6-17-17

This week we received a letter with this prayer in it and I wanted to pass it on to our readers.

Matthew 15:27 (KJV)
 And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the crumbs which fall from their masters' table.

Father, I thank You that You love me and that through Jesus I have been given eternal access to the children's bread. Thank You for being my Healer all the days of my life. I will not fear or be afraid because I know I am secure in Your love. I am determined to receive and walk in my healing no matter what the devil says. nothing shall separate me from Your love. I will not allow offense, hurt, or disappointment to hinder me from walking in faith and expectation.

Whatever Your Word says, I believe, and Your Word declares You are good and Your mercy endures forever. Thank You, Father, for healing me in every area of my Life. In Jesus's name I pray. Amen.

6/12/17

1 Peter 2:2 (KJV) As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:

Prayer is a way of talking to God and we have to learn how to talk to God just like we had to learn how to talk. We must all begin with baby steps and progress until we can talk to him in person. Yes, we must progress until we meet him in heaven. I feel there are four main stages of prayer.

We all start in the 'baby' stage where we are learning about how to talk with God, Jesus and the Holy Ghost. No one expects you to say profound prayers when you first get saved so do not feel bad about how you pray. Some people stay in this stage for a short time frame and others stay way too long. The longer you stay in this stage the less work you can do for the Lord. We should all strive to grow out of this stage, to be better witnesses and workers for the Lord.

It is written in 1 Peter 2:2 that we are to be like a baby who desire's the sincere milk of the word that we might grow. We grow by getting into our Bible and learning about how to be a Christian and as we read our Bible, we should talk to God about what we read. That is how to learn, by doing it. As we pray on a daily basis, we grow in our prayer life. Our prayer life is to grow as much as any other part of our life. We are not to spend our life saying prayers like: Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep, if I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take. If this is all we do then we are not growing.

We grow from that stage into one that is mainly made of short, sweet and sometimes halfhearted prayers. Do not get me wrong, they can be good prayers, but we still need to grow. There are times when that is all we have time for. Just be careful that you do not find yourself staying or even falling back into this stage. We live life at a very fast pace and it becomes very easy to fall into the trap of brief prayers. Growth comes from long conversations with the Lord.

While listening to a minister awhile back I heard him describe prayer as having a conversation with God. This is the next step in our prayer life and it is broken down into two different stages. The first is where we do the talking while we expect God to do the listening. If someone treated us with this type of conversation, we would try to interrupt and say something back. As Christians, we need to get past this stage and go on to a true conversation with God. When we can have that two-way talk with God on a daily basis then we can become mature Christians that are workers for Christ.

As children of God the best stage of prayer to have working in your life is the two-way prayer. It is where we tell him something then he tells us something. As we talk to God, Jesus and the Holy Ghost on a daily basis, we learn more from them. They will show us the best way to live our lives to be the best soul winner for God.

5/19/2017

A healthy bank account makes us feel good.

It’s also wise accounting. We should plan financially so that we can meet our bills and not be a burden to others.

Can we keep too much in our coffers? Is it possible to become a hoarder with our cash, to love the money so much that having it becomes more important than the good it can do when offered to someone else?

Exodus 22:29 speaks to the duties of all who walk in the ways of our Lord:

“You shall not delay to offer the first of your ripe fruits, and of your liquors: the firstborn of your sons shall you give unto me.”

What are our ripe fruits and liquors? They reference the increase of our labors. For most of us, this means our money.

How do we give our firstborn unto God? We dedicate our children unto the Lord, giving him first option on their lives.

God doesn’t need us to live a pauper’s existence so that the church can grow fat, but he does expect us to give of what we have, to ensure the ongoing welfare of the body, the church, and the work of the ministry.

On our scale of accountability, our money’s outflow indicates our commitment to Christ, our Lord.

Excerpt of the Day

We have to be willing to risk our toes if we want to be the first to step out in the holy name of Christ our Lord.

Copyright © 2017 MyChurchNotes.net

Used by permission from owner.

5/7/2017

When I’ve had more than I can take

And in my bed, I lie awake

The hours go by, then nights and days

And still I’m in this sort of faze, I talk to God

I tell my God I’ve had all I can stand

Please I’ll put it in your might hand

I cannot on my own survive

Sometimes I even wonder if I’m alive

Now father, you know I don’t even know what to ask

To make this terrible feeling pass

Both body and mind are wearied down

And I seem to have lost sight of my Heavenly Gown

My faith has shrunk so very low

Come God on me your blessings bestow

Then hope in me is renewed again

For I know in God I have a true friend.

Love to all,                                                

Sis Marsha Colucci                                      

This was shown to me and I feel it is something that we as children of God should pay attention to. Read it and then pray and ask God what you should do about what you have read. - C. I. Wilson on 5/2/2017

May 16, 2016 by Will Maule

Christian preachers are often talking about the "mission" of God's people, and this is absolutely right. Christians have a lot to do in this world, and our task to make disciples and take the gospel to the nations is immediate and apparent. But there are also other things that we should seek to cease in our lives. Here, Chuck Tate at Charisma magazine gives us 22 key things and attitudes that we need to cut out of our lives.

