a description of it, according to the inheritance of each. Then they will return to me. 5 You are to divide the land into seven parts. NIV
** Wow…. So if you haven’t heard…. It seems we’ve upset a lot of people in this city because we want to pray over it. So as I’ve read the above verse I noticed that Joshua also separated the land in 7 parts and had them survey the land and report back to him and he would assign the land to the people of God. We too have separated the City of Renton into 7 parts and we are in the process of surveying and assigning parts to certain people who have a heart to pray over those parts. We will claim back this city for God and His Glory. His kingdom come, His will be done on Renton as it is in heaven…. That is my prayer today!

OBEY?.... OR NOT?

2010-03-15T10:26:00.000-07:00

Deut 29:19-20
19 When such a person hears the words of this oath, he invokes a blessing on himself and therefore thinks, "I will be safe, even though I persist in going my own way." This will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry. 20 The LORD will never be willing to forgive him; his wrath and zeal will burn against that man. All the curses written in this book will fall upon him, and the LORD will blot out his name from under heaven. NIV
** This is so dangerous! People just don’t count the cost and it will cost them EVERYTHING! These chapters I read today, (28 & 29) bring fear into my life but at the same time, I know if I obey and do all He is asking me to do, I will be blessed above and beyond all I could ever ask or imagine! So it really boils down to this…. Obey or disobey? God is not the bad person here. He is just pointing the way to prosperity and blessings and informs us what the other road is like if we do not take His road to blessings….. what do you choose?

WORSHIP HIS WAY

2010-03-09T08:11:00.000-08:00

Deut 12:4
4 You must not worship the LORD your God in their way. NIV
** God not only wants us to worship Him but He is very clear that we are only to worship Him His way! That means we need to be careful and watch His direction and His leading and not just do what FEELS good to us when leading and worshiping God. I think we even need to be careful about just copying other churches in their worship styles and worship songs…. What is God saying to you? What is God saying to your church about worship? Are we just picking up DVD’s or going to conferences and running home and being a copy of what God is doing somewhere else, or are we taking the time to listen to His voice and taking the steps and sacrifices to worship Him in His way?

YOUR HARVEST?

2010-02-25T10:09:00.000-08:00

Mark 4:20
20 "And those are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold."
NASU
** Thirty, sixty or a hundred? Is it our choice to what we produce as good seed or does it just happen? I believe it’s our choice. So with that in mind, you can decide if you want to sit back and do a little for the kingdom of God or you want to step it up and produce 100 fold for the kingdom of God. When we reap our harvest from our life seed, who will get the crop? Will we carry that crop throughout eternity or will we offer that crop to the one who died for us and gave us everything? Either way, it will be a reflection on our lives as Christians and what we did with the life we had here on the earth. I don’t know about you, but I want to offer a 100 fold gift to God when I’m done with this life.

WHAT DO YOU SEE?

2010-02-23T10:11:00.000-08:00

Num 13:33
we became like grasshoppers in our own sight, and so we were in their sight." NASU
** According to your faith, be it unto you…. These words are very true! Here they were right at the door of the promised land and all they had to do is trust in the Lord and yet they could not see what God had for them right then and there. According to what they saw is what they believed, instead of walking in faith, they walked in fear. I wonder how many times I passed up miracles and blessings and promised lands because I walked according to what I saw instead of what the Lord God had planned for me? I want to see what God sees instead of what I see!

OBEDIENT TO THE VISION

2010-02-19T10:03:00.001-08:00

Acts 26:16-19
16'But get up and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you; 17 rescuing you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, 18 to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.'
19 "So, King Agrippa, I did not prove disobedient to the heavenly vision, NASU
** This very vision that God gave Saul, he also gives to us… it is our Mandate to help the lost get their eyes open and that they may be forgiven of their sins….. Paul’s comments was, “I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.” Are we disobedient or are we working hard to set the lost free? There are so many people slipping into eternity without Jesus Christ in their lives…. Who will go for Him? Who will rescue the lost? Will you?

STAND UP AND BE COUNTED

2010-02-18T11:46:00.001-08:00

Num 3:15
15 "Number the sons of Levi by their fathers' households, by their families; every male from a month old and upward you shall number." NASU
** As a pastor of a smaller church, I hear every once in a while about someone leaving a mega church and on of their problems were… “they felt like a number and not a person.” I can totally understand what they are saying and how they feel…. However, it’s amazing to me that God has dedicated a whole book in the bible that talks about numbers and numbering people. It would be sad if everyone of the Israelites decided to leave because they just felt like a number. The amazing thing about this (if you choose to look on the positive side of numbering) is that every name, every number, every person that was numbered, had a job that was important enough that gave them that number in the first place. As I read thru this book I see different teams doing different things and that being a number of a particular team would be nothing more than having a number on the back of my jersey when I’m playing baseball or football. Now don’t get me wrong, I totally understand how you can feel disconnected when you attend a church that is in the thousands and even in the hundreds UNLESS you have made yourself available to help in a certain area or team to make a difference among the thousands or hundreds…. Hmmmm…. I don’t know what my number is, but if I’m number 345, then I’m going to be the best 345 that ever was counted! How about you?

MY DEFENCE

2010-02-17T10:39:00.000-08:00

HEY.... I'M BACK FROM VACATION.... SORRY FOR THE BIG GAP

Acts 24:10-11
10 When the governor had nodded for him to speak, Paul responded: "Knowing that for many years you have been a judge to this nation, I cheerfully make my defense, NASU
** Many people have accused me of stuff. I’ve found that if I am submitting to God and to His leaders over me and I’m following His calling on my life, that I can say the same thing that Paul said here…. “I cheerfully make my defense.” The only time I’ve ever been nervous about someone’s accusations is when I have not been walking with God the way I know I should be. It’s always nice when someone is saying something about you and you know that what they are saying is not true and you have proof that it is wrong….. the question is though, have you been walking with integrity in your past so that those who hear the accusations will believe you over the accuser? (and believe me there is always others who hear what is going on).
1 Peter 2:12
12 Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. NIV

HIS BOUNDARIES.... HIS LOVE

2010-02-02T10:24:00.000-08:00

Ps 16:6
6 The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;surely I have a delightful inheritance. NIV
** Oh how great our God is!My boundaries? the place that God puts me? Pleasant places... His plan for me is good and blessed places. And my inheritance? Oh my gosh, He said to Abraham, look at the stars in the sky and see if you can count your inheritance.... He says that to me and to you too! I can't count them can you? I mean, of course i've tried to count them, but the longer I look at the stars even in one place, i begin to see layers of stars far beyond the group that i see so bright. How great is the depth of His love for us! I hope you haven't forgotten how much God loves you during the time you've been working so hard to make a living and get the work of life done.... He loves you unmeasureably, above and beyond you could ever imagine! THAT'S WHERE MY BOUNDARY LINES FALL....

