Isa 43:1 -3 But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you. For I am the LORD your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I gave Egypt for your ransom, Ethiopia and Seba in your place.

 

            I can remember when this passage first became alive to me.  I had just surrendered to the call to preach.  I can’t tell you how many times that the Holy Spirit has brought this passage back to me during a time of challenge, or during some spiritual battle. 

            This past Friday we were in Springfield, Missouri helping our son and daughter in law move into a new house.  I had to haul a baby crib from one side of town to a suburb about fifteen minutes away.   I didn’t have any straps with me to put around the baby crib. The crib was heavy enough that I didn’t think that it would either blow out or fall out.  None the less I knew that I would have to drive carefully in the Springfield traffic. I knew that I didn’t need to make any sharp, or unexpected quick turns with the steering wheel. 

             I had my radio set to a Christian station out there that is called The Oasis. When I turned the radio on there was a song being played with the words from Isaiah 43:1-3. Then following that they played the instrumental version of “Sing Alleluia to The Lord.  I have sung that song with so many special people on so many special occasions that I can’t name them all.  I felt like that was the Holy Spirit assuring me that the Lord had me surrounded with  His angels and that He would help me to make the delivery without any problem. 

Isn’t it great the assurance that we have from the Lord that He cares about everything in our lives?  Because the Lord is with us, we don’t have to fear when we go through challenging times, or when we are in unfamiliar places.  Jesus said in Mt 10:30-31 “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. “Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” He has promised us that He will never leave us:  For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”(NKJV) 

 Sometimes we may be in situations or circumstances that it feels like we are in the midst of the sea, and the waters are about to overcome us.  He reminded Israel of when He parted the waters for them. It is a reminder to us that He will part waters for us when we are in some overwhelming situations.  Sometimes we go through situations and circumstances where the fires of life really heat up. We may feel like we are about to be consumed by the fires of life. But He has promised us that we will not be burned, or scorched by them. 

Today no matter whether you are experiencing some tough trial, or whether it may be something that others would regard as a small challenge know that God is with you. He wants to be with us in every part of our lives. So today put your name in this passage where it says Israel. Take joy that at the cross Jesus has redeemed us as people of the promise. The Apostle Paul said it like this: 2Co 1:20 For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us. (NKJV)

 

Let Us Pray

Lord Jesus we thank You that through the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit that You are always with us. Thank You that in big things that You are with us. Thank You that in the small things that You are with us. Thank You that we do not have to fear the evil one. Thank You that You will be with us in every situation and circumstance working for our good and for Your glory.

In Jesus Name

Amen

 

Love you all very much. We all go through different seasons in our lives. I pray for all of us that we all  be seasoned as salt in whatever season that God has us in.

Your Friend/Kinfolk

Preston 

 

Matthew 5:43-48 New King James Version (NKJV)

Love Your Enemies

⁴³ “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ ^44 [a]But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, ⁴⁵ that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. ⁴⁶ For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? ⁴⁷ And if you greet your ^[b]brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the ^[c]tax collectors do so? ⁴⁸ Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

This past Sunday morning I preached on being a disciplined soldier in the Army of the Lord.  The Lord had me to share several characteristics of a disciplined soldier.   Shortly before church Sunday morning the Holy Spirit gave me one more that I did not have in the message that the Lord had given me earlier in the week. That one was that where the Army of the Lord is different from every other Army that has ever existed is that we are to love our enemies. Well that probably got about as many Amens as Jesus probably did when He preached the Sermon On The Mount.  I told the congregation that it was easier for me to preach it than to do it. 

            Can you imagine what it would have been like that day when He preached it. Romans soldiers all around. Roman soldiers that were known for their cruelty and mistreatment of the people that they conquered. Roman soldiers that had publicly crucified many of their fellow Jews. And here this man that would refer to Himself as the Messiah was telling them to love their enemies. 

            Jesus came to a culture that was in turmoil. We currently live in a culture that is in turmoil. As a person that is Pro-Life  and believes that God created human beings  male and female for each other I often find myself in opposition to what is being  pushed down our throats in the culture today.   And yet without compromising what I believe I am called by the Lord to love my enemy. 

