ARE YOU READY? LETS GO!

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right.
2 Timothy 3:16

If you believe the Bible to be true, and that, this verse then we must admit that there is much in it that points to the devil as a personal entity. This book is written because there are millions of people who do not realize the actual presence, personality and power of the devil. Others are like the proverbial ostrich. They wish to hide their heads in the sand (in the sand mean there is a revelation in this). as they deny the existence of Satan altogether, even though they know better. Or, they protest that he should be neither discussed not disturbed. Not only writer of the New Testament, but Jesus Himself, tells us about the evil one. It is therefore, imperative that we understand who he is and what he is up to.
   The devil rules the kingdom of darkness, organize and command hordes of demons and fallen angels, possesses realms of power, and maintains stronghold s by deceiving nation, cities, groups, individuals. The gates of this kingdom seek to withstand and overcome the church of the living God.
   When Jesus declared concerning His Church that. . .the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (Matt.16:18b), He was proclaiming that every formidable fortress of Satan falls flat before the legions of the redeemed marching victoriously under the banner of His cross.
May you do great thing as The Lord said, you Can Destroy the Gates of Hell, to move into the battlefield of victory in the Lord Jesus Christ, having divine assurance that, if God be for us, who can be against us! (Romans 8:31).
Christ said, Go ye into all the world. . . Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils. . . Lo, am with you always, even unto the end. . .(Mark 16:15; Matt.10:8;28:20).

JESUS' EYES

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
MATTHEW 9:36 ASV

We were in line at the ice cream store when I noticed him. His face bore the marks of too many fights a crooked nose and some scars. His clothes were rumpled, though clean. I stepped between him and my children, using my back to erect a wall.
   The first time he spoke, I didn't hear him I scarcely made eye contact with him. Because my wife wasn't with me thought I was a single parent and gently said, it's hard raising them alone, isn't it?" Something in his tone made me turn to look at him. Only then did I notice his cgildren, and I listened to him tell me how long his wife had been gone. His soft words contrasted with his hard exterior.
    I was duly chastened Once again I had failed to see beyond outward appearances. Jesus encountered people whose outward appearance could have turned Him away, including the demon possessed man in our reading for today (Mark 5:1-20). Yet He saw the heart-needs and met them.
    Jesus never fails to see us with love. Even though we have scars of sin and rumpled nature that shows in our stutter step faithfulness. May God help us to replace our haughtiness with Jesus heart of love.

THE TURNING POINT

Jesus replied, " You are blessed, Simon son of John, because my Father in heaven has revealed this to you. You did not learn this from any human being.
MATTHEW 16:17 NLT

This is the turning point of the Synoptic Gospels. From this moment on, Jesus begins to fulfill the prophecies of His death.
Peter had not come to this decision by study or by instruction, not by nature or by education, neither by with nor by human wisdom. Flesh and blood had not revealed it to him. God the Father in heaven revealed it to him by His Spirit. It was revelation knowledge, and Peter, therefore, was blessed because of it.
The Apostle Paul also confessed that he conferred not with flesh and blood (Gal.1:16), but received revelation knowledge of the gospel directly from God
   There are things we learn from heaven that we can never learn here on earth. There are truths from heaven that are not taught in school. If we were to learn them, we must receive them straight from God.
   When we speak by divine revelation, we are all blessed. Any time we can tell what God is thinking, what God is doing, what God is going to do, we are blessed by bringing forth revelation knowledge from God to the people.
   No one truly knows Christ except by divine revelation. We do not get to know Him through a sermon or by studying a book. True, we can get to know him in a personal way only when the Holy Spirit reveals Him to us as the unigue Son of God.

Grace and Truth

the law was given through Moses; God's unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ.
JOHN 1: 17

With my soul I will bless the Lord with every though and purpose in life. A daily devotion  I read story about, when W.P. MACKAY Left for college, his mother gave him a Bible. On the front page she inscribed, "To W.P. from your mother."
    In college, W.P.began to think of himself as an atheist and even became the first president of the atheist society in Canada. One day Mackay was in the emergency room when a young man was brought in whose body had been badly crushed by a fall, still conscious, the boy inquired about his chances. Dr. Mackay replied, " young man, you don't have two hour to live."
    Calmly, the young man said, "That's akk right, Doctor. I'm ready."
     Is there anything I can do for you?" Mackay asked. "Yes," he said, "in my pants pocket is my paycheck. Send it to my landlady for my last two weeks' rent. And also ask her to send my book."
    Dr. Mackay dispatched an aide from the hospital and began his rounds. At the end of the day, he went back to inquire about the boy. A nurse told him that he had just died. "Did he get 'the book' he asked for?" "Yes she said, " it'd under his pillow," and Mackay walked into the room and reached beneath the pillow.
     There was an old Bible and Mackay opened it s!Owly. The first page was inscribe, "To W.P. from your mother," it was the Bible he pawned years before.
    He took the Bible, went to the doctors' lounge, kneeled, and begged for God's mercy and forgiveness. Dr. Mackay eventually became a Christian apologist and author. The Bible he had abandoned many years before changed his life, just as it has the lives of untold millions. And this nook can change tour life too.

Is God a Conversationalist?