DO NOT

2010-01-29T06:23:00.001-08:00

Ex. 23….
** Do not, Do not, Do not, Do not…. Sounds like a old lady in a library huh? I can understand how people feel like God is a God that doesn’t want them to have fun or enjoy life after reading some of the Old Testament Scriptures. However, just try raising kids…. Especially during the first few years of their lives…. (sometimes it seems like the first 20 years of their lives..lol). Do not seems to be the most dominant words that proceed out of your mouth. Why? Because it’s a learning time and yes it’s important not to be just saying No all the time so you don’t crush their morale. But if you truly love your children you will establish ground rules for them to live a happy healthy life. For instance, no you can’t put that fork in the electric outlet, no you can’t jump off the top of our two story house using a sheet as a parachute! . …. God new we needed rules for our protection and because He loved us so much, he set rules in our lives so we can live safe and happy and long lives. So we have a choice here. We can either choose to believe that He is a God that is no fun and wants us to live miserable lives by stopping us with rules OR we can believe that there is a God who loves us so much that not only did He set certain boundaries in our lives to protect us so we can live long fruitful and happy lives but also sent His only Son Jesus Christ to die for all the times we didn’t obey the rules. I don’t know about you…. I choose the latter

HOLD HANDS UP

2010-01-27T07:34:00.001-08:00

Ex 17:10-13

10 So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. 11 As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. 12 When Moses' hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up — one on one side, one on the other — so that his hands remained steady till sunset. 13 So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword. NIV
** This is an amazing story! Every time I read it, it reminds me that we all need someone who can stand beside us and help and encourage us when there are battles in our lives. Many people face battles in their lives frequently and they all have to face those battles along or with the help of good people who will believe in them and will hold their hands up during those times when they can’t hold their hands up anymore by themselves. I have people in my life like that, do you? We cannot fight our battles on our own. Even when Moses’ father in law came and saw that Moses was doing all the work of judging by himself, Jethro told Moses that he would soon wear himself out if he continued doing it by himself. So next time you get ready to face that battle or you have that great task to accomplish, look beside you and see if you can find anyone who will stand next to you and be ready to hold your hands up if and when you get tired.

JUST MONDAY

2010-01-25T10:28:00.001-08:00

The more you know a person, the more you know what you can expect from them. Many of us when we first meet a new person or friend, we begin the process of getting to know them and so we spend time listening to their lives and all their likes and dis-likes. Just because you’ve painted a picture of what they do and what you think they should be like, doesn’t mean that is the way they are…. See the story below:
** It was the kindergarten teacher's birthday and the students decided that they would each buy their teacher a gift.
The first student, whose parents own a florist shop, gave her a present. She held it and said, "I guess that it is flowers."
"How did you guess?" asked the little boy. She laughed and thanked him.

The second student, whose parents own a candy store, gave her a present. She held it and said, "I guess that is some candy."
"How did you guess?" asked the little boy. She again laughed and thanked him also.
The third student, whose parents own a bottle shop, gave her a box which was leaking. The teacher touched the liquid with her finger and tasted it. "Mmmmm is it wine?" she asked.
"No," said the little girl. So she tasted it again. "Is it champagne?" she asked.
"Noooooooo," replied the little girl, "It's a puppy!"
I’m so glad that when I read the bible, that I can know what God is like. He leaves His character written all over the pages. He gives us very clear names that He goes by so that we can know what to expect from Him. For instance, one name He calls Himself is Jehovah Jireh, which means “The God who provides.” So if you need a financial blessing, He says, “I’m your provider, I even call myself “Provider!” There are so many other names He calls Himself when you are in need of a savior…..Healer, Peace, Protector, Sanctifier, God who is always there…. What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and grief’s to bear, what a privilege to carry, everything to God in prayer.

VIRGIN MARY

2010-01-11T09:36:00.001-08:00

Luke 11:27-28
27 As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, "Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you."

28 He replied, "Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it." NIV
** So is this very clear that we are not suppose to be worshipping the virgin Mary? How much more clear can it be coming from the mouth of Jesus Himself? But who are those that are blessed? DOERS OF THE WORD OF GOD! Hear it and do it… hear it and do it….. how many times have I said this to myself over and over again? It is the way that we need to walk…. Hear it and do it…. I’m starting to sound like a parrot!

HOW DO WE KNOW?

2010-01-08T09:55:00.001-08:00

Gen 22:12
12 "Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son." NIV
** “Now I know that you fear God….because you have not withheld for me your son.” How does He know that we fear Him? How do we know if we fear Him? OBEDIANCE. If you fear God you will obey Him and what He is telling you to do….. enough said.

I NEED A SIGN

2010-01-06T10:21:00.001-08:00

Gen 15:8
8 But Abram said, "O Sovereign LORD, how can I know that I will gain possession of it?" NIV
** I am just like Abram here…. I need to be shown sometimes that God really is on my side and that His promises are true and are going to come to pass. I call it a revelation. I need a physical revelation of a spiritual promise. I know, I know, “walk by faith and not by sight.” I’ve read it and quoted it many many times and yet I still find my flesh at times needing God to show me that He’s there. Sometimes it may be thru someone who doesn’t know what I’m going thru saying something to me or sometimes it’s just a bill board or an email or text or something like that that confirms in my heart He is with me and will complete what He said He would. Abram needed it and he is considered the father of faith, and I need it too so I can learn more about His promises and learn how to rely on Him sometimes when I can’t see Him.

