What Jesus is Saying To America and What He is Saying to the Church in America

What The LORD Is Saying To America And The Church In America Today Revelation 3.14-22 II Timothy 4.1 Proverbs 14.34 Godliness makes a nation great, but sin is a disgrace to any people. Honoring the Memory of those we lost this week in Afghanistan: -Navy Corpsman Max Soviak. Age 22 -Kareem Nikoui. Marine Corps. Age 20 -Rylee McCollum. Marine Corps. Age 20. He was expecting a baby in 3 weeks and wanted to be a history teacher when he completed his service. -David Espinoza. Marine Corps. Age 20 -Jared Schmitz. Marine Corps. Age 20 -Hunter Lopez. Marine Corps. Age 22. He was planning on following in both his parents footsteps and become a sheriff on his return from deployment. -Ryan Knauss. US Army. Age 23 -SSGT Taylor Hoover. Marine Corps. -Daegan Page. Marine Corps. Age 23 These men were among the heroes killed in Afghanistan this week. Most of them were infants when this war began, and this is how it ended. Please Pray for the families of these brave, fallen men. And pray for Afghanistan and the Church there, which is the 2nd fastest growing church in the world. This is heartbreaking 💔 With Hurricane Ida making landfall with 150mph gusts, with citizens and the church in Afghanistan, with inflation at a 25 year high, with the Variant spreading and conflicting info with that, with all the kids on Long Island having to wear masks as they start school, both private and public, with small businesses stressed… and with the 20th year since 9-11 took place, we need the LORD! We need to hear what He is saying today… The advice theologian Karl Barth gave to ministers of the Word, was to preach using the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other. That is what I am attempting to do this morning. God speaks through current events. He does this through His Word and His Spirit. * What is He saying to America Today? Proverbs 14.34 Godliness makes a nation great, but sin is a disgrace to any people. II Chronicles 7.14 God is calling America to return to its Judeo Christian Roots. We never were a perfect nation. We had a moral compass, an ethical mind. We were told about what was right and what was wrong. Mayflower Compact Covenant Communities Endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights… George Washington praying in Valley Forge In God we trust on our coins One nation under God in our pledge of allegiance to our flag. Being a very blessed nation so we have an annual day to give thanks to Almighty God We grieve over the young men killed in Afghanistan this week. We grieve over the Afghanis killed. If God does not intervene then there will be more of these attacks. We are being told there may be planes loaded with people blown out of the sky with surface to air missiles. There also could be a hostage situation. God is inviting us, urging us to pray. Our leaders need to humble themselves and pray and ask us to do the same. Our problem here is this country and it’s freedoms were designed to be in harmony with morality, with the Judeo Christian ethic… when that is removed all sorts of evil comes in. Absolute freedom leads to absolute evil. On the same course, if the LORD does not stop it, it appears that many will be martyred for their faith in Jesus in Afghanistan. This will begin soon. They are our brothers and our sisters. God is saying to America, “Repent and return!” * What is God saying to the Church in America? Revelation 3.14-22 II Timothy 4.1 The Spirit speaks expressly that in the last days (latter times) many will depart from the faith and give heed to seducing spirits. We are seeing a departure from the faith in America. Some will say, “Well our attendance is coming back up.” Really? Stop judging by mere appearances! I am seeing God working more in churches where it is not bouncing back. If you look at things with your natural eyes He will confound you! This has little if anything to do with that. People can depart from the faith and still attend church. So will not. Some will. As we commemorate the 20th Anniversary of 9-11 in less than 2 weeks… Regarding the Events of 9/11: The September 13th Interview of Anne Graham Lotz by Jane Clayson on CBS' Early Show... "Where Is God?"                                                                            Thursday, Sept. 13, 2001 - 12:00 AM ET NEW YORK -- Anne Graham Lotz is the second daughter of Billy Graham. She has stepped in her father's footsteps and formed a ministry that is based in Raleigh, N.C. She calls herself a Bible teacher. She is not an ordained minister. Her father has called her "the best preacher in the family."  She spoke with the Early Show's Jane Clayson on Sept. 13, 2001 to offer some comfort to the families of the terror victims. Jane Clayson: We've turned to your father, the reverend Billy Graham, so often in times of national crisis. What are his thoughts about what happened on Tuesday?                                                                          Anne Graham Lotz: I turned to him also. In fact, I called him last night after you all called to arrange for this. He's reacting like a lot of Christians around the country, we're all praying. I think about those people you just showed. I wasn't sure I'd be in control when you came on because it just provoked such emotion to see these people carrying pictures of their loved ones and knowing they don't know if they're alive or dead. And at a time like that, I know the families and the friends of the victims can hardly even pray for themselves. They don't know what to say or how to pray. I want to say to them - families and friends of the victims, that there are thousands of people in this country who are carrying you in prayer right now.                                                                                  