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.

1Th 5:18 Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

     I believe these words sum up true Christianity. We can truly be thankful in a sick body or a healthy body. We can truly be thankful with a bank account full of money or we can be thankful with bill collectors hounding us. No matter the situation with our children, jobs or if a pesky fly is bugging us, we can be thankful. In 2 Chronicles 7:13 God is speaking to Solomon giving him an answer to his prayers about the temple. God said at times I might shut up the heavens so that no rain falls, or command grasshoppers to devour your crops, or send plagues among you. So what does this have to do with being thankful in all circumstances? Everything! Aren't all of these situations considered as a circumstance? No rain, Grasshoppers, Plagues all sound like a circumstance to me.

     There are going to be times in your life when everything dries up. You are going to look at these times and wonder what is going on? Prayers unanswered, Sickness not healed, blessings just not there. Why? Why? Why? Ecclesiastes 3:1(nlt) tells us for everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven. When these times are in our lives we can rejoice and be thankful knowing how much God loves us. We can thank him for every trial and every blessing. Proverbs 20:24 from the New Living Testament gives us a great explanation of this. The LORD directs our steps, so why try to understand everything along the way. We don't have to understand everything, even though we want to, we simply need to understand God knows what He is doing. That's why He Is LORD!

     While I am writing this I am at work. It is extremely slow because the “Feed the Hungry Run” is going on through the street in front of where I work. I am watching literally thousands of people run, walk, cycle past my window. They have a set path with barricades blocking the side streets. Police and officials are all around keeping the people going in the right direction and keeping them from getting hurt. They all have a single purpose. Finish the race and go home to turkey and dressing. We as Christians all have the same ultimate purpose. Get to heaven. But unlike the race our road is not well marked with barricades and banners that keep us going in the same direction to the ultimate goal. But we do have police and officials keeping us going in the right direction. They are called Pastors, teachers, evangelists prophets and even an apostle thrown in there sometimes. But the greatest official of all is the Great Shepherd, Jesus Christ. 1Pe 2:25(nlt) Once you were like sheep who wandered away. But now you have turned to your Shepherd, the Guardian of your souls. Do you trust the Shepherd? Do you believe He is trying to direct your path? I may not like the path nor do I enjoy the walk sometimes but I do love and trust the Shepherd of my soul.

     The most used, I believe anyway, verse in the old testament is right after the one we started with in 2 Chronicles 7:14(nlt) If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land. This is what the Great Shepherd does. He leads us to repentance through situations that occur in our lives. We can thank God for the dry times in our lives because we know He is working something out in us that only through this dry season can He bring us back on the right path that leads to blessing and eventually heaven.

     The Apostle Paul had these famous words written down through the power of the Holy Spirit in 2Ti 4:7(nlt) I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, and I have remained faithful. 8 And now the prize awaits me,the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on the day of His return. And the prize is not just for me but for all who eagerly look forward to His appearing. Look at that! He fought, he remained faithful and he finished. These three things determine the heart of a man or woman of God but the ultimate one is to finish. Paul said we need to eagerly look forward. Not look to the now, not to the past but to the future and we need to be looking eagerly not all gloomy! Quit looking back and saying it was easier before. Quit looking in other directions so you can please your own self. Set your eyes on Jesus, the ultimate goal and prize who is also the author and refiner of you. Paul said, I fought a good fight, I finished the race and I remained faithful. He knew there was a crown of righteousness waiting for him. This is why we can, IN ALL THINGS GIVE THANKS, because we know someday it will all be over.

Dan 4:28 "But all these things did happen to King Nebuchadnezzar.

     What things happened to Nebuchadnezzar? Daniel tried to warn him through the interpretation of a dream, verses 24-26. If he didn't watch out and repent he was going to become an animal and eat like a cow. What an encouraging word to give to the man they called the king of kings. The man that everyone had to bow down to. This man Daniel was certainly an adventuresome man. It took a lot of guts to tell the king of kings this exciting news. But God was trying to reach deep into Nebuchadnezzars heart to change him. Nebuchadnezzar had become complacent. He had become so pleased with himself and all of the great accomplishments he had done that he forgot God had enabled him to do them. So one day while walking on the flat roof of his royal palace in Babylon, he looked out across the city and said something like this: I am so good, look at this great city that I built by my mighty power! In other words DANG I'M GOOD! Just as he got his last word out about how great he was God spoke and in my words said No No Nebby out to the field you go. He was driven out to a field and began grazing grass with the cows they were probably fattening up for his table. His hair grew out like eagles feathers and his finger nails grew out to look like birds claws. What a thing to happen to the man that was called the king of kings.

