Author: Faith

“Brothers and sisters, I want you to know about the gifts of the Holy Spirit.   You know that at one time you were unbelievers. You were somehow drawn away to worship statues of gods that couldn’t even speak.   So I want you to know that no one who is speaking with the help of God’s Spirit says, “May Jesus be cursed.” And without the help of the Holy Spirit no one can say, “Jesus is Lord.”

“There are different kinds of gifts. But they are all given to believers by the same Spirit.  There are different ways to serve. But they all come from the same Lord.   There are different ways the Spirit works. But the same God is working in all these ways and in all people.”

^“The Holy Spirit is given to each of us in a special way. That is for the good of all.  To some people the Spirit gives a message of wisdom. To others the same Spirit gives a message of knowledge. To others the same Spirit gives faith. To others that one Spirit gives gifts of healing.   To others he gives the power to do miracles. To others he gives the ability to prophesy. To others he gives the ability to tell the spirits apart. To others he gives the ability to speak in different kinds of languages they had not known before. And to still others he gives the ability to explain what was said in those languages.  All the gifts are produced by one and the same Spirit. He gives gifts to each person, just as he decides.”

-1 Corinthians 12:1-11

If you don’t know which Gift the Holy Spirit has given you, ask Him; He will be happy to show you :). And then don’t waste it, use it!

“For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us”

We all sin. And the only way to forgiveness for our sins is forgiveness through Jesus Christ. There is no other way.

But because God loves us, He sent the Holy Spirit to be in us. So each and every person who has accepted Jesus as their Savior has the Help of the Holy Spirit on their journey Home. One thing the Holy Spirit does for us, is He helps us to avoid temptation and warns us before we sin.

However, if we ignore the Holy Spirit’s warnings long enough, the Holy Spirit will stop warning us. And we can find ourselves living a life of sin and thinking that our choices are okay, but they are not. Sin is sin, whether we choose to believe it or not.

And the only one that defines sin is God.

However, because God loves us; He gave us His Word (The Holy Bible) so that we would be able to learn what choices are acceptable in God’s eyes 🙂

And the Holy Spirit teaches us as well!

This life is a journey. A journey Home. And the Holy Spirit is here to help us on that journey 🙂

So pray, “Holy Spirit please abide in me”, Thank You 🙂

In Numbers 12, we read about how Moses sister and brother verbally attack him behind his back. And whether it is a family member or friend, many of us have experienced an experience similar to this. Or perhaps it’s a stranger who hurts or betrays us.

Forgiveness is something we all struggle with, but whether it is the Old Testament or the New, the Bible tells us how to handle a situation such as this 🙂

In the New Testament, Jesus says “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”-Luke 23:34

In the Old Testament, God does punish Moses sister. But Moses prays for her to be forgiven and God relents and only punishes her for seven days. (Numbers 12). Moses forgives his sister and not only does he pray for her; he does not move the camp until her punishment is over and she is free to go with them.

In both cases, Jesus and Moses-forgave those who hurt them. And this is also what we must do. If there is justice that needs to be given-God will give it. But it is not up to us. The Bible is clear, our job is to forgive. And you know what can help us to forgive someone who has hurt us? Praying for them. 🙂

Sometimes, even when we decide to forgive someone and pray for them, feelings of hurt and anger can linger. It’s easy to become confused and wonder why since we “forgave” them, but these feelings still linger.

It’s because forgiveness is a decision, an action if you will. It isn’t really connected to how we feel. It doesn’t mean our feelings of hurt and anger will disappear immediately. So if these feelings well up-we can banish them. We get to decide what we think about. We can ask the Holy Spirit to give us the discipline to do this. Dwelling on past hurts or angers only hurts us. And that is exactly why God gives us the ability to choose.

Forgiving others heals and frees us, which is why God gave us the ability to choose!

“For Zion’s sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem’s sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth.”-Isaiah 62:1

This verse from Isaiah simply talks of Isaiah’s determination to keep preaching until God’s Will be done :). We need to have the same determination when it comes to sharing the Gospel!

Oswald Smith was a missionary in the 1800’s. He once said, “Oh, to realize that souls, precious, never dying souls are perishing all around us, going out in darkness and despair, eternally lost.”. It make one think, because if we really focused on the consequences of not knowing Jesus, we would not hesitate to share the Gospel 🙂

We, all of us, are sometimes afraid that when we share the Gospel, the one we share the Gospel with – may react badly. And because we want others to be happy, we hesitate. But when we really consider the Truth, when we truly consider the Consequences they will face if they do not accept Jesus as their Savior and follow Him, then it becomes easier to be brave. But remember, that while Christ calls upon us to share the Good News, it is not up to us whether they believe it 🙂

^“Then said I, Ah, Lord God! behold, I cannot speak: for I am a child.  But the Lord said unto me, Say not, I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I command thee thou shalt speak.  Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord.”-Jeremiah 1:6-8

A Russian ship will come. And it will take us all by surprise.

