Devotionals

I have about 180 devotionals I would like to liquidate for $360 (plus any necessary shipping). If you are interested or know someone who is contact me at ecbcfbt@gmail.com Topic is Christian accountability.

Christmas blessings

I have sadly neglected my blog here & I know some of you follow it from time to time so I will try to do better. It would help me if you would sign on as a follower...then I would be more encouraged to continue. I know I have followers as folks tell me they are, but seeing it posted would make me more faithful in posting.

As you feel the celebration of the birth of Christ approaching I pray you will feel the peace that I have felt today as I have reflected on his abundant blessings.

The HOLY LAND - Following....

are several photos from my visit to Jerusalem & Jordan as well as a website update & some thoughts on Spiritual Strength. Enjoy!

Petra, city of the Nabateans at Wadi Musa (Valley of Moses) in Jordan

The spring of Moses (center) seen from Mt. Nebo

Moses' view of promised land from Mt. Nebo-it was green then however.

Jordan River, Israel to right, Jordan to left

Typical desert wilderness, not unlike what Moses & Christ encountered

Dead Sea

Baptismal Site of Jesus

Jerusalem, the wailing wall

Jordan River Valley, looking to Israel

Praetorium (Pilate's HQ)

The Via Dela Rosa...path of Christ to the cross

Jerusalem, The Eastern gate, where Christ may return

Court of the money changers

Mt. of Olives

Golgatha, place of the skull

City of Tiberius. A city on a hill cannot be hid the Bible states.

Hillside of the Gadarene Demoniac

The Damascus Gate, Jerusalem

Hillside of Sermon on the Mount, feeding of 5,000

Jezreel Valley, possible site of Armageddon

Sea of Galilee, overlooking the Golan Hts.

At the Garden Tomb

WEBSITE UPDATE

At this time I have arranged to close my website at the end of the month. The material on it pretty much all still stands however. I am a faith-based counselor and I can be reached at ecbcfbt@gmail.com The Lord is leading me in a little different direction, ministry-wise, but I am still available on a regular basis for counseling & coaching according to Biblical principles. This can be done online, in person, or on the phone.

SPIRITUAL STRENGTH

Our spirit & our strength in Christ is enhanced by the voice we hear, the tears we cry, & the humility we embrace. In the past I have read such encouraging & insightful books as The Power of the Spirit, The Bondage Breaker, A Call to Discernment, Telling the Truth to Troubled People, Scripture Twisting, The Seduction of Christianity, and Radical Christianity. I have come to understand that life is most fruitfully led by understanding how to hear the voice of your Lord, turning your mourning into dancing, & finding the joy in humility. Our spirit is transformed as we live life seeking the face & will of God, trusting him in every circumstance. It is no easy feat to trust God in the difficult times of our lives sometimes, yet who else would we trust? Who else could & should we trust? These books in particular appealed to me because as I matured in Christ I realized some important things-there are many troubled folks out there in the world, Christians in general do not have a clue how to access the power of the Holy Spirit, & a great many people do live in bondages they may not even recognize. In addition, many fall victim to the subtle twisting of scripture that invades our lives on various levels, Christians are very seduced by religion, & discernment is ever more increasingly important in the world we live in. If we are going to be radical about anything, it should be our faith in Jesus Christ as our savior, our pursuit of the Holy Spirit as our counselor, and our reliance on our creator.

Scripture tells us that his sheep hear his voice-if you do not feel you ever hear the voice of God in your spirit, you may need to review your understanding of being a believer or study the topic of hearing the voice of God, starting with scripture itself & what God says about that. If you are frequently falling & failing in things you were very sure you would succeed in it is possible you have fallen into the trap of pride, one of the enemy's favorite weapons to cause folks to trip up in everything from relationships to finances and far more. Remember, it is the meek that will inherit the earth. If you are more overwhelmed by tearful circumstances than you leverage them to grow in Christ, you may be spending too much time focusing on the problem & too little time focusing on the Lord.

