Search me, Oh God!

Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Psalm 139:23-24 New International Version

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
Search me, O God, lead me in the way everlasting!
God is omnipotent, omnipresent, and He is all knowing. He knows the condition of our hearts even better than we do. God knows us inside and out. We can’t pretend we are something we are not with Him. We can’t hide behind a facade and pretend to be something else, He knows us! He sees all we do and hears all we say. He even knows our thoughts before we speak them. This should liberate us to be able to have real intimacy with Him, but instead most of us run from such a close relationship with God. If our desire, however, is to become more like Him, the only way to be transformed into His likeness is by inviting Him in and allowing “Him to look at our heart, our motivations, and our desires, all of it, not just some. He desires our close , intimate, fellowship most of all. He wants to renew your heart, mind and soul to a point where you think, feel, and desire the things He does.

MY PRAYER…
Father, I know You are the one who “searches hearts and minds” yet because of the grace You demonstrated in Jesus, I am confident that You love me. My heart is sorry for the sin I have committed, and I truly am ready to change. But I need Your help and Your power working in me to affect that change. I of myself can do nothing. I am really trying to serve You in honor and purity. Please fill me afresh today with Your Holy Spirit to enable me to become more like Christ. Father, search my heart and purge that which is not of You. In the name of Your Holy Son, 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 Quick To Listen And Slow To Speak

My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.
James 1:19 New International Version

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
Hit the gas pedal on your ears, but have a dual caliper, double cylinder, anti-skid, power assisted disc brake on your tongue and on your attitude, and don’t let anything anger you without seeking God first. Let the email or text that angers you sit there three or four days before responding to it and then make sure you read your answer, re-read it, re-read it, and edit it, then re-read it again, and then pray in the Holy Ghost about sending it. Better yet just delete the offending email or text and any reply that you were going to send and then praise God and pray for the sender. It would be better if you just deleted it, prayed for the person who sent it, and forgot about it. This says the same thing as James says above, except in more modern terms. Now if we would just do it, wouldn’t we all be so much more blessed! Next time a brother or sister, or for that matter anyone, says or does something that could anger you stop for a moment and ask yourself this before you do or say anything: “What would Jesus do right now?” “How would Jesus handle this” There were times when people wanted to stone Him and He just turned and walked back through their midst and walked away. He didn’t repay anger with anger, instead He used love.

MY PRAYER…
Mighty and Holy God, You are incredible beyond my comprehension. Father God, help us to understand Your ways. How You put up with all the drivel, the senseless, and hurtful speech that I and Your other children spew out is beyond my understanding. I ask that You release Your Holy Spirit to convict our hearts and help us to guard our lips from any form of hurtful, harmful speech. Lord, I want my voice and my actions to be as much if not more Yours than mine. Make my thoughts as Your thoughts and my peace as Your peace. This I pray through 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

Children of the Covenant

Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.
Acts 3:25 King James Version

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
Notice it states that we are the children of the covenant God made with Abraham. Notice the Word doesn’t say you might be, but you shall be! It states that we are the children of the covenant God made with Abraham through Abraham’s faith in God. The covenant in which God promised to make Abraham exceeding fruitful, a promise which God fulfilled exceedingly. The Covenant that God made with Abraham 430 years before the Law (the Ten Commandments and the rest of the 613 commandments given to Israel). That promise (that covenant) still exists between “born-again” believers (children of God) and God today it was NOT nullified by the Law. In fact the Law was fulfilled and set aside by Jesus, that we might continue in the covenant of Faith God made with Abraham. It is an “everlasting” covenant. We just need to find out about it, understand it, believe it, and lay claim to what is ours according to it! Then we need to keep our side of the covenant with God and He is bound to keep His. God is not a man that He should lie, what He has promised He will fulfill.

MY PRAYER…
Father God, give me revelation knowledge of Your Word and of Your covenant with Your people. Open the eyes of my understanding that I may see and understand the promises that You made with our fathers are still ours today. Lord help me to understand the true meaning of Your Word, Your covenant, Your promises, and most of all Your grace. 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.
Here’s the link: https://www.paypal.me/Duane466

Have Needs?

Ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss. – James 4:2-3 KJV

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
Do you have needs that need to be met? The above verse is pretty simple and straight forward!!!
Are all your needs met today?
If not, why not?
According to the Word of God, it’s either because you’re not praying about them at all or because when you do pray, you’re praying wrong. What does it mean to pray wrong? In many cases it simply means to pray without expecting results (not having faith for what you are praying for.) Many believers do that, you know, pray wrong! They use prayer as a kind of spiritual wishbone. They just play around with it. This probably won’t do much good, they think, but who knows? It won’t hurt to give it a try. If that’s been your attitude, then change it! Start getting serious about prayer. Stop praying just because it’s proper. Stop praying just because you always pray at this point in the church service. Stop praying: “Oh God, if it be they will.” Learn His Will and then pray accordingly! And start praying to get results. Start praying in the Name of Jesus, according to the Word of God, and expect to receive what you ask for every single time. Isn’t that a little presumptuous you say? No, it is what God expects from us, and it is bold, and you have a scriptural right to be bold. According to the Word of God, you have a standing invitation from your heavenly Father to “come boldly unto the throne of grace, that [you] may obtain” (Hebrews 4:16). That word obtain is a word of certainty. The dictionary says it means “to get possession of.” So pray, expecting to get possession of what you need, not just once in a while, but every time! When prayers do go unanswered, don’t just wander away saying, “I guess you never know what God’s going to do.” Tackle the problem with both hands! First, do you know the Will of God concerning the matter, if not you are NOT studying His Word enough. Second, are you tithing? If not you are in disobedience to God’s Word. If you are in disobedience to God’s Word you won’t receive anything you ask for. Go to God in prayer and in the Word and find out where you missed it and get the problem corrected. When you go to God in accurate, Word of God-based, Spirit-inspired prayer, you do know what He’s going to do. He’s going to answer you. His answers are always “yes and Amen”! He’s going to meet your need exactly as you asked Him. Start expecting Him to do it today.
BTW His Word says: “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” Matthew 6:33

