...Like a tree planted by streams of water........no worries........

Based on Jeremiah 17:7-8 

“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,

    whose confidence is in him.

8 

They will be like a tree planted by the water

    that sends out its roots by the stream.

It does not fear when heat comes;

    its leaves are always green.

It has no worries in a year of drought

    and never fails to bear fruit.”

and Psalm 1:1-3

Blessed is the one

    who does not walk in step with the wicked

or stand in the way that sinners take

    or sit in the company of mockers,

2 

but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,

    and who meditates on his law day and night.

3 

That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,

    which yields its fruit in season

and whose leaf does not wither—

    whatever they do prospers.

When trials and tests come, we tend to be afraid, to wonder how we are going to get through this, but the Word of God says that if we trust in Him, we have no need to fear because when we trust Him, have faith in Him, we are like trees planted by streams of water.
God is our provider, he has everything under control, if we have Him, we have everything we need to go through the test, the trial, the heat.

Sometimes in life , it feels like we are going through a drought - a dry place, a hard time, a time when it seems that we don't have what we need for life, what we need to survive this drought, but we don't have the same sources as those in the world , our source is God. God who is ALL POWERFUL, for whom NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE!

Therefore, as long as we continue to put our trust and confidence in Him, WE WILL NEVER FAIL TO BEAR FRUIT!
HALLELUJAH!!!

We are Peculiar People

He Wants It All
 by Forever Jones

There's a voice that cries out in the silence, 

Searching for a heart that will love Him.

Longing for a child that will give Him their all

Give it all, He wants it all

And there's a God that walks over the earth

He's searching for a heart that is desperate

And longing for a child

That will give Him their all

Give it all, He wants it all

And He says love me, love me with your whole heart

He wants it all today

Serve me, serve me with your life now

He wants it all today

Bow down, let go of your idols

He wants it all today [x3]

He wants it all

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As Christians, we are called to glorify God in everything that we do, say........in every aspect of our lives. We should live a life that is pleasing to Him, a life that draws others to Him. People should be able to see God in us.....see His love, forgiveness, joy, and His righteousness.

1 Peter 2:9 tells us that we are a peculiar people set apart for God. 

Set apart means that we are called to be holy, to live holy lives which are centered around God. How do we do this? It’s just like what that kids' song says

"Watch your eyes; Watch your eyes, what they see. Watch your eyes, Watch your eyes, what they see. There’s a Father up above, looking down in tender love. Watch your eyes, Watch your eyes, what they see.......ears....lips.....feet..."

In other words, make sure that everything you do is pleasing in God's sight. Before you do or say anything or go anywhere, ask yourself a couple questions. Does this glorify Him? Will it dishonour Him? Am I representing Him properly when I do/ say/ go there? Am I standing up for righteousness? Would Jesus do this? We do this because we are called to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteusness. That means me and that means you.

We are a peculiar people. That means that we should stand out from others. We are not called to fit in with the crowd. Jesus didn't it in. Most people did not like or agree with what He said and stood for.Infact, He was critized alot and if we are representing Him it will be the same with us. 

We will be persecuted, but the Bible says in Proverbs 28:1 that we are as bold as a lion! Don't be ashamed of Him! He wasn't ashamed to give up His glory and Heavenly seat to come down to Earth and be critized, persecuted and crucified by the people He created, so that you might be saved. Jesus sad in Matthew 10:33 that if we deny Him here on earth, He will deny us before His Father in heaven. Do you want Him to deny knowing you?! I'm sure you don't so be bold for Him! Represent Him with everything you do, say, watch, hear, where you go and how you react to and generally treat others. He will honour you for it.

We are in the world but not of it. Romans 12:2 says

"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind......."

