Category: God

This category relates to God’s Word for instruction.

  • Compelling Love

    Paul writes, “The love of Christ compels us.” (2 Corinthians 5:14) The love Paul has for Christ moves him along in the fulfillment of that commission given by Christ Himself, for Paul’s life. The compulsion the moved Paul should be in the heart of every believer. This realization that Christ is our all in all. Jesus made this perfectly clear when He stated, “You can do nothing without Me.” (John 15:5) Get this picture deep within your mind. Jesus is the vine, our source of nourishment, nutrition and strength. All that pertain to life and godliness has been provide by Him. Nothing has been withheld in this life from us. All that was given to Him, from the Father, we also share.

    Jesus the vine is rooted in the Father and He is unmovable, omnipotent, omnipresent, righteous, and faithful. The vine bears the heat, cold rain, wind and snow, every adversity it endures. Why? For the branches to produce much fruit. This fruit does not grow to full maturity over night, it takes time with continual attachment to the vine. Christ, like this vine lives in us, the branches, producing this fruit. Acts 17:28 says:

    “For in Him we live and move and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, for we are also His offspring.”

    Live – Every breath, heartbeat and moment of our physical life is a gift sustained by God.

    Movement – Our strength to act, physically and spiritually comes entirely from His sustained power. Every course we take is directed by God through the Holy Spirit.

    Being – Our fundamental existence depends on Christ; we cannot be sustained in this life apart from Christ.

    Jesus told us, “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for a friend.” (John 15:13) Christ was the ultimate fulfillment of these words for us. Do you see how the love of God surpasses our understanding? We can’t comprehend His love in our natural minds, this must come through the Holy Spirit speaking to our hearts. This is described in Galatians 5:22, “The fruit of the Spirit is LOVE….” The closer we walk with Jesus, the more His love will manifest through us to the world.

    “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes on Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

    Our God did this, even knowing some would reject His unconditional love for them.

    Matthew 22:37, “And he said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.”

    The world does’nt have the wisdom to understand this totally unselfish love the Father has for His Saints, but we do. We as believers must give God His rightful place upon the throne of our hearts. We need to fear Him, in the reverential way only He deserves, by worship and praise. He has put us in right standing with Himself, through Jesus. He has given us His all, how can we do any less than give Him our all?

    If you do not have this love mentioned above. I invite you to read

    Romans 10:9-10 aloud and let the Holy Spirit speak to your heart.

    Romans 10 :9-10, “that if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

    V. 10 For with your heart you believe and are justified, and with your mouth you confess and are saved.”

    May Gods peace reign in you hearts through our Lord Jesus Christ!

    Al S.

    Back

  • PRAYER

    Prayer is probably the most talked about subject in the church, everyone says we need to do it, but how many of us actually take time to pray? The consensus usually is, I don’t have time, my schedule is far too busy. With the way this world is progressing, that may be a very accurate statement, we all have various activities that keep us occupied most every day. This was my excuse for a long time. Getting up early and heading off to schedule which took me all over the city and to many different houses. Then there was the purchasing of material for each job. This made my prayer life a shambles. Thank God, He has given me a new awareness of the importance making time to pray.

    Prayer is not a monologue with us doing all the talking, it is a dialogue that allows God, through the Holy Spirit, to speak back to our spirits. That still small voice that is so easily missed if we’re not careful to be quiet and listening. You may be saying, “I don’t know how to pray like others do.” Not to worry, the Holy Spirit will come along side, (partner) with you to make those prayers heard. Our part is to open our mouth and speak from the heart.

    For a very long time my concept of prayer was. When I pray I move the hand of God in my favor. Quite the contrary. When we pray and open our hearts, God moves us to fill His plan in our lives. The so called, Lord’s prayer, is good example of this. Remember the verse in Matthew 6: 10;

    “Thy kingdom come thy will (God’s will) be done in earth, as it is heaven.”

    I finally got the “THY WILL BE DONE part, not my will but God’s will. Prior to this revelation, my prayers were of the “Gimme, gimme my name is Jimmy” variety. This was all about my will and gratification, not God’s will and purpose for my life. Entering God’s courts with thanksgiving and His courts with praise (Psalms 100:4). Thanksgiving and worship are the two primary ingredients for going into the Throne Room of our heavenly Father.

    Another scripture may be helpful to cement the thought of surrendering to God’s will not ours is Philippians 2:12,13;

    So then, my beloved, even as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling;

    2:13 for it is God who works in you both to will and to work, for his good pleasure.

    This means, it is God who puts within us the desire to do His will in the first place. He also works within us the power to carry out that desire, IF WE ARE WILLING. Our prayers should have the motivation to come in line with the Father’s will. For in His will is fullness of joy an peace which in not attainable in this world. Could this be a reason why some prayers are not answered? Are we praying for the Father’s will to be done, or ours? He is so good, your circumstances will begin to change and allow you to move where your heavenly Father wants you to be, this happens without us doing anything. Praise God!

    Bringing your needs before the throne is part of prayer as well. God said He already knows our needs, if that is the case, and it is, then why ask for them, why not thank Him for His supply? We are told not to concern ourselves about what we should put on or to eat. Do we believe that these necessities have been provided to us already? Our heavenly Father has many ways He can provide those needs. He will not counterfeit money or steal to provide our need. He is capable of having a dog deliver money to you in its mouth. God fed Elijah from raven’s at the Brook Cherith, that shows His unlimited ability to supply our needs.

    Remember, prayer is the communication between two individuals. Sometimes because we can’t see God our minds don’t grasp the concept of talking with another person. But that is exactly what we are doing!

