Jesus gives us so many wonderful gifts, but what can we offer Him? What do you give the Son of God, who loved us so much that He was willing to die an agonizing and extruciatingly painful death just so that we might live? What do we offer our Lord who lovingly paid the price for our sins so that we wouldn’t have to?

But the truth is, we do have gifts that we could offer Jesus, and they are gifts with which He would be well pleased. We could give Him our love, our faith and our time! For loves takes time to grow and faith takes time to build 🙂

As parents, we spend so much of our time working to provide for our families and to give our children every possible opportunity. And so we bring our children to baseball, and soccer and dance, and then sit down with them to help them with their homework. We rush to work and then we rush home to make dinner. From sunrise to long after sunset, we run through our many tasks and activities, buidling our families, careers, and homes.

But in our rush to give our children everything on this earth, how much time to we really spend on building our (and their) Heavenly Home, reading God’s Word, or in simple, quiet prayer seeking God’s Truth and Teaching our children to see it as well? Is that not the best gift possible?

In our Holy Bible, it says that God “delights” in us. So perhaps we do have Gifts that we can offer our Lord Jesus-our love and our time. And we can teach our children to do the same!

And if we wish to have a Faith as awesome and loving as Jesus’ Mother Mary’s is, then perhaps we should ask for it! And our Lord, who grants so many of our prayers on earthly matters, will surely be “delighted” that we love Him enough to ask for what matters most of all – Faith 🙂

¹² And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.

¹³ These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.”-Revelations 17: 12-13

In Revelations, we read of the ten kings being given power for “one hour”. Personally, I am not sure what one hour means in God’s time, it could be a while.

Xi, Putin, Erdogan, Biden…Are some of the “10 Kings” coming into place? We can’t know for sure, but do not fear. For they wear tin crowns, only God wears the real one!

Be not afraid, for our Father has not forgotten us and will not. And God is the only King that matters!

Jesus is still our Savior and is wearing the only crown that matters! And He is still bringing us to Heaven.

Prepare, Pray and Be Ready 🙂

Early Christians were cautious. They used a Fish as a way to identify each other and to help keep each other safe. There was great persecution of Christians at that time, and safety was an important concern.

In the coming days, the persecution of Christians will only grow.  While all who are still here and following Jesus may be required to be willing risk their lives; we don’t have to make it easy for the persecutors!

It’s okay to be cautious.  When the great persecution of Christians took place in the early days of Christianity, Christians were willing and able to stand up for their faith in Jesus.  But they didn’t necessarily say, “Here I am, come kill me!”, lol.

In the same way, in the future, there will be a great persecution of those Christians who are on earth.  While we need to be willing to stand up for our faith, even at the risk of our very lives, we don’t have to make it easy for those who would persecute us!

Lastly, and far more dangerous, is the one who can convince us to leave our faith in Jesus behind and join them. Far more important than protecting one another physically, we need to protect our own faith in Jesus and the faith of one another.

We must all ” raise a Hallelujah” for “Heaven comes to fight for me” 🙂

Prepare, Pray & Be Ready!

“ And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in ^[a]hell.”-Matthew 10:28

Miracles happen every day! But we need to look for them and believe in them 🙂

So many times, a Miracle happens and instead of believing in it and being grateful to our Lord for it, we explain it away. Human nature? Peer pressure? Current society?

But Miracles do exist and happen every day!

It’s our choice whether to see Miracles and Thank God for them-or not.

Prepare, Pray & Be Ready…

“Under the shadow of the Almighty” is where we all belong, and where we can all go :).

Safety of Abiding in the Presence of God

91 He who dwells 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 I will trust.”

³ Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the ^[a]fowler
And from the perilous pestilence.
⁴ He shall cover you with His feathers,
And under His wings you shall take refuge;
His truth shall be your shield and ^[b]buckler.
⁵ You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,
Nor of the arrow that flies by day,
⁶ Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,
Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.

⁷ A thousand may fall at your side,
And ten thousand at your right hand;
But it shall not come near you.
⁸ Only with your eyes shall you look,
And see the reward of the wicked.

⁹ Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place,
¹⁰ No evil shall befall you,
Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;
¹¹ For He shall give His angels charge over you,
To keep you in all your ways.
¹² In their hands they shall ^[c]bear you up,
Lest you ^[d]dash your foot against a stone.
¹³ You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra,
The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.

¹⁴ “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will ^[e]set him on high, because he has 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 honor him.
¹⁶ With ^[f]long life I will satisfy him,

And show him My salvation.”

Pray this Prayer every day! Memorize it and hide it in your heart. And when you most need it- it will be there 🙂

Prepare, Pray & Be Ready!

I think if we are honest, most of us will admit there has been at least one time, if not more, lol. But your know what, that’s okay!

Whether we already know Jesus, or whether we are thinking about getting to know Him, if we want a real friendship , we need to share all of our feelings, not just the “good” ones 🙂

So don’t wait to accept Jesus’ Great Gift until you are “ready”. And don’t wait until it’s the “right” time.

Just come as you are and I promise you that Jesus will meet there 🙂

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. “-Romans 8:18

The smile of a child, a rainbow in the sky, the beauty of the flowers blooming, the beauty of the sun on the water or in the trees, the warmth of a friend’s hug, the light and clouds of the sky, the beauty of the stars…Our Lord is there and He is here. Just waiting for us 🙂

It’s only natural to worry about the future, even fear it, because let’s face it, the future is not looking to good. But that is if we are only looking at our earthly future. What we need to do is focus on our Heavenly future :).

