Tag Archives: daily messages

The Way to Heaven Is Hard

Psalm_119:105

Here’s a quote I came across in my reading that is fitting to share here.

“Direction is much more important than speed. Many are going nowhere fast.” Christine Caine

Let’s get our directions clear. Our direction is Eternity with Yahweh!

Being pointed in the wrong direction will keep you lost. Turn yourself and align with Yahweh, now! Slow down and allow Yahweh to have the navigational controls. He’ll never steer you in the wrong direction.

Like the scripture says, “Your word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path.”

The question then begs an answer, “Who’s lamp are you allowing to light your path?”

Throughout HIS Word it talks about Jesus being The Light. It should be the brightest light around us. Any other light isn’t enough. Any other light will lead you the wrong direction.

I have night blindness. Once the daylight becomes dim I’m unable to see to drive. Every once in a great while, I get caught in that dim light trying to get home. Just recently I was in this pickle. In a situation like this, light is vitally important. In my situation, I wasn’t far from home. I pulled out of the driveway of the motorcycle repair shop where I’d just dropped off my husband to pick up a motorcycle he had there. I mentioned before we left that it’s a dangerous venture for me. It was nearing dark then. So, I’m driving down the street and all I could see was all the lights of the cars. I was mildly freaked out. My eyes searched the edge of the road to guide me. In that instance, the light was dangerous, because, it was the wrong light for me. I had to figure what I was going to do to navigate home. So, what did I do?

I decided not to take that path because there was too much traffic and not enough of the proper light. Quickly, I decided to turn at a traffic light that would lead me to the next traffic light and just follow those traffic lights down the path I needed to get home. It worked out great. One, because the path I chose had less traffic. Two, because it allowed me to travel a path that led me to my destination. Finally, it was the path least traveled and it was safe.

That leads me to a scripture in Luke 7.

Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter through the narrow gate. The gate is wide and the road is wide that leads to hell, and many people enter through that gate. But the gate is small and the road is narrow that leads to true life. Only a few people find that road.

Are you on the right road? Is the light for your path correct? Are you leading down the path to true life? Comment and share your story. Bless others and be blessed.

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, Yahweh, I lift up every reader that comes to this message. I pray that their path is lit with Your light and that they’re leading to true life with You, in Eternity. Thank You for all Your blessings and miracles, Yahweh. I pray for Your peace, grace, and mercy for everyone who finds this message. I thank You in advance for hearing and answering this prayer. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Character Flaws

Hebrews_12_6-11

Our homes, labs of human experience, provide the climate for spiritual education.

When some character flaw (sin) is revealed in us, we must take that flaw to our Lord for His help in correcting it.

Yahweh is our disciplinarian. He administers our punishment and corrections.

While discipline isn’t a joy ride and is painful at times, later, after learning from it, we will have peace, because we start living in the right way.

We all have character flaws that need discipline and correcting. All one needs to do is to “people watch”. You know what I mean. Go to the mall and sit and just watch. The other place could be a public park or garden with people. Central Park, in NY, for example. That’s a huge place. One would never run out of places to sit and people watch. All sort of things can be seen by people watching. I suppose that’s why there is the entertainment industry. We like to watch other’s flaws, and forget we have any. Until all of a sudden, a scene strikes a nerve in you. All because it reminds you of yourself. Don’t deny it. It’s true.

We need to surrender to Yahweh and allow Him to correct us. To make us more like Him.

How are you doing at surrendering to Him and being obedient? Comment and share your experience. The good and bad.

We all need to see that we’re not alone in this thing. Let’s bless each other! Yes, me too! That’s what I’m saying above. I people watch and then get struck! I’m guilty!

No Condemning

John_3_17

It is through Jesus that the world would be saved, not condemned.

Stop condemning yourselves and others. Satan does enough of that on his own. Don’t help him do it.

Allow the Holy Spirit to be your teacher, guide, and to love you so you can return that love to the world.

In the past, I was hard on myself. There’s that quote we hear a lot;

“We’re our own worst enemy.” – Michael Strahan

I had to learn to not be my own enemy. I was also a control freak. I learned to be humble and allow Yahweh to have the pilot’s seat. It gets easier over time.

What’s your struggle with condemning yourself and others?

Comment and bless others as well as yourself. It’s healing to get it out.

