You belong in His royal court!

Zechariah 14:9
The Lord will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one Lord, and his name the only name.

In a world of MTV and prime-time tv that celebrates the sexual escapades of four flirtatious women you wonder if this is a promise from God or some pie in the sky dream.

I believe that perversion is no worse today than in the days of Zechariah. While we have hyper consumption of pornography on the internet, in those days they didn't watch it in secret, it was out in the open and readily accepted.

But as in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah it wasn't their sexual depravity that ended their days, it was the pride they took in denying the very one who created them. The one and only whose name is the only name.

We now have in our path a fork on the road. Will we take the path of denying his kingship or exalt our very own prowess?

I think Zechariah's words are not for the future as in a prophecy we hold unto in waiting. It is a prophecy for us right now in this very moment because our world begins with ourselves. So if He is to be king over the world, he must first be king over each of us.

Will you dare to try to steal his crown today or will you bow down to the King of Glory and accept your rightful position in his royal court?

Let's move on from child's play!

Psalm 138:8
The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your love, O Lord, endures forever -- do not abandon the works of your hands.

Do you feel that you are the work of His hands? Ephesians 2:10 says "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them."

Imagine that, he created each and everyone of us for a specific purpose. I believe we often don't even realize what great things we are supposed to do for Him. People can be devout Christians going to church every Sunday but never even come close to what God wanted them to do.

Eugene Peterson captures this in his Message translation of Hebrews 6 where he helps us understand the grandeur of the work we have in front of us.

"So come on, let's leave the preschool fingerpainting exercises on Christ and get on with the grand work of art. Grow up in Christ."

So what do you say?

Let's get out of the playground and move on to the serious work our Lord wants us to do!

He is restraining himself!

2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

You have to love Eugene Peterson and his interpretation in the Message version:

"God isn't late with his promise as some measure lateness. He is restraining himself on account of you, holding back the End because he doesn't want anyone lost. He's giving everyone space and time to change."

I remember one day in the Rome airport when a man was so irate because his plane had actually left on-time. "How dare they leave on time?" He yelled at the Alitalia counter attendant.

Imagine if Jesus came today, right now. How many angry and upset people would there be in the world? "But I was going to stop doing that for my new years resolution!" "But we were going to get married next week." "But I was going to confess on Sunday."

Funny how inpatient we can be with God but we hardly recognize his incredible patience for us. Well, not funny really.

He is restraining himself on account of us... Let's soak that in for a minute...

His power could consume us instantly yet his self control is so great it saves us. Thanks be to God for his abundant mercy and grace.

Go tell your Father.

Leviticus 19:18
Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.

Remember the saying "don't get mad, get even"? Just another lie ingrained in our hearts when we were children. It reminds me of "sticks and stone will hurt my bones but words will never hurt me." How terribly untrue these words are.

Imagine if an adult hurt one of your children. How ridiculous would it be for your child to seek revenge and try to hurt the adult himself? Instead, your child would tell you about it and you would take care of the situation.

So when we are wounded, do we harbor bitterness and anger? Do we plot against the offender so that he can suffer a wound in revenge? Or do we go tell our Father in heaven so he can take care of things?

Go tell your Father!

Are you hiding today?

Jeremiah 23:24
"Can anyone hide in secret places so that I cannot see them?" declares the Lord. "Do not I fill heaven and earth?" declares the Lord.

Its good to be reminded of this verse; You can run but you can't hide!

When we are in disobedience the very first tendency we have is to hide from God. Remember Adam in the garden? "Adam, where are you?" But God knew were Adam was!

When we are doing something wrong we turn away from the Christian radio station, you put your Bible out of sight, you do everything to hide the things of God as if he can't see you. Think about it, when you find yourself driving like a bat out of hell, do you find yourself singing "Awesome God"? Most likely you got a secular radio station feeding your rebelious flesh!

The things of God in our lives and the matters of fleshly desires just don't mix well. Feed your flesh then you must turn from God. Draw near to God and you find yourself killing the flesh.

