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Tarfoot · 29-01-24, 15:51

Not Just Turning from Evil

If we’re not careful, we can learn how to live with things that aren’t good for us. Maybe it’s even a pattern of sin that we’ve gone along with for 10 or 15 years. We tell ourselves, “This is just the way it is.”

We might be caught in a lack of zealous hunger for God’s Word, lack of passion for the things of God, a deadness in our hearts. We can turn from those things.

Turning like that is very good. It takes away things in our hearts that don’t belong there. If we stop there, though, it leaves an emptiness in those spaces. Jesus told a parable about this, saying, “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person…it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first” (Matthew 12:43-45, ESV).

It’s not enough to turn away from dead things in our lives. When we turn, God wants us to turn away from evil, but he also wants us to turn toward him. The Holy Spirit is not just about taking bad things away from us then leaving us empty. He wants us to turn away from idols, but he also wants us to turn toward something better.

If we’re willing to stop and listen, we can hear God saying, “I want to change something in you. It’ll turn your soul from lukewarmness that comes from wandering away from your first love. It’ll put fresh fire and wind in your spirit.”

We can respond, “God, do a work in my heart. Revive and awaken my soul within me. Don’t let me continue to be stuck in the same patterns of sin, drifting through life, missing your gifts and plans for me.” He will make a new hunger and passion stir in our heart so we don’t miss out on his presence in our marriage, our family, our work. This is how a move of God begins. He will transform our churches and communities, but he starts first with turning individual hearts.

Tarfoot · 06-02-24, 03:58

Leaving and Forgetting

The Holy Spirit's message to the bride of Christ in Psalm 45 was “Forget your own people also, and your father's house” (Psalm 45:10, NKJV). The still, small voice was whispering, “It isn’t enough just to leave your past behind. You must also forget it all. Put every past love and distraction behind.”

The messenger here says to the bride, “Are you going to give him mere lip service after the wedding, or does your mind wander back to things of your past, old friends, habits and loves? If you commit to this marriage, you must not only leave your past behind, you must forget it completely.”

When Jesus speaks of some who “do not forsake all” (Luke 14:33), he is speaking of those who turn from him and cling to idols. An idol is anything that possesses our time, attention, love or money.

Many husbands can rightly say that they are good providers, right? They work long and hard and spend quality time with their families. How much time do they devote to Jesus? Do they have what I call a “leaving-and-forgetting time” when they set aside quality time for Jesus alone?

Many wives also neglect their time with God. They have given their husbands and children the best years of their lives. They are hardworking and faithful and they take good care of their families. Yet, how much “leaving-and-forgetting time” do they give to Jesus? How many hours a week do they shut out the world and draw close to him?

The problem isn't family or career. Rather, it’s the loitering, aimlessly lounging around and wasting time. Many of God's people spend their time endlessly idly spending time with friends or lolling in front of the TV. We waste so many precious hours and neglect our Lord and Savior.

How jealous the Lord must be over all our other loves, all the things that eat up our time and attention. The old adage is true. It's not the ‘bad’ that is the enemy of the Christian, but the ‘good.’ It's family, career, job, children. These things in themselves do not stand between us and the Lord. No, it's our loitering. The Lord wants his time alone with us. It is crucial that we take time out and give him our full attention. He asks us, “Do you love me more than these?” (John 21:15).

Tarfoot · 13-02-24, 16:46

I Will Give You Rest

God has promised his people a glorious rest that includes peace and security for the soul. The Lord offered this wonderful rest to the children of Israel, which meant a life full of joy and victory without fear, guilt or condemnation.

Up to the time of Christ, no generation of believers ever walked fully in this blessed promise. Why was this? The Bible makes very clear that it was because of their unbelief. “To whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who did not obey? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief” (Hebrews 3:18-19, NKJV).

Because of their unbelief during the period of the kings and prophets through David’s generation, God's people went through life full of misery, doubt, fear and restlessness. In every generation, the rest was promised, but it was refused and never appropriated or understood.

That is why, when we read further in Hebrews, we find this glorious life of faith still unclaimed. “There remains therefore a rest for the people of God” (Hebrews 4:9). Yet we also read, “Since therefore it remains that some must enter it…” (Hebrews 4:6). The Bible admonishes present-day believers with this warning: “Therefore, since a promise remains of entering into his rest, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have come short of it” (Hebrews 4:1).

Thousands upon thousands of believers claim to be filled with the Spirit of God, yet few have entered into this promised rest. Many are tossed about by winds and waves of doctrines, restless and guilt-ridden with no security in Christ. Jesus said, “I will give you rest, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light" (see Matthew 11:28-30).

My prayer is that today you will enter into the rest God has for you. Reach up by faith, and receive because it is his free gift!

Tarfoot · 16-02-24, 16:17

Saved by Faith Alone

When we first came to faith in Christ, we trusted that our sins were forgiven. We believed we were accepted, that we could lay down all guilt and fear and say, “I am saved by faith alone in what Jesus did for me at the cross.”

As we proceeded in our walk with Jesus, we committed fresh acts of disobedience. We were crushed by our sins and quickly lost our vision of the cross. We tried to work out our own righteousness, to win back God’s favor by trying harder, but life then became a nightmarish merry-go-round of sin and confession, sin and confession.

We sometimes act as if trying harder on our own can save us. We think if we could just reform this flesh of ours, God would be pleased. Soon we are constantly working on our old man, to shape him up for a victorious Christian walk.

Some Christians may say, “I paid a high price for the victory I’ve achieved. I went through a lot of pain and suffering. I fasted, prayed and successfully put down all my lusts and sinful desires. Is my struggle to obey worth nothing to God? Does he consider all my righteousness, all my hard work, as filthy rags?” Yes! It is all the flesh and none of it will stand before him. There is only one righteousness, and that is the righteousness of Jesus Christ.

“For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God” (Romans 10:3, NKJV).

The only way to get into God’s good grace is to admit the truth: “There is no good thing in my flesh, nothing in my good works to merit my salvation. I cannot become righteous through anything I do in my own strength. My righteousness is in Christ alone.” Paul says of the gift of righteousness, “Those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:17).

Tarfoot · 19-02-24, 15:31

Remember Our Life Source

Jesus told the church in Laodicea, “I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing…” (Revelation 3:15-17, ESV). That last line is probably the most tragic thing someone could say to God.

I don’t think most modern believers in America would ever say out loud, “That’s me too. I need nothing from God.” We say it sometimes in our actions, though. We say it in our schedule, our time spent, our passions, our dreams. Our goals and the layout of our days say, “I don’t really need the Holy Spirit because I can do this myself. I don’t need time in prayer because I have the wisdom to move ahead in my own strength.”

Jesus knows better. He went on in verse 17. “For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked” (Revelation 3:17). Jesus wrote this letter to say, both then and now, “Please come back to me. You don’t realize how badly you need me.”

There’s an old hymn that says, “I need Thee every hour most gracious Lord. No tender voice like Thine can peace afford. I need Thee, O I need Thee. Every hour I need Thee. O bless me now, my Savior, I come to Thee…”

God is our source of life and power in life. Jesus is our past, present and future. He’s our all in all. Nothing compares to him.

When I sit down to read my Bible every morning, I pray, “Lord, keep speaking to me. Do not pass by me. In this time I have with you today, please meet with me. I need you. I need a fresh touch from heaven. I need to be refilled with the Holy Spirit’s power and grace.” Will you join me in praying that each day? We never need God any less, no matter how smoothly life is going.

Tarfoot · 24-02-24, 01:33

Justified before God

Picture yourself standing before God's throne with no excuse or alibi. Satan, your legal adversary, is reading off the list of charges with times, places, every shameful detail. He makes accusations of pride, prayerlessness, covetousness, unfaithfulness, and your heart smites you because you have to admit, “Yes, that's me. I did it all.”

It looks hopeless for you. You know God's eyes are too holy to look upon sin, and his justice demands that you pay for your crimes against his holiness. You are helpless.

Suddenly, here comes your lawyer and advocate. He stretches forth his nail-scarred hands, and you know something is about to happen. He smiles and whispers, “Don't be afraid; none of these charges will stand. You're going to walk out of this courtroom free and fully pardoned. When I'm finished, your accuser won't have one charge left against you.”

Best of all, your lawyer tells you he has adopted you as his brother. Then he tells you he is the son of the judge, so you now belong to the judge's family as well!

There is still the matter of justice, though. What about the charges against you? You listen in absolute wonder as your advocate pleads your case: “Judge, you know that I fulfilled the law, living a sinless life. I took this person's place, taking on all the punishment for his crimes. Through these nail-scarred hands and my pierced side, blood came forth to blot out all of his transgressions. All these charges were put on my back, and I paid the penalty for every one of them.”

Your advocate then looks at your accuser and says, “Satan, you have no grounds to accuse my child. Each of his sins was placed on me, and I have fully pardoned them all. He is not guilty because his faith in the victory of my sacrifice gives him full pardon. You have no case!”

