Where the Spirit of the Lord Is

By Pastor Bob. This morning I would like to talk about “where the Spirit of the Lord Is” or “where the presence of the Lord is”. There are two things that I would like to discuss:

One is the omnipresence of God. God is everywhere at all times.

Have you ever been out and about early in the morning in the country, and you see that mist hugging the earth, permeating into everything, touching everything that you see. That is how I see the Spirit of the Lord on the earth in the Spirit. And even though I know that He is everywhere, all the time, yesterday, today, and tomorrow – I can forget.

When emotions of fear, or anxiety, sadness, or any of those emotions, He may feel far away from me and my situation. Luckily, I am not the only one that can happen to.

Psalm 139:7 7 Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. 9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, 10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light becomes night around me,” 12 even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.

I love this scripture, and it makes more sense to me today then earlier in my life. There was a time in my life that I was literally running from God! I, at times, even denied His existence. There are times also that I blamed God and thought I could shut the door on him.

It kind of reminds me of the old Coyote and Road runner cartoons. You know, the coyote has rockets attached to his feet and he is on the way to get the road runner, then from behind, road runner is running alongside him, kind of smirking, effortless in what he is doing. “Beep, beep! Then the coyote jumps off the cliff.

We cannot run away from God, no matter how hard we try. Amen to that. The darkness in our life cannot stop God from being present in our life. He is with us in the highs, He is with us in the lows, and every single place in our life. Hallelujah!

In Genesis 28, we find Jacob on a journey, running away from his brother Esau who wants to kill him, and he is asleep in what is now called Bethel. He has a dream and then in the bible it says this:

Genesis 28:16 And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not.

I think that is a good reminder for me, that I need to wake up to the presence of God. I do not know what you may be going through in life. Health issues, financial, familial challenges that seem to leave you in just a desolate and dry place. That is where Jacob was too.

Not like the typical places we think of when thinking about where the Spirit of the Lord is. It’s easy to be reminded of His Spirit in a beautiful sunrise, or perhaps a rainbow after a beautiful rain, or the waves crashing on a serene beach of water. But like Jacob, no matter how desolate we may feel, we too need to awaken ourselves that truly, even in this dry place of our life, Surely the Lord is in this place.

And in the minutia of our day to day trials and tribulations, there is extreme comfort in knowing that the same God that spoke it all into existence, that is busy attending to the universe that he made, still cares about us.

Luke 12:6 “Are not five sparrows sold for two [b]copper coins? And not one of them is forgotten before God. 7 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

There may be times that I may not “feel” His presence , but I can remind myself through His Word that He loves us so much that He even knows how many hairs we have on our head. And I had a question as too how many are there? The answer is more than 100,000. Your results might vary.

And as I remind myself about where the Spirit of the Lord is, I can remind myself that His fullness is there as well. His love is there. His blessings are there, His ability is there, and His power is there.

2 Corinthians 3:17 Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

And what is that liberty? For me it is freedom. Freedom from the fear of death, because we will have an everlasting life in Heaven. It is freedom from the guilt and penalty of sin because Jesus died for our sin, and freedom from fear of death, hallelujah and amen.

Mankind has been running from God when we mess up, literally, since the beginning of time. After Adam and Eve had failed to obey God, what did they do?

Genesis 3:8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden.

Isn’t that like us sometimes in our life, as well. I thought, “You really did this time, Bob. You really messed up. That’s unforgivable.”

And just like back in Genesis there is an enemy in our lives that will agree with us and may put things in our mind like, “you are not worthy to be in God’s presence, you don’t deserve it!”

But unlike Adam and Eve, we can say, “you know what you’re right. None of us are worthy, but my Jesus is.”

Colossians 1:12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:14 In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:

We don’t have to run; we can stay where the Spirit of the Lord is because Jesus paid the price for our sin. We can press into his presence because Jesus tore the veil. And because of all that Jesus did, not only are we allowed to be in his presence, we can receive and let God speak to us and heal our hearts and heal our minds.

And being where the spirit of the Lord is why we are here today, amen?

2 Chronicles 5:12 Also the Levites which were the singers, all of them of Asaph, of Heman, of Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, being arrayed in white linen, having cymbals and psalteries and harps, stood at the east end of the altar, and with them an hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets: 13 It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of musick, and praised the Lord, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord;14 So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God.

There is nothing more powerful, nor sweet, nor awesome, then when The Spirit of the Lord fills his sanctuary and He ministers to His people, amen. When we come together and praise and worship Jesus, we get to experience all that He has to offer. And there is a great lesson in that for me when I am going through a rough patch.

Just the other day I was working with Pastor Jeff and Diana sent me a text. I called her right away, the shot that we had been waiting for her to get some much needed relief got canceled an hour before I was supposed to take her. I was mad, I let it get under my skin. But I can tell you that when I was driving home, I intentionally put on some praise music and declared that He is good, no matter if Diana got this shot we were so hopeful for. I praised His mercy that no matter what, he made a way to Heaven, where there will be medicine to take, no more heating pads, no more pain shots, no more pain, and no more sorrow! And whenever I do that I have a sense of peace fall over me. I felt the presence of the Lord.

And that got me thinking that while we are waiting on the promises of God, we can seek Him to be with us in the Spirit while we wait. There can be a lot of things that may delay the realization of a promise or an answer to a prayer, but we have a Savior that will be with us until it comes. And when I got home and talked to Diana about it she said, “God can just heal me so I don’t need a shot.” And to that I say, “amen!”

