one day fine..the next day...horrendous.

Our dear Bro. Haney is suffering a disease that is all too common. Just a few days ago our neighbor was diagnosed with the same condition: inoperable brain tumor.

It is remarkable to me how quickly these things come about. My neighbor worked full time and one day just forgot how to drive to work. When her daughter suggested she go to the clinic, she remarked that she did not know how to drive there either. A few hours later at the ER, she was given the grave diagnosis.

One day fine; another day incapable of most anything.

I hear you Lord, you are reminding me to fill each day with love and joy and deal with difficult circumstances that come our way with GUTSY faith.

Dear Lord, touch our dear Bro, Haney, he is such a fine man with such integrity. And touch my neighbor Bev, who really needs your comfort and peace.

Who do people see when they look at you?

Strange question, unless you are a sold-out follower of Jesus.

If you have a made-up mind about this walk with the Lord, then you want people to see Jesus through your face.

You want your spirit to be under Holy Spirit control. Paul said he, "died daily", why?, because his flesh kept wanting to be in charge. He "died" out to the flesh through prayer and reading the Word. It works!

Our flesh usually drags us down paths leading AWAY from God.

If we had our way we would:

hold grudges,
live for the moment,
get even with our enemies,
follow after lustly pleasures,
watch and listen to anything that seemed pleasureable to our mind and body,
live for money, or power, or pride,
anything enticing...need I go on?


But.....we rise up after being in the WORD and in prayer.... with power and joy which gives us strength to live above sin.

And we may not even know it, but OUR FACES WILL SHINE.

So, truly, we look different to others when they see us.

Before my husband was saved, he ran into a newly spirit-filled friend and this friend's face was shining. He saw the light of God in his face. And when his friend invited him to a revival service, there was a pull on his heart. He was not turned off by the encounter; it was like a MAGNET to his soul.

He went to the service, heard the singing and the preaching, felt the love of God so strong, he fell to his knees in repentance and began speaking with tongues (filled with the Holy Spirit) in just a few minutes.

He has never been the same!

Please read this:
John 1:18 KJV
No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son,
which is in the bosom of the Father,he hath declared him.

God has made himself known to us, how?
By wrapping himself in the human body of Jesus the Christ; his ONLY body, flesh or Son.

Read the same verse in the New Living Translation:

No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father's heart. He has revealed God to us.


Even Jesus, as he walked this Earth wanted people to see God when they looked at him. He didn't want people to say, "oh, there's Mary's son, the carpenter!" John the Baptist, who was his natural cousin, even saw Jesus as God, when he walked toward him one day. John declared, "Behold, the Lamb of God!"
Who do people see when they look at you?

Grasshoppers and Giants.

Grasshoppers have a view of the lowest particles on the ground, before they jump of course. Then they briefly see things through the eyes of a four or five foot tall person. But then they fall down again to see just the pepples and grass next to them.

I loved the sermon Bro. Toney preached at NAYC 2011. He asked the question: "Who told the Hebrew spies that they were the size of grasshoppers, anyway?" Joshua and Caleb didn't that is for sure!

Someone put that in their minds. They were normal, healthy sized men; all of them. Of the twelve spies, though, ten listened and believed the report that they were grasshoppers compared to the giants in the promised land they were spying on.

Numbers 13:33 "And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight."

Satan lies to us...he whispers in our consciousness that we are small, powerless and insignificant. It is so true. For so long I thought it was just me that he lied to in that manner. But no, he's been playing that trick on people for thousands of years.

I want to see myself how I really am. I am made in the image of God.
He filled me with His spirit. Our great God lives in us, so he makes us great and big and powerful. We really are .....giants....!

Thanks Bro. Toney for that great thought.

God swore.

God made two promises.(In Hebrews 6)
In order to make it more trustworthy and official-sounding he sealed his promises with an oath. He swore not "on a stack of Bibles" nor on "his mother's grave" as we have heard people do, HE SWORE ON HIMSELF...Hebrews 6.
God cared so much that we would believe His Word that he came down to our verbal level and SWORE that he would keep his Word.

People let us down...all the time. They say one thing and do another. Businesses let us down. We have become a society suffering from mistrust.
I recently heard a friend telling of her home country where they have had to resort to hiring armed guards to patrol her fenced (gated) community to keep them safe. She chooses not to live there. Those that live within the fence have imprisoned themselves for safety. People cannot be trusted.

God has promised to bless us as his children and to multiply our lives. He swore he would. How much more proof do we need? He cannot lie. God will bless and multiply your life.

Let's play Simon Says...

Games are fun, especially when people desire to play and are willing to play by the rules.

I looked this up on eHOW.com.

How to Play Simon Says....