Its clearly a choice in our lives but every choice is based on logic which depends on knowledge. The flesh deceives us into thinking we are capable of hiding from God. You have to assume that you are able to do so to consiously do something that puts you in opposition to God.

So are you hiding today?

Are you holding a butcher knife?

2 Thessalonians 3:3
The Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen and protect you from the evil one.

Do we realize that the evil one is no match for God? If we are by ourselves he would take us out in a New York minute. But since the Holy Spirit dwells in us, who can be a threat to us?

However, as I read this verse it is sometimes easy to question God because it seems that every time I turn around the evil one inflicts me with yet another a wound. Well, at some point in time we are going to have to realize that we are the ones that give the devil and his demons authority to attack us.

God remains faithful but it is our job to draw near to him for protection. We have to seek the shelter of his mighty hand.

A friend of mine gave me a powerful analogy to explain God's protection plan. God protects us and our families as if we had a big umbrella that shielded us from the rain. However, our disobedience is as if we took a butcher knife and started to poke holes in the umbrella. Now the rains of the evil one have access to you and your family.

Are you holding a butcher knife in your hands? Drop it!

You will not faint!

Isaiah 40:31
But those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

Reading this verse I immediately think of the song "Everlasting God" by Lincoln Brewster. The song says that "strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord."

In my opinion, waiting can sometimes be more challenging than an outright frontal attack from the enemy. I was just reading news of the situation in Zimbawe as Morgan Tsvangirai the opposition leader had to seek refuge in the Dutch embassy for the goverment has stepped up their oppression on the eve of the runoff election on Friday. How long will our brothers and sisters in Zimbawe have to wait for justice and peace?

We think we have it bad today with $4 gas and the economy but how would the people of Zimbawe receive this verse today? In the midst of pure injustice, beatings, incarceration and astronomical inflation?

I think of Paul and that in his epistles he did not really pray for the churches to escape oppression but rather prayed for the Lord to give them strength and resolve to endure the trials. Recognizing this verse in the midst of our most intense trials is to confess that the outcome has already been secured by the victory in Calvary.

The question is, do we have the strength to hold on to the truth and not faint? How do you obtain such strength? Who provides this strength?

God is the answer!

Regardless of what we see in the natural, we shall not be moved by these afflictions. Just as the Apostle John heard the loud voice say in Heaven; We WILL overcome the dragon by the blood of the lamb and by the word of our testimony and by not loving our life even unto death. (Rev 12:11)

You will not faint!

Snakes

Psalm 121:7-8
The Lord will keep you from all harm -- he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.

Ever wonder why nothing seems to happen to the neighbor who is far from God, never goes to church, just plain wicked. Yet they seem to get everything they want and don't seem to have a lot of problems, just having a great time through life.

Then you look at your life and all it challenges and you read this verse and say "God! What's up??????? Hello?????"

Think about this; does the devil have to worry about your neighbor? He's already got him bagged and tagged. In the mean time, he's trying to bag and tag you!

When Paul was shipwrecked they started a fire and he was bit by snake. The natives of the island thought for sure he was tagged and bagged but he took authority over the snake and threw it in the fire.

Surely Paul rested upon verses like this one. The natives then realized that he was with God as the snake did not harm him.

Do you have snakes in your life? Will you believe they can harm you or will you throw them in the fire.

I don't know about you but I'm tired of the snakes and I'm looking to throw as many as I can into the fire!

Its good to be in the shade.

Psalm 91:1
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

I remember one hot summer day at the Big Bend National park when we went exploring in a canyon called "Closed Canyon."

It was SO hot we began to get a bit delirious as we were trying to make our way out to the car. All we could think about was finding the safety of shade and water.

It can be like that in our lives. We wonder off into the heat and we forget the shadow of El Shaddai (Almighty). Then we realize our lives are at risk and we run for His cover.

Looking back into that experience in the canyon it was really stupid. We could have died! We had run out of water and we started to experience heat exhaustion. I can remember the intense feeling of joy when we made it to the van and turned on the AC.

