Many people like to read because not only is it educational but it is also a form of relaxation.  Just as the body needs exercise to stay in shape, reading exercises the mind which benefits the human body in many ways.  No matter what your field of interest, there are a variety of choices of books to read relative to science, history, biographies, fictional or non-fictional, but there is one book that few people actually make a point to read and that is the Bible.

The Christian religion is based on the Bible and is the infallible word of God.  Society has many different opinions about the authenticity of the authorship of the Bible but to the Believer it is the inspired word of God.  The Bible was given to us to to teach us the ways of God; to inform, correct and give us hope.  More importantly, the Word of God sets man free – free from sin and free from being controlled by the enemy of our soul Satan.  If you want to live a life that is pleasing to God, you must know what the Bible says and be obedient to His Word.

Many people have at least one Bible in their home, yet fail to read it consistently, but that is not God’s will.  God want us to be equipped to handle the storms that come into our lives so He has given us example after example of what to do and what not to do in His Word. The Christian is to be forever changing becoming more Christ-like in his walk with the Lord and the only way to be successful in that area is to know what the Bible will have you to do in your life, marriage, and your relationships.

Purpose in your heart that beginning today, you are going to read at least a verse every day and I promise you that the more you do this, the more you will want to do it.  You will find that you are moving closer to God because you will get to know Him on a personal level and you will discover the love God has for you.  Think of the Bible as God’s love letter to you.  Hide His word in your heart and watch how your life will change for the better and this will bring glory and honor to God in a profound way.

Baptism is the public demonstration of a sinner’s act of repentance and declaration that he/she has accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.  After being submerged in water, a person is signifying that they are emerging as a new creation and that they no longer will be controlled by their sinful nature but has now embraced justification that is available to them.  Water baptism identifies a person as a child of God and is just the beginning of a life where old things have passed away and everything has become new.

There is another gift available to everyone who belongs to the body of Christ, but unfortunately not everyone has taken advantage of.  This gift is the baptism of the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit was called the comforter by Jesus who told His disciples that it would come after His ascension and it did.  The Holy Spirit is the source of power that makes one different than anyone else. It is super-natural and it strengthens our relationship with God; guides, teaches and counsels believers and is accompanied by the gift of tongues.  This is God’s gift and will for every person.  In order for God’s will to be done on earth, believers must allow the Holy Spirit to manifest Himself so that the world will see that God is alive and miracles are ever present in our world today.

In our human nature we are limited but what sets a believer apart from the rest is the ability to hear the voice of God and carry out His commandments.  Whether healing is needed in the body, marriages, families or finances, nothing is impossible because God’s power cannot and will not fail.  The Holy Spirit is a promise from God for us and all future generations to those who believe.  Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit and that is why God wants believers to walk in the spirit and to honor Him in everything we do and everywhere we go.

If you have a relationship with Jesus Christ and are not yet walking in the Spirit of God, ask Him and He will not withhold what He has already promised.  Salvation is the only requirement and you will be empowered to live your new life at its fullness which will bring glory and honor to your heavenly Father.

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!

We all have had the experience of having someone make a promise to us that they failed to follow through on.  Not only is this hurtful to the one who lived with expectation, but it also speaks to the character and integrity of  the one who made the promise.

People are known not only by their deeds but with their words.  Your words reveal who you are and the failure to keep a promise reveals the nature of your heart.  A heart that  doesn’t care about the affects of devastating another person is found only in a selfish individual.  This type of person fails to realize that they are building a reputation where their integrity will always be questionable.

Our heavenly Father is a promise keeper and has from the beginning of time kept every promise that He has ever made.  His word is true because He is faithful and the Bible is a testament to how He has always followed through on every promise He made.  Sometimes we are called on to wait for the fulfillment of a promise.  Abraham had to wait 25 years for the son that God promised him but in the fullness of time Isaac was born.

