blessings

June 12, 2021

“Every Word of Every Command”

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34 Joshua then read to them all the blessings and curses Moses had written in the Book of Instruction.35 Every word of every command that Moses had ever given was read to the entire assembly of Israel, including the women and children and the foreigners who lived among them. — Joshua 8:34-35 NLT

After God had given Jericho and Ai into Joshua’s hands, Joshua built an altar of uncut stones on Mount Ebal.   There, they offered burnt offerings and peace offerings on the altar just as Moses had commanded them to do.  Then Joshua read every word of every command that Moses had ever given to them.  This was done in the presence of the entire assembly of Israel including all of the foreigners.  Moses had written five books that contained approximately 124,910 words (depending on the version you use).  At an average of 200 words per minute, this was almost an eleven hour reading.  The building of the altar, the offering of the sacrifices and the reading of the scrolls was quite a lengthy service.  This kind of devotion to God is what prepared the people for the southern military campaign.  Perhaps, it is time for our country to take a break and worship God in this manner. To be successful in the battles of this world, both natural and spiritual, we need the strength that only comes from the Lord.  If each of us committed to spending a day in prayer, worship and thanking God for our country, then perhaps God would take those sparks and start a wildfire of praise that would envelop the whole country.

16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. ​ — James 5:16 NIV

 “The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” – Anonymous

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March 7, 2021

“Continue to Live Your Lives In Him”

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6 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. — Colossians 2:6 7 NIV

The most important thing to be thankful for is salvation.  So, from the very moment we are saved, our hearts should begin to be filled with gratitude.  From that point on, all the blessings that we receive daily should continue to fill our hearts with thanksgiving and praise for our Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ.  To the extent that we follow the leadership of the Holy Spirit, our evil thoughts and desires are changing to good thoughts and desires.  There has/will come a day when we should be overflowing with joy and gratitude because of the goodness and greatness of the God that we serve.   Each day should bring less complaining and more reason to give God praise and thanksgiving. The praise and gratitude that fills our hearts will be reflected in the words that we speak.

45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. — Luke 6:45 NKJV

Every time we bring our petitions before the Lord, we need to remember to bring with them an offering of thanksgiving and praise!

4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. 5 For the Lord is good;His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.      — Psalm 100:4-5 NKJV

​This is for now and  all generations, not just the future when we enter into the gates of heaven and the courts of God. Every time, we speak His Name, we are entering into His gates and His courts. Let our hearts and our mouths overflow with praise for His goodness and mercy!

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” – Anonymous

December 23, 2020

“So That We Can Comfort Others”

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4 He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. – 2 Cor. 1:4 NLT 

Comfort

​Everything that we have belongs to God. Whatever He has given to us is to be shared with those around us. The things with which God has blessed us should be held very loosely in our hands. They are to be used to bless others and further the work of the Kingdom here on earth. The early church understood and practiced this principle of giving and receiving. There are many verses that teach us to give to the poor, widows and orphans.  We must open ourselves up to be channels of blessings. This is also true in Spiritual things as well as natural.  In the Spiritual area, we don’t do quite as well in giving or receiving.  God has given us the Comforter to comfort us in all situations and we need to learn to share that message with a hurting world.  But, we also need to learn to accept that comfort when it is offered to us. Every one of us needs help in some area of our lives whether we want to admit it or not.  As long as we deny it, the pain and the chaos will not go away. None of us can fix ourselves, even though Satan would love for us to believe that we can. Reach out and touch someone was a Biblical principle long before it was a commercial.

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” – Anonymous

February 26, 2020

“This Is The One”

15 John testified about him when he shouted to the crowds, “This is the one I was talking about when I said, ‘Someone is coming after me who is far greater than I am, for he existed long before me.’” – John 1:15 NLT

The One

John fully understood his mission as the forerunner of Jesus Christ. According to Isaiah, John’s purpose was to “prepare the way of the Lord”. John understood that as Jesus began His ministry that his own ministry would start to diminish. He was looking forward to that day. Jesus came to fulfill the law and redeem us from the curse of the law. He redeemed us from the curse of the law, but not from the blessings of the law. He came to make those blessings more abundant.