SUITABLE HELPER

2010-01-01T09:16:00.001-08:00

Gen 2:20
20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field.
But for Adam no suitable helper was found. NIV
** Adam was one smart man…. If I was there naming the animals this world would be a mess! I look at this verse and it amazes me at how intelligent Adam must have been. You got to figure that not only did he name the animals but he also had to remember them all day every day! I have a hard time remembering my own kids names at times…. . The other thing that stands out here to me is the statement “no suitable helper was found.” Another word here could be “partner.” You see, a partner is an equal. Remember it said “they become ONE flesh.” I’m not talking authority roles here. I’m talking about helping each other to accomplish the goals God has for each person. I want to be a partner to my wife so I can help her become as much like Jesus as she can be and I know that she has the same desire for me too. This year, let us be suitable helpers to our spouses. If you are not married, then practice being a suitable helper to God… help Him be fully Lord in your life by submitting to Him.

RIGHTEOUS ACTS

2009-12-31T09:23:00.000-08:00

Rev 19:8
8 Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear."
(Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of the saints.) NIV
** The wedding gown of the bride is our righteous acts…. If we don’t apply ourselves in our actions and those actions are not righteous, then we will not have a gown to wear on the day that He comes to take us to the wedding. I’m not sure what all of this means but it does seem clear that there is great importance at our meeting with Jesus on the righteous acts that we do while we are here on the earth.

HAPPY NEW YEARS TO ALL OF YOU! I HOPE THAT YOUR NEW YEAR IS FILLED WITH RIGHTEOUS ACTS THAT ARE PLEASING TO GOD!

REVELATION

2009-12-30T09:51:00.001-08:00

** Ah, Revelation….. oh how I stand amazed at every word. I didn’t say I understood every word, I said I stand amazed or should I say dazed? What does it say? Is it talking about our future or the time we’re living in now or did all or some of this already happen? I suppose it talks about all three. I guess the thing that I see the most in revelation is that Jesus will be there and we who have remained faithful will be there with Him. And we all will watch as the serpent, the great dragon, the devil, will be thrown into the lake of fire. Oh, and then there’s the 24 elders who keep bowing down and throwing their crowns at His feet, angels are flying around and thunder and lightning is cracking the sky and peeling the air back. An awesome thing we will see one day and we’ll be there with Him who gave His life for us all so we can be with Him forever and ever…… AMEN!

ENDURANCE

2009-12-29T09:30:00.001-08:00

Rev 14:12
12 This calls for patient endurance on the part of the saints who obey God's commandments and remain faithful to Jesus. NIV
** During this time of tribulation and people all around receiving the mark of the beast, God says this will call for patient endurance and faithfulness to Jesus… The difficult thing about this passage is, it you haven’t been patient and have endurance now, will it be possible then? It’s kind of like body building. You can’t body build to get muscles today. You have to body build to get muscles for 4 months down the line. In the same way, if we don’t start practicing patient endurance now, we will not be able to accomplish it when the time comes in the future. It’s amazing to me how easily people give up waiting on the Lord. Let’s start by just doing a little bit each day and then get more patient and endure a little bit more until one day we find ourselves armed and ready for anything we need to go through.

EMPTY NETS

2009-12-24T09:13:00.001-08:00

John 20:21-22
21 So Jesus said to them again, " Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you." NASU
John 21:5
5 So Jesus said to them, "Children, you do not have any fish, do you?" They answered Him, "No." NASU
** Ok so I felt like these two scriptures would fit together because Jesus said that the reason He was here on this earth is the reason we will be here on this earth…..To seek and save that which was lost….. Souls for His kingdom…. Fisher of men. Then later he asked them in a statement. “you do not have any fish, do you?” Their answer was…. No. Often times I feel the Lord calling to me and to Celebration…. “you do not have any fish do you?” and my answer is…. No. Today I call out to God and ask Him to show me where to cast my net here in Renton. Where are the fish that we’re to catch? I don’t want to come to the shore empty handed so I want to listen carefully to the master fisherman and hear where He will tell me to cast my net…. Where Lord? Show us where and how to catch these fish in such difficult waters….. we’re waiting with open nets….

IN HIM IS ETERNAL LIFE

2009-12-23T10:07:00.001-08:00

John 17:3
3 "This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent. NASU
** This is eternal life….. To know Jesus Christ! There is no salvation in any other name for there I no other name under heaven given among men where by we must be saved…. The name of Jesus Christ….. ooooh how it irritates satan and all his followers. Every year they try to dismiss the true meaning of Christmas. They put an X before mas so they can cross out the name of Christ. I know, the X is a symbol written in the Greek or Hebrew that means Christ but there definitely is a controversy over the X so why even go there? We wouldn’t want anyone putting a one letter to shorten our name, at least I wouldn’t….. and why am I even wasting time explaining this? If you truly love Him, then this is not even a debate….It is now 2 days until CHRISTmas and time is just flying by so fast that I can’t even keep up most of the time. Let us continue to remember what this time of the year is all about as we hustle around buying gifts and spending our hard earned money on stuff. Jesus THE Christ, came into this world to save sinners…. What an awesome God…..Thank You Jesus!

COME OUT

2009-12-22T10:08:00.001-08:00

John 12:17-19
17 So the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead, continued to testify about Him. 18 For this reason also the people went and met Him, because they heard that He had performed this sign. 19 So the Pharisees said to one another, "You see that you are not doing any good; look, the world has gone after Him." NASU
** I’ve read John a hundred times and I really can’t remember ever reading this verse! My view of Lazarus being raised from the dead was that…. “even when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead many people still didn’t believe in Him.” However, here it tells a different story. Here were a group of people who was there at the tomb that were so life changed that they could not stop telling about Jesus’ miracles. You and I are a miracle! We were rotting in our tomb of selfishness and one day Jesus called our name and took us out of the tomb of sin and brought us out clean and righteous. How much more should we be “still with Jesus” proclaiming His greatness and sharing our testimony with the world.

