Sufficient Grace

2 Corinthians 12:8-10New King James Version (NKJV)
8 Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. 9 And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

No matter our circumstances, place in life, the Grace of God through Christ is always sufficient.  Everyday we awake above ground, that same Grace is renewed. There is neither maximum amount per day, nor any prerequisites to satisfy others than to accept Jesus into every part of your life and obey His commandments. 

Grace is a facet of YahWeh's omnipotent love that I can't and refuse to live without.  What about you?

Revere Jehovah once again

Nehemiah 8

4 So Ezra the scribe stood on a platform of wood which they had made for the purpose; and beside him, at his right hand, stood Mattithiah, Shema, Anaiah, Urijah, Hilkiah, and Maaseiah; and at his left hand Pedaiah, Mishael, Malchijah, Hashum, Hashbadana, Zechariah, and Meshullam. 5 And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was standing above all the people; and when he opened it, all the people stood up. 6 And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God.

Then all the people answered, “Amen, Amen!” while lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.

"God has spoken, so let the church say Amen", (Andrae Crouch, Let the Church say Amen)

Do we revere YahWeh today as the people did in Nehemiah's day? I'd venture to say no.  The distance between mankind and it's Creator has grown exponentially every generation, every decade. We have to put an end to this cycle....or doom and disaster will surely befall our kids, grand kids, and so on.  It's time to get back to basics...revere God. Learn from the folly of the people in days of the prophets to not replicate their fate in our day. Listen to and obey Jehovah!

Return to Righteousness

Isaiah 48New King James Version (NKJV)

Israel Refined for God’s Glory
48 “Hear this, O house of Jacob,
Who are called by the name of Israel,
And have come forth from the wellsprings of Judah;
Who swear by the name of the Lord,
And make mention of the God of Israel,
But not in truth or in righteousness;
2 For they call themselves after the holy city,
And lean on the God of Israel;
The Lord of hosts is His name:
3 “I have declared the former things from the beginning;
They went forth from My mouth, and I caused them to hear it.
Suddenly I did them, and they came to pass.
4 Because I knew that you were obstinate,
And your neck was an iron sinew,
And your brow bronze,
5 Even from the beginning I have declared it to you;
Before it came to pass I proclaimed it to you,
Lest you should say, ‘My idol has done them,
And my carved image and my molded image
Have commanded them.’
6 “You have heard;
See all this.
And will you not declare it?
I have made you hear new things from this time,
Even hidden things, and you did not know them.
7 They are created now and not from the beginning;
And before this day you have not heard them,
Lest you should say, ‘Of course I knew them.’
8 Surely you did not hear,
Surely you did not know;
Surely from long ago your ear was not opened.
For I knew that you would deal very treacherously,
And were called a transgressor from the womb.
9 “For My name’s sake I will defer My anger,
And for My praise I will restrain it from you,
So that I do not cut you off.
10 Behold, I have refined you, but not as silver;
I have tested you in the furnace of affliction.
11 For My own sake, for My own sake, I will do it;
For how should My name be profaned?
And I will not give My glory to another.
God’s Ancient Plan to Redeem Israel
12 “Listen to Me, O Jacob,
And Israel, My called:
I am He, I am the First,
I am also the Last.
13 Indeed My hand has laid the foundation of the earth,
And My right hand has stretched out the heavens;
When I call to them,
They stand up together.
14 “All of you, assemble yourselves, and hear!
Who among them has declared these things?
The Lord loves him;
He shall do His pleasure on Babylon,
And His arm shall be against the Chaldeans.
15 I, even I, have spoken;
Yes, I have called him,
I have brought him, and his way will prosper.
16 “Come near to Me, hear this:
I have not spoken in secret from the beginning;
From the time that it was, I was there.
And now the Lord God and His Spirit
Have[a] sent Me.”
17 Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer,
The Holy One of Israel:
“I am the Lord your God,
Who teaches you to profit,
Who leads you by the way you should go.
18 Oh, that you had heeded My commandments!
Then your peace would have been like a river,
And your righteousness like the waves of the sea.
19 Your descendants also would have been like the sand,
And the offspring of your body like the grains of sand;
His name would not have been cut off
Nor destroyed from before Me.”
20 Go forth from Babylon!
Flee from the Chaldeans!
With a voice of singing,
Declare, proclaim this,
Utter it to the end of the earth;
Say, “The Lord has redeemed
His servant Jacob!”
21 And they did not thirst
When He led them through the deserts;
He caused the waters to flow from the rock for them;
He also split the rock, and the waters gushed out.
22 “There is no peace,” says the Lord, “for the wicked.”