So there was a cloud that appeared in the house I mentioned in 2 Chronicles. The Spirit of the Lord showed up in many different ways in the Bible besides a cloud.

There would be fire:

Exodus 13:21 And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night:

or at Pentecost there was wind and fire:

Acts 2:1 And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.3 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.4 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Wherever Jesus went the Spirit of the Lord was. During His time he healed, raised the dead, cleansed lepers and cast out demons.

Acts 10:36 The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (he is Lord of all): 37 That word, I say, ye know, which was published throughout all Judaea, and began from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached;38 How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him.

That same Spirit is in us when we repent, get baptized in Jesus Name, and are filled with the Holy Ghost.

Acts 2:38 Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

John 14:15 “If you love Me, [a]keep My commandments. 16 And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another [b]Helper, that He may abide with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.

I think one of the greatest things about the Holy Ghost dwelling in me, is that the character of the Holy Ghost is what helps me change and to try to be more like Jesus. It challenges my mind and my heart, and it does so in a way I cannot describe.I am so grateful that Jesus sent this helper and comforter to work on such a mess, me, and do it with love.

And while I think it is wonderful that we can gather together here in this beautiful building that God has given us, we need to go out and do good and help those oppressed by the devil just like Jesus did.

Now I will be honest, I don’t think that I have appeared as a pillar of fire. I may have talked a lot and been long winded, but I have never “been” the wind. And I have felt cloudy, but not even a low carb diet will make me look like a cloud to anybody! But that Spirit of the Lord is in us.

1 Corinthians 16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

2 Corinthians 6:16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

That same spirit that filled the temple, the Holy Spirit that Jesus sent to us, is in us. We carry His presence wherever we go. And we need to take it to the whole world.

Pastor Jeff is a Chaplain with the Rock County Sheriff’s Department. He goes on ride alongs and he is there for various duties. I was curious of a Chaplin’s job description:

Police chaplains aren’t there to push a religion on police officers; their role is primarily to listen and offer emotional and spiritual support to those in need. Police Chaplain Alex Evans, who worked with officers in the wake of the Virginia Tech mass shooting, described the job as one of presence. “It’s less about what you say, and more about where you are. You show up.”

I think there is a good lesson there, we need to show up as well, with the body of Christ. God will move here in this building, but there is an entire world out there that needs His presence.

Now does that mean every time there has been a need to visit someone I went. If I am being honest, no. But I am getting better at it.

I’ll be honest, there have been times when God had to literally drag me, and sometimes God used Diana if I am honest.

There were times that I may have been angry
There were times that I felt like a failure
There were times when I was anxious
There were even times that I was fearful
But it was not about me, it was about God and what He wanted to do.
And then when you do show up something can change and it has absolutely nothing to do with you or what you’re feeling, it has absolutely everything to do with the Spirit of the Lord.
And where I was angry I find that there is a peace that comes over me
My feelings of anxiousness will leave and the fear that I had dissipates and as I let God work, He has given me words and insights that I am able to share that can help that someone that I am with, and that is a beautiful thing, seeing God move.

Going back to 2 Chronicles again verse 13:

13 It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of musick, and praised the Lord, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord;14 So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God.

There is something so special when there is such a heavy presence of God’s Spirit, and I have to be careful to give room to let it happen. I think we can get into a kind of groove of OK, Testimonies/Prayers, Worship, Word, altar call – all the check boxes and off we go back into the world.

I want to get to that place where I give the Spirit of the Lord time to speak, to minister all that He has for me. How do I do that?

James 4:10 Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.

That is where God can anoint us, which means literally to rub or smear, so when I have the opportunity, I need to take a moment and say to God, “Lord Your will be done, what do you have to say?” And rest in His presence. And let whatever He has to say sink in, to let the anointing in.

One of the reasons that we have so much scripture is because what God has to say is way more important than any one of us has to say. The most important word that you can get is the Word you get from God. And that comes from giving God the time to speak to you. He can put things on your heart that need to be dealt with. He can heal mentally and spiritually. He can free you in those moments. He can refresh your Spirit.

Acts 3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.

Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is refreshing!

Psalm 16:11 Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore.

Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is fullness of joy. Sometimes we just need to take some time and listen to What God has to say to us.

Even one of the greatest prophets in the bible, Elisha, when he was in a situation that was uncomfortable, and he needed a Word from God, made an intentional choice to do that. n

2 Kings 3: 15 But now bring me a musician.” And it came about while the musician played, that the hand (power) of the Lord came upon Elisha.

Personally, I do not know anyone that plays the harp. But times have changed and we can have music instantly – but I think the critical point was Elisha took a moment to get away from whatever was going on and focused on God, and the music helped him.

Luke 10:39 She had a sister named Mary, who seated herself at the Lord’s feet and was continually listening to His teaching.

Let us all take the time to sit at Jesus’ feet and listen. God bless you all.

While I’m Waiting

“While I am Waiting”

Prayer – dear Lord Jesus, we thank you for your Word. We thank you for your presence. We thank you for getting up this morning and allowing us to gather here, in this moment, to give You all the honor, praise, and glory that you deserve. We are humbled by the love that you showed us, through your sacrifice on the cross. We love you and we thank You, in Jesus’ name.

This morning, the title of my message is “While I’m Waiting”. I believe that I have spoken on this before as have others, but it struck me this last week that we seem to have a lot of folks that are waiting on some healing.