    Seek first the kingdom of heaven and all His righteousness and all these things will be added unto you. Seeking the Kingdom first is searching scriptures say and then complying with them. In other words, find the scriptures that backup what you are asking for, then line up with that Word before asking. This process will keep us from asking for what is wrong. Finding scriptures and praying them is a sure way of getting answers to prayer, and staying in faith.

    Praying the Word is praying God’s eternal Word back to Him. Thanking Him for the answer before receiving it is saying, in faith, I have already received the answer to my request. His Word is eternal and will never fail.

    Isaiah 55:11, “so My word that proceeds from My mouth will not return to Me empty, but it will accomplish what I please, and it will prosper where I send it.”

    Lastly, don’t forget that forgiveness is a prerequisite for answered prayer also. Go to your neighbor and forgive him, then go to the Altar with your request.

    Brothers and Sisters please, learn to pray scriptures and see your prayer fulfilled!

    In Jesus name, BE BLESSED!

    Al S.

    BACK

  • God is Truth

    I learned something today that will set you free from the law and religious beliefs. You may have been having a problem with faith in what God has said in His Word. The Word of God is not difficult to understand, we make it that way.

    God is truth, that is His nature and He cannot lie. His words have been set down for eternity, they are forever. In Him is no darkness or shadow of turning. (James 1:17). What He has said cannot be changed or altered in any way. What God said will come to pass, with or without anything we do.

    We have been under the assumption we determine how God reacts to us. This is so far from the truth, it has to be Satan. God’s Word is anchored in God Himself. According to Hebrews 13:8, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” We must get this in our spirit, not just in our intellect. That means His Word won’t change. His Word is alive, powerful, sharper than any two edged sword. Now come the revelation!

    The word does not change whether we believe it or not, it is the same. Jesus died on the cross and arose from the grave, by the power of God. What He did we had no part in. But through faith in that event, we receive the benefits. By grace you are saved through faith, it is the gift of God. GRACE is what God has done without our intervention. Every promise we were given is settled forever. In accordance with 2 Peter 1:1-4. God has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of God and Jesus Christ.

    This is the problem. Do we trust the Word to be grounded in God and Him alone? No matter our situation or circumstances, God’s Word does not change. All that God has promised us is done, finished, waiting to be received by the believer in Christ. The Word says, by Jesus’ stripes we were healed. Not if we pray right, read our bibles every day, or what ever else comes to mind. It is already completed. Putting any other condition on this makes it “works of the flesh” and if it is works then it is not GRACE. (Romans 11:6).

    GRACE, is what God has already done for us. We had no part in it. Our answer to the Grace of God is this, receive it by FAITH, with thanks giving. Faith is taking God at His Word, not doubting or wavering in the fact it is done.

    FAITH come by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. (Romans 10:17) How can we know what we have been promised if we don’t read God’s instruction book? We are like the blind leading the blind. Both fall in the ditch.

    The promises written in the Bible are exactly what we need to survive in this life. Without them we will live in fear of every uncertainty. Along with being tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine as described in

    Ephesians 4:14, “Then we will no longer be infants, tossed about by the waves and carried around by every wind of teaching and by the clever cunning of men in their deceitful scheming.”

    We do not change the Word of God. The Word of God changes us.

    I leave you with this. 2 Timothy 2:15, “Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth.”

    I pray this will be a blessing in your life!

    Al S.

    Back

  • Fear of the Lord

    FEAR OF THE LORD God

    When we read the scriptures there are verses that just don’t make much sense to us. Some of these are from the book of Proverbs. I will cover some of them in this article. To look up the word FEAR in a concordance can be very daunting to say the least. The same word for fear, as in frightening, and fear as in reverence are the same. It is up to the to reader to determine in what context the word is used. This word can be used in either situation. I don’t believe we has to explain what FEAR, as in terrified or frightened means. So we will continue to explain FEAR, as in reverence.

    In Proverbs 1:7, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge:”

    Wait a minute, I thought the Lord was good, kind, and loving. Why do we need to be afraid of Him? In this context, the word FEAR means; to reverence, make Holy, consecrate, to (venerate), hallow, sanctify. For a clearer understanding of this let’s replace the word FEAR in this verse to SANCTIFY.

    Now the verse reads, The SANCTIFYING ( making Holy, consecrating) of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.

    Peter in 1 Peter 3:15, “But sanctify (make Holy) the Lord God in your hearts:..”

    God has lost His rightful place on the throne of our hearts. We have allowed the world system to infiltrate our thoughts, emotions, and actions more than God. Think about this, in our hearts we must regard Christ the Lord as holy, to be honored with respect. Proverbs 1:7, says this is the beginning of KNOWLEDGE. Knowledge of what? Knowledge of God and Jesus Christ as emphasized in 2 Peter 1:2,3.

    2 Peter 1:2-3, “Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord, according as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:”

    By allowing God to occupy the throne of our heats, we have grace and peace, along with His divine power. He has given us ALL THINGS that pertain to LIFE and GODLINESS. Wow! What a God we serve. He gives us all these benefits if we just set Him back in His rightful place in our hearts.

    The following scriptures provide more benefits to FEARING the LORD;

    Proverbs 1:7; 3:7; 8:13; 10:27; 14:26-27; 15:33; 19:23; 22:4; 23:27.

    I encourage all to read the above verses and recieve the promises God, through Christ Jesus, has blessed us with.

    Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, in the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13 (ASV).

    Al S.

    BACK