I guess I am officially old.  

I seem to have Doctors Appointments weekly.  

At first, I  revolted, I cannot affort the first $12,000.00 so insurance will kick in.

Then I realized, if we didn’t get over $12,000.00 the hospital and Doctors don’t get paid, except for our $50.00 a month, we pay them.  (A lifetime commitment, how long will it take, to pay $12,000.00 at that rate?)

So bring on the tests, the medical people deserve to be paid.  (We really need to get a handle on medical and insurance, costs).

I am not happy to have to deal with all this stuff, but life catches up to us eventually.  

We do reap what we sow.

In any case, modern medicine is a blessing, 50 years ago, I would be dead 2 or 3 times, from my ailments.  

Not today…. We will be kept alive, long after our expiration date. Long after our best used by date,….   lol.

Do I have a point?  Not really, just getting it out of my system.  We all want to be healthy, to live a long life.  We want to be productive. 

The woman with the issue of blood.  Like us, longed to be healed.

Mark 5:25-34
“And a certain woman, which had an issue of blood twelve years,

And had suffered many things of many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was nothing bettered, but rather grew worse,

When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment.

For she said, If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole.

And straightway the fountain of her blood was dried up; and she felt in her body that she was healed of that plague.

And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press, and said, Who touched my clothes?

And his disciples said unto him, Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?

And he looked round about to see her that had done this thing.

But the woman fearing and trembling, knowing what was done in her, came and fell down before him, and told him all the truth.

And he said unto her, Daughter, thy faith hath made thee whole; go in peace, and be whole of thy plague.”

Saints,  we need to come to the realization that: 

 “If I may touch but his clothes, I shall be whole. ”

We spend a fortune,  our own and the publics, trying to live longer, healthier, stronger…. 

When we simply need to learn to touch Him.

That day, there were people all around Him, she had to work her way through the press of people, to achieve her goal. (To be healed).

It is the same today.  Jesus is swamped with requests, for healings, provision, comfort, and grace.  We have to press in and touch Him. 

We have to stand out from the crowd.  Jesus, will know immediately when we touch Him.  

He knows when it is an effectual fervent prayer, a groaning that cannot be uttered, when we come to the Holy of Holies to receive mercy and grace in our time of need. 

Do we know, how to reach Him?  

No, we have lost the art of prayer and praise.   

We no longer Worship, we celebrate our Rituals every Sunday.  We rarely touch the heart of God.

If I could, I would throw out every Ritual, Ceremony, Responsive Reading,  repeatative prayer… (you get the idea), and spend time and effort knowing, reaching out and touching Him.

We need to learn to be still,… and know,… that He IS God.  

We do not know how to reach Him.  We do not want to push through the crowd.  We do not realize the blessing of walking with Him.

It is easier to follow a plan, a ritual, a ceremony,  than to press in to touch Him.

It has been this way forever.  In Moses time, “You talk to God for us, tell us what He says“…

The Levites and Priests adding 600 laws to Gods 10.  (Rituals, Rules, Ceremonies)

He wants us to know Him.  To love Him. To Praise and Worship Him.  

Like Salvation, it is a personal decision, it is up to us.  No one can do it for us.  We must learn to touch Him ourselves.

Prayer, Praise,  Worship…  teach me Holy Spirit, draw me close to you.  

“That I might Know You, and the Power of the resurrection,  the Fellowship of Your suffering,  that I might be Conformed to Your Image.”   

Amen

Last summer,  I was not feeling well. Arthritis mostly, I guess. In any case, I had little or no ambition.  

Having been in business for over 20 years, I am not surprised when work slows for a few weeks at a time, (I often, look forward to the break ).

So I wasn’t concerned when the first month went by and I hadn’t made even 50% of my average income.  

In fact, I even thanked the Lord, for a season of rest.  

Remember,  I was not feeling my best.  (Apparently not thinking either).   lol

It really wasn’t till I was half way through the second month, that the financial lack became a concern.  By the time the third month started, panic was setting in.

Since I am of a certain age, I opted to sign up for SS.  Immediate crisis averted.  (Thank the Lord, for the SS safety net).  

Still a problem, though, where were my faithful and true customers?  I really had not planed on retirement for another 3 years. 

I realized something was wrong.  

My phone was not ringing.  I would check it and find missed calls or voice mails.  I would not hear it ring.  Was I losing my mind?

 While out on the road  the phone would ring, when at home nope.

I tried calling my wifes phone, when we were both at home.  I could hear it ring while her phone was silent.  What is going on?

According to Sprint, our local tower was not forwarding our calls. 

It took close to two weeks, (after 3 months of not knowing we had a problem), to find, replace and repair the problem.   

It is repaired now, thank God, but business income, was forever lost, not to mention customers who found someone else to do their piano work.

I mention that to speak of this.  One thing leads to another.  

We often have no control.  We just hang on, look to the Lord and trust.  

This current  time of pneumonia and heart concerns, (the last couple of weeks), like our phone problems, are beyond our control.   

All we can do is look to the Lord, and just hang on and trust.

If God be for us, who can be against us?  

Anything can happen at anytime.  Our best plans, ideas and work can come up short.  

If we trust in the Lord, our apparent lack, becomes a time of rejoicing in the wonders of Gods provision. 

If we reside in His secret place, He is our Shepherd,  our refuge, our fortress, our God, in Him shall we trust.  

