Thursday, July 31, 2008

Jesus Is Still Worthy

Did you ever stop to think when you say that you are not worthy of God's love and His forgiveness, that it really doesn't matter, because it is not what you did that brought that forgiveness to you in the first place. God's forgiveness is given to us freely because of what Jesus His Son did for us. That will never change.

Just because you become unworthy does not mean that Jesus' blood means any less. His blood was spilled once and for all, so what you are responsible for is just receiving His forgiveness. It seems as though it would not be that easy, but it is. You just have to have faith in Him and accept His forgiveness.

Next time, you hear someone say, God, I am not worthy of your forgiveness, you can answer, that is right but He forgives us anyway, because His Son was and is and always will be worthy of His forgiveness. That is a fact that will never change, no matter what we do. We do not have the power to change the worthiness of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. AMEN!

So next time you are feeling unworthy and think that you are beyond forgiveness, stop and remember, you are not the one who gave your life for that forgiveness, Jesus did, and accept your forgiveness and repent, and start living your life in the word for the Lord, and you will lose that unworthy feeling. AMEN!

Hebrews 4 v 14-16.....Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.....

Praise the Lord, aren't you glad that you do not have to be perfect for God to love you and forgive your sins. So let us not try to hold others to perfection, and let Jesus take care of their imperfections just as He does for us also. AMEN!
Neta

In All Things Give Thanks

Have you read Phil. 4 v 4, where it tells you to rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say rejoice. Just in case you didn't get it the first time. He tells you again to rejoice always. Not just when times are good, but also in your trials. When you rejoice in your trials, it is your faith winning over. God does know faith, and your faith in Him is what brings you through these trials and this is what glorifies and pleases God. The fact that you have strong faith in Him to bring you through.

Then if you keep reading in vs. 6, Paul tells us in everything not just the good times but in everything by prayer and petition with THANKSGIVING, present your requests to God.
In other words, when you pray with thanksgiving, you are already believing for your answer. Or why else would you be giving thanks. AMEN!

Php 4 v 4-6....Rejoice in the Lord always, I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.....NIV

We have so much to be thankful for, that we do not even recognize our blessings any longer. We have the freedom to worship, where so many people in this world are not even allowed to speak the name of Jesus or they may be killed. What a great privilege that we take for granted. How many of us missed church yesterday? How many of us missed our opportunity to go and worship with other believers and sing praises to the Lord and just cry out to Him and let Him know how much He is loved. How many of us went to church and sat there like a bump on a log bored and not paying attention to the words that the Lord Himself gave the pastor to bring to us? God wants so much to spend time with us but how many of us do not even give Him the time of day? How many of us opened the word of God today to see what He wanted to say to us personally today? Not just our little daily devotionals, but actually the word of God. How many of us are fed each day by the Lord's hand?

How many of us were blessed with eyes to see, ears to hear, legs to walk today? Did we thank God for all things? Or did we just thank Him for that special something we have been praying about?

This morning while watching Joyce Meyer, I heard something that really hit home with me.
Some people have testimonies and give their testimony and help others from what they learned living through that testimony. Others just share there monys. In other words, instead of sharing with others how God got them through and giving God the glory, they just share their moaning and groanings over what they had to go through. WOW! Don't let us miss the boat on this one. When you go through a trial that is devastating share with others how God got you through and give Him the glory instead of just complaining and moaning and groaning to others about what you had to endure, as if you were all by yourself. If that is how you feel, then we need to pray that you would receive the Lord Jesus, so that the next time you go through something, He will be there with you, and you will not have to go through it all alone. When we put our faith in the Lord, He is there with us through all of our trials. We just have to put our focus on Him and not on our problems. AMEN!

Deut. 31 v 6.."Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you."....

This is still true today, God's word doesn't change. He is still with us today. He is still the One who will bring us through, when we place our faith in Him and not in our circumstances. AMEN!

