HEIR TO ETERNITY

Galatians 4 (New American Standard)

1 Now I say, as long as the heir is a child, he does not differ at all from a slave although he is owner of everything, 2 but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by the father. 3 So also we, while we were children, were held in bondage under the elemental things of the world. 4 But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, 5 so that He might redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. 6 Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, "Abba ! Father !" 7 Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son ; and if a son, then an heir through God. 8 However at that time, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those which by nature are no gods. 9 But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how is it that you turn back again to the weak and worthless elemental things, to which you desire to be enslaved all over again ? 10 You observe days and months and seasons and years. 11 I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored over you in vain. 12 I beg of you, brethren, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You have done me no wrong 

  How would you like to find out that you are the heir to a huge fortune? How would it change your life? Would you act the same way, or even do the same things? Many of us would change for the worse.  Scary thought, to think that money or possession's could change you in that way! I can not tell you how I would act, but I can tell you that we have all been rewarded something even greater.

  When you accept Christ in your life, you instantly win the ultimate reward. It says in verse 7-  Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son ; and if a son, then an heir through God. Unlike worldly heirships, your heavenly reward will never pass away, run out, or have the opportunity to be stolen. Before God, you are enslaved to your sin. After you receive Christ in your life, you are free from the bondage of sin.

  So if we are an heir to all that God has, and we are no longer a slave to sin, why do we care so much for the material things of this world?  Back to my previous question: How would it change your life? Well, you should look forward to your eternal reward that God has promised you. 

Romans 12:2 (New American Standard)

2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

  Will you change if you were told you were heir to a fortune? In this case, you should change. Knowing that you are called a son, or daughter of God should change the way you act, think, speak, and do things. The scripture says to be transformed, not to conform. You need to be different than everyone else. Why, if God has forgiven you of your sins, would you continue to be enslaved by them? This is a choice we make, because it is easier for us to conform, than to let God transform us. We would rather have rewards here on earth, than receive the rewards God has for us; that last an eternity. Glory the fact that you are an heir of Christ. Ask for forgiveness, and let God's grace transform your life.

   Focus on what you have for eternity, not what will pass away one day. Try to be a light in the lives of others today, so they can be called heirs and son's of God also!

OUR MEDIATOR

1 Timothy 2:5

⁵ For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus,






  Ever wonder what you would do if you were thrown into jail? Better yet, how about prison? Have you ever been accused of something you didn't do? How about being sentenced to death for being yourself? 


  I know a man that would give anything for his friends. He loved unconditionally, practiced what he preached, and turned the other cheek. He lived a short life, but his time on earth is the most documented time of any person in history. He healed the lame, blind, deaf, and broken-hearted. He calmed a sea with the sound of his voice. He raised people from the dead, and restored hope in everyone he came in contact with. This man suffered in the dessert, while Satan cunningly tried to tempt him. He passed every test or trial that was thrown at him. In the end, he would have nothing to show for it but his own life. As he hung on that cross lifeless, he looked down on the people that claimed to be his friends and said-" It Is Finished". His work on earth had been accomplished. He became our mediator.
  
  As you go through your life, wishing that someone would take up for you. Just remember that the greatest man to ever live, lived for one purpose. To die for us, and become our defense, our help, our strength, and our mediator. Now when we have done something, wrong we have a defense attorney that will take our case to God. Welcome this awesome man in to your life today, and let him take your case to court. He has never lost a case. He just needs a simple response from you.

Romans 10:9-11

⁹ If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. ¹¹ As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.”^[a]

GOD- MY PROVIDER

Genesis 22

¹ Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!”

   “Here I am,” he replied.

 ² Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.”

 ³ Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. ⁴ On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. ⁵ He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”

 ⁶ Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, ⁷ Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, “Father?”

   “Yes, my son?” Abraham replied.

   “The fire and wood are here,” Isaac said, “but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?”

 ⁸ Abraham answered, “God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.” And the two of them went on together.

 ⁹ When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. ¹⁰ Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. ¹¹ But the angel of the LORD called out to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”

   “Here I am,” he replied.

 ¹² “Do not lay a hand on the boy,” he said. “Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.”

 ¹³ Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram^[a] caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. ¹⁴ So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, “On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.”

