The Word

Scripture tells us that holiness is not an option. It’s not a list of dos and don’ts, but of the heart, spiritually pure, Godly. It’s not wining battles in church disputes. It is having our priorities right, once we fall to our knees in repentance.

Eternity

“Good people go to heaven; bad people go to hell.” A surprising number of modern-day skeptics and Christians believe this – but is it actually biblical? Have you ever thought of it as this place called hell is for rebels who want no part of His kingdom? Those that are wash in the Blood of the Lamb and believe will be with Jesus wherever that is. Those who refuse this grace will not be with Him whether they are good or bad. Let us not read anymore into what the scriptures tell us. “There are some things the Lord our God has kept secret, but there are some things he has let us know. These things belong to us and our children forever so that we will do everything in these teachings” (Deuteronomy 29:29, NCV).

Ministry of Reconciliation

Christ commands us to center our attention on reaching lost men and women, to be apart of their healing not on Christianizing society or taking over the world. We are to be the affirmation of Scripture. Act 18:24-28 Aquila and Priscilla help Apollos' in Ephesus and encouraged the brother. (Paul never won converts and then forgot them; he always was concerned with new believers and strengthening them in the way of Christ.) As Apollos’ we are to be passionate about the way of God, fervent in spirit sharing our lives with great emotion – fiery, intense. When we belong to God, we have an obligation to make an impact upon this culture realizing we are sojourners and this is just a blink in comparison to the time we will spent with our LORD and Savior.

Incredibly unbelievable

A German Jesuit Priest once wrote in response to why there is atheism in the world today; “Christians who confess Jesus Christ with their life and deny Him by their life style. That is what the unbelieving find unbelievable that is what makes the Gospel kind of life incredibly unbelievable in the eyes of non-believers.”

Stay with it

One of the experiences of prayer is that it seems that nothing happens. But when you stay with it and look back over a long period of pray, you suddenly realize that something has happened. ~~ Henri J.M. Nouwen, The Genesee Diary

Springs of Love

The springs of love are in God, not in us. It is absurd to look for the love of God in our hearts naturally, it is only there when it has been shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit.
If we try to prove to God how much we love Him, it is a sure sign that we do not love Him. The evidence of our love for Him is the absolute spontaneity of our love it comes naturally. In looking back, we cannot tell why we did certain things, we did them according to the spontaneous nature of His love in us. The life of God manifests itself in this spontaneous way because the springs of love are in the Holy Ghost. ~~ Oswald Chamber’ Classic Daily Devotional, My Utmost for His Highest

Ministry

“Brethren in my ministry I have given two-third of my time to Bible study and only one-third to prayer. But if I had my life to live over again, I would give two-third of my time to prayer and only one-third to Bible study.” ~~ Dr. Samuel Chadwick

Ruling with Christ

It is through prayer and intercession that we administer the authority that is ours in the name of Jesus.
All Christians look forward to the day when Christ’s enemies will have been finally and completely subdued, and He will be openly manifested and universally acknowledged as King. The Bible promises that day will come. But we must not let the promised glory of the future blind us to the reality and Christ’s present position at God’s right hand. Christ rules even now “in the midst of [His] enemies” (Psalm 110: 2), and we rule with Him. It is our responsibility to exercise the authority that is ours through His name, and in face of all the forces of evil to demonstrate that Christ is already “Lord of lords, and King of kings” (Revelation 17:14). ~~ Derek Prince

Distort the Word of God

“We have renounced disgraceful ways (secret thoughts, feelings, desires and underhandedness, the methods and arts that men hide through shame); we refuse to deal craftily (to practice trickery and cunning) or to adulterate or handle dishonestly the Word of God, but we state the truth openly (clearly and candidly). And so we commend ourselves in the sight and presence of God to every man's conscience” (2 Corinthians 4:2, AMP).
This scripture reveals four of the god of this world, Satan’s area of expertise that must be renounced and rejected by followers of Jesus in order to walk in freedom and transparency. 1) Practice secret thoughts, feelings, desires and underhandedness. 2) The things that wicked men do and which they are ashamed to have known. 3) Maneuver and manipulate behind the scenes. 4) Twist God’s Word to suit ourselves. Rather, we must keep everything we do out in the open and in the presence of God.

Life in Christ, is a paradox

The way up is down.
The greatest is he who serves.
The way to receive is to give.
The way to find you life is to lose it.
The 10 commandments are only ten guidelines and the rest is, yes!

In Marriage

“In marriage, I have learned there are those who admit they have been through times when they wondered if their marriage would make it, and then there are liars. Relationships are hard, and the closer they are, the harder they can be. I tell everyone that I give premarital counseling to that the Lord has ordained their marriage in order to kill both of them! That is true. It is also worth it! The greatest gift He gave to man was marriage and family. However, to have a marriage that is good, both will have to die to themselves. If either one does not make the commitment to lay down their life for their mate and their family, then what was meant to be heaven can be hell.” ~~ Rick Joyner of Morning Star Ministries

A follower

Scriptures tell us about the importance of committing everything with in us to trust Jesus as Lord and Savior. As we make the Messiah the master of our lives and grow in the likeness of Jesus.
This decision to use the Word of God as the foundational bases puts into play finding our spiritual life and point of reference. Only as we forgive and receive forgiveness do we sense Love, Security and Peace. This is what or hearts longs for whether we know it or not.
With this excitement in our souls, we cannot help but share our lives with others (family) and help in their healing. The Holy Spirit calls this discipleship, the lifelong learning and changing of our hearts. May I show concern for others as well as demonstrate the love of Christ. Now, I know I am the one Jesus loves.