In other words, we need to remember to give Him thanksgiving in all things. Praise the Lord. Lets start today to look at our blessing differently. Lets start today to really see what all the Lord has done for us and give thanks for all the things we so easily take for granted each day. AMEN!
Neta

Hot/Sour Soup or Sweet/Sour Pork

How many of us make a sweet sound unto the Lord? I mean can you honestly say that everything you said today was a sweet sound unto the Lord's ears? I know that I fall short here alot! I think I am making sweet sounds, but sometimes, they are bittersweet. You know like when you go to eat chineese food and you have some sweet & sour pork, or hot/sour soup. You have two different tastes going on at the same time in your mouth. Well, sometimes I think when we say things we have two different things going on in our minds, and yet we are trying to make a sweet sound, but there is an underlying bitterness there. Surely, I am not the only one here that has experienced this!
I talk on this subject often, because it is a subject that I have to deal with. Maybe that is why we are taught as kids, "Don't say anything at all, if you can't say something nice." You see even then you are being taught don't lie. When we say something we do not really mean, then we are in fact telling a lie, which would be that bittersweet taste I am talking about.

God tells us in His word, sort of the same thing. He says do not say anything that does not bring grace to the hearer. In other words be nice! And then back to mom's old saying, Don't say anything at all if you can't say something nice. So before we speak next, stop and think, am I serving hot/sour soup today?

Ephes. 4 v 29-32...Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. And be kind to one another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you......

Lord, I pray for each one of us today, that we will take this scripture and store it in our hearts so when things of this world come against us, we will not act out of our flesh but search our heart first for how your word tells us to behave. Amen.
Neta

Can You Hear God Approaching

WOW! Stop and think about that for a minute. Get really still and quiet and listen. Can you hear God approaching you? Gives me goose bumps just thinking about it. It makes me want to quit writing so I can just get still and listen for His footsteps coming to spend time with me. How exciting is it when God Himself wants to spend time with you, and is calling out to you like He did with Adam and Eve. Where are you ___________, why are you hiding from me? Would that be the question He asks of you? Or would you be running to meet Him eager to see what He has to say?

Do you have a quiet time that you reserve only for the Lord? Do you freely give Him time each day or do you feel like you have an appointment with Him that you have to keep? You see we, as Christians sometimes try to be so spiritual that we think we have to keep our divine appt. with the LORD or He is not going to bless us that day. Or we somehow lose our faith because we didn't keep our set time with Him.

God does not want your appointment time, He wants your devoted time. He wants the time that you with a right heart and a seeking mind want to spend time with Him and really listen and hear what He has to say to you that day. AMEN! He doesn't want to spend time that you feel like you have to give Him, He wants time that you want to give Him. He wants you running to Him when you hear Him approach and not Him having to call out over and over where are you ___________?AMEN!

God says He is always there when we need Him, but He also needs us. He wants to fellowship with us and nobody else sometimes. He wants His one on one time with us just like we need the one on one with Him. This is what keeps us going, this is what motivates us, this is what gives us the peace and understanding of His word to live out each day, when the things of the world try to come against us. I can not express how important it is that we have this one on one with Him each day. But also, how important for us to want this one on one time with Him. You know where your heart is by where you spend your time. Take a good look at your daily activities, and write down what you do each hour of the day and how you spend it. Then you will see where your heart is. The place your heart will be is the area in which you give the most of your time. Now, I know some of you say, well I work 8 hours a day but that does not mean that is where my heart is. Let me ask you this, when you work 8 hours a day, where is your mind? Where are your thoughts? How do you treat people during that 8 hours? You see we can still spend time with the Lord when we are at work. We can think on Him and His word, we can treat people like He would, we can even bless people like Him by having good attitudes while on our job, and being especially kind to others, helping someone with their work, there are alot of different ways to spend time with the Lord. We all have to have a balance in our lives. We will find our balance by searching our hearts. Our balance should always fall into this line, God, Family, Career. When you get out of balance with those three, then you will fail at one or more of them. Some people get so out of balance that they fail in all three areas.

So take a good look today, listen for the Lord approaching you and spend some time with Him before you do anything else, and the other areas of your life will fall into their place. AMEN!

