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The Strength Of The Spirit

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Ezekiel 36:24-29

[24] For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land.
[25] Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.
[26] A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
[27] And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
[28] And ye shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.
[29] I will also save you from all your uncleannesses: and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you.

Ezekiel speaks on the blessings that were being spoken to Israel, speaking on the transformation of the heart. That spirit we have today is used to cleanse us, to walk in the statutes, and do them!

John 14:16-28

[16] And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
[17] Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
[18] I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
[19] Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.
[20] At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.
[21] He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
[22] Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?
[23] Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
[24] He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.
[25] These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you.
[26] But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.
[27] Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
[28] Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.

Jesus was speaking about the spirit that would be there for us in our time of need, that what was being left behind would keep us until we get to Heaven!

Romans 8:9-10

[9] But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
[10] And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.

So when we are in the spirit, He is with us, and without it we are our flesh and the part that is sin. We need the spiritual things to keep us each and every day while we live!

1 John 2:27-29

[27] But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.
[28] And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
[29] If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.

The spirit will teach you, not man, not tradition, not doctrine, not religion, not what you had always thought you knew, but the spirit will!  We need not be ashamed!

Sometimes The Best For You Is Not The Best For You

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If I had to say one thing that we all have been guilty of at one point or another, it would probably be trying to keep up with a trend of some kind. Sometimes it could be as silly as having the latest gadget or gizmo (I hear the droid noise as we speak) or as serious as something that would shift your faith towards God.

You see, popularity and trends change just as quick as the direction of the wind: very often and seldom predictable. Even knowing these things, we will still try to follow after most of the latest things in hopes of some kind of true fulfillment.

I would hate to have to be the one to say this, but I suppose I have said worse in my life. The truth of the matter is, when we are not satisfied with God’s movements, we’ll often move our passion to something else. One day we’ll be on fire and active in church, while on the next we will be out in the world not able to be the true light of the world. This is an alarming trend that we are finding more often, and with this you find less stability in representatives of Jesus Christ.

People, especially youth in this day and age, are truly hungry for a passion they can live by. We as representatives of Jesus Christ need to provide them with the trend that we live by: Godly living in love reaching out to all that need salvation and spiritual fulfillment for eternal life. It’s simple yet necessary. We make it more complex than it should be. If people seeing you following after God and seeing you leading a life of joy, then when their life is finally in a place to where they can be led by God we as the body of Christ are able to lead them!

So remember: sometimes what we have in our lives that people are calling “the best” may not be what people need to be “the best” for them. People need Jesus Christ. People need salvation, a way of escape, and people that will love without condemnation! Remember who you are in God!

Even When We Cannot See, God Is There

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There are so many days when we are in question of what we deal with as well as what we go through. Often times it is truly hard to understand and grasp the true knowledge of the “why” and “what” on everything we face. I am reminded every day that when it does not feel easy that those are the days that we have to allow God to begin to be our strength. Those are the times that we have to allow God to build our faith. Most importantly, we have to remember that God is there.

It would be easy for me to sit down and give up on my faith. Or so we think…I say that because faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. How many times has God came through for us in our lives even when we were not aware of a way to be made through something? I could not begin to count!

It’s by His grace and mercy that we still stand today, and it’s by the blessings that He pours upon us that we continue to strive forward as servants of Him! And remember, that God will never leave your, nor forsake you; especially in a time when you are calling on Him to be near. When Jesus was on the earth, He spoke of a comforter that would come when He would go. That comforter is ever-so-present with us now, and is more than able to help us through the days that are hard!

God is there! He is with you! Remember that, and do not waiver from how far that you have come! You have came too far and done so many great things in your life to simply lay down from a few hard times here and there! Let’s face them together and believe in faith! By the Lord God above, we shall prevail in victory!

