Category: Faith

Heritage

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‘And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers.’ Acts 3: 25 NIV

‘It was not through the law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir of the world, but through the righteousness that comes through faith.’ Romans 4:13 NIV

‘If you belong to Christ, you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.’ Galatians 3:29 NIV

‘So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.’ Galatians 4:7 NIV

‘This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus.’ Ephesians 3:6 NIV

We are chosen to be heirs of this great world. Not everyone but those who have believed by faith in the one true King ‘Jesus Christ ‘.

Just think about it. The true king, creator of heaven and earth. Everything that ever was or will be. He has called us to himself. He loves us soooo much and wants us together forever. He is drawing us closer to himself each day.

I looked into royalty as a definition. It means status, dignity, power, prestige and belonging to a royal family. We are nothing special on our own. We are after all just sinners condemned to die from those sins. But we were ‘called’. Just as thousands of years ago God called Abraham to leave his home and family and to follow him. We have been called.

We are not heirs by blood from birth. But as heirs we are special to the King. Not being British I can’t really understand what it means to be royalty but I do see the favor and power on children in the royal family.

Since I was young I have followed those in Queen Elizabeth’s family. Kings, queens, princes and princesses. Dukes, duchesses, lords and earls. Being given an important heritage that follows you through life. Their actions are highly scrutinized. Their position warrants it.

I am a child of God. Not just a famous family. An heir with Jesus Christ to inherit this world and live in it forever with a select few. This is very much an honor and I do not take it lightly.

My behavior is also watched by many. I want to be as much like my King as I can be. Doing what my King has asked of me. It is always possible with his help.

How many of you realize how important that we really are to the final outcome of the kingdom of this royal family.

No Regrets

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“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way to get the prize.”   1 Corinthians 9:24. NIV

“Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done.”   Revelations 22:12 NIV

Have you ever done something you were not proud of? Something that you wished you had not done. It would eat at you forever. Why did I do that? I wish I could go back again and change things. We all make mistakes. Maybe we said something that hurt someone. Done something that hurt others.

When it’s done we feel bad. That ache inside us just won’t go away. Satan loves to remind us of our past mistakes and failures. ‘You are awful, you always screw things up,’ he says. But God loves us even when we don’t love ourselves. If we come to him and ask forgiveness, he will forgive.

That bad feeling will go and be replaced by peace. We don’t need to carry it any more. His love can bring so much healing. What if you were gone tomorrow? You know tomorrow is not promised. We could have a massive heart attack, or a car accident.

What if Jesus came tonight to take his children home. We are in the end times and it could be any day. We never know what tomorrow will bring. Today may be our last day. If you knew that it was your last day on earth, what would you do differently?

When we stand before God and he shows us everything we have ever done. Good and bad we will want to be ready. What will we say? That is when I do not want any regrets. I want to stand before him with a clean slate. He makes that possible.

We can be sure that he will see us in the light of his son and all his righteousness.

Either we can be perfect, or since that probably won’t happen, we can live everyday the very best we can. Seeking God’s will in our lives first.  Ask God’s help to say good things of encouragement. Lord help me to keep quiet if I can’t say something positive.

Lord show me things I can do to help. I may be in a wheelchair and I may not speak eloquently but God has shown me I can do a lot more than I think I can. He has made me a good listener. I am very aware of the needs of others around me, and he lets me know what to do.

I am always trying to help. God has given me great awareness of others needs. If I can’t help I can find someone who can. He has given me the gift of writing. He gives me words to help others. Someone may have a problem. He can show me just what they need to hear.

It is not me it’s him helping me. The more I try to serve. The more he shows me to do.

He will do the same for you. When you are doing so much good you don’t have time for the bad.  Anger and hate just roll off me. I do not have room for them in my life.

Bitterness leaves me feeling so bad and I would rather feel good. So I just ignore comments meant to hurt . Nobody is perfect.

Every time we do something we know is wrong we need to come to him and ask forgiveness. At the end of the day we need to look back over our day. What good did I do? What bad did I do?

Keep the lines of communication open. Thank you Lord for this day. I am sorry for ….? You will sleep so much better with a clear heart.

Will you be rewarded for your actions?

