2 Peter 1:19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:
Acts 16:14 And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.
Acts 13:22 And when he had removed him, he raised up unto them David to be their king; to whom also he gave testimony, and said, I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after mine own heart, which shall fulfil all my will.
Acts 5:3 But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?
John 13:2 And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him;
Luke 21:34 And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares.
Luke 21:26 Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken.
Luke 12:34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also
Mark 12:30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.
Matthew 15:8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
Matthew 5:8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
Zechariah 8:17 And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour; and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate, saith the LORD.
Daniel 10:12 Then said he unto me, Fear not, Daniel: for from the first day that thou didst set thine heart to understand, and to chasten thyself before thy God, thy words were heard, and I am come for thy words.
Lamentations 3:41 Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in the heavens.
Jeremiah 31:33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
Jeremiah 16:12 And ye have done worse than your fathers; for, behold, ye walk every one after the imagination of his evil heart, that they may not hearken unto me:
Monday, October 18, 2010
Sunday, September 26, 2010
The devil's vine
The other day i was looking at a tree growing on the creek bank beside my house. It was completely covered with an English ivy vine. This tree was several years old and very tall. As i looked in awe at the complete covering of the vine on the tree, every branch, every limb. The only identifying remnant of the tree was the silhouette of its shape. As i pulled out of the driveway i looked back at the tree once more. Throughout the morning i pondered in my mind the tree. What was once a strong, green, leafy tree that was thriving with it's root planted firmly by the water had become a completely lifeless monument in complete submission to the vine. How could a vine takeover this tree to the point that it kills it. The tree was helpless to the vine.
I began to brainstorm about the events leading up to the trees' demise. In the beginning the vine grew on the base of the tree trunk. as it grew it began to attach roots to the base. At that point someone could have cut the vines and stopped it. Left unkempt, the vine gained strength and grew up the entirety of the tree. As it grew upwards it also covered all the branches and limbs. Attached its roots in such quantity that the vine could now independently survive and function as the tree once did. The vine, without ever making a single attack forced the tree to surrender growth. From a distance a person would see a healthy green tree. But a closer examination will tell the story.
The devil operates a lot like this vine. He has the appearance of a tree but really is not. Even a healthy Christian can subdue to the Devil's Vine if left uncared for. At first we pay little attention to the vine and its intentions. We continue to thrive and grow with little more than a distraction. After time we begin to strangle as the vine takes us over and we begin to resemble more vine than tree.
I believe we all can learn from this story. Even the best tree left unattended can lose the victory. If there are no roots growing on your tree, good for you. As for myself, I believe that I will go cut the vine of that tree and see if it can still survive!!
I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. John 15:1
I began to brainstorm about the events leading up to the trees' demise. In the beginning the vine grew on the base of the tree trunk. as it grew it began to attach roots to the base. At that point someone could have cut the vines and stopped it. Left unkempt, the vine gained strength and grew up the entirety of the tree. As it grew upwards it also covered all the branches and limbs. Attached its roots in such quantity that the vine could now independently survive and function as the tree once did. The vine, without ever making a single attack forced the tree to surrender growth. From a distance a person would see a healthy green tree. But a closer examination will tell the story.
The devil operates a lot like this vine. He has the appearance of a tree but really is not. Even a healthy Christian can subdue to the Devil's Vine if left uncared for. At first we pay little attention to the vine and its intentions. We continue to thrive and grow with little more than a distraction. After time we begin to strangle as the vine takes us over and we begin to resemble more vine than tree.
I believe we all can learn from this story. Even the best tree left unattended can lose the victory. If there are no roots growing on your tree, good for you. As for myself, I believe that I will go cut the vine of that tree and see if it can still survive!!
I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. John 15:1
Sunday, August 29, 2010
How small can we be?
Whenever I hear people talk about becoming better Christians to win souls to Jesus it is a noble and grandeur thing. What greater reward will be given and what better difference can one make in another life. There is something else to consider also.
We sometimes must consider that in the entire world there are millions of people and that we could spend our lives witnessing to countless people. In the next ten years if a person told just ten people each day about Jesus.In ten years you will have witnessed to 36500 people. That is incredible, it equals every person in the city I live in. If that is the calling God has put on our lives...............
I am beginning to think that my calling is much smaller than that.What if my walk with God only leads me to a handful of people. There is nothing shameful with bringing just one soul to the Lord. I want to be small enough that God can use me for whatever purpose that He chooses. I don't want to become prideful and think more of myself than I should. Even saving just a couple of people is not to my credit. It is never to our credit to be responsible for doing God's work. We are simple messengers or servants to deliver what God wants us to.
We sometimes must consider that in the entire world there are millions of people and that we could spend our lives witnessing to countless people. In the next ten years if a person told just ten people each day about Jesus.In ten years you will have witnessed to 36500 people. That is incredible, it equals every person in the city I live in. If that is the calling God has put on our lives...............