He IS, a very present help in times of trouble.  He IS, and IS  a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

It is these times, the times we have no control, that draw us, closer to Him. We learn, to give it all to Him, to rest in Him.

Thank you Lord, for supplying all my needs, according to the riches of Your Glory in Christ Jesus,  my Lord, my Savior, my Rock.  Amen

Cause and effect,  sowing and reaping, what goes around, comes around,  ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened. 

“To every action there is always opposed an equal reaction.”  Isaac Newton 

The Bible is filled with promises,  if we, then God… we give to receive, we love to be loved.

Psalm 91:14-16 (KJV) has some of my favorite examples. 

Because we love God:

   *  God delivers us

Because we know His Name:

  *  He willset us on high

When he calls upon Me:

   *  I will answer, 

   *  I will be with him in his troubles, 

    *  I will deliver him, 

    *  I will honour him.

   *  I will satisfy him with long life.

   *  I will shew him My Salvation. 

It is incredible,  God’s love, mercy, promises. 

They require so little from us.  The return for our efforts is multiplied many times.  (30, 60, 100 fold)

We need to sow these few things to God.

Love God, Know God, Call on God.  

This shows our reliance, our trust, our faith.

Psalms  91:14-16

“Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.

He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.

With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.”

Thank You Lord, for Your Promises and Presence in my life.  Amen

10 tough questions for Christians – http://wp.me/p39Q8G-2Dp

Questions that we need to answer in our own lives.

Two Biblical Truths, seemingly at odds. 

1 John 4:8 (KJV)

“He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.”

God is indeed love.  Indisputably love.  

John 3:16-17 (KJV)

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”

John 15:13  (KJV)

“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

There are many Scriptures to support  this truth. 

 Those of us who have accepted Him as Lord and Savior,  have experienced, recognized, and accepted this truth.

The problem is some, have gone so far as to think, we are all Saved from Sin, because of His Love.  (Nothing is required on our part).

This my friend is a false Doctrine.  We could, all be saved.   Jesus died on that cross so that we might be saved. 

Jesus would, have us all come to the knowledge of the Truth, and find Salvation and Love, in Him.

The truth of the matter is.

Matthew 11:12. (KJV)

“And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.“

It is a battle, with our Natural Man,  our Human mind, our thoughts, and feelings.  It does not add up, it makes no sense.  If God is Love, why have so many died?

Many Christians have a hard time equating the God of Love, with the Lord of the Old Testament. 

So much death and destruction. The Law, verses Grace.  What is a man to believe? 

We must look to the Scriptures.  We must look beyond our common knowledge of who and what we believe. 

We may need to put aside some cherished beliefs, and replace them with the Biblical  truth of the Word.

God, indeed is Love, but who or what is the Lord?

I believe a careful study of the Spirit of God and the Spirit of the LORD, shows us plainly that the Lord of the Old Testament is the giver of the Law.

The God of the Old Testament is the Creator of all, the Supreme Ruler, the giver of Grace and Mercy.   In other words, Jesus. 

Are you interested enough to search the scriptures to see if this be true?  Or will you reject this out of hand?

You never heard this before,  it cannot be true.

Saints, we can believe our Church Doctrine or the Scriptures.  Unfortunately our Doctrines, only reflect the light received by our Denominational founders. 

They had a piece of truth,  (Luther is a great example).  He changed his world, because of the revelation knowledge from the Lord.

Revelation has expanded from saved by faith, to the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.    Yet, many refuse to accept this new revelation. 

It is sad, when teachers teach this is the only explanation for this verse, or that the Lord doesn’t do that anymore. 

The Lord continually seeks for someone to show Himself strong.  He will teach, guide, or direct whosoever will.

Will you be whosoever?  Will you allow revelation knowledge, to enter your life?

I pray our hearts and mind will be open to the will and way of the Lord.  Amen

As we have studied the Spirit of God,  we found throughout the Bible, this Spirit is a Spirit of wisdom, knowledge and understanding in all manner of workmanship. (For the building of His Church).

It is also a Spirit of Prophecy, of visions and dreams.  We find this Spirit in the Preachers of Righteousness,  Enoch,  Noah, Daniel,  the 3 Hebrew children, and throughout the New Testament. 

It comforts, guides, teaches, and leads us to Christ.  It is given to us by Jesus and those who accept this second blessing preach with power and find signs and wonders following. 

The Spirit of the LORD is something else.  It is a Spirit of warfare,  we find it first in the lives of the Judges. 

From Gideon, Samson, Jephthah and continues through to Saul, David and others.  It is a Spirit that guides, directs and gives the victory. 

As we look in the New Testament,  we find a few other differences. 

The Spirit of the LORD:

  *  Annoints to preachthe Gospel,  to the poor, deliverance to the captives,  to heal the brokenhearted, cause the blind to see, set free, those who are bound and bruised.   (Luke 4)

  *  Can cause us to rejoice in Spirit, as He reveals things that are hid.  (Luke 10:21)

   *  Can be tested by our lies… some have died. (Acts 5:9)

   *  Can translate us to another place or time.  (Acts 8:39)

   *  Gives Liberty. (2 Corinthians 3:17)

   *  We are changed from glory to glory into the image of the Lord.  (2 Corinthians 3:18)

The Spirit of the LORD.  A blessing from the Lord, to draw all to the Son.