Encouraging One Another

Encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.
1 Thessalonians 5:11 New International Version

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
Do you know how to encourage one another, or do you do the opposite?

We really need to take note of what Paul is saying here. We live in an age where we are constantly pressured to emphasize the novel, new, or improved versions of things. They’ve outlawed the Word of God in our schools and instead teach the “New Age” movement or ‘Harry Potter’ witchcraft and that’s okay? This ‘New Age’ is really nothing more than a fancy name for the ‘occult’ or witchcraft if you will. They won’t allow the reading of the Bible in school, but they will assign our children to do book reviews of witchcraft (Harry Potter series)! They won’t allow us to pray in school, but they will encourage the learning of chants and incantations from so called “New Age” teachings (Witchcraft). It seems they have forgotten the very thing this country (America) was founded on, Christianity! It was NOT just freedom of religion, it was freedom to practice Christianity that America was founded on. Not just some religion or any religion, but America was founded on Christianity! If you have a problem with that then go back where you came from, if they’ll have you. READ Your History (if you can find a correct history book anymore) find a copy of the Mayflower Compact and read what our founders had to say about their new colony. The separation of Church and state that our forefathers meant in the Constitution was not allowing the ‘state’ to control our church! But rather the church controlling what the government was and could do! It was the freedom to practice Christianity according to the Bible not according to the King’s way!
In our lives as Christians, we need to remind each other of what we should be doing according to God’s Word. We need to keep encouraging each other in the Faith, prodding and pushing each other to new and exciting things in God. From Glory to Glory! We need to have our Christianity heard in our government as loud and as much as the immoral views are heard.

MY PRAYER…
Faithful Father, thank You for noticing and keeping record of the things I’ve done that are good and pleasing to You. Please help me to keep doing those things that please You, only to do them better, that You may be pleased and glorified. Help me to encourage the Brethren as we all make our walk of Faith with You. Help us Lord to heal our country and return it to the state in which it was intended before You. In Jesus name.
Amen

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Spiritual Food

And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
John 6:35 King James Version

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
Are you eating the right kind of spiritual food?

Our physical bodies crave and need food at regular intervals throughout the day in order to maintain our physical health, strength, and well being. But sometimes we allow food to totally occupy our thoughts and fill up our activities during those times and even other times we let food occupy our thoughts when we shouldn’t. Because deep in our soul, in our spirit-man there is a hunger also, a spiritual hunger that cannot be filled or satisfied by physical food, drink, or other chemical substances (drugs and alcohol). This hunger is the desire pre-programmed into us by our Creator, placed there when He knit us together in our mother’s womb. Many will try and satisfy this spiritual hunger with the wrong kind of things and even the wrong spirit(s). They will seek after the occult and the things of the evil (that which is of the devil). They will seek after the things depicted by the Harry Potter series, Dungeon and Dragons and the likes. They will seek after false religions and other idols. It will seem that this satisfies that spiritual hunger, at least at first. This is because the devil is a liar, but eventually you will find that the spiritual hunger is still there. This hunger in our spirit can only be satisfied by fellowship with Jesus, with God, and with the Holy Spirit. We need to satisfy this hunger for Jesus by feeding on Him and His Word, by having a personal relationship with Him on a daily basis. By spending time with Him in prayer and meditating His Word daily. The physical body feeds almost constantly – shouldn’t your spirit also, after all we ARE a spirit that only lives temporarily in this fleshly body. Remember our spirit lives forever.

MY PRAYER…
Father, thank You for Your Son Jesus. Give me today, my Daily Bread, that I may find life in all His fullness. Help me Lord to spend time with You and Your Word and help me Lord to have revelation knowledge of what I meditate and read in Your Word so that I may become more intimate with You. Precious Lord, Jesus my Savior and brother, fill me and touch me with Your presence so that I can serve You by blessing those around me with Your grace.
Amen

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Your Temptation

And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.
Luke 4:1-2 King James Version

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
Think you can’t be tempted, even Jesus was tempted!

