Pure Encouragement!

I praise God beyond expression for the authority He has given us over evil! The gates of hell CANNOT prevail against those of us who are children on God! Keep this in mind, brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus!

Psalm 91
1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”
3 For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler
and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his pinions,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness is a shield and buckler.
5 You will not fear the terror of the night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
8 You will only look with your eyes
and see the recompense of the wicked.
9 Because you have made the LORD your dwelling place—
the Most High, who is my refuge—
10 no evil shall be allowed to befall you,
no plague come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways.
12 On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread on the lion and the adder;
the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.
14 “Because he holds fast to me in love, I will deliver him;
I will protect him, because he knows my name.
15 When he calls to me, I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble;
I will rescue him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him
and show him my salvation.”

Romans 6

12 Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, to make you obey its passions.13 Do not present your members to sin as instruments for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life, and your members to God as instruments for righteousness.14 For sin will have no dominion over you, since you are not under law but under grace.

Ephesians 6

12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.

No More Excuses–Go All In

Wow!  What the one true Living God has rocked my life with over the past couple of days!  The words will be difficult to find in order to properly explain it.  To put it simply, our God is FEARFUL!  Over the past few days, I have read Romans 1-8  and some of Hebrews.  We are always talking about how good, patient, and forgiving God is, but Romans 2 shows us the other side.  God IS those things, but He’s also the Judge and wrathful and vengeful.  Romans 2 says that God is good, patient,  and forgiving for the purpose of drawing sinners to repentance.  I feel as if we use God’s goodness entirely too much as a safety net for our sinful desires.  God is, indeed, good and we CAN (gloriously) approach the throne of grace confidently, but Romans is quite clear that the Holy Spirit gives us power to put to death the deeds of our flesh, but I think that we choose to chase our desires instead of grasping the power of the Holy Spirit that God gives us through faith in Christ Jesus.  Since we have been freed from sin through Jesus, we must now CAST it from us; run from it as quickly as possible because it is our death.  We must truly put on the new man!  It’s time to stop messing around and realize that this God we serve is for real–He means business!  We MUST give all we have–there’s no halfway.  God wants ALL of us!!  I’m sick and tired of only giving God half of me!  It breaks my heart when I realize how half-heartedly I seek and serve Him.  I am going attempt to (for real) give everything to God.  This may be a slow process; it may be fast.  I don’t know.  I just pray that God will empower me through the Holy Spirit to give all of me to Him…FOR REAL!…No strings attached…I don’t want me, or my desires anymore.  I also pray that you would join me, my brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus, in giving ALL of you to God and in recognizing ALL of his aspects (goodness, fear, etc.).  This has been changing my life the past few days and I pray it will change  yours too.  The more we know about the God we’re serving, the better we can serve Him!