Psalm 43:5 Why am I discouraged? Why is my heart so sad? I will put my hope in God! I will praise Him again,my Savior and my God!

Are you ever sad and discouraged? If you say no, I will pray for you so you can experience the feeling of discouragement and sadness. Isaiah 53:3 He was despised and rejected,a man of sorrows, acquainted with deepest grief. We turned our backs on Him and looked the other way. He was despised, and we did not care. (4) Yet it was our weaknesses He carried; it was our sorrows that weighed Him down. And we thought His troubles were a punishment from God, a punishment for His own sins! Jesus, is who this scripture is all about. If anyone ever faced sadness and sorrow it was Jesus but I don't believe our Lord ever was discouraged even for a second. Probably the closest He ever came to discouragement was when he had to speak such words as “Oh ye of little faith” and “Get thee behind me Satan” to people He loved and cared for so much, But He Knows what it is like because He carries all of our discouragements, sadness, sorrows and weaknesses.

In John 11 we look at the death and restoring of life to one of Jesus's closest friends, Lazarus. Jesus expressed feelings of hurt, sadness and sorrow all through this time because His closest followers would not believe Him. Mary and Martha were discouraged and angry at Jesus blaming Him for their brothers death. They knew Jesus could have healed Lazarus if only He would have been there. But Gods plans are not mans plans. God had bigger plans for Lazarus than a simple healing. God was going to bring him back from the dead. The sadness, anger and sorrow were soon going to be replaced by shouts of praise, worship and adoration going up to heaven for the joy of the reanimation of that dead body lying in that tomb. Lazarus was alive, Mary and Martha were happy, everyone was amazed. But why did it have to take a man dying and brought back to life again to make them happy? Because we are all human beings and we all would have looked at the situation the same way. God doesn't always tell us His plan, but we have to go through the discouragement and sadness of certain situations to get to the place of knowing Gods plan and watching Him receive all of the glory for even greater things done than we could imagine.

So why are we sad and discouraged? We allow circumstances to overcome our lives so much,we allow them to be our gods, our idols. We know everything is going to be alright because all things work together for the good for those who love God and who are called according to His purpose(Romans 8:28). But this verse gets overshadowed when grief, sorrow and heartache overcome our lives. (1Thessalonians 5:18) Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. (1Corinthians 10:13) The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, He will show you a way out so that you can endure. Do you see these words? These are not just mere words. They are Gods words. (Jeremiah 27:11) I, the LORD, have spoken!'" When God speaks we should listen. If you are going through something in your life that seems so hard that you think you will never make it, take heart in these verses of scripture and praise God that He counts you worthy to go through what it is you are going through. If whatever it is saddens, angers, depresses, discourages or weakens you, take delight in knowing God trusts you to get through whatever it is with Him by your side. (James 1:2) Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. (3) For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. (4) So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

We never have to give in to our feelings. We do simply because it is the natural thing to do. (Psalm 43:2) For You are God, my only safe haven. Why have You tossed me aside? Why must I wander around in grief, oppressed by my enemies? The Psalmist felt he had been cast aside, that the only thing left to do was to wander aimlessly in sorrow and discouragement. But thank God for Joshua 1:9 This is My command, be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go." God is with you, He will never cast you aside. No matter what, His word even says He is married to the backslider (Jeremiah 3:14), He is always on your side and at your side. We need to put the second half of Psalm 43:5 to work in our lives more than the first half. I will put my hope in God! I will praise Him again,my Savior and my God! Don't let your troubles be your god. Allow GOD to Be GOD and He will show Himself strong on your behalf.

Luke 1:29 Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean.

When you look in Luke 1:26-38 we see a very exciting event transpiring in the life of one, young, girls life. I don't know about what you would do if an Angel suddenly appeared out of no where and started telling me "Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you!” I might jump out of my skin and yell really loud and it probably would not be Hallelujah. But here sits this little, young, Hebrew girl who simply sits there confused and disturbed trying to think her way through what the Angel said. This is why so many of us are so confused and disturbed, we try thinking our way through life with Jesus. At least I do.

This has been a problem all through time. Adam and Eve thought it was OK to eat the forbidden fruit. Abraham and Sarah thought their plan with Hagar would fulfill Gods plan for them. The sons of Jacob thought getting rid of Joseph would quench the plan God had for him. Moses thought he was not able to lead the people of God and the people of God thought Moses couldn't either so they built a golden calf. You could go on through almost every book of the Bible and find people like Jonah, Gideon,King Saul, Ananias and Sapphira, Pilot, Saul,Peter, Andrew. Do we need more? People thinking their way through times in their lives that if they would simply listen to Gods word for them and believe it they would not have had so many problems getting to the point God wanted them to be at in the first place. When the Angel spoke Mary listened. He didn't go into a long discourse on prophesy or purpose or anything but the simple truth. He told Mary, don't be afraid, you are going to have a baby. Now Mary speaks saying , how could this happen I have never known a man. The Angel answers her question simply and to the point, The Holy Spirit will come upon you and nothing is impossible with God.

Most people think without listening. Mary opened her heart through her ears when she heard those words the Angel Gabriel told her, “ Nothing is impossible with God!” Romans 10:17 says faith comes when you listen to the word of God. Isn't this what Gabriel was speaking to Mary? Wasn't it Gods word she was receiving? Mary's answer was just as simple if you look at verse 38,"I am the Lord's servant. May everything you have said about me come true." What a word for every Christian on the face of the earth. I am your servant Lord Jesus but I am glad you call me friend. Lord let everything you have said about me come true. Wow! Look at that! Do you even know a part of what Gods word says about you and if you do, do you really believe it is possible? Both these things hinder our walk with God. We don't know or we don't believe it if we do know. Do you ever face this problem?

I want you to look at three examples, in Gods word, of faith at work. In Matthew chapter 8 you read about a Roman centurion with a sick servant. He tells Jesus to simply speak the word and his servant would be healed. What did Jesus say? "I tell you the truth, I haven't seen faith like this in all Israel! "Go back home. Because you believed, it has happened." You believed it has happened! Next we need to go on a boat. In Matthew 14 Jesus takes a stroll on the water to go out to where His buddies were in the boat. Jesus comes close to them in the middle of the night, lightning and thunder all around them and Jesus speaks. "Don't be afraid," He said. "Take courage. I am here! " So twelve men in a boat, one speaks up, Peter called to Him, "Lord, if it's really You, tell me to come to You, walking on the water." If it is really you? Come on people, who else walks on water in the middle of the night in a storm. But Jesus puts up with it and says come on out Peter the water is fine. So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. But when he saw the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink. "Save me, Lord!" he shouted. Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. " Jesus was not very polite after this."You have so little faith," Jesus said. "Why did you doubt Me?" Now, was He just talking to Peter or to the other eleven in the boat also. What did He tell the centurion? You believed, it has happened! What did He tell Peter? Yes, come on. But those eleven didn't even try. The Angel of the Lord told Mary,”with God all things are possible!” Which one am I going to react like, The Roman centurion, Peter, Or the eleven in the boat. I believe we all need to work on our walk of faith to begin receiving like the centurion did that day. Jesus said,”I have not seen so great a faith in all Israel!” Who will He say to,”I have not seen so great a faith in all the church!” Will it be you? You may sink and the Lord may have to recue you, but look at the Apostle Peters life after the ressurection of Christ, I think he grew in faith and all but one of the eleven did too. Growth will come to those who listen, receive and do the Word of God.

Romans 6:10 When He died, He died once to break the power of sin. But now that He lives, He lives for the glory of God.

Christmas is over give it a cheer, we'll do the same thing this time next year. Isn't it great Jesus doesn't have to die every year for our sins! He accomplished all He had to do for our sins in one final blow to Satan's head when He went to the Cross for us. (Hebrews 9:20) Then he said, "This blood confirms the covenant God has made with you." (21) And in the same way, he sprinkled blood on the Tabernacle and on everything used for worship. (22) In fact, according to the law of Moses, nearly everything was purified with blood. For without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness. (23) That is why the Tabernacle and everything in it, which were copies of things in heaven, had to be purified by the blood of animals. But the real things in heaven had to be purified with far better sacrifices than the blood of animals. (24) For Christ did not enter into a holy place made with human hands, which was only a copy of the true one in heaven. He entered into heaven itself to appear now before God on our behalf. (25) And He did not enter heaven to offer Himself again and again, like the high priest here on earth who enters the Most Holy Place year after year with the blood of an animal. (26) If that had been necessary, Christ would have had to die again and again, ever since the world began. But now, once for all time, He has appeared at the end of the age to remove sin by His own death as a sacrifice. (27) And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment, (28) so also Christ died once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for Him. Listen to that! Christ died one time, then entered into heaven with His own pure blood, to purify the true Holy place in heaven not made by human hands. Once, not like the High Priests who had to go into the Holy of Hollies, every year, with the blood of animals. But if necessary He would have died every year, fortunately He didn't have to. Look at verse 28 again and rejoice! Christ died once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people and He is returning again for those who are eagerly waiting for Him! Wow! How eager are you for Him to return?

