I'm going to send out another new blog this morning after we hit the road but wanted to share this video again. It's very good and hits the mark LOL
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Your Mess Can Become a Message!
Ever since before the day you were born the devil set out to destroy you.
From your mother's womb satan tried to kill you tried to have you aborted.
Satan has tried to somehow keep you down so that you would never have a true relationship with God. And right now, the enemy is doing his best to destroy your walk with God. Why? He knows you are sanctified by God and he doesn’t like it.
Jeremiah 1:4-10…. Then the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, (5) Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. (6) Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child. (7) But the LORD said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak. (8) Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD. (9) Then the LORD put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And the LORD said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth. (10) See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant.
GLORY to God! Before we were formed in the womb God knew us! Before we were born God Sanctified us! WOW! Have you lips been touched? Are you ready to root out. Pull down, and destroy!? Are you ready to Build and Plant?
Right now some of us are closer to God then we have ever been before and satan is still tugging at our souls so hard we can feel the pressure of Hell trying to stop us!
You want to know why? Because Satan doesn’t want to be alone in hell! Satan wants you and me to dwell on or in our mess! He wants us to feel like a total failure and to give up!
Brothers and Sisters, You may be in a mess right now but God can take your mess and turn it into a message. Can you hear me? But God can turn your mess into a message!!!
He can take your mess of unbelief and turn it into a message of Faith.
He can take a mess in drug addiction and turn it into a message of deliverance.
He can take a mess in a broken marriage and turn it into a message of Hope and restoration!!
The worst time in your life is the best time in your life for God to do the Supernatural through you.
We must believe that he is a rewarder to them that diligently seek HIM. The word says so!
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Just because you are in a mess, don't think that is going to stop God!
God has always took the least of all humanity to accomplish his will.
Abraham was a idol worshipper and became the Father of all.
He took farmers, fisherman, tax collectors, harlots, to bring his word to pass.
He took what looked like a mess and gave it a message
1 Cor 1:27… But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
And he can take you and me and anyone he pleases to fulfill his will for this day and time. There is nothing impossible with God or to them that believe.
It looked impossible for Abraham and Sarah to have a child in their old age but all things are possible to them that believe.
It looked impossible to Moses and the Israelites to take a stick and open up the Red Sea.
But it was possible through God.
It looked impossible for a woman with an issue of blood for 12 years to be healed!
But it was possible through God.
It looked impossible for David a very young boy to slay a giant nine feet tall.
But God made it possible.
You may think your mess is impossible but with God nothing is impossible!
Let God take your mess and turn it into a message today!
You Can’t Find your Future by Looking into the Past!!
I was talking to a brother in Christ that was questioning the validity of his salvation. He explained that he felt like a failure due to returning to his ways from the past!
I explained that we all fall short (Romans 3:23) from time to time. No one, not even one is righteous (Romans 3:10)
I also explained that satan wants us to dwell on our past failures! We can’t find out future when we are dwelling on our past failures!
If we are always looking into the past at our failures, our lives as sinners…
If we are always connected to people who once brought us down …
That once was involved in sinful activities with us …
If we are always looking behind us we can never see what is before us. Amen?
Hebrews 12:1 (KJV) says Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
(The amplified) THEREFORE THEN, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who have borne testimony to the Truth], let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us,
Our past is an unnecessary weight to carry around! If you have already repented of that, then lay it DOWN!
You cannot build a lasting relationship with God if you are trying to live in the past.
You cannot get over sinful habits if you don’t let them go.
We should never dwell on the past because it can hinder what lies in the future.
If you dwell on past failures you will never get anywhere with God.
If you dwell Long Enough on the things that once brought you down, they will bring you down again.
The main reason so many people turn away from God is they can’t stop living in the past. Israel had this same problem. Their past hindered their future.
They kept looking back to Egypt and their bondage.
Num 11:5-6…. We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic: (6) But our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, beside this manna, before our eyes.
They didn’t say they remembered their bondage, their beatings and the murder of the family, they remembered the things they had they brought them no gain whatsoever.
They forgot the hardship of how for 400 years they cried to God for deliverance and when it came…. they desired bondage over freedom.
When you live in the past you will never have a future with God.
Bad decisions bring bad company and bad company brings bad habits.
