Born for Adversity

Proverbs 17:17 says:  A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.

This scripture speaks volumes to my heart.  Why, because the bible teaches me that there is a friend that will stick closer to me than a brother.  In Hebrews 13:5 Paul reminded the children of God that Jesus said he would never leave them nor forsake them.  

Jesus himself said it best in Mathew 28:19 when he said:  lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Friends are wonderful and true friends indeed love you at all times, but a brother is born for adversity.  You see a brother is born to be there in the good times and in the bad.  A brother is one that will lift you up above the storm and hold onto you through it all as the winds rage and the rains fall.  If you have been born again, that makes you a brother of Jesus Christ.  In all the adversity in your life, he will be there, right beside you, lifting you up.  But you see there is more to it than just letting Jesus be your brother, you must now be his!  The bible teaches in Romans 8:17 that if we are children of God, then we are joint heirs with Christ!  We are his brothers and sisters.  We must also lift him up!  We must never forsake him nor deny him but must be ready at all time to tell others of his saving grace.  When trials and troubles come upon us, then we must lift up his name and trust in him as our brother and know that he will never leave us.  The definition of adversity is that you are in a state of misfortune, a state of serious or continued difficulty.  What a wonderful thing to know that when we were born again, that Jesus became our brother and brothers are born for adversity,  When those troubles come, he will be there and as long as we put our trust and faith in him, we will have a brother that will lift us up.  Saints of God, you were born for adversity.  You were born to never deny nor forsake his holy name.  Just as Jesus Christ said he would never leave nor forsake us, we are never to leave nor forsake him. We are brothers and sisters, born for adversity, born to stick together through good times and through bad times.  Born to weather to storms of life together!  

Work the Fields!

The harvest is ripe but the laborers are few. As I look around me everyday, I do indeed see what is happening in this old world. Jesus told us of it over two thousand years ago. Today we need to pray for laborers to work the field. We need to understand that getting someone into the church and seeing them pray is not all our job is about. Seeing a soul saved is truly one of the best experiences in life but so often they let the worries and cares of this world drag them back away from Christ. This is where we as Christians are slacking in our jobs. Folks, we have a job to do and it doesn't end at the alter, it has only just begun. We need to begin praying for that soul that God will fill it with knowledge and spiritual understanding. We need to pray that the Holy Ghost grows stronger within them everyday and that they yield to his presence and allow him to teach them. We need to be their brother, their sister and even their mother. We need to call them if they miss church and let them know we love them. Check on them and make sure they are not in need. We need to start doing our jobs! This is what is on my heart this morning. We need to work the fields of life. Paul let us know that once we hear of someone's love for God that we should not cease to pray for them. It's the prayers of saints of God that lift sickness, pain and even death away from those in need.  It takes praying for one another to get us through life.  Prayer indeed changes things!

Colossians 1:8-13

8 Who also declared unto us your love in the Spirit.

9 For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;

10 That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God;

11 Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;

12 Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:

13 Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:

Love not the World!

¹⁵ Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
¹⁶ For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
1 John 2:15-16
As Christians, it's important that we understand that while we must live in the world, we are not part of the world. We are children of light.  This world is filled with darkness and sin.  We are not to partake of what the world has to offer.  Our father Abraham walked through this world and lived many places but he never built a home, he lived in tents.  Do you know what he did build?  Everywhere he went, he built an alter so that he could worship God.  He knew that he was not part of this world.  He was looking for a city not made by man.  

⁸ By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.
⁹ By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:
¹⁰ For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
Hebrews 11:8-10

I am not saying we should give up our homes and go live in tents.  What I am saying is that our homes and none of our worldly possessions should ever come before God in our lives.  God loves his children and he wants to bless you and see you prosper.  In fact, Moses told the children of Israel to keep God's covenant so that they would prosper.   

⁹ Keep therefore the words of this covenant, and do them, that ye may prosper in all that ye do. Deuteronomy 29:9

You can see that God made his people to prosper from Genesis to Revelations.  Having things is not a sin.  Putting those things before God is a SIN.  You can go trail riding six days a week and have all the fun you want, but when you skip church to go trail riding, it becomes a sin in your life.  We have all done it at one time or another without evening thinking about it.  Today, I encourage you to check your life.  Enjoy all the good things that God has blessed you with and then set aside a time to worship him and be thankful.  Set aside a time to let God know that he still comes first in your life.  I am so thankful this morning for his amazing GRACE.  

Obedience or Sacrifice?

Ye shall walk after the Lord your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.

Deuteronomy 13:4 KJV

These words were to be obeyed thousands of years ago when Moses spoke them to the children of Israel and they are still to be obeyed today for God's children. The bible teaches us that to obey is better than sacrifice.

1 Samuel 15:22

And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.

Obedience brings forth one of two things. death or righteousness!! Which do you prefer?

Romans 6:16

Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?

Perfect Peace

I wrote this October 7th, 2015 and posted it on facebook.  I just read it again and am reminded that only God can bring the peace that our soul is seeking.  He has given me peace like a river in my soul. He will do the same for you.  