Just think. When He comes back it will be like Christmas year around and I don't think there will be one song about “here comes Santa Clause”. (Revelation 19:11) Then I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. Its rider was named Faithful and True, for He judges fairly and wages a righteous war. (12) His eyes were like flames of fire, and on His head were many crowns. A name was written on Him that no one understood except Himself. (13) He wore a robe dipped in blood, and His title was the Word of God. (14) The armies of heaven, dressed in the finest of pure white linen, followed Him on white horses. (15) From His mouth came a sharp sword to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod. He will release the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty, like juice flowing from a wine press. (16) On His robe at His thigh was written this title: King of all kings and Lord of all lords. Doesn't this sound awesome! The Heaven Jesus purified by His blood, opens up and out He comes. No longer the sacrificial lamb for our sins but the King of kings and Lord of lords with a sharp two edged sword coming out of His mouth to strike down the nations that chose not to serve Him and rule them with a fist of steel. Merry Christmas to all and to all a great time! It will be great for us who are saved but Oh what a bloody day for those who aren't. Things will be red and white alright. Red from blood on the battle field, white robes of the righteous ones with Christ as the army of God. And talk about lights! How much brighter can you get than the King of kings, eyes flames of fire,on a brilliantly bright white horse. This is a real Merry Christmas! Sorry for the unbelievers but Happy for the believers. Which one are you?

Isaiah 53:11 When He sees all that is accomplished by His anguish, He will be satisfied. And because of His experience, My righteous Servant will make it possible for many to be counted righteous, for He will bear all their sins.

Tis the season to be jolly. Well said for a believer of this scripture. Every day is a day of rejoicing for what Jesus accomplished in such a short span of time that He spent here in this world as a man. Can you just think for a minute what Jesus did and just exactly what He accomplished in a very short 33 years give or take a few months. He made it possible for you and me to be righteous when His word says there is not one righteous no not one(Rom 3:10). He took on Himself the sins of every man, woman and child who has or ever will come into this world. Imagine that! (Isaiah 53:12) I will give Him the honors of a victorious soldier, because He exposed Himself to death. He was counted among the rebels. He bore the sins of many and interceded for rebels. Isn't this awesome! Jesus was counted as a rebel but in the end hailed as a hero! Maybe not a hero to the religious people of that day or even in this day and time but none the less a hero because He bore the sins of many.

(Titus 3:4) But—"When God our Savior revealed His kindness and love, (5) He saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. This is why religious people Don't see Jesus as a hero. They want their works to shine and people everywhere to see how good they are instead of realizing they are the greatest sinners of all by rejecting the work Christ accomplished for them. People that are religious in their efforts to please God only make themselves more miserable because they can never attain fellowship with God by their works.(1John1:2) This One who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen Him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that He is the One who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then He was revealed to us. (3) We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ. (4) We are writing these things so that you may fully share our joy. You see so many people trying to have this kind of joy. The kind of joy that is not achieved by any work except the work that Jesus did on the cross. (Ephesians 1:14) The Spirit is God's guarantee that He will give us the inheritance He promised and that He has purchased us to be His own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify Him. When you purchase something it usually comes with a guarantee. The great thing about God is He pays for it and He guarantees it too! You can't buy an extended warranty and you have no deductible. But you have to keep up the maintenance on it. There is always a catch isn't there.

(1Peter 3:11) Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace, and work to maintain it. When you buy a car it comes with a book on how to operate that car. Some of the new cars come with GPS, satellite radio, DVD players, electronic key less ignition, well you get the point. Modern cars have to be learned how to operated and if you are a computer geek you might be OK but normal people no way. If you want to do your own maintenance on your car, good luck! There are so many computers on board I would be afraid to touch it. But if you do there are books to tell you how, what, when and where to do it. All this is well and good with a car. Why do people think they can get away with not maintaining their relationship with the Lord? He gives you an instruction manual and tells you to read it. Why don't you? You will read Dr. Phil, Dr Laura, Dr. Jeckel and Mr. Hyde to work on problems in your marriage or with your kids but you won't open the Bible to see what it has to say and you won't get on your knees before God to see what He wants. Maintenance comes in the form of preventive maintenance, in which you fix it before it brakes, or you can wait and fix it, if it is repairable, after it brakes. Preventive maintenance is the best way to go with Christ. He gave you 66 books in the Bible to work out your salvation with and He really does expect you to do it. (Philippians 2:12) Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. (13) For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases Him. God is working in you and things go a lot smoother when you cooperate with Him. Don't try to find joy in serving God your way. You will only find true joy in the Lord by listening to Him, trusting Him and obeying Him. God has ways of getting our attention and most of the time we don't really like them. (Psalm 37:3) Trust in the LORD and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper. (4) Take delight in the LORD, and He will give you your heart's desires. (5) Commit everything you do to the LORD. Trust Him, and He will help you. Three words that will maintain joy in the LORD: Trust, Delight and commit. These three words applied to your life will give you joy day to day and year after year. It is a simple maintenance plan but you have to keep it up.

Psalm 47:1 Come, everyone! Clap your hands! Shout to God with joyful praise! (2) For the LORD Most High is awesome. He is the great King of all the earth.

All throughout the word of God there are great times of shouting. The one that usually comes to mind is the walls of Jericho that crumbled down on the seventh day of marching around that city. God said to shout after the priests gave one long blast on the rams horn(Joshua 6:5) and the walls would collapse allowing the Israelis to walk right in and take the city. All that came to pass and a great victory was given by the Lord that day. The greatest thing we can ever do is to recognize what is said in Psalm 47:2, God is awesome! He is the great King of all the earth. The New King James version says to shout unto God with a voice of triumph and the New Living translation tells us to shout with joyful praise. 2Corinthians 2:14 But thank God! He has made us His captives and continues to lead us along in Christ's triumphal procession. Through Christ we have received a continual voice of triumphant glory in our lives to shout praise to the Lord most High, even when the situation seems to overwhelm our lives.

Rev 4:1 Then as I looked, I saw a door standing open in heaven, and the same voice I had heard before spoke to me like a trumpet blast. The voice said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after this." Here we have the ultimate trumpet blast and a great shout. This is when we get to be caught up in the air and be with Jesus. 1Corinthians 15:51 But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed! (52) It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed. (53) For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies. If you can't shout victory with those words let's try these. 1Thessalonians 4:16 For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God. First, the Christians who have died will rise from their graves. (17) Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Then we will be with the Lord forever. (18) So encourage each other with these words. I don't care if you believe in the rapture of the church or not, I am encouraged by these words. I am going to be caught up in the air to meet the LORD and I am gonna be shouting Glory Hallelujah right along with every body else on the way up! Praise be to JESUS!

There is another kind of shouting that needs to be done now too. Isaiah 58:1 "Shout with the voice of a trumpet blast. Shout aloud! Don't be timid. Tell my people Israel of their sins! We need not to be so timid about sharing the gospel. People are going to hell every day because we are not shouting out the gospel. Are we afraid of offending people or should we fear more the concept of them serving in hell for an eternity instead of all the great glorious shouts of praise in heaven. Hell is going to be loud too, but it is going to be loud with the cries of pain and weeping coming out of the anguished hearts of those who would not receive Christ. Romans 10:14 But how can they call on Him to save them unless they believe in Him? And how can they believe in Him if they have never heard about Him? And how can they hear about Him unless someone tells them? (15) And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, "How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!" Beautiful feet carry the preacher who heralds the divine truth of Gods word to people. Sounds pretty but the truth is if we don't spread the word people are not going to hear it and people are not going to get saved. Luke 15:7 In the same way, there is more joy in heaven over one lost sinner who repents and returns to God than over ninety-nine others who are righteous and haven't strayed away! When a sinner gets saved there are loud shouts of joy in heaven because we shouted out the word that pierced the heart of that sinner to get them to to shout out to God, Lord have mercy on me a sinner. Gods people are the most victorious people in the whole world. From victory over sin to victory over death we should be shouting from the top of our lungs, Glory to God in the Highest , Peace on earth Good Will Toward Men. Louder than the angels did on the very first Christmas. Don't be afraid to shout, just get use to it because heaven is full of it.

