Phillipians

I have a challenge for you. I am going to read the book of Philippians everyday from now until Christmas. And I want to challenge you to do the same. It's one of my favorite, if not my favorite, books of the Bible. It's only 4 short chapters but it is power packed!

I want you to read Philippians 1:9 in the Amplified version:
(the Amplified version is very accurate and really goes into the meaning of the original Greek and Hebrew words)
And this I pray that your love may abound more and more and extend to it's fullest development in knowledge and all keen insight [that your love may display itself in greater depth of acquaintance and more comprehensive discernment], so that you may surely learn to sense what is vital, and approve and prize what is excellent and of real value [recognizing the highest and the best, and distinguishing the moral differences], and that you may be untainted and pure and unerring and blameless [so that with hearts sincere and certain and unsullied, you may approach] the day of Christ [not stumbling nor causing others to stumble].

The more I study "love" the more amazed I am at how love is the key element in our Christian walk. God is love, so when we love we share Him. Here it says that we must grow more and more in our love walk in order to have knowledge and insight about what things are most vital and of highest value in life!
I really believe this friends, if we focus our life on loving God and loving others, we can't go wrong. We need to focus more on loving God than on overcoming sin or problems in our life. Because the more we love God the more everything else, including overcoming sin and our problems, will fall into place. I hope you can get this revelation today!
"Seek ye FIRST the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and ALL these things will be added unto you!"
I LOVE you!

I don't think I will answer those questions from yesterday. Did anyone do any thinking? What I would like is for you to pray and ask God to give you the answers. They are important, very important, they determine your perspective on life. And perspective is everything. It is so easy to get bogged down in the every day challenges of life and not be able to see any farther than your current situation. It's times like this when we have got to take a minute and look up, ask ourselves these questions and get a view of the big picture. It's so easy to forget, that's why Romans 12:2 says to "be ye transformed by the continual renewing of your mind." The Bible compares the Word of God to water. We have to continually wash our minds with the water of the Word! The mind gets all clogged up and bogged down. It gets cloudy, muddy, and dirty from the things of the world. The only way to take care of this problem is the continual renewal of the mind with the water of the Word! I don't just mean once or twice a week at church! I mean daily, sometimes several times daily! This is a life or death matter. It's a matter of living victoriously or not! So get some good Christian Cd's ( I love Joyce Meyer, Beth Moore, Kenneth Copeland, Jesse Duplantis), get some good Christian books, pray, go to church, get out your Bible! I can't emphasize it enough, without renewing our minds we just can't have the right perspective. Why are we here? It's not to get wealth or fame or hoard possessions! You can't take any of that with you to Heaven! That's not why we are here. We are here so other people have the chance to avoid hell, to join the family of God. I believe God wants us prosperous to spread His gospel but not to fulfill the lust of our flesh. We are not to seek after riches, we are to seek after God! Oops, I think I answered one of the questions. :)
Be blessed today! Renew your mind! It's not a chore, it's a priveledge and an honor. It's exciting!

Questions

Today, I just want to ask you a couple of questions and let you meditate them throughout the day.

1) Why are you here on earth?

2) Why did Jesus die on the cross for you?

3) What talents did Jesus give you and how does He want you to use them here on
earth?

Don't just give a quick pat answer. Really think about this and see what the Lord reveals to you. I would love if someone would like to leave a comment with their answer. It is really easy to leave a comment. Just click "comments" under this post and write what you want. Then follow the directions. They want you to open an account, but really all that means is choosing a user name and password. And I think the password is just your email address. It's easy! Let's have a discussion, if you want!
I've been reading a book about Christians in communist countries who just for being a Christian risk their lives, their friends lives, and even their families lives. They know at any moment they can be arrested, killed, or worse tortured. I like a statement I read in that book.
"In communist countries, there are no lukewarm Christians."
In reading this book, I have really been faced with my lukewarmness. I mean I am free to witness for Christ without fearing for my life, but do I do it? The truth has hit me hard.

The Sweetest Spot on Earth

I am so excited about this post today because the Lord asked me to get out of the way, so to speak, and to just let Him talk directly to you through me. So here goes:
My children,
Take my hand today and let me dance with you. Lay your head against my chest and hear my heart beat. Will you take my hand and let me be your lover? I am here to fulfill your deepest need. I am here to love you, to protect you, to cherish you, to romance you. I am wildly, emphatically in love with you. No one or nothing on this earth can love you like I do. I will never forsake you, I will never leave you. Others will come and go, but I will stay. Oh my children, sometimes you leave me, but I am always here waiting for your return. I love you. I see you through my blood, already righteous, already perfect. To me you are so beautiful. I long to dance with you. To hold you close to me. Come unto me children and I will give you rest for your souls. For I know the way is weary and heavy. I long to give you rest. Rest in me, in my love, in my arms. The more you come to me, the more I will reveal myself to you. I will become so real to you that you never doubt my presence or my voice. Come , come unto me. I am waiting.
I am going to cherish this always because it is just as much for me as it is for you. What a dream come true, to dance with God!