Don’t think that you can not be tempted. Jesus, even though He was the Son of God and was full of the Holy Ghost, was tempted by the devil. But, Jesus didn’t accept that temptation! You are not better than Jesus! But, Jesus was not alone when He was tempted, the Holy Spirit was with Him (He was full of the Holy Spirit). The devil will come to us all, don’t think because you are a Christian that you can’t be tempted. And just because you are also filled with the Holy Spirit don’t think that you won’t or can’t be tempted. The devil will always test our God given authority, just as he tested Jesus. In fact, Jesus was tempted every day for forty days during His wilderness experience and He was full of the Holy Spirit! But, Jesus knew the Word and every time the devil came with temptation Jesus used the Word of God to defeat him and did not accept the temptation. If Jesus had relied on his own natural feelings or experiences He would not have been successful, but He used the Word of God, “It is written…” God’s Word is our authority, He has given it to us through Jesus. We have the ‘Power of Attorney’ to use the Name of Jesus and God’s Word. But we must know that Word and know how to use it! Be ready and prepared. Don’t wait until you need it to try and learn it! Press into God daily.

MY PRAYER…
Father God, I thank You for the gift of the Holy Spirit, whom You have given to all believers. You promised You would never leave us nor forsake us and You gave us The Comforter, the Helper, The Guide, and The Teacher in the Holy Spirit. You gave us a Your example through Jesus. You made a way for us to escape temptation, You gave us Your Word. Father we thank You for Your Word. In Jesus’ mighty name, I pray.
Amen

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God At Work

We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to His purpose.
Romans 8:28 New International Version

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
Let God work in your life.
God is in our lives. He is at work right now, undoing Satan’s destructive messes and leading us to places he wants us to go, IF we will listen to His voice. God is NOT the one who brings bad things into your life, that is the work of the devil. My Bible says: “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.” (James 1:17) It doesn’t say bad things!
This is true in everything we do and everywhere we go. The key is for us to seek his purpose, to live his will, to lay down our lives and our plan and our way of doing things and to pick up His plan and His way. If that is our goal, then we can be sure our God is with us every step of our way. For He has said in His Word “…I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” and “all good and perfect things come down from the Father of light.”

MY PRAYER…
Thank You, Father God, for being at work in my life. Thank You for not leaving me alone to my best effort, insight, and choice. Thank You for having a plan for me from before the beginning of time and being the assurance that I can’t mess that plan up if I seek Your will. Thank You for being my God, my Father, and my Partner through all of life. Thank You Lord for all the good things You have given me!
In Jesus’ name I pray.
Amen

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Called By His Name

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
2 Chronicles 7:14 New International Version

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
Are you called by His name?

First I want you all to notice who God is talking about here. His people, Christians, not the people of the world who are still lost & without hope & without God. He’s not talking to the religious fanatics who call themselves Christians, not cult churches who try to lead you to believe they are Christians, not the homosexuals and lesbians and LGBTs that call themselves ‘gay’. They couldn’t even humble themselves and pray even if they wanted to – they don’t know how and they don’t have the fellowship yet with God for Him to hear their prayers. Besides why should they care, they don’t even believe in God.
Our country’s moral ethics are at the lowest I’ve ever seen, and they are still in a downward spiral. They must be approaching that which was in the days of Noah! Oh, remember Sodom and Gomorrah? We’re headed to the same end as they had. And that can only mean we are very near the end of time as we know it.
Along with the morals being in such a decadent state look at our economic situation. And even now our government is trying to turn us into a socialist country. Corrupt presidential elections, the 2008 and 2012 elections were rigged and fixed so that the democrats won, regardless of how the general public really voted, not what the people wanted! More like an election in some South Africa countries I have visited where they just bulldoze the opposition!
Let us not forget what God did to the world in the days of Noah, or what He did at Sodom and Gomorrah, He can do it again. Not by water, but maybe by fire! Are we about to see a cleansing of the earth again? And that can only mean we are very near the end.
Let us, as children of the Most High God, get before our God and ask His forgiveness for this once great country, He said My people – not the worldly, cults, or religious people.
Humility is not our culture’s biggest asset or our most desired character quality. But humility is what is demanded by God not so much because it’s commanded (though that would be enough), but because without it he doesn’t even hear our prayers. Every year brings another wave of major failures in morality, character, and spirituality to this nation (and the rest of the world.) Rather than progressing as a culture, we find ourselves regressing, though most do not think so. Everyday the news is full of more stories that show our morality is in deep decay, it is in a death spiral going down. Child molestation, incest, adultery, homosexual and lesbian activity and all the other types of immorality that does NOT belong in this people let alone in His Church. And that can only mean we are very near the end.
It is time that those who are called by His name (those who are really true Christians), humble themselves before Him, ask forgiveness through prayer, and then really do change. Being humble is not being poor and weak. Being humble is knowing when and how to get on your face before God and cry out to Him for help, knowing that you cannot do anything for yourself without Him. So let’s get humble and call upon the Lord for help for this nation (your nation, the world) and not only ours but all nations! It’s time that we as Christians are heard just as loud as those who are trying intimidate us and make us embrace and do their ways! We have just as much right to our beliefs as they do theirs, in fact even more since ours are (should be anyway) God’s beliefs!
I ask all who read this to truly search your hearts and then with all your heart to pray this prayer from your heart both for yourself and for this country of ours and especially for all of our Military members wherever they may be today. Without our military being where they are and doing what they are doing this nation would NOT be free today!