Psalm 106:30 But Phinehas had the courage to intervene, and the plague was stopped. (31) So he has been regarded as a righteous man ever since that time.

It takes a lot of courage to live right. Numbers 25:5 So Moses ordered Israel's judges, "Each of you must put to death the men under your authority who have joined in worshiping Baal of Peor." (6) Just then one of the Israelite men brought a Midianite woman into his tent, right before the eyes of Moses and all the people, as everyone was weeping at the entrance of the Tabernacle. (7) When Phinehas son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron the priest saw this, he jumped up and left the assembly. He took a spear (8) and rushed after the man into his tent. Phinehas thrust the spear all the way through the man's body and into the woman's stomach. So the plague against the Israelites was stopped, (9) but not before 24,000 people had died. 24,000 people had to die before one man stood, with courage, for what was right. Phinehas was the grandson of Aaron. He had watched his grandfather make the golden calf when Moses was on Mt. Sinai with GOD. He had seen what his uncle did when he came down off that mountain with those stone tablets under his arms. He had watched both righteousness and unrighteousness at work in the hearts of his own family and Phinehas had to make a decision in his own life which one to serve. When the time came to make that decision he did not hesitate to pick up the spear and thrust it through the heart of that man and woman who were defiling the name of his God. The plague was stopped. Yes. But the plague should never of had to been started in the first place if the people of Israel would have all had the same courage as Phinehas.

People want the easy way instead of the right way. It is easy to give in to your own desires and be a part of the feel good generation. We have been brought up with the words “ If it feels good do it. “ The we are free to do whatever we want type attitude is prevalent in our society today. People, longing for satisfaction, can't get no satisfaction just like the Rolling Stones song says because they are trying to satisfy something in them that only their creator can satisfy. We try the sex, drugs and rock and roll bit and it will bring a temporary fix. But then we just keep longing more and more for something this world can not give us. Peace. Isaiah 57:20 "But those who still reject Me are like the restless sea, which is never still but continually churns up mud and dirt.(21)There is no peace for the wicked," says my God. People are continually churned up inside of themselves because they fill their hearts with all of the wrong things and they end up filled with wickedness rather than the peace of righteousness. It takes courage to do what is right when the world continually wants to lead you into its churned up swells of mud and dirt. The Word of God speaks clearly in to the heart of a man or woman who chooses to do what is right. But when a person is riding on a restless sea being tossed around in all of the mud and dirt of this world they become blinded entombing themselves in the graveyard of wickedness.

James 4:7 So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. (8) Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world. (9) Let there be tears for what you have done. Let there be sorrow and deep grief. Let there be sadness instead of laughter, and gloom instead of joy. (10) Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up in honor. Phinehas received a great honor for taking a stand for what was right. Numbers 25:12 Now tell him that I am making My special covenant of peace with him. (13) In this covenant, I give him and his descendants a permanent right to the priesthood, for in his zeal for Me, his God, he purified the people of Israel, making them right with Me. " Through this act of righteousness, Phinehas, established the destiny of his descendants. A permanent right to the priesthood. Jesus did what was right when He went to the cross for our sins and when He did that He set up the way for us to be His descendants for ever. Revelation 5:9 And they sang a new song with these words: "You are worthy to take the scroll and break its seals and open it. For You were slaughtered, and Your blood has ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. (10) And You have caused them to become a Kingdom of priests for our God. And they will reign on the earth." But it takes courage to stand for Jesus. It takes a courageous soul to wash off the cake of mud and dirt this world has covered you with and to wear the white robes of righteousness given to you by Jesus. It takes courage to say no to sin and yes to what is right , especially when we live in a world that everything is right in their own eyes. But Jesus said “ All things are possible if we believe.” God is wanting His righteousness to shine in and through His people, will you allow that to happen in your life today or will you live your life in muddy waters? The choice is yours.

Mark 9:23 "What do you mean, 'If I can'?" Jesus asked. "Anything is possible if a person believes."

In Hebrew the word used most common for believe simply means to build up or support. In the Greek it simply means to entrust. In the story of the opening scripture, a man comes to Jesus and tells Him that the disciples could not cast out a demon from his son. Jesus became a little upset right about then and said, "You faithless people! How long must I be with you? How long must I put up with you? Bring the boy to Me."(Mark 9:19). Do you think He was more than a little upset? Then the father of the boy answers Jesus with a stupid response, Have mercy on us and help us, if You can." (Mark 9:22). And that is when Jesus comes unglued, WHAT DO YOU MEAN IF I CAN? Wow! What a comeback from the Lord. Do you think he was a little tired or something? Maybe He was a little grumpy, got up on the wrong side of the bed, bad hair day type thing. No! He was trying to get everyone's attention. The other words He said were sent directly to the hearts of all those around Him, including His disciples, "Anything is possible if a person believes." The response from the dad was quick and to the point, Lord I believe, help my unbelief. Jesus helped him by speaking to the spirit possessing the boy and telling it to get out of there. Then after that Jesus put His hand out to the boy and lifted him up. The father and son walked off that day with belief and amazement, while the disciples stood there saying, why couldn't we do that? Jesus answered, "This kind can be cast out only by prayer. "

Wow Lord! Your answers are always so simple. Why didn't I think of that? Prayer. We have to pray to believe and we have to believe to pray. But we do pray Lord. Or do we? Jesus was talking to His disciples that He was with all the time, right? Do you think Jesus knew how much they prayed? I believe He knows exactly how much we pray because He is the one we are praying to. Jude 1:20 But you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith, pray in the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 8:26 And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don't know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. 27 And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God's own will. The Spirit even does the praying for us when we don't know what to or how to pray for something. God has made the access easy for us. John 14:13 You can ask for anything in My name, and I will do it, so that the Son can bring glory to the Father. 14 Yes, ask Me for anything in My name, and I will do it! God gives us all the help we need, so why don't we pray?

Why is a huge question! Why don't we pray? Too busy, too tired, too lazy, too sick, too boring, too hard? Why? Are we any different than Peter, James and John in the garden of Gethsemane when Jesus, in His greatest time of need, said to the boys, What! Can't you even pray for an hour with me, as He found them asleep. Our excuses are vain when it comes to prayer. Every man, woman and child of God should be in prayer. 1Thessalonians 5:17 Never stop praying. Do we stop praying because we think we can handle everything ok now? Do we stop praying because God said no to one of our prayers? Do we stop praying because God is mad at us or sin is in our lives? Psalm 6:16 Come and listen, all you who fear God, and I will tell you what He did for me.17 For I cried out to Him for help, praising Him as I spoke. 18 If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened. 19 But God did listen! He paid attention to my prayer. 20 Praise God, who did not ignore my prayer or withdraw His unfailing love from me. You can do whatever you want and you can believe whatever it is you believe. But me, I can not trust or rely on anyone but Jesus. Sin can only be forgiven, sickness can only be healed, finances can only be taken care of if you ask in faith, believing you receive them. Believe, simply put, says I trust you Lord Jesus no matter what. Believing means we don't pay attention to what is happening in our lives that draws us away from prayer but rather pay attention to our life in Christ prefering it over our own. Yes you are a sinner, you will sin, you are going to make mistakes but God still wants to hear you crying out to Him. People who want their lives to count for Christ are people of prayer. Jesus made His life worthwhile for all of us to see. If He said we need to pray and He prayed, then we better pray. God will not ignore a heart that truly seeks Him, so do not ignore Him in prayer. Trust Him no matter what is happening and commit your life to prayer. 

John 6:35-38(The Message) Jesus said, "I am the Bread of Life. The person who aligns with me hungers no more and thirsts no more, ever. I have told you this explicitly because even though you have seen me in action, you don't really believe me. Every person the Father gives me eventually comes running to me. And once that person is with me, I hold on and don't let go. I came down from heaven not to follow my own whim but to accomplish the will of the One who sent me.