O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is;
Psalm 63:1 KJV
David knew that seeking God was as important to the soul as water is to the flesh for survival. If we are going to make it through this world, then we need to be seeking God's face. He needs to be the first thing on our minds when we awake in the morning and the last thing before we go to sleep at night. We need ...to be doers of his word and not just hearers only.
James 1:22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
God's word is nourishment for our souls. The more we read the bible and live our lives according to what Christ told us to do, the more satisfied our soul becomes. Have you ever seen someone that has tried everything that life has to offer and yet they can't find the peace and happiness that they are looking for. Drugs won't do it, Alcohol won't do it, Whore-monging and Fornication won't do it. You may find temporary pleasure in these and other things. God's word tells us that there is pleasure in sin for a season, but it's PEACE that the soul is seeking. Man's soul is forever searching for the PEACE that Adam knew when God first made him. The PEACE that he experienced when he walked in the cool of the day, talking with God before Satan deceived Eve and sin was brought into the world. Friend, let me tell you that nothing of this world will ever bring your soul the PEACE it is searching for, but there is one that is NOT OF THIS WORLD that will bring PEACE LIKE A RIVER TO YOUR SOUL. Isaiah 66:12 For thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river.....Jesus Christ is the only thing that will ever bring that PEACE that was lost through Adam back to mankind. When you accept Christ into your life and become born again, it will not miraculously make all your problems go away, but it WILL bring PEACE to your soul and those problems won't seem so important that they overwhelm you. You learn to deal with them on a daily basis with God's help and guidance. If you have ever known what a relationship with Christ is like and then walked away from him. Your soul will hunger just like David's did. You soul will find no rest until you return to Christ. I invite you to pray this morning. Talk things over with Jesus. He is always watching and waiting for you to simply turn to him so that he can help you. He will knock but you must open the door. Blessed be his Holy Name.

Make time for him!

Paul told the Corinthians to examine themselves, check their faith, prove themselves.  He wanted them to take a good look at their lives and make sure they were living according to the faith and truth of the gospel.  

As I take a look at my life, I ask myself the question, am I doing all I can to live according to my faith in Jesus Christ.  In today's world, life gets busy and things are always so fast paced and hectic that many times it's easy to live our day to day lives and leave Jesus on the back burner to pull out when we need him.  We tell ourselves that we have a job and it's true, we must work. Then we have our hobbies and relaxing is a needed part of our lives as well so we make time to do those things we enjoy doing, but our spiritual well-being is the most important aspect of our lives.  If we don't get this part right, then our day to day living will never be all it can be, but if we awake each day and give God that little bit of our time that is just for him and let him know that he is first in our lives, then all the rest will start to become better. God told Isaiah that he would give his children peace like a river.  Peter taught us that because of our faith we could rejoice with joy unspeakable. Spending time in God's presence brings this and so much more to our lives. Today I encourage you not to let the matters of everyday living overwhelm you so much that you forget the one that makes it all possible. Don't be one of those people that just pulls Jesus out of the box when you need him.  Talk to him daily and spend time with him. The bible tells us to taste and see that the Lord is good.  It tells us that blessed is the man that trusts in the Lord.  There is no other feeling in the world like feeling his Holy Spirit bubbling up within you.  Knowing that he dwells in me is what keeps me going.  He has truly given me that peace like a river in my soul.  He wants to do the same for you.  If you are struggling in life, let me encourage you to take it to Jesus.  He said to come to him just as you are and he will in no wise cast you out.  He loves you today and he desires to spend time with you.  He desires to heal your broken soul. All you have to do is come to him.  Spend time with him and you will find that your daily life will be so much more than you ever expected it could be.  

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.  2 Corinthians 13:14 KJV

It's harvest time!

Israel celebrates the “Feast of Trumpets” in the fall of the year. This celebration goes on for ten days of repentance and consecration before God. The name comes from God’s command to blow the trumpets in Leviticus 23:24 and Numbers 29:1-6. This is a time that the people brought burnt offerings and sin offerings before God for repentance of their sins.

Throughout God’s word the prophets spoke of the blowing of the trumpets in expectation of judgement day, of the coming of Christ. We are told that the trumpet will sound and the dead in Christ shall rise first and those that remain will be called up to meet him in the air. We are living in harvest time. The world is ripe and the end is near. When that trumpet sounds, will you be ready? We live like our time on earth will never end. We forget that life is but a vapor that soon vanishes away. We spread hatred among our brethren instead of love as God commanded us to do. The trumpet will sound one day soon and in a moment, in just the twinkle of the eye we will be taken out of this world. I want to encourage you to begin doing good in the world, repent and tell someone about Jesus. Share the story of his mercy and his grace with someone. Live in righteousness and get ready for the harvest. There are few things that are sure in this world, but one thing is sure. Christ said in John 14:3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

Harvest time is a time of separation. We go out and gather our crops and separate the wheat from the weeds. The wheat is precious and is kept safe but the weeds are cast into a fire and burned up, they are of no value. The great harvest of the world is also a day of separation. God will step in and separate the sheep nations from the goat nations. He will gather his people together but the others will be cast into a lake of fire that was prepared for the devil and his angels. Harvest time is here, but we don’t have enough laborers to gather in the wheat. Jesus told us in Mathew 9:37-38 Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest. Won’t you become a laborer for Christ. We can work in his field and help gather in the souls for Jesus.

Hell, the Lake of Fire was created for the devil and his angels. It is not God’s will that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance but he gives us free choice and there will come a day of harvest and those who have not accepted Christ will be as the weeds and will be cast into the lake of fire. Revelation 20:15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire. We need to get a burden for the lost and we need to fast and pray. Today is the day of salvation. Today is the day to tell someone about Jesus. Today is the day to go out into the field and begin to gather in the wheat. We are the light of the world and we are to let that light shine. Our lives should be such an example that people don’t have to be told we are Christians, they need to see it by the way we live and it needs to be so wonderful that they want what we have. We need to tell them how to get it. We need to invite them to come to Jesus and then we need to tell them how simple it is. Paul taught us in Romans 10:9 That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 

So often we overload new Christians with so many things they should and should not do when that is not our job. We are simple laborers in God’s field. God himself, through the Holy Ghost will teach them how to live as Christians. All we need to do is teach them how to come to Jesus! A true convert to Christ will quickly learn by God’s spirit how to live. It’s harvest time. May your labors bring in an abundant harvest!