How Do I Grow My Church?

I have been asked the question, "How do you grow a church?" It is helpful to go to The Book of Acts and read how that church grew in order to understand clearly how to grow your church. It is not just the pastor's job to grow the church, but it is a full body, hands on congregational task.

It is more important to add souls to the kingdom of God and the kingdom of heaven, than it is to increase attendance in your church. While there are, indeed, many wandering lonely souls out there in the world, not very many will make their way into a church.

We need to follow the three P's to be efficiently involved in serving God and meeting the needs of our church in our community.
1. PRAYER. God's Word says to "Pray without ceasing." 1 Thessalonians 5:17. We need to be in constant, unceasing prayer with our God. The church in The Book of Acts began with several days of prayer. The Azusa Street Revival happened because people came together and prayed together: every night, throughout the night. Churches that preach the full gospel, not a watered down, filtered version, need to be in constant prayer in order to see their church grow.

2. PERSEVERANCE. Individual willingness to not only commit to sharing the gospel, but also a thorough understanding of the grace which one has received upon repentance of their own sins. Taking your testimony into your job, your workplace, your home, your recreational time is vital to seeing the church grow as a whole. Study your Bible daily. Read all the way through at least once or twice without stopping to study, then study it deeply. And remember to pray, to talk to God, while you are reading your Bible. A good study Bible to have is either The Amplified Bible or Thompson's Chain Reference Bible. The Holy Spirit will guide you through God's Word so well, that you will begin to know your Scriptures. Remember to ask God for His Holy Spirit and to go to Him daily for refills.

3. PERSECUTION. I know that this one is not a popular form of church growth, but it is necessary to the refining of the individuals within the church itself; and, also, to the immediate growth of your church. While some of the righteous were persecuted in Old Testament times, Christians began to be persecuted while Jesus was still here the first time He came. John the Baptist was jailed for preaching against the king's marriage. The queen had him beheaded because she hated him. After Jesus ascended to heaven, Stephen was stoned to death while sharing the gospel. All of Jesus' disciples faced horrible deaths, but none of them stopped sharing Jesus' grace and atonement. And the church grew.

Never get attendance confused with growth. Any denomination can increase attendance in their services, but not every soul gets added to the kingdom of God or the kingdom of heaven. Remember: 
The kingdom of God is a method. The kingdom of heaven is a place. 
The kingdom of God is preaching the gospel. The kingdom of heaven is where we will spend eternity after accepting Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives. 

You Are What You Eat-I Shall Not Lack

You Are What You Eat-”I Shall Not Lack”

     Our government is so concerned with our health they have made certain foods illegal, condoned vitamins and hormones in animals, and established not only what we should eat but how much or how little.

Now, while what we eat does have an effect on our health, we should have the liberty to choose what we eat, when we eat it and why we eat it. While some of the laws we live under regarding food have been beneficial to us, it is our decision what we eat, when we eat it and why.

     But what about our spiritual health? Can any government regulate that? Some try. But the more a government pushes itself against God's Word, the greater the increase in the harvest of souls who are won for Jesus Christ.

     Suffering the afflictions of living and sharing the gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ is a right even many Christians do not understand. In this country, having the comforts of life has made us fat, lazy and unable to live with pain and suffering for very long. We go looking for cures where there are none. The medical profession can only do so much; healing is God's territory.

     Psalm 34:8 “Taste and see that The Lord Is Good; blessed is the man who trusts in Him!” Our souls have taste buds. For once we begin to seek The Lord earnestly, He will make His presence known to us. God is everywhere at the same time, hence the word 'omnipresent'. But not every one has contact with Him. The only way to reach God is through Jesus Christ. Jesus is the doorway to heaven.

     For the first time in years, I walked into church without my cane. Truly, I can say, “Look what The Lord has done. Look what my Lord has done for me!” If I had not sought Him, I would not have found Him. Though we have been in each other's company all this time, throughout my trials and tribulations, the healing did not come in a thunderclap, but in the constant drip, drip, drip of a gentle summer dew. Though I am not fully healed, cause I seriously wobbled and needed help, it was wonderful to be able to walk with out it.

Indoors I have stayed close to furniture and walls; around people I have used their forearm for assistance.       To say the pain has decreased would be lying; I have learned to adapt and submit to my limitations. But, also, I have surrendered to God every part of my being. I pray over every cell, every neutron, every joint, muscle, tendon and ligament; every organ, every tissue. Every particle of my being have I not only prayed over and for, I have thanked God for, too.