We will either be a City on a Hill – or we will not.

We will be a people of great and selfless courage – or we will not.

We will either love God and our neighbor = or we will not.

Prepare, Pray and Be Ready.

“Create in me a clean heart, O God, And renew a steadfast spirit within me

“Do not cast me away from Your presence, And do not take Your Holy Spirit from me.

 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation”-Psalm 51:10-12

“For our offenses are many in your sight, and our sins testify against us.
Our offenses are ever with us, and we acknowledge our iniquities”-Isaiah 59:12

We all have something for which we need to repent. It could be that we are active in the gay lifestyle. It could be as simple as we were crabby with our children yesterday. It could be that we told a lie, even a white lie like saying we can’t do something because “we’re busy”. And we need to repent both personally and as a nation.

And then there are the sins of omission such as when we pass someone who is hungry, but don’t offer them food. The sin could be as simple as when we don’t take the time to be kind to someone at work or at the grocery store. And it could be that we haven’t taken time to spend with our best friend-God. We need to repent of these types of sins too.

Whatever it is, God forgives us – if we repent in Jesus’ Name. What a great gift!

Repentance is a privilege given to those who pray in Jesus’ Name.

We need to repent now, while we can 🙂

“For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and the gross darkness the people”-Daniel 60:4

Ukraine may have largely disappeared from the news, but the war and suffering continue.  Could it be the start of WWIII?  It is.  Could it also be the beginning of God’s Justice? It is. Is it the final Justice? Only God knows when that will occur.

It may seem slow to happen, but it is coming. Prepare, Pray and Be Ready.

“We can’t go on like it’s okay, turn a blind eye and just look away”-Phil King, Cody Ray Lee. And God won’t either.

As human beings we want to focus on God’s Love for us.  It’s just nicer. It’s a happier thought. And it’s comforting.  For our Father’s Mercy is unending.  But God’s Justice is equal to His mercy.  And let’s face it, America is anything but a “God-fearing” nation.  A big, big mistake.

That’s not to say that there are not many “God-fearing” Americans in America.  Many Americans love God so much and pray daily!  Our Father-God knows that.  And God loves us.  He won’t forget us-ever!

And no matter what occurs in the future, God will still hear and answer our prayers.  And Heaven will still await our arrival. ?

Prepare, Pray and Be Ready…

“‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams.  Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.”-Acts 2:17-18

There are prophets today.  But do we listen to them?  Do we heed them?  Or do we turn away and ignore them?  Do we shame them and put them down?  Or do we honor and listen to them?

There is no doubt that it is difficult to tell the difference between a prophet and a charlatan.  And we have definitely had our share of those who claim to be prophets and prophesy that which does not come true.  However, reading the Bible will help us, for a true prophet will never contradict God’s Word.

An example would be all of those who have predicted a “definite” date for the world’s end.  And then, of course, the world does not end.  God says in the Bible that only God knows the exact day and hour, not even Jesus does!  So clearly, no prophet can tell us what is only known by God.  But we can see the warnings, because Jesus shared those with us in God’s Word. 

So clearly, we are able to test a Prophet’s words by comparing them to what God Himself says in the Bible.  There are Prophets in today’s world. We need to learn from them.

There is something else to consider as well.  Prophets may or may not speak of the future, but they do warn us of what is occurring in the present!  They warn us when we are falling away from God; they warn us of our moral failures and they warn us of our failures when it comes to serving God.  And they tell us of the Blessings of God.  All of which, if the prophet speaks the Truth, can be found in God’s Word.  The current day prophet simply reminds us to look ?

One person defined a prophet as a “Truth Teller”.  And that is as good a definition as any.  He speaks of God’s “raising up” Prophets to help us.  And that is exactly right.

“Before the decree is issued, Or the day passes like chaff, Before the Lord’s fierce anger comes upon you, Before the day of the Lord’s anger comes upon you! Seek the Lord, all you meek of the earth, Who have upheld His justice.Seek righteousness, seek humility.”

“It may be that you will be hidden In the day of the Lord’s anger.”-Zephaniah 2:2-3

The Day of the Lord’s Wrath is coming. And when it arrives, there will be no escape for us, unless God Himself chooses to “hide” us.

We need to seek the Lord Now, while we still can 🙂