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WE ARE IN THIS TOGETHER:
The purpose for which I have designed this web site is:
* To refresh the body of Messiah through the power of the Holy Spirit by establishing a 'watering hole ' for believers across denominational lines and varied backgrounds.
* To urge you to develop your faith and to stay rooted and grounded in the Word.
* To encourage you to live out and act on your faith, to grow in a deeper relationship with the living God. Not religious living, but in living as God intended; how we govern our lives and our relationships.
* To enlighten Christians, non Jewish believers, to understand that we are grated in to the olive tree branches, in our hearts. We are grated in to the Jewish roots of our faith and not to be arrogant against the Jews. So then we can operate in the power of the covenant of the one new man.
On this web site you will find articles, commentaries, discussions, references, resources, and web site links that are from a variety of resources and from fellow believers of various backgrounds. They are there for the purpose of waking us up to think and to seek God's truth in His Word and His plan for mankind. I won't impose my own beliefs upon you because I am still growing as well. I am more interested in getting you to study for yourself so that God's truth, through the power of the Holy Spirit, will direct you. The Word of God is a deep mine and to be treasured. Immerse yourself in God's Word so you will gain understanding of what God says to us and so you will spend intimate time talking with Him. Then you will know how wide, how high, how deep, how long, His love is for you. It is important that we grow in our knowledge of the very Words God has recorded for us, to inform us, and so that we will not be ignorant or caught unaware of what His plan is.
We are disciples in training, we are pilgrims on a journey, and the more supportive we can be, the greater the achievement for the advancement of kingdom will be. Jesus taught His disciples as they walked together through life. His method of training was through encouragement, involvement, debriefing, and rebuke. We can still walk with Him and with our fellow pilgrims as we learn on this spiritual journey through life. We are to admonish one another to good deeds. We are to help a brother who has fallen or who is doing something wrong. We help ourselves by being accountable to others for our own spiritual walk. Going it alone is dangerous. The enemy is good at deceiving us into thinking that we are doing alright.
Do you know what you believe? We are all in the process of growth and will go through various seasons of growth. I want to encourage you to let God's Word come to life through the power of the Holy Spirit. Allow God's precepts to shape and mold you. You will be changed from glory to glory more into the image of our Lord, Jesus Christ. That is the purpose of God's Word. It is not meant just to be memorized for knowledge sake. The Word's are to shape us as we apply the principles to our daily life. It is how we are to live, how we are to behave, and that we might be God's ambassadors in this world. He desires to teach us how to live, so that we may live in trust of who He is, and what His promises are to us. He wants us to live an abundant life here, not in worry, but in quiet trust. This journey is one that leads to our ultimate goal. We, as believers, will spend eternity in His presence, serving Him forever
This site provides a “watering hole” where you can satisfy your spiritual thirst and at the same time learn about your brothers in sisters of the faith, and what their life is like. There are many parts to the body of Christ. We often focus on our own local congregation and may even forget about our brothers and sisters of the faith who live in foreign countries. They are foreign to us; we don't understand their lifestyle. We don't all live in similar cultures or worship in the same way. God designed it that way so that there would be many members in the body. He wants us to live in peace and grow to maturity. He will be glorified when we attain unity.
The body seems to be disjointed and needs the work of the Holy Spirit, for that is how the body will become unified. Unified spiritually while remaining various body parts. God fits and joins them together so that unified we are a whole and being used for His plans and purposes. It is fulfilling to enjoy being a part of God's plan. He gives us everything we need to be useful. Our part is to get past thinking we have anything to offer Him, and come humbly for Him to fill us with what we need. We need to show up and make ourselves available to Him, with heart and mind prepared. He is able to see our weakness and knows what He needs to give us for each task. Martin Luther said that we should not suppose to ever know more than the Holy Spirit. We have the Holy Spirit as a resident guide and only need to ask for His power in our lives.
It would be easy to focus on other things and allow our hearts to be drawn away to things of this world. When we live a balanced life, spending time with God, with God's people, and also with those who have yet to meet Him, we can enjoy the gift of relationships. As we take time for rest, work, and play, we can enjoy the beauty around us, we can enjoy daily living in the world God prepared for us to live in. As we take time for prayer, worship, and Bible study we can live refreshed and renewed in our spirits and we will be filled with joy, peace, and contentment. As we take time to be about the Lord's business, as well as the things that fill our everyday living, we can be a vessel that God can use to accomplish His purposes.