I am also sure that there are some here that may be waiting on some resolutions in some areas in our life that we have prayed for and are looking for God to make a way in whatever situation we may be facing.

I’ll be honest, I can be impatient. The primary focus of my job is to either make something new that was not there or to fix what is there. In my work, what I have tried to achieve is to provide excellent results in a timely fashion. With experience, and the wisdom that I have gained, I have gotten fairly competent. When I do come across something new that needs to be fixed, I take the time to get familiar with how it works correctly, to diagnose and fix what is broken.

And I can be stubborn when it does not work. I will research it. I will try and try again. I will spend ridiculous amounts of time trying to just make it work. There are times that when I am at a job, I will get a text from Diana that simply says “lunch?” I text her every time I arrive on a job site, when I head to another, when I have lunch, and when I head home. So she will send a text “lunch?” as a reminder that I need to eat – she knows me well. I can get so focused on resolving the problem at hand, that thing that is right in front of me, everything else kind of loses priority.

I will also get a text from time to time from her that is simply “???” Like the other night, I went to a job at 8:00AM to install some network gear, a couple routers and a cellular backup device, and I was told that it would only be a 3-4 hour event. I did text her when I had lunch – which was 5 minutes of gobbling a turkey sandwich, no pun intended – and I did text her to pray that the job would be completed, that was at about 4:00 PM – and she did. I was waiting for a release code.

At 6PM I got the “???” text – and I realized 2 more hours had past and I had not even let her know – now, I could have walked off the job, but there is that thing in me, and maybe it is in you as well, that I was going to do whatever it took to make the things work that were in front of me. There was that thing in me that did not want to fail and said I can fix this! There was that thing in me that said I have spent so much time, spent a lot of my resources trying to solve this,that there was no way I was giving up. Anyone ever feel like that?

It may not be a computer or anything like that.

It might be a relationship.

It may be one of your kids.

It might be your health.

It might be someone else’s health.

Maybe it is a spouse or a girlfriend and you think that they need to change, and you think you can fix them.

And you may be waiting as well.

Here is the rest of the text exchange with Diana:

Graphical user interface, text, application, chat or text message

Description automatically generated

A person holding a baseball bat

Description automatically generated with medium confidence

We watch a show called Restaurant Impossible with Robert Irvine. Robert loves to go into a new business and smash a wall to start the renovation. Diana had used an app and put my face on the original image. I laughed so hard!

Anyways, with that being said – I can be impatient in many situations, but what do I do when it comes to praying to God and getting His response? I can be exactly the same way! I give it to God and then right away I try to take it back, thinking that in some way I might be able to do it better – how foolish of me I can be.

So, again, as I was pondering all of those in this body that are waiting on something from God, including Diana and myself, I thought I would refresh my mind and my spirit about what His Word says about waiting for some comfort and direction.

Matthew 8 When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him.2 And, behold, there came a leper and worshiped him, saying, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.3 And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.4 And Jesus saith unto him, See thou tell no man; but go thy way, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them.

Immediate healings, we see them throughout scripture, don’t we. If I had my way, all of my prayers and hopes would be handled this way. I go to Jesus, I worship him, and then He does His thing and then the situation or the healing is realized and I can move on.

How about when Jesus healed the blind man at Bethesda:

John 5:1 After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.2 Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches.3 In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water.4 For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.5 And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years.6 When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?7 The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me.8 Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.9 And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath.

That is what I want, I want that instant result. But what I fail to see in some of the scriptures at times, is somehow, and some way – this man struggled for 38 years. Yes, Jesus healed him in a moment, and that is wonderful, but for 38 years he struggled. He had some faith, amen? There was no Jesus yet, but he knew that there was an angel of the Lord as scripture states, and he made his way there with hope that he would get into the pool and be healed.

I never even consider the effort that it took for him to be there. Scripture does not tell me if he stayed there the whole time. Scripture does not say how he ate. Scripture does not speak to how he took care of his daily needs. Scripture does not tell me if he had some family he visited. There are a lot of unknowns.

But there is one thing I do know. Somehow, some way, he got there – and what got him there was his faith. It was His faith and the waiting that put him into that unique opportunity to be healed By Jesus Christ. All glory to God

Another thing that I take away from this scripture is don’t give up. Again, I do not know how many times he was there – it is not clear, but let’s just say he went there 50 times. Ok, let’s say he went 50 times and then Jesus healed him. What if he stopped going the 48th time?^. What if he stopped at the 49th time? What if he gave up and said,” you know what, it is what it is and I am just going to be this way forever, it is enough.”

It is a good reminder for me to keep moving forward in faith, to keep waiting on the Lord, because while he was waiting in his 38 years – something happened. The disabled man had nothing to do with it, but a Savior was born and he could not know this was going to happen. There is no way he could have seen that His healing would not be from the one place he expected which was the pool – rather it came from Jesus!

And therein lies another truth I can hang onto while I am waiting. The way that God heals me or answers my prayer may be completely not in line with my expectations. You know, sometimes while I am waiting, I am so busy telling God how to do what needs to be done, I can’t see or hear what He may be saying.

And as I look at some other instances, it is a good reminder that waiting is not something where I am the only one that ever went through it.