Likewise, I've found myself out of the shelter of the Most High. Its not hard to wonder off your path and all the sudden find yourself exposed to the intense heat of fear and condemnation.

Just remember, draw near to God and you will find the safety and comfort of his shade.

How much do you value your soul?

Mark 8:36
What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his very soul?
What is your soul? From God's perspective according to this verse it is worth more that the whole world!

Imagine that, God so loved your soul that he gave up his only son!

Dictionary.com defines soul as the principle of life. No wonder the devil wants it!

Your soul is your mind, its the spirit that gives you command over the body. Its no wonder that many people who are really successful are very unhappy and often die young.
They may have the world but the cost was more than they bargained for.

How much do you value your soul?

Now that's a REAL man!

Ephesians 5:25-26
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy.

I always try to look beyond the obvious in some verses. The obvious here being that you are supposed to love your wife.

Whether married or not, men today grow up in a society that runs opposite of this verse. The idea of a strong man is usually one who is independent. He finds it more honorable to lay down his life for his beer drinking buddies.

According to this world, there is a sense of strength and manliness attached to the man that can put his woman in her place and have priority to watch his football game with his buddies. A man is "macho" when he lusts over other women but rebukes his wife when she has a wondering eye.

Society's idea of a strong man is really a weak man. Meekness is a character trait that really identifies a strong man. Yet this is such a misunderstood word. Ask anyone in the street "do you aspire to be meek?" and they will probably cus you out! Meekness to them is like weakness.

Meekness however is great power under control; Jesus gave his life for the church; the entire scope of God's power given unto a man, restrained by supernatural self-control even to the point of enduring incredible pain and death of the cross so that he could fulfill the Father's promises to us, the church.

Now that's a REAL man!

We should be glad...

Ephesians 6:4
Fathers, do not exasperate your children, instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.

When God inspired Paul to write these words, surely he was thinking of us. Every morning when we wake up we are just a mere thought away from exasperating someone!

As a father of four children, I can honestly say that I have not always done well in this department. I can remember that I would always get upset at my oldest son for loosing my tools. To my great surprise, after he left home I lost tools all by myself! I've repented and asked him for forgiveness since.

We should be glad our Lord doesn't behave the same way!

I want to be His hands!

Psalm 68:4-5
Sing to God, sing praise to his name, extol him who rides on the clouds -- his name is the Lord -- and rejoice before him. A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.

Verse 5 which begins with "a father to the fatherless" seems to be out of context with verse 4. Psalm 68 begins with the words "Let God Arise" and verse 4 is the pinnacle of celebration as God arises to scatter our enemies.

In verse 5 God brings us back down to earth to remind us that while we have a lot of reason to celebrate when we are walking in his blessing, someone else needs a blessing too.

In other words, God blesses us so that we can be a blessing to others.

So as he rides on the clouds and loads us with benefits every day (v19), we need to look around and be aware of the opportunities He places in our lives to be His hands of blessing, specially to the fatherless and widows.

I want to be His hands! How about you?

Let's be bold today!

Psalm 103:13
As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him.

The dictionary defines compassion as: "a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering."

In other words, its not just feeling sorry for someone but doing something about it.

So let's think about a challenge today. Imagine that you had a good friend, perhaps your best friend. Perhaps you grew up together. Years ago he bought stock and now he has millions of dollars. He has told you time after time that he would help you with anything. All you need to do is ask and he would provide.

How many of us would have a hard time asking for help? The thought of it would bring shame and embarrassment to most of us. We would see it as a matter of pride and look at asking for help as utter defeat.

Likewise we have a Father in Heaven who has all the resources in the world at His disposal. Do we boldly approach his throne to ask for help or do we wrap ourselves in pride to hide our shame and embarrassment?

Let's be bold today!

What will we offer Him as a present today?

Proverbs 23:24
The father of a righteous man has great joy; he who has a wise son delights in him.

I recall one rainy afternoon when my dad and I were walking. I guess I had an afinity for stepping in puddles. Even when I wasn't trying I did and my dad would get so upset.