And we're praying for you with hearts filled with compassion and grief and just interceding on your behalf, asking the God of all peace and the God of all comfort to come down in a special way into your life and meet your needs at this time. My father and mother are also praying like that. Jane Clayson: The pain is incomprehensible for so many of these people. At a time like this it is so easy to lose faith. How do you keep faith, Mrs. Lotz at a time like this? Anne Graham Lotz: I think it is almost easier to have faith because we have nothing else in some ways. I've watched as this nation has turned to prayer. We've seen prayer vigils. And in our city, we have prayer vigils. And so I think it is a time to turn to God.... Our nation has been hit and devastated by this day of terror and now I believe it is our choice as a nation as to whether we're going to implode and just disintegrate emotionally and spiritually or whether we'll make the choice to be stronger. I think right now, we have the opportunity to come through this spiritually stronger than we've been in the past because we turn to God. Jane Clayson: I've heard people say, those who are religious, those who are not, if God is good, how could God less this happen? To that, you say? Anne Graham Lotz: I say God is also angry when he sees something like this.  I would say also for several years now Americans in a sense have shaken their fist at God and said, God, we want you out of our schools, our government, our business, we want you out of our marketplace. And God, who is a gentleman, has just quietly backed out of our national and political life, our public life. Removing his hand of blessing and protection. We need to turn to God first of all and say, God, we're sorry we have treated you this way and we invite you now to come into our national life. We put our trust in you. We have our trust in God on our coins, we need to practice it. Jane Clayson: So many people have called this an act of war. Has he expressed anything about what a proper response for an attack like this should be? Anne Graham Lotz: No. I've tried to be very careful. I don't ever answer for my father. But I believe in the next few days you're going to be seeing him and hearing from him and perhaps he will express some of those things. Jane Clayson: As a spiritual adviser, how would you define the feelings right now? Anne Graham Lotz: I was watching television the first day and interviewed a construction worker that who had been an eyewitness through all of this in a building next to the World Trade Center. He said, I've seen planes hit this building, people falling out of the sky. He said, my heart is in my throat. I feel like I would say the same thing. You almost don't have thoughts to articulate. Your heart is in your throat. You can hardly stand it. You're numb. For myself, I fall back on my faith in God and the foundation, speaking of those buildings, as an illustration of America, our foundation is our faith in God and the structure we build on that foundation is what enables us to endure something like this. ...I believe God also knows what it is like to lose a loved one, gave his only son on a cross. He knows what it is like to see a loved one die a horrific death. He's emotionally involved in our pain and he has the answers to us and he can bring comfort beyond human understanding. Jane Clayson: There's such a feeling of helplessness among so many. They don't know what to do beyond giving blood, beyond writing a check to help those in need. What would be your recommendation as a spiritual adviser? Anne Graham Lotz: I thought Governor Keating said it right when you asked him. He said pray.  I believe we need to pray.  As Christians, we need to pray for people who can't pray for themselves right now. I believe we need to call out to God and ask him to forgive our sins and heal our land.  God is greater than sometimes we think of him and he can solve this, give us answer, give us wisdom, lead us through this in a way that makes us stronger as a nation but we have to turn to him. Jane Clayson: This event has changed us forever.  I know you believe that.  Going forward, as a nation, what do you say about that? Anne Graham Lotz: Well, I pray that God will use this event to change us forever in a positive way. And that will strengthen our faith in him. I thought of all those people who have died in this tragedy.  It doesn't matter right now what political affiliation they had or what denomination they belong to or what religion or what the color of their skin was or their stock portfolio. What matters is their relationship with God. I would like to see Americans begin to focus on some of the primary things and some of the things that are more important than just, you know, entertainment and pleasure and making more money. _______________________________________ Jesus is knocking on the door of the church in America today. If He is allowed in He will change us. He will change families, schools, government. Be hot. Hold onto what you have. Watch out That no one deceives you. Watch out that you stay alert. Stand firm! I Corinthians 15.58 Therefore, my dear brothers , stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the LORD, because you know that your labor in the LORD is not in vain.