As the devil slinks out of God's court, you can hear the Lord cry out, “Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies” (Romans 8:33, NKJV).

Tarfoot · 28-02-24, 19:33

The Spirit of Antichrist

Our Savior exists as a man right now in glory. He is a living person with flesh, bone, hair, eyes even though he is God. Although we are here on earth, his Spirit dwells within us. “And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father!’” (Galatians 4:6, NKJV).

There is another spirit at work in the world: the antichrist spirit. Just as surely as Christ has given us his Spirit, there is an antichrist spirit set on preparing hearts for the coming of the man of sin.

“And this is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world” (1 John 4:3). John was saying, “You have heard about the coming of the antichrist. It has been preached and taught, and you expect his arrival. Beloved, wake up, because the spirit of antichrist is already at work!”

Understand that the antichrist will not suddenly appear on the scene and overwhelm humankind. Rather, his spirit is mysteriously at work now, setting up his kingdom in cold, compromising hearts. When he finally appears, he will be publicly revealed to a world already prepared for him, to hearts his spirit already possesses!

Right now we see a growing antichrist sentiment, but soon this will turn into a flowing stream and eventually a vast ocean. The antichrist spirit is invading the hearts of many apostate Christians even now. “But how?” you ask. “Why would certain Christians ever turn to the antichrist?” It is because they are like-minded with him.

John wrote, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. …Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour” (1 John 2:15-18).

John is warning us that those who still love the things of this world have opened themselves to the spirit of antichrist. He is saying, “You know these are the last days because so many are full of the covetous, antichrist spirit!”

Tarfoot · 01-03-24, 22:16

Finding His Rest

“You will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:29-30, NKJV).

I know of only one way to enter into this rest that Jesus is talking about. If understood and appropriated, this truth will usher you into the most glorious peace possible on this side of heaven and end all feelings of insecurity.

This foundational truth upon which all others are built is the doctrine of justification by faith. It is the one doctrine you must understand if you hope to enter into the rest that Jesus offers.

I can only touch on the highlights of the magnificent truth of being justified by faith, yet I believe God desires to lead his church further into this divine truth. He wants to give us a foundational strength that will hold us in the days to come.

Sadly, when you mention the subject of doctrine, many Christians turn up their noses. They say, “I don’t want to hear all that deep, heavy stuff. Just give me Jesus!” Yet what they really mean is “I don’t want to discipline myself or spend the time to learn what Jesus did at the cross.”

Too many Christians become emotionally involved with the cross but never really study it. I have heard many preachers deliver emotional appeals about Jesus and the cross, about his beatings, the crown of thorns on his head, the spikes driven into his hands. The preaching of the cross is about much more than that, however. It is about the victory of the cross and what Jesus did for all of humankind.

Two things are involved in our justification by the cross of Jesus Christ: First, we have pardon for all our sins. When Jesus went to the cross, his blood pardoned us from all guilt. Second, we are accepted by God as righteous in Christ, through faith. This means God accepts us on the merits of what Jesus did on the cross and not because of our works or any good deeds.

For those who desire to “learn of him,” who want to understand Jesus’s wonderful work at the cross, justification by faith is how we enter into Christ’s rest.

Tarfoot · 04-03-24, 00:54

The Simple Gospel of Christ

The letter of 1 John was written to a group of believers who found themselves in a difficult climate. As Christianity spread, it was met with opposition from a religious culture that was very inclusive. The Greco-Roman world was ‘open’ to many different philosophies and had a pantheistic point of view where all beliefs and ideas could be meshed together.

Christianity is monotheistic and very exclusive. Now, exclusive doesn’t mean you aren’t welcome because of your ethnic background or history. No, not at all. Rather, Christianity makes a declaration that Jesus Christ is the only way to God and that the revelation we receive in scripture is all we need for a life in God. It’s a very plain and simple declaration, and it can’t be merged with any other religion. Either it’s completely true, or it’s utterly false.

Those in the early church who had come to saving faith in Christ had the temptation to try to merge their new beliefs with their culture’s idols. John was writing and speaking out strongly against those who were preaching false messages that the tenets of Christianity could be blended with the culture’s beliefs. He made this point through the staggering juxtaposition between light and darkness.

If you’re in a dark room and someone lights a match, that light is undeniable. It will never be confused with the darkness.

What Christianity claims cannot be confused or mixed with anything else in the world.

“This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:5-7, ESV).

We brought sin on ourselves, but we will one day be resurrected into a restored world because of what Jesus did on the cross. This is the great hope we have in Christ and his message. There is no other way.

Much love and God's blessings on you all.

Tarfoot · 06-03-24, 02:00

Sticks and Stones

"You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand up against the life of your neighbor: I am the LORD." - Leviticus 19:16

We have all heard the old saying, "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." It would be nice if that were true, but words can hurt and harm others. Once spoken, words cannot be taken back. Leviticus 19 instructs us on how to treat our neighbors and avoid causing them harm. Sadly, insults and defamation are common even outside of politics, and they can happen in the workplace, church, and even within families.

We should not use words or actions that destroy others, but instead, pray for those with whom we have issues and love them as God commands us to. Take a moment to assess your words and ensure they are edifying to others.

If you find yourself becoming cynical towards someone or about some issue or place, pray and ask the Holy Spirit to adjust your attitude instead of speaking words you will regret. Remember that we are to demonstrate God's love to everyone and not view others as our enemies.

Pray with me:
Dear God, thank You for the guidance we receive from Your word. Please forgive us for any harmful words we have spoken towards our neighbors. Fill us with Your Holy Spirit so we may speak, act, and think in ways that honor You and do not harm others. Help us to live by Hebrews 3:13, "But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called 'today,' that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin." In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.

Tarfoot · 11-03-24, 04:00

God Hears Our Cries

Afflictions teach us to bend our knees, to cry out to the Lord in all our problems and troubles.

“I know, O Lord, that your judgments are right, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me” (Psalm 119:75, NKJV). David is saying, “Lord, I know why you afflicted me. You saw that when all was going well, I went astray, becoming careless, so you allowed trouble to come upon me. You knew it would drive me to my knees and bring me back to brokenness. My affliction was evidence of your faithfulness to me!”

I know many people who have had to battle awful bondages in their lives against drugs, alcohol, cigarettes; and temptation rages every day. I say to all such people, “God cares. He knows the misery you go through, and he alone has the power to deliver you.”

The Lord does not constantly hover over you, saying, “You’re miserable because of what you did. You failed me, and now you’re paying the price.” No! You do not serve such a God; you serve a loving Father who feels your grief the moment you first feel it. No matter how you got into your affliction, God hurts with you, and he wants to deliver you.

You may think God is not helping you at all; but the very moment he heard your cry, he went into action. Let me prove it to you. “So God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God acknowledged them” (Exodus 2:24-25). The word acknowledged here means “He began to act.” God heard their cry and began taking action on their behalf.

“The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles” (Psalm 34:17). Whenever you fall on your knees, God immediately goes to work on your behalf.

Tarfoot · 13-03-24, 23:49

Look for His Coming

Jesus warned his followers, “Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (Matthew 24:44, NKJV).

A characteristic of the bride of Christ is an expectancy of his soon return. Jesus’s bride is to live in continual, joyful expectation of his imminent return because he may come at any moment.

Jesus warned, however, that in the last days evil ministers will infiltrate the church in an effort to put the bride to sleep. They will attempt to take away her heart of love for her bridegroom by claiming, “My master is delaying his coming” (Matthew 24:48). This gospel is preached by those who do not want to pay the price of obeying Christ’s commands. They really do not want Jesus to come back because they have sinful habits and lead double lives; in fact, they have concocted a doctrine to justify their continuing in sin. What is the result of this false teaching? First, it ends in worldliness because those who believe it want to enjoy worldly success and prosperity.

Beloved, do not give in to this doctrine of delay! If you are a part of Jesus’s bride, you will be so lovesick for your Lord you will not be able to buy into it. Instead, you will cry out, “My Lord said I am to be ready at any moment for his return. I know he is near; I can sense it. My heart cries out within me, ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming!’”

The early church was wide awake, heeding Jesus’s words. Their lamps were trimmed and burning, and they had a good supply of oil. Peter summed up the spirit of the early church. “Looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God…nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth” (2 Peter 3:12-13).

Finally, Paul said, “…you were enriched in everything by him in all utterance and all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 1:5-7).

Tarfoot · 21-03-24, 23:04

Devoted to Jesus

Let me give you what I call “the devoted life for commuters and subway straphangers.” It is a simple way for busy Christians to lead a practical, deeply devoted life with nothing mystical about it.

Devotion to Jesus means trusting him alone to meet every need of your body, soul and spirit. It means giving up looking to any other person or source to meet those needs. Many single people say, “I’m sick of being lonely. I need a mate. If only God would give me someone!”