I am beginning to think that my calling is much smaller than that.What if my walk with God only leads me to a handful of people. There is nothing shameful with bringing just one soul to the Lord. I want to be small enough that God can use me for whatever purpose that He chooses. I don't want to become prideful and think more of myself than I should. Even saving just a couple of people is not to my credit. It is never to our credit to be responsible for doing God's work. We are simple messengers or servants to deliver what God wants us to.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Silver and Gold
All things will return from which they came. Even precious silver and gold that we value in this world and base the value of our money against will tarnish and return over time to the dust of this earth.All things will return to that from which it came. God will still exist. Our body will decay and return to dust,but our soul will still exist.
In the end it will only be us and God as far as we are knowledgeable enough to understand. We can reasonably agree that i am correct in saying that everything in this world will eventually return to its most basic state. Both science and the Bible support these statements.Thus, i give the following hypothesis: if all things return to the most basic state, should our soul not return to God.
We are from God and should return to God. We have to decide while alive if we want to return to God. God decides after we die if we may return. We must be clean and pure without contamination. Just like silver and gold in it's refined form, it holds great value.Purged with fire, metal is cleaned. Jesus is our fire, purging our souls and purifying with his very name.He is our Refiner's Fire
In the end it will only be us and God as far as we are knowledgeable enough to understand. We can reasonably agree that i am correct in saying that everything in this world will eventually return to its most basic state. Both science and the Bible support these statements.Thus, i give the following hypothesis: if all things return to the most basic state, should our soul not return to God.
We are from God and should return to God. We have to decide while alive if we want to return to God. God decides after we die if we may return. We must be clean and pure without contamination. Just like silver and gold in it's refined form, it holds great value.Purged with fire, metal is cleaned. Jesus is our fire, purging our souls and purifying with his very name.He is our Refiner's Fire
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
I am an apostolic pentecostal. I was first saved and baptized in Sept 2002 in Plainview, Ark. at my father's church(UPC). I left there really excited and on fire for God. I had the seeds planted in my heart to serve God with all my might. When I was baptized I asked God to fill me with understanding and when I came up my soul was filled with the Holy Ghost. Since then, I could feel that my purpose was to serve God. I went home in search of a church to worship. I was trying so hard to get in a place that I could feel the way I did at my father's church. In the process i began to compare this and that till i found myself thinking " well, they don't believe just the way i do". then I started to miss a time here and there. Then the unthinkable happened I just quit all together.
Seven years later to the day, in Sept 2009, I found a church. My wife had been going to church with friend of hers. They had to start a new church and my wife was telling me about it during a ride to Jackson to do some shopping. As she was telling me the situation and about the new church and how she would like me to come listen to the pastor something happened... I felt the Holy Ghost stirring in me a little. I had forgotten what it was like to have that feeling and I started thinking about some of the scriptures I had read and all throughout the day i kept thinking about God and how i missed being on fire and having that desire to serve God.
So I told her that I would go with her Wednesday night. Before I go any farther I need to tell that just because I didn't go to church for so long that I still believed in God. I never stopped believing just gave up on church, or so I thought.
On Wednesday night, we went to this small church she had told me so much about and I saw a small group of people that seemed so sincere about God. The unity of the church was impressive and no one hovered me with the usual fake persona of "we are soooo glad you could come ". Just an old fashioned sermon with a point and a lesson and most importantly anointing. After the service was over no one left the church. Everyone just stayed and talked for at least another hour. I really didn't know any one but wanted to speak to the pastor because I felt a real connection to him from the second I meet him. In conversation, I mentioned that I could probably do some work to the nursery since there was just a piece of carpet laying on the concrete floor in there. This man just hands me a key to the church.
Later, on the the way home, I look at the key and start thinking of the verse in Matthew 16:19
And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
This guy doesn't know me at all and hands me a key to the church. No reservations, just pure trust.I began to look forward to work on the nursery.The next few days,I would drop in and work on the nursery for a couple of hours and just kind of talk to God. It felt so good to be there, I had developed a sense of urgency to prepare this place like a bird building a nest. God had a plan for me and it took seven years to fulfill. I have been there ever since.
Sometimes it takes a special calling for your life to find the right path.When you feel you are at your very least God can use you the most.I can only share the experience of my life with you. I don't know where God will put me in the future. I have just learned to step up whenever he calls me to do something for him. When I started I did not raise my hands in praise or give testimonies. These were obstacles I had to overcome. But I found that each time I did something that put me a little closer to God. I am still learning to get myself out of the way to make room for him to lead my life. We all have a natural instinct to try to control ourselves.You can break this cycle if you want to. You don't have to spend your life afraid to break the shell your keeping your self in.
Start small, pick something simple that is outside the normal for you. It can be as insignificant as saying amen out loud at the end of opening prayer. I think too many Christians today take for granted that others are not where they are spiritually. If you grew up in a household where prayer was common then is becomes second nature and you think nothing of it. To a person that never has prayer in their lives it becomes a mountain that is hard to overcome. Prayer is our lifeline to God. I have found other ways now to reach God now but would still be lost without the prayer.