Mark 7:31 And again, departing from the coasts of Tyre and Sidon, he came unto the sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis.32 And they bring unto him one that was deaf, and had an impediment in his speech; and they beseech him to put his hand upon him.33 And he took him aside from the multitude, and put his fingers into his ears, and he spit, and touched his tongue;34 And looking up to heaven, he sighed, and saith unto him, Ephphatha, Eph-uh-tha that is, Be opened.35 And straightway his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spake plain.36 And he charged them that they should tell no man: but the more he charged them, so much the more a great deal they published it;37 And were beyond measure astonished, saying, He hath done all things well: he maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak.

Here we do not even know the name of the man who was healed in this scripture. Again, I see an individual who had obviously suffered with deafness and the inability to speak for a significant amount of time. It was not like catching a cold or something like that.

But there is something a little different here. Because he was deaf, I am not even sure he could know who Jesus was. He did not have the luxury that we do today of having the Word of God in a bible or on our smartphone. But what he did have was some folks who did know about Jesus, who had faith in Jesus, and could take him to Jesus to be healed.

And sometimes, I think, while I am waiting, I do lose my sight – not literally of course, but of how big our God is. I can get caught up in the minutia of the moments filled with longing, filled with fear, and just being weary in the waiting. But then there can be my brothers and sisters who pray in the moment, that can remove the blindness and help open our ears to the Word and the love that Jesus has for us. A gentle reminder of who we are to Him and that He indeed still heals the deaf and the blind, and can heal whatever situation we are in and restores that which we long for.

I was impacted on Friday as I met with a client. I was in their office and they wanted to make sure that I knew that they had prayed for Diana. You see, they have these things called prayer huddles, it is a faith-based organization. I had mentioned in passing to the Pastor there about Diana’s recent struggles. What an absolute breath of fresh air it was to know that someone, besides me was praying. The same goes for the prayers of this church. But that these brothers and sisters in Christ, were coming together to pray for the love of my life, whom they had never met. And it refreshed my spirit and it reminded me:

Matthew 18:18 Verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.19 Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.20 For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

It is a great reminder for me to ask for help, to ask for prayer – because we are not in this by ourselves. The bible is pretty clear:

1 John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.12 No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.13 Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.14 And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.15 Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.

And while I am waiting, in that scripture is a good reminder as well:

13 Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.

I am not alone, even if I am the only one in the room, amen. His Spirit dwells in us and he will not leave nor forsake us. Even in the middle of the storm, in the middle of sickness, in the middle of trials and tribulations, He is with us. I am with Pastor Jeff, declaring His name. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. I have to remind myself, and others, declaring His name that He did not leave us all alone, but He is a helper while I wait:

John 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever;17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.

Thank you Jesus!

The Word has many examples of why to wait:

Psalm 27:14 Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.

And believe it or not, the Bible says that waiting is not a bad thing:

Isaiah 40:28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth

Psalm 130:4 But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared.5 I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope.6 My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning.

The Bible also says that there can be some good while we are waiting – which I personally, am encouraged by – even though no matter what I have said today – I don’t like waiting.

Isaiah 40:30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:31 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Some other thoughts on waiting. After I have prayed and given whatever situation to God, there are some positive things I can do:

Galatians 6:8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.10 As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

I like this phrase from the writer Ann Voskamp: “When you are waiting, do what waiters do: serve.”

When I am serving others and working for the Kingdom the focus comes off of me, and that is important for me. Like when I was stuck at that job, I was so focused on the issue I did not even think to let Diana know what was going on and she worried. Because sometimes, I focus so much on the problem that I do not focus on what is important. The priority of the problems changes the priorities in my life.

Philippians 4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

I cannot tell you how many times when I just praise God that my attitude is better, my hope grows, because it reminds me of who He is and what He can do!

Psalm 40:1 I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.2 He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.3 And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord.

Some things I have learned:

Never underestimate the power of a prayer for another, just like I was encouraged the other day, so will others.
Never underestimate the power of a kind word or thought for those that are waiting – remind them of who they are to God.
Never underestimate the power of a little humor!

Acts 2:38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Are You Invited?

By Pastor Bob Rasmussen

Much of what I will speak on emanates from the following scripture:
- Psalm 23 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.
I just want to look at this scripture verse by verse
Psalm 23 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
- David himself was a shepherd
- David knew what he was shepherding – sheep – expound
- David knew that as a shepherd, his job was to take care of his flock – and he was asking God to do the same
2 He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
Sheep are not fond of swimming in the water, especially running water. Running water is proved to be dangerous not only to sheep but to a lot of animals. There are three main reasons that it becomes a potential danger to sheep.
First, because of the slow-moving speed, sheep can be easily swept away in the fast-moving water.
Second, in case of rocks in the water, sheep seem to lose their balance while walking.
Last, but not least, sheep’s wool gets soaked, so becomes heavy very fast
A shepherd does 4 things for a flock

Protects them
Feeds them
Provides for them
And leads them
Green pastures – not what we know in Wisconsin
he leadeth me beside the still waters.
- He knows the area
- He knows the ins and the outs of the land
- Our Jesus, the Good Shepherd has knowledge of everything – made it all
  - Isaiah 49:9 That thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places.10 They shall not hunger nor thirst; neither shall the heat nor sun smite them: for he that hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by the springs of water shall he guide them.
  - The amplified says it this way:
  - This is what the Lord says, In a [e]favorable time I have answered You, And in a day of salvation I have helped You; And I will keep watch over You and give You for a covenant of the people, To restore the land [from its present state of ruin] and to apportion and give as inheritances the deserted hereditary lands, 9 Saying to those who are bound and captured, ‘Go forth,’ And to those who are in [spiritual] darkness, ‘Show yourselves [come into the light of the Savior].’ They will feed along the roads [on which they travel], And their pastures will be on all the bare heights. 10 “They will not hunger or thirst, Nor will the scorching heat or sun strike them down; For He who has compassion on them will lead them, And He will guide them to springs of water. Continuing with the Psalm 3 He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.4 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me

