Month: February 2020

GET TOGETHER- What We Mess Up He Can Dress Up

Eph 1:11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, (NKJV)

            While I am not a perfectionist and my wife J.J. will certainly attest to that.  I do like to do things according to the best of my ability. And I hate to make mistakes. Especially when it is something simple. This usually happens when I get in too big of a hurry. 

            Today I was correcting some mistakes that I had made. As I was correcting them, I even made some more.  When I left to go to lunch, I was feeling anxious about putting so much time into something because of some mistakes that I had made.  When I stepped out of my office the Holy Spirit whispered the last part of Ephesians 1: 11.  When I got in my truck the Preacher that was preaching on the radio just so happened to be quoting from this verse in his sermon. 

            So, I began to pray that part of the verse over my mistakes. I then prayed this verse over my mistakes: Ro 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. (NKJV) When I got to the restaurant, I was about to complain to J.J. about what I felt like made me make those mistakes.  The Holy Spirit then spoke to me and said not to complain, but to stand on His word and to trust Him in the matter.  

            I can tell you that God has been so faithful in this matter.  It is so good to be a child of our Heavenly Father who cares about every part of our lives. He cares about the little things. He cares about the big things. We have the witness of the Holy Spirit that confirms that to us. The Apostle Paul wrote about it in Ro 8:16 “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God.” (NKJV) Jesus said it like this in  Mt 6:26 “Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

            Praise God as it says in Ephesians 1: 11 that we have an inheritance. Praise God that as a part of our inheritance that He works all things to the counsel of His will.  The Greek term for counsel is boule,  boo-lay’. That term can mean purpose, or plan.  God can and will use our mistakes to work His Divine purpose and plan in our lives.  So, praise God that as His children He will dress up what we have messed up. 

            Are there parts of your life that you feel like are too messed up that anything could ever come out of it? Have you made some mistakes that you have felt like were unredeemable? I have some good news for you!! For the child of God every promise of God is yes and amen in Christ Jesus! When I think about how God redeems the things that we have messed up in our lives I often think about what God promised Israel in  : Isa 58:12 Those from among you Shall build the old waste places; You shall raise up the foundations of many generations; And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, The Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.(NKJV. As New Covenant children of God we can trust Him to do that in our lives as well. So today don’t buy the lies of the enemy when he comes calling you names, mocking you, and pointing out your mistakes. Give those mistakes to God and let Him work them for His plan and purpose for your life. Get ready to watch Him dress up what you have messed up!

Let us Pray

Lord Jesus we thank You that you are a loving, forgiving making all things new Savior and Lord! Today we give you our mistakes and our weaknesses. We know that You will dress up what we have messed up. We also ask You to forgive us and cleanse us of any and all sin that is in our hearts. We love You and thank you!

In Jesus Name

Amen

Love you all with the love of the Lord!

Your Friend/Kinfolk

Preston

GET TOGETHER- WE NEED EACH OTHER

Jas 5:16 Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

One of the biggest blessings that God has given us is the opportunity to be in relationships with people that we can truly be authentic with. God gave us this opportunity because He knows that all of us may have various weaknesses that we need others to listen to us and to pray for us about. 

I f I had not had people like this in my life ever since the time that I gave my heart to the Lord I don’t believe that I would be sitting here at this computer typing this. One of the biggest mistakes that a Christian can get into is when they develop a mindset that they don’t need anyone else. God designed for us to be a relational people. First, He designed for us to be in relationship with Him. Then He designed it for our benefit to have Christ centered relationships with   others in our lives. 

To be able to confess your faults and your temptations to a fellow brother in Christ for men; and sister in Christ for women is a wonderful thing. When we do this, we are able to pray for each other about these various temptations and weaknesses in our lives.  The enemy will bring temptation our way. Jesus said that the devil came to kill steal and destroy.  He desires to destroy individuals, families, churches, and nations. 

When we have people that we can be authentic with it helps us to be accountable. Also, as James says those prayers that we pray for one another are effective. This prayer not only brings physical healing, but it brings healing to our spirt and our minds. 