That means that though we live on this Earth, though we are in this world, we should not be like the people of this world (the un-saved). We are a peculiar people, we should be different. People should be able to look at us and see that there is something different about us and that difference is JESUS CHRIST. We are called to be set apart for God, so be careful what and who you surround yourself with......get rid of whatever or whoever is/ will lead you astray......He wants it all today.....everything that does not glirify Him...give it up! We are a pecliar people, set apart to bring His name glory.

Represent Him in eveerything you do! He wants ALL of you! He wants to use you to impact the lives of others.

1 Peter 2:9 

" But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possesssion, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful  light."

He called us out of the darkness, that means we are not to be and are no longer slaves to the things of the world! He called us away from the things of the devil........the devil has so many different ways of appealing to and tempting us....people (bad company), media ( dirty movies, books, magazines, shows), dance and , of course, music.  It often starts out subtle, just a ' little' (there is no such thing) bad word or swear word there, just one dirty joke or scene there, but then you become insensitive, you let your guard down, lower your standards and get drawn into the trap of the enemy.Then, 'all of a sudden', you find your self watching shows or listening to and even participating in conversations where badwords are used frequently and casually. You find yourself listening to and even telling dirty jokes, watching porn, masturbating and you get yourself in a whole lot of trouble. You find yourself pulling away from God and bing drawn into the things of the world and soon you are no longer able to control yourself because you have become a slave to the things of the world. you have opened a door for the devil to enter into and control your life. 

So what are you feeding yourself, your spirit with? Your mind is like a sponge, it absorbs whatever you feed it with. Be careful! God has called you to separate yourself from the things of the world. Let go of all your idols (the things that are more important to you than God) and serve him with all yur heart! Give Him your all, youw whole life. He wants it all today!

  

Remember: God has called you to be a peculiar people, set apart for Him. If you deny him here on Earth before man, He will deny you before his Father in heaven. 

Crossing the Reed (Red) Sea AGAIN

For the most part, we all know the story of how Israel crossed the Reed (Red) Sea ( Exodus 14-15 ),       but did you know that God performed (almost) the SAME miracle AGAIN in Joshua 3-4 ( http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Joshua+3 )

Here a few interesting revelations concerning this passage:
3.....“When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God...... you are to move out from your positions and follow it. 

Since the ark of the covenant represents The Lord's Throne, it means that The Lord Himself went into the Jordan ahead of His people as He led them into the land of rest. 

Isn't that amazing? Praise God!

17 The priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stopped in the middle of the Jordan and stood on dry ground,while all Israel passed by until the whole nation had completed the crossing on dry ground

Signifying that The Lord Himself remained in the place of danger until all Israel had crossed the Jordan.

Read this amazing testimony:

15 Now the Jordan is at flood stage all during harvest. Yet as soon as the priests who carried the ark reached the Jordan and their feet touched the water’s edge, 16 the water from upstream stopped flowing. It piled up in a heap a great distance away, at a town called Adam in the vicinity of Zarethan, while the water flowing down to the Sea of the Arabah (that is, the Dead Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed over opposite Jericho.

Wowwwww!!!! Amen!! 

I'd just like to point out something else :

5 Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the Lord will do amazing things among you.”

What it's saying is that God cannot do amazing things among us when we are not in rightsatnding with him. So if you want God to do amazing things in and through you, then you must consecrate yourself before him, live a life that is pleasing in his sight.

God Misses YOU!

Luke 15:20
But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

The Prodigal Son's father is just like God ( or vice versa ). Just like the father in the story, NO MATTER HOW FAR we run from him, how much we mess up , God is waiting for us to run back to him. He is looking out for us with OPEN ARMS. He misses us , HE MISSES YOU whenever you're apart from Him. He's waiting for YOU to come back to him.

God is ALWAYS speaking to You

No matter how bad ur circumstance may seem , God is always working in your favour. 
God is always speaking.....all we have to do is listen.....he may speak thru His word, a word of knowledge, a prophetic word, thru an individual and even in the quiet.
Ask him to help u know and be sensitive to his voice.