     Here was a man that ignored one of the greatest proven prophets of all times, Daniel. Like I said before, Daniel was an adventurer. Here was a young Hebrew man brought into captivity when Israel was conquerred by the Babylonians. He becomes famous for his stand for God and his interpretation of another dream King Nebuchadnezzar had. He not only wrote down the words in the book of Daniel but he lived every word in it. Daniel had studied Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Samuel and Moses. All of the writings of Gods word and the prophesies they had already presented to Gods people. He outlived 4 Kings and three nations. Faced lions, knelt in a window and prayed so everyone could see him, after they told him not to and he stood his ground for the great Yahweh of Israel in a pagan land. He lived to a very old age for the true King of kings and Lord of lords, living a life filled with great adventure. Definantly not an ordinary, self seeking man. He knew why his great nation fell and determined in his heart not to follow after its example, not allowing himself to fall into any type of idolatry especially one of self pleasing, self gratifying worship of what great things he had accomplished.

     There is a great adventure awaiting every born again believer of Jesus Christ. We can choose to be like King Nebuchadnezzar or we can choose to be like Daniel. Adventure will keep you young and full of life like Daniel had. Sure he faced death, threatenings by enemies, lions and tigers and bears , O My. But he outlived them all. Nebuchadnezzar chose the other route of complacency and yes after a few years of grazing for his dinner he did repent and confess there was only one God in heaven, but after that you don't hear of him again.

     Here is another example of a great adventure, In Matthew chapter 10 Jesus sends out 12 men. No ordination papers, no seminary, no bible college.Just Jesus telling them to go tell all the Jews about Him. Cast out devils, heal the sick, give site to the blind and hearing to the deaf. Oh by the way just like they want to kill me they are going to want to kill you. Don't be afraid, it will be ok, just shout it from the roof tops! Now go and have fun preaching my word. What an adventure! You never know what is going to be waiting for you around the next corner. How exciting and how scared they must have been. But they got up and went out preaching Gods word. How much better could it get.
      It doesn't matter who you are, your life is what you determine to make it. You can be a Nebuchadnezzar or a Daniel, a self seeker or a God seeker. It is all up to “you”. If you go for Christ and walk in His Spirit, denying yourself and taking up your cross daily, doesn't that sound a lot better than ending your life eating like a cow. When you step out in faith believing, God will step out and make the way where there seems to be no way. Then when you are walking around looking at everything that has happened in your life you can say, with all sincerity, what an awesome God we serve!

     So do not allow fear of the unknown to stop the great adventure God has planned for you. You never know what door of opportunity is awaiting your life. If you will remember this one thing, Adventure will keep you young and full of life. Complacency will make you age to quick.

Heb 10:39 But we are not like those who turn away from God to their own destruction. We are the faithful ones, whose souls will be saved.

    Jesus is not a substitute for boredom, He is the way and the means to break us and remake us into a useful vessel fit for His use in the kingdom of GOD. The Psalmist said it this way, Psalm 34:18(nlt) God is close to the broken hearted and He rescues those whose spirit is crushed. No, Jesus is definitely not a substitute for boredom and yes he is going to crush you but you have to be willing to be broken. This is why the writer of Hebrews says those words in 10:38 I will take no pleasure in anyone who turns away. He will take no pleasure? In what? Quitters! People who thought it might be interesting to try out this Christian thing and when the crusher started doing its work, POW, they quit.

