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The Black Hole

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Watch this video before reading:

Proverbs 1:18-19
But these people set an ambush for themselves;
they are trying to get themselves killed.
Such is the fate of all who are greedy for money;
it robs them of life.

As you saw in the video, the guy ambushed himself and is stuck in the vault.

Proverbs 21:26
Some people are always greedy for more, but the godly love to give!

Greed is a sin like other sins. It consumes its victim. Before you know it a life is completely taken over trying to get more because it is never enough.

God wants us to be givers, not takers. Just like the scripture above says the godly love to give. We all hear the famous saying each year around this time: “It’s better to give than to receive”. We can find its roots in Acts 20:35:

And I have been a constant example of how you can help those in need by working hard. You should remember the words of the Lord Jesus: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.'”

We need to follow Jesus and be more Christ-like.

So, during this joyous season of Christmas let’s be givers; not just takers.

How are you at giving? Comment and let us know.

Me: I give all of me. I’m not a taker. However, my giving isn’t necessarily materially. Like here, at the ministry, I give messages from Yahweh. I give myself to you. Those of you who follow Yahweh and His teaching that come from here receive these gifts, each day. Thank You, Yahweh!

Justification

Today’s Word is quoted from the Celebrate Daily Devotion. I felt its message was too strong not to share it.

The word “propitiation” is a difficult term, meaning “to appease wrath.” Man in his sin cannot approach a God of justice who must judge sin. God’s justice can be appeased only by the punishment of sin. But God in His love desires fellowship with man whom He created in His image. 

Fellowship with a holy God could only be realized through atoning for the sins that separated mankind from God and His covenant promises. So God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for atonement or reconciliation with separated mankind. It is the shed blood of Christ that ultimately satisfied the requirements of God’s justice. God’s judgment was fully put upon Christ, the blameless sacrifice, for all sin both past and present. And it is only through faith in the blood of Christ that mankind is justified in God’s eyes. The blood of Christ then becomes the bond that joins people to God, entitling them to God’s covenant provisions and providing right relationship with Him. 

The blood of Christ guarantees our standing as children of the holy God!

Comment and share how Jesus saved you.

Praise and worship Yahweh and let the Holy Spirit wash through and fill you to overflowing.

Watch this music video:

Self-Worth Part 1

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ephesians 1:3-9 imageWe are Yahweh’s valuable treasure

Our worth is not of the “self” at all; rather, it is worth given to us by God. We are of inestimable value to Him because of the price He paid to make us worthy — the death of His Son, Jesus, on the cross, and His resurrection.

In the scripture image: Ephesians 1:3‭-‬9 Yahweh says:
He has given us every spiritual blessing in the heavenly world. He chose us before the world was made so that we would be his holy people — people without blame before him. God chose to make us His own children through Jesus. We are set free through the blood of Jesus. His grace is sufficient. We are so valuable to Him that He let us know His secret purpose, the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus, His Son. It was His plan all along.

Our self-worth is too often based on what other people tell us about ourselves. The one, true authority on our self-worth is Jesus, and since He gave His own life up for us by dying on a cross, that should tell us just how valuable we really are.

When you cannot believe that anyone in the world would love you, know that Yahweh loves you. He declared it on the cross, shouts it in His word, the Bible, and whispers it to you in his acts of love.

In the following parts more truth will unfold and it will become clearer how valuable and worthy you truly are.

Little peek into the next message: It’s not about self-love, nor loving yourself more.

Who do you allow to tell you your self-worth and value?

If you’d like prayer contact us here. We have a team of prayer warriors ready to lift you up.

Forgiveness | Part 4

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Forgiveness Part 4 imageFive-Steps to Forgiveness

  1. Admit the pain
    1. Any offense creates pain. In an effort to ignore it we deny the pain. It’s our pride that stops us from dealing with it. We take an attitude of ignoring it because we don’t want to admit it hurt. This allows resentment to build and fester creating bitterness, which is a spiritual disease. This causes us to gradually isolate and alienate ourselves from God and the church body. This behavior keeps us from healing.
    2. Instead, understanding the offense is the beginning of healing.
  2. Work through the confusion
    1. When an offense happens, we, need to clearly and carefully figure out responsibilities in the situation. We need to establish solid ground within ourselves — to lay boundaries and safeguard them when limits are invaded.
  3. Look for facts
    1. Once we understand who’s responsible for what we can move to the next step to figure why the offender offended us. This keeps us from being persistent on a single purpose to get revenge. It may behoove us, if possible, to question others to gain information on the matter, or, as the saying goes, walk a mile in the offender’s shoes.
    2. No excuses. Information alone is important.
    3. When the truth appears it’s easier to move forward into restoration.
  4. Grant facts to be wisdom
    1. Often when facts become clear our self-talk overrides reality and throws us into a pity party, bitterness, and anger.
    2. It takes a brave effort to move past the pain, to understand, and say “I forgive you.” Do not relive the events over and over. It’s done.
      Think about the torture Jesus was put through. He could’ve easily gone violent ninja and took the lot of them out. What did He do though? In Luke 23:34a – Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.” He forgave them.
    3. Forgiveness is a gift of God’s grace. The wonder of it is that God gives us wisdom into our own heart and involves us with Him in the freeing the offender.
  5. Choose to renounce the whole situation
    1. Here’s story to relay renouncing hurts/offenses:
The Trouble Tree – Author Unknown
The carpenter I hired to help me restore an old farmhouse had just finished a rough first day on the job. A flat tire made him lose an hour of work, his electric saw quit, and now his ancient pickup truck refused to start. While I drove him home, he sat in stony silence.
On arriving, he invited me in to meet his family. As we walked toward the front door, he paused briefly at a small tree, touching the tips of the branches with both hands. When opening the door he underwent an amazing transformation. His tanned face was wreathed in smiles and he hugged his two small children and gave his wife a kiss.
Afterward he walked me to the car. We passed the tree and my curiosity got the better of me. I asked him about what I had seen him do earlier.
“Oh, that’s my trouble tree,” he replied.” I know I can’t help having troubles on the job, but one thing’s for sure, troubles don’t belong in the house with my wife and the children. So I just hang them on the tree every night when I come home. Then in the morning I pick them up again.”
He paused. “Funny thing is,” he smiled, “when I come out in the morning to pick ’em up, there ain’t nearly as many as I remember hanging up the night before.”

