blog

Philippians 4: 4-8;11(b)-23 (NIV) 4Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is

Psalm 23:5 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. I love how awesome God is! He is simply amazing! The 23rd Psalm is a scripture that most people learn when they are children and it is has become more of a recitation than the promise that it really is! I don’t think you really understand it or appreciate its meaning until you have had some experiences and grown in the Lord to the point where you realize th

Theologian Martin Luther had this to say about prayer, “There is no Christian who does not have time to pray without ceasing. But I mean the spiritual praying, that is; no one is so heavily burdened with his labor, but that if he will he can, while working, speak with God in his heart, lay before Him his need and that of other men, ask for help, make petition, and in all this exercise and strengthen his faith.” How the Father seeks to fellowship with us through our prayer lif

Our mind is a very powerful tool. We’re told that our brain carries signals to our mind to do everything that we do and then the mind carries those signals to the rest of our body – It is ALL in our minds – everything – our thoughts, our perceptions, our feelings, our will, our memory, even our imaginations – all in the mind. Proverbs 23:7 says that as a man thinketh in his heart – so is he. So the essence of who we are is in our mind – in our thought life. I Corinthians 10:3

1 I will sing of your love and justice; to you, O LORD, I will sing praise. 2 I will be careful to lead a blameless life— when will you come to me? I will walk in my house with blameless heart. 3 I will set before my eyes no vile thing. The deeds of faithless men I hate; they will not cling to me. 4 Men of perverse heart shall be far from me; I will have nothing to do with evil. 5 Whoever slanders his neighbor in secret, him will I put to silence; whoever has haughty eyes

3 In the day when I cried out, You answered me, And made me bold with strength in my soul. Psalm 138:3 This Psalm of David is a magnificent testament to the majesty of God. David is well aware of his shortcomings, of his inability to be great without God’s intervention. He understands that he must possess humility and a heart of praise and thanksgiving if he is to be successful at anything in his life. As encouraging as this Psalm is, a simple verse stuck out for me in the wo

I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth. 3He will notlet your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5The LORD is your keeper; the LORD is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. 7The LORD will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8The LORD will keep your going out

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:37-39 Someone very wise reminded me recently, as I was going through something, to recall God’s love for me. Of course I know that God loves me,

8 If the LORD is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. 9 Only do not rebel against the LORD. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the LORD is with us. Do not be afraid of them.” Numbers 14:8-9 It was amazing! The Children of Israel had just seen God’s miraculous works as He empowered Moses to lead them, as He freed them from Pharoah

[4] even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. (Ephesians 1:4 ESV) I absolutely love the book of Ephesians, especially the first chapter because it solidifies who we are in Christ and what our purpose is here on earth.  I see clearly how many Christians are so wrapped up in their ministries, their projects, selling their books, trying to become financially independent, getting their businesses to become pros

How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them! 18    If I would count them, they are more than the sand.I awake, and I am still with you. Psalm 139:17-18 It’s amazing that we spend so much time caring about what people think! Some of us dress a certain way to gain the approval of others. Some of us live our lives in order to please others – family members, friends, etc.  There are even some of us who like certain people or dislike others just becaus

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. Psalm 1:1-2 Everyone wants to be blessed! Each year we hear tag lines about blessings: Too blessed to be stressed, When the devil starts messing, God starts blessing, Blessed and highly favored – the list goes on and on.  I’m sure that you can think of many of th

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. Romans 8:18 People are suffering.  Recently I went to the funeral of a friend’s father.  And another friend buried his mother, after having buried his father two months ago.  These people were suffering.  They were grieving as they watched their loved ones be put to eternal rest. Surely, there are many of us suffering all over the world and not just mer

1 Answer me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have given me relief when I was in distress. Be gracious to me and hear my prayer! 2 O men, how long shall my honor be turned into shame? How long will you love vain words and seek after lies? Selah 3 But know that the Lord has set apart the godly for himself; the Lord hears when I call to him. 4 Be angry, and do not sin; ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent. Selah 5 Offer right sacrifices, and put your

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. Colossians 2:6-7 Paul reminds the church of Colosse that they have received Christ Jesus the Lord.  Paul has to remind them because false doctrine is infiltrating the church and Paul responds by instructing them to remember whom they have received….Christ Jesus the Lord and as a result of this fact – w

I’m sure I’m not the only one who feels that every week there is a tragedy, every week someone has lost a loved one, a friend, a co-worker.  At the end of each year the world reviews the icons and celebrities that has passed during the year.  Death is a part of our lives (sounds like an oxymoron but its very much reality). At times the bereavement and the pain is just overwhelming for many. What do you say? What can you say when everyone seems to be mourning? I’m at a loss fo

“If one turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer is an abomination” Proverbs 28:9( ESV). It is so important to read God’s Word and to listen to the preached Word. How can Christians expect to grow if they don’t spend time in God’s Word? I know that we are so busy in our lives these days, doing this and that but how can we expect answers to our prayers and deliverance from our situations if we don’t even take time to know what God says? Solomon said that if we

6Let not those who wait and hope and look for You, O Lord of hosts, be put to shame through me; let not those who seek and inquire for and require You [as their vital necessity] be brought to confusion and dishonor through me, O God of Israel. Psalm 69:6 AMP David was in a rock hard place! In previous verses he felt like he was sinking in mire with the water rising up about to overwhelm him.  Although he was in this difficult situation, with enemies lined up against him and n

36 You broaden the path beneath me,so that my ankles do not turn. Psalm 18:36 Have you ever been in a tight place? I know we all have experienced that feeling at one time or another. A tight place seems as if the walls around you will swallow you up. It seems like the floor beneath you will drop from under you. You don’t feel like you can breathe, move, or escape. David knew what that felt like. But he also understood that even though he felt that way, that the path upon whic