No, a mate would never be able to meet such a need. In fact, a mate could possibly make you twice as miserable because you would have not only your own headaches but his or hers as well. Until Jesus is your focus, until you see him as your only true satisfaction, you will sink deeper and deeper into despair.

At one point, Jesus wanted to prove to his disciples that he was on top of any situation, so he called Peter to get out of the boat and walk on the water to meet him. Peter obeyed; and as long as he remained focused on Jesus, he was above everything, actually walking on water. However, when the disciple began to focus on his surroundings, he started to sink (see Matthew 14:28-31).

The lesson here is elementary. What do you do when you get that sinking feeling? Do you call out to a friend for help? Or do you keep your eyes focused on Jesus and cry out, “Lord, save me”?

The bride of Christ will be comprised of those who have given up trying to find help, comfort or satisfaction from anything on this earth. They have learned to depend wholly on the one they love to fully satisfy their every hunger and thirst.

Do you have this kind of walk with Jesus? I urge you to keep your eyes focused on your bridegroom. Expect his return at any moment and do not look to anyone or anything else to fulfill you.

Tarfoot · 29-03-24, 14:39

The Church of Forgiveness Only

Isaiah chapter four opens with a concise and tragic description of what I call the church of forgiveness only.

“And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, ‘We will eat our own food and wear our own apparel; only let us be called by your name, to take away our reproach.’” (Isaiah 4:1, NKJV).

I believe we are living in the last days, and this chapter in Isaiah is one of the clearest prophecies about how the church will look just prior to the coming of the Lord. The seven would-be brides that Isaiah mentions are clearly a type of many in the last-days church. They are seeking to lay hold of one man, whom I take to be Christ; yet these brides are not interested in loving him. On the contrary, they have only one thing on their minds: the removal of reproach. They even say, “We will eat our own food and wear our own apparel; only let us be called by your name.”

The number seven is used in regard to these brides to remind us that in every church there are such people. They attempt to “take hold of one man”—Christ—only to get relief from the guilt and condemnation of their sin. They do not want intimacy with him. They want nothing more than to have the reproach of sin removed. This type of church only wants forgiveness, not repenting or relationship.

These self-centered, would-be brides have no desire to submit to the authority of a husband. They do not want to know God’s heart, and they do not care about his concerns.

Out of intimacy with Jesus, we receive discernment, direction, a knowing of what is right and wrong, and a surety of what is holy and pure. Intimacy with Christ gives us a firmness wherein we are not tossed around by every wind of doctrine. Stay close to him so that you will have discernment about the foolishness going on around us.

Tarfoot · 31-03-24, 14:18

Easter: God's Message of Grace and Justice

Several years ago, I heard a very popular Christian speaker talk to a large audience for an hour. He said nothing heretical. He said nothing controversial. He just focused on the “unconditional” love of God. Again, nothing wrong with what he did say, but it is what he did not say that bothered me. He said nothing about repentance of sin. There is a reason Jesus said what he said in the above bible verse. And there is a reason John the Baptist introduced Jesus to the world with the exact same proclamation in Matthew 3:2: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

There is a popular trend going on in the American Christian church. The trend is to talk of the love of God without talking about the justice of God. But if you read the Bible, it is clear, there exists both the grace of God and the wrath of God, and Jesus Christ spoke of both.

Many Christians around the world have been celebrating Holy Week this week culminating today with Easter Sunday or what some churches call Resurrection Sunday. It is to commemorate the victory of Jesus over Satan, sin, death and hell. This is good news! And “good news” is the meaning of the word “gospel.”

It is true that God’s love for mankind is “unconditional.” However, in order for man to be in right relationship with God, man must conform his life to match with God’s requirement of man. And God does not force this decision on man. God draws a person to himself, but it is the free will of the individual to decide if he or she will obey God’s requirements for a right relationship or not.

Jesus called this experience being “born again.” In other words, a person (every human) must understand that he or she has violated God’s laws and is forever separated from God spiritually unless he or she repents of their sin and trust in the shed blood of Jesus on the cross for forgiveness of that sin in order to be counted among those who have been redeemed. Redeemed from the consequences of unrepentant sin which is death and hell. What I am writing here in not popular in modern day America and where we want to live our own life without interference from God. It’s our natural tendency to live for ourselves instead of obey the commands of God. That is the eternal struggle between flesh and the spirit.

In order to prove our love for Christ, he says we must deny ourselves, pick up our cross daily, and follow him. Our “cross” is a challenge to wake up daily and try our best to live like Jesus. The way we learn to live like Jesus is to study the Bible, take time to pray and fellowship with other believers (followers) which we call “church.” God knows we will fail at this precisely because we are human. Sometimes we are tempted by sin and we give in to it. But the Bible also says that if we are willing to confess our sins to God, He is willing to forgive us. That also is great news!

No one is compelled to believe this. You may read this and call it foolishness. That is your right. But if that is your view, I at least encourage you to read one book in the Bible, the gospel of John, and consider the claims of the Bible and Christ before you dismiss Christianity.

To my fellow Christians, I say, “He is Risen!”

Tarfoot · 08-04-24, 00:11

Led by the Holy Spirit

The Lord has a people in these confusing times who are not confused. They are so given to Jesus, so in love with him and separated from the wickedness of this age, that they know the ways and workings of the Holy Spirit. They know what is pure and holy and what is fleshly and foolish.

“Then the Lord will create above every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and above her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night. For over all the glory there will be a covering” (Isaiah 4:5, NKJV). This means, in essence, “Over each of these remnant people will be a blanket, a canopy, a hiding place, the covering of the glory of God.”

Remember that a cloud of glory covered the tabernacle in the wilderness. “Then the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle” (Exodus 40:34).

In Isaiah 4, we are promised that in the last days the Lord will create a glory that covers his remnant church. The glory of God will fill every heart and cover every house, and we will worship under the canopy of God’s glory, which is the manifest presence of Jesus Christ, God’s Son. “His Son …being the brightness of his glory” (Hebrews 1:2-3).

The glory cannot get any brighter than Christ manifesting himself to you. The word manifest means “to lay hold of by the hand.” In other words, when Jesus’s presence fills a place, it is so real and evident that your spiritual hands can touch it and your spiritual eyes can see it. It is as real as the air you breathe.

I want to see a revival where the presence of Jesus is so powerful and glorious that the “fruit” (conversions) will be excellent (see Isaiah 4:2). I want to see a revival where people stream toward the front of the church, weeping, broken before the Lord; and they will know that they have truly been covered by the glory of God.

Tarfoot · 13-04-24, 16:48

Walking in the Light

In the book of 1 John, the apostle was writing to a church that had been shaken by a mass departure of people who had been lured away by false teachers. They had lost friends whom they served alongside in church to gnostic teachers who believed that there was secret knowledge that some could obtain about God.

John was writing this letter to encourage the believers who remained but also to rebuke the false teaching that had permeated the church. Isn’t it interesting that almost every letter in the New Testament was written in response to false teaching? Both Peter and Paul wrote about false teachers, the latter noting, “I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you…and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them” (Acts 20:29-30, ESV).

To combat this, John wrote, “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:5-7).

One of the greatest differences between true teachers of the Word and false teachers is that the true believers will draw people to God; false believers will draw people to themselves and their own ideas. True teachers will only point to God’s Word; they won’t invent or add anything to God’s truth.

Walking in the light, as John talked about, is evidence that we are walking in the truth. The term ‘walking’ is referring to our manner of living. We cannot live in God’s ways without living in the truth.

This doesn’t mean that we’re living in certain ways to prove something to other people. Hypocrites do that. No, it means that our decisions are informed by the truth revealed in scripture and that lives in us through the conviction of the Holy Spirit. As a result, we will only point to the Bible as our authority, not our own ‘clever’ ideas. People who let scripture inform all their decisions will be the ones who point past themselves to God.

Tarfoot · 14-04-24, 23:40

Disobedience to God’s Word

“Those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, bound in affliction and irons – because they rebelled against the words of God...therefore he brought down their heart with labor; they fell down, and there was none to help” (Psalm 107:10-12, NKJV).

They were bound in affliction because they rebelled against God and rejected his counsel (see Psalm 107:11). Beloved, could this be you? You have sat under godly preaching, and the Holy Spirit has convicted you, but still you are miserable and continue to sin.

When a person willfully disobeys God, our tendency is to hide and cower in fear. We may feel that it is all over, thinking, “God can’t use me.” When you are in that condition, the devil will whisper to you, “There is no deliverance for you. You’re one of those people who never change. God has had it with you; your sin has caused him to hide his face.”

Satan will pound you with scriptures, misquoting them all. When you sit in church, you will hear only judgment, not God’s mercy, because you are under such condemnation and fear.

I am not referring to people who hide from God because they love their sin. Rather, I am talking about Christians who have taken a fall but still have sorrow and a hatred for their sin. Something inside them cries, “I have hurt God.”