1. Quit expecting the world to like you. Jesus said it would hate you (John 15:18-27, Matthew 10:22).

2. Quit throwing your own teammates under the bus.
"We're called to build each other up, not tear each other down. In fact, Jesus said that our love for each other proves to the world that we are really His true disciples (John 13:35, 1 Thessalonians 5:11)."

3. Quit gossiping. This includes sharing "juicy prayer requests" with no intention of actually praying (Psalms 34:13, Psalms 101:5, Ephesians 4:29). 

4. Quit replacing prayer with "good vibes" and "positive thoughts." No. Just no. Prayer moves the hand of God and the hand of God moves the world. "Prayer is much more effective than making someone feel warm and fuzzy inside. By the way, I'm not saying positive thoughts and good vibes are wrong (and they do make you feel good), I'm just saying prayer trumps them both (2 Corinthians 1:11, Philippians 1:19, Ephesians 6:18, James 5:16)."

5. Quit saying repentance isn't necessary. It is. Jesus said so.
"And just so you know, there are 53 references to repentance in the New Testament. Now go repent (Matthew 5:17, Acts 3:19, Romans 2:5, 2 Peter 3:9, 1 John 1:9)." 

6. Quit saying that the "portions of the Bible that make you feel uncomfortable" are irrelevant and nothing more than dated writings.
"All 66 books, 1,189 chapters, and 31,102 verse are the inspired Word of God. So the next time you think about throwing out the Old Testament, just remember that Jesus quoted it numerous times in all four gospels (John 1:1-4, John 1:14, 2 Timothy 3:16)."

7. Quit expecting unbelievers/non-Christians to understand the Bible and/or to live like Christ.
"It's hard enough for Christians to live like Christ and it's impossible to do so without Him (until the blinders are removed) (2 Corinthians 4:4, 2 Corinthians 5:17, Galatians 5:24-25)."

8. Quit acting like the Great Commission (Go into all the world to preach the gospel) is the Great Suggestion.
"It's a command. Go already (Matthew 28:19, Mark 16:15)."

9. Quit thinking that it's OK to be silent about your faith.
"Yes, it's just as important to represent Jesus by how we live, but someone can't respond to the Good News without hearing it ... and they can't hear it if no one opens their mouth (Matthew 10:27, Romans 10:14-15)."

10. Quit being more passionate about your political affiliation than your relationship with Jesus.
"If 99 percent of what you post on social media consists of bashing government officials and presidential candidates—you're doing more damage than good (Romans 13:1-7, 2 Chronicles 7:14)."

11. Quit using the Bible to beat the "hell" out of people.
"That doesn't work. Ever. I don't care if you're right—if you're a jerk, nobody is listening. Love wins! (No, I don't mean the book by Rob Bell.) (1 Corinthians 13)."

12. Quit your legalistic rants, knee-jerk reactions, and judgmentalism. 
"You're turning people off. You're making good news bad news. Jesus befriended sinners. Try it and great things will happen (Mark 2:17, Luke 5:27-32, 1 Timothy 1:15-16)."

13. Quit calling yourself a Christian if you believe there are multiple paths that lead to salvation.
"Jesus said that He's the only way to heaven. If you don't believe Him, you're not a Christ-follower (John 14:6, 1 John 2:4)."

14. Quit living like everybody's going to heaven and nobody's going to hell. "Jesus died so the whole world could be saved, but He said the path to heaven is narrow and few find it. And for the record, He preached more about hell than heaven ... but He did it without using a bullhorn and manipulative scare tactics. #LeadLikeJesus (Matthew 7:13-14)."

15. Quit acting like you're better than those who don't know Jesus. You're not (Luke 18:19, Acts 10:34, Romans 2:11-13). 

16. Quit criticizing loving believers who take a biblical stand for godly morals.
"Jesus didn't call us to be politically correct. Develop some backbone. And yes, I said wimp. And yes, I will repent for calling you a wimp (Acts 4-6)."

17. Quit pointing out the speck in your neighbor's eye while ignoring the plank in your own eye.
"By the way, I can hardly see my computer as I type this because of the log in my own eye (Matthew 7:3-5)."

18. Quit being a jerk, period.
"Whatever your position is (on anything), if you can't communicate it in love, you're a clanging cymbal and your message is worthless. So yeah, I probably shouldn't have called you a wimp in No. 16 (1 Corinthians 13)."

19. Quit defending sin. Quit hating sinners.
"These are equally important. Oh yeah, and lose your critical lens (Psalm 97:10, Matthew 22:37-39)."

20. Quit using the phrase "he who's without sin cast the first stone" out of context.
"The next thing Jesus said was, "Go and sin no more" (John 8:1-11)."

21. Quit using grace as a license to live however you want.
"Jesus is grace, so don't trample Him under your feet (Romans 6:1-2, 1 John 2:4, Hebrews 10:26-31)."

22. Quit using the phrase (when inviting people to church) "come as you are" if you're going to complain when they start showing up (Mark 2:17, Luke 5:27-32).