Personal relationship with Jesus?

Do you have a personal relationship with Jesus? Intimate, trusting, and
secure? One that is reflected in *Ps23:1 The Lord is my Shepherd [to feed,
to guide and to shield me], I shall not want.2 He lets me lie down in green
pastures; He leads me beside the still and quiet waters.3 He refreshes and
restores my soul (life);He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His
name’s sake.* and also look at *Ps 91:1 He who dwells in the shelter of the
Most High Will remain secure and rest in the shadow of the Almighty [whose
power no enemy can withstand].2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge
and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust [with great confidence, and on
whom I rely]!” I have asked people how long that they have been a Christian
and why, and have heard many different responses. Some people come to Jesus
because their life fell apart, I know mine did. Some needed something more
than they had in their life. Others saw the relationship in a family member
or a friend desired what they had. Some even say that they were born into
it. No matter what the reason, it needs to be personal, intimate, you and
Jesus. In the Psalms, it says "my", "my Shepherd", "He restores my soul",
"He is my refuge and fortress". If anyone who reads this does not
understand what it means to be "His" and know God personally, please
contact me. When the day comes to stand before Jesus, face to face, no one
will want to hear, "I never knew you; depart from Me [you are banished from
My presence]"

Douglas 

1 John 4-Truth or deception?

4You, little children, are from God and have overcome them, because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. 5They are of the world. That is why they speak from the world’s perspective, and the world listens to them. 6We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. That is how we know the Spiritb of truth and the spirit of deception.

Recently in the news is the special election in Alabama. Moore is the judge who was removed from the state Supreme Court because he refused to take down a plaque with the Ten Commandments. Thirty days from the election some women have come out and accused him of sexual improprieties when they were teenagers. One of the women produced a yearbook with the judges signature as evidence. But here is the problem. His signature has the initials “DA” after it. The yearbook was supposedly signed in 1977. The DA was the judges legal assistant initials when she stamped his signature. He had heard her (woman with yearbook) divorce case in 1999 and that document had his stamp with the initials DA meaning his assistant stamped his signature. His assistant didn’t start working for him until 1987. So how did his assistants initials appear on a signature in her 1977 yearbook? Simple, it’s a forgery!

So in this case we have deception, 

the people in power don’t want a judge elected who believes in God. 

We have a choice, Spirit of truth or spirit of deception?

This is my prayer with all elections, God please shine Your light of truth on these candidates and elect the one that will further Your will. In Jesus name I pray.

Blessings, David 

1 John 4-Do you believe every spirit?

Testing the Spirits

1Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God. For many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2By this you will know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3and every spirit that does not confess Jesusa is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and is already in the world at this time.

There are religions that claim Jesus was not God or from God. Which spirit is the head of their church?

Testing of the spirits is wise and if we didn’t we would believe every prophecy that came down the pike! Recently in the news the date of the  end of the world was given, they supposedly figured out a secret code in the Bible. Just before the “time” was up they extended it!

Brethren, read, study and understand the word of God so when someone prophesies you can “test the spirits” to see if they are from God!

Do you believe every spirit?

Blessings, David 

LUKEWARM Christian

LUKEWARM Christian. Have you ever honestly evaluated your life to see what
you are passionate about, really looked at it? I have looked at my own life
and see that I have not always put my relationship with Jesus where it
needs to be. For many, they put more energy and emotion into sports teams,
politicians, music and the world around them, than they do with the Creator
of all things. I look to the words written in *Rev3:15 ‘I know your deeds,
that you are neither cold (invigorating, refreshing) nor hot (healing,
therapeutic); I wish that you were cold or hot. 16 So because you are
lukewarm (spiritually useless), and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you
out of My mouth [rejecting you with disgust]19 Those whom I [dearly and
tenderly] love, I rebuke and discipline [showing them their faults and
instructing them]; so be enthusiastic and repent [change your inner
self—your old way of thinking, your sinful behavior—seek God’s will].* My
life is busy and there are days when i spend only a few minutes here and
there throughout the day in scripture and prayer. I DO NOT want to be
lukewarm. I want my desires to be focused on things with eternal value, on
God's desires for my life. Brethren, may Holy Spirit burn inside of us so
strongly, that we can not do anything but PRAISE God with all that we are
and live for Him whole heartily. When the end of your life comes, what will
you regret when you stand face to face with Jesus? Will you regret, not
working more, watching more T.V., spending time with your hobbies, or
whatever else consumes your time, or will it be that you didn't "change
your inner self—your old way of thinking, your sinful behavior" and seek
God's will? Will Jesus say, "You had such potential"? God help us be more
like Jesus today than we have ever been before. In Jesus name we pray, amen..