I am blessed.

I am blessed.

Every day of my life I am blessed.

When I wake up in the morning,

When I lay my head to rest.

I am blessed, I am blessed.

     Remember that chorus? I sing it often. Singing God's praises, studying God's Word, and living in Jesus all honor God. Witnessing, telling people about God's amazing grace through His Son Jesus Christ, also honors God. If you don't know what you are talking about, when you talk about grace, then you are better off not talking at all. To know God you must know Jesus first. To know Jesus, you must be obedient to the voice, the nudge, the inclination to come near, of The Holy Spirit of God.

     “God inhabits the praises of His people.” This verse is found in Psalm 22:3 and reminds us, too, that God is holy. Where a holy God is, God's people must be holy also. Holiness is a process that refines us, makes us able to be in God's presence, stay in God's presence. And this process requires the daily instruction and buffering of The Holy Spirit in our hearts, our minds, our lives.

     Jeremiah 17:14, “Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved.” I am saved from eternal damnation, an eternity without God and without grace, through the blood of Jesus Christ, heaven's Lamb of God. Before Christ died for the sins of the world, young lambs were used to atone for the sins of God's people. Each family, household, had to provide the lamb themselves and bring it to the priest for sacrifice. This was done yearly and the blood of the animal washed away their year's worth of sins. But once God sent His own Lamb, the animal sacrifice was no longer needed. For now, God had provided a young Lamb to die once and for all for all the sins ever committed, including past sins, present sins and sins not yet committed by people not yet born; people like you and me. For our sins also Christ suffered and died. And for our eternal hope, Christ rose from the dead, being our example not only in life, but in death and resurrection!

     I am blessed because I trust in God. I am blessed because I taste God's Word daily. I am blessed because God inhabits my praises; for He made me His people when I believe on the Name of His Son for my salvation. I am blessed because God is healing me. I had all kinds of health issues prior to these statements of faith and joy.

     While I was grieving the loss of a child, I started getting memory lapses. I would forget how to walk, climb stairs, stand up and even fasten my clothes. (My wonderful husband whom God brought into my life helped me with everything.) And because my brain couldn't remember these things I started to fall, thus I needed not only the cane, but eventually, the use of a walker and for long distances, a wheelchair.

Prior to that I was diagnosed with GERD and on medication. During that period I was diagnosed emotionally as depressed and crazy. Crazy because I would share my beliefs with the doctors. So I was put on medication(s); first one, then another. Too many doctors with not enough information. And I have been diagnosed with Fm, Fibromyalgia, which means every fiber of my being is in pain. So, I am on medications for that. I have osteoarthritis, which also added two more medications to my diet. But God is faithful. His Names are many and one of His Names is JEHOVAH-ROHI: GOD IS HEALER.

     See, studying God's Word draws a person closer to God and draws God closer to you. Or me, in this case. I am one of the faithful, one of the believers, one of the sheep in God's flock. God meets my daily needs and for this I am thankful. Psalm 23:1 “The Lord Is My Shepherd; I shall not lack.” This testimony is mine and my husband's.

     There was a year when he was laid off for nine months of it. I was not working due to all these physical issues, so I had no income either. GOD MET OUR NEED. WE HAD NO LACK. All of our bills were paid on time every month, even the mortgage. We had food on the table and never went hungry. Even the dog was fed daily. That's God. We had clothes on our back and the means to wash them. You know why? God says to tithe into the storehouse, His storehouse, that in times of famine, which we had a famine of income, the needs would be met for those who tithed. We tithe into our church. God says tithing is not negotiable, but mandatory.

     I have been told by many that they cannot afford to tithe of their income. I tell you now, YOU CANNOT AFFORD NOT TO TITHE. When you tithe of your income, no matter how small it may be, or how much you think you are giving to your church, let me tell you: You are OBEYING GOD'S WORD, when you tithe into HIS STOREHOUSE. While the tithe is of a physical nature, the storehouse is of a spiritual nature. Tithing is not supposed to make the church richer in wealth. The church needs your tithes to stay up and running. The tithe pays your pastor's salary, pays the utility bills for running water, electricity for the lighting, and heat so that you aren't cold and the pipes don't freeze. To deny your church your tithe, is to steal not only from your church, but you are stealing from God and you have disobeyed His command. To not tithe is to sin.

