Does God's Word Ever Fail?

Let's be honest, sometimes we all have moments when we wonder if God's promises are true for us and if they will really be fulfilled in our lives. When we give way to these thoughts, we give way to doubt and fear and question God's faithfulness and integrity. But, enough of what we think, what does God have to say:

Isaiah 55: 10-11

(10) As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

(11) so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

So, don't look at your life and circumstances. Instead, look at the author of life itself. The One who is MASTER of ALL circumstances; the One who transforms you and your life. He is ALWAYS faithful!

Being Filled with God is at a Price

The Wisdom of Prayer

Those who know God the best are the richest and most powerful in prayer. Little acquaintance with God, and strangeness and coldness to Him, make prayer a rare and feeble thing. --E. M. Bounds

Pray, and let God worry. -- Martin Luther

Where Do You Live?

You might be thinking that I'm asking about your street address; the place where your mail is delivered. No, not quite. I'm actually asking about the place where your heart resides.

What do you value most? What are your hopes and affections set on? This is the most important question you will ever ask yourself. Why? Because whatever you set your heart on becomes your focus and that will lead you down the path of either your success or your failure. Don't kid yourself; whatever your heart is set on drives your values, goals and path in life.

Because of His great love for you, God wants you to find your home in Him – to abide in Jesus Christ. Many people say they know God; have accepted Him as Lord and Savior. That's truly great! But, do they abide in Jesus? To abide in God means to remain (no matter what), to not depart, to endure, to wait for, to remain as one.

Why is abiding so important? Because, abiding is the difference between merely touching Jesus and actually becoming one with Him. When you abide with Christ, you are so interwoven and fused with Him, and He with you, that the two become one. His presence and anointing will find a home in your life because they are welcomed. He will fill you and move through you because there is nothing in you to hinder Him.

Jesus used the example of a vine when talking about abiding in the Book of John chapter 15 verses 1-11*. This is a very rich and appropriate way to describe the principle of abiding. He makes it clear in verse 5 that if we remain (abide) in Him, like the branches, we will bear much fruit. This is because the branches that are strongly connected to the vine receive continuous and increasing strength from the nourishing sap. It is God's desire that every branch be strongly connected to His life-flow.

Why is it that many Christians live such weak lives? Because they haven’t learned to abide in Jesus. The more you abide in Christ, the more you receive the very life-flow of God in your life. This is the secret to having a strong/vibrant life with purpose, passion, and destiny. By abiding in Christ, everything in your life is radically transformed. You go from weakness to strength, fear to faith, sickness to healing, confusion to clarity, depression to joy, despair to victory, etc.

Look at how King David abided. He said: "I run in the path of your commands, for you have set me free" (Ps. 119:32), "for I delight in your commandments, because I love them" (Ps. 119:47), "I have sought your face with all my heart" (Ps. 119:58), "As the deer pants for the streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God" (Ps. 42:1), "Because you words are better than life, my lips with glorify you" (Ps. 63:3), "I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His word I put my hope" (Ps. 130:5).

Because King David knew how to abide in God, he was wiser than his teachers, more blessed than other around him, and was called "friend" by God (there is no greater honor than that).

So, where is your home? Where do you abide? If not in God, you are being robbed. However, if you are abiding in Him, everything that He is will transform you, cause you to triumph, and you will have EVERY spiritual blessing in Christ (Ephesians 1:3). Isn't God great?!

*John 15: 1-10 says - (1)"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. (2)He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. (3)You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. (4)Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

(5)"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. (6)If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. (7)If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. (8)This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.

(9)"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. (10)If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. (11)I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.

You Know, It's So Simple...Jesus Loves You Because You Are His... HaHa ... Rejoice! Isn't God Great?

Uh Oh! Watch out, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must master it. (Genesis 4:7)

Romans 6:8-12
8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him, 9 knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer has dominion over Him. 10 For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all; but the life that He lives, He lives to God. 11 Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. 13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. 14 For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.