I know this is a simple story. However, when we give up reliving events over and over they diminish their impact. They don’t seem quite as offensive as we first allowed them to be. It’s all about our attitude.

When we are offended, stop, think about how Jesus handled offenses. Allow the Holy Spirit to wash over you and fill you will God’s grace.

Forgiveness – Part 3

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Forgiveness-Prt3_Micah_7_18-20What forgiveness is!

Forgiveness is returning to God the right to take care of justice.
By refusing to transfer the right to exact punishment or revenge, we are telling God we don’t trust him to take care of matters.
Forgiveness is a process, not an event.
It might take some time to work through our emotional problems before we can truly forgive. Forgiveness doesn’t happen overnight. However, as soon as we can, we should decide to forgive, but it probably is not going to happen right after a tragic situation. It’s okay.
We have to forgive every time.
If we find ourselves constantly forgiving, though, we might need to take a look at the dance we are doing with the other person that sets us up to be continually hurt, attacked, or abused.
If they don’t repent, we still have to forgive.
Even if they never ask, we still need to forgive. We should memorize and repeat over and over: Forgiveness is about our attitude, not their action.
We might forgive too quickly to avoid pain or to manipulate the situation.
Forgiveness releases pain and frees us from focusing on the other person. Too often when we’re in the midst of the turmoil after a tragedy, we desperately look for a quick fix to make it all go away. Some women want to “hurry up” and forgive so the pain will end, or so they can get along with the other person. We have to be careful not to simply cover our wounds and retard the healing process.
Forgiveness starts with a mental decision.
The emotional part of forgiveness is finally being able to let go of the resentment. Emotional healing may or may not follow quickly after we forgive. It takes time.

Forgiveness quotes:

“Always forgive your enemies – nothing annoys them so much.” – Oscar Wilde
“He who cannot forgive breaks the bridge over which he himself must pass.” – George Herbert

If Yahweh doesn’t hold onto sin and He throws them away why do we continue to hold onto them, being unforgiving?

There’s another quote that I like that goes like this:

“To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.” – Lewis B. Smedes

Will you set yourself free, now?

Share your testimony and bless others.

Forgiveness – Part 2

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forgiveness part 2 imageWhat forgiveness is not.

Forgiveness is not allowing the offender/offense to be released.
We can and should still hold others accountable for their actions or lack thereof.
Forgiveness is not letting the offense continue over and over again.
We don’t have to tolerate, nor should we keep ourselves open to, lack of respect or any form of abuse.
Forgiveness does not mean we have to return to being the victim.
Forgiving is not saying, “What you did was okay, so go ahead and walk all over me.” Nor is it playing the martyr (a person who undergoes severe or constant suffering), because it perpetuates our victim role.
Forgiveness is not the same as reconciling (making peace).
We can forgive someone even if we are unable to get along with him/her again.
Forgiveness is not based on others’ actions but on our attitude.
People will continue to hurt us through life. We can either look away from them or stay stuck and angry, or we can begin to keep our minds on our loving relationship with God, knowing and trusting in what is good.
Forgiveness does not mean forgetting.
It’s normal for memories to be triggered in the future. When thoughts of past hurts occur, it’s what we do with them that counts. When we find ourselves focusing on a past offense, we can learn to say, “Thank you, Yahweh, for this reminder of how important forgiveness is.”

It’s important to forgive because Yahweh sees your heart and knows it. Sincerely forgiving allows Yahweh to forgive you.

In today’s scripture, verse 26 says that if we don’t forgive neither will Yahweh forgive us. What that’s saying is that unforgiveness eats away at your soul and will make it die and turning you into a bitter and angry person toward Yahweh and the world. 

The quote below says it very well:

One great errand to the throne of grace is to pray for the pardon of our sins; and care about this ought to be our daily concern. – Matthew Henry

Release your unforgiveness to Yahweh. Allow His peace to wash over you and allow yourself forgiveness as you forgive others too.

