God's Care For Us

Matthew 6:8, "Your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask Him! (NLT). This scripture describes one of the joys that I am able to identify as I speak in meetings across this nation. It is a blessing to understand the promise that is spoken to us through this declaration of Jesus Christ. God is truly interested in our lives and He is aware of what we need even before we ask Him. We serve an amazing God! In the service last night I was able to witness the presence of God minister to the needs of people as God truly identified the needs of those individuals. There are times in our lives in which we are incapable of expressing our needs to God; we just do not have the ability to truly identify the inner need that we possess. But it is at those moments that the greatness of God is revealed; God's power to have all knowledge of all things comes into our view. We are able to witness the revelation of His Grace in our lives as He assists us to understand the root of our need. Please remember this point; He not only identifies our need but He then proceeds to minister to this need that we might receive "healing" in our lives. We need to release our praise and thanks to God. We need for Him to know that we truly appreciate the care that He offers to our lives on a daily basis. I am seeking to discern the presence of God that is at work on a daily basis in my life. We must remember that God is not just at work on a Sunday or a Wednesday but God is at work every day and at all times ministering to the needs that we face. The challenges of life will seek to frustrate our faith and our hope in God but plant these words of Jesus deep in your heart; "Your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask Him." Let us offer thanksgiving to the mighty God that we love and serve today.

Weekend Services

This week finds me in Bowling Green , KY with Pastor Rick and Kathy Daugherty and the Castle Heights Community Church. The services yesterday were wonderful as the presence of the Lord filled the house of God as we began to worship the Lord and glorify His name. I am still amazed at the response of God to those who chose to worship Him even in the midst of their difficulties. The Worship Leader, Bro. Wayne, has been facing a struggle with cancer (today is his last chemotherapy treatment) yet he was leading the church in offering praise to the Lord God Almighty. Through prayer and medical treatment the the doctor has declared him cancer free. I am giving you this information because we need to remember that our praise and worship to God does not need to be based on the events or circumstances that are taking place in our lives. God is worthy of our adoration REGARDLESS of what is happening to us or around us. All of us have faced and some of us may be facing difficult moments but in those moments we make the choice to lift our voice to God and declare that we love Him and declare that we are thankful for all that He is doing in our lives. Look past your difficult moments today and offer God praise and thanksgiving for who He is and for what He is doing in your life. God will respond to the praise that comes from your heart. The anointing of the Holy Spirit was powerful as people responded to the call of God and came forward for prayer. Thank God for being interested in the cares of life that we are facing. God has not forgotten and God has not forsaken. Make the decision to look to Him today and realize that He is your answer. Between the morning and evening services yesterday I was able to attend a portion of the afternoon meeting in Radcliff, KY. Yesterday was the first Sunday afternoon service that we conducted in the outreach effort in the area of Ft. Knox. The presence of the Lord was evident when I arrived at the service. People shared with me that the theme of the service had centered around keeping our focus on God. Each of us need to remember to keep our focus on God. Do not allow your life to become distracted. Distractions can cause us to drift away from our relationship with God and we can easily find ourselves on a path that is taking us away from God. Continue to pray for our efforts in the area of Ft. Knox. God desires to touch the lives of people in that community and the surrounding communities. Feel free to contact me if you have any questions concerning the outreach effort or if you would like to assist us in reaching the community with the message of the Gospel.

Amazing Grace

I am thankful for a safe trip home from Summerville, SC. We enjoyed a wonderful outpouring of the Spirit in each of the services. The presence of God was very evident in the lives of each of the individuals that attended the services. Several people testified of the miraculous intervention of the Grace of God in their lives. Isn't it wonderful to realize that God is interested in my individual life? As an individual I am important to God although I am part of a larger group called human beings. I just feel that people need to be reminded of their individual importance to God. Many times in the Bible we notice that Jesus took time with individual people to make sure that their needs were met. We must not become so caught up with ministering to the "masses" that we forget and overlook those individuals that God places in our path on a daily basis. Do we pay attention to the clerk in the convenience store? Do we pay attention to the server in the restaurant? Do we pay attention to the person who assists us in the bank? Do we pay attention to our spouse and our children? Can you sense what the Lord is desiring to say? Yes, Jesus died for the whole world; but that world was and is made up of individuals that have the right to know about the amazing Grace of our God. We are approaching the busy holiday season and we will all get caught up in the "rush of the moment." Let us take time to notice the individuals that we encounter and let us share the Grace of God with them. The Grace of God will not only be revealed in the words that we share but also in the actions that we take. Take a moment to go out of your way and be kind to someone today; it will make a difference in their perspective of life and of the perspective of the presence of God in their life.