Yet I know he would not have traded any of those moments for the world because my father adored me. I was his only son and even though I did stupid little things like that he had great joy in me.

My memories are filled with special moments with my dad and even though its been years since he left to be with the Lord those memories are refreshed everyday as I interact with my own children.

I know not all people have that kind of relationship with their fathers but there is your Father in Heaven.

He is a Father that delights in you, even if you've stepped in one too many puddles, he still adores you. He can't wait until the next opportunity he has to bless you.

Today on Father's Day let's recognize our Father in Heaven whose name is worthy to be praised. He loves us so much he sacrificed his only son so that we may live a life of victory with the power of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us.

What will we offer Him as a present today?

Check your passport.

Philippians 3:20
Our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.

A couple of years ago I met a man from a Unitarian church. I thought he was a liberal whacko and when he handed me a business card, (one of those freebe types), it was confirmed in my mind as I read the title under his name which said "Planetary Citizen."

Now I read this verse and I think how little did I know that he was closer to biblical truth than me! How many people out there do we look at with our wicked spiritual pride? I hear people criticize preachers like Joel Osteen saying they are false teachers just interested in numbers and themselves.

Let me ask a question. What's wrong with 40,000 people worshiping our Lord Jesus Christ in the same building? Our spiritual pride and jealousy causes many of us to dismiss these events as great deceptions of the devil. But isn't that giving the devil too much credit?

Dr. Yonggi Cho has the largest churches in the world with over a million members in South Korea. He fills soccer stadiums with over 100,000 people. There is great wisdom to be gained from a man and a church like that but many dismiss him because he has the wrong passport.

So what passport do you carry? Maybe its a nice burgundy leather bound Lutheran passport? Perhaps it is Methodist? Or maybe it is from the Republic of Southern Baptists?

Whatever it is, perhaps it is time we consider our heavenly citizenship?

Check your passport!

We don't deserve it, but we got it.

Luke 11:13
If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to our children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask for him.

I think this verse forces us to acknowledge that we are undeserving of any gift from God. Yet He has abundant grace for us!

In other words, are we proud of our walk of faith? Make no mistake, its not good enough. However, we are ever thankful that His grace trumps over our inabilities!

The second part of the verse says that if we ask, He will give us the gift of the Holy Spirit. Have you ever asked yourself; What's in this gift?

In the gift of the Holy Spirit we have Johovah Rohi (PSA 23:1) our sheppard who guides us. We have Jehovah Rapha (EX 31:13) who heal us. And we have Jehovah Jireh (GEN 22:13,14) our provider who gives us everything we need to do His purpose.

So, we don't deserve it, but we got it, so let's not waste it!

If He can do this...

Psalm 19:1-2
The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge.

I was looking at a cloud the other day and I was mesmerized. It looked like an angel looking to the left. I could imagine a big brass trumpet in his mouth glorifying the Lord.

Then on a dark moonless night in the country the vastness of the sky surely reveals the wisdom of God. Everytime I see the sky on a night like that I utter the words "how can anyone not believe in God?"

This verse tells me that when you have trouble, look up at the sky. God's handprints are all over it, he is near.

The skies tell us, "look at His work, if he can do this, your problem is nothing for Him to solve!"

Picture Credit: © 2007 D L Ennis - Visual Thoughts http://dlennis.wordpress.com/

Be STILL sayeth the Lord!

Psalm 46:10
Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.

Are you restless and weary? Are you worried about the circumstances that lie in front of you? Are you drowning in a sea of disbelief which is pounding you with wave after wave of dispair?

Ok, maybe its not THAT bad in your life but you get my point!

Be STILL sayeth the Lord!

Remember the disciples in the boat fearing for their lives as Jesus took a nap? In Matthew 8:26 he said to them "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.



He is God. Is there any question in your mind about exalting him? Would you exhalt him for terrible things in your life? Of course not! We will exhalt him because when we need him he will wake up from his beauty sleep and simply say a word that saves us.

He is mighty to save so we shall exalt him every waking minute of the day!