Yahweh’s Gift

IMG_20160311_111356Yesterday’s title was fellowship with Jesus.

A little side note: The name Jesus was translated from ancient text and it’s the English version of His name. The Hebrew name used for Jesus is Yeshua [pronounced: Ye shoo ah]. It is the short version of Yehoshua. From here on out I’ll be using Yeshua to refer to Jesus.

Today gives more detail about the results of being in fellowship with Yeshua.

Yahweh chose us specifically to be His holy people because of His love, Agape Love. Yahweh has offered the gift of salvation through Yeshua… essentially adopting us into His family. The deal was sealed with the death and resurrection of our Messiah, Yeshua.

Some of those spiritual blessings are:

  • We are chosen
  • We are adopted
  • We are accepted in the beloved
  • We are redeemed by the blood of The Lamb [Yeshua]
  • Our sins are forgiven
  • God has given us wisdom and insight through His Word and has shown us His desire to bring all things together to glorify Christ.
  • An inheritance that is given to us through Christ. The riches of glory, the presence of God, the eternal home – these don’t even scratch the surface of all the blessings that belong to our inheritance.
  • We are sealed by the Holy Spirit. When we become Yahweh’s children, He places His mark of ownership on us, guaranteeing our eternal security. This is spoken of as the down-payment of our full redemption, to hold us until the day Christ brings us to Him.

There’s many more that could be mentioned. However, this is the basic list. You can find more about these blessings in Ephesians 1.

How do we access all of these blessings? They are readily accessible to everyone who is in Christ Yeshua. The way to be in Christ is to repent, or turn away from our sins (Acts 17:30), confessing to God that we are sinners (Proverbs 28:13; Romans 10:9). When we believe that Christ died to take our punishment and now lives to give us new life (1 Corinthians 15:3–4), He grants us forgiveness of sins and all the blessings that accompany that salvation.

Comment, share your story, request prayer, and bless others.

What Is Fellowship With Jesus

John 10:9 imageJesus uses the metaphor of being “the door”. Why?

I picture that as being a “gatekeeper”. Someone who is a guardian.

According to John 10:9 when we enter through the gatekeeper we will be saved and be able to come in and out and find pasture.

What does that mean?

When we “go in” it’s that very special place of spiritual rebirth where we are filled with The Holy Spirit. When we “go out” it’s into the world. And “find pasture” means we’ll be watched over, protected, nourished, and grow spiritually, because the OmnipresenceOmnipotence, and Omniscience of Yahweh is everywhere, no matter where we are.

With that kind of power I totally trust Yahweh to care for me. If you’ve ever been in a place where you fear for your safety you can imagine Yahweh being the force surrounding you as a protective wall, like a military fortress, only bigger and more powerful. He is Almighty!

So, what do we do to be in Yahweh’s fortress?

Three things:

  1. Seek Yahweh
    1. Pray
    2. Read The Word
  2. Be in fellowship with other believers
    1. Attend worship service
    2. Attend other fellowship events
  3. Find an accountability partner
    1. Someone who can help keep you in alignment with Yahweh

The more we’re in The Word, in prayer, and fellowship the less we will wander outside the protection of Yahweh.

Comment and share your story. It will bless someone and encourage us all.

If you’d like to request prayer you can contact us here.

Why Be Blessed?

BeattitudesLet’s break this down. What is being blessed?

In this instance scripture is referring to these two definitions:
supremely favored; fortunate AND blissfully happy or contented.

This is what Yahweh wants for us. He wants to bless us. In Matthew 5:3-12 we see what is labeled as “The Beattitudes”. The dictionary defines beattitude as exalted happiness. Exalted is defined as full of, feeling, or manifesting ecstatic joy or delight.

v 12 Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Great is your reward in heaven.

Our issue is  that we’re not Kingdom minded. We’re earthly and worldly minded. We need to focus on our Abba Yahweh. He is our ultimate joy and delight.

Three questions:

  • Where’s your focus?
  • Where do you find your joy?
  • What’s your intentions?

The Bible teaches that with Christ in your heart, you can face the realities of life. Even though they are hard, the grace of God will give you greater joy and pleasure.
– Billy Graham

Three answers:

  1. Repent and get your alignment with Yahweh in order.
  2. Rejoice in Yahweh, not the world.
  3. Let Yahweh bless you, not the world.

