John 20: 1-18

1 Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance. 2 So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, "They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don't know where they have put him!" 3 So Peter and the other disciple started for the tomb. 4 Both were running, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. 5 He bent over and looked in at the strips of linen lying there but did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came along behind him and went straight into the tomb. He saw the strips of linen lying there, 7 as well as the cloth that had been wrapped around Jesus' head. The cloth was still lying in its place, separate from the linen. 8 Finally the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went inside. He saw and believed. 9 (They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had to rise from the dead.) 10 Then the disciples went back to where they were staying. 11 Now Mary stood outside the tomb. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. 13 They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?" "They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don't know where they have put him." 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. 15 He asked her, "Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?" Thinking he was the gardener, she said, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him." 16 Jesus said to her, "Mary." She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, "Rabboni!" (which means "Teacher"). 17 Jesus said, "Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, 'I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.' " 18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: "I have seen the Lord!" And she told them that he had said these things to her. Today we celebrate the resurrection. It is the most joyous day for those who believe. But what is the resurrection? What does it mean? It means to come back to life from death. Are you here to worship Jesus who lived and died and then resurrected? Are you one who goes to church only on Easter and not the rest of the year? We cannot have a resurrection without death. Let us look at ourselves and see where we are in our faith. Someone had written this...You say I am the way but you do not follow me, you say I am the truth but you do not believe me... Are you living your life with Jesus as your master? We are to die, rid ourselves of the old self but have we. When I am tired things irritate me and my old self comes out. Then did I truly die. In order to participate in the resurrection of Christ not only must I die, but I also must live the new life. Instead of living a new life we try to use our cunning to pretend that we are holy. But pretending to live like this means that we have not died nor resurrected. How real is your faith? If Christ is really in you you will not sin. We say that the apostles were given the Holy Spirit and therefore could live the way thaey did. Then can you not also live like this? It is not because you lack the Holy Spirit, it is because Christ is not really in you. Is this not truth? I must participate in the resurrection so that I can worship in truth and with joy in my heart, but without having done so, after we are done with wordhip, the moment you leave your old self will come out. Your anger, jealousy, pride, selfishness. All the things I must rid of so that I can die. I must rid myself of everything to die. Ask a corpse a question you will never get a response. The fact that you are driven by your emotions when someone bothers you means you have not yet died. If you are in Christ you are a new creation. That means that there should be new actions and behaviors. Without new behaviors means you are not in Christ. You must be able to understand this. Because you have a title of an elder or pastor does that qualify you as a Christian? You do not have the resurrrected Christ, you only have the knowledge of Christ. Jesus came to show us how to live the life that is set for us in the Old Testament. In order to live this life we need to die with Him and resurrect with Him. We cannot live the same life of sin once we have been baptised into the faith. Have you died? What is really important is the hope I put into the resurrection that I will be able to live this new life with Him. Without it what use it it for me to praise and worship and sing the songs of the resurrrection when I am not participating in it? This life is lived now. You cannot live this life later thinking you wil do it before you die. You must out your faith into action and start doing the things that you are called to do. May you live the life that shows that you have been resurrected with Christ. The more you die, there are details that God will show you to further let go of the things that keep you from Him. May you be able to see these things and maek the change to live the life with union in Christ.