MY PRAYER…
Almighty and awesome God, do in our day what You did in days past. You said in your Word that You change not, that Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever. You gave us faith to believe and then You are amazed at the smallness of our faith. Give us vision to see Your plan, to have greater Faith, and to do greater things. We ask this, not for ourselves or our experience, but for a sign to Your people so that the harvest will be large and that Your glory will be great and for the salvation of the world. In Jesus’ name.
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 Compassionate

Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; Not returning evil for evil, or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.
1 Peter 3:8-9 New King James Version

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
Do you show compassion?
Are you compassionate, courteous, & loving to one another?
We have been commanded by God’s Word to be compassionate, courteous, loving and a blessing to our brothers and sisters. God wants us to live together in harmony and peace, to give forth the ‘Agape’ (God’s kind of love) love just as He has called us to do. He does not want us to be like the world and get even with people when they are evil to us, but rather we are to bless them. In fact He has told us to set a table before our enemies. To pray for our enemies. If we will do so He says we shall inherit a blessing. Can you imagine the world inviting their enemies for dinner!

MY PRAYER…
Father, thank You for providing us Your Word as our Guide in our life. Our ‘Manual For Life’ is Your Word. Father, I confess that I have let my own over-sensitive carnal self be offended, and have often reacted with pettiness when my brothers and sisters in Christ have not treated me as I felt I deserved. I have let those world offend me at times. I know Jesus was treated rudely and shamefully by those he created and loved, so I know I shouldn’t be surprised. But Father, please help me to know when to challenge those who wound me with a loving confrontation and when to just ignore the barb and minister love to them. Father, help me be an instrument of Your love, peace, harmony, and unity. In Jesus’ precious 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 Will Not Forget

For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister.
Hebrews 6:10 New King James Version

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
God will NOT, does NOT Forget!
So much assurance in such a short verse! God will not forget what you have done in His name! God is not unjust — that is definitely an understatement. If He produced the redeeming, atoning sacrifice for our sins, while we were yet sinners, what will He deny us if we seek diligently after Him now as His Children? He will not forget our work and our love — an eternal record of the ministering unto Him and for Him that we have done! When we help our brothers and sisters in Christ, we bless Him! When we minister to those that don’t know Him, we do His will and His work. We are all HIS people!

MY PRAYER…
Most Holy Father God, I give You praise and glory and thanks giving forever. Father I thank You for Your covenant promises made to us through Your Son Jesus. I know that You are not a man that should lie and that what You have promised in Your Word must be true. Father, You are so gracious. Words cannot express my joy at hearing such a simple and profound statement describing Your virtues. I am so glad I am now Your child. That You have given me all things that pertain unto life and Godliness. In Jesus mighty name, I give You praise and glory forever.
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 Divine Nature

He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
2 Peter 1:4 New International Version

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
The question for you today is this: “Do you participate in God’s Divine nature?”
God made us to be like Him in character and holiness. Did you get the meaning of the verse? Do you understand what it means to participate in the Divine Nature? Is there sickness and disease in God or in Heaven? Is God poor? We are called to participate in the divine nature and we are assured that we will be made ready when Jesus comes again. His promise is sure if we will obey and keep His Word. But, the choice is ours. We can choose to be partakers of the promises of God and share in the inheritance of the children of God and His Divine Nature while we are still here on Earth (Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. Matt 6:10) or we can partake of the world and the curses found there. We can NOT do and have both, we must choose! The choice is ours, but the promises come with a stipulation. We must choose to harken to the voice of the Lord our God and obey His commandments (See Matt 22:35-40 for what these commandments are). Will you partake? His will is this: “I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:” (Deu 30:19 KJV)

MY PRAYER…
Almighty God, my Everlasting Fortress, my Shield and my Buckler, I thank You for giving me Your great promises. I long to know You more fully and be able to see You face to face someday. Thank You for protecting me and my heart from corruption. Thank You for sending Your Son to be my shield and my strength. Thank you for sending Your Holy Spirit to be my Helper and my Counselor. Lord, I fully intend to walk in Your promises, to share in my inheritance, and to partake of Your divine nature here on this earth, just as Your Word says. In His mighty and precious name, Jesus, I pray. Thank You Lord.
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