We all grow at different rates & in different ways but we can & should all grow according to the word of God-it has been said babies aren't born with instruction manuals, but they are! It is called the Bible & is meant to be the measure we grow by until we go to heaven to live in that mansion God has already prepared for us. The book I am reading now is called Christian Antiquities in Jordan which may seem like a far cry from the others I mentioned, but indeed it is not! I recently had the joy of visiting Jordan & Jerusalem! When you read scripture it seems somewhat removed from your personal experience often, but when you actually stand in places like the Old City of Jerusalem & reflect on the death of Christ with all that surrounded it, it starts to become more real. You may never get there-I didn't think I would. However, you can do the next best thing-you can read books about it & look up so much about it online, complete with photos, that you begin to feel the realities of God in a new way. When you visit such places in Jordan as the baptismal site of Christ & Mt. Nebo where Moses looked across into the promised land you sense the power of God in a new way. I wasn't able to see all of what I would have liked to, but I have spent a lot more time since then researching & studying some of the things I didn't see. You can too. Most of us aren't Biblical scholars in the true sense of the word, but we also should not be just readers of the word, but researchers of the word. This is done not only online and through books but in our daily prayers as we ask the Lord to make his voice clear to us, to develop in us a Godly humility, & to use our circumstances to grow us in our spiritual strength.

Our world is so much more expansive & complicated than it was 2,000 years ago it is even easier to fall victim to the devices of the enemy of God & his people. If spiritual strength was ever important, it is important today. We don't get it by simply going to church, reading the Bible, praying, or even living a moral life including service to God. Many people do all of these things, yet have no spiritual strength whatsoever. Many of them do not even know it, or know that to live victoriously it is needed. We get it by forming & nurturing a personal relationship with God-by being a friend of God-by being a child of God-in realistic terms. That requires that we integrate God into the fabric of our being, that we submit our lives to him as our Lord (meaning he makes the decisions, not us), and that we don't simply give him superficial acknowledgement but that we care what he thinks about our thoughts, words and deeds! When we care about this it shows in our spiritual strength! It is reflected in our humility, our obvious following of the voice of God, & our recovery from life's toughest times a wiser believer.

website..........

you can visit my website at www.divineappointments.vpweb.com if you have never done so.

I am a certified Faith-Based Counselor and certified Biblical Life Coach. If you know anyone in need of help feel free to give them my contact information. I am certified in the God 14 program for addictions & hold a Masters in Christian Counseling. I am available by email & phone for anyone not local.

Divine Supernatural Healing! - TRUE story...

Why does the Lord heal us? I believe it is to bless us...and those we tell. This increases our faith, and makes us aware of the power that is available to us as children of the most high God. It is to show the awesome power he has-Jesus is the same yesterday, today, & tomorrow! It is us, sadly who have changed...but I digress-a young girl, age 7 was suffering from a painful physical problem that her Dr. had never before seen in a child so young. It was correctable only by surgical intervention. Her mother prayed the night before surgery for the Lord to heal her. The next day when the surgeon prepared to operate he could find no sign whatsoever of the girl's severe physical problem. It was gone! He took the young girl & her mom out to lunch, where the young lady asked him where he attended church. He confessed he should, but did not. At this the young girl told him that Jesus died for him, that he might have everlasting life & by the time she had finished explaining the miracle of salvation the Dr. was in tears. He prayed to accept Christ right then & there in the restaurant. Why do you suppose that young girl was afflicted...and...healed...possibly to evidence the power of a holy God, and the love of a forgiving God?

Pentecost Sunday is almost here. As I said, it us that has changed-not God. He sent his Holy Spirit on Pentecost, just as he said he would-to help us. The Holy Spirit is a person-the third person in the Godhead. He lives within each of us who have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord & Savior. Yet, we live as if nothing has really happened short of our getting our pass to get into heaven. The power of God almighty resides within every believer, ready to be accessed & utilized for our help-in healing, in protection, in provision. The Holy Spirit is the "fire in our belly" that moves us to great things in God-IF we respond to him-he is a gentleman & will never force himself upon us. It is our choice to respond to him and accept that powerful help just as it was our choice to accept his offer of salvation. Just as King David told Jonathan's son he had a place at the king's table so do we. That means we may partake of ALL God has for us.

Has God spoken to you? He has...if you think not, you haven't listened! He speaks to each believer & the word says "my sheep know my voice". The Word says "God is no respecter of persons"-he offers all the rights, privileges, and spiritual gifts to every believer.

As you reflect on the miraculous healing of a 7 year old girl who had the wisdom to tell the Dr. about Jesus and as Pentecost approaches - where the world received the part of God that would remain with us after Jesus went to reign at the Father's side - ask the Lord if there is more of him you haven't partaken of & listen for his answer. His word says that the spirit will be poured out upon all flesh & there will be signs & wonders-there will be dreams & visions...and so there are!