     Revelation 3:15 says this in the first part of the verse, I know all things you do. This is a scary thought for a believer. He knows our thoughts, He knows our actions, He knows everything you do. Think about that. He knows if you have quit. You might still be going to church, but you have quit. Why? Maybe because you are serving God for the wrong reason and you have become bored with Jesus. Me! Not me! Maybe on the outside you appear to be on fire, but on the inside you are as cold as ice. Hot and cold together make what? Lukewarm. What happens when you become lukewarm? Revelation 3:16 says he will spit you out of His mouth! Wow! He tells us back in verse 15, I wish you were hot or cold. The reason is when you are hot you are on fire for the Lord. When you are cold Jesus can build a fire under you. But when you are lukewarm you think everything is great and you have no problems. How can Jesus talk to you and tell you anything is wrong, if you think everything is great? Lukewarm people will not listen to instruction and they don't want to change.

     Back in Hebrews 10:39 it says we are not like those who turn away from God to their own destruction. “Nope” we are the faithful ones, whose souls will be saved. The writer wrote this in all sincerity under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. But we still need to be careful. 1 Corinthians10:12(nlt) If “you” think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall. The New King James says it this way; let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.

You want to backslide, say you never will. Go on say it. I guaranty within a few weeks or maybe months, you will. I do not want to be Mr. Negative but you will be challenged on your words. Thank God Jesus is always with you to catch you when you fall. When you think you are strong you will find out how weak you really are. Joel 3:10 says it all. Let the weak say I am strong. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2:3 I was with you in weakness. We need to admit we are weak. It is only God who strengthens you and we receive everything from Him. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2:5 your faith should not be in mans wisdom but in the power of God. So put your trust in yourself aside and be careful of what you say, because when you have to eat your own words they can be bitter. Just ask Peter when you get to heaven what it felt like when the rooster crowed and he remembered those words he said to Jesus, I will never deny you. Did he repent? Yes! And he continued on to be a great disciple, Apostle and preacher of the Gospel until the day they hung him upside down on a cross because he refused to deny his Lord Jesus. Be the faithful one whose soul will be saved. Don't be consumed in pride.

1Pe 2:9 But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God's very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for He called you out of the darkness into His wonderful light.

     Did you know darkness is only a state of mind? Now that's hard to believe when you're the one looking for the light switch isn't it? But darkness is only present because the light is hidden, it is obscured by something in its path. If you stand in a dark room, for a short period of time, the pupil of the eye grows out as far as it will go and bits of light begin to show and collect on the part of your brain that forms an image from those small bits of light. No, you can't see clearly but you can make out enough to find the switch for the light, turn it on and you can see clearly. This is how the Gospel works too. God, in His infinite mercy and grace, gets just enough light to you for you to be able see Him in His Son Jesus Christ. When you see Him that is what turns on the light switch of your heart so you can get a clearer view of all that is waiting for you when you believe and trust in His light.

     Darkness is all over this world hiding and obscuring the light of God. Light is what makes everything perceptual. It is what opens up the sense of sight so you can see clearly. John 8:12 Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, "I am the light of the world. If you follow Me, you won't have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life." The “if” is what obscures the light of Christ. If we follow HIM. This is why darkness is all over the world. People have so many ifs planted into them by the Prince of darkness. Jesus came for this reason Acts 26:18 To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me. Darkness does not like the light and tries to control our lives by amplifying the ifs in our lives. If I follow Jesus I will not get to have fun, I'll have to give everything away, I can't do what I want, if, if, if, if! If only we could FOCUS on the light.

     Jesus said in Rev 5:10 He has made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth. Now here is a different if. If we choose JESUS , we become what? Kings and priests! You are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God's very own possession and we shall reign on earth. Not only that, we will live forever with HIM. Where is the Devil going to live forever? HELL! Where is JESUS going to live forever? HEAVEN! Wow, what a decision to make. Heaven or Hell. Is it that hard a decision? It must be, because there sure are a lot of people living in darkness and not even trying to find the light switch. People need to put away their Ifs.