Satisfied In Christ

Many of us say that we cannot live without Jesus, that we are content only in Him, but is this truth to you? Are you following Jesus because you want something from Him? Would you still follow Him, if you ended up living on the streets? Where do you stand? Many people say that they will follow Christ, but many are not satisfied completely only in Him. Those people want something from Jesus. They want a good spouse, their businesses to succeed, they want Jesus to bless them in the things of this world. When i counsel people, some come because they want to recieve power. They wan the gift to heal or pray for people and do amazing things, but when I tell them that I have no power, only Jesus, they all end up leaving, because theya want something more than Jesus. They want the power to do things on their terms. They want to heal people and have the gift to change lives because they want the credit. Did they come to learn about God or did they come to learn about something that they can use for themselves? Only if they could see that if they had Jesus they would have everything. When I am content in Christ, even though I have the gift to heal, I only heal those who God tells me to heal. Ultimately it is God's choice so really I do not have any power. Do you have any gifts? They are not yours for you to do as you will. It belongs to God. You are to do what he tells you to do. If you say taht you belong to God, then how can you rebel against Him? You do what you want because you do not serve God but you serve yoursleves. Is God really your Master? Then do as He says. In a house, there is the owner and everyone below him. Everyone is given a different position and certain responsibilities. God has given us many gifts, and responsibilities, and we are to do His work, but we do not. We waste them. To us, we do not see how amazing our gifts are, but rather we look at others and wonder why we are in the place we are in and others are doing work in greater places. Instead of finding my path and being content in my place I envy others. This is idol wordhip. You think foolish thoughts because Jesus is not everything to you. You complain make excuses about everything. You think that you are special and different, but in truth we are all the same. There is a saying that the other persons food looks better than yours. It is because you are not content. You do not know how to be content in Christ alone and so you desire the things of this world. People say that the Bible is outdated and does not matter any more. That is nonsense. If we are following God, then the time and era does not change. If God is our purpose then even if everything else changes our faith does not. The life of victory becomes mine when I am truly focused on Christ. What use is your pride in this life? Even in this world, you cannot go where you want with pride. In a realtionship pride destroys.. You must have humility to make a relationship work. The Lord tells us to ide to oursleve. We are to carry the cross, we are to die and ressurect and be a new creation. You do not do, because you do not want to. You are lazy and blame it on God saying He did not chnage you. It is you who does not make the change. You must be able to confess that Jesus is enough. Even thoug you will stumble at times, you must not think that you will, but you must be determined not to fall, and when you do, you must get up and keep going. What is faith? God does not desire something impossible. He desires simply for you to walk with Him daily. You do not grow up in one day. It takes time for you to grow and God desires you to walk daily with Him now. You keep saying I'll start tomorrow and it has been 10, 20, 30 years that you have been living in sin. When will you repent and turn to Him? There is no tomorrow. Now is the time. No one can make you be satisfied in Christ alone. You must decide that for yourself. Then you must live the life that shows that you are satisfied in Him.

1 Samuel 31:1-13

Last week we discussed the subject of fasting. We assume that prayer is follwed by fasting. But fasting is fasting and prayer is prayer. When we sing the hymn 355 when is it the main time we do? "Called of God, We Honor the Call" We normally sing it when we send a person on a mission trip but is that it? This is for everyone. We are all called of God and we must all honor the call. Why is it that we sing this for only missionaries and not for ourselves? We have all been called to be missionaries where we are but we fail to see this. When we talk about fasting we think that people only fast when the king decrees it. But in the New Testament it is an individual call. Why is it in the OT that people fasted when they were commanded but in the NT did this kind of fast not exist? Why do you fast and pray? To fast is to deny yourself of all things of the flesh and laying your life before God to do as He wills, but we come before God asking Him to give us something. The true purpose of fasting and the reason we fast are different. In the way of the OT does God say that those who obey the Ten Commandments will go to heaven? There is no such promise. God does promise that if you obey His commands that you will be blessed in this world. He promises the blessings of tithing and the blessings of obeying your parents. In the NT after the Resurrection God gave us the promise of heaven. They no longer gave a tenth but gave everything to tGod and shared everything with the church. Where is our faith? Why do we not live like this? We give a tenth and desire that God gives us more. We come to church pretending to be a Christian. We act differntly the moment we leave church and be the person that we truly are. Then are you a true believer of God? Is God only alive when you some to church? CAn you go to heaven living like this? A Christian is one who lives the life that shows their faith. If I am filled with teh Spirit then the things that come out of my mouth should be praise, but if the things that come out of my mouth are judging and persecuting and vile then am I a follower of Christ? Am I not denying God living like this? We should not live in so many contradictions. Why did the people of Jabesh fast after the death of Saul? Who are the people of Jabesh? They were saved by Saul when the Ammonites tried to come and capture them. Out of gratitude, they came and took the body and fasted for the death of Saul. When we see people in our lives who suffer, we don't think about praying for them and fasting for their blessings. Can you have a heart like this? Would God not love to accept this kind of fast? When we are faced with trials we should look to the Word and compare our hearts and start with repentance and then ask God to help us oversome the problem. We forget about the reason why and rather are just concerned with getting our paryers answered. Is there anyone who does not have problems? God desires to bless us through His Word. And when we stray from His way we come into difficulty. We should reflect into our hearts everyday all the things that we have done and if the Word shows us we are wrong then we should repent, but we close our hearts adn refuse to listen. Then as time goes by our hearts become hardened and no longer desire to right what is wrong. We do not see that we are the sinner who is causing someone else to stumble. Whether it is our spouse, children or neighbor we sit in a position of judge and persectue others when in truth we are the ones who are wrong. When we fast in this state our prayers will never be answered. I must be the one who is right before God first. I must not look at others and judge them for what I think they are wrong. I must look at myself and see my wrongs and repent them to God and stand before Him and be clean.