The Relationship of Body and Soul Part Two

When God Does Not Make Sense III John 1 The elder, To my dear friend Gaius, whom I love in the truth. 2 Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well. 3 It gave me great joy when some brothers came and testified about your faithfulness to the truth, telling how you continue to walk in it. 4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. There are Always Things That Are Hard to Understand. When things do not go well… God is up to something. In times when life doesn’t make sense we just have to trust Him… Until the Word of God proves us true Psalm 78. 16 He called down famine on the land     and destroyed all their supplies of food; 17 and he sent a man before them—     Joseph, sold as a slave. 18 They bruised his feet with shackles,     his neck was put in irons, 19 till what he foretold came to pass,     till the Word of the LORD proved him true. 20 The king sent and released him,     the ruler of peoples set him free. 21 He made him master of his household,     ruler over all he possessed, 22 to instruct his princes as he pleased     and teach his elders wisdom. He doesn’t write “I know.” He writes “I pray.” II Timothy 4.20 I left Trophimus sick in Miletus. People we prayed for to be healed and it seemed like a miracle was happening and then they died. A person that has disregarded God and His Word living long and seemingly pain free while others who lived for God die early. Isaiah 57.1 The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; the devout are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil. People we think should be delivered… people we are wanting to rescue… I would have pulled Joseph out. Out of that pit. Out of that prison. Out of that pain. I would have cheated nations out of the one God would use to deliver them from famine.   I would have pulled David out. Out of Saul’s spear-throwing presence. Out of the caves he hid away in. Out of the pain of rejection. I would have cheated Israel out of a God-hearted king.   I would have pulled Esther out. Out of being snatched from her only family. Out of being placed in a position she never asked for. Out of the path of a vicious, power-hungry foe. I would have cheated a people out of the woman God would use to save their very lives.   I would have pulled Jesus off. Off of the cross. Off of the road that led to suffering and pain. Off of the path that would mean nakedness and beatings, nails and thorns. I would have cheated the entire world out of a Savior. Out of salvation. Out of an eternity filled with no more suffering and no more pain.   And oh friend. I want to pull you out. I want to change your path. I want to stop your pain. But right now I know I would be wrong. I would be out of line. I would be cheating you and cheating the world out of so much good. Because God knows. He knows the good this pain will produce. He knows the beauty this hardship will grow. He’s watching over you and keeping you even in the midst of this. He’s promising you that you can trust Him. Even when it all feels like more than you can bear.   So instead of trying to pull you out, I’m lifting you up. I’m kneeling before the Father and I’m asking Him to give you strength. To give you hope. I’m asking Him to protect you and to move you when the time is right. I'm asking Him to help you stay prayerful and discerning. I'm asking Him how I can best love you, and be a help to you. I’m believing He’s going to use your life in powerful and beautiful ways. Ways that will leave your heart grateful and humbly thankful for this road you’ve been on.” - Kimberly Henderson Proverbs 31 Ministries Top 5 Emotions That Drain Your Health by Michelle M. Pearson All month we are presenting articles in our series: “The High Five’s of Health!” One of the easiest ways to quickly gauge the health of the body is to measure the pH of saliva and urine. pH readings, while not diagnostic, are a simple way to measure the status of the body’s environment. In other words, it is a way to anticipate what might or might not grow in the garden as a result of previous choices. What