To this Christian, God’s Word promises, “Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and broke their chains in pieces. Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for his goodness. . . . For he has broken the gates of bronze, and cut the bars of iron in two” (Psalm 107:13-16).

God never has and never will hide his face from a crying child of his. No matter how far you have fallen or how many promises you’ve made to him and broken, he will always hear your cry for help and bring you back into close fellowship with him.

Tarfoot · 17-04-24, 19:16

Daniel’s Penitent Heart

Daniel, a righteous man, had such devotion that you would not expect to find him repenting. Daniel’s heart, however, was sensitive to sin, and also he identified with the people’s sins.

“We have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from your precepts and your judgments. Neither have we heeded your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings and our princes, to our fathers and all the people of the land. …O Lord, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against you” (Daniel 9:5-6,8, NKJV). Daniel repeatedly used the words “we,” “us,” “our.” He was saying, in essence, “Every one of us is affected.”

The key to it all is found in this verse: “Now while I was speaking, praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God…” (Daniel 9:20).

Daniel said, “God, deal with me while you are dealing with your people. If there is any iniquity in my heart, bring it out.”

Daniel was given new lips that had been touched by God’s purging hand. “Suddenly, one having the likeness of the sons of men touched my lips; then I opened my mouth and spoke…” (Daniel 10:16). Whenever Daniel spoke, he spoke as unto the Lord.

The prophet Isaiah was a godly man who had issued mighty prophecies, but when he stood before the Lord in all his holiness, this prophet could only say, “I am a man of unclean lips…” (Isaiah 6:5). God took coals of fire from the altar, put the tongs on Isaiah’s lips, and burned out all self and flesh, everything that was unlike him; then he gave Isaiah a new pair of lips. I believe the prophet never again had to have his lips purged.

God does this for every person who repents! Once your tongue and lips are purged, you will never again want to speak anything that is unlike Jesus. The words that flow from you will be pure.

Tarfoot · 18-04-24, 14:15

Prayer that Pleases the Lord

I believe the kind of prayer that most pleases God is very simple and easy to understand. It is so simple that a little child can pray in a way that pleases him.

The disciples said to Jesus, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1, NKJV). They would not have asked unless they had wanted to learn. I believe that most who are reading this message would love to be faithful in prayer, but they do not know how. They simply do not understand the purpose of prayer; and until they grasp this vital purpose, they will never be able to maintain a fulfilled, meaningful life of prayer.

Many Christians pray only out of a sense of obligation. They think of prayer as something they are “supposed” to do. Others pray only when tragedy strikes or when a crisis befalls them, and then they do not pray again until the next difficulty comes along.

Prayer is not only for our benefit but also for the delight of our God. We are not just to intercede for things we need, but we are to ask for the things he desires. Unless these two elements go together, we do not have a foundation upon which to build a prayer life. Whereas we seek relief and help from the Lord, he desires fellowship with us.

“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?” (Matthew 6:25).

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow…” (Matthew 6:33-34).

“Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask him” (Matthew 6:8).

God is saying to us, “When you come into my presence, focus your attention on fellowship with me, on getting to know me. Don’t let your focus be on material things. I know what your needs are so you don’t even have to ask. I will take care of them all. Just seek me. Let us enjoy sweet communion!”

Tarfoot · 20-04-24, 20:52

The Joy of Repentance

“And he said, ‘O man greatly beloved, fear not! Peace be to you; be strong, yes, be strong!’ So when he spoke to me I was strengthened, and said, ‘Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me.’” (Daniel 10:19, NKJV).

Daniel’s soul was in agony. He had been mourning for sin—praying, fasting, weeping—and it left him flat on his face, totally drained. He moaned, “O my lord…my sorrows are turned upon me, and I have retained no strength” (Daniel 10:16).

Jesus came to him and touched his body, and Daniel was suddenly flooded with peace and strength. Christ said to him, “‘O man greatly beloved, fear not! Peace be to you; be strong, yes, be strong!’ So when he spoke to me I was strengthened…” (Daniel 10:19).

Jesus was essentially telling Daniel, “Daniel, I love you, and I want to give you my peace. Now, stand up and be strong.” Daniel received the word of the Lord and was filled with God’s strength. He stood up, completely free from fear.

The repentant Christian can be downcast, totally wiped out, overwhelmed by sorrow and weariness. However, the Lord always comes to touch his body, to give him renewed peace and strength.

Do you have a repentant heart? Do you want one? Fall on your knees today and cry out in confession for yourself, your family, your loved ones, your church. You will receive an incredible revelation of the Lord, and you will begin to speak from pure lips. You will know peace and strength from God’s mighty hand so that you will no longer live in fear of any kind.

“The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped; therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song I will praise him. The Lord is their strength, and he is the saving refuge of his anointed” (Psalm 28:7-8).

Best of all, each of these marvelous benefits will be “loaded” upon you daily: “Blessed be the Lord, who daily loads us with benefits, the God of our salvation! Selah” (Psalm 68:19). That is when you will know the joy of walking in repentance.

Tarfoot · 23-04-24, 23:49

Promise Keeper

"Not one word of all the good promises that the LORD had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass." - Joshua 21:45

This verse highlights God's unwavering commitment to keeping His promises. The Israelites experienced this faithfulness throughout their journey, and He never failed to deliver on what He said He would do. This evidence of God's faithfulness should inspire us to have faith in Him.

As Christians, we can rest assured that God is a promise keeper and will never fail to keep His Word. If you have been struggling with your faith, take comfort in knowing that God is trustworthy and will see you through, no matter your circumstances.

Take a moment to celebrate God's faithfulness in your life and thank Him for His unwavering commitment to be who He says He is.

Pray with me:
Heavenly Father, we thank You for being the Promise Keeper. We ask that our faith and trust in You would increase, knowing that You will always keep Your promises and never fail us. In Jesus' name, Amen.

29-01-24, 15:51	#1401
Tarfoot Honoured Member Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: US Posts: 1,914 Thanks: 547 Thanked 1,107 Times in 992 Posts Awards Showcase Total Awards: 5	Re: POWER of PRAYER- No Matter Which Faith You Follow=GOD is With You Not Just Turning from Evil If we’re not careful, we can learn how to live with things that aren’t good for us. Maybe it’s even a pattern of sin that we’ve gone along with for 10 or 15 years. We tell ourselves, “This is just the way it is.” We might be caught in a lack of zealous hunger for God’s Word, lack of passion for the things of God, a deadness in our hearts. We can turn from those things. Turning like that is very good. It takes away things in our hearts that don’t belong there. If we stop there, though, it leaves an emptiness in those spaces. Jesus told a parable about this, saying, “When the unclean spirit has gone out of a person…it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ And when it comes, it finds the house empty, swept, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they enter and dwell there, and the last state of that person is worse than the first” (Matthew 12:43-45, ESV). It’s not enough to turn away from dead things in our lives. When we turn, God wants us to turn away from evil, but he also wants us to turn toward him. The Holy Spirit is not just about taking bad things away from us then leaving us empty. He wants us to turn away from idols, but he also wants us to turn toward something better. If we’re willing to stop and listen, we can hear God saying, “I want to change something in you. It’ll turn your soul from lukewarmness that comes from wandering away from your first love. It’ll put fresh fire and wind in your spirit.” We can respond, “God, do a work in my heart. Revive and awaken my soul within me. Don’t let me continue to be stuck in the same patterns of sin, drifting through life, missing your gifts and plans for me.” He will make a new hunger and passion stir in our heart so we don’t miss out on his presence in our marriage, our family, our work. This is how a move of God begins. He will transform our churches and communities, but he starts first with turning individual hearts. __________________ I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people -- for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:1-4

06-02-24, 03:58	#1402
Tarfoot Honoured Member Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: US Posts: 1,914 Thanks: 547 Thanked 1,107 Times in 992 Posts Awards Showcase Total Awards: 5	Re: POWER of PRAYER- No Matter Which Faith You Follow=GOD is With You Leaving and Forgetting The Holy Spirit's message to the bride of Christ in Psalm 45 was “Forget your own people also, and your father's house” (Psalm 45:10, NKJV). The still, small voice was whispering, “It isn’t enough just to leave your past behind. You must also forget it all. Put every past love and distraction behind.” The messenger here says to the bride, “Are you going to give him mere lip service after the wedding, or does your mind wander back to things of your past, old friends, habits and loves? If you commit to this marriage, you must not only leave your past behind, you must forget it completely.” When Jesus speaks of some who “do not forsake all” (Luke 14:33), he is speaking of those who turn from him and cling to idols. An idol is anything that possesses our time, attention, love or money. Many husbands can rightly say that they are good providers, right? They work long and hard and spend quality time with their families. How much time do they devote to Jesus? Do they have what I call a “leaving-and-forgetting time” when they set aside quality time for Jesus alone? Many wives also neglect their time with God. They have given their husbands and children the best years of their lives. They are hardworking and faithful and they take good care of their families. Yet, how much “leaving-and-forgetting time” do they give to Jesus? How many hours a week do they shut out the world and draw close to him? The problem isn't family or career. Rather, it’s the loitering, aimlessly lounging around and wasting time. Many of God's people spend their time endlessly idly spending time with friends or lolling in front of the TV. We waste so many precious hours and neglect our Lord and Savior. How jealous the Lord must be over all our other loves, all the things that eat up our time and attention. The old adage is true. It's not the ‘bad’ that is the enemy of the Christian, but the ‘good.’ It's family, career, job, children. These things in themselves do not stand between us and the Lord. No, it's our loitering. The Lord wants his time alone with us. It is crucial that we take time out and give him our full attention. He asks us, “Do you love me more than these?” (John 21:15). __________________ I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people -- for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:1-4