Romans 8:14 "For all who are led by the spirit of God are sons of God" If God's Spirit is not leading us each day in our words, thoughts, actions, decisions & behaviors...we are in need of an "adjustment". If we act according to the word of God, following his direction & admonitions, we simply cannot and will not fail.

Bible Challenge: Look up in your concordance Holy Spirit, Spirit of God, & Spirit of the Lord. Reading the entire context of the verses he may show you fresh new things you never saw before-because he loves you & he desires to bless you.

Easter is coming...what did Jesus leave behind?

What is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of Easter? Hopefully, it is that Jesus Christ sacrificially poured out himself for us, that we might live forever if we call upon him as our Lord & Savior! How quickly would we sacrifice ourself in a violent, hateful death for anyone or anything? We balk at treating others as we would wish to be treated, truth be known, as evidenced by our behaviors at times. Yet Jesus Christ, who died for us with such great humility, repeatedly calls upon us over & over again to be as he is! Jesus didn't go through the agony he suffered so we could get our ticket to heaven and then live as the world lives! To know him in a personal relationship as Savior is indeed essential, but how do we personally interact with him? How do we interact with our best friends? We spend time with them! We communicate with them! We have fun with them! How often do we talk to Jesus (not just asking for things)-spend time with him, just listening for his voice & enjoying his presence? How about this-how often do you have fun with Jesus-sing to him, dance for him, shout praises to his name? I don't know about your Bible, but mine says HE IS WORTHY of our praise! Jesus is our very best friend. If we do not know how to interact with him on a deeply personal level he is not our "LORD"-the Lord of our life should rule & reign over our life-that requires divine interaction - not weak prayers or worship, not useless rituals, but rather supernatural interaction- super natural - not common - not natural - that is what our Bible says! He is the same yesterday, today & tomorrow. Father, Son & Holy Spirit are one in the same. I challenge you to read the SUPERNATURAL things he did in the Bible, for he is doing them today, & he will do them forever. A world of believers is suffering from a weak & watered down faith because they have not grasped this fact. There are few miracles because people fail to believe Jesus who the Bible says is always the SAME and they do not appropriate their miracles or use the weapons and tools he left us. The Holy Spirit is all but ignored in many churches today - believers and non believers alike fail to know who he is or what he can do if only we surrender ourselves to him. The Bible says that God uses the foolishness of men to confound the wise. If you think you are wise and are confused about the things you think are done foolishly for Jesus, you may need to seek him on a deeper level. It is my prayer that this Easter many more people not only come to know Jesus as Savior, but make him LORD of their life by allowing his Holy Spirit to operate in fullness rather than be quenched by the opinions and doctrines of mere men! He said that many would come in his name but he would say he never knew them...even those who did things in his name! Knowing Jesus requires, acceptance of him, love of him & others (as he loves them), and also allowing him to be at work in your life ruling and reigning over it. This is a message many who believe they are "saved' have failed to realize! If you are fighting or ignoring what the word says is the work of the Holy Spirit you need to ask if you are truly letting him have reign over your life? Jesus Christ, Savior & Lord, said he left the comforter, the counselor, the Holy Spirit. We learn in the Bible exactly what the Holy Spirit (same as the Father/Jesus) did & still does - as the Bible says the SAME yesterday, today, & forever. Selah! (think upon these things)

Inner attitudes

Scripture points out that anger (as in temper, not righteous anger), pride, jealousy, fear, & conceit are dangerous responses that will destroy. How do we explain to God our actions when we are less than humble, less than gracious, afraid of what people will think if we don't have material things or the very best job, do & say mean little things to hurt others, or are immature about another's blessings. Corinthians tells us these are not the things of a Godly love.
How do we handle what God has given us? Our money, our time, our loved ones, our health, etc.? Do we appreciate them and protect them? Do we reflect Christ? If we allow the enemy to craft our actions we will reap what we sow. Likewise, if we act as Christ, we also reap what we sow. The true follower of Christ reflects Christ in love, grace, humility, kindness, & the power of the Holy Spirit. The fruits of the spirit should be evident in our lives every day. The unrepentant & unregenerate heart is not a reflection of Godliness. We must not lose sight of what being a Christian actually means in everyday life.