Failure should make us run TO God not from Him

God understands that we are gonna make mistakes. After all, we are humans.


1 John 1:8
“If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth.” 

Thats we his forgiveness is ongoing. Once we are sincerely sorry , God is willing to forgive us and make us clean. 

1 John 1:9
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."

What are you hungry for?

What is your appetite?  What are you hungry for? What do you desire?What do you crave?

As humans, we all have something or things that we desire. Something that we want with all our hearts.
Do you desire God? Or do you crave the things of the world? (sex, pornography, women, men, success, wealth etc.).
All hunger produces movement....a drive. Meaning, whatever you are hungry for, you will pursue and fill yourself with.
So what are you hungry for? Is it something that is sinful? Something that is not of God?

Genesis 25: 29-31

Esau Sells His Birthright

29 Now Jacob cooked a stew; and Esau came in from the field, and he was weary. 30 And Esau said to Jacob, “Please feed me with that same red stew, for I am weary.” Therefore his name was called Edom.[c]

31 But Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright as of this day.”

Esau's appetite was for food (nothing is wrong with food but) and it caused him to give up his birthright - his blessing, his favour. 

Is what you are hungry for going to cause you to give up ( sell ) the blessings God has for you.......his purposes for your life.......your relationship with him?

...........be careful of what you are hungry for! 

Jesus is our PASSOVER LAMB

JESUS IS OUR PASSOVER LAMB

What does that mean.....? This is what it means :
Many, many years ago, when the Israelites were in Egypt, God told them to take the BLOOD OF A LAMB and put it on their doorpost, TO PROTECT THEM from the Angel of Death.

Exodus 12:21-23
English Standard Version (ESV)
21........ KILL THE PASSOVER LAMB...........22 touch the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood 23 WHEN HE SEES THE BLOOD......the Lord will PASS OVER the door and WILL NOT ALLOW the destroyer to enter your houses to strike you.

When Jesus Christ died on the cross, over 2000 years ago, he fulfilled the feast of Passover and BECAME OUR PASSOVER LAMB. So THROUGH HIS BLOOD , WE ARE SAVED, just as the Israelites were saved by the blood of a lamb.

 1 Corinthians 5:7
New International Version

Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch--as you really are. For CHRIST,OUR PASSOVER LAMB, has been sacrificed.

                                

What does "Jesus" mean?

Ever wondered what the name 'Jesus' means?

Jesus, in Greek - Ἰησοῦς (pronounced Ie-esus), is a Judeo-Greek version of the Hebrew name Joshua.In Hebrew, “Joshua” (יְהוֹשֻׁעַ pronounced Yĕhôshúa‘) means “YHWH/Adonai is salvation.

eteacherbiblical.com

FREE GIFT!!!

There's a FREE gift waiting for you, and it is the BEST gift you can ever receive.........Salvation, through Jesus Christ.
Will you accept the gift?

God wants YOU to be saved!

Just want to remind you all.............
GOD LOVES YOU SOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH!!!! HE CARES ABOUT YOU!! :)
He wants you to be reconciled to him. Will you accept the call?

"So how do I become a Christian?" ,You might ask.

Romans 10:9 tells you how, " If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead you will be saved."

If you want to make sure that when you die, you will go to heaven ....if you want to accept God's gift of eternal life to you, I invite you to say this prayer :

God, thank you for creating me. Thank you for loving me enough to send your Son to die for me on the cross. I believe that Jesus is lord and that you raised him from the dead. I ask you to forgive me of all my sins, I accept you as my personal Lord and Saviour. Jesus come into my heart and be Lord of my life.
In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

If you just said that prayer, I want to welcome you to the family of the Body of Christ. You are now a Christian and if you were to die, you would go to Heaven. Congratulations!!!  and again, welcome to the family! God is so happy right now!  He was waiting for YOU to be saved 

BLOOD MOON!!!