Comment and share your story; share your prayer, and connect!

Why We Are Wrong!

Nobody likes to be wrong. Nor do we like to be told we are wrong.

Why is that? I’ll tell you why.

We’re a prideful people. We have a sense of achievement about life.

That pride leads to a deep ugly soul disease, as Billy Graham calls it. What’s the name for this disease? Not one of us is immune to it. It strikes every living being.

It is called “sin”. Even if you do not want to admit it, you sin. I sin. WRomans 3:23 imagee ALL sin. It’s part of our fallen human nature.

Romans 3:23-24 tells us this:

Everyone has sinned and fallen short of God’s glorious standard, and all need to be made right with God by his grace, which is a free gift. They need to be made free from sin through Jesus Christ.

We must confess our sin and repent to make ourselves right with God.

1 John 1:9 says this:

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

The next step for the unsaved is this:

Romans 10:9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and if you believe in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead, you will be saved. 10 We believe with our hearts, and so we are made right with God. And we declare with our mouths that we believe, and so we are saved.

Yes, it’s as easy as that. The kicker, you must not live your old ways. Leave them at the throne of God. He’s already wiped them away. You get a fresh clean start with Jesus as your savior.

The only reason we would keep our sins and re-live them is because we’re believing the lies of satan. He deceived Eve in the Garden. He is still on the job deceiving us today. One major question I ask myself is this:

What does God’s word, The Holy Bible, say about this? Then I start reading His word, praying on it, and meditating on His word. It’s alive and living among us.

If you confessed, repented, and accepted Jesus as your Savior just now say this prayer:

“Father, I know that I have broken your laws and my sins have separated me from you. I am truly sorry, and now I want to turn away from my past sinful life toward you. Please forgive me, and help me avoid sinning again. I believe that your son, Jesus Christ died for my sins, was resurrected from the dead, is alive, and hears my prayer. I invite Jesus to become the Lord of my life, to rule and reign in my heart from this day forward. Please send your Holy Spirit to help me obey You, and to do Your will for the rest of my life. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”

The next steps to take are:

  • Find a Bible believing, preaching, and teaching church to worship and fellowship with other believers. This is important because we need community to help us grow spiritually in our faith.
  • Tell others about your new faith in God that you’re saved.
  • As part of your profession of faith, get baptized.
  • Make sure to spend time daily (it doesn’t have to be all day, a few minutes or whatever you’re comfortable with) in God’s word and pray to God.

Please send me a message and share your story with me and so I can pray for and with you.

Taking Your Thoughts Captive

My thoughts run amok. These thoughts interrupt my daily activities with sayings like: “you’ll never amount to anything”, “you’re not worthy”, “you’re not good enough”. Just to name a few.

These thoughts are self-defeating. They are discouraging and paralyzing.

Paul tells us in God’s word:

For though we live as human beings, we do not wage war according to human standards, for the weapons of our warfare are not human weapons, but are made powerful by God for tearing down strongholds. We tear down arguments and every arrogant obstacle that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to make it obey Christ.
2 Corinthians 10:3-5

It’s a daily struggle. Listen to the video below. Even though this video comes from a marriage ministry, it’s contents affect everyone, married and single.

The adversary likes to get into our heads and deceive us with lies.

We fight back by being in relationship with God, The Son, and Holy Spirit by reading, living, and praying  in His word. Another way to fight back is being in fellowship with the Body of Christ, His bride. Jesus tells us in the word:

“Also, I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about something and pray for it, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. This is true because if two or three people come together in my name, I am there with them.” Matthew 18:19-20

The adversary’s knees buckle at the sound of HIS great name: Jesus! Speak it out loud! Pray in it out loud! Praise HIS name out loud!

God said this of Jesus:

So God raised him to the highest place. God made his name greater than every other name so that every knee will bow to the name of Jesus — everyone in heaven, on earth, and under the earth. And everyone will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and bring glory to God the Father. Philippians 2:9-11

Your turn! What lies have the adversary been deceiving you with?