TESTIMONY

2009-12-18T10:07:00.001-08:00

John 4:39
From that city many of the Samaritans believed in Him because of the word of the woman who testified, NASU

** How powerful our testimony is to others. “They believed in Him because of the woman’s testimony.” Do you have a testimony? What has Christ done in your life? Is it worth telling others or are you ashamed of the new life that you live in Jesus Christ? Every time I’ve bought a new car or a newer car, I just can’t wait until everyone I know has seen it drives it and watches me drive off in it. I know people that every time they get something new, they run all over the city telling and showing it off. What about Christ? Why is it that now days, it seems like that we have to beg people to tell their testimony to their friends and family? I blame it on me! Pastors and teachers…. We get embarrassed for the new convert and begin to make excuses to just take their time in telling about their conversion? The very first thing that a new convert needs to do is tell everyone they know that they have found a new life in Jesus Christ and that their friends and family should NOT expect that they will do the old things that they used to do that was against Christ. Your testimony is very powerful and there is someone out there just waiting and wanting and NEEDING to hear it…. What you waiting for?

I'M A SLAVE

2009-12-17T10:03:00.001-08:00

2 Peter 2:19
19 They promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves to sin and corruption. For you are a slave to whatever controls you. NLT
** What controls you? What is it in your life that whenever IT comes up, IT takes first place? I love to eat and it’s often hard to discern the difference between eating because I’m hungry or just because I love to eat. Whenever I’ve fasted in the past, I’ve noticed that after the 3rd day, that eating often times is just a habit or a thing to do because I have nothing else to do. I constantly battle with food trying to be my master. That is why I am constantly fasting some kind of food or liquid so I can keep my flesh in control and keep God as my master to guide me. Right now because of Aaron being in Teen Mania, I am fasting coffee for a year. As I look around me, I see many slaves in this world and the funny thing is, according to this scripture, they are slaves to those little silver boxes they carry around and keep close so they won’t miss on text message. We have become a nation of slaves…. But as the old song goes… “it might be the devil or it might be the Lord, but you’ve got to serve somebody.”

I DON'T WANT TO!

2009-12-16T11:09:00.000-08:00

1 Peter 2:20
But if when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God.
NASU

1 Peter 4:1-2
Therefore, since Christ has suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same purpose, because he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, 2 so as to live the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.
NASU
** I do not like getting myself into situations that I have to apologize! I just don’t like it at all…. ESPECIALLY when the person demanding it of me is not a righteous person. Yes, I got myself in this situation and even though I didn’t believe I owed the person an apology, I know it HAD to happen if I wanted to go on farther in God’s blessing on my life. So what do you do? Suck it up, slap your flesh in the face and obey! After my sincere apology (cause I did it as unto the Lord), I felt sick on the inside. I obeyed but the attitude of the person who demanded I apologize to the other person was eating me up. I prayed and then I prayed some more… then 1 peter 2:20 hit me in the heart this morning….”But when you do what is right and suffer for it…. This finds favor with God.” God is so good…. I love my life journal readings…. He knows just what I need when I need it. Thank you Father for keeping me on the right path of blessing in your kingdom. I choose to forgive and to continue experiencing your presence and power in my life and ministry. I love you!

EFFECTIVE DOERS

2009-12-15T11:22:00.001-08:00

James 1:25
25 But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does. NASU
** Oh my gosh! I’ve read this scripture a hundred times and it’s so amazing how this jumps out at me. “an EFFECTUAL doer.” Not just a doer of the Word, but a doer that is being effective in what they do! Wow! So, let me get this right. It’s not enough to just hear the word (hear it and read it) and it’s not enough to just do the Word (follow a set pattern just to get things done). Now we need to be EFFECTIVE doers of the Word. This takes time and planning which makes sense, because often times we can get so caught up in just getting the task done for the purpose of just getting the task done. I definitely need to start thinking about what I’m doing so I can be effective while I’m doing everything God has told me to do. Yeah!

MAKE IT EASY FOR THEM

2009-12-14T09:12:00.000-08:00

Heb 13:17
17 Obey your spiritual leaders and do what they say. Their work is to watch over your souls, and they know they are accountable to God. Give them reason to do this joyfully and not with sorrow. That would certainly not be for your benefit. NLT
** I just got into a chat with a few people on facebook about tattoos. I won’t go into all the details because it would probably bore you to death, but in the process there was a young man who showed great disrespect to my position as a pastor. I’m praying for this young man because obviously he doesn’t know the dangers of the path he chose to take. To him there is no position of authority and that we are all on the same level “as sinners” in the body of Christ. In that case, then why would any of us want to take any position of leadership? The scripture is very clear that we will be judged stronger than the people we teach.
James 3:1
3:1 Not many of you should presume to be teachers, my brothers, because you know that we who teach will be judged more strictly. NIV
Besides all of this, the scripture is very clear that God has placed people in the church and their roles are to be roles that are respected and honored even when they don’t deserve it. (see the story of David and Saul…. He would not touch God’s anointed). This young man is not a part of my congregation but I do feel for his pastor and teachers because the student has brought himself to the level of his authorities and that only spells trouble. Hopefully this young man will see his error and in about 20 years will see the path he has walked needs to be repaired. I would like to say that I have been honored beyond all by my church that I oversee. You, CFC, have made my job as your pastor a joy and I always look forward to meeting with you. Thanks!

TIME TO MATURE

2009-12-04T10:16:00.001-08:00

Eph 4:11-13
11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. NASU
** I’ve often wondered where people in the past came up with the pastor’s job description. I mean, according to the way I was raised, someone really got our pastor’s job description wrong. Maybe it was a pastor who went beyond his calling or maybe the pastor was just a good person with hospitality gifts and did everything for everyone, who knows? But some were along the line the pastor’s job description got all messed up. I don’t understand or know how some pastors can even do what they do with the little time that they have…. Something else has to suffer, maybe it’s their family or their spouse or ???? God set this up for the good of the pastor’s and the good of the people. Without the time, the pastor cannot plan and equip the people for the work of SERVICE and for the MATURING of each individual person. If people would just read this verse and understand that they need to step out and do the work of the ministry and become mature members fulfilling their duty by giving the pastor time to study and train the people….. I know I get strange looks when I mention that “I just don’t do that or that I’m not gifted to do that.” But I plan on leading a mature church that are great Eagles in the kingdom of God.

DO YOU STUMBLE?