     Let me help you with the ifs. Hebrews 11:24(nlt) It was by faith that Moses, when he grew up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. 25 He chose to share the oppression of God's people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He thought it was better to suffer for the sake of Christ than to own the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to his great reward. Moses refused all of the wealth and privileges of being the son of the leader of the greatest nation of that day. He could have had every or any woman he wanted and as many of them as he could want. He could have all of the finest clothes, food, alcohol, houses and even armies if he wanted. You see that if? If he wanted. He made a decision and refused it all, choosing to share in the oppression of Gods people rather than the Pleasures of sin that loose their pleasure very quickly.

     Here is another if. Revelation 20:15(nlt) And anyone whose name was not found recorded in the Book of Life was thrown into the lake of fire. Revelation 21:21(nlt) The twelve gates were made of pearls each gate from a single pearl! And the main street was pure gold, as clear as glass. 22  I saw no temple in the city, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 And the city has no need of sun or moon, for the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its light. 24 The nations will walk in its light, and the kings of the world will enter the city in all their glory. 25 Its gates will never be closed at the end of day because there is no night there. 26 And all the nations will bring their glory and honor into the city. 27 Nothing evil will be allowed to enter, nor anyone who practices shameful idolatry and dishonesty but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life. Here we have the the Book of Life mentioned twice. No name in it, Hell. Name written in it, Heaven and light all the time if you choose Jesus. All of the ifs are nothing but a sign of the last days (2Timothy 3:4), self seeking (Luke 18:14) and prideful people(proverbs 16:18). So,again, I ask where do you want to spend eternity

Amos 3:3 Can two walk together, except they be agreed?

     In the New Living Testament this verse of scripture is expressed in a way that makes very good sense: Can two people walk together without agreeing on the direction? One day I was with my grandson walking into Target. I was going in there for two specific things but my grandson wanted to look at other things, not bad things, but not what I wanted to do. I had a mindset to get my two things and get out, but I am a grandpa. So we worked things out. We went together and got my two things, then we walked around trying to find what he wanted to look at, couldn't find anything, paid and left. This is what walking in agreement means to me. There is a definite direction, in a definite procedure, directed by the senior man leading and making the decisions. Sounds great on paper and it works great with my grandson but it doesn't work that easy in the Kingdom of God.

     Pro 18:24(nlt) There are "friends" who destroy each other, but a real friend sticks closer than a brother. The King James version says, A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly. It is easy to walk in agreement with a friend that is closer than a brother, then there's that other guy who is out to destroy you. Does this really happen in the church? WOW! In the church? Yes it does. But we have to be friendly with each other no matter what. Pro 19:27(nlt) If you stop listening to instruction, my child, you will turn your back on knowledge. There are a lot of people in the church who do this one thing, they stop listening. When a person stops listening, they stop learning Gods principles and precepts and they begin turning their back on knowledge. This makes it extremely hard to walk in agreement with that person. Too many times we isolate that person or they begin isolating themselves getting left out. But these people are Gods people and it is up to those that are listening to work with and get them back walking in agreement.

     Proverbs 18:1(nkjv) A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire; He rages against all wise judgment. Jude 1:18(nlt) They told you that in the last times there would be scoffers whose purpose in life is to satisfy their ungodly desires.19 These people are the ones who are creating divisions among you. They follow their natural instincts because they do not have God's Spirit in them. 20 But you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith, pray in the power of the Holy Spirit. Does this make sense? I hope it does. People who get off to themselves and do their own thing are still people. People that God really loves. Believers are to build each other up, praying in the Spirit, not just praying for the ones who are walking in agreement with them but also praying for those who have isolated themselves, convincing themselves they are right. Jude 1:22(nlt) And you must show mercy to those whose faith is wavering. 23 Rescue others by snatching them from the flames of judgment. Show mercy to still others, but do so with great caution, hating the sins that contaminate their lives. John 15:13 (nlt) There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends. Can you grasp this concept? We, who are in agreement, are to love, work with and contend for those who are not. We can not show the love and the fellowship to just easy people to love. If that was so no one would ever stay saved. Ecclesiastes 4:12(nlt) A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken. Every person in the Kingdom of God needs a friend and not just a friend in Jesus. Where are you at today? Are you isolated and alone or are you walking in agreement and fellowship with Gods people, going to church and serving with love. Either way affects your life, good or bad.