It has been said...

The measure of a person is what they do when no one is looking. Sometimes it is also the measure of a person what they do when a certain person is looking! The most important thing we must remember is....Jesus is always looking! Hopefully we are reflecting the image we were made in!

Doing what Jesus would do...not always easy...

...but definitely always in order! We often miss it in the little things. They, many times are the things unrepented of, that grow to the big things. Scripture says "there is a way that seems right to man, but............." Can you complete the verse?

Have you known?

Today as you read this do you know who Jesus is? Of course you do...BUT...do you "know him" as your Lord & Savior? There is a BIG difference! If you have not personally-individually-asked him into your heart as your Savior & Lord of your life (which means He calls the shots, BTW) then you simply know "about" him. It is essential to have a personal relationship with him if you are to live victoriously & inherit the kingdom of heaven. Far too many people have bought the lie that going to church or being raised in a particular denomination has magically made them a Christian! Some believe that they are a Christian because their parents were or because they were baptized as an infant. These things are a deception of Satan to keep a person from exploring the Word of God and discovering the need for personal salvation and relationship with Christ. If you have never accepted Christ as Savior all you have to do is ask him to come and live in you and take over the reins of your life to guide and direct you. Then read his word, pray daily, attend a Bible believing/preaching church and live your life for and with him.

Does God help those who help themselves?

I have never liked this saying, as it implies to me some worldly or fleshly work on our part, or that God needs help...BUT...it came to me today...a new way of seeing it...the Word says that we have armor-that we are in a battle-that we have weapons (and the weapons of our warfare are NOT carnal...worldly, fleshly). We are expected to do more than pray and then sit back & wait...we are expected to engage the enemy! We are expected to lay claim to victories in the name of Jesus! I knew that, but I often fall short when it comes to that engagement. How can we expect God to move on our behalf when we can't get up and move ourselves on our own behalf-spiritually. We have weapons that we are told are mighty to the pulling down of strongholds-we can't sit back and let those strongholds remain if we have the means to move them out of our way. We have the power of the Holy Spirit on our side, but we need to show we mean it when we want to move a mountain. It is our responsibility to know the Word, and more importantly, to USE it!
Today's challenges-what does the Bible say about our weapons? Our enemy? Our armor?
We have real armor and real weapons-and a very real enemy! We need to know what they are all about. How did the disciples wage warfare? How did they pray? How did they live their lives? I believe you will find praise in spite of situations, intense devotion, and the fullness of the Holy Spirit were a huge part of their lives. They didn't just pray "God help me" prayers and go through the motions of being a believer-they engaged the enemy with the tools they were given. We need to be warriors-Christianity requires it! We may have thought it only required obtaining our "heaven ticket" by being born again of the spirit, and though God's love is unconditional...his promises are not...because we have the free will given by a God who loved us that much!

A working knowledge of Christ

We often hear that we must have a "saving" knowledge of Christ, not just head knowledge but heart knowledge. This is absolutely true. But then what? You have accepted Christ as your personal savior and now you have your "ticket" to eternal life. You don't just know about God, you know him. You are now on a personal level with your savior. Amen!

I submit that you now must develop a "working" knowledge of Christ that takes you through life on this planet to a higher, deeper, wider place. Hallelujah! Now you have the privilege of growing in him, from glory to glory. You dig into the word of God and revelations begin to come to you. You start to see how this plan of God works out in your life. Suddenly there is an appreciation for the living, breathing word of God almighty! Now you are not just going through the motions of being a Christian, you have the tools at your disposal to walk with God in a new and exciting way for he is now a personal God to you. You have the power to change things by calling upon your father in heaven to show you favor in an area or to dispense his angels to protect you. The Bible says iron sharpens iron. As you fellowship with other believers you realize you are learning new and wonderful things. Praise God for he is a faithful God.

We often hear about God's love being unconditional and it is. He sacrificed his only son on a cross over 2,000 years ago so you might obtain the right to eternal life. It was essential that you make a conscious decision accepting him for he is a gracious God who forces no one to enter into relationship with him. If you purchase an airplane ticket it is useless until the plane leaves the ground. So is your faith without much redeeming value unless you "take off" with it. Because God loves us without reservation he knows what is best for us and unless we also grasp that concept we flounder around trying to figure him out. However, once we get that part we are on our way to a wonderfully exciting flight. Usually it takes some trial and error on our part as we learn to give things over to him. Actually it is a lifelong process as we move from glory to glory. Make no mistake the love of God is unconditional but the promises of God are definitely conditional on obedience. You see, he knows if we are not in right relationship with him the enemy of our soul (Satan) can paralyze, cripple, or even destroy our spirit man.