 ¹⁵ The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time ¹⁶ and said, “I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, ¹⁷ I will surely bless you andmake your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, ¹⁸ and through your offspring^[b] all nations on earth will be blessed,^[c]because you have obeyed me.”

I can only imagine how Abraham felt when God made this request to him. He had just told Abraham that there would be nations that would descend from his son Issac. How would this happen if he was to sacrifice him? All along God had a plan, but He did give Abraham the whole plan. Could you imagine if Abraham would have told his wife. She had waited so long to finally, miraculously, receive God's blessing in a son. She would not of let him go through with it without a fight. Abraham told know one what God had requested of him, he just obeyed. All along he knew God would provide. He did not have all the information, but he knew what God had promised, and God would supply. Abraham says in verse 5: "Wait here while we go worship, and WE will be back". See he knew all the way that God would come through, even if it meant bringing Issac back from the dead. This is significant, because there had not been a resurrection in the history of mankind yet. God came through at the last minute with a ram. All the sudden he heard a ram stuck in the bushes.

Don't you think the ram was there all along? Abraham didn't hear the ram until God wanted him to. Wow, this is how God works, His timing is perfect, He comes through just in the nick of time.

  I have experienced this in my own life. God takes me through a trial that doesn't make any since to me, but His divine plan is at work. Have faith that God can finish what He has started in your life. Don't ever let the blessing get in the way of the blesser. You may have something that God blessed you with in your life. Beware not to let that thing get in the way, or become more important than the one who gave it to you. You may not see it, but God is in the process of blessing you.

  Abraham did something crucial, that allowed Him to receive his blessing-- He obeyed God. He didn't ask questions, he didn't waste time, he didn't procrastinate, he just obeyed.

 Are you willing to be obedient to God, so He can bless you?

Revival in the Valley of Dry Bones

  

Ezekiel 37 (New American Standard)

1 The hand of the LORD was upon me, and He brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley ; and it was full of bones. 2 He caused me to pass among them round about, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley ; and lo, they were very dry. 3 He said to me, "Son of man, can these bones live ?" And I answered, "O Lord GOD, You know." 4 Again He said to me, "Prophesy over these bones and say to them, 'O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.' 5 "Thus says the Lord GOD to these bones, 'Behold, I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life. 6 'I will put sinews on you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin and put breath in you that you may come alive ; and you will know that I am the LORD.' " 7 So I prophesied as I was commanded ; and as I prophesied, there was anoise, and behold, a rattling ; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. 8 And I looked, and behold, sinews were on them, and flesh grew and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them. 9 Then He said to me, "Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to thebreath, 'Thus says the Lord GOD, "Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain, that they come to life.""' 10 So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.

Spiritual collapse places us in the "Valley of Dry Bones," a situation in which we experience hopelessness and helplessness. God, however, has provided a way out.

We must be willing to listen to the Word of God. When in a "dry place," a place of no hope and no apparent answer to life's dilemmas, we must accept God's Word that begins the process of deliverance from disorder.

We must be willing to respond in obedience to the Word of God. It is our willingness to act on what is spoken by God that continues this deliverance from our "dry bones" state of existence.

We must be sensitive to the movement of God's Spirit. God's Word gives us order, but the Spirit gives life. The Holy Spirit provides the power to bring the truth of God's Word to fruition.

When we hear of despairing situations in our nation, state, city and personal lives, are we listening to the prophetic Word of God, or do we have our own agendas?

Once we connect the Word of Truth with God's Spirit, we can be delivered out of our hopeless situation and experience revival.~ Alternative View

I know that God is ready to do something amazing in our midst.  The question is, are we ready to sacrifice things to experience revival?  We all say that we want an out pouring from God onto our lives, but we don't give Him the time needed to give us what we ask!

 So many times our prayers sound like this:" Lord please give us an out pouring of your spirit". "Bring revival to your people".  After these prayers, we go back to life as we know it and nothing changes. 

Is it because God does not want change in our lives?  NO!!    It is because we want all that God can give us , and do for us, without giving Him anything in return! Why won't the church respond to a call of prayer? Why won't we sacrifice our time to work in a ministry that God is calling us to? Why are we consumed with ourselves, instead of others?