13-02-24, 16:46	#1403
Tarfoot Honoured Member Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: US Posts: 1,914 Thanks: 547 Thanked 1,107 Times in 992 Posts Awards Showcase Total Awards: 5	Re: POWER of PRAYER- No Matter Which Faith You Follow=GOD is With You I Will Give You Rest God has promised his people a glorious rest that includes peace and security for the soul. The Lord offered this wonderful rest to the children of Israel, which meant a life full of joy and victory without fear, guilt or condemnation. Up to the time of Christ, no generation of believers ever walked fully in this blessed promise. Why was this? The Bible makes very clear that it was because of their unbelief. “To whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who did not obey? So we see that they could not enter in because of unbelief” (Hebrews 3:18-19, NKJV). Because of their unbelief during the period of the kings and prophets through David’s generation, God's people went through life full of misery, doubt, fear and restlessness. In every generation, the rest was promised, but it was refused and never appropriated or understood. That is why, when we read further in Hebrews, we find this glorious life of faith still unclaimed. “There remains therefore a rest for the people of God” (Hebrews 4:9). Yet we also read, “Since therefore it remains that some must enter it…” (Hebrews 4:6). The Bible admonishes present-day believers with this warning: “Therefore, since a promise remains of entering into his rest, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have come short of it” (Hebrews 4:1). Thousands upon thousands of believers claim to be filled with the Spirit of God, yet few have entered into this promised rest. Many are tossed about by winds and waves of doctrines, restless and guilt-ridden with no security in Christ. Jesus said, “I will give you rest, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light" (see Matthew 11:28-30). My prayer is that today you will enter into the rest God has for you. Reach up by faith, and receive because it is his free gift! __________________ I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people -- for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:1-4

16-02-24, 16:17	#1404
Tarfoot Honoured Member Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: US Posts: 1,914 Thanks: 547 Thanked 1,107 Times in 992 Posts Awards Showcase Total Awards: 5	Re: POWER of PRAYER- No Matter Which Faith You Follow=GOD is With You Saved by Faith Alone When we first came to faith in Christ, we trusted that our sins were forgiven. We believed we were accepted, that we could lay down all guilt and fear and say, “I am saved by faith alone in what Jesus did for me at the cross.” As we proceeded in our walk with Jesus, we committed fresh acts of disobedience. We were crushed by our sins and quickly lost our vision of the cross. We tried to work out our own righteousness, to win back God’s favor by trying harder, but life then became a nightmarish merry-go-round of sin and confession, sin and confession. We sometimes act as if trying harder on our own can save us. We think if we could just reform this flesh of ours, God would be pleased. Soon we are constantly working on our old man, to shape him up for a victorious Christian walk. Some Christians may say, “I paid a high price for the victory I’ve achieved. I went through a lot of pain and suffering. I fasted, prayed and successfully put down all my lusts and sinful desires. Is my struggle to obey worth nothing to God? Does he consider all my righteousness, all my hard work, as filthy rags?” Yes! It is all the flesh and none of it will stand before him. There is only one righteousness, and that is the righteousness of Jesus Christ. “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness, and seeking to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted to the righteousness of God” (Romans 10:3, NKJV). The only way to get into God’s good grace is to admit the truth: “There is no good thing in my flesh, nothing in my good works to merit my salvation. I cannot become righteous through anything I do in my own strength. My righteousness is in Christ alone.” Paul says of the gift of righteousness, “Those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the one, Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:17). __________________ I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people -- for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:1-4

19-02-24, 15:31	#1405
Tarfoot Honoured Member Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: US Posts: 1,914 Thanks: 547 Thanked 1,107 Times in 992 Posts Awards Showcase Total Awards: 5	Re: POWER of PRAYER- No Matter Which Faith You Follow=GOD is With You Remember Our Life Source Jesus told the church in Laodicea, “I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing…” (Revelation 3:15-17, ESV). That last line is probably the most tragic thing someone could say to God. I don’t think most modern believers in America would ever say out loud, “That’s me too. I need nothing from God.” We say it sometimes in our actions, though. We say it in our schedule, our time spent, our passions, our dreams. Our goals and the layout of our days say, “I don’t really need the Holy Spirit because I can do this myself. I don’t need time in prayer because I have the wisdom to move ahead in my own strength.” Jesus knows better. He went on in verse 17. “For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked” (Revelation 3:17). Jesus wrote this letter to say, both then and now, “Please come back to me. You don’t realize how badly you need me.” There’s an old hymn that says, “I need Thee every hour most gracious Lord. No tender voice like Thine can peace afford. I need Thee, O I need Thee. Every hour I need Thee. O bless me now, my Savior, I come to Thee…” God is our source of life and power in life. Jesus is our past, present and future. He’s our all in all. Nothing compares to him. When I sit down to read my Bible every morning, I pray, “Lord, keep speaking to me. Do not pass by me. In this time I have with you today, please meet with me. I need you. I need a fresh touch from heaven. I need to be refilled with the Holy Spirit’s power and grace.” Will you join me in praying that each day? We never need God any less, no matter how smoothly life is going. __________________ I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people -- for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:1-4

24-02-24, 01:33	#1406
Tarfoot Honoured Member Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: US Posts: 1,914 Thanks: 547 Thanked 1,107 Times in 992 Posts Awards Showcase Total Awards: 5	Re: POWER of PRAYER- No Matter Which Faith You Follow=GOD is With You Justified before God Picture yourself standing before God's throne with no excuse or alibi. Satan, your legal adversary, is reading off the list of charges with times, places, every shameful detail. He makes accusations of pride, prayerlessness, covetousness, unfaithfulness, and your heart smites you because you have to admit, “Yes, that's me. I did it all.” It looks hopeless for you. You know God's eyes are too holy to look upon sin, and his justice demands that you pay for your crimes against his holiness. You are helpless. Suddenly, here comes your lawyer and advocate. He stretches forth his nail-scarred hands, and you know something is about to happen. He smiles and whispers, “Don't be afraid; none of these charges will stand. You're going to walk out of this courtroom free and fully pardoned. When I'm finished, your accuser won't have one charge left against you.” Best of all, your lawyer tells you he has adopted you as his brother. Then he tells you he is the son of the judge, so you now belong to the judge's family as well! There is still the matter of justice, though. What about the charges against you? You listen in absolute wonder as your advocate pleads your case: “Judge, you know that I fulfilled the law, living a sinless life. I took this person's place, taking on all the punishment for his crimes. Through these nail-scarred hands and my pierced side, blood came forth to blot out all of his transgressions. All these charges were put on my back, and I paid the penalty for every one of them.” Your advocate then looks at your accuser and says, “Satan, you have no grounds to accuse my child. Each of his sins was placed on me, and I have fully pardoned them all. He is not guilty because his faith in the victory of my sacrifice gives him full pardon. You have no case!” As the devil slinks out of God's court, you can hear the Lord cry out, “Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies” (Romans 8:33, NKJV). __________________ I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people -- for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:1-4

28-02-24, 19:33	#1407
Tarfoot Honoured Member Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: US Posts: 1,914 Thanks: 547 Thanked 1,107 Times in 992 Posts Awards Showcase Total Awards: 5	Re: POWER of PRAYER- No Matter Which Faith You Follow=GOD is With You The Spirit of Antichrist Our Savior exists as a man right now in glory. He is a living person with flesh, bone, hair, eyes even though he is God. Although we are here on earth, his Spirit dwells within us. “And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying out, ‘Abba, Father!’” (Galatians 4:6, NKJV). There is another spirit at work in the world: the antichrist spirit. Just as surely as Christ has given us his Spirit, there is an antichrist spirit set on preparing hearts for the coming of the man of sin. “And this is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world” (1 John 4:3). John was saying, “You have heard about the coming of the antichrist. It has been preached and taught, and you expect his arrival. Beloved, wake up, because the spirit of antichrist is already at work!” Understand that the antichrist will not suddenly appear on the scene and overwhelm humankind. Rather, his spirit is mysteriously at work now, setting up his kingdom in cold, compromising hearts. When he finally appears, he will be publicly revealed to a world already prepared for him, to hearts his spirit already possesses! Right now we see a growing antichrist sentiment, but soon this will turn into a flowing stream and eventually a vast ocean. The antichrist spirit is invading the hearts of many apostate Christians even now. “But how?” you ask. “Why would certain Christians ever turn to the antichrist?” It is because they are like-minded with him. John wrote, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. …Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour” (1 John 2:15-18). John is warning us that those who still love the things of this world have opened themselves to the spirit of antichrist. He is saying, “You know these are the last days because so many are full of the covetous, antichrist spirit!” __________________ I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people -- for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:1-4