We are encouraged by God to share the joy we have in knowing the security of our future, and in knowing that God is in our life, walking with us, guiding us, and protecting us, as we walk this journey. Be a good friend and share your heart. Let the joy of the Lord shine through for them to see, and then tell them why that joy is in your life. Jesus came and paid a price so that we could enjoy the freedom from sin and death. It has been done. Let us live in that freedom and serve God, out of love, to accomplish His purpose for leaving us here in a world full of darkness. Let God's love flow through you for then when you love others it will be a pure love. We have a testimony that may change people's lives. Let us freely give, for we have freely received. Leave God's love wherever you go. Fill the darkness around you with His light, truth, and love. You must be filled before you can share. Our help comes in the name of the Lord, Maker of heaven and earth. He has a plan, and we are a part of it. There are many who do not travel this life with any hope or peace. Jesus heals us on the inside, in our inner man, the depth of our soul. It can only be found by the man who has responded to the invitation to come, to follow Him. Jesus offers 'living water'. Once we believe in Jesus as our Salvation (Yeshua) we are promised the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is like refreshing water, and brings us life. The Holy Spirit is what separates us from unbelievers. There is a personal moment of an unveiling of who we are as sinners in need of a savior and who God is, holy and pure, and what He has to offer, and that it is what we need. In just a moment a person can pass from a destiny of eternity in hell to eternity in heaven. The kingdom of God is right at hand. It is here now. The kingdom of God is that saving relationship we enter into with God It requires that we deny our self, that we realize we are sinful, and that we can't save our self. Salvation is not about feeling good about yourself now because you prayed a prayer or made a confession; or that you know that you are going to heaven instead of hell. Salvation is a person. Yeshua (Jesus) is our salvation. He calls us to Himself, reveals Himself, that we may follow Him by how we live. He has gone before us, from death to resurrection into God's holy presence. Yeshua will walk with us to show us the way. God desires to have a relationship with us while we live out life here on earth. He is here to walk with us; He doesn't leave us to find our way. What He desires to teach us is all found in the Bible. Jesus did not leave a specific building or just one place in which we are to meet. He came to give us a role model of what life is to look like as it is lived out. It is kingdom living here on earth.
Will you make a commitment to work on displaying God's power through the Holy Spirit by your lifestyle? That it would become who you are, not what you do. That there will be a true inner change, and that your life will glorify the Lord, our God and Savior. We can't mingle it in with our culture and compromise what He means it to be. Our lifestyle is what God wants to change. It will benefit us from now and through eternity. Jesus will return for His people. He will bring us home. He is preparing a place for us. Let us be prepared, watching and waiting for His return.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jesus’ words to us are important to reflect upon and then heed. As the time draws nearer to his return we must be diligent and take our faith walk seriously. Times will grow darker and we are seeing that more and more as the years go by. Every believer should make time to spend with God, to develop an intimate relationship and to grow to spiritual maturity. Every believer makes up the ecumenical church; the universal body of believers. The early church was comprised of Jew and then later Gentiles as well. Today’s body of believers includes anyone in the world who believes in Jesus’ death on the cross as payment for the sins of the world, that he was buried and rose again, and then ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father. He sent the Holy Spirit to live within us and to set us apart from unbelievers. With the Holy Spirit we have all the power we need to carry on the mission that Jesus began and asks us to continue. That mission is to carry the gospel message to the whole world. When everyone in every part of the world has had an opportunity to hear the good news, Jesus will come back.
Jesus gave us some instructions and that is what this site will help us focus on.
What are we to be doing these days?
What does it matter?