Instructions
The Basics
1 Line up the group across from you, 10 to 20 feet away.
2 Tell the players that they should all obey you if you first say the words "Simon says."
3 Tell them that they are out of the game if they follow an order that doesn't begin with "Simon says," or if they fail to do what Simon says to do.
4 Begin by saying something like, "Simon says, put your hands on your head."
5 Look to make sure everybody has put their hands on their heads.
6 Give another order such as, "Simon says, stand on one foot." Check again.
7 Continue giving orders. Mix it up and say something like, "Raise your right hand," without the preface "Simon says."
8 Call out the players who raise their hands.
9 Play until one person is left. This is the winner.
10 Let that person give the commands for the next round.


And now let's play a game where the prize has eternal value:
Simon was the first preacher to address the crowd that had gathered in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost where the early Christians were filled with the Holy Ghost.

Listen to his commands and see if you could win "the game".

1. Simon (Peter) says, "Repent"
2. Simon (Peter) says, "Be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins"
3. Simon (Peter) says, "And ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost"

Read the rest of the text in Acts of the Apostles chapter 2....

I find that so many Christians trust the directions on how to be saved and born again from people that are not even quoting the Bible. They take scriptures out of context, they say, "Accept Jesus as your personal saviour", which is NOT EVEN IN THE BIBLE. No where did Jesus or the Apostles ever tell the unsaved to accept Jesus!

If you really want to know how it was done, follow the example of the Apostles; do what they did.

they repented...
they were water baptized in Jesus' name...
they spoke with tongues as the Spirit game them utterance....

if you want to know more...
I suggest you open this pdf....
http://www.intohismarvelouslight.com/resources/InteractivePDF_KJV.pdf


p.s. This game may have originated from long ago using Bible references???? Anybody know?

Popping up

You see or hear some terrible news of someone acting in an ungodly way. You are shocked but in time you step back and ponder. I ponder so much that it hurts my head sometimes. As one ponders and takes the entire picture into perspective a hidden motive may become more obvious. Under the evil popping up out of the ground, one will find the love of money.


The love of money is behind all evil... I didn't write that; this is Scripture. "ALL EVIL"?, my pondering mind says. Yes, all evil.

Here are just a few examples of loving money...

-a mother sees her friend's nice things; yet she struggles, she is tempted to leave her marriage and seek after a wealthy new guy...
-a father is tired of being so financially strapped that he is tempted to just "chuck" the marriage and fatherhood.
-A single man marries the wrong lady. He marries another because she has connections and money.
-A single woman does not marry for love but for advantage.
-A preacher fails to preach biblical truth since truth may offend his parishioners ie:support base.
-People can step on others in their effort to climb the ladder of success.
-A skilled physican goes into the field of medicine that TAKES life since there is guaranteed income.
-A person takes a job where the focus of the company is inherently destructive to individuals and families.
-People are tempted to dress immodestly to attract another for personal advantage.




When a believer gets the money section in order, he/she is so much stronger. I know some people that are blessed abundantly and their children are blessed as well JUST because they have the MONEY question settled.

This is not a blog about tithing....but honestly, giving God our first fruits is so fundamental, yet people nit-pick about it. If the patriarchs got it...and the New Testament church gave even more than their firstfuits or tenth, why do we question the power and truth of the tithe?

It reminds me of speaking with tongues. It makes no sense, yet it is a God thing. When we surrender all of ourselves to God, we begin to worship him and it's no time that we lose ourself in the Spirit of God and a beautiful utterance comes out of our mouth.

Advice from a friend; don't mess with money. Trust God, give him the first fruits, and don't covet. Just tell the Lord when you need or want something. He will provide. He's the best daddy you could ever dream of. "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom."Luke 12:32

Next time you see evil popping out of the ground...look at the roots,you will find the love of money. Put God back in charge and trust HIM for all of your needs.

You are favored.

What is your favorite?

We all have our favorites. Teams, restaurants, stores, brands, authors....

You are God's favorite. How can I be so sure? He told us over and over.

This is why we can be a victim of jealous behavior. Others can sense that you have God's favor too, and see his blessings on your life. Remember Joseph's coat of many colors? Joseph was highly favored, yet hated by his own brothers.

So, walk right into your promises, right into that blessing, walk right into the path that will lead you to the joy God has planned for your life.

Warning: His favored children can also be trusted with huge challenges. God knows that you will not doubt him when things seem difficult.

We know that our God will not send us down a path for no reason. He does not PLAY games with his children. He has a purpose for every pain and twist and turn in our life.

So, we have learned to praise him mightily,though it may be tough, and our tears may flow. But we praise him all the more for a rough path and apparent closed doors knowing that HE alone is the giver of all good things.


For the LORD God [is] a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory:
no good [thing] will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.Psalm 84:11

...no good [thing] will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.
...no good [thing] will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.
...no good [thing] will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.

Do you get it yet?

You are favored, you are the apple of his eye....