What Is This Thing Called Salvation? — video message

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God Is Looking At Your Lamb — video message

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‘ABUNDANCE OF MERCY’ – My Latest YouTube Message

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Three Encouraging Words From the Lord

Most recent YouTube message: Three words of encouragement and instruction from the Lord. Be blessed.

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God’s Looking For Ordinary People

So many people feel that they would be willing to serve the Lord and be used to tell others about His love and mercy, but they believe that God can’t use them. They have the idea that He uses only people who have some special talents or gifts — or people who are particularly strong in faith and never have any fears or flaws to get in the way.

But that idea simply isn’t true. The Lord isn’t looking for people who are perfect, or who have developed some kind of talent or ability before He calls them to share the truth about Jesus and His redemption with others. God’s just looking for people who are willing. That’s it. If we are willing to listen when He calls; if we’re willing to spend time in His Word so that He can give us revelation concerning it; and if we’re willing to obey His call when we hear it, then we are exactly the people He’s looking for.

Two friends of mine, Bud and Maretta Hall, from a small town in Southern Illinois, USA, are exactly that kind of people. They fit the description of “ordinary people” perfectly. They didn’t see themselves as having any particular gifts or accomplishments that would have destined them to be used internationally to spread the Gospel. But they loved the Lord. And when He tapped them on the shoulder and beckoned them to believe Him and just obey His instructions — one step at a time — one day at a time — they found themselves in the midst of a life of service that wasn’t ordinary in the least. 

Through decades of following the leading of the Holy Spirit, they constantly experienced God’s unchanging love, His timely provision, and His abiding peace. 

This past year, Maretta was led to share much of their experience in a memoir that recounts the story of how an extraordinary God can take two very ordinary people and do miraculous, life-changing things that affect lives, both in this world and in eternity.

So if you’d like to be thrilled, challenged and inspired by such a story, take a look at the trailer for her book and then hop over to Amazon and order a copy for yourself — and another copy for someone you love.

 Check out THE CALL OF AN AWESOME GOD TO TWO ORDINARY PEOPLE.

Available in Paperback, Hardcover, or Digital HERE.

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Believe You Can

You will see in this exceptional photo that the horse is literally flying over this double hurdle with a measurable amount of space to spare. A particularly difficult feat, and a beautiful sight to behold. I was inspired to see in this photo the meeting of a challenge in a quote from a woman named Dorothea Brande. She said: “Act as if it were impossible to fail.”

The beautiful horse in this picture believed he could fly over this hurdle with room to spare.  That is the only reason he is doing it successfully.  I found that looking at this picture and dwelling on it encouraged me to challenge myself to do the same, and I’m passing on that challenge. Whatever it is in your life that you need to — or even want to — accomplish successfully, believe that you can do it.  See yourself doing it.  Throw your heart over the hurdles that look like they could hinder you.

A famous trapeze artist from two generations ago was training a new student who, one day, suddenly became filled with fear as he looked at the precarious perch where he had to perform.  He froze — couldn’t move a muscle — and began to gasp, “I can’t do it! I can’t do it!”  The long-time veteran put his arm around the young man and said, “Yes, son, you can do it, and I will tell you how: throw your heart over the bar, and your body will follow.”  The Word of God backs up that premise with the truth from Proverbs 23:7, which says of man, “As he thinketh in his heart, so is he.”

The horse in this picture had been trained by his master to jump over those hurdles successfully. He knew the thrill of doing so, and he knew the rewards of success. That training caused him to believe that he could make this jump with plenty of room to spare. Our God teaches us that we can “do all things through Christ who strengthens us” (Phil. 4:13), and that “with God nothing shall be impossible.” (Luke 1:37). He also tells us that if a man has faith in God and shall “not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.” (Mark 11:23).

That horse threw his heart over those bars because he believed he could make that jump.  So he did.  He simply acted on what he believed and succeeded. Let his example stir you. When you go through a difficult situation in your life and find yourself facing the challenge of doing something that looks a little too big or too high for you, go back and take a long look at this photo.  Meditate on it until the power of it has saturated your own soul. Then obey Dorothea Brande’s wise words:  “Act as if it were impossible to fail.”