     It all gets to one thing. Decision. We need to decide to work with people who are not easy and if you are isolating yourself quit it and get your life working right in harmony with what God is doing. Hold yourself accountable, work together with each other in the name of the LORD. Mat 18:19(nlt) "I also tell you this: If two of you agree here on earth concerning anything you ask, My Father in heaven will do it for you. 20 For where two or three gather together as My followers, I am there among them." Remember it takes at least two people to make a church.

James 1:2 Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.

     America was once called “The Land of Opportunity”. Life was not easy but out of extreme hardship, cruel times and hard work, this nation was established and became one of the strongest, greatest nations in the world. Our ancestors had no cell phones, video games or television but they did have vision and purpose. They came in leaky ships that took weeks to cross the perilous Atlantic ocean and we complain if we are stuck in traffic. Ministers of God’s word carved out churches in the wilderness leading strange people with a completely different language than anything they had ever heard. But they persevered with Gods mission to make disciples of all nations while going through horrendous trials and tribulations.

     So what do we do when we go through our struggles? Do we persevere? Do we consider it an opportunity for great joy? Do we take full advantage of the situation and look for what God is trying to achieve in our life through his great power and mercy? Or do we fall deep into the pit of despair?

     Paul said this in Philippians 2:5 You must have the same attitude of Christ and in Hebrews 12:2b the writer says because of joy awaiting Him, He endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Yes, there might be some shame, or what we consider shame anyway when you go through what you go through. But, remember Christ’s attitude? His was an attitude of great joy! Not because the whip tickled or the nails piercing His hands and feet felt good. No! He had great joy because of the end results! The saving of our souls.

     The Psalmist writes in 126:5 Those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of JOY! Psalm 30:5b says weeping may last through the night but JOY comes in the morning. And finally in Psalm 30:11 the writer gives us this, You have turned my mourning into JOYFUL dancing, you have taken my clothes of mourning and clothed me with JOY. So if you are going through it remember this one thing. Psalm 37:23a The LORD directs the steps of the godly. If GOD leads you to It, he will lead you through it. With every step you take GOD is walking with you, you have to keep walking with HIM. Give your all to HIM and keep on following in HIS steps.

Psalm 62:1(nlt)- I wait quietly before God, for my victory comes from HIM.

     How many times has God told me this? 1 Thessalonians 4:11(nkj) tells us to aspire to lead a quiet life and in the King James version it puts it this way, study to be quiet. Do we talk too much or do we just keep repeating ourselves over and over and over again telling God the same thing we just told Him five minutes ago and five minutes before that. Matthew 6:7(nlt) when you pray don't babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. Does God have bad hearing,is He loosing His memory? He is old you know. No! God is not a deaf and dumb idol. He is the all seeing, all knowing, all hearing omnipotent GOD! Psalm3:4- He heard me out of His holy hill; Psalm 6:8 he hears the voice of your weeping; Psalm 34:4- I sought the LORD and He heard me; Psalm 34:6- this poor man cried and thee LORD heard me. Is this enough? All the way through Gods word it talks about God hearing our prayers. He hears you,Ok! But we need to be quiet and learn to listen to Him.

     We always want God to hear us. The part that is lacking in our relationship with our God is shutting up long enough to hear Him. Psalm 46:10- Be still and know that I am GOD. Be still! Me be still? What did you say? I can't be still I have to be about my fathers business. How do you know it is his business if you don't sit still long enough to hear what he wants. Psalm 81:13 Oh that my people would listen to me. Can you hear our Fathers heart? Sounds broken and hurt to me. Can't you feel his loving hand on your shoulder or are we so busy that we ignore that loving touch of His precious hand.

     Father I am so sorry for telling you my same problems over and over again when deep down I know you heard me and tried to answer me the first time but you couldn't because I was too busy telling you again. I am greatfull  you love me and you are so patient with me. Help me LORD to be quiet and wait on you so my strength will be renewed. Teach me LORD to fulfill your desires for my life while commiting this life to you, knowing that my times are in your hands. Father, help me to guard my mouth, keeping my heart and mind on you. Keep me striveing for your will, trusting you in every situations that comes my way.      Teach me LORD to wait.