As we pray for one another great things begin to take place in our lives for the glory of God.  The Bible is very consistent about this : Pr 27:17 ¶ As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend. Ec 4:9,10 “Two are better than one, Because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, For he has no one to help him up.” (NKJV)

I have heard some people say that I have God and that I don’t need anyone else.  Yes, God can do in our lives what no human being can do. But He calls us to be in relationship and fellowship with others. That is for our benefit. God uses close brothers and sisters for our benefit to help us to continue in our journey in a way that will be successful.  Not only do we need others in our lives, but God desires to use us to hold up the hands of our brothers and sisters in Christ.  A good example is when Israel was battling the Amalekites.  Moses got tired and weary during the battle. But God had two men to help him in Aaron and Hur : Ex 17:12 But Moses’ hands became heavy; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. And Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.

Again, take it from someone who has had those type people around me for thirty years. We need those that we can be very authentic with. We need those that will listen and pray for us. We need those that will hold up our hands when we get weary. 

Let Us Pray

Lord today we pray for all who read this to have Christian’s that he ,or she can be authentic with. We need brothers and sisters that will listen to us and pray for us. Lord for those that already have strengthen our relationships. For those that don’t put them with the ones that You have picked out for these to fellowship with, pray together, and to hold each other accountable.

In Jesus Name

Amen

Love you all!

Your Friend/Kinfolk

Preston

GET TOGETHER-  GO FROM OPPRESSION TO VICTORY

1Sam 17:3 ¶ Then Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying, “If you return to the LORD with all your hearts, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths from among you, and prepare your hearts for the LORD, and serve Him only; and He will deliver you from the hand of the Philistines.”

            Sometimes Israel had a hard time handling success.   They would often be drawn into the worship of the Canaanites god’s and goddess’s . It was appealing to them. These religions often featured temple prostitution and sexual acts that were performed in fertility rites. They were very appealing to the flesh. Jesus had this to say about our flesh. That it  is weak and that we must be strong in the face of temptation in  Mt 26:41 “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”

            But just like how a fisherman uses a shiny bait to get a fish on the hook, into the boat and then into the frying pan. Satan will use lust and other things as bait to get God’s people off the path that God has for us. But praise God that when God’s people repent of our sins and turn to him then He is ready to restore and to grant us victory over our adversary.

            Those same demonic spirits that were operating in Canaan, are operating in our culture today.  They are trying to entice and lure children at an earlier age and to continue to tempt people throughout their adult lives.     Israel had suffered the consequences for her sins. She was ready to repent and to turn back to God. When a person, an institution, or a nation is ready to do that God will forgive and God will restore. 

Israel repented and Revival came. When Israel repented the nation was able to experience the covenantal blessings that God had promised her. 1Sa 7:4 So the children of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtoreths, and served the LORD only.

Israel demonstrated it’s repentance by gathering at Mizpah. The Prophet Samuel prayed for them. They prayed and fasted.  This stirred the enemy up. 1Sa 7:7 ¶ Now when the Philistines heard that the children of Israel had gathered together at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the children of Israel heard of it, they were afraid of the Philistines.” The enemy doesn’t like it when God’s people turn from idols and turn to Him. 

The people got in fear, but rather than returning to the idols that they had previously been worshipping they moved closer to God: v.8 “So the children of Israel said to Samuel, “Do not cease to cry out to the LORD our God for us, that He may save us from the hand of the Philistines.”  Then Samuel offered up a lamb as a sacrifice; 1Sa 7:9 And Samuel took a suckling lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the LORD. Then Samuel cried out to the LORD for Israel, and the LORD answered him. He intercedes on their behalf. 

            Wow! That made me think of another time that a lamb was offered up as a sacrifice.  That Lamb had a name! His name is Jesus! He died on the cross so that men and women can turn from their idols and come into a relationship with the true God. This true God is Holy. He is not like those demonic impostor gods and goddesses that were in Canaan. He is not seeking for people to perform perverted sexual acts to please, or appease Him. He is seeking a people that will turn to Him with our whole hearts. 

God responds to Samuel’s payers and to Israel’s repentance and fasting by bringing forth a big victory: 1Sa 7:10 –12Now as Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to battle against Israel. But the LORD thundered with a loud thunder upon the Philistines that day, and so confused them that they were overcome before Israel. And the men of Israel went out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistines, and drove them back as far as below Beth Car. Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen, and called its name Ebenezer, saying, “Thus far the LORD has helped us.”