The only hope to have a future in God, is to get away from the past.
2 Corinthians 5:17… Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.
Amen? It’s time to separate yourselves and let God do a work in you. Amen?
2 Corinthians 6:14-18 GNB (14) Do not try to work together as equals with unbelievers, for it cannot be done. How can right and wrong be partners? How can light and darkness live together? (15) How can Christ and the Devil agree? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? (16) How can God's temple come to terms with pagan idols? For we are the temple of the living God! As God himself has said, "I will make my home with my people and live among them; I will be their God, and they shall be my people." (17) And so the Lord says, "You must leave them and separate yourselves from them. Have nothing to do with what is unclean, and I will accept you. (18) I will be your father, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty."
So many of us hold onto the past through our old friends still doing the things we left behind.
Show the love of Christ to them all but it's time to break the yoke that pulls you back into the past.
Have a blessed day
God Uses the Ordinary to do the Extraordinary!
While sitting in the RV this morning, spending time with the Lord and doing my daily devotionals, I was reminded by one of them (The Chosen) that God does accomplish the extraordinary with the ordinary!
I have preached on this as well as given testimony numerous times that God uses me and that is proof that he will use the ordinary, amen?
We are so often we focus on our own shortcomings and decide that we can’t be THE person to do something for the Lord. And you know what? We are right, if we leave Jesus out of the equation! Amen?
But if you include the Lord in the equation, then ANYTHING the Lord wants to do through us can be done!
Do you focus on your deficits? When asked about doing something for the church, do you decline by explaining that you can’t for whatever reasons?
Maybe you have been invited to accompany a brother or sister to an outreach and you decline because you don’t know how or what you are supposed to do?
Don’t feel bad. It seems like everything extraordinary that God has ever accomplished, he has done with ordinary people with excuses.
Moses made excuses about his speech! Yet, God used him to lead HIS people out of Egypt! Amen?
Gideon was scared but also became a leader for the Lord!
All the disciples were ordinary! In fact, Jesus used the most ordinary he could find!
He called and used Local fishermen, tent makers, and even a tax collector!
My own life proves that God will use an ordinary person for HIS work, amen? You see God has already ordained our steps.
Psalms 37:23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.
And if we let HIM, he will make a way for us no matter what the circumstances. He will make a way no matter what our excuses are.
Isaiah 43:18-19 KJV (18) Remember ye not the former things, neither consider the things of old. (19) Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert.
If you are not sure what you are supposed to be doing for the Lord, today ask the Lord what it is HE wants you to do for HIM.
If you have been running from and making excuses why you can not do something for the Lord, pray for the Lord to bring the wisdom of comfort of the above scriptures onto you.
Your steps are ordained of the Lord and HE can make a way for you to do whatever it is!
Have a blessed day.
Is That a Log in My Eye?
I was watching a man remove his oxygen so he could go outside and smoke a cigarette. It was a sad thing to see, knowing that there was nothing I could say to change his mind and if I tried it would only create strife.
It reminded me of a time I was sitting in my car, waiting for the wife to return from the store, when I noticed a man having a serious coughing and struggling to get inside his car! Once he was positioned behind the wheel of his car, he continued the coughing fit to the point that his face was a deep, dark red. I was worried that I was about to watch the man die!
This was before cell phones or I may have called 911 while watching him just about keel over dead. I was silently praying for the man and he quit coughing as bad. He then slowly regained composure but was obviously still having trouble breathing. Then I seen him place a mask over his mouth and nose and take a deep breath.
I sighed as I realized he was going to be alright. He was getting a normal color back in his face as my wife arrived with her purchased items from the store.
Tammy noticed my pale face and asked what was wrong. As I explained about the man and that I was afraid that he was going to keel over right then and there I pointed to him as we both watched him light up a cigarette!
I was in shock as we drove off, thinking about the scene that just unfolded before my very eyes! How could this man continue to inhale the very poison that has him put him on oxygen 24/7?
Proverbs 26:11 KJV As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly.
So many of us see someone else returning to their folly and think the same things I mentioned above, right? How could they, right?
But we can’t see the log in our own eye! Ouch! It is the truth though, it is our nature to point out the “folly” that others return to but at the same time not see the “folly” in our own lives. Amen?