Douglas 

1 John 3- Jesus loves them too!

21Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God, 22and we will receive from Him whatever we ask, because we keep His commandments and do what is pleasing in His sight. 23And this is His commandment: that we should believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and we should love one another just as He commanded us. 24Whoever keeps His commandments remains in God, and God in him. And by this we know that He remains in us: by the Spirit He has given us. 

Sure we believe in the name of the Son, but are we really doing what’s pleasing in His sight? Do we love our fellow man enough to tell them about the Son?

When the Spirit prods you to tell someone about Jesus will you do it?

I pray we receive the courage to do what’s pleasing in His sight!

Keep His commandments and love one another. 

Jesus loves them too!

Blessings, David 

A Servants Prayer. Genesis 24:1-19 NLT

How do you pray? Is it empty repetition, memorized prayers, cute little rhymes? What is prayer? Isn't it a conversation with God? When you have a conversation with a friend or a family member, even your boss you don't recite empty repetition or cute little rhymes do you? Then why should a conversation with God be that way? 

Abrahams servant went before the Lord God of Abraham. He simply stated his request and before he finished his prayer, God answered. Now, I'm not saying He will answer your prayer that fast but we shouldn't be afraid to go before Him in prayer. 

Genesis 24:1-19 NLT 

A Wife for Isaac 

1 Abraham was now a very old man, and the LORD had blessed him in every way.  2 One day Abraham said to his oldest servant, the man in charge of his household, “Take an oath by putting your hand under my thigh.  3 Swear by the LORD, the God of heaven and earth, that you will not allow my son to marry one of these local Canaanite women.  4 Go instead to my homeland, to my relatives, and find a wife there for my son Isaac.” 

5 The servant asked, “But what if I can’t find a young woman who is willing to travel so far from home? Should I then take Isaac there to live among your relatives in the land you came from?” 

6 “No!” Abraham responded. “Be careful never to take my son there. 7 For the LORD, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and my native land, solemnly promised to give this land to my descendants. He will send His angel ahead of you, and He will see to it that you find a wife there for my son.  8 If she is unwilling to come back with you, then you are free from this oath of mine. But under no circumstances are you to take my son there.” 

9 So the servant took an oath by putting his hand under the thigh of his master, Abraham. He swore to follow Abraham’s instructions.  10 Then he loaded ten of Abraham’s camels with all kinds of expensive gifts from his master, and he traveled to distant Aram-naharaim. There he went to the town where Abraham’s brother Nahor had settled.  11 He made the camels kneel beside a well just outside the town. It was evening, and the women were coming out to draw water. 

12 “O LORD, God of my master, Abraham,” he prayed. “Please give me success today, and show unfailing love to my master, Abraham.  13 See, I am standing here beside this spring, and the young women of the town are coming out to draw water.  14 This is my request. I will ask one of them, ‘Please give me a drink from your jug.’ If she says, ‘Yes, have a drink, and I will water your camels, too!’—let her be the one you have selected as Isaac’s wife. This is how I will know that you have shown unfailing love to my master.” 

15 Before he had finished praying, he saw a young woman named Rebekah coming out with her water jug on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel, who was the son of Abraham’s brother Nahor and his wife, Milcah.  16 Rebekah was very beautiful and old enough to be married, but she was still a virgin. She went down to the spring, filled her jug, and came up again.  17 Running over to her, the servant said, “Please give me a little drink of water from your jug.” 

18 “Yes, my lord,” she answered, “have a drink.” And she quickly lowered her jug from her shoulder and gave him a drink.  19 When she had given him a drink, she said, “I’ll draw water for your camels, too, until they have had enough to drink. 20 So she quickly emptied her jug into the watering trough and ran back to the well to draw water for all his camels. 

 Blessings, Cecilia 

1 John 3-He assures my heart

19And by this we will know that we belong to the truth, and will assure our hearts in His presence: 20If our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts, and He knows all things.

“Sometimes our heart condemns us, but, in doing so, it gives a wrong verdict, and then we have the satisfaction of being able to take the case into a higher court, for ‘God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.’ ” (Spurgeon)

For those of you that read my devotional yesterday my heart is hurting for my neighbor who committed suicide. He had always told me  to call on him if I needed any help. I always knew I could count on him. But now he’s gone. 

But....”God is greater than our hearts” He will get me through this and He assures my heart in His presence.

I pray He brings comfort to his wife and adult children.

Please join me in prayer!

Blessings, David