2009-12-02T11:07:00.001-08:00

Rom 9:33
33 God warned them of this in the Scriptures when he said, "I am placing a stone in Jerusalem that causes people to stumble, and a rock that makes them fall. But anyone who believes in him
will not be disappointed." NLT
** Wow, this is definitely true for today! The stone that causes people to stumble…. That stumbling stone appears this time of the year. CHRISTmas…. Why is everyone so bothered by the stone CHRIST? All the other times of the year like valentines day or Easter or Fourth of July…. They don’t get bothered by that. They don’t say happy holidays on those days…. And they are holidays… ???? It’s because Jesus CHRIST is a stumbling stone to those who do not believe in Him. Satan hates the name CHRIST and all those who complain about the name CHRISTmas are just following their leader satan. Because I am of the second part of this verse that says, “anyone who believes in Him will not be disappointed.” I AM NOT DISAPPOINTED but I am APPOINTED! To say to you MERRY CHRISTmas!!!!! JESUS IS CHRIST AND LORD OF THIS EARTH!!!!!! AMEN!

WHAT ARE YOU WORKING FOR?

2009-12-01T11:14:00.000-08:00

Rom 6:23
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. NASU
** Oh how we love to work for sin! I see it everywhere I go. People are so busy sinning that they don’t realize that pay day is coming and they will soon reap the pay check of sin. What is the pay check? Death. Sometimes it’s physical death but most of the time I see spiritual death in many many Christians. They have no power to overcome obstacles in their way because they are cashing in on their wages of sin. But look! The FREE gift of God….. Eternal life! If we would but look at the choices we have before us every day and see where they will take us in the reaping, we would make better choices for life…. Right? Would we? I hope so…. Be blessed and make the choice to receive the free gift today… ETERNAL LIFE!

WHAT GIVES YOU AWAY?

2009-11-27T11:46:00.000-08:00

Matt 26:73
73 A little later the bystanders came up and said to Peter, "Surely you too are one of them; for even the way you talk gives you away." NASU
** What gives you away? I mean, do people know you are a follower of Christ? How? How do they know it? Do you have to wear Christian Tshirts to tell them or do you have to put a bumpersticker on your car for them to recognize you? What is it that gives you away to others that you are a true follower of Jesus Christ? Peter was recognized by the way he talked. Even when Peter was in the middle of denying Jesus, his speech gave him away. Isn’t it strange that either try too hard for others to know that they are Christians or they hide the fact very well? And often times those who have neon signs flashing showing the fact that they are Christians are usually the ones who fall flat on their faces with hidden sins that come out. Maybe that’s why so many Christians hide the fact that they are Christians….. because they feel they can’t be constant in their walk with Jesus. We’ve got to start somewhere…. We will all fall into sin sooner or later. Some more than others but we all will fall. So what is the answer? Being accepted by Christ rather than man when we fall and being prepared so we won’t fall as much and often because we walk closely to the Father. Wow, so much to write and not enough time or page to finish…. Let us be found guilty in our action and voice in people finding out that we too are followers of Jesus Christ.

HIS TIME IS NEAR

2009-11-26T07:15:00.000-08:00

Matt 24:32-33
"Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near; 33 so, you too, when you see all these things, recognize that He is near, right at the door. NASU
** It can’t be any clearer than this….. Jesus clearly says that we will clearly know the season of when He is coming back for us. He says “You KNOW that summer is near.” So why does everyone get all up in arms when someone starts confessing that the return of the Lord is very soon? People are so afraid that we’ll miss the date of His return….. We probably will miss the date, but the bible is very direct in saying that we will know the seasons of His return. In Thessalonians it says that that day should not over take you as a thief. Why? Because we know the time of His return. Not the day or the hour but the season or time of His return. I say unto you, “lift up your eyes, because His return is very very near.”

JUST SERVE

2009-11-25T11:42:00.001-08:00

Matt 20:28
28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many." NASU
** I just saw a question on facebook the other day concerning people being upset because someone sat in their pew in the church. Now I’ve been in the church my whole life and I must admit that people get pretty picky when it comes to where they sit and if someone sits in their seat. Sounds like first class servitude huh? I mean, what’s more important, to get to sit in YOUR seat or for a visitor, a person that is there to find Jesus, to sit in your seat? I’m afraid of what some of our long term Christians would answer to that question. I can’t wait until I see the church become the servants that Jesus intended us to be in the first place. I mean, if we all would just be servants and put ourselves last in every situation, I would be amazing at how fast the kingdom of God would grow. I used to sing a song when I was little and growing up in the church. It went like this; J-O-Y, J-O-Y, Tell me what it means. Jesus first and Yourself last, and Others in between….. Just SERVE!

HE'S GOOD TO US

2009-11-24T10:43:00.001-08:00

Matt 19:29
29 "And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name's sake, will receive many times as much, and will inherit eternal life. NASU
** Sometimes the cost of following Jesus is everything. Sometimes you will have to leave the things and people you love to do the work He has called you to do. But oh the great rewards there are for those who put their trust in Him and obey His commands. He says that the rewards are not only heavenly but also earthly rewards while we’re here. God is not a bad God. He wants us to have a great life here on the earth and He is preparing a place for us after we die. He loves us so much that He gave His only Son to die for us. Why would we think that He would want us to be in misery and pain after all He did for us? Yes sometimes we will have to leave those we love to do the work He is calling us to do but He will not leave us alone and His rewards far out weigh the stuff we have to go thru for the sake of the Gospel.

CHECK YOUR STUFF

2009-11-20T09:54:00.000-08:00

Matt 6:19-21
19 " Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 "But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; 21 for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. NASU
** Where’s your stuff? I mean, how much stuff do you have and what does it look like? Is your stuff stealable? Do you have to guard it? Are you afraid you’ll lose it? Is it eternal or earthly stuff? Where ever your stuff is, that’s where your heart is. Stuff = heart. Today make a list of all my stuff and see if it will go with me when you die. Make a list and examine it and see if any of the stuff profits you here on earth or there in heaven. God is a great barterer, He is willing for you to trade Him the earth stuff for some heavenly stuff if you’ll let Him. Check your stuff!

OBEDIENT

2009-11-19T08:57:00.001-08:00

Matt 2:13-14
13 Now when they had gone, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him."
14 So Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt.
NASU
** Joseph was a very obedient man. This man amazes me with this whole season of his life. It doesn’t say a whole lot about his life after the birth of Jesus, but all the times it does mention him, he is doing exactly what the Holy Spirit tells him to do. I like Joseph, he seems to be a man of integrity and for a man to take this on and put himself in line with a lot of grief and accusations shows me that he was a great man of God.