I definitely need a shepherd
- If I follow Jesus, then I can be righteous
- If I follow Jesus and my life has an impact, He gets the glory
- The staff and the rod
  - The staff is used to guide
  - The staff is used to correct
  - The staff is used save
  - The rod – the rod
    - The image of Jesus growing up – surreal
    - The reality of who He is
    - He has all power and authority
    - Rod was used to defend the sheep from bears and other predators – you hear me predators
    - How much more powerful is a rod yielded by the king of the universe against our predators
5 Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:
- Love the imagery
- I would have written it differently:
  - Why in the presence of my enemies?
  - Why am I at the table in the middle of: (repeat)
    - Sickness
    - Sadness
    - Loss
    - Financial struggles
    - Addiction
    - Because while I am in His presence, he can do what he does
      - In sickness he can heal and comfort
      - In sadness he can restore joy and hope
      - In loss, he can fill the void in our souls
      - In finances he can bring new opportunities
      - In addiction he can break chains and set people free
      - In all of this, we get the goodness of God and He gets all the glory
      - The enemies will fret, but the world will see your life and wonder how?
      - They will want a seat at the table
But we all have to do something, and that is to say yes – receive Jesus
- We need to sit at that table
- We need to focus on the one who set the table
- We need to be hungry at the table – for His Word and what it says about Him as well as us – Diana Prime
- How often do we get too busy to spend time at the table
- But sometimes, sometimes, others can slip onto the table
  - Giglio story about how quickly someone joined the table
  - Sit in chair – that is how quickly the enemy can sit at the table
- But that is a table prepared for me! The enemy can’t come
  - How about Adam and Eve – Garden of Paradise
  - The enemy is bold, he showed up to Jesus:

Luke 4:1 And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,2 Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.3 And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.4 And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.5 And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.6 And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.7 If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.8 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.9 And he brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple, and said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down from hence: 10 For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee:11 And in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.12 And Jesus answering said unto him, It is said, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.13 And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season.

I think one of the main missions of the enemy is challenge the character of God and fill us with a thing like anger, bitterness and unforgiveness.

Are we saying any of these or feel any of these statements? I am weak and powerless. I am unlovable to God and others. I can’t be used by God because of my past. I am worthless and irrelevant. I am rejected and abandoned. I am deficient and incomplete. I am alone and no one cares about me. I can’t have peace in my life. I have no purpose in this life. I am ordinary and average.

If the answer is yes, the enemy might already be at your table.

“Don’t give the enemy a seat at YOUR table”

And the best way to get that seat back, get the enemy out to render his lies ineffective is with the truth of Jesus.

Go to the Table – and just like Jesus, we can use the Word!

I am weak and I am powerless. You may be, but God’s strength is more than sufficient.

2 Corinthians 12:9 And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Nobody loves me, even God. God loves you with an everlasting love.

Jeremiah 31:3 The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee

I can’t be used by God because of my past and scars. Nope! God has blotted out the sins of your past.

Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.

I am worthless and irrelevant. You are God’s pleasure, you are special.

Deuteronomy 7:6 For thou art an holy people unto the Lord thy God: the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.

I am rejected. I have been abandoned. God has adopted you into His own family

Ephesians 1:5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,

I am less than and incomplete. God has made you whole and complete

Colossians 2:10 And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power.

I am alone. No one cares about me. God cares about you and is with you.

1 Peter 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

There is no peace in my life. God will give you His perfect peace

John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

I have no purpose. God has great plans for you in this life. God has great plans for you

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

I am ordinary. I am average. You are extraordinary and unique

Psalm 139:14 I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.

The central message of Don’t give the enemy a seat at YOUR table is to take captive our thoughts. There is indeed a battle for our minds.

The enemy is a killer – he may show up and be full of FOMO – fear of missing out – he did it with Eve

Satan doesn’t need to scare us into submission. He simply manipulates the fears and desires we already have.

Need to define our lives by His word, not the enemies, and not just based on our past.

We all have scars, but we are not defined by them. Cutting story

He has scars. And his scars mean I am loved – forgiven – adopted, plans for me, hope, paths of righteousness

Paid for with a high price.

The war has been one, and Jesus won – but there are still battles to be fought.

Ask God to define the enemies that are lurking.

The maker of everything has prepared an opportunity for us!

Write our story according to the word of the Lord

In the process, people will want to sit with the one your are with because of the good that he does for you and He gets the glory.

On my next message I will be focusing on another area of concern based on this scripture:

2 COR 14-15 ¹⁴And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.¹⁵Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

Sometimes, we may have invited the wrong people and we need to ask ourselves “Are You Invited?”

Praise HIM

By Pastor Mike

According to Bible Gateway, the words “praise the LORD” is found 124 times in the Bible. The word praise is found 259 times. It’s great that we can praise the KING of kings and the LORD of lords

Psalm 9:1-2

9 I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works.

²I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High.

According to scripture we all should be praising the LORD for all HE has done and all HE brought us out of. Always remember that JESUS is always there to help us get through everything in life. Sometimes HE calms the storm and sometimes HE calms us while we go through the storm.