Picture Credit: © 2007 D L Ennis - Visual Thoughts http://dlennis.wordpress.com/

Drop those buckets!

Colossians 3:13
Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

Unforgiveness will hinder every aspect of our lives yet we sometimes hold on to it as if it was some valuable treasure. Let's face it, we often feel it is hard to forgive when someone has totally violated us!

I've heard people tell me "I can't forgive them, they don't deserve it!" Well, forgiveness is not so much for the offender as much as it is for the offendee.

I often refer to unforgiveness with an analogy of someone holding two five gallon buckets of water.


Think of how hindered their life can be. Are you holding some buckets of unforgiveness? All you have to do is as simple as dropping does buckets!

If it is a challenge for you to "drop the buckets" please let me know because I have a small write up that will help you.

So happy to find the right road!

Matthew 7:13-14
“The Narrow and Wide Gates”
Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.

Ever drive down a one way street the wrong way? At first, you might get upset because you think the car in front of you is off his lane and coming at you. Then he has the nerve to honk his horn at you! That's when you suddenly realize you are the one who is wrong. You feel that rush of embarrassment and you quickly turn around and hope nobody else saw your mishap.

I painted that picture to provide contrast on this verse. I don't think Jesus is talking about us mistakenly wandering into a one way street the wrong way. The wide gates are those highways that seem to go in the right direction. They have billboards, they have large and long access ramps with arrows pointing the the way. They have four lanes, even wide enough to fit large busses! You can set the cruise control as you join the traffic. It seems that everyone is headed that way.




Then there is the small country road, the one which leads to a wonderful pasture. It's narrow and has plenty of potholes. The ride can be rough and you sometimes wonder why you drove through the narrow gate.

You may even contemplate on the four lane highway and how it is nicely paved. You think of how you could pull over at one of those rest stops where you can feed yourself and find all the comfort and needs of life on the road.

Yet, you just know you are on the right road, the one that started at the narrow gate and you are so happy that you found it!

Picture Credit: © 2007 D L Ennis - Visual Thoughts http://dlennis.wordpress.com/

How do you jump over fences?

Habakkuk 3:19
The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights.

Have you ever watched a deer jump a fence? She is powerful yet graceful. She is a great picture of self control as she clears the fence perfectly. Never wasting energy to jump higher than she needs to.

How do you clear the fences in your life? Do you run over them like a tractor? Do you stop to take them apart? Are you prone to trip over them? Or do you rely on the strength of the Lord to give you the grace and power to jump those fences perfectly?

Got time?

Psalm 90:2,4
Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.

I think of when Paul wrote about beign caught up in the third heaven and heard inexpressible things. Could this have been related to this verse?

Perhaps it revolved around the idea that life in the eternal perspective has no time concept.

For example, I wonder if when the glory of God passed by Moses he got caught up in this realm of timelessness and found himself talking to Jesus and Elijah at the transfriguration.

If God is not limited by time then we must always consider that God is patient! Waiting for us is not a problem for him! God will always deliver us from our problems on time!

And here is another angle: even the devil knows this reality of time for in Luke 4:5 he tempted Jesus by showing Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.

So what are we to get from all this? I think of it this way: God is in us. That realm of timelessness is resident in our hearts and that should give us great power over our lives.

The thief does not want us to think in this eternal perpective. This is why so many things in our lives are time sensitive and cause us hurry and worry.

We have to be willing to spend some of our so call precious time with our loving Father in heaven and he will begin to supernaturaly change our perspective of time so incredible things will begin to develop in our lives. Things that if left to our own devices would take us years to develop God can do in a split second!

A free fill up anytime you want!

Ephesians 3:17-19
I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge -- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

I just filled my tank of gas. It was over $65. I remember the days when we could splash 5 bucks in the tank and drove for a couple of days.

But what about this verse! That we MAY be filled with the whole fulness of God? You can't buy that! Nothing we have done or will ever do can afford a tank full of the fullness of God but it is a gift that He has given us. Oh thank you Lord!

Think about this; the power we get from gas utterly fails to compare to the power that is in us. And the tap is available for a free fill up anytime you want!