TESTS

2009-11-18T09:00:00.001-08:00

2 Cor 13:5
5 Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you — unless indeed you fail the test? NASU
** I hate tests! I know, I know, some of you love the thrill of setting down and marking on a piece of paper answers that, you probably studied for, and getting it back with great grades. I on the other hand, do not like test. I do not like them at the school I do not like them on a stool. I do not like them in the house. I do not like them with my spouse. I do not like test not even when I cram, I do not like them Sam I am! I love giving test but when it comes to getting them, I know that they are there to make me look stupid! HOWEVER, God tells us to test ourselves that way we can see how we can get to where He wants us to be. Our work book and study book is the bible and our test is not on paper but it is in the every day life that you live. Does your life line up with the study book that you read every day? Take the test and see.

SOW, SOW, SOW

2009-11-17T08:52:00.001-08:00

2 Cor 9:6
6 Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. NASU
** Ok, so….. now I know why sometimes I’m not reaping the harvest that I thought I should…. I’m not sowing the seed like I should have to receive a harvest that I thought! I mean, if I’m expecting God to add to the church the harvest of souls into His kingdom, then I’ve got to plant seed that produces the harvesting of souls. Ok, another way…. If I want to see a lot of people come to Christ (harvest) then I’ve got to TELL a lot of people about Christ and His saving grace. (seed). I’m amazed at how many people will be depressed or upset because things aren’t happening in their lives but when you dig into their lives trying to help them, you can see that they have not been planting bountifully but sparingly. Want your finances to change? “give and it will be given you, pressed down shaken together and running over. Want to have a better love relationship with your spouse? Read and DO 1 Cor. Chapter 13. What do you want? Then seek first HIS kingdom and His righteousness and ALL these things will be added unto you.

SPEAK IN TONGUES

2009-11-13T09:13:00.001-08:00

1 Cor 14:1-3
2 For one who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God; for no one understands, but in his spirit he speaks mysteries. NASU
** We don’t speak in tongues enough. I know that I don’t anyway. Sometimes I can get so wrapped up in doing life that I forget that the power to edify myself is in the speaking in tongues. And what does it matter if people around me like or dislike me if I speak in tongues? Isn’t it very clear that when I speak in tongues I’m speaking to God anyway? I’m not talking about walking around and shouting out in a unknown tongue in public places but just spending time in your prayer closet and praying in the spirit. Or in your car or walking around just praying in tongues under your breath. It is important that we spend ample amount of time allowing the Spirit to pray thru us to not only build us up but also to pray mysteries for others all around the world according to the Spirit’s will. I LIKE IT!

BIG BIG GOD

2009-11-12T09:12:00.001-08:00

Job 37:5
5 "God thunders with His voice wondrously,
Doing great things which we cannot comprehend.
NASU
** Who knows God? How can anyone ever think that they really know God? This whole chapter makes me realize that not only do we not know God but that I don’t think that we are really afraid of how powerful He really is. Even in these chapters He makes a statement that “He even tells the oceans how far they can go upon the land.” Is that power or what?! I’m glad I serve a God that I don’t know, cause if I knew everything about Him I would be able to figure Him out and we know what kind of a man is the man who thinks he has everything figured out….. very scary person indeed! However, God is bigger than our imagination or anything we think we know. Even these great scientist who have sent telescopes flying thru the universe and think that they have found answers to our existence, have found more and more galaxies beyond us and it blows their minds and they don’t even know that they haven’t even made a pin mark on all the great things God has created and has in store for those who love Him.

PASSION OF PAUL

2009-11-11T14:46:00.000-08:00

1 Cor 9:16
16 For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel. NASU
1 Cor 9:22
22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some. NASU
** We need to have the same passion as Paul…. “woe is me if I do not preach the gospel.” If we really felt this way then we would be constantly telling others about God’s greatness and the good news of Him dying for the whole world. Later in the chapter Paul says he became all things to all men just to save some. What are we becoming to win the world to Christ? Am I so comfortable in doing things my own way or being so busy on me that I forget to present the gospel to them? I must try harder to break out of the me box and do what the Spirit is calling me to do.

SHORT TIME

2009-11-10T09:57:00.000-08:00

1 Cor 7:29-31
29 But this I say, brethren, the time has been shortened, so that from now on those who have wives should be as though they had none; 30 and those who weep, as though they did not weep; and those who rejoice, as though they did not rejoice; and those who buy, as though they did not possess; 31 and those who use the world, as though they did not make full use of it; for the form of this world is passing away. NASU
** If Paul thought the time was short here, how much more should we believe that the time is short before the return of the Lord? Note: He’s not saying that you neglect your husbands or wives and put ministry first, he’s reminding us that ultimately the time we spend here compared to eternity is very very short so we must make sure we are doing all we can to spread the gospel to as many as we can before our lives are over. This is why I challenge those people that are getting married to make sure they have the same passion in ministry together so they can get more done for the kingdom while also being able to spend more time together.

GOD'S JOY IS OUR JOY

2009-11-06T09:50:00.001-08:00

Gal 4:6-7
7 Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God. NASU
** We are sons and daughters of God! How amazing it is that He loves me and even though I know that I fail Him continually and I don’t even act like a son at times He still loves me. I am so glad that I serve a God that works with all my imperfections and uses them to not only bring glory and joy to Him but also to bring joy to myself too. You see, God gets joy out of bringing joy to us. He loves to see us happy and prospering. He loves to see us in health and reaping all the benefits of this life. If He didn’t then why would He have even created the garden of Eden in all it’s spender and glory? The bible says in genesis that after God created all the earth and man and woman He looked and saw “IT WAS VERY GOOD.”

