Thought For The Day

  Learning to praise God through our hard times, makes it easy, when we encounter good times. It takes knowing God to praise Him in the hard places in life.  Knowing deep down in our heart that Jesus loves us.  When we know Jesus, we will love to praise Him. When we know the Lord personally, we know He will bring us through the hard times. Psalms 71:6-8 By you I have been upheld from birth;  You are He who took me out of my mother's womb. My Praise shall be continually of You. I have become as a wonder to many, But You are my strong refuge.  Let my mouth be filled with Your praise and Your glory all the day. When we praise the Lord a supernatural power is released. I experienced this years ago when my pastor sent me to a ladies house because she was hysterical, and they couldn't calm her down. I asked the Lord, "What shall I do? He said "have her read out loud Psalms 150" So I had her read Psalm 150 all the way through.   She calmed down and I could pr...

  Beloved, when you feel obligated by too many things, it will weigh heavily on our heart, Jesus' burden is light, not heavy. Doing something because we enjoy doing it, gives us joy and peace.  Colossians 3:17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. Never feel indebted for a favor, receive it as a gift from the Lord. Not an obligation to pay back. We can fulfill our obligations after we have included Jesus and the Holy Spirit in our day. Some things that we do religiously, can only just be a habit, our heart not in it. (Think on this) God wants to introduce us to new people and things, so that we can do His will with joy. Paul said that he was obligated or indebted to the Greeks and the Barbarians, both to the wise and the foolish.   Paul knew in order to fulfill His obligation to these people, that He must first spend time in prayer and listen to the Holy Spirt. Romans 1:14 I am a debtor...

When we do things out of duty or obligation, When our heart is not in it,  it is like trying to row a boat that is tied to the dock.  It doesn't move forward.   Neither do we. This is believing that we have never done enough to please God or our leaders. Feeling obligated. To be obligated: Is a state of indebtedness to an act or favor, also the act. Being morally and legally bound to do something. When we do our works because we feel obligated, it will weigh us down. This usually takes precedence over time in God's word and prayer. We need to seek Jesus first!!! Some say a quick prayer and do their obligation, when their heart is not really in it. Duty. Beloved, Jesus does want you to feel obligated to do His will, He wants you to be like the disciple that went praising God, and returned praising God and being joyful. (Luke 10:1-17) read the whole message. Jesus sent the seventy out to share the gospel, sent them two by two.  They went willingly. Luke 10:17-20 Then ...

We have an inheritance in Christ Jesus our Lord, because we have been sealed by he Holy Spirit. A seal is a stamp of authority that we belong to God. The owner of that seal will open it one day. Jesus Christ our Lord, He is the owner. Ephesians 1:13 In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. This is proof of the Holy Spirit's presence in your life.  He is working in your heart to produce the desire for repentance when needed and to develop the fruit of the Spirit. Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love , joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness,  faithfulness, gentleness, self -control, Against such there is no law. When we have a passion for prayer, praise,  and want to show God's love to people, this is evidence that the Holy Spirit has renewed our heart and that we are sealed by Him. We can be confident and live out our live...

SINCE WE ARE MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD, WE TOO, CAN LOVE AND HATE. We can hate evil. Proverbs 6:16-19    These six things the Lord hates. Yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look. a lying tongue. Hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans,  Feet that are swift in running to evil, A false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows discord among brethren. The Hebrew word for hate is strong. You can trace it back to animosity, a thorny seed. Malachi 1:2-3 I have Loved you, says the Lord. "Yet you say, in what way have You loved us?  Was not Esau Jacobs brother?" says the Lord. Yet Jacob I have loved; But Esau I have hated, and laid waste his mountains and his heritage for jackals of the wilderness. Esau, gave away his birthright for something to satisfy his flesh.  A bowl of stew. (Think on this) God's emotions were strong about Esau. Love is the opposite of hate. Those two emotions, can heal, or destroy. The word hate appears 145 ti...

 G O S P E L= GOD'S OWN SON PROVIDED ETERNAL LIFE. This is the true gospel,  the good news!! What are we to conclude about this matter? Paul makes it clear, that whoever preaches Christ and the gospel, it doesn't matter, as long as the Gospel gets preached. Philippians 1:15-16 Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill.  The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains, but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the Gospel. What then? Only that in everyway, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes and will rejoice. Beloved, there are all kinds of preachers out there, but their motives are not our business. Those that are preaching for all the wrong reasons, could later repent, and start preaching for the right reasons.  We have seen this through the years. We are to listen for the truth of God's word. I h...

As we all know the opposite of  being humble, is  being prideful.   Proverbs 16:18-19 Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall. Better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud. When we see those who claim to know the Lord, lift themselves up and ask for applause, and that they have to remind people that sure was good preaching, that is a prideful statement. Luke 18:11-14 (Jesus teaching) The Pharisee stood and prayed thus for himself. "God I thank you that I am not like other men-extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as a tax collector.  I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all I possess. "And the tax collector, standing afar off, would not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying "God, be merciful to me a sinner! (humble) "I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himsel...