Gen. 3 v 8-9.....Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you"....... (NIV)

Don't be afraid to answer the Lord when He calls you. He will forgive you whatever, whenever and wherever you are in your life. You just have to answer Him and accept His love and His forgiveness. Never let yourself be in the place Adam and Eve were, where they were afraid to spend time with the Lord. Run to Him when you are ashamed, or hurt, or lost. AMEN!

He is approaching you today, what will you do?

Neta

Always In A Hurry

Do you feel like you are always in a hurry, always in a rush to get from here to there? That is probably the way most of us feel. Today's world is always running here and there, everything is about speed, the faster you get your hamburger in the drive thru window, the faster your computer runs, the faster the traffic moves. When do we ever have time to just sit back and enjoy the beautiful creation God created?

When was the last time you went on a picnic, and just sat back and relaxed and watched the clouds move across the sky, or listen to the water in the stream flowing gently down the creek? When was the last time you walked in the sand at dusk, when the beach wasn't busy with people making noise, so that you could hear the waves rolling in and out? When was the last time you hiked up a mountain, just to sit and look out over the vastness of open, undisturbed land that still belonged to nature?

If you can not remember the last time you did any of these, or if you have never done any of these, I challenge you today to set an appointment in your busy schedule to do at least one, and keep that appointment as if it was the most important business decision you could make. Don't take your cell phone, or your lap top with you. Don't take anything but some water and a little food, just you and your best friend (hopefully that would be your spouse if you are married), and go up to the top of that mountain and just get quiet and seek the LORD. And be ready to be filled with the peace and greatness of the Lord all at the same time. Be ready to just completely fall into His arms and rest. Go ahead, let yourself sink into His big arms that are waiting so patiently on you to come to Him for rest.

If we would take the time to seek the Lord and rest in Him before we made half the decisions that we make, we would probably all be much better off in our careers, in our family lives, in our health, in other words in every area of our lives.

Please take time to do this, I promise you will not be disappointed. If you have a major decision about something to make, please first take time to seek the Lord, take time to let your body quiet down and be attentive to the Lord's words before you make that decision. The outcome will be so much better for you.

Ps 27 v 14....wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say on the Lord...NKJV

Jer. 29 v 13.....You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.....NIV

Isa 40 v 30-31...Even the youths shall faint and be weary. And the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.....NKJV

The word tells us over and over again to wait on the Lord, to seek Him first. The word even shows us that if we wait on the Lord our strength will be renewed, we will be energized. Who couldn't use a little more energy today? God did not create us to run around ninety to nothing all the time. He created us to have fellowship with him. So, now it is up to us to slow down and give God the time He deserves from us and not just a little scrap of time on Sunday mornings, or Wed. nights, or an hour at Saturday Mass. No God deserves so much more than that. How much time you spend with God, shows how much you really care about Him. AMEN!

One of the things Rob and I do, is paint. Now before you say anything, neither of us can actually paint, I can not even draw a stick man right, but, we have some water paints and we just take our things with us out into the world the Lord has created for us, and we put paint on the canvas. (Most of the time you can make out what it is suppose to be.) But the point is we will spend a couple of hours just quiet and listening and observing our surroundings. God has so much to show us if we will just get still long enough to see. This time of quietness and stillness gets me so relaxed, I can hear the Lord much clearer than when I am trying to listen to Him over the telephones ringing, tv's blasting, people always moving and talking. So find your way of getting quiet and plan some of this time each week to spend with the LORD. I promise you won't be sorry, and you will feel much more energized, but with good energy and not negative energy. AMEN!
Neta

How Blessed Are We, Really!

My God, my God, do we even realize how blessed we are? Probably not. Today while reading in one of my devotionals, something hit me so hard between the eyes, that I never saw it coming. I probably have a couple of black eyes now. Not from the hit, but from the weeping I did after God showed me this.