01-03-24, 22:16	#1408
Tarfoot Honoured Member Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: US Posts: 1,914 Thanks: 547 Thanked 1,107 Times in 992 Posts Awards Showcase Total Awards: 5	Re: POWER of PRAYER- No Matter Which Faith You Follow=GOD is With You Finding His Rest “You will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:29-30, NKJV). I know of only one way to enter into this rest that Jesus is talking about. If understood and appropriated, this truth will usher you into the most glorious peace possible on this side of heaven and end all feelings of insecurity. This foundational truth upon which all others are built is the doctrine of justification by faith. It is the one doctrine you must understand if you hope to enter into the rest that Jesus offers. I can only touch on the highlights of the magnificent truth of being justified by faith, yet I believe God desires to lead his church further into this divine truth. He wants to give us a foundational strength that will hold us in the days to come. Sadly, when you mention the subject of doctrine, many Christians turn up their noses. They say, “I don’t want to hear all that deep, heavy stuff. Just give me Jesus!” Yet what they really mean is “I don’t want to discipline myself or spend the time to learn what Jesus did at the cross.” Too many Christians become emotionally involved with the cross but never really study it. I have heard many preachers deliver emotional appeals about Jesus and the cross, about his beatings, the crown of thorns on his head, the spikes driven into his hands. The preaching of the cross is about much more than that, however. It is about the victory of the cross and what Jesus did for all of humankind. Two things are involved in our justification by the cross of Jesus Christ: First, we have pardon for all our sins. When Jesus went to the cross, his blood pardoned us from all guilt. Second, we are accepted by God as righteous in Christ, through faith. This means God accepts us on the merits of what Jesus did on the cross and not because of our works or any good deeds. For those who desire to “learn of him,” who want to understand Jesus’s wonderful work at the cross, justification by faith is how we enter into Christ’s rest. __________________ I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people -- for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:1-4

04-03-24, 00:54	#1409
Tarfoot Honoured Member Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: US Posts: 1,914 Thanks: 547 Thanked 1,107 Times in 992 Posts Awards Showcase Total Awards: 5	Re: POWER of PRAYER- No Matter Which Faith You Follow=GOD is With You The Simple Gospel of Christ The letter of 1 John was written to a group of believers who found themselves in a difficult climate. As Christianity spread, it was met with opposition from a religious culture that was very inclusive. The Greco-Roman world was ‘open’ to many different philosophies and had a pantheistic point of view where all beliefs and ideas could be meshed together. Christianity is monotheistic and very exclusive. Now, exclusive doesn’t mean you aren’t welcome because of your ethnic background or history. No, not at all. Rather, Christianity makes a declaration that Jesus Christ is the only way to God and that the revelation we receive in scripture is all we need for a life in God. It’s a very plain and simple declaration, and it can’t be merged with any other religion. Either it’s completely true, or it’s utterly false. Those in the early church who had come to saving faith in Christ had the temptation to try to merge their new beliefs with their culture’s idols. John was writing and speaking out strongly against those who were preaching false messages that the tenets of Christianity could be blended with the culture’s beliefs. He made this point through the staggering juxtaposition between light and darkness. If you’re in a dark room and someone lights a match, that light is undeniable. It will never be confused with the darkness. What Christianity claims cannot be confused or mixed with anything else in the world. “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:5-7, ESV). We brought sin on ourselves, but we will one day be resurrected into a restored world because of what Jesus did on the cross. This is the great hope we have in Christ and his message. There is no other way. Much love and God's blessings on you all. __________________ I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people -- for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:1-4

06-03-24, 02:00	#1410
Tarfoot Honoured Member Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: US Posts: 1,914 Thanks: 547 Thanked 1,107 Times in 992 Posts Awards Showcase Total Awards: 5	Re: POWER of PRAYER- No Matter Which Faith You Follow=GOD is With You Sticks and Stones "You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand up against the life of your neighbor: I am the LORD." - Leviticus 19:16 We have all heard the old saying, "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." It would be nice if that were true, but words can hurt and harm others. Once spoken, words cannot be taken back. Leviticus 19 instructs us on how to treat our neighbors and avoid causing them harm. Sadly, insults and defamation are common even outside of politics, and they can happen in the workplace, church, and even within families. We should not use words or actions that destroy others, but instead, pray for those with whom we have issues and love them as God commands us to. Take a moment to assess your words and ensure they are edifying to others. If you find yourself becoming cynical towards someone or about some issue or place, pray and ask the Holy Spirit to adjust your attitude instead of speaking words you will regret. Remember that we are to demonstrate God's love to everyone and not view others as our enemies. Pray with me: Dear God, thank You for the guidance we receive from Your word. Please forgive us for any harmful words we have spoken towards our neighbors. Fill us with Your Holy Spirit so we may speak, act, and think in ways that honor You and do not harm others. Help us to live by Hebrews 3:13, "But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called 'today,' that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin." In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. __________________ I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people -- for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:1-4

11-03-24, 04:00	#1411
Tarfoot Honoured Member Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: US Posts: 1,914 Thanks: 547 Thanked 1,107 Times in 992 Posts Awards Showcase Total Awards: 5	Re: POWER of PRAYER- No Matter Which Faith You Follow=GOD is With You God Hears Our Cries Afflictions teach us to bend our knees, to cry out to the Lord in all our problems and troubles. “I know, O Lord, that your judgments are right, and that in faithfulness you have afflicted me” (Psalm 119:75, NKJV). David is saying, “Lord, I know why you afflicted me. You saw that when all was going well, I went astray, becoming careless, so you allowed trouble to come upon me. You knew it would drive me to my knees and bring me back to brokenness. My affliction was evidence of your faithfulness to me!” I know many people who have had to battle awful bondages in their lives against drugs, alcohol, cigarettes; and temptation rages every day. I say to all such people, “God cares. He knows the misery you go through, and he alone has the power to deliver you.” The Lord does not constantly hover over you, saying, “You’re miserable because of what you did. You failed me, and now you’re paying the price.” No! You do not serve such a God; you serve a loving Father who feels your grief the moment you first feel it. No matter how you got into your affliction, God hurts with you, and he wants to deliver you. You may think God is not helping you at all; but the very moment he heard your cry, he went into action. Let me prove it to you. “So God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God acknowledged them” (Exodus 2:24-25). The word acknowledged here means “He began to act.” God heard their cry and began taking action on their behalf. “The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles” (Psalm 34:17). Whenever you fall on your knees, God immediately goes to work on your behalf. __________________ I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people -- for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:1-4

13-03-24, 23:49	#1412
Tarfoot Honoured Member Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: US Posts: 1,914 Thanks: 547 Thanked 1,107 Times in 992 Posts Awards Showcase Total Awards: 5	Re: POWER of PRAYER- No Matter Which Faith You Follow=GOD is With You Look for His Coming Jesus warned his followers, “Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect” (Matthew 24:44, NKJV). A characteristic of the bride of Christ is an expectancy of his soon return. Jesus’s bride is to live in continual, joyful expectation of his imminent return because he may come at any moment. Jesus warned, however, that in the last days evil ministers will infiltrate the church in an effort to put the bride to sleep. They will attempt to take away her heart of love for her bridegroom by claiming, “My master is delaying his coming” (Matthew 24:48). This gospel is preached by those who do not want to pay the price of obeying Christ’s commands. They really do not want Jesus to come back because they have sinful habits and lead double lives; in fact, they have concocted a doctrine to justify their continuing in sin. What is the result of this false teaching? First, it ends in worldliness because those who believe it want to enjoy worldly success and prosperity. Beloved, do not give in to this doctrine of delay! If you are a part of Jesus’s bride, you will be so lovesick for your Lord you will not be able to buy into it. Instead, you will cry out, “My Lord said I am to be ready at any moment for his return. I know he is near; I can sense it. My heart cries out within me, ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming!’” The early church was wide awake, heeding Jesus’s words. Their lamps were trimmed and burning, and they had a good supply of oil. Peter summed up the spirit of the early church. “Looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God…nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth” (2 Peter 3:12-13). Finally, Paul said, “…you were enriched in everything by him in all utterance and all knowledge, even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that you come short in no gift, eagerly waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 1:5-7). __________________ I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people -- for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:1-4

