Pray when you need Him, but don’t make that the only time you pray. God wants a relationship with us, not just to be “on call” whenever we feel we need Him.

Keep God at the center of your life. Talk to Him about everything. Praise and thank Him for all the good things in your life. Don’t complain to Him about the difficult things; just thank Him for what He is doing in you through them. Trials build character, and God is always molding us more and more into His image, if we let Him!

Character….the character of God….doesn’t that sound like the kind of character you want? It doesn’t just “happen” you know. It is developed over time, and as long as we remain here on this earth, God is not finished with us. He is continually molding and shaping us into His image, building His character in us.

Glory halleluia!!

Received this in an email:

Billy Graham’s Prayer For Our Nation

THIS MAN SURE HAS A GOOD VIEW OF WHAT’S HAPPENING TO OUR COUNTRY!

‘Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask your forgiveness and
to seek your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, ‘Woe to
those who call evil good,’ but that is exactly what we have done. We
have lost our spiritual equilibrium and reversed our values. We have
exploited the poor and called it the lottery. We have rewarded laziness
and called it welfare. We have killed our unborn and called it choice.
We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable. We have neglected
to discipline our children and called it building self esteem. We have
abused power and called it politics. We have coveted our neighbor’s
possessions and called it ambition. We have polluted the air with
profanity and pornography and called it freedom of expression. We have
ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it
enlightenment. Search us, Oh God, and know our hearts today; cleanse us
from sin and set us free. Amen!’

With the Lord’s help, may this prayer sweep over our nation and
wholeheartedly become our desire so that we once again can be called
‘One nation under God!’

Let’s do the RIGHT THING always, in all ways. Jesus is worth our very best.

Lord Jesus, help us to do the right thing. Give us the courage needed for each and every moment, each and every temptation. Keep us strong and courageous, for You!!

“Rejoice greatly, O daugher of Zion!
Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem!
Behold, your King is coming to you;
He is just and having salvation,
Lowly and riding on a donkey,
A colt, the foal of a donkey.
I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim
And the horse from Jerusalem;
The battle bow shall be cut off.
He shall speak peace to the nations;
His dominion shall be ‘from sea to sea,
And from the River
to the ends of the earth.’

Zechariah 9: 9-10

“He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, And from the River to the ends of the earth.” ~ Psalm 72:8

Prophecy about Jesus from the Old Testament was fulfilled in the New Testament:

“The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out: ‘Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! The King of Israel!’

Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written: ‘Fear not, daughter of Zion; Behold your King is coming, Sitting on a donkey’s colt.‘”  ~ John 12:12-15

Had to share this video. Great perspective.

By Blueprint for Life
April 3, 2013

Listening to some ladies sharing past experiences at our bible study last night opened my eyes to some of the ways churches can bind up people after they accept Christ as their Lord and Savior.  How sad that is!!  Jesus came to set us free, not put us in deeper bondage.  We don’t put off the chains of the old law only to take on chains of a new one!!

Jesus said, “Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill.”~Matthew 5:17 

Only Jesus can fulfill the law of the Old Testament.  We cannot. 

I listened while ladies spoke about rules in their church growing up, how so many of those rules made them feel unworthy of God’s love.  Well, guess what!  We are unworthy!  That is why Jesus came to save us!!  He didn’t come because we deserved it.  He came because we don’t and can’t!

The bible says in Romans 4:7, “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds have been forgiven, and whose sins have been covered.”

Ephesians 2:8 says, “By grace you have been saved through faith.”  It is by His grace that we can be saved.  All we have to do is put our faith in Him.  We don’t have to be worthy.  We don’t have to deserve it, because actually we cannot.

Oh, praise Jesus!!  We are forgiven!!  Our sins are covered!!  Let us not forget that we now live by grace, His grace showered upon us freely even though we don’t deserve it.

You know, condemning others or even ourselves really just shows our own pride.  If we ever think we could be good enough, we are only fooling ourselves.  Only Jesus is good enough.  Only Jesus is righteous.  Only Jesus can keep the law and fulfill it.

BUT……and this is a BIG BUT…..

He has forgiven us.  He has died to set us free.  All we need to do is put our faith and trust in Him and walk in His righteousness, the wonderful thing He imparts to us.  I marvel at the fact that when God the Father looks down at us, He only sees Jesus!

Do you know Jesus?  Have you put your faith and trust in Him?  If not, do it TODAY!

