Fishers Of Men

Did you know that a fishing net 

bundled up on the shoreline or 

on the docks is really of no use?

Reminder......

Jesus said to His followers....

You are now fishers of men.

 So, it is time to prepare for the great catch.

Make sure your nets are mended 

and then launch them

 

into the deep and....

......go fishing!

The Gospel Is Good News

 

“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion— to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.”

‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭61:1-3‬

‭

John 14:7

 

God does not appear once or 

twice during a storm of life to keep you. 

God is there every single minute, every day!  
He offers us hope in impossible situations,

 rooted not in circumstances, but in Christ alone.
Today, Lord Jesus, please hear the cries of those struggling!
Comfort the weary and the fearful. 

Come alongside those who desperately need your intervention, your companionship, and your guidance.

 Be their refuge and strength. 
Make your presence known. 
Encourage them today, 

and in the weeks and months to come, 

as only You can. 

Help them to run to Your arms of love. 

Amen. 

America

 

"A beautiful tradition of America was set by our foregathers. Among our forefathers were two kinds of people. One kind came to this land seeking wealth, the other came seeking God and freedom. If the former had become the mainstream of America, there would have been far greater strife, division and struggle between the different races and national groups. The United States would have been filled with unrighteousness and injustice. From the beginning, however, God intervened.

But blessings never come alone; they come with responsibility.

If one forsakes responsibility, one also forsakes God’s blessing. Inevitably the blessings of God will leave, and the nation doing this will decline. Is it not true that the signs of such decline are already apparent in America today?

God is the motivation, the cause and the foundation of the independence of America. America was born through the Providence of God. If we are centered upon God, we will remain united and enjoy prosperity. However, as soon as we turn away from God, we as a nation will be divided.

If America wants to keep the blessing of God as the leading nation of the world, it must form a partnership with God.

**God is the cement. With God, America will stay together like concrete. But if God leaves, she will become like sand. When the flood comes, all will be washed away.

In the early 1960s, America seemed to be the hope of the world, and the symbol of America was the city of New York. Today, however, the world has lost faith in America, and New York has become a jungle of immorality and depravity. It has been transformed into a city under the attack of evil. Chicago is no different, nor Los Angeles. Throughout all of America, Satan is becoming the master. God has been forgotten in this country, and if forgotten, God can only leave America. Now is the very moment that this is taking place!

If you allow God to leave America, however, this nation will decline; it will be subjugated by satanic hands. When this happens, the future of America will be tragic and dismal.

America will become a living hell.

When God’s blessing is great, and one forsakes God’s will, God’s punishment is equally great.

When the unifying force of God leaves America, nothing will be able to hold America together. The family will break down; churches will divide, and America will become mortally ill because the cells of her body are decaying. This will be the perfect opportunity for the evil of communism (and socialism) to overtake America.

This state of emergency is here now.

Someone must do something!

We need a spiritual revolution."

Excerpts of spoken words at the God Bless America festival held at the Yankee Stadium 

on June 1, 1976 to 

celebrate America's 200th birthday.

Discouragement

 

Discouragement

What can cause discouragement?

                                       

The year of 2020 has been a lesson plan for discouragement and revelation.

# FEAR - We are consistently being bombarded by every segment of society with fear.  During this pandemic we are told we need to do this and we shouldn't do this.  Anarchy is happening in the streets and fear for the safety of our families has settled into many hearts and minds.  Examples of fear and worry in our current culture are too numerous to mention.  

For now, I leave with you this reminder of a promise from God.....Deuteronomy 31:8 - "The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.  Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."

                                               

2 Timothy 1:7

 “For God has not given us a spirit of fear 

but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”

**********

# FRUSTRATION - 2020 has been a challenging year.  At times it has been frustration on steroids.  One lesson God has shown us over and over is that we must learn the difference between what is important and what is not.    If we do not learn this less, trivial matters will continue to waste our time and consume our energy.  Learning what the most important matters are keeps us from becoming all we want to be and what God's plan is for our lives.  Today, let's focus on the blessings God has given you.  

                                                             

# FAILURE - During your moments of discouragement it is important that we do not sit down and have a self-pity party.  You are not "a loser."  What you are experiencing is only a temporary setback!  

"In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, 

the stream always win....not through strength but through perseverance".

When you get discouraged, stand on the promises of God.                                    In fact, Hebrews 10:35-36 (CEV) tells us, "Keep being brave!  It will bring you great rewards.  Learn to be patient, so that you will please God and be given what he has promised."

**********

# FATIGUE - (burn out, exhaustion) are major causes of discouragement.                      When God created us He designed our bodies and our soul to rest.

"Don’t allow fear to paralyze you. Let your faith mobilize you."

Rest was so important God, our Creator that He commanded the Israelites to observe a Sabbath rest every week. (Exodus 20: 8-11) 

Ask yourself when you become fatigued and burned out.....what is usually going on in my life when I get experiences these times of discouragement and discontent?                                                                                           Very often life settles into routine - then into a rut - and before long it is a ritual.       Friends, be careful.

