Author: Faith

Sometimes, many Christians do all the right things.  They pray, they read the Bible, they go to church, they love others well…and they Love God.  But still God’s Joy & Peace seems to escape them.

They want to have it.  They try to have it.  But it just doesn’t seem to be there…

There are two more steps that can really make a difference.

The first is Trust & Acceptance.  Trust that God truly Loves you.  And because of His Great Love, He would never wish hard times of any kind on us!  If fact, He uses all the difficult or hurtful events in our lives to our good!  He stands ready to help us through them, if we will but let Him.  And He draws us closer to Him, especially during tough times.  But in order to feel His Peace and Joy in the face of tough times, we need to trust that God does Love us and will help us.  We need to accept that His Will may not be to erase all of our difficulties, but to Help us through them ?

The second is to Pray to the Holy Spirit directly.  We can even ask God to send us a Double Portion of the Holy Spirit as Elijah did.  Our Father sent the Holy Spirit to be our Comforter and Helper.  But as with our Father, we need to ask Him to Help us ?

“the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, Standby), the Holy Spirit, Whom the Father will send in My name [in My place, to represent Me and act on My behalf], He will teach you all things. And He will cause you to recall (will remind you of, bring to your remembrance) everything I have told you.”-John 14:26

God’s Peace & Joy are ours always, we just need to believe and ask for it ?

From a Friend in Christ:

“God’s Word shares with you that some time after receiving the Holy Spirit, Peter and John had gone together to the temple to pray. A man lame from birth was at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful. Peter said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give to you: In the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk.” Immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them – walking, leaping, and praising God! All the people around were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. Peter and John spoke to them and many who heard the Word believed, about five thousand. Of course, this did not go well with the priests, leaders, and Sadducees, who put them in custody.

The next day Peter and John were brought before the Sanhedrin, their rulers, elders, and scribes, as well as Annas the high priest, Calaphas, John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the family of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem. Then  Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, spoke boldly in front of them and they did not like what he said about them who had crucified Jesus Christ, whom God raised from the dead. They commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the Name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said to them, “”Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.”

When your Heavenly Father sends His Holy Spirit to you, you will personally see and hear His Presence. His Light can not be hidden with His Holy Spirit Stirring! God wants you to know Him intimately, to give your doubts and fears to Him, to Trust Him in ALL you do, think and say, to His Glory and Honor. He wants you to accept His Only Son, Jesus Christ in your heart that you may also know His Love and Peace, being Born Again in Spirit to Awaken His Spirit in you, given to you before birth. When you are in Him and He in you, you will grow in His Presence and continue to see and hear more and more! Know that this amplifies your earthly senses through Spiritual Senses granted to you through your Father. His Healing Power and Touch, Amazing Grace and Mercy, Strength and Courage, Comfort, Love, Joy and Peace, will become you because He IS you! Does this mean no more pain and sorrow? No, moments on earth are still in the midst of sin, but they can be also in the midst of His Joy and Peace, that only He can give! When He needs you Home more than He needs you on earth, and He knows you, your pain and sorrow, blemishes, all earthly things will disappear. 

My thoughts and prayers are that you will always accept your Father’s Invitation to know Him better. That you will see and hear His Presence in your life and will boldly speak and help His Children on their path towards Him. That you know God growing in you and you in Him, now and forever. In Jesus’ Name. Thy Will be done. Amen. Peace.“

From A Friend In Christ 🙂

“God has not blessed you with His Truth, through His Word and His Helper, the Holy Spirit Stirring in your heart to keep inside of you and not share Him with others. The same goes for His Infinite Blessings He has bestowed upon you. Remember this: you are blessed to be a blessing. So get the idea out of your head that sharing your faith is something you can not do or something miserable to engage in. Nothing could be further from the Truth. Jesus told you there IS Joy in heaven over every sinner who comes to repentance. If heaven gets excited, you should get excited too! No doubt about it, new believers are the Lifeblood of His Church. They also are the Lifeblood of the Christian. You need new believers in your life. You need to deepen and help them. In turn, they ignite and excite you! Truly, what a Blessing from God to represent Him in All you do. Amen.

The world makes it easy, with all the trials and tribulations encountered, to keep to yourself. Seems like it takes a lot of effort to just make a Good Difference for others. Know that you can NOT do this on your own. Your Heavenly Father, who Loves and Cares for you SO much, shall be Extremely Delighted for you to ask Him for help to share the Redemption of Jesus Christ’s Blood and His Blessings with others! He not only will be Delighted, but the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, along with His angels will Dance with Joy! Know you are too are to Dance like no one IS watching, Love like it will never hurt, Sing like no one IS listening and Live like heaven IS on earth! Amen.

My thoughts and prayers are with you that you are EXCITED to share our Lord, in All He IS! May you know His Truth, His Love and Peace that knows NO limit. May He give you His Strength and Courage to represent Him well. The Love of Jesus – Wear it! Share it! Live it!! In Jesus’ Name. Thy Will be done. Amen. Peace.”

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness”-2 Timothy 3:16

Inspired by the Holy Spirt.  God-Breathed some call it ?.  The Bible has everything we need to know.  Notice, “need”.  Want to know is a different story.  We may want to know everything, but we need to know how to live, and who to follow ?

Our lives on earth are just a tiny part of what our life is to come.  Kind of like a stamp on a letter.  The envelope and letter are so much bigger than the stamp ?

And that is how our life is.   Our life on earth is so much smaller ( and shorter lol) than our life in Heaven will be.  I would say it is irrelevant, but it is here where we will make our choice.  Heaven or Hell.  So our time on earth may be relatively short, even stormy, but it is very important.  Because it is here that we will choose where we will spend all of our tomorrows ?

