Keep Your Eyes On Him

One of my favorite verses in the Bible is found in Joshua when the Lord speaks to him and says, "No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will never leave or forsake you. Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law My servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go." Joshua 1:6-7 God does not change, He is the same yesterday, today and forever. The same God in the Old Testament is the same God today. "He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change His mind; for He is not a man, that He should change His mind." 1 Samuel 15:29 God is not like us my friend. When He makes a promise, He keeps it period. The word of God is His love letter to you and me and our instruction manual for life. He promised Joshua that He would never leave or forsake Him-this word is for you and me today. He tells us the same thin...

I heard a message driving to work this morning and I felt prompted to write about it. The message was to each one of us and I pray that every person who reads this blog today will take it to heart. Do you know beyond any doubt, that you are a child of God? I am not talking about the works you do or the church you go to or the relationship your parent or spouse has with God....do YOU know that you belong to Him? Jesus spoke these words and they should bring chills up your spine, "Not everyone who says to Me, Lord Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven. MANY will say to Me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles? Then I will tell them plainly, I never knew you. Away from Me, you evildoers!" Matthew 7:21-23 I want to dig a bit deeper into the words that Jesus spoke. First of all, when He uses "Lord, Lord," this is describing someone...

One of the strongest weapons, we, as followers of Christ have is prayer. Through prayer, mountains can be moved and cast into the sea. Jesus tells us this in Mark, "I tell you the truth, if anyone says to this mountain, Go, throw yourself into the sea, and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him. Therefore, I tell you whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins." 11:23-25 We see from these verses that there are conditions to prayer. The first one is to believe that you already have what you have asked for without doubting. Doubt is to be uncertain or skeptical-it is not trusting. Jesus has made us a promise, and He cannot lie. He promises that the mountain, whether it be financial difficulty, problems in a relationship, addiction,(you fill in the...

"God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High God dwells. God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at the break of day. Nations are in uproar, the kingdoms fall; He lifts His voice, the earth melts. The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress." Psalm 46:1-7 In this life, we face difficulties and many hardships. At times, we may start to even feel overwhelmed by everything going on around us. But our God, is our ever-present help in trouble. In spite of the storm that is raging around us, God and only God, can calm our hearts and give us the peace that passes all human understanding. This peace He gives is supernatural and unexplainable. God can calm the ...

"The Lord is faithful to all His promises and loving toward all He has made. The Lord upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to You, and You give them their food at the proper time. You open Your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing. The Lord is righteous in all His ways and loving toward all He has made. The Lord is near to all who call on Him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him; He hears their cry and saves them. The Lord watches over all who love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy. My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord. Let every creature praise His holy name for ever and ever." Psalm 145:13-21 These verses so speak to my heart. I am so grateful to God for His faithfulness and His everlasting love. I am grateful that He is faithful when I am not. I am grateful that He loves me in spite of me. Once, I was far away from Him, and with His great love and mercy, He drew me to Him."But ...

"If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all His commands I give you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on the earth. All these blessings will come upon you if you obey the Lord your God. You WILL be blessed in the city and blessed in the country. The fruit of your womb WILL be blessed, and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock-the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks. Your basket and your kneading trough WILL be blessed. You WILL be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out." Deuteronomy 28:1-6 These blessings will come in different forms, some financial, some physical and some spiritual. You will experience the peace of God in every area of your life. This peace He gives you will carry you through any and every situation. You may be going through financial difficulty right now. Remember that God is the source of everything. Now is not the time to stop tithing...continue to tithe and be o...

"In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps." Proverbs 16:9 Many of us have the false assumption that we are in control of our lives. Yes, we do make choices and go down certain paths, but it is God who has the final say. He is however, not a puppeteer and never forces us to do things, He gives us the free will to choose. If you believe the Bible, and I do, then you know that God is sovereign or in absolute control. Nothing happens that does not first pass through His loving hands. Now we may not always understand why things happen, but as His child, we know that in "all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brothers." Romans 8:28-29 As we study this verse, we see that all things-this includes good and bad-work together for good. God can take the wors...