How many of us out there pay for storage each month? How many of us, are lucky enough not to have to pay for storage but have rooms and rooms, out buildings, sheds, garages, attics filled with stuff? How blessed you are. We as Americans are so blessed, we can't even see our blessings any more. Oh yeah, we see when we get what we want, we say I am so blessed. But then when what we want goes into storage, the attic, or the garage, do we still look at that (whatever it was) as a blessing? Probably not, or it wouldn't be in storage. If we took all of those items that we never used, and sold them and gave that money into the kingdom, then took what we couldn't sell and give to our local shelters, how blessed then would we be? Just think if you are paying for storage, because you do not have enough room in your house to hold all these things, then don't you think that if you really needed these things that God would bless you with a larger house to hold them? So obviously you do not need them, or they wouldn't be in storage in the first place. Think how much money the storage buildings are making off of us, when if we would just realize the fact that we do not need these items, or (like I said they wouldn't be in storage) that is money that could be given into the Kingdom of God for His use. That money could be invested each month so that it could grow and you would have the means to give when there is a need. Or that money could be sowed right into a ministry that is in need now. WOW!

I know I am stepping on some toes today. There is even some out there saying, "she is crazy, trying to give everything away." Well, let me assure you I am not crazy. God has just finally given me a revelation of how much I don't need to be content. There is a word for you. How many of you are content with what you have? Be honest. How many of you can truthfully say, that you are not wanting or wishing for something that you do not have right now? That being said, how many of you if you were given a large sum of money and told you could do whatever with it, would go out and buy something you have been wanting? Or would you take that money and invest it into a plan that would always have sufficient to give when a need arises? I mean you can't go and buy anything if you said you are content. You see, we as Americans do not know what the word content means. We have the means to always get more, so we do not know what it means to be content with what we have.

Phili 4 v 11-13....."I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed, or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through Him who gives me strength."......

I can honestly say, this verse suits me. I was thinking today, after reading this, of how I complain about so little room in this RV, but yet I have more than I had at one time in my life, when I lived in a green house with a screen door with plastic covering in a very bad part of town where I would put a padlock on the inside of the door when I was home, and on the outside when I was gone. HA! (Like they couldn't just cut through the plastic if they wanted to get in.) I lived here with my 1 year old son. No one taller than me could stand up inside this little house, and there was no A/C and only a little space heater. We had beans and cornbread on the weekends, and eggs and bread during the week, (eggs I got from my mother's chickens) On payday twice a month we would have chicken and dumplings or a roast and potatoes. But I always shared with family when I had enough to cook, so it was back to the eggs during the week. I was content then because I knew it was all I had the means to have.

I am not saying that it is bad to have things, or to be blessed, I am just saying that when we have to put things into storage then we are in my opinion living in sin in that area. We are hoarding things that someone could be using, or that we could actually sell and sow into someone's life who is in need. Do you understand what I am saying? If you are still worrying about your stuff and giving it away, then you probably have not gotten the revelation of this yet. I am just asking each of us to take a good hard look at what we have in our lives, vs. what we need in our lives, and then make the adjustments when your heart is right. AMEN!
Neta

Do You Fear God or Are You Afraid of God

Some people have a problem with finding the difference in these. There is only one reason that I can think of that would give you cause to be afraid of God, and that would be if you did not fear God. You see to fear God, is to respect who God is, to know that He is over all, that there is no one or anything bigger than God. This is an "in awe" type of fear. Not a shaking in your boots scared sort of fear. Remember the word tells us that God did not give us the spirit of fear. So when the word fear is used as in to fear God, it means to be in awe of, to honor, to respect Him.

2 Tim 1 v 7...For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind....

Deut. 10 v 12..."and now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, and to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments of the LORD and His statutes which I command you today for your good?".....

Now to be afraid of God, would have to mean that you do not know God personally. The way to get to know God personally is through His Son, Jesus Christ. The word tells us that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.

John 14 v 6...."I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."......

God is a jealous God, and if you want to make Him angry with you, then try worshiping some other Gods. He is the only true God. He is a loving, and merciful God. His only desire is to have fellowship with you and for you to know Him.

Exodus 20 v 4-6...."You shall not make for yourself a carved image--any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments...."

