Do you find yourself having Joy? Unspeakable Joy? Or do you find yourself always chasing after happiness…..only to find that your only happy for a brief moment….but then that happiness turns to despair as the cares of this life take control once again?

Well the book of Philippians is all about Paul's Joy in the midst of him being in prision he wrote this book. Just think of being in prison and still having unspeakable Joy! I encourage you to read and aspire to be like Paul and have the Unshakeable Joy and unbridled PEACE that comes from having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ!

Be Blessed!

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The Holy Spirit is our Comforter, Counselor, Helper, Advocate, Intercessor, Strengthener, and Standby let's break these down and define them so we have a better understanding of what the Lord sent to us after He returned to the Father! He even said it is better that I go away so He the Holy Spirit can come!

COMFORTER: sympathizer: commiserates with someone who has had misfortune
reliever: a person who reduces the intensity (e.g., of fears) and calms and pacifies; "a reliever of anxiety"; "an allayer of fears"
device used for an infant to suck or bite on (Now that is interesting!)
soother, In mainstream Christianity, the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is one of the three entities of the Holy Trinity which make up the single substance of God; that is, the Spirit is considered to act in concert with and share an essential nature with God the Father and God the Son (Jesus Christ)….A person who comforts someone who is suffering

COUNSELOR: someone who gives advice about problems
someone who has supervisory duties
advocate: someone who pleads cases in court (Gods Kingdom) A professional who counsels people, especially on personal problems
guidance: something that provides direction or advice as to a decision or course of action assistance (especially from a professional) in the resolution of personal difficulties A person who gives advice or guidance in a specific area of expertise or knowledge. Such guidance is intended to result in a problem solved and plan of action for the person seeking assistance. crisis interventer, Someone to help evaluate patterns of problem solving and develop more effective ones (Wow, very interesting!)

HELPER: assistant: a person who contributes to the fulfillment of a need or furtherance of an effort or purpose; "my invaluable assistant"; "they hired …
benefactor: a person who helps people “helping to train” or “assistant trainer" One who helps; an aide,
One which contributes to the survival of the offspring of others by behaving parentally towards them…( Very interesting!) a component that host component relies on, An assistant, or one who works under a trained workman.

ADVOCATE: recommend: push for something;
a person who pleads for a cause or propounds an idea
preach: speak, plead, or argue in favor of;
One who pleads our cases in court, An advocate is one who speaks on behalf of another person, A person who argues the case of another, A person who speaks in support of something; A person who supports someone …

INTERCESSOR: mediator: a negotiator who acts as a link between parties
Intercession, in Christianity , is a prayer to God on behalf of another person. The nature of intercession in Judaism is disputed.
A person who intercedes; a mediator, intercession - intervention: the act of intervening, someone who leads the prayers of the people, An activity of Christ in which he advocates to God the Father the in favor of saved individuals, The act of mediating or going between, especially relative but not limited to prayer. Intercessory prayer is when someone prays to God on behalf …

STRENGTHENER: Something used to give additional strength

STANDBY: something that can be relied on when needed
understudy: an actor able to replace a regular performer when required
ready for emergency use; communications systems operations, pertaining to a power-saving condition or status of operation of equipment that is ready for use, State of readiness without being immediately involved; A backup server that is powered up and ready to take over from a primary server should the primary fail. The standby server may automatically take over, be ready to be called to work at a moment's notice (I like this!)

Wow! So We have the Holy Spirit that does all of this? What an eye opener! Sometimes we need to just take a step back from trying to solve our own problems and start relying on the Holy Spirit ….That is what He was sent here to do WORK (with) us!

Be Blessed!

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Simple Short and to the Point is today's blog!

What are the 3 most important things you can do for God?

1. Spend TIME WITH HIM (away from everything….a prayer closet…bedroom) I am talking ALONE TIME TUNE OUT ALL DISTRACTIONS…. Silence before Him just sitting in His Presence.

2. PRAY (Pray for others, yourself…. )

3. PRAISE & WORSHIP!

Why are these things so very important above all else?

It is because when your connected to the VINE living waters will flow forth…. from the belly (spirit) and you recieve power and strength, knowledge and wisdom along with much more…

Not to mention you will be able to break in half every firary arrow the devil aims at you!

The devil would much rather you get caught up in everything else instead of what is really important like those three things above! It's no wonder why Jesus calls us to Fasting and Spending time with Him….

It certainly makes sense to me! Have you ever wondered why someone calls you right in the middle of you reading God's Word or during your alone time? Or that when you go to read your Bible you get so tired even though you have slammed a half of pot of coffee down! ( Me in the past with the coffee :O) Thank God He delivered me from that!)

Even getting caught up in doing things like do so many church activities that you neglect the value of those three steps above!!!