MY PRAYER…
Holy and Almighty Father God, Your deeds are awesome, Your faithfulness is overwhelming, and Your mercy and grace are unwarranted yet very welcome. I come to You knowing that You hear me, despite the incredible distance between You and I, between Your worth and holiness and my lack. I confess that I, and my culture and the country around me have made a mess of what You so wonderfully blessed us with. I come humbly asking that You reassert Yourself in our nation and in our land in clearly recognizable ways. That You would heal our land as you said you would. That you would show those who are without You who You are and how they are wrong.
Father, that You place Your Holy angels around our military and that You show them things to come before they happen. That you would foil the enemy’s plans against our military and expose them on every front. Lord and Father I pray that You would send laborers into the harvest while the harvest is still ripe. That You give us strength where we are weak and make us strong through Jesus to be what You would have us to be and to do what You would have us to do. I ask this in faith through Jesus Christ my Lord.
Amen

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Temptation

Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him. Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.
James 1:12-14 King James Version

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
Do not accept temptation when it comes!
Notice it doesn’t say IF he is tempted, but “WHEN he is tempted.” God knows we will be tempted, but we have to know that God doesn’t do the tempting! It says so right there in His Word. Read it again. We, through our own lusts and desires open the door for temptation. And guess who is standing there at the open door ready to come in and deliver that temptation that we ordered. That’s right, Satan is there immediately to offer up his temptation to us. Even Jesus Himself was tempted in the wilderness by Satan! Do you think you won’t be? We are to endure through that temptation, but how do we endure? We endure through the promises of God and His Word. Remember what Jesus said to Satan in the wilderness, “It is written…” We must know God’s Word if we are to endure temptation and we must apply God’s Word to our lives. 2 Corinthians 10:5 says this: “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;”. We must allow the Word of God to control our temptations and our thoughts. That’s exactly what Jesus did when He was tempted – “It is written…”

MY PRAYER…
Father God, give me revelation knowledge of Your Word each day as I read and speak it. Open the eyes of my understanding that I may see the true meaning of Your Word. Reveal unto me the mysteries hidden there in. Father, help me to be able to stand and to endure when temptation comes. I know that I can not by myself endure, but all things are possible to him who believes on Jesus. In Jesus mighty name, I pray.
Amen

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No Laws!

The commandments, “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
Romans 13:9-10 New International Version

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
Imagine not having laws!
Imagine a place that didn’t even need written social laws! Wouldn’t it be great if we didn’t have to have laws to keep people in line! That’s the point behind Paul’s message here. Treat our neighbors as we would like to be treated. Love them as we like to be loved. Using God’s type of Love (AGAPE-Love without conditions) not physical love. If we do that, then we’re not going to do anything that would hurt them, much less violate a command of the law, God’s or man’s. Do that and we fulfill the Law of God.