Encouragement

2 Thessalonians 2:16-17, "May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal comfort and a wonderful hope, comfort you and strengthen you in every good thing you do and say" (NLT). I have the wonderful privilege of traveling in various parts of this nation in which I am given the awesome responsibility and opportunity to minister to people of different backgrounds and different needs. I encounter people of various ethnic backgrounds, educational backgrounds, economic backgrounds, as well as spiritual backgrounds. But there is one thing that I notice is common among all of the people; we are living in the time in which many of us are in need of encouragement. I am not referring to some type of "emotional lift"; no, I am referring to a deep desire to sense the presence of God in a supernatural manner that will strengthen my soul in the midst of adversity. These are truly times of adversity; but in the midst of the adversity we can sense the promise that the Spirit shares through the words of Paul in our scripture verse today. God is a a God of comfort and hope. The enemy wants us living in a state of hopelessness and despair. The enemy of our soul does not want us to believe that God promises to bring strength and comfort to us on our journey through life. Life is not always easy; we do face those moments in which our faith will either "fold up or hold up." We do face those moments in which we must choose to either trust God with the circumstances that we are facing or allow the enemy to overwhelm us with feelings of fear and defeat. God does not give to us the spirit of fear (timidity) according to the Word of God. Some of you are facing challenging circumstances today; allow the God of comfort and hope to strengthen you through His promises. It is such a blessing to look into the face of someone who has come forward for prayer and they realize that God is truly interested in helping them at their point of need. It is as though a light has been turned on in their heart and they are correct. The True Light from heaven has revealed Himself to them in the midst of their difficulty. I am blessed to see that reaction in each of the services in which I am able to participate. Oh, what a mighty God we serve! He truly desires to assist you today; He is not fighting against you, He is fighting for you. God desires for you to succeed and live a successful Christian life. Be encouraged today, God loves you and He is interested in your life and all that you are facing.

The Word of God

For several days God has been reminding me of the spirit of deceit and deception that is rampant in our world today. There is strong evidence of the mixture of truth and false religion. Many people (both believers and non-believers) are being duped into believing many things that are untrue concerning their relationship with God. We must be careful concerning our walk with God. We must be alert to the tactics of the enemy which seeks to lead us astray from the principles of truth. Truth is not a negative concept. Jesus said that the truth would bring freedom to our lives. Some people live under the mistaken view that truth brings bondage and restrictions which will hinder our life. Truth will bring the true freedom which liberates us and brings us into a relationship with God which enhances and releases our life rather than restricting our life. The idea of restriction is one that this culture seeks to deposit in our thought process; it plays to the fleshly side of our existence and independence. We seek to be independent in our thinking; this independence in and of itself does not create a problem until it leads us down the path of defining our own view and definition of truth. This generation must cry out for the declaration of truth to be spoken in our lives. We need spiritual leaders who are not intimidated when it comes to speaking the truth. I am not encouraging the imposition of legalism but I am praying for the release of a hunger for truth among the people of God. We need to be alive in Christ and realize that the Word of God was spoken and written for our benefit. The Word of God will bring direction and guidance if we will submit and surrender our lives to its principles. Oh God, reveal your truth to me today so that I will live in agreement with your principles.

Weekend Review

This week finds me in Summerville,SC with Pastor JR and Shirley Martin at Summerville Family Worship Center. The Martin's as well as the local church offered me a warm welcome of Christian fellowship and spiritual anticipation. This is my second opportunity to minister in this local body and I anticipate a mighty outpouring of the Spirit this week. The presence of the Lord was awesome in the two services on Sunday. Each of the meetings concluded with many people in the altar crying out for more of God. We were able to see people receive Christ as their personal Savior as well as being filled with the Spirit. We also witnessed people receiving strength as they face the daily struggles of life; many of us carry heavy burdens from those challenges but it is wonderful when we realize that God never intended for us to walk the road alone. These are very challenging times for many of us yet we sense the Spirit calling us to a deeper level of faith and trust. The Spirit is leading us to a deeper commitment of our heart to God as well as a stronger desire to take a stand for the truth of God's Word. This is a day of deceit and deception. We must know Christ as our Savior and we must allow Him to be Lord of our life. God is calling all of us out of the practice of religion into a strong developing relationship with the True and Living God. The spirit of the culture is seeking to influence our decision making process when it comes to our understanding of God. We must not back down from the teaching of the Bible; Jesus Christ is still the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Christ is the source of our hope and the source of our salvation. Many of us in America are feeling the pressure to just go through the motions of Christianity; we must refuse this tactic of the enemy. God is calling us to passion, desire, and the pursuit of His presence. Do we truly hunger and thirst for the presence of God or will we be content with just the normal activities of church? I hunger for more than the normal. I seek to see God reveal Himself among the people who have gathered to celebrate His greatness. Do we gather to celebrate His greatness or do we gather to celebrate our greatness? The answer to that question will either lead us to repentance or to a deeper revelation of the heart of God. I choose to celebrate the greatness of God. Want you join me in celebrating the greatness of God this day and walk in the strength of His love?

Thankfulness

I was awakened this morning with a sense of urgency concerning thankfulness. I know that some of you may think that I am just getting into the "mood of the holidays" but I respectfully disagree. I sense that God was calling my heart back to the attitude of genuine appreciation of all that He has provided in my life. But I am not talking about the "things" from God I am talking about the true gift of salvation and relationship with Him. How long has it been since we stopped and just thanked God for our redemption? How long has it been since we just thanked God for taking a personal interest in our life and what we confront on a daily basis? I was somewhat challenged when I reflected on my prayer times and realized that recently I had spent very little time in declaring genuine thankfulness for my journey with God. I do not want to shift the burden of my conviction to you but I do want to challenge your thought process when it comes to thankfulness. Many of us are facing great challenges in our lives such as illness, financial stress, employment concerns, martial relationships, family strife, and many other heart wrenching situations. I do not have the full answer for all of those needs other than dependence on Christ; but I do believe a genuine reflection on the presence of God in our lives will offer strength and courage to continue trusting Him. We have a total of 49 days (including today) left in this year. What if every believer in America would offer God just five (5) minutes a day of genuine praise and worship? What if we left off our list of requests for these five (5) minutes and just thanked God for His presence in our daily lives? Can you just imagine the difference in our personal life as well as the life of the church in America? I believe that many of you will accept the challenge and begin to walk in the strength of Thankfulness!