Spiritual Growth

“Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate you; reprove a wise man, and he will love you. Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser; teach a righteous man…and he will increase in learning.”
Proverbs 9:8-9 The Amplified Bible

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
Spiritual Growth!
Do you want to accelerate your spiritual growth in the fastest way? Then you need to learn to take correction, both from the Spirit of God and through His people when He sends them. You need to perform routine daily Spiritual Maintenance by spending at least a tenth of your day alone with God in prayer, praise, and pondering His Word. Also you need to spend just some quiet time listening to what He is saying to you. Most of us love it when our pastor preaches about something we already know, or about some aspect of life we’ve already submitted to the Lord in. We think he’s a great pastor. We like him because he makes us feel good. But let that same pastor stand up and begin to preach about something we’re doing wrong, or some area that we need to change in or turn over to the Lord for His help and we immediately put up a wall and take offense. There will even be some who will get up and leave! We have got to get over that and learn to esteem the gift of the pastor that has been given to us by the Lord God and learn to accept the Lord’s chastening through him. Or for that matter through any of the elders or leaders the Lord has placed over us. I’d rather be chastened (corrected) by the Lord than to be broken, crushed, or rejected by Him! We need to learn to receive that word of correction or guidance and begin to examine ourselves and ask the Lord; “Is that right? Does that agree with Your Word? Do I need to make some adjustments or changes in this area Lord?” If any of the answers are yes, then make them and watch your spiritual life begin to flourish even more. A very wise spiritual man once said, “If you think you’ve already arrived, you really aren’t going anywhere anyway!” Remember correction is not rejection, it is direction given unto perfection!

MY PRAYER…
Thank you, Father, for loving me and sending me Jesus to be my example. I ask, that by Your Holy Spirit, You help me to live the life that Jesus would have me to live. Father help me to allow the ‘Teacher’ to teach me Your ways and help me Lord to receive correction when correction is due. Lord I want nothing more than to grow and mature in You more each day. In Jesus’ mighty name I pray.
Amen

Christians don’t seem to understand you give to get. Some of you are NOT obeying God!
They would support sports or even gambling, but NOT a true Christian work!!
Please help this ministry’s mailings to continue by supporting it! Give a donation or love offering on a regular basis. It’s easy!
You may send your donation/love offering to me via Paypal by using my Paypal.me link.
Any donation/love offering helps.
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Stand and praise God!

Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.
Psalm 95:1-2 New International Version

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
Stand and praise God?
Can you stand and praise God anywhere? You stand and shout and cheer and carry on wildly at sports events.
What better way to express our joy than with laughter and song to God. We sing to the Lord because we are joyful and thankful for all He has done for us! Not what is going on in our lives and in the world around us. Our music is not inhibited or held back, but exuberant and as full of heart as it is of sound. We praise Him with our whole being, with all that we are. Just like David danced in the streets before the Lord. You can do it at sports events and concerts and no one cares, try being that exuberant when you praise God and see what happens. Thanksgiving and praise to Him is what brings us into the Father’s presence and it is our joy at the knowledge of what He has done for us that leads us to praise Him. Don’t hide that praise from the world, display it proudly! Even if we are not musically inclined it’s okay. He said in His Word we could make a joyful noise unto the Lord. It’s our hearts that matter, not what we sound like. Remember He said, He would inhabit the praises of His people.

MY PRAYER…
Most wonderful and glorious Father, thank you so much for sending Your Son and saving me from sin, death, and the law. Thank you for saving me and giving me the assurance, through your Holy Spirit, that I can come before you with exuberant and overflowing joy. Your love and grace have not only given me hope but have made me your child, a son and an heir. Hear my heart and be blessed by my sounds of praise. Through the mighty name of Jesus I pray and because of Jesus I will shout your praise forever and ever.
Amen

Christians don’t seem to understand you give to get. Some of you are NOT obeying God!
They would support sports or even gambling, but NOT a true Christian work!!
Please help this ministry’s mailings to continue by supporting it! Give a donation or love offering on a regular basis. It’s easy!
You may send your donation/love offering to me via Paypal by using my Paypal.me link.
Any donation/love offering helps.
Here’s the link: https://www.paypal.me/Duane466

Your Lawyer

My little children, these things write I to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
1 John 2:1 King James Version