¹In the beginning the Word already existed.
The Word was with God,
and the Word was God.

²He existed in the beginning with God.

³God created everything through him,
and nothing was created except through him.

⁴The Word gave life to everything that was created,*
and his life brought light to everyone.

⁵The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness can never extinguish it.*

Read for yourself from John 1

If you are Catholic, you believe in Jesus, right?  If you are Catholic, you believe in the virgin birth, do you not?  If you are Catholic, you believe in Mary, the mother of Jesus, don’t you?  If you are Catholic, you believe in God the Father, right?  If you are Catholic, you believe in the trinity, God in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, correct? 

So if you are a Catholic and you were to die tomorrow, are you certain you are going to heaven?  Well, if you think that simply “being” Catholic will get you into heaven, you are WRONG!!  Simply being a Catholic gives you no better chance of getting into heaven than an atheist or an agnostic.  Do you know why?

The reason why is because there is only ONE WAY to get into heaven, and it really has nothing to do with what church we attend.  That ONE WAY is a person and his name is Jesus, the one you “believe” in! 

You must have a PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP with Jesus to get into heaven.  Simply “believing” is not enough, and just “being” Catholic is not enough either.

Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life.  No man comes to the Father except by me.” ~ John 14:6

Only Jesus can get us to heaven.  Have you invited Him into your heart?  Have you given your life to Him?  Do you acknowledge Him as Lord of your life?  You can do this TODAY!

I’ve been hearing a lot about forgiveness lately. It’s even been the topic of teaching at my church. What is so important about forgiveness anyway? Is it really necessary? Well, when we read the Word of God, we can see that it is. 

In Matthew 6:14 we read, “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.”  And in Mark 11:25 we read, “And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him and let it drop, in order that your Father Who is in heaven may also forgive you your own failings and shortcomings and let them drop.”

Consider what I heard one person say, that if Jesus had waited for us to ask for forgiveness, we would never have received it. Hmmm, kind of got me thinking.

Oftentimes we need to forgive others even if they do not ask for forgiveness.  When we do not forgive and instead harbor bitterness or anger in our hearts toward someone, it actually interferes with our relationship with God, hinders our prayers, and blocks our blessings!

Consider what the bible says in Luke 6:37b: “acquit, forgive and release (give up resentment, let it drop), and you will be acquitted and forgiven and released.” (The Amplified Bible) 

These verses tell me that God expects us to forgive, even requires it, and He promises to forgive us when we do.  He states that unless we forgive others, we will not be forgiven by Him.  I don’t know about you but I sure want God to forgive me for the things I’ve done wrong!

I also heard it said that a person who will not forgive does not realize what they themselves have been forgiven of.  The bible says that we are ALL sinners and fall short of the glory of God.  Jesus said in John 14:6 that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life, and that no one will get to the Father (in heaven) except by Him.  That means we must put our faith and trust in Him if we ever hope to meet our Father in heaven.  Jesus took our sins upon Himself on the cross in order that we would be forgiven for those sins. 

Have you put your faith and trust in Jesus?  If not, don’t delay.  DO IT TODAY!

I love the promises of Jesus in the book of Revelation, Chapters 2 and 3.  Each section is ended with the words, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”  followed or preceded by a promise. Consider those promises with me.

Ch 2 verse 7: “To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.”

Ch 2 verse 11: “He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.”

Ch 2 verse 17: “To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat.  And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.”

Ch 2 verses 26-28: “And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations–‘He shall rule them with a rod of iron; As the potter’s vessels, shall be broken to pieces’ –as I also have received from My Father; and I will give him the morning star.”

Ch 3 verse 5: “He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.”

Ch 3 verse 12: “He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more.  And I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God.  and I will write on him My new name.”

Ch 3 verse 11 also states, “Behold, I come quickly!  Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.”

What wonderful promises from our Savior!!  Yes, in this world we will have tribulation, but He has overcome the world and we can overcome whatever challenges enter our lives by His strength in us.  When we do this, we are promised Paradise, food from the tree of life, protection from the second death, hidden manna to eat, a new name, power over the nations, the morning star, sparkling white garments to wear, our name guaranteed in the Book of Life, confessed before God the Father and His angels, life forever in the New Jerusalem, Jesus’ new name given to us, sitting on His throne with the Father.  Wow!  So exciting!!