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Healing Is The Children’s Bread

If you would rather access this message on video, you will find the link below the article:

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In the natural realm, we are going through a period of time in our world when some items that we need for everyday life are running low – or are unable to be delivered in a timely manner. I’ve had the experience – and I’ve listened to many other people complaining about the experience – of going to the local grocery store and finding shelves almost empty of staples like bread and milk and eggs. And sometimes even a trip to one or two other stores doesn’t glean us any of those supplies either. It’s frustrating – even aggravating – to need something and have no way of obtaining it.

But today I’d like to talk to you about a supply chain that never runs out – doesn’t even run low. I’d like to focus on God’s supply of some things we need and His storehouse that always has well-stocked shelves. I’d like to focus particularly on the bread that He supplies for His children.

When Jesus was here on the earth, He made a pretty amazing statement. When referring to deliverance and healing of the body, He said that those provisions were the “children’s bread.” We find His words in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 15 and in Mark, chapter 7. Jesus was speaking to a Syrophoenician woman who, although she was not a Jew and had no covenant with God, was, nevertheless, asking for deliverance and healing for her daughter. And the point Jesus made to her was that He had not been sent to those with no covenant with God, But He had been sent to fulfill the covenant God had made with those who loved Him and had relationship with Him. Now, Jesus did respond to that Syrophoenician woman’s faith and delivered her daughter anyway, but His point in that conversation was that anyone in covenant with God had a predetermined right to a supply of that healing and deliverance, simply because it was a part of God’s covenant provision – as surely as bread was part of their food provision.

It’s significant that He spoke about those provisions as something as basic as bread. It’s a staple for the human diet. It’s not something we consider an appetizer, a dessert, or a between-meal treat. No, bread, according to the Word of God, is one of the primary foods that He promises to provide and bless. One example of that provision is found in Exodus 23:25, where He says “I will bless your bread and your water.”

So God sees bread as one of the most necessary items in our food supply. And He chose to identify His healing and deliverance as a commodity that is a fundamental staple in our lives as surely as bread is a physical staple in providing our nourishment and satisfying our hunger.

Beloved, are you battling sickness or physical infirmities right now? Are you in need of deliverance from some kind of stronghold in your life? Then you can come to the storehouse for your supply of the “bread” God has prepared for you.

There’s plenty of it. And we’re not talking crumbs here. If you have made Jesus your Lord, you are God’s child, and God’s bread belongs to you. If you haven’t made Jesus your Lord yer, you can remedy that fact right now. Simply tell Jesus that you choose to believe that He is the Son of God and that He took your sin and died to pay for all that sin. Tell Him you want Him to become your Lord and take control of your life from this moment forward. That’s all it takes. Once that’s done, you, too, have become a child of God, and His bread is yours.

And God’s supply isn’t running low. There are shelves and shelves of bread available every day. Come and get yours. Take a whole loaf. You aren’t limited to a slice or two. You can have a whole loaf at once, with a new slice for every different thing that’s wrong. Are you dealing with an eye problem and a pain in your foot, as well as a head cold? Are you dealing with cancer and diabetes and arthritis all at the same time? Are your mental faculties waning, causing you to lose memory or have trouble reasoning? Is there a problem with one of your organs because you have had an addiction to alcohol or nicotine, so that you need deliverance as well as healing?

No problem. It doesn’t matter how many afflictions you’re dealing with. There’s a slice for every problem. If you need two or three slices for one kind of sickness, and then two or three more for another issue, there’s still no problem. If your current loaf runs low, there’s plenty more where it came from.

And we don’t even have to stop at getting bread. The Lord loves us so much that He wants to provide a complete menu for us, meeting our every need. He tells us in Psalm 23, verse 5, that He prepares a whole table for us right in the presence of our enemies. Now we don’t have to keep our eyes on the enemy forces that have come out against us, watching all the time to make sure they are not going to get the upper hand. When we put ourselves into the right relationship with the Lord – by becoming one with Jesus Christ – we can rest in that relationship and it’s promised protection. We can sit back and enjoy all the wonderful provisions the Lord has for us even when our enemy is present and wanting to get us down.