The body of Christ is important to God. Those who are genuine believers will bear good fruit. This includes people from all denominations, cultural backgrounds, and areas of the world. This includes young and old, Jew and Gentile. We have many prejudices that have bred some very critical spirits. Jesus declared that Jew and Gentile are one, one new man. Jews who believe in Yeshua (Jesus) as their Messiah are every bit as much a believer as a Gentile. The word Gentile means ‘nations. A person from anywhere other than Israel, is considered a Gentile. But in the world today many nations have a mixture of Jew and Gentiles. The type of worship style does not matter to God, but the object of worship does. There is one true God and Lord of us all. Our salvation,saved from the consequences of sin, has put us all on an equal playing field. God is not a respecter of persons. Jesus declared that we are to be united in love for one another and to be careful not to make a weaker brother stumble. The world will know us by our love for one another. We are not displaying that very well these days. We will never worship in the same manner, but we have the same Lord, God Almighty. We are to bring the Words of life into the world to set people free from the deception of the enemy, and the strongholds he binds people with. It is the same for every believer; we are all to be about our Father's business. We are united when we seek after the same goal, growing the kingdom of God.
I take my own journey of faith seriously. The church I attend has taken on a discipleship culture. Walking as a disciple of Jesus means constantly growing and changing inwardly as you take on more of the character of the Teacher, Jesus. Once we change on the inside, our new attitude will affect our outward actions. This requires that we take time to observe, reflect, and discuss what is going on within us. We observe our reactions, emotions, and thoughts. We should not put the blame on others or the circumstances. It is time for an honest look into our heart. Why do we respond the way we do? What lies at the bottom of what we do? It is much easier to just accept that 'God isn't finished with me yet' and not take any responsibility to allow the change. The act of reflection may make us feel some guilt and not be pleasant, but it is a step in growth. Just because we recognize our short comings does not mean we will actually learn from our mistakes. We stop the process because of our guilt and never move on bringing any change. God often has to give us the same lesson over again. We must believe that change is possible and take action. We are participants in our own spiritual growth. God loves you too much to leave you as you are. God gives us many opportunities to grow. If we don't recognize them as opportunities we will bypass the reason God allowed the event to come into our life. We moan and complain when frustrating situations come into our life, or when we must change our plans because of someone else. When things don't go as we would like them to we find someone to blame. Whether they are big things or small things we just don't like our routine to be interrupted. What is happening is that we are saying that what is taking place is not supposed to happen to us. It is a problem that must just go away. We view it as a bad thing. We ignore the thought that God has allowed it and purposed it to grow us, build up our character, or teach us something important. If we don't stop to observe our reaction to it, we have stopped the process God designed it for. I am guilty of that. Obstacles often block what I am trying to accomplish. God uses the obstacle to teach me something. God does that. When we choose to take the time to acknowledge that He is involved in our lives, we will see that He is teaching us all the time. If we don't learn it the first time He will bring another lesson soon enough. Although we don't feel that the lessons are always easy, God is always there to help us if we allow Him to. We learn best by experience.
You may not realize that faith is not just going to a church, knowledge of God's Word or the belief that Jesus is our Messiah; it is an action. Satan knows the Word of God and he also believes that Jesus is the Son of God. Everything we do everyday is a reflection of what we believe. Our heart attitude and actions are more important than our gaining more knowledge or going to worship services more often. The way we live is an indicator of what we believe in, what we have faith in. Faith is our way of living. It frames our attitude, what we set as priorities, what we hold important, our morals, the way we do business, the way we relate to our boss and our families, choices and decisions that we make. God has designed us to walk out this life one step, one day at a time. All of life, each of life's experiences is the classroom. Each decision we make affects ourselves, others, and the spiritual realm. He knows each of us and He designs the events of our lives to grow us in the areas where we need refining. Satan is never in charge except where God allows him to be. Whatever happens in your life is filtered from God and is happening for a reason. Each instance brings an opportunity for us to respond. How we respond will tell us something about ourselves. How we react and if we shift blame to other people reveals something about our heart condition.
How we treat someone matters to God. We can choose to do right things with wrong motives or by the wrong means. It does get complicated at times. The end result is not all that matters, it is the experience itself and how you handle it or what you learn through it. If you get really angry about something then you should take the time to analyze why. It may reveal something that you need to deal with. Do you try to manipulate your circumstances? God's standards are never to be compromised. Allowing little sins brings compromise to our integrity. Little sins can grip us in a stronghold of the enemy. We would do well to take a periodic inventory of ourselves, realistically, and ask God to show us where we are not doing so well. With His help we can stop the behavior and prevent the sin from becoming a habit. This is the sanctification process.