To Obey

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“If you love me, keep my commandments.” John 14:15 NIV

The first and greatest commandment is to love the Lord with all you are. If we truly love him we will show it by our actions. It is said they will know us by our love. Which is the part of us that comes from his spirit living in us. But keeping his commandments takes more work.

Which commandments was he referring to? All of them and there are many. The only way to do this is to read his word and put it to memory. Without knowing the Bible it is hard to know what to keep doing. There are so many. They even give us ways that we will be blessed by doing them.

For instance some are ‘long life’, ‘health’, ‘blessings’, and ‘strong bones’ just to mention a few common ones. These are things that will help us have a long and happy life.Because God is the only one who knows what is really best for us, he has given us the keys not rules to a long and blessed life.

So many people see these as laws or rules we have to keep. What a drag to be a Christian, they say. They see these things through their carnal minds as hindrances to fun. But really they keep us safe, healthy, blessed and happy. We need to be so glad he is on our side. He’s got our back, so to speak.

Well back when Moses was leading the Israelites through the wilderness he gave them many specific commandments. These were harder to follow to the letter. Many of these made no real sense to the people. They were there so the people could realize how holy he is and how we should hold him in great honor.

He also had so many for us to do just out of trust. There was really no way we could keep all of these commandments. We needed a savior and so he sent his one and only son to be the perfect spotless lamb once and for all. I am so glad I live after Christ made the ultimate sacrifice for us. We now live under grace and have it so much easier.

“I have come that you may have life, and have it to the full.” John 10:10

Now when we come to know the truth we have keys to help us have the full and abundant life he has promised us. So enjoy reading his word and following the way to be blessed.

Believing

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It is important what you believe. We can not get to heaven by any other way than believing in Jesus Christ.

“Jesus answered, I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me.” John 14:6. NIV

“ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whosoever believes in him should have everlasting life.” John 3:16. NIV

You can’t get to heaven by:

Being good

Going to church

Loving others

Giving money to the church

Parents who are Christians

These are some of the ways people believe they will get to heaven. They say that if they are good enough and don’t do too many bad things (sins) then God will let them in.

There will be no sin in heaven. God can not exist among sin. It tells us in the Bible that all man have sinned and no one is worthy to get in. So how can we get in.

By believing that God loved us so much that he was willing to give up his one and only perfect son to be brutalized to the point of death just so we could be with him throughout eternity.

He withstood all to take away all of the sins of this world with him to death so we could be righteous through him. As they whipped him time after time he thought of us. It was all worth it to be able to see us in heaven with him.

He took those sins to hell and came back to life again and it was finished. We can now be adopted into the great family of God as a joint heir with Jesus. Heaven is a perfect place where there is no sin, no pain, no trials. We will have perfect bodies and perfect minds.

We still sin but we now have the mind of Christ living inside us and with his help should try to live our lives for him. Trying to do the things he has asked us. Trying not to sin anymore.

People say they would rather be in hell with all their friends. Well I have news for you. Hell is a place of total isolation from everything. Total darkness where you can not see your hand in front of your face. Pain of burning to death but never being consumed continually forever.

I don’t know about you but that thought is something that makes me want to know for sure where I will end up. No maybes will do. I must know without a shadow of doubt that I will be let in.

I know for sure that my redeemer lives and when I close my eyes on this earth for the very last time that my future is certain. When I breath my last breath I will go to be with those brothers and sisters who have passed from this life before me. I know many who are already there and I can’t wait to see them again in that perfect place.

If you would like to know more you can comment to me and I will get back to you.

Don’t we all want to be in that perfect place together forever.

Deceived

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To be deceived is a horrible thing. There was a time in my life where I really thought I deserved whatever would make me happy. Because I made a good living it meant if I wanted something I should have it. I pursued things that struck my fancy. I was very selfish but I didn’t see it.

I was very deceived by our enemy and I grew apart from the Lord. I was doing so many sinful things and with poor motives. I had been raised right in a Christian home but I was blinded by pride. Finally I got mixed up with a married man and had an affair.

I was messing up my life all by myself. I had a wonderful husband and we had a great marriage but I was filling passing fancies I guess. My husband has forgiven me and is very supportive but we did divorce after my stroke and moving away to be taken care of.

