Posted in Jesus Talk

One Of The Greatest Things I Ever Learned!

Early in my ‘walk with God’…..you know, after inviting Jesus into my heart and life, I set out to learn all I could about God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

Someone, and only God knows who, told me to always, and I mean always submit to the guidance of the Holy Spirit before reading or listening to any teaching. (2 Corinthians 8:5)

In doing that the Holy Spirit will cause us to question something that is not of God. Sometimes we are taught things that have been taught and handed down from person to person, who, because they respect the speaker, teacher, accept it as truth without thinking through how it lines up with all the Bible. So important that we think not just listen.

The positive side is that the Holy Spirit will convict (convince) us of important things we need to know. God is so Good!!!

Someone else, taught me to have ‘ethical theology’……that which I believe is consistant from Gensis to Revelation of the Heart of God. Since man was under ‘law’ in the Old Testament and under ‘Grace’ (empowered by Jesus) in the New Testament we always need to examine what we believe and have faith in, by Jesus, his life and His teachings.

This has helped me immeasurably to work my way through so many ideas and ideaologies, available to all of us. I pray it will do the same for anyone reading this for the first time. It also has enabled me to love, and care about, those I don’t agree with in doctrine. We, in the Body of Christ are one in the Spirit, not in mental assent. Blessings, blessings, blessings in our Jesus!

Pressing in and pressing on….

How Do We Own The Blessings?

I just posted a testimony of a family that served God for most of their lives…..children, grandchildren, etc.  Did they have  problems, I would imagine they did, and survived and were blessed through their devotion and faith.  www.5minutemiracle.com/mir/208.html

I am the first in my family, thanks to my middle son, Patrick, to have a personal relationship with Jesus.  Thanks to his personal love and affect of his relationship with God, the family has been drawn  into the Kingdom, and we see blessings and miracles often.  Do we have struggles, you can bet we do….but the  answer to 'own the blessings' is all tied up in relationship and the Grace of God.

Grace is unmerited favor; Grace is the empowering presence of God; Grace is the bridge between the wrath (God's settled opposition to sin) and the love of  God!

The first step is to ask Jesus and  the  Holy Spirit to come into your life and be Lord (owner) of all you do…..Owners are responsible for those things they own. This does not  take  away our 'free will' it just gives us access to our Heavenly Father (Creator of the Universe) and undeserved blessings, favor and joy!

And  as you get to know Jesus both intellectually and spiritually and most  of all experientially you and those  you invite into this Kingdom on Earth, will  begin  and continue  to 'own the blessings' of God outlined in the Bible.

Eternal security with Jesus is the most important, but why would we not want to help Jesus with others, our family and regain the earth for Jesus with our faith and devotion now, so that we  will have rewards in Heaven as He is promised?   "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."  Heb 11:6   

That was a rhetorical question!  If I could break the bonds of my past, you can do it too…..start today….if you already have what we have discussed, increase and multiply with your example of Grace, Mercy and Favor, in and through our Jesus! 

A New Look….

Part of our new look are ads on our page…..we are doing this to raise funds for the ministry and appreciate the opportuniy to present some people who may bless you. 

        HOWEVER, THE ADS ARE NOT NECESSARILY ENDORSED BY THIS MINISTRY. 

We will see how it goes, as we want to do more ministry and keep up with our bills with the companies that support and supply what we need to keep on keeping on, so thank you for your interest, support and patience in all this.

This is a great time to live because regardless of all the bad news we face daily, wonderful things are happening in the Spirit as approximately 25,000 people are accepting Jesus across the world every day.

In spite of all the negative we could list, there is a ground swell of young people who love the Lord and are passionate to change the world……and we can celebrate and encourage that.

It is not negative or evil to speak the 'facts,' rather it can be negative and possbily evil in the way we handle the facts.   When we walk in the love of God (wanting the best for everyone) and do not judge people or circumstances we can offer prayer and answers for the negative or the needs.

      CELBERATE WHO PEOPLE ARE, NOT WHAT THEY ARE NOT!

Because we get so much of the negative from the far East, I want to share an email from our good friend, Victor Khlil.   It is just an example of how God is working world-wide, and this is so encouraging.

 

I pray this is a blessing, and will inspire all of us to pray more for our spiritual family and new believers through out the world!  Thank you, Jesus!

Pressing in and pressing on….

 

Celebrating Easter With Joy….

THE HAPPIEST THOUGHT I HAD LAST YEAR!

 

One morning as I talked with the Lord, I was thinking how I belong to Jesus, because I am 'born again,' I am in Him and He is in me.  Then suddenly,

I realized not only do I belong to Jesus forever but Jesus belongs to me forever too!