Matthew 7:5 KJV Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.
Praise God that only 25% or less of our country now defiles their body with cancer sticks, but there is a higher percentage of us with “eating disorders.”
Sometimes that eating disorder is us just not knowing how to NOT SAY, “Super-size it.”
Nearly 40% of American adults aged 20 and over are obese. And over 71% of adults aged 20 and over are overweight, including obesity.
Now, if you are in the less than 29% (normal weight) and are still feeling pretty good about yourself, you need to still ask God what your log is.
Is it gossip, deceit, anger? Maybe it is unforgiveness.
Okay, you get the picture, amen? This morning pray Psalms 139:23
Psalms 139:23 KJV Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:
If you sincerely pray that prayer, the Lord will help you remove that log this morning.
Have a blessed day
“In a Hurry Just to Sit Down!”
A few weeks back, I was helping Nick Chirco, a friend of mine, to remodel his kitchen. I rode with him to the hardware store to get some items needed when a car went speeding past us like we were standing still! It wasn’t more than a couple minutes later, and we were sitting behind the speeding car at a red light.
I started laughing and making the comment I am sure many of the readers have made about someone that had done the same thing to them. The light turned green and they took off like it was from a starting line of a drag race. I asked Nick, “I wonder where the fire is?” Nick chuckled and said, “They’re just in a hurry to go sit down.”
I thought about his comment and it is so true of us all in some way or another. We seem to be in a hurry to get somewhere just to sit down when we get there. What I mean is, we are in a hurry but for no good reason. Kind of like being in a hurry to go nowhere. I know that doesn’t make any sense but my stepdad use to say that about people that were in a hurry.
I used to be in a hurry just be in a hurry! I mean all the time, no matter where I was going, I was in a hurry to get there. I remember giving my boys an empty bottle to pee in when were traveling to see family. Why? Because I was in a hurry to go sit down. LOL
I have slowed down a whole lot since becoming more intimate with the Lord. It wasn’t easy at first but I have learned to slow down quite a bit. I figured if Jesus gave us the example on how to NOT be in a hurry, that we should try to emulate HIM. Amen?
God wants us to pay attention to HIM and to His creation in our life every day. When we go racing through life doing everything as fast as we can, we miss some pretty awesome things along the way! Amen?
You know, if Jesus did not get in a hurry for HIS dying friend Lazarus, I am pretty sure he is telling us we need to slow down too. Amen?
John 11:1-7 (NLT) (1) A man named Lazarus was sick. He lived in Bethany with his sisters, Mary and Martha. (2) This is the Mary who later poured the expensive perfume on the Lord’s feet and wiped them with her hair. Her brother, Lazarus, was sick. (3) So the two sisters sent a message to Jesus telling him, “Lord, your dear friend is very sick.” (4) But when Jesus heard about it he said, “Lazarus’s sickness will not end in death. No, it happened for the glory of God so that the Son of God will receive glory from this.” (5) So although Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, (6) he stayed where he was for the next two days. (7) Finally, he said to his disciples, “Let’s go back to Judea.”
Today we are heading out on another adventure in the motorhome. The old me would have convinced myself that we needed to leave before daylight and get to our destination with as few stops as possible. God has helped me “stop and smell the roses” in life and I pray you let him help you too.
I pray for all of us to slow down today and enjoy HIM and HIS CREATION. Amen? Praise the King!
First Step is Taking the First Step
This morning I started a new five-day devotional called “The Chosen” and invited friends and family to join me. The first day it talked about us in “the before” and God calls us when we are in “the before.” You see God uses ordinary people to do HIS work, amen?
There is a victory waiting for us if we will submit to HIS calling, amen?
The one thing that all victories have in common is that we must take the first step!
When God parted the Red Sea, Moses and all the Israelites still had to take the first step!
God has aligned victories in each and every one of our lives and HE wants us to get stepping!
Are you ready for a victory in your life?
The first step in any victory is taking the first step!
Remember David and Goliath?
1 Samuel 17:32-40 is where you can find this story.
In verse 40 it reads: And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag which he had, even in a scrip, and his sling was in his hand: And HE DREW NEAR to the Philistine!