Repentance Is The Key To Our Success (Repentance- Part I)

Repentance is critical and indispensable. It is the door through which we access Jesus and receive restoration, forgiveness, and love. When we repent, we also receive the blessings of God, which nourish and build us in our faith.

It is tragic that we often shun "repentance" because, in doing so, we shut the door and lock ourselves out from God. As a consequence, we are left in denial, shame and emotional/spiritual/relational confusion. As a result, we remain in the dark and are in danger of growing cold in our love for God and others. Tragically, in this state, we are cut off from the provisions of His grace, mercy and love - until we repent.

However, when we embrace repentance, we embrace God and thereby open the door to experience renewal, growth, and life – abundantly. Repentance is the key to our success in life. It brings us into the presence of God. The fruit of repentance is like the nourishing flow of sap that runs through the vine which produces very good fruit for harvest. Much repentance produces much fruit.

We need to let Jesus take away our sins...all our sins, continually and cleanse us deeply. With repentance, we are no longer ensnared by our sins and are, instead, set free. Isaiah 1:18 says "I, the Lord, invite you to come and talk it over. Your sins are as scarlet red but they will be made whiter than snow".

The more we let repentance do its work in our lives, the more we see the victory and blessing of God working through our lives. Rejoice! God has set us free!!

Every blessing to your Success in Christ and life!

Ross


Isaiah 30:15 – This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: "In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength..."

Ezekiel 18:32 - For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone, declares the Sovereign LORD. Repent and live!

Acts 3:19 - Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.

2 Corinthians 7:10 - Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.

Whose Voice Is Gaining Your Attention?

When coming to God for salvation or healing, it is essential for each one to decide whether he or she shall allow the hiss of the serpent to rise above the voice of God. (1)

Blessed are the ears that hear the pulses of the Divine whisper , and give not heed to the many whisperings of the world. (2)

Footnotes:
(1) F.F. Bosworth, Christ The Healer, p. 112
(2) Thomas a' Kempis

"A person who fears the Lord need never doubt God's leading. As he continually turns from evil, he is kept on God's path."

Geri McGhee
Abiding Life Ministries Lindale, TX
www.abidinglifeministires.org

PSALMS 25:12 "What man is he that feareth the LORD? him shall he teach in the way that he shall choose."

PROVERBS 10:17 "He is on the path of life who heeds instruction, But he who forsakes reproof goes astray."

PROVERBS 8:13 "The fear of the LORD is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate."

"....and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil."
Proverbs 16:6

You Will Overcome!

Jesus loves us so much that He, at times, challenges us to push through our circumstances and situations by faith and stand our ground in Him. We may feel that we are drowning in our problems and the situations in our lives, but He asks us to be brave, hang in there and see Him bring us to victory. We must stay focused, faithful, and hopeful during these hours, knowing that He is true to His Word, and to us. The hours of trial, that we all experience, can either make us or break us, but God has ordained us to overcome and grow in faith and strength.

Watch the video below. Listen very carefully to the words of this song. Exercise your imagination and faith that the band, Switchfoot, is Jesus and the angels, singing over you. Imagine that with every word sung, chord struck, and beat of the drum, Jesus is ministering His strength, grace, mercy and every blessing, to you, in your time of need. Watch Him and His angels rejoice when you have overcome!



Psalm 46: 1-3
1 God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.

2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

3 though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.


1 John 5:4-5 -
For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only He who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

Isaiah 12: 2-5

² Surely God is my salvation;

I will trust and not be afraid.

The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song;

he has become my salvation."

³ With joy you will draw water

from the wells of salvation.

⁴ In that day you will say:

"Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name;

make known among the nations what he has done,

and proclaim that his name is exalted.

⁵ Sing to the LORD, for he has done glorious things;

let this be known to all the world.

How To Fight Your Goliath!

"Do Not Shrink Against the Enemy -- Run With God"
by Dr. John Markley

I Samuel 17:48 "David hurried and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine."

David had no fear as he came against Goliath because his heart was full of faith. He refused Saul's armor and placed his confidence not in a big sword, but in a big God. David knew that the God he served could and would deliver him because this same God had fought David's battles before.