Victory In Faith

We are all familair with victory, but what if victory in faith? It is overcoming until the end and enetring into the presence of God and during this time on earth to help bring those who are lost to God. If we end up in hell then we will have failed. So what are the things that we should look at to be victorious in faith? How can we be victorious? Is it because we know something in our mind? Unltimately we must enter into heaven. This can only be done with true faith. We must truly believe. There are many people who are saying that those who have already passed on are not in heaven. We may look at someone and think that they are going to heaven, we can look at their circumstace and the things they have and say that God has blessed them greatly and are going to heaven, but in truth it is what we don't see, the spirit, that God judges which will be tested. How are you living your life to be worthy of heaven? You say you belive in Christ and that you have been cleansed by His blood, so are you living the life that has been changed by your faith? You must believe that you have been saved and put your faith and trust in Him, without this you cannot enter into heaven. If God came tonight could you raise your hand in assurance that you are going to heaven? We may have faith, but at times we stumble. We have doubt when we suffer, but it should not be this way. Whether we are wll or not, our faith should be the same. How many times a day are you in heaven and then in hell because of your emotions? When we have complete assurance in Christ and believe that we have been saved then we will not stumble no matter our situation and we will not doubt a bit. This is how our faith should be. How many of us live in our flesh? We do things based on our feelings. When we are happy we feel close to God and feel as though we are saved and when things go bad we think that we are far from God and have fallen from His grace. You cannot base your victory on an event. Even if things never change you are to stand firm in the Word of God and keep going forward. If I cannot accept the truth because of my situation then I will fail to live in victory. You cannot be on a diet and say you will start tomorrow after you eat what you want today. You must commmit to it now and everyday forward no matter what is put in front of you. Today is the day and it is precious. You are to stand firm now in the truth. Do your best today and be victorious. You do not become president overnight. It takes a lifetime to get to that position. It takes a lifetime to get to any position of authority. Everyone has dreams. Even at my age I have dreams that I still want to attain. It does not happen overnight. It takes hard work and effort. Some will achieve their dreams and others will not. It is a matter of perserverance. It will not be if you only think about it. You cannot be a CEO overnight. You will start at the bottom and work your way up. A life of faith in vicotry is the same. You must work hard at it. You must read the Word daily and digest it and then live it. It is a daily commitment. You will not be done in one day. Jesus spent His time doing this daily. How many of us dislike this. We are lazy and refuse to put in the effort. The apostle Paul almost overnight went out and preached powerfully but he had a solid upbringing in the Word of God. He was raised in knowledge and discipline. Whether we believe or not it is our choice. I know of someone who had been a pastor for many decades and later left because he had no faith. I also know of someone who used to read people's fortunes but left that to follow Christ. It is because that person chose to believe while the expastor did not. If you have doubt ask God to show you. Read the bible the answers are there. Do not be proud. If I do not submit myself daily, die to Christ daily, if I do not become like a child daily then I cannot succeed in this life of faith. God is the Faither of all of us but He must be my Father. If you truly belive in your Father then you must obey Him. Victory comes when we truly believe in God, submit to Him and follow Him in all He commands. Do not forget this.