After my stroke I had plenty of time to think and devoted my life to doing what God wants for me only. I still am very much interested in deception and the effect it has on people. My heart goes out for people who are lied to and taught untruths all their lives.

Deception is to mislead by false statement or action. I heard a minister speak one time about doing things for God. He said find the one thing that you can’t take anymore of in this world and that’s a need you can fill. Well for me it is helping others overcome deception.

I did a biblical study on deception in the Bible and there are things that cause deception and things to prevent it. First the devil is a liar and the father of all lies so he will deceive. Hanging out with sinners and bad company will bring deception.

Watching bad movies (rated R), poor music, spending time in the wrong places.

All these things will mislead you. But there are many things you can do to avoid deception in your life. Spending time reading the Bible and Christian books, listening to praise and worship music. Watching faith based encouraging movies. Attending church and socializing with other Christians.

Spending good quality time talking to God and praying for others. These are all things that will edify your soul and bring you closer to God. Don’t let anything else become an idol in your life. You should desire more of the things of God in your life then you will be able to see deception coming and flee from it.

If you keep yourself in a right relationship with God you will see the devil coming. His Holy Spirit will warn you. And if you have been taught wrong things they will be exposed. Walking in a right relationship with him and believing in Christ promises us eternal life with God in heaven.

“Do not grow weary in doing good, for at the proper time you will reap a harvest

If we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9 NIV

Many will grow weary and stop serving the Lord but if we want to go to Heaven for eternity we will persevere. Do not be misled God should not be mocked. What you reap you will sow. So sow good things in life. To reap eternal life with God.

God’s Calling

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“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared for us in advance to do.” Ephesians 2:10 NIV

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah 1:5 NIV

We were all destined to be great. Do you want to be average when God wants you to be great. Before you were ever born God had your life planned out. You could say he had a book on just you that told all the great things you would do to further the kingdom and bring glory to him.

That’s the reason we were put here on this earth. We were not put here for us. We were put here for God. He wants us to have a great life, but to do that we need to focus on God and seek his desires. Now remember that the greatest commandment he gave you was to love God and your neighbor.

To truly love others you will want to fill others needs. So do all you do as unto God. Don’t do it for the money or prestige, but do it out of love to fill a need.

“But seek first his Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things, shall be given to you as well.” Matthew 6:33 NIV

You don’t have to worry about the money for things you need because when you’re seeking his plan and his righteousness for your life the money will come. It we take faith also because we haven’t read his book. We don’t know how it turns out in the end.

Now don’t expect it to always come easy. You have to have scary complicated moments to grow. Trials bring on that growth that you need to get where God wants you. If you don’t want trials and want the easy life, you won’t get greatness either.

The pressure and breaking you go through brings about that greatness and the greater you want to be the scarier and harder it will be. It all starts with you. It doesn’t happen till you make the first move. God promises to help you but he can’t do it for you.

You have to be walking forward or stumbling or crawling, but unless you are moving forward it’s not happening. And it’s never too late, look at Moses who was in his eighties before God called him to lead his people out of Egypt. Many great people didn’t start being great til later in life.

Colonel Sanders didn’t start Kentucky Fried Chicken til he was in his sixties. And there are KFC,s around the world. There is timing involved but we don’t know what that is without trial and error. Be willing to take risks.

Look at your trials and errors as blessings because they will get you closer to your greatness. Remember the book is all ready written and it has a great ending if you follow God’s lead.

Childlike faith

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Without faith it is impossible to please God. But faith like a little child is what helps get us to heaven. When we were young we put our confidence in our parents to always take care of us. They were who we ran to when we were scared, worried and confused. When it was stormy outside and I didn’t know what to expect, in bed with my parents is where I would run. It made me feel safe.

I can remember times when we all ended up in there. No one got much sleep those nights but it helped. That is what our Heavenly Father wants. Run to him. Concerns, worries and questions. He wants to be there for us. Calm our storms. Defend us and care for us. He is stronger and wiser and more loving than any earthly father can ever be. With God all things are possible.