HOW TO GET WISDOM

2009-11-05T09:34:00.001-08:00

Job 29:1
28 "And to man He said, 'Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; And to depart from evil is understanding.'" NASU
** What is wisdom? It’s the key to everything! Wisdom guides you and helps you along life’s journey. After rambling on and on chapter after chapter, Job finally tells the answer to wisdom…. “Fear of the Lord is wisdom.” And now I know why there are so many unwise people out there in the world, because we have stopped fearing God. Often times in the past year I’ve felt like I’ve made so many mistakes and I’ve made so many wrong decisions, but one thing I do and I’ve always done and I will continue to do is fear God. He is so awesome and powerful and He can remove me from this earth anytime He pleases. I lay my life down in His hands and trust in Him and His greatness and awesome power to walk me thru the dark times in this life and lead me to the light and victory. Lord God, I choose to trust you today with my whole heart and lean not on my own understanding!

PREACH THE GOSPEL

2009-11-04T09:07:00.000-08:00

Mark 16:15
15 And He said to them, " Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. NASU
** This is our commission, our purpose, our ultimate goal….. “Preach the gospel to all creation.” So…… it makes me take a step back from all the things that I am doing now and ask myself. “Is what I’m doing, and all that I am involved in, preaching the gospel?” Am I leading people to Christ or to me? My main reason in life is to preach the gospel so I must pattern my day and everyday to preach the “good news” gospel to someone that crosses my path.

WHEN?

2009-11-03T09:40:00.001-08:00

Mark 13:28-30
28 "Now learn the parable from the fig tree: when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. 29 "Even so, you too, when you see these things happening, recognize that He is near, right at the door. NASU
** When? When, when, when, when? Is He right at the door? I believe He is….. I hope He is. How much longer Lord Jesus will you allow them to blaspheme your name? How much longer do we have to wait for your return? I believe You are close at the door and are ready to open the door and come and get us. Is Your day still a thousand years? Or are we at the end of the day and you are ready to come and bring us home…. Come quickly Lord Jesus!

UNFORGIVABLE SIN

2009-10-29T09:29:00.001-07:00

Mark 3:28-30
28 " Truly I say to you, all sins shall be forgiven the sons of men, and whatever blasphemies they utter; 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit never has forgiveness, but is guilty of an eternal sin" — 30 because they were saying, "He has an unclean spirit." NASU
** Ok, the age old question….. what is blaspheming the Holy Spirit? I’ve been told all kinds of things and I used to think it was just dying as a sinner without Jesus in your heart. Although that is partly true, Jesus clearly states here what it is if you read the “because” after He talks about blasphemes. “Because they WERE SAYING, HE HAS AN UNCLEAN SPIRIT.” Understand this is a heart matter not a head matter. People in the past have felt like they have committed the un-forgivable sin because of something they said or did, but was it from the heart (do you hate Jesus from your heart) or was it because you were drunk or on drugs or mad and spouted some stupid thing off about God? God knows your heart and if you are even the least bit concerned about whether or not you hurt Jesus or sinned against Him then you didn’t. As long as you have conviction in your heart then that means the Holy Spirit is still with you convicting you and calling you back to the heart of God.

EATING WITH SINNERS

2009-10-28T09:14:00.001-07:00

Mark 2:16-17
16 When the scribes of the Pharisees saw that He was eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they said to His disciples, " Why is He eating and drinking with tax collectors and sinners?" 17 And hearing this, Jesus said to them, "It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners." NASU
** Isn’t it amazing that we often times follow the example of the scribes in these days. You ask how? I’m glad you asked. It just seems to me that we find it so easy to meet and eat with our Christian friends and family and yet we leave the sinners out in the cold of the world. I have to admit, I love just sitting down with my leaders and fellowshipping with them and sharing my heart. I could make this very comfortable in my life…… but….. Jesus, even though He loved being with His disciples, made time to eat with sinners. He says it very clear…. “ I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Father God, help me have a heart like your Son Jesus. Help me have a passion to meet with sinners and see their lives changed by Your Gospel. AMEN

TAKE COURAGE

2009-10-27T09:24:00.001-07:00

Acts 27:25-26
25 "Therefore, keep up your courage, men, for I believe God that it will turn out exactly as I have been told. NASU
** I love this verse. Here they are in total loss and turmoil and Paul’s words to them is “to keep up their courage.” Why? Because Paul believed that God would do what He said He would do. So it is with me and so should it be with you…. Whatever you are going thru right now, take courage for God’s Word will not be false. Find a scripture that speaks health, blessings, peace, joy and hope to your situation and believe that it is from God to you (because it is) and then stand and take courage and believe that what God said to you in His Word, will come to pass and you will soon overcome that which is bringing you down.

THOUGH HE SLAY ME

2009-10-23T10:00:00.001-07:00

Job 13:15-18
15 " Though He slay me, I will hope in Him.
Nevertheless I will argue my ways before Him.
16 "This also will be my salvation,
For a godless man may not come before His presence.
17 "Listen carefully to my speech,
And let my declaration fill your ears.
18 "Behold now, I have prepared my case;
I know that I will be vindicated. NASU
** I’ve always quoted this phrase… “though He slay me, I will still serve Him.” But I’ve never really looked at the rest of the verse or the verses after it until now…… Wow! Job says in the same sentence… “Nevertheless I will argue my ways before Him.” Job knew his relationship with God would carry him thru this trial he was going through. How do we know? Look at verse 16… “This also WILL BE MY SALVATION for a godless man may not come before His presence.” In other words, “I will have salvation thru this because I am a godly man and I can and will come before His presence.” Wow! And if that isn’t enough, he finishes up in verses 17 and 18 “listen carefully to my speech (in order for Job to speak like this, he had to be convinced that what he believed was going to happen) and let my declaration fill your ears. V.18 “I KNOW I WILL BE VINDICATED.” I can’t tell you how much this reading has meant to me today…. It makes me remind myself of what I know to be true (God’s word) and walk past all the garbage that is cluttering my path (king county officials, whiners, doubters and people who don’t have the vision I have for this city) and set my face to please God and make my request known to Him.
Thanks Jesus, You’re enough!

WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED?

2009-10-22T09:30:00.001-07:00

Acts 16:30
30 and after he brought them out, he said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" NASU
** “what must I do to be saved?” this is what I long to hear everyday! What must I do to be saved? 7 wonderful words that all of heaven loves to hear. What brings a person to this statement of faith? Well in this case it was because of 2 people who even though they were beaten and in prison bruised and scarred, they chose to praise God in the midst of their troubles. Earthquakes happen and bound people (not just Paul and Silas) were set free. Are we leading the same kind of lives as Paul and Silas? When troubles come do we let the troubles be the music for our praise services? If we will use the troubles that come our way be opportunities to honor and lift up Jesus, then we will hear more people say… “What must I do to be saved?”