Please don’t miss this. You see, even after David had made all the promises to go and fight!
Even after David had rehearsed his story and gave a resume of his accomplishments to Saul
Even after he had told everybody what he was going to do
David still had to TAKE THAT FIRST STEP! Amen?
Ask yourself, “Are there victories without fighting?”
Some of us have a victory waiting in deliverance!
Some of us have a victory waiting in healing.
Some of us have a victory in kicking a habit!
Some of us have a victory in being a true witness!
Some of us have a victory waiting in a new ministry.
Ask yourself this morning, do you have a victory waiting?
Do not let satan steal your willingness to fight!
Take the First Step today!
You can watch my sermon “First Step is Taking the First Step” here.
Have a blessed day.
Taking Things for Granted
Just a couple days ago, I was sitting in the RV watching over the lake and sending a 1.3 gigabyte file through my son’s phone. It took 27 minutes but here at home takes at least six hours!
We take our everyday technological advances for granted, don’t we?
Today’s technology is unbelievable (when its working!) amen?
As I sat there looking over the lake, I realized that I had so many things to be thankful for! The motorhome in running condition, my family with me, our health, the finances to go on the trip, the food that we had, the coffee that I was sipping, the technology to send my daily blog and the list went on and on…
We take so many things for granted and we realize just how much we take them for granted when we don’t have them, right?
When life is going great, and we are healthy we feel invincible. There is nothing like getting sick to get us back to appreciating the health that we were taking for granted! When you feel good, you may forget how many people suffer from either temporary ailments or chronic diseases. The human body is fragile, subject to sickness and pain. We should count our blessings daily!
Psalms 103:2 NLT Let all that I am praise the LORD; may I never forget the good things he does for me.
And I do not have to look far for examples of other blessings I could lose. Having a home. Having my family.
Many have lost jobs in the past year due to the panic-demic. Jobs that were taking for granted.
This year shook up many families in terms of disrupted work, home, and financial responsibilities.
All of which are taken for granted so often. Usually until they no longer have them. It is when something is taken away that we notice.
But God is our divine healer, amen? It is through the saving work of Jesus; God heals our broken and sinful hearts. You know, God also offers us physical healing from diseases and afflictions, though the healing may not come until Jesus returns.
Every morning that you wake up with breath in your lungs and a beating heart, thank the Lord. Praise him for his healing power that is available to all believers.
All of Psalm 103 is a helpful scripture reference for that “don’t take God for granted.”
Start this morning, thanking God for your blessings that you have been taking for granted.
Have a blessed day
Are You Salty Salt?
A little boy was asked one day, "What is Salt?"
He promptly replied, "Salt is what spoils the potatoes when you don't have any." LOL
Now, Jesus said we are the salt of the earth. Amen?
Let me ask you a serious question. Would this earth be spoiled if we were not around? Ouch!
Matthew 5:13(NLT) You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it useful again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless.
That doesn’t sound too good does it? Jesus uses a very familiar material to speak of the influence of Christians.
Now I don't know about you, but when choosing a metaphor to illustrate a point and show a truth, would you choose common table salt?
Why didn't Jesus say You are the sugar of the earth! Wouldn't that be better?
Or maybe, you are the honey of the earth! Yes! Honey sounds good, doesn’t it?
Maybe even you are the Potatoes of the earth!
But he said salt!
I'd rather be potatoes than the salt, wouldn't you? But, no, we're not the potatoes.
You see, in a spiritual application, salt is what spoils both potatoes and life when we don't have any.
You may want to be potatoes rather than salt. But Jesus said we are salt. In other words, the world will be better or worse because of you!
So, what does Jesus mean?
Well salt does many good things, right? Like, salt adds flavor. Right?
Job 6:6-7 (NIV)- Is tasteless food eaten without salt, or is there flavor in the white of an egg? I refuse to touch it; such food makes me sick.
That's right to the point, isn't it. Salt brings out the best.
That is what we who love Christ ought to do.
We should supply zest and flavor to life by bringing the best out of those around us and the situations we find ourselves in. Amen?
That's what Christianity is about.
It is a rare person who will spend his life to better the flavor of someone else.
Only Christ can help us do that.
Are you making others better?
Are you doing what good salt should?