I believe that it is a major scheme of the devil to get Christians to respond in a hateful manner when people say hateful things about us.  When we bless our enemies, we are responding as the Lord Jesus responded. And by the way He did this while preaching and teaching repentance from sin.  When we do good to our enemy it is totally different than the way that the world treats its enemies. 

Then Jesus said that we are to pray for our enemies.  Do you pray for political leaders that you don’t agree with? Do you pray for the actors, actresses, and late-night TV shows that often mock Christians? 

When Jesus was hanging on the cross, He was praying for those who hated Him. He prayed for those that were mocking Him. He prayed for those that were driving the nails into His hands and into His feet.  His praying paid off a whole lot more than if He had been saying one of these days I will get you guys. : So when the centurion, who stood opposite Him, saw that ^[a]He cried out like this and breathed His last, he said, “Truly this Man was the Son of God!” Mark 15:39 New King James Version (NKJV)

We are told that we are to be perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect. That word perfect in the Greek is telios. It can mean going through the process to complete a goal. It also means maturity. It takes a mature Christian to pray for our enemies.  Remember this God loves to turn His enemies into friends. Look at Saul of Tarsus a persecutor of the church who would become the Apostle Paul.   When I go to Guatemala there is a very dedicated Pastor that God is using to do great and mighty things. At one time he worked for the drug lords.  I wonder how many people chose to pray for him and to love him when he was in his lost estate.  I am sure that many loved and prayed for us when we were lost and living in lifestyles of sin. 

 So, for all of us let’s do what Jesus said to do. Let’s love and pray for those who hate us. I know I have heard people say before that it is hard. Well Jesus can identify with us and help us. Remember what the Apostle Paul said in writing to the church at Philippi.  Phi 2:5-8 “ Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, did not consider it ^[b]robbery to be equal with God,  but ^[c]made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. ⁸And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

 

Let Us Pray

Lord Jesus we confess before You that it is not often that we pray for our enemies. It is hard to love our enemies. Lord we ask you to help us to see them as you see them. Help us to believe that as You rescued us from the Kingdom of darkness that You can do the same for them.

In Jesus Name

Amen

 

If you don’t want to receive these emails you will not offend me. Let me know and I won’t send you one. We love you all.

Your Friend/Kinfolk

Preston

GET TOGETHER – HE IS STILL SPEAKING TODAY

 

Isaiah 30:21 “Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying this is the way, walk in it,” Whenever you turn to the right hand ,or whenever you turn to the left”  John 10:27 “ My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. (NKJV) 

 

            A few weeks ago, I was trying to make a hard decision.  I was trying to decide which coat to wear. The Lord has blessed me with several coats. Some are very special to me. Our son has given me some gear from places where he has formerly coached. I have a couple of coats that were my brothers before he passed away.    Also I also a couple of suits and a couple of sports coats. With my calling in the Kingdom, I have to dress sometimes in different ways on different occasions. Sometimes I minister in places where the dress is casual, sometimes casual business, and at other times business. 

            On this particular morning I felt like I was hearing the Holy Spirit bring a passage to me  where John the Baptist was preaching in Luke 3:11” he answered and said to them, “He who has two tunics, let him give to him who has none: and he who has food let him do likewise.”  I begin to think that perhaps the Holy Spirit was prompting me to donate some of my coats to a ministry that gives away coats.  

 However, to be honest I did not really get a strong impression that I was to do that on that particular day.  Therefore, what I did do was I put on a blue Under Armour light coat that I had gotten from somewhere    That day when I got to the Recovery Ministry that I was ministering at when I walked in one of the residents said   jokingly  “hey man  give me that coat.” He had on an Under-Armour toboggan.  I immediately took the coat off and tossed it to him. There was no doubt that the Holy Spirit was speaking to me that morning about giving that coat to someone. 

Now the story does not end there.  At the end of the teaching session, I prayed for and ministered to the young man that had asked me for my coat.  After I had finished ministering to him, he mentioned that there was a resident that was in bed, not feeling well and had not been able to come to the teaching session. He asked me if I would go back and pray for this young man. 

We went back there and we prayed for the young man as we were praying the resident felt prompted to ask the other young man about his relationship with the Lord. We then prayed and the young man prayed a prayer of repentance and surrender to Jesus Christ.  

I am thankful as  God spoke to Elijah in a small still voice that He still speaks to His people today in a still small voice. 1 Kings 19:12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.” ¹³ So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

¹⁴ And he said, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God of hosts; because the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life.”