Let’s think for a minute about the kind of table the Lord prepares for us. What kinds of provision do you think you’ll find on your table? Will there be bowls of cancer? Or platters of infectious diseases? Will there be loaves of sorrow or pitchers of pain? Why, no, beloved child of God. The Word of God says that Jesus took all of those things for us. Galatians 3:13 tells us clearly that He took the whole curse of the law for us so that we could be free from it.

And that curse includes every kind of sickness and disease man will ever know. You can find the details of that curse in Deuteronomy 28. It lists a lot of individual sicknesses and infirmities by name, but then verse 61 adds the fact that every single kind of sickness and disease that has not already been named is also included in the curse. We are redeemed from it – from every bit of it – so our table will have none of those hurtful, life-threatening things on it.

Instead, we will find bowls of joy and strength, platters of comfort, pitchers of balm, trays of mercies to cover every need, and baskets filled to overflowing with our bread of deliverance and healing.

So if you are in need of any kind of deliverance or healing in your body – or in your mind or emotions – come take a seat at the table the Lord has set for you. Come boldly and joyously. Dip from the bowls and platters and baskets again and again. Take all you need, all you want. Partake until you are fully satisfied and rejoice in the knowledge that your Father is a faithful provider and will never fail to keep an abundant supply for you at His table. The invitation is for all time, so you can come back again and again and feast on the “bread” of healing and deliverance that His love – and the finished work of Jess – have provided for you.

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‘HEALING IS FOR YOU! – Read Free Online

 

HEALING IS FOR YOU! — FREE TO READ ONLINE — or JUST $0.99 TO DOWNLOAD to your own digital device.

If you’d like to stay focused on healing and health instead of disease, let me remind you that my book “Healing Is For You!” is free to read online. I’ll put the link below. This book will strengthen and energize your faith for receiving healing and continued health from the Lord.

Also, I have arranged for the e-book version from Amazon to be available for only $0.99 through the end of April. That’s the lowest price Amazon will let me offer.

The book is available in paperback as well, of course, but that takes longer to get a copy than digital. The only difference in the digital is that it does not include study questions, and it has only 33 healing scriptures in the last chapter instead of the 100 scriptures in the print version.

If you do not have a Kindle, that’s no problem, because Amazon offers a free app for any digital device, and you can download it easily from the same page where you order the e-book. I’d offer the e-book free as well if I could, but $0.99 is as close as I can come.

Here’s the link for the free read version:
https://healingfromjesus.wordpress.com/healing-is-for-you/

Here’s the link to the $0.99 e-book:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01GAYZ2J8

If you don’t feel that you need this faith encouragement personally, pass this post on to someone who does need it.

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Trust

I find it very hard to trust people nowadays. I’m not sure why, but I have to assume it’s because so many people have let me down and/or virtually ‘knifed me in the back,” to use a worn-out — but exceedingly descriptive — phrase. I won’t use this post to list the times and details of those kinds of experiences. That would do no good for anyone — least of all me. And I can honestly say that I have, with the Lord’s help, been able to forgive all those actions by others against me. And, in fact, in most cases — again, with the Lord’s help — have put them out of my conscious mind to the point that I’d  have to make concerted effort to remember those details. I’m very grateful that I’m at that point in my life.

However, just because we forgive hurts, attacks, and injustices by others does not mean that we automatically acquire renewed trust in those people. And, unfortunately, it’s true that when you know you cannot trust most people, then it’s pretty hard to trust any at all. But thank God, He can help us. He can lead us to relationships with people who really are trustworthy, and He can give us the faith and courage to take the steps that lead us back into trust.

The main reason He can do that is because He is so trustworthy Himself. Our loving Father God means every promise He ever made to us. And He’s made at least one that will cover every single need we will ever have. And He tells us in 2 Corinthians 1:20 that every promise (from the Old Covenant and the New Covenant) has already been answered “Yes” in Jesus. There’s no way God will ever go back on any promise He’s given us in His Word, because, according to this passage of scripture, He cannot change His mind or decide He’s not in the mood to answer “Yes.” It’s already a done deal, so we can trust Him, no matter what.