The Bible is a Roadmap for our lives here on earth.  It tells us how to live and who to follow (Hint:  Jesus ? ).  It reminds us that above all things-we are first and foremost Children of God and Citizens of Heaven.

So no matter how difficult life becomes, never give up.  Our Home in Heaven is already assured.  And no power on this earth can take it from us.  Just as no power on this earth can take us from God’s Hand.  In Jesus’ Name.  Amen.

As we enter round two of Covid, remember:

Pray Psalm 91:

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.  ² I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.  ³ Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.  ⁴ He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.

⁵ Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; ⁶ Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.  ⁷ A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee

⁸ Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.  ⁹ Because thou hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation; ¹⁰ There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.

¹¹ For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.  ¹² They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.  ¹³ Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.

¹⁴ Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.  ¹⁵ He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.  ¹⁶ With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.

So be it! Amen 🙂

By George Whitten and Family

 “Outnumbered, exhausted, but still in pursuit!

Judges 8:4-6 When Gideon came to the Jordan, he and the three hundred men who were with him crossed over, exhausted but still in pursuit. Then he said to the men of Succoth, “Please give loaves of bread to the people who follow me, for they are exhausted, and I am pursuing Zebah and Zalmunna, kings of Midian. “And the leaders of Succoth said, “Are the hands of Zebah and Zalmunna now in your hand, that we should give bread to your army?”

Judges 6:12 And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!”

“Exhausted but still in pursuit…” Well, now we know why the angel of YHVH addressed Gideon the way he did. With his small three hundred man army he had just decimated the army of Midian — but the victory wasn’t complete, and so the Jewish general and his small, exhausted, hungry, band were determined to cross the Jordan and take care of 15,000 additional Midianite enemies and their leaders, Zebah and Zalmunna.

Once chosen and appointed to his task, Gideon didn’t settle for the slaughter of 120,000 Midianites. He might have reasoned that, having driven the remaining enemy force across the Jordan River, a natural barrier, Israel was now safe. After all, he and his men were exhausted and hungry. But this victory was insufficient, especially because the Midianite leaders were still alive. Instead, Gideon continued to press on, refusing to settle until the job was completely done. His refusal to allow serious physical discomfort to compromise his objective is apparently one of the things that qualified Gideon as a “mighty man” of God. No settling into a comfort zone for him.

My Friends, are you moving toward victory, but exhausted and hungry? Be careful now. Comfort could be your greatest enemy. And your so-called friends may not be standing there to give you a hand, but rather, watching skeptically from the sidelines to see whether or not you’ll make it through your “heroic effort”. Now is not the time for self-pity, fleshly resentment, or mediocrity. “The comfort zone is for those who are exempt from pain but denied progress; protected from failure but held in the grip of mediocrity.” Keep your focus and spiritual passion for victory, and finish the job appointed to you — because God has too much invested to settle for mediocrity!”

Your family in the Lord with much agape love,

George, Baht Rivka, Elianna & Obadiah

“The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.”-Revelations 22:17

Clearly the “Spirit” is the Holy Spirit, but who is the “bride”?  The “bride” is us, all those who truly believe in Jesus and accept Him as our Savior.

Revelations has confused many through the years, but this part is clear.  It’s simply an Invitation to all who have not yet truly accepted Jesus as their Savior. “Come”

That we live in difficult times is also clear, but Christians will not remain here forever.  Below is an excerpt from Revelations 22, what a beautiful word-picture of our lives to come:

“Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb ² down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. ³ No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. ⁴ They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. ⁵ There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.”-Revelations 22:1-5

And all we have to do to get there, is accept Christ’s Invitation ?

Thank you?  With Covid 19- Round 2 starting and the events that are happening in both our country and around the world, it’s hard to be grateful.  Or is it?

Jesus IS still coming back.

We are still going to Heaven ?

Many Christians around the world are still alive.

Thanks to the courage and service of millions of caring medical personnel, millions have survived Covid 19.

Thanks to courageous and selfless public and private intervention, many Christians in Afghanistan are safe.  Is it enough?  No.  But it is better and more than it could be and we can be very grateful for every life spared.

Those that serve in the military and their families have sacrificed so much, but they continue to serve anyway.

We still have our humanity and love each other.

We still have our Faith.

Our Father still loves us and hears our prayers?

Jesus is still our Savior 🙂

The Holy Spirit still lives in us ?

Truly, the list is endless!  Clearly, in spite of many media headlines, we are Blessed!

It comes from Truly Accepting God’s Will for our lives. 

And what does that mean exactly?

Let’s take one example.  Someone we love is dieing.  We pray for them constantly to live-but they go to Heaven anyway.  God says No.  What then?

We accept that this is God’s Will.

When we Truly accept God’s Will, then we also accept any hurt and pain that comes our way.  When some one dies we, of course, miss them and grieve their loss.  But we are not afraid, because we know that God loves us and loves them.  And we know that if God took them to Heaven, it was for a good reason.  We may not know that reason now, but we TRUST that it was a good reason born out of God’s great love for us.

Sometimes a hardship happens to us that is truly unjust.  We can either choose to be angry or we can choose to see the good that God creates out of it. 

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”- Romans 8:28

What is happening in our country is also a good example.  There can be no doubt that in our current society, “evil appears good and good evil”.  Many question what good could possibly come of this?  But the truth is, great good may come of this as more people turn to God and Faith.  And those with Faith, will find their faith deepens.

The Truth is: Once we accept God’s Will, God’s Joy & Peace will follow.

In every situation, God gives us a choice.  We can look for Him-or not.  That is real freedom-given to us by God Himself ?