All Your Heart?

Are their men and women today who seek the Lord with all their heart? The Word says that Jehoshaphat was a man who sought the Lord with all of his heart. God's Word teaches us the value and importance of keeping your heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of Life.(Proverbs 4:23)

"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" (Jeremiah17:9) EVERYBODY is challenged to keep their heart pure before God. There are many things that test our hearts: jealousy, pride, lust, lying, greed, manipulating people; the list could go on and on. Don't be so high minded that you think you are beyond one of these evils yourself. "He that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall." (1 Corinthians 10:12)

What's the answer for keeping the heart clean and pure?

Cleanse it daily with The Word of God. Have you ever soiled your hand with paint or wood stain? There is a cleanser that will remove the stain. God's Word is the cleanser for our hearts. It's through the washing of the Word that we stay clean. (Ephesians 5:25) Unless you make time for daily bathing in His Word, you will allow evil ‘crud’ to build up in your mind and heart.

Daily ask forgiveness for your sins. Jesus said to pray, "Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors."( Matthew 6:12) Don't allow your blunders to hinder God's future blessings. Satan works overtime to pull you into his undertow of deception. Cry out to God daily for His mercy to release you from your failures. Then accept His forgiveness and grace to get up when you've fallen.

Refuse to get the ‘Big Head’. "Pride goeth before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall." ( Proverbs 16:18) If a man will humble himself daily before God, He will exalt him. In other words God will help you to succeed in your journey and walk with Him.

Take time this day and listen to His still small voice that reminds you, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”. Can the Lord find another one like Jehoshaphat who will seek Him with all his heart? "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' (Matthew 22:37)
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Accepting Relationships?

Ecclesiastes 4: 9, 10 Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up.

If you‘ve lived very long, you’ll realize that some relationships can throw you a curve, a challenge, and even chaos in your life’s journey. But I believe that in spite of the difficulties, there is some good that can come out of accepting relationships that God allows to come into our lives.

 Jesus Himself dealt with some rough and tough individuals. There were those who were critics of His steps. “Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.” (Matthew 11:19) The world that surrounds us has many folks with a beef, a bite and who know how to bellyache.

“Top 5 High Maintenance People”

·           “The Critic”, always complaining; the “needles” in the balloon factory

·           “The Martyr” who always plays the victim

·           “The Pessimist”; when they smell the flowers, they look for the coffin

·           “The Steamroller” is blindly insensitive to others

·           “The Gossip” loves to spread rumors and leak secrets

Choose to look at the bright-side of Relationships in your life. Jesus says, “My prayer is not that You take them out of the world, but that You protect them from the evil one.”  (JOHN 17:15)

God didn’t call us to be hermits but to rather be lights in a dark and desperate world.    Realize Relationships are for:

Encouragement - Are you one who edifies and builds up people?

Evangelism - Jesus sought those like Zacchaeus,“Today I must abide in your house.”

Education - Learn to grow in character as a result of those God brings in your life.

Enrichment - Is someone a better person today because of your friendship?

Equipping - “So Christ Himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, ¹² to equip His people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.” (Ephesians 4:11, 12)

Learn to care for relationships like your spouse, kids, friends, neighbors and co-workers that God has entrusted to you. If you choose to ignore a leaky roof, you’ll soon deal with a rotted roof, floor and then termites, Work on your challenges with Gods’ grace and see how He continues to grow and develop your life. God will also use you to Better someone else along the way.                                        

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"Accepting Relationships?" - video message

Shipwrecked?

Acts 27:20 When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved.

Have you been in some rocky weather lately?  Paul was in the will of God in one of the worst storms of his life.  He had warned the captain not to leave the shoreline for danger was ahead.  It was days later that the entire captain and crew found out that Paul was right on target with his words.

The storm got so bad that everybody knew their life was hanging by a thread.  Just when you think it can’t get any worse, it usually does.  Things got so bad, fear was gripping the heart of every prisoner and the crew on board.  Fourteen days later when the ship was at a breaking point, an angel of the Lord appeared to Paul and said, “Paul, you must stand before Caesar, and God has granted safety to those with you.”

Just when it looks as if there is no hope in sight in your darkest hour.  God appears out of nowhere.  One word from heaven can change everything in your future.  The winds and waves may be great, but God is greater than any storm that shows up in your life.

Have you lost your marriage, job, or a relationship with your son or daughter?  Have you tossed and turned in the night, wrestling with thoughts of hopelessness?  Has the enemy told you, “You’re finished?”  Regardless of the force of winds in your darkest hour, God hasn’t forgotten where you are.

He knows the number of hairs in your head and the number of days He has planned for your life.  Tell the devil to take a hike and trust in God’s plan and purpose for your life.  The ship did come apart but God proved Himself to Paul and safely recused each of them.  Not one life was lost because God had a plan in spite of the ship’s rocky venture in a storm.

Never lose HOPE in your darkest hour.  “I know the thoughts that I think toward you saith the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil to give you an expected end.” (Jeremiah 29:11)   

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