21-03-24, 23:04	#1413
Tarfoot Honoured Member Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: US Posts: 1,914 Thanks: 547 Thanked 1,107 Times in 992 Posts Awards Showcase Total Awards: 5	Re: POWER of PRAYER- No Matter Which Faith You Follow=GOD is With You Devoted to Jesus Let me give you what I call “the devoted life for commuters and subway straphangers.” It is a simple way for busy Christians to lead a practical, deeply devoted life with nothing mystical about it. Devotion to Jesus means trusting him alone to meet every need of your body, soul and spirit. It means giving up looking to any other person or source to meet those needs. Many single people say, “I’m sick of being lonely. I need a mate. If only God would give me someone!” No, a mate would never be able to meet such a need. In fact, a mate could possibly make you twice as miserable because you would have not only your own headaches but his or hers as well. Until Jesus is your focus, until you see him as your only true satisfaction, you will sink deeper and deeper into despair. At one point, Jesus wanted to prove to his disciples that he was on top of any situation, so he called Peter to get out of the boat and walk on the water to meet him. Peter obeyed; and as long as he remained focused on Jesus, he was above everything, actually walking on water. However, when the disciple began to focus on his surroundings, he started to sink (see Matthew 14:28-31). The lesson here is elementary. What do you do when you get that sinking feeling? Do you call out to a friend for help? Or do you keep your eyes focused on Jesus and cry out, “Lord, save me”? The bride of Christ will be comprised of those who have given up trying to find help, comfort or satisfaction from anything on this earth. They have learned to depend wholly on the one they love to fully satisfy their every hunger and thirst. Do you have this kind of walk with Jesus? I urge you to keep your eyes focused on your bridegroom. Expect his return at any moment and do not look to anyone or anything else to fulfill you. __________________ I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people -- for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:1-4

29-03-24, 14:39	#1414
Tarfoot Honoured Member Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: US Posts: 1,914 Thanks: 547 Thanked 1,107 Times in 992 Posts Awards Showcase Total Awards: 5	Re: POWER of PRAYER- No Matter Which Faith You Follow=GOD is With You The Church of Forgiveness Only Isaiah chapter four opens with a concise and tragic description of what I call the church of forgiveness only. “And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, ‘We will eat our own food and wear our own apparel; only let us be called by your name, to take away our reproach.’” (Isaiah 4:1, NKJV). I believe we are living in the last days, and this chapter in Isaiah is one of the clearest prophecies about how the church will look just prior to the coming of the Lord. The seven would-be brides that Isaiah mentions are clearly a type of many in the last-days church. They are seeking to lay hold of one man, whom I take to be Christ; yet these brides are not interested in loving him. On the contrary, they have only one thing on their minds: the removal of reproach. They even say, “We will eat our own food and wear our own apparel; only let us be called by your name.” The number seven is used in regard to these brides to remind us that in every church there are such people. They attempt to “take hold of one man”—Christ—only to get relief from the guilt and condemnation of their sin. They do not want intimacy with him. They want nothing more than to have the reproach of sin removed. This type of church only wants forgiveness, not repenting or relationship. These self-centered, would-be brides have no desire to submit to the authority of a husband. They do not want to know God’s heart, and they do not care about his concerns. Out of intimacy with Jesus, we receive discernment, direction, a knowing of what is right and wrong, and a surety of what is holy and pure. Intimacy with Christ gives us a firmness wherein we are not tossed around by every wind of doctrine. Stay close to him so that you will have discernment about the foolishness going on around us. __________________ I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people -- for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:1-4

31-03-24, 14:18	#1415
Tarfoot Honoured Member Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: US Posts: 1,914 Thanks: 547 Thanked 1,107 Times in 992 Posts Awards Showcase Total Awards: 5	Re: POWER of PRAYER- No Matter Which Faith You Follow=GOD is With You Easter: God's Message of Grace and Justice Several years ago, I heard a very popular Christian speaker talk to a large audience for an hour. He said nothing heretical. He said nothing controversial. He just focused on the “unconditional” love of God. Again, nothing wrong with what he did say, but it is what he did not say that bothered me. He said nothing about repentance of sin. There is a reason Jesus said what he said in the above bible verse. And there is a reason John the Baptist introduced Jesus to the world with the exact same proclamation in Matthew 3:2: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” There is a popular trend going on in the American Christian church. The trend is to talk of the love of God without talking about the justice of God. But if you read the Bible, it is clear, there exists both the grace of God and the wrath of God, and Jesus Christ spoke of both. Many Christians around the world have been celebrating Holy Week this week culminating today with Easter Sunday or what some churches call Resurrection Sunday. It is to commemorate the victory of Jesus over Satan, sin, death and hell. This is good news! And “good news” is the meaning of the word “gospel.” It is true that God’s love for mankind is “unconditional.” However, in order for man to be in right relationship with God, man must conform his life to match with God’s requirement of man. And God does not force this decision on man. God draws a person to himself, but it is the free will of the individual to decide if he or she will obey God’s requirements for a right relationship or not. Jesus called this experience being “born again.” In other words, a person (every human) must understand that he or she has violated God’s laws and is forever separated from God spiritually unless he or she repents of their sin and trust in the shed blood of Jesus on the cross for forgiveness of that sin in order to be counted among those who have been redeemed. Redeemed from the consequences of unrepentant sin which is death and hell. What I am writing here in not popular in modern day America and where we want to live our own life without interference from God. It’s our natural tendency to live for ourselves instead of obey the commands of God. That is the eternal struggle between flesh and the spirit. In order to prove our love for Christ, he says we must deny ourselves, pick up our cross daily, and follow him. Our “cross” is a challenge to wake up daily and try our best to live like Jesus. The way we learn to live like Jesus is to study the Bible, take time to pray and fellowship with other believers (followers) which we call “church.” God knows we will fail at this precisely because we are human. Sometimes we are tempted by sin and we give in to it. But the Bible also says that if we are willing to confess our sins to God, He is willing to forgive us. That also is great news! No one is compelled to believe this. You may read this and call it foolishness. That is your right. But if that is your view, I at least encourage you to read one book in the Bible, the gospel of John, and consider the claims of the Bible and Christ before you dismiss Christianity. To my fellow Christians, I say, “He is Risen!” __________________ I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people -- for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:1-4

08-04-24, 00:11	#1416
Tarfoot Honoured Member Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: US Posts: 1,914 Thanks: 547 Thanked 1,107 Times in 992 Posts Awards Showcase Total Awards: 5	Re: POWER of PRAYER- No Matter Which Faith You Follow=GOD is With You Led by the Holy Spirit The Lord has a people in these confusing times who are not confused. They are so given to Jesus, so in love with him and separated from the wickedness of this age, that they know the ways and workings of the Holy Spirit. They know what is pure and holy and what is fleshly and foolish. “Then the Lord will create above every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and above her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night. For over all the glory there will be a covering” (Isaiah 4:5, NKJV). This means, in essence, “Over each of these remnant people will be a blanket, a canopy, a hiding place, the covering of the glory of God.” Remember that a cloud of glory covered the tabernacle in the wilderness. “Then the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle” (Exodus 40:34). In Isaiah 4, we are promised that in the last days the Lord will create a glory that covers his remnant church. The glory of God will fill every heart and cover every house, and we will worship under the canopy of God’s glory, which is the manifest presence of Jesus Christ, God’s Son. “His Son …being the brightness of his glory” (Hebrews 1:2-3). The glory cannot get any brighter than Christ manifesting himself to you. The word manifest means “to lay hold of by the hand.” In other words, when Jesus’s presence fills a place, it is so real and evident that your spiritual hands can touch it and your spiritual eyes can see it. It is as real as the air you breathe. I want to see a revival where the presence of Jesus is so powerful and glorious that the “fruit” (conversions) will be excellent (see Isaiah 4:2). I want to see a revival where people stream toward the front of the church, weeping, broken before the Lord; and they will know that they have truly been covered by the glory of God. __________________ I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people -- for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:1-4

13-04-24, 16:48	#1417
Tarfoot Honoured Member Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: US Posts: 1,914 Thanks: 547 Thanked 1,107 Times in 992 Posts Awards Showcase Total Awards: 5	Re: POWER of PRAYER- No Matter Which Faith You Follow=GOD is With You Walking in the Light In the book of 1 John, the apostle was writing to a church that had been shaken by a mass departure of people who had been lured away by false teachers. They had lost friends whom they served alongside in church to gnostic teachers who believed that there was secret knowledge that some could obtain about God. John was writing this letter to encourage the believers who remained but also to rebuke the false teaching that had permeated the church. Isn’t it interesting that almost every letter in the New Testament was written in response to false teaching? Both Peter and Paul wrote about false teachers, the latter noting, “I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you…and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them” (Acts 20:29-30, ESV). To combat this, John wrote, “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:5-7). One of the greatest differences between true teachers of the Word and false teachers is that the true believers will draw people to God; false believers will draw people to themselves and their own ideas. True teachers will only point to God’s Word; they won’t invent or add anything to God’s truth. Walking in the light, as John talked about, is evidence that we are walking in the truth. The term ‘walking’ is referring to our manner of living. We cannot live in God’s ways without living in the truth. This doesn’t mean that we’re living in certain ways to prove something to other people. Hypocrites do that. No, it means that our decisions are informed by the truth revealed in scripture and that lives in us through the conviction of the Holy Spirit. As a result, we will only point to the Bible as our authority, not our own ‘clever’ ideas. People who let scripture inform all their decisions will be the ones who point past themselves to God. __________________ I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people -- for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:1-4

