Strength

Lord Jesus Christ, King of kings, you have power over life and death. You know even things that are uncertain and obscure, and our very thoughts and feelings are not hidden from you. Cleanse me from my secret faults, and I have done wrong and you saw it. You know how weak I am, both in soul and in body. Give me strength, O Lord, in my frailty and sustain me in my sufferings. Grant me a prudent judgment, dear Lord, and let me always be mindful of your blessings. Let me retain until the end your grace that has protected me till now.

Lord, the world wants to pound us down. We are controlled by clocks,
traffic lights, endless lines, and requested participation in civic events.
Our energies are drained and our nerves become frayed. The trials and demands continue without end, and they often seem urgent, even chaotic.

Will any of it add one single minute more to my life Lord? Help me to separate trial from opportunity, replace demand with sacrifice. Help me to replace urgency with submission to Your will, understanding instead of antagonism. Jesus, slow down my life. Give me the gift of patience.
Help me to understand rather than demand. Relaxation rather than frustration.

Our world is often based on greed and ego, and it results in pain. Can it all be that important? That rush for success can result in physical, emotional and spiritual illness. Help all of us to see what is missing in our lives, Lord.
Your gift of patience is so important. We need to realize that You are the way. That peace we seek can only come from You. You can calm the waters, and tell the wind o be still. You can restore peace and love.

Jesus, help me to simply live in the world. not be controlled by it. Give me the grace to adapt my days to Your plan, Your will. Grant me the wisdom to place control in Your hands. Replace my limitations and impatience with your unlimited power and peace. I know You appreciate my efforts, but sometimes I am at the mercy of society around me. Intentions may get mistakenly misunderstood. I try to guide and direct and those efforts somehow come across as trying to control. Patience and Charity can be very difficult in the midst of frustration. Jesus , give me the wisdom to see that patience is the cure for frustration. Make it a daily part of my life, in my family relationships especially. Grant me the grace to be able to extend it to all, and particularly to those whose views do not correspond with mine. Help me to show patience with myself, in recognition
of my failures and limitations. Jesus, help me to place all in Your hands,
knowing You will do what is best for me, and in Your own time frame.
Help me to wait patiently for my Lord.

Examine Me

Then Joshua told the people: "You can't do it; you're not able to worship GOD. He is a holy God. He is a jealous God. He won't put up with your fooling around and sinning. When you leave GOD and take up the worship of foreign gods, he'll turn right around and come down on you hard. He'll put an end to you—and after all the good he has done for you!".(Joshua 24:19-20 MSG)
Do I rely on anything else or anyone but God?
Is there a smigance of relality in me, in any other way? Or any other particular set of circumstances? Do I rely, or do I rely on myself? Is it regarding this age or word that which God has placed before me? Let me examine myself by asking these relevant questions?
Is it really true? "I cannot live a holy life," but let Jesus Christ make me holy? "I cannot serve the Lord . . ."-- but I can place myself in the proper position where God's almighty power will flow through me. Is my relationship with God sufficient for me to expect Him to exhibit His wonderful life in me?
But the people told Joshua: "No! No! We worship GOD!"(Joshua 24; 21 MSG)
This is not an impulsive, but a definete commitment. I can say, "But God could never have called me to this. I'm too unworthy. Lord you can’t mean me." But It does mean me, and the more weak and feeble I am, the better a person I’ll be.
Am I that person who is still relying and trusting in anything within myself. Am I the last person to even come close to saying, "I will serve the Lord."
I have said, "Oh, if only I really could believe!" The question is, "Will I believe?" No wonder Jesus Christ placed such emphasis on the sin of unbelief. "But Jesus said, "A prophet is taken for granted in his hometown and his family." He didn't do many miracles there because of their hostile indifference. ( Matthew 13:58 MSG ).
If I really believed that God meant what He said, just imagine what I would be like! Do I really dare to let God be to me all that He says He will be?

My Patience

I've come to understand that God will always make His way clear. But I've also come to understand that His timing almost always requires more patience than what I've been given. When I gave my life to Jesus, He transformed me and gave me His Spirit to dwell within and produce fruit: "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience..." (Galatians 5:22-23). I know I have been given a certain measure of patience, but I sure need more!

Over the last 18 years, it seems that I have been in a near continual search for God's direction. I believe I was called into ministry; however, I have never completely understood the extent of this call. I have continued to serve in this ministry, but the degree to which I should do things like travel, write some books, go to school, and commit to church ministry has never been real clear. I am prepared to follow, but clear direction has been lacking...and so I wait. The result has been that my eyes and thoughts are daily focused on Jesus waiting to see if the cloud will move as it did with the Israelites. And through the process I am are learning the importance of patience.

James 5:7-8
"Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the autumn and spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near."

A farmer plants his crop for harvest but has to wait for growth, now waiting for growth is completely out of His control. He has done the work of plowing the ground and planting the seed; now He must wait for God to produce the crop.