If we truly want revival, we will start being obedient to the word of God. We will listen to what the WORD has to say to us. We will be sensitive to God's spirit moving among us. If these "dry bones" will live again, it will be because we sacrificed things to allow God to move in our lives.

Lastly, let's all pray that God will reveal to us the things in our lives that prevent the spirit from moving. We should all pray that God would show us the things that keep us from a deeper relationship with Him. 

Are we willing to give things up in our lives, in order to let God REVIVE us?

REGRETS ANYONE?

1 John 1:9

⁹ If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Mark 11:24

²⁴ Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.

Regrets always produce one thing . . . depression. In my experience, regret is a product of creative thinking and excessive guilt, rather than a Godly remorse. As long as we live we will have set backs, missed opportunities, and major screw-ups. If the only way you see things is through a negative set of eyes, then you will always have regrets.

Do you regret the past?

......But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead.    Philippians 3:13

If you look back at the past year, or life, and have regrets on the path you took. Stop thinking that way the moment you catch yourself doing that! Its not fair to judge your past mistakes based on the information you have now. When you see missed opportunities,(it's a good thing) it means you have matured. Therefore, when that problem comes along again, you will have the insight to avoid the same mistake. So the next time you have missed opportunities that you had failed to see in the past, you should be excited because it means you are growing. While you are regretting the past, present opportunities are passing you by.

Do you regret your sins?

¹⁰ Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death. 2 Corinthians 

You don't have to regret the sins you have asked forgiveness for. It is a trick of the devil to have you focus on past mistakes. The devil would like to trick me into thinking that I missed out on God's blessing, because of my sins. The fact of the matter is, we serve a redemptive, gracious God. The bible says when you ask for forgiveness, God cast our sins as far as the east is from the west. Do not fall for the enemies tricks..........focus on what God has for you now, not what the enemy stole from you yesterday. This is your year to live in God's grace and forgiveness, instead of your past faults and sins.

THIS LIFE IS NOT YOURS

Job 1:21-22 (New American Standard)

21 He said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, And naked I shall return there. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD." 22 Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God.

Philippians 1:6 (New American Standard)

6 For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.

  I encourage everyone who reads this blog to go back & read the book of Job.  What a horrific spell of events.  God knew that Job was his most faithful possession on earth, and so the divine wager was made.  Satan jumped on the chance to destroy one of God's prized people.  The wager was made, and the onslaught began.  All this was done without Job knowing a thing about it.  I thought about that for a while, and concluded that knowing what God was doing would have made it a lot easier.  Yes, it would still be hard going through all that Job had to endure, but knowing God's plan for it all would have softened the blow.

  Reading this book makes me question if I could have faith like that.  I am in a similar place in my life, as Job was. (all tough not nearly as severe)  I have all kinds of question like: How God? or Why God? or statements like...... show me God.  After reading this book, I realized that God was showing me something.  

  No matter how bad our situation is........God is always working behind the scenes.  Now look at the first verse at the top.  After all the Devil stripped from Job, he still praised God knowing that none of this was his in the first place.  Everything we have is on loan from God!  Think about that for a minute.  Your job...on loan, your kids.....on loan, your house......on loan.  Now I see why Job was still praising God after all of that.  He realized that everything he lost wasn't his in the first place.  No matter what the situation, God is always at work in your life.  Now I understand that I don't have to have all the answers.....I just have to have faith.  I don't know what God's divine plan is for my job is right now, but I will have faith like Job did. 

   I know that God has called me, and He has a divine purpose for me.  I will wait on God, is timing is perfect.  He has never failed me, and He's not going to start now.  Whether God is closing this job's door to open another job's door, or whether He is just testing me, I will stand firm on his word.  Remember..... this life is not yours!  It belongs to God.  He has entrusted you with the things that He has given you.  Its up to you if you will give Him praise for it all, or take all the credit yourself. Don't forget that God can take what He has blessed you with whenever He wants.  

  Be thankful for what you have. Honor God with your possession's. And when you come to a situation that you don't understand.........Rest in knowing, God is in control.  Everyone will have to go through the valley, in order to reach the mountain top of life.

James 1:3-10 (New American Standard)

3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, 8 being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways. 9 But the brother of humble circumstances is to glory in his high position ; 10 and the rich man is to glory in his humiliation, because like flowering grass he will pass away.