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
Your Lawyer?
You have a lawyer that represents you before God the Father!
We are not to sin, but God knows that man is fallible, so He provided a way to be cleansed and made righteous before Him if we did sin (Not that He wants us to). The Word of God is the truth and it says He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14), the Word is alive for evermore. God provided us with an advocate (a lawyer if you will) (G3875. parakletos, par-ak’-lay-tos; an intercessor, consoler:–advocate, comforter), a mediator to go before God the Father on our behalf. But we must first ask Him for that forgiveness, a heart felt repentance (change), not just lip service, He knows our hearts. Then we must allow Him to effect a change in us. And when we are judged by God this is what happens: Standing in God’s court and the accuser of the brethern (Satan) lists all of the things you have done wrong and stands back and smiles at you. Then Jesus stands up, looks at the Father and says: Dad, I already paid the price for “Put Your name here” sins. Father God slams His gavel down and says “Not Guilty!”

MY PRAYER…
Father, thank You for giving me an advocate with You, someone I could go to when I need forgiveness. Someone who is not of this flesh that can stand before You on my behalf. Father, I thank You for Your Son Jesus, whom You gave for me and to me, to be my Lord and Savior. Thanks Dad that I have a way back into Your righteousness. A way for You to welcome me Home. In Jesus’ name, I pray.
Amen

Christians don’t seem to understand you give to get. Some of you are NOT obeying God!
They would support sports or even gambling, but NOT a true Christian work!!
Please help this ministry’s mailings to continue by supporting it! Give a donation or love offering on a regular basis. It’s easy!
You may send your donation/love offering to me via Paypal by using my Paypal.me link.
Any donation/love offering helps.
Here’s the link: https://www.paypal.me/Duane466

Receive Therefore The Grace of God

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in the present age, looking for that blessed hope and glorious appearing of the great God and Savior Jesus Christ,
Titus 2:11-13 New King James Version

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
Receiving Grace!
In a world that has no absolutes, in a world of failing, decaying moral standards, lost ethics, and just plain human moral degeneration to an animalistic state, salvation by the unmerited grace of God beckons us to change our lifestyle in response to God’s grace. In a world that has digressed to the same state as Sodom and Gomorrah, which God destroyed because of their degenerate homosexual lifestyles. Anyone who receives grace and refuses to pursue Godly righteousness (refuses to allow the Word of God to change them) demonstrates his/her ignorance or just their plain hardness of heart. Have they really received His Grace? God will give the worldly up to their unrighteousness, He will allow them to do what they want to do, before they are destroyed for it. This includes all those of the world who practice homosexuality and other degenerate immoral lifestyles, Paganism, Wicca, or any other non Christian religion, and even those who condone such a lifestyle. That does not mean He approves of it or is a part of it, they make their own choice. In our day, in our time, to be saved means we must also pursue righteousness — not so that we may earn our salvation, since salvation is the gift of God and not of works, but so that God’s saving grace will not be fruitless in us. It also means we should NOT stand idly by and let the world become an immoral, homosexual cesspool, that some call gay! There’s nothing ‘gay about homosexuality. We need to stand our ground and help keep the moral and civil laws governing us pure and Godly in nature. God, His Word, the Bible do not condone ‘same sex’ marriages! Looking to Jesus, who HAS (past tense) redeemed us with His precious blood, making Him the Lord of our life. When Jesus is the Lord of your life you will let Him lead and guide, change you from the inside out. You will begin walking the talk of a Christian life, not just talking it, but living it every day. Being a Christian means living a lifestyle according to the Word of God. Living like Jesus did!. Knowing and understanding “Jesus Christ and Him crucified for us!” Receive Therefore The Grace of God. Receive His Grace and be changed.

MY PRAYER…
Holy Father, I confess that I live in a confusing time. Satan is always distorting the distinction between right and wrong, good and evil, moral and immoral. Father, I thank You that You have sent Your Holy Spirit to be our Comforter and our Guide and Teacher. That He will lead us into all truth of You and will expose the lies and deceitfulness of Satan in the world around us. Because You have been so gracious with me, may my life today reflect the righteousness You gave (past tense) me through Jesus. May the words of my mouth, the thoughts of my heart, and the actions of my life be pleasing in Your sight. That which is not from or of You I denounce in my life. Through my Lord, my Rock, and my Redeemer, Jesus, I pray.
Amen

Christians don’t seem to understand you give to get. Some of you are NOT obeying God!
They would support sports or even gambling, but NOT a true Christian work!!
Please help this ministry’s mailings to continue by supporting it! Give a donation or love offering on a regular basis. It’s easy!
You may send your donation/love offering to me via Paypal by using my Paypal.me link.
Any donation/love offering helps.
Here’s the link: https://www.paypal.me/Duane466