     God meets our household's needs because He is our God. We have chosen Him to be our God and our Savior, our Healer and our Deliverer. Were my husband and I to read the verse together, it would be like this, “The Lord is OUR Shepherd; WE shall not want.” We are in this life together because God brought us together for His purposes. And it is for God's purpose that we will continue to honor and adore Him. Everything does happen for a reason; but those reasons are God's reasons, not of our own.

The Lord Is My Shepherd; I shall not lack.” Ever.    

My Shepherd

The Lord Is My Shepherd – I Shall Not Want

Psalm 23:1

“The Lord Is my Shepherd; I shall not want.”

JEHOVAH-ROHI, GOD IS SHEPHERD. Genesis 49:24 “.....The Shepherd, The Stone of Israel.” And what does a Shepherd do? He tends the flock: Psalm 100:3 “Know that The Lord He Is God: it is He that has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people, and the sheep of His pasture.”

Now, there are two types of shepherds: The Good Shepherd and the bad shepherd. The second is not really a shepherd at all, for he has a heart of stone and the tongue of a snake: he has come to the flock to kill, steal and destroy (John 10:10, 1 Peter 5:8): the masked shepherd is a thief, a murderer and a liar. He listens to his father the devil and infiltrates houses of worship where the worshipers themselves are his target.

The Good Shepherd watches over His flock, tending their needs. “I shall not want” Genesis 22:13-14 tells of Abraham looking up and seeing the ram, whereupon he sacrificed the ram to His God, instead of his son. “And Abraham called the name of that place JEHOVAH-JIREH: as it is said to this day, In the mount of The Lord it shall be seen.” JEHOVAH-JIREH, GOD IS PROVIDER. In 1 John 4:9,10 we are reminded yet again of the great love which God has for us. “In this was manifested (revealed) the love of God toward us, because that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation (atonement, redemption) for our sins. God provided a Lamb to take away the sins of the world (John 1:29).

Philippians 4:19, a well known, much loved verse among God's people states: “But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” Paul was writing this letter to the church in Philippi, thanking them for the sacrifices of giving to his needs. And that He was reminding them how that God rewards the sacrifices made by His people when we take care of one another' needs ahead of our own. Where there is a need among God's people, God supplies.

You ever watch any of those survival shows? They watch out for themselves first and no one else. Their houses are modified barricades. Their food supplies, water and weapons are for defense and offense, but not sharing. That is not how God's people are supposed to behave or live in this world. We are to treat each other with honor and respect; with love and for the love of God. When we have Christ and The Holy Spirit living in us ( for, as you remember, we are God's temple now), we are filled and refilled with the love of God daily, as we study and pray and worship. God's people take care of each other knowing that God is meeting our needs. Sometimes God even meets our wants, our desires; after all, 'Father knows best'.

Acts 4:32, 34-35 “And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. .. Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, And laid them down at the apostles' feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need.” Why? Was this some kind of cult thing? No. Jesus had just recently returned to His heavenly home, where they knew He was preparing places for them all and any who believed in Him.

John 14:1-3 “Let not your heart be troubled: you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.” Jesus is coming back to get His people, as soon as the places which He has prepared for us are ready. Those who have died waiting for His return, will not be left behind. Their souls are already in heaven; only their bodies, their empty shells, are buried. Soon, we will all see His return and behold His face. Oh what a glorious day awaits us who wait for Him!

TheLordIsMyShepherd

How many shepherds would sacrifice their lives for that of their sheep? After all, it's just a dumb ole sheep. How much value can you place on a sheep that won't mind it's own business and keeps getting caught or lost or lured away? While some may say 'stupid is as stupid does', The Good Shepherd knows that without His sacrifice all of the flock will die. There is more value in the return of the lost sheep than there is in the loss of any of the sheep at all.

In the story of The Prodigal Son, he had to get himself into a horrible situation before he decided to return home to his dad. When I pray for my unsaved family members and friends, I also pray for the salvation of strangers and enemies. And I ask God, “Whatever it takes, save our sons, our daughters, our sisters, our brothers; our fathers, our mothers; our strangers and our enemies. Whatever it takes, Lord, save them.” So, knowing how strong my relationship with God is, I know that 'whatever it takes' is going to have an effect on not only your life, but mine. Life may get harder to live, as it did for the young man who left home and did not return until he woke up in pig slop one day and decided it would be better for him to return to his father and indenture himself.