Did you catch that, God's mercy is greater than His wrath. He will show mercy through His love for you if you keep His commandments, and He tells you that you must hate Him if you would worship other Gods.

So God, Himself tells you to worship Him only, so then how do people still seek other sources for answers? For example: Why would you look to your horoscope each day to see what the stars say? If you say you believe in God, and He is very clear about not worshiping other Gods, then why would you put yourself in the path of God's wrath? First of all, God created you and the stars, so why would the stars know more than God about your future? And how do you have a personal relationship with a star?

That would be an example of someone who would be afraid of God, but not fear God, as would be obvious since they are looking to stars for answers instead of to their creator. AMEN!

Ps 90 v 11....Who knows the wrath of your anger? For your wrath is as great as the fear that is due You.....

1John 5 v 3....For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome....

If you feel burdened by God's commandments, then you would probably need to check your relationship with Him. To walk in the love of God is to desire to keep His ways.

Neta

Friday, July 11, 2008

Back Into The Fire

When Rob and I went to Ireland, we toured the Waterford Crystal Factory and the Beleek Porcelain Factory. What was interesting is that every piece is made by hand, and if there are any flaws the pieces get thrown back into the fire to remake. Both of these Companies have a policy that they will not sell a less than perfect piece. They have no seconds. They only sell perfect pieces.

Well, when the Potter made us, He uses the same principle. When we mess up, He allows us to go back through the fire sometimes in order to get re-shaped so to say, so that we will come out a better, stronger piece. Now, He doesn't say that we will be perfect, but He does say that He does not make rejects. No when we are formed in our mother's wombs He has a perfect plan for us, it is us that breaks down our pottery, and begin to show our flaws. Oh if only we would stay in His hands always so that when we need a little reshaping, He is quick to form us. We can be like these beautiful pieces if we would stay in God's word and keep Him first in our lives. When we walk in love toward others even when we think they don't deserve it, we are being tossed back into the fire, heated up so to say so that we are being reshaped into these perfect pieces. AMEN

Jeremiah 18 v 3-6.....Then I went down to the potter's house, and there he was, making something at the wheel. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make. Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, "Oh house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter?" says the LORD. "Look as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel.".....

God wants to reshape us when we are marred, (less than perfect) or when we can not do what He has called us to do. In other words, when the potter makes a flask to hold water, and it has a crack in it and the water leaks, the flask can not serve its purpose. God has a purpose for each of us, so we are a vessel that He has shaped to perform this purpose and no other vessel can be used to do this task. We need to diligently seek God for His good and perfect will in our lives. When we do, and we start serving our purpose then maybe we will spend a little less time in the fire. AMEN. We will still need some reshaping now and again, but it will be worth it just to be able to be used for what God has purposed in our lives. AMEN!
Neta

Thursday, July 10, 2008

My Genealogy

So many of us today are so interested in our genealogy. Where did we come from. And it always amazes me when people talk about my people, my kind, my tribe. etc. etc. etc.

Well, let me just give you a beginning of your genealogy from the book of Genesis and then a new beginning later.

Gen. 1 v 27...So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female, He created them.....

Gen. 2 v 7....And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being......

Gen. 2 v 21-22....and the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall on Adam, and he slept; and He took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place. Then the rib which the LORD God had taken from man He made into a woman, and He brought her to the man.....

Gen. 4 v 25....and Adam knew his wife again, and she bore him a son, and named him Seth....

Genesis 5...you can read the genealogy of the account of Seth's sons all the way to Noah.
Seth begot Enosh, Enosh begot Cainan, Cainan begot Mahalalel, Mahalalel begot Jared, Jared begot Enoch, Enoch begot Methusaleh (the oldest man in the bible, who can tell me how old he was?), Methusaleh begot Lamech, and Lamech begot Noah.

Noah's sons are found in Gen. 6 v 10...and Noah begot three sons; Shem, Ham and Japheth....