I know sometimes it’s not easy to praise HIM but remember that as born again believers there will be no more storms; we will be in Heaven forever. How AWESOME is that. We will always stand on HIS plan of salvation we find in Acts 2:38. It’s about repenting of your sins, get Baptized in JESUS name for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the HOLY GHOST.

We will always stand on the Truth because that’s what makes us free from everything that’s not of GOD.

How AWESOME it is to praise HIM because HE’s the only one that’s worthy of it.

We are so thankful and so Blessed living for JESUS.

Psalm 18:2-3

²The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

³I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.

Psalm 86:11-13

¹¹Teach me thy way, O Lord; I will walk in thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name.

¹²I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with all my heart: and I will glorify thy name for evermore.

¹³For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell.

Psalm 150

Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.

²Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.

³Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.

⁴Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.

⁵Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.

⁶Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord.

We have breath, we should praise the LORD. We praise HIM for HIS Mercy, HIS Grace, HIS Love, HIS healings, HIS comfort, HIS Peace, HIS Salvation, HIS Deliverance, HIS Provisions. Even if your days are going smooth and easy, Praise HIM for that. True Praise is hard to contain. Praise lifts our spirits. Praise refocuses our thinking and puts it on JESUS.

Picture care of: soakinguptheson.com

The Resurrection

Resurrect

By Pastor Jeff,

1 Corinthians 15:12-19, “Now if Christ is preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins! Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.”
If this is true then we have any miserable people in this world for many religions do not believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ or any other type of resurrection. The Muslims, Orthodox Jewish faith, of course we have Hinduism, Buddhism, and others as well fall into this category. Non-Christians as a whole do not believe in a literal resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
However a 2017 poll in the UK found that ½ of the population doesn’t believe in the Resurrection and 23% of so-called Christians don’t believe it neither.
In America a 2013 poll said that only 64% believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ so that would mean 36% either have no view or don’t believe in the resurrection either.

There is a movement out there that are infiltrating many churches called Progressive Christianity which believe this,
1. Believe that following the path and teachings of Jesus can lead to an awareness and experience of the Sacred and the Oneness and Unity of all life;
2. Affirm that the teachings of Jesus provide but one of many ways to experience the Sacredness and Oneness of life, and that we can draw from diverse sources of wisdom in our spiritual journey;

People most miserable!

1 Corinthians 15:20-23, “But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.” There is actually 3 parts of the first resurrection, two mentioned here and another in Revelations. 20:4-6, “And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to them. Then I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands. And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has part in the first resurrection. Over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years.”

If we examine the bible we have ample evidence of a resurrected Jesus Christ as
Jesus over and over told His disciples of the coming trial, death and resurrection, Matthew 20:18-19, Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He will rise again.””

So, let’s look at some of the reasons some claim that Jesus was not resurrected, the body was stolen, Matthew 28:11-15, “Now while they were going, behold, some of the guard came into the city and reported to the chief priests all the things that had happened. When they had assembled with the elders and consulted together, they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers,saying, “Tell them, ‘His disciples came at night and stole Him away while we slept.’ And if this comes to the governor’s ears, we will appease him and make you secure.” So they took the money and did as they were instructed; and this saying is commonly reported among the Jews until this day.” So, you are telling me that these disciples who ran at the arrest of Jesus, were hiding in a room, could of snuck in and rolled a massive stone away quietly so as to not awake these soldiers (who would of been condemned to death from sleeping on the job) and carried Jesus body away somewhere.
The Swoon theory which states Jesus did not die on the cross but lapsed into some kind of comatose state and later revived-John 19:31-35, “Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. Then the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and of the other who was crucified with Him. But when they came to Jesus and saw that He was already dead, they did not break His legs. But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out. And he who has seen has testified, and his testimony is true; and he knows that he is telling the truth, so that you may believe.”
It was an Hallucination, right!
That the resurrection and even the death of Jesus was just a non-literal, Myth, I ask you,what person would endure torture, suffering, rejection, and death for a myth?

The resurrection is an integral part of the Christian faith and I contend you can’t call yourself a Christian if you do not believing in the biblical account of the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ!
Romans 10:9, “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.”

I wholeheartedly believe in the miraculous birth, the life, the teachings, the betrayal, suffering of Jesus Christ. But if ended there, I would be most miserable for I have had dear friends and family that have passed on that If I didn’t believe in the resurrection I would just eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow I die. But I have the hope of seeing my dear friends and loved ones again because the resurrection is true and Jesus has put His Spirit in me so one day I also will be resurrected!

picture care of: heartlight.org

The Great Commission!

Dont-Lose-the-Mission-1024x576

By Pastor Jeff,

When you are told that you have to do something, what is your usual reaction?

If you’re like me, it’s usual a little like, what? You can’t tell me what to do! Have you ever dealt with a toddler in trying to prevent them doing something? Even if you are protecting them from harm, they will give you a stern look and do what you demanded them not too!

Matthew 28:19, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:” I’ve heard from some that this is a commandment that every Christian should make themselves do. Well with our nature of rebellion I think many of us refuse to follow and snub the thought as well. I mean, we would love to see others coming to the Lord but if you saying I have to give of my own precious time, I’m not doing it!