Singing And Speaking At New Salem Baptist Church

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First of all, I just want to say that we had another wonderful experience at New Salem. The church there is growing in a great way, and it is wonderful to see what they are working for come to pass each time that we come and visit them. Their love and fellowship is always great and makes a person feel so welcome to come there. If you are in their area, and are looking for a church to go, go check them out! I can guarantee Pastor Kenny Rogers will make sure to make you feel right at home!

The homecoming to me was a great success. It was great to see the church work together to step out and do all that you can to provide a platform for anyone that needs help to be able to get it. When you get in that spiritual place with God, that is when you can really begin to get the work done that you need completed! We enjoyed singing there so much, and even got to debut Reagan and Emmy this time! They were champs!

There were many that came and prayed for many different reasons, and many that came to us afterward to leave prayer requests with us as we go. It was truly uplifting to see people make that statement and step out to enhance their life in a greater way! I just want to state for the record that we will be remembering all of these things that were spoken to us!

Hopefully we’ll be receiving a recording of that service in the near future, and when we do, we will get it on here as soon as possible! And for all those that mentioned it, don’t worry we’ll be back soon!

The Remnant: Restoring the Call to Personal Integrity

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This book was given to me by one of the local ministers in our town and was most appreciated!

When I began to start reading this, it at first felt like my toes were getting stepped on a lot, but as you go on it brings out the deeper meaning and bigger vision of why we have to start at the personal level.

Here’s what helped me (This is what it meant to me, and not a paraphrase of the book!): it really begins at home. There are many things that you could accomplish out there to work hard for your ministry, but where is the joy in your life to do it without it all being centered with God in the home (or as it reads a Godly environment)?

I can definitely see why he was passing it out to people to read, and I definitely recommend it to anyone, and especially anyone that is called to work in ministry!

And always remember when you are done with one, pass it on or recommend! That helps the ones who work so hard to write them!

Check out: The Remnant: Restoring The Call To Personal Integrity – ISBN 978-1599794549

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Dear Graduate – Letters Of Wisdom

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I read this upon graduating college. It was given to me by my Aunt Kay. She has always been great about hooking me up with books and encouraging me to stay grounded in the Lord, and this was by far one of my favorites gifted to me!

This book is as it says in the title: literally a collection of great letters from Charles Swindoll. It’s not really a devotional style book because each chapter is essentially a letter. Every letter covers different topics, with each of them tied to God in a great way. A few of them include: ethics, determination, individuality, accountability, distinction, temptation, leadership, etc.

The letters all are in focus to a person that is about to launch out on life and provide sound Godly advice to areas that might have never been addressed before, and I recommend you include it in their gift pack if you ever are looking for something to add to their stuff to send them with to college or before their first job after college!

And always remember when you are done with one, pass it on or recommend! That helps the ones who work so hard to write them!

Check out: Dear Graduate: Letters Of Wisdom – ISBN 0-8499-5495-9

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Learn To Sever What Does Not Make It Better

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One part of life that is always evident is that there will always be things that we fall back on in the event of something that puts us on the defensive or our backs against the wall. There are plenty of people and situations out there that have and will provoke things in your life that simply should not be a part of who you are. This is something that is tough to realize in principle but when realized can be powerful to the building of your Godly life.

You see, there are those people and objects in your life that whether we see it or not could eventually lead us into things we never thought we would say or do. Sin and temptation comes in many ways and forms and is not exempt for anyone. I know it’s not easy to address the things that define our mistakes for any of us, but if we can begin to learn from them we can start to move forward.

As part of my testimony now, drugs and alcohol were a big part of my life once. God has now delivered me from many of my personal hardships (as well as those things) and for that I am very thankful! However, there were some adjustments in my lifestyle that had to happen. I had to begin to sever ties to the things that pulled me to those addictions. I will guarantee you that it will never be easy doing on your own, but I can also guarantee that you can do all things through Christ which strengthens you!