We are in the END TIMES! Jesus is coming SOON!!
On Tuesday night, around midnight and 3 am , there will be a BLOOD MOON!!  This is significant because it is the time of Passover! Prepare yourself, the end is closer than we think.

latinpost.com says:
The eclipse will be visible in both North and South America and parts of the Pacific Basin including Hawaii and Eastern Australia. Europe Africa and central Asia, however, will be in day light during the occurrence and will miss the event entirely.
The show last 78 minutes and will begin around 2 a.m. Tuesday in east coast or at around 11 p.m. Monday on the west coast.

God Wants YOU to KNOW him personally

1 John 5:20
We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true........

God wants you and i to truly know him for ourselves. He has given us, through Jesus, understanding so that we might know God. Who he is, his character, how he sees you and I. Pray for God to activate that understanding as you read the Bible, so that you might know God personally.

Get Back Up Again

Get Back Up by Toby Mac http://youtu.be/MX5OqyBYKh4

' Its never too late to get back up again '

Maybe you've been through alot. Maybe you've messed up , backslid, got into the wrong stuff.......but guess what God wants you to GET BACK UP. He wants to pick you back up , brush you off, and start over.  

You are valuable to God! Yes, YOU! :)

Regardless of what others say you are a child of God. You are valuable to him and he cares about you.

1 Peter 2:9
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

Psalm 139: 14
I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.

Matthew 6:26
Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

God will carry you through your week :)

You dont have to do it alone. :) Cast your cares, your worries, your anxieties on him. He WILL come through for you :)

Psalm 55:22
Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will n
ever let the righteous be shaken.

The Holy Spirit Equips Us

The Holy Spirit Equips us for whatever God has in store for us. 

It was after his baptism ( Matthew 3:13-17 )  that Jesus' Ministry began and when Jesus was baptized, The Holy Spirit came down like a dove. It rested on him and EQUIPPED HIM for ministry. Equipped him for his work as the divine-human Messiah.

Luke 4: 18

'The spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to reach the good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, 19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour.

Acts 1:8
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

Fellowship with Other Christians is IMPORTANT!!

It is so important that we surround our selves with fellow believers, and fellowship with them regularly. 
Here is one reason:
The devil builds his strongholds by First feeding us lies. He then begins to isolate us, separate us form other Christians. 
" Once they are alone..........their minds can be influenced quite easily, and without the benefit of good teaching and the support of other believers, they fall prey to his allurements". 

-Discovering the Secret to a successful prayer life

How does the Devil build Strongholds?

Ever heard the term "Pulling Down Strongholds" ? 

Ever wondered how the devil builds up strongholds? 

( Referring to the strongholds the enemy tries to have over our lives, not stronghold as in God )

"A Spiritual stronghold is built with different materials so that Satan is able to contain us.He tries to cause each Christian to become surrounded by a restraining wall that will limit that person's freedom..............................
So how does he actually manage to collect all the " bricks" that he needs to build his stronghold?
First of all, the " father of lies " begins by impressing all manner of wrong thoughts into your thought-life -- thoughts such as, " They don't love you, " or " Someone is saying bad things about you", or any other lies from a multitude of lies. The truth of the matter is, were you to confront those whom you perceive to be the source of the problem and explain how you feel, they would probably be utterly surprised and reveal that there was no truth to base your felling or thought upon...........................................
Secondly, Satan starts to isolate individual Christians. Once they are alone, they become more vulnerable. Their minds can be influenced quite easily,and without the benefit of good teaching and the support of other believers, they fall prey to his allurements. 
For example, a person might begin to think that there is a whispering campaign about him or her. Then, one Sunday morning, the pastor greets some people but neglects to acknowledge that person. Right away, Satan attacks their mind with, Does the Pastor have something against me? And why is that sister looking at me like that? What is she thinking? "

- excerpt from ' Discovering the secret to a successful Prayer Life ' by Suzette Hattingh