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We have always been one people, one nation, under God. It doesn’t matter when it was added to the Pledge of Allegiance. What really matters is that the hearts of millions of Americans have always loved Jesus.

We were formed as a Christian nation. The attempts to say otherwise are Satan’s.

We have always shared a deep bond with the Jewish people because we shared the Old Testament with them, and still do. And that is why so many of our values are “Judeo-Christian” values. And it’s why we have always had a special relationship with both Israel and the Jewish people.

On November 5th, or today, Americans will go to the voting booths to choose the next President. We will either choose to be “One Nation Under God” and continue to receive God’s Great Blessings, or we will choose to reject God and all that God has Blessed us with.

God’s Hand of Protection has made us one of the most Blessed nations on earth. Our vote for President this year will determine if God’s Hand of Protection remains.

It’s our choice and our consequences.

Follow Jesus & Keep Praying; Prayer Changes Things!

“Holy Spirit my heart is your home”

Tough times are coming, but the Holy Spirit, who lives in us, can truly make a difference. The Holy Spirit was sent to Help us. We need to let Him.

One great way to grow closer to the Holy Spirit and allow Him to work in us is to pray to Him. I can well remember how silly I felt when I first prayed to the Holy Spirit. After all, it was one thing to pray to our Father and Jesus, but the Holy Spirit seemed, at first, a stretch.

But a close friend encouraged me to ask the Holy Spirit to Help me in reading the Bible, and soon what seemed difficult to understand became easy! And before I knew it, situations that were incredibly difficult became clearly possible.

Sometimes, it is easier to begin with a set prayer like this one:

Prayer to the Holy Spirit

O Holy Spirit, Beloved of my soul, I adore You. Enlighten me, guide me, strengthen me and console me. Tell me what I ought to do and command me to do it. I promise to submit to everything that You ask of me and to accept all that You allow to happen to me. Just show me what is Your will, O Holy Spirit

“A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is his delight.”-Proverbs 11:1

With the upcoming election, there have been many concerns raised about potential “cheating”. Cheating is an “abomination” to the Lord. It always will be. And if either side feels the need to cheat to win, they are not putting their Trust in God.

For if we Trust the Lord, than we must trust the outcome in that we do NOT cheat.

Those who cheat, sin. Sin is only forgiven by Christ through repentance and sorrow for that sin. But will election sinners actually repent?

And if the outcome is changed through cheating, should that outcome be honored?

We have only one mission, to Follow Christ. And in doing so, we don’t follow cheaters.

Follow Jesus & Keep Praying; Prayer Changes Things!

With the election only a couple of weeks away, tension is running high in our country. And the truth is, it is understandable that it is.

But take comfort from the Holy Spirit. For after the election, no matter who wins, the Holy Spirit will still live in us. God will still answer our prayers. Jesus will still love us. Although much may change, God will not.

For God never changes. Just as the meaning of God’s Word does not change. No matter who wins, our “mission” will remain the same:

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. ³⁸ This is the great and first commandment. ³⁹ And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”-Matthew 22:34-39

Follow Jesus & Keep Praying; Prayer Changes Things!

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.”-Jeremiah 29:11

In the beginning, Zach Williams led a sad life. He had devoted, loving Christian parents and when he hit his teens he rebelled. He dropped out of high school and got his GED, he started experimenting with drugs and alcohol and hanging out with the wrong crowd. He, as many of us do, turned away from God.

Later in his life, he got married, but his marriage was not working. It was then that God showed up and rescued him.

Jesus not only healed Zach Williams heart, Zach went on to become a Grammy Award winning Christian singer. He went on to sing songs that really resonated with people and helped strengthen the faith of many.

Turning to God may not make us famous, but it will make us feel really good about ourselves, our lives, and the choices we make. Turning to God will give us something we truly need: Hope.

And as far as having a “successful” life, now the only one that will judge whether we are a “success” is Jesus, and Jesus measure’s a person’s life a completely different way:

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment.  And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”-Matthew 22: 37-40

Jesus can “rescue” us and use us to help others too. But there is one thing that Zach did do, that we need to do too, he asked God for His help!

Follow Jesus & Keep Praying; Prayer Changes Things!

I don’t think it’s possible to say it better than Steven Curtis Chapman, so please take a moment and listen to this song.

It doesn’t matter where we are. Whether all is good and right in our world, or whether we are facing a serious health issue. Whether we don’t know where our next meal is coming from or whether we are facing prison for the 5th time. Or whether someone we loved died or left. Or whether we are doing drugs or alcohol after promising our loved ones for a million times that we would not.

Jesus loves us and will meet us wherever we are. We don’t have to “clean ourselves up” or “pull up our bootstraps, Jesus wants to help us right now! Because He loves us.

As the song says, “He knows the way to wherever you are”. All we need to do is say, “Jesus help” and He will be right there with a big hug. We don’t even have to say it out loud. There will be no delay. Jesus has you 🙂

Follow Jesus & Keep Praying; Prayer Changes Things!