Are you giving life around you a good flavor?
I pray today, that we all be the Salty Salt we should be. Amen?
Go add flavor to this dark and broken world we live in. Be blessed.
Health Benefits from the Sun
Yesterday I told you about how the Sun and the SON provide us with happiness. Simply, we learned that the light from the SUN and SON make us a happier person, amen?
Yesterday, I did some sunbathing again and snatched me about thirty minutes of rays.
Even with the phone issues and talking with the tech representatives for over three hours in the last two days, I was calm and NOT STRESSED! Amen?
But today I want you to know, the sun’s benefits go beyond fighting stress. The following are some of the other reasons to catch some rays:
Building strong bones
Exposure to the ultraviolet-B radiation in the sun’s rays causes a person’s skin to create vitamin D. According to some studies, in a 30-minute period while wearing a swimsuit, people can make up to 50,000 IUs of vitamin D!
The vitamin D made, thanks to the sun, plays a big role in bone health.
Low vitamin D levels have been linked to the bone-wasting diseases. Osteoporosis being a very common one.
Well now, guess what?
If we would spend at least thirty minutes in the word and with the Lord daily we would also have strong bones! When we spend time in the word we keep that reverent fear of him and strive to not do bad things but to do good, amen?
Proverbs 3:7-8 NKJV (7) Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the LORD and depart from evil. (8) It will be health to your flesh, And strength to your bones.
No way! Did you read that?
So, the SUN and the SON are good for your bones! Praise the Lord. Are you liking this?
As many of my friends already know, I have Psoriasis.
I did not know until last year that getting sun was a treatment for Psoriasis! (I will not get started on BIG PHARMA!)
Psoriasis is a chronic skin condition resulting from an autoimmune disease in which your immune system produces too many skin cells.
Common treatments include topical medications that reduce inflammation, and oral or injected medications that suppress your immune system. (SUPRESS IMMUNE SYSTEM!)
However, another form of treatment for psoriasis involves one of the most natural elements on earth: the sun!
Who knew, right?
Doctors (None of mine) have recommended UV radiation exposure to treat: psoriasis, eczema, jaundice and acne.
There have been studies that the sun even helps reduce the chances of certain types of cancer! Yes! Prevention of Cancer! Once again who knew?
The Lord knew! Amen?
So, in closing, make sure to get you some SUN and SON today! Amen?
Have a blessed day!
The Sun and Happiness
Yesterday we arrived at the campsite and the sun was shining! Within in minutes of setting up camp, I was soaking in the rays!
If I mention laying in the sun nearly everyone thinks about skin cancer. We are all used to or should I say conditioned to fear the sun due to skin cancer.
Did you know the right balance can have lots of mood-lifting benefits?
I have read different articles about how the sunlight and darkness trigger the release of hormones in our brains. One thought is that exposure to sunlight increases the brain’s release of a hormone called serotonin. Serotonin is associated with boosting our moods and helps us feel calm and focused. That is a happy mood, amen?
At night, darker lighting triggers the brain to make another hormone called melatonin. This hormone is responsible for helping you sleep.
Man! That is intelligent design, amen?
Without enough sun exposure, our serotonin levels can drop. Some articles have stated that low levels of serotonin are associated with a higher risk of major depression with what is called Seasonal Affective Disorder or SAD.
Hey! Listen, don’t you know that if we do not get enough of the SON we will be SAD also?
Is that cool or what? The parallel between our physical world and the spiritual world is unbelievable.
I think that is so just too cool.
Now back to the physical, the light-induced effects of serotonin are triggered by sunlight that goes in through the eye. Sunlight cues special areas in the retina, which triggers the release of serotonin. During the winter months (less sun) one of the main treatments for depression with seasonal pattern is light therapy, also known as phototherapy. You can get a light therapy box to have at home. The light from the box mimics natural sunlight that stimulates the brain to make serotonin and reduces excess melatonin.
Matthew 6:22 NLT “Your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is filled with light.
Is that awesome or what? Do you have your light therapy box? LOL. This is just awesome.
Without the SON we can be SAD (depressed) but if you will spend time in front of the light therapy box (BIBLE) you will reap the benefits, amen?
Tomorrow I will talk some more about the Sun and of course the Son.
