CONFIDENT

Philippians 1:6 (NKJV) 6  being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;
    Walking on the beach I noticed a dead bird, not too far away a group of birds huddled in the sand, on the the outside of the flock stood a bird with one leg. Curious I approached, he hopped and began to fly, as his wings lifted him off the sand he looked like any other, the imperfection was not noticed.
    The christian is often not seen or rejected in todays society, many have faded into the back ground and become obscure in their walk. Some stand out and are willing to express their walk with the Creator, the norm however is to blend in and not draw attention. If the twelve had rejected the call of God on their lives would Jesus have remained silent, if the most unusual Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ had no one, would He still have died for sin? The answer is Yes and again Yes, God had to put sin in its place regardless of man and his choices, there had to be sacrifice and God is willing to stand in the gap for His creation. "According to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission. Hebrews 9:22 (NKJV) Let us be confident that the work of the Lord will be complete in those who trust Him, "Walk worthy!"
Heavenly Father in the blood of your Son we are made clean, help us to walk worthy of The Sacrifice that set us free from deaths curse. May our lives be as vocal as our sins once were, may every step take those around us closer to You. Amen

ALL

Romans 3:23 (NKJV) 23  for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
   Two boys were pushing each other off a pile of dirt in the yard, one would proclaim, "I am king of the mountain," then the other would win and do the same thing, neither was victorious, it was just kid fun. I've played that game and it was great fun, I have now trusted my life to Christ, matured, and realized many are still playing the same game in an adult way.
    When Jesus is confronted by a man seeking truth He responds, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. Mark 10:18 (NKJV), many believe they are good but that goodness is only in the mind of that person. Jesus who proved to be the only One living in this flesh, that would live sinlessly, reminds all, that only God is good and He alone determines what is Righteous and Holy.
    Friend, have you been living as if you were king of the mountain, please look around many think the same way, the Truth is, "ALL have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God," All need The Savior, Jesus.
Heavenly Father our lives betray what we are, many sit home when you have called us out to worship, many are playing in the dirt, while their souls slip away. Help us to live in this day as if it were our last, may every breath be for You. Amen

NEAR TO HEAR

Ecclesiastes 5:1 (NKJV) 1 Walk prudently when you go to the house of God; and draw near to hear rather than to give the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they do evil. 
    A senior said recently, "The Truth is all I want," as he confided in me the realization of this disinformation age is dawning, most do not want truth they simply desire satisfaction. Listen to Paul warn Timothy, "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables." 2 Timothy 4:3-4 (NKJV) how sad, that we would forsake Truth, for self serving.
    However that is the nature of sin and sin is a selfish devise to satisfy ones desires, it silences the Voice of the Holy Spirit and quenches His teaching. Have you been to Gods house lately, there you will find His Word and His Presence, if, you have first found Him. "Draw near to hear God and He will reveal His Truth to you.
Heavenly Father help us to be still and hear, do not let the noise of this world silence the Truth for us, for our sakes oh God. Help us to know your Way and walk in that Truth, may our time spent in your Presence please You. Help that we may draw near to You and obey. Amen

JOYFUL SOUND

Psalm 89:15 (NKJV) 15 Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound! They walk, O LORD, in the light of Your countenance.
    In Genesis 3:8 we read, Adam and Eve hid from the sound of God walking in the garden. There must have been before the fall of these two, an expectation of the presence of God coming to meet with them, a natural movement of the Creator meeting with His chosen to fellowship. I can imagine the Presence of God moving among the hills today, in the mountains, through the trees and sense His Power and Presence.
    For those who belong to Him, there is the excitement of waiting on God and the desire to see Him work, for others there is the fear and dread of coming judgment and death itself. When you have heard the "joyful sound" of God, your desire is to walk with Him. Do you know Him, I pray you are listening for Him today.
Heavenly Father we long for your Presence, help us today to walk by your Power in this world so others see You. May even our breath, be pleasing in your sight as we seek to know You and your Way. Amen

A GREAT WORK

Nehemiah 6:3 (NKJV) 3 So I sent messengers to them, saying, "I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?"
    A little fellow was building a sand castle, it was late and time to go, his mother called but he would not leave his project, in desperation she took him by the arm and began to drag him off the beach, through much protest and flailing limbs he finally came free and said, "Look the water has washed away my castle its your fault, if I had been there I could have saved it!" We must choose our battles carefully, some are doomed to failure.
   Nehemiah, is called by God to rebuild, what God calls us to will succeed, His Way. Know, that many things we have undertaken to do have failed because God was not in it, some projects do make it by sheer will power, but they may not been His Will.
     It is not God's will that anyone perish and not live with Him in Eternity, Jesus says however, "narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it." Matthew 7:14 (NKJV) Do you know that your doing a great work, it is either for God or against Him, time will tell.
Heavenly Father help us to see what we are doing, help us to recognize the work of our hands, help us to know that we are in your Will. Lord may all we do exalt You and may our lives be an example of your Love. Amen