David came against the giant in the Name of the Lord with a purpose and a cause. That cause was to stand against the spirit that was defiling the armies of the Living God. As David began to maximize and magnify God with his words, he minimized and diminished the giant that was challenging him.

David did not shrink in the sight of the giant even though Goliath threw out frightening threats and disdaining accusations. Instead, David ran towards the giant and the Philistine army with great courage.
We are continually called to face giants in our lives because the enemy is at work. He is still seeking to defile the people of God and their purposes. He makes his mission known with frightening threats and accusations in his effort to reduce us to nothing before the real battle even begins.

The secret to our victory is the same as it was for David. We must have a cause and the Name of the Lord. We must rely upon what we know about God and His Word and our purposes must line up with His Will. (Phil 2:10)

We cannot rely upon someone else's armor, for it will be too weighty and unproved. We must come to believe so much in the Name of the Lord and His purpose that it becomes a power within us. (Mark 11:23)
We cannot shrink back in our darkness and despair. We must be bold and run towards the enemy that seeks to steal, kill, and destroy. (John 10:10)

God's Word promises that if we resist the enemy, he must flee. He has no choice! (James 4:7)

David said that the battle was the Lord's and he relied totally on that premise. He did not rely on his own strength or ability. He allowed God to work through him with a simple sling and a stone against a mighty giant who held a huge spear, sword, and a javelin. Yet David prevailed without a sword in his own hand.

You may feel very inadequate as you come against the giants in your life. (2 Cor 10:4)

God may only provide you with meager weapons as he did with David. Your natural sling and stone may not look like very much as you view the spear, sword, and the javelin of the enemy.
However, you must not consider what you hold in your hand but what you hold in your heart, for God will honor your faith and your pure motives.

Run with faith towards the enemy and God will stand with you as you fight for His cause and in His Name.

Do Not Shrink Against The enemy!
Run With God!

Written by Dr. John Markley
Abiding Life Ministries
Lindale, TX
http://www.abidinglifeministries.org/

What Are God's Thoughts And Intentions Towards You?

We, very unfortunately, think that God thinks and judges as we do. No, He is much better than that! Actually, and very fortunate for us, He does not treat us as our sins deserve. Instead, He has very good purposes in store for us. His intention is that His promises be fulfilled in our lives, because He loves us.

How can we know that His promises will be fulfilled in our lives? By believing that He is a God of His Word (He doesn't lie), by actively turning from our sinful ways and obeying Him with all our hearts, and by standing on His promises and proclaiming them to be true for our lives.

Here's one of many wonderful promises God has for you:

Isaiah 55:8-12, 6-7

8 "For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,"
declares the LORD.

9 "As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.

10 As the rain and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,
so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater,

11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.

12 You will go out in joy
and be led forth in peace;
the mountains and hills
will burst into song before you,
and all the trees of the field
will clap their hands.

6 Seek the LORD while he may be found;
call on him while he is near.

7 Let the wicked forsake his way
and the evil man his thoughts.
Let him turn to the LORD, and he will have mercy on him,
and to our God, for he will freely pardon.

Christ's Resurrection - Our Victory!

"Come, see the place where the Lord lay," with joy and gladness. He does not lie there now. Weep, when ye see the tomb of Christ, but rejoice because it is empty. Thy sin slew him, but his divinity raised him up. Thy guilt hath murdered him, but his righteousness hath restored him. Oh! he hath burst the bonds of death, he hath ungirt the cerements of the tomb, and hath come out more than conqueror, crushing death beneath his feet. Rejoice, O Christian, for he is not there—he is risen.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon

The Meaning of Easter

Acts 2:22-24, 32-33, 36

Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know.

This man was handed over to you by God's set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.

But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.

God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact.

Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.

Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.

Ephesians 1:3-14

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace.

Who Is This Christ?

Isaiah 53

1 Who has believed our message
and to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?

2 He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.

3 He was despised and rejected by men,
a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering.
Like one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.

4 Surely he took up our infirmities
and carried our sorrows,
yet we considered him stricken by God,
smitten by him, and afflicted.

5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.

6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.