If you are waiting on God to fulfill a promise that He has made to you, keep believing for it will surely come.  Unlike man, God cannot lie.  He will do whatsoever He says, and you can be fully persuaded that in due time you will receive everything God has promised you.  Don’t let circumstances cause you to lose hope.  God created this universe by His words and there is nothing impossible for Him.  Keep the faith and guard your heart and mind and let God take control and you will inherit the desires of your heart just as so many others have.

As you know any house that is built to last must be able to withstand pressures – pressures from the weather and anything else that could cause its ruin.  The foundation has to be solid; it has to be secure and once it has settled and become solidified, the rest of the house can be built on top of it.  The same is true with our walk with the Lord.  The foundation must start with the act of repentance.  All of us have sinned and need to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as our one and only Savior because He is the only one who can save us and make forgiveness and reconciliation possible.  Once we acknowledge our need for Jesus, we must purpose in our hearts to turn away from the life we use to live where we selfishly did whatever we wanted to do, and begin to live a life that honors God and gives Him first place in our life.

The second brick that must be used in the foundation of building a Christ centered life is faith.  Faith is being assured of something you can’t see but you firmly believe that it will come to pass.  The Bible tells us that without faith we will not be able to please God.  Faith is so important because you will need it for the rest of your life.  You must believe that God is.  You must believe that His Word is true because when the wind blows against your house, you will be able to withstand the force of any storm.  In this life you will have to go through test after test and if your foundation is not built on faith, you will succumb and lose the battle.  Your faith will enable you to persevere and hold you steady when all else is crumbling around you.

Build your house upon the rocks of repentance and faith and one day you will hear “well done thy good and faithful servant.”

Brokenness is a tool that God uses to put us in a position to make us realize that we can do nothing without Him.  The state of brokenness forces us to surrender to God everything that we thought we had total control of.  Everyone will go through painful experiences in their life.  The Bible tells us that in this life we would have trouble, but some of us will be put in a position where we are stripped of everything most of all our jealousy and our pride, and realize that somewhere, somehow we got all mixed up and confused about what is important in life.  We will feel lost and alone and finally do the one thing that will get God’s attention.  We will cry out to our heavenly Father because only He can take our mess and turn it all around for our good.

Humility is the key that unlocks the prison of despair and places us in a position to be healed.  Although brokenness has a purpose, God does not want us to remain there.  Satan’s goal is to steal, kill and destroy but the answer to getting back what Satan has stolen from us is found in our relationship with Jesus Christ.  Once we let go and let God we acquire the wisdom we need to push forward and get the victory.  Being broken is so valuable and if you were to ask any Believer who is successful today, they all have a story of brokenness behind them, and without going through everything they had to go through, they would not have reached their pennicle of success they enjoy today.

You are the sum total of the good and the bad experiences of your life.  Your heart must be strong enough to allow the broken pieces to co-exist with the wonderful memories you hold dear.  Do not get stuck on the past because there are some things that need to be left behind, but the lessons learned through brokenness are to be used to help you avoid making the same mistakes you did in the past.  God also wants you to pass on to others your wisdom so that they will be warned of the consequences of certain actions and attitudes not becoming a child of God.

Keep your eyes upon Jesus and don’t get angry at the trials and tribulations that come your way.  God is faithful and He has a plan for you but the only way out is to go through brokenness.  You will come out a much better person that will be fit for the master’s use.  God is the potter and you are the clay.  He alone knows how long you must stay in the fire to be refined so that you come out as pure gold.

Everyone wants one thing in life and that is to be happy.  Happiness cannot be bought; it is not found in material things nor can it be found in another person.  It’s possible to have weath yet elude happiness.  It’s also possible to lack wealth yet be extremely happy.  Why?  The source of happiness is having a personal, intmate relationship with God, and if you have found this treasure, you will know that it doesn’t matter what  emotional, marital, financial or physical state you are in, happiness is always there.  Many people make the mistake of looking for happiness in all the wrong places but eventually discover that it is not found in a person, place or thing because all of those things are temporal and are constantly changing.  God has promised to never leave nor forsake those who do have a relationship with Him and He will never change – never!