I want to change this to something we have to do to something we get to do. After all, if you had an encounter with Jesus Christ how could you be quiet. Let’s look at Mark 1:40-45, “And there came a leper to him, beseeching him, and kneeling down to him, and saying unto him, If thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and saith unto him, I will; be thou clean. And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed. And he straitly charged him, and forthwith sent him away; And saith unto him, See thou say nothing to any man: but go thy way, show thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing those things which Moses commanded, for a testimony unto them. But he went out, and began to publish it much, and to blaze abroad the matter, insomuch that Jesus could no more openly enter into the city, but was without in desert places: and they came to him from every quarter.” And Matthew 9:27-30, “And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us. And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord. Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you. And their eyes were opened; and Jesus straitly charged them, saying, See that no man know it. But they, when they were departed, spread abroad his fame in all that country.”

In both instances after receiving their miracle they were told to not spread the news, but really? How can you not share what God has done for you, if you received a miracle, wouldn’t you tell everyone that you met, I surely would! Jesus Christ has done so much in my life in just dying for my sins that I also can’t be quiet, not because I have to share Jesus with others, it is that I get too. It’s all about Him for without Jesus sacrifice I would still be destined for a horrible eternal life without Him.

So, what is the best way to share the gospel? with humility and maybe even a tear in your eye. Matthew West in his song, “Nobody” says this, “Cause I’m just a nobody, trying to tell everybody, all about Somebody, Who saved my soul” Pride will get in the way of your testimony so don’t let it!

This Christmas season is a great time to share the love of Jesus to our world for like that first Christmas when the angels appeared to the shepherds in the fields, Luke 2:15-17, “And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us. And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger. And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child. And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.”
It’s not about having to tell others of Jesus Christ but it’s the privilege of telling others!

Picture care of:www.ministryconnectionpodcast.com

Upon This Rock

Upon-this-Rock

By Pastor Jeff,

Matthew 16:13-19, “When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 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.”

When you hear the word Rock, what do you think of?

Verse 18 from the amplified says this, “And I tell you, you are Peter [Greek, Petros–a large piece of rock], and on this rock [Greek, petra–a huge rock like Gibraltar] I will build My church, and the gates of Hades (the powers of the infernal region) shall not overpower it [or be strong to its detriment or hold out against it].”

What in your mind is the most firm, unmovable, undisputable doctrine in the word of God? 1Timothy 3:16, “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.”

The Revelation of who Jesus is, “God in Flesh!” This doctrine is what separates the nominal church from the church built upon the rock!

So how is this associated with the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven?

Once we understand who Jesus is, we can bind evil Acts 16:18, “And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour.” What Name?
Is it enough to use the name of Jesus? Acts 19:13-16, “Then certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth. And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so. And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye? And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.”

It was clear form the beginning of Jesus ministry that he offended the religious of the day and was accused of using the power of the devil to cast out devils…
Matthew 12:28-30, “But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. Or else how can one enter into a strong man’s house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house. He that is not with me is against me; and he that gathereth not with me scattereth abroad.”

After we bind evil, we have power to let loose the power of God which leads to deliverance from sin, Roman 6:22-23, “But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.”

The keys we have been given are powerful, but without the knowledge of who Jesus is, they don’t have the eternal effect for it is not built upon the Rock!
John 14:8-14, “Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it.”

We often say when we meet others of different religious beliefs that there is no denying who Jesus Christ is, right! Then why do they fall on men’s traditions in baptizing in the titles “Father, Son, and Holy Ghost?” The earliest reliable source of using the Father, Son, and Holy ghost is in the second century; so did they suddenly become smarter that the original Apostles?
Did they get a better understanding of scripture?

No they jumped off the “Rock”!

Picture care of: voiceoftruthblog.com

I am in the Place of God!

Genesis-50-19 (1)

By Pastor Jeff,

Joseph had many ups and downs in his journey with Lord, some of his ups include receiving the coat of many colors from his father, becoming the head man at Potiphar’s house, and becoming second in command to all of Egypt in the Pharaoh’s kingdom! Some of his downs would be his brothers attempt to kill him, then selling him to the Ishmaelites, being accused of sexual assault by Potiphar’s wife then ending up in prison, and then being stuck in prison for two years. The one thing is that he never waivered for his love of God and rising above the fray.

When Jacob finally died, his brothers become fearful, Genesis 50:15-20, “And when Joseph’s brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will peradventure hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him. And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying, So shall ye say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren, and their sin; for they did unto thee evil: and now, we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him. And his brethren also went and fell down before his face; and they said, Behold, we be thy servants. And Joseph said unto them, Fear not: for am I in the place of God? But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive.” What a profound statement of faith and love!

We are all well aware that Satan hates us and seeks our destruction by whatever means he can. When sickness, death, suffering are piled on us as result of sin coming into our world we sometimes want to strike out and blame God. But we know He is not the source of evil and if we can real trust in the love of Jesus Christ we will see Romans 8:28 fulfilled, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”

I will share for a moment on how I see this being fulfilled in my life. In the last year I have experienced a little more suffering than I would like to, my good friend died last October 20th, then a week later on October 28th my oldest son died as well. In the time between then and now my youngest daughter was diagnosed again with cancer and even though I believe she will be ultimately be healed it was a tough pill to swallow. Though I had experienced an occasional meltdown my faith in Jesus Christ is stronger than ever. This then leads to how God is turning it into a good thing!

A couple months ago our church as well I’m sure many churches received a letter talking about the local Sheriffs Dept. desire to start a Chaplain program for it’s officers. As I sat in the training class recently where the discussion was more about death and death notifications I thought to myself, “Why am I here?” The Spirit of God living in me brought me to the scripture from Romans 8:28 and I realized that those things that happened to me were meant to destroy me. But I would never of pursued this new chapter without it! God changed what was meant for evil to something good to His glory!