10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.—John 10:10​ (NKJV)

Because His death on the cross finished (fulfilled) the law, we “have all received one gracious blessing after another”. Those that have seen Jesus have seen the Father.

9 Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show him to you?–​-John 14:9 (NLT)

Those that were alive at that time saw Him physically and we have seen Him spiritually as He is revealed to us though the Holy Spirit abiding in us.

Jesus is the ONE! He is THE ONE AND ONLY ONE that can save us from sin!!!!​

It is our mission to spread the Word to a lost and dying world.

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” -Anonymous

Post 02-26-2020

December 9, 2019

“Filled With Awe”

28 Since we are receiving our rights[as] to an unshakeable kingdom[at] we should be extremely thankful and offer God the purest worship that delights his heart[au] as we lay down our lives in absolute surrender, filled with awe. – Hebrews 12:28 TPT

Hebrews 12:25-29 TPT

God sent Moses to deliver the children of Israel from the bondage in Egypt. Because of their stubbornness and disobedience to what Moses told them to do, the generation of people that left Egypt never made it to the Promised Land. Except for Joshua and Caleb, the whole multitude of people died in the land east of Jordan. Because of their faithfulness and obedience, Joshua and Caleb received the promised reward of entering into the Promised Land. They were allowed to partake of the blessings of eating crops they did not plant, drinking water from wells they did not dig, and living in houses that they did not build. We have a better message from a better leader than Moses. We have heard from God Himself. He sent His Son, Jesus, to die for our sins and show us the way home. Those that do not believe the message He brought will be shaken and separated like chaff from the wheat. But if we remain steadfast and unshakable, we shall sit at the banquet table and enjoy the wedding feast that Jesus has prepared for us. We shall live in a city not made with human hands and spend an eternity with Jesus Christ, our Savior and our Lord. A better way that brings a much better reward.

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” -Anonymous

Post 12-09-2019

October 4, 2019

“Working For The Lord”

23 Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.— Col 3:23 NLT

 Col. 3:18-24 NLT

Our attitude should always be one of obedience to God. This attitude should be reflected in our love and service to our fellow man. What that relationship is does not allow us to change the way we do things. We are working for Jesus, He is our only Master. If we can be sure that what we are doing and how we are doing it pleases Him, then He will give us an inheritance with Him as our reward. Working here on earth does not get us rewards from God in the here and now. Those rewards are laid up in heaven where nothing can destroy them. The blessings we receive here on earth are just that, they are blessings given to us freely by our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Romans 8;31-35 NLT

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” -Anonymous

Post 10-04-2019

April 2, 2019

Focus On Jesus

22  I was so foolish and ignorant—    I must have seemed like a senseless animal to you. — Psalm 73:22

 Psalm 73:22-28 NLT
Have you ever wondered if God thinks about us in these terms?  I am sure that satan, the old deceiver, would like for us to believe that He does.  If we have ever had these kind of thoughts, we should be like the Psalmist here. In his very next breath (or verse in this case), he immediately gets his head on straight by remembering what has happened in every instance in the past. The Psalmist realizes that he is speaking from a bitter heart and he has been questioning God’s wisdom.  God never leaves us nor forsakes us nor does He cast us from His presence.  Instead, He reaches down to us and if we reach up to Him, He takes us by the hand and continues to lead us toward our glorious destiny.  The Psalmist remembers that God is our strength, our fortress and our shield.  We allow satan to sneak these silly ideas into our minds when we are focused on the horizontal.   We need to stay focused on the vertical.  That means spending time alone with God, praising and thanking Him for His goodness and His blessings.  If we do this, we can be assured that God will set the rest of the world straight in His own time.
“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” – Anonymous