Abba, Father, Jehovah, YahWeh,
I am tired and weary from living among the wicked. I am faint because this life has led me astray from you all to often. I praise you because you are all I have, and you are all I need. My soul yearns to be counted among the righteous, the redeemed of Israel. Guide me, chastise me, love me, lead me to and through the righteous path. Help me to be a representation of the goodness, forgiveness, love, and righteousness that is You for others who seek You. Fix it Jesus! Work this within me Holy Spirit! Help me to glorify God, and gain peace in the midst of the destruction and chaos around me. Lord, revive the gift joy in my soul, heart, body, and mind! I pray this for all of God's people, in the name of Jesus I declare VICTORY!!!!

Amen!!!!

Strong Faith

Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’

Isaiah 41:10 NKJV

Relying on faith in God in times where fear can hijack your heart, mind, soul, and body is a challenge many of us fall short at. Fear can, and often does, skew or judgment and perception of what is in front of us. The prototypical example of this is the interaction of Jesus and Peter on the lake.  Peter sees Christ out in the middle of the lake, and Jesus calls him to come and meet him. Due to fear hijacking his entire being, Peter soon begins to seek as he tried to make his way to Christ.

The moral of the story is this: faith in Jehovah, YahWeh, through Christ and the Holy Spirit working within you must be the strongest part of us. Our intellect, athleticism, relationships with people, and so on can easily be distorted or deranged based on circumstances.  Put God first, for He is bigger than all our problems, boys, cares, and fears combined. Put your hand in His hand and He will see you through. But, we must do so wholeheartedly our we will be no better than Peter on the lake.

Walk tall but humbly in our unshakeable faith, and watch life fall into place. 

Father, we are fallible in every aspect of our existence. However, you have given us faith through Christ and the Holy Spirit. This faith can move anything that is in our path to you. Teach us individually how to increase and strengthen this gift.  This I ask in Your Son's name......Amen!

What are you willing to die for?

What are you willing to die for?

Israel Resists the Holy Spirit
51 “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you. 52 Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, 53 who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.”

Stephen the Martyr
54 When they heard these things they were cut to the heart, and they gnashed at him with their teeth. 55 But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God, 56 and said, “Look! I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”

57 Then they cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and ran at him with one accord; 58 and they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” 60 Then he knelt down and cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge them with this sin.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep.

Stephen, loved God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit so much that through power of the Holy Spirit, he stood up to the Jewish powers of his day and proved to them how insidious and unloving, disrespectful and satan-like Israel had become.  He convicted them of their heinous crime of killing Christ, like there forefathers killed the prophets before Him. Stephen’s faith meant more than life to him. He knew this conviction would enrage the masses and undoubtedly bring about his demise. But, to him, the Word of God was worth giving up his life for….just like Christ did. Despite the uproarious mob stoning him, he still remained faithful…and his reward was Heaven.

Would we give up our lives for Christ? Do we love YahWeh and His will and word enough to die for God’s cause? When faced with certain death, Stephen's faith strengthened. Could we say the same of ours? What are we willing to die for if Jehovah is not at the top of the list? If He isn’t, then what is that we live for? Sometimes it’s family, friends and so on. It could jobs, wealth, materialism, lust, and the list goes on forever. God is eternal, as is Christ, the Holy Spirit,  and all of Heaven.  If God is not what we live for, the we live life in vain. Put Jehovah atop the mountain called life, and everything else will fall into place.  What we live for, is what we die for ultimately.  What do you live for????