Mat 19:26 But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.

     How many times have you heard or spoken those infamous words “ That is impossible”? I my self have used them to many times. But Jesus was a possibility thinker. He said with God ALL things are possible. So why do we think the way we think? Simple, we try to humanly rationalize everything to fit our own known abilities. We need to quit thinking like a human and think with the Word of God.

     What limits us is us. God has given unto us, through His Son, the ability to think like Him. Jesus said (Mat 17:20 kjv) I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. If we only accomplish what we believe we will not accomplish very much. If we could hold to the facts of Gods word, link it with the faith that He has given to us, the works that we do would be even greater than the works Christ did while walking here on earth (John 14:12). The beginning of Mat.17:20 has the clue and I left it out until now. What you believe sets the limits of your abilities

     Most Christians, myself included, allow a big thing called fear to limit their belief level. We are intimidated by our enemy, the Devil, by points of doubt and unbelief. Most of them are valid points to an ordinary human being. But what does that have to do with us. We are not ordinary, common human beings. (2Co 5:17nlt) This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! Look at that! You belong to who? Christ! All things become what? New! You are a new person, not wrapped up in old fears and intimidation's, but a new creation with the mind of Christ. Php 2:5(kjv) Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: (nlt) You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Attitude, you need an attitude! Not a Mr. or Mrs. Cool know it all attitude. But an attitude of confidence like Jesus had in who He was and in who's He was. He was Gods Son. Show me somewhere in Gods word where Jesus was intimidated. Aren't you a child of God (Rom 8:16)? There was no arrogance in Jesus . He simply Knew who He was and He had an extremely close relationship with His Father. So what is our excuse? Lazy, indifferent, scared, didn't know, I could go on and on and on. But excuses bring us back to the start. Our saying it is impossible. Nothing is impossible to a believer. We simply need to believe.

     Work out your unbelief by exercising your faith. (Ecc 11:4 kjv) He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap. Don't be afraid to step out of the boat. Only one man asked Jesus if he could come to Him on the water, Peter. Peter might have had a big mouth and said a lot of the wrong things at the wrong time, but he did take a few steps on that stormy sea before fear did grab him and he sank. Yes he cried out to Jesus and Jesus had to rescue him but at least he tried. Is it time for you to step out of your comfortable boat? Jesus will still rescue you if you fail. But if you never step out what will you be missing? Go ahead sit, watch, observe, wait. God is always there to rescue you and He will wait.

Zechariah 4:6- This is the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.

     Isn't this a marvelous word? We look at this and see the great expectancy of God towards His people. He expects us to believe it and we do to some extent. Then comes the mountain in verse 7. We look at the mountain and forget the might and power of Gods Spirit working in our lives to change that mountain into a flat plain.

     God told the man of God to shout GRACE,GRACE to the mountain. This is what God wants us to shout to all of our mountains! GRACE GRACE! Grace that is sufficient for all things! Grace that is sufficient to carry all of your problems, not just some of your problems, all of your problems! Grace, that if it is applied to your prayer life, you will see the plain instead of the mountain.

     We have a bad habit of building mountains instead of removing them. I think of the city of Los Angeles and the mountains of garbage they try to blend in with the surroundings by covering it with dirt and landscaping with trees and shrubs so nothing really stands out as a trash dump. But it is still a mountain of trash. This is what we do with our lives. We build mountains of trash in our lives and try covering them them up so they blend in with our Christian life. What we need to do is start shouting GRACE to those mountains and get rid of them. Don't allow those mountains to spoil the view of Gods plain, level, smooth, uncluttered with trash, life.

     Psalm 1:3 tells us to be like a tree planted by the waters that brings forth its fruit in its season whose leaves never wither and whatever he does will prosper. You can't get good fruit by planting on a trash heap. It has to be planted in good soil with good water and good nutrition. All they retrieve from those trash dumps is methane gas and they burn it off.