Think about it… but then after thinking about it DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT! Yes, Balance is good but often times we are either a little to the left or a little to the right… Find that balance and stick with it!

YES OH YES EVEN MYSPACE, FACEBOOK, TV, TEXTING, ALONG WITH SO MUCH MORE CAN TAKE THE PLACE OF WHAT IS TRULY IMPORTANT! YES, I AM PREACHING TO MYSELF AS WELL :o)

BE BLESSED!

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I get asked here and there what software do I use to build out our bible teaching site. The answer is Xsitepro website design software. I have been using them from the beginning. I am not a technical person by nature and first started to use Front page, though its supposed to be user friendly, I found myself perplexed way too many times and the first site I put together was bad news.

Then came along Xsite pro, it makes building a website a snap. You do not have to have any technical know how but it would help alot if you have some basic computer knowledge, things like, knowing what a hyperlink is, how to use Microsoft word to name a few.

They have great tutorials that walk you step by step to build a basic site. And for you web designers, who are more into Dreamweaver or similar programs, I encourage you to take a look at Xsite pro.

What you will find is you can build pretty much the same type of site in about 1/5 the time it would take you to build one in dreamweaver or the like.

Go check out their forum and talk with other more technical people and get their experience why they made the switch from Dreamweaver to Xsite pro.

They also have great support via their forum and their own support staff. I have had a few friends who never built a website before get their hands on this software and were able to build out a pretty decent site for the first time around.

Like anything, the more you use it and experiment with their tons of features, you'll get better at improving your sites.

If I have the content already written, i can build out a 40 page professional website in just a few hours. Yep, that easy.

Get XsitePro web design softwaree.

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So in today's blog I just wanted to share something with you all. This REALLY bothers me! It makes me sick! I know a person who has been wounded from a church. A person with a broken heart who is crushed in spirit. This person has been in church for about 15 years the same church. People have mocked made fun of and spoke such things as "You must be doing something wrong! If you have all these problems going on!" EXCUSE ME? My question to them would be: Since when did you take God off the throne and place yourselves there?

I mean come on Christ suffered for our sake right??? What makes ANY CHRISTIAN THINK THAT THEY WILL NOT SUFFER? Are we exempt from suffering? Of course not! Legalism is just as bad as being riddled with demons! It is torment! People go to church to GET HELP not GET BEAT DOWN MORE

 The pain in my heart for this person is almost to much to bear. The famous line from Joyce Meyer is SO TRUE!

"HURTING PEOPLE HURT PEOPLE"

When one thinks that they have done something wrong because they are having struggles or adversity has become the normal for them and they think that GOD IS MAD AT THEM and this must be what we deserve??? What kind of teaching is that? Talk about putting a milstone around someones neck!

YES I said it! TEACHING! WRONG TEACHING!

Has anyone ever thought that maybe just maybe your getting hit with much because your doing some thing RIGHT?? Has that ever crossed the mind? Years of this teaching have hurt so many of Gods children. It has caused so much pain torment bondage in the lives of Gods People! Then what makes it worse when they do go and witness they bring others into the same bondage they themselves are in. There is no freedom in this not the freedom God intended for His children. I am talking about freedom in Christ.

Fire, Passion, Love, Long suffering, Kindness, Gentleness, Patience ,Self Control and the list goes on and on… This is what we should see in our lives… if we are connected to the vine! This is what should be pouring out of OUR HEARTS INTO OTHER PEOPLE! They need to see the Love of Jesus in our hearts!

When others act in this way as I mentioned above they set the stage for the devil to come in and sow discord,strife, hate, bitterness, unforgiveness, and the list goes on and on.

They feed right into the devils hands every time they treat others this way. And then people want to know why so many fall away from the church! They wonder how so many turn away from God. Simply put it is because they get wrong teaching.

It is my hope that ones who have been hurt just like the person I stated above get the true meaning of Gods love and grace…. His kindness… and His Passion for them! Also, to pray for the ones who have wrong teaching and for God to place someone in their path to help them see so they can get set free as well.

Be Blessed!

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Our pastor did a great study on the shadow and the substance! I thought I would put out some notes on what he covered.  Notes are from Hebrews Chapter 10 verses 1-10 and verses 19-25 

 

The old system in the law of Moses was only a shadow of the thing to come, not the reality of the good things Christ has done for us. The sacrifices under the old system were repeated again and again, year after year but they were never able to provide perfect cleansing for those who came to worship. If they could have provided perfect cleansing the sacrifices would have stopped for the worshippers would have been purified once and for all time and their feelings of guilt would have disappeared. But just the opposite happened. Those yearly sacrifices reminded them of their sins year after year. For it is not possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. That i why Christ, when He came into the world said, "You did not want animal sacrifices and grain offerings but you have given me a body so that I may obey you.