We need to know his words in the Bible and believe in them. All of them. I tell myself every day that I believe your words and choose to do your will, your way, always. I ask for him to help me do them always. It’s not my will but yours be done.

His ways are best for me and that’s what I want. Because I love and adore him I will keep all his commandments. When I screw up, and we all do, I run to him in repentance. Asking for forgiveness . I don’t want to sin and hurt him.

“Do you not know that the unrighteous and wrongdoers will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Do not be deceived : neither the impure or immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor those who participate in homosexuality. Nor cheats, nor greedy graspers, nor drunkards, nor foul-mouthed revivers and slanderers, nor extortioners and robbers will inherit or have any share in the Kingdom of God.” 1 Corinthians 6: 9-10 AMPC

I do not wish to be separated from God. I want my ways to please God. So many people do such things and believe they’re going to heaven. Oh I do not wish to be deceived. It is important to read and know God’s word. How else can you be sure you are obeying.

We don’t think of ourselves as robbers but do we pay tithes? Do we cheat on our taxes? Do we take things at work? The money we use is just that. Ours to use as we obey him and help others. We came into this world with nothing and leave with nothing. It was God who taught us how to earn that money and he deserves his tithe. I would rather be blessed on ninety percent than cursed on one hundred percent.

It is through our tithes that he uses us to serve the orphans and widows. Help those in need and support our churches. I love seeing all the great things my church is doing in hurting and lost lives.

I may be naive but I know Gods plans work. I want to be apart of what he is doing in my community. And one day I want to hear ‘ Well done my good and faithful servant’.

I want that more than ever.

I am a child of God

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I am a child of God. My God adores me. He adores all of his children. Just keep telling yourself this each day. First thing to do is thank God for this new day he has given you and choose to rejoice in it. God wants you to have an abundant life. He is for you. You can confidently go before him and ask for success, knowing his will is for your best.

“I know the plans I have for you, “says the Lord””, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.”” Jeremiah 29:11. NIV

Each day is planned out in advance for me. He knows just how my day will go. I can confidently trust him. Spend time with him before your day begins. Give him a chance to tell you things you need to do. Ask him for the strength to meet your days needs. Tell him that you want to be in his will for you.

My father is awesome. Look how well he has always taken care of you. Let him know how great he is. He can keep each person in his perfect will. Everyone, everywhere. I can be strong and courageous for he is with me wherever I go. He is my strength when I am weak.

My daddy is the King of the whole earth. There is no one greater. If God is for me then who should I fear. No one! I am a royal daughter. The apple of his eye. No eye has seen, nor ear has heard, nor mind has conceived the things he has for me because I love him.

Even in my wildest imagination I can’t guess what he has planned. He loves to give me good gifts. This makes me love him more and more. I want to do all I can for him..

Yesterday he gave me a wonderful present. My very good friend had been in the hospital for three weeks in a diabetic coma. Doctors said there was no hope she was on a respirator with no signs of life, but she woke up and they brought her home yesterday. She is her old self but weak. Gods not done with her yet. I am so happy. He loves her too and has great plans for her life.

If you love your God and have been called to repentance he has an awesome plan for you too. Trust in his plan for your life. Seek him and his will. And see how great life can be.

Miracles all around us

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Believing in miracles is difficult for many people. If you asked most people they would love to see a miracle in their life. Most can probably remember one occurring in their life or the life of a friend or family member. Miracles are happening, though, every minute of every day. God is performing many miracles and just his nature is a miracle. We just need eyes to see them.

Living in faith helps us to see more of God’s miracles. If we have faith to believe in God we can see miracles. What is a miracle: an effect or extraordinary event in the physical world that surpasses all known human or natural powers and is ascribed to a supernatural cause. That sounds like God to me. From day one he has been doing miracles.

Making our entire world and universe and everything in it in six days. Yep a miracle. Why is that so hard for some to believe. It takes real faith. Faith is: confidence or trust in another person or thing: faith in another’s ability. By reading the Bible over and over your faith will be strengthened.

Another way to increase faith is in prayer which is:a devout petition to God or object of worship. Every time we ask God for something to be answered by him we are opening ourselves up to a miracle. We tend to do things ourself until it gets out of our ability. Then we need him to come to our need. That’s when miracles happen.