Jonah 3:1-10

In today's word, there are many sermons that can be given from just this 3rd chapter, but more than that I would like to ask you about something more specific. To the city of Nineveh, God was going to bring down the city because of their sins. It was a city that needed three days to walk but only after a day the city heard the message and began to fast. Many of us have tried fasting. Today I want to ask you about fasting. Why do you fast? The people of Nineveh fasted after hearing God's message and even the king got up, took off his clothes, out on sackloth, gave a command to fast and sat in dust. He did it to try to change the will of God. Do you fast also with this repentant heart? Do you fast like this or do you fast because you desire something. What kind of fasting prayer will God accept? When water leaves a container depending on where you are in this world it will leave either going clockwise or counterclock wise. It is pulled one way or the other by the pull of gravity. There are things in our lives that we ae told to get rid of but we hold onto these things in fear of letting go, or refusing to do so. We can't let go because we feel as if we will die if we do. But if we just let go, and allow Jesus to to dwell in us, then just as the water will flow out we can let go of the things in our lives that we must rid of. It is because we do not have Christ in our lives and He is not our focus. We are to let go of everything in our lives, our children, careers, spouses, but we can't, then do you think that we need to fast? Moses fasted for fourty days and God took care of him. When God calls you to give you the blessings in the spirit, the point is not that you need to fast, but the point is to see the face of God and to let go of everything else in this world and know that GOd will take care of you. The point of the Nineveh's fast was repentance. It is the basic foundation of prayer and fasting that you repent for every sin that you have committed. When you fast how are you to do it? It is the prayer or repentance that is important. There is also intecessory prayer as in the story of Esther. David also prayed for others while he fasted. Have you fasted because someone else was sick or their health to get better. As a father have you fasted for your children? Have you fasted for you spouse? Have you fasted for your customers? These are imporatnt prayers that God listens to. There are also prayers when you seek the help of God. When you are faced with a great trial you can fast and sek the help of God. You are in a position wherever you are in you family or your business, and you can put yourself out there and fast for those around you. If at somepoint you have come to realize that you need to change your life and start living differently, it is not that you pray because you need things for this new life like money and anythign else for you chosen path, but it is the prayer that you will only submit and trust in God. It is the prayer that you will follow Him. How many times have we fasted for selfish reasons? We need to think about the reason of why we fast. Are we to fast for sins, for others, for God to do His will? We must consider the purpose of our fast rather doing it for our selfish reasons. You may consider yourself a person of prayer and think yourself a great person because God answers all your prayers, but what matters will be in the end will you make it into the promised land? God gave the Israelites eveyrthing they wanted but who went into the promised land? Why does God hear the prayers of some and not others? Why did God not dave Dabid's child even though he fasted for a week? The ones that God loves He is more semil. Do you want God to hear your prayers? The prayers that you do for yourself are the lowest of prayers.