Following are some practical things you can do if you have already established the foundation of knowing Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior.  Put them into practice and you will have the secret that many people have not yet discovered.

1) Live life one day at  time

2) Count your blessings and not your problems

3) Be a giver and not a taker

4) Be anxious for nothing

5) Learn to laugh and learn to cry

God wants His children, who are called by His name, to seek Him and His kingdom first and then He has promised to add everything that we need to our lives.  Being anxious will do you more harm than good – both emotionally and physically.  Tomorrow is not promised to anyone and worrying will not change your situation.  Either you trust God or you don’t; so worry or trust – don’t do both.

Happiness is putting a smile on someone else’s face.  If we are focused on ourselves, we will never experience the joy of making another person happy.  The Bible tells us that it is better to give than to receive.  You will never be able to out give God, so when you give, He will give it back to you in a larger measure than you used.  Givers are under an open Heaven and not only will the receiver be blessed but the giver will cause God to notice them and reward them because giving is part of God’s heart.  He loved mankind so much that He gave His only begotten Son so that we might have eternal life.  There is no greater display of love than that.

Happiness is not found under a mask.  Many people put on their daily masks and try to make others think that they are happy.  Do not be afraid to reach other to your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ if you need help and allow them to help you.  God has put people in our lives that we can trust and depend on.  They will cry with us, pray with us and rejoice with us.  Those kinds of relationships are most dear and if you do not have such friends, ask your heavenly Father to bring them into your life and you will see what a difference it makes when two walk together as one.

Are you happy?  If your answer is no, begin with reaching out to God and let him come into your heart and heal you and then He will bless you with His joy, His peace and His happiness.

Thank you God for today.

This is the beginning of a new day.  I can waste it or use it for good.

What I do today is important because I am exchanging a day of my life for it.

When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever – leaving in its place something I traded in its place for it.

I want it to be gain – not loss; good not evil; success not failure so that I do not regret the price I paid for it.

Life doesn’t have a remote control.  If you want something to change in your life, you must do it.  Don’t settle; don’t compromise; don’t let life pass you by while you sit on the sidelines watching others passionately engaged in what brings them joy.  Tomorrow is not promised to any one.  Make the best of today.  Offer no excuses – just make up your mind to do that one thing you have been thinking about for so long but have yet to act upon it.  The Bible tells us to acknowledge Him in all our ways and He will direct our paths. (Proverbs 3:6).  This is a day that the Lord has made, make it count!

I can say with confidence that the Lord is on your side!  God’s Word repeatedly tells us ‘to fear not.’  It doesn’t matter what the nature of the battle you are fighting, you are not fighting alone because God has promised to never leave nor forsake you.  Your battles are His battles and if He is with you, you will always win for if God be with you, who can be against you? If you are living life depending on your own strength, chances are you will have a limited amount of success.  Your education, personality and talents might serve you well in some things and only with some people.  But Believers have an weapon that few are taking advantage of.  God’s arm is not too short that He cannot save.  You owe it to yourself to live your life knowing that with God all things are possible.

In the wrestling arena there is a matched called ‘tag team wrestling.’  In it, two men are fighting against two opponents but there can be only one person from each team in the ring at one time.  When one fighter gets tired or is getting beaten all he has to do is tag his partner and his partner can step in and he can leave the ring.  Believers have the Lord Jesus Christ as their tag team partner.  When they have done all they can do and it isn’t enough, all they have to do is  call on the Lord.  He will come running with the victory in His hand because at the name of Jesus every knee must bow!

The Lord is your helper.  He will come running when you call upon His name.  Do not allow yourself to be defeated.  The enemy of your soul wants you to believe that you are in this world all alone but nothing could be further from the truth.  The Word of God tells us how much we are loved and that we have a friend that sticks closer than a brother.  When you are weary, call upon Jesus and He will be there right when you need Him.  If you need encouragement, sit down and spend time reading God’s Word and let your faith grow in the knowledge that God is on your side.