The more we pray for God to work in our lives and in those around us the more miracles we will see. As our faith grows by seeing God do amazing things we ask him to do more.

Tommy Barnett has believed God for many things in his life and in turn this has changed the lives of his children. They now are believing God for more and more miracles. Dreaming for extra amazing moves of God has become this family’s legacy. The more risks this family takes the bigger the rewards become. It has gotten to a point where day to day living takes more miracles to get by. Just the monthly budget for a church of that size with all of the ministries they are involved in to remain solvent requires miracles every day.

When you get to the point where you believe God to use you more and more in your life. He is able to show you more and more of his ways. Miracles are a big part of his ways. John 14:12 always seemed odd to me. It says: “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” NIV. Me do greater works than Jesus?

That always seemed hard to believe. But Jesus is in heaven with God and he is interceding on our behalf with his father. He is believing with me for me to see God work. That’s got to cause miracles to happen.

So if you want to see miracles in this life just ask God to meet more needs. Needs for you, your family and others in your life and you will see many more miracles.

How big is your God?

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How big is your God? That is how big your dreams for your life should be. I learned the Bible at a young age. I became a Christian when I was just five. But my parents read the Bible to us every evening during dinner. When I was big enough I read to the family. I believed what I heard. One time when I was older a minister asked us if we really believed the Bible or just the parts we liked. Some of the commandments can be hard to live.

It was that day that I decided. The Bible is true. God said it and I believed it. That settled it in my mind. From that day on every time I read the word I tried to imagine it actually happening. I would play the scenes in my head like I was there. I held Gods promises and commands for me in my heart.

In my years at the nursing home I have gotten so close to God. He’s my friend and I can spend hours talking to him. I hear him speak back to me and always commit to doing everything he asks me to do. So when he began stirring my heart about moving out of this home I was excited.

I believe God and trust God. My God can do anything and will whenever he sees fit. For twelve years I have been in this home. It was God who brought me to this home after my stroke in 2005. I came with the intent to learn to walk again. That never happened but he taught me to accept that. He told me that one day I would go home, but to rest in him for the time being. I was very content in my new home and never thought of leaving.

It was New Year’s Day when the Lord woke me up and said we are going to move. Confirming what I felt in my spirit for a couple weeks. He opened doors I never even imagined. Things started falling into place and it seemed overwhelming to me. He gave me a verse to hold on to. 1 Corinthians 2:9

“No eye has seen, nor ear has heard, and no mind has conceived, what God has planned for those who love him.” NIV

Right after this began my family went ballistic there was no way I was leaving this home. My hometown was out of the question. God warned me this might not be easy. Following God isn’t always easy. He was mocked, and criticized even beaten till the point of death for me. When God told Moses he was going to use him to free the people from Egypt was it easy. NO, there were many trials. Right up to the Red Sea. But the bigger the trials, the bigger the reward in the end. If I never was told that I was crazy then I must not be dreaming big.

You see I come from Dream City Church. Where the man we call the Pope, Tommy Barnett, teaches us all to get a God sized dream. If your dream seems impossible and it could only happen with your Gods help then your dream is a God sized dream.

He once had a dream to jog all the way to Los Angeles from Phoenix to start the very first Dream Center. It happened and now there are hundreds of Dream Centers around the world.

God thinks big. People throughout history have accomplished great things with God’s help. Before the light bulb was a huge success, he made a thousand attempts to get the filament just right. He did not fail 1000 times. It just took longer for that success.

President Lincoln ran for office many times before he became president.

Every good and perfect thing comes from God. The harder it is to get there the sweeter the reward. Depending on how big you see God to be the farther he can take you.

I am in the best health, best strength, best mind, and best spirit than I have ever been. At least since the stroke. If God says we’re moving. Then we are moving. Just the other day my family met with authorities here to talk about me. Trying to save me from myself. My mind may not be all there or just right, they thought. Just because I am so adamant to do what I strongly believe God is showing me to do.

Well when God wants to do something he will. Even without everyone’s permission. This move will happen if and when God wills. I will be right there.

“Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.” Romans 4:3. NIV