Remember:
Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort [you] that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.Jude 1:3
Never give up on God, Keep the faith, and may God bless you always!!
Seven years later to the day, in Sept 2009, I found a church. My wife had been going to church with friend of hers. They had to start a new church and my wife was telling me about it during a ride to Jackson to do some shopping. As she was telling me the situation and about the new church and how she would like me to come listen to the pastor something happened... I felt the Holy Ghost stirring in me a little. I had forgotten what it was like to have that feeling and I started thinking about some of the scriptures I had read and all throughout the day i kept thinking about God and how i missed being on fire and having that desire to serve God.
So I told her that I would go with her Wednesday night. Before I go any farther I need to tell that just because I didn't go to church for so long that I still believed in God. I never stopped believing just gave up on church, or so I thought.
On Wednesday night, we went to this small church she had told me so much about and I saw a small group of people that seemed so sincere about God. The unity of the church was impressive and no one hovered me with the usual fake persona of "we are soooo glad you could come ". Just an old fashioned sermon with a point and a lesson and most importantly anointing. After the service was over no one left the church. Everyone just stayed and talked for at least another hour. I really didn't know any one but wanted to speak to the pastor because I felt a real connection to him from the second I meet him. In conversation, I mentioned that I could probably do some work to the nursery since there was just a piece of carpet laying on the concrete floor in there. This man just hands me a key to the church.
Later, on the the way home, I look at the key and start thinking of the verse in Matthew 16:19
And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
This guy doesn't know me at all and hands me a key to the church. No reservations, just pure trust.I began to look forward to work on the nursery.The next few days,I would drop in and work on the nursery for a couple of hours and just kind of talk to God. It felt so good to be there, I had developed a sense of urgency to prepare this place like a bird building a nest. God had a plan for me and it took seven years to fulfill. I have been there ever since.
Sometimes it takes a special calling for your life to find the right path.When you feel you are at your very least God can use you the most.I can only share the experience of my life with you. I don't know where God will put me in the future. I have just learned to step up whenever he calls me to do something for him. When I started I did not raise my hands in praise or give testimonies. These were obstacles I had to overcome. But I found that each time I did something that put me a little closer to God. I am still learning to get myself out of the way to make room for him to lead my life. We all have a natural instinct to try to control ourselves.You can break this cycle if you want to. You don't have to spend your life afraid to break the shell your keeping your self in.
Start small, pick something simple that is outside the normal for you. It can be as insignificant as saying amen out loud at the end of opening prayer. I think too many Christians today take for granted that others are not where they are spiritually. If you grew up in a household where prayer was common then is becomes second nature and you think nothing of it. To a person that never has prayer in their lives it becomes a mountain that is hard to overcome. Prayer is our lifeline to God. I have found other ways now to reach God now but would still be lost without the prayer.
Remember:
Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort [you] that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.Jude 1:3
Never give up on God, Keep the faith, and may God bless you always!!
new song
OK I am really excited today because I got a new song. Its not finished but, this is what I got so far. It is a ballad type song that is swimming in my head:
As I start my day
I kneel down to pray
in that nautical hour, you are there
You're the calming sea
that brings peace to me
You give me shelter and refuge from the rain
They taught me Jesus died
to make my sins white
Oh, God how I want to walk by your side
You are Lord to me
In your mercy and grace
How I long to see your face, Jesus
I see the world subside
through the tears in your eyes
as the pain in my heart begins to fade
As I go to sleep
I can hear you in my dreams
saying "I will never be too far away
In tomorrows light
everything will be right
You will dwell with me in heaven by my side"
As I start my day
I kneel down to pray
in that nautical hour, you are there
You're the calming sea
that brings peace to me
You give me shelter and refuge from the rain
They taught me Jesus died
to make my sins white
Oh, God how I want to walk by your side
You are Lord to me
In your mercy and grace
How I long to see your face, Jesus
I see the world subside
through the tears in your eyes
as the pain in my heart begins to fade
As I go to sleep
I can hear you in my dreams
saying "I will never be too far away
In tomorrows light
everything will be right
You will dwell with me in heaven by my side"
Some of my quotes
Everything in my life up to this moment is because God let it be, what He will make tomorrow is all blessing to me.
Spend time with the Lord. Just talk to Him, then stop and listen, in the silence He is there. So peaceful. Some might call this delusional but I call it worship.
The best way to get the devil off your path is to walk with God.
Amazing day to be alive, hot and stressful, but I don't mind. Spent alot of time talking to the Lord today. Can't wait to see what tomorrow brings.
Let the Lord lead you and you can never be lost
If you fall, cry out to God to throw you a rope and never let go, He will pull you up.
Dear God: thank you
If our life is measured sand in an hourglass, how many grains are left to fall? We all have the same opportunity to be saved until the last grain.
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