FACEBOOK LIVE, WEDNESDAY (8-9) @ 6:30 PM. JOIN WITH ME ON MY FACEBOOK PAGE, MICHAEL WILLINGHAM.

If you have listened to any of the sermons over the past months you should know that I am blowing the “trumpet” concerning our individual need to have a STRONGER DESIRE TO SEEK MORE OF GOD!!! I understand that some of us may be “tired” of this “trumpet sound” but it is necessary for us to understand the importance of knowing God!! We need more than just “knowing about God'', WE NEED TO KNOW GOD AND ALLOW HIM TO DO HIS WORK IN OUR LIVES!!! 

I will approach today’s letter in a different manner. I will provide an exhortation of what I feel the Spirit saying to me. BUT I ENCOURAGE EACH OF US TO TAKE THE TIME TO READ THIS PASSAGE OF SCRIPTURE AND ALLOW GOD TO SPEAK TO US!! These are the days of trials and battles but they are also days of victory!! There is a reward to obedience and a price to pay for the “spirit of rejection!!”

Deuteronomy 11:16-22, ““But be careful. Don’t let your heart be deceived so that you turn away from the Lord and serve and worship other gods. ¹⁷ If you do, the Lord’s anger will burn against you. He will shut up the sky and hold back the rain, and the ground will fail to produce its harvests. Then you will quickly die in that good land the Lord is giving you. ¹⁸ “So commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these words of mine. Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders. ¹⁹ Teach them to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up. ²⁰ Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, ²¹ so that as long as the sky remains above the earth, you and your children may flourish in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors. ²² “Be careful to obey all these commands I am giving you. Show love to the Lord your God by walking in his ways and holding tightly to him.” (NLT)

This is a prayer that I read today and I wanted to share it with you.

“Lord, most of my life I have lived to please myself. But from here on, Lord, I want to live to please You. I love You above all else and all others. Teach me Your ways, Lord, and reveal Your plan for me as I read Your Word and try my best to follow all Your commands and instructions. Above all else, Lord, I want to be known as being loyal to You. And from now on I will trust You to make a way for me through this life. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.”

I want to encourage EACH OF US to seriously understand the times in which we are living. I understand that we recognize many of the visible challenges with the actions of the government or the many people with illnesses and sorrow that we know. I believe that it is also important that WE RECOGNIZE AND RESPOND TO THE DIRECTION THAT GOD DESIRES TO LEAD US. We cannot afford to lag behind the move of God that is taking place NOW. We cannot afford to ignore the call of the Holy Spirit to draw close to God. This “spiritual time” will require our obedience and our full surrender to our Heavenly Father!!

WALKING AFTER THE HEART OF GOD, PASTOR MIKE

 Facebook live message on WEDNESDAY NIGHT (8-2) AT 6:30 PM. JOIN WITH ME ON MY PAGE, MICHAEL WILLINGHAM.

YOU ARE MISSED WHEN YOU ARE NOT PRESENT TO WORSHIP WITH YOUR CHURCH FAMILY. THERE IS A SEAT WITH YOUR NAME ON IT!! WE MUST BE SURE THAT WE DO NOT MISS WHAT GOD IS DOING IN THIS WORLD. I UNDERSTAND THAT SATAN GETS A LOT OF NOTICE AND ATTENTION IN OUR SOCIETY BUT WE MUST CONTINUE TO LIFT OUR VOICES AND DECLARE THE GOODNESS OF GOD!!! I LOOK FORWARD TO WORSHIPING WITH YOU SUNDAY AT NEW RIVER @ 10:30 AM.

I am thankful for another opportunity to share the Word of God with you!! These are the days and time that we need our soul to be anchored in the Word of God. Our desire for this must increase and not decrease. The Word of God and the presence of God will take us through whatever difficulty we are facing or that we will face in the future. Take a moment and remind yourself of the three (3) Hebrew children and the challenge they faced.

Daniel 3:16-18, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you. ¹⁷ If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty. ¹⁸ But even if he doesn’t, we want to make it clear to you, Your Majesty, that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.” (NLT)

Have you ever faced a situation in which you knew that to answer according to your convictions meant you would stand alone? We are standing at a crossroads and we realize that many decisions lie before us. We can see with our eyes and hear with our ears that challenges are happening now and they may continue happening until the coming of the Lord. We need to understand that facing rejection from people is very probable. We also know that rejection can produce pain but so does compromising our convictions. We need uncommon courage about God in a culture that leaves God behind. I sincerely believe that God is preparing us to be a people of courage!! I desire to be a leader of courage and an individual believer of courage.

God calls us to throw off the things that hinder us and prevent us from growing in Him. Hebrews 12:1-2a, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. ² We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith…” (NLT) Emphasis Mine It’s like putting aside our cumbersome winter coat when warmer temperatures arrive. Spiritually, it means we need to examine our hearts with the help of the Holy Spirit and then make the changes that will open our lives to a stronger relationship with God which will lead us to COURAGE!! We must have a desire to read the Word of God with an interest in growing and developing our journey with Christ. Seeing our need to grow and mature in the Lord will align our hearts with Him which also lead us to remarkable courage.

The Bible has many examples to inspire us to stand strong in the face of difficulties. The three Hebrew boys from the book of Daniel are some of the bravest men that we can read about in the Bible. They had a choice: approve of worship to an idol and bow before it or reject it and face the fiery furnace. They chose the furnace. In their act of turning away instead of bowing down to the golden image, the king rejected them and ordered them to be killed. I believed they entered the fire with courage and boldness knowing and believing that GOD WAS IN THEM AND WITH THEM!!! Oh, that we as a believer will strive to see those spiritual qualities at work in our journey with Christ!!!

PRAYERS FOR EACH OF YOU, PASTOR MIKE