But when he turned his back on where he had been, and set his feet in the direction of his father's house, it was not servant-hood that awaited him. His father had been watching daily for the young man's return; until one day he saw his son from a distance and ran to meet him. Covering the son with hugs and kisses, as the young man repented of his sins, the father called for the best clothing to be laid upon him, the family signet placed on his hand, and proper shoes on his feet. A fat calf was prepared to celebrate the young adult's return; a party was thrown in his honor. Not because he had wasted his life and done contrary to what his father had planned for him, but because he had thrown off that life in disgust and humbled his heart, set his feet in the right direction and stayed on course till he was near home, whereupon his father, as previously stated, covered him with love and happiness.

In John 10:11, Jesus tells us that He is The Good Shepherd. “I am The Good Shepherd: The Good Shepherd gives His life for the sheep.” Which He repeats in vs 14: “I am The Good Shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine (known by them).” When reading John 10, you will discover that this whole chapter is about The Shepherd. He tells us that His sheep know His voice and listen to Him only. The reason not all people listen and follow Jesus is because they are not His sheep, not of His flock. Because we are people, not sheep, the only way we can be of Jesus' flock is to believe that Jesus Christ is who He says He is. Vs 7-9 in John 10: Then said Jesus unto them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am The Door of the sheep. All that ever came before Me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. I am The Door: by Me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.”

The Lord is my Shepherd.

To criticize and belittle the shepherd is to not know anything about the shepherd's job. Oftentimes, the youngest of the household was sent out to assist and learn from the hired hand tending the flock; whereupon he would eventually take over the care of them himself. Though young, the boy would quickly learn to guard the flock from predators. Lead them near water to drink, but not into water, where they would drown.

Guide them over the rocky mountainous areas searching for food. If the lowlands were inhabited, the people living there were either in towns or farming communities, rendering the lands around them fields of grains and produce. This sent the flocks formerly feeding there into the mountains and high hills to feed off those lands there. But up in these areas lives another type of animal: the predator. Wolves, bears, eagles, and mountain lions. While thieves would occasionally steal away one or more sheep, sometimes whole flocks, they themselves did not live in the mountains. Where would they hide that the shepherd could not find them out?

But to guard the flock from the predators, the shepherd would have to be wise in the ways of the wild and able to fend off they who would kill, steal, and destroy his flock. I think he may have power-napped his way across the mountainous areas, tending and guarding his sheep. If the shepherd worked alone, he could have taken care of a small flock of sheep and gotten enough sleep to be watchful. But in bigger flocks, there would have been more than one sheepherder; many watchers, but only one head sheepmaster. The larger the flock, the more shepherds are needed to keep the sheep in good condition until market time, allowing each to take watches day and night, thereby giving the others the opportunity to get some really good rest.

Were the shepherd to sleep when he should have been watching over the flock, that would be the ideal time for any predator to make their move and steal away with one or more sheep or small lambs. The good shepherd put his sheep first. The bad shepherd put himself first. The good shepherd defends the flock. The bad shepherd leaves the flock to fend for itself. The good shepherd knows his stuff and what to do in times of danger. The bad shepherd knows nothing and in times of danger looks away or runs away, leaving the flock to be ravaged by either predators or nature itself.

To be considered a good shepherd, one who could keep the flock intact, secure, groomed and sheared, fed and watered, rescued and nurtured, that shepherd would need to meet major requirements. Willingness to serve instead of be served. As stated before, it would be the youngest of a household who would be sent out to learn the trade. Sometimes the child of a wealthy family would be sent, as in David's case. Remember your Bible stories? He was in the fields tending sheep most of his young life, before he was anointed by Samuel to be king; before he brought supplies to this brothers who were at war with the Philistines; before he fought and defeated Goliath, a giant of a man who was the champion of the Philistines; before he became King of Israel. Before anything he did after that time, David was a sheepherder, a good shepherd.

Using only a slingshot and his bare hands, perhaps he even had a small blade, he was able to ward off bears and lions who attacked his flock, and overcome the predators by himself. Therefore a good shepherd needs courage, wisdom, strength, might. He needs to think on his feet and be able to act quickly, while his body is in motion. The good shepherd needs compassion to be able to guard his flock from dangers. His heart must be in his work, for his work is his life. Without the sheep to care for, the shepherd has no way of life; but he must be able to love his work.