I WILL SING

Psalm 89:1 (NKJV) 1 I will sing of the mercies of the LORD forever; With my mouth will I make known Your faithfulness to all generations.
    Someone recently complained, "The world is falling apart, what are we going to do?" As long as we have life in our bodies God is not finished with us, His call to man is hear and obey, the sole duty of man is to worship the Creator and to specifically trust Jesus Christ as both Lord and Savior. Some may not have the attitude to sing of Gods mercy, that does not mean that those who do should sit quiet.
    Have you trusted Jesus with your whole being, has He by His Grace saved you, then sing my friend for our reward is in Heaven and nothing on earth can keep us from His hands.
Heavenly Father in You we live in You we breath in You there is life forever, may we look to Your mercies and know that we will live forever. Sing my soul for your God is alive and gives more Grace to those who believe in Him. Amen

CONSCIENCE

Acts 24:16 (NKJV) 16  This being so, I myself always strive to have a conscience without offense toward God and men.
    The world seems to have lost its way, once the conscience was venerated as the reason to be morally good, given by God to men to keep them in the Way, the thought of disobeying God made one fear judgment and separation. I saw in the parking lot of a store a group of people following a woman who had walked out with a buggy full of supplies from the store, when confronted she ran while calling on her phone for help, soon a car arrived she hurried to it and left the employees of the store watching. On the bumper of the get away car, "Jesus is my Life" boldly proclaimed.
    Is it any wonder that this generation would deny God in the public arena of politics, "there is no fear of God before their eyes," Psalms 36:1, and should it be a surprise that this generation has no understanding of the conscience, and the work of the Holy Spirit of whom Jesus said, "He will teach you all things." John 14:26
    We must right now turn to God as Ezra and Nehemiah in the Old Testament did, repent and seek God with all our hearts, corporately we must seek God, individually we must be clean before the God of Salvation. Have you checked your conscience today?
Heavenly Father help us today to pray clearly for cleansing, we are in need of real repentance, our hearts need healing and our ways need mending. May we today call for national and world wide revival that all may not be lost in the judgement to come. Amen

FINDS LIFE

Proverbs 21:21 (NKJV) 21  He who follows righteousness and mercy Finds life, righteousness and honor.
    We are in a desperate time in history, an element of evil is rewriting our past, with the intention of deleting and maligning, so that future generations plummet into moral failure. I just found this quote, "Christians have an extremely violent and intolerant history," that is not true and never has been for the Holy Spirit led, servant, of God the Creator. Those who pretend a relationship to the Savior of the world may indeed be violent and intolerant, but they are not Christian.
    Peter writes to the believer in Jesus Christ and the true Christian, "knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts," 2 Peter 3:3 (NKJV) and Paul the Apostle writes to Timothy a servant of God and a real Christian, "But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! 2 Timothy 3:1-5 (NKJV) Friend do not trust the pied pipers of today they neither know God nor His people, they are the intolerant and the violent and they will stand before the Judge of all the earth, we will all be held accountable. With all your might follow "righteousness and mercy," He is Jesus, trust His Word and no other.!!!
Heavenly Father help us to live in this day as those who are set apart to You. May we continue as You have called us to walk in the Light You are. Let us always examine your Word for the Way to live and ignore the attacks of the enemy. Amen

   

PREPARED

Ezra 7:10 (NKJV) 10  For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the LORD, and to do it, ...
   What are you determined to do today, relax, finish that project, get something to eat? We have a mind set for so many things, often they are just things that have little or no value, the real worth of that thing is determined mostly by us. What if you discovered real value, real truth, real sincerity, would your priorities then change?
   For too many the discovery of a relationship with The Creator, is nothing more than passing emotions, a point in time, or an experience, for some He is the only reason we exist. Where do you stand on this Eternal issue, it means the difference between who you are and what you are becoming or what you have become and where you spend eternity?
  Ezra "prepared his heart," for what, to seek God's Heart, that is Jesus, He is the reason we live and exist at this very moment, He intervened (took my place) in judgement, that I might live in and for Him.
Have you prepared your heart, you can, you must seek the Savior of the world, in Him alone is Eternal Life.
Heavenly Father we have no other place to be, than in You, help us to live that others may see the Eternal work you have done in our lives. Amen

YOU MUST

Acts 23:11 (NKJV) ... the Lord stood by him and said, "Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome."
   Have you ever been unprepared for an event, one that caught you by surprise, one that you knew about, but put off. Tests, school projects, public events all seem to have the same affect if, we have not properly prepared. However, there are those times when we know we are ready, all due diligence has been expended and for the moment we are prepared for battle.
   Paul is in the battle of his life, there are factions that wish to kill him even taking an oath of murder, plotting and planning to succeed. The Lord, as always has other plans that man cannot hinder, and the servant of God must go to Rome.
   Friend are you having a difficult time right now, is the trouble of the day overwhelming, take heart if you belong to God, He has a plan that is unfolding for His Glory in your life. If you are still breathing, God is not finished with you yet, there is an appointment you must fulfill, your Rome is just around the corner and the God of Creation will work everything out just as He planned.
Heavenly Father we are not between a rock and a hard place, we belong to You, in You we are blessed in every place we turn. May we consider today and in every moment that follows, You alone are God and "All things work together for good, for those who love You and are the called, according to your Purpose." Amen