No you were not pleased with animals burned on the altar or with others offerings for sin. Then i said, Look I have come to do your will O God!  just as it is written about me in the Scriptures" Christ said, "You did not want animal sacrifices or grain offerings or animals burned on the altar or other offerings for sin nor were you pleased with them." Though they are required by the law of Moses. Then He added "Look I have come to do your will"  HE CANCELS THE FIRST COVENANT IN ORDER TO ESTABLISH THE SECOND. AND WHAT GOD WANTS IS FOR US TO BE MADE HOLY BY THE SACRIFICE OF THE BODY OF JESUS CHRIST ONCE AND FOR ALL TIME!

And so, dear brothers and sisters we can boldly enter Heavens Most Holy Place because of the blood of Jesus.  THIS IS THE NEW LIFE GIVING WAY THAT CHRIST HAS OPENED UP FOR US THROUGH THE SACRED CURTAIN BY MEANS OF HIS DEATH FOR US. And since we have a great High Priest  (which is Jesus Christ) who rules over Gods People let us go RIGHT INTO THE PRESENCE OF GOD WITH TRUE HEARTS FULLY TRUSTING HIM. For our evil consciences have been sprinkled with Christs Blood to make us clean and our bodies have been washed with pure water. WITHOUT WAVIERING LET US HOLD TIGHTLY TO HE HOPE WE SAY WE HAVE  FOR GOD CAN BE TRUSTED TO KEEP HIS PROMISE.

THINK OF WAYS TO ENCOURAGE ONE ANOTHER TO OUTBURST OF LOVE AND GOOD DEEDS. AND LET US NOT NEGLECT OUR MEETING TOGETHER AS SOME PEOPLE DO BUT ENCOURAGE AND WARN EACH OTHER ESPECIALLY NOW THAT THE DAY OF HIS COMING BACK AGAIN IS DRAWING NEAR. nlt

Be Blessed!

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You can enter God's Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and it's gate is wide for the many who choose that way. But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult and only a few ever findit.

 

Let's break these verses down… to simplify this message even more!

Narrow- make or become more narrow or restricted; limited in size or scope; a narrow strait connecting two bodies of water
To reduce in width or extent; to contract; To get narrower; having a small width; not wide; slim; slender; having opposite edges or sides that are close, especially by comparison to length or depth; Restrictive; without flexibility or latitude characterized by painstaking care and detailed examination;
having little distance from side to side;

Gate- portion of a wall or fence that opens and closes; any barrier which opens and closes; entrance; entryway A gate is a point of entry to a space enclosed by walls, or an opening in a fence. Gates may prevent or control entry or exit, a barrier in a fence or wall

Highway- a major road for any form of transport A road or way open to the use of the public; a main road or thoroughfare. Way; road; path; course. A highway is a main road intended for travel by the public between important destinations, such as cities and towns. Highway designs vary widely and can range from a two-lane road without margins to a multi-lane, grade separated freeway….

Hell- Abode of evildoers after death, or the state of existence of souls damned to punishment after death. the place that divides the good from the evil or the living from the dead The gloomy subterranean realm of Hades in Greek religion, or the dark underworld The view that hell is the final dwelling place of the damned after a last judgment is held by God The Jewish concept of Gehenna as an infernal region of punishment for the wicked is the basis for the Christian vision of hell as the fiery domain of Satan and his evil angels and a place of punishment for those who die without repenting of their sins. Hell is for the one who dies without receiving Jesus as their Savior or accepting that Christ died for their sins and become born-again. Ephesians Chapter 2 Verses 8-10 Hell is a Eternal Seperation from God FOREVER!

Broad- wide: having great (or a certain) extent from one side to the other; Extending far and wide; extensive; vast; as, the broad expanse of ocean. Extended, in the sense of diffused; open; clear; full. "Broad and open large measure of not limited; not restrained unconfined.

Many- amounting to a large but indefinite number; "a great many" a large number Numerous; the majority of people, A considerable number.

Choose- pick out, select, or choose from a alternative; WHICH IS JESUS! To wish; to desire; to prefer To select; prefer; elect; adopt; follow. to take or fix upon by an act of the will, especially in accordance with a decision of the judgment. To prefer is to choose or favor one thing as compared with, and more desirable than, another, or more in accordance with one's tastes and feelings.

Life- life is a gift sent by God who set in motion all of the biological processes needed to sustain this life force. Power of this magnitude and scope is beyond human comprehension, the Source of all CREATION WHICH IS GOD! God + Breath = LIFE!

Road- a long piece of hard ground built between two places so people can go from one place to the other Sometimes you have to take a detour on your road to LIFE. Means Finding Salvation! Finding Jesus! Finding LIFE!