does pH have to do with our “high five” emotions of the day? We call pH “your potential for health”. Emotions, or make that strong negative emotions, are the #1 thing that depletes your resources and destroys one’s potential for health. And some emotions are way more destructive than others! Stressful emotions place an increased demand on important resources and are capable of utilizing the body’s whole storage of available resources in a matter of hours, perhaps minutes. This demand leaves even the body’s most basic functions at risk or in peril. (Check out our article about Zinc and the anger connection!) No matter where you fit right now on the health or disease scale, the following five things are among the HIGH FIVE patterns of response that must be replaced by new mindsets and actions if you desire to live a long, strong, fruitful life: #1     UNFORGIVENESS – The most powerful form of destructive emotion that we are capable of. Unforgiveness eats away at the body, literally, like cancer, from the inside out. It’s only antidote is forgiveness, the complete release of debt toward us.  #2     BITTERNESS – Often rooted in unforgivness, bitterness rots the bones. In addition, the body’s chemical reaction to hardness of heart, bitter buried emotions, and walled off boundaries has proven to contribute to (if not cause) arterial disease, heart disease, and other vascular illness. Heart, brain, and reproductive related. Selah. #3     RESENTFULNESS – Resentfulness takes root from pride and covetousness when one’s heart believes they are owed or due something from another that has not been delivered. It keeps one’s heart and mind on the past, thereby robbing all joy and zest for life, all peace that produces health and healthy happy hormones. Resentment is also a sibling of ungratefulness. #4     GRIEF – Grief is often thought to be unavoidable and a natural response to loss. While this may be true of temporary sadness, grief on the other hand, is an entirely destructive, consuming scourge. We were NEVER intended to experience grief. Because of sin entering in and separation from God, the first grief also entered in. Up until the time of Christ, no one was immune from grief’s deathly grasp. But… after the resurrection of Christ, who carried our griefs and sorrows, and paid the price for reconciliation to a life free from grief, we no longer have to bear grief or the gripping killer dis-eases it has attached to it. (This is such a huge topic, we will write a separate article at another date to minister life and help in this area. Until then, be comforted in knowing God did not leave you without grace to keep you and He will send love and hope to your heart again.) And finally, in our Top Five Emotions That Drain Your Health: # 5   LYING –  OK So technically, lying is not an emotion, it is an action of your mind, will, AND emotions. But, it must be included in our Top 5 today because, after unforgiveness, it is perhaps the second most detrimental soulish action that literally destroys the physical body. To lie, in any measure, is to voluntarily separate yourself from Truth and Light. Only in Truth and Light can you receive health and healing. To lie is to deliberately reject the very power that heals. It is the nature of your enemy, who comes to steal, kill, and destroy… and to lie is to willfully participate in and connect yourself to that nature. Did you know that the physical body cannot lie? It’s goal is not health or disease, but it is to survive your choices. Choices that are lies or fool the body, result in dys-function and dis-ease. Choices that are in Truth, produce strength and health. Psalm 92. 12  The righteous will flourish like a palm tree,     they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; 13  planted in the house of the Lord,     they will flourish in the courts of our God. 14  They will still bear fruit in old age,     they will stay fresh and green, In overwhelming times we can be overwhelmed by the goodness of God. Out of the greatest pain comes the greatest blessings. Out of the greatest messes comes the greatest works of God!