God's Grace

We who are believers speak of God's grace maany times throughout the day, but do you really understand His grace? Is it something that you have that you share, or do you keep it for yourself, or is it something that you do not understand? We as believers know about God's grace but for many of us it stops there. It is something we know about and do not know how to live in it. When we are children the parents provide and so many things for the child because they are unable and not prepared, but as a parent we teach the child to teach them to be able to live on their own one day. If the child does not see that the parent has given them everything with in their power to raise them, then they will fail to have gratitude in their life. It is not the amount that was given to the child great or small but it is the love of the parent their entire life given to the child for their gain. As we come before God as children and complain to our God about our circumstance and compare ourselves to others and ask God why we don't have what they have what does it say about our hearts? Why do you go to God in prayer? Is it for material blessings? Is it so that God can do His will in your life and that you may go forth and share the good news? Are you grateful that you sleep in a bed in a home? Why should the homeless live on the streets? Should they not also sleep in houses in beds? They might have made mistakes to end up there, but it does not mean that they do not deserve better, nor are we any better than them. All of God's blessings is because of His grace for us. When you complain that God does not bless you then you fail to see that without God's grace you would not be alive. When I am able to take medicine for my pain, I am grateful. I am grateful that I have a wheelchair that allows me to get to where I need to go, even Korea. Without this I could not go anywhere. I used to walk once, and now I can't but I am grateful that I am able to get around. I am gratful that He relieves my pain. I can be grateful for all things because I am grateful fro God's love and grace in my life. We should be grateful. There are things that you don't have in your life because you are too lazy to get the things that you need. You cannot wait under a persimmon tree and expect the fruit to fall in you mouth. You must study hard as a student to get good grades so that you can graduate and get a good job to provide for you family. When I used to be in business, if we were busy then I was glad to make money, if the days were slow then I was grateful to have time to rest and read the bible. Where are you in your life today? What path will you choose? When I have customers or don't have customers I am always grateful and God always provides my daily bread. It is not the fault of the giver but the one who recieves that fails to see the good. We are told in today's society to not hurt the child and to keep them from emotional trauma. That is ridiculous. Even if you were to be the perfect parent if the child takes something as painful than there is nothing youcan do about it. Of course you don't want to purposely hurt the child. You cannot expect to shelter the child and then oneday leave your fold and then expect them to make it in this world. You cannot spoil them and then expect them to live in the real world. We fail to see the love of God the way it is. We fail to see the many gifts that He has given us. The gift of forgivenss is not for others but it si for our benefit. We are the ones to recieve peace when we forgive others. We are told to pray for the Jewish people but many people keep persecuting them saying that they are the ones to crucify Christ, but it is our sins that crucified Christ. Even the followers of Islam are the descendants of Abraham and we are to pray for them. We ae not to judge any race of people but rather we are to love them and pray for them. We have no right to judge and persecute. we are to pray for those that we do not get along with in faith. You are to practice the lessons of heaven in your home if you want to go to heaven. It is what you do in your homes that should be carried into the churches that should be taken to the nations. God does not desire any of His children go to hell, but we think that we are different or better because we are chosen. Do not think this way. We are no better. The universe belongs to God, He will not let you be lacking, or give you more than you can handle. There will be times when He takes away but even then we must be grateful. We are told to prepare our cups for God's blessings. We must first belive. That starts with living the life that God desires. Are you going to live the way you want or the way God desires? The choice belongs to you. The blessings of God are all yours as long as you obey. God is the one who provides you air to breathe. But you must breathe in order to live. May you choose to live in God's blessing by choosing to obey Him.

Faith does not cause actions in life cannot be true faith. Let's not deceive ourselves!!

Are we ready for the end time?

Can You Come Down From The Mountain?

"While you have the light, believe in the light..." (John 12:36).

We all have moments when we feel better than ever before, and we say, "feel fit for anything; if only I could always be like this!" We are not meant to be. Those moments are moments of insight which we have to live up to even when we do not feel like it. Many of us are no good for the everyday world when we are not on the mountaintop. Yet we must bring our everyday life up to the standard revealed to us on the mountaintop when we were there.
Never allow a feeling that was awakened in you on the mountaintop to evaporate. Don't place yourself on the shelf by thinking, "How great to be in shch a wonderful state of mind!" Act immediately- do something, even if your only reason to act is that you would rather not. If, during a prayer meeting, God whows you something to do, don't say, "I'wll do it"- just do it! Pick yourself up by the back of the neck and shake off you fleshly laziness. Laziness can always be seen in our cravings for a mountaintop experience; all we talk about is our planning for our time on the mountain. We must learn to live in the ordinary "gray" day according to what we saw on the mountain.
Don't give up because you have been blocked and confused once- go after it again. Burn your bridges behind you, and stand committed to God by an act of your own will. Never change your decisions, but be sure to make your decisions in the light of what you saw and learned on the mountain.
[from "My Utmost for His Highest" Oswald Chambers]

Dangerous Chemtrails

mindcontrol possible with chips implanted in man!!!!!