When we look back on our lives and all the things we have done, we cannot live in regret because we have zero control of the past. We can only pray for forgiveness now and move forward. We must begin to allow God to help me adjust our lives to the way they should be. And as we do, life begins to improve by severing the influences that pollute your ability to live in peace and joy in Christ.

A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23

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A relative of mine passed this book on to me, and so I thought I would give it a shot. As most of us have I’m sure, I thought to myself “there’s not too much more a person could learn about Psalm 23” After reading it though, I can definitely say I was wrong!

Phillip Keller gives a perspective of Psalm 23 from the perspective of a real life shepherd. When you begin to read it, he explains traits and characteristics of a shepherd into detail and shares many of his own life experiences that begins to make it powerful. It makes you really consider how the Lord is our shepherd and is always watching over us and performs things for our good; even though as a flock we might not necessarily agree with the ways it’s done or how because we only see as the sheep.

It’s a very quick read, and you can find editions (like the one I received) that was in large print which made it easy on the eyes as well. If you are a fan of hearing great testimonies and experiences and reading about how amazing God is, read it!

And always remember when you are done with one, pass it on or recommend! That helps the ones who work so hard to write them!

Check out: A Shepherd Looks At Psalm 23 – ISBN 978-0-3102-6797-3

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Are You On That New Roller Coaster Called Work?

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When you get up in your everyday life, there is always going to be more than you can accomplish in one day ahead of you. People are sleeping less, and trying to do 36-48 hours of tasks in 24 hours nowadays. As we continue with this trend needless to say the wear and tear of it has to begin to show somewhere. One can often find their-self in a place where they do not have much to do and consider their self in a “good” place. On that same token, when we are overwhelmed with things that we must take care of, we consider ourselves “bad” and think we are not doing enough and try to do more.

I wish I could say everything that everyone else in the world might say, but I would be lying to you. First of all, I have learned to not base the progress of my life on the number of tasks I have accomplished in a day. I cannot base it on the amount of money I draw in either. I could do a 100 things and earn a 1,000 dollars in one hour, but does that really put me in a “good” place? Not really at all, to be honest.

Work is always going to be there whether you go a mile a minute or are barely creeping. And trust me, I am all for being a person who likes to get things done. However, there has to be a place in your life for God. Your standing with God in your life to me determines how “good” or “bad” of shape we can be. You see, I can be in the worst of situations in life and still be in the best shape, simply because I’m living a Godly and spiritual life and not letting my life be worldly and continually task-driven. In fact, I have found that I am only in a bad place when I am spiritually weak and am not able to handle everything in my life on my own.

We were made to live life with God. We were made to serve God. We should remember to keep him first, and all the other things in our lives will begin to work for our good! We were built to live life by faith! Remember to be full-time for God, and to let every other work be part-time! All of your works (and your Godly obedience of course) is to be purposed draw others to Christ!

Obedience…Must I?

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When it comes to expanding our horizons with God, we mostly feel uncomfortable. We as humans are of a settling nature. It made me realize that not everyone is compelled to be an explorer or the person who draws out the maps of the earth. Everyone is called to do different things in different ways but all (SHOULD) have one connector: the Love of Christ.

If you have been going to a church for a while and are wondering why God does not move in people the same, it is definitely for a multitude of reasons. Do not blame yourself for growth you are unable to see at the time of your obedience; it simply means that people only grow at the rate that they allow God to flow in their lives. Some love God so much that correction is welcome and grow quickly, while others reject it and are not able to enjoy God the way they could.

I have had to learn something quickly along the way, and that is that you must get used to people saying no before you can enjoy them saying yes. You need to first come to the acceptance of your obedience and realize that it is of worth regardless of response! Your obedience is to God, and what flows from you is God to people! How that happens is the wonderful and unique way  that God has called you to present it.

Stay encouraged in obedience! Do not let one rough go of it get you down. The price paid by Jesus for your ministry to be performed was worth far more than giving up on the attitudes of others! Fight the enemy through your obedience!