¹⁵ Then the Lord said to him: “Go, return on your way to the Wilderness of Damascus; and when you arrive, anoint Hazael as king over Syria. ¹⁶ Also you shall anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi as king over Israel. And Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place. ¹⁷ It shall be that whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, Jehu will kill; and whoever escapes the sword of Jehu, Elisha will kill. ¹⁸ Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed hi

 

  I am glad that just as Isaiah wrote that we can hear His voice giving us direction. We can hear His voice giving us comfort and assurance. That is why we want to spend time in His Word. Because His still small voice will always line up with the Word of God. That is why Jesus said my sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me.  Today listen to the Shepherd. He knows you. He has great and mighty things in store for you in His Kingdom. Listen to His voice. Follow Him and do what He is saying for you to do and you will bear much fruit. 

Let Us Pray

 

Lord today we pray that You will help us to spend time in your Word and in prayer in order to hear Your voice with the clarity that we need to hear it with.  Lord help us to respond in the way that You desire us to respond when we hear Your voice speaking to us through the Holy Spirit.  Thank You that You do speak to us and that You know us personally and care about us. We love You Jesus!

In Jesus Name

Amen 

Thanks for all of your prayers! We love you all!

Your Friend/Kinfolk

Preston 

 

            I will be using a new email address soon. If you want to keep receiving this devotional, please let me know at  prestonheadrick13@gmail.com

 

 

 Ps 34:7The ^[a]angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him, And delivers them.

I am so thankful for this passage. I am most of all thankful for the Blood of Jesus Christ that positions those who have repented of their sin and put their faith in him as His children.

        As His children we have many benefits. The greatest benefit being eternal life. But there are other benefits that we have as His children working out our salvation with fear and trembling. As His servants being used here on earth to advance His kingdom.

        One that I want to just briefly mention here is the protection that God has provided us through His angels. The Bible tells us that they assist us in Kingdom work. Heb 1: ¹⁴ Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?

        Today I had a situation while I was driving that I know that it was god’s protection using his angels to prevent something harmful from happening to me and/or another driver. There are too many times to list here that I know that the Lord has used His angels to protect me, or others that were either with me, or near me.

        In the verse at the top it says that the angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him and delivers them. In this case a fear of the Lord is an awe of the Lord and a reverence of the Lord.

        I also believe that the amount of angelic activity going on around us is connected to a life of prayer. It also I believe is connected to praying the word of God and believing it. In Psalm 103:20 we see how scripture points this out. “Bless the Lord, you His angels, Who excel in strength, who do His word, Heeding the voice of His word.” When we praise Him we are not manipulating God, but action is taking place in the spirit realm. When we pray the word and declare the word from a heart in tune to the Holy Spirit angelic activity is taking place.

        Everyday as a part of my spiritual discipline I pray and declare Psalm 91 over me, my family, and others that the Holy Spirit brings by me. These three verses pertain to the angelic help that God disperses on our behalf: Psalm 91:11-13 For He shall give His angels charge over you, To keep you in all your ways.¹ In their hands they shall ^[c]bear you up,  Lest you ^[d]dash your foot against a stone.
You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra ,The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot. I encourage you to make praying and declaring Psalm 91 as a vital part of your journey with the Lord Jesus Christ. When we do, we have protection against the demonic assignments that will try to harm us physically, emotionally, and spiritually. These demonic assignments are meant to hinder us from advancing the Kingdom of God as well as experiencing life and life more abundantly.

        So today be sure that you are worshipping the Lord Jesus Christ. Believe and stand on His word. Have a consistent prayer life and trust that God has His angels encamped around you.

Let Us Pray

Lord Jesus we worship you. We thank You for the gift of eternal life. We also give you praise that You are protecting us. We thank You for every benefit that You have bestowed on Your children. We give You all the praise, and honor and glory that is due Your Holy Name

In Jesus Name

Amen

Thanks for all of the encouragement that you have sent to us during this period of transition. Please feel free to visit our new website for Real Party Ministry at realpartyministry.com  

Your Friend/Kinfolk

Preston

Isa 40:28-31 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, And to those who have no might He increases strength  Even the youths shall faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall, 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. (NKJV)

            I  have had the opportunity recently to pray for several people that the Lord has given talents and gifts to serve Him in the workplace. One was a person that was a plumber. The other was a person that had been in sales. Both were quite good at  what they did. However, the enemy had used substance abuse to steal from them what God had given them to serve Him with.  It was a great blessing and an honor to get to pray for both individuals and to assure them that God can restore and use their gifts to serve Him.