The word surrender means to "give oneself up to another." Jesus tells us in Mark, "If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me and for the Gospel will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul? 8:34-36 Paul says, "for me, to live is Christ, but to die is gain." When we "deny" ourselves, it is not giving in to our selfish desires; it is placing Christ and His will for us first. This is not an easy thing to do, because we are selfish by nature-our bodies wage war against our souls....the flesh wants what it wants (worldly desires-immorality, impurity, greed hatred etc) and our spirit wants the things of God (peace, love joy, kindness, gentleness, respect etc). Paul speaks of the conflict we have in Romans..."For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do...

We all make choices every day. Some of them are as simple as what to wear or what we are going to have for lunch and some may be very difficult like ending friendships that are unhealthy for us, changing careers or taking a stand for what is right when the world (and sometimes family) are screaming no! The choices we make are so important...for instance, choosing to read God's word whether we feel like it or not, choosing to honor God with your money, talents and time and most importantly, choosing to follow Christ. Our choices can encourage others in their walk with the Lord or they can turn people away from the Gospel. Whenever I am facing a hard decision and am standing at a crossroad, I am so thankful, that God will lead me and He will lead you too. "I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go." Isaiah 48:17 We, however, must know His voice and listen for it and wait on Him. When we do this, and pay attention ...

When I look back on my life, I see a life that was changed by the power of God. Now, I am not boasting when I say that, I think of how wretched I really was. I was heading straight to hell. Oh sure, I had "head knowledge" of Jesus. I went to church on occasion and could quote scripture. On the outside, I appeared to have it all together, but inside, I was dead. I was like the Pharisees that Jesus spoke about when He told them they clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.(Matthew 23:25) I thought that just because I believed Jesus died on the cross and rose again, that I was saved. However, my life showed very differently. In fact, I was no different than the rest of the world. Sure, I went to church, sometimes I even read my Bible, but I was living the rest of the week in habitual sin-living only to please Dawn and my selfish, sinful desires-not really giving others much thought. That, my friend, is not a life that has been...

I felt an urgency today to write on the topic of salvation because there are many who feel that salvation can be lost. This is not Biblical. Once you are saved, God places His Spirit in you and seals you until the day of redemption. "Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set His seal of ownership on us, and put His Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come." 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 In Ephesians, God says, "Having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession-to the praise of His glory." 1:13-14 The definition of seal is: something that authenticates or confirms; to determine irrevocably....irrevocable means: impossible to retract or revoke. God has sealed His children. He has put His mark on you and me through His Spirit. For those who think one can lose salvation could simply m...

When I think of the blood of Christ, I am reminded of these song lyrics..."Your blood speaks a better word than all the empty claims I've held upon this earth, speaks righteousness for me and stands in my defense, Jesus it's Your blood. What can wash away my sin? What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood, nothing but the blood of Jesus." In Hebrews 9:22 we read, "without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness." Jesus Christ was the One and Only perfect sacrifice. He was God in the flesh, fully God and fully man, yet perfect and sinless. I cannot even begin to imagine what Jesus went through hours before He died. "Just as there were many who were appalled at Him-His appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and His form marred beyond human likeness..." Isaiah 52:14 Our Lord willingly laid down His life for us-this was all a part of God's perfect plan. He was chosen before the foundation of the world (1 Peter 1:19) to ...

I am so thankful for the truth of God's word. I am thankful that I don't have to "do" anything to earn the righteousness of Christ. The righteousness of Christ and His salvation is solely based on Him and the fact that He gave up His life for me. He willingly laid down His life for you and for me, so that we might become His righteousness. It is a gift. "This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified FREELY by His GRACE through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." Romans 3:22-23 As I meditate on those verses, I am so glad that it is not based on what I do. I could never do enough or be good enough to earn this grace and favor from God. I fall short every day. Yesterday, I found myself stressing over money and how I was going to pay bills. I was convicted as worrying is sin. Worry is saying to God, I don't trust You,...

As a Christ follower, we are under spiritual attack. There is a battle raging against us. satan is described as a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8 Think of the lion and how he watches and waits and looks for the one who is weak and then attacks and kills it. satan does the same...He looks for those who are weak, who aren't standing on the word of God. satan's attacks may come at a time when you are really tired or frustrated or times when you haven't been in the Word like you should. We are to put our armor on daily and be prepared as a soldier prepares for battle. A soldier never goes into a fight without his protection. We are to do the same. We must always put on the belt of truth, the mind of Christ and the sword of the Spirit-which is God's word. When we do this, we will not fall into temptation and we will not fall victim to satan's schemes. When you take a stand for Christ, you can expect opposition. This opposition may come in the form of ...