Sheepherders also use staffs, sturdy walking sticks, to help them climb the mountains. This tool could also be used as a weapon. And if the top of it were crooked, like a candy cane, then the staff would become a tool for rescue and comfort when dealing with the flock. The curved part of the staff would be gently lowered across the sheep's neck, or around its leg, and used to draw it back to the flock, a place of safety. Used as a weapon, the heavy rod would come smashing down on any would-be sheep stealers. 

The rod the shepherd uses would have been made from a young tree, a small sapling, the base of the tree being the head of the rod. It is a weapon shaped like a baseball bat, but used to fight off wolves and such. With the strength of one defending that which he loves, the shepherd could have struck with enough force to kill the enemy with one blow. That's how sturdy the rod is. It was used only for protection, to protect the sheep in his flock, not harm them. 

A shepherd's hands must be strong and gentle. Strong enough to break a lion's neck and gentle enough to calm and soothe the scared sheep. Tender enough to be able to tend their wounds, if any had been inflicted. Hands gentle enough to remove burrs from their wool and keep them healthy. His hands needed to be able to help, if needed, bring new lambs into the flock. He needed to have steady hands to shear the heavy wool off his sheep, which grew thicker with each shearing. The sheep who was gently sheared would have no cuts or scrapes from the trimming on their body. Their wool would be removed efficiently and carefully, but also quickly. The sheep being sheared would need to be impelled to lay still, perhaps by hindering the legs from moving. Though shearing can be done by one person, it usually requires at least two. And both need to have steady and gentle hands.  

The good shepherd would need to be able to speak to his sheep, get them used to his voice, so they would not run away as he approached. Sheep really are not as dumb as most sources would have people believe they are. Though they do have what is referred to as a 'herd mentality', sheep are known to be clever and retain memory. They know not only the voice of their shepherd, they know his face. For the shepherd spends many hours, both day and night, with his sheep. They become accustomed to their shepherd and will not willingly or knowingly follow another shepherd.

Because the good shepherd is willing to fight for his sheep, it must be inferred that he is willing to die for his sheep, too. For should even the best shepherd lose the fight against the perpetrator who attacks his sheep, then the sheep would be lost, too. But the good shepherd, knowing this, is prepared to fight anyway. Our Good Shepherd had a plan when He laid down His life for His sheep. Actually, His Father had a plan. And it was not a backup plan, it was the real deal.

Going back to John 10, we read in verse 18: “No man takes it (life) from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of My Father.” God had commanded His only begotten Son to lay down His life for His people AND to take His life back after He had laid it down. Being an obedient Son to His Father's commands, Jesus suffered Himself to be nailed to the cross, to die a horrible torturous death in our place, knowing in the back of his mind, even while His body was racked with pain, that He was being obedient to His Father. And that His obedience was essential in having God's will for His life fulfilled.

God says that obedience is better than sacrifice. Jesus in His obedience became the sacrifice for the sins of the world; ALL the sins ever committed by every person who ever lived. All these sins were laid across his back, one stripe at a time. With each crack of the whip, The Good Shepherd's back was torn to smithereens, the wounds going so deep, the muscles and deep tissue were exposed, causing His back to wrack with pain. The Good Shepherd laid down His life for His sheep.

Only to take it back up again after He defeated death, hell and the grave. For it was to hell He had been sent, having the sins of all laid upon Him. And it was hell Christ overcame, for He walked out holding the key to it in His hand. He overcame death by taking back His life. He overcame the grave by having the stone rolled away and walking out of it, pure and perfect. Unrecognizable for a brief moment by those who saw Him after He rose from the dead, it was when He spoke that they knew this was their Shepherd, this was Jesus.

Do you know this Shepherd's voice? I do. I am of His flock, for I believe that Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God and that He died in my place; that He rose from the dead and is preparing a place for me in His Father's house. I believe that God's Holy Spirit, The Good Shepherd's assistant, is helping me share this message and many others, with boldness and wisdom; with fearlessness and compassion. I know that God is real, time is short and I must be about my Father's business, too.

TheLordIsMyShepherd, JEHOVAH-ROHI, that is His Name. And He truly IS my Shepherd.  Choose Jesus to be your Shepherd, too. Repent and be baptized today, for the kingdom of God is near.

The Lord Is My Shepherd

The Lord Is My Shepherd

Psalm 23:1 The Lord Is my Shepherd, I shall not want.