Without Sin

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
1 John 1:8 King James Version

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
Without Sin?
There isn’t a man that ever walked the face of the earth that didn’t have sin, save the Man Jesus Christ Himself. And there will be NO man who walks this earth in the future that is without sin either. Even if you think you are without sin, you are not! “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.(Rom 3:23)” For we were born of the first Adam’s seed, who put mankind into sin, gave us a sin nature by inheritance, and we have deceived ourselves if we say we have no sin or have never sinned. But, God (everybody say, “But, God “) in His great mercy (un-merited favor) saw fit to send His only Son to pay the price for us and for our sin. He had to because there was no other way we could be made righteous before Him. NO priest, or minister can absolve your sins for you, the Bible says: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1John 1:9) He, God, Jesus will forgive us. He did not say to go ask the priest to forgive you, he can’t, God has to. God’s righteous judgment would have demanded our death. But, Jesus bought us out of sin, sickness, disease, poverty, depression, bondage and whatever else you might need recovered from with His blood on the cross that great day over 2000 years ago. We must now walk (be renewed by) in the light of His grace and mercy. Receive what Jesus has already done for you and allow His Word to change and conform you into the image of Him. Go to God, in the name of Jesus, and ask for His forgiveness. The Word says, “…He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1John 1:9). The priest, or reverend, or Mary, or some other canonized saint can NOT forgive your sin. It is God who forgives, not some man or woman and God alone.
No man has ever walked this earth without sin, except the Man Jesus Christ!

MY PRAYER…
Loving Father, thank You for making a way for me where there was no way. Thank You for showing me the sin in my life and making a way for my forgiveness through the blood of Jesus. Father, help me by the power of Your Holy Spirit to walk and live a sinless life from this day forward. Change me Lord and renew my mind in You. Help me to know that I have been cleansed with the blood of Jesus and been made righteous before You, through His righteousness. In Jesus’ name I pray.
Amen

Christians don’t seem to understand you give to get. Some of you are NOT obeying God!
They would support sports or even gambling, but NOT a true Christian work!!
Please help this ministry’s mailings to continue by supporting it! Give a donation or love offering on a regular basis. It’s easy!
You may send your donation/love offering to me via Paypal by using my Paypal.me link.
Any donation/love offering helps.
Here’s the link: https://www.paypal.me/Duane466

Does your lifestyle make God appear to be a liar?

He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself: he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son.
1 John 5:10 New King James Version

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
God? A Liar!
If you believe in the Son of God the Word says you will have an inner witness within you. That means that you will know from the inside out that you are saved, that Jesus is at work in your life. That you will begin to change and be conformed into His image as He leads and guides you. You do not have to change before you come to God, but you must allow His Word to change you afterward. The worldly and the un-Godly ways in your life should begin to disappear. You won’t have to rely on someone else telling you, you’ll know beyond the shadow of any doubt that the change is necessary. You’ll know that you know, that you know, that you know you should be changing. Your knower will tell you so! If you remain unchanged after making Jesus you Lord then you make God out to be a liar, when really it’s just you and your hard heart and unwilling nature that stops the changes God would have had you make. But if you don’t believe what the Word of God says about you, you’ve made God out to be a liar. I sure wouldn’t want to be in those shoes!

MY PRAYER…
Abba Father, Most Holy God, thank You for filling me with Your Spirit. Thank You for that inner witness at times when doubt tries to creep in. Thank You Father for Your ever present presence in my life. Thank You for knowing me and having a plan for my life to please You. Help me from this day forward to glorify You in what I do and say. Let Your Holy Spirit lead and guide me in all things, teaching me Your will and Your ways, by being my inner witness. Help me Father to remove all un-Godly things and ways from my lifestyle and to become God inside minded. In Jesus’ name I pray.
Amen

Christians don’t seem to understand you give to get. Some of you are NOT obeying God!
They would support sports or even gambling, but NOT a true Christian work!!
Please help this ministry’s mailings to continue by supporting it! Give a donation or love offering on a regular basis. It’s easy!
You may send your donation/love offering to me via Paypal by using my Paypal.me link.
Any donation/love offering helps.
Here’s the link: https://www.paypal.me/Duane466

God’s plan

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. – Galatians 6:7

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
God’s plan – Sowing and reaping!
There are many out there that don’t understand this principle from God. “You will reap what you sow!”
Those of you practicing immorality know this, You will reap from what you sow. If you are homosexual you will reap of the diseases that affect those who do so. Don’t think that LGBT is okay,it is NOT okay in God’s eyes and you will reap the consequences.
Just because you feel like you’re under pressure these days, you’re not alone. Satan is putting more pressure on more people right now than ever before. He’s pressuring us mentally, physically, financially, emotionally and every other way he can. The pressure has gotten so great everywhere that governments don’t know what to do. Businesses don’t know what to do. Families don’t know what to do. Some Churches and pastors don’t even know what to do.

