John 2:3 And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.”

Have you raised your son or daughter in church, with prayers and setting the example of a Christian life?  When you child reached that certain age, did they go off into the world?

If so, I am sure you feel helpless.  Many things can go through your mind, the main one guilt and condemnation, which comes from the enemy.

Mary knew who her Son was.  Here she is telling Jesus that the wedding party had run out of wine.   Mary knew what He was capable of doing.  She knew her son was the Son of God.  Luke 1:35

When she mentions they have no wine, Jesus replied that his hour has not yet come.  But  if you continue reading, almost immediately Jesus turned the water into wine and  performed his first miracle.

So what happened? 

FAITH

It was Mary’s faith in her Son that caused the first miracle to occur in the Bible.

Guess what, you  know who your son or daughter is too.  We have a scriptural promise in Proverbs 22: 6 which says: Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.

Has the Lord given you a glimpse of what your child’s life will be like when they walk His path? If so, use that in your prayer time.  Remind the Lord and the enemy the call of God upon your child’s life.  Declare that they are redeemed and purchased with the blood of the lamb, and bound to the Kingdom of Heaven. 

What am I saying? 

FIGHT!

Your child  may taste the world, but eventually they will grow tired of it and return to their first love.  I have heard many a testimony of parents that never stop praying for their children, and rejoice when they renew their committment with the Lord.

With God, there is no age limit!

But what if your child has not been raised in the church?  Pray, and believe that they will come to know Jesus, and don’t stop praying.  The Lord will honor your prayer, and it is His desire that all come to know Him.

Acts 16:31 “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.”

Believe in Jesus, believe in His Son, and see your miracle come to pass.

May you be richly blessed this day.

In my prayer time to the Lord, I was thanking Him for his abundant blessings, love, and how He continually provides and cares for us, even when times are rough.   I then asked the Lord a question.

“How can I serve you Lord, you have done so much for us?”

That  still small voice replies “By pouring out to others you serve Me.  By sharing my grace, my goodness, my love and compassion to a hurting world. Heal the brokenhearted, hold nothing back.  My anointing rest upon you, and my glory rest upon you.”

What a wonderful response from the Lord.  When the Lord laid his life on the cross, it was a selfish act of giving His all to us, even to those that would reject him.  Even to this day, His Name is the only name that we can call  to help us in times of trouble. 

I know that this word does not only apply to me, but to all that serve and Love the Lord.  Even to this day, He gives.

May we do the same, and give what He has poured into us.  the more we give out, the more He pours in.  In doing so, we  give others hope that can only come in the name of Jesus. 

May you be richly blessed this day.

In Genesis Chapter 2, we read how the Lord God planted a garden called Eden.  In that garden there were many trees that were pleasant to eat, such as the  The Tree of Life. The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil was also in the garden that God planted.  Later,  God took man and placed him  in the Garden of Eden to tend and to keep it.  There was only one directive the Lord gave him. He was to  eat of every tree including the Tree of Life, but to abstain from eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.

We all  know how the story went.  Adam and Eve sinned by eating  the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.  Their eyes were opened  and they realized that they were naked.  Because of their sin, God took them out of the Garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken.  Genesis 3:23

You may ask yourself, why did God ask Adam where he was?  Doesn’t God know everything? Of course God knows everything, but sometimes it’s those moments that we need to hear for ourselves and answer the question, where am I? 

Where Are You?

I have had to ask myself that question.  Where am I, what is it that I am to do next?  I have accomplished certain thing in my life, so where do I go from here? What areas in my life need improving?  What are my weak areas? Where am I with my goals and aspirations?  Where am I in hearing His voice clearly for guidance, and  am I  listening?

While Adam and Eve sinned by eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, we still have the Tree of Life at our disposal, and that tree being  Jesus.

Perhaps we have failed with our goals, aspirations, and maybe life just got the better of us and we let some people down.  But guess what, we are no longer under the law, for the letter kills but the spirit brings life.

While we may not know exactly where we are, God does know.  He knows that you have a hope and a future, and that He loves you so much that He sent His Son to be a ransom for our sin, and we can continue to partake of the Tree of Life fully, to establish and prosper us.  

Now that  you know where you are, walk forward with the confidence in the Lord to your next goal or aspiration.

May you be richly blessed this day.

2 Corinthians 4:18 while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

There have been times in my life where I just cry out to the Lord and ask Him, “What about all the promises you gave us?  Why did it not  happen  yesterday!”  At times I grow weary of the battle, then something rises up in me and reminds me of His word spoken over us.

Focus

The invisible realm is superior to the natural realm.  The things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

My present situation is temporary, as is yours.  What we don’t see with the natural eye is eternal.  For that we need to look with our spiritual eyes.  It is with our spiritual eyes we gain insight, hope, a future, and we see the plan to prosper us.

When we look with our spiritual eyes, we gain faith. Faith is anchored in the unseen.