14-04-24, 23:40	#1418
Tarfoot Honoured Member Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: US Posts: 1,914 Thanks: 547 Thanked 1,107 Times in 992 Posts Awards Showcase Total Awards: 5	Re: POWER of PRAYER- No Matter Which Faith You Follow=GOD is With You Disobedience to God’s Word “Those who sat in darkness and in the shadow of death, bound in affliction and irons – because they rebelled against the words of God...therefore he brought down their heart with labor; they fell down, and there was none to help” (Psalm 107:10-12, NKJV). They were bound in affliction because they rebelled against God and rejected his counsel (see Psalm 107:11). Beloved, could this be you? You have sat under godly preaching, and the Holy Spirit has convicted you, but still you are miserable and continue to sin. When a person willfully disobeys God, our tendency is to hide and cower in fear. We may feel that it is all over, thinking, “God can’t use me.” When you are in that condition, the devil will whisper to you, “There is no deliverance for you. You’re one of those people who never change. God has had it with you; your sin has caused him to hide his face.” Satan will pound you with scriptures, misquoting them all. When you sit in church, you will hear only judgment, not God’s mercy, because you are under such condemnation and fear. I am not referring to people who hide from God because they love their sin. Rather, I am talking about Christians who have taken a fall but still have sorrow and a hatred for their sin. Something inside them cries, “I have hurt God.” To this Christian, God’s Word promises, “Then they cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them out of their distresses. He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and broke their chains in pieces. Oh, that men would give thanks to the Lord for his goodness. . . . For he has broken the gates of bronze, and cut the bars of iron in two” (Psalm 107:13-16). God never has and never will hide his face from a crying child of his. No matter how far you have fallen or how many promises you’ve made to him and broken, he will always hear your cry for help and bring you back into close fellowship with him. __________________ I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people -- for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:1-4

17-04-24, 19:16	#1419
Tarfoot Honoured Member Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: US Posts: 1,914 Thanks: 547 Thanked 1,107 Times in 992 Posts Awards Showcase Total Awards: 5	Re: POWER of PRAYER- No Matter Which Faith You Follow=GOD is With You Daniel’s Penitent Heart Daniel, a righteous man, had such devotion that you would not expect to find him repenting. Daniel’s heart, however, was sensitive to sin, and also he identified with the people’s sins. “We have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from your precepts and your judgments. Neither have we heeded your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings and our princes, to our fathers and all the people of the land. …O Lord, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against you” (Daniel 9:5-6,8, NKJV). Daniel repeatedly used the words “we,” “us,” “our.” He was saying, in essence, “Every one of us is affected.” The key to it all is found in this verse: “Now while I was speaking, praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God…” (Daniel 9:20). Daniel said, “God, deal with me while you are dealing with your people. If there is any iniquity in my heart, bring it out.” Daniel was given new lips that had been touched by God’s purging hand. “Suddenly, one having the likeness of the sons of men touched my lips; then I opened my mouth and spoke…” (Daniel 10:16). Whenever Daniel spoke, he spoke as unto the Lord. The prophet Isaiah was a godly man who had issued mighty prophecies, but when he stood before the Lord in all his holiness, this prophet could only say, “I am a man of unclean lips…” (Isaiah 6:5). God took coals of fire from the altar, put the tongs on Isaiah’s lips, and burned out all self and flesh, everything that was unlike him; then he gave Isaiah a new pair of lips. I believe the prophet never again had to have his lips purged. God does this for every person who repents! Once your tongue and lips are purged, you will never again want to speak anything that is unlike Jesus. The words that flow from you will be pure. __________________ I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people -- for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:1-4

18-04-24, 14:15	#1420
Tarfoot Honoured Member Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: US Posts: 1,914 Thanks: 547 Thanked 1,107 Times in 992 Posts Awards Showcase Total Awards: 5	Re: POWER of PRAYER- No Matter Which Faith You Follow=GOD is With You Prayer that Pleases the Lord I believe the kind of prayer that most pleases God is very simple and easy to understand. It is so simple that a little child can pray in a way that pleases him. The disciples said to Jesus, “Lord, teach us to pray” (Luke 11:1, NKJV). They would not have asked unless they had wanted to learn. I believe that most who are reading this message would love to be faithful in prayer, but they do not know how. They simply do not understand the purpose of prayer; and until they grasp this vital purpose, they will never be able to maintain a fulfilled, meaningful life of prayer. Many Christians pray only out of a sense of obligation. They think of prayer as something they are “supposed” to do. Others pray only when tragedy strikes or when a crisis befalls them, and then they do not pray again until the next difficulty comes along. Prayer is not only for our benefit but also for the delight of our God. We are not just to intercede for things we need, but we are to ask for the things he desires. Unless these two elements go together, we do not have a foundation upon which to build a prayer life. Whereas we seek relief and help from the Lord, he desires fellowship with us. “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?” (Matthew 6:25). “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow…” (Matthew 6:33-34). “Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask him” (Matthew 6:8). God is saying to us, “When you come into my presence, focus your attention on fellowship with me, on getting to know me. Don’t let your focus be on material things. I know what your needs are so you don’t even have to ask. I will take care of them all. Just seek me. Let us enjoy sweet communion!” __________________ I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people -- for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:1-4

20-04-24, 20:52	#1421
Tarfoot Honoured Member Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: US Posts: 1,914 Thanks: 547 Thanked 1,107 Times in 992 Posts Awards Showcase Total Awards: 5	Re: POWER of PRAYER- No Matter Which Faith You Follow=GOD is With You The Joy of Repentance “And he said, ‘O man greatly beloved, fear not! Peace be to you; be strong, yes, be strong!’ So when he spoke to me I was strengthened, and said, ‘Let my lord speak, for you have strengthened me.’” (Daniel 10:19, NKJV). Daniel’s soul was in agony. He had been mourning for sin—praying, fasting, weeping—and it left him flat on his face, totally drained. He moaned, “O my lord…my sorrows are turned upon me, and I have retained no strength” (Daniel 10:16). Jesus came to him and touched his body, and Daniel was suddenly flooded with peace and strength. Christ said to him, “‘O man greatly beloved, fear not! Peace be to you; be strong, yes, be strong!’ So when he spoke to me I was strengthened…” (Daniel 10:19). Jesus was essentially telling Daniel, “Daniel, I love you, and I want to give you my peace. Now, stand up and be strong.” Daniel received the word of the Lord and was filled with God’s strength. He stood up, completely free from fear. The repentant Christian can be downcast, totally wiped out, overwhelmed by sorrow and weariness. However, the Lord always comes to touch his body, to give him renewed peace and strength. Do you have a repentant heart? Do you want one? Fall on your knees today and cry out in confession for yourself, your family, your loved ones, your church. You will receive an incredible revelation of the Lord, and you will begin to speak from pure lips. You will know peace and strength from God’s mighty hand so that you will no longer live in fear of any kind. “The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped; therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song I will praise him. The Lord is their strength, and he is the saving refuge of his anointed” (Psalm 28:7-8). Best of all, each of these marvelous benefits will be “loaded” upon you daily: “Blessed be the Lord, who daily loads us with benefits, the God of our salvation! Selah” (Psalm 68:19). That is when you will know the joy of walking in repentance. __________________ I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people -- for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:1-4

23-04-24, 23:49	#1422
Tarfoot Honoured Member Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: US Posts: 1,914 Thanks: 547 Thanked 1,107 Times in 992 Posts Awards Showcase Total Awards: 5	Re: POWER of PRAYER- No Matter Which Faith You Follow=GOD is With You Promise Keeper "Not one word of all the good promises that the LORD had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass." - Joshua 21:45 This verse highlights God's unwavering commitment to keeping His promises. The Israelites experienced this faithfulness throughout their journey, and He never failed to deliver on what He said He would do. This evidence of God's faithfulness should inspire us to have faith in Him. As Christians, we can rest assured that God is a promise keeper and will never fail to keep His Word. If you have been struggling with your faith, take comfort in knowing that God is trustworthy and will see you through, no matter your circumstances. Take a moment to celebrate God's faithfulness in your life and thank Him for His unwavering commitment to be who He says He is. Pray with me: Heavenly Father, we thank You for being the Promise Keeper. We ask that our faith and trust in You would increase, knowing that You will always keep Your promises and never fail us. In Jesus' name, Amen. __________________ I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people -- for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. 1 Timothy 2:1-4

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