But praise God, Jesus does! He says we can give our way right out from under any pressure the devil brings to bear.
Giving is always Jesus’ way out. Whenever there’s a need, He plants seed! In fact, in Mark Chapter 4, He compares the entire kingdom of God to a seed. Just think about the importance of seeds for a moment. Every living thing on this earth came from a seed. You came from a seed. Then you were born again from the seed of God’s Word. Jesus Himself was The Seed planted by God. God sowed Him in sacrifice. He came forth and grew up into many brethren.

So, when Satan puts you under pressure, go to Jesus and let Him tell you how and where to plant your seed. If you’ll do it, that seed will grow up until it breaks the powers of darkness and lack. It will release you from the pressure the devil’s been putting on you. I’ve seen it happen.

If the devil’s pressuring you, don’t panic…plant! Do you want to reap blessings? Plant (sow) your money where God tells you to. Plant (sow) your time. Plant (sow) your tithes. Plant (sow) the clothes off your back.
“Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” Luke 6:38 NKJV
When your harvest comes in, you can laugh and say, “Hey, Devil, who’s feeling the pressure now?”

MY PRAYER…
Most High God of the Mountains, the seas, the plains, and the skies, You are my source for all of my needs It is your law of sowing and reaping that makes things happen. I acknowledge Your presence in all I do and everywhere I go. Please, continue to lead and guide me by Your Holy Spirit. Help to know when and where to sow and to what to sow that I may receive the harvest that You have for my life. Continue to remind me that You are always present in everything I do or say. Father, help us to understand Your ways. In the name of Your Holy Child, Jesus, I pray.
Amen

Christians don’t seem to understand you give to get. Some of you are NOT obeying God!
They would support sports or even gambling, but NOT a true Christian work!!
Please help this ministry’s mailings to continue by supporting it! Give a donation or love offering on a regular basis. It’s easy!
You may send your donation/love offering to me via Paypal by using my Paypal.me link.
Any donation/love offering helps.
Here’s the link: https://www.paypal.me/Duane466

Being #1

And He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.”
Mark 9:35 New King James Version

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
Last?
Nobody, I mean NOBODY likes to be last. But, Being #1! We have a hard enough time settling for second place, much less last place. But, Jesus reverses the rank or order when He talks with His disciples here. He confounds the world with His foolish ways! The person who is most important to Him is not the person seeking the status and the notoriety of being number 1! The most important person is the one most like Jesus Himself: willing to give up rank and status and importance to serve his brethren. For Jesus, last means being first in service, first to lay your self down for some else’s benefit, and first in the eyes of God because you have given yourself to Him first in the service of others. I did not want to, nor did I myself choose to be a Pastor – Jesus decided that I should be a Pastor, He told me that I was to be a Pastor for Him and I chose to accept. Ministry means service, service means WORK, ministry means serving others first before self just as Jesus did! Do you want to be first, to be recognized and have status before others? Then you first need to be a servant to all! But serve “As unto the Lord” not unto man or because you have to. Remember it’s a choice, you get to, you don’t have to! You always have a choice. And always remember that it is really the Lord you are serving not some man or woman. Jesus said: “Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.”

MY PRAYER…
Magnificent Father, creator of all that was, is, and ever will be, You have made this wonderful world for me and have given Your Son to redeem me. How can I ever thank You or repay You for Your Grace, Your Mercy, and Your Kindness. Today help me see those You want me to serve for You. Lord extend Your grace and kindness toward me as I try to be more like You. I can not do it on my own, this I know, but through Jesus all things are possible. Lord I give You my body, a living sacrifice. Change me, purge me, rearrange me Lord, into a vessel worthy to serve You. A vessel that will bring glory and honor to Your name and Your Kingdom. In the name of my Lord and Saviour, Jesus.