It was mentioned to me once  to remind the Lord the promises spoken over us, to declare them out loud.  Why?  Because faith comes by hearing, and in declaring out loud I am hearing His word spoken afresh.   It is to build up our faith, as God does not need reminding.

It also helps me to clear my mind of the lies of the enemy.  When we submit the mind of man to the things of God, we end up with faith and a renewed mind.

So what am I seeing?  A prosperous future, filled with the blessings of the Lord, walking in victory and freedom. 

What do you see?

May you be richly blessed.

Isaiah 6:8  Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying:“ Whom shall I send, And who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I! Send me.”

How many of you have been guilty of procrastination?   I know that I have, and at times find myself falling into it.  Webster’s defines procrastination as  putting off or delaying, especially something requiring immediate attention.

If I procrastinate in certain areas of my life, how many times do I make the Lord wait?  How many times has the Holy Spirit  nudged me to do something, but excuses abound. 

• There’s no hurry
• I can do that later
• There’s time
• I don’t have the right materials

Yet I procrastinate. 

Wait, I have  better excuses.

• God does not want me to do or say that
• I’m not qualified
• I’m not ready
• I need confirmation by at least ten people
• I don’t have room to hold meetings

Can you imagine God’s frustration with me?  I can.

Guess what.  God want’s you, yes you to carry out His work upon the earth.  He is calling His bride, and it is He that has placed that burning desire in your heart.

Jesus is coming back soon, very soon, and God needs us to do the work before His return.

So what set’s us apart from the rest?

We are mature Christians

We don’t drink milk any longer, but eat  meat.  God is the one that qualifies, and not man.  God knows you are ready, willing and able.  God gives us the courage to go forward, and it is He we put our trust in.  God has put our faith and trust in us, and we can go ahead and do what we have always wanted to do, for Him, and for us.  

Yes, there is personal satisfaction that comes with accomplishing something, and that encourages us and motivates us to go forward and do more.

Shake off that procrastination, and gear up and roar like that mighty lion and let His voice be heard throughout the earth.

May you be richly blessed!

Blue Tanager

Jeremiah 33:3 Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.

Today a bird flew into our window, just like the one in the picture.  It happens every so often. When that happens we rush to see if the bird will make it.  Fortunately this one did. He was knocked out for a bit then was able to fly away. As this happened I thought to myself, could there be a spiritual lesson in this?

Look before you fly, well that does not really apply to us, or could it?

Have you ever rushed into things, so excited for a new opportunity that you run straight for it and fall to the ground  because it was not of the Lord?  I have, and more than once!

One of the Lord’s promises  is  that we can call on Him, and He will show us great and mighty things that we do not know.  The bird did not know the window was there.  When I made my mistakes, I did not know that I was going to fail, but fail I did and gloriously.

When we make mistakes, we learn and grow from them.  They are beneficial to us, it’s a necessary part of our growth.  With our mistakes we gain wisdom and in turn can help others.  So mistakes are not all that bad.

Our windows

Before you see that next ”window”, take a moment and ask the Lord if this is the direction He would want you  on.  If you ask, He will tell you.  Also ask others to pray for you to help you make that right decision and avoid a detour.  Praise God for His grace, for when those mistakes happen in our life we are able to stand back up and continue our walk with Him.

May you be richly blessed.

As a believer, I have learned that trying something on my own strength does not work for me.    Instead, I have to trust the Holy Spirit to help me with what  I want to accomplish.

As I was making a mental list of goals and what I want to fulfill this year, I was surprised to see that I had already begun.  

Here is a partial list:

Pray more.     I have two journals for my prayer time.   One is my regular journal where I write out my prayers, petitions for myself and others, and write what I hear the Lord say. My second journal is my dream journal.  Since I  dream often, I found that I needed a separate notebook for my dreams.   At one point I had both prayer and dream journal in one notebook, but that did not work out.    Having them separate makes it easier when I need to look something up.

I enjoy  praying for people. I find great joy in hearing that their requests  have been answered, the ministries are growing, lives are being touched, and healings are taking place.   

Bible reading.   I read from the Old and New Testament, and  I also read a chapter of Proverbs a day. While reading, I ask for wisdom, insight and revelation.   

Write – A few years ago I began strong with the desire to write, during the course of life it was lost, and now the Lord has given it back to me.  I plan to write what He has called me to write. 

The believer wants to read the Bible more, pray more, hear the voice of the Lord, fellowship, be involved in church, but  these  are not possible on our own effort.   It takes the Holy Spirit to guide us and help us.  We know we need to do these things, and I have learned that to accomplish these tasks I had to ask for one thing.  Desire.

When we feel obligated to do something, then the passion is no longer there.  If I feel obligated to read my Bible, then what I read is not helping me much.  But if I have a desire to read, then the words become alive. 

Ask the Lord to give you a desire to fulfill your dreams, goals and to give you passion.  Doing it on your own strength may lead to failure, but with the help of the Holy Spirit you are destined to be fruitful.

May you have a blessed and wonderful New Year, and may this coming year draw you closer to the Lord.

Isaiah 9:6

For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.