Share your testimony and bless others!

Forgiveness – Part 1

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Matthew 26:27-28 imageOur first step is learning what forgiveness is and is not.

What is forgiveness? There’s many definitions from different people. What is the dictionary’s definition?

The dictionary says it means: to pardon (excuse) an offense or an offender.

Forgiving an offense or offender is not an easy thing for most people to do. Why is that?

The one thing we need to keep in mind is that satan has a hand in helping us hold onto negativity. It gives him the upper hand in our emotional state. He likes to keep us down and out. I’m not immune. It’s happened to me and on occasion still happens.

What’s the big deal about forgiveness? Why is it so important? In this series I’ll do my best to break it down to help make it clearer to see.

One thing is for sure. The longer we hold onto unforgiveness the harder it is to let go. The more damage it will do. Why? That will be covered in this series as well.

“It’s one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself, to forgive. Forgive everybody.” Maya Angelou

We need healthy boundaries so we are able to learn to give ourselves permission to forgive.

In today’s scripture Jesus gives an example of himself forgiving us by us accepting his blood as the new agreement for forgiveness of sin.

In the next part I’ll share what that means and why it’s important.

In the meantime, give yourselves permission to forgive. Spend time in prayer with Yahweh and allow the Holy Spirit to wash over you and feel the gift of His forgiveness in your life.

Have you experienced forgiveness? If so, comment, and share with us and bless someone today.

Short Circuit

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Psalm 68:18 imageWe seem to get it in our heads that we can go on living however we wish. We want this and that. We sin. We get into trouble. We pray thinking it’s all good. We continue to live in the same sin.

If we don’t release our sin (iniquity) and stop sinning Yahweh doesn’t hear us.

“A relationship with God is too valuable to short-circuit on something that can only hurt you.”

Eternity is far too important to live in sin. Yahweh does answer our prayers in His own time. So, the sooner we release the sin the sooner Yahweh will answer our prayers. Thank about it. Why would a parent reward bad behavior? They wouldn’t! And neither does Yahweh.

Share your story of blessing from being obedient to Yahweh.

How can we pray for you? Contact us today with your request.

The Teacher

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Ecclesiastes 12:9,11,13 imageWe can all remember our favorite teacher(s) from school. Even I do. I had 3 favorite teachers. One in elementary/primary school, one in high school, and one in a training class for a job I had. I thought they were wise and great teachers.

Scripture speaks of “The Teacher”. He is the wisest teacher of all. He gives His final advice, in v. 13: Honor Yahweh and obey His commands, because this is all people must do. Honor and obey Yahweh! This is all we must do! In doing so, everything else falls into place.

Here’s a quote from the NIV 365-Day Devotional I read:

The ultimate source for finding meaning in life: knowing and living with God. God is the Locksmith who promises to help us find a way. Ultimately, true meaning in life can be found only in a relationship with God – a relationship that is the “duty of all mankind”.

Do you have a relationship with Yahweh? If not, what’s holding you back?

One great way to build that relationship is to get into His Word. Absorb it. Let it wash over you. Praise and worship Him. Give Him the glory for all things.

Share your testimony and bless others. Let them know they’re not alone in this thing called life. How has Yahweh blessed you? We’d love to read about it. Comment and share.

Do you need prayer? Contact us now with your request and the prayer warriors will lift you up in prayer now.

Eat, Drink, and Be Merry

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Ecclesiastes 8:;14-15 imageKing Solomon loved a good party! Who doesn’t enjoy fun times?

Solomon honored joy, and holy security of mind, occurring from confidence in God, because a man has no better thing under the sun, though a good man has much better things above the sun, than soberly and thankfully to use the things of this life according to his designation. -Matthew Henry

The thing we need to be careful of is becoming entitled. Saying things like “I deserve this or that”. To be honest, what we deserve is hell. But, because Yahweh wants a relationship with each of us he wishes no harm on us. He wishes us to experience joy in Him.

Job 8:21 says that:

God will yet fill your mouth with laughter and your lips with shouts of joy.

Are you experiencing joy today? If not, why?

3 things to help you experience joy:

  1. Evaluate your environment, the people, the places, etc, you fill your life with.
    1. Hanging out with people to encourage and support you works well.
  2. Are you in The Word?
    1. Every mobile device has an “app store” where you can find a digital bible to install. That way you have The Word with you all the time.
  3. Are you experiencing depression and/or anxiety?
    1. We all find ourselves here occasionally. However, sometimes in life we hit a low spot and we end up unpacking and living in this depression and/or anxiety. You don’t have too. Seek help. It’s OK! No shame or judgment. If you do, find new people to replace in your life.
    2. Also, because satan likes to hold us in a mental prison, we find ourselves condemning ourselves and giving ourselves mental lashings. DO NOT believe the lies satan feeds you. He likes to raise up our past wrongs and hold those over us, essentially, blackmailing and emotionally manipulating us.

Yahweh is waiting for you to call on Him. He wants to bring you joy. Allow Him too.

How has Yahweh brought you joy?

Do you have a prayer request? Contact us now with it and our prayer warriors will lift your request up to Yahweh.