God is active in our life because He has given us a journey to make and with a goal in mind. He wants us to life abundantly. Life is not about our comfort or happiness. The life God has designed for us is an exciting adventure, one of spiritual growth, maturity in the faith, and one in which we can have a personal relationship with Him, the living God. The Holy Spirit our resident teacher is there to guide and direct us every step of the way so we have no excuse, we only need to ask for His help and be open to receive it. These things are too important to not consider; they carry eternal consequences.
Which way are you going? One leads to eternal life with God and the other leads to eternal life in a literal hell.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 146 NIV
Praise the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul.
I will praise the the LORD all my life.
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save.
When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing.
Blessed is he whose help is in the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God,
the Maker of heaven and earth,the sea, and everything in them
--the LORD, who remains faithful forever.
He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry.
The LORD sets prisoners free, the LORD gives sight to the blind,
the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down,
the LORD loves the righteous.
The LORD watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.
The LORD reigns forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations.
Praise the LORD.
The purpose for which I have designed this web site is:
* To refresh the body of Messiah through the power of the Holy Spirit by establishing a 'watering hole ' for believers across denominational lines and varied backgrounds.
* To urge you to develop your faith and to stay rooted and grounded in the Word.
* To encourage you to live out and act on your faith, to grow in a deeper relationship with the living God. Not religious living, but in living as God intended; how we govern our lives and our relationships.
* To enlighten Christians, non Jewish believers, to understand that we are grated in to the olive tree branches, in our hearts. We are grated in to the Jewish roots of our faith and not to be arrogant against the Jews. So then we can operate in the power of the covenant of the one new man.
On this web site you will find articles, commentaries, discussions, references, resources, and web site links that are from a variety of resources and from fellow believers of various backgrounds. They are there for the purpose of waking us up to think and to seek God's truth in His Word and His plan for mankind. I won't impose my own beliefs upon you because I am still growing as well. I am more interested in getting you to study for yourself so that God's truth, through the power of the Holy Spirit, will direct you. The Word of God is a deep mine and to be treasured. Immerse yourself in God's Word so you will gain understanding of what God says to us and so you will spend intimate time talking with Him. Then you will know how wide, how high, how deep, how long, His love is for you. It is important that we grow in our knowledge of the very Words God has recorded for us, to inform us, and so that we will not be ignorant or caught unaware of what His plan is.
We are disciples in training, we are pilgrims on a journey, and the more supportive we can be, the greater the achievement for the advancement of kingdom will be. Jesus taught His disciples as they walked together through life. His method of training was through encouragement, involvement, debriefing, and rebuke. We can still walk with Him and with our fellow pilgrims as we learn on this spiritual journey through life. We are to admonish one another to good deeds. We are to help a brother who has fallen or who is doing something wrong. We help ourselves by being accountable to others for our own spiritual walk. Going it alone is dangerous. The enemy is good at deceiving us into thinking that we are doing alright.
Do you know what you believe? We are all in the process of growth and will go through various seasons of growth. I want to encourage you to let God's Word come to life through the power of the Holy Spirit. Allow God's precepts to shape and mold you. You will be changed from glory to glory more into the image of our Lord, Jesus Christ. That is the purpose of God's Word. It is not meant just to be memorized for knowledge sake. The Word's are to shape us as we apply the principles to our daily life. It is how we are to live, how we are to behave, and that we might be God's ambassadors in this world. He desires to teach us how to live, so that we may live in trust of who He is, and what His promises are to us. He wants us to live an abundant life here, not in worry, but in quiet trust. This journey is one that leads to our ultimate goal. We, as believers, will spend eternity in His presence, serving Him forever
This site provides a “watering hole” where you can satisfy your spiritual thirst and at the same time learn about your brothers in sisters of the faith, and what their life is like. There are many parts to the body of Christ. We often focus on our own local congregation and may even forget about our brothers and sisters of the faith who live in foreign countries. They are foreign to us; we don't understand their lifestyle. We don't all live in similar cultures or worship in the same way. God designed it that way so that there would be many members in the body. He wants us to live in peace and grow to maturity. He will be glorified when we attain unity.