            For some of us we may have never turned to Jesus Christ and are still clinging to the empty promises that Satan is selling in our culture today. The Lord wants you to know that if you will turn from that lifestyle of sin that He is ready to forgive you and to give you life eternal and life and life more abundant.

            Some of us may have at one time committed our lives to the Lord, but the journey got discouraging and you returned to a life of the temporary pleasures of sin. For others we may be in a spiritual battle and the enemy is either tempting us to come back to the temporary pleasures of sin, or threatening us in some way.  God is saying draw near to me and I will draw near to you. No matter what is going on we want to be in the will of God and in a Holy Spirit filled Philistine conquering relationship with Jesus Christ.

Let Us Pray

Lord we live in a nation that You have blessed mightily. Forgive us for when our passion has been for other things greater than it has been for You. Forgive us from the idolatry of self. Please turn this nation and all of us from the things that displease You. We know that when are lives line up with the will and desire of God that you will bless us. You will protect us, and You will prosper us.

In Jesus Name

Amen

Love you all! Your Friend/Kinfolk

 

Preston 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

            

 

GET TOGETHER-   EXPECT GOD TO DO SOMETHING

Isa 40:31 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.

 

           We live in a culture that throws a lot of bad news our way. We live in a culture that is often hostile to the Christian worldview and living a Biblical lifestyle. It can really get easy to be so focused on the bad news and some of the ungodliness that we see and hear about in our communities, our nation, and the world that we can get our eyes off of the Lord. As I heard a wise Preacher say not too long ago, we can become wave watchers like Peter was when he took his eyes off of the Lord and began to sink Mt 14:30 But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”.  And yes, I agree at least Peter did get out of the boat. 

             A couple of weeks ago J.J. and I were on I-22 between exits 14 and 16 here in  Hamilton.  We had just finished praying for someone that was very close to us when an eagle flew just to the right of our car.   When this happened, we felt like the Holy Spirit was using the eagle to give us an assurance that God was honoring our prayer and that our sister would be healed. 

            Later on, I also felt like the Holy Spirit was impressing upon us  that God was going to do a great work in the I-22 Corridor. Not just in one congregation, but in many. Not just in one town, but in several. 

            Some of us may be weary from praying for a long time for God to bring Revival and Renewal into our lives and the life of the church. Some of us may be weary from praying for God to bring an awakening to our culture that will as the Scripture says in  Ac 26:18 ‘to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.'(NKJV)

            There is a promise for those that expect that we will mount up with wings like eagles. Are you expecting God to do something? Are you praying for God to move in a powerful way in our culture? If you are then be expecting God to answer those prayers. We will run and not grow weary. We can most assuredly  expect God to answer our prayers. He said in Jer 33:3 ‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.‘ (NKJV) When we call on Him with a pure motive, we can expect God to come through for us and to do great and mighty things. 

            We are hearing so many good reports about what God is doing in congregations in our region, and in this Corridor.  We believe that we have only seen a foretaste. Be expecting!   Jesus gave us these words so that we can expect victory when it may look like we are being defeated Joh 16:33 “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”(NKJV)

            So today as you pray for our churches, our communities, our nation, and for those who oppose the Gospel pray with an expectancy that God is going to come through in a big way. Pray that there will be a mounting up of His people. Pray that there will be a mounting up of those who are dead in trespasses and sin. Expect God to come through! I remember a book that our good friend and dear brother Steve Sampson wrote; “Those Who Don’t Expect Anything Will Never Be Disappointed.”

Expect! Expect, Expect!

Let us Pray

Lord we thank you that signs and wonders follow those who believe in Your Name. Thank You that from time to time that You use things in your creation to remind us of Your faithfulness. We thank You today that You have given us this word in Isaiah to encourage us to keep moving forward and to expect victory. Help us to never doubt, and to expect You to do great and mighty things.

In Jesus Name

AMEN

 

Love you all! May you mount up with wings like eagles and run and not grow weary!

Your Friend/Kinfolk

Preston