MERCY AND TRUTH

Psalm 86:15 (NKJV) 15  But You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious, Long suffering and abundant in mercy and truth. 
   I saw a child recently who had lost all her hair, who looked pale and weak, the sight sent waves of compassion and sadness through everyone who encountered her. She managed a smile and a nod of acceptance as she was rolled into a hospital room, to be comforted after treatment for cancer. A sad picture in deed, so young and frail at the mercy of disease and the help of the doctors.
   Everyday people are exposed to suffering and helplessness in this fast moving society, of bad and even worse news. Earth quakes, famines and floods abound, news of death and starvation on every venue, where is the relief, where is the sanity in this stuff?
   Sin is to blame for societies ills, the fallen nature of mankind is the elephant in the room, the path of righteousness has been forsaken for the path of least resistance, sin has a strangle hold on all of society, sin alone is the culprit of mans lostness. That is why the psalmist can proclaim, God is full of compassion and graciousness, God is long suffering, God abounds in Mercy and in God alone is the Truth that will set us free. How, through the Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, He alone stood in the place of my sinfulness and received my punishment for my sin, He and He alone will set the sinner free. Have you been set free?
Heavenly Father the life of the believer still sees the ugliness of sins curse, it still affects all. However, we praise You oh God, because You have set us free from sins curse of separation from You. You have made the day of judgment for the believer a day of rejoicing. You God, are worthy to be praised for the Love of your creation. Amen

THEY MOCKED

2 Chronicles 36:16 (NKJV) 16  But they mocked the messengers of God, despised His words, and scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against His people, till there was no remedy.
    Recently I heard adults mocking another, there were some bitter words passed, the one mocked was hurt beyond comfort and ran away. We have made inroads into exploring the ocean depths, space that surrounds the earth and discovering the makeup of man, yet we have not plumbed the depth of the human heart and the pain that can be invoked there. "Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap." Galatians 6:7 (NKJV)
    We will go too far, when the conscience no longer responds to our hurtful accusations of others and we find pleasure in destruction. Have you hurt someone, quickly ask forgiveness and repent, go immediately to the offended and beg the forgiveness of the victim. We must not offend, God will stand in the gap and the price you pay may be too high, there may be "no remedy!"
Heavenly Father we are in need of your Truth in all our ways, for your Way is the Light of men. Help us to be loving and encouraging to those around us, help us Lord to stand in the gap for others. May we obey your Word in all we do. Amen

THIS THING

1 Kings 13:34 (NKJV) 34 And this thing was the sin of the house of Jeroboam, so as to exterminate and destroy it from the face of the earth. 
    When my children were younger they often said, "Daddy I want to be like you," that will fill a father with exceptional pride. Our children grow up too fast, imitating their surroundings, they often are mislead by the pier pressure of others, they are tempted to do things we would never have considered in our youth. The child in your home has observed every action and word that has originated from you, the things good and bad in your house have become a part of their decision making process.

    What now happens as adults in their lives has much to do with what they have been taught to consider, as in the kings of the Old Testament, some followed God, most "Did not do as their father David." What happened, they allowed their heart to lead them astray, Jesus says, "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, ...," Mark 7:21 (NKJV) the heart is where Jesus transforms the sinner who needs Him, into a follower. 

     Friend you still have influence over your children it is not to late to say, "Do not let your actions lead your heart astray from the Lord!" Help yourself and your children to know God expects us to follow Him in ALL our ways.

Heavenly Father we need a touch from You, we are in need Oh God, of your hand in our lives. Help us to look up and not at our surroundings. May our thoughts seek You and your ways Lord. Amen

HIS SAINTS

Psalm 85:8 (NKJV) 8  I will hear what God the LORD will speak, For He will speak peace To His people and to His saints; But let them not turn back to folly. 
   A child was misbehaving in the grocery store, his parents were frustrated and threatened not treats if he did not stop, the child replied, "I don't care!" Many have answered the Lord in the same way, when confronted by His Word about sinful living. That is a dreadful place to stand, for God will not allow sin into His Heaven.
   If indeed we know God through the Presence of His Son Jesus, then we must seek a Holy life style, we will not permit sin to rule in our lives, we will hate the sin and desire to put it away. We are often frustrated when sin appears, but peace is soon discovered when we determine to put what comes between us and God away.
Do you have peace today, you will if you do not let sin have a place!
Heavenly Father in You we enjoy the Peace that passes understanding, it is in your Son and through Him only that we know You. Lord help us today to run from the things that hinder us from walking with You. May we always look to You and no other thing. Amen