No matter what your circumstance is today, if you have been saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, you can rest assured that He is at your side directing your steps. Sometimes God's direction comes by way of outward events and changes we can see with our eyes, but often His direction comes in the form of inward changes and growth - such as more trust, more love...and more patience. Our "work" is to take each step He reveals and then wait for God to produce the crop as we love Him with all our heart.

I am deeply grateful and appreciate every ones continued encouragement and prayers. Please continue to pray for the clarity of God's direction and the boldness to follow where He leads. You all are continually in my prayers as I need you all to survive, you all are also a part of my survival. And as He brings me to your mind, please pray for a little more patience.

Do I Have Power?

But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. Acts 1:8 (KJV)
This might be a secret to some but not to me, let me remind you that this power, of which Jesus speaks, has not only been given to us so that we might be witnesses of the goodness of God and of the grace of God, but that this power has been give to you and I also for the tearing down of strongholds. The power of God has not only been give to you and me so I can witness about the grace of God, but the power of God has been given to me so I can also witness about strongholds in my bloodline that may have destroyed generations above me that I can give witness and say, "It destroyed them, but by the power of God it did not destroy me."
Jesus shares with us that this power we receive when the Holy Ghost comes on us, in Acts 1:8 puts the emphasis on the power that comes on us to be witnesses first in Jerusalem and then Judea and to the uttermost parts of the earth. You shall receive power! You shall receive an anointing! You shall receive oil! You shall receive courage! When the Holy Ghost comes on you, you shall receive power to be my witnesses! Amen.
Pray with me: Father, I thank you that I am free. I thank you that because of the shed blood of your son generational curses have been destroyed. I thank you that I have the power to remain free and whatever demon that might rise up against me, I have power over. I have been made free from the curse of sin. I have power to overcome the world through your son-Jesus. Father, be glorified in my life that I may be an effective witness unto you.
Yes, I have the Power.

A Look at Heaven

In the Bible we don't get a lot of details as to what heaven will be like, but it does give us what we need to know. After all, how could we possibly fathom all that God has stored up for His saints to enjoy and experience? If we could understand heaven fully now, it wouldn't be much to look forward to. But, the God Who is able to do even above and beyond what we can ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20), will create a new heaven and a new earth that will transcend any feeble attempt by our present earthly imaginations to be able to conceive of what heaven will be like. The best and greatest we can think of or ask for, God will do more. In fact, He will do much more. As such, we have much to look forward to, even though we don't know specifically what all is coming.
The Bible says that heaven is paradise. Christ, when speaking to the thief on the cross who repents, says that he will be with Him that very day in paradise (Luke 23:43). Paul speaks of being caught up into the third heaven into the very presence of God, and He describes it as paradise (2 Corinthians 12:1-4). As good as the Garden of Eve was, heaven will be perfect, a perfect paradise. We know that there will be no more pain, tears, grief, or sorrow because Christ will wipe away all tears (Revelation 21:4). All physical ailments, emotional pain, and sorrow will be gone for we will be in the presence of Christ Himself (Revelation 21:3). Perhaps that is the best part of all, having the eternal opportunity to be in the very presence of our Savior face to face. What more could we ask for? Yet there is more.
In heaven, we will sing praises to God (Revelation 4:11). We won't be bored or just sitting around because God has much for us to do, learn, see, and accomplish. We will have responsibility as we reign with Him and serve Him (Revelation 22:3, 5). Our souls will be filled with ecstasy as we get to work with Jesus to bring about His wonderful, glorious, and perfect plan in paradise. We will see those who have died in Christ, and we will be reunited. We won't go to church, per se, because we will worship Christ Himself Who is our temple (Revelation 21:22). There will be transparent streets of gold (Revelation 21:18, 21) and all kinds of precious stones for the foundation of the walls of the city of the New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:19-21). Jesus will light the world (Revelation 21:23), God will be on His throne (Revelation 22:3), and the tree of life will be there (Revelation 22:2), representing our eternal existence with God. Animals will get along, people will get along, and Jesus will be our peace (Micah 5:5).
This is possible because there will no longer be any curse, which means that there will no longer be any sin (Revelation 22:3). Finally, our battle against our flesh will be over and we will be able to live in holiness perfectly. There will be no fear any longer, for Jesus will be our King.
There just isn't any reason why we shouldn't look forward to heaven. We can rest assured that worshipping God in heaven in paradise will not be boring. He will have much for us to do, see, discover, and be responsible for. Psalm 16:11 says, "In Your presence is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are pleasures forever." Heaven is thus joy maxed out because we will be in the presence of Christ and we will be able to experience the eternal pleasures which He has stored up for us. We will be forever with God, which in and of itself is so wonderful it is beyond our ability to fully comprehend. Yet there will be still more joy, pleasure, responsibility, and infinitely more.
It just can't get any better than heaven, so let's just enjoy imagining as we wait for something beyond and so much better than what our imaginations can conceive. One day very soon, we will see our Savior face to face, and our joy will be beyond complete.