God became so displeased with all mankind, but found Noah to be a just man, so He made a covenant with Noah, that He would cause a flood to come on the earth and wipe out every living creature, man and beast except for Noah and his family as they would be on the ark that God instructed Noah to build.

Gen. 6 v 18....But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall go into the ark; you, and your wife, and your sons' wives with you.....

Gen. 7 v 7...So Noah, with his sons, his wife, and his sons' wives went into the ark because of the waters of the flood.....

Gen. 7 v 21-23....and all the flesh died that moved on the earth; birds and cattle and beasts and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth, and every man. All in whose nostrils was the breath of the spirit of life, all that was on the dry land, died. So He destroyed all living things which were on the face of the ground; both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive.....

Gen. 8 v 15....Then God spoke to Noah, saying "Go out of the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons' wives with you....

Gen. 8 v 18....So Noah went out, and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him.....

Gen. 9 v 1...So God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them: Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.....

So you see your genealogy traces back to Noah and his 3 sons. You are a direct descendant of Adam and Eve because remember Noah is the great great great great great great great grandson of Adam. See it is really not so hard to trace your family tree, because we all come from the same family tree, we all come from the same people, we all come from the same tribe. We were in fact all created equal. And the generations continued on all the way to Abraham, to generations that led to David, to generations that led to Jacob, who was the father of Joseph who was the husband of Mary to whom was born Jesus who is called Christ.

Now for the new beginning. You see everyone always talks about in the beginning and they refer to Genesis, but there is also a new beginning and it began in Luke chapter 2 also known to many as the Christmas Story and if you keep reading when you get to Luke 3 v 23-38 you will fill in the blanks with more genealogy.

God once again intervened on man's behalf, so that man could have a better quality of life and so that man would have eternal life with Him, our creator, that He put His own Spirit into the womb of a virgin that she would birth a Son and He would be God's only begotten Son and He would come to this earth as a child, grow into a man, die for all the sins of mankind and be raised from the dead and be seated at the right hand of the Father, His Father, and bring salvation to all who receives Him.

This is one branch that not everyone will belong to, not because they can't but because they choose not to. You see God started a whole new family tree with His son Jesus. And to become part of this family you must first accept Jesus the Son of God as your Lord and Savior. This is the most important part of the family tree. In order for your genealogy to continue on you have to make a move to this branch of the tree. This is the only branch of the tree that will live forever as part of God's family. Branches that do not accept this truth will be pruned away from the family tree forever. So make that decision today if you have not already and get excited about your family history, and make it your personal quest to keep your family tree branch alive and thriving. Go out and buy one of those family tree pictures and fill in the top of your tree with the most important name in your family history, the name above all names the name of Jesus. So when your children get ready to trace their genealogy, they will only have to look at the top branch of the family tree and know which way to go from there. AMEN! HALLELUJAH!!!!
Neta

JEZEBEL

Wow, this is a subject that some are not going to want to hear, but I feel it is a subject that needs to be taught, and who better to teach it, than one who was once a Jezebel herself.

This is for the men out there who have ever been tempted by a Jezebel.

We make alot of jokes using the name Jezebel, but it is a name that I take very seriously and one that is nothing to be joked about.
The word tells us that Jezebel will lead many straight to hell.

Revelations 2 v 20-22.....Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. And I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent. Indeed I will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds.....

There was an incident that I heard on the news and it made me stop and think about how many lives are destroyed because of one act of adultery. Through one man's weakness. Now I know the saying it takes two to tango. But it takes a strong man to say NO. We are always telling the kids just say NO to drugs, well we need to be telling our men just say NO to Jezebel. Her lies and her seduction will cause many to suffer. In this incident, the scorned woman killed the man afterwards. She is like a black widow spider. She seduces you, then when you decide that this is not for you, it may be too late as was this case. The seductress kills the man, who had a wife and children, and she herself had children, so now all these children will grow up without one of their parents all because He was too weak in the word which in turn made him too weak in his body to resist Jezebel. How sad is it for this family now that they have to go through life without a loved one, just because of a moment of weakness.

And now for the women.