Christmas, Christmas time is here, time for joy and time for cheer. I remember that song when Alvin and the Chipmunks first sang it way back when. Christmas time has turned into a great time of rejoicing. A time when people who could care less about each other, get together and hug. It is a time when the house is all lit up, the streets are shinning bright and the malls are filled with busy people searching for just the right gift to give the mail man. Why do people go to such extremes only once a year? Why do we only love each other at Christmas time? Is it because of all the special television shows that are not invoking killing, violence, sex and drugs are being watched? Is it because of the mistletoe or the tree with all of it's presents under it? Or is it because people are actually allowing access to their hearts by the ultimate reason for Christmas, Jesus.

We hear Jesus is the reason for the season, but why is Jesus only seasonal to so many people? Are people only hungry once a year or maybe twice? Do we only eat at Christmas, Easter and Thanksgiving? No, we eat all the time. So why do millions of people only partake of the bread of life once or twice maybe even three times a year and some don't even do that much? Isaiah 65:1(nlt) The LORD says, "I was ready to respond, but no one asked for help. I was ready to be found, but no one was looking for Me. I said, 'Here I am, here I am!' to a nation that did not call on My name. Is this what The Lord is saying to the world at Christmas time? Wouldn't He enjoy celebrating with us? I believe Jesus enjoys a good party in His honor and would love to participate but is He invited? Is Jesus like the kid who gets picked last for the team and then doesn't get to play? I mean, it is called Christmas isn't it?

Isaiah 53:1(nlt) Who has believed our message? To whom has the LORD revealed His powerful arm? Who out there really does believe? How many people has Jesus revealed Himself to? Is He saying, here I am, here I am, pick me and no one wants Him because they are too busy being someones secret Santa? Oh, Jesus wants you to believe so desperately bad that He stands at the door and knocks and knocks. But not too many open that door and invite Him in to the celebration of His own special day. How sad for Jesus. How sad for the world. How happy Jesus would be sitting around that tree with family that loves Him at Christmas. Will you be one that lets Him in this Christmas?

Psalm17: 4-5(message) I'm not trying to get my way in the world's way. I'm trying to get your way, your Word's way. I'm staying on your trail;I'm putting one foot In front of the other. I'm not giving up.

I love the way the Message Bible words this passage of scripture. Not my way but the Word's way is the right way. Staying on the right trail one step at a time, one foot in front of the other with the determination to make it to your predetermined destination. All who call upon the name of Jesus should have this type of a mindset. What happens to many saved souls is they come to a fork in the path forcing them to make a decision which way to go and they neglect to use the Word as their guideline so they choose the wrong path because it appears to be smoother, easier or more appealing to their circumstances. Gods path is narrow and He never said it was going to be smooth but it is His path. Matthew 7:14(nlt) But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.

Circumstances arise in our lives in the form of trials and testings. How we handle a circumstance determines how soon we reach our destination. It takes us kneeling before the throne of grace and opening our hearts to Gods plan and method of handling every fork we come upon in our life's road. Not every situation is going to have a quick answer but Gods word will point you in the right direction every time if we listen to it. Psalm 119:105(nlt) Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path. Yet so many Christians fail to consult the Word of God to even start looking for the right path much less to use it as a day to day guide for every situation that arises. Mans nature is to be independent. We do not like people telling us what, when and where, yet we have to do it every day.

The job that I had for many years in Southern California hired both trainees and experienced people. Both had their own problems. Experienced people wanted to do things the way they had done everything with their previous employer and most of the time that did not set well with the boss. The trainee had to be started from scratch and no matter what their background was, they still had to desire to learn not only the technical things but the way things were done with this particular employer. You see the boss signed the paychecks, he made the rules and if you did not like them don't let the door hit you on the way out. Yes he gave a lot of chances and he did put up with a lot, especially with the experienced people, because he needed a good workforce. God is looking for a good workforce too. He does have a huge turn over in workers because they get to where they think they know how to do it better than God. Gods workforce is made up of entirely volunteers. Even if you are on a church payroll you are still a volunteer.

All of us have to submit to the call of God and to His direction. It definitely is not something you do just for a paycheck. If so, how much of a salary should Jesus be paid for going on that cross. This is why Jesus said in Matthew 22:14(nlt) "For many are called, but few are chosen." Too many saints want the call but they don't want to pay the price for that call. Mark 10:21(kjv) Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me. Hey! I thought I was the benefactor of following Gods path? 2Chronicals 16:9 (nlt) The eyes of the LORD search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him. What a fool you have been! From now on you will be at war."This is why your life is at war. You want to follow Gods path with all your heart. But wanting to and doing it are two different things. Submitting yourself to Gods will is not a simple thing to do. It is going to cost you your life. But the price is worth it. Matthew 10:38 If you refuse to take up your cross and follow Me, you are not worthy of being Mine. 39 If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for Me, you will find it. Find your life in Christ starting now.

Pro 13:12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life.

Everyone should have a dream, a desire to be fulfilled. This is why the writer of Proverbs put these words in here. We need to have, in our hearts, a goal for our lives in Christ. I believe it is a part of our heritage in Christ to set goals even if they seem too lofty to achieve, for with Christ all things are possible to those who believe. Martin Luther King Jr. did not live to see his “I have a Dream” speech fulfilled, but it was so engrained in his heart that he gave his life for it. The founding fathers of the United States of America, many, gave their lives, their sustenance and even their families for the dream of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Many of us fail to dream because of seemingly good reasons and we walk around with a broken heart sick with failure. We begin looking at ourselves instead of looking at the possibilities Christ can present to His children. Our growth potential is not seen in a mirror it has to be seen in the Word of God. So if you are going to dream, dream big and believe God in it and through it. Just make sure that your dream matches up with Gods plan for your life. Psalm 37:4 Take delight in the LORD, and He will give you your heart's desires. It may not happen over night but he says here He will give it to you.

Isn't it great to know we have hope living in us today. We have hope with big dreams and we can have hope even when we have no dreams at all. We have a God that loves everyone of us whether we are digging our way out of a hole or we are burying ourselves in it. He loves the foolish as much as He loves the wise. He is the greatest cheer leader you could ever have and wants all of His children to succeed, not just flounder aimlessly in this world without anything pushing them onward and upward. Our lives are covered by His precious blood and the love that Christ supplies to us daily should drive us on to success in and through Him. Proverbs 13:6 tells us Godliness guards the path of the blameless. We are guarded by the Army of the most High God. The Heavenly army that was there protecting Elijah and Elisha is the same army that is protecting you. The rest of Proverbs 13:6 says the evil are misled by sin. The sin that leads so many of us around is simple unbelief. We begin to doubt everything in Gods word that will help us succeed and start putting our trust back into determination, grit and ability. This will get you to the top, maybe, but not with Gods blessing on it. We can succeed on our own but when God is in the middle of it there is such a feeling of peace knowing we accomplished our dream through Gods way and not our own.

Also knowing He is always there to rescue us is the greatest feeling anyone can have. No matter what, His hand is always there to pull us out of the hole. He may let us hang on for dear life or He may loosen His Grip enough to let you fail sometimes. But He is always there. Joshua 1:9 This is My command, be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go." These are the best words ever spoken to us. We may not win at everything we try, but fail or succeed He is there for us. All that is in our lives should revolve around the expectation of success through Jesus Christ our Lord. Hebrews 12:2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting Him, He endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now He is seated in the place of honor beside God's throne. Keep your eyes on Jesus. He is the champion, the one who endured the cross and the shame of it all did not even matter to Him. All He did was keep His eyes on His ultimate dream of saving us and He keeps His eye on us every day to keep us going in the right direction. If we fail it is probably because we take our eyes off Him. Do not be blinded by the glare of self will, stay determined in Jesus.

Mat 1:21 And she will have a son, and you are to name Him Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins."

Jesus! There is no name in heaven and earth like the name of Jesus. Jesus the Christ! Jesus the Messiah! Jesus the Savior! Jesus The Emanuel, God with us! Romans 14:11 For the Scriptures say, "'As surely as I live,' says the LORD, 'every knee will bend to Me, and every tongue will confess and give praise to God. '" He is LORD, He is Jehovah God! And it is at this time of year we celebrate his humblest of beginnings.