Jesus, Lord, Friend, Husband–belongs to me, little me,  for eternity.  I was so excited, I just walked around all day, saying, "Jesus belongs to me, Jesus belongs to me."  It gave me such joy!

This may not be new to you, but I wanted to share it, with the hope that we might be one in thanking Jesus for His sacrifice on the cross, and the joy of knowing our Jesus pesonally, being one with Him in our heart, mind and spirit!

Love and blessings of the Season,

 

Carol

 

 

Beautiful Side of Evil, Part Two….

As I sought the Lord on this whole issue of 'positive thinking' this is what He put on my heart:

"Your thoughts do not attract or direct destiny, your prayers do  There is a great push now, from the enemy, to think, talk and speak 'positive' as you have realized….putting the emphasis back on man, not on God"  (That would  requires me to be righteous…..the original sin of dependency on man rather than dependency upon God.)  "Thoughts and actions empower the enemy or connect with Me (God).  Then it is MY power not yours that directs energy, establishes the Kingdom, to rule the world.  As long as man can direct his own path, he will not see or feel any need for ME.  The devil thrives on it.  The 'law of attraction' has just enough truth to be delicious."

Here some wonderful verses to consider:

"…out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh"  and  "For by thy words thou shall be justified and by your words you shall be condemned." All from Matthew 12:31-37  Please read the whole section for greater insight.

"Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof."  Proverbs 18:21

We quote these scriptures often, putting great emphasis on what we say, what we quote.  When Jesus was confronted by the Devil in the wilderness, Jesus said, "It is written…."  Jesus knew there is 'spirit and life' in the words of God (John 6;63).  Jesus had the Holy Spirit and knew 'what He spoke' had the power of God behind the spoken word. 

When we quote scripture verses, we are acknowledging the power of God, resident in us because when we are part of Jesus, He is in us and we are in Him.

THE DANGER, THE EVIL LIES IN, THE PERVERSION OF WHERE THE POWER COMES FROM.

Some times it is difficult to connect the dots, so to speak.  The quotes of Jesus I have listed make us think we should always speak good, positive things, especially quoting Him.  However, Jesus did not do that.  Jesus was frustrated at His followers and said, "Oh faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you, and suffer you?" (Luke 9:41) And that was to His disciples. Several times Jesus uses the term, "Oh you of little faith."   Then angered at the Pharisees  (Matthew 23) tells them off royally.   Didn't Jesus remember what He, Himself has said?

Speaking the 'truth' of a situation is not always negative.  If you tell people you are fine and inside you are hurting and full of pain, is that faith or causing us to be double minded.  The more we talk about something the bigger the problem gets, so we need to be careful who we tell and ask them for prayer. 

David complained in the Psalms about all his troubles and his enemies; and always turned to God for the victory.   Paul says in his writ tings, "For we would not, brethren, have you ignorant of our trouble which came to us in Asia, that we were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life:"    (2 Cor 1:8)  Yet Paul declared often of victory, overcoming in Christ and that nothing could every separate us from the love of God.

I have found this last year when my body screamed with inflammation or pain, my spirit was at rest.  My relationship with Jesus has been wonderful and blessed, even though I am still standing in faith for complete healing.  It was a first for me in 31 years with the Lord where my spirit and body were not in agreement.  What a joy to know, as Paul, nothing can separate us from the love of God.

When we are discouraged, sick, or feeling lost….we need more of Jesus, more of Him in loving worship and yes, standing on Scripture verses that 'speak' to our situation.  As we draw close to Him in thought and prayer, He draws close to us, as we remember….

 OUR WORDS ARE EITHER IN AGREEMENT WITH GOD, HIS POWER, HIS ENERGY OR WE GIVE THE DEVIL AND HIS DEMONS POWER WITH OUR WORDS.  THAT IS WHAT ADAM AND EVE DID WITH THEIR 'AGREEMENT' AND THINGS HAVE NOT CHANGED MUCH….THE ENEMY IS STILL THE DECEIVER! 

Faith is the supernatural manifestation of what we choose to believe….our circumstance or the power of God!

"Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world;  I can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens me;  In Him I live, move and have my being."    (I John 4:4; Phil 4:13; Acts 17:28)

"for without me (Jesus) you can do nothing."   (John 15:5c)

Finally, I understand what Jesus meant in that verse, He gives us the power (Matt 28; Mark 16; Luke 10:19; John 20:23) but without Him there is no power!

As we thank Him for all things, we get the blessings and He gets the Glory!

 

Pressing in and pressing on….