Ladies, don't be a Jezebel. Don't just innocently so you think flirt with that co-worker, or that neighbor, or member of your church. That is called being a seductress. Whether you think you are just playing and not meaning any harm, it is still what it is. Seduction! Watch what type of clothes you wear, and how you present yourselves. When you dress, do you think, WOW, this looks great, people are going to turn to look at this. BE HONEST! I am trying to help you here. I am trying to stop you from making the same mistakes I made. I can only pray that the men whose lives I destroyed, have repented as I have, so that they will not end up in that great tribulation. Remember ladies you could be leading someone straight to HELL. Can you really live with that?

And just to clear up a point. You both do not have to be married for it to be called adultery. Only one has to be married. But you both face the same punishment for adultery.

There are many different reasons people commit adultery. The main one being lust. The second being loneliness, and etc. etc. But there is no reason good enough that will keep you from suffering God's wrath. God isn't like our parents. He is not going to say don't do something, then say well, that is alright, you had your reasons. No, what He says, He means, and He does not change His mind about it. He does not say if I have to tell you again. No, He told you once and that is it. What you choose after that is up to you. He will not force you to listen to Him, but He will forgive you when you repent of your sin and you truly mean it in your heart and you do not return to that sin.

And now for those of you who commit adultery out of love for each other. You too must repent, and ask for forgiveness. But also you must ask God to give you strength to fight the desires of the flesh and to guide you through life without this person as a lover in your life. God will bring you through. Trust Him, and let Him be your lover, so that your mind is renewed with His word, and His Spirit to guide you in this situation. I think you will be amazed at how well your life will turn out if you will just turn it over to God. AMEN!

I love you all, and I hope this helps someone to stop and think before they act. It is too late for the man and woman in this story, but their story has compelled me to write this along with the help of the Holy Spirit so that others may be spared from this type of suffering.

For additional reading on this subject read Proverbs 7.
Neta

Thursday, July 3, 2008

What Do You Call Him

How many of my readers call Jesus their Savior? How many of you call Him Lord? You see so many Christians today know Jesus as their Savior, but they have yet to call Him Lord. There is a big difference you know. Just knowing Jesus as your Savior, and knowing that He died on the cross for your sins is one thing, but to actually make Him Lord of your life is another thing.

There are Christians who go to church on Sundays and praise God and worship with other Christians, go to their favorite restaurants afterwards with the preacher and other congregation members and then the rest of the week never open their bibles, never say a prayer, watch all those TV programs that have no place in a Christian's home, and you never see Christ in them at the office or work place. Why is this? It is because they know Him as Savior, but do not give Him the place of Lord in their lives.

To give Jesus the place of Lord in your lives means you have to give up some things. You have to throw down your life and follow Him. In other words, you have to make Him the priority in your life. Not the TV, not the fishing, hunting, golfing or other sports you like to participate in. No He has to be first in every aspect of your life. In other words when you start your day, do you start it off with praising Him, and getting into His word to give you a direction to follow that day or do you sleep to the last minute and then rush around all irritated because you are running late and scream and holler at people driving down the road to get out of your way? When you go to lunch do you ask Him in prayer to just help you through the rest of the day to make the right decisions and to let His light shine through you for others to see or do you just hang out and join in with others you work with and not even give Him a thought? When you are driving home from work, do you put in a Christian CD to help you get your praise on, or do you put on secular music? When you get ready to end your day, do you get into His word and study what His plan is for your life, and then get quiet and just listen to Him, or do you watch TV until you fall asleep?

Christians, it is time we stop just letting Jesus be our Savior and start letting Him be our Lord also. When we just accept Him as our Savior and not make Him Lord over our lives, then it is like we are taking advantage of the gift He gave us. It is like using someone just for what you can get out of them. He did not die on that cross just to save us from our sins, He died on that cross so that we could have eternal life with Him and the Father one day. How will you fit into that family atmosphere when you get there? Will you feel comfortable being around all that praise and worship everyday, or will you have to adjust your lifestyle because you are only a one day a week worshiper?
I think this is a question all of us need to ask ourselves. AMEN!