Get some SON rays today!
The Distant Country
This morning I will be preaching the message “The Distant Country.” It is a message that goes along with the Bible study AHA. We all have our own AHA stories and they all involve that distant country we find ourselves in.
The message comes from Luke 15
Luke 15:11-13 GNB (11) Jesus went on to say, "There was once a man who had two sons. (12) The younger one said to him, 'Father, give me my share of the property now.' So the man divided his property between his two sons. (13) After a few days the younger son sold his part of the property and left home with the money. He went to a country far away, where he wasted his money in reckless living.
He asked for his inheritance, left the Father’s house, and went off to a distant country. As I said before, all AHA stories have this distant country as part of the story.
In this story, the “distant country” is literally just a faraway place.
But figuratively, the reality of the distant country is that it is not just a random place, it’s a place “distant” specifically from the father’s house.
We can find ourselves in that “distant country” while near family and friends. We can even be in a “distant country” while seated in church!
It may start off with a simple request to do things on your own for a while, and you end up in the distant country.
It could start off with wanting to do things your way, and you end up in the distant country.
It might be that you wanted to blow off a little steam, and you end up in the distant country.
But the thing about the distant country is that it seems really, really fun. You don’t have to answer to anyone, you get to make the decisions, you don’t have to feel guilty, you’re the one on the throne.
You get to the distant country, look around, and love it.
For a while.
But then you will find yourself broke (or broken). You will find yourself hungry.
This sets you up for the AHA moment that will change the rest of your life!
Jesus is waiting to meet you on your road to Damascus and turn you around.
Maybe you have been in that distant country a long time.
Maybe you are on that road to the distant country.
Today is the first day of the rest of your life!
Have your AHA moment today and return to the Fathers house!
Have a blessed day
The past three days I have posted three things that come from an old sermon and have been moved to share that today.
So, I am encouraging the readers that want some meat to find the time to watch the sermon "Paying Attention? Have a Battle Buddy? What's in your B-Bag?"
Have a blessed day.
What Is In Your “B” Bag?
Do you know what a “B” bag is?
When a soldier deploys, he almost always has what is called an A bag and B bag. It is interesting to see what the soldiers will pack in their A bag and B bags. These are usually duffle bags and will usually be marked with an A or B along with other unit information for identification purposes for when the duffle shows up along with a thousand other bags in some foreign country!
Now they also have a layout, and the items are usually inventoried by their boss as to what is in the A and B bags. They have what is called a packing list and they all have to have everything on this list. There are the essentials like maybe in the A bag, three pair socks, under wear and a couple uniforms along with wet weather gear and depending on the time of year maybe cold weather gear. If they are going on a long deployment in the summertime, then the cold weather gear would probably go in the B bag. So now, you get the idea.
Now what you won't find on the list is their wants. You can learn a lot about a person by looking in their B bag! The A bag is usually packed full of the essentials on the packing list and nothing more. But in the B bag, you will find things like maybe a couple cartons of cigarettes, or a couple rolls of dip. These are things that they “need” but the packing list will not have them listed.
You won’t find radio on the packing list, or a television, not even a portable CD player or DVD player.
There are other things they would like to make room for like their favorite reading material whatever that may be. In today’s age many privates on up to senior officers, have their own laptop computers and that also will not be on the packing list.
In our spiritual life, I like to call the A bag, our “Acting” bag which is what we show everyone when they are watching!
Like our Attention or attentive behavior while a brother or sister talks to us although inside our B bag (our Belief Bag) which is what we really are like on the inside we don’t care what they are talking about.
You can tell a lot about yourself by what you have in your own B bags.
Is there a god in your B bag?
You see whatever you turn to that takes you from God Almighty can or already has become your god and has you in bondage right now!
What do you have in your B Bag? Many of us may have our B Bag filled with anger, unforgiveness, hatred, or perverse thoughts and acts. From time to time, we all need to lay out our B bag and do an inventory! Examine the things you are carrying in your B bag today!
1 Corinthians 11:28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.
2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
Once again Brothers and Sisters in Christ, examine yourselves now. You don’t need an NCOIC (supervisor) to do this inventory.
This is between you and God himself, Amen?
If you have something in your B bag that is drawing you from God, ask him to help you now.