The Relationship Between Soul and Body Health

III John 1 The elder, To my dear friend Gaius, whom I love in the truth. 2 Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well. 3 It gave me great joy when some brothers came and testified about your faithfulness to the truth, telling how you continue to walk in it. 4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth. Questions: Does being a Christian make us healthier than others? Are Christians, if they have faith, always get healed? What about people we have prayed for to be healed and they die? The Main Thing is our Spiritual Health Our bodies will die. Our spirits will live on forever. Jesus said, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” Matthew 10.28 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Mark 8.36 John 4. 31 Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.” 32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.” 33 Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?” 34 “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of Him Who sent Me and to finish His work. 35 Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. 36 Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. 37 Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. 38 I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.” John 6. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on Him God the Father has placed His seal of approval. 33 For the Bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world. (Bethlehem = House of Bread) 35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in Me will never be thirsty.” 63 The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you—they are full of the Spirit. There is a Connection Between Our Bodies and Souls When It Comes To Health John makes the connection Proverbs speaks of it: A cheerful heart is good like medicine. Proverbs 17.22 A heart at peace give life to the body. Proverbs 14.30 Envy rots the bones. Bitterness will hurt the body, causing chemicals to flow in the bloodstream. According to Newsday this morning, Long Island alcohol treatment and recovery centers said they've seen a big increase in people seeking help, both those who previously had problems with alcohol and relapsed, and people who never had serious issues with alcohol So many people in pain today. Turning to addictive things temporarily anesthetizes the torture in their souls. Only Jesus can heal our brokenness. Generally a Life Lived for God Produces Healthier Bodies. This is true with things life cigarettes and stress and excessive use of alcohol. Because we live in a fallen world sometimes people who never smoked die of lung cancer. We need “ocean time” What is ocean time? On my birthday I went to the beach as per my request. I swim for several hours with my grandchildren. Timmy, 12 years old, and I talked. We talked about life. We laughed at the girls getting knocked over by the waves as we were beyond the place where they were breaking. He invited his cousins Tristan and Grayson to join us in the laughter. In those moments I forgot what time it was all of the stresses that I had spoken to my daughter Theresa about just moments before. We were like birds flying in the air. We were bodies floating in the ocean. All of the technology emails texts phones TVs etc. were not available to us. We were in the moment completely body soul and spirit. We all need ocean time. The occasional desire to run away from everything is an indication that we are desperate for this time. Jesus had this time. His ocean time was the time that He spent in the mountains and in the boats on the sea of Galilee. Wherever you find a place where you can be in God‘s presence, detached from disturbing annoyances and interruptions, and will you can embrace nature that is your Ocean Place. Go there often. It is there that your soul is renew your spirit is strengthen and you come into the place of being quiet before God. Look at the birds. How precious to me are Your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand. Psalm 139.17-18 Generally a Life Lived Disregarding God Produces Death Ultimately but not immediately. Eventually but not always evident. Sowing and reaping. Galatians 6.8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Jeremiah 17.7 “But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,     whose confidence is in him. 8  They will be like a tree planted by the water     that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes;     its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought     and never fails to bear fruit.”

Walking In Love

II John 5-6 5 And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. 6 And this is love: that we walk in obedience to His commands. As you have heard from the beginning, His command is that you walk in love. Walk= * To make one’s way working out our salvation with fear and trembling * To progress grow in His Love * To make use of all opportunities making use of every opportunity because the days are evil * To live * To regulate one’s life (obedience) * To conduct oneself (. “) John 13. 34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.” * Love is the Mark of the Christian Among ourselves. Affirming our faith Wherever we go… around the country/ around the world No matter what Jesus’ Love is our goal. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. We are called to love as He loves, forgive as He forgives. We are to represent His Love to the world * Love is a Sign to the World. Know= understand, perceive, become acquainted with This is the way people will be attracted to Christ Titus 2.10 so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive. Paul writes about lawsuits among believers, that these things ought to be resolved in the church, among the people of God. Be a good example of a believer. Love! I Timothy 4.12 Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. An example in love. Exemplary Paul and Bonnie Codington yesterday. It is the love of God that makes people want what we have. Romans 2.4 the kindness of God leads you to repentance * Love is a Lifestyle Ephesians 5. 1 Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children 2 and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. A description of love= giving ourselves up as a fragrant offering sacrifice to God. This is descriptive of worship. Our walking in love is an act of honoring God. We live in it Hebrews 13.1 Keep on loving each other as brothers We grow in it * Love is forgiving. How we all need this. Every day. * Love is the greatest Faith, Hope and Love Faith will one day be sight, our walk, our journey to heaven will be over. Hope will be fulfilled. Our Blessed Hope described in Revelation 21.1Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,”[a] for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” * Love will remain forever. I Corinthians 13. 13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. Remain in Him!