Mark 10 v 17-22....Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, "Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?" So Jesus said to him, "Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. You know the commandments. Do not commit adultery, Do not murder, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and your mother." And he answered and said to Him, "Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth." Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, "One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven, and come, take up the cross, and follow Me." But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions........

You see like the rich young ruler, who was a good person, who kept all God's laws, but yet he did not want to give up his lifestyle to follow and do the works of Jesus, we all have our great possessions that we do not want to let go of. For some it may be money, for some it may be a favorite TV program, others it may be sports, or friends that they do not want to quit hanging out with, for some it may be wanting that last minute of sleep.

We need to all take a good look at our lives and see what is keeping us from calling Jesus LORD, and letting Him be the object of our worship instead of our possessions taking our time away from Him. AMEN!
Neta

Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Don't Let Your Manna Spoil

When we think of manna we think of the passage in the Bible about how God rained manna down from heaven when the people were hungry and complaining to Moses, He provided them with manna from heaven. He gave them more than enough to be sufficient to sustain everyone.

Exodus 16 v 14-16...And when the layer of dew lifted, there, on the surface of the wilderness, was a small round substance, as fine as frost on the ground. So when the children of Israel saw it, they said to one another, "What is it?" For they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, "This is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat. This is the thing which the LORD commanded; 'Let every man gather it according to each one's need, one omer for each person, according to the number of persons; let every man take for those who are in his tent.' Then the children of Israel did so and gathered, some more, some less......

Exodus 16 v 19-20.....And Moses said, "Let no one leave any of it till morning." Notwithstanding they did not heed Moses. But some of them left part of it until morning, and it bred worms and stank......

You see some people did not trust God to provide more than enough, they did not have enough faith to only gather just what they needed and leave the extra or share the extra with others who needed.
They tried to hoard as much as they could, only to have it spoil with worms.

Well, that is how it is still today. God blesses people with an overflow and instead of letting that abundance flow over into the kingdom of God by giving into the mission field or back to your local church where it is needed to advance God's kingdom, we try to hoard it for ourselves and we end up with spoiled manna. Take for example some of the people who win the lottery and they completely change and try to have all of this ridiculous stuff instead of using the money to help others. The statistics show where the majority of them end up committing suicide, losing everything they have, or being worse off than they were before. (Now I know that this does not apply to all lottery winners but the majority fits this scenario) My point is, when we try to keep our abundance for ourselves that the Lord God blessed us with instead of helping to advance the kingdom of God, then we end up cutting off our overflow of abundance. You see if we would just trust God and give the overflow into His kingdom, then He would keep the river of overflow, the abundance spilling over into our lives. But so many times when we get a little extra, we immediately start thinking of things that we want and what can we do for ourselves. Sometimes we end up doing things we would not normally have done, and we fall into sin making bad decisions. Now do not get me wrong, I am not saying that money is evil, I am saying how much worth or better yet how much worship you put into that money can become evil. AMEN!

2 Cor. 8 v 13-15...For I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened; but by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may supply their lack, that their abundance also may supply your lack--that there may be equality. As it is written, "He who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack.".......

Another passage that reminds me of this is one that is not usually taught this way, but God showed me this the other day when we were reading our devotional.

Matthew 15 v 26-27....But He answered and said, "It is not good to take the children's bread and throw it to the little dogs." And she said, "Yes Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their master's table....

This scripture is showing this gentile lady's faith in the Lord. Jesus is telling her that He was sent to take care of the children of Israel and basically comparing her as a gentile lower than the children of Israel, but she was not easily offended, she knew just a little of Him would heal her daughter, (which is what she was asking for) and He saw how much faith she had in Him and He had more than enough in Him that He could take care of the children of Israel and at the same time heal this woman's daughter. He knew that His Father would supply Him with all that He needed to do both. AMEN!

Now, if we could trust our Father the same way Jesus did, and believe that He will give us more than enough to have what we want if we first use what He gives us to take care of others who are in need. HALLELUJAH
Neta