Job 8:7(kjv) Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase. Psalm 119:141(nlt) I am small and despised: yet do not I forget thy precepts. Here we see a perfect picture of Christmas morning. Jesus, the Great King of Glory. Being born in a stinky stable with only mom, dad and a few animals to give homage to the great King at His birth. He was born through a frail 14-15 year old girl who had just ridden a donkey for miles to get to a city where no one wanted them. Yet God had a plan only He could see. Soon the Angels were singing and a bright star was shinning into this humble stable showing a group of shepherds to that place where the Christ Child lay. But these were no ordinary shepherds, these were the Temple shepherds who took care of all the sacrificial lambs and God was directing them to the final sacrificial Lamb for the whole world. Then came along the Magi. Wise men from different areas of the known world coming to worship the little baby King baring gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh. But these gifts were ordained by God also. Gold to flee the land because Herod wanted to kill this baby King. Frankincense and myrrh to anoint Him at His time of death that had been ordained for Him from the beginning of time. It wasn't looking good for this tiny baby King. If anyone was despised and had small beginnings it was the baby Jesus. What a celebration day it was for a new holiday that is centered around all this joy and celebration we bring to it today. People like Herod wanted to kill Him, shepherds came to see the final sacrifice, and wise men brought oils for anointing Him for burial. What a difference in celebration we see with all the trees, lights and food we have today.

But, and here is a good place for a but, Jesus wasn't born just for then. Yes! He was going to die! Yes! He was going to be beaten! But he was going to take with Him the sins of the whole world to the cross nailing them there forever. Romans 5:6(nlt) When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. 7 Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. 8 But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. 9 And since we have been made right in God's sight by the blood of Christ, He will certainly save us from God's condemnation.10 For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of His Son while we were still His enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of His Son.11 So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God. You see now why we can rejoice? Because of our wonderful new relationship with God through what that tiny, little baby grew up and accomplished for all of us who believe in the work He accomplished on the cross. It may have been a small, despicable, humble beginning for The Christ Child but the King of kings is on the throne and He now calls me friend. That tiny, little baby Jesus came into this world and made all of us, who call Him Lord, a Friend! Today can you call Him friend? Today can you call Him Savior. Today is the day of salvation! Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today. Take advantage of what that humble, tiny baby accomplished and start your new beginning of the work of grace in your life. Will you humble yourself and bend your knee to that baby? Will your tongue confess that He is Lord? Or will you pass up the best Christmas gift you could ever receive in your whole life?

Proverbs 29:18(Young's literal translation) Without a Vision is a people made naked, And whoso is keeping the law, O his happiness!

I used the Young's translation in the scripture reference title because it truly exposes people. King James says, Where there is no vision, the people perish. The New living translation says, When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild. Naked, running wild and dyeing is a pretty good description of the world today. But is it a description of you personally? People of the Kingdom of God today chase after so many things that are not of God but are the fulfillment of their own self seeking desires.

Matthew 6:33(Nlt) Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need. I am writing these words not just to everyone else but to me also. Our eyes and desire for life are and always have been turned to the inside instead of the outside. We look to our big dreams and expectations instead of getting on our knees seeking Gods expectations, which are far greater than we could ever imagine for our lives, our church, our community, our country and even the world. Matthew 28:19(Nlt) Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. These are pretty great expectations. We look at these as the great commission of Christ and they are. But this is Gods vision for us, our church, our community, our nation, and our world and we can not ignore it. 

Our God has great confidence in us, doesn't He? If we would listen to Him we would have that confidence too. Look back at the New living translation for Proverbs 29:18 When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild. But whoever obeys the law is joyful. Divine guidance, what is that? Something most of us aren't use to. Obey the law, that just isn't my nature. Then you need to get saved and find out what divine guidance is, get on your knees and seek for it if you are. Because without it you are going to be tossed around by every wind of doctrine(Ephesians 4:14). We need direction and we need to follow it if we are comfortable with it or not. That is if it is from God. So how are you going to know if it is God if you don't get close to Him in prayer, reading His Word and fellowship with His saints.

We also need to understand if Gods purpose is in our lives, He is going to empower us to accomplish what he set in our lives to do. Matthew 28:18(Kjv) All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 2Ti mothy1:12(Nlt) That is why I am suffering here in prison. But I am not ashamed of it, for I know the One in whom I trust, and I am sure that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until the day of His return. Here is a perfect example of someone who has faith in Gods divine purpose for their life. Paul, stuck in a prison cell, writing those words I know the One I trust and I am sure He is able because I know all power was given unto Him in heaven and in earth. In prison or at the brink of death. In sickness or strong and healthy. With or without money we have this assurance Romans 8:38(Nlt) And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow,not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below, indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. Nothing can stop us if we keep our purpose and vision centered on Christ. We get detoured when we get it centered on ourselves and God has to bring us back on the right path. But the greatest thing I know is God will do every thing He can to get us and keep us on that path. Trust is a big word for us. It can be used as a verb or a noun, but it has to be used. One of my heros in the faith, Oswald Chambers, wrote these words. Beware, lest you forget Gods purpose for your life. I wrote these words in the front of my Bible and in my heart. Never walk away with unfulfilled purpose in your life. Nothing else will ever bring you joy, happiness or satisfaction like completion of the task God sets for your life.

Isaiah 56:1 This is what the LORD says: "Be just and fair to all. Do what is right and good, for I am coming soon to rescue you and to display My righteousness among you.

How long is Gods soon? Hebrews 11:13 All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth. Sometimes it can be a very long time but the people that are written about in Hebrews 11 all had one thing in common. They saw it from a distance not the now. They looked to the future hope because they all figured out this life was only temporary. Not only did they look to the future but they taught their children and their children taught their children on down the line to keep their eyes on the future hope that was to come.

God told Noah to build a large boat so he could save his family from a flood. Noah and his family didn't even know what a rain was much less a flood. God told Abraham he was going to be the father of many nations and people that numbered as many as the stars in heaven. He finally had his son of promise when he was 100 years old, but it was a start. Samuel anointed a small young shepherd boy of no significant importance to be the King of Israel one day and maybe 20-30 years later he was crowned. Isaiah was told of a little baby to be born through a virgin girl to be the Savior of the human race. About 600 years later there he was, humbly born in a stable.

Yes Gods soon can be a long time, but it is Gods soon. Jesus said Revelation 22:20 He who is the faithful witness to all these things says, "Yes, I am coming soon!" and the Apostle John answered with these words Amen! Come, Lord Jesus! That was way back 2000 years ago and He still hasn't come back. So what is holding Him back? Revelation 22:17 The Spirit and the bride say, "Come." Let anyone who hears this say, "Come." Let anyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who desires drink freely from the water of life. He is still waiting for people to come. But look at what else Jesus has to say. Luke 18:8 But when the Son of Man returns, how many will He find on the earth who have faith?" Jesus is waiting for people to come to Him in faith because so many people give up on Gods timing and walk away from Him, giving up on faith.

Did the Old testament saints have more faith than us? No! When you read the stories in the Old Testament about Adam,Noah, Abraham, Samuel and David you also get to read about the failures of their lives plus the reason for the flood, the Tower of babel and the fall of King Saul plus all of the Kings of Israel. And how can you neglect the story of Esau who sells his birthright for a bowl of soup or Elijah crying out from that cave, am I the only one that serves you! Then Gods answer comes to him of having 5000 reserved for Him. But when you think of it 5000 is still not good when you think of the millions of people that were against Him. When Noah climbed into the ark, how many were saved. 8. How many were left out to drown? Every human being on earth. So we can see faith wasn't all that fantastic in the Old testament world either. The Israelis didn't even want to follow Moses, all they wanted to do was complain. But God still says soon!

The whole point is this, Luke 12:40 You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected." This is why Isaiah wrote those words in Isaiah 56: 1 Be just and fair to all. Do what is right and good. God wants us to be ready at all times for whatever we are waiting for in our lives, whether it is the return of Christ or you need a good job. Gods soon is still Gods soon. So when Christ returns will He find faith in you or will you have given up? So keep this on your hearts and minds at all times, Gods soon is as soon as God is ready.  

Isaiah 30:15 This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: "Only in returning to Me and resting in Me will you be saved. In quietness and confidence is your strength. But you would have none of it.

But you would have none of it. Aren't those familiar words? God tells us the answer to all of our problems and we don't want anything to do with it. Before we received Jesus Christ in our hearts as Lord and Savior this was our favorite answer, I don't want anything to do with it. We wanted to do our own thing and Gods thing just wasn't it. Then we finally give in when we find out the truth of Gods love and we really want everything to do with it. Our lives are so full of God at that time we could just burst! We want to know everything there is to know about God. We desire to be a great believer. But then God begins to work in your life to bring about a great change, a new episode we might say, in our lives and we go right back to those words, I will not have anything to do with it.