The body seems to be disjointed and needs the work of the Holy Spirit, for that is how the body will become unified. Unified spiritually while remaining various body parts. God fits and joins them together so that unified we are a whole and being used for His plans and purposes. It is fulfilling to enjoy being a part of God's plan. He gives us everything we need to be useful. Our part is to get past thinking we have anything to offer Him, and come humbly for Him to fill us with what we need. We need to show up and make ourselves available to Him, with heart and mind prepared. He is able to see our weakness and knows what He needs to give us for each task. Martin Luther said that we should not suppose to ever know more than the Holy Spirit. We have the Holy Spirit as a resident guide and only need to ask for His power in our lives.
It would be easy to focus on other things and allow our hearts to be drawn away to things of this world. When we live a balanced life, spending time with God, with God's people, and also with those who have yet to meet Him, we can enjoy the gift of relationships. As we take time for rest, work, and play, we can enjoy the beauty around us, we can enjoy daily living in the world God prepared for us to live in. As we take time for prayer, worship, and Bible study we can live refreshed and renewed in our spirits and we will be filled with joy, peace, and contentment. As we take time to be about the Lord's business, as well as the things that fill our everyday living, we can be a vessel that God can use to accomplish His purposes.
We are encouraged by God to share the joy we have in knowing the security of our future, and in knowing that God is in our life, walking with us, guiding us, and protecting us, as we walk this journey. Be a good friend and share your heart. Let the joy of the Lord shine through for them to see, and then tell them why that joy is in your life. Jesus came and paid a price so that we could enjoy the freedom from sin and death. It has been done. Let us live in that freedom and serve God, out of love, to accomplish His purpose for leaving us here in a world full of darkness. Let God's love flow through you for then when you love others it will be a pure love. We have a testimony that may change people's lives. Let us freely give, for we have freely received. Leave God's love wherever you go. Fill the darkness around you with His light, truth, and love. You must be filled before you can share. Our help comes in the name of the Lord, Maker of heaven and earth. He has a plan, and we are a part of it. There are many who do not travel this life with any hope or peace. Jesus heals us on the inside, in our inner man, the depth of our soul. It can only be found by the man who has responded to the invitation to come, to follow Him. Jesus offers 'living water'. Once we believe in Jesus as our Salvation (Yeshua) we are promised the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is like refreshing water, and brings us life. The Holy Spirit is what separates us from unbelievers. There is a personal moment of an unveiling of who we are as sinners in need of a savior and who God is, holy and pure, and what He has to offer, and that it is what we need. In just a moment a person can pass from a destiny of eternity in hell to eternity in heaven. The kingdom of God is right at hand. It is here now. The kingdom of God is that saving relationship we enter into with God It requires that we deny our self, that we realize we are sinful, and that we can't save our self. Salvation is not about feeling good about yourself now because you prayed a prayer or made a confession; or that you know that you are going to heaven instead of hell. Salvation is a person. Yeshua (Jesus) is our salvation. He calls us to Himself, reveals Himself, that we may follow Him by how we live. He has gone before us, from death to resurrection into God's holy presence. Yeshua will walk with us to show us the way. God desires to have a relationship with us while we live out life here on earth. He is here to walk with us; He doesn't leave us to find our way. What He desires to teach us is all found in the Bible. Jesus did not leave a specific building or just one place in which we are to meet. He came to give us a role model of what life is to look like as it is lived out. It is kingdom living here on earth.
Will you make a commitment to work on displaying God's power through the Holy Spirit by your lifestyle? That it would become who you are, not what you do. That there will be a true inner change, and that your life will glorify the Lord, our God and Savior. We can't mingle it in with our culture and compromise what He means it to be. Our lifestyle is what God wants to change. It will benefit us from now and through eternity. Jesus will return for His people. He will bring us home. He is preparing a place for us. Let us be prepared, watching and waiting for His return.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jesus’ words to us are important to reflect upon and then heed. As the time draws nearer to his return we must be diligent and take our faith walk seriously. Times will grow darker and we are seeing that more and more as the years go by. Every believer should make time to spend with God, to develop an intimate relationship and to grow to spiritual maturity. Every believer makes up the ecumenical church; the universal body of believers. The early church was comprised of Jew and then later Gentiles as well. Today’s body of believers includes anyone in the world who believes in Jesus’ death on the cross as payment for the sins of the world, that he was buried and rose again, and then ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father. He sent the Holy Spirit to live within us and to set us apart from unbelievers. With the Holy Spirit we have all the power we need to carry on the mission that Jesus began and asks us to continue. That mission is to carry the gospel message to the whole world. When everyone in every part of the world has had an opportunity to hear the good news, Jesus will come back.