I'll bet most of you could recite this Scripture passage from memory; maybe not word for word, but the gist of it, at least. How many of you know can tell me what Psalm 23 means to you? How 'bout just the beginning of it? What is the significance of 'The Lord Is my Shepherd'?

The Word of God is not easy reading and should never be taken at face value. Most people read into the Scriptures what they want The Word of God to say to them, not the other way around. Scripture is here for us to hear God speaking to us personally. Your Bible is an open letter from God to you. Some of it is historical, as in the events taking place have already happened. Some of it is prophetic, meaning these events have yet to happen. But the reasons any of these events take place is still current. That is why your Bible should be read daily, expounded at least weekly in God's house by the preacher, and studied seriously by you and I.

Jehovah-Rohi – The Lord Is my Shepherd.

 Before we even get to the personalization of the verse, the word 'my', we see that it begins with 'The Lord', acknowledging there is only one God. Exodus 20 gives us the layout of the Ten Commandments and this is the statement made by God in the first commandment: IAM THE LORD THY GOD. When Moses asked God who He was and what He should refer to Him as when he was to tell the people that their God would be delivering them, God's response was “IAMWHOIAM”. I Chronicles 17:20 “O LORD, there is none like Thee, neither is there any God beside Thee, according to all that we have heard with our ears.”

The Lord Is. In Exodus 6:3 we learn for the first time that one of God's Name's is JEHOVAH, meaning I AM THE LORD. Always was, always will be; God does not sleep, nor will He ever die. God is eternal. God is life. God is love. God is all things good and wonderful; strong and mighty; faithful and true. And as we study together, we will learn many more of God's attributes: who He is, what He does, where He is, why He cares. And all of that is in Psalm 23.

What does a shepherd do? In this day of technology and machinery, so much of farm and rural life has disappeared in our country that the concept of animal husbandry is unique to many. But a shepherd is needful to maintain the sheep's life. You know why? Sheep are dumb. And not figuratively either: literally dumb. 

 If a sheep falls over in the course of its journey, or in the corral, it will remain that way until it dies; unless someone, like a good shepherd, picks it up, turns it right side up, and helps it to stand upright to continue on its way.

  Sheep wander off, always looking for something to nibble on, without watching where they are going. They fall of cliffs, get stuck in brambles or fences, get eaten by wild animals, or stolen.

 Sheep need to have those woolly coats they grow groomed and sheared off. With their small heads and necks, they do not have the ability, like most animals, to groom themselves; nor the does the wool just gradually shed, like cats or dogs or even snakes. The shepherd must take good care of his flock, or he will lose it to diseases, also.

The Lord Is my Shepherd. My Shepherd. These five words acknowledge that I not only need a shepherd, but that I have chosen The Lord as my Shepherd. It is a relationship born of love. He loves me and has chosen me to be in His flock. I love Him and I surrender myself to His care, knowing that The Lord my Shepherd will watch out for my best interests because He loves me.  

 The Lord Is My Shepherd. And always will be. He is a current God. Once the repentant heart truly seeks to have his or her sins forgiven and receives forgiveness from God, God FORGETS those sins. God does not remember your past. He does not throw it in your face to remind you of how sinful you are: that is what Satan does. He accuses us over and over again, trying to intimidate us and make us turn away from our Shepherd, leave of our own accord. Go through fences, fall off cliffs, stumble and fall, stand alone. He is the wolf in sheep's clothing, who infiltrates the churches and lures people away from the whole truth of God's Word by twisting and using God's Word for his own selfish interests. He will be punished. Don't let his punishment be yours. Stay near God and His Word.  

 There are many religions but there is only one God, and He is not in all of them. We read in John 4:1-30, of Jesus speaking to the woman He met at the well, where He had gone to get a drink of water. Which He never got, but she got to not only meet Jesus, but believe Jesus when He spoke with her. I tell you this, because in verses 21-24, He tells her how to worship God that God might receive her worship. Do you understand that not every person who says they are worshiping God worships God? Only the people who worship God the way God wants to be worshiped are worshiping God. 

Verse 22: You worship you know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. Verse 23: But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship The Father in Spirit and in Truth: for The Father seeks such to worship Him.

Verse 24: God is Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth.

 John 3:5 Jesus answered (Nicodemus), “Truly, truly, I say to you, Except a man be born of water and of The Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.” Romans 10:9-10 tells us “That if we confess with our mouths (speak it out loud) The Lord Jesus, and shall believe in our hearts that God has raised Him from the dead, we shall be saved. For with the heart we believe unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” 

John 14:6 Jesus says, "I am The Way, The Truth, and The Life: no one comes to The Father but by Me."