Psalm 23: 2-3

"He makes me lie down in green pastures,

 he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul"

The Lord's Return

The Lord Jesus is coming again, visibly and personally.

As a Christian, this is our blessed hope!

2 Corinthians 4:18 tells us...." So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

 

The trouble with so many of us is that we are looking so intently and so continually at the things which are not seen, that we can not see the things at which God intends us to look.  So often we say thing like "I don't understand (see) why this has happened to me."  It is because we have been looking in the wrong place for our reason.  When we want to find some....we must look where it is. See above scripture.  

"There are 2 spheres of vision.  The focal and the marginal.  When we focus our eyes on a primary object, we see adjacent objects n the margin of our vision.  When we focus with our spiritual eyes on things eternal and on Christ, sadly we see our earthly sorrows, tests and trials in the margin of of gaze, spiritually."

Remember, we must measure the length of our difficult times here on earth with the eternal that is in store for the Christian.  They are "temporary". 

It is easy to know "about" the Lord's return, and yet fail to really be looking for "Him to return.

BE READY

Jesus said, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also” (John 14:3).

LOOK UP

****WATCH**** 

Mark 13:32-36                                                        “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Be on guard! Be alert ! You do not know when that time will come. It’s like a man going away: He leaves his house and puts his servants in charge, each with their assigned task, and tells the one at the door to keep watch. “Therefore keep watch because you do not know when the owner of the house will come back—whether in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or at dawn. If he comes suddenly, do not let him find you sleeping. 37What I say to you, I say to everyone: ‘Watch!’ ”

Shipwrecked Faith

The coastline of North Carolina is known as
"The Graveyard of the Atlantic" due to numerous shipwrecks. There are over 5,000!

    

In the sea of life, wouldn't it be great if we all experienced clear sailing? 

But, there are storms that come our way, and there are times we will most certainly encounter a shipwreck! 

In St. Pauls instructions for living he references
"shipwrecked faith" (1 Timothy 1:18-20)
"I am giving you these instructions, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies made earlier about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight,  having faith and a good conscience. By rejecting conscience, certain persons have suffered shipwreck in the faith; among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have turned over to Satan, so that they may learn not to blaspheme."


*******A storm is coming.....
maybe not tomorrow, next week, a month, 
maybe not for a year.  
But,  know.... a storm will come eventually!
  
Your faith will be tested! Be prepared. 

Your life does not have to end up badly from a spiritual perspective!

You do not have to be 

shipwrecked in your walk with God.

It is not too late 
to make course corrections now.

"Faith that is shipwrecked is faith that has been repudiated, rejected. It couldn't be clearer, based on the Greek etymology. To shipwreck one's faith is to abandon/repudiate the faith, reject the faith."

Intentionally Interact

"Intentionally" interact with people of all ages!

You miss out on so much love and likeness of Christ 

when you only mingle and associate with those people 

who "are like" you or I. 

How sad to segregate by age, religion,

 life status and season in life!  

There is abundant blessings 

in inviting and being invited

 into each other's lives. 

Today, "Welcome" to "your" table.

"Welcome" to "your" home 

and most definitely, "Welcome" with your heart.

Your Sword

Our sword - "It is written".  

Just like Jesus, we need to say "It is written".                                                      It should be our guide, our rule.                                                                           No compromise!

Jesus,  Himself used Scripture to resist temptation.   In Luke 4: 1-13 we read..........  "And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry. The devil said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”  And Jesus answered him,         “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone.’” And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will.  If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” And Jesus answered him, “It is written,

“‘You shall worship the Lord your God,
    and him only shall you serve.’”

And he took him to Jerusalem and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, for it is written,

“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
    to guard you,’

 and

“‘On their hands they will bear you up,
    lest you strike your foot against a stone.’”

And Jesus answered him, “It is said, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” And when the devil had ended every temptation, he departed from him until an opportune time."

Jesus was weary.                                                                                                   He was famished.                                                                                              After being in the wilderness for 40 days He could have satisfied His hunger by foolishly making a deal with the devil.   Instead, each time He was tempted, He answered the devil with a powerful verse from the Holy Scriptures.

It is written.

It is written.

It is said.

When we are faced with spiritual warfare or dealing with the enemy of our lives, don't give up  and don't be cornered by the deceptive schemes of the devil....instead, draw your sword and choose the course of action that God has equipped you for.                                                                                              God's Word will deliver truth!                                                                            His Word is sharp but it will point to God's goodness,                                       His love and His faithfulness.   

Fight back.  Satan is no match against the Word of God.

Have the scriptures at your fingertips.... better yet, have them stored in your heart and in your mind.  

"Learn to use the scripture for yourself, all its teachings, all its precepts, all its promises, all its doctrines.....for bread that is just on the table does not nourish; it is bread that you eat that will really sustain you".

The sword in your hand is capable

 of doing more than you will ever need.