Jesus gave us some instructions and that is what this site will help us focus on.
What are we to be doing these days?
What does it matter?
The body of Christ is important to God. Those who are genuine believers will bear good fruit. This includes people from all denominations, cultural backgrounds, and areas of the world. This includes young and old, Jew and Gentile. We have many prejudices that have bred some very critical spirits. Jesus declared that Jew and Gentile are one, one new man. Jews who believe in Yeshua (Jesus) as their Messiah are every bit as much a believer as a Gentile. The word Gentile means ‘nations. A person from anywhere other than Israel, is considered a Gentile. But in the world today many nations have a mixture of Jew and Gentiles. The type of worship style does not matter to God, but the object of worship does. There is one true God and Lord of us all. Our salvation,saved from the consequences of sin, has put us all on an equal playing field. God is not a respecter of persons. Jesus declared that we are to be united in love for one another and to be careful not to make a weaker brother stumble. The world will know us by our love for one another. We are not displaying that very well these days. We will never worship in the same manner, but we have the same Lord, God Almighty. We are to bring the Words of life into the world to set people free from the deception of the enemy, and the strongholds he binds people with. It is the same for every believer; we are all to be about our Father's business. We are united when we seek after the same goal, growing the kingdom of God.
I take my own journey of faith seriously. The church I attend has taken on a discipleship culture. Walking as a disciple of Jesus means constantly growing and changing inwardly as you take on more of the character of the Teacher, Jesus. Once we change on the inside, our new attitude will affect our outward actions. This requires that we take time to observe, reflect, and discuss what is going on within us. We observe our reactions, emotions, and thoughts. We should not put the blame on others or the circumstances. It is time for an honest look into our heart. Why do we respond the way we do? What lies at the bottom of what we do? It is much easier to just accept that 'God isn't finished with me yet' and not take any responsibility to allow the change. The act of reflection may make us feel some guilt and not be pleasant, but it is a step in growth. Just because we recognize our short comings does not mean we will actually learn from our mistakes. We stop the process because of our guilt and never move on bringing any change. God often has to give us the same lesson over again. We must believe that change is possible and take action. We are participants in our own spiritual growth. God loves you too much to leave you as you are. God gives us many opportunities to grow. If we don't recognize them as opportunities we will bypass the reason God allowed the event to come into our life. We moan and complain when frustrating situations come into our life, or when we must change our plans because of someone else. When things don't go as we would like them to we find someone to blame. Whether they are big things or small things we just don't like our routine to be interrupted. What is happening is that we are saying that what is taking place is not supposed to happen to us. It is a problem that must just go away. We view it as a bad thing. We ignore the thought that God has allowed it and purposed it to grow us, build up our character, or teach us something important. If we don't stop to observe our reaction to it, we have stopped the process God designed it for. I am guilty of that. Obstacles often block what I am trying to accomplish. God uses the obstacle to teach me something. God does that. When we choose to take the time to acknowledge that He is involved in our lives, we will see that He is teaching us all the time. If we don't learn it the first time He will bring another lesson soon enough. Although we don't feel that the lessons are always easy, God is always there to help us if we allow Him to. We learn best by experience.
You may not realize that faith is not just going to a church, knowledge of God's Word or the belief that Jesus is our Messiah; it is an action. Satan knows the Word of God and he also believes that Jesus is the Son of God. Everything we do everyday is a reflection of what we believe. Our heart attitude and actions are more important than our gaining more knowledge or going to worship services more often. The way we live is an indicator of what we believe in, what we have faith in. Faith is our way of living. It frames our attitude, what we set as priorities, what we hold important, our morals, the way we do business, the way we relate to our boss and our families, choices and decisions that we make. God has designed us to walk out this life one step, one day at a time. All of life, each of life's experiences is the classroom. Each decision we make affects ourselves, others, and the spiritual realm. He knows each of us and He designs the events of our lives to grow us in the areas where we need refining. Satan is never in charge except where God allows him to be. Whatever happens in your life is filtered from God and is happening for a reason. Each instance brings an opportunity for us to respond. How we respond will tell us something about ourselves. How we react and if we shift blame to other people reveals something about our heart condition.