Lay that piece of bondage at the alter right now in your prayer and let God deal with it, amen?
I pray you have a much lighter B Bag today and start filling it with Godly things.
Have a blessed day
Do You Have a Battle Buddy?
Do you know what a battle buddy is?
Picture this! No matter where you went and no matter what you were going to be doing, your battle buddy was always with you!
There are no exceptions to this rule!
Why was the Army so strict about Battle Buddies?
If you went to the DFAC (Dining Facility), your battle buddy was with you! Even in your off time, if one wanted to go to the recreational tent, he had to talk his battle buddy into going with him! So, you are certainly going to become pretty good friends because you are forced into making compromises right from the start! If one wanted to go use the phone center the other had to go with him! The list goes on, Showers, even going to the bathroom.
This was true even in the time that Jesus walked on this earth!
Mark 6:7 “And he called unto him the twelve, and began to send them forth by two and two; and gave them power over unclean spirits;”
Now the apostles were aware of their great weaknesses. They did not expect any worldly advantage but out of obedience to their Master (and depending on his strength) they went out. They did not entertain the people with intriguing dramas but simply told the people that they must repent of their sins and turn to our Lord and Savior!
But why did they travel in groups of two?
Some have jokingly stated that one was to make sure the other did not get into any trouble.
Well, that actually makes sense. Amen?
Just like the soldiers above we have an accountability partner and it would be safer.
Do you think maybe the apostles went out in pairs to keep each other out of trouble?
They were also human and weak in the flesh as we are. Don’t we find it easier to decline a temptation when we are with someone else?
Especially another brother or sister in Christ! Of course, we are!
It is our conscience telling us the temptation is wrong but the same little voice is a lot louder when you are in the presence of another brother or sister huh? Oh yes! Can you think of something you have done in the last week that you probably wouldn’t have done had you had a brother or sister in Christ with you at the time?
This also works in the good direction as well! If you are with a brother or sister you are likely to go through with something that you should do if they are with you!
Do you have a battle buddy? If not are you looking for one? Take heed brother and sister in Christ, Get one today!
If the Lord appoints us to work together with our battle buddy, then we better do it. Amen?
Luke 10:1 GNB After this the Lord chose another seventy-two men and sent them out two by two, to go ahead of him to every town and place where he himself was about to go.
If you don’t have a battle buddy, get one today. Pray for the Lord to show you who you need to seek for that spiritual battle buddy.
Have a blessed day
Do You Pay Attention?
I was in a classroom on IED (Improvised Explosive Devices) and the seasoned veteran said, “Pay attention! If you didn’t drop it, don’t pick it up!”
I heard the seasoned veteran when he said that. I understood what he meant! It was so simple, “Pay attention! If you didn’t drop it, don’t pick it up.” He repeated himself at least five (5) times! What is so hard about that?
After the classroom session we went outside to make sure we understood his instructions on identifying IED’s or possible trigger mechanisms that are used for IED’s.
My battle buddy was right behind me and he failed miserably because he picked up something and the Non-Commissioned Officer yelled, “BOOM! You see people, now your dead because someone didn’t pay attention!”
I giggled but was also disappointed since it was my battle buddy just got us killed! This was training for a real-world situation and we failed which means that we would be fatally wounded! I was upset as I looked at the ground and noticed a complete set of keys on the ground. It included keys to a vehicle, security locks and probably apartment or home. Someone had lost these keys in the class before us!
While still upset at my battle buddy, I picked up the set of keys to turn in to lost and found. The seasoned veteran yelled again, “BOOM! Another individual not paying attention just got ya’ll killed!”
I couldn’t believe I fell for it but I did! I listened to the instructor, but I didn’t pay the most careful attention to the words. In the KJV it says the more earnest heed!
Had I pondered, meditated on, given my most earnest heed to, my most careful attention to, I would not have picked up the keys! The words “If you didn’t drop it, don’t pick it up!” were running through my head as I realized I had failed.
Everyday you have a chance to pay the most earnest heed to your daily devotionals, scripture readings, and Christian fellowship talk.
The question is, “Do you pay attention?”
Hebrews 2:1 NIV We must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.
Have a blessed day
Speak Life!