"Be silent, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world."
Psalm 46:10 NLT

ARE THERE ANY PARALLELS between being a good conversationalist  and talking with God in prayers? Is prayer conversation or simply letting God know what you want?
     Some people believe that God talks to them when they pray. I think of that old hymn about coming to the garden early in the morning where God "walks with me and he talks with me, and he tells me I am his own."
    One of the heroes, in this story, Mary Slessor, was a Scottish woman who spent most of her life in Nigeria, Africa  then known as the Calabar. When Slessor returned home, some people observed her frequently muttering under her breathe. A few assumed her mind was slightly addled.
    When confronted with her behavior, she responded that she was simply talking with Jesus, explaining that she carried on conversation with Him constantly.
    Good conversationalists are also good listeners. But most never really stop to listen to God something vital for a real conversation. How do you hear His voice? Do you expect it to be accompanied by thunder and uttered in a deep tone that will cause the walls to shake? Or might His voice be a still, gentle voice inside? Looking back, my spiritual life in my early days as a Christian could have been more meaningful if someone had taught me to speak less in prayer and listen to God more.
     God tells us that we should be still and know that He is God. For many of us, its hard to be still while we are talking. But take heart. If you want to be a good conversationalist, learn to listen with your heart, and if you want to be effective in prayer, keep listening. Are you listening?

Who is in Control

I will raise up Cyrus to fulfill my righteous purpose, and I will guide all his actions. He will restore my city and free my captive people and not for a reward! I, the Lord Almighty, have spoken!"
ISAIAH 45:13

At one time in my life statement like that made me cringe and become resentful. Not until I released my grip on my horizontal perspective did I find any comfort in God's sovereignty. Little by little, it began to settle in my mind, bringing relief instead of fear. God is in charge.!
"Wait a minute, wait a minute," I hear you saying, "I've got a question." We all have question about this. I told you it was profound. I told you we couldn't understand it. We want to be in charge. We want to say, "No this is up to me. I choose my own friends. I choose my own interests. I decided where I wanted to go to college."
Now it's my turn to say, "wait a minute." Who sent out the proclamation that you are now in charge? It's not up to you. You're the clay; He's the potter. Remember? You're the branches; He's the Vine. You're the servant He's the Master. It's all in His hands. What a wonderful way to live! What may seem at the time like a series of mysterious, illogical events is, in fact God at work in ways too deep to explain, too profound for you to grasp. . . right now.
   What about the future? Can I know any part of God's determined will for my life in the future? Your spiritual position and your eternal destiny are the only two things you can know with certainty. If you are in Christ now, you can know for certain you will remain in Christ at every moment in the future. The remainder of your future is hidden from you until it happen. Your career, your marriage partner, your home location, your grade in school, your sickness, accidents, honors, travels, income, retirement are all part of God's determined will but are not revealed ahead of time. Apart from your spiritual position and external destiny, all will happen in your life cannot be predicted with absolute certainty. Mark in the margin of your Bible beside these verse: "Decreed will of God." His decreed will is at work in your life. He's chipping away in your life, causing you to take on the character of His Son. And had You to access became  victorious. Psalm 115:16 ; The heaven are the LORD'S heaven, but the earth he has given to the children of man. God degree and God permit!

HIS LOVINGKINDNESS

How blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, Whose sin is covered! How blessed is the man whom the Lord flies impute iniquity, And in whose spirit there is no deceit! When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away Through my groaning all day long, for day and night Thy hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was drained away as with the fever heat of summer. Selah,
Psalm 32:1-4

When you deceived those around you, you're living a lie. And when the child of God tries to hide sin, the guilt virtually eats him or her alive. But when you finally come to terms with your sin, and you make your confession, when you declare yourself guilty, God "surrounds you with His lovingkindness" His magnificent chesed.
I acknowledge my sin to Thee, And my iniquity I did not hide; I said, "I will confess my transgression to the Lord"; And Thou didst forgive the guilt of my sin. .  
Many are the sorrows of the wicked; But he who trust in the Lord, lovingjindness [chesed] shall surround him. (Psalm 32:5,10).
We see this same pattern in Psalm 51. Same context. Same man. Same set of sins. In fact, look in your Bibles and you'll see in the superscription, just below the title, that this is " A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he [David] had gone in to Bathsheba. " So this is month after David had committed adultery and had Bathsheba "s husband, Uriah, placed in the fiercest point of battle where he surely would be killed. David hugged his secret sins to himself until that day when Nathan courageously looked him in the eye and said, " You are the man!" And David response, recorded in  this psalm, is "Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your chesed"
Be gracious to me, O God, according to Thy lovingkindness; According to the greatness of Thy compassion blot out transgression. Psalm 51:1
"Lord, I'm  at Your mercy," And God granted it to him.
Do you remember the part of David great Psalm 23?
Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever Psalm 23:6
God's goodness and lovingkindness-- His chesed His mercy Some quaint commentator once suggested that since this psalm is written from the viewpoint of s Shepherd and his sheep, that last verse could represent God's sheep dog named Goodness and Mercy. Sheep of God, do you realize that these two faithful "dog"  watch over you and care for you? Their presence reminds us that relief has come. They nuzzles us back into the shadow of the Shepherd, who graciously welcomes us and forgive us.