Did we ever hear of Our Lady of Good Health? I’ve never heard an American church teach of Our Lady of Good Health, but India has. The Basilica of Good Health is in India and is where three appearances of Mary took place. It has been nicknames “The Lourdes of the East”.

She is also known as Our Lady of Vailankanni, which is where she appeared twice.

The first appearance of Mary was to a young boy many years ago. He was on his way to deliver some buttermilk and stopped to rest under a Banyon tree. Mary appeared and asked for some buttermilk for Jesus and the boy gave it to her. When he arrived at the house of his customer he apologized for not having any buttermilk, but when he opened his container, it was full.

During Mary’s second appearance, She asked a young boy for a cup of buttermilk for her Jesus, which he of course, gave Her. He was a lame boy and had no customers. Mary cured him and asked him to go to Nagapattinam and ask a certain Catholic man there to build a chapel in Vailankanni. Cured, he ran all the way there 🙂

The third appearance of Mary was to a group of Portuguese sailors who were caught is a horrible storm and prayed to Mary, the Star of the Sea, to save them. They promised to build a church in Her honor, and they did. When they arrived home, they rebuilt the first chapel, which had a thatched roof, into a stone church.

One might wonder why these miracles, which happened in India, matter so much to us in America. It’s because they are filled with hope. Anyone can be healed or lifted up anywhere. If Mary is not limited by time nor place, neither is God!

There is a second reason that it matters so. There is a tendency in America and Europe for us to think that we know more than others. This is not true. We also sometimes think that the meaning of the Bible is determined solely by us. This is also not true. We can always learn from our Sisters and Brothers in Christ.

Follow Jesus & Keep Praying; Prayer Changes Things!

Pictures of Mary’s Basilica, please copy and paste this link: https://www.vailankannishrine.net/feedback/Church_Photos

The heart rending suffering that has come about through Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton is overwhelming. Families lost too much. They lost people that they loved and they lost everything they owned.

We have seen so many Americans reach out to help those who were harmed. Millions of Americans are praying for all those who are hurting! This is one good outcome. This tragedy has reminded so many of us about what makes the American people-great.

But there are two things we do need to remember.

One is, that we can only hope that those who so tragically lost their lives-had accepted Jesus as their Savior and Followed Him to Heaven. Because there are no do-overs and there is only one way to Heaven. So often we live our lives thinking that there is always tomorrow to accept Jesus, but tomorrow does not always come.

The second is that the clean up and rebuilding are going to take a long time, a lot of work and many prayers. We need to remember all of those who suffered from these storms today, tomorrow and for all the days to come.

Pray now and pray for all the tomorrows, for all those who are suffering. And for those who go to help them!

And then pray now and all of the tomorrows, that we will remember them in our prayers always and reach out to help them in the days and years to come. And pray for all those who are helping them!

Follow Jesus & Keep Praying; Prayer Changes Things!

Sometimes it can be hard to find the words to pray to the Holy Spirit, and yet it is so critically important, especially right now. Below is a prayer that is easy to say every day 🙂

Prayer to the Holy Spirit:

“O Holy Spirit, Beloved of my soul, I adore you. Enlighten me, guide me, strengthen me and console me. Tell me what I ought to do and command me to do it. I promised to submit to everything that You ask of me and to accept all that you allow to happen to me. Just show me what is Your will, O Holy Spirit.”

To be “enlightened” is to see all that is around you through the Holy Spirit’s eyes. To see it how it actually is. Something we can all use, especially right now.

To ask for guidance and strength is simply asking the Holy Spirit to tell us what to do in each situation, and for the strength to do it.

To console us is to ask the Holy Spirit to comfort us in all things. We ask the Holy Spirit to let us know that we are making the choice that God would have us make. And we are also asking the Holy Spirit to comfort us in hard times.

It can be quite a relief to have the Holy Spirit “command” us to do something, anything. I don’t know about you, but half the time I am praying and trying to figure out what God would have me do. To have the Holy Spirit “command me” is a great gift, not to mention a great relief lol.

If we pray the above prayer every day, it WILL help us 🙂

Sadly, apostasy lives in the hearts of many. Now.

In the last days, many will be blinded. Unable to see the Truth of the Holy Spirit, and many will falter. In fact, we see many are already blinded. Please pray for each other that each will see the Truth, and we need to pray for ourselves every day that we will see the Truth.

Sadly, even some churches which are supposed to lead us to Jesus, seem to be leading many astray. But there is one sure way to see God’s Truth. With the Holy Spirit’s Help, we need to read God’s Word for ourselves.

There is only one God, and He had only one Son, and our God is not a God of confusion. The Holy Spirit is THE Spirit of Truth. We need to ask for His guidance right now!

The choices are getting harder and they will get even harder. If any of us do not see that, we need to ask the Holy Spirit to see the world as it is, not as we wish it were.

Call on the Holy Spirit NOW, while there is still time!

“Holy Spirit Come”