Post 04-02-2019

January 11, 2019

“Lay Up Treasures In Heaven”

14 Through Christ Jesus, God has blessed the Gentiles with the same blessing he promised to Abraham, so that we who are believers might receive the promised Holy Spirit through faith. — Galatians 3:14 NLT

Galatians 3:13-18 NLT

God blessed Abram with abundant natural blessings and changed his name to Abraham.  What did Abraham do to deserve these blessings?  He did nothing to earn them. Blessings are gifts from God, they are not rewards for good works. We can never do enough or be good enough to earn blessings from God.  The greatest blessing we receive is salvation.  That gift is free and cannot be earned. Since the greatest gift of all was freely given, why do we feel that we have to earn the lesser gifts?  The blessings come because of God’s great love for us and His covenant promise to Abraham that all nations would be blessed through his seed (or child), not seeds or children.  It is singular meaning only one and that one is Jesus Christ.  So, all of our blessings come through Jesus Christ and because He gave His life for us at Calvary.  The debt was paid in full for all  the blessings we receive.   If good works can earn salvation or any blessing then Jesus Christ died in vain. The good works are to lay up rewards in heaven and to earn crowns that we can lay at the feet of Jesus.  Good works are a part of our worship here on earth.  The rewards we receive for those good works are laid up in heaven and will be used to worship Jesus there.  The blessings we receive here are a taste of what is to come and to encourage us to continue and never turn back

Treasures In Heaven

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” – Anonymous

Post 01-11-2018

January 1, 2019

“Showers of Blessings”

16 Because he was full of grace and truth, from him we all received one gift after another. — John 1:16 NCV

John 1:14-18 NLT

All the blessings and gifts that we receive while we are here on earth are because Jesus was and is full of grace and truth. There is nothing we can do to earn these blessings.  If we could earn them, they would not be called gifts.  Every blessing and every gift is given for one purpose and one purpose only.  They are to be used to further the works of the Kingdom of God.  We do not need to be worried or concerned that God will run out of blessings and gifts.  No matter how much He gives, there is always more to be given.  As we use these blessings and gifts to further God’s work, we lay up our rewards in heaven.  God has given us everything we need to live a Godly life here and has given us promises of an eternity with Him.  The fulfillment of those promises is the hope that helps us to endure persecutions and to share His Divine nature while we are here on earth.

1 Peter 1:3-7 NLT

Let us be thankful for all of the blessings He pours out for us and rejoice that we can share in His goodness every day.

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” – Anonymous

Post 01-01-2018

November 6, 2018

Keep Praying for Our Country

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23 “As for me, I will certainly not sin against the Lord by ending my prayers for you. And I will continue to teach you what is good and right. 24 But be sure to fear the Lord and faithfully serve him. Think of all the wonderful things he has done for you. 25 But if you continue to sin, you and your king will be swept away.” 
— 1 Samuel 12: 23-25 NLT
I would like to urge and encourage each of us to keep on praying for our nation.  Pray that our current leaders will lead us in paths of righteousness so that we can return to being “one nation” instead of a nation divided by greed, selfishness and ethnic differences.  Pray that we will stop being Americans separated by hyphens.  That we will all just be Americans.  A nation divided cannot stand.  Pray that the voters will be led by the Holy Spirit and vote for those that will continue to lead us back to God.  Pray that there will be a great renewal that starts in each of our hearts and spreads throughout our communities and our country.​ Let each of us remember the many great blessings that God has poured out on this country and teach those things to future generations.  If we refuse to humble ourselves before God, as individuals and as a nation, we and our country will be swept away.  Pray that God will be merciful to us just as He was to the Israelis.

44 You will know that I am the Lord, O people of Israel, when I have honored my name by treating you mercifully in spite of your wickedness. I, the Sovereign Lord, have spoken!” — Ezekiel 20:44​

“The Gospel has come to you because it’s on its way to someone else.” – Anonymous

Post 11-06-2016