 

Reversing the Curses in Your Life

2 Kings 5:1-19 (New American Standard)

1 Now Naaman, captain of the army of the king of Aram, was a great man with his master, and highly respected , because by him the LORD had given victory to Aram. The man was also a valiant warrior, but he was a leper.

2 Now the Arameans had gone out in bands and had taken captive a little girl from the land of Israel ; and she waited on Naaman's wife.

3 She said to her mistress, "I wish that my master were with the prophet who is in Samaria ! Then he would cure him of his leprosy."

4Naaman went in and told his master, saying, "Thus and thus spoke the girl who is from the land of Israel."

5 Then the king of Aram said, "Go now, and I will send a letter to the king of Israel." He departed and took with him ten talents of silver and six thousand shekels of gold and ten changes of clothes.

6 He brought the letter to the king of Israel, saying, "And now as this letter comes to you, behold, I have sent Naaman my servant to you, that you may cure him of his leprosy."

7 When the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his clothes and said, "Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this man is sending word to me to cure a man of his leprosy ? But consider now, and see how he is seeking a quarrel against me."

8 It happened when Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his clothes, that he sent word to the king, saying, "Why have you torn your clothes ? Now let him come to me, and he shall know that there is a prophet in Israel."

9 So Naaman came with his horses and his chariots and stood at the doorway of the house of Elisha.

10Elisha sent a messenger to him, saying, "Go and wash in the Jordan seven times, and your flesh will be restored to you and you will be clean."

11 But Naaman was furious and went away and said, "Behold, I thought, 'He will surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the LORD his God, and wave his hand over the place and cure the leper.'

12 "Are not Abanah and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel ? Could I not wash in them and be clean ?" So he turned and went away in a rage.

13Then his servants came near and spoke to him and said, "My father, had the prophet told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more then, when he says to you, 'Wash, and be clean '?"

14 So he went down and dipped himself seven times in the Jordan, according to the word of the man of God ; and his flesh was restored like the flesh of a little child and he was clean.

Everyday, people live under the curse of defeat, which takes on many different forms. It could be recurring disease, depression, one financial problem after another, family problems passed down from generation to generation.

For the Christian, there is always hope.  Jesus came to reverse every curse and give us power to conquer anything that might hold us down. God specializes in making the impossible possible.

In 2 Kings 5:1-19 is the story of Naaman, a valiant warrior who led his country to victory.  Cursed with leprosy, an incurable disease that left its victims sick and social isolated, Naaman sought help from the prophet, Elisha. After dipping seven times in the Jordan River at Elisha's command -- Naaman initially scoffed at - the Syrian warrior was healed. Naaman turned his heart to worship God of Israel, the reverser of the curse.

Like Naaman, commit to see your cleansing through. God will redeem what you thought was impossible to restore. Let today be the day that you reverse the curse in your life. The thing that holds you back the most, let it go, and let God restore your life. 

Encouragement Always Speaks Truth in Love

Galatians 6 (New American Standard)

1Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in aspirit of gentleness ; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted.2Bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ.3For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.4But each one must examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting in regard tohimself alone, and not in regard to another.5For each one will bear his own load.

Romans 12:3 (New American Standard)

3For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think ; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted toeach a measure of faith.

James 5:19-20 (New American Standard)

19My brethren, if any among you strays from the truth and one turns him back,20let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from deathand will cover a multitude of sins.

James 2:13 (New American Standard)

13For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy ; mercy triumphs over judgment.

Most of us, at one time or another, have had someone in our lives who encouraged us.  Perhaps it was a parent, teacher, coach or pastor.  There are few things in life as meaningful as a timely word of encouragement that builds us up and helps us through hard times.

Over my few years of ministry, I have found that a voice of encouragement can be life-affirming, while a voice of discouragement can wield a mortal blow.   People must always choose which voice they'll be.

As we encourage, we should always speak truth. Discouragement is so often built on a lie, driven by the wrong information.  When we encourage people with the truth, we show them we truly care. God has sent someone for you to encourage today. Will you heed his call, or be the voice of discouragement?  

It is easy to get sucked into back-biting, but God has a plan for you to be the voice of encouragement today.