God Is Greater

God is Greater! I John 4. 4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the One Who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. We are in a spiritual battle. It seems to have intensified recently. Satan knows his time is short. The Kingdom of God against the Kingdom of Darkness Each generation has had to face this conflict for its time. We have to contend with the world, the flesh and the devil. We have to contend for the faith. Jude 3 Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. From the Kingdom of God we receive Truth. Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life.” Satan, we are told by Jesus, is the father of lies. John 8. 44 You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies. Eventually there will be a war in heaven. Revelation 12.1-17 In this present time... * Satan tries to overwhelm us. When the enemy comes in like a flood. Isaiah 59.19 So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him. We have all had those times when we have quietly thought, “What on earth is happening? What else could possible go wrong?” He works using fear tactics. A roaring lion... I Peter 5. 8 Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings. Here our struggle is against affluence and comfortable living. In other places it is against poverty. * We must be sharp and on our guard. This is a life and death matter. Some of the battles we are facing today: Discouragement Loneliness Fear of the Future Feeling abandoned * People Who are instruments of the enemy can sound very convincing. Watch out for them! Smooth talk... Proverbs 26. 23 Smooth talk from an evil heart is like glaze on cracked pottery. 24 Your enemy shakes hands and greets you like an old friend, all the while conniving against you. 25 When he speaks warmly to you, don't believe him for a minute; he's just waiting for the chance to rip you off. 26 No matter how cunningly he conceals his malice, eventually his evil will be exposed in public. Romans 16. 17 I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. 18 For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people. Jeremiah 5.30 A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land: 31 The prophets prophesy lies,     the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way.     But what will you do in the end? * The One Who is in you The LORD God Almighty The Holy Spirit Rushing Mighty Wind Power Power to overcome. Revelation 12.11 They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death. * God is Greater He is everywhere. He asked Satan where he had come from. Job 1. 6 One day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them. 7 The LORD said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the LORD, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.” He knows everything. Colossians 2. 2 My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, 3 in Whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments. He can do anything. Jeremiah 32.27 “I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for Me? Satan is an interloper. God with us. God in us. Creation groans. Romans 8. 22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently. We have this treasure in a jar of clay. God is greater than all our problems, fears and all that Satan can throw at us. II Corinthians 1. 8 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, Who raises the dead. 10 He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and He will deliver us again. On Him we have set our hope that He will continue to deliver us, 11 as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many. Let’s pray for one another, having always in mind, God is greater.

The Blessed Hope

Our Blessed Hope I John 3.1 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. 2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 3 All who have this hope in Him purify themselves, just as He is pure. There has always been a lot of talk about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. As with His first appearing so with His second... I Peter 1. 10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, 11 trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when He predicted the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow. We have the Blessed Hope. It is of Christ’s Return. Christ will come. We do not know the day or the hour.(Only our Father in Heaven knows) We must always be ready. Let’s follow the scripture this morning... Our salvation, our preparation for that Day is rooted in the wonderful truth that... * God Loves Us He has lavished His Love on us. But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5.8 The grace of our LORD was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. I Timothy 1.14 For God so loved the world that He gave His One and Only Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life. John 3.16 God has loved us to the uttermost. Jesus showed the Disciples the full extent of His love. John 13.1 It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for Him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. His death on the cross. We are now the children of God. We have been adopted. Romans 8.15 The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by Him we cry, "Abba, Father." John 1.12 Yet to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God. We belong to Jesus. God is our Father in Heaven. We honor our fathers today but they are ours for this time. God is our Father Forever! We, as His children, are under His care. We are under His Protection. We are loved by Him. He delights in us. He disciplines us for our good, that we might share in His Holiness. * We Do Not Know What We Shall Be Christ will soon appear. We shall be like Him. I Corinthians 15. 42 So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; 43 it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; 44 it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. 45 So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit. 46 The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 47 The first man was of the dust of the earth; the second Man is of heaven. 48 As was the earthly man, so are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly Man, so also are those who are of heaven. 49 And just as we have borne the image of the earthly man, so shall we[g] bear the image of the heavenly Man. 50 I declare to you, brothers that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. We will see Him. I Corinthians 13. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. I know Whom I Have Believed II Timothy 1.12 For I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that Day. * We Have Hope Salvation is now and future. We have hope in a world that is in turmoil. Pastor Mauricio and Erica and I were riding home from Humberto Chavez’s Installation at the Bridge Church in Malverne, stuck in the traffic,surrounded by souls in need of Jesus. This is our mission field. Houses going up all over, people moving out of the city here. This is our time! Let’s look to the fields, let’s look to the LORD! Let’s see what God will do. We have hope when our own souls are being tested. Peace and Hope are given to us in times that try men’s souls. This has a purifying effect on us. Luke 19.11 We have work. We’ll Work Til Jesus Comes We desire to be found in Him when He comes. When we all get to Heaven. There is going to be a meeting in the air. Heaven’s Jubilee. I’ve got a Mansion

