31 Dec 2010 Leave a Comment
I am looking to the new season with a resolve to be prayerful. I am looking into the unknown with assurance that no matter what it brings, that talking to God will enable me to face any circumstance. I am resolved to enter the new season with a prayerful spirit. I believe that God hears the prayers of His people and thus I look at the New Year with courage and hope, understanding that prayer can change anything as long as God is on the throne.
In the Bonds of Calvary,
30 Dec 2010 Leave a Comment
When you have finished one year and begin a new one, what can you do for good luck in the year to come? Our society has a variety of good luck rituals. These are the things we do to bring ourselves good luck. The gambler thinks blowing on the dice will bring him luck. Someone else wants to rub the hand of a “lucky” person to get some of their lucked rubbed onto themselves. There are others who wear rabbit’s feet on key chains for good luck. Some even wear dimes around their ankles.
Looking for luck is universal. On New Year’s Day it is said that a helping of black eyed peas on the plate guarantees good luck. Many people laugh at the custom, but serve the peas anyway, just in case there’s some truth in the old saying.
Depending on cultural backgrounds, different foods come with a new year: cabbage, herring, honey, sardines, and salt are seen as good luck signs in some areas of the country. The Japanese eat long noodles. The Greeks bake special bread. In Spain, the custom is to eat 12 individual grapes in the 12 seconds leading up to the New Year. Anthropologists say that eating certain foods to change one’s fortune dates back to ancient Babylonia.
Looking for luck, even those who claim not to believe, say “pass the peas!”
While some spend their time looking for luck by eating peas, dashing salt and killing hogs, there are others who don’t count on luck, they look to God for their blessings. He was the source of the blessings in years past and will be the source of blessings in the years to come.
Peas or no peas, God can bless those who love Him!
Peas or no peas, God delivers for the faithful who call on Him!
Peas or no peas, God continues to open doors for those who trust Him!
As Christians we are overjoyed as we face the new year. We enter it with optimism because the God we serve is all-powerful. He blessed us immensely last year, and he can do the same in the year to come. The good thing about our God is He doesn’t decide whether to bless us depending on whether or not we ate black eyed peas!
In the Bonds of Calvary,
22 Dec 2010 1 Comment
Jesus Christ didn’t climb up; He stepped down.
He wasn’t after the chair at the head of the table; He took the lowest place.
By being born as a helpless baby and placed in a manger, Jesus demonstrated the most potent love lesson of all time.
He loved me when I was unlovable
He loved me when it was undeserved
I am sure that if we give to others, we’ll receive something really special this Christmas….. L O V E .
No Problem Is Too Big for God’s Power, and No Person Is Too Small for His Love
In the Bonds of Calvary.
21 Dec 2010 Leave a Comment
I’ve always wondered why they weren’t disappointed when they finally found Jesus. After all, He did not look like a king.
His home did not look like a castle.
He had no scepter in his hand, commanded no armies, gave no speeches, passed no laws. He could not walk or talk.
No royal decree came from his lips.
There was nothing to make you think he was a King. To the outward eye, he was nothing but a peasant child born in dire poverty.
But to the Magi, he was a King. He possessed more royalty in a cradle than Herod had in his fine palace. Somehow these wise seekers saw beyond the present and into the future — and in deep faith, they worshipped him. That word literally means “to kiss toward and to intensely adore.” They somehow knew that this child would one day rule the world and they were not ashamed to fall on their faces before Him.
I am not ashamed either!
In the Bonds of Calvary,
20 Dec 2010 2 Comments
According to recent survey, 90% of Americans say Christmas is their favorite holiday, but only 20% say they enjoy Christmas shopping!
That reminds me of two men who were next-door neighbors who decided to go sailing while their wives went Christmas shopping. While they were out in the boat, a terrible storm arose. The sea became very choppy and they had a difficult time keeping the boat under control. As they steered toward land, they hit a sandbar and the boat grounded. They both jumped out of the boat and began to push and shove with all their might to get the boat back into the water. As the waves bounced him against the side of the boat, and his hair was blowing wildly in the wind, one of the men said with a smile on his face, “It sure beats Christmas shopping, doesn’t it?”