He Gave His Life so We could Live

"Faith"

What must we do to maintain fatih?
What causes you to have faith?
Believing in something you don't see is faith, having faith in something that you have seen is not the same.
Faith is something difficult.
It is something that is beyond comprhension.
To believe in Christ who came 2000 years ago to die on the cross, do you really belive in Him?
Does everyone here really believe in HIm?
No you do not.
It is the truth.
Of course I would desire that everyone does, but that is not the truth.
If I had my way i would do away with all denominations of the Christian faith, because it is only one.
I do not believe in a church or a group, I believe in the one who came to die for my sins, it has nothing to do with a denomination.
Some people act as if they believe in Christ but they do not.
Acting as if you believe does not get you into the kingdom of God.
You may fool man, but God is not fooled.  He looks at your heart.
You must truly live for Him.
It does not matter how much of a fuss you make and scream taht you believe, but if God says you do not, then you do not.
You think that because you do something for the church that the church needs you, but it is not so.
God does not need you to pretend to serve Him, He can use anyone else other than you.
You think that you are fooling people and God, but how long do you think that people will  be fooled?
Stop acting.
Faith is not about acting.
I have been looking back at my life this week and I asked myself what have I done for God, and I had nothing to offer to God.
Is Christ really alive in your heart?
Is Jesus really someone that you can believe in?
Are you willing to lay down your life for Christ?
Life today is so wonderful but still you complain about what you do not have.
What happens when the time comes and you are really tested?
What happens when your life is put to the test?
Are you going to pass the test?
You cannot even pass today's test yet what makes you think you are really following Christ?
In a whim you decide that you will not go to chruch because of something that you dislike, what kind of faith is that?
What more do you want from Christ?
What more does He need to do for you?
When I pray for people all they ask for is what they want.
They want, want, want.
They ask for faith, but refuse to believe.  faith has been given, they are the ones who choose not to.
Everything has been given to us, but it is your lack of faith.
God cannot give you anything more because He has given you everything even His only Son, but what more do you want?
God ask you to give up to nasty attitude but you refuse.
God ask you to give Him your children, you refuse.
What use is it if I speak this and I do not live this life I teach.
We are bound to sin, and Christ has coome to take that away from us, but because you refuse to believe in Him, you are lost and do not know what to do.
Stop being stubborn.
Stop talking about God when you do not know Him.
The more you know God the more you realize that you do not know Him, and the more you read the Word the more you realize you do not know.
The God of Creation, yes you must seek Him and get to know Him, but do you really want to put your trust in Him?
What is obedience?
Is obedience achieved when you understand?
A child does not have to know why, but when they are told to do something then they are required to do it.  That is obedience.
Once you question the command then it is not obedience.
You ask God why me, why not her,or him or my children?
You refuse to obey God but you want everyone else to do what you say.
Obedience is better than sacrifice, but do you even offer a good sacrifice?
You are only about you.
You only trust in yourself.
If God comes tonight what will you do?
Will you still be the same?
Will you keep doing what you want to do?
Will you do what God tells you to do?
We are to seek God and know Him, but you only seek God to ask Him to do what you want.
How long will you keep living this way?
We are told that then end is near, time is coming to an end.
You do not live forever.
If you refuse to open the door to your heart Jesus will not enter.
You must first obey God.
Stop making excuses about why you do not obey God.
Even if you do not understand obey first and ask God to show you why.
He will show you after you obey the reason for what you just did.
You have heard countless testimonies and read countless books about people and their encounter with God.
When will you grow up?
If you do not have a heart of repentance you will never grow.
If you do not decide to change your life your life will never change.
You must change today, not tomorrow.
Repent today, repent now.
No one can do it for you, no one can live your life for you.
My father was a pastor, but his faith does not allow me to go to heaven.
You faith is your own.
Without faith your life will not change.
I plead with you, please, change your life.
Repent and turn to God.
God is without fault, you must believe.
Do not think that God has made a mistake with you alone.
If you do, look at yourself.
God does not make mistakes!
Stop trying to use your head figuring out God.
You can't even understand those people around you, how will you understand God?
I wonder if God called me tonight if He would be holding me in His arms.
We are called to be holy.
Are you living a holy life?
Ponder deeply your life and where you stand before God.

John 3:30

John 3:30
He must become greater; I must become less."