So often, especially when we are stressed, we say negative things.
The person that receives those negative words from us can be wounded by them.
We have the power to speak life or death!
Proverbs 18:21 GNB What you say can preserve life or destroy it; so you must accept the consequences of your words.
We should strive daily to lift those around us up, not beat them down.
That comes with us speaking life into their lives and situations, amen?
Ephesians 4:29 GNB Do not use harmful words, but only helpful words, the kind that build up and provide what is needed, so that what you say will do good to those who hear you.
Is there someone you have been sowing death into?
You know, saying negative things about them or their situation.
It's time to speak life into that person and/or situation, amen?
Start speaking life today!
Be Still
We learned yesterday during the sermon"God Sometimes Whispers"that God can speak in a still, small voice!
Psalm 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.
Find time to watch the sermon link above and listen for his whisper.
Have a blessed day
God Sometimes Whispers
Have you been waiting on an answer to your prayers? Maybe you are wondering why God is silent as you continue to beg him for an answer.
1 Kings 19:9-12 (9) And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah? (10) And he said, I have been very jealous for the LORD God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away. (11) And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the LORD. And, behold, the LORD passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the LORD; but the LORD was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the LORD was not in the earthquake: (12) And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.
Elijah heard nothing from God in the strong wind that split the mountains and broke the rocks! He didn’t hear from God in the Earthquake! Then when the fire came, still nothing heard! Elijah was probably expecting something in the fire for sure.
After all, he was the man who brought fire down from heaven on Mount Carmel. Right? He had recently experienced that fiery furnace coming down from heaven and consuming the soaked sacrifice!
But wait a minute. God was not in the strong wind, nor the earthquake, nor the fire. After the fire, there came a still, small voice. He was teaching Elijah a great lesson. You see, the battle was not actually won on top of Mount Carmel by fire coming down from heaven.
Listen to this story....
There was this young man that had lost his job and did not know which way to turn. So, he went to see his pastor. Pacing about the preacher’s study, the young man ranted about his problem. Finally, he clenched his fist and shouted, "I’ve begged God to say something to help me. Tell me, Preacher, why doesn’t God answer?"
The old preacher, who sat across the room, spoke something in reply -- something so hushed it was indistinguishable. The young man stepped across the room. "What did you say?" he asked. The preacher repeated himself, but again in a tone as soft as a whisper. So, the young man moved closer until he was leaning on the preacher’s chair. "Sorry," he said. "I still didn’t hear you."
With their heads bent together, the old preacher spoke once more. "God sometimes whispers," he said, "so we will move closer to hear Him."
We all want God’s voice to thunder through the air with the answer to our problem. Right? Maybe God could rent a billboard with the instructions step by step that we need. Maybe God could send us a text on our phone with the ANSWERS.
I know we all wish God would thunder the answers to all our problems, don’t we?
We wish that He would just tell us why: He has not chosen to heal us yet. Why He has not chosen to meet the financial need yet. Why He has not chosen to save our lost loved ones yet. Right?
I pray you will listen quietly for that whisper today.
Two Are Better Than One
This morning our church family and motorcycle ministry folks are heading out on a fellowship ride.
That is a term used by bikers for a gathering of like minded folks and going for a ride somewhere.
Tammy, Ethan and I are planning on joining them if we get a few things taken care of first.
Spending time with the brethren. Like minded fellowship in Christ contributes to our walk with the Lord. It helps makes us clean. As we fellowship with one another and lift each other up, a cleansing process happens.
1 John 1:7 KJV But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
Ever since the COVID panic-demic, many have failed to return to the church. Don’t you know satan is loving that right now.
Brothers and sisters not meeting is exactly what the devil wants. But we are supposed to be together. Amen?
Hebrews 10:24-25 KJV (24) And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: (25) Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
We should strive to spend time with other like-minded brothers and sisters in Christ. Not just at the weekly church service but at other times as well. We are less likely to fail if we are with one another. Why do you think the devil wants to keep us from gathering together?
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 KJV (9) Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. (10) For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up. (11) Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone? (12) And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken.
You see, it doesn't have to be a big group either. Just pray for Godto guide you to who you should spend time with today. Amen?
I pray you find yourselves in fellowship with other like minded Christians today.