Acts 1:14 says the followers of Jesus gathered together in prayer and supplications to receive The Promise of God, The Comforter, The Holy Ghost. Acts 2:4 “And they were all filled with The Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues (languages), as The Spirit gave them utterance.” I Corinthians 3:16 “Do you not know that your body is the temple of God, and that The Spirit of God lives in you? If any one defiles the temple of God, him or her shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, and you are that temple.”  

When we believe that Jesus Christ is our Savior and our hope of eternal life through His resurrection from the dead, we become born again, born anew, born of Spirit. For it is the Spirit of God who draws us near to God, who calls us to belong to God through Jesus Christ, God's only begotten Son. The Son God sent to save the world from being punished for their sins, their trespasses against God, their iniquities and transgressions. Our sins. Our trespass. Our iniquities. Our transgressions. Once I was a sinner lost in sin and the darkness of a sinful nature. But when I repented of my sins and turned away from such, God forgave me and brought me into His family. I became a born-again Christian. I am not perfect; occasionally sin rears its ugly head and I must repent of that sin, receive forgiveness and move on, growing closer to God and becoming more like my Shepherd every day.

Though the age of a person varies when they believe in Jesus Christ for salvation, now that we have been born-again by The Spirit we are young in Spirit and need to learn and grow in and on God's Holy Word. We need The Holy Spirit to guide us, be ever near us.  The steps of growth we take as children and adults, are mirrored in our new relationship with God. Now that we are His children we need to learn how to live this new life in Christ. For this we truly need The Holy Spirit of God to teach us God's ways and God's wills for and in our lives.

 When we seek what is referred to as 'the baptism of The Holy Spirit', it is from a desire to know God dearly and see Him with clearer sight, Spiritual sight. For it is only through The Holy Spirit, The Comforter, living in us, that we are able to draw much more from God's Word than is printed in our Bibles. We need to study with understanding, retain with greater memory, and boldly be able to speak God's Word to the rest of the world that is still lost in sin. We need The Spirit to lead us, to guide us, to teach us The Word of God. Then we will know the Truth of God's Word and be able to discern the lies and deceits that are uttered by the wolves in sheep's clothing.

 The Lord IS My Shepherd I am a sheep that knows my Shepherd's voice. All other voices are ignorant and blasphemous of and against my Shepherd. I still need Him to stand me upright, but no longer do I leave the safety and sanctuary of the flock who stay near The Shepherd.

Until next time, be safe and saved.

In God We Trust

 Really? Do we really trust God? Though it only took our national congress one hundred years to have some kind of motto like this imprinted on our monetary system, and then declared our national motto, how long does it take to have “in God we trust” written on our hearts? Or in our thoughts, our words, our actions?

The first commandments God wrote out for His people to follow was “I AM YOUR GOD Who delivered you out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me. Nor shall you make any graven image nor shall you worship them. For I AM a jealous GOD.”

Having the money in hand does not mean having God in heart. Were that so all money bearing God's Name would be used for God's glory, not just some of it. It is the heart that declares who its God is, not the coin of the land. Such an outcry in recent years over whether or not such wording should or should not be used is a distraction from the important question: who is your God? In whom do you trust? Where are your loyalties? Who do you turn to when your life is in danger? Or your children's safety? Who or what do you trust in when your world is turned upside down by tragedy of death, weather-related disasters, wartime wounds inflicted and received? Who is your God?

What does it mean to trust? Searching Roget's Thesaurus, I see that trust can be described quite a few different ways, but in regards to the phrase on the table currently, trust mean: believe, place confidence in; 'bet your bottom dollar on', rely on, depend on, count on, expect; build on, have faith in, confide in. Trust means: give to for safekeeping; assign, commission, commit, delegate, put into the hands of. Trust means: believe the goodness, realness of; acknowledge, recognize, approve; have no doubt, be convinced of. And these are only a few of the definitions regarding trust as a verb. If that is what the intent was when first suggested in 1861, then when did the USA stop trusting in God as a whole? Did it ever? Did this nation every really trust God for everything that it needed? No.