Only in returning to Me and resting in Me will you be saved. These words aren't just for salvation. These words are written down for our every day lives. Every day you are staring into the gun barrels of the enemy. Every day you must face your own demons. Every day you must go through your own trial and testing. Every day of your life something goes on to bring improvement to our walk with Christ. But too many days we say I will have nothing to do with it. Our lives are precious to us. But we need to be reminded of the fact that we are even more precious to The Father than we are to our own selves. How many of us know how many hairs we have on us? The Father knows. How many of us know what we need before we even think about it? God Does. How many of us stay awake all the time taking care of everything. God does. He never sleeps He never slumbers are not mere words, they are the kind of loving care our God has for us. Psalm 121:5 The LORD Himself watches over you! The LORD stands beside you as your protective shade. 6 The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon at night. 7 The LORD keeps you from all harm and watches over your life. 8 The LORD keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever. But we would nave nothing to do with it! How could we shun so much love? How could we turn our backs on Gods will for us? Is it because He is so brutal a God that He forces His will and His way upon us? NO! It is because we do not want to give up ourselves to what God wants for our lives and we just keep saying those words over and over and over again, I don't want anything to do with it.

Here is the main reason we don't, in quietness and confidence is your strength. We do not like being quiet. And the confidence thing, Oh No! I have trusted other people before and what did it get me. Well quit looking at God like He is a people, a person, a human being. God has no faults except one, He loves us and He wants us to succeed. Every day of our life is numbered by the Lord. He loves and cares for us so much that He allowed His Son, His only true Son to go through Hell for us. He loves you as an individual, He loves all of us as a whole. He provides and cares for each individual as He is allowed to by that individual knowing He has so much more for them than they could ever think or imagine. But they just don't want anything to do with it. So much money, so much time is spent on education. People will spend up to ten years or more of their lives in universities and in higher education for their lives in the future. But they will not take time to sit and wait upon the LORD. People will climb the corporate ladder, they will fight for stardom and compete in the greatest races but will not be still for a moment to get to know God. People everywhere are crying out for more of everything but Jesus. But there is so much of that in us, the church, that it blocks out God in the church today. There is a television commercial from a company who promises to get your settlement or annuity money now. In that commercial there are several people screaming out, I want my money and I want it NOW! That is our prayer life. We want it now. But God says in quietness and confidence is great strength. Those people get their money but it isn't all of it. The company that gets it for you gets their part too. God wants to give you everything you desire but you have to learn to wait in quietness and in confidence. God is not into time. One day is as a thousand years and a thousand years is as one day. He has no problem with waiting, We do! Learn to be quiet and have confidence so God can work faster.

Rom 4:25 He was handed over to die because of our sins, and He was raised to life to make us right with God.

Isn't God great! Jesus was handed over, to the death that was awaiting Him on the cross, because of our sins. God is so good to us and loves each and every one of us enough to watch His Son go through the agony and pain of the crucifixion, the beating, the spitting in the face, the crown of thorns, the shame and degradation of hanging naked before the world that hated Him. Then He took Him out of the clutches of death, completing the work for the salvation of our soul, giving all who would believe a life that is right with Him through faith. Romans 3:22 We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. 23 For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God's glorious standard. Everyone must come to God by placing their faith and trust in the work that was accomplished through the cross. For no one individual is any different from the other. We all are sinners and no one can uphold the standards that God sets except by trusting and believing in the atoning blood shed for our sins by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

Romans 4:7 "Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sins are put out of sight. 8 Yes, what joy for those whose record the LORD has cleared of sin." King David knew the power of Gods forgiveness and the importance of a right relationship with God. We see the great sin in Davids life when he committed adultery with Bathsheba after which he had her husband killed in battle. Then he received the words from Nathan the prophet, You are the man! Not words of encouragement, as some would take them today, but words sent straight to Davids heart to let him know God watched everything as it happened. We can not hide our sins from God. Yes there were heavy consequences for Davids sin. But David knew what was right and cried out to God to restore relationship with Him. Psalm 51:3 For I recognize my rebellion; it haunts me day and night. 4 Against You, and You alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in Your sight. You will be proved right in what You say, and Your judgment against me is just. 5 For I was born a sinner, yes, from the moment my mother conceived me. David recognized who and what he was. He might have been a great king, warrior and a man of valor in the eyes of the world, but in Gods eyes he was nothing greater or any more important than one of Davids own servants who waited on him. David had to cry out to God with these words: Psalm 51:7 Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. 8 Oh, give me back my joy again; You have broken me,now let me rejoice. 9 Don't keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. 11 Do not banish me from Your presence, and don't take Your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, and make me willing to obey You.

There is nothing more important for your life than standing in a right relationship with God. There is no greater joy than knowing your heart is in union with the God of the universe. No greater feeling of being clean and free from your sins. Psalm 51:16 You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one. You do not want a burnt offering.17 The sacrifice You desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God. We don't have to satisfy God with the blood of bulls, goats or sheep. We have to satisfy God by coming to Him with our broken, crushed hearts and putting our faith in the sacrifice Jesus presented to our Father for us on the cross. Just as David did, we must bring our lives to Him who has the power and ability to forgive us and wash our sins as white as snow. Or we can hold on to them and keep trying to be good enough for God. Make a choice, make a decision today, for there may not be a tomorrow.

1Sa 17:29 And David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause?

David had walked into the camp of unbelief. He had been sent, by his father, to bring food and check on the condition of his brothers that were involved in a great battle. But when he arrived he found no great battle only men sitting around talking about battle. They were sitting waiting for the giant man, Goliath, to come out and scare them. How long had they been sitting? I don't know. Why were they sitting? They were scared. Why were they so afraid, Goliath was just one man? Was it because he was big, bad, and ugly? That was a big part of it. But David was just a small ,young, skinny boy who asked all of these adult, strong warriors, who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God? David brought more than bread and cheese into that camp that day, he brought faith into the lives of those men that day. The enemy had been bold enough to think fear would defeat their enemies. In most cases it would have worked but they were not messing around with a typical enemy. Sure they might have had them shaking in their boots for awhile. But God raised up a little shepherd boy to defeat them. All it took was faith to come into the camp and that faith walked in the form of a child but spread into the hearts of the warriors.

Matthew18:3(nlt) Then He said, "I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven.4 So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. 5 "And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on My behalf is welcoming Me.6 But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in Me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to have a large millstone tied around your neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea. We think God is looking for a few good men but I think He is looking for a man who has the faith of a child. Good men are hard to find but one with this kind of faith and trust in Christ is even harder. Real manly men try to figure everything out and fight the enemy with their macho toughness and grit. But a man of faith looks at something like David saw that day and asks everyone around, why haven't you kicked that guys butt yet?DUHHHHH! Child like faith doesn't understand fear, pain, strategy. David picked up a rock, tells the Incredible Hulk, You're goin down in the name of The LORD, I'm not scared of you!

There are too many bread and cheese carriers in the world of Christianity today. We want to go feed the troops instead of standing up for what is good and right. It is great to feed the hungry, and to help the homeless,please don't take what I say wrong. But we need to feed the world the bread of life. John 6:48 Yes, I am the bread of life! 49 Your ancestors ate manna in the wilderness, but they all died. 50 Anyone who eats the bread from heaven, however, will never die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Anyone who eats this bread will live forever; and this bread, which I will offer so the world may live, is My flesh." Faith in peoples hearts need to be fed and it is going to take Gods people rising up in faith, just as David did, looking at the need and just do it. David looked around that army camp and saw nothing but defeat in the eyes of the soldiers. He could have pat them on the back, gave them a piece of cheese and said it will be OK, God will do something, just hang in there. But no! He went to King Saul and said, I will fight Him. It took a little bit of persuasion, but the king gave in to Gods will. David went out, slung the rock, Cut off the head of the giant and faith rose up in the hearts of the troops. They got up and with a great shout of triumph ran out and started destroying the enemy. They could not loose after seeing that boy, that one young faith filled boy, stand and defeat their greatest fear right before their eyes. Do you know what most people are looking for? Someone who will stand for God no matter what. Will you be that someone? 2Chronicles16:9 The eyes of the LORD search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him. Will you be the one God sees? Will you be a David?

Hosea 5:15 Then I will return to My place until they admit their guilt and turn to Me. For as soon as trouble comes, they will earnestly search for Me."