7 He was oppressed and afflicted,
yet he did not open his mouth;
he was led like a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before her shearers is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.

8 By oppression and judgment he was taken away.
And who can speak of his descendants?
For he was cut off from the land of the living;
for the transgression of my people he was stricken.

9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked,
and with the rich in his death,
though he had done no violence,
nor was any deceit in his mouth.

10 Yet it was the LORD's will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the LORD makes his life a guilt offering,
he will see his offspring and prolong his days,
and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand.

11 After the suffering of his soul,
he will see the light of life and be satisfied;
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many,
and he will bear their iniquities.

12 Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
and he will divide the spoils with the strong,
because he poured out his life unto death,
and was numbered with the transgressors.
For he bore the sin of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors.

(Note: The Book of Isaiah spoke about Christ, the Messiah, 700 years before He was born)

The Cross Is The Best Evidence of God's Love

The God on whom we rely knows what suffering is all about, not merely in the way that God knows everything, but by experience. In the darkest night of the soul Christians have something to hold onto that Job never knew. We know Christ crucified. Christians have learned that when there seems to be no other evidence of God's love, they cannot escape the cross. "He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all – how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?"(Rom. 8:32) … When we suffer, there will sometimes be mystery. Will there also be faith? Yes, if our attention is focused more on the cross, and on the God of the cross, than on the suffering itself.

D. A. Carson
Theologian
Trinity Evangelical Seminary
Deerfield, IL

God Understands Our Pain! He Sent His Son To Show Us His Love!

Here is a video that you may or may not have seen before. However, no matter how many times you've seen it you will be touched by it.Prepare to be blessed...

The Meaning Of The Cross

Jesus defeated satan in Gethsemane on the cross, not by directly confronting the devil, but by fulfilling the destiny to which He had been called. The greatest battle that was ever won was accomplished by the apparent death of the victor, without even a word of rebuke to His adversary!

Francis Frangipane
Ministries of Francis Frangipane

The Transforming Power of Prayer

How shall I tell you what to draw near to God is? It is prayer, but it is more than prayer. I bow my knee, and I begin to ask the Lord to help me in my time of trouble. I tell him what my trial is. I put up my requests, uttering them with such words as his Holy Spirit giveth me on the occasion; but this alone is not drawing near to God. Prayer is the modus operandi, it is the outward form of drawing near to God; but there is an inner spiritual approach which is scarcely to be described by language.

Shall I tell you how I have sometimes drawn near to him? I have been worn and wearied with a heavy burden, and have resorted to prayer. I have tried to pour out my soul’s anguish in words, but there was not vent enough by way of speech, and therefore my soul has broken out into sighs, and sobs, and tears. Feeling that God was hearing my heart-talk, I have said to him, “Lord, behold my affliction; thou knowest all about it, deliver me. If I cannot exactly tell thee, there is no need of my words, for thou dost see for thyself. Thou searcher of hearts, thou readest me as I read in a book; wilt thou be pleased to help thy poor servant! I scarce know what help it is I want, but thou dost know it. I cannot tell thee what I desire, but teach me to desire what thou wilt be sure to give. Conform my will to thine.”

Perhaps at such a time there may be a peculiar bitterness about your trouble, a secret with which no stranger may intermeddle, but you tell it all out to your God. With broken words, sighs, groans, and tears, you lay bare the inmost secret of your soul. Taking off the doors of your heart from their hinges, you bid the Lord come in, and walk through every chamber, and see the whole. I do not know how to tell you what drawing near to God is better than by this rambling talk. It is getting to feel that the Lord is close to you, and that you have no secret which you wish to keep back from him, but have unveiled your most private and sacred desires to him. The getting right up to Jesus, our Lord, the leaning of the head, when it aches with trouble, upon the heart that always beats with pity, the casting of all care upon him, believing that he cares for you, pities you, and sympathises with you — this is drawing near unto God. It is good for me to draw near unto God, if this be what drawing near to God is.

From a sermon by Charles H. Spurgeon entitled "An Assuredly Good Thing," delivered July 4, 1869.