If you are going through a tough period, keep on loving God, trust Him and somehow, sometime, Jesus will turn it into something good!

picture care of: BibleWordings.com

Jesus is The Real Thing!

Jesus-Christ-the-Real-Thing

By Pastor Jeff,

In 1968 Coca Cola came up with a campaign called “It’s the real thing”. Out of it in 1971 came the jingle, I like to buy the world a Coke and keep it company.” The camera pulls up to an aerial view, revealing 200 singers aligned on a green hillside like an open fan, a youth chorus of the world.
“It’s the real thing—Coke is,” they sing in unison, “what the world wants today.”
It was a very successful ad campaign, but then fast forward to April 23, 1985, when Coca-Cola Company announced a change to its nearly century-old secret formula. The new Coke would have a smoother, sweeter taste — similar to Diet Coke, but sweetened with corn syrup. Market researchers and pollsters were sure it’d be a hit. Coca-Cola was number one at the time, but Pepsi was gaining ground and cutting into Coke’s precious market share. It was a bomb, by July 11 Coca-Cola held a press conference to officially announce the return of the old Coke – and to admit it had made a mistake.

Fast forward to today and what is probably the most common phrase we hear concerning our News? Fake News! It’s hard for us even to believe something even when it is the “Real Thing” isn’t it? I mentioned it before that some that study Christianity claim there is over 35,000 different denominations of Christianity that come from this one book!

35,000 different ways to get to Jesus?
Matthew 7:13, “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” Clearly there is only ONE WAY!

How can that be and how would you even try to find the real one?
1 Timothy 4:1-3, “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.”
2 Timothy 4:3-5, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.”

I grew up on the original Mountain Dew, but like so many soda manufacturers they switched from sugar to corn syrup and I couldn’t stand it, they came out with Throwback in 2011 to my great joy. But if you ask those that grew up with the Mountain Dew made with corn syrup, they don’t like the Throwback, why? Because they are crazy, no (maybe), their taste buds are used to the modern version without sugar. The problem is that many have grown up with not the real thing and sometimes when the Real thing is shown to us we reject it because it doesn’t taste like what we are used to.

There is Only way to Jesus Christ the Real Thing! John 14:4-6, “And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

So how do you find this Jesus? Matthew 7:7-11, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?” Proverbs 8:17, “I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.” Jeremiah 29:13, “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”

Don’t be satisfied with imitation Christianity, seek Jesus Christ the REAL Thing!

picture care of; www.thinwithin.org

Eye Has not Seen…

1-cor-2-9-web-2

By Pastor Jeff,

This scripture gives us three well really four truths as you read verse 10, of how we normally approach our belief system!

Truth cannot be perceived through the eye (senses) despite being only just over two centimetres in diameter, human eyes have over 2 million moving parts. They can distinguish over 500 shades of grey, and over 2.7 million colours.
Our eyes don’t lie: they’re windows to the soul. The best way to get to know someone is to look them in the eyes and observe what they reveal about their emotional state.
But what you think you see can sometimes be deceiving too; Your Eyes Can Make You Hear Different Words, Your Eyes Change the Way Food Tastes, Have you ever watched a magician or heard of and Optical Illusion?

Truth is not reached by hearing (tradition) now the bible tells us in Romans 10:17, “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” So, we understand that hearing is very important in establishing salvation. So, why is that we have one Bible but we have so many Christian faiths out there?
So, was it Yanny or Laurel?
For many of us it is tradition that makes it most difficult for us to accept a different truth in our faith!

Truth is not discoverable by the heart! “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he:” What we feel cannot always be trusted as well and this is probably what causes most of the problems among Christians.
How many times when you find yourself talking to others does the term, “I feel this is what it says, or I think it says this or that” we should take those words, “feel” and “think” out of our vocabulary when discussing Bible truths. We should use the vocabulary that many of the prophets such as Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and others used when communicating. “Thus sayeth the Lord!”

So how do we obtain truth if we cannot trust our senses, traditions, and feelings? Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

1 Corinthians 2:10-12, “But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.”
How did you gain understanding of who Jesus the Christ is? Was it through what you had seen? Was it your traditional view? Was it how you felt about it?

Matthew 16:13-17, “When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.”

I like this event found in 2Kings 6 that really shows how we approach things in the natural, here we had the king of Syria warring against Israel and heard of this prophet Elisha in verses, 13-17, “And he said, Go and spy where he is, that I may send and fetch him. And it was told him, saying, Behold, he is in Dothan. Therefore sent he thither horses, and chariots, and a great host: and they came by night, and compassed the city about. And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do? And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them. And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.”

Are you this morning looking around and seeing a vast army that is against us?
Are you being held back by traditions that you are having difficulty riding your mind of?
Are what you feel or think making it impossible to move into dimensions that you have not or believe you cannot reach?

Let’s be led by the Spirit of God;
Acts 8:29, “Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and join this chariot.””
Acts 10:19-20, “While Peter was reflecting on the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Behold, three men are looking for you. “But get up, go downstairs and accompany them without misgivings, for I have sent them Myself.”
Acts 13:4, “So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to Cyprus”
Acts 13:2, “While they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

So, did you see any reference to using what they thought, felt, past experiences, in following what God desired of them?

Romans 8:14, “For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.”

picture care of; christinesbiblestudy.wordpress.com