There is a saying something like this, there are no atheists in fox holes or prisons. I was never in the military but I have heard stories of extraordinary rescues God has made because of a quick prayer a soldier has made. God will rescue anyone who calls upon the name of the Lord, saving them from their distress. But it is still up to the soldier, after he is rescued to get up and serve God.

In this statement, in Hosea 5:15, God was tired of rescuing his people. Instead of jumping in the fox hole and quickly saving them, he pulled away His protection allowing their enemies to have their way with them. What God was trying to do was get them to “earnestly” seek Him. They had fallen so deeply into idolatry and blatantly sinned against God he simply said enough is enough. The God of mercy and grace got fed up! Hosea 5: 5 tells us the arrogance of Israel testifies against her and in verse 7 it says they betrayed the honor of the LORD. Harsh but true charges. But even more harsh was the way they were treating the One True God that loved them.

Man has always challenged God. But it particularly hurts Him when His own chosen people challenge Him, 2Timothy 4:3 For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will reject the truth and chase after myths. Warning after warning has been issued to the people of God throughout both Old and New Testaments. Paul says in 1Corinthians10:11 These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age. Why do you think they are for now? 2Thessalonians 2:9 This man will come to do the work of Satan with counterfeit power and signs and miracles. 10 He will use every kind of evil deception to fool those on their way to destruction, because they refuse to love and accept the truth that would save them. 11 So God will cause them to be greatly deceived, and they will believe these lies. 12 Then they will be condemned for enjoying evil rather than believing the truth. Finally look at what Jesus Himself said : Mark 13:22 For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God's chosen ones. 23 Watch out! I have warned you about this ahead of time! If Jesus is warning you of something you better listen! The final days before the return of Jesus Christ are going to be some of the most dangerous times for Christian believers, not from persecution but from deception.  

It is going to take a lot more than a quick prayer to keep you on the right track with Christ. It is going to take you determining in your heart, no matter what happens in your life, you are going to get up out of whatever prison cell or fox hole you are in and proclaim Jesus Christ is my Lord and I know he is alive because He is living in me. Mark 13:32 "However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son Himself. Only the Father knows. 33 And since you don't know when that time will come, be on guard! Stay alert and pray! Pray, live and love in Jesus name and you will have more than a jailhouse religion or a fox hole relationship with God. We don't know when Jesus is coming back but if it is in a minute or a day or a hundred years we need to live like we believe it is the next minute. Deuteronomy 10:12 "And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you? He requires only that you fear the LORD your God, and live in a way that pleases Him, and love Him and serve Him with all your heart and soul. Now go do it.

Ephesians 4:17 With the Lord's authority I say this: Live no longer as the Gentiles do, for they are hopelessly confused.

1Corinthians 14:33 For God is not the author of confusion. Isn't it great to know confusion doesn't come from God but all hope does. Romans 15:13 I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in Him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. So if hope comes from God and we get confused where does all this confusion come from? Paul said not to live like the Gentiles, were they the reason for the confusion? Or is it because their thinking is centered on all the wrong things? Do we walk in confusion because we are thinking like the Gentiles in our minds but trying to live for God in our hearts? Amos 3:3 Can two people walk together without agreeing on the direction? I know I have used this scripture in talking about forming relationships with other people but how much more should our hearts and minds be agreed on the direction your life goes.

There will always be a conflict in our lives. Our flesh, like the Gentiles, our spirit ,like God. Galatians 5:17 The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions. This is where confusion peeks out its nasty little head. Making a right decision can be hard if your sinful nature runs your life. In Ephesian 4 Paul says don't steal, don't lie, don't cuss or get angry. That makes sense, until it comes time to put it into practice. Your old fleshly man can get pretty darn mad sometimes and it really makes you blurt out some really bad words that you turn around and tell the person your really sorry you didn't mean it. You were angry, you cussed and you really did mean it, so you lied too. At least you didn't steal or what was that at the grocery store, in the bulk candy isle, that you were chewing on? Easy? I don't think so. These are seemingly small trivial things in life and I don't think you will ever go to jail for them but they do affect you.

Romans 8:5(nlt) Those who are dominated by the sinful nature think about sinful things, but those who are controlled by the Holy Spirit think about things that please the Spirit.6 So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace. 7 For the sinful nature is always hostile to God. It never did obey God's laws, and it never will. 8 That's why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God. Wow! These are some very tough words from our God of Grace and mercy. This is why there is grace and mercy. Do we ever fully get our heart and our mind working together in the Spirit? I believe all things are possible. If you look at verse 8 Paul uses the word still. All of us are at different levels of growth in the Lord. If you are still walking, talking, living, breathing in the old sinful nature and you have been saved for quit awhile, my own heart would question you if you're even trying to grow in the Spirit. Some people never catch on and just keep on keepin on, it isn't up to me. Philippians 2:12 Dear friends, you always followed my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away, it is even more important. Work hard to show the results of your salvation, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. I need to work on my own self. What are you doing? Are you working hard on yourself or are you working hard on everyone else and ignoring what you do? Work on your sinful nature submitting to Gods nature and you will keep plenty busy. Just remember to do it with humility don't let your pride stick its nose in there and ruin it all. Oops, that's a whole other subject.

Jeremiah 33:11 the sounds of joy and laughter. The joyful voices of bridegrooms and brides will be heard again, along with the joyous songs of people bringing thanksgiving offerings to the LORD. They will sing, 'Give thanks to the LORD of Heaven's Armies, for the LORD is good. His faithful love endures forever!' For I will restore the prosperity of this land to what it was in the past, says the LORD.

When man goes to war he has one purpose, defeat the enemy at any cost. This is what God did for us. The war was started in heaven when Lucifer rose up in pride. Isaiah14:12(kjv) How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! 13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. 15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. Gods established purpose was to defeat His enemy at any cost and that cost was His only begotten Son Jesus Christ. In Matthew 17:5, at the mount of transfiguration, God spoke these words very clearly to Peter, James & John and to us, This is my beloved Son, Hear ye Him. Isn't it time we listened to the one who who determined the purpose of the universe and holds it in His hands.

God is so good to us that he included us in His ultimate plan of defeating His enemy. Ephesians 1:11 tells us we were predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things after the counsel of His own will. Proverbs 20 tells us every purpose is established by counsel. The decision was made and the purpose was established by the counsel of Gods Own Will. We have to trust in the infinite wisdom of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit, that the decision they made was beneficial for all. His ultimate purpose of defeating the enemy was accomplished on the cross when Jesus freely gave His life, rose from the grave and said look unto me all the ends of the earth and you will be saved. Whoever would confess Him as LORD and believe in their hearts Jesus was alive would be completely forgiven of their sins and enlisted in the army of God being set forth to fight against Gods enemy defeating Lucifer, who is now called Satan.

This puts us into the eternal purpose of God. 2Ti 1:9(nlt) For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was His plan from before the beginning of time, to show us His grace through Christ Jesus. This really makes the Devil mad! Now he really hates you and wants to destroy you. He couldn't overthrow God in heaven, He couldn't destroy Gods Son on the cross. So what does he do now? Comes after Gods prized possession, You. The apple of Gods eye, the one He carved in the palm of His hand, the one He made the head and not the tail. YOU! You are the one that He also gives the Keys to the kingdom, the victory and the joy to overcome the Devil himself by the blood of the Lamb and the word of your testimony. Gods ultimate purpose is being fulfilled through you!

Satan's ultimate purpose is to destroy you and your relationship with God. As a Born Again believer in Jesus Christ we have got to keep our focus on Gods purpose, we have got to keep it in our hearts by going back to my favorite scriptures Romans 8:28(nlt) And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them. And in Jeremiah 29:11(nlt) For I know the plans I have for you," says the LORD. "They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. We have to believe these words every day and link our lives, present and future, to these words so you will be able to fulfill Mat 10:22 And all nations will hate you because you are My followers. But everyone who endures to the end will be saved. The Bible is the one book you should read the two last chapters first, New heaven, new earth new hope, every day, renewed with these words. The promise of the new. Jeremiah 33:11b He will restore the prosperity of this land to what it was in the past, says the LORD. His ultimate purpose will be fulfilled with or without you, it would be better with you.

Mat 27:19 Just then, as Pilate was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent him this message: "Leave that innocent man alone. I suffered through a terrible nightmare about Him last night."