In the Bonds of Calvary,
16 Dec 2010 Leave a Comment
I am looking for glory to come, and I believe it’s time to say, “Search me and know my heart. Try me and know my thoughts.” It’s time to say, “Create in me a clean heart.”
If I read His Word closely, it says that the tabernacle was there in the wilderness because the people had a willing spirit.
Churches exist because of willing spirits. We are not here because we had a well thought out financial program, or a sophisticated management system, or because we know how to invest in stocks and bonds, the church is built because of soldiers of the cross who had a willing spirit.
They were in a wilderness….They were plagued by poverty…..they were haunted by doubt….They were caught in a social order of idolatry and iniquity…BUT THEY DID PREPARE A PLACE FOR HIM.
I am going top be sure that a place is prepared for Him.
In the Bonds of Calvary,
15 Dec 2010 Leave a Comment
God commands us to praise Him!
God is saying today, “Praise Me!”
When I began to understand the emphasis God places on praise, I also began to wonder why. Why does God place so much emphasis on praise directed toward Himself? It seemed strange.
I want people to praise me because I need to be stroked. But God has no inferiority complex. He does not have an ego which needs to be massaged. He doesn’t need praise so that He can feel better about Himself. Why then would God command us to praise Him? I believe the answer lies not in God, but in us.
God doesn’t command us to praise Him because He needs our praise. God commands us to praise Him because we need what praise can do in our lives. God doesn’t need to be praised, but we need to praise Him.
Praise and worship does something for us!
In the Bonds of Calvary,
14 Dec 2010 Leave a Comment
There is a Secret for Success for the Saint of God, when it comes to overcoming Satan’s Strategy…
1. Never allow your failures—to cloud your accomplishments…
2. Never continue to fail in the Same Areas over and over…
3. Find a place of Victory through the Power of God…
We do not have to RETREAT…we can have REVIVAL !
We can push through all the obstacles that stand in our way…
We can penetrate the barriers Satan has built to blind us…
We can forget about the problems of the past—and tackle the problems that we’re facing today…
We don’t have to be held as prisoners of war—we can pull down the strongholds… What about me? What will I do? Am I going to retreat, or am I going to allow God to give me……….. REVIVAL?
I know what I have to do!
In the Bonds of Calvary,
13 Dec 2010 Leave a Comment
Praise and worship changes our attitudes and thinking. It is impossible to become one who truly praises and worships God and still be sour and cynical. Praise and worship will transform our very character. It will make us people of hope, people of faith. Through praise and worship, God will do a mighty work in us. That alone is sufficient reason to become one who places great emphasis on praise and worship.
You and I have been called to lift up our voices in praise and worship. We are New Testament priests, commanded to offer up the sacrifice of praise to God continually. Sometimes it is more of a sacrifice than at other times. But at all times we ought to be people of praise, because our God is worthy of our praise, and because we receive so much through praise.
Let’s make it our priority.
In the Bonds of Calvary,
12 Dec 2010 1 Comment
Jesus born of a virgin, Jesus conceived by the Holy Spirit
Jesus walking among men, Jesus making the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak, Jesus making the lame to leap and the dead to live again. Jesus bearing our sins on an old rugged cross.
Jesus side riven, Jesus in a tomb, Jesus stirring to life early the third day, Jesus coming out of the tomb victorious over death, hell and the grave,
Jesus ascending to the Father, Jesus ever living to making intercession for the saints
Jesus living in my heart.
Jesus in the morning, Jesus in the noontime, Jesus when the sun goes down!
Preach Jesus, Preach Jesus, Preach Jesus!
I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. He is the message! He is the answer to earth’s sorrowing cry! Jesus is the hope for the hopeless, help for the helpless, a healing balm for the wounded, Jesus is my soon coming King!
In the Bonds of Calvary,