Prayer: Dear Father God, thank You for Your word and Your saving grace through Jesus death and resurrection leading to our Salvation. What an awesome gift. I pray that the reader of this post will see who great and awesome You are and surrender all those self-defeating thoughts and allow You to take them captive and free them from the prison the thoughts have put them in. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Gentle Love

Day 23 – Gentle Love

ephesians_4_2-3 imageThis love also pulls from the Fruit of the Spirit. Many of the same qualities and characteristics apply to eros love. When we [marrieds] are humble, gentle, patience, working together, and maintaining unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace our eros love will be very active.

Spend some time in prayer with your spouses and work out anything that is an obstacle to your marriage. We all have at least one obstacle. Many times it’s as simple as an attitude we have about something. Allow the Holy Spirit to check you. Humble yourselves before God and allow Him to clear it up. I’ve been there. I know.

List of message series:

Day 1 – Love According to God Day 11 – Love One Another  DAY 21 – WE ARE COMMANDED TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER
Day 2 – Fruit of the Spirit  Day 12 – Love Everyone  Day 22 – Burning Love – Love in Marriage
Day 3 – God’s Love  Day 13 – Love Each Other  Day 23 – Gentle Love
Day 4 – Agape Love  Day 14 – Happy Valentine’s Day  Day 24 – One Mind  and Purpose
Day 5 – Who’s Your Master?  Day 15 – Free to Love  Day 25 – Love is a Verb
Day 6 – Life Eternal  Day 16 – Patience Love  Day 26 – Steadfast Love
Day 7 – His Great Love  Day 17 – Born of God  Day 27 – Love Forgives
Day 8 – More Than Conquerors  Day 18 – Born to Love  Day 28 – Love in Marriage
Day 9 – God, Who Gave Himself For Me  Day 19 – Love Your Neighbor & Your Enemy
Day 10 – Adopted  Day 20 – Love Your Neighbor as Yourself

Burning Love | Love in Marriage

Day 22 – Burning Love | Love in Marriage

For the next four days I’ll share about eros love.
Eros is a passionate and intense love that arouses romantic feelings; it is the kind that often triggers “high” feelings in a new relationship and makes you say, “I love you”. It is simply an emotional and sexual love. Although this romantic love is important in a new relationship, it may not last unless it moves a notch higher because it focuses more on self instead of the other person. If the person “in love” does not feel good about their relationship anymore, they will stop loving their partner. Remember, love is a choice!

Song-of-Solomon image

Song of Solomon 8:6-7 Close your heart to every love but mine; hold no one in your arms but me. Love is as powerful as death; passion is as strong as death itself. It bursts into flame and burns like a raging fire. Water cannot put it out; no flood can drown it. But if any tried to buy love with their wealth, disrespect is all they would get.

Like previous messages, our love needs to be unconditional and unselfish. Loving with this kind of love [a burning passion] involves immense emotion. We must not allow our emotion to control our feelings. Many bad decisions and actions have been made under an emotional state. Seek Apape love first. Trust the Holy Spirit’s leading and guidance to really feel eros love. This type of love is expressed in Song of Solomon because eros love is from God. God created all types of love.

Prayer: Father Yahweh, I seek Your love overall. I pray that my love for my spouse is unconditional. I pray I choose to love my spouse without question, because You made love and You are love. When I love You, I love my spouse. Thank You for the love You give. I pray all this in the name of Jesus, amen.

List of message series:

Day 1 – Love According to God Day 11 – Love One Another  DAY 21 – WE ARE COMMANDED TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER
Day 2 – Fruit of the Spirit  Day 12 – Love Everyone  Day 22 – Burning Love – Love in Marriage
Day 3 – God’s Love  Day 13 – Love Each Other  Day 23 – Gentle Love
Day 4 – Agape Love  Day 14 – Happy Valentine’s Day  Day 24 – One Mind  and Purpose
Day 5 – Who’s Your Master?  Day 15 – Free to Love  Day 25 – Love is a Verb
Day 6 – Life Eternal  Day 16 – Patience Love  Day 26 – Steadfast Love
Day 7 – His Great Love  Day 17 – Born of God  Day 27 – Love Forgives
Day 8 – More Than Conquerors  Day 18 – Born to Love  Day 28 – Love in Marriage
Day 9 – God, Who Gave Himself For Me  Day 19 – Love Your Neighbor & Your Enemy
Day 10 – Adopted  Day 20 – Love Your Neighbor as Yourself