I am glad you are doing what you are doing...

1 Thessalonians 5:11
Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

Many of the people that I send this to call me or email back with encouragement from day to day. I also know that many of you are actively encouraging and building up one another. This is what being a Christian is all about!

One day we all figured out that we had to die to self and live to bless others. In doing so, we live as the hands of God. I heard a preacher last night say, the face of God is Jesus but the hands of God is the church. That is so true!

We can pray all we want for God to do something for us. Ultimately, it is the hands of the saints that will deliver God's blessing to others.

So I thank God that he is mobilizing his church to do great things. Despite the fact that we live in a day that selfish nature is well accepted, there is a group of us that are called out to be different and live to encourage one another and build each other up.

Thanks be to God!

Have you thanked Him today?

1 Chronicles 29:11
Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, O Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all.

I just love how the Bible is wonderfuly weaved. The fact that the Word is Jesus is evident in this verse because when he crafted the Lord's Prayer he surely ended it with this verse in mind.

It's your kindom, your power and your glory forever and ever amen.

I'm also reminded of all the great songs and hyms that tap into this truth. Songs like "How great thou art" and "How great is our God" instantly prompt us to recognize his greatness and love for us.

I'm simply in awe at how great he is yet he will travel across the world in a split second to come whisper in our ears with a small still voice. How great is that! With all the things he has to tend to he still loves us so much to be right by our side and have a personal relationship with us.

Have you thanked Him today?

Your tongue is causing you trouble!

Proverbs 15:1
A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

The book of Proverbs is such a common sense book. But if makes so much sense why is it so hard to apply it sometimes? Take todays verse for example. It makes total sense but when someone says something wrong to you or treats you unfairly, unworthy thoughts stir up in our minds and we are ready to fire missles in return. Soon we find ourselves in an escalation of words and minutes later we are left wondering what started the whole thing!

Pastor James tells us that "The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell." He adds that no man can tame the tongue. (James 3)

Where does that leave us to help us come up with gentle answers in the face of constant attacks from the enemy?

Holy Spirit, please help us! Please have a guard in place by our tongues. Ready to extinguish the fire from hell that is set upon them to speak words of destruction. Please pour your oil of joy, gladness and love on our tongues so that we can speak life into every situation that presents itself in front of us and we will glorify you our Father in Heaven.

It's your choice!

Hebrews 9:28
So Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

When I was a kid I grew up in the Catholic culture. I don't remember going to church ALL the time but I do remember one thing that strikes me funny as I read this verse. I would go to the confessional booth where I would speak to a priest through a veil and when I would say "bless me father for I have sinned" and confessed my sin he would prescribe a certain amount of Hail Mary's and Our Father's as a way for myself to find redemption.

Its not much different today. Many churches have a confession during their service. They even spare you the humiliation of personaly admiting your sins to someone, but it is really the same concept. You go to church and you have a priest/pastor declare that your sins are forgiven. What happens on Monday when you've already screwed up? Do we have to wait till Sunday to feel "redeemed" again???

So here is the question to ask ourselves:

Do we walk in condemnation until we can get our fix on Sunday?

Or do we really understand this verse and know that Christ made the sacrifice and that there is no condemnation as we walk in the spirit of Him who gave his life for us and will come back reveal the fullness of our salvation?

Its your choice.

Is today your day of deliverance?

Revelation 21: 2-4
I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.

How can we read this today and be in tears about the problems that stare at us today? God is clear about his message of salvation and redemption and it is a message for today!

This is not just revelation about the future but about now. He has made a dweling for Himself in us!

Jesus sent out the 70 and told them to do signs and wonders and tell the people that the Kingdom of God is at hand. His will be done on earth as it is in heaven so this word is for us today.

He will wipe away every tear. We no longer have to live in fear of unfulfilled promises because Christ died to fulfill all these promises and put away the old order of things.

How will you face your troubles today? Will it be with the bold victory mindset of Revelation or will you doubtfuly wonder if today might be your day of deliverance?