Earthly governments are limited in their powers, God is not. For example, the government can’t take our faith in Jesus and the government can’t take a Bible verse we memorized and hide in our hearts. The government can’t take from us our love for the Lord, or our love for our family and each other. Nor can the government take Heaven from us. All that is truly important, the government can not take, because it will always be ours. Given to us by God Himself! So do not fear 🙂

The government may take what is not important, but it doesn’t matter. Money, a house, a job…we can’t take these to Heaven with us. They may seem important now, here on earth. But they are not nearly as important as we think. And they are definitely not as important as our relationship with Jesus 🙂

One day, a day of great suffering will come. But those days will be temporary, for Jesus will come and He will take us to Heaven 🙂

Prepare, Pray & Be Ready 🙂 Keep your Faith for in the end, it is all that will really matter 🙂

Yes! Personally, I believe Jesus does love every human being, no matter what lifestyle they choose.

We all sin. We all have temptations that we struggle with. When we repent and seek to change, Jesus is so happy. Because you see, even when we are overwhelmed with sin, God is rooting for us! Jesus loves us and wants us to turn to Him for help 🙂

The problem comes in when we begin to take “pride” in our sins. Sin is sin. It’s not something to take “pride” in. And it doesn’t matter which sin, sin is not something to be proud of! Sin offends our Lord. It separates us from God.

And when we sin enough, our hearts become hardened. We find ourselves not even feeling “guilty” about our sinful choices, and that is the most dangerous thing of all. Because it means that we have grown that far from God that we are not even listening to Him anymore. God’s “still small voice” is a voice we just don’t hear anymore because we are no longer listening for it. It means that we have decided our way is better than God’s.

The problem with that decision is it is simply not true. God’s Will is always the best choice for us. Because He made us and He loves us, He knows what will bring us happiness.

I know that these days, participating in the “gay life-style” has become a politically popular thing to do. But people are not born gay; they choose a gay lifestyle. And since it’s a choice, they can also choose a Godly lifestyle.

Please pray for all of those stuck in this lifestyle. Pray that they will be healed by God and turn back to Him, while there is still time. Because God loves them too!

Be Still!

Psalms 46:10  Be still, and know that I am God! I will be praised among the nations, I will be praised in the earth. 

Another great devotion from Worthy Briefs! To receive their daily devotions, please click here!

“In one passage in John, we read about how Yeshua’s (Jesus) friend Lazarus was critically ill. Since Lazarus was a good friend of Yeshua, I’m sure those around Yeshua were expecting that He would come immediately to his aid. The scripture says, however, that Yeshua stayed two more days in the place where He was. It was in those two days that Lazarus died.

It’s so hard to understand why it is that God waits to do the things we ask of Him. It’s good for us to remember, though, that He has His purposes for waiting. God was about to teach everyone involved a much deeper lesson here. As Yeshua raised Lazarus from the dead, He made sure they all understood that He is the resurrection and the life for all who believe.

God has His perfect timing for everything under heaven. You may be waiting for God to intervene in some area of your life. You may have been begging and pleading with God for years on that particular thing. But we can relax and know that God’s timing is perfect. We never know what God is doing behind the scenes, in order that our joy would be made full. Remember that He knows best what would bless us most and He is working all things for those of us who love Him and are called according to His purposes.

Relax. God is in control. He has greater things for you than what you could ask or think!”

Some days are just hard. Sometimes it’s just hard to see what direction we should go. But do not fear, God is still with you and will show you the way 🙂

Another great devotion from Worthy Briefs: (You can sign up here to receive them: Worthy Briefs)

Psalms 25:4-5 Shew me thy ways, O LORD; teach me thy paths. Lead me in thy truth, and teach me: for thou art the God of my salvation; on thee do I wait all the day.

A father asked his son to carry a letter from their camp to the village. He pointed out a trail of which the lad had never gone before. “All right Dad, but I don’t see how that path will ever reach the town,” said the boy. “Well son, I’ll tell you how. Do you see that big tree down the path?” asked the father. “Oh, yes, I see that far.” “Well, when you get there by the tree, you’ll see the trail a little farther ahead — and farther down you’ll see another big tree — and when you reach that one you’ll be closer and so on until you get within sight of the houses of the village.”

In the same way, I believe God wants to reveal the way for each one of us on our trails toward Him, one tree at a time. Sometimes we’re convinced we need to see the end of our path so that we can be reassured that there’s something good down there, or that we’re going in the right direction, or that we’ll be able to see if it gets dark.

Over the past two years sometimes it feels as if we’re stumbling in the dark.  Shortly after my brother’s sudden death two years ago, we’ve been “redeployed” to the United States while trying to navigate the Covid lockdowns.

We’ve now traveled over 65,000 miles been speaking, traveling, and encouraging the saints in the midst of this pandemic.  In the midst of it all, rarely do we know what we are doing more than a few weeks out, however, the Lord has been faithful through the midst of it all.

We know first hand how it feels to walk and not know where the end will be — and often wonder if we’ll have the strength and sustenance to get there.

It’s not easy to move forward and trust that God will light the path ahead and point us in the way we should go. But this is a crucial step toward our growth and maturity in the Lord and we all need to get there.

Let’s give our hesitation and fear to the Lord. He will not fail us. He will be faithful to light our path and lead us in the way everlasting — one day at a time.  Be blessed and have a wonderful weekend!  Shabbat Shalom!”