Praise is what I do....

Psalm 95New King James Version (NKJV)

A Call to Worship and Obedience
95 Oh come, let us sing to the Lord!
Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving;
Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.
3 For the Lord is the great God,
And the great King above all gods.
4 In His hand are the deep places of the earth;
The heights of the hills are His also.
5 The sea is His, for He made it;
And His hands formed the dry land.
6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.
7 For He is our God,
And we are the people of His pasture,
And the sheep of His hand.
Today, if you will hear His voice:
8 “Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion,[a]
As in the day of trial[b] in the wilderness,
9 When your fathers tested Me;
They tried Me, though they saw My work.
10 For forty years I was grieved with that generation,
And said, ‘It is a people who go astray in their hearts,
And they do not know My ways.’
11 So I swore in My wrath,
‘They shall not enter My rest.’”

We must worship God at all times. There is a song called, "Praise is what I do". The song writer pens what I think is the epitome of Jehovah Jirah' s desire for our worship.

Praise is what I do
When I want to be close to you
I lift my hands in praise
Praise is who I am
I will praise him while I can
I'll bless, him at, all times
And I vow to praise you
Through the good and the bad
I'll praise you
Whether happy or sad
I'll praise you
In all that I go through
Because praise is what I do
'Cause I owe it all to you

Praise is what I do
Even when I'm going through
I've learned to worship you
Know my circumstance
Doesn't even stand a chance
My praise outweighs the bad
And I vow to praise you
Through the good and the bad
I'll praise you
Rather happy or sad
I'll praise you
In all that I go through
Because praise is what I do
'Cause I owe it all to you

Praise is what I do
Is what I do

We must praise YahWeh in all we do, all the time. In other words, we should be in constant praise of the love, grace, mercy, joy, peace and forgiveness of the Lord. When we strive for this state of being,  this lifestyle, we by default reduce the amount of time we have to dwell on our problems in a negative light, idleness, and other things that drive wedges between us and God.

By no means am I saying this makes life easy-peasy. However, Scripture says: Psalm 27:1 "The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear"? This means that in nothing we go through in life, good bad or indifferent, are we alone. The Lord is with us always, until the end of time. Fear nothing, for victory is His. Thus, we should spend our time praising Him and not waddling in our problems, fears, struggles. Praise YahWeh all day and everyday . Amen

An Invitation to Abundant Life

Isaiah 55New King James Version (NKJV)An Invitation to Abundant Life

55 “Ho! Everyone who thirsts,
Come to the waters;
And you who have no money,
Come, buy and eat.
Yes, come, buy wine and milk
Without money and without price.
2 Why do you spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eatwhat is good,
And let your soul delight itself in abundance.
3 Incline your ear, and come to Me.
Hear, and your soul shall live;
And I will make an everlasting covenant with you—
The sure mercies of David.
4 Indeed I have given him as a witness to the people,
A leader and commander for the people.
5 Surely you shall call a nation you do not know,
And nations who do not know you shall run to you,
Because of the Lord your God,
And the Holy One of Israel;
For He has glorified you.”

6 Seek the Lord while He may be found,
Call upon Him while He is near.
7 Let the wicked forsake his way,
And the unrighteous man his thoughts;
Let him return to the Lord,
And He will have mercy on him;
And to our God,
For He will abundantly pardon.

8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.

10 “For as the rain comes down, and the snow from heaven,
And do not return there,
But water the earth,
And make it bring forth and bud,
That it may give seed to the sower
And bread to the eater,
11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me void,
But it shall accomplish what I please,
And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

12 “For you shall go out with joy,
And be led out with peace;
The mountains and the hills
Shall break forth into singing before you,
And all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.
13 Instead of the thorn shall come up the cypress tree,
And instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree;
And it shall be to the Lord for a name,
For an everlasting sign that shall not be cut off.”