Spiritual Eyes

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.
Hebrews 12:2 King James Version

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S MANNA:
Do you have Spiritual eyes?
Where are your spiritual eyes fixed?
Have you ever heard the statement: “You drive where you look!”? My wife is always saying it to me! It is true though, that whatever you fix your attention on is going to be the direction in which you go, either in the natural or in the spiritual. That’s true of all of us. We live and act like where we look, meaning where we spend our time watching, looking, and listening is going to affect the way we live. That’s why it’s important to fix our eyes on Jesus, not the six o’clock news! I don’t mean you can’t watch the news, only don’t become fixated on it. Forget or at least put aside this world and fix ourselves on Jesus. Who He is, what He has done for us, who we are in Him, what He means to us, and where He is taking us.
Well, if you listened to your spiritual inner Godly self then tomorrow we should have a new Godly leader for this country. If not, don’t blame someone else.
Remember, if you are born again, you are seated with Jesus at the right hand of the Throne of God! I didn’t say that, the Bible did.

MY PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Almighty Father God, without Your grace and the gift of Your salvation, through Jesus, I could not approach You with confidence and truthfully I would not be able to. Thank You for sending Jesus to be my substitute, to take and bear the punishment I was due! Thank You for His life, His death, His burial, His resurrection, His exaltation and His intercession at Your right hand for me. I pledge this day to keep my eyes on Him! I pledge to live by Faith, not by what I see in this world. Father, I ask You by the power of Your Holy Spirit to enable me to keep my eyes and my heart fixed on Jesus.
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

Having A Testimony

In your hearts, set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.
1 Peter 3:15 New International Version

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
What Peter is saying here is, “Always have a testimony to share.” We are to be ready, willing, and able to tell people about the “Good News”, the hope (“The Faith”) and the changes that Jesus has brought to our lives! To have a “Testimony” to share. After all He has made us able ministers of the Gospel (2 Cor. 3:6). To do this we must be meditating His Word always. We must have an abundance of the Word in our hearts for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks! But when we share this hope with others, two things are very important:

1. Our credibility — is Jesus really Lord of our hearts and our lives — Do we walk the talk? Are we really living the life of the Christian faith in Jesus, or do we merely just talk the talk? Do we show up for Church on Sunday and then live like the rest of the world all week? Smoking, drinking, cursing, partying and carrying on as the unsaved do. As Christians, we MUST live by faith, we MUST walk the talk always! Four (4) times in God’s Word He tells us the just (those who are in right standing with Him) must live by faith.

2. Our character — do we show gentleness and respect in our approach and speak in love? Are we lead by the Holy Spirit and His inner promptings when we tell others about Jesus? Or do we preach condemnation to them for the way they are? (I hope not!) Do we tell them what is theirs already through Jesus according to the Word if they will only believe? Do we tell them that God loves them and wants them to love Him. We must preach the Gospel (the “Good News”), not the “Law”. No man is justified by the Law. The goal is not to win arguments, but to win hearts and souls to Jesus!

MY PRAYER…
Holy and Loving Father, thank You for sending Your grace in and through Jesus. Thank You for having Your Word (Jesus) become flesh and dwell among us. Thank You for giving us an example to live by. I’m sure I would not have believed any other message than that of the “Good News” (the news of what Jesus had done for me!) Father, increase in me the conviction I need to share my faith in Jesus, but in a way that reflects Your grace. Let Your Holy Spirit fall on me anew each day, just as it did on the day of Pentecost, giving me the same boldness it gave Peter that day when he stood up and preached about Jesus, and 3,000 souls were added to the church in one preaching! Father, do in me what is necessary so that You can use me that same way. 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

Crucified for you!

I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.
1 Corinthians 1:10 New International Version

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
Christ is not divided and no one but Christ was crucified for you! No one else can save you or get you into Heaven but Jesus Christ!!! There is NO other way PERIOD!
Paul was appealing to the church at Corinth to be of one mind. To care for one another as though they were one body, because they were. For churches (people are the churches not the buildings) to get along, often times their leaders must remind them about the unity of the spirit. Paul reminded them that Christ was not divided and that no one but Christ was crucified for them. Paul goes on in the following chapters to explain to them how although you may have come to know Christ through one or the other of the disciples like himself, that the foundation for your relationship should always be Jesus Christ and Him crucified for you. Not Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, nor Baptist, or Catholic, or Protestant, or Nazarene, or some other denomination, or some great white spirit, or Indian spirit, but only Jesus Christ and Him crucified for you! When we get to Heaven there won’t be any denominations people, only the saints who gave their life to Jesus while still on Earth. Oh and by the way, the Bible says we are ALL saints once we make Jesus the Lord of our lives! We do not have to be made saints by the pope! Not only Saints, but Kings and Priests unto God also!

MY PRAYER…
Lord Jesus, You have presented so many of my prayers to our Father, but today, I want to thank You for loving me so. I promise that I will do all I can, to the glory of our Father, to live at peace and to serve not only those who belong to You, but those to whom You are also calling. Father I pledge to serve Your Body (Your Church) as if it were my own, because it is. In Your Holy 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