He created man for fellowship with him and he provided everything man needs to live a successful life on this earth and then spend eternity with him. Now your idea of a successful life and God's may differ. He has not said there will be no suffering in this lifetime, for we live in a fallen and sinful world. What he has said is he will walk with you day by day, guiding your footsteps. Doctrine is confusing to most people. They may understand the 10 commandments, salvation, and even that hell means eternal separation from God (that indicates an existence void of all love). Then it gets tricky understanding the word of God and even trickier living it out. Once you have put him in charge of your life you must remain yielded to his spirit and will. You must search out the word for meaning and follow the witness in your spirit. It can get complicated, but it doesn't have to. It is very important to remember we are all human, living in a fallen world, and we will not always get it right. Our responsibility is to get it as right as we can and to make course corrections when necessary. As long as we live on this earth we will get new revelations from the word of God. All he requires is that we sincerely try and not give up growing in him.

Those who do not believe will tell you there are many contradictions in the Bible and those who do believe may tell you they see some of it differently than you do. There are no contradictions, but there are differences of opinion. Why do you suppose the Lord didn't make the road map a bit clearer? Why isn't the entire word of God as clear to us as the 10 commandments? When you were a child I bet your parents told you if you looked a word up you would remember it's spelling better than if they just told you how to spell it. Generally this theory proves to be true as we tend to recall things we ourselves did, especially if it was a little challenging. In actuality, the Bible confirms itself repeatedly and works like a finely tuned machine. Our job is to learn to "work" with it-to put effort into our walk with the Lord-to do the very best we can because he so loved us he gave his only son to die for us that we might forever be with him. Had he made the world and the word robotic and given us no choice we would not freely love him, but would rather be puppets instead. He created a perfect world for us but gave us the choice about keeping it that way or not. Man chose to sin and created a need for being saved from his sin if he was to be with God forever. Think of it this way-if you made your child love you would the love be as pure as it is because the child chooses to love you and obey you because they wish to in their own heart?

For the saving knowledge of Christ to work in our lives we must walk and work it out. We must explore the word and apply it to our lives not just everyone else's life around us. We must take the log out of our own eye before we criticize the splinter in another's. We must forgive if we expect to be forgiven. We must not let man made doctrines trump the word of God ever despite the fact that the church at large has come to see it that way in many instances. We must make course corrections along the way. Always we must seek the face of God before the gifts of God and desire to serve him and partner with him rather than go through mindless acts of rituals and behaviors that are not supported in his word. Continually we must treat others as we wish to be treated and reflect daily on the life Christ expects us to live. To be victorious we must have a working knowledge of Christ.

Words as weapons

Even the most well-meaning believers can injure other believers & prospective believers with words much more easily than we might imagine. We all have witnessed this & the result is never good. Although usually we put on a good face for fellow believers the real deal in our heart sometimes slips out of our mouth. We are downright rude, too busy to care, or so puffed up as to think we can say anything & it is just fine because it is us. I have witnessed some remarkable things under church roofs. A large part of the reason for this is failure to think about what we are saying & failure to realize it isn't all about us! Our words, we are told in scripture, can bless or curse. One may not feel like they have "cursed" someone when they have blown them off or spoken sharply, rudely, or unwisely. Think about the last time it happened to you-did it rise up in your mind for awhile making you feel at least uncomfortable or disappointed, if not even angry? We all do well to try our best to speak with the love of Christ to everyone, reflecting Christ in us. Never let your position or your disposition allow you license to say anything you feel like whether or not it is kind, whether or not it is scriptural. Humans can get caught up in "self" & spew out hurtful & ridiculous statements. Never forget that children will learn & exhibit bad behavior as well! CHALLENGE: Look up what the word says about speaking, the tongue, etc. Often when we look up things we think we are well versed in, if we look far enough we will find something we didn't know! Use several translations & Biblical reference books if you have them. May our words be a blessing to the ears that hear them!