     What is your life built on? The last verse of Psalm 1 tells us the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the ungodly shall perish. Trash decomposes, decays, dies. You make the choice of living in a trash dump or an orchard. 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. They wouldn't listen and wanted to stay in their trash dump but look at what our gracious God says in verse 18 ; So the LORD must wait for you to come to Him so He can show you His love and compassion. For the LORD is a faithful God. Blessed are those who wait for His help. He will wait for you to come out of the trash dump and learn to wait on Him where you will find out His grace is always sufficient.

Joh 14:15 "If you love Me, obey My commandments.

Col 2:6 And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow Him.

Col 2:7 Let your roots grow down into Him, and let your lives be built on Him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.

Col 2:8 Don't let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ.

Col 2:9 For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body.

Col 2:10 So you also are complete through your union with Christ, who is the head over every ruler and authority.

Col 2:11 When you came to Christ, you were "circumcised," but not by a physical procedure. Christ performed a spiritual circumcision—the cutting away of your sinful nature.

Col 2:12 For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with Him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead.

Col 2:13 You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for He forgave all our sins.

Col 2:14 He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.

Luk 6:46 "So why do you keep calling Me 'Lord, Lord!' when you don't do what I say?

     All of these are mere words to anyone who does not know Christ. But to a believer they are words to check your own heart by. Jesus said , If you love Me. How many people profess to loving Christ? There are so many that I know you could never count them all. How many people do you know that call Jesus Lord Lord? Again as many, probably, that say they love Him. But Jesus says, If, you love me why don't you do what I say?

      In Christ dwells all of the fullness of God. Correct? Where do we say Christ lives? In our hearts. Then why do we do the things we know are right? Because we love Him. Then why don't we do the things we know that are right? Is it because we only love Him part time when it is convenient? And when we just want to openly and blatantly disobey Him are we saying I hate you God? No, we are simply saying I love me more.

     We were dead because of our sins, correct? Did Christ cancel all of the records of charges against us? Yes! Can we trust that He has forgiven all of our sins? Of course we can! Then we can certainly trust Him that we were raised to a new life in him and that God, The Holy Spirit, will empower us to live a life that is victorious in Christ? Without a doubt, well maybe a little doubt, ok most of the time a lot of doubt. But doesn't He still continue making us alive anyway? Yes, Of course He does. If He didn't we would all be hell bound sinners.

     So it all comes back to one word, LOVE. 1Jn 4:15 All who confess that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. 1Jn 4:16 We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in His love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.

1Jn 4:17 And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face Him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world. Again with all the love. As we live in God our love grows more perfect . Isn't that what we want? Perfection in our lives! 1Jn 4:18 Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced His perfect love. Do we really want to fear punishment? I don't! I want to live and be alive in Christ! My desire is to be cut off from MY sinful desire! The question is, what do you want?

Pro 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.

     Proverbs 3:5 has always been hard for me. To fully abandon my own self, put my trust in anything other than my abilities as a man. What is GOD thinking? But then again He is the God who made the universe and I have a hard time making a good cup of coffee. So what am I thinking?
     David said in Psalm 31:15(nlt) My future is in your hands. Your hands? Come on David don't you know how rough his hands are? But I know, I know his hands are rough but they also bare the scars of the nails that were put through them on Calvarys cross for my sins. My future, what does it hold? Is it only pain, suffering and lack? Is that all there ever will be? Or are your hands rough and calloused because you are constantly having to pull on the reins of my life, to try to get me going in your direction? Only a fool would say there is no God, But how foolish am I when I don't trust You. Am I not being the same as the fool who says there is no God.
     Ephesians 3:20-21(nlt) Now all glory to God, who is able through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitly more than what we might ask or think. Glory to Him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen! Galatians 6:9(nlt) So lets not get tired of doing good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don't give up. Gods timing is Gods timing. If you don't like Gods timing, tough. You heard me, tough! We need to be patient or we will keep going in the same direction and that direction is your own. God takes that same hand, that same rough calloused hand, and opens doors for us to go through. But we aren't willing or ready when He opens them because we are to busy trying to open our own doors. When God opens a door it is full of blessing, opportunity, riches and glory. It is time to give up and let God have free rein in your life and trust Him all the way. We need to take our bridle we try to control God with off of Him and allow God to put that bridle on us allowing him to have full control.