Amen

Christians don’t seem to understand you give to get. Some of you are NOT obeying God!
They would support sports or even gambling, but NOT a true Christian work!!
Please help this ministry’s mailings to continue by supporting it! Give a donation or love offering on a regular basis. It’s easy!
You may send your donation/love offering to me via Paypal by using my Paypal.me link.
Any donation/love offering helps.
Here’s the link: https://www.paypal.me/Duane466

Your Calling in Your Christian Life

[Zechariah prophesied concerning John,] “You, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God.”
Luke 1:76-78 New International Version

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
What is your job or calling in your Christian Life?
John’s job, his calling in life, was to prepare the way for the Lord Jesus to come to us and bring Salvation and forgiveness. His job was not to be the number one or the one in the limelight. Rather he was a preparer, a servant if you will. But, where does salvation come from? Does it come because we realize that something is desperately wrong and that we need to change it and make it better? Does it come from our doing good works and being a good person? Does it come because we got lucky one day? Does it come because we have done nothing wrong and are worthy and deserve it? Does it come because we have kept all the commandments (No man/women can do that!)? No, NO man (or woman) deserves forgiveness or salvation, we all have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God, we were ALL born with a sin nature because of Adam. Does it come from membership in a particular church or religion? Absolutely NOT! Does it come from rigorously obeying everything in the law (from being religious)? NO! again I say NO! Salvation and forgiveness come only from one source,
A church or your religion can NOT save you EVER. There is only one source for Salvation, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” There is NO OTHER WAY! Period. Therefore John’s job, his calling in life, to prepare the way for the Lord was the most important job one could ever have. Every single Christian has that same job! We have all been made able ministers of the New Testament (Gospel of Jesus Christ) according to God’s Word. (2 Cor. 3:6) And there is NO other way to God except through Jesus Christ, I don’t care what you think or believe. The Word of God says one way, therefore there is only one way!

MY PRAYER…
I confess, Father, that at times I’ve tried to earn my salvation. At other times, I have taken it for granted and trampled on Your mercy and grace. Today, Father, I want to live for You: not to be saved or gain salvation, but to please You and reflect Your character and nature. Your mercy and grace have redeemed many people from the worthless way of living that I see so many others still trapped in. Thank You for Your salvation, for everything that is included with that salvation, but please help me to live in a way that shows the joy of that salvation in all I say, think, and do. Through the name of Jesus I pray.

Amen

Christians don’t seem to understand you give to get. Some of you are NOT obeying God!
They would support sports or even gambling, but NOT a true Christian work!!
Please help this ministry’s mailings to continue by supporting it! Give a donation or love offering on a regular basis. It’s easy!
You may send your donation/love offering to me via Paypal by using my Paypal.me link.
Any donation/love offering helps.
Here’s the link: https://www.paypal.me/Duane466

You Have Heard

[Jesus said,] “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.”
Matthew 5:43-45 New International Version

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
Have you ever heard anything so ridiculous?
No this verse is NOT a cruel joke, it is VERY true. Remember God is Love (Unconditional Love). We often talk about the privileges of being a child of God – forgiveness, salvation, a future in heaven with Him, the gift of the Holy Spirit, prosperity, healing, and health, and ultimate victory through Christ. One of the greatest privileges we get as children of God however, is the opportunity to act toward those who dislike and hate us in a way that reflects the character of God himself. Anyone can return hate for hate, but it takes a child of God to return a blessing and a prayer to their enemies. The last bit of that verse also indicates, to me anyway, that this action of loving, blessing, and praying for those who hate and despitefully use us is a necessary action, a condition if you will, to becoming a son or daughter of God. “Faith without works is dead!” Works = corresponding actions, actions involved in doing the Word of God in Faith. Because in doing the Word of God you work out your salvation through His grace.

MY PRAYER…
Father, thank You for loving me while I was still an enemy to You. Thank You for offering the death of Your Son Jesus to offer me the chance to accept or reject Your love. As You have promised, You are pouring Your love into my heart so I may love even my enemies as You have loved me. Thank You Father that there are no “undesireables” when it comes t your love for mankind. Father, it is not by my might or by my power that I am able to love and pray for my enemies, but by the power of Your holy Spirit that works within me. Continue Lord to fill me afresh each and every day. Through Jesus, the gift of Your love, I pray.
Amen

Christians don’t seem to understand you give to get. Some of you are NOT obeying God!
They would support sports or even gambling, but NOT a true Christian work!!
Please help this ministry’s mailings to continue by supporting it! Give a donation or love offering on a regular basis. It’s easy!
You may send your donation/love offering to me via Paypal by using my Paypal.me link.
Any donation/love offering helps.
Here’s the link: https://www.paypal.me/Duane466