How we treat someone matters to God. We can choose to do right things with wrong motives or by the wrong means. It does get complicated at times. The end result is not all that matters, it is the experience itself and how you handle it or what you learn through it. If you get really angry about something then you should take the time to analyze why. It may reveal something that you need to deal with. Do you try to manipulate your circumstances? God's standards are never to be compromised. Allowing little sins brings compromise to our integrity. Little sins can grip us in a stronghold of the enemy. We would do well to take a periodic inventory of ourselves, realistically, and ask God to show us where we are not doing so well. With His help we can stop the behavior and prevent the sin from becoming a habit. This is the sanctification process.
God is active in our life because He has given us a journey to make and with a goal in mind. He wants us to life abundantly. Life is not about our comfort or happiness. The life God has designed for us is an exciting adventure, one of spiritual growth, maturity in the faith, and one in which we can have a personal relationship with Him, the living God. The Holy Spirit our resident teacher is there to guide and direct us every step of the way so we have no excuse, we only need to ask for His help and be open to receive it. These things are too important to not consider; they carry eternal consequences.
Which way are you going? One leads to eternal life with God and the other leads to eternal life in a literal hell.
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Psalm 146 NIV
Praise the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul.
I will praise the the LORD all my life.
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
Do not put your trust in princes, in mortal men, who cannot save.
When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing.
Blessed is he whose help is in the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the LORD his God,
the Maker of heaven and earth,the sea, and everything in them
--the LORD, who remains faithful forever.
He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry.
The LORD sets prisoners free, the LORD gives sight to the blind,
the LORD lifts up those who are bowed down,
the LORD loves the righteous.
The LORD watches over the alien and sustains the fatherless and the widow, but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.
The LORD reigns forever, your God, O Zion, for all generations.
Praise the LORD.
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PSALM 145 NIV
I will exalt you, my God the King: I will praise Your name for ever and ever. Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;His greatness no one can fathom.
One generation will commend Your works to another; they will tell of Your mighty acts.
They will speak of the glorious splendor of Your majesty, and I will meditate on Your wonderful works.
They will tell of the power of Your awesome works, and I will proclaim Your great deeds.
They will celebrate Your goodness and joyfully sing of Your righteousness.
The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. The Lord is good to all: He has compassion on all He has made.
All You have made will praise You. O Lord; Your saints will extol You.
They will tell of the glory of Your kingdom and speak of Your might, so that all men may know of Your mighty acts and the glorious splendor of Your kingdom.
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and Your dominion endures through all generations.
The Lord is faithful to all His promises and loving toward all He has made. The Lord upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.
The eyes of all look to You, and You give them their food at the proper time. You open Your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.
The Lord is righteous in all His ways and loving toward all He has made.
The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth.
He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him, but all the wicked He will destroy.
My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord.
Let every creature praise His holy name for ever and ever.
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PSALM 145 NIV
I will exalt you, my God the King: I will praise Your name for ever and ever. Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;His greatness no one can fathom.
One generation will commend Your works to another; they will tell of Your mighty acts.
They will speak of the glorious splendor of Your majesty, and I will meditate on Your wonderful works.
They will tell of the power of Your awesome works, and I will proclaim Your great deeds.
They will celebrate Your goodness and joyfully sing of Your righteousness.
The Lord is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love. The Lord is good to all: He has compassion on all He has made.
All You have made will praise You. O Lord; Your saints will extol You.
They will tell of the glory of Your kingdom and speak of Your might, so that all men may know of Your mighty acts and the glorious splendor of Your kingdom.
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and Your dominion endures through all generations.
The Lord is faithful to all His promises and loving toward all He has made. The Lord upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down.
The eyes of all look to You, and You give them their food at the proper time. You open Your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.
The Lord is righteous in all His ways and loving toward all He has made.
The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth.
He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him, but all the wicked He will destroy.
My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord.
Let every creature praise His holy name for ever and ever.
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