And, of course, that’s why He can tell us in Proverbs 3 that we should trust in the Lord with all of our hearts and lean not unto our own understanding. I’m so grateful that, in a world where so many people can’t help but hurt each other and break trust, we have a God whom we can trust with our whole being. We can literally stake our lives on His love, His Word, and His faithfulness. We can trust and not be afraid.

 

 

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I Am My Beloved’s

 

“I am my Beloved’s, and His desire is toward me”  

(Song of Solomon 7:10)

Jesus loves you, and His desire is toward you. That word toward is very significant here, because most people who love someone have a desire for them — rather than toward them. And, in truth, Jesus does desire to have you for His own, but that’s only so that He can give you everything He is and everything He’s accomplished for you. He wants you to have everything He has. And He’s already paid the price for you to possess it. You don’t have to do anything to earn all that He has for you. The only requirement on your part is that you receive Him into your own spirit (your own heart) and make Him Lord of your life. Once He’s in that position, He can begin pouring into you all that you need and all that will make your life blessed and successful now — and throughout eternity.

In Ephesians, chapter 1, the Word of God tells us that God accomplished total victory over every force of evil through Jesus’ work of redemption, and when He raised Jesus from the grave, He gave Him absolute, eternal power and authority over every person and thing in the entire universe. Then the Word says that when God did that, He was exercising the “greatness of His power toward us.”  It was all done for us. You see, God’s power is always moving and working to bring us good. It’s always toward us. The truth is that if you become a child of God — by accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord — you just can’t get away from God’s power working good for you.

Men and women for generations have sought high and low for some kind of religion that would satisfy them. They’ve studied one religious system after another and experimented with their various tenets and practices. But not one — not one single religion on the face of the earth — can offer man a total deliverance from his own base nature and from the evil that exudes from that nature. Not one of those religions can offer a fresh start, free of charge, and a nature purified and changed into the nature of the God who created us in the first place. Every religion out there tells us that we, somehow, have to do something, to earn a better life and a better eternity. We have to work at it, and then may not obtain our goal in the end after all.

But Christianity is NOT a religion. True Christianity is simply the Father God loving His own children, and being loved by them. It’s a family, pure and simple. Every parent who is worthy to be called a parent is constantly aware that he loves his child more than his own life, and his constant desire is toward his child — to meet his needs, heal his wounds, and bless him with gifts. And God is no different. That’s His desire as well. And through Jesus, the first Son, He calls all of us into His loving arms, desiring us to receive His love and become sons and daughter as well, so that He can exert His power toward us for good.

If you know this wonderful Father, you know what I’m talking about. But if you do not yet know Him, today can be your day. He already loves you, His desire is already toward you. Call out to Jesus and let His exceeding great power work a total regeneration in you today — and for eternity.

 

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Covenant of Peace

“For the mountains may be removed and the hills may shake, but My lovingkindness will not be removed from you, And my covenant of peace (wholeness, completeness) will not be shaken, says the Lord who has compassion on you. In righteousness you will be established; you will be far from oppression for you will not fear; and from terror, for it will not come near you. If anyone fiercely assails you, it will not be from Me. Whoever assails you will fall because of you. No weapon that is formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn.”

(Isaiah 54:10, 14, 15, 17)

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PRAY NOW!

Believers: Let’s not get complacent about Hurricane Irma. This storm is more than just another hurricane. This is a well-planned, well-orchestrated demonic onslaught on this nation and the people in it. The enemy wants the inhabitants of the U. S. and the rest of the world to believe that the natural elements of this world have run amok, and that there is no God who’s interested enough in delivering His people from the chaos.

We know that there is such a God, and that His mercy is big enough to send His own Son to be slaughtered on our behalf. He wants to deliver the people of Florida — and other places as well — from this vicious demonic attack. But He’s made it clear in His Word that He must have covenant men and women — on the earth — praying and taking authority in the name of Jesus for His power to overcome in the earthly realm.

This is a defining moment in the battle between the two spiritual forces that want to rule in our nation and in our lives. Our simply saying, “I’m in agreement,” will not do the job. We have to put our whole hearts into praying the Word and commanding the Word against this situation. Pray as you would if your own son or daughter were stranded in Florida right now with nowhere to hide from this storm.

 

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