What is Faith?

Without faith it is impossible to please God. So what is faith? Faith is simply "believing God." Titus chapter 1 verse 2 says that God cannot lie. So every word He ever spoke is true!
We have to come to a point in our walk with God that we decide we are either going to believe that every word of the Bible is true or that none of it is true at all. Once that is settled in our minds, we should devour the Word of God with passion to find out what truth is. You know, we learn a lot of things in this journey of life and many of the things we have learned are just not true. So when we come to God, we have to spend time "unlearning" so many things we have learned. Truth is exclusive. 2 + 2 = 4 right? No matter if we believe it is 3 or not, the answer is still 4! You see what I mean?
There is another verse that comes to mind, "God is not a man that he should lie nor the son of man that He should repent, hath He said and shall He not do it? or hath He spoken and shall He not make good?" Numbers 23:19
If God promised to heal you He will. If He promised to provide for you He will. It is important to learn the promises of God so we can stand on them in times of need, for ourselves and for others. And we can't focus on the circumstances or on what has happened to other people when they "believed" God and it didn't seem to work for them.
I will close with this life changing verse, let it roll around in your head today,
"While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal: but the things which are not seen are eternal." 2Corinthians 4:18

Feelings are Fickle

I really liked the song that one of the Women of Faith ladies taught us this weekend. It goes, "You got to think about, what you think about." Again, it's a really catchy tune that I wish you could hear.
The point is, that we can't just keep thinking any ole thought that pops into our mind. Emotions and thoughts come and go. Sometimes the devil puts thoughts into our minds, sometimes our flesh does, and sometimes God does. So we really do have to think about what we think about. The Bible talks about "casting down vain imaginations." That means that when a thought comes into our minds we have to judge it. Is this a right thought? A Godly thought? Remember the Word says, "What soever things are pure, whatsoever things are honest, true, and good, think on these things." So if its not a Godly thought, obviously it did not come from God and we need to cast it down. Casting a thought down is so simple. How? Just choose a different thought! Think about something else. Start singing a praise song. Or if satan dropped a judgemental thought into your mind about someone then, on purpose, start thinking about what is good about that person.
The only way a thought or feeling becomes our own is if we speak it out loud. Then we have taken the thought and made it our own. The Bible says that we will know what is in a person's heart by what they speak!
The second point is that feelings are not your faith. This was a huge revelation for me. Because I could be believing God for an answer to prayer and start to "feel" fear and think that I wasn't in faith anymore. Again, the only way I have negated my faith is if I have taken the "feeling" and spoken it out loud. What we need to do when we feel fear or any other negative emotion is to tell God. Give it to Him. If I feel fear then I say to God, "Lord I feel afraid, please forgive me, I know this is not faith. Please take this fear and give me peace." Then I start telling myself the truth. The Lord has not given me a spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind!"
So, today, think about what you think about!

Just Say the Name of Jesus

God has a sense of humor. He gave me this word for you and for me in a song this morning. I wish you could hear the tune! It's kinda catchy.
Just say the name of Jesus
Say the name out loud
Say the name real loud
Just say the name of Jesus
Jesus, Jesus,
Sing the name the name of Jesus
just sing the name of Jesus
Sing it real loud, sing it out loud,
Jesus, Jesus
And on and on it goes. I LOVE it! Just saying the name of Jesus brings such comfort, such peace, such POWER! What an amazing name! At the name of Jesus every knee will bow, those in heaven and those on earth.
God gave us power of attorney to use His name! He entrusted us with it!
Sometimes when I am afraid, I just say the name, Jesus, and I am comforted. When I am confused, hurting, angry.... I just say the name of Jesus. Say the name and He will be instantly at your side. Say the name and the God of the whole universe will come to your aide. Or maybe you will just say it because you want him by your side, just for fellowship. He likes that a lot. Say it and He will be there.
One last thought, saying the name of Jesus is equal with saying the word, grace. The Holy Spirit is called the Spirit of Grace! The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are one, therefore when you have said the name of Jesus you have called upon His amazing Grace! And so much more. The name of Jesus can satisfy any need, can help in any situation. He will answer any question for any situation.
Just say the name of Jesus, say the name out loud, say the name real loud.