Diffucult- hard; troublesome; complicated; complex

Few- a small group; not many; a small number of

Find- come upon, meet with; To gain, as the object of desire or effort; as to find means. To attain to; to arrive at; to acquire.

So you see clearly above that When Jesus stated this… in the Word… Their is one road not many…. He is clear on this. Do not be decieved thinking that anything or any Religon apart from Jesus Christ will you gain enterance into the Kingdom of God. Study the Word of God to show yourselves approved. Once you pass on not having received the free gift of Salvation which is  only through Christ Jesus you will not be saved you will be lost and once you take your last breath there is no way out …. Your abode will either be Heaven or Hell. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord…. so that is telling us that if we are saved we will be with the Lord…. Praise God! For death has no sting!!! For those who are in Christ Jesus!!!

Be Blessed!

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So many people today want others to to "bring" truth …. but what about searching for truth by digging in the Word of God for YOURSELF?

I do not and will not take a human's perspective when it comes to the Word of God and take it as gospel. I will dig in scriptures and ask the Holy Spirit for understanding. Now don't get me wrong their are many many great teachers out there…. Who in fact back up what they say in the Word…

They use scripture in the right context… and are filled with the Holy Spirit… AND we can go back and see what scripture says and be able to line it all up. That is good… but what about the ones who preach and pull scripture out of context?
When will we stand up against this and call it out like we should? In fact, many are being led astray because of this as well has having a very wrong view of WHO GOD IS!
Woe to Him that leadeth the sheep to the slaughter house!

Lord Jesus, Thank you so much for pulling me out of the pit of HELL. Read Psalms 143 Thank you for showing me just how much your love for me is complete…. and perfect. Thank you so much for DELIVERING ME FROM THE FALSE RELIGION… Read my testimony… Thank you for opening my eyes to the truth of the simplicity of the TRUE GOSPEL…THE GRACE… THE FREEDOM… To be alive and LIVE FOR YOU… TO BE ON FIRE FOR YOU… TO HAVE A PASSION BURNING FOR YOU…. TO SHARE WITH OTHERS THE LOVE YOU HAVE FOR THEM… BECAUSE HELL IS REAL… AND MANY WILL MAKE IT THEIR FINAL ABODE… NOT BECAUSE THAT WAS YOUR DESIRE…FOR YOU WEEP WHEN JUST ONE STUMBLES…. HOW MUCH MORE YOU WEEP WHEN YOU SEE ONE ENTER HELL? BUT BECAUSE THEY THEMSELVES CHOOSE NOT TO EXCEPT THE "FREE GIFT OF SALVATION THAT CAN ONLY BE GIVEN THROUGH YOU…. AND BY NO OTHER MEANS…."

The depth of despair… the torment… of endless fire… licking the flesh and a thirst that will never be quenched….. The hopelessness that will prevail for eternity… There will be NO DELIVERANCE… NO HELP….. NO SECOND CHANCES….NO SAYING I AM SORRY LORD… PLEASE HELP ME…
WHY WHY LORD DOES PEOPLE CHOOSE TO LIVE APART FROM YOU…? Your always good always loving caring watching over us… loving us even when we do wrong… forgiving us when we sin… protecting us.. WHY CAN'T PEOPLE SEE HOW GOOD GOD IS? HOW MUCH HE CARES?

False Religion is just as bad as being riddled with demons… Do you not see that it is torment just the same… LEGALISM is just as bad… Do you not see that it is torment… BONDAGE?
Just some thoughts…. Lord…. Just my heart… my passion speaking… I hurt for others…. to see them… Lord… PLEASE OPEN THEIR EYES… PLEASE HELP THEM SEE THE TRUTH… I will stand in the gap for them… I will interceede for them… I will walk through the fire for them… send me… Lord… I am your servant… I am a sinner… but your my God.. and I love you… and I live FOR YOU.

Be Blessed!

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Do you want to have Jesus purifying our lives? If you answered yes… Then check this out!

P- Ask Jesus to give you Perseverance so that you can Prevail!

U- Ask Jesus to give you Unwavering strength as you face life's storms!

R- Ask for Jesus Redemptive Power to purify and cleanse us!

E- Ask Jesus to Empower us through His Precious Holy Spirit!

L- Ask Jesus to Help us Love others and serve others!

I- Ask Jesus for Information overload! The BIBLE! READ

F- Ask Jesus to help us keep our focus on Him! Not the here and now but on Forever!

E- Thank Jesus for giving us the free gift of Salvation so that we can spend Eternity with Him!

Lord Jesus, I ask that you work Purity in our hearts… as we seek You and draw closer to You :O)

Be Blessed!

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