Giving in to what the popular majority wants is not always right. Here are two unsaved, unholy individuals who are both worshipers of Caesar, standing in front of hundreds of unsaved, unholy followers of Jehovah God. Both Pilate and his wife wanted nothing to really do with this man Jesus, whom the Jews had brought before Pilate for judgment for a crime that Pilate really had no business judging in the first place. Pilate sat there listening to the accusations against Jesus when along comes his wife to talk to him. She had to tell him she had a nightmare about this innocent man and told Pilate not to have anything to do with it. Pilate, being the man that he was, played his part to the utmost perfection by partially listening to his wife. He had a bowl of water brought to him and symbolically washed his hands of the whole thing, but he stopped nothing. He had them take Jesus out and beat him then turned him over to the crowd telling them to do what they wanted to do with him. Now why do you suppose he did that? He could have set Jesus free, He could have told the Jewish leaders to go take a hike but no, he told them do what they wanted. I don't really think he washed his hands of anything. I think he added more judgment to himself by trying to do what the popular majority wanted him to do.

Giving in to what is popular is not the right way to live your life for Christ. But how often do we give ourselves to what is popular or what every one else is doing rather than getting the mind of Christ and doing His will. Every one of us is insecure to one point or another. Everybody wants to have friends but do we give in to popularity more than we give in to Christ? I know that what I am saying is repetitious but are we more worried about keeping up appearances to man than God. 1 Corinthians 6:20 tells us God payed a high price for us.1 Corinthians 7:23 he goes on and tells us since he did pay that high price for us, we shouldn't be enslaved to the world. It feels great to get the pats on the back from all the guys for doing one of the “big” guy things. It looks good on your life resume that you did this and that. But wouldn't it be better to hear, Mat 25:21 His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord. Isn't God good? We all need to desire entering into Gods joy rather than the pat on the back from someone you gave into because it was the popular thing to do.

We can get caught up in the Brad and Angelina syndrome. Here are two of the most popular people in the world. Ambassador, Mother and father to I don't know how many adopted kids, always up front with their lives. Every one wants to be just like them. Their works are great. But they are missing one ingredient, Jesus. They are not married, living in open sin, not caring what anyone thinks including God. So what is their reward? They get a lot of pats on the back but they deny Christ and unless they repent and get it right with Him I don't believe they will receive a well done good and faithful servant, enter into my rest. What seems great and glorious may not be as good as it looks. I am not picking on Brad or Angelina but I am trying to open blind eyes to see Gods word and what would be right in His eyes for you or me to do. Matthew 6:1 "Watch out! Don't do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven. Good deeds and doing what is right can get you places in this world. But when they are done right, for Christ, they can get you even greater places in the kingdom of God. Remember, God is the most popular person in the universe. You want to impress someone, impress Him by doing what is right.

Rom 7:24 Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? 25 Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.

THANK GOD! Now this is truly an understatement. We have so much to be thankful for, I don't know where to start. Oh yes I do! The ANSWER! Paul said the answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord!

Jesus the one who went to the cross to offer Himself as a sacrifice for our sins. Jesus who went to the whipping post and bore those stripes on His body so our bodies could be healed. Jesus who supplies all of our needs according to His riches and glory. Jesus who gives us peace, Jesus who gives us hope, Jesus who gives us everything we need in this life and throughout eternity with Him. Psalm 72:18 Praise the LORD God, the God of Israel, who alone does such wonderful things.19 Praise His glorious name forever! Let the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen and amen!

That is the greatest amen of all. So be it, how great and glorious is our GOD! Cast your imagination on this and your whole outlook on everything will change. He tells us in Isaiah 57:13 whoever trusts in Him will inherit the land and possess His Holy mountain. Can you imagine that instead of imagining how bad the Devil is kicking your butt. He says in verse 18 He restores the crushed spirit of the humble and He revives courage in those with a repentant heart. Isn't that great? He restores, He revives! Imagine that in your mind that tells you, you are whipped, broke, busted, disgusted and half dead. Laugh out loud at the Devil and tell him the truth about who and whose you are! He knows it already and that's why you are going through it, But tell him anyway, put a big bug in his ear by telling him JESUS CHRIST is MY LORD!

But oh wait! Isn't that too radical? Isn't that too brash? NO! That's faith! That is faith! Faith is a good thing! You don't have to listen to the lies of the enemy of your soul! 2 Corinthians 10:4 We use God's mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments.5 We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ. We need to break the human thinking and reasoning of our minds that defeats our soul. We need to cast down anything in our hearts and minds that would argue against Gods word of promise to us. Cast them down and crush them because the body of Christ was crushed for you. Capture your thoughts, quit rebelling against Gods word for his word is true. Discipline Your heart and Your mind to walk in union with GOD or you will end up like an Isaiah 56:11 man or woman, greedy dog, never satisfied, ignorant of GOD and His will. Following your own path, your own desire, setting your own limits. But with GOD all things are possible. So why be satisfied with what you can do when you serve the GOD who is able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think (Ephesians 3:20). Fix your thoughts on things that are true, honorable,right, pure, lovely,admirable, things that are excellent and worthy of praise(Philippians 4:8). Guard your hearts and minds as you live your life in Christ.

1Co 9:16 Yet preaching the Good News is not something I can boast about. I am compelled by God to do it. How terrible for me if I didn't preach the Good News!

     Isn't it great to know you are not the only one who has a problem with accepting Gods call on your life. It really started way back with Adam and Eve. God made them, set them in the garden, Fellowshipped with them, told them not to eat from the tree of Knowledge of good and evil. Simple call. But they left the call of God, His fellowship, and chose the tree. Moses said I can't speak, Isaiah had unclean lips, Jeremiah told God he was to young. Everybody has an excuse but Paul said how terrible for me if I don;t preach the gospel.

     The good news is simple, but it is hard to get real men and women of God to accept the challenge of Gods call to go into all the world and make disciples. Jeremiah 1:5 "I knew you before I formed you in your mother's womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as My prophet to the nations." 6 "O Sovereign LORD," I said, "I can't speak for You! I'm too young!" See this is typical, “I can't”! Even though he knew God as the great Sovereign Jehovah! God told him, look son I knew you and called you before your momma even knew you were there. I formed you and I called you, I set you apart. You would think this would get Jeremiah all excited. Nope! All he could say was, I'm too young. All he could see was himself, nothing even close to what God saw in him. If you read in 1 Timothy 1: 12-17 you visualize what kind of man the great Apostle Paul was before Christ. He was a blasphemer,persecutor, ignorant, shall I continue. Christ uses donkeys if he has to to get His word to the lost. It is His mercy, His grace making us sufficient so we can bring glory honor and praise to our our Lord and great King eternal, Jesus Christ!

     Now back to the young Jeremiah. 1:8 don't be afraid of the people, for I will be with you and will protect you. I, the LORD, have spoken!" 9 Then the LORD reached out and touched my mouth and said, "Look, I have put My words in your mouth! 10 Today I appoint you to stand up against nations and kingdoms. Some you must uproot and tear down, destroy and overthrow. Others you must build up and plant." Look at that, “God” put the words in Jeremiahs mouth. God says this day “I” appoint you. God sets you up, He protects you, He empowers you. We are only vessels used by God to build His kingdom. It is His power through the Holy Spirit. It is His word,His mission, His battle, His war, His victory. We are His vessel. Ezekial 2:1 "Stand up, son of man," said the voice. "I want to speak with you." 2 The Spirit came into me as He spoke, and He set me on my feet. I listened carefully to His words. 3 "Son of man," He said, "I am sending you to the nation of Israel, a rebellious nation that has rebelled against Me. They and their ancestors have been rebelling against Me to this very day.

4 They are a stubborn and hard hearted people. But I am sending you to say to them, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says!' 5 And whether they listen or refuse to listen,for remember, they are rebels, at least they will know they have had a prophet among them. Notice Ezekial listened carefully to God. What did God say? I am sending you to a stubborn, hard hearted people. “But”! When you get finished talking to them they will know you are a prophet of God, They will know you are my man. If you go out there on your own you have a right to be afraid. If you go out there listening to God and as a representative of God, people will know whose you are and who you are. They may not know your name but they will know the name of Jesus when you're done. You continue on day by day in hopes that one stubborn, hard hearted person finds hope in the words you say. One person that would grab a tiny bit of hope from the words that come out of your mouth and that word would bring them to salvation through Jesus Christ and all the Heavenly host will shout with joy because one soul repented. Thank you for being a willing vessel, yielding your life to the call of God.