            We all have been given something that we can serve God with. We all have had dreams about what we would do with those gifts and talents. Before we came to Christ those dreams would have been most likely for selfish purposes. But once we come to Christ, He begins to give us His dreams. He then wants to redeem those talents that He has given us to serve Him in His Kingdom.

             If you feel like that you have blown it and that you could never have your talents used to glorify God and to serve Him in His Kingdom there is good news for you  in this passage.  In this passage there is a promise for people that are going to be taken into captivity. There  are several  promises here  that after repentance restoration can take place.

            Let’s look at them. First of all, our God never gets tired He is  eternally omnipotent. He has unlimited knowledge. He is omniscient. 

            He gives power to the weak.  Is there an area of your life that the enemy tries to tempt you with? He will give you the power to resist. Are there circumstances in your life that have practically sucked the life out of you? He will give you strength.

            Do you sometimes feel like that you are down for the count? Have you been beaten down by life and word curses that people have spoken over you? Has your dream looked like it has gone out the window?  Then mount up! Mount up with Jesus ! Mount up by standing on His  Word! Mount up by praising Him! Mount Up  by having other Christians that you can pray with and be authentic with!

            When we do this, we will soar! We will be able to see things from God’s perspective rather than listening to the lies of the devil! You know what they sound like. You really haven’t been forgiven. You did this twenty years ago. You aren’t sincere when you pray. You will never be nothing. I could go on and on. Stand on the word! Mount up! Mount Up! Run with your dream! Run with your vision! Run with Godly people ! Run in front of the ungodly in such a way that they want to know what makes you run like that!

Let us Pray

Lord Jesus we give You praise that You give strength to the weak. You make us to mount up  on eagles’ wings. May all that read this today mount up and fulfill their destiny in a great and powerful way.

In Jesus Name

Amen

Thanks to all of you who pray for us. Jessye and I had a powerful night at Restoration Ranch last night.

Your Friend/kinfolk

Preston

Pr 4:14,15 Do not enter the path of the wicked, And do not walk in the way of evil.

Avoid it, do not travel on it; Turn away from it and pass on.

This past weekend as I was returning from Springfield, Missouri with our daughter Jessye and two of her children. I was trying to point out some key places to Jessye on the way back. There was one place where the highway splits in two different directions. I knew which direction to go in because one of the directions was South. The other direction was East. For some reason I got distracted and took the wrong highway. It didn’t take me but a few seconds to realize that we were on the wrong highway. We quickly turned around and got on the right highway that would take us home.

Sometimes in life we can get on the wrong road and be headed in the wrong direction. Sometimes it may happen because we get our eyes off Jesus and become distracted by other things. The writer in the Book of Hebrews tells us how to avoid that: “Heb 12:2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.(NKJV) We need to keep our eyes on Jesus and we will not get distracted and go down the wrong path.

Sometimes we may go down a wrong path because we have gotten the wrong directions. There are people that will try to convince us that there can be many different paths to God. This is called universalism. There may be others that will try to convince us that we as Christians are on the wrong path and that the god that they serve is the true god.

But as we keep our eyes on Jesus and are reminded of what He has said in His word He will help us to know that He is the only way for us to get to our eternal home. Joh 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Joh 11:25,26 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. “And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

I mentioned that we had to turn around to get back on the right path. You may be reading this today and you feel like that path that you are on is headed to nowhere. It is time to turn around. It is time to get off the wrong road and get on the right one.

Maybe you are doing some things that are harmful to you and others on that road. Not only do we need to turn around and get off the wrong road. But when we get on the right road, we will need to change the way that we do things. This is called repentance. You see I could have turned around and gotten on the other road, but if I had been passing people on curves and had been driving with my eyes closed, we wouldn’t have made it home.