Today we will look at this passage and think about it.
This verse was in last week's devotional that we are doing.
In any moment, things can get difficult for anybody.
I had the most difficult day yesterday, I did not have the strength to do anything, but I tried.
Even today I am not feeling well, because something has attacked me and I am not able to rid myself of it.
All our lives are like this.
We are bombarded by things around us constantly even when we try to live a life for Christ, but how much more do you think it will be difficult if you do not even try to live wholly committed to Christ.
Do you really love the cross or is it just an accessory that you wear?
The cross of Calvary is the life of death and suffering, but we think that it is not like this.
We are told in Matthew that those who follow Christ will be persecuted, but do you suffer persecution for Christ?
The moment someone says something that you dislike, your anger comes up. Are you suffering for Christ?
If you plant a seed for a certain vegetable or fruit does something else grow in its place?
What are the seeds that you have planted in your life?
You plant seeds of anger,destruction and hate, but you expect blessings and love.
What have you planted?
You wonder why your family is in turmoil and why your children are rebellious.
You have planted those seeds.
It is time to look at yourself.
Children need their parents, but have you raised them correctly if they are completely dependent on you?
You have raised them improperly because instead of raising them to depend on God you raised them to look up to you the parent.
When people suffer and you try to ease the suffering you are getting in the way of that person's growth.  You are robbing them of their spiritual growth.
You are to live a life that reflects Jesus but rather you want to live a life that reflects you.
How many people say they are followers of Christ and healers, but when you ask them who did the work they claim ownership and do not give glory to God.
Are you the only one who prays and heals people?
You do not heal, it is Christ who heals and you are to give Him glory.
If you keep getting in the way of someone's path to see God and you take the glory you are not doing God's work.
We are to be ready at all times to meet Christ.
He comes to us when we are at our most difficult times suffering sin, but when He comes we tell Him to not approach us.
Instead of always being ready to meet Him, we try to live a life that only tries to meet Him during prayer.
Man is capable of incredible things through discipline.
We can live a life that reflects the glory of God through discipline and trials, but do we live this life?
How much have you suffered this week?
You think that you can do what you want, be rebuked and then continue doing what you want.
That is not the life of a Christian, the life of a Christian is about suffering and serving.
We think that our lives should be without pain and suffering.
We refuse to go through trials and difficulties but say that we are one with Christ.
Is that possible.
Jeremiah made prophecies about the suffering because the people left God, but when we hear prophecies we only want them to be about blessings.
Even if my life were to come to an end, I must speak the truth to my last breath just as did John the Baptist.
Jesus says that there is none higher than John in heaven.
John lived on locust and wore camel hair, but it was a life that God acknowledged.
The life that God acknowledges is the life that is fruitful.
The disciples all served.
That is the life of greatness.
I must sacrifice myself, but because I refuse there lies the problem.
Recently in Russia a mother drank a liter of wine and then breast fed her child who eventually died of alcohol poisoning.
What you do as a parent will effect the life of your children and when your children have seen you live in rebellion against God where will your children end up?
You tell them to do good but what have they seen so that they know what good is?
You put them into the path of hell and you are responsible for their souls.
Have you ever considered that you have responsibility for how they turn out?
In your lives you see what people are doing, but when you see them are you learning how to live or are you learning how not to?
Are your actions providing proper nutrition for the souls of others or are you poisoning them?
Do you realize that by your actions that you are killing the spirit of others?
in order to suffer with Christ on the cross i am to suffer and humble myself and do what I must not for myself but for others.
What use is it to make more money?
Are you going to eat 5 meals instead of three?  Will you drive a care that will take you somewhere your car that you have cannot?
Life is not about the things of this world but the things of the spirit.
You think that just by saying you are sorry that you can get away with the life you live.
You use the apology as an excuse because you refuse to do what you know you must.
Love your neighbor as yourself is the command, but do you?
You don't even love those in your family, how much less will you love others?
We are to be victorious and overcome this life, the things of our pride, family, business.
The only way to succeed is to live a life that follows Christ.
We sing that we will bear the cross but what does that mean?
You think that when you bear the cross you will keep your pride and everything that you desire, but you are not promised that.
The only thing that you are promised is the keeping of your soul.
But you want more so you pray for material.  Is this praise and worship?
You are to get out of the way of God doing His work but you hinder Him from His glory with your life.
Should you not enter into the promised land?
May you live a life that is in union with our Lord Jesus this week.