Living Like Jesus

Living Like Jesus I John 2. 5 But if anyone obeys His word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in Him: 6 Whoever claims to live in Him must live as Jesus did. The goal of every follower of Jesus is to be like His Master. We are called to it. It is the acid test of being a Christian. The disciples were first called Christians at Antioch. (Acts 11.26) Like Jesus being called, “A friend of sinners”, the term “Christian” was a term of derision. Sometimes the judgment of the world is complimentary to us. Like someone who criticized me years ago in a note, “I think you only talk about money when it is brought up as you go the Bible.” What a compliment! The term “Christian” meant follower of Christ. They were saying that the disciples looked like they were imitating Jesus. What a compliment! I hope that is what they say about us! Ephesians5.1Be imitators of God, therefore, as beloved children, 2 and walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant sacrificial offering to God.… Walking in the footsteps of my Savior.... giving ourselves up, His will becoming my will. I Peter 2.21 To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His steps. * Walking In His Footsteps to make one's way, progress; to make due use of opportunities Walk regulate ones life, conduct oneself. Following Jesus “As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter, and his brother Andrew. ... 'Come, follow me, Jesus said, and I will make you fishers of men. ' At once they left their nets and followed Him.” Matthew 4:18-20 NIV Follow Me, the invitation to begin the journey It is a journey. Progress, growing to become like Him. You cannot rush the process. Like a plant we grow on this journey. We mature. We grow in grace. II Peter 3.18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and forever! Amen. Following in His steps, living as a Jesus did means we will have... * Forgiveness as a Life Style Colossians 3.13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. You will need the help of the Holy Spirit. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. That is completely impossible without the Holy Spirit’s power. How did Jesus forgive you? Fully, completely and forgetting our sins. You will need to pray over some situations until you are free. Keep praying until you are free. Remember His Words on the cross. Remember His words on teaching on prayer. Following in His Steps, living like Jesus means we will... * Listening to the Broken-hearted Making use of every opportunity because the days are evil Ephesians 5.16 Jesus looked at interruptions as opportunities. He took advantage of them to share His love. He never looked at them as inconveniences. Matthew 9.36 When He saw the crowds, He had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Living like Jesus, walking in His Steps, means we will see people who do not know Christ, as victims of the enemy, not the enemy. Compassion= a heart in which mercy resides Blessed are the merciful for they will obtain mercy. He spoke the words that cheered and blessed, He welcomed sinners to his breast, I want to be like Jesus. Following in His Steps, living like Jesus means we will be... * Seeking to Please Our Father in Heaven Hebrews 10. 5 Therefore, when Christ came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire,     but a body You prepared for Me; 6 with burnt offerings and sin offerings     You were not pleased. 7 Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about Me in the scroll—     I have come to do Your will, my God.’” (Psalm 40.6-8) Seeking first His Kingdom and His righteousness, doing His will, Following in His Steps, living like Jesus means we will be * Having a set purpose of finishing the work God has given to you to do. Jesus prayed, “I have brought You glory on earth by finishing the work You gave Me to do.” John 17.4 Following Jesus means that we are going to do the same thing. Having a life of Intercessory Prayer Using your gifts Investing your time and money in the Kingdom of God. This is not sinless perfection. Only Jesus had that. As we all like Jesus walk we contend with the sinful nature. We stumble sometimes. Provision is made for sin. I John 2.1 Keep your eyes on Jesus. Walk in the Light. Live like Him. Always make it your goal to please Him.