Isaiah 42:17 “They shall be turned back, they shall be greatly ashamed, that trust in graven images, that say to the molten images, 'You are our gods.” Money really does not grow on trees. It is minted. The metals used to make it are melted down, molten, and imprinted with the words and images, on varying sizes and colors and shapes to form American money. Yet it is not God who is trusted, it is money itself and what money stands for.

Power. Fame. Fortune. Glory. Wealth. Success. These can only be obtained in this world with money, a lot of money. Some believe they can even buy their way into God's presence. The very fact that you are alive is going to get you into God's presence, but it is not your life that will keep you there: it is the eternal life of Jesus Christ, granted to they who believe on The Lord Jesus Christ for their personal Lord and Savior. See, this trust issue is based on a personal relationship with God's only begotten Son Jesus Christ. Though God has many sons and daughters, He has only one ONLY BEGOTTEN SON. And that Son's Name is JESUS CHRIST.

He is all the glory and wealth and success and power believers will ever need. Believers like me.

It is not the phrase on my money that reminds me my trust lies in God, it is God's Word, which was written not only in my Bible, but on my heart, my soul, my mind. In God I Trust. Do you?

Watch and Pray

Watch, therefore, for you know not what hour your Lord comes...

Blessed is that servant, who when his Lord comes,

is busy doing The Lord's work which he has been given to do.

Matthew 24:42, 46

God is that voice that says, "Don't", when you are tempted to do something you know you should not do. Submit to God. Listen to Him when He is speaking to you. Resist the devil. Run. Turn and go the way or do that thing which God has called you to do. And the devil will flee. The demons who work for Satan will turn and run in the opposite direction you choose, when you choose to serve God and not yourself. For evil cannot be in the presence of holiness: God Is Holy.

Watch the world around you, but do not be afraid, for God has said to His people, His children also, "Fear not, for I am with you always." "Be anxious for nothing." Many folks suffer from anxiety attacks. Unfortunately, I am one of them. The only remedy I use is recalling Scriptures which remind me to be at peace, be calm, be restful. "My peace I leave with you." Peace that passes understanding is being at peace or living in peace, when the world around you is crumbling. 

Blessed means happy, content. If we are content in all situations or circumstances, we have nothing to fear, and there is no need to worry or be anxious. "Little is much when God is in it." The amount of faith we have within us is usually smaller than a mustard seed, for were our faith as large as a mustard seed, the mountains we fear would crumble and shift into the sea. But where our faith is, our praises are; where our praises are, God Is. Remember? "God inhabits the praises of His people." 

What has God called us to do that we should be busy doing it upon His return? "Go you therefore and preach the gospel to all nations." "Love your neighbor as yourself." "Put on The Lord Jesus Christ." "Seek you first the kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you." "Love one another as I have loved you." "Be holy, for I am holy."  Where ever the command begins with a verb, that is what we should be doing, when Christ returns for His Bride, the Church, which is the body of believers in Jesus Christ. 

No one knows the hour of Christ's return: NO ONE. Whoever gives a day or date or year of The Lord's return is a LIAR; listen not to that person. Whoever ignores The Word of God is a FOOL. "The fool says in his heart there is no God." Whichever of you declares there is no God is also a FOOL. I say now, do you want God to lay the charge of LIAR and FOOL at your feet, when you are judged? Be warned; God is not mocked. All unrepentant hearts will be judged and found lacking; your reward is damnation and hell and the lake of fire. 

Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near. Today is the day of your salvation. Tomorrow is not promised. Believe on The Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. Repent and be baptized. This is the day which The Lord has made: I will rejoice and be glad in it. It is impossible to be glad in any day that you are not saved, not born again, not living a righteous and holy life. Surely you are miserable and unhappy. Throw off your unbelief, repent of your sins, your wicked acts against God, and receive forgiveness from The God Who is longsuffering: patient, ever merciful, ever waiting to receive you into His family and His arms. 

Watch the news. Read the Bible. Pray for everyone to receive salvation through Jesus Christ. As the wise man once said to the fool, "If I am wrong, I have lost nothing. But if I am right, you have lost everything."

I believe that Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God. I believe that He died on the cross for me, paying the death penalty for my sins. I believe that His blood washes away my sins. I believe that God raised His Son Jesus Christ from the dead and that He walked out of the grave. I believe that the baptism of The Holy Spirit is needed to share the gospel with boldness and without fear; with love and without hate. I believe that one day soon Jesus Christ is returning to take me and all the rest of they who believe in Him home with Him.

Don't be caught dead without Jesus.