I pray this passage of Scripture touches our hearts and redirects our path to help us Find God.  The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are the source of the living water that our souls need to be replenished. Seek Him and He will not fail you, He will bless you and come to you. He will meet you where you are in your life. Amen to the Word and His Living Water!

Love is the end of hatred

Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’

Matthew 22:37-39 NKJV

These are two of the three commandments that Jesus left us with.  As I read this, a simple, yet frightening thought crossed my mind. What does love, as Christ modeled it, look like today? Why is it so hard for society to follow these two commandments? Has the collective world truly fallen away from God?

It is horrendously terrible that Christians, let alone people who don't believe, commit such malicious acts against society; like murder, rape, and the list goes on forever.  Aside from acts of kindness to those in need (feeding the poor), how would loving like Christ combat these atrocities?

To start, if we let His love consume us, we would be too focused on the overwhelming you and wanting to share with anyone who'd listen, that there would be no time to dwell in or act out hate. Too often we see what hate can do all over the news. Those that unleash their hatred in the world are consumed with rage, sometimes fear, or psychotic madness of unspeakable depths. It also has to do with selfishness. Being all about self is quite possibly the root cause of all evil. Regardless, these all consuming factors are devices that keep humanity away from Jehovah.

Is something in your life causing you to harbour feelings like selfishness or hatred right now?  Are you consumed with ungodly thoughts? If any of these questions are true for you, I encourage you to seek Christ with all your heart, mind, and strength! He will welcome you just as you are....no exceptions! He will only love you. Never condemning you or needlessly exposing your baggage. He will destroy the hate and replace with pure love!

It is no secret that world we live has gone to all sorts of hell.  The reason is selfishness and hatred, which have driven a wedge between us and our Father in heaven.  The atrocious acts are a result of folks being manipulated by the devil like a puppeteer controlling their doll.  Dining with the devil will sure get you a one way ticket to eternal suffering.

Adherence to these commandments is the key to undoing selfishness and hatred. Let Jesus love consume you. Doing so leaves no room evil to creep in. Sharing His love necessary, let it infect those around you, and so on. Let us work on following these commandments together. Let us all begin to spread Christ's love to everyone. Amen

Humility Cures Worldliness

James 4

Humility Cures Worldliness
7 Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. 9 Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. 10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

If we all heed this advice, we could send the devil packing....as the defeated criminal he is.  He hangs around us because he perceives opportunity to derail us from the will and path of YahWeh.  This threat should be taken seriously. At times of weakness, clouded judgment, anger, despair, loneliness, and confusion, he seeks to creep into our lives and wreak havoc.  It is at these times we are most vulnerable.  It is at these times we must walk out on faith that Jesus we come to our aid! In these moments, praising God is the best remedy to thwart the evil plot of the devil. He doesn't want you to praise God when you're down! He wants the opposite to occur, which ultimately drives a wedge between us and the Holy Trinity.

Start praising God, whether times are good/, happy/sad. Lift up Jesus and He will in turn do the same for you.

Amen!

Learn to love

John 13:34-35
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Matthew 22:38-40New King James Version (NKJV)

38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’[a] 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”

Love is the key to our faith.  The meaning of love has been diluted over time. To capture God's undying love for us, see John 3:16. If you want to know God we must first learn to love. Love is more than an emotion people claim to feel. Like Christianity, it is a way of life. Let us strive to live out love the way God wants us to.

Warning to the Jews

Micah 6 (NKJV)

God Pleads with Israel
6 Hear now what the Lord says:

“Arise, plead your case before the mountains,
And let the hills hear your voice.
2 Hear, O you mountains, the Lord’s complaint,
And you strong foundations of the earth;
For the Lord has a complaint against His people,
And He will contend with Israel.
3 “O My people, what have I done to you?
And how have I wearied you?
Testify against Me.
4 For I brought you up from the land of Egypt,
I redeemed you from the house of bondage;
And I sent before you Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.
5 O My people, remember now
What Balak king of Moab counseled,
And what Balaam the son of Beor answered him,
From Acacia Grove[a] to Gilgal,
That you may know the righteousness of the Lord.”
6 With what shall I come before the Lord,
And bow myself before the High God?
Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings,
With calves a year old?
7 Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
Ten thousand rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
8 He has shown you, O man, what is good;
And what does the Lord require of you
But to do justly,
To love mercy,
And to walk humbly with your God?
Punishment of Israel’s Injustice
9 The Lord’s voice cries to the city—
Wisdom shall see Your name:
“Hear the rod!
Who has appointed it?
10 Are there yet the treasures of wickedness
In the house of the wicked,
And the short measure that is an abomination?
11 Shall I count pure those with the wicked scales,
And with the bag of deceitful weights?
12 For her rich men are full of violence,
Her inhabitants have spoken lies,
And their tongue is deceitful in their mouth.
13 “Therefore I will also make you sick by striking you,
By making you desolate because of your sins.
14 You shall eat, but not be satisfied;
Hunger[b] shall be in your midst.
You may carry some away,[c] but shall not save them;
And what you do rescue I will give over to the sword.
15 “You shall sow, but not reap;
You shall tread the olives, but not anoint yourselves with oil;
And make sweet wine, but not drink wine.
16 For the statutes of Omri are kept;
All the works of Ahab’s house are done;
And you walk in their counsels,
That I may make you a desolation,
And your inhabitants a hissing.
Therefore you shall bear the reproach of My people.”[d]

This was a warning to Israel to turn from their evil, deceitful, and malicious ways. Take time to understand the context of the times when this was written. God's people had been saved from Egypt, and now were experiencing times of abundance by the hands of God.  But, the people as a general whole, fell away from God's way. They praised self, other gods, and lived in debauchery.

Doesn't this eerily sound like America now? We were rescued from bondage and made to live a plentiful life. This cycle has repeatedly occurred thanks to the LOVE, GRACE, AND MERCY of God.  But, the people, as a collective whole act as if their is no YahWeh, Christ, or Holy Spirit.  They praise self, other gods like money, and live willingly in debauchery.  It's time to teach the error of the Israelites so the past no longer repeats itself, and the cycle is broken.  Ultimately,  turn away from evil, and worship the Omniscient YahWeh!

Resolution

2 Corinthians 5

Be Reconciled to God
12 For we do not commend ourselves again to you, but give you opportunity to boast on our behalf, that you may have an answer for those who boast in appearance and not in heart. 13 For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; or if we are of sound mind, it is for you. 14 For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus: that if One died for all, then all died; 15 and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.

16 Therefore, from now on, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him thus no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God. 21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

Today is the first day of the calendar year. Many resolved to do things differently, better themselves, start or stop things in their lives.  How many truly understand and appreciate what Paul is saying above? To claim Christ as our Lord and Savior means that we resolve to allow His Word and Holy Spirit to make new creatures from within us. This work serves a dual purpose: to save us and to be a lighthouse for those lost in the world, drawing all people to Him that choose the Light over darkness. 

We are to spread the Gospel like wildfire to all that will listen. We can accomplish this imperative task.  We must let our former selves and sinful nature die. We all know that to live in sin is guaranteed death, no hope for heavenly rest.  Let the curse of death die in the darkness, and relentlessly pursue the Light of God. 

Let YahWeh shine through you, me, us. Like Christ told Nicodemus, to enter into heaven,  one must be born again! This is a rebirth of the Spirit. A commitment to Word and spreading it across the world. Doing so will make way for Jehovah Nisi to shine through you, me, us, for the world to see. 

Father, teach us what you desire us to be. As many of us make resolutions based on what we want the year to bring forth, I pray You are in the forefront.  Show us how me can rid ourselves of the darkness and be a source of Light to as many as possible.  Teach us how to live right to fulfill the task at hand.  We thank You and praise You too.  Many are not her to see today. Let all who read this count that as a blessing You provided for us.  I pray no one takes it for granted, and we make the best of it to serve You.  Teach us how to let the Light shine from within.

Amen