We had a great ride home and then after eight and one half hours we got home. God desires for us to have a great ride here on this earth. Jesus said it like this Joh 10:10 “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” Today if you are on the right road keep your eyes on Jesus and enjoy the journey. If you have taken a wrong turn no matter how far down that road that you have gone it is not to late to turn around and head for the home that Jesus has prepared for you. Joh 14:1 -3 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.” In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.” And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.

Let Us Pray

Lord today we thank You that You are the only true path home. Thanks for getting those of us who were on the wrong path off it and putting us on the right path. Lord we pray for those that may be on the wrong path today that just as You intervened in our lives that You would do so in theirs.

In Jesus Name

Amen

Keep us in prayer as we transition in our lives. You guys are in our prayers as well.

Your Friend/Kinfolk

Preston

GET TOGETHER-  Turning Our Anger Into Intercession.

Mt 5:43 -48″You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'”But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, “that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. “For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? “And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

(NKJV)

            Last night as I was watching the news there was a political leader that I have a very different worldview from saying something.  As he was saying it anger rose up in me. This morning the Holy Spirit brought this person before me. I began to pray for this person. I began to say Lord I know that this person is made in Your Image. Lord I know that You died on the cross to save this person from their sins and from spending eternity in Hell.   I am asking You to save their soul. Lord I am asking You to fill them with your Holy Spirit.

           It is not easy sometimes when people call us names just because we believe something that is just so Biblically and naturally basic as marriage being between a man and a woman.  It is not easy when people label you as a hater because you believe that life begins at conception.  And yet we are told by our Lord Jesus that we are to love and to pray for our enemies.  It is not easy to pray for leaders of other nations who would love to destroy us. But we are commanded to do that.

             The Lord loves turning His enemies into friends.  Look at what happened to Saul of Tarsus. He had been putting Christians to death and the Lord appears to Him on the road to Damascus and he goes from being an enemy of the Lord Jesus Christ to a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ.  Look at what happened to me! Look at what happened to you if you have been saved

            Certainty  as Christians we are to hate sin. Not only are we to love people, but we are to abhor evil.  The Apostle Paul  writing in Ro 12:9” Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.” The Greek term for abhor is  apostugeo,  ap-os-toog-eh’-o. It means  to hate,   to have a strong dislike for someone or something, implying repulsion and desire for avoidance – ‘to hate, to despise.  So, it is Biblical to say to love the sinner and to hate the sin.  Jesus commands us to love those who persecute us. So, there is no one on earth that I have the right to hate.

 Love the sinner enough to pray for them that they would begin to hate the sin and to turn from it. Pray also for ourselves that we would never hate the sinner, but that we would never  accept the sin no matter how much the culture may persecute us or mock us.   We are told in Eph 4:26 “Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath.” Don’t let your anger at the sin consume you to a place where you grow bitter.

            Today as I was watching the Passion of Christ  with  some students here are some things that stood out to me. Jesus was praying for His persecutors and tormentors while He was nailed to the cross and was being scorned, ridiculed and mocked.  If He could do that Him being the sinless Son of God. How much more can we  in our everyday lives pray for those who oppose us and the  message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  We need to remember  that our battle is not with people.  This is who our battle is with : Eph 6:12 “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” A wise preacher once said it like this, “don’t try to beat those who are not saved but try to win them.”  This  is not compromising. We are to speak the truth. But we are to speak the truth in love. Some of us may lean and like the truth part more. Others may like the love part more, but it is both.

             So today I believe what the Holy Spirit is saying to us is to turn your anger into intercession.   I am angry about the demonic attack on marriage between a man and a woman. I am angry about the killing of the unborn. I am  concerned if I am living out what Jesus said to do in Matthew 25 and 28. I am concerned for the future of our children and grandchildren should the Lord not return first.  May we let our concern and our anger be turned into intercession. If we do, I believe that many souls will be spared from an eternity in Hell. I believe that His Kingdom will be advanced upon the face of the earth.

Let Us Pray

Lord we know that you got angry. Your motivation for anger was that Your House had been turned from a house of prayer into a house of thieves. I pray for us that our anger will not manifest in any unholy way. I pray that our anger will be turned into intercession and that Your Kingdom will be advanced upon the earth. 

In Jesus Name

Amen

Had our first meeting with our board of directors for Real Party Ministry today.  We Hope to have more information about Real Party in the coming days. Please pray for this ministry.

Your friend/Kinfolk

Preston