MY PRAYER…
Father God, who gave the Law on tablets of stone to Moses, please write Your character and will on my heart so I might be a living stone, testifying to Your Righteousness, Your Mercy, and Your Grace. Help me to think more carefully about how my neighbors feel before I act or react to them from this day forward. Help me Lord to exhibit Your love in all I do and say. Help me Lord to have integrity before both You and my neighbors. Through your Holy Son, Jesus, I pray.
Amen

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God’s Original Message To Mankind

This is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.
1 John 3:11 New International Version

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
Have you heard God’s original message to mankind?
The original love story – The original (Love) message, love one another. The enduring message – A love story, love one another. The most convicting message – A love story, love one another. The most confusing message – A love story, love one another. The most difficult message – A love story, love one another. The most God pleasing message – A love story, love one another. This is what God as told us to do. This is God’s original and still primary message to us. Paul said that without Love he was nothing, no matter what else he did. God has given us the example to live by, He is LOVE! His Son Jesus is LOVE! He loved us before we loved Him, even before we knew Him. Do you represent God’s Love?

MY PRAYER…
Loving Father, I commit to You that I will intentionally show my love for Your children from this day forward in all I do and say. I do this, trusting Your grace to empower me to do more than I could do on my own. I ask You to continue filling me with Your Holy Spirit and power, that I may be made strong in this area. Help me, Father, to walk in the footprints of Your Holy son Jesus. To become more like Him everyday and less like myself. In Jesus’ name, my Savior, Redeemer, Healer, and Prosperity, I pray
Amen

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Government Authorities?

Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God’s minister(servant) to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister(servant), an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience’ sake.
Romans 13:1-5 New King James Version

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
God said everyone was to be subject to the government authorities.
Do you struggle with what your government or what your president is doing? Do you find it hard to follow all of the rules and laws of society today? Just remember what is says in Romans 13:1 above, “For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.” The authority is appointed by God not the man or woman in the office, they are there usually through your votes. But, once they are in office the authority they wield comes from God. If you don’t like what they are doing vote them out next election, don’t keep voting them in for longer terms! Remember, God’s Word says we are to pray for them who are in authority. And it didn’t say only if you want to! Be careful though, that how and what you pray is in line with God’s Word also, anything else is witchcraft or sorcery praying. God didn’t say you had to like them, He just said pray for them. We need order and structure in our society, where would we be without it? But, more importantly we need what God has set forth for us, and we need to be obedient to His Word. If those in office are not doing God’s will -VOTE them OUT! If you resist authority of any kind, then you are resisting God. If you are resisting God then you are in rebellion and are subject to the governing authority’s sword of justice. You are also subject to the same punishment given to Lucifer for his rebellion unless you change your ways. He fell (was thrown out of) from heaven like lightning and became Satan for his rebellion against God.

MY PRAYER…
Holy Father God, please help us to understand the true origin of authority, even natural authority. Help us Lord, to walk within the bounds of that authority just as if it were You yourself laying it down before us. Because in effect you are. Help us Lord, to not resist the authorities You have placed over us, but to learn to flow with them. In Jesus’ name I pray.
Amen

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What if we didn’t have to have laws?

The commandments, “Do not commit adultery,” “Do not murder,” “Do not steal,” “Do not covet,” and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
Romans 13:9-10 New International Version

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
Wouldn’t it be great if we didn’t have to have laws to keep people in line! That’s the point behind Paul’s message here from God. Treat our neighbors as we would like to be treated ourselves. Love them as we like to be loved. If we do that, then we’re not going to do anything that would hurt them, much less violate a commandment of the law, God’s or man’s. Therefore there would be no need for any other laws. But man has a sin nature and cannot do this without God (Jesus) in his life.

MY PRAYER…
Father God, He who gave Moses the Law on tablets of stone, please write Your character and will on my heart so I might be a living stone, testifying to Your righteousness and grace. Help me to think more carefully about how my neighbors feel before I act or react to them from this day forward. Help me Lord to exhibit Your love in all I do and say, to walk so that the love light of Jesus shines forth from within me. Help me Lord to have integrity before both You and my neighbors. Through your Holy Son, Jesus, I pray.
Amen

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