David Wilkerson Today

The Lord is seeking a praying people who will not relax or grow weary of coming to him. These people will wait on the Lord, not giving up before his work is completed. And they will be found waiting when he brings the answer. You can now receive David’s daily devotions online at http://davidwilkersontoday.blogspot.com/

The Cost of Discipleship

“[The Merciful] will be found consorting with publicans and sinners, careless of the shame they incur thereby. In order that they may be merciful, they cast away the most priceless treasure of human life, their personal dignity and honor. For the only honor and dignity they know is their Lord’s won mercy, to which alone they owe their very lives.” ~~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship

That is right, you

Quit discounting your success.

In touch

Praying from His heart!

Grovernment

Once abolish the God and the government becomes the God. ~~ G. K. Chesterton

Kind words

Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless. ~~ Mother Teresa

The Gospel

“The gospel, one with cosmic implication that embraces the whole of creation; proclaiming that kind of gospel has always been the Orthodox way. Though Orthodoxy has a grand vision principle, it often doesn’t make a lot of difference in practice. I believe our theological compass is pointed in the right direction, but when it comes to following through on our not-so-small gospel, we are no better than anyone else.” ~~ Saint Maximus the Confessor, 7th century

Being in the presence of God

When Jesus says to abide in Him, it is easy to focus on His command to us. What we can miss in the process is that Jesus is also revealing that it is His desire to be with us. In effect, the command to abide in Him is not so much a command as it is an invitation. Jesus wants us to experience His presence in an on-going way and He invites us to participate in that very thing. Why? Because He wants to experience our presence. ~~ Kevin Grenier www.GatheringHisPeople.org

Scripture

I love it because it is about not only God but also his people. You really get an insight into God, you know – I love God.

Well, yaw and all that

Sometime ago, I heard a conversation between two college students. It went something like this.
“Well, I have heard that everyone has to decide for himself or herself whether there is heaven or hell. I mean, as a church going Catholic.”
The female student said, “You’re a Catholic?”
“Yaw, a Catholic, sure. They preach life after death and all that.”
“Hey, people preach a lot of stuff, you know, do you believe everything you hear?” the second student responded.
With all the theological credence the first person could muster he said, “You just gotta make up your own mind about things. I go to Mass. I live my life like there’s life after death, but I don’t believe there is. If it’s true, I’m good and if it ain’t, I didn’t lose nothing.”
Son, it is so good to hear that you have all you bases covered. I hope for your sake that whatever your major is in college that you are more knowledgeable abut that subject then about Heaven or Hell.

Wrong wall

“It’s incredibly easy to get caught up in an activity trap, in the busyness of life, to work harder and harder at climbing the ladder of success only to discover it’s leaning against the wrong wall.” ~~ Stephen R. Covey

Parish

At the bottom of the original Declaration of Independence, the Continental Congress ordered copies of the Declaration first be sent not to town clerks or newspapers but to parish ministers, who were "required to read the same to their respective congregations, as soon as divine service is ended, in the afternoon, on the first Lord's day after they have received it."—Contributed by Cassandra Niemczyk
I think this is very interesting to note that in 1776 the center and focus of community was the parish.

A Parable

A simple story but difficult to understand and to implement into religious living. Hidden in plain sight.

What it is

Always receive everything from Him (God) with a thankful heart, no matter what it is He chooses to bestow. ~~ Madame Jeanne Guyon

Success

“God never called me to be a success; He called me to be faithful.” ~~ Mother Teresa

Trusting God

Today I received the April 2009 VERITAS which has an article by Dr. Erwin W. Lutzer, “Trusting God When You Don’t Understand.” This article was excellently written, certainly expected by this nationally and internationally Bible teacher and senior pastor of the world-famous Moody Church in Chicago since 1980. I would like to quote a small section of his article; “Give It All to God.”
“We think that times are tough, and we all struggle with stress, strain, and anxiety. Let’s have the faith to give our anxieties to God. Here is an illustration that might help.
Let’s suppose that I am on a long flight overseas, and as we fly into the night, I say to a fight attendant, “I am worried about the pilots. I think they may have fallen asleep. Would you check to see if they are awake?" Let's say she does and then assures me that they are awake.
But half an hour later, I say to myself, “Those pilots could have fallen asleep by now.” I ask the flight attendant, “Could you check on the polits again?” She checks and come back to say they are awake. When I ask the third time, she tells me very emphatically that I am insulting the pilot and the entire airline! And, of course, I would be if I had such incessant fears.
But I think you and I insult God like that every day. We commit a matter to Him, then we keep checking to see if He had done anything about it; we wonder if He has fallen asleep at the switch.”

Practical Love

Father God, forgive me for the righteousness within me that takes away from my dependence on you. The more I need you the more love I experience than I dare imagine.