AFTER HIS HEART

2009-10-21T11:53:00.000-07:00

Acts 13:22
22 But God removed him from the kingship and replaced him with David, a man about whom God said, 'David son of Jesse is a man after my own heart, for he will do everything I want him to.'
NLT
** Why was David, called by God, “a man after my own heart?” FOR HE WILL DO EVERYTHING I WANT HIM TO. Is it really that simple? I mean to become a man after God’s own heart? That is, if you think doing everything God wants you to do simple…. Even though David made some pretty bad mistakes and murdered…. Etc. He is still called “a man after God’s heart” hundreds of years later in the New Testament. I think this is just another picture God wants to show us, that He is not interested in your sinless life but your life of obedience and faithfulness to Him. What are you suppose to be doing in your life for Him right now? Are you doing it? What little things have you heard from Him? Are you doing them? You can be like a lot of unfaithful, disobedient children or you can me a man or woman after God’s own heart….. the choice is yours…. What will you do? What will they write about you a hundred years from now?

I KNOW NOTHING

2009-10-20T10:07:00.001-07:00

Job 8:9
9 "For we are only of yesterday and know nothing,
Because our days on earth are as a shadow. NASU
** Ok, ok…. You know this is coming if you know me…”There is only one thing that I know, and that is that I know nothing!” But thank God, He knows everything! I’m so glad that I serve a savior that is all knowing and all powerful. I can’t tell you how many times I just come to dead end streets and butt my head against brick walls. But it is at those times that I see a savior that walks beside me and leads me beyond my knowledge. He is faithful! He never leaves me nor forsakes me even when I’m un-faithful, He remains faithful. Thank you Jesus for loving me in spite of myself! I truly love you…. FOREVER!

WE FEAR

2009-10-16T09:22:00.001-07:00

Mal 3:16-18
Then those who feared the LORD spoke to one another, and the LORD gave attention and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the LORD and who esteem His name. 17 "They will be Mine," says the LORD of hosts, "on the day that I prepare My own possession, and I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him." 18 So you will again distinguish between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him. NASU
** “Those who feared the Lord.” That’s me! I fear the Lord! I will never stop fearing the Lord. I only want to speak to other people who fear the Lord because I know that they will keep me walking in righteousness and purity. It’s an amazing thing to be around a group of people who fear God. Knowing that they have the same convictions as you do and that you feel safe to share your passions and convictions without judgment. God is writing a book about us because we are the faithful that have chosen to fear Him and follow after His ways. I can’t wait to read it and see what He wrote about me and you!

CONSUMED BY HIM

2009-10-15T10:06:00.001-07:00

Acts 4:13-14
13 Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus. 14 And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they had nothing to say in reply. NASU
** Can people tell by the way you talk and how you act that you’ve been with Jesus? Are you reading the Word so much that you’re speech gives you away? Oh that we would be so consumed by the Word of God and be so consumed by spending time with Jesus, we would start to walk and talk and sound like the one who gave His life for us. Have you ever been around couple who spent so much time together that they even finished each other’s sentences? That only comes from time spent together…. Lot’s of time! Do you know what He’s thinking? Can you finish His sentence?

UP FOR THE TASK?

2009-10-13T07:32:00.001-07:00

Neh 9:36-38
36 "So now today we are slaves here in the land of plenty that you gave to our ancestors! We are slaves among all this abundance! 37 The lush produce of this land piles up in the hands of the kings whom you have set over us because of our sins. They have power over us and our cattle. We serve them at their pleasure, and we are in great misery.
38 "Yet in spite of all this, we are making a solemn promise and putting it in writing. On this sealed document are the names of our princes and Levites and priests." NLT
Neh 10:28-29
28 The rest of the people — the priests, Levites, gatekeepers, singers, Temple servants, and all who had separated themselves from the pagan people of the land in order to serve God, and who were old enough to understand — 29 now all heartily bound themselves with an oath. They vowed to accept the curse of God if they failed to obey the law of God as issued by his servant Moses. They solemnly promised to carefully follow all the commands, laws, and regulations of the LORD their Lord. NLT
** All this abundance and still we are slaves! This is so true for the people of God today…. There is abundance all around and yet we have become slaves to the worlds system. We are trapped in the ways of the world and we have compromised our faith and have heaped upon ourselves sin after sin trying to get the abundance not knowing that leaving the world and all it has to offer will set us free to reap a harvest of abundance thru obeying our Lord Jesus. It’s time to do as these people did. It’s time to bound ourselves to an oath. An oath to follow Jesus no matter what the cost. An oath to follow all the commands of God and to put Him first in all that we do….. Are you up for the task? I am!

GOOD WORK

2009-10-09T09:33:00.001-07:00

Neh 2:18
18 I told them how the hand of my God had been favorable to me and also about the king's words which he had spoken to me. Then they said, "Let us arise and build." So they put their hands to the good work. NASU
** I like Nehemiah. He is one of my hero’s of the bible. His heart is to rebuild the wall and he does a great job organizing and rebuilding. I like this verse (v.18) because of its last words… “so they put their hands to the GOOD work.” It’s so important that when you are serving God to make sure that the church you serve in is doing a good work for God. And what is a good work? Anything that brings glory to God, whether it be evangelism or discipleship. These two GOOD works were what Jesus commanded the church before He left for heaven….. “Go into all the world and preach the gospel and make disciples of all nations.” So how about you? Are putting your hands to a GOOD work?

COME QUICKLY JESUS

2009-10-08T09:36:00.001-07:00

Luke 21:28
28 "But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near." NASU
** I used to think it would be exciting to be on the earth at the return of Christ, but every time I read all the conditions that have to happen before He returns, I feel like a wimp. We are living in exciting times and it does hurt my heart to see hundreds and thousands of people dying all around us in wars and famines and diseases. Yet all of this has been foretold and must take place. We must follow scripture as it says above…. “straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” Even so…. COME QUICKLY JESUS.